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chapter 47 : flowers remind us why the rain was so necessary
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kaiga didn't expect ateez to come to his house armed on that dark, cold night. he was in his bed, almost asleep when there was a knock on his bedroom window, which was on the first floor.
he sat up sleepily, making eye contact with mingi, then yunho, then san. what was going on? kaiga slowly opened his window to speak with them.
"what are you doing here?"
"tell us where seonghwa is and this will be a lot easier for both of us... and much less painful for you." growled mingi.
kaigan chuckled, propping himself on the window sill casually, "sorry, boys, but no can do."
"well," san sighed, unsheathing his silver plated dagger. yunho stopped san and told him, "just wait, will you?"
kaiga shrugged, "how about we make a deal?"
"and what would that be?" asked mingi impatiently.
"a trade off. give up kyunghee, and i'll give you seonghwa. i know you bastards put up some security over kyunghee, didn't you?"
san clenched his dagger tight, just itching to use it, "that's not how it works, kaiga. we get both."
"wait, san..." yunho put his hands on mingi and san's shoulders, an idea striking him. it was risky and honestly probably impossible, but it was worth a shot. "we'll do it. tomorrow, same time here, we'll trade."
"yunho, are you crazy? kyunghee means a lot to us. how will seonghwa—" san was protesting suddenly, and mingi agreed, too.
"quiet. loyalty comes first, meaning we'll take seonghwa. think of all the times he's helped us or given us advice?" yunho bitterly explained. "and kyunghee? she's only dragging us down."
mingi frowned, his nose flaring angrily. "i can't believe you... kyunghee is family, too."
"quickly!" exclaimed the now-exasperated kaiga. "go argue about this at your own place. i expect to see you all here tomorrow night."
yunho nodded plainly as the other two boys were in wonderment. they worried that yunho was being too harsh, too cold. honestly, what would they do without seeing kyunghee everyday? especially seonghwa and yeosang...
kaiga closed his window and the trio of boys walked off to their bikes again. it was uncomfortably silent.
mingi scoffed, "what's wrong with you?"
"do you guys really think i'd give up kyunghee that easily, you idiots?" yunho chuckled, breaking his stern character. "i have a plan. it might not work, but if we can successfully pull it off... everything will be fixed."
mingi and san exchanged confused looks, then san asked, "what? you were lying?"
"who's the shortest out of ateez?" asked yunho suddenly.
"you're not making sense..." sighed san.
mingi answered hesitantly, "it's hongjoong, i think,"
"he'll do perfectly, then." yunho was smiling deviously, worrying the other boys.
"earth to yunho. we don't get it."
sitting on his motorcycle now, yunho simply told the two, "we can make hongjoong dress up and pretend to be kyunghee once we have seonghwa. kyunghee will be safe and sound, and i'm sure hongjoong can escape on his own."
"you're saying... trick kaiga so we can have hwa and kyunghee together again? you're a mad genius." chuckled san, high-fiving the other.
mingi nodded, "it's pretty believable. but how are we gonna make hongjoong look like kyunghee? that's gonna be hard."
"i don't know yet. but we'll have to figure out soon." yunho replied, shrugging. "let's get back to the other group and tell them."
the three motorcycles revved up simultaneously, and san led them to the temporary headquarters, which was hongjoong's bedroom. everyone was gathered there - except for seonghwa and yeosang,of course.
yunho revealed their plan to the rest with pride in his tone. he was sure it'd work. it had to. he devised this, so everything would be his fault if it failed. yunho would do anything to rescue his friend anyway.
"you're joking..." hongjoong rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping from his tone, "of course i have to dress up like a girl. just great."
wooyoung sighed, "just take one for the team, okay?"
"yup. so tomorrow morning, we're gonna grab some clothes of kyunghee's, disguise hongjoong, and then revise the game plan for tomorrow night."
"got it." said jongho, then everyone stood up to leave the house, other than hongjoong. they were all ready to go home and get in bed, for it had been a long, tiring night.
as everyone exited, hongjoong smiled and said, "get to bed soon. we have a big day coming up."
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the next day, kyunghee lent the boys a few of her belongings, such as makeup, a dress, and even some sandals. they dressed the unwilling hongjoong in all of this, topping everything off with a wig and some perfume. they finished by 11 pm and prepared other things up - like weapons, transportation, and disguises - before the clock turned 12, when they would be meeting with kaiga.
"no offense kyunghee, but you guys look exactly alike." gawked wooyoung.
hongjoong squinted his glitter-covered eyes, "hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
kyunghee giggled and shook her head, "i didn't know i had a twin."
"don't show joong to seonghwa, he might fall for him too." joked yunho, doubling over in laughter. the other boys laughed too, but kyunghee and hongjoong were scowling.
hongjoong decided to play along with the joking as well, "my name's not hongjoong anymore, i'm kang kyunghee."
"alright, quit messing around." yeosang stolidly told them. he stood up from his chair in the corner of the room. "we have somewhere to be."
kyunghee stood up suddenly too and spoke, "wait... will seonghwa be back by my birthday?"
"when's your birthday?" asked jongho, to which yeosang replied for her, "three days."
"oh..." yunho hesitated, "of course he will, kyung."
"okay." she sighed in delight, sitting back down comfortably. as long as they were going to be together, she could convince herself to not worry for now.
