Mists of Celeste - an Ateez Fanfic

act three ➻ part two

"You suck at this game," you mutter, glancing over Jongho's shoulder to see his hand of cards again.

"What? You can do better?" He scoffs in response and pulls his cards close to his chest. You shrug, propping an elbow up on the table and looking over to where Wooyoung and Yeosang sit. Both have cards in their hands as well, and Wooyoung keeps trying to sneak a glance at the other man's hand, but Yeosang just moves further and further away from him. Jongho clears his throat and sits up a bit straighter as he continues to talk to you. "I'll have you know that I am the best out of the whole crew. Unbeatable."

"Well, damn. Everyone must be fucking horrible if you're the best." You crack a small smile, looking over at Jongho out the corner of your eye. He puts a hand over his chest.

"Excuse me–"

"You're excused."

"You're jealous," he counters through your childish remark.

"What exactly am I supposed to be jealous of? A bad poker skill?"

"Hey! It's poker. It's not like I get to choose what cards I get. It's not even skill-based!"

"Then how are you the best? You just happen to have good luck?"

"No, I – listen. I have the best poker face, and I can lie better than anyone else on the crew."

"Should you be proud of that?" You inquire, scrunching your nose up as you squint at Jongho. He opens his mouth to retort but snaps it shut a moment later. His expression is a bit dumbfounded, and he stares at the table with a small glare, seeming to realize your point. You manage to hold back your laugh, but Wooyoung doesn't even try – a bright and noisy laugh resounding as he watches your exchange.

"You know it's bad when Yeosang is winning," Wooyoung says through a sigh. Yeosang casts a half-hearted glare at the man, but Wooyoung ignores him in favor of continuing to complain. "Why are you even winning? Out of everyone, you are the worst at poker. How am I losing to you? It's one thing to lose to Jongho, but you? This is embarrassing."

"You can't lie, Woo." Yeosang clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth and continues to thumb through his hand of cards. "You turn beet red and start stuttering. I'm content with winning now. Break the losing streak."

Wooyoung folds his lips into a frown, mocking Yeosang's smug expression a bit as he looks through his own cards. "Break the losing streak. Content with winning. May as well just say 'I'm better than you, Wooyoung.'"

"I wouldn't say that. Maybe Y/N is my good luck charm." Yeosang shifts his gaze over to you, one corner of his lips pulling upwards as he looks over you. You huff and glare back at him. You don't make a habit of speaking to Yeosang, especially since he threatened you back on Medra and fucking choked you, but you also can't bring yourself to trust his unknown motives. He maintains a certain level of teasing and playfulness, but all your one-on-one interactions have shown that attitude to be a farce.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you," you retort.

"Hey, I thought I was your good luck charm," Wooyoung whines, lips pouting out as he turns to Yeosang. Yeosang lifts a hand and pats Wooyoung's cheek lightly. His gaze is softer than usual, but it quickly turns teasing again when he speaks next.

"You've never helped me win poker though."

Wooyoung throws his cards on the table and shakes his head.

"Is there really nothing better to do? I'm bored out of my mind."

"We're on a spaceship, Woo. If you have any bright ideas of what there is to do on a spaceship in the middle of space, I would love to know what those ideas are," Yeosang remarks, picking up Wooyoung's thrown cards one by one. Jongho passes his cards over as well, although he is a lot more gentle than Wooyoung was.