Resolving Conflict | Ateez Superhero AU

Countdown

D-7, 1 week before the smuggling operation

Hongjoong was working on his laptop when his phone rang. He stopped everything he was doing and picked it up.

"Yeosang?"

Yes hyung, it's me.

Relief washed over Hongjoong - he had waited nearly one week for Yeosang to call back with information or anything that might prove the government threatening to the team - but he straightened his back, and braced himself for whatever Yeosang had to say.

"Did you find something?"

Kind of. I'm sorry it took me this long. A lot of places are out of bounds, and they are still really strict on what we do or where we're going.

Hongjoong was reminded of the one visit they made a while ago. "Don't you get holidays anymore?"

No, that seemed to be a one time thing. Maybe it's just so Yunho can talk to Kim - the person in charge of us - without us listening in.

It sounded like an extreme measure just to prevent eavesdropping, but Hongjoong didn't question further. He realized he got sidetracked worrying about his members. He shook his head and refocused on the more important things that could hopefully make this all end soon.

"So what did you find?"

I didn't see anything like Mingi did last time, so I still can't be sure whether there are other people like us.

Hongjoong had suspected that too, but it sounded so ridiculous to him that he dismissed it again and again. Now that he heard it from Yeosang, it occurred to him that perhaps he was just too scared to believe it.

"Go on." Hongjoong stood up and walked to the open window so he could get a breath of fresh air.

Kim talked to us this morning - she does every few days to see how we're doing, to make sure we didn't cause any trouble. Today she told us what our first assignment is. She knew almost everything. As if she knows there will be a crime we have to stop.

Hongjoong frowned. Everything would automatically make sense if the government were in fact hiding people with superpowers, but there weren't nearly enough evidence.

Yunho thinks they are staging it themselves so they can gain credit.

"That makes sense," said Hongjoong. He didn't know if it was true, but it was easier to believe than his presumption about there being more super humans.

Another explanation can be that they caught one of the person involved and forced him to tell them everything about their plans.

"Right." Hongjoong massaged the bridge of his nose, which was aching from frowning so hard. "Do you know where you're going?"

No, Kim only told us the date and what we'll generally be doing.

Hongjoong closed his eyes to steady himself. Seonghwa only saw shipment containers, so no one knew where it was going to happen. Hongjoong could only hope that it was close enough to them that they would have time to rush there and intercept if they had to.

"Do you have anything else to add?"

What if we were wrong all along? What if we are just going on a normal mission?

"As much as I would like that to happen, Seonghwa's visions don't lie."

-

D-6