Ishihara // ATEEZ ✔

35 Reality

"What did you say to her or what did you do until she became a crazy mess?" Yeosang crosses his arms while leaning against the stage in the ballroom.

The ball ended at midnight, with the guests leaving the hall with smiles, except for one particular group - Yeosang's family. His sister was the worst, thrashing about saying how men cannot be trusted and that Seonghwa had destroyed the pure love she had for him, while her embarrassed parents had to drag her out while keeping a rather uniformed apathetic face. His mother only glared at Yeosang, as if saying that he was the one who was responsible for it. They did manage to drag her out of the hall, and as they were about to leave, she caught sight of Seonghwa and Akira making their way into the hall, way too late to the party. She almost lunged forward; both of them unsure on whom she was going for, but she was held back by Yeosang's fiancee, the woman whom his parents set him up with. She grabbed Yeosang's sister's hair a bit too rough, saying that she was being distasteful. They left with the rest of the palace's occupants shaking their heads at the strange view, and with Yeosang only managing to sigh heavily a few times.

"Did you guys really spend the whole time together?" Mingi eyes the pair suspiciously.

Yunho, Mingi, San, Yeosang and Hongjoong are all leaning against the stage while eyeing Seonghwa and Akira, who look like they're being interrogated. Seonghwa's eyes divert away from them occasionally and Akira keeps on licking her lips subconsciously.

"More importantly, I'm curious on how you spent time together?" Wooyoung smirks as he joins them, his hair disheveled and a hint of red lipstick smeared near his lips. "I never see my brother going around with girls."

"You don't see Akira spending time with a guy this much," Yunho adds fuel to the fire.

"You do know that you have lipstick smudged on your lips, don't you?" San informs Seonghwa while playfully smacking his lips. When the latter quickly brings a hand to wipe it off, he snorts. "I'm joking."

"What did you guys do?" Jongho crouches on the stage as he narrows his eyes towards the pair.

Hongjoong chortles at the sight. He sighs while saying dreamily, "It must be nice to fall in love."

"Fall in love?" both Seonghwa and Akira say in unison, after which they shy away as the rest look at them with interest.

Wooyoung claps his hand and proceeds to pretend to wipe a tear off. "I'm so proud of my brother to finally be able to talk to a girl. Give me a hug." He forcefully pulls the older into a hug, and he slaps his back with so much vigour that Seonghwa almost has his breath knocked out of him. "You better treat Akira nicely or you know I'll be there if she ever cries because of you." He winks.

"Stop it," Seonghwa shoves him away.

"How do I even deal with my sister... she was really heartbroken," Yeosang says with a melancholic voice.

"You can push someone else to her, maybe Wooyoung? She can go after the younger brother if she cannot get the older one," San suggests, to which Jongho nods enthusiastically.

"Excuse me? I have my other girls to deal with. I don't have time for another one," Wooyoung carefully avoids the topic as he pretends to be busy helping with folding the tables and putting away the chairs.

"Well, that was definitely a night. I'm glad I joined this one," Hongjoong says sincerely as he turns to the rest of the group. "If you guys don't mind-"

"Yes you may excuse yourself, Hongjoong," San smiles at him, showing his dimples and eye smile.

As Hongjoong leaves the hall, all of them help to clear up the hall, making it empty once again. Exhausted, they excuse themselves to their rooms, with Jongho and San being the first ones to disappear. Seonghwa gives a slight peck to her cheek while no one is watching, before he sets off to retire for the day. San, Mingi and Wooyoung dash to the kitchen as they had wanted to get more food, saying they're still hungry after the whole ball.