Chapter Text
“I mean what I say Captain, I think there is real potential with them.” San tried to get his leader to hear him out.
“And how long do you think it’s going to take San? Because we don’t have an awful lot of time.” Hongjoong’s voice was grouchy and coarse. He was pacing back and forth behind his desk, both hands on each hip whilst San remained still in the chair opposite him.
“I don’t know Captain but I think we should keep trying.” The man persisted and Hongjoong was starting to see a pattern amongst his comrades. First Jongho, then Seonghwa and now San, all of them seemingly particular on keeping you with the group.
It had been a week since you started training with San and Mingi and you had gotten better compared to when you first started but not by much and Hongjoong’s patience was beginning to wear thin. Not to mention the fact that Mingi was close to strangling you the other day when you ignored his words of caution when throwing knives. The accident ending up putting you under the care of Seonghwa yet again as you had almost gouged your own eye out, merely ending up with a deep cut underneath your eye as San had jumped in to help just in the nick of time.
But, like San had told you, Hongjoong knew what it was like to be exposed to things like weapons and violence for the first time and as much as he didn’t want to, he felt obliged to give you the benefit of the doubt. Not only that, but they still hadn’t found any leads on how to get back to 2024.
“Maybe you could help them Captain?” San inquired, subtly biting down on his bottom lip for when his leader began yelling at him.
But it never came as Hongjoong had chosen to ignore his question for now.
As if helping him to avoid answering San, his phone began to ring, buzzing away in his jean pocket. Taking out the device, he saw the name of the man he’s been waiting to hear from ever since you arrived.
“Yeongsu-ah.” He looked at San who stared right back at him, a small nod leaving him as he went to collect the other members.
“Kim Hongjoong~.” The voice on the other side was sultry and a little playful.
“What took you so long? I messaged you last Friday.”
“Oh, you know, just trying to avoid getting arrested again. Haesoo’s men nearly had me. The bastards lost me through Starfall Market.”
An audible gasp left San’s mouth and he quickly, but silently, left the room to go and fetch the other members.
“And? Are they still on your trail?” Hongjoong was as annoyed as they could come.
Yeongsu was a friend of ATEEZ and was the man who took them all under his wing when they first arrived all those years ago. He was the one who had to, metaphorically speaking, beat some sense into them and make them realise that if they wanted to survive in this world, they needed to be firm and lock away their emotions. So, whenever he was reckless like this it worried Hongjoong sick but also made him extremely anxious for the welfare of Yeongsu and his comrades.
“Nope, not that I can tell. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?” the man yawned down the microphone making Hongjoong scoff.
“You are too carefree Yeongsu.”
“Eh, who cares, I’m going to die eventually anyway so might as well live life on the edge.” The sound of objects falling followed by a whimper from Yeongsu came through the microphone this time. “Are you going to tell me what’s up, or am I supposed to guess?”
The door to his office swung openly semi-harshly and Hongjoong saw all of his members standing there, eager to listen in to the conversation. Through a single glance, he conveyed to all of them that they should remain silent whilst on this phone call with Yeongsu as to not distract from the conversation.
“We need your help.”
“Yes, we established that already. What’s the problem?”
Sighing deeply, Hongjoong pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand before sitting down at his desk and leaning with one elbow onto the table.
“What do you know about time travel?” the question was simple but it allowed the conversation to open up.
“It’s a complicated thing. Why, do you want to visit the Vikings in Scandinavia?”
Coughing to clear the air and his throat, he began speaking.
“Our youngest picked up a stranger the last time he went into Quantum Nexus and they told us that they are from the year 2024, just like us.” Hongjoong explained as simply as he could. “They told us that their only way back to 2024 was destroyed and-“
“Hold up, hold up. You’re saying that someone else has become trapped like you guys?” the playful tone of Yeongsu’s voice was gone now, replaced with a serious tone that he rarely ever uses.
“Yes, they were sent here for their work but Haesoo got a hold of them first. They told us that Haesoo destroyed their time travel device which was their only way back.”
The were a few brief moments on the other side of the line, making Hongjoong both anxious and frustrated that Yeongsu wasn’t responding fast enough. The other members remained silent too, listening to all of the conversation unravel.
“We need to get them back Yeongsu, they don’t belong here.” Hongjoong tired again to get some kind of response from the man on the phone.
It worked of course, just not how he would have liked.
“And since when did you care about strangers? I thought you guys all resented the idea of helping another stranger after what Sungchan did.”
“Don’t question me Yeongsu.” Hongjoong quickly shut the conversation down from going down a specific route he didn’t want to talk about. “We just need your advice on what to do.”
A long sigh from Yeongsu made everyone hold their breath, including Mingi because, quite frankly, he wanted you gone as soon as possible even more than Hongjoong did.
“Are you guys busy tomorrow? I know you need new supplies anyway.”
“No, were not doing anything.”
“Okay. Meet me at my place at 10:00am. And bring this stranger with you.”
“What? Why?” Hongjoong immediately felt obliged to put his foot down and say no to this but to no avail as Yeongsu quickly jumped in.
“You told me you want me to help them so I suggest you bring them along.”
The call suddenly cut off, leaving all of them extremely confused.
You hadn’t left the house premises yet and Hongjoong didn’t feel comfortable taking you back into the city centre where you had previously fled. Not only that, but he had given you strict instructions to only communicate with San and Mingi. Even then, it was only during moments of training, nothing more.
“Captain?” Jongho spoke first.
“Are we sure about this? He didn’t make it sound very convincing that he was still a free man.” Wooyoung stated, coming to stand next to Hongjoong and putting a small comforting hand on his shoulder.
“We should be more concerned about our guest fucking things up for us in the city.” Mingi spat, a look of scorn and displeasure on his face.
“Well, first things first, we need to decide who is going to go.” Seonghwa tried to shut down Mingi’s rant as soon as possible because, the simple look on his Captain’s face told Seonghwa that added stress was not needed at that moment in time.
Hongjoong remained silent, letting his teammates talk over each other whilst he came up with some kind of plan. Recalling all of his members’ skills but also what they were being hunted down for. He was still the most wanted member of the group, but he didn’t want to risk anybody going if they were going to be easily recognised. He could deal with his own consequences but he didn’t want anybody else in the group to suffer.
A lot of people would call him stupid or even reckless that he was willing to do anything for his teammates alone but, in the end, he just cared for them deeply and didn’t want to risk losing anybody.
He would rather carry the burden all by himself as the leader than include other people into a mess of problems.
“Captain, can I make a suggestion?” Yeosang asked, knowing that Hongjoong would listen to him.
“Go on.”
Looking at his members, Yeosang folded his arms across his chest and withheld a confident expression. “San, Yunho and Wooyoung should accompany you and Wanderer tomorrow.”
The latter two looked temporarily confused whilst San just shrugged nonchalantly. He didn’t have an issue with going as he had gotten to know you better over the period of training you. Not only that, but it was his current job to keep an eye on you. Yunho and Wooyoung, however, hadn’t had a conversation with you yet so San was curious to see how it would unfold.
“I mean, I don’t mind going, but surely Jongho should go instead of me?” Yunho started, his eyes whizzing between all of his members. “He can drive better than me.” he stated, matter-of-factly and all eyes fell onto the youngest making him shuffle his feet anxiously. But it was quickly shut down.
“No. Our youngest is not to interact with Wanderer.” Hongjoong commanded. “We will go with Yeosang’s suggestion. You three are more than capable of making sure that we all get into the city and back alive and undetected.” He leaned back into his seat and ran his fingers through that fiery red hair of his. “All three of you should prepare your weapons and make sure everything is in order for the morning.”
And with that, Hongjoong stood from his seat behind his desk and, once again, left the conversation leaving all of his members to sigh simultaneously. Most of the time, nobody would question Hongjoong’s motives behind any of his decisions but it became apparent to everyone, including Mingi, that their leader was becoming ever so slightly protective of you.
“Is it just me, or is he being slightly nicer to our guest?” Wooyoung laughed halfheartedly.
“He sure seems to be more on board to help them.” Seonghwa added. “Well anyway, you heard Captain. You should go and prepare for tomorrow.”
The group dispersed after that.
Meanwhile, Hongjoong had made his way up the stairs towards Yunho and Mingi’s bedroom that you were staying in.
Stopping outside, he knocked twice before opening the door, revealing your half-asleep form laid on the bed in a room full of darkness. The sudden light from the landing spilled into the pitch black room which burned your eyes and it took you a second to arise out of sleep. When your eyes came into focus, you saw the Captain standing in the doorway, an eyebrow raised and one arm holding onto the other elbow across his stomach.
“Yes?” your voice was croaky and laced with sleep.
“You’re coming with us tomorrow.”
Any sleep you previously felt had vanished at his words and you thought you misheard him.
“Sorry?” you urged to repeat himself, still slightly groggy.
Rolling his eyes at you, he entered the room and stood at the end of the bed now, his eyes never leaving you as you sat up and crossed your legs on the soft mattress. “You’re coming with us to Quantum Nexus tomorrow.”
Hearing him say that you would be able to see outside the confines of the house, made your heart skip a beat for multiple reasons. You were starting to go stir crazy with being constantly locked up inside the house but, at the same time, you would have rather removed your eyes then set foot in that city once again.
“I thought I wasn’t allowed out of the house?” the question fell out of your mouth so easily that you couldn’t help the disbelief that seeped into the words.
“There’s been a change of rules, just for tomorrow.” The Captain’s expression never changed. “There will be a few of us going as it’s dangerous for us to go alone.”
“Well, then…what are we going there for?”
Sighing deeply, he relaxed his posture and chose to sit at the end of the bed, not far from where you were sitting.
“We’re meeting a friend. He might know a way for us to get back to 2024.”
Those words spun around in your head a million times before you formed a sentence. The fact that they knew someone who could possibly help filled your body with hope that you were possibly returning home sooner than you thought.
“Oh…” was all you said, your mind still racing with thoughts.
A tiny sigh of exasperation left him. “Well you could be a bit more bloody excited.” His tone of voice, despite his sigh, was suddenly playful with you. Just ever so slightly.
“No! I-I am. I swear. I just wasn’t expecting you to say that we might have a way back.” You babbled, still trying to gather all of your thoughts.
He scoffed at your small outburst but you caught the hints of playfulness in the scoff and it made you smile.
In the dim lighting that spilled into the room, you saw how tiny shadows were cast onto his cheeks by his eyelashes whenever he looked down at his hands that laid in his lap to avoid eye contact. His hair was tousled and, if you were completely honest with yourself, it made him look extremely hot. The close proximity between you both also allowed you to observe the red eye bags underneath his eyes and the way his skin was almost too perfect to be human.
But he caught you staring and found himself staring right back at you, the idea of not maintaining eye contact with you flying straight out of the window. He watched your eyes flit all around his face but he only mirrored this, subconsciously etching all of your details into his minds’ eye. Observing how the light added highlights to the top of your hair and how you anxiously fiddled with your hands in your lap.
However, when his gaze dropped lower and lower to land on your lips, his breath hitched and he jolted away from you, almost sprinting towards the door.
“Be awake by 08:00am. We are leaving early.” He muttered, hand on the doorknob to close the door behind him.
“Wait Captain!” your voice called from inside the room, making his heart jump.
Nobody had ever said his title the way you had just called out to him and it made his face heat up.
‘What the hell…I must be getting a fever.’
“Am I okay to wear this tomorrow? I don’t know if you guys dress a certain way on missions…” you signaled to the clothes you were already wearing, a pair of black skinny jeans partnered with a plain white t-shirt and a blue flannel shirt over the top that was clearly stolen from Yunho’s wardrobe by San.
The clothes were much too big for you and it made him stop and realise that you didn’t actually own any clothes here. Additionally, you were right in saying that if you were going to go with them tomorrow, you needed to blend in with the group.
“Hold on a second.” He disappeared from the room and stepped into his own, abandoned, bedroom across the hall. It had been months since he last slept in his room as he avoided sleep as much as possible. Every day, without fail, Seonghwa would wake him up and scold him for sleeping in his office chair, claiming that it was unhealthy for him to not sleep as much as he needed to. He quickly realised though that his bedroom was no longer in the state he had left it in after his previous episode, most likely thanks to the eldest and it made his heart melt a little bit.
“I wrecked this room beyond repair. Seonghwa definitely does more than he needs to.” He said to himself quietly, slightly in awe of how pristine it was.
However, he refused to acknowledge the reason behind why he doesn’t sleep in his room, or even rest in general, right now. That was the one thing he wanted to keep suppressed.
He got himself out of his thoughts and went over to where he stored his clothes. Rummaging through his wardrobe, he came across a pair of sleep shorts that fell just above his knees and a long sleeved pyjama shirt that he hadn’t worn in a long, long time. Observing your figure, he knew that his clothes would fit you, probably better than they ever did for him and he knew that you couldn’t go on living with them comfortably if you didn’t have some clothes of your own.
But then he realised that he was thinking about your comfort and whether or not it would have been possible for you to live with them long term.
‘I’m definitely getting sick or something.’ He reasoned with himself.
Part of him refused to even acknowledge your existence most days but, the more he thought about it, the more he realised that recently you had been the focal point for all of his thinking down in his office. And man did it bother him to no end that you were taking up more of his brain than he would have liked.
You were still and stranger and you still couldn’t be trusted, yet part of him wanted to trust you.
Choosing to ignore everything for now, he tucked the clothes under his arm, closed the wardrobe door and briskly walked back to Yunho and Mingi’s room that you had occupied. You were stood in the doorway, confusion clearly expressed on your face.
“Here.” He handed the clothes to you. “Wear these for bed.”
You took the clothes from him but the confusion never faded. He felt you internally questioning why he was being so nice to you but he remained determined to ignore it.
“I will send Shiber up with some clothes for you to wear tomorrow.” he concluded, still unaware that you had known San's name for days now.
And then he ushered you into the room, turning on the light for you, before closing the door and leaning his forehead against it, ending the interaction with you abruptly.
That similar feeling he knew all too well was beginning to creep into his chest and he really tried to ignore it. So much so that for the rest of the night he distracted himself with anything he could find. From organising paperwork in his office, to camera surveillance in the city after Yeosang had gone to bed for the night, to practicing his aim with the guns inside the training room.
Anything for him to ignore the fact that he was starting to care about you, bit by bit.