𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋! | ateez

fist-fight!

OCTOBER 25TH, 2120 A.D.
—AURORA SPACECRAFT.
[MARS BOUND.]

there are two things seonghwa hadn't expected when he woke up at five in the morning (korean standard time, that is. outside his little circular window, he'd have no fucking clue what the time was).

number one: no matter how many years of training seonghwa had undergone for this mission, he'd never be comfortable floating in a sleeping bag strapped to a wall, instead of actually lying down to sleep. it's weird, but he'll have to get used to it soon.

oh, and number two: he hadn't expected to be shaken out of his slumber by frantic thumping at his pod door, and the propane gas alarm ringing through his head.

"meeting, now- central bay," he hears from a breathless, panicking hongjoong, who's running down the module banging on each crew member's door. seonghwa winces as the commander's heavy footsteps shake the entire ship, and braces himself for chaos as he walks out, eyes still clouded by sleep.

he's the first to meet the erratic leader in the main room, who's pacing and gnawing at the peeling skin on his finger. he takes one short glance of acknowledgement towards seonghwa before nodding in his direction and turning to tap away furiously at the controls. from the screen, seonghwa can see he's putting modules two, three and four on lockdown. the trapdoor leading to the rooms under the central bay in level two is still open, though. that's probably where the problem lies, seonghwa suspects.

a bleary-eyed san, followed by a groggy wooyoung and yawning yunho file into the room. seonghwa watches hongjoong closely from the corner of his eye, observing his twitchy movements as he fidgets with his hands. he's known for having somewhat of a volcanic temper when under stress, and seonghwa notices the popped vein at his temple, and the way he tugs his lip with his teeth no doubt to prevent himself from yelling at the sluggish mingi, who's last to enter.

"there's a gas leak from the radiator in the repair room. i've put all the other rooms on lockdown, and the central bay is safe, so i'd like you all to stay down here whilst i fix it," hongjoong announces with gritted teeth. he sounds too authorative, too robotic, too structural. whilst seonghwa knows this is hongjoong's role as commander he's fulfilling, he can't help but dislike the stiffness of his tone and movement. without leaving any room for negotiation, the leader opens the trapdoor and climbs (floats, really. it's a comical sight) down to the room containing the leak. the rest of them are too tired to even argue with the commander anyway, but it's not like they want to. they all know how much of a perfectionist hongjoong is, and especially as the commander, a mistake (even if it's as small and manageable as a propane leak from a heater) on the first day (they hadn't even been in space for twenty-four hours) must feel like straight-up hell for the guy.

it takes a solid minute for hongjoong's words to sink in until wooyoung gasps.

"wait... but, i'm the engineer! hongjoong!" wooyoung scrambles after him, and the rest of them giggle at wooyoung's revelation. like the others, seonghwa floats mindlessly around the central bay, glancing over at their co-ordinates (they haven't moved yet, since they were supposed to start at six) and reserve fuel-levels. everything seems to be managed and running smoothly, save for the rebellious radiator downstairs.

five minutes is too long for seonghwa to just sit back and not help. he's second-in-command after all, and whilst he trusts hongjoong entirely, he has a itching feeling at the back of his brain that's begging to help him, or at least provide support. besides, whilst all of them are totally qualified to deal with a harmless gas leak, wooyoung's the engineer and can repair things within the blink of an eye, so really, seonghwa's got nothing to worry about.