2 years later

"You look gorgeous as always, there's nothing to fix anymore. Come on," Yeosang pulls Anna's hand to guide her out of the shop.

"Wait a minute- ahh!" She trips over the carpet before he pulls her up right again. "Phew, that was close to another plaster on my face. Wait, I think I want to tie my hair for today. It's been so long since I last met them because I've been so busy. I had to put up the notice in front of the shop to say that I'm," she corrects herself, "we're closed for today." She points towards the notice in front of her shop when she sees someone peering into the shop. It looks like a customer wanting to come in, but she apologetically sends her away, saying, "I'm sorry but we're closed for today."

Yeosang's face is decorated with a smile as he pulls a chair for her to sit down. "Which hairtie do you want to use?"

"That one." She points to one black-coloured hairtie she has placed earlier on the counter, and he scoops it up.

He takes a comb to brush her hair, stands behind the chair so that he can work on her hair. Although it takes her more convincing before, she finally relented and allowed Yeosang to be the one to cut her hair. As a result, it looks much more symmetrical, and she agrees with a slight shrug of her shoulder that it looks much nicer.

He runs his fingers through her hair first before using the brush to gather it up, making sure no stray piece pops up before tying it up for her. "There, all good."

"Thank you baby," she enunciates as she takes her purse and keys, then puts it inside her clutch.

After closing the shop, he takes her hand, and they walk to the second-hand car they bought together after the shop had taken off. It was when Anna decided to push for her designs more, and Yeosang agreed to become a part-time model for her. She had received more offers for her to design clothes in the entertainment business, which made her shop become popular. Nowadays, she had to take in more assistants to help her with the requests she had been receiving non-stop.

Although Yeosang agreed to model for her designs, he had rejected offers he received from different model agencies, because his passion was directed towards programming and technology. He decided to enrol in a local college in the computer science course, but as far as everyone was concerned, he has been crushing and surpassing all his coursemates because his skills are far beyond comparable. He still has 2 years left to get the scroll, but he's loving what he's doing and at the same time he enjoyed being the model only for his girlfriend.

He and Anna recently moved in together at a rooftop house they got for a cheap rent here in Light district, and so far, they already have 6 daughters and sons. Which meow and paw at them whenever they're hungry or looking for love.

Sure, there are times when things seem to go downhill in their relationship, when Anna starts to question her worth, or whenever she feels like she's not good enough for him, but he makes sure to remind her every day that there's a reason why he still stays with her despite all of that. After she feels better, she would scoot to him in their house and nudge at him with her head like a cat would.

This is the girl whom I wouldn't mind spending my whole life with. In fact, he's already thinking of asking her with the ring, but he's trying to slow down, scared that maybe he's moving too fast and it would rock her. One day, he'll use one of their daughters or sons to ask for her hand in marriage. One day.

Even though each of the ATEEZ members had decided to move on with their separate lives, they still hang out around each other a lot and it doesn't feel like there's a change. Today is no different. They always do a kind of 'celebratory dinner' on the same date every year - the 17th of November - where they refuse to forget what could've happened if they were still under the contracts and passed the 10-year mark. This year they decided to have a barbecue party at the beach near the resort owned by Seonghwa's friend, Seoho. All have given their agreements to come tonight.

Following the instructions on the navigation system, they leave Light district for the journey to the resort. As they greet Seoho at the reception, he directs them towards the beach, where the rest, except for Yunho and Seonghwa's families, are already gathered.

San, Hongjoong and Jongho are over the grill, working in synchronization as they barbecue meat on the metal, the soot and smoke rising to settle on their handsome faces. They focus on the grill, making sure that each piece is cooked to perfection before they wave at Yeosang and Anna who have just arrived.

Wooyoung and Mingi are helping to set the tables up, while the women there- Emira, Mikyung and Danbi are told to sit down and chat among themselves because according to the men, "women like them shouldn't tire themselves out on a beautiful night like this."

"They sure do know how to make us feel flattered," Danbi deadpans. "Men."

As Yeosang and Anna join them, they get greeted with the usual "it's the famous couple" from them, before Anna gets sucked into the group of women while Yeosang goes on to help Wooyoung and Mingi.

Akira and Seonghwa arrive next, and the rest turn their attention to the couple... and their children. Yeap, children. They can't help but smile as they see them lumbering towards the group with their children in tow. Akira walks ahead of Seonghwa then runs, the baby in her arms flailing his arms as if excited too, to hug Emira and the rest of the women.

"Oh my god," Seonghwa exclaims before slapping a hand to his forehead as soon as he joins the group. The baby he's carrying in front laughs when he sees his dad doing it comically. "I forgot about Hanna in the car."

Akira widens her eyes before turning around and uttering through gritted teeth, "Park Seonghwa, you forgot to take out our third child?! You said you got her just now and you told me to walk ahead! I can't believe you're-" She's already marching towards the direction where they parked their car, fury and worry painted over her face.

"Just... kidding." Seonghwa sticks out his tongue as he angles his body to reveal the baby in the carrier on his back. The baby is sucking on her pacifier quietly, her wide eyes staring at the adults. "Look, Hanna is right here, looking cute and beautiful because she is daddy's little girl. Right, Hanna?" He shakes his body and Hanna does a sound akin to an agreement.

"Park Seonghwa, I swear." With their second child in her arms she pinches his shoulder, which causes him to shout out in pain. The babies and adults laugh when they see this, especially Wooyoung and San who enjoy seeing the eldest in pain because of his wife.

"Gosh, I was seriously about to call social services," Yeosang comments as he shakes his head.

After Seonghwa and Akira got married, they decided to rent an apartment in Treasure district in the same building as Akira's previous residence. Emira now lives alone at the unit, but sometimes she would come over to their house to babysit the mini Seonghwas and Akiras.

Less than a year after their marriage Akira got pregnant with triplets, and nine months later she gave birth to two healthy baby boys and the youngest, a baby girl. The firstborn is given the name Sungjin, the second Sungjae and their little princess is named Hanna. Seonghwa was really delighted to have three in one go, and apparently... he would want as many as he could. Akira would reply with "I'm the one who has to suffer for nine months and not you, you lemon." The triplets are turning one year old soon, and Seonghwa is already giving her that look.

As for their jobs Akira still continues her work as a tattooist alongside Emira, and their shop has been doing okay. Seonghwa goes down to the shop sometimes to help, even though his work might not be as amazing as Akira's. It's funny though, as occasionally they would receive requests from women especially, who want Seonghwa as the artist for obvious reasons. It takes a firm 'no' from Emira to tell them that they stand no chance at all, because the man is already married with three kids.

Sometimes Seonghwa would lend a hand to A.C.E too, because he decided that he was itching to hold the rifle again, but of course for good reasons. He was absorbed into the team, but he focuses more on their domestic missions, as he doesn't want to leave Akira and the triplets behind if he needs to go to another country. He's content with his life right now. Even more as he sees Akira putting down their child in her sister's arms and coming over to him, reaching out to help him with their firstborn.

He smiles at her; his longtime sweetheart and when he gives a kiss to her forehead, she asks, a bit surprised by his sudden display of affection. He always does random gestures to her, sometimes even when she least expects it.

"What was that for?"

"Why?" he pouts. "I can't give kisses to my children's mother? My wife?"

"With all due respect," Hongjoong butts in as he takes Sungjae from Akira. "Please consider those who are still single, like me, and not show all your display of affection in front of us. Isn't that right, Sungjae?" He says to the baby in his hand, but the baby only stares at him before he gurgles out a response. "See? Even Sungjae agrees with me."

"I thought you went on a thousand blind dates." Seonghwa chuckles as they move over to the dining table. "Not even one?"

"Don't get me started," Hongjoong sits down as he opens his eyes wide. "I'm getting war flashbacks from the last girl I went on a date with. Apparently she likes to eat ketchup straight out the bottle like a snack. I... I can only handle that much. So I've decided to be the cool single uncle who goes on trips and only appears once in a while to shower my nephews and nieces with money."

They turn their heads when they hear a little girl screaming with delight from afar to spot Yunho's family making their way to the beach- Yunho, Byul, Hwayoung and her little brother in Byul's belly. Hwayoung is running straight at them, jumping up and down as she hugs all her aunts and uncles, then she goes straight to pat the babies' heads while talking to them in her perfected baby-voice.

Yunho is carefully helping Byul to make their descent on the slope and onto the sandy beach, with Byul walking slowly as she holds on to him for support, while a hand is put over her swollen tummy. They break into smiles again, happy that they're all gathered once again, the numbers expanding as each goes to create their own families.

"Sit down, mom," Hwayoung excitedly says as she helps Byul to sit at the table and she whispers to Byul's stomach, "Bubby, this is our family! Our cool uncles and aunts, plus cute cousins!" She affectionately refers to her unborn brother as "bubby", a nickname she decided on when they found out that they're getting a son in the family. Hwayoung is currently 8 years old, and a lot eager to have a younger sibling.

"We have a lot to catch up on," Wooyoung comments as he helps to set down all the meat on the table.

"Right, a lot." San rolls his eyes. "As if the group chat that's exploding 24/7 is not enough to catch up on."

"Of course!" Wooyoung animates. "I kind of miss all of us together in the dorm, but I'm glad to know that each one of us have finally decided on the path we're going on, and nothing's stopping us!" He rests his head on Mikyung's shoulder, who's politely picking up a piece of meat to chew on. As Wooyoung opens his mouth for her to feed him, she basically shoves down a whole lot until he's almost choking and looking for water.

"Did Wooyoung make you mad or something?" Yeosang asks as he tries to stop himself from laughing. "You look like you're about to kill him by asphyxiation."

"Asphyx- what?" San asks.

"Death by choking," Byul whispers.

San does an 'O' with his mouth before nodding.

"He promised to go on a date with me yesterday but he basically stood me up and made me wait for three hours at the restaurant. He came in at the last minute and said that he forgot because of work," Mikyung says through gritted teeth. "Made me look like a fool at the restaurant because I was only drinking plain water."

Mingi gasps. "My dear, you left a girl waiting three hours for you?"

"But I said sorry and I tried to make it up to her, I really did." Wooyoung pouts. "She almost didn't want to come today because she's still mad at me."

"Of course I would be!" Mikyung huffs.

"Come on." Wooyoung leans his body towards her but she shrugs him off, chomping on another piece. "I told you that I fell asleep because I was tired from working. The cafe nowadays are getting more customers than we ever had since we first opened. We even added some new stuff on the menu. But you know I love you a lot to the moon and back." He tries to make his voice into a high-pitched one as he receives glares from the rest of them.

Ever since they dropped their titles as secret couriers, only four of them are left residing at the dorm- Wooyoung, Jongho, Hongjoong and San. Wooyoung is the only one whose main focus is the cafe, as the other three have their side jobs. Although Yunho doesn't stay with them anymore, he helps at the cafe too.

With the help from others, Wooyoung decided to renovate the cafe and revamp the menu, which made him see a quick return of investment. Apparently, according to his 'research', people like to go to aesthetic cafes which serve good coffee at a reasonable price. So he turned Crescent Cafe into exactly that, and it has now probably become the most-talked-about cafe in Light district, before the news has spread to neighbouring districts as well. Customers enjoy seeing an anomaly among the mundane concrete buildings and factories of Light district, and they come to see what's the hype about the cafe. The workers at the cafe might or might not be the added bonus for those looking for eye-candy.

It has also become a cafe that Mikyung frequents, which is no longer because of Hwayoung but Wooyoung instead. Ever since Hwayoung finished kindergarten, her visits to Crescent Cafe don't decrease but stay steady, as she would just sit down to read a book there while watching Wooyoung work around the cafe. Sometimes, he would sit down with her, and this brings about the envy of some customers, as Wooyoung might be the primary reason why they're frequenting the cafe. Sometimes, he would take off his apron, take her hand and out they go from the cafe to have a date.

She has just come to know how clingy and childish Wooyoung can be, much like the kindergarten children she teaches. It doesn't matter though, because she enjoys his company and even her brother seems to approve their relationship a lot, saying how Wooyoung is the guy who would literally die to protect her. She shrugs, and their relationship has been stable... although there are times she wants to hit his rock-solid chest because he can be forgetful and tend to get distracted from the main topic. But that's just Jung Wooyoung, the man she had come to love... a lot.

"Hwayoung's doing great in taekwondo," San comments quickly, as if he's scared that he'll forget to mention it. He ruffles her hair before tidying it up again, saying, "She's very strong and I bet she'll have that black belt before we even know it."

"Ah, the martial arts studio you opened with Danbi. How's it going?" Seonghwa asks as he plays around with Hanna's cheeks, pinching before squishing them. The baby doesn't mind but seems to like it as she giggles and flaps her chubby arms.

"Well, for the first couple of months Hwayoung was our only student," San grimaces. "But Danbi and I sorted out some things out and we now have around 30 students. Cute boys and girls, but very deadly. Just like our Hwayoung."

"Uncle San and Aunt Danbi teach us a lot!" Hwayoung nods. "They're very cool, they know a lot of moves and they're very strong." She tries to demonstrate from her seat, her arms opening and going in different directions.

San and Danbi's relationship started out as business partners first, where they agreed that San will put in the capital first and Danbi can be the teacher. Hwayoung is their first ever student, with Yunho and Byul fully supportive of the child's interest to start learning martial arts. Their business starts out bumpy at first as no one seems to notice the presence of the studio located on the second floor, above a coin-operated laundry near Hwayoung's previous kindergarten. After deciding what went wrong, they finally figured it out and they've been having loyal students, some coming on their own while others more towards following their parents' wishes.

Danbi sleeps at the studio because she was homeless in Desire, where she left Remy behind, because the old man wanted to continue his life as a 'creative writer' as he had put it. Apparently, he was looking to publish a book under a pen name. Danbi, San, Byul and Yunho go to Desire to check up on him from time to time, and it really looks like the old man has finally found what he's interested in and enjoy.

Most of the time San would come to the studio bringing in food for her, claiming that it was the leftover they had from their dinner when it was clearly a newly-cooked dish that he prepared especially for her. Their relationship stayed purely business for a year and a half, and Danbi made no indication that she wanted them to be more than just business partners.

He accepted her decision, but it was one day when he found her had clearly been drinking too much at the local bar, and she couldn't even open her eyes or walk straight. He paid for the drinks, heaved her on his back and drunk, she mumbled something about wanting to kiss him stupid whenever he smiled. He thought nothing of it as he put her down on the mattress they had in the studio, put a blanket over her and left her with the lights off and doors locked. When he came to the studio the next day, she had asked straight to him whether she had said anything embarrassing to him when she was out of her mind.

At first he decided against mentioning it, but he blurted it out anyway. She seemed to be thinking as she heard it and after a few excruciating moments she said that it was what her sober-self thought anyway. They ended up making out in the studio; they didn't open the studio that day and San didn't return to the dorm. Safe to say, that was when their relationship moved to a romantic notion and it's been a few months, plus they decided that they're not rushing and would let it develop slowly.

Besides the studio, San also works at the cafe alongside Wooyoung, Hongjoong, Yunho and Jongho. Since the studio is usually open for three days; Friday, Saturday and Sunday for lessons, he would spend the rest of the week at Crescent Cafe. Meanwhile Danbi does various side-jobs, from doing deliveries to handing out flyers, promising to San that she'll pay back the share of the capital when she's earned enough. He told her to take her time, because he's willing to wait for her, just like how he waited for the moment for her to say that they're more than just business partners.

On the other hand, Hongjoong and Jongho - the leader and the youngest - work at the cafe in harmony. Both are not looking to start any relationships, maybe not now or never, as they plan to focus on themselves first. The two have somewhat established themselves as musicians, but only as those who sing and play instruments to fill their free time.

They work at the cafe together, but unlike Hongjoong, Jongho decided that he wanted to pursue his studies. He got accepted into an art university in Treasure district where he's taking the applied music course, slowly building his reputation as the guy with the sweet honey voice in the department. He gained a lot of admirers as well - both secret and not - and as he walks around the campus, dreamy stares would follow. Letters and gifts to him are becoming a norm.

Hongjoong is the supportive brother who goes to his every performance, and comes in between the crowd to cheer him on. Ever since the boys told him to, the leader goes on blind dates, but he has yet to find one that caught his attention in a good way. After multiple traumatic incidents he finally decided that maybe the life with a partner is not what he wants, and he ends up splurging the money he has on the youngest, treating him with whatever he wants. Kim Hongjoong has no idea what to do with that much money.

He donates to multiple charities and associations, but even then the money in their shared bank account doesn't seem to decrease. He has sold off some of the cars they used during their activities as ATEEZ because they are only sitting unused in the warehouse, and he's currently happy with the way his life is shaping. Partner or not, as long as he has nephews and nieces to spend his money on, he's satisfied.

"How about our big guy in A.C.E? Must be a threat to the other hackers once you were accepted into the team," Jongho muses.

All heads turn to Mingi and Emira who are sitting side by side, hands quickly retracted from each other's grasps when they realize that everyone has their attention on them. The couple is still shy to show their relationship to the world, where they only date, hold hands or embrace each other in secret or at a minimal exposure in public. Kind of like a special thing for both of them as they try to figure it out together, as both never had any experience with previous relationships.

There are times when their relationship seems to rock to extreme lengths because both don't know how to act and how to mend things when it's broken. They would give each other the silent treatment for days, but not wanting it to be over for something so simple, they would try to work it out, sit down like mature people as they pour out their hearts to each other. Things would become better after that, but it's clear that they are still treading carefully over thin ice, avoiding from stepping on the cracks that appear occasionally.

Mingi was the first person to appear at the A.C.E headquarters because his interest in hacking never died. Sehyoon had accepted him without much problem as he knows how good Song Mingi is. Currently, together with his new team members, they work on the international case regarding the illegal recruitment of test subjects. It's a complicated case as there are a lot of things to uproot, and Mingi has been regarded as one of their valuable assets. He manages to break into a lot of databases with his skills, and this has made their progress much faster as his fingers fly over the keys. He likes to think that his grandmother is looking down at him, proud, because her only grandson has managed to achieve his dreams of becoming an ethical hacker.

Since he has to work closely with them, he decided to move out from Light district and settle at Utopia, where it would be nearer to the headquarters. He's the only one out of the 8 currently living in Utopia. Emira and Mingi visit each other quite frequently, although their relationship never progressed to anything more than holding hands or hugging. Apparently, both had agreed on remaining abstinent, as they're still figuring out the course of their relationship. Apart from that everything is going great anyway, because it seems that despite their age difference, they seem to click with each other well.

"Great, but of course there's nothing more satisfying than working with my original team members," Mingi says.

"And... that brings us to our legendary couple," Wooyoung adds. "Husband and wife in the same team before they even knew it. Now that I think about it, we've come a really long way."

"We did," Yunho utters with a smile as he pats Byul's tummy.

Yunho and Byul had searched for a landed house in Light district, and even though the rent was a bit steep they decided to go for it anyway. Before they settled down in their new house, they cleared out Byul's student debt and came clean to Leedo, who couldn't hide his shock when she told him a somewhat puffed-up truth. She apologized to him and then told him that she did run away, found her old sweetheart and decided to get married to him... not the complete truth but it's not a lie either, although Leedo had sent her away with his jaw slack because he was speechless. Now that she thinks about it, her story did sound ridiculous.

They live happily as a family of three, with Yunho working at the cafe while Byul has finally landed a job at the very same factory she was applying for when she first came to Light district. It was for a different position and it took her multiple tries to get it, but at least she's making money now. Yunho is looking to see whether he can do something else to earn more money since they're about to welcome another baby into the family. Byul jokingly nudged him to go and open a dance studio where he could teach dance classes, and although he laughed it off initially, he's seriously taking it into consideration now. He might even pull Wooyoung into the business together with him.

At first, she couldn't get pregnant and they feared that it was because of either of them, but then the familiar symptoms came to her and they calmly went to the hospital to get checked. They hugged each other tight when the doctor showed that she was a few weeks pregnant. All through her pregnancy, Yunho stayed by her side, immediately rushing to her when she produced any sound that sounded like she was in pain. He said that he didn't want what happened in the training centre to repeat, when he was nowhere near her while she was carrying Hwayoung. Right now, she has one month left until she's due, and it's that thrilling but worrying feeling all over again.

"Any name for the baby yet?" Yeosang asks. "I hope the other uncles get a chance too, since Seonghwa and Wooyoung fought to give Hwayoung a name."

"But Uncle Yeosang, dad told me that you said I looked like raw chicken when I was a baby," Hwayoung pipes up.

"Uh-oh," Wooyoung shakes his body. "Looks like Kang Yeosang is about to be in the not-favourite uncle list."

"Along with you," Yeosang shrugs. "And isn't it true, though? All babies look like raw chicken when they first come out of the womb. All red and rubbery-"

Seonghwa gasps before trying to close his triplets' ears. "Yeosang, you better not say that about my babies. They're already handsome and beautiful when they came out, just like their parents."

"Yeah, sure. You'd rather have people lie to you and say 'oh my gosh they look so much like you' when they're literally fresh from the womb and you can't even see their distinct features. They're tiny red creatures with a nose, mouth and ears."

Yunho nods as he sticks out his lower lip. "Fair point."

They fill each other with their own stories and adventures, the laughter and chatters never dying down, not one left out. Even the triplets look like they're joining in the conversation as they babble in their baby-talk. The fire on the grill are long out and the food are long gone, but they continue to relish in their conversation, either reminiscing their days as ATEEZ or planning for their future.

The clock strikes midnight. Seonghwa and Akira are already putting their babies to sleep, while Hwayoung had gone to sleep on Yunho's lap. With the children sleeping, all of them sit by the shore, watching as the waves roll slowly.

They look into the far distance, at the horizon, thinking about how much bigger this world is. When they were confined in the training centre, they knew nothing except for their sole existence is to become an agent. The truth became known to them, but even then it wasn't the entire truth; a lot more was hidden underneath. They came to learn that the world is so much more; they decided to move what's stagnant, breaking apart the destiny they thought had been embedded for them.

What they told Lee Minhyuk was right; this is no fantasy, this is the reality. But it's the reality where all of them found their own happiness in different forms. Their journey is far from over; in fact it's only beginning to take its shape. It'd be one hell of a ride, but they're prepared for it.

Like they're always trained to.

The end.