Hala Hala ||| Ateez

17

Hongjoong chewed on his bottom lip as he went over the list one more time. He had volunteered to do the first official grocery run for the house and had taken down the requests from everyone for the kind of food they wanted.

After confirming everything was on there, he grabbed his keys and his wallet and made his way to the front door.

Then he paused when he saw Mingi leaning causally against the wall next to the door. "Where do you think you're going?" The taller said with a slight smirk.

Hongjoong just held up the list as his mouth opened a little bit, although no words came out.

Mingi chuckled and pushed off the wall to open the door. "Let's go then."

"But..."

"But nothing. You said we weren't to go out by ourselves. I figured that goes for you too." Mingi winked at him and motioned for Hongjoong to continue.

The older felt his cheeks heat up as he focused on the view directly in front of him and hurried out the door.

Damn him... He always knew what to do to get Hongjoong a little flustered, and the older didn't know what to do about it.

Nothing had really happened between the two of them since their last conversation when he had confessed that he didn't know how to date. Mingi had seemed understanding, and truthfully, they really hadn't had a chance to do anything since Wooyoung got hurt and they moved into their new building.

Hongjoong could feel Mingi fall into step behind him and did his best to keep a straight face will walking to his car.

"Nice ride." Mingi said, and the older glanced over to see a look of awe on Mingi's face.

"Thanks, I restored it myself with the help of Yunho." Hongjoong stepped inside and smiled as Mingi took in the interior. The car itself was an old car from a few decades ago, but with a lot of time and love, the inside had been restored to support all the modern technology most cars had.

He loved this car so much.

They drove in silence to the nearest store and awkwardly made their way up and down the isles grabbing random items off their list.

Hongjoong bit the inside of his lip as Mingi's shoulder brushed against him while reaching for the top shelf to get some oil. He must have also made a sound because Mingi turned to him and gave a soft smile. "So." The taller looked around.

They were alone in the isle.

"So." Hongjoong copied, fidgeting a little bit.

Mingi set the oil down in their cart then lifted a hand up to brush Hongjoong's cheek gently. "You're cute when you get flustered." He said softly.

Hongjoong felt himself turn red as he glanced at the floor. "I can't help it. You make me nervous." He added quietly.

The taller smiled and took a step back. "Our fearless leader, nervous." He chuckled.

"I never said I was fearless." Hongjoong glanced up at Mingi and felt his heart beat faster at the smile there.

"I know." Mingi turned back to the list and started to read over it.

Then, as they started walking, he took Hongjoong's hand in his, lacing their fingers together as he pushed the cart.

This was... Nice.

Neither one felt the need to say anything about it, but Hongjoong could tell Mingi was happy that he hadn't pulled away.

He didn't want to either.