Answer ||| Ateez

26

"Ok, feet apart." Seonghwa said quietly from where he stood behind Wooyoung. "Good, knees bent, and turn slightly to the side."

Wooyoung followed his directions perfectly, all while staring at the target at the end of the room.

Hongjoong had given them permission to use it after mumbling something about it keeping them out of his way, and Seonghwa would take what he could get right now.

They were both dressed in their stolen skin tight suits, this time without anything underneath so they fit much better, and were using all the knives Seonghwa had managed to grab.

He watched as Wooyoung twirled the knife in his hand nimbly between his fingers. It was almost strange... he had never seen such a dark look on the younger. The cold look in his eyes and the way he focused in on the target sent a chill down Seonghwa's spine.

"Alright, now you'll just draw your hand back and watch your follow through." Seonghwa took a step back to get out of the way. He watched as Wooyoung followed all his instructions perfectly. The knife flew from his hand and landed right in the middle of the target. Followed by three more. Seonghwa felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. "Wow, you're a natural."

Wooyoung smirked and twirled a fifth knife between each of his fingers. "I am, aren't I?" He looked over his shoulder. "I mean, it's really not that hard as long as you trust yourself and your body, and whether it's unfortunate or not, I know a lot about my body." Wooyoung's shoulders shook with a very sarcastic laugh before he whirled around and threw the last knife at the target. It nestled itself right in with the others.

A lump formed in Seonghwa's throat that he tried twice to swallow as he thought about the hidden meaning behind all of Wooyoung's words. And it was all because of his father. Mixed emotions tugged at Seonghwa's heart when he thought about the fact that Wooyoung had probably been envisioning his father while throwing the knives. And the holes were slowly filled with guilt...

Was it bad for him to be ok with and understand why Wooyoung would want his father dead? Was he a horrible son for it?

There was part of Seonghwa that didn't want anything bad to happen because he did love his father. They had been through a lot together, and for the longest time there was no one else Seonghwa had looked up to more. He aspired to be a powerful man, just like his father.

But now...

Seonghwa looked off to the side and crossed his arms while leaning against the wall. His mind wandered with all the conflicting thoughts battering at it like they were trying to break open a door.

What was he supposed to do?

"Hey..." Wooyoung said softly. He walked over and placed a hand on Seonghwa's crossed arms. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah." Seonghwa gave him a tight lipped smile. "Yeah, keep practicing." He urged.

"Please don't hide things from me." Wooyoung's voice dropped to a whisper. He stepped a little closer and looked up at Seonghwa with big, round eyes. "You've done so much for me in just a short time. The most I can do is help you empty your mind."

Seonghwa found himself sinking into honeyed brown eyes in front of him. He almost gave in and let all his fears spill from within him, but then he shook his head and dropped his hands, which in turn made Wooyoung drop his. "Thanks, but I'm ok, I promise."

Wooyoung dropped his gaze and nodded. He took a step back, then turned back to the target. Without another word, he retrieved his knives and started to practice once more.

Seonghwa bit his lip and made sure not to watch. He didn't want to feed into the younger's feelings for him when he wasn't sure what he thought about it still.