Hala Hala ||| Ateez

18

"Seonghwa! Wait up!"

The oldest turned around to see Yeosang jogging to catch up with him.

"Are you going to check on Wooyoung?"

"Yeah, it's time for more pain medication, that's why I wanted to know where he was." Seonghwa said, staring down at the bottle in his hand.

"I think he gets a little lonely. Which is odd, because it seems like he doesn't like contact either." Yeosang said, sighing as he fell into step next to Seonghwa.

"Well, thing about where he came from. I've been watching him and I think that's one of the challenges he will need to overcome." Seonghwa said quietly as images of Wooyoung's face flashed in his mind. He stopped walked and kept his eyes on the floor. "I think he desires love, but fears contact."

Yeosang hummed and looked down the hall. "I could see that. If he wasn't shown any kind of affection for that long..."

"It's not easy." Seonghwa said, thinking back to his life growing up. It wasn't easy at all. "Plus he never got the chance to have a childhood, or interact with others in a normal setting. I fear there is a lot he needs to learn about being with others."

"And that's where you come in?" Yeosang asked, a slight smirk crossing his face.

"That's where WE come in." Seonghwa started walking again, ignoring the hidden meaning Yeosang was trying to imply, which wasn't true. "He's going to need all of us to help show him what it means to be a part of a te-"

He was cut off when they heard screaming coming from Yeosang's room.

The pair ran forward and threw the door open. A quick scan showed the room was empty accept for Wooyoung, who was cowering in the far corner and pointing his knife in their direction. His eyes were wide with fear.

"Get back! I don't want anymore!" The younger shouted with a strangled voice.

"Wooyoung it's just us. Seonghwa and Yeosang." The hacker said, stepping forward.

Seonghwa stopped him by holding his hand out. "Don't move too quickly. I think he's still in his nightmare." He said quietly, watching as Wooyoung's eyes flicked back and forth like he didn't have control over them.

Wooyoung tried to press himself into the wall while keeping the knife held up in a shaking hand.

"Wooyoung." Seonghwa said gently, crouching down and motioning for Yeosang to do the same. "Wooyoung, listen to my voice. It's Seonghwa."

The younger's eyes flicked to him for a second, then looked up a little and he screamed again.

He was seeing things that weren't there.

Seonghwa slowly lifted up his arm and ran his hand over his bracelet. The digital interface opened up and Seonghwa pressed the combination needed to page Hongjoong.

"What is it?" His leader answered quickly.

"Come to Yeosang's are quickly, but stay quiet. Wooyoung needs us and I don't want to startle him."

"What's going o-" Hongjoong was cut off when Wooyoung screamed again and slashed at the air. "What the hell was that?"

"You'll see when you get here, hurry. And crouch when you get in the room."

"What are we going to do?" Yeosang asked, his voice shaking a little. "Are you going to have Hongjoong sedate him?"

Seonghwa ran through all his training and shook his head. "No. If Hongjoong sedates him that will keep him trapped in the nightmare and this could happen again. We need to try and snap him out of it. But it needs to be gentle." He glanced at the hacker. "I'm going to try and move forward, fill Hongjoong in when he gets here."