Answer ||| Ateez

22

Everything had happened so fast that Wooyoung still didn't know how to process the fact that he was speeding away from his personal hell.

The only thing that he could focus on was the pain he was in. All the running and climbing up stairs had not helped his bruised and battered body, and now sitting in the car was making it worse.

But he bit the inside of his cheek and put up with it. He had to.

For Seonghwa.

He glanced over at the older to study the stone-cold look on his face. It was unreadable. Which made sense... He had just risked everything to help Wooyoung escape.

And now they were speeding down some back road with no plan and no place to go. If either of them were caught... Seonghwa might be spared, but Wooyoung knew that Mercer would kill him.

It wouldn't be pleasant either.

Mercer had often talked about all the horrible things he wanted to do to him... Things that made Wooyoung pray he could shoot or stab himself long before they actually happened.

His thoughts strayed to something Mercer had said tonight... Why was he scared about losing Seonghwa? They had always been together.

But more importantly... Why was he scared that Wooyoung had stolen Seonghwa from him again.

None of it made sense.

Wooyoung shifted in his seat a little and pulled off another knife off his body suit and studied it. He had never been allowed to be near a weapon before. He wrapped one finger at a time around the hilt and found he loved the weight of it in his hand.

It felt right.

"Careful with that." Seonghwa said, capturing Wooyoung's attention. He quickly pressed the knife to his thigh again.

"I know."

"Are you ok?" Seonghwa's grip on the steering wheel tightened and his eyes never left the road, but there was a hint of concern in his voice.

"I'm not sure. I'm still... Why did you do that?"

The silence was thick and heavy as he waited for an answer. But he would wait as long as it took, because he needed to know why Seonghwa just gave up everything for him.

Part of his abused mind was worried that this was some kind of trap or sick game Mercer had created just to torment him more. He wouldn't put it past the man.

But the look on Seonghwa's face told him that this was real, and that Seonghwa had just betrayed his own flesh and blood and the most powerful man around.

"Where are we going?" He asked when he received no answer, but once again Seonghwa stayed silent.

The younger let out a little sigh, then shifted in place.

"Here." Seonghwa reached over with one arm and guided Wooyoung so that he was laying down over the center console with his head in Seonghwa's lap facing his stomach.

The relief it brought was almost instantaneous and Wooyoung couldn't help but groan with relief. The console wasn't the most comfortable thing to lay on, but he would take it over the constant burn from his punishment earlier.

Seonghwa surprised him by leaving an arm draped over him in what felt like an attempt to show some kind of comfort. It made him blush a little, but he didn't want to read into it too much.

They drove in silence for several more minutes before Seonghwa let out a long sigh. "I don't know where we are going. Father has eyes everywhere. We should ditch this car as soon as possible."