"Goddamit," Spat Wooyoung, "I only wanted to smoke a cigarette and not assist with how babies are made." He then commented frustrated whilst proceeding to pull out the pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Shut the hell up, Wooyoung." Replied coldly Mingi as he decided to free Somi from his grip and act nonchalant. The tallest male was a discreet type of person, he rarely talked about his private life with the other members and, although being the mom of the group and the oldest one, not even Seonghwa had ever instilled that much trust in him. The only person Mingi was confident on that matter was Jongho.

The reason for such choices is the general lack of trust among the members: everyone had a private life that happened to bring them to meet and build a relationship, but that was it. They felt as if there was no reason for them to share feelings or peculiar events that happened in their lives and that was maybe why they haven't bonded much. They didn't hate each other, they would've done anything for the other's sake, but they didn't feel comfortable.

Somi couldn't ignore the wave of embarrassment that washed over her hand and that tinted her cheeks in a fire-red shade. Aiming at hiding herself for the next five years, she sneaked away from the two males and got back inside her apartment, where she tried her best not to meet anyone's stare while running to the bathroom. Somehow, what Wooyoung had mischievously claimed was making it difficult for the woman to even look at the members unaware of what he had said on the balcony.

Most importantly, she decided to ignore Yunho, whose big, doe eyes burned on her back even after she disappeared behind the bathroom door.

At that exact moment, the French window slid open again, allowing Mingi to step inside the living room and stare at his comrades with a puzzled expression, "What?"

Seonghwa seemed surprised to hear that question, "What did you tell her?" He asked as if Mingi had four years old and couldn't understand the stares.

The man with blue hair scoffed, "Nothing, just Wooyoung being obnoxiously savage."

Needless to say that the oldest man of the group wasn't fully convinced by his reply, though, and decided to let it slide as he considered the fact not important. However, it was when San, moved by his peculiar naivety, managed to make Seonghwa change his mind.

The blond male, in fact, stepped towards Mingi with a frown on his eyebrows and analysed his face whilst brushing his chin with his thumb and pointer finger. The tallest male, as a reflex, stretched his neck away from his face, creating an unavoidable double chin. San, finally, expressed what was tormenting him, "You have something on your lips." He commented in a murmur loud enough for the others to hear it anyway. Until that moment, no one really paid attention, nonetheless, for Mingi, the worst was yet to come. "Did you put on lip balm? Damn, you should really lend it to me sometimes, it looks amazing!"

It was at that moment that he knew he had messed up, that he should've been a bit more sly and attempted to hide better from San's eyes and his fashion sense. However, Mingi wasn't terrified by the blonde male's assumption, but rather by the rest of the group eyeing him as if they could stab him with their stares. According to them, there was nothing worse than being involved in something like a relationship where they were in a condition in which being awfully cautious about who to trust.

Luckily for Mingi, the majority of the group didn't pay much attention to the news, except, of course, for Yunho, who obviously wasn't pleased. The latter jerked down the chair and marched towards Mingi, the rage was filling his veins, and in his ears, he could hear the blood boiling, his teeth were gritted to the point where they could start splitting and when he finally grasped at the make with blue hair's hoodie, his fingers tightened the grip and almost punched a hole into the fabric.

Yunho's lips had disappeared, having them retracted, and their noses almost rubbed against each other, "What's your game?" He spat with bloodshot eyes.

Mingi stood still, clearly showing Yunho he wasn't scared of his dramatic scenes designed to only catch the attention without being actually useful, "My game?" He repeated with a sneer, "I'm the one messing around?"

Yunho shook his body, thinking that would help to gain some good sense back into his brain, "Are you really wasting our time like this? In case you don't remember, Jongho is disappeared and we're trying to find him, so instead of hooking up with someone you know nothing about that could also be a potential culprit, try to focus and do your bit."

"There's no need for me to do my part when you're doing everything. It's useless, for us, to say anything since you've already decided about our next moves. Just like when you were told to leave Somi alone and you did exactly the opposite." Mingi sneaked his hands between Yunho's and spread them open to make him lose his grab. At the same time, with flat hands, he pushed the black-haired man away from him from his chest, making him step backwards. "You think I wouldn't have known? Threatening Somi after everything she had gone through? Don't you find it a bit miserable especially when she's already stressed for her own reasons?" 

Anticipating Yunho's reply, which wasn't difficult considering that he had already placed one foot in front of him to delete the distance between their bodies and was already charging his right fist, San and Yeosang blocked his fury by clutching at his arms. The panic on Yeosang's face was evident, especially after hearing Mingi's words that revealed he had comprehended Yunho's intentions and would've taken no peculiar effort to conclude that he wasn't acting on his own.

Hongjoong placed himself between the two fighting males, his stare was low and his hands were intertwined behind his back. Nevertheless, Mingi and Yunho's bodies stiffened, fearing what would come and how he would've scolded them. The temporary leader raised his face, but maintained his eyes fixated in front of him with his lips puckered, "You know how much I hate quarrels." He made a springy on his feet, "Yet, you never miss the occasion to honk empty words." With a swift movement of his hands, he caught their ears between his fingers and dragged them down to match his height and to whisper, all accompanied by the moans of pain coming from the two males, "I highly recommend you start acting your age, or I'll make sure you won't be able to say a word." Then, Hongjoong finally glanced them in the eyes, Yunho first and secondly Mingi, "It'll be difficult to talk without a tongue." And with that said, he yanked the boys away from his face and proceeded towards the entrance door. 

The rest of the members opted to follow Hongjoong, not wanting to worsen the situation. Yunho glanced one last time at Mingi before copying the others. The door closed behind their backs, leaving Mingi alone in an empty and cold living room which echoed Yunho and his words. The man with blue hair, as well as the rest of Ateez, agreed with Yunho's intentions and learned his worries, however, no one shared his methods. The way he bluntly ignored everyone's opinions and disrespect their limits, no matter how reliable he was, even Hongjoong was sick of his stubbornness. 

Mingi sighed and laid his hands on the kitchen island as he let his head dangle between his arms and his fingers began pressing on the cold, black-and-white surface. If only Jongho had never hidden what he was working on- 

"Mingi?" Called a feeble voice from behind his back, making him flinch back into a straight position. He turned around and his eyes were chained with Somi's, they were big as if she had seen a ghost and glassy as if she had just started crying. Her figure appeared from behind a door, hesitant as if Mingi was some sort of frightened animal and she didn't want to scare him even more. His body stiffened once he noticed how hers was shaking. "Is everything okay?" She inquired while taking a few steps in his direction. 

The male ran his hand through his hair to lightly pull the tips, finding that gesture relaxing, "Yes, yes, don't worry." He answered before a disheartened scoff left his lips, "This happens every day and I bet that once we're back at home, we'll act as if this never occurred." And the left corner of his lips curved upwards, hoping to add a bit of conviction to his words. 

The woman fidgeted nervously, "I'm so sorry this is happening because of me." And deleted some distance between her and the man.

"This is happening because of Jongho, not you." Mingi spat coldly, stabbing her with his eyes. Somi flinched and her body appeared as if it was retracting like a turtle in the shell when scared. As soon as he noticed the effect his nervousness had on her, his face softened and stretched his arm towards her, "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"I think it's better if you catch up with your friends." She declared whilst lowering her gaze to the tip of her toes and sinking her nails in the skin of her palms.  

And Mingi listened to her suggestion. He retracted his arm and pressed his lips together before turning on his heels and crawling towards the door to open it and disappear behind the surface. Despite having a lot to say to her, he decided it was better to postpone. 

Somi hated how she was still seen as a possible hazard after proving her innocence thousands of times. She came to the conclusion that Yunho didn't actually need proof of her talent or of her being unoffensive, rather, he didn't want her around because she was the one making every member of the group open their eyes about his behaviour and his intention in wrapping everyone around his fingers. The reason behind his attitude was a mystery, yet irrelevant, as Somi was motivated to write the words "The end" to that situation. 

Whether with Ateez or alone. 

___

Ouch...

See you in the next chapter!

Luv ya!