Hala Hala ||| Ateez

11

Mingi rolled over onto his side as flipped open his book. He had asked for something to read to pass the time while waiting for training or an assignment, so Yunho had brought him a selection of books from his own library.

This one was a fantasy adventure that actually followed a thief so he was getting into it. He had always loved reading and had nicked a books from some houses that he found interesting, but reading them way another story. He had always been so busy that he had yet to finish one.

He probably should be training right now, but he needed something to distract himself from thinking about Hongjoong.

God he was like a lovesick school girl... Could he be more pathetic?

Probably. But he would cross that bridge when he got there because that would depend on Hongjoong.

And really it would depend on what happened with the team too. Mingi liked the idea of what they were doing since his targets had always been gang and mafia members too. That and after what happened to his parents, the idea of taking them down once and for all was appealing.

But they needed to work on being a team. He had hardly interacted with anyone outside of Jongho and their sparring matches.

Mingi sighed when he realized he read the same paragraph three times and closed his book after slipping in the bookmark Yunho had given him.

Right as he did, there was a gentle knock on the door. "Come in." Mingi called, grunting as he sat up.

He froze when he saw Hongjoong slip into his room and quickly close the door. The older looked flushed and out of breath, like he had run there.

They locked eyes and just stared at each other for a long moment.

Hongjoong was the first one to break contact. He looked down and ran his hand through his hair before bringing it down to rub his eyebrow. "Hey."

"Hi?" Mingi tilted his head a little. What was he doing here? Could it be...?

"What was that yesterday?" Hongjoong asked suddenly, his face hardening as he glanced back at Mingi.

The taller gulped and clenched his hand. What he angry?

"Well?"

"I don't know what you want me to say." Mingi said quietly, not taking his eyes off the older. "I thought I made it pretty clear."

"Do you normally hit on people you just met?" Hongjoong crossed his arms, trying to look intimidating, but the look on his face had Mingi's heart doing flips with how cute he looked.

"No. Just you."

Hongjoong's hard face faltered and a soft look crept onto his face. "Why me? Why now?"

"Well that's kind of a silly question, isn't it? It's only happening now because I just met you. There's nothing special about right now. I see it as I'm a man with a second chance, so why not treat it like we are two people who met in a coffee shop on a random Sunday? We don't have to be a thief for the chief of police if we don't want to be. And why you? Why is anyone attracted to anyone else? It just... Happened. I can't really explain it. Probably not the way you are looking for at least. But... I found you attractive from the moment I saw you, and..." Mingi looked at the ground and felt his face getting hot as he mumbled, "I think the energy you give off as a leader sexy."

He peeked up to see Hongjoong's mouth open a little. His adams apple even bobbed a little, as if he wanted to say something but the words died in his throat.

Then the older surprised him by walking forward, grabbing the sides of his face, and connecting their lips in a heated kiss.

Mingi hesitated for a second before he pulled Hongjoong closer to him. He wrapped his arms around Hongjoong's waist to hold him in place while he tilted his head back a little to make the kiss easier for the older.