WHO ARE YOU?|ATEEZ FANFIC

Chapter 65|Trapped

The group made it through the first few hundred meters very slowly. They were worried that they would attract too much attention if they moved too quickly, so they hesitantly crept past the dozens of dummies, step by step very slowly. Wooyoung ran ahead. He tried to keep his breathing calm so as not to attract attention, but his nervousness grew with every step he took deeper into the crowd. He felt like he was in a space that was far too small, like he was locked in a small box that would crush him if he made a wrong move or was too loud. He couldn't remember ever being claustrophobic before, but in this situation it took his breath away. That and his fear that this ordeal might be for nothing. He ran on and on, and the fear that San might not be where they were going in the end grew with every step he took. Or worse. When they found him and it was already too late.  Completely overwhelmed by the thought, he suddenly stopped between two dummies, staring at the ground and breathing nervously. He felt his body starting to feel numb. His fingertips tingled, his vision became blurry and he had the feeling that he was going to throw up at any second. It was hard for him to breathe. Confused, the others who were sneaking past the dummies behind Wooyoung stopped when they noticed that something was wrong with Wooyoung. They looked at each other nervously. Hongjoong furrowed his eyebrows, looked over at Seonghwa, who was standing a little further to his left and just shrugged his shoulders ignorantly. Hongjoong carefully took a few steps forward towards the boy, who was starting to breathe more and more uncontrollably and wrapped his arms around his waist. His face was completely pale and his whole body was shaking. Was he having a panic attack? Now?!

"Wooyoung."  The black and white haired man whispered and walked around one of the dummies to stand in front of Wooyoung. The younger man didn't seem to notice him at all. He just stared down at the ground as if Hongjoong wasn't even there. Hongjoong carefully grabbed Wooyoung by the shoulders.

"Hey, Wooyoung, breathe." He said. Trembling, Wooyoung raised his eyes slightly when he heard the older man's voice. Hongjoong looked at him carefully and put some pressure on his shoulders.

"I-I can't breathe..." he stammered, a little too loudly for Hongjoong's taste. Nervously, he looked at one of the dummies next to them, who slowly moved her eyes towards Wooyoung. Shit! Panic rose in Hongjoong. He cast a panicked glance over Wooyoung's shoulder at Seonghwa, who immediately understood and pushed past the dummies to get to him and Wooyoung.  When he arrived next to Hongjoong, he looked at him questioningly.

"What's wrong?" He asked before looking at Wooyoung, whose eyes were already filled with tears.

"I think he's having a panic attack or something." Concerned, Seonghwa pushed the younger boy aside and gently took Wooyoung's face in his hands.

"Wooyoung." He said in a calm voice, approaching him and making him raise his head, but his gaze was fixed, as if he was looking right through Seonghwa.

"Wooyoung, everything's fine. Look at me." He tried to somehow get Wooyoung's attention, but the black-haired man seemed to barely notice what was happening around him. Fear had completely overwhelmed him. His brain couldn't think a single clear thought. All he could think of was San.

"What should we do?"  Hongjoong asked, starting to panic because of the looks the dummies around them were giving them. They stared at the boys and their eyes flickered from white light to red. They recognized them. They had to do something! Seonghwa took a deep, nervous breath before suddenly grabbing the younger boy by the shoulders and pulling him into a tight, crushing hug. Hongjoong grimaced in confusion.

"What are you doing?" Seonghwa ignored him and held Wooyoung in his arms as tightly as he could. Wooyoung didn't resist, he couldn't. His arms felt like they were no longer part of his body. Even if he had wanted to, he couldn't have pushed the older boy away. His head and face were pressed tightly into the older boy's chest, so much so that Wooyoung could clearly hear his heartbeat. Seonghwa took a deep, calm breath.