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Crescent
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"Byul-ie! We- are- going- to- the- theme- park- today-" With every word Hwayoung does a dance to the left, then to the right, before jumping up and down on the balls of her feet.

The moment Byul and Yunho appeared at the door to Akira and Emira's unit, she ran towards the entrance, tangling the woman in a hug and completely disregarding her father. She is dressed up for the trip to the theme park, with Emira helping to bring her luggage that also contains her swimsuit and her arm floaties.

The two sisters have gotten ready too, Emira looking extra as she already has her shades on, shorts and a spaghetti strap top, proudly displaying the tattoos she has all over her body. Meanwhile, Akira follows from behind with her opting for a plain crop top white t-shirt and cargo pants, the piercing near her belly button glinting in the light as she closes the door behind her.

"Here you go, it's my spare swimsuit. Since you said that you didn't have any, you can keep it." Akira hands it over, and Byul takes it with a blush on her cheeks as Yunho glances at the onepiece swimsuit. He says nothing before taking Hwayoung's hand in his, walking ahead of them.

"Is Jeong Yunho okay? Why does he seem so cold today?" Akira comments as the three women walk side by side to go to the minibus driven by Hongjoong waiting for them at the parking lot.

"Maybe he's just shy knowing that you're going to wear that swimsuit," Emira nudges Byul. "It might be just me but I think Yunho's got a thing for you, Byul. He might be a single father but if he does like you, it's like you won the lottery. That guy's heart is as hard as stone when it comes to women. Wouldn't let us near his daughter at first, but thank the skies for Seonghwa."

"Emira, I really think you need to find something else to talk about other than someone else's love life. It's getting pretty annoying."

"Well, my lovely sister, how can I not when all I see are fairytales around me? Seonghwa and you, Yunho and Byul... let's see, even though Wooyoung is annoying he looks like he has a girlfriend who can actually stand him. Maybe even Yeosang and San, who knows? I'll just stay here and be the spectator because no one," she sniffs, "would like me."

"What about Mingi?" Akira offers with a naughty smile on her face as they join Yunho and Hwayoung in front of the lift. "Mingi's a nice guy and he's very tall... so you don't have to worry about your boyfriend being shorter than you."

"You like Mingi?" Yunho asks Emira as they wait for the lift. Hwayoung lets go of his hand and goes towards Byul instead, unable to contain her excitement at the prospect of spending time at the theme park with all of her uncles, aunts and dad. "If you really like him I can set both of you up. You need to be a bit gentle with him though; he's a giant but he's very fragile."

"Well yeah, su..re..." Emira shoots daggers at Akira. "My sister's only messing with me. I like all of you as friends, nothing more. If there's anyone I'd like it's Seonghwa. He's the man of my dreams."

"No you can't-" Akira quickly refutes, to which Emira laughs.

"See? I told you that you like Seonghwa a lot, and you get defensive when I said I like him. I'm just joking, I don't see him as that because all I see is a child stuck in a man's body, desperately wanting love from you. You like him too, so why deny it all the way? Right, Byul? If you like someone, just tell them straight to their faces, or else you'll regret it for the rest of your life when the chance is gone."

"Yeah, they should..." she says subconsciously as she looks at Yunho's back, still thinking about the kiss they shared yesterday.

After the mission was declared over, they returned to their vehicles with not much of a conversation. There was something awkward or tense in the air as they sit at the back of the car, Seonghwa taking his place as the driver.

There was a wall and a distance between them and even though they said they would talk it over, it didn't seem like it would happen anytime soon. Even during their brief postmortem meeting about the mission, Yunho did a great job in avoiding from making eye contact with her.

As he asked whether she would like to come with him to the sisters' unit as they picked Hwayoung up, she agreed without much thinking. The time when they sent the child to Akira's house wasn't as awkward as this one, and she instantly regretted her agreement. Yunho was quiet throughout, completely different than from when they were on their way back to Light district, just after dropping Hwayoung off.

She can't make out what he's feeling, and it's hard trying to strike a conversation with him when she doesn't know how she's supposed to act around him.

She feels relieved that there are 10 other people in the minibus with the two of them, even though Seonghwa gave a cheeky smile to both Yunho and Byul before shoving them to the last row of seats. Hwayoung hops on next to Seonghwa and Akira, who look more like her parents as they listen intently to her telling stories about the videos she watched while she's at Akira and Emira's house.

Meanwhile, Yunho and Byul are stuck at the last row, squished together as the bags that they brought together took up most of the space on the seat. Yunho curses the oldest in his mind, grumbling as he feels Byul's legs pressed up against his, forced to because they had no space left.

Seonghwa occasionally steals glances at Akira to see if she's laughing along whenever he makes jokes and funny faces to Hwayoung, slightly pouting when he notices that Akira is distracted by the others in the vehicle.

Yunho forgets about his own dissatisfaction towards the oldest as he chuckles. He notices how hard Seonghwa is trying to grab Akira's attention, crossing his arms and leaning against the seat in defeat when Emira and Wooyoung keep on chatting with her.

"Uncle Seonghwa," Hwayoung says, poking a finger on his shoulder.

"Yes, Hwayoung?"

"Do you love Aunt Akira?" she asks, glancing over at the said woman who's busy chatting with the rest, oblivious to the conversation between her not-boyfriend and child.

"Of course I do, Hwayoung."

"But why does it look like she doesn't love you?" she utters as Seonghwa feels a sharp stab at his heart from her words. "She looks like she's only interested in the rest and not you. I don't always see her with you, and when she's here she doesn't give you her attention."

The oldest takes a moment to process the little kid's understanding before he smiles, taken in by her innocence towards the world. "Hwayoung," he asks instead, "do you think that your dad loves you?"

"Of course," she mumbles, "dad always takes care of me, makes sure that I'm healthy and cooks me food even when he's not the best. He always tries his best for me."

"Is your dad always around?"

She shakes her head. "Sometimes he goes on missions with uncles, so sometimes I don't see him."

"But do you think that he doesn't love you?"

She shakes her head again. "Even though he's not always around, I know that he loves me, because he does his best to make me happy."

He takes her hand and traces a small heart on her finger. "That's exactly what love is, Hwayoung. Just because I'm not with Aunt Akira all the time, doesn't mean it's not love. Maybe you don't see it now, but she has always been there for me. When you love someone, you don't restrict what they do, and that's why I don't mind her not giving attention to me sometimes." He lets out a breathy laugh when he sees that the child's head is spinning with his words.

"Okay, Uncle Seonghwa." She sticks out her lower lip, showing that she still doesn't understand his concept, but doesn't want to press on it further. "Does that mean you and Aunt Akira will get married and have kids?" She crosses her arms. "I've always wanted another sibling to play around with but dad says I can't because my mom is not here. Since Byul-ie is here, can I have a sibling?" she asks excitedly.

He pinches her cheek before looking over his shoulder, spotting the couple who are still looking awkward with each other. Both of them are trying hard to look in the opposite direction, with Yunho resulting in having his vision blocked by their towering bags on his right side.

"Maybe," Seonghwa says, a bit mysteriously. "Love doesn't go anywhere when it's meant to be."

The rest of the journey towards the theme park located in Treasure district is accompanied by undecipherable sounds from the boys, screeching and screaming as they try to play games in the minibus, but it's difficult because they're not facing each other. The minibus slightly rocks from side to side as they can't keep thei

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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.