Wooyoung felt his hands get sweaty as he stood in front of the door to his classroom. The lesson had already begun and the door was closed, which meant that he had to knock to get in there.

And this was not even the worst part of it. After bringing up the courage to knock, he had to walk in there and explain why he was late in front of the whole class.

Everyone would look at him, right? Everyone would stare and make him uncomfortable. He would be the center of attention. His classmates would probably think about how embarrassing he was all day long.

No, Wooyoung. You know that's just useless overthinking.

But what if-

"Oh, you're still here? Do you need help with something?" a way too familiar voice asked and let shivers run down Wooyoung's spine.

He froze and kept looking at the door in front of him, Choi San standing behind him. What in hell was destiny's mission?

"You know, I can help you with almost anything, but since I can't read minds it's hard for me to understand you if you don't talk to me", San said. It wasn't meant to be rude or anything, but Wooyoung immediately felt like a burden to the other again. He couldn't do anything right, could he?

He took a deep breath, before slowly turning around and facing San. He hoped the older would not see how his legs shook. He was not used to interact with other people this much. It was overwhelming him.

San looked at him like he expected an answer, unconsciously putting pressure on the younger, that he just could not take.

He opened his mouth for an explanation, but the words did not come out.

You are so dumb, Wooyoung. All you have to say is that you're late to class.

Tears formed in his eyes. Desperately, he tried to suppress them by swallowing multiple times, but it did not work. They ran down his cheeks and dropped onto his shirt.

"Hey, hey, hey, what happened?", San whispered, shocked from the other's reaction to his words. He wanted to comfort the boy by hugging him, but was not sure if that was what he wanted and needed at the time.

San got down on one knee to be able to look the younger in the eyes because his glance was fixed on the floor since he had started crying.

They made eye contact and for some reason Wooyoung could not look away. San's eyes were beautiful and he felt so safe just by staring at them.

A smile formed on San's face when he realized that the younger had stopped crying and only had a little hiccup now.

"What's your name?", he asked. He was sure that the boy had to be a grade under his because he seemed to be younger and he had never seen him in one of his own classes before.

"Wooyoung", the boy replied only in a whisper, but it was loud enough for San to hear.

"Hello, Wooyoung. I'm San", the older said in return. It was clear as day for him that the younger had some kind of social anxiety and he just wanted to make him feel safe and comfortable.

"I-I know", Wooyoung stuttered and let out a small giggle. Though, he immediately shut himself when he noticed it.

"How do you know, huh?", San asked, now grinning widely. He was well aware that he was kind of famous in other grades and that a lot of the younger students found him attractive.

"J-Just saw you sometimes", Wooyoung mumbled, finally breaking eye contact with the other and continuing to look everywhere but at the man in front of him.

San decided against telling him that his answer did not make sense and how red his cheeks had gotten to not make him feel embarrassed.

"Wooyoung..."

The boy's heart jumped at the way San said his name, but at the same time it made him expect the worst. Maybe he would laugh at him in the next second or-

"Are you okay with giving me your hands?"

Well, that was worse than the worst.

Physical touch was almost as bad as talking to strangers to Wooyoung, so he shook his head.

However, when he looked at San again, who was still sitting on one knee on the floor and holding both of his hands, he stopped shaking his head.

Maybe, touching him would not hurt. Maybe, the other actually did not want to harm him in any way. There was this indescribable feeling of safety with the older boy, that made him climb over the walls he had built himself and let him give in.

"O-Okay, but w-why?", he asked, still a little bit insecure, yet reaching out to touch the older's hands.

San smiled warmly. He held Wooyoung's fragile hands in his, not daring to do anything else than carefully brushing his thumb over the younger's knuckles.

"I can feel that you're scared of something. Please tell me what it is, so I can help you. Has it to do with why you're not in class right now?"

Wooyoung unconsciously gripped San's fingers tightly at the mention of his class which pulled him back to reality.

"I- my class is i-in there..." he whispered, already feeling new tears building up in his throat.

"Are you afraid to knock?", San asked, trying to sound as soft as he could.

"Mmh", Wooyoung nodded, looking down at their hands and realizing how tight he was holding onto San. He immediately let go and pulled his hands back, hiding them in the sleeves of his sweater.

San stood up from the ground and put a hand on the smaller's shoulder. Wooyoung trembled under his touch, but did not do anything against it.

"I will knock for you and explain your teacher why you took so long, Wooyoung, okay?"

—————————————-

OMG SHE's ALIVE??!!!?????

yes I am whoop whoop aaaaand this chapter is long, but I hope you're happy about it cause I myself always love to read long chapters:)

more woosan = more happy me