𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 | Seongjoong/Ateez ff

Chapter Ten

Mingi looked at Hongjoong from where he was sitting in tha practice room.

They all had been there for at least half an hour but they hadn't been able to actually practice. I mean, who would when the tension was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife?

Mingi had tried to talk to Hongjoong, he really did, but the older always found something, anything, that could bring him out of the conversation.

"Hey Min, did something happen with you and Hongjoong?" A voice snapped him back into reality.

He turned to face Yunho better. Even when he was so sad that Hongjoong avoided him a warm feeling settled in his chest once his eyes got fixed on the mint haired male beside him.

"Oh, Yunho. Yeah, we broke up."

"Oh... I'm sorry..." Yunho rested a hand on Mingi's knee in what was probably supposed to be a comforting gesture, however that simple touch seemed to lit Mingi on fire.

"It's... complicated. I hoped that our friendship would remain the same but I guess it will need a lot of time..." Mingi sighed dropping his head.

While Mingi thought abojt their friendship however, Hongjoong was doing his best in trying to camuflage his guilt and embarassement.

God, he almost slept with someone the same day he had broken up with Mingi. He was so ashamed he couldn't look at anyone in the eyes withoit the worry of them finding something out.

Not that there was anything wrong -he hadn't cheated after all- but it was incredibly difficult to hold his groupmates gazes with the awareness of what he had almost done.

If that wasn't enough, he probably wouldn't have stopped if it wasn't for Seonghwa backing off first. He had been far too drunk, far too aroused and cought up in the moment to stop by himself.

And he was so deep in thoughts that almost all of his sadness from the break up had washed away from him, leaving him just a confused and ashamed mess.

Because why all he could think about right now was just Seonghwa, Seonghwa, and Seonghwa again?

...

Seonghwa had just finished his shift at the bakery.

It had been two days since he and Hongjoong had met at the bar, and even less since he awkwardly said bye the next morning without even waiting for an answer.

If someone happened to ask him how he was doing he would probably reply with conflicted.

Yes, conflicted was the right word for what he was currently experiencing.

He regretted stopping the younger so much, but at the same time he believed he did the right thing. They were both drunk and driven by the alcohol -ok maybe Seonghwa was also driven by his attraction for the red haired male, but that wasn't relevant- and it would have been bad to actually do it, right?

Conflicted also because every time he took out his phone to text his online friend, of to check the time, or just to pass the time, his fingers twitched, wanting to open the contact app and tap on that contact he got for pure luck the night Wooyoung got drunk.

And there was his matter with Wooyoung too. He expected his bestfriend to call him of text him the reason on why he suddenly wanted to distance himswlf from him, but he never did, leaving Seonghwa in utter confusion and sadness.

Wooyoung was his bestfriend after all.

He slumped his bag over his shoulder lazily and made his way out of the bakery and into the still a little cold April evening.

He had decided not to take his car that morning to work and how he despised his past self for making that decision. Now he had to walk all the way to his apartment.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and if he had been just a little more distracted by his thoughts he wouldn't even noticed.

A smiled pulled on his lips once he saw the name of the person who texted him.

He didn't know if that was his real name or not, he just knew that Yuyu always texted him at the right moments.

"Hey Mars, I know it's quite sudden, but my friendgroup is a mess right now. Everyone is tense and I don't know what to do or say. I was wondering since you told me you and your besfriend also had problems if you wanted to meet up." He read aloud, not enough for someone to hear him but enough for him to hear his own voice as he spoke.

The message was immediately followed by a second one. Seonghwa proceeded to read aloud this one too.

"It's completely fine if you don't want to, I know people are not really supposed to trust strangers on the internet."

Seonghwa smiled to himself once again, pondering on wether he should agree to the other's suggestion. He could really use a distraction, and he was positive Yuyu wasn't a creepy old man from the way he spoke and talked about his friends.

He quickly typed an affermative reply, and after a few minutes of texting, he turned around in his tracks to head to the small cafe down the road, where they had agreed to meet up.

It was a good meeting spot honestly, that's why Seonghwa was so eager to go. There will surely be people there so he wouldn't have to worry about being kidnapped by a random stranger.

However as he sat in the little booth of the cafe he felt the blood leaving his face when he recognised the face of the person entring the place after having received a text that Yuyu had arrived.

There, standing at the entrance of the cafe and glancing from his phone to the tables, stood the mint haired tastierist of Hongjoong's band, and Seonghwa wished with all his being that Hongjoong didn't tell anyone about what they had done a couple of nights prior.

Embarassement filled him to the brim as he shyly raised his hand until the guy saw him and got closer with a smile on his lips.

Ok, maybe Hongjoong didn't tell them.

"Hey, sorry, I wasn't too close to the place," The guy took a seat in front of him. "Mars? I'm Yuyu, well, Yunho."

Seonghwa nodded and at least a little of his previous embarassement left his body. He still felt the awakwardness of it all, but at least Yunho seemed friendly and if Hongjoong really did tell them all what had happened, he didn't seem fatered by it.

"I'm Seonghwa" He smiled offering his hand for the other to shake.

Yunho took it with a grin and, after one of the people came to take their order -thank god they had table service at this cafe- they started a small conversation.

"...I chose Yuyu because one of my friends kept calling me that, I think it suits me, but can I ask why Mars?"

It was obvious now to Seonghwa that Yunho didn't know absolutly anything about him, so he felt himself relaxing in his seat.

"Oh it's a nickname I haven't used in quite a long time, but mostly because my name reversed is HwaSeong, it means Mars."

A smile settled on his lips. Talking to Yunho was slowly taking his mind off of everything else that was going on in his life, even when he was the constant reminder of what happened that night with Hongjoong.

After they had both finished their drinks and got to know each other just a little better than how they already did through test messages, they decided to wrap it up and go back home.

Funny how that little interaction completely lifted Seonghwa's mood from the thoughts that kept eating him alive just a few hours before.