Pink Star Ateez x Seonghwa

10

Seonghwa's pov

  I grabbed a pair of sweat pants and a hoodie from my closet as San rummaged through his bags.

  "What do you guys want? I'll order it," Maria asked from the doorway, her eyes covered.

  "Pepperoni pizza?" I asked, looking at San. He nodded with a small smile on his lips.

  "Okay, what do you want to drink?" Maria asked.

  "Cola?" I asked San again, smiling when he nodded.

  "A pepperoni pizza, two colas, and tell Jay to get a second order of the cheese bread, please," I said. Maria nodded with her eyes still covered before she left the hallway.

  "Is there anything else you wanted from Dominos?" I asked. San shook his head.

  "My manager might get upset if I gain-"

  "Your manager won't do shit if I can help it, Sannie. You're not a product to be sold or shown off; you're a person who deserves to eat what he wants and live how he wants."

  "My weight being maintained by the company's standards was one of the clauses in my contract, Hwa Hyung. If I can't maintain it, then I could get sued or lose my contract," San said, his head low.

  "Do you remember the clause about your weight? Was there a specific weight range you had to be at all times?" I asked softly, a bit worried to know the answer.

  "None of us are allowed to weigh more than fifty-five kilograms, unless the weight is mostly muscles, then we have to have a body fat percentage of eight percent to fourteen percent. We can only weigh more than fifty-five kilograms if we're gaining muscle mass." San explained.

  "Sannie, weighing fifty-five kilograms at your height would be really underweight... is it like this on all of you?" I asked softly, taking a few steps closer to my soulmate. San chewed on his bottom lip and nodded, his gaze still on the carpet below us.

  "I know I may not have any power under the company just yet, but I'll see what I can do about the weight clause getting fixed. You shouldn't be underweight at all- certainly not demanded to be by your employer. Doesn't this go against some kinda law about human exploitation or harming employees? I'll have to look into that first..." I mumbled, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

  "Jay!" I exclaimed, startling San a bit. San looked at me confusedly before they came into the room.

"Yeah, what's up?" Jay asked.

"What part of law do you practice?"

"I'm a business and labor lawyer- why? You've never been curious about my lawyer stuff before," Jay asked, squinting their eyes at me.

"Can an employer legally fire an employee for failure to comply to a clause in their contract of their weight staying within a specific range?" I questioned. Jay's eyes widened a bit before they stood in silence as they thought it over.

"So by failing to comply to a contract, they got fired? That wouldn't be illegal... but the contract portion about a mandatory weight range itself would be illegal within Labor Laws. Wait a second, who's contract am I talking about? Seonghwa, you better not have signed anything without showing me first!" Jay exclaimed.

San lowered his head further, his chin resting against his sternum and his bangs covering his brown eyes.

  I wrapped my arms around my soulmate, gently pulling him closer to myself.

  "Hwa Hyung, it's okay, it's just our weights. We're finally getting successful now; I don't want to see it go down the drain because of something like weight," San mumbled against my shoulder.

  "Sannie, forcing you to be a certain way to keep your contract is illegal. Your weights being kept at or below fifty five kilograms is awful," I responded. San shook his head.

  "I don't think any of us knew that, Hyung. Even still, we're okay enough to perform and enjoy ourselves, so it's okay."

"Since the weight clause is illegal, the contract would be broken by the court once they're notified. San, if you-"

"This is not my decision to make on my own, alright? We all signed the same contract- we all trained together, debuted together, we all live together- so if we lose our contracts, what would happen to Ateez?" San cut Jay off. He noticed how harshly he spoke and quickly apologized to them.

"It's okay, just remember that you should come first- not as San from Ateez, but as Choi San."

"Thank you, Jay; I needed to hear that," San said, giving them a small smile. Jay smiled in return before their eyes lit up at the sound of the doorbell.

"Hwa, how much do you love your legally little sibling?" Jay asked, looking up at me with a small pout.

I sighed before responding, "Way too much. What did you do?"

"You left your debit information on my phone!" Jay grinned widely at me before bolting out of my room.

"This asshole, I swear..." I mumbled. I looked back up at San and slung my arm around his shoulder.

"Let's go eat."

  As we sat and ate in mostly silence, Maria kept looking at me, then at San and raising her eyebrows.

  "Mar, what do you need?" I asked, reaching forward to grab my cola.

  "I didn't think you and Jay were telling me the truth, Hwa. It's just a little... I don't want to say "odd" because that sounds rude, but it is a bit different to see you being so close- not to mention, sweet- to a performer you like," Maria said, trying her best to not be rude with how she spoke.

"When have we ever lied to you?" I asked, a little confused.

"You two lie to me all the time!" Maria whined. Jay rolled their eyes and fed Maria.

"We don't lie about soulmates or love, my rose."

"Dope." Maria nodded as she continued to eat. San laughed softly beside me as he also ate, a bit less shyly now.

  "Do you wanna shower first after we finish?" I asked the man who was reaching for another slice of pizza.

"I could go-"

"Finish eating first, Sannie. You shouldn't go to bed with a half-full tummy," I said, gently ruffling his fluffy hair. San smiled up and me and nodded.

A little less than an hour later, we were both showered and ready to lay down.

"Hey, Hwa Hyung?" San asked softly, slowly scooting a bit closer to me under the blankets of my bed.

"I'm sorry I kissed you without your permission earlier tonight," San apologized. I smiled softly and reached to caress his cheek.

  "You don't have to apologize, Sannie. I liked it," I responded shyly. San smiled a bit wider as he came closer.

  "Can I kiss you again?" San asked softly.

  With my hand still on his cheek, I gently pulled him closer until our lips connected in a slow and sweet kiss.