Another Fairy Tale /Ateez

Chapter 42 - One last play

From that moment, we started to hang out a few times
Turning up the music and dancing together
Was the most exciting part of our hangouts
For the first time, I actually felt alive

- Dear Diary : 2016.07.29, Ateez

When Hongjoong woke up the next morning, he looked over to his side and saw his foot was almost in Yeosang's face. Embarrassed he pulled it back and stood up, careful to not wake anyone. He looked over to Rory and Yunho, who were sleeping peacefully on the couch. Something seemed familiar, but Hongjoong shook it of, softly pulling a blanket over them. But then he couldn't help taking a picture of the both cuddling together, almost drooling on each other. 

With a smile Hongjoong stretched and greeted Ms. Choi in the kitchen, who was preparing breakfast. "Good morning." 

"Oh, Hongjoong!", Ms. Choi said happily and ruffled his already messy hair. "You prefer coffee, right?" 

Hongjoong nodded, amazed the woman remembered such small details about him. Once again he couldn't help but respect her, something not many people earned from Hongjoong. Even before the accident he liked visiting Jongho the most out of his friends, mostly because of him of course, but partly because Ms. Choi made it feel like a second home. 

Ms. Choi leaned closer to him, a worried look on her face as she inspected the eyepatch. Then she sighed and put her hands on his shoulders. "Are you being treated well? Your parents are at home right?" 

Once again, Hongjoong nodded and put on a fake smile, knowing his parents were at home, not caring a bit about him. When he had come back to a house he once called home, they had already thrown out his things as if he never existed. Hurt, Hongjoong had gone to Seonghwa, the only one who knew about his situation at home, who helped him a lot. 

Still, Ms. Choi had a worried look on her face, knowing exactly something was wrong thanks to her grandmother senses, but didn't say anything. Instead, she took a look outside and gave Hongjoong a mug of coffee. "Seonghwa's outside. You should talk to him." 

Confused Hongjoong took a sip and went outside and immediately spotted Seonghwa sitting on a bench in front of the already burned out campfire. He sat down next to him, not saying a word. So both friends were sitting on the bench, watching the sunrise and enjoying the peace. 

Then Seonghwa put away his cup of coffee and stared at the bracelet around his wrist. "I miss her. All of them." 

"Me too.", Hongjoong whispered. 

"I really loved having a sleepover with the others, but it feels weird to be happy, knowing they don't have the chance to again." 

Hongjoong looked at his friend, not sure how to cheer him up. Usually he'd help him with everything he could, but there was no way to bring back the dead. Now, even Hongjoong had no idea what to do.

"But you can't feel guilty everytime you feel happy, Hwa. It would destroy you." 

"I know but I just can't help it. It- it just doesn't feel right. What would I do to see them smile again? To see them talk about the play again? To see them getting nervous at the premiere? This will never happen again." 

"Then remember it the best you can.", Hongjoong said. Then something came into his mind. "We are still the theatre club, right?" 

"Kind of, but I'm not in the mood to act anything. On top of that there's only nine people left. What could we play then? It wouldn't feel right to replace them."