FELLOWSHIP || Ateez Fanfiction

Chapter Seventeen: Family

Suddenly I hear footsteps behind me.
I turn around and see the beautiful man from earlier. He has tears and eyes and stares back at me for a while. Then he turns around and wants to leave.
"Do you want to talk about it?", I ask.
He looks at me and nods.
I motion him to sit down next to me.
"What is your name?"
"Seonghwa."
"I am Hongjoong and the people in the water are my crew. We are treasure hunters who are making short stop here. I saw you at a funeral earlier."
"Yeah... M-my fiancée died. She was very ill."
"I'm sorry to here that."
We quietly stare at the lake for a little bit.
"I don't know what I should do now. She was my everything and every time I walk through the town something reminds me of her. I just can't imagine living without her. I don't know if I will ever be okay again. How could I ever be happy without her? How could I ever love again? I constantly recall all the happy memories of her. Sometimes in the morning I walk to her house because I forgot that she is not there anymore and then I realize again that she is dead and break out in tears. How can I live on like that?", Seonghwa suddenly tells and tears stream down his face.
I listen carefully to what he is saying but I don't really know how to console him.
"I think that you will be happy again even though it might take some time. Getting over the loss of a loved one is hard. Maybe you need to distract yourself a little, so all of the bad emotions don't come up as much. Life has to go on. Just try to get a routine in your life and try to do things that make you happy."
"All of the things that used to make me happy I did with her, so doing them will only bring back memories. I don't know but maybe I should move somewhere else so I don't constantly see things that remind me of her."
I nod. It gets awkwardly quiet again with the laughter of my crew in the background.
"Ehm... you said you are a treasure hunter. You don't have any more space for another crewmember, do you?"
I ponder about it for a minute. The main bedroom is full but there is technically still space in my double bed.
"It depends. Do you mind sleeping in a double bed with me?"
"Anything is good. I just think I need to get away for a little bit. Plus I can see a lot of new places. Maybe I can learn something or find someone else there."
"Then welcome to the crew."
Suddenly water splatters at me.
"You should come swimming too, captain. The water is really nice.", Wooyoung shouts and giggles.
I sigh.
"Will you also come swimming with us, Seonghwa?"
He hesitates a bit before he answers.
"Sure."
We get undressed and walk into the water.
"Who is that?", Yunho asks.
"He is our new crewmate.", I reply.
"Hello, I am Seonghwa."
"Woah, he is so handsome. You're getting rivalry, Yeosang.", Mingi jokes.
The members introduce themselves to Seonghwa and we play around in the water for a bit.
"San's lips are starting to get a little bit blue maybe we should go out of the water.", Jongho says.
We get out of the water and get our towels.
"It's a bit awkward to change your underwear with so many people around.", I say.
"I have an idea!", San exclaims.
We look at him as he gets Yunho to hold his towel out in front him. He stands opposite of Yunho and does the same.
"You can get changed in between the towels.", San explains.
"Ehm... I don't have a towel or extra underwear with me.", Seonghwa remarks.
"No problem. You can use my towel and I brought an extra pair of underwear with me because I didn't know if the others packed one for San.", I offer.
"Why? Does he have only one pair of underwear?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
We get changed into dry underwear without any embarrassment thanks to San's improvised changing room.
Then we lay down at the shore for a while and enjoy the sun.

Now
It was kind of a nice day looking back.
After getting ready for the day I take over the wheel.
After an hour I can see Aplbom in the distance. I smile brightly at its sight.
Only a few more minutes until I can see my parents again.
I somehow feel a bit nervous. I wonder what they are going to say about my new friends. Do we even have enough room for everyone?