The Darling Captainess (ATEEZ 9th Member)

~ATEEZ ON THE ROAD~

(Wednesday March 13th, 2019; Two days before the tour)

"Does everyone have their stuff packed?" Hongjoong asked the group. "Yes!! I'm ready!!" Yunho answered from his room. "Me too!" Itzae says, coming out of her room with one of her suitcases. "Do you need help?" Jongho asked her. "Nah, I got it..." Itzae shook her head, continuing to pull her suitcase. "Here..." Jongho helped her grab her suitcase. "Is that everything for you?" He asked her. Itzae nodded, "The other one is over there." She gestured to the one by the door that's packed with her hair and makeup stuff. "I'm all packed!" Seonghwa came out with his bags. "Mingi! Are you ready?" He called for Mingi. "Coming!" Mingi answered from his room. 

"Looks like everyone is almost ready to go. Our driver is on his way to pick us up, we're making great time." Hongjoong nods, looking at his phone. "I still can't believe we're going on tour. It doesn't feel real..." Jongho says. "Right?? And it's going to be a homecoming for you, Izzy. Our first stop is Los Angeles." Seonghwa says to her. Itzae smiled widely, "Yes, it is. I can't wait!" She beamed. "Are your friends and family gonna be at the show?" Yunho asked her. Itzae nodded, "Yeah, they are. Knowing my dad, he's probably bringing my entire family. They're probably gonna take up an entire section." She chuckled on the last part. "It's that many people?" Yunho asked with a chuckle. "I have a big family." Itzae nodded. "Okay! I'm ready now." Mingi came out of his room with his suitcase. "Same here!" Wooyoung was ready, too. San and Yeosang joined them.

"Is that everyone?" Hongjoong asked. "Yes, we're ready." San nodded. Hongjoong nodded and checked his phone. "Great. Our driver's here. Let's get on the road." He says to the group. The members double and triple checked to make sure they have everything. Because once they start driving to the airport, there's no turning back. Everything is situated and they pile their luggage in the trunk and get in the SUV before driving to the airport. The sky was still pretty dark and the sun was barely rising due to the time being super early in the morning. A few of the members talked amongst themselves while the others fell asleep during the car ride. Seonghwa looked over to the step-siblings and smiled to himself. "Aww, how cute." He gestured to them. Itzae and Hongjoong were sitting next to each other, with Hongjoong getting the window seat. Hongjoong was sleeping with his head resting on the window and she was resting on his shoulder, also sleeping.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the airport. They checked in and now they're waiting to board their flight to LA. It wasn't super busy but there were still people around. Itzae came back from the cafe in the airport with cups of coffee and brown bags. "I got us all some banana bread and coffee." She says to the boys. The boys perked up and accepted them. "Thank you~! I'm starving." Seonghwa says, happily accepting the banana bread and coffee. "My baby sis is an angel~!" Hongjoong beamed. "You know I gotta feed my boys. We didn't really eat anything before we left." She grinned. "Thank you, jangmi~!" Mingi took a bite of his banana bread. "Can you sit next to me on the plane?" He asked her as she took her seat beside him. Jayla nodded, resting her head on his shoulder as she took a sip of her coffee and a bite of her bread. "Only if I get the window seat." She said to him. Mingi playfully pouted. "But I want the window seat..." He said. "No, I want the window seat..." Itzae said back. Mingi crossed his arms, pouting. "Hmph... Fine..." He sulked. She hugged his arm, trying to cheer him up. "We'll take turns. You get the window seat on the next flight, I promise." She held her pinky out. Mingi nodded and linked his pinky with hers. "Sounds fair. I'll hold you to it." He accepted. 

After a few hours of waiting and talking amongst themselves, they finally start boarding their flight. Everyone settles into their seats and they take one more look at the Incheon International airport before the plane eventually takes off. They're gonna be away from Korea for a little bit. But this time, it's not for training. They're on a world tour!

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Time skip 11 hours, Ateez landed in Los Angeles, California, Itzae's home. They touched down and she was so excited that her city was their first stop of the tour. It's only right because that's where Ateez started. They got off the plane, got their luggage, and left LAX. They got in their car and drove to their hotel to get settled into their rooms. While in the hotel room, Itzae called her friends and family to let them know the group made it to LA safely. They rested in the hotel for the rest of the day because they were all jet lagged. The next day, they had a few hours of free time before they had rehearsal. During that free time, Itzae and Hongjoong caught up with their friends and spent time with the twins, Jafar and Josiah (Jayla's older biological brothers, if y'all forgot). Itzae also visited some of her other family members on her dad's side, where they had a homecoming party for her. Her uncle, who's a tattoo artist, had a client and he jokingly offered her a tattoo. And this girl said yes. For a while, she's been thinking about getting a tattoo. Since she's only 17, she asked her dad if it was okay. He was okay with it as long as it's not anything inappropriate for her age. So after her uncle was done with his client, he hooked her up. She got a Gryffin wing tattooed on her left upper arm. After that, her cousin and her aunt did her hair and nails, styling her hair in blonde butterfly locs that came down to her knees. 

When she showed up to rehearsal, the boys were surprised to see her new look. "Izzy, your hair!" Seonghwa exclaimed as he and the rest of Ateez came over to her with hugs. "It's so long! And you got a tattoo?" Mingi marveled at the length of her butterfly locs and noticed her arm tat. Itzae hummed with a nod, looking at her Gryphon wing tattoo. "Yeah, I did." She says with a grin, running her hand through her freshly done knee length hair. "That's so cool~" San admired her tattoo. "Did it hurt?" Mingi asked. Itzae shook her head, "No. It just felt like someone was drawing on me with a pen." She answered. "But it's true when people say tattoos are addictive...'cause now I'm thinking about the next time I get another one." She admitted. Hongjoong chuckled, "Aish...Jamae... It's your choice, but please don't go crazy just yet. You're only 17." He said to his sister. "I know, I'll wait..." Itzae giggled. "You can get as many tattoos as you want, but just not the face. It's too beautiful." Mingi says to her. "I won't get my entire face tatted. What if I get a small one above my eyebrow?" Itzae asked him. Mingi thought about it and nodded. "That's fine." He says, earning a chuckle from her.

Ateez began rehearsing their set. They rehearsed as a group and Jayla rehearsed her set with her dancers. She was so excited to perform for Atiny, she could hardly contain herself. She was running and prancing across the stage, which the boys found super cute. "Jamae, I know you're excited and you look very cute doing that, but please calm down so we can get through this rehearsal." Hongjoong said to his stepsister with a chuckle. "I can't help it~! I'm fired up!" Itzae beamed, bouncing on her feet after doing a toe spin on stage. Hongjoong put his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. "I'm glad you're excited. But we have to focus." He told her. "I wanna join, that's looks fun." Mingi chimed in. "Mingi, no. There's no stopping you once you start." Hongjoong said to him, earning a pout from Mingi. "Awww..." He groaned.

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