[seek]

Crescent
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"Kang Yeosang, we've been friends since we're babies and you don't even remember that your best friend right here is the best at sneaking girls into his bedroom."

"Gross," San comments.

"Repulsive," Mingi adds.

"Deserving of a whoop to his ," Seonghwa says next.

"Not here at this cafe, please," Hongjoong begs.

"Wait, she's in your room?" Yeosang exclaims, but lowers down his voice when their first customers of the day come in.

Seonghwa instantly turns into waiter-mode as he grabs an apron from behind the counter and puts it on. He tends to the customers, all the while idling by the side as he laces his hand behind his back and rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet. They wait for him to take the order, join them and they huddle around Wooyoung who's making the coffee. He gets the order to make one cappuccino and one americano, and as he glances towards the cameras subtly - which cannot capture sound - he starts telling how she was the one who dashed into his bedroom first.

"We told her that she could hide in any of the rooms, and my room was the first one she picked," Wooyoung tells them. When Yeosang gives him the look, he adds, "No, I'm not lying. I didn't even touch her."

"I hate to admit it but it's true. She ran to Wooyoung's room like her life depended on it," San helps to add before hissing. "Though I feel sorry for her because she had to see Wooyoung's upper body."

"I would say she's blessed."

"More like traumatized."

"Did you really have to be half- at that time when she's in your room?" Seonghwa pulls of a face that's a cross between disgusted and worried. "I hope she's doing fine."

"I had to take a shower and get ready." He rolls his eyes, as if that's the most obvious thing he had to do.

"So we made up a plan, and that was to distract him with my beautiful high-pitched screaming. I did well, didn't I?" Mingi nudges Wooyoung and San, to which both of them nod enthusiastically. "He went into my room like a storm raging but he didn't even find anything. Hacking the chat to make the message appear was easy but I kid you not I almost died from a heart attack when the jumpscare came out. In the haste he forgot that he didn't look into one room: Wooyoung's. Voila, she's safe, and Alexander's pissed."

"That was dangerous, what if he went into your room and found her?" Hongjoong frowns.

Wooyoung puts the two cups on saucers and Seonghwa takes them up, sending them to the customers. He wipes his hands against his own apron, cracks his neck and leans against the counter with a smug smile on his face.

"Even so he wouldn't find her. I'm not that of a fool to hide her anywhere obvious. I found out that she's actually a pretty good climber; might even rival San for it."

"Climber..." Seonghwa trails off. Then he gasps dramatically, "Did you actually ask her to climb up into your bedroom vent?"

"She was actually the one who suggested it and she was pretty chill about it. You know... she seems cool now that I've talked to her properly. What we found out about her doesn't really reflect how she actually is in real life."

Hongjoong looks into the distance, getting lost in his own thoughts, but snaps back into reality as the bell rings when the door opens. Yunho comes into the cafe, munching on a chocolate bar. His left hand holds another one, and he approaches the leader with a neutral face. Wordlessly, with his cheeks puffed from the chocolate in his mouth, he shoves the chocolate bar into the leader's face. The leader takes it, and Yunho turns to the direction of the stairs, leaving him perplexed.

"What on earth just happened?" Hongjoong asks. "Did Yunho really come in or was it just me hallucinating? Is this chocolate bar real?" He shakes it with gusto, trying to prove that the sweet in his hand is not an illusion. He distances it from his face when he confirms it. "Oh snap it's real."

"I think he's saying sorry to you," Seonghwa offers, his hands busy wiping cups clean with a cloth. "Yunho's not the type to get mad for long. Now that I think about it he has never actually gotten mad like yesterday. It was a first."

"I think the chocolate's an illusion. You can give it to me," Yeosang utters as he reaches out for the chocolate bar, but Hongjoong is quick to make it out of his reach.

"Oh frick I forgot Byul's still in the vents. I need to get her out of there," Wooyoung exclaims, slapping his hands to his cheeks before he takes off his apron. He scurries up the stairs while San follows behind, running as if they're in a competition to see who can run the fastest.

"Looks like they warmed up to her." A small smile plays on Seonghwa's lips.

"And you think that's a good thing?" Hongjoong asks.

"Why not? She doesn't have anywhere else to go and while she's here we can help her with her debt. Did you forget that we owe her our lives?"

"I agree. We gain more money than we actually use them, so why don't we make her a part of us? She can help us work, earn herself some money and pay her debt. We have some extra help, and she gets to pay her debt with the money she earned. It's a win-win situation," Yeosang interrupts.

"Hardly a win-win when we don't actually need extra help; we already have 8 on the team."

"Yeah, and you were the one who suggested for her to be Hwayoung's nanny when we don't need her as that. Hong, you're being so hypocritical, do you know that?"

"It was just for a cover and I had to come up with something quick. I left my brain when I came up with that, honestly."

"We don't need to fight over this," Mingi groans. "We agreed to let her stay here until we figure out what to do with her, remember?"

---

Wooyoung and San stare at the vent on the former's bedroom ceiling, whispering among themselves as they point at the grate.

"Do you think she's still up there?"

"She's too quiet and she's not answering, do you think she

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Magbuull5245 #1
Chapter 70: By far the best book I have read. Laughing, crying, deep thinking. Just amazing!
jeongsclown
#2
Chapter 3: LMFAO THEY'RE SO CHAOTIC I LOVE IT
Manna-chan #3
Chapter 70: This story is amazing! You are so talented, the flow of the story, the way you managed to tell about all of them without it seeming forced or weird. I love it, thank you for making me smile, cry, smile again and cry happy tears at the end. Thank you for sharing this story with us <'333
WiltedStar
#4
Chapter 1: You're such a great writer.
Jade_Flower #5
Chapter 70: Loved it!!
TaeTae_wife
#6
Chapter 70: I so love your story! It's the fist Ateez story that I read and it's WOW!
Congratulations!!!! <3
MsPinKai
#7
Chapter 70: THANK YOU FOR MAKING ME SHED HAPPY TEARS ??? this was EVERYTHING!!!! One of the best written stories & plotline ever! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Animeakume
#8
Chapter 70: prepared my heart for a tragic ending but tHANK GOD ??? shed happy tears instead but it’s all worth it

i love this whole story so much! defs one of my go tos for rereading <3 thank you so much for this amazing story
Animeakume
#9
Chapter 57: i cracked and bawled my eyes out when yunho and byul repeated that they said back then as trainees ??? the whole “Dont you wish everything here is an illusion” “us, being here?” “No you idiot” back and forth conversation ohmyheart
MsPinKai
#10
Chapter 51: just when I was already believing that she 's not eunbi.......OH. MY. GOD.