Strawberries & Cream

Exhume, My Love, At Last

The days following Seonghwa's surgery were unusually quiet. Even though only Seonghwa had a legitimate reason to be on hiatus, the company had suddenly suspended everyone's schedules with no further explanation than a text from the company letting them know that they had all been granted a rest period. There was an announcement for fans as well, informing them that Ateez's comeback activities had been temporarily postponed due to Seonghwa's health condition but even fans recognized how strange that was. It wasn't exactly common practice for companies to bench an entire group, especially in the middle of a comeback, just because one member was having health problems. The members wanted to appreciate the break and take advantage of being allowed to stay home to care for their Hyung- seeing as he was refusing to fully open up about what happened, only giving them the bare minimum details of what had happened- but they were all seriously on edge about being kept in the dark. No one brought it up, for fear of jinxing things, but there was certainly a shared fear that things were worse than the company was letting it.

Furthermore, Hongjoong also hadn't come back. Having been relieved at first, after three straight days of hearing nothing from their leader, Seonghwa started to feel concerned. Of course he'd been angry that Hongjoong left before even getting Seonghwa home but he still thought he'd cared about him enough to go with him to the hospital, staying until he'd woken up, and handled the entire discharge process. It seemed weird to have done all that, just to vanish immediately afterwards. Was this more guilt? It was apparent he regretted what had transpired during his rut, that was why Hongjoong had been so stand-offish the past few months, was he fully avoiding everyone now because he was holding himself responsible for Seonghwa's pregnancies? Did he believe he had sired one of them and now blamed himself for the whole ordeal? Seonghwa was considering saying something when the door to their dorm finally opened and Hongjoong appeared.

The seven members of Ateez were still camped in the living room, the whole area looking like a stereotypical slumber party movie scene with blankets and pillows scattered everywhere, takeout boxes on every surface, bodies tangled together as they lounged in front of the tv screen watching movies. All seven pairs of eyes lifted when Hongjoong entered, the leader looking positively haggard and somehow even smaller than usual. It was clear that he hadn't showered in several days, still wearing the clothes he'd left Mnet in, and his unshaven face was swollen and splotchy. There probably hadn't been a single person between KQ and the dorm that had even suspected that the man was even a trainee, let alone a fully debuted professional idol. Seonghwa glanced at Wooyoung, half expecting him to call out Hongjoong's enhanced 'rat' appearance.

"S-Sorry..." Hongjoong said quietly, offering a small, awkward bow of his head as he shuffled past them and disappeared into his room.

"Aish~ I told him not to come home." Wooyoung grumbled from his position on the floor.

"You did?" Seonghwa asked, shocked. "Why would you do that?"

Wooyoung turned his head to look between Seonghwa and San, both gaping at him. "Why wouldn't I? He's done nothing but stress you out, you don't need him around while you're trying to heal."

Sighing, Seonghwa patted Wooyoung's head. "You're sweet. Don't do that again without telling me first. Help me sit up."

Seonghwa was laying on the couch with Mingi playing the big spoon and Yunho at their feet. Between the two of them, they helped Seonghwa sit up and back into a standing position. Ignoring Wooyoung's protests, Seonghwa hobbled down the hall to the bedroom. Inside, Hongjoong had pulled out a bag and was filling it with things from his closet, giving the impression that he truly wasn't planning on coming back after this.

"You don't have to do that." Seonghwa stated hollowly.

Hongjoong jumped a little, having not noticed Seonghwa's presence. "...It's fine. I know no one wants me here, it's better for everyone if I just stay at KQ."