Resolving Conflict | Ateez Superhero AU

Speculations

Jongho bit his lip so hard it might have bled. "Goodbye."

He placed down his phone on his desk soundlessly. His fingers felt as if they were permanently glued to his palms. They were so rigid and cold he could barely feel them.

"I'm going to talk to Hongjoong hyung." Mingi stared at the back of Jongho's head from the doorway.

Jongho turned his head around sharply. "And then what? Are you going to tell him that we should bring Yunho and the others back because you don't like staying incognito? Because you're bored out of your mind? Or is it because you're scared out of your wits?"

"Ya Choi Jongho! How dare you talk to me like that?!" Mingi raised his arm as if he was going to hit the younger, but he didn't make a move to walk closer.

Jongho winced at the noise, but glared back defiantly. "Go on. I know what you want to say. Just say it."

Mingi scoffed. He let his arm fall back to his side.

Jongho voiced out Mingi's thoughts. "You want to say that none of this would've happened if it weren't for Yunho." He lowered his voice, partly because it pained him to say it, and partly because he didn't want Hongjoong - who was outside reading - to hear them. Seonghwa was out buying groceries, so he didn't have to worry about him.

"Yea, so what?" Mingi replied with clear impertinence.

Jongho fought the urge to shout at his hyung, to force into Mingi's stubborn mind the message that it wasn't Yunho's fault. He had something more serious to say.

"Nothing has happened yet. You're over exaggerating. Amplifying the tiniest bit of negativity you have and drowning in self-pity. You've been doing that for the past 5 days, getting frustrated whenever you get tired of feeling sorry for yourself."

Mingi was fuming. "You-"

Jongho ignored him and increased his volume. "You just want to find someone else to blame."

A loud wham made Jongho jump in his desk chair.

Mingi had punched the door frame. A piece of it fell off, leaving a dent in the wall and crumbs on the floor. The air flow in the room had grind down to a stop. There was barely any ventilation. Mingi breathed heavily and gave Jongho a hard stare.

Jongho used silence as an answer. His intense expression made it obvious that he was using his powers.

"It's a waste of time and energy to talk to you."

Jongho watched Mingi leave the room, then faced his desk again and buried his head into his crossed arms.

-

"Hyung, do you want to go for a walk?"

Hongjoong nodded absently as he finished reading the sentence he was on. Then he closed the book and stood up.

"Sure."

Mingi was slightly taken aback by Hongjoong's easy-going reaction, especially since the leader had been closed off and largely unresponsive in his almost always locked room.

The pair left the stuffy house in a flash and strolled along a mountain path that led into the woods. Loblolly pine trees lined the path, standing tall over shorter wild berry bushes and weeds sprouted in the cracks of bare rocks.

The ground under their feet was soft and bare. They had to be the first one to trek through this mountain in a long time.

Hongjoong took a deep breath. "The air is so refreshing."