PRISONER! -ˏˋ##에이티즈. ˊˎ-

six

after spending a few more minutes with yeosang, hongjoong opened the door in a frenzy. "okay, there you are, i was worried," he exhaled. "were you running?" yeosang asked, noticing how hongjoong was out of breath. "yes," he responded. "i take my job very seriously." yeosang laughed, and hongjoong joined him.

"now, yunho wants you," hongjoong said, turning his attention to you. you nodded and stood up, then followed him out of the room. you hadn't really had the chance to really look at hongjoong, so that's what you did. he was taller than you, but he was still shorter than you'd expected. he had really small features, which made him look non-threatening.

"if you think i can't tell you're staring at me, you're wrong," hongjoong monotoned. "sorry," you squeaked. he giggled. "did i scare you?" he asked, smiling. you blushed. "you don't have to be afraid of me," he said. "i'm not, you just called me out," you pointed out. "not to be rude, but you don't seem scary at all just from looking at you," you said.

"you're honest, i like that," he chuckled. "since you're not afraid of me, will you talk to me if something is wrong?" he asked seriously, quickly changing the mood of your conversation. you nodded. "good." hongjoong suddenly stopped and opened a door, and you were greeted by yunho. hongjoong waved goodbye and left you with him.

"now do you wanna learn some self defense?" he asked. you nodded. "i can teach you more than that, if you'd like? seonghwa, hongjoong and i taught yeosang how to fight and shoot a gun, and he's the best assassin in seoul," he offered. "i don't really want to hurt anyone, though..."

"not even if they're bad guys?" he asked. "what if someone tried to hurt wooyoung?" you froze. "i guess you're right," you murmured. "alright, so we're going to start off easy." he began explaining which spots on the body are the weakest, and which are the strongest. you paid attention to him, despite being forced into it in a way.

—————

about an hour had passed since you first began learning about fighting techniques. "are you hungry?" yunho asked suddenly. you nodded, remembering how you'd refused breakfast this morning. "alright, let's go get you some food. meet me here every day at this time, okay?"

as you entered the kitchen, you ran into wooyoung. he instantly brightened up as he noticed you. he waved at you cheerfully. you were happy to see him, and you were happy for the first time since you got here. he handed you a triangle shaped rice ball from the counter. "i was just about to bring this to you, i bought them for us," he said.

you thanked him and unwrapped it, taking a bite. "so, what were you and yunho doing?" he asked, unwrapping his rice ball. "he was teaching me about fighting so that i can leave the house," you explained. he nodded. he suddenly leaned down and put his face to your ear. "i was thinking, what if we snuck out together for a bit?" he whispered. you looked at him.

"i'd love that, but i don't think it's a good idea," you said. he shrugged. "it isn't a good idea, but it would still be nice, right?" he asked. you sighed and began thinking about exploring seoul with wooyoung. "it would," you whispered. "as much as i want to, i know we shouldn't do it."

wooyoung smiled softly. "that's okay." you finished your rice ball and looked up at him. he looked a bit tense, so you put a hand gently onto his shoulder. "are you alright?" you asked. "yeah?" he raised an eyebrow. "you just look like something is bothering you," you explained. he shook his head. "nah."

—————

you had stayed with wooyoung for a while. after you had finished eating, you went to your room and talked about music. you had discovered that the two of you had a lot in common. if ateez didn't exist, and you weren't stuck with him, you were sure you'd still want to be his friend.

you were now trying to sleep, but to no avail. you thought about how hongjoong said to talk to him if something was going wrong. you were considering going to see him, but you didn't know what you'd talk about. you decided to get up and go to his office.

the house was cold at night. you should've worn socks or brought a blanket with you. the feeling of the cold tiles on your feet was making you shiver. you made it to the end of the hallway where the office was, and knocked on the door. "come in," a voice called from the other side of the door.

you walked into the room and sat down in the chair opposite him. you looked at him, and noticed dark bags under his eyes. he looked exhausted, and you felt bad for him. he flashed you a tiny smile. "hey!" you smiled back. "you look really tired, you should go to bed," you said. he sighed and shook his head.

"i can't stop now, i'm in the middle of hacking into a surveillance camera," he explained, yawning afterwards. "can't you wait until tomorrow?" he shook his head. "if you slept then your brain would work better," you insisted. he propped his chin up on his hand. he took his eyes away from the screen and looked at you instead.

"alright, i'll wait. what brings you in here, anyway?" he asked. "i'm having trouble sleeping... i didn't want to bother you but i just wanted to talk with someone for a bit," you explained. "no, you're not bothering me at all, i did tell you that you can talk to me if something's wrong."

he yawned again, and his eyes closed for a couple seconds then opened again slowly. "you should really go to sleep," you insisted. "in a bit," he whined. he moved his hand away from his face, only for it to be replaced by yours. his eyes widened at the contact. you gently stroked his cheek with your thumb, and his eyes closed halfway. he exhaled deeply through his nose. "okay, i'll go to sleep," he murmured.

he stood up and closed the screen of his laptop. "goodnight, hyesoo, see you in the morning."