The Final Chapter

It was November 15, the last day of their break before having to go back to the company. Yeosang woke up and found a Jongho fast asleep beside him. While standing up, he felt something sticky between his legs.

"Huh? What is this?", he asked to himself, his brain not yet remembering what happened last night.

He went to the bathroom to do his morning routine. While brushing his teeth he found red and purple spots on his neck. Just then, it hit him.

"Fuck, we did it last night.", Yeosang's eyes widened as he stared at his reflection.

Another thought hit him, "We're going to have breakfast with my parents...how the fuck am I going to cover this??"

"Good morning.", Jongho greeted as he leans by the door frame.

"You little shit. How do I hide this? At least think before giving up to your horny ass.", Yeosang complained, trying to look for concealers in his bag.

"You could have my turtle neck if you want. I'll wear your sweatshirt.", Jongho said, taking out his clothes from the wardrobe.

Yeosang sighed and grabbed the turtle neck, "Just hope they won't noticed we switched."

- during breakfast -

"Good morning, son, Jongho!", Mrs. Kang greeted as she finds her son walking towards the table.

"Morning eomma, how was your sleep?", Yeosang asked, sitting at the other side of the table.

"It was great! Your dad and I fell asleep immediately after dinner. How about the both of you? I hope you didn't stay up late.", she asked, placing down food in Yeosang and Jongho's plate.

"Mrs. Kang, you know us boys. We can't sleep unless we played a game or two.", Jongho answered, giggling as he makes himself comfortable on the chair.

"Aigoo, what's done is done and I can't do anything about that. Just make sure to rest a lot and avoid stress. And please, call me eomma.", Mrs. Kang said, giving a genuine smile.

"Ahh, the whole family is here for breakfast.", Mr. Kang exclaimed as he walked towards his chair.

"Good morning, appa.", Yeosang greeted with a big smile. Mr. Kang patted him and Jongho on the shoulder as he walked past.

"Looks like you both had a good sleep.", Mr. Kang said, taking a big bite from the bread, "Wait, something looks different."

Mr. Kang eyed the two, making the younger ones nervous. It was like they were standing on a rope, ready to fall if ever they were exposed for wearing each other's clothes from yesterday.

"Darling, did you went straight here after waking up? At least do your routine before coming to eat.", Mrs. Kang playfully hit her husband's arm.

"Right, my mind might still be foggy. I was too excited to eat together.", he laughed out loud and shook his head,

Yeosang and Jongho both looked at each other with an expression of relief. The whole breakfast, no one noticed a thing. The two immediately left so that they can arrive in Seoul just in time for lunch. he other members planned to spend the rest of the day together before having to go back to the company the next day.

"Should we all go to the picnic area for late lunch?", Hongjoong asked as he glanced at the members present in the living room.

"That's great with me. Fresh air and open space.", Wooyoung answered as he packed up the food they were planning to bring, with Seonghwa.

"Let's just walk since the distance is near.", Yunho suggested as he looked towards the others.

"Okay then, let's leave in 20 minutes?", Hongjoong asked, earning nods from them.

The boys went to their rooms in order to fix themselves and change. Seonghwa, Wooyoung and San got to fix the fastest so they all helped each other in cooking and washing the dishes. 20 minutes has passed and all of the members have left their dorm.

"I'm starting to miss our house out of Seoul.", Mingi utters as he inhales the city air.

"There weren't much cars so the sea is what we could smell.", San agreed, reminiscing the times they spent in their vacation house.

"It's going to be awhile before we can go back there.", Jongho said, placing down the food on the table they found vacant.

They all started eating as soon as everyone was comfortable on their seats. Because it was a late lunch, they were all immersed in their food from hunger. Seonghwa and Wooyoung thought that they cooked too much food, but after a few hours, all the lunchboxes were empty.

"Want to play a game after this?", Seonghwa asked, pointing at the empty basketball court.

They all got energized after seeing the vacant court. Minutes of rest were up and they all walked towards the next destination. Instead of having the normal basketball game, the other members tried to change the rules just to they could score points.

"Yunho is the only mvp in our group.", Hongjoong said, catching his breath after how many hours of playing.

"Hello? I also got to score!", Yeosang exclaimed in disbelief after all his efforts.

"Aww. Thank you for that, Mr. Kang! We got points because of you.", Wooyoung sarcastically said and made a full bow to mock his bestfriend.

"Wooyoung never got at least one in.", Seonghwa started laughing after remembering the bad moves of the younger.

Wooyoung playfully threw his shoe, "It's cuz I'm short okay?"

"Damn, its almost dinner? How many hours did we play?", Mingi asked, checking the time on his phone.

"I just thought of something.", San starts, getting the attention of everyone, "The last one to reach the picnic entrance has to pay for dinner."

Just as the member's heard this, they all looked at each other and immediately stood up, running off. Seonghwa who had Wooyoung's shoe, threw it far to get Wooyoung to last place.

"YAH! I'm coming after you, Park Seonghwa!", Wooyoung shouted as he grabbed his shoe and hurriedly ran with one foot only wearing socks.

As you all have guessed, Wooyoung was the last to reach the entrance. Few complains here and there, but he still ended up having to pay for their food. They decided to go to a park after their dinner, having to wait for taxis to get to their destination. Gladly, they found a restaurant just across the park.

"Guys, please don't get too much food.", Wooyoung whined as they looked at the menu.

"It's the last day, we promise to give you great presents on your birthday.", Hongjoong assures as he pats Wooyoung's thigh. Wooyoung groans and accepted his fate as the person who pays. Knowing that his member's have big appetites, he was thankful that he brought his card.

The food soon arrived, and well, it was a big feast. Wooyoung didn't care to worry about it anymore, so it wouldn't ruin his appetite. Two hours have gone by and they were done with their dinner. They all headed out to the park to have a sentimental talk as they remember all the things that happened the past few weeks.

Some of them laid down the grass, while the others preferred to stay seated. A quiet atmosphere surrounded the 8 of them as they watched the sky and everything happening around. No one dared to talk, all they did was appreciate the calming silence and presence of one another.

"There's not much stars shining tonight.", Jongho started a conversation after a few minutes have gone by.

"Soon, stars won't be the only ones filling up the sky.", Hongjoong softly spoke, rubbing his palms against each other.

"I can't wait for it to snow.", San said, making his head comfortable on Yeosang's lap.

"I'll be making snow ducks as soon as I see a pile.", Seonghwa proudly said, playing with Wooyoung's hair.

"And I will be the one to ruin it.", Wooyoung mocked, getting a poke on the waist by Seonghwa.

"A lot has happened this year huh?", Hongjoong said, a slight chuckle coming out.

"Like a lot. Who knew this year would be full of love?", Mingi joked, making the other members burst out laughing from guilt.

"At least there's no more secrets with our feelings right?", Yunho looked at everyone beside him.

"Who knew we would be confessing our feelings altogether? Remember the time when Hongjoong and Seonghwa-hyung asked us?", Jongho asked, smiling as he remembered the day went they woke up after getting drunk before.

"Some of us didn't get to hold themselves.", Wooyoung scoffed, eyeing San who was beside him.

"Want to do it again tonight?", San teased and winked. The other members made their disgust noticeable by gagging and making disgusted expressions.

"Eww. Choi San, shut up.", Yunho shouted, flicking San's forehead.

"Yah! You don't have to do that.", San whined and pouted while rubbing the painful area.

"But seriously, we have to limit ourselves from now on. Only two couples here have been known in public.", Hongjoong said, pointing at WooSan and YunGi.

"We really have to stop ourselves, even behind the cameras.", Yeosang agrees, turning to Jongho's direction who was resting his head on Yeosang's shoulder.

"We can stop being conscious once we're in the dorms. I'm sure the staff from our company doesn't know about us.", Seonghwa added, taking a deep breath.

The members know that it would be hard to hide their relationships even as of now. As a successfully growing group, their fans would increase and soon there would be cameras everywhere. They don't know how long it would take before they get exposed, but they know that there would be a lot of challenges to face as the time moves.

"Starting tomorrow, watch your every move. We would have less time for ourselves since the schedule is packed. Just make sure if you want to do something, make it similar to before.", Hongjoong instructed as all of them stood up.

Walking towards the sidewalk, they had one thought in mind, "Let's make our ATINYs happy again."

- the next day -

"Are there any questions about your schedule before the year ends?", Manager Kim asked, looking at the boys for feedbacks.

"None at all.", Hongjoong replied, getting an agreed expression from every member.

"Okay then, stay here while I get something.", Manager Kim said, walking out the door with the other staffs. The boys looked at each other having the same feeling.

"Why do I feel weird and nervous?" Yunho asked, holding his heart from beating fast.

Just then Manager Kim came back with an envelope. After unsealing it, he took out some pictures and placed it on the table. The members took a glance and looked at each other worriedly. One was a picture of Hongjoong and Seonghwa giving promise rings on the beach. The other was a picture of Jongho handing Yeosang a bouquet of flowers.

"We found this in a hidden site online, thankfully there wasn't much people who knew about it. We got the owner to take the whole site down. But still, the pictures could be leaked. ", Manager Kim paused as he eyed everyone, "You have fans everywhere, and you know that. So, would anyone want to share what happened during the break?"

"Oh, shit.", Hongjoong whispered as he stared at the pictures in front of him.