Resolving Conflict | Ateez Superhero AU

Trauma

D-1

"Yunho, you have a thousand missed calls." Wooyoung called for Yunho from the living room, where the forgotten phone was still vibrating on the table.

Yunho walked out his bedroom reluctantly and retrieved his phone. He knew who it was and he didn't want to talk to him. He didn't want to talk to anyone, in fact. He just wanted to complete the mission tomorrow successfully and prove to his teammates that he was correct all along.

Back in his room, Yunho unlocked his phone and sent a message to Seonghwa and Hongjoong. They had been calling him non-stop since a week ago, and he stopped picking them up after the first one, when he hung up rudely the moment he heard Hongjoong mention Seonghwa's vision.

Please stop calling me, hyung. You told me everything I needed to hear, and I did the same. I'm going tomorrow no matter what. I'm not forcing you to go, so please respect my decision.

Yunho was about to hit send when another incoming call caught his attention.

Incoming call 📲 Tiny Apple

Yunho's finger hovered over the "send" button and bit his lip. He tried fighting the urge, but failed to overcome the obligation of a big brother and eventually gave up on the messages.

His trembling thumb tapped on the green 'receive call' button.

"If you're here to talk about tomorrow I don't want to listen."

I'm not, I just... Jongho sighed. I don't know how to say this. Seonghwa-hyung really wants to talk to you-

"Forget it." Yunho moved his phone away from his ear and reached for the 'end call' button.

Wait!

Already nervous and on edge about what was going to happen in less than 24 hours, he jumped at Jongho's shout.

He's not going to say what you think he's going to say.

The sudden softness in Jongho's tone called out to the kind part of Yunho and urged him to give it another chance. Yunho knew this was always his weakness - the inability to be harsh towards his brother.

"Okay."

Yunho heard Jongho call for Seonghwa in distant voice.

To be honest, I wanted to use Jongho's phone to call you because I knew you wouldn't pick up otherwise, but Jongho wouldn't let me. He said he didn't want to lie to you.

Yunho didn't know why Seonghwa was telling him this, but the words still had their effect. He felt a lump forming in his throat and quickly swallowed to get rid of it. "Just tell me what you wanted to say so badly."

I want to you remind you that my visions always come true. It doesn't matter if you go or not, because it will happen eventually, under different circumstances.

Yunho's patience was running thin. He knew all this, but it didn't matter because he didn't believe it. "It's not going to happen. It might be dangerous, yes, but every mission we went on had their risks."

That's... Seonghwa realized where this was going and stopped before he could say more. I'm not here to convince you not to go. All I'm saying is please be careful. I trust that you'll do the best for the group when you have to make a choice.

A chill traveled down Yunho's spine as he recognized the same exact sentence Seonghwa said that night after the celebration dinner. He debated whether or not to tell Seonghwa about the choice he already made, to stay here so that the group won't be arrested, so that they would have a chance to use their powers for good cause again.