Reluctantly, Wooyoung nodded. He would have much rather just went home than having to face one of his fears like this.

But skipping class would only lead to more severe problems. For instance, having to come up with an excuse why he was absent that no one would believe him anyways.

"We can do it", San whispered reassuringly when he noticed how nervous Wooyoung had gotten again.

"O-Okay", the boy stuttered in a quiet voice, anxiously staring at the closed door in front of him.

San took one glance at the younger before knocking. The door opened not a second later, catching Wooyoung off guard which made him unconsciously step a little closer to the older.

The boy's math teacher stared at them awkwardly, as if she did not recognize the one of her students. "Yeah?", she asked, sounding a bit annoyed since her class got disturbed by some kids.

Wooyoung's palms got sweaty and he started fumbling with his fingers. Why did she not know who he was? He never missed a class of her once. Helplessly, he looked up at San with pleading eyes.

The older understood immediately.
"Excuse me for bothering your lesson, Miss Chang, I'm Choi San. Wooyoung felt a little sick, so I took care of him until he felt better. That's why he is late, it's all my fault."

Wooyoung felt his cheeks warm up at the mention of being taken care of. He did not really know how it was like. To be cared for. Of course, he had his mom, but she was also often busy with work and could not spend a lot of time with her son. Unbeknownst, that had a negative effect on him.

And without a single friend, he always tried to care for himself.

"Oh, Wooyoung! I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you at first", Miss Chang replied. "Thank you, San, for making him feel better. Come on, Wooyoung, I have to continue my work."

She went back into the classroom, leaving the door open for the boy to follow, but Wooyoung's feet were stuck in place. As much as he wanted it, they just would not move.

He was afraid of the moment his classmates saw him and he was the center of attention.

"Can't you c-come with me?", he whispered in a shaky voice towards San.

Despite knowing the younger only for about an hour, it broke San how scared the other sounded.

He did not answer for a few seconds which made Wooyoung believe that he had overstepped some invisible boundaries and annoyed the older, so he quickly looked down at his feet and tried to forcefully swallow away the lump that had formed in his throat.

"Hey, Wooyoung, look at me."

San's voice was soft and comforting, so the younger did not have trouble to follow his words and made eye contact with him.

"I can't go in there with you because I'm a grade above you. This is not my class, your teacher would kick me out immediately."

Wooyoung's shoulders slumped down.

"But you can do this on your own. All you have to do is go in there and sit in your seat until the lesson is over. You don't have to talk to anyone, you don't even have to look anyone in the eyes. No one is going to judge you. You will casually go to your seat and sit down, just like any other person would do. Think about how relieved you will feel when you finally sit there and got it over with. And if for some reason, you do have to interact with someone, imagine them in a cow costume."

The last sentence made Wooyoung giggle slightly. "A cow costume?"

"That was the first thing I could come up with", San pouted playfully. "And now, let's go bunny, you can do this. I will be with you again when the next break starts, okay?"

With that, San gave him a gentle squeeze on the shoulder and lightly shoved him towards the open door.

Miss Chang was still looking at him expectantly, which made him realize he had to hurry up.

He formed fists with his small hands to prevent himself from trembling, and entered the classroom.

———————————————-
I may or may not am transferring my own anxieties on Woo's character...

And my wish for an understanding and helping figure like San...