Horizon || ATEEZ Space AU

Chapter 5: Round One

"Honestly, the teams are divided fairly," Jongho remarks with his mouth full of honey butter chips. A few precious snacks remain in the kitchen cabinets of their dorm, and Seonghwa has a feeling when they're gone, Soojin isn't planning on replacing them.

It's just after midnight and Team Z is still gathered in the common room, anticipating their introductory Dome visit in a few hours. The other members all went to bed somewhere around twenty minutes ago, but Seonghwa's too adrenalised to follow suit yet.

"Well, I don't know..." Yeosang sighs from next to him, grabbing a handful of chips for himself. "They have two engineers and two technicians on their team. You can bet they're going to come up with tricked out upgrades to whatever they can get their hands on and outsmart us the moment they get the chance."

"Not if we catch them off guard," Yunho insists, uncapping a bottle of soju. Seonghwa is tempted to ask where he got it. "It's probably safe to say we have the physical advantage. Play our cards right, think on our feet, and we can beat them."

"The environmental factor," Seonghwa finally says. He's been quiet for much of the discussion, but they're all forgetting one key thing. This isn't martial arts in a school gymnasium. It's a dynamic playing field and whatever game IPF chooses for them will be equally challenging, regardless of team rosters. "That's what's worrying me."

"Did you know," Mingi adds casually. "Only 75% of Dome training deaths occur because of environmental factors!"

Yunho literally spits out his drink and all four of them turn to Mingi. "Are you kidding me right now? How do you even know that?"

"Research," Mingi shrugs and reaches for more food, completely unphased. "It's nothing to panic over. It's 75% of only, like, 4 recorded deaths. A chemical burn, hypothermia, and a couple of equipment malfunctions."

"Recorded deaths," Jongho throws his hands in the air, almost spilling the honey butter chips everywhere. "Of course they'll only release information on recorded deaths."

"Wait," Seonghwa splutters. "Who's the other 25%?"

At this Mingi lowers his voice and leans closer. "One of the girls from Team REV was killed by a makeshift bomb a few years back. There's no telling how it got into the playzone but they investigated the entire opposing team and discharged all of them but one, the leader. That's why there are only five members."

"Thanks, now I don't want to go in there," Yunho flops back in his seat and eyes the exit like he's seriously considering running for it. "Not if it gets that intense."

"You don't think they'll do anything like that to us, do you?" Jongho asks suddenly, clearly referring to their newly appointed rivals, Team A. He suddenly seems very young to Seonghwa and though the words get stuck in his throat, Yeosang answers for him.

"They won't." His voice is firm and unmovable. "Wooyoung would never."

"That's probably exactly what they're saying to each other, too, if you think about it," Seonghwa almost whispers, afraid to even let the idea form. "They'd never expect us to treat it like the real deal."

"Are you saying we should?" Jongho quietly wonders with a tilt of his head. There's nothing on his face to give away his opinion on it.

"I don't know." Seonghwa is honest. "But I do know this isn't going to be a walk in the park for either side. We have to be ready to do what it takes."

There's mumbled agreement from all sides and then the snacks are being packed away and each of them wander back to their own rooms.

Again, Seonghwa finds Hongjoong already deeply asleep, nearly hidden in the blankets and not in any danger of waking to the quiet sounds of Seonghwa getting ready for bed.