Hala Hala ||| Ateez

10

Hongjoong came into the precinct the next day knowing he looked like shit. His hair was a mess and he had large bags under his eyes.

He stumbled his way into the building and quickly went to the coffee pot and pouring what was left of the previous batch. He added what was probably way too much cream and sugar, but he needed it to drown out the bitter taste from the coffee itself.

All he desired right now was the caffeine.

As he stood there sipping the lukewarm drink, Yunho entered the room and hesitated. It looked like he wanted to turn tail and run.

Hongjoong knew he probably deserved it after pushing him away yesterday. He hadn't meant to, but he wasn't at a place where he wanted comfort.

But the taller didn't. He never would, no matter how bad things got between them. He had always been at Hongjoong's side.

Yunho prepared a new pot of coffee and stood there quietly, fidgeting with his hands.

"I'm sorry."

"You look like shit."

Both boys turned to each other and let out a breathy laugh as the tension broke when they spoke at the same time.

"I'm sorry, about yesterday." Hongjoong said quickly, feeling the need to get that out.

Yunho held a hand up and shook his head. "No it's ok. I know yesterday was rough. Is that why you look like..." He motioned to Hongjoong's face, "This?"

The older chewed on the inside of his cheek and looked away.

Truth be told... That wasn't the only reason he couldn't sleep last night. While he had been going over game plans for the team and trying to figure out what he had missed for the ambush, his thoughts kept drifting back to that damn kiss.

Who the hell did Mingi think he was, kissing him like that? And after he had slapped him? Was he crazy?

Hongjoong sighed. He hadn't meant to slap the thief. It was just a reflex, and it had probably hurt him more than it had hurt Mingi.

And then for him to kiss him...

Hongjoong brought his fingers up to his lips and felt his cheeks heat up a little. He didn't... hate it. But he didn't know if he liked it either. He was more confused than anything.

No one had every show interest in him. Not that he was aware of at least. But he also hadn't taken the time to try and date. He had always been so focused on becoming a police officer.

And for Mingi to come on to him after only knowing for a few weeks. What the hell was he thinking? He had practically forced the kiss yesterday!

That was wrong... Right?

Practically...

Hongjoong ran his fingers over his lips as he remembered that he had kissed back. His face got a little hotter.

He had kissed back.

Was he crazy?

"Hongjoong?" Yunho said.

The chief's head flew up and he stared at his friend with wide eyes. "Huh?"

"You've been staring off into space for almost ten minutes now. And there were a lot of different emotions crossing your face. Are you ok?" Yunho sounded genuinely concerned as he leaned forward a little. "Why are you rubbing your lips like that?"

Hongjoong immediately dropped his hand to his side and cleared his throat. Part of him wanted to tell Yunho what happened. But part of him also wanted to wait and see where this went.