Hongjoong's Pov:

"Hey, Hongjoong-hyung. Wake up." was heard before something soft landed with a fwump on the sleeping male's face. "You're gonna be late."

Hongjoong lazily opened his eyes, before looking at his alarm clock. '7:45?!? Shit!!'

"Ah! Why didn't you wake me up, Wooyoung!??" The older male jumped up and rushed into the bathroom to get ready.

Wooyoung shrugged and sat on his bed, drying his freshly washed hair with a fluffy towel before grabbing his shoes. "I tried, then I was in the shower," he replied.

Hongjoon's mind raced as he rushed to get ready. Packing his laptop and headphones into his bag, he checked the writing on his arm to make sure he hadn't missed any assignments.

Suddenly, Wooyoung stood in front of him and peered at his arm, smiling. "Looks like you got an admirer~" he hummed teasingly, pointing to the compliments of the song maker's lyrics.

The olders face flushed and he pulled the sleeve of his turtleneck over his arms. "Hush.." He muttered, grabbing his beanie to hide his messy hair before rushing out the door to his class.

Hongjoong couldn't necessarily say he enjoyed Wooyoung being his roommate, but at least their interactions weren't awkward or unpleasant. He did admit he'd rather have been dormmed with Mingi or Jongho though. Wooyoung could be very talkative, even when Hongjoong was obviously not in much mood to talk. However, he would be lying if he said he completely hated it. Sometimes it was nice to talk to someone other than his best friends.

Running into his classroom right on time, Hongjoong sat in a seat by the window and tried to calm his breath quietly so he didn't disturb the other students. He hadn't noticed the blue haired male sitting in a seat in the back of the class already, having been too distracted from the rush of a late start. He felt a paper ball hit his head and he whipped his head around to see who it was.

His eyes landed on his tall friend, sitting in his seat, looking confused. Hongjoong picked up the crumpled paper and opened it. 'Not sitting with me today, hyung?' read the paper.

Hongjoong quickly scribbled a response about how he woke up late and didn't notice Mingi before, along with an apology. He threw the ball back before the teacher walked into the room and started class.

While taking notes throughout the class, Hongjoong would glance at the back of his hand, noticing scribbled of timing and names of dance moves being added to his tan skin. Biting his lip in nervousness, he moved his pen over to an area near the new markings, writing a teasing remark to his mysterious soul mate. 'Isn't writing the timing technically cheating?'

A few moments passed before he got a reply.

'Not when you're first learning a new dance. I could say the same about you writing lyrics before recording them.'

Hongjoong let out a breath of laughter quietly. 'You like my lyrics though,' he responded, before turning his focus back onto the class he was in.

——

A while later, Hongjoong, and Mingi's morning classes had ended. "Hey, Jongho's wondering if San-hyung can come to the studio with us," Mingi hummed, not looking up.

Hongjoong shrugged, "Of course he can. But, doesn't he have Art Club today?" the shorter looked up at Mingi, who was still typing on his phone.

"Apparently not, and he might be bringing his friend since Club isn't running today."

"Oh," Hongjoong couldn't help the bit of disappointedness in his voice. He didn't necessarrily enjoy meeting new people. It drained a lot of his social battery very quickly. "Okay."

The taller patted Hongjoong on the head gently. "You'll be okay, Hyung! If you need a break, we'll start recording," he smiled comfortingly down at the faded blue haired boy, who nodded and fiddled with his sleeves.

Walking through the door of the studio, laughter could be heard, along with friendly teasing.

A curly haired male wearing a berret was sat on the couch, between a red and brown haired male, and an auburn haired male. They all seemed to be in their own little world, joking around with each other quietly.

Hongjoong let a small smile trace his lips at the atmosphere, and made his way to his chair at the desk, Mingi not far behind.

"Ah! Hyungs!" the auburn haired male jumped up, finally noticing the two had entered. "This is Yeosang! Sannie's friend," the male smiled and pointed to the man on the couch wearing the berret.

Hongjoong turned towards the three males and smiled, waving politely. "It's nice to meet you, Yeosang. And good to see you again, San," his voice laced with kindess. "My name's Hongjoong, and this is Mingi."

The curly haired male bowed his head slightly in reply. "Nice to meet you too." the smile placed on Yeosang's face graced his features well, Hongjoong noticed.

"Sannie! Why was Club cancelled?? Do you know??" Mingi had bounded over to his roommate, striking up a conversation. Hongjoong took that time to sit in his chair and start logging into his computer.

Jongho rolled his own chair next to Hongjoongs and glanced over his shoulder. "How's the song coming, Joong-hyung?" he asked curiosly.

The older hummed, "It's good. I think this part is almost done, wanna tell me what you think?"

Nodding, Jongho put on the headphones as to not disrupt the conversation the others were having, and Hongjoong hit play on the track.

The older watched the others face as he listened, looking for any reaction he may have. Jongho seemed to get lost in the music. He swayed in ways that matched the beat, and started tapping his fingers on the desk to the beat of the music. When the track ended, the youngest looked at the older, smiling.

"Wow, Hyung. That was amazing," Hongjoong smiled at the auburn haired male.

"Thanks! Think you could help with the vocals?" he pleaded, although it was pretty lighthearted. He already knew the other wouldn't turn down the chance to sing.

Jongho chuckled and pushed his hyung away with his palm lightly. "Of course I will, stop begging, Hyung!"

Hongjoong smiled triumphantly. He dug into his bag to grab his notebook, opening to the page with this songs lyric notes and handing them to Jongho.

"Have at it, Jjongie!"

The maknae nodded and smiled as he looked over the notes, rolling back to his little desk in the corner to concentrate a little.

"Hyung!" The faded-blue haired male turned, looking at the group of three on the couch.

San and Mingi were looking at him expectantly, Yeosang was looking at the two, then looked at Hongjoong.

"Yeosang wants to hear one of your songs!!" San shouted, beaming like a ray of sunshine.

Before the older could respond, Yeosang's face flushed a little and he held up his hands in defense.

"O-only if you want to show me, of course!- J-Jjongie talks about your music a lot when we hang out.. I was just curious-" He explained quickly.

Hongjoong smiled a little. He spun around to his laptop and chose a song. "Hmmmm, which one?"

"OH OH WHAT ABOUT PRIATE KING??" Mingi yelled excitedly.

The older chuckled. It was no secret that Pirate King was Mingi's favorite song.

"Mingi-ah! Hushh." San scolded the younger lightly, making Hongjoong smile a little. He pressed play on the track for Pirate King, and sat back while he let the others listen to it from the speakers.

——

A little while later, Jongho and Mingi had to leave to go to their first afternoon class, and San had to leave to meet up with one of his other friends. He apologized profusely for leaving, and offered for Yeosang to come along, but Hongjoong had said it was fine if the latter wanted to stay. Even if that meant being awkward around someone he just met.

"Okay, bye guys!!" the red and brown haired male waved and left, closing the door behind him.

The older turned back to his laptop, currently working on an assignment for class, as he had no more inspiration for songs.

Yeosang sat at the couch and fiddled with his hoodie strings quietly, looking around the room.

Hongjoong didn't necessarily mind the silence, but it definitely was a little awkward. Especially whenever he felt the youngers gaze on him.

Eventually, he paused his work and turned around, flashing Yeosang a friendly smile. "So, Yeosang-ssi, tell me a bit about yourself."

Immediately, he regretted saying it like that. 'No, idiot, that sounds like you're interviewing him-'

Before he could clarify, though, Yeosang started talking.

"Well, I like to draw, obviously- thats how I know Sannie. I've known Jjongie since high school, we were in choir together, though I quit after a year because it clashed with the art club. We stayed close though, especially since Sannie was his cousin," he rambled. It was apparent the younger was also mildly uncomfortable talking to someone new, and he looked at Joong for confirmation to keep going.

"I'm friends with a few of the students on the dance team. Sometimes they ask me to watch their routine or stand in for someone during practice, but I'm not really the best- thats Seonghwa-hyung, hence why hes captain of the team-" the taller let out a little chuckle.

"Sorry, that was a lot." Yeosang looked at the older with a returned polite smile, "What about you, Hongjoong-Hyung?"

The mentioned male had been listening to Yeosang's story. He had asked, afterall. When the attention was back on him, he got a little flustered due to coming up with his story on the spot.

"Well.. I make music, obviously-" he started, thinking back through his life of important events. "I like maths class, I'm a horrible cook, I've known Mingi-ssi since middle school, we had music theory together. We met Jongho and San in Mingi's freshman year, he and San dorm together, and San introduced us to Jongho, saying he could help with our songs,"

"My dormmate is part of the dance team too," the older added. He silently wondered how Yeosang and he had never really met before, with how many friends they seemed to have in common. Pretty much all of Hongjoong's friends anyway. "You probably know him, Jung Wooyoung?"

Yeosang nodded a little, smiling. "Yea, I know him. Surprised you've never duck taped his mouth shut," he chuckled.

The rapper thought about it, and laughed. "Yea, no I have thought about it. He's great, but sometimes he doesn't shut up about certain things."

"Yea, he's so desperate to find his soulmate," the taller hummed.

"That, and teasing me about mine. Always calling them an admirer for commenting on my lyric ideas."

The curly haired male chuckled. "Maybe its the whole dance team. Seonghwa-hyung wants to meet his soulmate desperately too," he explained. "I'm always telling them not to pressure their people or make them uncomfortable."

Joong nodded, understandingly. His soulmate had asked multiple times when they could meet up, but he always managed to avoid answering. It's not that he didnt want to meet his person, but what if he wasnt what they expected? Or what if they messed things up between each other? It wracked his nerves, so he always avoided knowing his soulmate.

"Do you know your soulmate, Yeosang-ssi?" the older asked, curiously.

The younger's face flushed a little, taken aback by the sudden question. Hongjoong felt bad, 'maybe that was too personal.'

"I do. But he doesn't know me," he hummed, matter-of-factly. "I figured it out a while ago, but I don't want to mess up the friendship I have with him, or make things awkward, you know?"

Hongjoong nodded, listening. "Yknow, soulmates don't have to be romantic," he stated. "Society can be so focused on romantic relationships, but sometimes even soulmates don't click like that. And thats okay."

Hongjoong watched as Yeosang's eyes brightened a little, and he smiled. "Thanks for the wisdom, Hyung."

The rest of the afternoon was filled with comfortable conversation between the two, until they both had to leave for class.

"Hey, Hyung." Yeo hummed as they left together.

"Hm?"

"You guys should come meet the dance team sometime. You already know Wooyoung, I'm sure the others would love to meet you." the younger looked at him with a smile.

Hongjoong smiled politely, "Maybe, we'll see. That's a lot of new people to talk to," he stated. "Have a good evening, Yeosang!" he waved and headed to his class, thinking about the offer.

---

Hey guys!!

This first chapter is not super long, I know. But I am having trouble deciding whether each chapter should be just one pov, or if there should be multiple povs to make them longer.

If you could let me know which you prefer, that would be great!!

Anyways, I hope you liked this first chapter!

Have this Jongho gummy smile😁

Also, go stream Ateez's lil bro's debut album, House of Tricky.
They're so good.

Byeee!