Flower ||| Ateez

3

"Ok, what do we want our song to be?"

"We should probably figure out a them first, any ideas?"

"Sexy!"

"Fun!"

"Powerful."

All four boys talked quickly, appearing to hear what everyone said even though they all seemed to be talking at the same time.

Lily sat apart from them, trying to calm her racing heart. Her palms were sweating, and the back of her neck felt cold.

"What do you think Lily?" Yunho asked, cutting off the rambling.

"Huh?" Her head snapped up, but she couldn't really focus on anything.

"Are you ok?" He asked, leaning closer to her.

"Y-yeah." Lily swallowed, closing her eyes for a long moment. "Um... Why don't, why d-don't we try to do a little of e-everything." She said, staring at the floor.

Yunho's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea! And we could each have a little mini solo so we can showcase each of our talents." He turned back to the others and they all started talking at once again.

Lily blinked heavily. Her heart was still racing. She reached under the sleeve of her hoodie, clutching her charm and trying not to wince when she brushed her still swollen wrist.

Then she felt eyes on her.

All four were staring at her again.

She shook her head, "I-I'm sorry. I don't know what's w-with me today. What did you say?"

Yunho frowned, "We wanted to know what your schedule is so we can plan other rehearsals outside of class if we need to."

"O-oh. I'm going to have to get back to you on that... Should we j-just pick this up next class?" Beads of sweat ran down her back.

Yunho nodded slowly. "Sure... Well we still need to pick music, so let's come with our three top songs and we can vote as a team on the ones we like." Everyone nodded in agreement.

With that sounding like a dismissal, Lily quickly grabbed her bag and raced out of the room. She found and empty hallway and pressed herself against the wall. Her breathing quickened. Squeezing her lips and eyes shut, she stood there, shaking violently.

I can't do this...

Her fingers worried over her charm, using it to calm herself.

"Lily?" A soft voice said.

Lily yelped and stumbled away from the voice. Blinking rapidly, her eyes soon focused on Yunho peering around the corner.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to make sure you're ok..." His voice was laced with concern.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Lily brushed it off and forced a smile, slipping behind her mask. "I'll make sure I come to next class with some song collections." She bowed her head slightly and slipped past the tall figure, not looking behind her to see his shoulders sink again.

---

"What is with her?" Wooyoung sighed, placing his hands behind his head and leaning back on the park bench he shared with his friends.

"Who?" A platinum blonde said, lifting his head slightly.

"Lily." Yunho said quietly.

"Who?" The boy asked again.

"Our fifth member in class." Wooyoung grunted, shaking his head. "She hardly speaks to us and spent our entire pow-wow session staring off into space. If she makes us fail..."

"Give her a chance." Yunho said, looking at his friend sternly. "I don't think we know her whole story. Did you see the way she flinched when she saw us looking at her?"

"I did," Yeosang said quietly.

"Lily..." the blonde said, running his teeth over his bottom lip. "Shorter, thin, girl with blonde hair? Always stands at the back of the class?"

"That's her," said San. "She seems nice enough. Do you know her Hwa?"

"I think so... I believe she lives near me. I see her riding her bike to campus every day, but I've never met her."

Wooyoung scoffs, thinking about how little she said in class. "What is with her?" He asks again.

"She did seem kind of jumpy." Another boy added; his reddish-brown hair flashed in the afternoon light. "But from what I could see in some earlier classes, she does have some moves." He said, while easily splitting an apple in half with his hands. He broke a couple more and handed the halves out to his friends.

"She'd better bring her a-game to next class then."

"Youngie," San leaned his head on the others' shoulder. "Be nice. She's already going to feel left out since we all know each other already.

The silver haired boy huffed and wrapped an arm around his friend, hoping that this assignment went well.

---

"You're late."

"I'm sorry, Father. I got held up in class."

"I don't care! You were supposed to be home to make my dinner. Am I going to starve now?" He reached out and grabbed Lily's wrist, causing her to whimper. "And you know what happens when I get hungry." He pulled her closer, running his free thumb over her cheek.

Lily head snapped to the side. She fell to the ground, cupping her cheek with her un-injured hand. "I-I'm sorry, Father. I-I'll get s-started right away."

"Good."

Lily rushed into the kitchen, trying to ignore the sound of a drawer opening and metal rubbing together.