The Prophecy of 8 (Ateez Greek Mythology AU)

Chapter 6: The Drunk

Wooyoung just got out of school and was making his way home. Well not his home, his foster home. It didn't feel like home at all, he felt out of place there. Like a lake in the desert, it doesn't belong. He doesn't belong. He got to the house and said hi to his foster parents, a lovely gay couple, and he could tell they really tried to make him happy, but it didn't work.

"Hey Namjoon, Hey Seokjin." The boy says, waving.

"Hey Wooyoung, how was school?" Jin asks.

"It went well, going to go up to my room. I have to work on a paper, it's about Greek Mythology, and I was assigned Dionysus, the Greek God of wine." Wooyoung says, explaining his essay.

"I wrote a song about him, actually... he is quit the drunk." Namjoon says, laughing. "Good luck on the essay, let me know if you need anything."

"Will do." Wooyoung says while running up the steps to his room. Setting his book bag on his bed and sitting at his desk, opening his laptop. He typed in his password, and quickly pulled up Google. Typing in the name of his research topic, Dionysus. He clicked the first link that popped up which was wikipedia, he knows he isn't supposed to use it but it's just so simple. He reads the first sentence in the article

"Dionysus is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity and theatre."

Ritual madness? Wooyoung thought.

"So fucking cool..." he whispers to himself.

"Language!!" He heard his foster brother say. Wooyoung turned to see his little brother Hwanwoong scolding him for his profanity.

"Don't tell dad what I said and I will give you candy." Wooyoung said, taking a grape lollipop out of the candy jar he had on his desk.

"Okay!!" Hwanwoong nodded, before taking the candy and running off.

"Ugh, children." Wooyoung rolled his eyes, turning back to continue his research. He was fascinated by this God. Wooyoung liked to think of himself as a connoisseur of wine himself... well really he just enjoyed drinking a little too much.. He may only be 18 but that doesn't stop him from drinking. He blames his alcohol addiction on two things. The first being his absent father, who he never knew and doesn't care to at this point. The second being his mother, who thought it would be funny to drink herself to death, he always saw her with a bottle in her hand. When that bottle wasn't being thrown at him. She said she blamed his father for the way she is, which Wooyoung never really understood. He remembers the day a police officer picked him up from school in 8th grade. Telling him that his mother died, she crashed into a tree. Blood alcohol level at 0.25, which means she had alcohol poisoning. They let him go home to pack up some stuff and then brought him here, where he has lived ever since. In 10th grade he was invited to a party, there he took his first sip of alcohol and he was hooked instantly. He really didn't enjoy the drinking part of drinking, he enjoyed the numbness. The lack of feeling, the lack of thinking. Not being able to mull over everything that has happened in his life. Now reading about this God of wine, Dionysus sounds like someone Wooyoung could get behind. Wooyoung started the essay but didn't get too far when he got distracted by the urge to drink. He glanced at the clock, it was only 4pm, the bars wouldn't be busy enough for him to get in without being carded. Wooyoung always looked older than he was. He got a fake ID when he was 17, and became a regular to a hole in the wall bar down the street. They only carded him the first few times and eventually they just stopped carding him at all. Wooyoung decided he would sneak out when it hit 9PM. So he had 5 hours to... avoid working on this essay at all costs.

He decided to watch a musical, he was always into musical theater. Which Dionysus is the God of... so this is technically research...right? Wooyoung tried to justify the waste of time, but then he realized he didn't need to justify it. He does what he wants. He decided to watch Wicked. One of his favorite musicals. He got sucked in instantly, singing along, especially to Defying Gravity, despite not really being able to hit the notes as well as Idinia. After Wicked he moved on to Hamilton, another all time favorite. After he finished Hamilton, he got up, wiping tears from his eyes. The ending always makes him cry, which he would never admit to anyone. He checked the time and saw it was 8. He decided to shower and get ready to sneak out. His foster parents were old, they always went to bed around this time, and they never checked up on him anyway. After his shower and getting ready he ran down to the kitchen to eat something before leaving. Once he finished eating he went upstairs and said goodnight to Namjoon and Seokjin. Then he walked into his room and shut the door making sure to lock it before heading over to his open window and climbing out. He was lucky he was athletic enough to maneuver his way down the side of his house. Once both feet were on the ground, Wooyoung began walking to the bar. Making sure he had enough money with him even though he usually had guys buy him drinks, making sure to flirt with them and hold eye contact a little longer than normal. Brushing his leg against theirs if they were being extra stingy.