Empire | ATEEZ

031

"He's warming up," was the first thing Seonghwa said as he burst through the door to my apartment the following morning, a bright smile on his face that, for the first time in a while, truly reached his eyes.

I chuckled at the sight of him; clad in a dark suit, hair styled and neat, the gun in his belt. All of it was a stark contrast to the mood the blond was in as a laugh escaped his lips and he spread his arms in an expectant gesture.

I immediately responded, hurrying into his embrace where I pressed my face to his chest and reveled in the smell and warmth and overall feeling of him, having missed it for the last week, craved for it. And then I was squealing as he picked me up and spun us around a couple of times. I had truly missed it, missed him.

"Pack your things, princess," Seonghwa said as he put me back down, his smile widening a little at the sight of my brows which were slightly furrowed in a silent question, "You're going home."

〄

I had patched up the wound on Jeongin's head and was washing off the blood on my hands in the bathroom as my conversation with Yunho and Mingi from before suddenly came back to me.

They were planning on handing him over to Nova after the gala as Hongjoong didn't care much for what would happen to him after the mission had been carried out, or at least that was what he had told them.

I couldn't help but feel like he had chosen Nova for the same reason as me, knowing full-well neither Namjoon nor the others would never as much touch a hair on the kid's head after they'd seen him smile.

He would be safe with them, and that was enough reassurance for me despite how he would be given to them as payment for the other group to turn a blind eye to the events which would be unfolding at the gala underneath everyone else's nose.

At least that part of my plan aligned with Hongjong's, I told myself, turning off the tap before drying my hands and heading back out into the hallway. There was no reason to get myself into any more trouble than necessary considering how the leader definitely wouldn't be pleased with the rest of my plan.

I carefully slipped into Jeongin's temporary room and, well, cell, again and noted how, seemingly in the short time I had left him alone, he had managed to inhale the entire tray of food without leaving as much as a single crumb left on any of the plates.

I immediately felt guilty for not bringing more, knowing that he had been starving himself for days, as I sat back down on the bed, this time a little closer than yesterday, testing to make sure he was comfortable.

But the boy had, despite plan I had told him about yesterday, the deal we had made, refused to speak. It's not that I didn't understand him. I felt bad for him, horrible and guilty, realizing the guilt he was probably struggling with and the fear that he information could be used to hurt his members, his family.

I understood him, fully, because I would have felt just the same if I had been in his position.

"Does your head still hurt?" I tried, wanting to break the ice, to redirect his attention to something else, but he stayed silent, just as he had when I had been cleaning the wound. I bit my lip, nodding a little, "Do you want me to get more food? If you're still hungry, I can-"

But my words trailed off as I realized that my approach wasn't working. "Jeongin, are you okay?" I asked, knowing that he wasn't, but wanting to try nonetheless, to show that I cared nonetheless.

And that was all it took, I realized, watching the brunette slowly crumble as the question settled in the air between us, his lower lip trembling as he turned his head away from me.