Illusions [Ateez x Reader]

Chapter 23

——-We are so close to 1K!———-

     I woke up late. So fuck me I guess. Anyways, when I woke up I had about an hour to get ready and get out of the house before I was late, so I quickly got up and had a quick shower then pulled on an outfit. I decided on black ripped jeans and an oversized black sweatshirt with 'AESTHETIC' written in white across the front. I quickly fixed my messy h/c hair. I pulled on my white vans and grabbed my bag, racing out of my apartment.

I reached KQ relatively fast and decided to skip getting coffee on the way up. Although I haven't had my coffee fix today, I'm literally like about to be late so whatever. I reach the practice room right on time and pause, fixing my slightly disorganized self, then I walk in.

"Y/N!" I hear a shout come from the side. Turning my head, I see that it was Mingi And Yunho who yelled.

"WHAT?!" I yell back, copying their volume.

"Hi."

With that, they scurry away and I roll my eyes, a chuckle escaping my lips.

"Hi Y/N," Jongho greets as he walks up to me.

"Hi," I respond happily. "Where are we going today?"

"Can't say," he smirks. "But, we can go now."

I nod and we start to head out the door. Jongho leads me out of the building and onto the street. I, this time, am the one to take initiative and grab his hand so I don't lose him in the street. I can see a slight blush take over his cheeks and a smile grows on my face.

"Do you want to get food first or go to the main part of today first?" Jongho questions as we walk along the street.

"Let's get food first," I hum. "I need coffee anyways."

He scoffs. "You actually skipped coffee today?!"

"I was running late okay," I whine, causing him to laugh loudly.

We stop at a small cafe and head in. We both order, me getting the largest coffee size they have. When we take our seats, I immediately start to talk.

"You won't tell me where we are going, correct?" I check.

Jongho nods. "Correct."

I hum, then continue my thought process. "But, would you tell me if I guessed correctly?"

"Depends," he drawls out, a smirk beginning to build on his face. "Do I get to set a guess limit?"

"Guess limit?"

He nods. "Yeah, I can't just let you guess everything possible."

"Okay fine," I agree.

"You get five guesses," Jongho states. "No more."

I scoff. "Five? Only five?"

"You don't need anymore," Jongho responds with a nod.

I sigh. "Fine. First guess: bowling?"

"Nope."

"Shopping?"

"Nah."

"Arcade?"

"Nada."

"Damnit. Aquarium?"

"No. Last one."

"I know," I sigh. "Go-karting?"

"And that's zero for five."

"Hmpf."

Jongho chuckles at my pouting face. "I'm sorry Y/N."

I sigh and wave him off, going to eat my food. Once we are both done, we set off again. Jongho entwines our hands and we walk into a building, immediately met by black lights and neon.

"Ready to go laser tagging?" Jongho questions, amusement hinted in his voice.

I smirk. "You are on."

"I take it you don't want to play together," he chuckles.

I nod. "Definitely. It will be more fun to beat you."

"Don't celebrate too soon Y/N," Jongho warns playfully.

We go up to the people working and get everything set up. Once we are suited up, the game starts and I take off inside the arena. The countdown happens, and then the game is on. I move carefully through the maze of black structures outlined in neon. When I see an opponent, I duck and aim for them, hitting the person in the chest and rendering their blaster useless. I quickly take off to a different hiding spot once I am done.

*Jongho's POV*

When the game began, I rushed into one of the corners and am now currently waiting for Y/N to pass me. I hear movement beside me, and before I can shoot, my best goes off showing that I had been hit. I look up to see Y/N smirking at me, his/her/their face outlined by the neon lights everywhere.

"Gotcha," he/she/they hum out mockingly.

I wave Y/N off. "Yeah yeah. But I can use my blaster again in thirty seconds, so you might want to run."

I can see Y/N e/c eyes widen ever so slightly, then he/she/they take off. I follow after Y/N, heading my blaster turn back on and the color return to the vest. I corner Y/N and dramatically hold my blaster up to his/her/their vest.

"Any last words?"

I can practically see the gears turning in Y/N's brain. Finally, it's like a lightbulb went off and he/she/they lunge foreword and wrap me up in a hug. I pause for a moment, frozen.

"I'm sorry I shot you," Y/N whines.

I finally unfreeze myself and wrap my arms around Y/N tightly, enjoying the earth coming from him/her/them. I bury my nose in his/her/their h/c hair for a few moments. I really like being this close to Y/N.

Y/N speaks again. "And I'm sorry I did it again."

With that, my vest goes off and I quickly pull away, shocked. "That's cheating!"

"Nope!" Y/N takes off and I lose sight of him/her/them.

*Y/N's POV*

I'm laughing my ass off like a crazy person as I run away from Jongho. That was genius, I have to admit it. Although, I did enjoy the hug. He held me softly, but I loved the warmth that he gave off. It was really comforting.

Anyways, the game ended soon after and everyone left the arena, going to look at the scoreboard. Jongho is already over there, so I run over and go stand by him. I look at the scoreboard and see how my team did.

"Second?!" I exclaim, stunned. "You beat me?"

"I told you not to get too cocky," Jongho smirks, mocking me playfully.

I pout. "I even tricked you, but I still didn't win."

He slings an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. Once again, I relish in his warmth. "I'm sorry you lost Y/N."

I shrug and move a little closer to him. "It's okay. I'm just proud of the hug trick I pulled."

"That was evil," Jongho whines. "I was enjoying the hug."

"Me too," I agree shyly. "But laser tag is every man for himself."

Jongho rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Let's go."

I nod and happily let Jongho lead me out, his arm staying securely around my shoulder as we walk back to KQ. I say goodbye once we reach the entertainment company and quickly race home. When I reach my apartment, I rush to my recording room and quickly start to work on the song I had been writing. I finally have all the inspiration I need to finish it.

———What would y'all think if I did an NCT oneshot book? I would do fxm and mxm————