When the song finished the crowd went wild. Fans stood up cheering and Seonghwa was overwhelmed. He hadn't expected such a reaction to such an authentic outpour of emotion. He smiled and waved with both hands, bowing. Finally the curtain closed and they had to grab their instruments and get off quickly. Once they were backstage they gathered in a group and hugged, shedding a few tears.

"We did you guys. We fucking did it!"

He couldn't believe they'd made it through everything so smoothly! They had exceeded his expectations and honestly had a shot at winning it!

They were rushed back to their preparation room where they were given cookies and water. Seonghwa hasn't realized how much the stage had drained him and quickly grabbed some. Now they had to wait for their results to be announced. There wasn't an official awards ceremony but they would get notified when the results were in online. They thought about changing out of their stage clothes but decided they wanted to keep them on until they had to give them back. Mingi proposed ordering a pizza for the group and they all agreed so Seonghwa put in an order.

Drained from the performance and from the lack of sleep, Wooyoung fell asleep on Seonghwa's shoulder and Mingi on Yunho's. Yunho and Seonghwa were each on their phones trying not to think about the results.

Seonghwa thought about his song again and was reminded that Hongjoong probably hadn't seen it. He knew the fans liked it but they weren't really his target audience. Maybe by chance he had stayed awake. But he was so mad at Seonghwa he probably didn't even want to watch it. He probably turned the TV off as soon as Fever was done. His phone pinged and he saw that the pizza was here so he walked down the hallway to the back of the building.

He got to the door and greeted the delivery guy, giving him a generous tip as it was a very confusing building. He thanked him and was about to go back inside when he heard a yell from across the parking lot.

"PARK SEONGHWA YOU STAY RIGHT THERE!"

He was startled and turned towards the voice. And that's when he saw Hongjoong drop his crutches and run, right towards him.

Startled, Seonghwa dropped the pizza on the ground and was going to pick it up until he saw Hongjoong nearing him very quickly. He was unsure what the reaction was about at this point and was very scared that Hongjoong was not happy. But as soon as  Hongjoong got close he jumped up into Seonghwa's arms and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him into the most passionate kiss Seonghwa had ever had. Instinctively he grabbed Hongjoong and pulled him closer and the two hugged for a long time.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Seonghwa asked finally, remembering how broken Hongjoong was.

"I'm fine! I just needed to see you and tell you I'm so sorry for everything I said and that I love you and that—"

"No no no! It should be me apologizing! I didn't even give you a chance to explain I just assumed the worst and I was horrible to you! I never told you how much I care about you or how much you mean to me and you deserved so much more—"

"Sounds like you finally understand my worth," smirked Hongjoong.

"You know I'm still holding you. I could drop you on the ground."

"Please don't! I would prefer it if I never fell again," Hongjoong said with a sweet smile.

"I wouldn't dare hurt you," Seonghwa laughed but he meant it and Hongjoong could tell.

They stood in silence for a while before Hongjoong looked at the ground and muttered,

"Hey Seonghwa? C—could you grab my crutches for me?"

"Of course! I'll be right back."

He ran across the lot to grab them and couldn't help but squeal to himself as soon as he was far enough away. It worked! It really worked! It didn't feel real. They could really be a couple now. No more hiding from their bandmates, no more lying about work. Everything was out on the table now, even Seonghwa's deepest emotions. As he grabbed the crutches and walked back he felt his face flushing with heat, realizing Hongjoong had really truly heard every word he sang. Now that he thought about it, it was kind of embarrassing.

He finally made it back and handed the crutches to Hongjoong. When he saw him struggling with the cast he immediately picked him up in his arms and insisted on carrying him.

"Seonghwa I'm not entirely helpless—"

"I know but I am not letting you risk injuring your arm further just so that you don't feel like a baby."

"A baby!? I thought this was more of a 'sweep the bride off her feet' kind of carry. You're carrying me like a baby!?"

Seonghwa smiled and rubbed the back of his head.

"Stop—no stop!" laughed Hongjoong who eventually decided to play into it.

"Seonghwa hyung, can we go see my bandmates?"

"Oh my god you did not just call me Hyung."

"You are older than me," Hongjoong smiled innocently.

"I'm going to drop you."

"You wouldn't hurt me Seonghwa hyung, would you?" Hongjoong said with puppy dog eyes.

"Stop being so cute and creepy at the same time," Seonghwa laughed and began to walk back in when he remembered the pizza left on the ground.

"Shoot, I was getting pizza for the band! How will I—can I carry both?"

"I mean I guess I could hold on to it?" Hongjoong offered and Seonghwa accepted, having to grab it with one hand while supporting Hongjoong with the other. He didn't realize he'd be strong enough to do both.

"You didn't have to grunt like that I'm not that heavy," grumbled Hongjoong.

Seeing a teasing opportunity, Seonghwa exaggerated it more, gasping for air as he slowly raised the pizza up to him.

"Here...take it...I can't...hold you...like this...much...longer—"

"Oh shut up already," whined Hongjoong, snatching the pizza out of his hand.

Seonghwa reached his arm back around him and leaned in to give him a kiss on the forehead.

"Wh—what was that for?" Hongjoong blurted, startled by the sudden show of affection.

"Just a taste of what's to come. As my official boyfriend I will give you lots of affection all of the time. You're one lucky guy. Not just anyone gets my forehead kisses," smiled Seonghwa.

"Your boyfriend, huh? I like the sound of that," smiled Hongjoong, and he reached up and kissed Seonghwa's cheek.

"You'd better get used to it too," he grinned.

Neither of them could stop smiling as they began entering the building. Hongjoong was so embarrassed to be carried the whole way and when his attempts to convince Seonghwa to let him walk failed, he covered his face with the pizza box. Finally they made it back to the Wonderland preparation room as Seonghwa wanted to make sure they got the pizza before it was too cold. As soon as he opened he door he was greeted by Wooyoung.

"Took you long enough! I'm starving here! How long does it take to grab a piz—uh hi Hongjoong."

"Hi."

"Wait—WAIT DOES THIS MEAN—DID OUR PLAN WORK!?" Wooyoung jumped up and down excitedly and Mingi and Yunho got up from the couch to join him.

"Yes, yes it did. Thanks for you help you guys."

"Yeah thanks for giving him the guts to ask me out on live television in front of thousands of people," grinned Hongjoong.

"Again, I will drop you. My arms are getting pretty tired—"

"Alright, alright! I'm sorry!" he yelped grabbing frantically onto Seonghwa's neck.

"We'll let you two lovebirds be," smiled Yunho and the three of them pushed Seonghwa out the door.

"Well, we were leaving anyways," he snarled back as Hongjoong laughed.

Seonghwa was honestly getting tired of lugging Hongjoong around and set him on a couch for a while until Hongjoong stood up and insisted he could walk if he leaned on Seonghwa for support.

Seonghwa agreed and they slowly made their way to the Fever dressing room. They knocked on the door as it was locked and they could hear a voice yell,

"Don't come in! We're busy!"

"You don't even have time to greet your decrepit little leader?" whined Hongjoong and almost immediately they heard a rush to the door.

It swung open to reveal all three of his bandmates staring at him.

"Hongjoong!? What are you doing here!? You should be resting!" they all yelled, yanking him into the room and into a chair.

"How did you get here!?" Yeosang asked incredulously.

"I hailed a taxi."

"They let you in?! A random guy coming out of the hospital in a double cast with crutches? They didn't even question it?"

"I tipped them well."

"Wait Seonghwa why are you—wait did you guys make up?? What the hell happened I'm so lost!" San whined, massaging his temples.

"It was Seonghwa's song. The last song of their act, he wrote it for me. And I was watching from the hospital—oh don't let me forget I've got about thirty pages of notes to go over with you all—"

His bandmates groaned.

"But anyways, I was watching from the hospital and I just had to find him and see him and so I got up and left. I didn't really have a plan but luckily he was grabbing a pizza when I saw him across the parking lot so I may have sprinted on a bad ankle—"

"Hongjoong!" they all yelled, even Seonghwa who hadn't quite processed that moment yet.

"Well anyways, we're dating now and nothing can break us apart anymore."

Seonghwa leaned his chin on Hongjoong's back and wrapped his arms around him. Hongjoong held his hands lovingly and looked up at him.

"Aw you guys are so cute," San smiled.

"Oh and San, by the way. Wooyoung told me everything and I needed to tell you. I feel like such a horrible person for causing your relationship such stress and if it makes any difference I have no problem with the two of you dating."

"Neither do I," smiled Hongjoong.

"Wait—you—you mean it?" San asked, his eyes sparkling. "But Wooyoung already tried talking to me and all I've done is ignore him—what if he doesn't—"

"Oh my GOD just go over there and kiss him he's so in love with you," Seonghwa laughed, and San ran out of the room.

"Oh my god they're out! The results are out!" shouted Jongho rushing towards his leader.

The four of them gathered around the phone to see who the champion would be. As Jongho was about to click on their match, Hongjoong turned the phone off.

"What are you doing? I almost had it up!"

"I don't want to know. I don't think I need to. I actually had a proposal to make."

He turned to Seonghwa who was very confused.

"What if, we combine Fever and Wonderland?"

Seonghwa's mouth fell open.

"You—You mean like make one band?"

"Yeah. I don't know it's just an idea we don't have to—there's no pressure—" Hongjoong started to lose his confidence but Seonghwa threw his arms around him.

"I was actually thinking the same thing."

"Really!?"

"Yeah."

"I mean that would be pretty cool but also it has it nothing to do with our scores! Some of us want to know!" Jongho grumbled.

"You can check if you want Jongho, we just won't tell them I guess," laughed Yeosang.

"Did you have a name in mind?" Seonghwa asked Hongjoong.

"Well—yeah actually."

Seonghwa turned his head curiously.

"Ateez."