Mon Amour // ATEEZ

11 The burden of eternity

We hurriedly made our way outside. "You've turned me into a criminal" Seonghwa grumbled, his eyes welling up with fake tears. Turning to him, I wondered aloud, "What do we do about the cameras?"

"Cameras?" Hongjoong asked, his brows furrowing in confusion. Aah, I guess that he doesn't know what a camera is. We need to have a good conversation together later.  "It's the little things right there, the white boxes. There's a bunch of them filming us right now, getting every moves we make" I explained, gesturing towards the multitude of cameras surrounding the building.

Hongjoong briefly closed his eyes, then reopened them, fixing me with a sly grin. "Done"

"Done what?" I asked, utterly perplexed.

"I destroyed all of them," He replied, his smile growing softer. "I tapped into my vampire abilities" With a playful wink, he hopped into the car.

"Wow" I exclaimed, standing there dumbfounded.

Hongjoong wasted no time and immediately grabbed my sleeve, pulling me into the car. Seonghwa hit his foot on the gas pedal before I could even buckle my seatbelt.

I tried to catch my breath then I remembered that I'm still holding the silver knife. "Ah!" In a moment of panic, the knife slipped from my grasp and clattered onto the car floor.

"What's the matter? You've never laid eyes on a knife before?" Hongjoong side eyed me. "Well not a vampire killer knife, you know, it's all new to me" I retorted, giving him the same side eye.

Meanwhile, Seonghwa was driving like a maniac, causing the car to jolt and shake. The knife slid beneath the passenger seat, disappearing from sight. Exhausted from the events of the day, I let out a weary sigh.

Hongjoong's eyes widened comically, a mix of surprise and concern etched on his face. "Oh no, it has disappeared"

I let out another exasperated sigh. "No, it's only hiding underneath the seat"

His expression returned to its usual state. "Ah, I see. I'll go retrieve it"

"No, let me" I interjected. In an attempt to find the knife, we both docked down at the same time causing our heads to bump into each other. The lack of food in my system made me feel even more dizzy and lightheaded.

I plopped down onto Hongjoong's legs for a moment, trying to regain my balance. It's really blurry, woah.

"Umm, what are y'all doing back there?" Seonghwa questioned, his tone of voice clearly confused.

Snapping back to reality, I realized just how odd the situation must look. My head resting on Hongjoong's thighs? Yeah, it's definitely not the most conventional position. I quickly scrambled to sit, forcing a pained smile in Hongjoong's direction. "Act like that never happened"

"How can I?" He laughed. Hongjoong's laughed... That made me get shivers on my arms. His laugh is so pure in contrary of himself. "I got it" I held the knife in my hand while trying to calm my fast beating heart.

We arrived at the mansion, and a question immediately formed in my mind, causing me to furrow my brows. "So, now that we have the knife, then what? Do we go after your enemy, fight him?"

"Yes," Hongjoong shrugged his shoulders as if that was the easiest thing to do. "But I must face him alone. It's far too dangerous for anyone else to be involved"

Seonghwa hopped out of the car, clearly frustrated. "Too dangerous? Do you even know what we just did now?"

Before Hongjoong could explain further, a crew member got out of the mansion. "Hey Seonghwa! Where were you guys? I need your help here!"