Ice Hearts || ATEEZ ✔️

thirty-four

Ae Ri's POV

"Thank you, unnie. For everything; sharing your story, teaching me so much and even protecting me." I told her sincerely, glad to know she has finally opened up to me and even accepted me. She patted me on my back before walking out the balcony while I continued to sit there. The whole night I kept thinking about what Y/n unnie had told me. She's such a strong person, what I went through wasn't even half of what she had.

I decided to knock on Hongjoong oppa's door after standing in front of it for some time. "Ae Ri? Why are you still awake? Are you okay?" His worried eyes scanned me as he held my shoulder, scanning me up and down to see if I'm injured anywhere. I smiled at his concern, giving him a tight hug. "Can I sleep with you tonight? I don't want to be alone?" I could tell he was shocked, pleasantly, returning my hug as he pulled me into his room. I feel the safest with him, in his arms...I thought to myself as sleep finally found me.

The next day

3:27pm

"Oh god, I think my arm is going to break." I was out of it as my arms burnt, trying to aim the gun at the target. It was Yunho and Mingi's turn to train me; guns. Not gonna lie but I was scared of them, not the boys but the guns. They made such loud noises and it reminded me of when Jongho got shot. I was pulled back to reality as Yunho and Mingi started practising on their own. "Seriously, you should have seen Y/n when she was shooting while standing in the car. Man, that's the coolest I've see of her." Yunho was bragging about his best friend while imitating Y/n unnie.

Just by imagining, it seemed so cool. No wonder Yunho's bragging about her to Mingi and I who weren't in the same car. "Yunho, quit it. You're embarrassing." Y/n unnie had walked past us right at the moment, throwing a bottle of water at the tall boy before walking away like it was nothing. The scene made Mingi and I laugh at the beagle-like boy who was whining and running off to find Y/n unnie. Unnie is right, we're lucky to have this family, to have each other.

Changbin's POV

"WHAT?! Seungmin, what do you mean by this is a fake?" I could hear Chan hyung shouting from his room which was right next to mine. Fake? What's fake? At that moment, he called us over for an emergency meeting. He was obviously agitated as he kept slamming his fist onto the table while speaking.

"They lied to us. ATEEZ and the girls...they gave us a fake USB. The real one is still with them. Guess we need to meet them again...with a special request this time." Chan hyung trailed off, an evil smirk replacing the anger on his face. Oh no, this is not going to be good.

"Hey! Shit head! Why the hell did you guys give Chan a fake? He's angry as hell now and he's preparing something again." I gave Y/n a quick warning again. The last attack, I wasn't able to warn her as Chan hyung kept changing his plans. This time better go smoothly...

Y/n's POV

I groaned as I heard Changbin's voicemail. What are they up to again? I was taking a break from practice, my crossbow next to me. It was actually a gift from Changbin, he was also the one who taught me how to use it; the start of my training. During the one year in Japan, Changbin had taught me the basics of various weapons, but he couldn't stay for long or else the other SKZ members would suspect him.

That was how Nakamoto Yuta became my trainer instead, teaching me how to fight and all. I could remember how I would black out every time after his "intensive training" that he should have just called it self-torture. I shook my head with a slight smile thinking back at the memories, looking up to see Seonghwa oppa leaning against the door.

"Why are you smiling to yourself?" He asked with a soft smile on his face, a bow in his hand. "Nothing, just old times." I replied as I grabbed my own bow that was hung on the wall next to me. We began firing the arrows at the targets, archery was a skill only the two of us had and it was one of my favourites. Seonghwa oppa had let me try archery when I was staying with them and I fell in love with it.

The boys didn't want me trying other stuff, saying "You're too soft for these scary stuff". Oh look how tables have turned. A year wasn't long but I had practiced from morning to night, every single day with a resolution to be able to protect myself better than anyone else. I did it, Yuta said I was one of the best he's seen despite the short training period I went through. Hard work does pay off but my fears remain, and now I'm determined to overcome them; I'm not going to hide anymore.

ahhhh omg 1k reads!! thank u everyone :)

~thedouble_a (5/5/20)