"what was that?" wooyoung questioned as if he'd just witnessed the most bizarre interaction in his life. "you know san? how? a-and why did he seem so upset? what happened? did anyone- fuck, was it—"

"it's... complicated," yeosang shut down the hurdle of questions thrown at him. because, after all, what did you expect him to say? that he knew san because he stalked him, then continuously treated him like shit, before — topping it all off — accusing him of a crime? no thanks, yeosang would rather pass on that opportunity in a heartbeat.

"right." wooyoung nodded his head unsurely, chewing on his lip. "you don't... like him, or anything, do you?"

yeosang choked on his spit, coughing vigorously. "no, no! nothing like that, god..."

"ah... okay, then."

before the iffy conversation could proceed for any longer, headlights suddenly blinded their eyes, accompanied with a car horn. glancing up, yeosang recognised the small, squeaky-clean car instantly.

yeosang helped wooyoung to his feet, who winced slightly before marvelling. "woah, sannie has a car, now? how much have i missed?"

"a lot," yeosang muttered, swinging open the door to san's car and heaving wooyoung into the backseat. joining him, the elder didn't fail to notice the excitement vibrant in his best friend's eyes; meanwhile, san's head was glued to his lap, fingers picking at his nails, without sparing even a single glance at either of them.

"uh, san?" yeosang inquired.

"where do y'all wanna go? your place?" san mumbled, fidgeting uneasily.

yeosang caught sight of wooyoung's frown so, determined to fix what he'd ruined and reunite the two, he repeated, "san."

sculpted with ice, san's eyes flickered up to his rear view mirror. but all of a sudden, squinting in the darkness, his bewildered gaze softened severely upon deciphering the figure by yeosang's side. and all he did was stare blankly at wooyoung, for what felt like half of eternity due to the severity of the situation, before he carefully shifted towards the pair of best friends, cheeks stained with tears.

"w-what- no, no, no." san shook his head in denial. "yeosang... you- you did it. you actually- you—"

"sannie," wooyoung whined. "'s been forever and you give him more attention than me?"

even despite the fresh streak of tears that had joined his features, san breathed out a soft chuckle. his glossy eyes flickered in between both of wooyoung's, in sheer disbelief at the boy he was convinced he'd never see again. although san had imagined the day which wooyoung came back to him countless of times, he'd never thought it'd be as upsetting as it was, every cut and bruise scattered across the younger's flawlessly sculpted features tearing his heart into two.

"woo... i-i—" san sniffled loudly, wiping the damp splotches on his cheeks with the back of his hand. "you- you're hurt. th-they- they hurt you..."

"it's okay." wooyoung smiled ever so delicately amidst his bloody features; perhaps he'd gone mad. "you're worried, i know, but please don't cry, angel. i'll be okay... so don't cry, hm?"

at this point, wooyoung's hand had reached out to cup the side of san's jaw in its palm, thumb gently caressing away his tears. basking within the warmth, comfort and simply just the affection — for, in that moment, he vowed to never take it for granted again — san managed a short nod of his head, unable to spew out any words, only a quiet whimper leaving his lips.

meanwhile yeosang, watching the two longingly, stayed silent, allowing his guilt to completely swallow him up.

holding onto wooyoung's wrist, silently pleading him to not let go just yet, san faced yeosang. ignoring his apologetic expression, he asked, "w-where's jongho? an-and where are we going?"

"anywhere," yeosang blurted out, deliberately ignoring the first question. "anywhere, j-just get us out of here. please."

resisting the urge to question further, san only nodded his head, before aiming to turn back towards the wheel. "sannie..." however, at wooyoung's voice, he couldn't help but spin around, at the speed of light. the younger ushered him closer — "c'mere for a second, bub."

"yeah?" a pair of hands meeting the curve of his hips as he shuffled closer, as much as was possible with the tiny space, san instinctively rested his elbows onto wooyoung's shoulders, fingers intertwining with his own behind his neck.

and by the twinkling look in the younger's eyes, san knew exactly what he wanted.

easily forgetting about yeosang's presence, nerves fluttered inside of san at the thought; he figured it was because it'd been so long, time that felt like forever without his lover. he only realised just how much he'd longed for wooyoung as he edged closer, tears threatening to break free as the sides of their noses brushed against one another's. unable to refrain it any longer, san pressed their lips together, his insides setting on fire at the ancient sensation.

him kissing wooyoung, wooyoung kissing him... san was back home. finally. finally, everything was pieced together again. just how it was meant to be.

clutching the fabric of wooyoung's clothes, which caused red to stain his fingers, san was surprisingly the one to pull away. he sheltered his face into wooyoung's shoulder, forcing down the urge to just cry.

"hey, baby..."

"missed you..." san's muffled voice croaked out. "can't do this when you a-aren't here, i-it's—"

"i know," wooyoung whispered, stroking san's nape with so much pure love that the mere act made yeosang feel as if he was intruding, even after witnessing them fucking kiss. "i missed you, too, sannie. so much. i know it was hard, but i'm here now, okay? you don't have to do this alone anymore."

san leant back, blinking his tears away. "n-no?"

"of course, not," wooyoung assured, a sad smile on his lips. "i promise."

gaze finding the floor timidly, san stuck his pinky finger out. after earning a quiet chuckle, a finger locked itself around his own. "there, pinky promise. 's that better, now, bub?"

nodding his head quickly, san hummed. "lots better."

"good." wooyoung planted a light kiss onto the boy's almost faded green hair. "now, let's get out of here, hm?"

reluctantly letting go of wooyoung, san directed his focus back to the wheel. with trembling hands, he started the car, despite the lack of destination in mind.

"you're okay to drive, aren't you, san?" yeosang finally spoke up, knee bouncing up and down anxiously after forcing himself to patiently wait for the lovestruck pair to be done. he caught onto san's fidgety state in seconds, who nodded in response. "you sure?"

"i-i can- i can do it, i'm fine." truthfully, san wasn't at all convincing, but everyone has their own flaws and yeosang simply just wasn't as considerate as wooyoung was to care enough; no matter what, they had to get away from this place as soon as possible. "i-is my place okay?"

"yeah. yeah, it is," yeosang answered quietly, prompting san to press his foot onto the accelerator.

if anything, he thought it to be the best idea in store to head to san's than anywhere else. jongho wouldn't be able to find them that way thanks to the pear-haired boy's off-putting secrecy, meaning they could help wooyoung back onto his two feet without any disturbance, since surely the brunette wouldn't just let them off for their antics.

and as they exited the isolated property, to what yeosang could only hope was safety, he figured it a miracle that jongho and his boss — yeosang assumed — hadn't caught up to them yet. although something seemed off, especially upon the older man's outburst being the last thing they'd heard from either of them, he was eternally grateful they'd made it out in one piece.

"hey... yeosang?" san eventually spoke up, voice hushed. reluctantly returning to the unfair realm of reality, yeosang hummed lazily, only now noticing the sleeping boy besides him — wooyoung's head leant against the window, soft breaths escaping his lips every few seconds, and... and a hand intertwined with san's.

so they are close, after all, yeosang couldn't stop himself from thinking. and his thoughts weren't the only thing he had zero control over, his eyes pooling with tears at how foolish he was to believe such perfectly-crafted lies.

san's eyebrows knitted together in curiosity, he asked after a hesitant pause, "you didn't answer my question earlier... i thought you and jongho did pretty much everything together, so where is he?"

"oh..." yeosang averted his gaze away from san's unreadable gaze through the rear view mirror, physically unable to admit it aloud, to both san and himself — that choi jongho was the vile human being who had kidnapped his best friend. "th-that's a lot t-to explain right now... let's just go?"

selfishly satisfied at the delayed nod of san's head, yeosang sighed in relief. mirroring wooyoung's tranquil position, he rested his head against the glass pane to his right, however, unlike the other, yeosang couldn't find sleep.

instead, the overwhelming amount of guilt gnawed at his mind, unwillingly keeping him conscious along with the noisy drive of the engine.

———

a/n: a jongsang fic but a 1500+ words chapter dedicated to woosan sue me 😞😞😞

i'd say sorry for dragging their arc along sm but i'm not bc it's cute and it's angsty and it's woofuckingsan <3