after yeosang ran away, san found him hiding in the same kitchen from before. they were in there alone for a little while, before everything they were dreading began to happen.
beomseok walked into the doorway, blocking their only exit. they were trapped.
"what do you want?" san said angrily.
"i have to talk to yeosang! i promise it's important and i'm not trying to make excuses for what happened." "well he doesn't want to hear it! just move on!" "please, i was forced to—"
"get away from us!" san yelled, stepping forward to make it clear that he was going to push beomseok out of the doorway if he didn't move himself.
beomseok fell silent. he looked at yeosang with a pained look.
"fine. i'm sorry, yeosang." he said and left.
san fell to the floor in defeat. he sighed and turned to yeosang, a bit shocked to see that yeosang's expression was.. guilt. he seemed guilty.
"are you o—" his words came to a halt as yeosang began to break down into tears.
"hey, hey, it's okay.. he's gone, he'll never both you again.." "i-i-it's n-n.. n-no..not-t..." he tried to get the words out of his mouth, but panicking, crying, and his speech issue did not mix well.
"use sign language, don't stress yourself trying to talk.."
'he said he was forced.. i feel awful.'
san let out another sigh as he pulled his brother into a hug. seeing yeosang sign, especially so weakly and shakily, brought back memories—not the good kind.
"don't feel bad. he's just trying to gain your sympathy, it's manipulation. i promise you, it's okay.. let's go get wooyoung, we should go home. do you want me to call mom or dad?" san offered.
'no. let's just go home.' yeosang replied.
the pair made absolutely sure there was no beomseok in sight before they walked back into the main room to find wooyoung. he wasn't with his friends, so san asked his friend group if they knew where he was. they just shrugged and glanced around, then going back to talking.
the two checked the main party rooms, and then decided to check some empty hallways.
in one of them they found wooyoung, alone, sitting against a wall with his knees pulled up to his chest. he was blankly staring at nothing.
"wooyoung?" san said softly, as he bent down and put his hand on the younger's shoulder.
just that alone was enough to make wooyoung burst into tears. san panicked—he hadn't seen wooyoung cry in a long, long time. even during wooyoung's issues with toxic friends, he didn't cry one tear. so this had san really worried.
"come on, let's go home. i'll drive."
wooyoung stood up, keeping his head down to hide his tears. he didn't want anyone to see him cry.
they made their way to the front door, and finally left. the three got into the car, san taking the keys from wooyoung and driving them home.
on the way home, san wanted to ask what happened, but decided not to.
yeosang did, though.
him and wooyoung sat in the back of the car, and since the boy was still too upset to speak out loud, he tapped his younger brother on the shoulder and signed 'what happened?'
wooyoung ignored him. he turned and looked out the window, confusing yeosang.
once they arrived home, they walked in silently. the parents, who were sitting on the couch watching tv, immediately knew something was wrong.
"hey.. are you guys okay?" seonghwa asked.
without a single word, wooyoung just shuffled into the hallway and into his room, gently shutting his door behind him.
"i'll tell you guys in a second.. yeosang, go wait in your room. i'll be there in a bit, and i'll get your mind off of everything, okay?" san said. yeosang nodded and left as well.
san walked over and sat across from the parents.
"so.. beomseok was there. he tried to get yeosang's attention, he seemed desperate to talk to him. he ended up basically trapping us in the kitchen and telling yeosang something that made he even more upset. he said something about being forced to do something, i'm guessing it had to do with him cheating on yeosang. it made yeo feel guilty, so we went to find wooyoung so we could go home." he explained.
"and what's wrong with wooyoung? i've never seen him like that..." hongjoong asked.
"wooyoung.. i don't know. we found him sitting in a hallway by himself, and when i approached him, he started crying.. really hard. i'm really worried about him, but, you know, it's wooyoung.. i don't want to make him more upset by constantly asking him what's wrong." san responsed.
"should i go talk to him? i really want to make sure he's okay.." seonghwa asked and began to stand up.
"maybe go check on him, don't ask for all the answers yet.." hongjoong replied, as the older stood up and walked into the hallway.
seonghwa softly knocked on the door, saying "hey, woo.. it's me.. can i come in?"
there was no response. "okay.. i'm coming in.." the parent said and opened the door, finding the boy sitting on his bed, hunched over with his head facing down, as he was fidgeting with his hands.
seonghwa closed the door behind him and came over, sitting on the edge of the bed. he then lifted his arm to try and rub wooyoung's head, resulting in the teenager flinching and moving his head away. it took the parent by surprise, and he quickly pulled his arm away.
"you know you can tell me anything, i'm here for you woo.." he started.
there was a moment of completely silence.
then, suddenly, wooyoung whirled around, falling into seonghwa's arms and choking out sobs.
seonghwa immediately cradled the sixteen-year-old in his lap, hugging him closely and rocking him back and forth. memories of when the boys were much younger and much smaller flooded seonghwa's mind, but he ignored them.
"shh.. it's going to be okay.." "i-i c-c-can't say wha-at happ-pened.. b-but.. i'm s-s-scared.. i-it was h-h..h-horrible.." wooyoung cried.
"don't worry, love.. you're safe now.. everything is going to be okay. i love you."
oop... i really cant go a few chapters without bringing in angst huh... also wow not even a day after i released the last chapter i release this one?,&:):&2& i feel so productive :,)))
n e ways. since the ateez tour got postponed bc of this stupid ass virus, i have to wait way longer to meet them, but its okay, as long as everyone is safe and healthy!! im just sad because today wouldve been one week until i meet them :((
also TYSM FOR THE SUPPORT ILY ALL!!!!!! dont forget to wash ur hands and stay home and safe!!
