Black Cat //Ateez

°17°

Once Hongjoong regained from his shock, he turned to look at the door, from where Seonghwa got out.

He had questions. There was no way he could escape from them. From the way Seonghwa reacted to take them to his house, to what he had just said.

He really needed to talk to Seonghwa about this. But he was so out of place, and he had other things to do too.

One thing that surely troubled him was if he was gonna stay there with Seonghwa, or take his brothers and leave.

That was something that he had to discuss with Seonghwa and immediately. It wasn't quite clear to him yet what Seonghwa meant. And especially what Seonghwa said about him winning the deal. How was this possible? Was Seonghwa serious?

He took a deep breath, immediately getting outside of the room. He really needed to see how his brothers were.

Walking down the hallway, he heard laughs from the living room, they were exactly where he left them. San was sitting on Jongho, while the cat was sitting close by.

"Hi Joongie" The little said with a small voice, waving at his brother.

Hongjoong smiled warmly at them, and moved closer. He took a nearby chair and sat down. San was fast enough to leave Jongho and sit on his older brother.

"How are you?" Hongjoong asked the two, earning smiles from them.

"I'm better. A lot better actually. It almost doesn't hurt" Jongho said, unable to hold his smile and enthusiastic voice. Today was the best day, nearly nothing hurted him. Aside from a small headache.

Hongjoong took Jongho's hands on his, placing a kiss on them.

"That's good to hear. Maybe you're indeed becoming better"

"Maybe. The atmosphere in here helps a lot. I don't know why or how, but it does help"

Hongjoong was happy. Even more happy than Jongho. The fact that he was feeling better, made Hongjoong sigh in relief.

"How about you little man?" He turned his attention to San, who seemed occupied playing with his red hair.

"I'm good too. Now that you're here" He said, snuggling against his chest.

"But Joongie, why are we here?" Jongho asked, quite confused. He hadn't really spoken with Seonghwa, he just wanted to talk about this with his brother.

"I don't know Jongie. I guess Seonghwa wanted some company and, here we are"

"I don't mind. I like Mr Hwa" San was heard. The two looked at him with an arched eyebrow, amused by the littles innocence.

"By the way, where is he?" Hongjoong asked, seeing that there was no trace of the witch.

"Oh, he said that he would go out. He said he wanted to give us space"

"Ahh, how kind of him" He said, sounding a little bit sarcastic.

Their conversation replayed in his head. What was he supposed to do? A part of him was telling him to just leave and go to his house, but there was another one, that told him to stay. And he didn't know which one was the best.

"Let me ask you something" He said after some time, his stare being glued to the wall opposite of him.

The two looked intensely at their older brother, waiting to hear what he was gonna ask.

"Let's just say, hypothetically, that we won't go to our house. That we will live here, together with Seonghwa, and maybe for a long time. Would you like that?"

He finished, and waited for their answer. If he wanted to do one of his two options, he should at least ask them. It was their choice too.

" I don't wanna go back. I like Mr Hwa, he keeps us company" San said rather quickly. Truth is that, he didn't wanna go home. He didn't know why, but he just felt better in Seonghwas house. He liked it there.

"What about you Jongho?"

"I mean, I don't know. I don't want to trouble Seonghwa. I'm sure he has better things to do than keeping us under his roof" He said while pouting, looking at his lap. He played with his fingers, unsure of what to think.

He liked this house. And he surely liked Seonghwa. He was so kind and sweet towards them, Jongho felt really comfortable with him. It was like they had been known for years.

"Hongjoong are we going back home?" The older asked, seeing the skeptical look on his face.

"I mean, if you want to go back home, we can go. It's not like someone is pressuring us"

"I don't want to go. Please Joongie" The smaller said, whining and bouncing on Hongjoongs lap.

"San, we can't be a bother to Seonghwa. I can't even understand why he did this" Jongho said, trying to change his brothers mind. He wasn't able to grasp what was happening yet.

Hongjoong was about to speak, but stopped himself when he heard the door opening. Seonghwa got inside the house, watching the three brothers looking at him with silence.

"Hello" He said quietly, breaking them from his daze.

"Hello Mr Hwa" San said with his happy voice. The only one who would be happy at this hour.

"Is everything alright?" The witch smiled at them, seeing that Hongjoong and Jongho didn't speak.

"Yeah we were just having a conversation" Hongjoong said, gulping, visibly nervous at this point. What was he supposed to do.

"OK, that's good. If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen. I hope you like mushroom soup" He said kindly, and started walking to the kitchen.

"Hongjoong are you going to tell him?" Jongho said whispering, seeing that Seonghwa was walking away.

"Tell me what Jongho?" The witch turned around, knowing exactly what they were talking about.

Jongho's heart hammered against his chest, not liking how he was caught. But Seonghwas soft tone calmed him. He thought that he was going to scold him.

"Emm, about out stay here" Hongjoong said hesitantly, keeping eye contact with Seonghwa.

The witch smiled hearing that, nodding his head.

"We will have plenty of time to discuss that while earing lunch, what do you think?"

They all nodded and watched as Seonghwa disappeared inside the kitchen.

"Why do you wanna leave? Mr Hwa is really nice" San said while pouting, getting out of his brothers lap. He walked and sat down on the floor, seeing that Byeol was sitting there too.

The cat sencing him meowed happily, getting closer to the boy, letting him pet it. It had taking a liking on San.

Hongjoong was yet again lost in his thoughts. He knew that San didn't like the idea of going back home. And Jongho.. He wasn't quite sure himself. Hongjoong wanted to hear what his brothers were saying, but, he didn't get a clear answer.

And the question was, did he wanted to stay there? Did Hongjoong wanted himself to live with Seonghwa? Another question that had no definite answer.

He liked the witch, that was for sure. And he was kinda missing him when they were apart. He didn't know why he felt like that, but he couldn't deny what was happening.

He was gonna set things straight with Seonghwa. He was gonna discuss with him about this, and also about his wish. And maybe confront him about his feelings. Maybe he could understand what was happening.