ATEEZ: Home Alone

1: The Great European Escape

The alarm clock on Hongjoong's phone wasn't just ringing: it was aggressively playing the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean at 4:30 AM. It was the only sound strong enough to go through the thick walls of the ATEEZ dorm and the rooms where the xikers members were staying. Eighteen people, eight strong "pirates" and ten super excited dongsaengs, were getting ready for a two-week trip to Europe. Hongjoong had planned the trip very carefully, like a planning a big battle.

But big battles rarely have eighteen requests for hot chocolate, twenty mismatched socks, and one Yunho trying to pack his huge plush dog. The whole trip was huge and hard to manage: eighteen flight tickets, eighteen sets of stage clothes, four computers, two gaming systems (Mingi and Hunter had secretly brought them), one first-aid kit put together very exactly by Seonghwa, and thirty-four bags in total.

"Bags! Only bags! No plushies bigger than a backpack, Yunho! That thing is dangerous!" Hongjoong's voice was already rough, even though he had only been awake for six minutes. He was wearing a small microphone headset, Seonghwa's clever idea, to shout directions. It mostly just made his panic louder for everyone to hear.

The living room was strange mix of a sauna and a freezer. Yunho, who had lost the fight about his stuffed animal after a tired nod from Seonghwa, was now wearing a scarf, two coats, and a beanie. He was sweating a lot but was sure the airplane would be freezing cold. Meanwhile, San, already full of energy for the tour, was wearing a thin t-shirt and happily stretching in the kitchen door, which blocked the way.

Seonghwa, the calmest person in the house, walked through the crowd of people with a smooth, easy movement. He was giving out pre-made breakfast drinks and checking passports. He looked very calm, like a quiet lighthouse in a noisy storm of bags and stress.

"Minjae, did you look at the plan again? We use the second van for the extra bags, not for people!" Seonghwa called out. He gently moved Jongho, who seemed to be sleeping standing up against a wall. Jongho, who was always tired, managed to mumble that yes, he knew the whole luggage plan by heart.

The main hallway was a blur of dark hair, puffy coats, and shouted words of support. The xikers members were surprisingly neat, mostly staying with their assigned packing partners. Sumin and Jinsik were having a serious last-minute argument over who would get the window seat on the plane. They fixed it with a quiet, fast game of rock-paper-scissors that ended in a tie, forcing Seonghwa to step in with a printed seating plan. Mingi and Hunter were building a risky tower of carry-on bags that looked impossible, whispering to each other about the secret game system they had smuggled.

"The green bag must go on the bottom, it has the heavy camera things!" Mingi grumbled, struggling with a large duffel bag. "No, the red one is heavier! Think about gravity, Mingi-hyung, think about how things balance!" Hunter shot back, his eyes bright with the excitement of the stacking challenge.

Yeosang was sitting quietly on the sofa, gently touching his drones and making sure they were charged and safe in their special box. He seemed to be in a quiet spot, only sighing loudly now and then when a younger member almost tripped over his very neat suitcase. Hongjoong saw him and mentally checked off 'Yeosang' on his list.

San was now trying to organize all the snacks. This involved loudly arguing with Jongho about how strong the snack box was. Jongho had woken up for a moment to watch the high-calorie snack check.

"We need the salty chips near the top, Jongho! The sweet stuff can handle the weight!" San declared, carefully placing a bag of honey butter chips. "San-hyung, the whole plane is going to smell like honey butter." Jongho said slowly, already starting to fall asleep again.

In the middle of this beautiful, fast-moving mess, one person had completely fallen behind the schedule. Wooyoung, trying to be helpful, had been awake since 3:00 AM. He took on the huge job of putting all the soft, large blankets and neck pillows into one neat pile near the main door. After this big job, he was so tired that he decided the safest, coziest place to rest was under the huge, fluffy sleeping bag pile he had just made. He hoped no one would mistake him for a piece of luggage. The pile was huge, made of four dark blue sleeping bags and many dark gray travel blankets. It was the perfect hiding spot, and he was sleeping deeply inside, looking just like the pile of navy blue cloth.