Chapter Text
Seonghwa didn’t get angry easily. Annoyed, sure. Irritated, even, on occasion. But angry? It takes a lot to get him to that point, where rational thought abandons him and all he wants to do is yell, or cry, or maybe both at the same time.
There is precisely one person on the entire planet that is capable of getting Seonghwa into that mindset in record time. One person whom he has hardly spoken to in days, and hasn’t seen for even longer.
Kim Hongjoong. His leader, his Captain, and his best friend. Wooyoung would disagree on that last point with a suggestive wink and an elbow nudge rough enough to elicit a hiss of pain, but that wasn’t what was on Seonghwa’s mind for once.
No, what was on Seonghwa’s mind was that Hongjoong had been holed up in his studio for a whole week now, which wasn’t unusual in and of itself, but he had promised Seonghwa that he would be better about actually coming home after a long day at the office. After the last argument on the subject matter he had sworn to text or call if he wasn’t going to come back to the dorms, or if he would be too terribly late, and that he wouldn’t ignore incoming messages.
It appeared he lied.
The first few days of Hongjoong’s latest retreat into his workaholism he had actually called a few times, apologising for late nights and promising to eat and rest as much as possible. Seonghwa wasn’t shocked that Hongjoong had immediately thrown himself into producing as soon as promotions had ended, and was pleasantly surprised that he had kept his word about easing his only hyung’s worry for his well-being as he slaved away in front of his laptop into the early hours of the morning.
But that was earlier this week. This was now. Now, when after days of dwindling messages Hongjoong had gone completely radio silent. Seonghwa checked his phone for the umpteenth time that afternoon, noting that the last time the leader had responded to him was two and a half days ago. The last read receipt was from yesterday at about one am. Still no response.
“How about instead of glaring at your phone you go and get your man,” Wooyoung piped up from the entrance to the kitchen. Seonghwa scowled at him, but Wooyoung just crossed his arms defiantly.
“Jesus Christ, when did you get here?” Seonghwa muttered, more to himself than to Wooyoung. Honestly, despite how loud his dongsaeng was, he had the uncanny ability to sneak up on people like no other. Even Yeosang couldn’t hold a candle to him in that regard.
Wooyoung laughed shrilly, but the familiar sound was laced with bitterness rather than glee. “Hyung, I’ve been standing here for a few minutes now. You’re such a space cadet when you’re pissed.”
Seonghwa sighed, dropping his head to the kitchen table with a dull thunk. “I know, I know, I just…”
“Worry?” Wooyoung finished quietly, the sarcastic bite gone from his voice. Seonghwa could hear the chair beside him scrape across the wooden floorboards as Wooyoung pulled it out to sit beside him, could feel the vibration travelling through the soles of his socked feet. A gentle hand flitted across his back, and Seonghwa had to squeeze his eyes closed to stop the exhausted, furious tears from welling up unbidden. He had always hated that he was an angry crier.
“Hyung, I say this with all due respect and love but—when was the last time you slept? You look like death warmed over.”
Seonghwa laughed dryly. “It’s been a while. Can’t sleep when I don’t know if he is.”
Wooyoung tutted gently, still rubbing light circles over Seonghwa’s spine. “C’mon, Hwa hyung. Let’s take a nap.”
“Not tired,” Seonghwa grumbled, fully aware he was being petulant and completely ineffectual as the eldest member of Ateez. He should be looking out for his dongsaengs, not the other way around—
“Two things,” Wooyoung started, some of the softness in his voice replaced with the barest hints of a blade’s edge. “One, that’s bullshit—”
“—Language—”
“—and two,” Wooyoung continued, raising his voice to speak over Seonghwa’s protests. “I can hear your self-deprecating thoughts all the way from over here. Let me take care of you for once. Please, hyung?”
Damn it, Seonghwa thought bitterly. He was always a pushover for the pleas of his younger members, especially Wooyoung and San. He could practically hear the puppy-dog-eyes Wooyoung must have trained on him right now. He sighed deeply, lifting his head from the table and meeting Wooyoung’s gaze quietly; the younger man smiled brilliantly at his victory over his hyung’s stubbornness, holding out his hand to help pull Seonghwa to his feet. Wooyoung didn’t even say anything teasing when Seonghwa stumbled slightly, head spinning for the briefest of moments at the sudden change in posture, and only held onto his hand and dragged him down the hall to Seonghwa’s room.
“Do you want me to go get Shiber from Sannie?” Wooyoung asked, swinging his and Seonghwa’s joined hands lightly as he pushed the door to the bedroom open. “He’s super soft and really nice to cuddle. Best boy Shiber.”
Seonghwa gasped dramatically, withdrawing his hand from Wooyoung’s to hold over his heart. Messing around with his dongsaengs wouldn’t fix The Hongjoong Problem, but it was a distraction. Sometimes that was enough.
“I thought I was best boy?”
Wooyoung laughed, bright and bold, as he shoved Seonghwa onto the bed playfully. “Ew, no. Shiber for life. And Sannie. Always Sannie.”
“My dreams of WooSanHwa are shattered,” Seonghwa wailed, though he couldn’t hide his grin as he flopped back onto the mattress. “Leave me alone, you betrayer. You traitor. You double-crossing fink.”
Seonghwa grunted as Wooyoung practically flung himself against him, nuzzling into his chest like a content cat as he wound his arms around Seonghwa’s shoulders.
“Nooooo, hyung, I love you! I didn’t mean what I said, you’ve always been the one for me! Please take me back, baby, darling, lover—”
“—Okay, okay, that’s enough of that,” Seonghwa chuckled, ruffling Wooyoung’s hair. “And move over a little bit, I can’t breathe.”
Wooyoung shook his head as much as he could with his face buried in Seonghwa’s shirt, just holding him that much tighter. Seonghwa sighed, shifting the two of them to lay comfortably on his bed as best as he could with a human-sized koala attached to him like he would disappear at any second. Wooyoung made a noise deep in his chest that might’ve been a groan, but might’ve been something else, so Seonghwa tapped him on the shoulder lightly.
“Did you say something, Woo?” he asked quietly, speaking out into the silence of his bedroom. Wooyoung lifted his head ever so slightly, and Seonghwa had to strain to hear what he had to say.
“I said he’ll be okay, hyung. Now let’s sleep.”