Rebirth; A New Age || seongjoong || ATEEZ

Chapter 19 : The Beginning of the End (pt.1)

"Just like that? After so long?" He continued, licking his lips and looking around the room frantically to try and meet everyone's eyes for some sort of explanation.

Wooyoung grabbed onto San's arm and squeezed it, pressing his face into the juncture between the older's neck and shoulder. He tried saying something, but Seonghwa couldn't quite make it out, but San's eyes widened even more and he pressed his lips into a fine line. He shook his head, meeting Hongjoong's gaze, and opened his mouth in a silent question.

"This has to be a joke-" San choked out, finally finding his voice. He sounded so unsteady and it only got worse the more Wooyoung squeezed him.

"So they finally responded..." Yeosang said, looking up and blinking his eyes quickly as he let out a half-hearted chuckle.

"What?" Yunho asked. He had been rather quiet the entire time, standing behind Mingi and observing what was going on silently.

Yeosang swallowed thickly before glancing over at Hongjoong for a few seconds, getting the slight nod from the older to continue. He dropped his hand down onto Jongho's shoulder who had not moved at all and squeezed him tightly.

"It's the US," he nearly whispered, his lips finally curving into a smile Seonghwa had not seen in so long. "They're finally coming."

Seonghwa leaned down and gripped the back edge of the couch tightly, tuning out everyone for a moment and just let the radio ring loud in his ears. He was stuck between believing the message and not. It was clear that previous messages about the apocalypse being over had been nothing more than a trap and false hope- but there was something different about this one. Before, the messages had come out of nowhere and had no build-up to them- there had been multiple times where they'd get fake leads during their time at the base. Some had been written on paper and given anonymously to Seonghwa or Yeosang- or some had even been recordings that magically appeared on Hongjoong's desk. All of which were fake of course, but they all had that one thing in common.

This was different.

There was a build-up. Hongjoong and Yeosang had been anticipating it. Apparently, that was another thing Hongjoong had been keeping from Seonghwa alongside Yeosang and Jongho's pending arrival. That was also the thing Yeosang had talked to Hongjoong about- and the same thing Hongjoong tried desperately to keep from Seonghwa when he accidentally said that the United States hadn't been all that quiet as of late.

Seonghwa had found out that morning after they both were able to pull themselves out of bed and after Hongjoong was able to let go of Seonghwa's arm and demanded an explanation that Hongjoong and Yeosang both had been intercepting messages from the US military. Yeosang had been hearing it from wherever Jongho and he had been staying and had asked Hongjoong if he had been hearing the news as well. Hongjoong had apparently said yes but to not look too into it because it could be another hoax.

"They said they made plans- rescue plans and built camps for refugees," Yeosang was saying, drawing Seonghwa back in. "They had been hit hard, and it took them a long time to get everything stable again. They said some other things but my English knowledge only goes so far- but they said they planned to respond to distress calls is what Hongjoong was able to confirm..."

At that, everyone seemed to crank their heads towards Hongjoong who just nodded his head slightly.

"And well... it seems like," Yeosang paused, tipping his chin down to nearly press into his chest. "It seems that they're responding."

Then it was silent again, except for Wooyoung's occasional sniffles that escaped the confines of San's shoulder. The message on the radio still played out loud, the words chopped up a bit here and there and in a different language, yet they still could understand the simple words. Seonghwa zoned in on the small radio again, his vision tunneling down to a fine point.