#weightlessau masterlist

[weightlessau]

I quit. [ateez; seonghwa]

725 words || fluff

summary: he quit for you.

Seonghwa put a cigarette between his lips and moved his lighter to ignite the fire. As he does that, you move away from under his arm and get up from couch.

"I’m going to some snacks, guys," you tell the group of boys sitting around the television, "do you want any?" Your question goes unanswered as you exit the cold living room with the open windows and make your way to the kitchen.

You're pouring yourself a glass of water slowly to have some more time away from the living room when Seonghwa enters the kitchen and closes the door behind himself.

"You have been avoiding me lately." He goes straight to the point.

"No," you start, "it's not you I'm avoiding, don't worry." You still don't make your way to hug him as you normally would have.

"Then what is it? Did one of the boys do something to you?"

Seonghwa's group of friends is infamous for always getting into some kind of trouble. They're the bad boys of the area who don’t care about much. Even though they are like brothers to him, it wouldn't be a surprise to Seonghwa if you said yes to his question.

"It's not them," you deny, "forget it. I’m going to get over it soon, I guess."

Seonghwa moves to wrap his arms around you and leans in for a kiss, but you narrowly avoid his lips on instinct.

"What was that for?" he asks you, shocked.

You let out a sigh. You guess it's time to tell him. All along, you knew that you wouldn't be able to get over your problem and if you can't get over it, Seonghwa has to know.

"I just don't want to kiss you after you smoked a cigarette. You know i hate the smell and taste."

"Oh." He takes a step back.

Seonghwa had already been smoking when you two started your relationship and you fell in love with him either way; always making up excuses why you didn't want to kiss him right after he had a smoke break.

"Yeah." You look down at your feet. "It should be alright after you eat and drink some things, though, so don't worry."

And with that you grab the snacks and drink you prepared and make your way to the living room, pushing seonghwa with you to show him, you're not really mad at him.

The rest of the afternoon he's quiet and only answers when he's directly asked a question. You decide to only bring it up when he continues to act this way the next few days.

Which he doesn't. Or at least it doesn't seem that way on the phone. The next few days both of you are busy and aren't able to meet up in person. Your next date is a week after your talk about the cigarettes.

Seonghwa shows up in his car to pick you up. He even goes as far as to open the door for you and kissing the back of your hand.

Once you're in the car you immediately notice a change.

"The car smells really nice," you smile at your boyfriend, not used to the pleasant absence of the cigarette smell.

"Thank you," he smiles back, "I cleaned it recently."

That's not the only change you notice. You see Seonghwa tapping his fingers on the steering wheel all throughout the ride to the café you decided to go to.

"What are you so nervous for?" you half jokingly ask him when he doesn't even stop the restlessness once you're seated with your orders.

"Sorry," he quickly apologizes and takes your hand across the table instead.

You catch up on everything that has happened in the past week that you haven't seen each other. When you are once again seated in the car, you notice another thing.

"No smoke break today?" Seonghwa always has a cigarette after drinking coffee, if he can’t do it directly at the table then outside between the walk from the door to the car.

He starts driving and nonchalantly says, “i quit.”

"You quit what?" You're confused.

"I quit smoking."

"You quit what?" This time you ask more shocked.

"Smoking," he states matter of factly.

"Yeah, no. I got that," you shake your head and look at his side profile in shock. "Why?"

"Because you don't like it when i smoke."

i just haven’t had any motivation the last few days so i hope you like this one :)

[weightlessau]

[8 am]

an alarm rips you out of your sleep and you shoot up in bed. the arm that was on your waist before falls down next to you, limply. mingi doesn't even flinch with the loud alarm whereas you have always been a light sleeper. you sigh, turning off the alarm on his phone, as you try to calm down your painfully beating heart.

"mingi," you whisper and brush his hair out of his face. his head looking towards your side with his body laying on his side. arms that were previously wrapped around you now lay next to him.

"mingi," you say a little louder as you grab his shoulder and shake him hard. this seems to have done the trick as a grunt sounds trough the dimly lit room. "mingi, wake up. your alarm rang just now."

after many times of spending the night with mingi, you know what comes next. another grunt and him turning to his other side, away from you. you don't get annoyed though, you know you won't be able to go back to sleep anyways so you get up and ask him, "i'll go into the kitchen and get make you something to eat, okay? when i come back i want you out of bed. did you hear me?" another shake from you and you only get a "mhm-mhm" back, which means yes, you have learned.

but when you get back, mingi is still on the bed. this time sprawled out even on your side.

you hand returns to his tussled hair and you comb through it. a kiss lands on his right eye. another kiss lands on his left eye. you can see the smile tugging at his lips and you sense him trying to keep his eyes closed a little longer to see what you would do next. you indulge in his poor attempt, dropping the next kiss directly on his plush lips.

"get up, baby, or you'll be late."

[weightlessau]

cuddly and huggable and comfortable and warm and i need a hug [ateez; yunho]

625 words

you stare at the boy waiting for his drink.

"his chest looks so comfy," you say dreamily to your fellow barista, eyes still fixated on the tall boy. not only does his chest look comfortable, everything about him is peace inducing. from his fluffy hair to his bright smile to his chest to his height to his voice to. so basically everything.

"ask him if he can give you a hug then," your friend answers nonchalantly, maybe (most probably) even sarcastically.

"i think i will." with your eyes on the prize, you approach the boy like he's your prey. he looks nice, he would hug you for sure, you think.

"hi," you greet him and smile your most charming smile towards him, "my name is [y/n]. what's yours?"

obviously he is confused but because you're right and he actually is possibly the friendliest person ever, he still smiles at you, "yunho."

"so, tell me, yunho," you start slowly, still trying to win him over with your smile, "has anyone ever told you how huggable you look?"

one second passes, two seconds pass and he bursts into laughter, "not explicitly, no, i have not- i don't think so." a hand comes up and covers the lower half of his face to hide his blushong cheeks. you can see that his ears have turned a bright shade of red and he can't seem to look into your eyes anymore. he seems to be curling into himself out of embarrassment and being flustered like this.

"well you do."

"thank you," he says while looking to the side, trembling hand still covering his beautiful smile.

"i'm going straight to the point then, now that we have that out of the way." no need to hold him up any longer with small talk when you only have one goal right now. "can i hug you?"

you try to put on your best, most convincing puppy look (even though nobody resembles a puppy more than the soft boy before you, yunho).

instead of an answer yunho opens his arms and you don't hesitate to step into them. you were absolutely right, this must be the best hug you've ever had. he even smells good! like freshly made laundry and a faint smell of men's deodorant.

your face is squished against the chest you were dreaming about just a minute ago and you mumble a quiet "thank you" into it as you snuggle into him further.

"my pleasure." you can practically hear his smile out of his voice.

after a good minute of the best hug ever, you decide you have to step away now. a tight squeeze is the last thing. maybe five seconds more. okay, now you have to let go. another squeeze and you step out of his touch.

"that may have been the best hug i've ever had, yunho. thank you! you should hug lots of people. if it makes me this happy your hugs must be the highlight of your friends' days." you prepare yourself to leave, not wanting to make yunho even more uncomfortable than he already probably is, but are stopped by a hand on your shoulder.

"you could be one of those friends if you want my hugs so bad?" he says but ends it like a question, while scratching his neck with the hand not holding onto you. he still can't look you in the eyes and is even redder than before.

"that would be amazing," a bright smile takes over your face, before you have the chance to control it, "i bet you're just as good at being a friend as you are at giving hugs."

it's save to say that you didn't just stay friends but became so much more.

[weightlessau]

work out my heart [ateez; san]

summary: love can find you in all kinds of places

sporty!reader x san

warning: two quick mentions of food at the end

1k words

After busy day upon busy day you can finally go back to the gym and workout again.

You are lucky enough to snatch an empty treadmill among the full gym. Next to you there is a man also warming up for his jog in a speed walk. He has an unusual haircut with a mullet and a streak of his bangs bleached and dyed green. You start slowly and built up to a similar pace to the man next to you. He also glances over and smiles when he sees you swinging your arms back and forth. You notice his glance and look into his eyes questioningly.

"I have a question," he starts and doesn't even sound a bit exhausted while keeping up his pace.

You are a little shocked that he is talking to you as it is an unspoken rule at the gym that you don't really talk to anyone else. You still wait for him to ask his question.

"Can I maybe ask you to jog with me?" he asks, after seeing your confused gaze, he quickly adds, "It's just that I work out better when I have a companion and my friends didn't have time to come with me today. Or the next few times. I'm the only one of us that goes to this gym. I swear I won't bother you in any way! I just am a little better when I have a 'competition' kind of. You can just stop whenev-," he rambles on and on while still speed walking, which admittedly looks pretty funny.

"It's alright," you laugh, "I like having someone to push me, too."

"Thank you," he pauses to give you the signal to introduce yourself.

"[y/n]," you fill in the gap.

"Thank you, [y/n]. I'm San."

"Nice to meet you, San. Let's speed up a bit."

More and more time passes and you realize that San and you have similar stamina and unfortunately the same stubborness and will to win. You're both panting and trying to push forward until you share a glance and simultaneously turn down the speed.

"You're good," San gasps for air as he puts his hands on his hips and walks at a slower pace to cool down. You take on the same posture and walk beside him.

"You too. Thanks for the push."

As it was only Cardio Day for you, you turn off the treadmill, clean it up and make your way to the stretching area.

To your surprise, San follows you there. You just smile at him and resume your routine.

You are just about to make your way to the changing room when San stops you.

"Can I maybe get your number?" he asks before he realizes what that implies, "I mean to contact you as a sports partner not- I'm not flirting with you! Not that you're ugly, no! I don't mean that!" He's flailing around his arms to get his point across to the laughing you. He sees your smile and just flashes his dimpled smile back, "I'm just going to stop talking now."

"Type in your number, San. I'd love to repeat what we did today." You hand over your phone that you usually only use to listen to music or podcasts to in the gym.

After that San becomes a part of your routine. Every few days you meet at the gym and work out. Sometimes it's just cardio other times you help him count his lifts and correct your form or he does the same for you.

You have to admit that the two of you have grown closer and closer over those weeks of working out. You found out that the reason his friends don't go to the same gym as him is because they have a gym at the company he's under. That's another thing you find out. That San is an idol and on a break for the time being. Apparently he wanted to meet new people other than his members and others that work for the same industry as him. He achieved that by befriending you.

You also have to admit that you may have developed some feelings for San that are more than friendly. Unfortunately for you, San is a busy idol who probably doesn't have time to date and much less you, you think. For now you try to hide your feelings and the happiness you feel whenever the two of you meet up.

That's what you have to do right now. You try not to stare at San's muscles moving when he lifts his dumbbell. Quickly you also check if there is any drool on your lips. Watching him work out is dangerous.

"How many do I have, [y/n]?" San grunts, ripping you out of your daydream.

You quickly search for an answer because you weren't exactly counting, "26," you guess, "four more to go! Come on! You can do it!"

That's basically how the time at the gym goes until it's time for you to part ways.

Before you can go another direction than San, he stops you by grabbing your wrist and turning you towards him.

"Do you maybe," he starts while looking down at the floor while still holding your wrist, "I don't know. You can say no if you want to," he beats around the bush, "Do you maybe want to-" he stops again.

"Oh, come on, San. Spit it out! Don't leave me hanging like this," you laugh and try to make him more comfortable, while curiously looking at his reddening face.

"Do you want to eat something with me? Now?" he rattles down his question, leaving you stunned for a few seconds trying to figure out what he said.

This pause is too much for the nervous wreck San is, "You know what? Forget it! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it awkward. I'll see you in two days, [y/n]."

This time it's you who grabs on to his wrist.

"I'd love to go eat something with you, San."

[weightlessau]

[7:46 pm]

"why did i agree to do this?" seonghwa grunts over the soft voice of the yoga instructor coming from your phone.

"you asked for this," you laugh at your miserable boyfriend.

a quick glance to the mat beside you makes you nearly topple over with laughter. seonghwa's face is dark red, straining himself to stretch himself as far as he can.

"don't laugh at me," seonghwa grunts out again, with a heavy breath leaving him.

"who thinks yoga is easy now, huh?" you really love teasing him about that. just half an hour ago seonghwa walked into you doing some light yoga in the living room, teasing you, saying yoga was the easiest thing ever. little did he know that he was in for a ride.

"i swear my muscles are going to snap any second now."

you try to hold back your laughter, back facing your boyfriend in warrior two, shoulders shaking slightly.

deep breaths in and out, [y/n], you remind yourself, just like the instructor says.

but you lose it when seonghwa shouts out over the soothing voice, "you know what? i'm done with this! i'm out! i swear i pulled a muscle!"

"don't underestimate me next time, hwa."

"yeah, yeah, i won't," he pouts and limps over to the kitchen to get a drink. that drama queen. you know that he didn't pull a muscle or else he would demand an ambulance immediately.

[weightlessau]

in the name of love [ateez; mingi]

1.1k words

soulmate au

summary: finally his name appeared on your skin. after many years of waiting. mingi. what you didn’t expect was thousands of other people having the same. exact. name.

finally his name appeared on your skin. after years upon years of waiting his name surfaced on your skin in unusual symbols. of course the universe would never make it easy for your impatient self to find the soulmate you have been wishing for.

immediately you worked to decipher the writing in symbols you had never seen before.

mingi that's his name. mingi. finally you knew. mingi is you soulmate. your destiny. your fate. your other half. the one you're going to love and cherish for the rest of your life and get that affection back from.

what you didn't anticipate though, is thousands of other people having the exact. same. name.

if your life was an episode of the office you would have looked directly into the camera with the most unimpressed look on your face when you googled his name and saw many, many search results with no real answer of who your soulmate really is.

whoever, or whatever, came up with the idea of your soulmates name on your skin didn't think through that each name has thousands of people connected to it. that each name has over a thousand recipients that you have to sift through. they didn't even let his surname appear!

at least you found out that his name is typically male and that the symbols his name is written in, is the writing in korea. your mother insisted on getting you to learn korean so when you meet your soulmate, you'll be able to communicate and 'have a wonderful relationship without a language barrier'. her words not yours.

of course, through learning the language, you also learned about the world of entertainment in the country. after that there wasn't a single day where you didn't listen to kpop.

especially your favorite group ateez. you've been a fan of them since the day of the first kq fellaz video. you see, you have been googling the name mingi over and over and over again at least once a week since you got your tattoo and stumbled upon the cute adonis named song mingi.

now, you aren't delusional enough to think that he's your soulmate, that's a one in a (more than) thousand chance, but you like to tell people that you were destined to stan ateez.

that's the story of how you became an atiny, but not how you found your other half.

your discovery is full of accidents and mistakes and doubt. and a shit ton of luck (or maybe your friends helped a little bit by making you go to the country your soulmate's from...)

you were never able to go to a concert of your favorite group, to your dismay. concert videos were the only thing keeping you going on rough days. one day, suddenly, stan twitter blew up with a blurry close up of mingi's tattoo in very bad quality. apparently he slipped and fell during a concert, making his shirt ride up his back, where the name is located.

this became such a hot issue in the whole kpop community because idols aren't allowed to show their tattoos to the public before meeting their significant other.

now, in a world of predestined soulmates, people don't really care about dating all that much. it's just a fun pastime. it's no use to not be able to tell anyone the name permanently inked on your skin. but unfortunately the entertainment industry is different. the idols have to cover up the names of their fated ones for the younger generation, who still can hope for the name of their idols to appear on their skin.

speculation and critique takes over the whole side of stan twitter. 'what name can you make out in the picture?' is the question that starts fights within friend groups. it's like the whole black and blue or white and gold dress situation all over again.

you, personally, think it says [y/n]. maybe it's wishful thinking, after looking at a close up for hours upon hours. you know how they say that you only see what you want to see. and you want to see your own name on mingi's skin of course.

so you just dismiss your hope. you have a soulmate out there waiting for you! you shouldn't be dreaming about someone else. especially not someone you never have a chance of meeting and if so never ever have a chance to be your soulmate.

but it just so happens that you were giftet plane tickets to south korea, seoul to be exact, and to a comeback concert of ateez.

standing in line leading into the venue you can't help the tingling taking over your whole body. the shudder crawls down from the top of your head all the way to your toes, even leaving your teeth with a quiver. you're about to see your favorite group! you scratch over the name on your body in excitement, the tingling getting stronger and stronger the closer you get to the doors. you can't wait until they come out and perform 'answer'. you're glad that your bias, mingi of course, is able to participate in this performance.

the skin around your tattoo is scratched raw and you can't seem to stop the tingling. fortunately you're able to get a standing place near the front of the stage. a ringing in your ears accompanies you when you station yourself sturdily, ready to defend yourself if anyone wants to take over your spot.

you take a deep breath in and let a long breath out to calm your nerves. inhale. exhale. you hadn't anticipated feeling this excited to see the performance.

the lights dim and you see figures make their way onto the stage. one after the other shows themselves to their fans, waving as they go, screams echoing and giving you a headache. your breathing becomes more labored as you struggle to keep your eyes open. you press the balls of your hands against your forehead, fighting the dizziness taking over you. what is happening? before you can see the last member taking their place on the stage, your legs give in and you fall forward, hoping someone would catch you.

panic surges through the crowd when they see mingi laying motionless on the stage after tumbling out onto the stage after his seven members. more hysteria takes over once the people realize that someone else fainted just mere seconds before. dread fills everyone as they think something bad is happening, but it leaves them the second the dim venue lights up like colorful christmas lights. relieved exhales sound through the place. nothing to worry about. it’s a happy occasion.

the crowd has to part when the fan on the ground groans and rubs their eyes. ateez step away from mingi when he peers open his eyes.

their voices can be heard through the hushed building as they gasp out.

"[y/n]"

"mingi"

[weightlessau]

weightlessau’s masterlist

all my imagines are gender neutral if not stated otherwise

other social media

twitter || royalatz

ao3 || weightlessau

doyoung

Breathin’ ... doyoung just needs some air | drabble, fluff |

everyone

ateez as people in my class | bulleted |

sorting ateez into hogwarts houses | bulleted |

seonghwa

oh, valentine’s day ... maybe valentine’s day isn’t as bad as you thought | drabble, fluff |

[7:46 pm] | timestamp, fluff |

I quit ... seonghwa quits for you. | drabble, fluff |

hongjoong

uncontrollable love ... how to say i love you (à la hongjoong) | drabble, fluff |

yunho

[9:47 pm] | timestamp, fluff |

cuddly and huggable and comfortable and warm and i need a hug ... the title says it all  | drabble, fluff |

fuck(,) periods ... Yunho’s daughter hates you. Who knew her period could help you out with that? (dad!yunho) | one shot, fluff |

home is where the heart is ... being in the mafia and a father is hard. (mafia and dad!yunho) | drabble, angsty fluff |

yeosang

it’s called fate (and it’s great) ... soulmate!au | drabble, fluff |

san

stars fading but I linger on, dear ... don’t give up hope | one shot, fluff |

work out my heart  ... love can find you in all kinds of places  | one shot, fluff |

mingi

boo ... a valentine’s scare | drabble, fluff |

in the name of love ... mingi. what you didn’t expect was thousands of other people having the same. exact. name. (soulmate!au) | one shot, fluff |

wooyoung

leap year ... so the earth goes around the sun, and every four years it does it wrong? That’s… not comforting. (dad!wooyoung) | one shot, fluff |

[8:37 pm] | timestamp, fluff |

jongho

midlife crisis ... I’d like to buy a plane ticket to your furthest destination today | one shot, fluff |

the traveler ... telling stories is the best way to make friends | drabble, horror |

cute and squishy ... “I could kill you” (lowkey ateez!mafia) | one shot, fluff |

adorable and soft ... continuation of cute and squishy | one shot, fluff |

[weightlessau]

uncontrollable love [ateez; hongjoong]

583 words

summary: how to say i love you (à la hongjoong)

sleepless night after sleepless night in the studio. hongjoong's days have blurred into one big routine of the same thing all over again. although, not for the reason everyone thought. these all-nighters at the studio weren't for their next album. hell, they just had a comeback! the company even wants the boys to take a break, but hongjoong can't bring himself to rest.

not after having your beautiful smile playing in his head, stuck on replay, slowly making him crazy. crazier than he is about you. just mere days ago, just before he holed himself up in his studio, he realizes something he should have seen coming inevitably once he met you.

he loves you. he loves everything about you. he loves everything you do. he loves your smiles, your understanding, your passion, your love, your thoughts, your feelings. he loves the way you make him feel like he's souring. he loves the way he feels like he's flying in the air just by looking at you.

hongjoong has never said anything about this to you. he knows you love him. your actions speak for themselves. but hongjoong isn't so sure about his own actions. there has been times in your relationship when he had to leave you, to go to his job. you had always shown your understanding and let him go, but that didn't cease his guilt.

all these feeling he hadn't been able to convey to you are worked into a small document. a song dedicated just to you. a song just for you to listen to and enjoy.

what hongjoong didn't expect (but honestly should have) is you turning up at his studio that night.

after days of radio silence from your boyfriend, you became concerned enough to call the other boys of ateez. only to hear that he's been sleeping at the studio for more than a few days.

packing up every edible thing you had in your kitchen, you made your way to hongjoong's studio at kq entertainment.

the second hongjoong opens the door and sees you, you start scolding him, before he can open his mouth to show his surprise.

not quite listening to your nagging, hongjoong just stares at you, mesmerized. he's left breathless by just your presence and he feels his feelings intensify.

"god, i love you so much."

you stop your monologue in shock, "what did you just say?"

"what?" now it's his turn to stare at you in shock.

"what did you just say?"

"what? nothing!" flabbergasted, hongjoong turns to his controls and fiddles around with the mouse and keyboard to keep him busy. "i didn't say anything."

just as he says that he accidentally pushes down the play button. before hongjoong can stop it the speakers automatically play the most recent song.

"i love you, [y/n]."

flustered and absolutely unable to deal with the shock, hongjoong scrambles to cover the fully blown up letters on the computer that are forming his most vulnerable feelings to you.

he doesn't stand a chance, but he's consoled by your next words.

"i love you, too, hongjoong."

his music sounds through the small room as you make your way over to him and pull him into a meaningful deep kiss, hoping to convey the song's message over your loving embrace just as well.

"i love you," the song echoes out with those last words as you pull away.

silence surround you two.

"i love you," hongjoong whispers at you.

"and i love you," you seal the confession.

[weightlessau]

stars fading but I linger on, dear [ateez; san]

Summary: Don't give up hope.

(gender neutral reader)

1.3k words

Dandelions, fallen lashes, lost pennies, stars, birthday candles, wells, fountains.

All reasons to wish for something that may or may not come true.

You never really believed in things like that, but always hoped there was some kind of truth in those stories. Hope was needed all the time in your life. Whenever you came across an opportunity to make a wish, you took it and wished for the same things over and over and over again. That day was no different. When you went out that morning, a dandelion greeted you on your way to the station. As usual, you picked it up, closed your eyes tightly and blew with all your might. Next was a lash that fell onto your desk while you were working. Like a routine, you picked it up, closed your eyes tightly and blew with all your might. On your way home, tired and sluggish your dragging foot caught a penny laying on the sidewalk. Grabbing the chance, you picked it up, closed your eyes tightly and made that wish with all your might.

At night, you felt a little different. Coming home to an empty appartement with no one to greet you or just hug you, never failed to make you feel your loneliness immensely. How long had it been since the last time you hugged someone? Not those half-assed, one-armed hugs; a real hug that lingers on for more than a second, that makes you feel warm inside, makes you feel like you belong somewhere even after a soul sucking day, like you had had that day. The only things you were feeling were sadness and longing; longing for warmth, belonging, just a hug (maybe even a good cuddle, if you were allowed to be greedy for a second).

You were just about to close your curtains, ready to end the monotonous day, without any joy or genuine laughter, ready to end your thoughts, if only for a few hours of sleep, when a bright star caught your eye. Now, normally, you would have looked at the star, closed your eyes tightly and wished with all your might, maybe even clutching your hands together, but suddenly you had had enough of your routine. The star was possibly the brightest star you had ever seen, even brighter that Sirius. It was like the star was calling for you, giving you this indescripable urge. Maybe the suddenness wasn't as sudden as you believed. Many times you had come home to this feeling of loneliness and that day was the last day you would allow yourself to be monotonous. That was the last straw.

And for the first time in a long time you didn't wish for a better job, a chance to get more successful in your workplace, or anything mundane like that, you wished for a hug from someone who wouldn't want to let go, who would be there you wrap you into their arms after a long day and drag their fingers through your hair or over back, massaging as they go, loosening tight muscles. You wished for someone to love you and for you to love them back just as much.

That wish was the night before you met San.

It wasn't love at first sight. No, not at all. Those never really last anyway. No, San was one of many. One of those who come in and out of your office. Your cube neighbour had left the job, worked hard enough for a better one and now your office was in need of a new person, who could do the job.

That's where San comes in. Young, wild and unemployed. He was always more of a free spirit, who went with the flow, but after Seonghwa had scolded him for the hundreth time for not taking his life more seriously, with no real direction to go into, San decided that maybe his elder was a little bit right and applied for an office job. He already liked waking up early and then also being able to leave early? Sign him up. He didn't want to loose any of the freedom he had had before, so a job that allows him to have a hobby after work was perfect to him.

Just as luck would have it, he was accepted right that morning. And the two of you became friends. Some would even say best friends at work. Every morning, when you arrive, San is already sitting at his own cubicle, but has a cup of your favourite warm beverage waiting. In return, you always get him his mid-day coffee. After a while it became a routine and you were always seen together in the office. This relationship spread to after-work hours, without you even realizing it. Suddenly you were grabbing dinner after long hours of tiring work, then you were ordering in at either his or your appartement and then you spent the night over.

San is a very affectionate person, who loves cuddling, holding hands or anything similar, so it's to no surprise that your relationship developed to one with lots of friendly loving.

Just as usual you are lying on the couch with him, arms wrapped around his waist, head on his chest and his hand caressing your hair. Slowly you're feeling sleepy and you don't pay attention to the movie playing in the background.

Before you can completely fall asleep though, San mumbles something under his breath. You start up from your semi-sleep.

"What?" you ask disoriented and sit up with lots of difficulty.

"Nothing," San waves you off quickly, a blush spreading on his cheeks. His hands are now frozen and glued to his side.

"No, no, sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep like that. If you want to talk, we can totally talk." You rub your eyes and fully sit next to him, your body angled towards him, "I'm awake now, anyway."

San takes a deep, stuttering breath, "You just remind me of a star that I saw the night before I met you. Eventhough I never saw the star again, I got you." The blush not only intensifies on his face, but also yours.

You don't know what to say so a dumb "what?" leaves you. Is this the same star, you had wished upon months again? Now that you think about it, you did see the star the night before meeting San, someone who never hesitates to wrap his arms around you and never lets you have lonely thoughts.

"I really like you, (Y/N). Have been for quite a while."

The only thing you can do is stare at him. Because San, the hottest, nicest, cutest, friendliest person you have met, likes you, (Y/N). San? Likes you?

Your silence makes San panic. Tears appear in his eyes. "Shit. Sorry, let's forget that. I- I shouldn't have- shouldn't have said that." A pout takes over his lips. Seeing him on the verge of tears makes you finally snap out of your stupor.

"NO!" A deep breath in and out. "No, San. I like you, too. I was just shocked that you like me back."

"Oh," San breathes out. You can visibly see the relief wash over him. A smile breaks out onto his face, accenting his dimples, then a laugh leaves him. "That's good. Great! Amazing!"

You don't know how long you sit there together, just smiling at each other before San pulls you into him, into a tight hug, just like you wanted.

"You know," you start, "I saw that star, too, the night before I met you." Tilting your head up, you meet his soft eyes already looking at you. "I even wished for something." This makes one eyebrow shoot up.

"Really? What did you wish for?" he asks with curiousity showing in his sharp eyes.

"Someone to make me feel less lonely."

"I hope your wish has been fullfilled." He gazes at you lovingly.

"Well, I met you, didn't I?"

Bonus:

The next time you see the star, it is the night before you meet your child for the first time.

to celebrate the pretty date today (20.02.2020 (or for the others 02/20/2020))

feedback and requests are as always welcome!

[weightlessau]

leap year [ateez; wooyoung]

1.1k words

prompt: so the earth goes around the sun, and every four years it does it wrong? That's... not comforting.

dad!wooyoung and mom!reader

the second your son enters the house he is thumping around, bombarding you with questions before you can even greet him.

"mom!" he shouts.

"[your sons name]," you hiss back at him, strict parent style, teeth clenched and mouth barely open, "be quiet."

you swear he has too much energy. and it's all your husband's fault. your son is the exact copy of his father, personality wise. always loud, energetic, screaming and just doesn't listen to anyone. he's a very rebellious kid even though he's just ten years old.

"mom," he whispers now, but you know that won't last long, "dad is lying to me!" you knew it.

sighing you ask him, "what did he tell you now, baby?"

"that today's the 29th! that doesn't exist! i lived for ten years already! i know that that doesn't exist!"

you have to laugh at that. he's such a sweet boy, looking at you with the most innocent pout on his face and pointing at his grinning father in the doorway to the living room.

"it does!" wooyoung shouts back just as loudly as your son. you're glad the walls are thick or you would've been thrown out of your home the minute you moved in.

"no!" your son stomps his foot on the ground and crosses his arms, looking at you with pleading eyes, begging you to side with him.

"i'm sorry to disappoint you, baby, but dad is telling the truth," you smile at him and brush his dark hair back, out of his face.

"what," your son looks at you in awe, immediately believing you.

"see!" wooyoung points at his kid, who is trying to climb onto your lap, "i told you, but you just didn't believe me!" now it's his turn to pout.

"maybe if you hadn't lied to him so much then he would believe you, too, you big baby," you laugh in his face and his pout intensifies jokingly.

making a big show about feeling hurt by your son, he stomps over to you, as well. sitting down next to you, he grabs your arm, that isn't preoccupied with petting your sons hair and back, he pulls it to his own hair and makes you pet him.

"i have two big babies, i swear," you roll your eyes, but pet your boys anyways.

"but why is it the 29th today, mom?" your son asks, a little sleepy.

"well, you see, it's called a leap year and it happens every four years when the year gets one more day. there was a leap year when you were two and another one when you were six, but i guess you don't remember those," you explain to him as simply as you can without getting into any details that would confuse him.

"so the earth goes around the sun," he starts, proud to showcase any knowledge that he has acquired during his time at school, "and every four years it does it wrong?"

"that's... not comforting," wooyoung pipes up next to you, putting on a spiel as if he doesn't know anything.

"no," you glare at wooyoung, who makes you explain everything all by yourself, before looking at your son softly, "do you know how many days the earth needs to go around the sun, sweetheart?"

you wait patiently for his answer, "three hundred and," he thinks for a moment, "sixty?"

"close."

"three hundred and sixty one!" wooyoung screams as if this is a competition.

"a little more," you encourage them, seeing your son perk up at the hint of a competition.

"three hundred and sixty two!"

"more."

"three hundred and sixty three!" wooyoung 'guesses', "no! three hundred and sixty four!" he changes it.

"both are wrong, but you're really, really close, guys," you tell them.

wooyoung makes a slow move to open his mouth to answer again, giving your son time to shout his answer as loudly as he can, "three hundred and sixty five!"

"ding, ding, ding! we have a winner!"

"yay!" wooyoung and you laugh at the little victory dance your son makes after leaping off of your lap.

"good job, buddy," your husband congratulates him, holding his hand up for a high five, but is ignored by his own son, in favor of sticking out his tongue at his father.

"don't do that, [your son's name], that's rude," you try to scold him, but there is a smile taking over your face quickly.

wooyoung pretends to be wounded and lets his body fall across your lap, clutching his chest, "my son," he gasps, "my own son. he betrayed me," he looks up at you with fake tears in his eyes, "[y/n] please avenge the betrayal for me. i can't go on like this anymore. my strength is leaving me," he grasps into the air dramatically, your son laughing hysterically on the carpeted floor. to round it off even more dramatically, wooyoung grasps your hands, that were trying to wipe your tears, "avenge me," he whispers before he goes completely limp in your arms.

"wooyoung!" you play along and grab him by the shoulders, "wooyoung!" you cry out, throwing your body over his on your lap, sobbing excessively loudly.

"dad!" your son runs to you, still laughing, "wake up!" shaking his father with all his little might your spiel ends with wooyoung grabbing his son and pretending to eat him like a zombie.

letting your boys let all their energy out, you get up and make your way to the kitchen to get them some snacks until wooyoung makes dinner for you.

that night the question arises again why the 29th of february is ending and not the 1st of march.

"we found out that the day has three hundred and sixty five days, but that's not actually completely true!"

"what?" your son asks alarmed, ready to sit up again, but is pushed down gently onto his bed by wooyoung.

"yes," you nod, "it actually takes the earth three hundred and sixty five days and a quarter to go around the sun!" you explain as if it's the most interesting information he'll ever get to hear in his life, "but to make it easy for everyone, the people decided to just let there be an extra day every for years."

"easy, especially for lazy people like mom," wooyoung whispers loudly into your son's ear.

"you mean you, you big baby."

before you two can play fight with your son again, you hear a light snoring coming from his car-shaped bed.

"good night, angel." both of you kiss your son's forehead and quietly tiptoe out of the room.

[weightlessau]

it’s called fate (and it’s great) [ateez; yeosang]

784 words

fluffy soulmate au! enjoy!

(please tell me what you thought about it...i’m unsure if it’s good or bad :/)

the line in front of you moves along fast, almost a speed walking pace. every fan gets just a few seconds with their idols. you know that none of them regret spending that money though, just like you don't. when you found out that you'd be able to have a personal experience with your favorite group, you didn't want to pass up that opportunity.

just three more people in front of you, until you get to high-five the first person. wooyoung's bright smile greets you as you stick your hand up and touch his, you don't have nearly enough time to blurt out anything when you have to move onto the next person. san's dimples are still popping out even after hours of smiling. the next person, yeosang, is waiting already.

you let out a stuttering breath, opening your mouth to at least say something during this once in a lifetime experience, fingers grazing his when suddenly the world around you goes black as you slump forward onto yeosang.

it takes a few seconds, and the person behind you to nearly trample you, until they realize what just happened. what the thumping sound means.

it's like a wave of realization and panic flowing through the crowd as they stare at the two people lying on top of each other, unmoving.

when [y/n] fainted, yeosang followed right after. first they slumped onto each other, but yeosang leaned a little more on [y/n] than the other way around, making their bodies thump down to the stage.

hushed whispers go through the venue, "why did they faint?" "why at the same time?" "is everything alright?" "are they sick?" "should we touch them?" "is it contagious?"

before anyone can rush over and get to helping the two, yeosang blinks his eyes open.

bright colors greet him, blinding him temporarily. he tries to block out this overwhelming feeling with the balls of his hand. pained moans leave him as he tries to get off the soft surface underneath him.

then he remembers. why can he see colors? he shouldn't be able to until he meets his soulmate. what happened and why is the surface underneath him so soft?

yeosang rips his eyes open and stares at [y/n]'s unconscious body in shock, trying to ignore the vibrant colors, nearly falling backwards and blacking out again.

"yeosang!" hongjoong calls out to him loudly, but yeosang feels like every sound around him is blocked by balls of cotton.

"yeosang," seonghwa tries this time and grabs yeosang's arm to pull him up, while yunho goes to shake [y/n] by the shoulders.

before even thinking, yeosang blurts out, "no!" to stop yunho from touching you. he drops down to his knees again, escaping seonghwa's grip.

he cradles [y/n] in his arms, trying to wake her up.

surprisingly yeosang adjusts quite quickly to his vibrant surroundings.

no one can do anything in that moment, not even the security guards want to interfere with yeosang's moment after finally finding his soulmate. at least that's what everyone came to realize after seeing yeosang take care of the person on the floor gently. panicked but loving gaze fixed onto [y/n].

now you open your eyes as well, not even feeling the arms encasing you or the hard floor underneath your body.

you stare into eyes that are not the usual black and white, but a different color. you don't know which one, but after hearing descriptions you would call the color earthy and bound to nature. you can already tell that that is your favorite color. it's like you're looking into his soul.

that's the first time you can see colors and it happens to be your soulmate's eyes. before you can do anything more, he hauls you up by your arms and steers you backstage, to be sure you two will see each other again.

he's about to turn around and go back to do his job impatiently, already counting the seconds down until he can see you again, but is stopped by your voice, "where are you going?"

your voice sounds like heaven in his ears as he turns around and gazes at you lovingly. you're perfect in his eyes. he doesn't really mind spending the rest of his life with a soulmate like you.

"i have to finish the hi-touch"

"oh, okay." you smile, feeling as if you’re in a strange dream.

“what’s your name?” he asks before he leaves.

“[y/n].”

"[y/n]," he repeats to himself dreamily. you know that you won't be able to get enough of his beautiful voice, already looking forward to all the time you'll have together.

you're fated to each other, destined, made for each other. he's your significant other, you're his other half.

and you can't wait for more.

[weightlessau]

oh, valentine’s day [ateez; seonghwa]

summary: maybe valentine’s day isn’t as bad as you thought.

607 words

Oh, Valentine's Day. After so many consecutive years of not having a date you nearly forgot about it, and you would've forgotten completely if your friend hadn't invited you to 'friend date' because she 'wants to spend the day of love with people she loves, even if it's platonic love'.

And that same friend ditched you the second someone asked her on a date.

Oh, Valentine's Day. Because it falls on a friday, your shift at the diner is even worse than normally. Every couple is relieved that most don't have to work the day after, which means the diner is packed with people trying to woo their significant other on an insignificant day made for nothing but commercial reasons.

Maybe you are bitter that no one thought about you enough to even ask you to a date. Not one person approached you or even talked to you today. Except for those who you have to serve, of course.

You groan as you see three people entering the building. Back to work after a millisecond break. It's not even noon yet and you're already done with the day. Putting on your headband with hearts sticking out of it, you make your way towards the table the three sat down at.

"Welcome," you smile at them as brightly as you can and set the menus on the table.

As you walk away from them, you hear one of them saying, "I still don't understand why I had to come with you, Hongjoong."

"Well, I invited you before I got together with Hyejin and I know that you'd just sulk for the next week if I didn't take you with me."

"You make it sound like I depend on you." You can practically hear the pout in his voice.

"You kind of do, Seonghwa. Don't even deny it. Ever since you broke up with Minji, you don't want to do anything except when I force you to. And I don't want you crying in the darkness of our room anymore."

After listening in to all of that you decide to stop eavesdropping. You have to get back to work anyways, you realize, a couple waving at you a few tables down the aisle.

What you don't hear is what Hongjoong says next, "How about we find you a date today, huh? Maybe we'll see someone nice, even here."

But you hear his girlfriend whisper not-so-quietly when you are about to leave their table after taking their orders, "What about the waitress? We can ask them for their number!"

"Forget it," Seonghwa tells them dejectedly, "look at them. They're so good looking, they probably have someone waiting for them already."

Little does he know that there is not even one person, that you know of, who want to take you on a date.

Oh, Valentine's Day. Maybe the day gave you the courage you needed to tell him that fact, as you set down their food and a napkin with your number on it.

"I actually don't have anyone waiting for me," you begin nervously and see his eyes widening in shock, "if you want to be the one doing that, call me," you end with a smile and run away (well, walk swiftly away, running is prohibited) with red cheeks burning up.

bonus: He ends up calling you shortly after the trio leaves and asks you on a date that night. Of course, you agree and that is the start of what may be the best relationship you have ever been in.

Oh, Valentine's Day. Maybe it's not as bad as you made it out to be.

[weightlessau]

[8:34 pm]

"babe why does it smell so burnt?" wooyoung closes the front door behind him and follows his nose to the concerning smell. only to be greeted by your pouting sad face at the doorway of the kitchen.

"did you try to cook?" he sighs out. now he understands.

"i wanted to surprise you. you haven't had a home cooked meal in so long after practice," you pout and let him put his arms around your waist.

"you can't even cook spaghetti, you idiot, what makes you think you can cook anything else?" he chides you. he knows, just as well as you, that this could have ended bad. you alone at home, playing with fire. literally. wooyoung doesn't want to even think about what could have happened.

"don't call me an idiot."

"then don't act like one, idiot."

you push at his chest. feeling slightly hurt by his words. after all you did try to make him happy after a long trying day of schedules.

"okay, okay. sorry, baby," he apologizes. he may be voted the meanest one in ateez, but he would never intentionally hurt you in any way, "why don't you sit down and relax while i clean up and make something good for us, hm?" he says in a more gently tone, looking into your eyes, concerned this time.

"but i don't want you to work even more because of me." your eyes are glistening as you look into his gentle ones. after the initial shock of nearly burning your apartment down, the adrenaline has left you and only left behind the sadness of not being able to cook for your tired boyfriend. not being able to do anything simple to ease his stress.

"i don't mind. you know i love cooking. and what better reason than for my lovely love?"

he guides you towards the kitchen counter and makes you sit on one of the stools.

just watching him move around the kitchen and talking about his day relaxes you immensely. soon you nearly forget your stress and laugh along to his tales.

wooyoung always knows how to calm his idiot down. loving you, with or without cooking skills.

bonus

"maybe we should go to a cooking workshop together, what do you think?" you ask as you give him a back hug, trying to look at his cooking process.

"i don't think that's a good idea," he deadpans.

"why not?" you squeeze him tighter.

"do i really need to remind you of the time i tried to teach you how to cook?"

flashes of a pan in flames, you nearly throwing it out of your grasp. more flashes of oil spilling uncontrollably, you screaming just as wildly and running out of the kitchen.

"you know what, woo? maybe you're right."

alternative: To make this as a regular content, I need your ‘Like’, ‘Reblog’ and ‘Follow’.

gif found in google (dm me if it’s yours)

[weightlessau]

[9:47 pm]

"have i ever told you how much i love cuddling with you?" you ask yunho with a whisper as you prop your chin up on his broad chest.

"not that i can remember," he answers you with a soft smile on his face, lovingly gazing down at you, "i also love holding you, just so you know. sometimes i wish i would never have to let you go."

this makes you smile. if anyone walked in at that moment they would have seen two lovesick people smiling at each other with so much adoration that they wouldn't want to interrupt such a precious moment.

"i love you," you whisper and you get an "i love you" right back from yunho.

moments like these are always your favorite.

[weightlessau]

boo [ateez; mingi]

happy valentine’s day (feedback and requests are welcome)

483 words

——

holding your breath, you hear your boyfriend, mingi, make his way towards his room in the dorms. you quickly hide behind the door.

mingi opens it and comes into the room, without looking back. perfect. now is the time. you grip the flowers and chocolates tighter in your hands and extend them towards his back that he still has turned towards you.

"MINGI!" you scream loudly and slam the door shut with you hip. his scream echoes through the whole dorm at a volume that has you wanting to cover your ears. but you were too busy curling into yourself out of laughter.

"you- you-" is the only thing you can get out in between your laughter. you had never seen mingi jump that high. his hoarse scream sounded as if he was about to be murdered.

unable to hold yourself up anymore you drop to your knees and hold onto your stomach, flowers and chocolate still in each hand. tears roll down your face, making mingi's unamused face blurry as you look up to him with every ounce of energy you have left.

"that wasn't funny," mingi pouts to you and crosses his arms on his chest.

"alright, alright," you try to soothe him while gasping for breath, "sorry." he can obviously see that you're not that sorry with your wide, open-mouthed smile you are flashing at him.

"i just wanted to say happy valentines, love," you say and extend the presents in your hands to him, "i love you."

"i can't be mad at you when you're so cute," he says still pouting at you. nevertheless he accepts the things and hugs them to his chest as if they're plushies made to play with, "i love you, too, i guess."

taking his arms and slipping in between them you hug him to you tightly and smile at him, softly this time, "you guess?"

"okay, i love you for sure, but you nearly killed me just now." his arms with the bouquet and chocolates land on your back and squeeze you tightly. a soft peck lands on your lips.

"i love you," you repeat.

"and i love you."

bonus:

a knock pulls you out of the loving atmosphere, "is everything alright in there?" you hear hongjoong ask through the door. mingi lets go of you and rips open the door.

"hyung! look what [y/n] got me!" he says loudly like the big baby that he is. proudly he shows hongjoong the bouquet of roses and lilies. his smile taking over his face, cheeks lifting and squishing his eyes.

"they look really pretty," hongjoong says to indulge mingi's excitement.

"right? let me show the others!" and with that mingi runs to every room to show off his presents.

that afternoon he showed his gratitude with one of the best dates you have had (even though you say that after every date...).

[weightlessau]

Illegal Dreams [ateez; ot8]

after a very very long time i’m finally back (hopefully for good) please enjoy this story!

this was my entry for the ateez writing competition. i used all the prompts that were published by ateez.

4.7k words

no ships nor ateez x reader this time sorry :(

Member One

Big hands reach towards a black fedora and secure it on a man’s head. His face is covered with an equally as black mask, leaving only his sharp eyes on display. A long, dark coat swishes after him when he makes his way to the door, necklaces clinking against each other, making clear sounds echo through the empty, abandoned building. He lifts his hands up again and gestures towards the door. These gestures seem a bit foreign to him, fingers hesitating, arms getting tired quickly.

The effort pays off as a bright, golden light shines where the door was before, as if it was painted over. Suppressing the delight that he is feeling, the man quickly makes his way towards the dazzling light, stepping through, because he knows he does not have much time left before his amateur portal closes.

An unusual feeling spreads through his body. It is not uncomfortable, just very foreign. Before he even has the time to get his eyes used to the brightness, it subsides and the masked man can make out the faint outline of a man lying on a couch. He knows this man; he has been searching for this man for quite a long time. Not specifically him, but someone who could bring hope to the hopeless. And this man sleeping on the couch had the potential.

Hongjoong may seem like an ordinary man, but behind that facade hides a determined man, ready to take on the whole world at once just to fulfill the dreams that he is not allowed to have.

Dreams may be expensive in this world, but that never stopped Hongjoong. Even as a little boy, growing up less fortunate than his peers, he allowed himself a few sneak peeks into the world of the others. The others were not his peers; no, they treasured their expensive dreams too much; the others were the multiple versions of himself. The small boy did not know how he was able to breach the wall that the higher ups put up around dreams, but he never stopped climbing that wall over and over again, never telling anyone of his discovery.

They always say a child’s mind is the most creative; untainted and innocent. Hongjoong was one of the very few in this universe that was able to keep this child alive and turn into a creative adult. He kept this spirit alive, even though it came with many consequences.

Pens and several ripped pieces of paper are strewn on the coffee table in front of the sleeping man; cursed to never see the light of day, locked in the four walls of Hongjoong’s small apartment. If the government ever found out that he was being creative and conjuring up an illusion without buying any dreams, they would have his head. It is illegal and forbidden.

Just like the visit by the tall man cloaked in his dark suit. Forbidden in all the worlds. Slipping into a dimension you have no permission to visit. Mendling with time and space is dangerous and could lead to devastating situations. But the shadowed figure did not care. He has endured this hopeless torture for too long and he wants, no, he needs Hongjoong to bring light to the world again. To stop this exploitation of the desperate. To stop the selling of dreams, something that should be free to all in every universe.

His world has already progressed past the possibility of any hope. Hongjoong’s world, set in a time behind his own, still has a tiny glimmer of hope; or rather, eight glimmers of hope.

Picking up his hands again, he tries to remember what he has to do now. He learned everything he could before coming on to this important mission.

Drawing shapes and mumbling incantations, a light erupts again from the tips and the man seems to become almost transparent. There is no change of surroundings this time. The only thing that changes is the now stirring man on the couch, Hongjoong. The darkly dressed figure has done it, he has entered Hongjoong’s illegal dream.

Hongjoong does not notice the strange man looming over him, nor does he notice that he is still in his dream as he swipes his vibrant blue hair away from his eyes sleepily. Sitting up, he stretches his arms as far and as wide as he can.

“Kim Hongjoong,” the deep voice startles him, makes him draw in a shocked breath to repress the scream crawling up his throat, arms drawn in front of him. He cannot get caught directly after a dream, if the neighbours decide to call the police to investigate.

Before Hongjoong can come to his senses and question him, the man continues, “I don’t have much time, so you have to listen carefully.” The voice suits the tall man, dark and deep.

“There are countless dimensions in the world. You are just one of many. Hope remains for you that is why i need your help. Seven men, all from different backgrounds, are forlorn, waiting for your call. Help them see the illusion and you can change the world together, forever.”

Hongjoong has no time to ask, to even observe the man as the near transparency fades more and more.

“Remember, it’s not the reality that makes you lose your dream. It is your decision,” his voice is getting more muffled with every word he utters, “So I advise you to make the right one.” And he is gone.

Hongjoong startles awake, suddenly realizing that he had been asleep the whole time the masked man talked to him. Before he can doubt the words that were relied to him, he sees it. Next to him he sees an hourglass for the first time, and the sand begins to flow from the bottom up.

His mission has begun.

Tender hands carefully picks up the glowing hourglass. Gingerly Hongjoong tilts the hourglass from side to side, slightly, curiously watching as the sand keeps flowing up, up, up. Corn by corn the sand floats against gravitation, breaking the laws of physics.

Tilting the hourglass more steeply, Hongjoong suddenly realizes that the sandcorns all point towards one direction, no matter how he turns the figure in his hands. A compass, Hongjoong deducts.

To the next member.

Member Two

When he was younger his parents told him to stop. Stop dreaming, stop talking about his friend, stop trying to dress like him, stop trying to get into the large black fedora of his grandfather, stop dragging the long dark coat onto his small young shoulders.

Eventually he did stop. He stopped dreaming and even suppressed the visits of his friend, turned away from accidental daydreams and lost sleep at night, violently waking himself up whenever he saw the dark silhouette of his older lookalike.

Now Jongho has grown up from a boy to a man; from a happy, hopeful boy to a forlorn young man.

He made new friends, real friends that do not look like an older replica of himself. Friends that can show their hair and their faces.

Year after year Jongho tries to forget his friend; and with him the happiness he felt back then. If he does not know that feeling he would not miss it, right? With no luck.

Every day he asks himself the same two questions.

“Where am I now?”

“Where should I go?”

Without any hope Jongho just wanders through life, trying to distract himself by playing basketball with his friends on the weekends.

“Jongho! Do you want to walk back home together?” one of his friends asks him after a basketball game, ready to go back home.

“No, man, you can go ahead without me, I want to chill some more,” Jongho smiles up at him from his seat on the side bench.

After all his friends are gone, the basketball court turns quiet and empty, people passing by occasionally. The sun starts setting, but Jongho cannot bring himself to look up, his arms resting on his thighs and his head bowed down.

Hopelessness is starting to spread once again.

Jongho’s murmur breaks the silence, “Where am I now?” A heavy sigh follows. He does not know. Physically he is at the court, but where is he really? At what point of his life is he? What has he achieved and what does he want to achieve? It is not like he has the luxury to buy himself some dreams from the shop and he is forbidden from ever accessing the part of himself that can dream naturally. Showing signs of an illusion can be dangerous in this world, if it is not registered and controlled by the government.

Not being able to imagine where he is in his mind, Jongho is also unable to allow himself to imagine where he wants to go next.

Exhaustion engulfs Jongho, mentally and physically, making him close his eyes for a second. Or more. He drifts off for a short while, bodyweight slightly slumping more onto his thighs.

The only thing Jongho can hear is his own breathing and even is in his focus less in less. His breathing slows down and he allows himself to calm his heartbeat even more after just running around for the past hour or two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

“Kim Hongjoong.”

Jongho instinctively jumps up, immediately standing pin straight after hearing that whisper echo dangerously close to his ear.

“Find Kim Hongjoong and end your sorrow,” the whisper sounds again.

Frantically Jongho looks around the court, trying to find a figure that could have said these words, but he sees no one, not even outside the gate.

“It is not reality that makes you lose your dream, Jongho.” His heart is beating in his throat and his hands are sweating profusely. He still cannot see anyone, but the voice is ringing a bell in his mind.

“It is not reality, but your decision, Jongho.”

It can not be. There is no way. He is awake, and not dreaming.

“Find Kim Hongjoong. Make the right decision.”

It is his own voice. Jongho recognizes his own whisper echoing to him on the court.

“Dream again,” his own voice whispers to him and then silence returns to the court and Jongho wakes up with a startle.

So he was asleep without even realizing it. Jongho dreamt again after a long time.

He heard from his friend, his dear friend that he so desperately tries to forget. But there is no doubt that it was him, even after more than a decade of avoiding him, Jongho is sure that it was his lookalike from another universe. A universe a little more advanced in time than Jongho’s is, the other told him when they were younger.

Tales of multiple universes each a little bit different than the other, each unique in their own way but yet so similar. These tales always fascinated the little Jongho when he was growing up. What he did not realize back then was that not everyone could see what he could. No other friend of his could see his older friend from another universe, nor could they dream like him without taking the expensive potion from the shop. Jongho became an outcast, doing illegal things at the young age of five, maybe even younger he cannot remember. Thankfully no one ever told on him. His innocent, hopeful mind filling the empty hearts of many discouraged adults, who just wanted to give a little boy a piece of happiness.

“Kim Hongjoong,” Jongho repeats the name he learned out loud, “who are you, Kim Hongjoong?”

Taking fast steps Jongho makes his way home the second he shakes himself out of his shock. He does not doubt that what he experienced was not real. A dream can be more than just an illusion and he has to find the reason why his friend came back over a decade later, just to tell him these few words and vanish immediately after. The internet can help him on his search. The name is an unusual one so he should be able to find an answer.

Jongho’s fingers fly over the keyboard as he types.

“Kim Hongjoong, Kim Hongjoong, Kim Hongjoong,” he repeatedly mumbles under his breath as he skims the first page of Google. Nothing. His hands glide the cursor to the second page and he clicks through that one.

“No, no, not that one either.” The silence in the room is filled with the clicking of the mouse and Jongho’s grumbling.

“Who are you, Kim Hong-” He stops dead in his tracks. There it is.

“Kim Hongjoong,” Jongho starts reading out loud, feeling like he has already uttered that man’s name for the nth time, “looking for another individual, who saw a dark concealed man in a black fedora and black mask, wearing a long black coat.”

His contact number is posted under his post and without giving himself a second to reconsider, Jongho has already picked up the phone and pressed the numbers in.

He has made his decision.

Member Three

At one point in life you have to make a decision that can change your entire world. Wooyoung realized that after the man with the black fedora visited him in an unexpected dream.

As someone who has never before experienced a thing such as a dream, Wooyoung has to say it was a little bit disappointing. It was nothing like his richer classmates had told him it would be. No crazy things he could never imagine, no, instead he got the same place where he fell asleep, on his desk at school, just with the not so mind blowing addition of a man in black. It felt like a joke to him. Wooyoung had not even realized that he was in a dream until after he woke up.

But even if it was underwhelming, two things significantly stood out to Wooyoung, leaving him with questions.

What did the man with the exact same voice as him mean with “making a decision”? How is he supposed to lose a dream if he never even bought one?

He thinks back to the decision a good friend of his made a long time ago.

San, Choi San. His lost friend, who vanished from one day to the other with no warning whatsoever. He had made his decision.

But could Wooyoung make one?

He gave up on the easy way out to find his friend. He searched and searched all he could, but after months of waiting for San to come back to school Wooyoung gave up. Evidently he did not want to be found.

But maybe he is wrong. Maybe he should not have given up and taken the easy way out of his problem. Maybe that is what the masked man meant.

“Look for your friend and do not stop until you have found him.”

Maybe then they can find a way together to finally dream their first dream.

Wooyoung is not going to give up this time. He stands up, determined, and rushes out of the classroom, away from the startled teacher.

He is only going to think about one thing now.

Member Four

Living without dreaming is a normal thing for a guy like Mingi. Dreams are too lavish for the poor. Mingi’s innocence was lost at a young age as he had to start working early due to extreme poverty. There was no time, much less money, for Mingi to stop and dream. In a world where dreams, a way to escape reality, are highly valuable, legalized drugs, Mingi has to work hard to get by. There is no time for him to be hopeful, to think about a world where he has everything he could ever want. Even if everything he wants is just a permanent home, not an old furnished warehouse where the social worker, Hongjoong, would drop by every once in awhile to check on him.

Speaking of the devil, Hongjoong barges into his temporary home very uncharacteristically. In his delicate hands he holds an hourglass. There is something off about it, but Mingi cannot pinpoint what it is.

“The sand kept flowing faster the closer I got,” Hongjoong pants the second he enters through the doorway, “and it pointed towards your direction and, Mingi,” he takes another deep breath, “I think you may be the next one to the puzzle,” he points his shaky finger at Mingi, who just stands there, perplex, “ and I can’t believe it’s actually someone I know! I can’t comprehend it! This thing is just so strange, one day I’m dreaming illegally and now I’m supposed to bring together seven more people and spread hope?” Hongjoong gestures around wildly, talking with his hands, now that he has regulated his breathing.

Before he can get even more animated, Mingi grabs Hongjoong’s shoulders and looks him deep in the eyes, “Hongjoong, calm down.” He shakes him lightly, just enough to make it clear that he is present. “Now tell me what you are talking about, I have no idea what you’re even saying.”

“I need to find more people for my team! The man with the black fedora told me,” Hongjoong says while looking up into the confused eyes of his friend, Mingi.

“What man with a fedora?”

“He visited me in my dream and gave me this compass, I’m supposed to help you dream.”

“Hongjoong,” Mingi’s shoulders are slumped forward, head hanging low, “you know that I can’t dream. Why would you try?”

“Why would I try?” Hongjoong’s loud outburst echoes through the empty warehouse. “The government steals our hope! Don’t you see it, Mingi? We’ve been given the opportunity to change that! Just imagine it!” This time Hongjoong is the one gripping Mingi’s shoulders tightly. “Just imagine a world full of dreams! And hope!” Excitedly, Hongjoong shakes Mingi, while Mingi just looks down at the other and endures it, indulges in this ridiculous idea of free dreams for a few seconds before reality will come crashing down on Hongjoong.

“It’s not possible, Hongjoong. At least not for many people. You may be an exception, but you don’t even know anyone else that is like you. Stop getting your head up to the clouds and return to reality.” Mingi is starting to get a little angry the more he thinks about it. As if he does not suffer enough from hopelessness. Hongjoong does not have to rub it in that he can dream naturally.

“That’s the thing!” Hongjoong paces back and forth and raises his voice again. “It’s not reality that makes you lose your dream, it’s your decision! Your decision of listening like a good little marionette or actually do something against the stolen desires!” He stops in his tracks and abruptly turns towards Mingi again. One finger pointing at his tall figure and the other hand on his hips, he continues his rant, “and I did find someone else that can dream freely. His name is Choi Jongho, he contacted me just an hour ago and has agreed to meet up with us in two hours at the city center, so get ready, because you’re coming with me.”

Member Five

Moving, moving, moving and, once again, moving. San is sick of his life. The life of a nomad.

He had wished that they would stay in this town a little bit longer. He had found friends here and was happier than he had ever been. But of course his happiness was crushed when he was told that they had to move again. Over night, he had to pack his bags and leave the city abruptly, as if he is a criminal on the run from the police. Which he technically was, dabbling in the very illegal art of recreating the dream potion.

He throws his two bags onto the moving car. After years upon years of moving he only has two bags full of valuables left now. One for his clothes, the other one for his little amateur chemist lab.

San is so sick of his life. Every day he wishes he could just escape. Just leave and never come back.

“Why can’t I?” he mumbles to himself, swinging his legs on the side of the moving truck, “what is holding me back from leaving?”

The car stops at a light, San grabs his bags and jumps out of the car.

Nothing is holding him back from leaving.

Member Six

Adults always tell Yeosang “look up at the stars in the night sky. That should be enough dreaming for you. Buying dreams is useless.”

But whenever Yeosang looks up at the sky, he sees darkness. Not a light shines through the thick blanket of hopelessness, no rip, no gleam of change.

The stars are not enough of a replacement for dreams. They are not meant for that. And Yeosang realizes that, which is why he walks around, not with his head in the clouds but with his eyes on the ground.

Just like he is doing it now, head down he walks around in the crisp night. His bleached hair falls into his eyes, but Yeosang does not bother pushing the strands back. There is no use. Like everything in life.

He is ripped out of his thoughts when he suddenly feels a sharp pain in his shoulder and falls on his back.

“I’m so sorry,” a voice gasps. As Yeosang looks up he can see a young boy reaching out to him on the floor, unsure if he can touch him and help him up or not. Yeosang makes the decision easy for him and takes the offered hand, heaving himself up.

“It’s alright,” Yeosang mumbles in a monotone voice. He does not have the energy to actually reassure the other guy right now.

“No, no! It’s not! I can tell that you’re in pain,” the other points at the sagging left shoulder that Yeosang is still rubbing, “I’m meeting up with someone in half an hour, but I can buy you ice cream as an apology if you want!”

Yeosang looks around. He must have walked all the way to the city center while he was lost in his thoughts.

“Alright,” he accepts. What is the harm? He does not have anything to do anyways.

With that they now walk side by side, looking for the next ice cream shop.

“I really am sorry.”

“Stop apologizing, you’re buying me ice cream already.”

“Alright, alright. My name is Jongho,” he introduces himself, as if he is trying to make a new friend.

“I’m Yeosang.” And they are back to silence.

“You know,” Jongho carefully starts, “I saw that you were a bit dejected and I just want to tell you to not give up.” A kind smile stretches his full lips, but Yeosang can only scoff as he takes the ice cream that Jongho is holding out to him.

“Dreams are useless,” is all Yeosang says to Jongho before he walks away.

Jongho does not relent and comes back, jogging to the position next to Yeosang again.

“It’s not the reality that makes you lose your dream, it’s your decision.”

“But what decision can I make that makes me dream?”

“You can come with me and I can show you.”

Member Seven

Running. Running until his legs cannot carry him anymore. Cars beep at him, cursing him out as he rushes past red lights and green light alike.

His whole life he has been dreaming with Seonghwa. Showing up in each other’s dreams, playing around, having fun, but now he is just gone. Seonghwa disappeared and never came back to Yunho’s dreams again.

Night after night he takes his dream potion and waits for Seonghwa’s return, but no luck. Even less luck now, because Yunho ran out of potions and he only realized when he wanted to go to bed.

Now he is sprinting towards the dream shop before it closes for the night. He has to get at least one potion. What if tonight is the night Seonghwa comes back and Yunho is not there to greet him?

But luck has left him. The shop is closed. He is too late.

A group of four men are standing in front of the shop too, so he asks them for help.

Maybe he is addicted, but he cannot think straight, he has to find his friend and if that is only by dreaming every single night, then so be it.

“Do you guys maybe have a potion that I could buy off of you?” Yunho pants, “I really need one just for tonight, I’m willing to pay extra, my friend, I need to find my friend.”

The four men just look at him in confusion before the smallest of the group speaks up, “I'm sorry, but we don’t have any potions.”

He says this loud enough for another man, standing a few steps away to hear.

“You’re looking for potions? I have some, if you want?” his whole face is sharp and the smile pulling at his lips, make Yunho question the man's intentions, but he does not care for now.

There is no need to be extra cautious as the man immediately clears why he is so suspicious, “I made them myself and tested them. They work just as well as the one’s sold by the government.”

This seems to make the quartett perk up as well.

“How much are you selling them for?” the tallest one, as tall as Yunho, asks.

And with that the six of them come to an agreement to form a little group. Hopeless achievers that just want to reach an illusion.

“I may know someone else that would agree to do this with us,” San, the an with the sharp face, says and pulls out his phone. Yunho catches a glance of him unblocking a number belonging to a “Woo”.

Member Eight

Everyone left, but only her scent remains. No name or address to be known. As if Seonghwa was dreaming within his own dream, it all faded away.

She only left behind the ocean waves that used to crash against her walls. Her woody smell does not leave Seonghwa’s mind. And Yunho, too. He, too, never came back. No friend to accompany him on his adventure within a dream.

Seonghwa cannot fathom what happened. It is as if he is having a nightmare within his dream.

Where is everyone?

That is what the newly formed group of seven wonder as well. What happened to Seonghwa and where is the hourglass pointing towards?

With no clue as to where to go next, they go to sleep in the warehouse.

“Open your eyes.”

It is the masked man again, except there are eight of him.

Hongjoong rubs his eyes and notices that, no, that is not the same man eight time, but rather a group of men.

“Open your eyes,” Hongjoong’s voice echoes through the warehouse again, but his own mouth is closed.

“Find Seonghwa and fulfill dreams. Find him and you will find your treasure. Follow the hourglass.”

And with that the seven jump awake all at once. Looking around San tries to find the eight men that just visited their dreams.

“Those were,” Yeosang starts, eyes wide, “those were us?”

“Yes, us from another dimension,” Jongho answers him.

“And the eighth was Seonghwa!” Yunho excitedly tells them.

Quickly they pack up their things and follow any direction the sand corns point at. The sand flowing faster and faster the closer they get to Seonghwa. Until they find him at the seashore, sitting on the sand, head in his hands.

From another universe, the masked people watch as the last corn floats up, leaving the bottom empty.

But not for long. Now that they are together, the mission has just begun.

Eight Makes One Team

And just like that eight men came together as one team.

As adventurers, pirates, criminals, delinquents or whatever you want to call them.

They call themselves

ATEEZ

And they have a mission.

Spread hope and happiness and make people dream again freely. No matter at what cost.

Will you join them?