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As soon as he and Wooyoung land into his house, San immediately gets to work in removing his mask and then untangling the bloody hero from his hoodie.

Mingi, who'd been watching something on the TV, immediately jumps to his feet in utter shock. "San, what the fuck?"

"I need you to get me the first-aid kit," San orders the taller man, resting Wooyoung against his favourite chair.

Mingi's jaw drops. "San, this is insane -- "

"Get me the first-aid kit Mingi," San interrupts, his tone leaving no room for arguments. He knows the brown haired male doesn't deserve this attitude of his, but he's absolutely freaking out at the bloody cut on Wooyoung's neck.

Touch tender, San pulls Wooyoung's mask off his face, the hero's eyes wide and glassy. It deeply hurts San to see.

"Wooyoung, listen to me," he says, running a hand through the shorter's red hair to try and soothe his nerves. "How -- how do I remove your suit? I need to see the wound properly."

Wooyoung doesn't appear like he heard San at first, but then he's twisting the emblem on his upper chest. The steel suit gives way in a matter of seconds, leaving the hero's chest and arms bare.

A small tattoo of a lone astronaut sitting on a pile of four-leafed clovers sprawls across Wooyoung's left rib, the words 'you are never alone' below it.

San gulps, a bit distracted by the hero's evidently muscular body until his attention goes to his injury once more.

Mingi, having gone to get the kit, scurries back a moment later. His expression is less than amused but San figures he'll deal with the repercussions later. He just can't let Wooyoung's injuries get much worse.

A bit of Wooyoung's blood has already dried over his neck, and after San has washed his hands he works on cleaning that up first. After all the bruises and scrapes he's endured during his tasks, he's more than familiar with what needs to be done.

Wooyoung shivers when San tenderly wipes the dried blood off his otherwise unblemished skin, his silver eyes boring into San's.

San feels his breath softly hitch, and tells his speeding heart to behave. He then grabs the tweezers, quickly noticing Wooyoung's panic. "I need to stitch it up as it looks quite deep."

"Oh." Wooyoung inhales sharply, but he looks scared out of his mind. At the wall lies Mingi, the man's arms crossed and jaw clenched shut.

"It'll be fine. Your strength zia will help with the pain," San reassures, kneeling to Wooyoung's eye-level. "I've stitched wounds on my body before; I know what I'm doing."

At this, Wooyoung shakily nods, and San gets the urge to hug him tight for comfort. But Mingi is right there, and a wound still needs to be stitched.

"You'll be alright," San whispers into Wooyoung's ear, relieved when the hero's breathing stablizes in the slightest bit. Then, he proceeds to disinfect the wound, taking his time so it won't hurt as much.

Wooyoung winces a little just as San begins stitching the opened skin, eyes trained on nothing and everything as he tries to distract himself from the sensation. San totally understands the feeling.

He's finished and closing the stitched wound with an adhesive bandage in a little over ten minutes, Wooyoung's hair no longer red by then. He rubs down the hero's arms, hoping his touch will help ease the pain a bit. "Done."

Wooyoung exhales a large sigh of relief, but his shoulders are still shaking. In less than a second he's bringing San in, wrapping his arms tightly around him.

"Thank you, San," Wooyoung breathes, and San's heart quivers when the man softly kisses his cheek. "Thank you for everything."

San is positive his face reddens when he feels Mingi glaring imaginary holes into his back. "Don't...don't move, okay? I'll get you some clothes."

Wooyoung just nods, still stunned from whatever he went through earlier.

San heads to his room to get Wooyoung a shirt and pants when Mingi rushes after him, his steps heavy and quick.

"San," he snaps, brows furrowed and eyes burning with anger. "What the hell is Jung Wooyoung doing in our settlement?"

The vitrol in Mingi's tone takes San aback, but he remembers feeling the exact same way about the hero once upon a time.

He rummages through his drawers for a shirt that'll fit Wooyoung.

"Answer me, San!"

San sighs, folding the chosen shirt over his shoulder. "He got hurt, and I had to help him."

"He knows who you are. Knows who we are," Mingi replies, voice accusatory.

"He doesn't know what we do, but yes, he knows me," San states, not in the mood to argue with the taller.

"He might not know what we do now, but what do you think will happen when he does, huh?" Mingi paces across the room, face twisted with anxiety. "I bet you brought him here using that teleportation device in public too. Hell, I bet there's pictures of you two on every news channel by now."

"My face was covered." San grabs onto a pair of joggers that he's sure will fit Wooyoung nicely. "They won't know who I am."

Mingi glares at him in disbelief. "San, are you even listening to yourself right now?"

"I know Wooyoung, Mingi!" San yells. "And he knows about my powers and knows about my past. He knows about my scar, even. And he still accepted me. He still likes me."

Mingi's mouth clamps shut at San's unexpected outburst, blinking a few times to regain his bearings.

"Wooyoung likes me," San reiterates, emotions on overdrive, "and he needs my help. I have to help him."

Mingi looks like he still wants to quarrel, lips downturned in deep displeasure, but he keeps his thoughts to himself.

"I don't want you to regret this, San," Mingi says eventually.

San swallows thickly. "I won't."

Mingi looks down, all the fight leaving him as San ambles back into the living room, Wooyoung still right where he left him.

The hero's saying something into his wrist gadget, and for a few harrowing moments, San fears he's letting the Headquarters in on his location.

"Wooyoung?" San voices out. The man immediately watches him, appearing like a deer in headlights. "If...if you want to leave now, I'm not stopping you."

I have the teleportation slide, after all. San doesn't say these words out loud, but they both know what he means.

Wooyoung gulps, looking away. "Just told Hongjoong that I'm safe and that I'll be back later." He pauses for a second. "I disengaged the locations setting, don't worry."

Instantly San is brought back to the conversation he had with Wooyoung on that field, and judging by the way Wooyoung drops his gaze, he remembers it too. "Wooyoung -- "

"You were the villain the entire time," Wooyoung cuts in. His voice is strained, hurt. "When I feared I was losing it over the masked man that never seemed to leave my mind, I never knew he was right in front of me the whole time. And you never said a thing."

San inhales deeply to lighten the hard weight pressing against his chest, but it doesn't work. "I wanted to tell you, Wooyoung, but I had to hide."

Wooyoung looks right at him, his expression a mixture of all the emotions he's battling with on the inside. "Why did you have to hide?"

San shakes his head. "I can't tell you, Wooyoung. I'm sorry."

Wooyoung doesn't do anything for a second, but then he's holding himself as tears start rolling down his cheeks.

San's heart plummets at the sight. "Wooyoung..."

Wooyoung rubs his cheeks and sniffs, but more tears keep coming. Unable to take it anymore, San sits and pulls the man close, the lump in his throat increasing in size. The shorter buries his face into the crook of his neck.

"God, Woo, I'm so sorry," San apologizes. "I never meant to make you cry."

"I'm not -- " Wooyoung sniffs again, "I'm not mad at you, San. I just...I just feel like everyone's lying to me. And it's driving me crazy."

San coddles Wooyoung in his arms, swaying the both of them gently. He decides he hates seeing the man cry, and will do anything necessary to rid him of his anguish. "I don't want to lie to you."

"Then...then why do I have to fight you sometimes?" Wooyoung questions, fisting the material of San's sleeveless shirt. "I just don't get it."

"...I don't have a choice in the matter," San admits after the silence lasts a bit too long. Please don't ask me anything else.

Wooyoung tenses in his hold, and the air feels as though it's holding its breath. "...What do you mean?"

"I don't get to decide who I fight," San repeats, avoiding Wooyoung's stare when the man pulls himself away to watch him.

"What do you mean by that, San?" Wooyoung presses, grey eyes distraught. It's like he already knows what the taller male wants to say, but doesn't want to believe it until it comes out of his mouth.

San's jaw clenches. He doesn't want to get mad at Wooyoung, but he can already feel some agitation seeping in. "Not everyone gets the choice to live the life they want, Wooyoung. You get to bask in the spotlight after showing off your powers, and I get to work my body to the bone so I don't end up homeless."

Wooyoung's composure completely shatters, a fresh set of tears springing into his eyes. "I'm so sorry San. Fuck, I really am."

"None of this is your fault," San reassures, but the hero isn't having any of it.

"Those fuckers are all going to pay," he threatens, face a picture-perfect image of fury.

"Don't do anything," San warns.

"San, I have to -- "

"I'm already working on it, working on gaining financial independence," San interjects, hands forming fists. "I'll be leaving on my own terms, not because you decided to rebel against the Headquarters."

Wooyoung sniffles, while San reaches over to wipe away the tears in his eyes. "I just want to help."

"I know. But I'm okay." San has basically revealed everything to Wooyoung, and while he knows he should be afraid of whatever consequences may arise from his decision, he feels strangely fulfilled instead. He's reconciled with the fact that Wooyoung means more to him than he'd previously thought. No matter the chaos that's inevitably occurring in the outside world, San is sure his feelings for the hero won't change.

Wooyoung chews his lip in thought, his worry evident.

"I'm okay," San says for the second time. "So just put on these clothes that I picked out for you already."

Wooyoung startles but quickly nods, pulling on San's shirt first. It's a little tight on him, sticking to him like second skin.

San clears his throat and turns when Wooyoung shuffles out of the remainder of his suit and wears the joggers. Like the shirt, they cling to the man's body, showing off his thicker thighs.

"I'm sorry I fucked up and made your roommate mad at you," Wooyoung confesses soon after, none the wiser to the steamy route San's thoughts had briefly taken.

San coughs. "It's fine. Um, do you want anything to eat?"

Wooyoung just straddles him, holds his scarred cheek and deeply kisses him in response, and San is more than okay with that.

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BREAKING: The Golden Clover spotted in public in the embrace of an unknown man after a bank robbery gone wrong

*

HERO.SPHERE NEWS, where you get the latest and juiciest news about all your favourite superheroes!

Good afternoon, and welcome to Hero.Sphere news!

The Golden Clover was seen successfully stopping a robbery at Eternal Sunshine bank earlier this morning at around 10:43AM. But this feat was not without a few casualties.

One of them is the armed robber, now identified as a man called Oh Jihun, who had engaged in a knife fight with the superhero and fatally wounded employee Kim Dahyeon in the process. Reporters say he was swiftly killed at the scene soon after by The Golden Clover, something the superhero has always avoided doing in the past.

Fifteen minutes later, The Golden Clover himself is spotted wrapped a rather warm embrace of a masked man we have not yet been able to idenitify, before vanishing completely. Possible new lover, perhaps?

This incident begs the question: Is this the start of beloved superhero The Golden Clover's rebellious streak? Or is it the beginning of the superhero going astray?

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Hongjoong rises from the couch when Wooyoung shows up in the living room through the teleportation slide, his disengaged hero suit in hand. The man's eyes are blown side, pitch black hair frazzled after being run through so many times, but he doesn't look mad. Just exponentially anxious.

Wooyoung almost feels bad, but San's revelation of what he does for a living shields him from his conscience.

"Wooyoung, where the fuck were you?" Hongjoong demands, rushing to the hero's side. "It's been four hours since you left that bank! And what happened to your neck?"

"I killed someone, hyung," Wooyoung confesses, dropping his suit on the sparkling tiled floors. Any other day Hongjoong would've berated him for being so careless with something he'd worked so hard on, but the man's far too worried to care now, his frantic eyes never leaving the hero's.

"I know." Hongjoong exhales, his expression unchanged like he's already made peace with it. "I heard about it.  About the robber. But he murdered an employee first, so he deserved it."

At this, a disbelieving scoff escapes Wooyoung's lips, which immediately alerts Hongjoong's attention. "I guess you know all about who deserves and doesn't deserve something, huh?"

The older man's dark brows furrow in confusion. "...What do you mean by that, Wooyoung?"

"Did you know some villains are being forced to cause trouble so us heroes can continue to be famous? Did you?"

Hongjoong blinks, but then slinks away a bit, his body language resigned. He knows, Wooyoung realizes in horror. "Wooyoung, I -- "

"You knew all this time and you didn't tell me!" Wooyoung shouts, voice easily overpowering the other man's. "You knew what the Headquarters were doing and you were okay with it -- "

"I am not okay with it!" Hongjoong replies, teeth gritted. "I was never okay with any of it, Wooyoung, but I had to go along with it."

"Why?" Wooyoung questions. He's never felt so angry before, so full of fury at the world and how it treats certain people because of something they couldn't control. "Why did you go along with it, hyung?"

"Utopion has always been a little too safe, full of petty criminals that got defeated easily," Hongjoong says after a moment. He isn't looking at Wooyoung, his gaze locked on the floors. "If there weren't villains who could withstand superheroes and hold their ground a little, then the metropolis won't have a need for them anymore. They won't have a need for you anymore. So I...I had to comply with the Headquarter's wishes, so you would remain popular. So you would remain loved."

Wooyoung can't believe the man's words. His feels as though reality -- his reality -- has shifted and flipped upside down, never to be the same again.

All those times he'd been exhausted, longing for a break and hating how those news channels were always near the scene of the crime, Hongjoong had known then. And he never said a word. Wooyoung feels like he's gonna be sick.

Hongjoong sighs, daring to look guilty. "Wooyoung..."

"Don't fucking talk to me ever again," Wooyoung growls, speeding to his room and slamming the door with such vigour that the walls crack.

But instead of landing on carpeted floors, Wooyoung stumbles over deep maroon soil, almost tripping over a rotted tree trunk.

He looks up, chills racing down his spine at what he sees. The sky is a strange yellow like a viper's eyes, sharp lightning bolts shooting out of its dark grey clouds. What the hell...

The ground spans over several meters, akin to an apocalyptic wasteland, and when Wooyoung turns to the side his stomach lurches at the sight of his parents, their mangled, bloody bodies drenched in the soil.

Wooyoung can hardly breathe when just a few feet away from them is that bathtub, his sister's limp hand falling out of it.

Boots leisurely saunter into the vicinity right then, a haunted melody of Promise echoing into the air.

Wooyoung quickly takes a step back when the hooded figure soon approaches him, only stopping their humming once they're face to face.

They pull down their hood, their fiery orange hair seeming almost alive, and Wooyoung's breath gets stuck in his throat.

The person looks just like him, their eyes burning into the hero's soul.

They smile, broad and cunning and sinister, before dangling a sparkling hourglass before Wooyoung's eyes.

"Time is running out," they speak, cavernous and eerie.

"Who -- who the hell are you?" Wooyoung finds himself asking, scared beyond comprehension.

"Do not fear me, Wooyoung," they answer, smirking wickedly. "You should not fear what you need."

"Who are you?!" Wooyoung exclaims.

The person halts, their flaming eyes almost contemplative until they look at the hourglass in their hand. Then they're grabbing onto Wooyoung and slamming him to the ground.

They grin. "You."

Wooyoung's heart stops, and then the entity engulfs him.

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a/n: thoughts? also if you didn't know, this fic is basically a fanfic of the halazia mv/ateez lore. a fanfic of a fanfic lol