San found himself peeking out into the empty hallway, almost scared to open the door further.

"Do you see anyone?" Wooyoung whispered to him. San scanned the area for a few more seconds before shaking his head.

"No. I think we're good," San confirmed, slowly opening the closet door and slipping into the halfway.

Wooyoung carefully followed behind, softly shutting the storage closet behind him. Sure enough, the hallways were completely barren, a sign that something was definitely off.

"What time is it?" Wooyoung asked. San seemed to be thinking the same question, as he already had his phone in hand to check the time.

"Ah, shit," he muttered, seeing the clock. It was certainly way after lunch time ended, meaning that class was in full swing.

They shared a silent look, knowing that showing up mid class without an excuse would look extremely suspicious on both of their behalf's.

"Should we skip?" Wooyoung questioned, glancing at San. The elder took a moment to think, weighing his options.

"Yeah, why not," he decided. He had plenty of absences left, and at this point he didn't particularly care what he missed in that class.

The couple promptly found themselves strolling down the hallway, with San somewhat gripping onto Wooyoung's arm as the younger tried to increase their walking speed.

"Slow down," San warned, tugging on Wooyoung's arm. "My legs kinda hurt, you're too fast."

Wooyoung gave him a look. "Your legs hurt? That's funny," he said, not making an effort to slow down.

"Shut up, I was kneeling," San reminded as he lightly hit the arm of Wooyoung, who only laughed.

"San!" came a higher voice from behind the two in the hallway.

The pair froze at the sound. San slowly turned around, not sure exactly what he was going to be faced with.

A girl with short black hair came practically running down the hallway, carrying a stack of books and papers.
San recognized her as the girl from the cafe ages prior, the one who had confronted him strangely. It occurred to him that he didn't even know what her name was.

She stopped in front of Wooyoung and San, taking a moment to catch her breath before speaking.

"You have Doyeon's number, right?" the girl inquired. San instantly looked startled at the mention of his ex girlfriend.

"Yes...? Why?" he said, too surprised to process anything other than the question.

"Great. Can you do me a big favor?" she begged, anyone lacing her voice that would urge anyone to say yes. San glanced at Wooyoung, whose remained blank as if to say he had no place in the matter. San nodded, encouraging her to speak.

"I need you to text her and tell her not to pick me up from school today. I dropped my phone and it shattered, so I need to go to the store and get a new one before she finds out," the girl rambled, putting her hands together as if to plead for his mercy.

San blinked. "Uhh, okay?" he said, before pausing. "Actually, nah, just text her whatever you need," he changed his mind, unlocking his messages app and handing his phone to her.

She gave him a look of gratefulness as she quickly began entering in her sister's contact.

"Who is she?" Wooyoung mouthed to San when the girl wasn't looking. San shook his head as if to say he didn't know either, a reply which only gained a suspicious look from Wooyoung.

After a short moment of the girl typing frantically, she hit send and shut off the phone. "Thanks, I owe you one," she said, quickly handing San his phone back.
Noticing Wooyoung, she gave him a small wave before turning and hurrying back in the direction she had come from.

The pair stared silently as her footsteps disappeared down the hall.

"What do you mean you don't know her?" Wooyoung questioned as he turned to look at San.

"Listen, I know what it looks like," San defended. "I really have no idea who she is, she's just come up to me before and said some weird things to me."

Wooyoung gave him a disbelieving glance, before nodding towards his phone.
"Look at what she sent," he suggested.
San obliged, navigating to his messages app.

_
Messages

San🌚:
Hey this is Rina!
My phone died and I wanted to tell u not to pick me up from school today bc the girls want to get ramen
Tell mom I'll be home around 6-7ish!
Delivered

_

San almost laughed at the text. She certainly seemed to be a professional liar.

"Her name's Rina? Why do I feel like I recognize that name...?" Wooyoung muttered, causing San's train of thought to come to a crashing halt.

"Wait, she said 'tell mom'..." San trailed off as the realization hit him like a train. "Holy shit, they're related!" he said, grabbing onto Wooyoung's shoulder as he stated the shocking revelation.

Wooyoung gave him a weird look. "Obviously? And?"

"No, no, you don't get it," San said, recalling the strange encounter they'd had previously. "Do you remember that time we went to the cafe near here and you left to take a call from your mom?"

Wooyoung nodded, confused as to where he was heading with this.

"Rina was there, and she came up to me when you left," he started, wracking his brain for the memory of what she'd said.

"She confronted me to ask if I knew that you were gay, which I thought was hella weird at the time. When I told her I was too, she started acting weirdly nice to me?" San explained, seeing Wooyoung's confused expression morphing into one of analyzing the information he'd been given.

"I mean, you dated her sister. It makes sense that she would think you're straight," Wooyoung offered.

San looked as if he'd discovered some amazing secret of the universe. "Oh!" he said, after thinking a bit more. "And when I saw Doyeon a while ago she said that her sister said she knows me," he spoke, as if everything was starting to make sense.

Wooyoung wrapped an arm around San's waist, grabbing his attention.

"I'm glad that we're having this realization, but could we leave before class ends?" he pleaded, scanning around the halls.

"Right," San agreed, swinging an arm around Wooyoung's shoulders and lightly squeezing him in return. Wooyoung only laughed at the gesture as he urged San to pick up the pace.

The two got out of the school almost too easily, having not come across a single teacher or student for the rest of their journey out.

Wooyoung suggested going to San's house, but the situation showed it best to at least waste some time beforehand. San couldn't risk coming home before school was over just to come in contact with his parents.
Therefore the two found themselves wandering around in the streets, just wasting time.

"You know what?" San spoke up, kicking a rock on the sidewalk that was in front of him.

Wooyoung glanced towards San, indicating he was listening.

"We should adopt a dog or cat or something," San continued. Wooyoung only gave him a disconcerted look.

"How would we take care of it? We live separately," Wooyoung reminded, not bothering to question the statement. San only shrugged.

"I didn't say now. It can be later," he spoke, a bit miffed as the rock he'd been kicking flew out into the street, now unattainable. "Just say if you want a dog or a cat."

"A lizard," Wooyoung responded, trying to be as unhelpful as possible.

San gave him an absolutely disgusted look for dramatic effect, one which only sent Wooyoung into a fit of laughter. "You're not helpful," San whined, seeing his boyfriend cracking up at his expression.

"Ah, San," Wooyoung said as he calmed down. "You can choose the animal, I don't really care," he went along with the idea.

A smug smile graced San's expression. He now took Wooyoung's hand in his own, swinging it as the two walked. "What if I got a pet cockroach or something?" he inquired.

Wooyoung pulled his hand away from San's in mock offense. "I'll divorce you if you do that. Don't even think about it."

San couldn't help the grin that painted itself across his features, retaking Wooyoung's hand within his own in a tight grip. "We both know you wouldn't," he said.

Wooyoung scoffed. "Damn, he's right," he muttered loudly enough for San to hear.

An eternity of walking felt like a mere moment as the two joked around, simply biding their time until the school day would officially be over.

Upon the clock hitting that mark, both quickly hurried in the direction of San's house, not wanting to waste any time.

"Your parents are home right?" Wooyoung asked. The two were currently standing at San's doorstep as the elder dug in his bag in search of his house key.

"They better be," San said as a worried expression washed over his face. "I can't find my damn key," he said.

"Maybe you left it at school?" Wooyoung suggested. San only gestured that it was fine, before reaching up to knock on the door.

Before his fist could hit the wood, the door swung open to reveal the smiling face of Mrs. Choi.

"I thought I heard you two talking," she said, stepping back as to allow the two to step inside. Wooyoung and San shared a look, both a bit surprised.

San shut the door behind them as he saw his mom dash off towards their kitchen hallway.

"Honey!" the mother could be heard yelling for her husband, her voice getting smaller as the distance grew. "He brought our son-in-law over, you should ask him about the gift!"

Wooyoung froze for a second as he processed what San's mother had said. San, meanwhile, didn't seem phased.

"See, she already knows," he said, ignoring the way Wooyoung suddenly took great interest in his own sweatshirt sleeves.

San somewhat ushered Wooyoung to follow him over to the kitchen, where the two parents were now just walking in.

"Ah, Wooyoung," San's dad immediately acknowledged the boy as he strode over to the fridge. The man pulled out a large bowl which was wrapped in tinfoil.

"Is there any chance you like salads? We got this as a gift and San hates them," Mr. Choi said, peeling back the foil as to show off the vegetable medley within.

Wooyoung stared at it for a second. "Are those... cucumbers?" he inquired. San's dad nodded avidly.

"Eh... sorry, but..." Wooyoung trailed off as the elder man immediately held up a hand to stop him from speaking.

"Don't worry, I hate them too. We all do. I'll just give it to a random neighbor," he said, closing the foil and once more shoving the bowl in the fridge.

"Sit down, sit down," Mrs. Choi gestured towards a set of barstools against a counter. "I've made some coffee that's about done brewing."

Wooyoung couldn't help but smirk as he took a seat next to San. "I see your coffee thing is inherited," he commented, just loud enough for only San to hear.

"Shut up," San whispered in return.

Wooyoung couldn't help but take in the scene around him, trying and failing to not subconsciously compare it to his own home life.

The sight of San's father joking around with his mother— who seemed all the happier with their guest's presence— gave the boy a weird feeling, one that he wasn't sure how to identify.

Maybe it was something akin to culture shock.

His gaze landed on a small picture pinned to the wall, with a hasty date years prior scribbled on it in sharpie. In it, a little boy wore a tiny hat as he gazed wistfully into the distance.

Wooyoung excitedly pointed at it, using his other hand to lightly slap San's shoulder. "Is that you? Oh my god," he said as the now startled San turned to look.

"Oh no," was all San could say as he realized what Wooyoung was talking about. "Don't look at that," he said, placing a hand over Wooyoung's eyes.

"How come I've never seen that one? Was it there before?" Wooyoung questioned as he pried San's hand away from his face.

"Oh, we found that one just yesterday and hung it up!" Mrs. Choi took notice of the pair's conversation as she wandered over with two mug sof coffee. "Isn't he cute?" she cooed, setting the mugs near Wooyoung.

"Very," Wooyoung agreed enthusiastically, much to San's dismay. "He kinda looks the same," he joked. This time only a glare came from the elder.

"He does," the woman stated, glancing between the boy and the picture. "He'll always be my baby anyway," she now doted as she squeezed his cheek, gaining only a groan from San.

"Mom," he begged, with the tone of voice universally recognized as that of an embarrassed child. San looked at Wooyoung only to be greeted with a smile of pure evil.

"Woo, don't you dare," San warned as he saw Wooyoung begin to reach for the other side of his face.

"Shush, you're my baby now too," he teased, causing San to only give him a shocked expression.

"Wooyoung," he spoke, staring at his mother who seemed to be quite amused at the situation. San couldn't believe the absolute bravery of the boy to say that in front of his parents.

San's mother only grinned mischievously. "You're in charge of embarrassing him now, okay?" she said, placing her hand on Wooyoung's shoulder. "I have to go run and buy some more coffee creamer from the store."

Wooyoung gave her a joking salute as she patted his shoulder before walking off.

He tuned out the sound of her telling her husband she was leaving as to bring his focus back to San, who seemed more than just embarrassed.

"I hate you," San softly muttered as he locked gazes with Wooyoung, who seemed rather entertained.

"I love you," Wooyoung quietly returned, the content smile on his face only serving to make San feel more flustered.

"If you boys need anything, I'll be in my room watching TV," San's dad announced before promptly walking out, clearly not wanting to stay and invade their privacy. San would have laughed, had he not been distracted by Wooyoung's presence.

The two stared at each other in a tense silence, now completely alone in the kitchen.

"...You wanna go make out in my room for two hours?" San asked, monotone. Wooyoung didn't even flinch at the question.

"Definitely. Let's go, bring the coffee," Wooyoung said as he stood up immediately, carefully picking up his mug.
San followed suit, sliding off of his barstool as he gathered his things.

The two hurried off towards the staircase like a pair of madmen, sharing hushed banter along the way.

San and Wooyoung had definitely gone crazy...
Not that either was complaining.