It's gonna be your thirteenth birthday soon, Sannie. What do you want for your birthday?

Nothing much really, Mom. I just really want all of us to be happy with each other.

God, son, you're so sweet.

Thanks, Dad!

We're so lucky to have a son like you...

San opened his eyes, and immediately felt drenched in the cold. His surroundings, which appeared to be some kind of room, were dark, save for the small window at the corner that blew in some wind through pale curtains.

He suddenly sat up, panic flushing down his veins. Where was he? This place didn't look like his own bedroom. But that was when he remembered the reason he'd been brought here in the first place.

Fuck, where am I?

San forced himself onto his feet, wincing at the cold tiles below that sent shivers down his spine. Then, he set his sights on the doorknob, because wherever he was right now, he really needed to leave. Where was his phone?

The doorknob suddenly turned, and in stepped a girl that San had never seen before in his life. She had brown hair that was short and softly curled, and her eyes were lined with mascara that only highlighted how round they were. She was dressed in an oversized olive green shirt and shorts, but was barefoot.

San froze where he stood, but she just smiled at him. She seemed friendly.

"Oh -- hi," she beamed. A manicured finger gestured to the light switch. "Sorry for leaving the lights off. We figured you'd rest better if they were turned off instead of on."

We?

San just nodded, since his throat felt too dry to try and attempt speaking.

"And, I'm Nina, by the way," she introduced. "And this is my house." She pointed at San's shirt. "And that's Wooyoung's shirt you're wearing."

"W-Wooyoung?" At that, San stared at the black shirt he had on, noting that his school shirt was nowhere to be seen. He briefly wondered who'd changed the shirt for him, but decided not to linger on the thought since he didn't want to get his hopes up.

"Do you want something?" Nina asked. "We should go join the others outside. But I warn you though, they're kinda weird. And loud. But you'll love them. I mean, you've already met Wooyoung, so."

She seemed to want to befriend him, and it left San wondering if she -- or any of the others, really -- knew of, or witnessed the way he'd bled.  He wondered if Wooyoung saw the blood.

San fought the urge to flinch when Nina suddenly held his hand, dragging him out of the room with that same bright smile on her face. Just as she'd predicted, he could already hear voices coming from the livingroom. The entire area seemed lit up in amber lights, and the large TV in the livingroom was airing some show that two guys huddled together on a burgundy sofa were watching.

"Ooh, is that San?" One of the guys asked. He was quite thin, with sandy blond hair and a delicate, cute face. San felt like hiding behind Nina when his inquisitive eyes peered over at him, no matter how dumb it sounded.

Before Nina could respond, someone stepped in through the kitchen, a large bag of chips in hand. San's breath hitched in his throat when his eyes met Wooyoung's. The other's face was blank (as it usually looked), but his eyes mirrored relief.

"San," he spoke, and San naturally felt himself drifting off to him. He was donned in this grey tanktop that showed off just how fit he was, and he didn't seem to notice how flustered San got because of it. "You're awake." He popped a chip into his mouth.

San nervously rubbed his arm. "Yeah... And, you're eating."

"Yeah." Wooyoung looked like he was trying to refrain himself from tackling San to the ground and hugging him. At least, that was what San felt he'd wanted to do. "Want some?"

"Don't finish it all, greedy ass!" A new voice exclaimed from the sofa. It came from the other guy that San had seen watching that tv show. Unlike the first guy, however, he was pretty muscly.

Wooyoung glared at him. "Jongho, shut the fuck up. I brought this."

"But like, sharing is caring," Jongho responded. San could see that Nina had joined him on the sofa, his arm around her waist. San hadn't even noticed her leaving them.

Wooyoung sighed, but he stepped closer to San, his bare arm brushing against San's own. "San, I'm gonna introduce these three idiots to you, and listen well 'cause you won't be seeing them after today."

Nina flipped Wooyoung off, but she was laughing. She and the guys seemed close with Wooyoung, and San wondered what their relationship was. It felt like the more he knew Wooyoung, the less he actually knew about the other. It was weird, really.

Wooyoung's voice brought him back to the present. "So, this is Nina," he pointed at the girl San had first seen. "This is her house, and since her parents travelled out for like, two weeks, we can camp in here and leech off all her food."

At this Nina laughed, and San found himself smiling a bit. Her laughter was contagious.

Wooyoung, though, nudged him in the arm. His eyes were narrowed at San. "You can't like her. She's in a relationship."

"I -- I wasn't -- " San began, but Wooyoung had already moved on to the next person, his lips down-turned.

"And this is Jongho," he pointed at the more built one of the two guys. At this, Jongho flashed them a gummy smile that made him appear less daunting. "He's Nina's boyfriend. And this is Yeosang," Wooyoung pointed at the last guy in the room, "Nina's other boyfriend."

Yeosang gave San a small wave. "Is it weird?"

San shook his head, feeling shy with all the attention he was getting. "Nah, not really."

"Then I already like you," Yeosang answered.

Wooyoung looked unimpressed. "Anyway, they're in college but I hang out with them at times." He looked at San, and whispered: "Let's talk in the kitchen."

"At least pass us that bag of chips first," Nina said, but Wooyoung just blew her a raspberry, dragging a nervous San into the kitchen area.

The shouts and exclaims coming from the livingroom dissipated into mild background noise, and San watched as Wooyoung took a seat on the squeaky clean counter, staring down at him like he was...studying him.

San gulped. "Uhm."

Wooyoung chuckled. He looked so good just sitting there, like this untouchable king that sat miles and miles above his lowly servants. He took another bite of his chips.

"...How are they?" He asked San. The crunching sound emitted from his mouth filled the tense silence that suddenly encircled them.

San's thumb picked at his nails. "They're nice."

Wooyoung hummed. He leisurely swung his feet over the counter, and San would have found the action overwhelmingly cute if he hadn't noticed the dark look that had fallen over the other's features.

"Yeosang was the one who drove me over to where you were," Wooyoung continued. He placed the bag of chips on the counter, and patted the spot next to him. "Sit."

San did, trying to make himself as small as he possibly could. "I'm sorry."

Wooyoung glanced over at him. "For what?"

San glared at his knees. His fingers itched so badly to hold onto something. "For all the blood you had probably seen."

"I didn't care about the blood."

San stared the boy next to him, swallowing hard when Wooyoung stared at him too. "What?"

"You looked just about dead when I found you, and I totally freaked the fuck out. I didn't even calm down until Yeosang guessed that maybe you'd fainted since you were still breathing, so we brought you over to Nina's place. She and Jongho didn't ask much questions, mostly because I told Yeosang not to tell them anything about the blood we saw when we came to get you. Then Nina prepared the room you slept in, Jongho put your shirt to wash since it looked dirty, and then I got you changed into another shirt." Wooyoung pulled on San's sleeve. "It's one of my favourite shirts."

San coughed, and tried to hide the way his face burned. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing."

"Sorry -- " San shut his mouth.

Wooyoung burst into laughter, and then reached out, but paused. "Can...can I touch you?"

Blood rushed into San's face. He didn't like it when people touched him, but at that moment, he felt like he wouldn't mind someone's touch all that much. Especially if that someone was Wooyoung. "...Okay..."

Wooyoung stroked San's hair, slowly, tenderly, inching lower until he rubbed his nape. His hand felt soft and warm, and sent pleasant shivers through San's body.

"You remind me of a dog."

Those pleasant shivers transformed into a punch in the gut. San blinked. "What?"

"You're just so..." Wooyoung patted his chin for the right word to say. "Fuckin' adorable. I feel like protecting you."

San shyly looked away. "Okay."

Wooyoung placed a hand on his knee, and for the first time in a long time, San didn't flinch. "...I'll tell a secret of mine if you tell me a secret of yours."

"L-Like what?" San questioned.

"I know you're wondering why I'm staying here instead of my actual house," Wooyoung began as he stared off into space. "Truth is, Yebin, my older sister, found a cigarette in my room's window, and so Dad kicked me out for the time being."

San's heart dropped. He felt horrible. "I'm so sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Wooyoung replied, waving him off. "It's fine." His tone bordered on nonchalant, and San had to wonder, was he used to this?

"That's a shitty thing for a dad to do," San admitted. He clenched his fist, automatically hating whoever Wooyoung's father was.

"Don't dwell on it." Wooyoung smirked, but it didn't reflect on his eyes. "Now, it's your turn. So..."

"So..."

San yelped when Wooyoung smacked his arm, but he was soon chuckling. However, once his eyes fell on Yeosang, who was showing Nina something on his phone on the sofa, he almost leapt off the counter as he remembered Seonghwa. Shit, shit, shit, shit.

"What is it?" Wooyoung asked as he'd seen the alarmed look on San's face.

"My phone."

"It's in your bag, which is in my temporary room," Wooyoung raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

"I-I need to call my cousin." San pushed himself off the counter, shame consuming him as he imagined how worried Seonghwa must've been right now because of him. "I need to tell him I'm fine. I -- I need to go home right now and see him."

Wooyoung's hand held him in place. "Okay, first -- chill. Take a deep breath. Also -- you can't leave now because it's still raining cats and dogs outside. And also, you still haven't told me your secret."

San tried to calm himself down. "What secret?"

Wooyoung jumped off the counter, and then walked up to him. San felt cornered by the dark haired male's presence, and inhaled a sharp breath. Wooyoung smiled knowingly.

"Tell me what your deal is with blood."

Luckily, Wooyoung's friends were still occupied with one another, too busy to notice what was going on. San picked his nail as his anxiety grew, but then immediately winced after.

"Shit," Wooyoung cursed, grabbing his hand. That was when San spotted the small dot of red on his finger. "I'm getting you a bandaid for that."

"Let me talk to my cousin first." San's voice was shaking.

"I'm cleaning this up first."

"Wooyoung."

"San." Wooyoung pinched his nose in frustration, but kept his voice lowered. "For god's sake, you just hurt yourself, and I want to help. So let me help."

"Seonghwa will be worried sick. I'm calling him," San pressed stubbornly.

Wooyoung let him go and stepped back. "Fine." He walked out of the kitchen, and San followed him, assuming the former was leading him to his temporary room. Once they entered, he passed San his phone without a word, but he then proceeded to search the drawers for something.

San sat on Wooyoung's bed, noting how bare everything looked despite its commendable size, and started calling Seonghwa.

Seonghwa picked up really quickly.

"San? San -- Where are you?"

"I'm -- " San looked around, only to discover that Wooyoung was now beside him. "I'm at a friend's house."

Wooyoung moved behind him, and San held a breath, wondering what the boy was going to do next.

"Really? God, I'm so glad. I was so worried that something had happened to you," Seonghwa sounded so relieved.

San flashed a small smile. "I'm okay. I'm actually planning on coming back home after -- "

Wooyoung's breath warmed his shoulder, and his hair tickled his cheek.

"What? San?" Seonghwa asked.

San's toes curled, butterflies prickling the inside of his stomach. Wooyoung's arms were around him as reached out to grab the hand that was injured. San watched with wide eyes as Wooyoung softly held his finger, wiping the blood off and wrapping a bandaid around it.

"Now you're fine," the dark haired boy muttered. His body felt so warm behind San's back.

"Y-Yeah," San answered Seonghwa. "I was saying that I'll head home once the rain stops."

"Okay, San. It's fine. Take your time, and stay safe."

Soon, Seonghwa ended the call, and San just sat there, not knowing how to address the elephant in the room.

Wooyoung blew air into his ear, cackling when San squeaked. "Bro, why are you so freakin' stiff right now?" He tickled San's back, his smile growing even wider when the other boy squiggled out of his grip. "You're afraid of tickles? Awww."

San laid still on Wooyoung's bed after the other suddenly tackled him, giggles flowing out of his lips.

"I'm not mad at you anymore," Wooyoung told him, finally letting San go. San, in the meantime, was pretty sure his entire face was red.

"You're not mad at me anymore?" San mirrored, voice coming out pathetically small.

Wooyoung pinched his cheek. "Nah, cutie." He looked so attractive at that moment, and the impulsive part of San wondered what would happen if he reached out and just...held Wooyoung close to him.

Wooyoung sat up, but still maintained eye contact with San. "But, I still want to know why you bled earlier."

* * *

a/n: thoughts?