Empire | ATEEZ

005

Several days had passed by since I had last seen Seonghwa and yet, I hadn't been able to get my mind off him.

Several days had passed by where I had gone back to hanging around Chan and his friends, blocking out their bickering as I stared at the phone in my hand, the object feeling so, so heavy.

As the morning sun rose over the trees and buildings in the distance as I made my way onto the university grounds, I once again found myself absolutely entranced by it, staring at the first number in my contact list and debating whether to call it or not when I was suddenly ripped from my thoughts by a loud noise.

I whipped my head around only for my eyes to widen as I found myself staring at the motorcycle that speeded into the parking lot, followed by the sound of rolling thunder as the engine revved before going quiet as the rider parked it and pulled off his helmet, revealing perfectly ashy blond hair which he tousled with his hand before turning to me.

And I simply stood there, absolutely frozen, as Seonghwa's eyes locked with mine and he purred, "Good morning, princess," which sent my cheeks ablaze and instinctively made me grab the phone a little tighter as I quickly glanced over my shoulder to see the other students staring as well.

Seonghwa dismounted the motorcycle with a smile as he headed for me, leaving behind his helmet and tilting his head slightly as he said, "I'm here to replace your other friends."

I opened my mouth in an attempt to answer, to say something, anything, but found myself unable to do so as my eyes drifted down his body, taking in his all-black outfit with awe as my jaw went slack. "Wow," I mumbled, swallowing thickly at his effortless charm.

As more thunder broke through the silent morning, I couldn't help but peek over his shoulder, failing to notice the shy smile on his face at my comment as I furrowed my brows at the seven other motorcycles that all came to a halt next to his own.

Seonghwa cleared his throat, remembering his talk with Hongjoong a couple of days ago, with the other members, "Oh, uhm-" he said as the riders all pulled off their helmets, revealing a rainbow of bright hair colours and dark clothes matching his own as they looked around before recognizing the blond and heading for him, "My friends," he said, "They're my friends."

"Ah, I see," a tall guy with dirty blond hair whispered as they came to a halt right in front of us, turning to Seonghwa with a smirk, "She's definitely hot enough to be worth all of the trouble."

I felt the blush on my face burn even fiercer at that only to bite back a smile as a smaller man with dark hair and red-tinted edges whacked him on the head.

They all turned to the blue-haired man at the front as he studied me for a moment before offering me his hand with a smile, "My name is Hongjoong. Seonghwa has told us about you and has been very distracted lately so we wanted to meet you as well," he said, his eyes widening as I quickly grabbed his hand and returned his smile tenfold which apparently caught him off guard.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you," I chuckled, hoping the blush on my face wasn't too obvious as I nudged Seonghwa with my elbow before pulling back my hand.

"I'm Yunho," the tallest of the group said, offering me a small smile that made the edges of his eyes crinkle underneath his golden blond hair, "And the idiot over there," he pointed at the dirty blond, "Is Mingi. Don't mind his comments."

"And I'm Yeosang," another blond said, slightly staggering to the side as one of the ebony-haired men slung his arm around him and proudly stated, "And I'm Wooyoung, his best friend."

"You hurt my feelings," the other ravenette mumbled, "My name is San, and this is Jongho, the youngest of the group," he said, motioning for the one who had hit Mingi on the head earlier, seemingly proud of himself.