Seonghwa's pov
Soon after everyone had seen my marks- and shown me theirs- I pulled my sweater back on. I sat down on one of the beds from earlier and glanced around the room at the seven of them.
"San mentioned something earlier, and I have questions about it. Are you guys really wanting me in Ateez with you? Why?" I asked, toying with my sleeves.
"Hyung, you're our soulmate; of course we want you in the group with us," Wooyoung said, smiling softly as he came to sit beside me. I laid my head on his shoulder and spoke again.
"But I didn't earn your fame, guys. You all worked so hard to get where you have- what if I ruin it because I'm not talented enough anymore?"
"You can't just lose your talent, Hwa. You can get rusty, but you can't lose it. I heard the song you gave Yeosang, and it was beautiful. Can I ask how old you were when you made it?" Hongjoong asked. I pursed my lips.
"I was eighteen. It was my last hurrah to music before I stopped completely and dropped out of high school."
"I thought you're in college, Hyung?" Mingi asked, taking residence by my other side.
"I am, I just got my GED instead of my high school diploma. That's another thing- how would I finish my master's degree?" I asked, curling closer into Wooyoung's side while holding Mingi's hand.
"You'd take online courses like we do. Hwa, please, think on it. You don't have to debut with us if you truly don't want to, but we'd enjoy it if you debuted with us," Hongjoong said.
"I'll think about it," I began, nodding slowly. The pair holding me cheered and squeezed me tighter.
"Since this semester hasn't begun, I guess I'll make the calls to drop out of classes for this semester."
The seven men in the room gaped at me before I was smothered in a hug.
"You're really going to start training?!" Jongho asked, his head on my chest. I smiled and gently caressed his hair.
"If kq accepts me, then yes, I'll begin training," I said, smiling widely at my very excited soulmates.
"First, though, I'd like to ask you more about your contracts. Don't you dare get mad at him, but I asked San about it, and he mentioned a clause about your weights. Did you guys know that is illegal on the company's part?" I asked softly, looking at the seven of them.
"How is it illegal? We agreed to it," Hongjoong scoffed. He looked tired like he had argued it over and over again.
"It is illegal because the company is exploiting you. Jay and Maria are both lawyers, but Jay is specifically a labor and business lawyer, so I had asked them about it last night. Are you guys okay?" I asked. They all nodded, but even just glancing around at them I could tell they weren't.
"Joong, you're just skin and bones. Look at you," I spoke the softest I had ever as I gently held his wrist in mine.
"I'm fine, Hwa. There's nothing to worry about," He said. I held his wrist beside mine and showed him the difference in ours.
"Look how much more thin you are, Joong. All of you are either skin and bones, or pure muscle, and neither are good, boys. Please, let me try to fix this for you. I don't want to see you wither away in front of me," I asked.
"Okay, Hwa Hyung, you can try, but don't get too upset when nothing happens," Yunho sighed. He raked his fingers through his hair and shook his head, almost as though they'd been through this before.
"It's either they remove the weight clause for you guys, or I'll train and debut at one of the big three. They'll either gain your full potential, or lose what's left of mine."
"Hwa, if you go to a different company, then we'd never see each other," Hongjoong mumbled, his hand latched onto my fingers. I smiled softly at him.
"I probably wouldn't get to debut. The bigger companies won't want to nurture an older trainee, now would they?" I teased them and myself, lightly making fun that we were all older than the average trainee.
"Yeah, you're all old," Jongho said, scrunching his nose. I laughed softly as Wooyoung hit the youngest man with a pillow.
"What?! It's the truth!" Jongho exclaimed, trying to get away from the older.
"Alright, boys, I think that's enough," I said, gently taking the pillow from the redhead. Wooyoung pouted but nodded. Jongho grinned and hugged me tightly.
"Thank you, Hyung,"