Illusions [Ateez x Reader]

Chapter 40

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Guys, this story is going to have a rollercoaster of different emotions as I close it out. Just please be prepared.
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"Hiya baby!" Yunho exclaims happily, coming over to hug me.

      I give him a slight smile, then push away from him, moving to go sit on a chair away from the others.

  "How was the meeting?" Hongjoong asks after I take a seat.

I look at him, almost blankly. "I thought Seonghwa would have told you already."

"He said he wanted you to tell us," Mingi pipes in softly.

"Oh," I hum. "They offered me a job and I took it."

"Well that's great baby!" Wooyoung exclaims happily.

"Yeah," I agree, mumbling. "Hey uh, I'm gonna go and change into some comfy clothes."

Before any of the boys can comment, I am already up and out of my chair, heading up to grab some clothes.

*Third Person POV*

    "Does Y/N seem to be acting weird to everyone else?" Jongho wonders as soon as Y/N is out of ear shot.

     "Yeah a little bit," Seonghwa nods. "But maybe he/she/they are just really tired. Y/N has had a slightly long day."

      "It's possible," Yeosang agrees, unsure. "But Y/N always gets clingy when he/she/they are tired. It's just how Y/N is. So this is kinda odd."

      "Yeah, Y/N is always a cute clingy baby when tired. So something is definitely different," San agrees with Yeosang, worried for their most recently gained soulmate.

"Let's just see how the rest of the night plays out," Hongjoong suggests. "And if he/she/they continue to seem off, we can talk about it tomorrow with Y/N."

"Sounds good," Yunho nods, the others chiming in in agreement afterwards.

Footsteps sound through the room as Y/N descends down the stairs, emerging back into the room. All the members of Ateez watch as their soulmate refuses to look at any of them, instead heading straight for the seat he/she/they had been in minutes before, distanced from any of the boys.

"Y/N," Yeosang calls out softly. "Do you want anything to eat?"

Y/N shakes his/her/their head quickly. "No I'm good. Thank you though."

"But baby," Wooyoung whines. "You haven't eaten since you got home. And you got home late."

     "I'm honestly not hungry," Y/N defends immediately, looking uncomfortable. Then, in a voice barely loud enough to be a whisper, "And please don't call me that."

     "What?" Jongho asks, not understanding the last part.

      Y/N shakes his/her/their head slowly. "Nevermind, it wasn't important."

     "Oh okay," Jongho agrees, softly.

      "Do you want to go to sleep?" San questions after a beat of silence.

       "I actually would," Y/N mutters quietly. "If you don't mind."

      "Not at all," Mingi immediately responds.

      "You can stay in my room tonight," Hongjoong states immediately after Mingi.

      "Oh," Y/N nods, avoiding eye contact with Hongjoong. "That's fine. I'm gonna go ahead and head up."

     Hongjoong begins to stand after Y/N left the room, only to get pulled down by Wooyoung again.  "What?"

      "Ask questions if you have to," Wooyoung commands. "Just try and figure out what is wrong!"

     The others nod in agreement with the statement.

     "I'll try," Hongjoong assures then, placing quick pecks on their cheeks before getting up and heading into his room.

     Once Hongjoong is in his room, he sees Y/N curled up by his/her/their self on the bed, covers pulled up to his/her/their chin. Hongjoong carefully and slowly crawls into the other side of the bed and slides himself under the covers. He goes to place an arm around Y/N's waist, but Y/N quickly moves out of his grip.

"Y/N-ie," Hongjoong utters quietly.

*Y/N's POV*

When Hongjoong mutters my name, I try not to respond. I really don't feel like talking right now. When it seems like I'm not going to respond to him, Hongjoong continues.

"I don't know if you are asleep or not," he begins. "But I'm worried about you. We all are. I mean, you came home today and have tried to avoid talking or touching us like the plague. I don't remember us doing or saying anything recently that could constitute such a reaction, but one of us must have done something right?"

I can hear him chocking on his tears, making me almost start to shed a few myself.

"You wouldn't, at least I really really hope you wouldn't, ignore us like this without us having done or said something. I just, really hope you have a reason for scaring us like this. We all love you so much, and are so worried about what is going on."

I can't hear his tears subsiding a bit, but not much.

"But anyways, I'll let you sleep peacefully now. I love you so much, lovely. Goodnight."

Goodnight Love.

*The Next Morning*

When I woke up this morning, Hongjoong was already up and out of the bed. To be honest, that was kind of a relief for me. I got up and got dressed, sluggishly dragging myself into the kitchen, seeing the members of Ateez already there when I arrived.

     "Good morning," Yunho hums softly as I walk in.

     I nod, taking a seat to the far left of all of the boys.

     "Hey uh Y/N?" Yeosang calls out.

     "Hm?"

      "What's wrong?" Yeosang finishes.

       I cock my head to the side in false confusion. "What do you mean? Nothing is wrong. I'm fine."

     "No you're not," Mingi interrupts. "Something is off and it has been since you go home yesterday."

      "Nothing is off," I defend myself, crossing my arms. "And it's honestly a bit rude for you to ask."

     "We just care about you Y/N," Jongho mutters softly. "We just want to know what's wrong."

"Well nothing is fucking wrong!" I growl out. "And you didn't care about if anything was wrong for years, so stop caring now!"

Silence falls over the boys, broken hearted looks taking over their faces.

My eyes widen in realization at what I just said.

"Do you really think so low of us now?" Hongjoong questions, his voice quivering slightly.

I shake my head rapidly. "No no I don't! I promise I don't! It just slipped out! Oh fuck, I'm so so so sorry. Oh my god I'm so sorry."

Tears begin to well up in my eyes and chocked sobs build up in my throat. I stare at them, tears falling as I begin to back towards the front door. "I uh, I gotta go now. Yeah, I've screwed to much up here. Fuck I'm sorry."

"Y/N wait!" Seonghwa calls from behind me, but I'm too far ahead.

I rush out the door, barely giving myself enough time to slip my shoes on. Instead of pausing when I hear them calling out for me, I push forward and begin running even faster away from the dorm. I begin to run out of breath, so I slow down. As I slow to a stop from running, I look around at my setting.

And I am completely lost.