Ateez Stories & Imagines : A compilation

Hongjoong • Idol Encounters •

The whispers of night caressed my skin as I walked, barely even able to see one foot placed before the other in front of me.

Somewhere behind me, or maybe ahead, the wind whistled gently through the leaves of the tall trees that stretched the border of the park. The sweet scent of them burned the inside of my nose but I still breathed in deeply, drinking it in with the eagerness of a dying being.

I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of the jumper I'd hastily thrown onto my shoulders on my way out of the constricting walls of the dorms I was in. Briefly my fingertips brushed against the smooth, glassy surface of my phone and I jerked my hands from my pockets like the screen had been coated with poison.

In a way it was.

Two weeks of incessant messages, tags and posts, articles filled with half truths and then complete lies... The device was a ticking bomb in my hands or out of them but at least when it wasn't nearby I had a few moments to clear my head.

That was what the point of this walk had been, to get out and clear my head. So far it was only half working, half of me was revelling in the breathtaking beauty of the park at night and half of me was still lost somewhere in the words of the latest article posted about me.

...recklessly abandoning the stage mid performance, leaving her members helpless and confused. Many close friends of the idol have spoken of her arrogance...

An angry snort left me and I kicked the ground hard, watching a pebble loosen from the well trodden path of dirt and roll a few metres.

"Great friends you've got, Y/N." I muttered, sidestepping the cloud of dust rising from my kick and continuing forward.

For the life of me I couldn't figure out who would say that about me, the rest of my bandmates knew full well that I had run off that stage because I'd been sick and regardless they didn't engage with anyone outside of our group if they could help it, to avoid articles like this being created.

Which left very few people open to suspicion considering I didn't exactly have any close friends outside of my company.

"Woah- Watch out!" An indignant voice shattered through my thoughts and I jerked violently in time to avoid being crushed by a boy with brilliant red hair, barely taller than me, running at full speed in my direction. His arms windmilled through the air in an effort to halt himself but his feet took longer to cooperate and he crashed to the ground with a grunt of pain.

More puffs of dirt rose from around his sprawled position on the ground and he gave a heavy sigh, seeming to flop limply in place, more so out of frustration than any kind of serious pain.

I peered down at him curiously, eyes skimming with interest over his attire; he was dressed far too nicely for someone on a casual night jog, various items of jewellery hanging around his neck and from his earlobes, a light layer of makeup dusting his delicate features.

Everything about him screamed idol to me and I knelt down beside him, suddenly understanding the exhausted way he was staring straight up into the swaying and interlocking mess of tree branches over head.

His gaze flickered to me as I leaned closer, not minding too much that dirt was getting all over my favourite pair of pants - I was too curious about the boy laying on his back in much nicer clothing than me on the dirt.

There was no accusation in his light brown eyes, though I'd been expecting that or at least annoyance. He just simply looked tired, so tired that I wasn't sure if he was going to fall asleep if he stayed here too much longer.

"You should look where you're going." He said quietly, more of a suggestion than a scolding and I couldn't help an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry. Had a lot on my mind. Are you okay?" The wind stirred the brightly coloured curly locks that had at some point obviously been carefully styled over his forehead, now they were just simply a mess and slightly damp with sweat.