Say My Name (Ateez)

Chapter 12

"Why did you call me here?" Seungcheol, or known to Ateez as his street name S.Coups, came out from the shadows of an alley. Two other members followed behind him, Mingyu and Wonwoo, although they were wearing masks, so Hongjoong was unaware of those two's identities.

Hongjoong, who stood alone, only said, "I thought we agreed no backup."

"No, you agreed, all I said was I'd meet you here. Now I'll repeat," the older leader stepped towards the younger, "Why did you call me here?"

"You know we have a deal," Hongjoong began.

"Yes, and?" S.Coups spoke, raising an eyebrow.

"We've seen one of your members in our territory on multiple occasions," Hongjoong looked up at the taller male.

"Ah yes. We're aware of that," S.Coups brushed off, knowing full well it would piss the younger off.

"Then why the hell don't you do something about it?" Hongjoong exclaimed, taking a step towards Seungcheol, causing Mingyu and Wonwoo to stand at attention, ready to attack if necessary.

"Well why should I? He's not doing any harm, is he?" Seungcheol spoke cooly, not intimidated by Hongjoong's advances.

"Doesn't matter that's not a part of the deal," Hongjoong's eyes narrowed.

"I hope you know this deal is more important to you than it is to us," S.Coups threatened.

"How?" Hongjoong questioned. The deal had always seemed to be equally important to both groups.

"We can take you over. Easily," Seungcheol spoke in an honest tone. He didn't sound condescending or threatening, instead his tone sounded honest and sincere, something that scared Hongjoong worse than if he had threatened him.

After a second of silence from Hongjoong, Seungcheol nodded and turned away from Hongjoong, starting to walk away, before Hongjoong spoke, asking something he didn't want to before but felt he had to now.

"How does this involve the girl?"

"Oh Jessie? She's a nice girl, I can't wait to get to know her more," S.Coups smiled at Hongjoong. Wonwoo and Mingyu glanced at each other, knowing looks in their eyes.

"What do you mean?" Hongjoong questioned.

"Well I've already met her, and if she's dating one of my members I'll have to get to know her more. Who knows? She could be an asset to us," Seungcheol led on.

"What the hell are you planing? She's a part of our territory which means she's off limits. And how would she react if she knew what you and her boyfriend do for a living?" While Hongjoong didn't particularly care about Jessie, she did live in Ateez's territory, and Mingi and Yeosang seemed to have taken a liking to her, so Hongjoong had to stop whatever was going on.

"Who said she doesn't already know?" Seungcheol replied before turning and disappearing around the corner with Mingyu and Wonwoo, deciding their conversation was over.

Hongjoong sighed, staring at the place the three had previously been standing. After a minute of thinking on what to do, he turned and headed back to the dorm.

When Hongjoong walked back into the dorm, he seemed exhausted and closed off, and everyone knew to leave him alone, aside from Seonghwa. Being his right-hand, Seonghwa was the only person that could approach Hongjoong when he was like this as an unspoken rule.

"What happened?" Seonghwa asked tentatively.

Hongjoong filled him in briefly on the night's events, leaving out the part that Seventeen wouldn't hesitate to attack if Ateez didn't stay in line, before asking where Mingi was.

"His bedroom I think, why?" Seonghwa questioned.

"He's got a mission now," was all Hongjoong replied before getting up and walking down the hall of bedrooms.

He knocked on the door of Jongho and Mingi's shared room, knowing Jongho was in the main room and it's just be he and Mingi.

"Come in," a deep voice answered the knock.

Hongjoong opened the door and stepped in the room. Mingi was laying on his bed on his phone with earbuds in. He glanced at the door as Hongjoong walked in before pulling his earbuds out and sitting up.

"We've got problems, that's all I'm saying," Hongjoong started. Mingi looked at him in confusion.

"You're going to have to get close with the Canadian, Jessie right?" Mingi nodded.

"Ok?" Mingi accepted, happy to do it but wondering why.

"Just try and draw her away from Minghao as much as possible, but subtly. She can't get onto you or it might push her to Minghao even more," Hongjoong further explained without fully giving Mingi answers.

"Ok, I'll start tomorrow. What about Treasure?" Mingi wasn't sure if he had to draw her away from the as well.

"Doesn't matter," was all Hongjoong replied with as he walked out the door.

Yeosang pulled away from the wall separating Wooyoung and Yeosang's room from Jongho and Mingi's. He had listened to the conversation curiously, wanting to know what had happened. He instead ended up feeling upset that Hongjoong hadn't chosen him for the task and had gone with Mingi instead.

"Find out anything interesting?" Wooyoung asked from his bottom bunk, not looking up from his laptop. He wasn't sure why Yeosang had been eavesdropping, but he and Yeosang had known each other longer than any of the other members and he knew Yeosang always had reasons for what he did. Nothing was ever random, it was always calculated and was important in some way.

"Seventeen is up to something," Yeosang spoke as little as possible.

"Yeo, we've been friends for years, talk to me. I'm not them," Wooyoung said, knowing no matter how much Yeosang liked and respected Ateez, he didn't trust them fully. Yeosang had bad trust issues which had started after Yeosang and Wooyoung had become friends, which was part of why they were so close. Yeosang hadn't let anyone new in since something happened in his past he avoided thinking about at all costs.

"There's something going on that Hongjoong found out tonight, something that will affect us all badly if it comes into play. He's not telling anyone, doesn't seem like he's even going to tell Seonghwa," Yeosang finally shared his discoveries from the small conversation he had overheard.

"How do you figure this all out from a small part of a conversation?" Wooyoung asked the rhetorical question in disbelief. This was why there was no doubt that Yeosang was their best in many aspects, one of which was undercover work.

The conversation had clearly ended and Yeosang climbed to the top bunk and laid down, deep in thought.

"Yeo?" Wooyoung asked suddenly.

"Hm?"

"Why did you react the way you did when you found out Minghao and Jessie were dating?" Wooyoung asked the question that had been bugging him the entire night.

"I... don't know," Yeosang replied honestly, something he'd never say to anyone else, showing his trust in Wooyoung.

"You better figure it out because I have a feeling she's going to be a lot more involved with everything going on right now pretty soon," Wooyoung voiced his thoughts.

"I wish you were wrong, and I hate that you're right."