Flower ||| Ateez

26

When news of their next performance came, the members started practicing even harder. This one was going to be in a neighboring city's concert hall, and they were hoping to draw their biggest audience yet. They had even decided to let their fans submit questions and they would choose some to answer, wanting to show their fans they care.

Lily was starting to feel a little in the way though. She started avoiding the practices, instead electing to watch movies on their big screen tv.

The members would often come out to find her curled up in a blanket, staring blankly at the screen. It worried them. They didn't want her to go backward at all. Then Yeosang came up with an idea.

One day he flopped down on the couch after a longer than normal rehearsal and said, "How are you doing?"

"I'm good." She said, focusing on the tv.

"Will you help me with something?"

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"We need outfits for our performance next week. I know you used to work in a clothing store, so I thought maybe you'd have some ideas of what we could wear." He asked, already having cleared it with their manager and Hongjoong.

Lily's eyes lit up. "Really? You'd trust me to do that?"

"Yes, and the others agree with me. Make it... Bold." He stood and patted her head before going to shower.

Lily spent the rest of the night brainstorming ideas before she picked something she liked. She worked with one of the other designers, who fell in love with the idea, and she submitted the order to have the clothes custom made.

The night of their performance, she watched from the side of the stage, beaming at her work. All eight of them looked incredibly sexy dressed all in red, with shiny black boots. The audience ate it up too.

It was her first time seeing them perform, and it made her love her friends even more. They were naturals, sending winks at the perfect time, throwing little hearts when they wanted to be playful, and getting serious when the song called for it.

During the interaction section, the boys looked like they were having so much fun. She watched as some of them got shy and tried to hide their faces, especially when the fans had asked for a 'sexy' dance. She felt her cheeks flush slightly watching Wooyoung do his, then turn and wink at her when his back was to the audience.

Her heart fluttered and she clapped her hands silently.

When the show was finally over, the boys exited and grabbed water to drink.

"That was your best performance yet Ateez!" Their manager said, walking over to them. He praised each of them one by one.

Lily took a few steps back to get out of the way.

"Get some rest, you deserve a couple days off after this one." The man said, beaming.

Everyone made their way to the backrooms and the boys fell onto couches, sighing with happiness and exhaustion. Then they started critiquing their own performance, like they couldn't not work.

Yeosang hated how shy he was, feeling like he messed up during the interaction with the audience. The boys cooed over him, calling him things like cutie-pie and their little boy, causing him to hide behind Yunho, covering his red face.

They praised Jongho and his singing during one of the songs. He bowed his head in thanks, and then started splitting apples in half, handing pieces to the members, knowing they were all hungry.

The last thing they did was mob Lily, thanking her for the amazing outfits. Yunho, being the tallest, reached out to ruffle her hair.

She smiled at him. They hadn't been on their own to talk yet, but at that moment, the smile on his face was so genuine as he mouthed, "It's ok. I'm better now." He nodded and flicked his eyes to Wooyoung and back.