𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 | Seongjoong/Ateez ff

Chapter Twelve

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SEONGHWA!!! (even if in some places it's already tomorrow)
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May was slowly approaching and Seonghwa hadn't met Hongjoong at all since that night.

So when, one afternoon after he and Yunho had decided to meet up for coffee, he saw the small man walk inside after his new friend he immediately froze on the spot and looked away, not daring to look at the other two until Yunho sat in the booth in front of him with Hongjoong at his side.

When Seonghwa looked up at them Hongjoong seemed as uncomfortable as he was.

"Hey Hwa, I brought a friend 'cause I met him on the way here and he could use some company. He's Hongjoong." Yunho smiled widely at him, then he turned to direct the same smile at Hongjoong.

"...Hey Seonghwa."

"...Hi Hongjoong."

Yunho's gaze flickered in between them confusedly for a few seconds at the awkward atmosphere that suddenly engulfed the three of them.

Seonghwa gave a weak smile at the other two, grateful when one of the people working there came to get their order.

"So you two know each other?" Yunho asked once all of them had received their respective drinks.

Hongjoong hesitantly nodded, lifting his coffee up to his lips to take a long sip. He wouldn't say anything about what had happened, and he sure hoped Seonghwa wouldn't either.

Seonghwa too nodded, watching the trees outside of the big glass window at his side. "More or less, I think."

Yunho's grin returned just as wide as earlier. He obviously didn't succed in reading the room, but neither Hongjoong nor Seonghwa would hold him accoutable for that. It was reassuring in a way, at least for Seonghwa, that Yunho was able to lift the mood so easily, so genuinely that ypu could never even get man with the mint haired man.

By the time all of them had finally finished their drinks the awkwardness was long gone, and smiles were playing om their lips as Yunho got the conversation going smoothly. However that changed after they payed for the beverages and it was time to go back home.

Yunho smiled and walked away then, turning and waving at them every ten seconds or so until he disappeared behing some corner. Hongjoong turned to Seonghwa and met the older's eyes already fixated on him.

"Hongjoong... about that night-"

"Don't worry, it was right. I was drunk, you were drunk, and I'd just boken up with Mingi. Sorry if my presence made you uncomfortable today." Hongjoong heaved with a sigh, looking up at the now darkening sky. It was still quite bright, but definitely not as bright as it would have probably been at noon.

Seonghwa nodded at that and the corners of his lips twitched slightly upward.

"Don't worry about it, it wasn't really you making me uncomfortable, more like the whole situation."

Seonghwa received an affermative hum from Hongjoong, that was alredy turning on his heels to walk back to either his apartment or his car, Seonghwa wasn't sure which one of the two was right.

However it felt wrong.

Well, not really wrong, but how could Seonghwa explain it?

Into Seonghwa's eyes Hongjoong had been attractive from the first moment he saw him. From the few encounters they shared he also came to the conclusion that the younger was also a thpughtful person. He was kind, and from what he saw (and what Yunho had told him since he realized just then who Yunho was talking about whenever he ranted to Seonghwa about his bandmates) he cared deeply for the people around him. And his friends also cared deeply for him.

Seomghwa wanted to get to know him better. Wanted to know what Hongjoong liked to do in his free time, wanted to know what he enjoyed, what he didn't like, what made him overjoyed or what annoyed him.

He wanted to know Hongjoong.

So with an hesitant voice he called out to the younger, that was now a few steps down the street already.

Hongjoong turned around to Seonghwa confusedly, his eyebrows slightly drawn together, and Seonghwa felt his breath get cought in his throat at the sight.

Hongjoong was ethereal.

It was not the time, no, but right in that moment his brain had simply shut completely off, and all Seonghwa could think about was how the slightly orange light of the approaching sunset hit Hongjoong's features perfectly. How it made his already red hair seem warmer, or how it casted sweet shadows on his face and neck. How it managed to make Hongjoong's eyes sparkle so prettily and Seonghwa was mesmerized.

"...Seonghwa?" Hongjoong called, succesfully ripping Seonghwa out of his trance.

Seonghwa blinked a couple of times before he realized he was blatantly checking out Hongjoong, and he felt his cheeks flush with that familiar warmth that always came along with that faint red. Hongjoong seemed not to have noticed the way Seonghwa was looking at him and Seonghwa was glad.

He adverted his haze to the side, fiddling with his fingers while trying to think as quickly as possible about something he could say to the other not to make him go away without turning back.

He settled for a simple choice of words, something he could have easily thought before staring so bluntly at Hongjoong, but he shook his head instead. "Can we be friends?"

Silence filled the space between them. Seonghwa held his breath. Because what if Hongjoong found the awkwardness between them as too much of a hassle to try and be friends after all? Seonghwa didn't know how he would be able to come with it if that what the case.

A faint smile took over Hongjoong features while all the thoughts in Seonghwa's head gnawed at his insides.

"I would love to." Hongjoong spoke, his sweet voice soothing on Seonghwa's nerves as he released his breath shakily. A relieved grin took over his own lips and Seonghwa could only nod his head before, in a silent agreement, they parted ways.

Seonghwa smilled all the way to his humble apartment. Upon entering he dropped his keys on the wooden bowl on the cabinet beside the door. He shrugged off his shoes and he immediately launched himself forward on his grey couch. He hid his smile behind the soft cushions as he kicked his legs like a teenager girl after a date with her crush. He grimaced at the thought.

But he was happy.

He and Hongjoong could be friends. They could be more than strangers to each other, and Seonghwa was over the moon.

He couldn't wait to tell Wooyoung everything about it. His smile dropped once his bestfriend crossed his mind. He couldn't tell Wooyoung, not yet at least. Not until Wooyoung finally sorted out whatever thoughts had pushed him to distance himself from Seonghwa.

Seonghwa sighed from where his head rested on the soft couch of his apartment. His previous exitment hadn't been completely whashed away, but it had decreased considerably. He loved his besfriend, and it was hurting him to see him so troubled.

He found himself drifting off to sleep there, where he was laying, while his mind wondered and hoped Wooyoung would find someone who could help him, or that could at least be there for him while Seonghwa wasn't able to.

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I'm mad wattpad doesn't let me put my song in the chapter🧍‍♂️