Empire | ATEEZ

029

Days had passed when I, at last, despite my denial and anger and confusion and, most of all, disappointment in myself, realized that Hongjoong had truly meant what he had said.

He had even went so far as to, no doubt as a result of Seonghwa's constant nagging, get me a new apartment far from the one Nocturne had trashed after the break-in.

It didn't help much with my mood, though.

There was only a week left until the gala would be held.

I had convinced myself that I could still get in, that I could still try to fix the way things had turned out and make everything better, that, maybe, I could take out Chan myself and save them the trouble.

Whether or not it would be a success or an enormous failure was the real question. It would be dangerous, no doubt, even more so when they found out that I had taken it into my own hands to become marked.

The tattoo on my back would make me a member in everyone else's eyes, but not in theirs. Not anymore.

And yet, despite knowing all of this, I had held off on unpacking, spending most of my time traveling between the bed and the couch which were, at the moment, the only two of my belongings which weren't still packed in the boxes littering the rest of the empty space.

It was lonely, truly lonely, and sad which is why, when, one evening, the muffled sound of a knock on my door echoed throughout the apartment, I found myself more scared than surprised as I hesitated a moment before heading for the door.

The sight of Seonghwa; ashy blond hair undone, clothes wrinkled and seemingly hastily thrown on, standing on the other side of the threshold, only managed to increase the sadness already weighing down on me.

I swallowed thickly, gathering the courage to return his stare as he simply took me in for a moment before mumbling, "You lied to me."

"I did," I whispered, and we both fell quiet for a moment.

"You shouldn't be here," I said at last.

"Neither should you."

And then I was biting my lip, hating the distance that was separating us both emotionally and physically despite how close he was, despite how he had come to me, despite everything.

"Would you like to come in for a moment?" I tried, straightening myself a little and plastering a smile on my face in the hopes that he wouldn't see right through it.

"I love you."

The words haunted me, taunted me, as I told myself that, after last time, they could no longer possibly be true.

"I haven't unpacked yet but- If you want to, you could help me? I have some ramen as well if you're-" I was already heading back into the apartment when he cut me off, halting in my steps.

"You're not unpacking," Seonghwa said, "You're not living here. You're coming back. I'm not having it. Princess,-"

And then, as if the dam holding them back had finally burst open at the sound of that word, that single word, leaving his lips, tears began trailing down my cheeks.

I felt stupid and weak and broken as I heard the door shut, convinced that he had left again until the familiar feeling of his arms around me returned.

He pulled me against his chest, placing a single kiss on top of my head as he let me cry, let me break down.

"I got the tattoo," I cried, unable, unwilling, to lie to him anymore, shaking harder as I felt him tensing for a moment, letting go, only to suddenly find myself looking up into a pair of familiar dark eyes as he turned me around.