Mirrored Match // ATEEZ ✔

= 4 =

5:30 in the morning and four alarms simultaneously go off, the owner of the lower bunk bed of the right room the first to open his eyes. Seonghwa yawns as he puts a hand over his mouth, stretching and hissing in pain as his long hands hit the metal frame of the bed above. This seems to be an effective way of waking up the person above him as the bed slightly rocks with San's shrill voice announcing to the whole dorm that he has waken up. Not long after, a loud thud reverberates through the small room as San lands on the floor right after he had jumped off the top bunk.

They lock eyes and a moment passes before San says slowly but steadily, "Me first." He doesn't wait to hear Seonghwa's answer as he bolts out of the room, grabbing his towel on the way.

The only bathroom of their two-room dorm is located right in the middle of the pathway of their bedrooms. If they were to come out at the same time, both would have the same chance of arriving at the bathroom. As San slides out of the bedroom, he sees that Jongho is closing the door to his own bedroom, a towel on his shoulder. They make eye contact and suddenly it's war.

"Choi Jongho!" San shouts as he feels like his feet couldn't bring him faster to the bathroom.

With a reply shouting his name in turn from Jongho, they meet right in front of the bathroom as they struggle to push each other away from the door, but they're only effectively pulling each other back, not one able to advance more than the other. Their hands are all over the place, their towels becoming impromptu weapons as they whip around the fabric, hitting the other while shouting "Me first!" repeatedly. What they don't hear is the bedroom door being closed and Seonghwa casually walking only with his pants, already having his t-shirt discarded in the laundry basket. He only shakes his head as he avoids the altercation and steps into the bathroom.

"After me, suckers," he says while cackling as he shuts the bathroom door loudly and makes a point to lock it.

"Park Seonghwa!" both San and Jongho say in disbelief and in unison, with the latter thumping on the door before sliding to the floor.

With slumped shoulders, they sit cross-legged in front of the door, staring at some parts of it decorated with mould, some parts splintered. They look at the surface then to the clock, then to the bedroom on the left as Yunho emerges, his hair unkempt and eyes half-shut. Looking like he's sleepwalking, he only gives a passing look to the two, unquestioning as to why they're admiring the bathroom door before he goes over to their kitchenette to have a gulp of water.

"If he goes over 15 minutes, which I'm sure he will," Jongho starts, "we're breaking down the door. If we happen to be late, all blame is to be put on Park Seonghwa."

"Absolutely."

Seonghwa sings loudly in the shower, taunting the rest outside as he uses the shower head as a microphone, taking his time to lather up the soap and shampoo his hair. The thumping of the door by Jongho is drowned by his constant singing, and as he steps out of the cubicle, he takes his time to admire his own face. He nods in satisfaction as he trails his eyes to the body he worked so hard for and the hair that he keeps to have it grow past his earlobes. He wraps the towel around his lower body before he opens the door, greeted by a grumbling San and Jongho.

Without an ounce of guilt he sidesteps them, mumbling a "Next" to the duo, and leaving them to fight over who's going to be the next person to take a shower. It's almost 6 a.m. but Yunho is calmly chomping down on cereal, giving a half-awake wave to Seonghwa. Just before he enters the bedroom it seems that Jongho has won the fight as San is left screeching Seonghwa's name, saying that he took almost half an hour in the shower.

"Not my fault you guys don't work smart," he chuckles before shutting the bedroom door.

Standing in front of his and San's clothes rack, he puts his hands on his hips as he tries to locate his crispest suit, as per Madam Seo's order. He gasps when he sees that his suit is squished among two pieces of San's bulky clothes, resulting in the suit being crinkled. With his left eye twitching as his shaky hands take down the suit, he looks at the piece of clothing in his hand which has crinkles and creases all over.