Crescent // ATEEZ ✔

13 [guest]

Upon the grim announcement of the expected guest arrival, their faces turn sour and like they were trained, they immediately take away Byul's plate. Seonghwa asks her to bring her bag and belongings out from the room and follow San, Wooyoung and Mingi upstairs. All evidence that she was there are immediately swiped out in seconds, Byul ferried away carefully upstairs, away from Seonghwa, Jongho and Yeosang who remain on the second floor. Her last image before being whisked away upstairs is Yeosang going over the practiced script with both Seonghwa and Jongho, while Yunho has already opened the door to exit their house with a passive Hwayoung in tow.

The child knows that something serious is happening that she doesn't even let out a sound until she has left the house.

Instead of going down the stairs and passing through the cafe to go outside, they turn right as soon as they step out of the house and walk through a corridor that leads to another set of stairs. They descend the stairs, emerging into the open from a small door beside the cafe. He had hoped that somehow their guest would ignore them and keep on waiting for the others to come down, but gets disappointed as he swings open the grille and the man turns to look at the pair coming out.

"Ah, Jeong Yunho and his pretty little girl Jeong Hwayoung." He gives a sinister smile that makes Yunho protectively puts her behind him, shielding her from the giant man. "Hello, little girl. Going to kindergarten?" he tries again, but she only peeks from behind her dad's figure, scared.

"Alexander," he merely says. "What brings you here?" he asks, pretending to feign innocence as he's trying to divert the attention away from his little girl. This giant man has always made him feel cautious, no matter how many years he has known him.

"Oh, come on, Yunho. You don't have to keep your mighty act when you're with me; you and your friends know exactly what I'm here for. The Bifidensis have sent me here to check up on their little objects."

Bifidensis. A name that refers to the higher-ups of their organization, yet lowly people like them don't even know how they look like. The group of people who have complete control over them, even when they are hidden behind a curtain that protect them from the others. Evil people that won't get their hands dirty, but let people like him do them instead.

"Objects," Yunho repeats through gritted teeth. "Of course, that's what we are to them. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to go. If you're patient enough, somebody inside would probably notice your presence and invite you in," he says sarcastically, slightly nudging Hwayoung so that she'll start walking away from the man.

Hwayoung skitters away, subconsciously searching for her dad's hand for protective measures. Yunho takes it immediately, tightening his around hers before they turn around the corner. Before they lose sight of Alexander, he looks back once and sees that the smile on the latter's face still has not let up.

Alexander looks at their backs as they get lost around the corner. He turns to face the cafe again as he hears the roller shutter being lifted up partially, revealing the lower part of a figure, wearing something that's completely opposite of his attire. Alexander is wearing a full formal black suit while the person inside the cafe is clearly being comfortable by opting for a jogging track and a green-red hoodie with an army print. One might think that Alexander is the only one who means business while the other is only playing it off as a joke. The latter bends his body so that his whole figure is visible, letting his earrings dangle and his left eye birthmark show.

"Alexander, you're here," he greets. His tone and expression are neutral, masking whatever's running through his brain. "As expected," he adds.

"Kang Yeosang, pretty boy of the team. It's nice to meet you again after for so long." He extends a hand but Yeosang merely looks at it, so he lowers it down, but he does it while smirking. "Still being the cold boy like you were when we first met I see."