best of me | woosan (✓)

- twenty seven -

tw / mentions of self harm & abuse (in the context of a psych evaluation)

san and wooyoung sat down in the waiting room of the psychiatrist's office, san already wanting to bolt. wooyoung could tell san was feeling uneasy just by the way he sat, so the younger to rested his head on the boy's shoulder.

"i'm scared..." san whispered.

"it's okay, sannie... i'm right here, you have nothing to worry about. it's all going to be okay."

"b-but you're not going to be allowed in there, right?"

"we'll figure something out, san. we always will. here, put this on just in case," wooyoung said softly, taking off one of his bracelets and slipping it onto san's wrist. "if i can't go in there with you, i'll be waiting out here. anytime you start to get scared or nervous, play with my bracelet and use it as a reminder that i'm right here. do you think that will help?"

san nodded and hugged wooyoung tightly, squeezing his eyes shut.

"thank you..." he mumbled.

"choi san," someone called.

san immediately tensed and held onto wooyoung a bit tighter, not wanting for them to be separated.

"c'mon, sannie... it's time."

the two boys got up and walked over to the door, where the nurse looked at them, confused. san felt like he should just run, he didn't want to be separated from wooyoung even if he had the bracelet.

"which one of you is mr. choi?" the woman asked.

san weakly raised his hand a bit, waving. he kept his head down, staring at his feet the whole time. wooyoung noticed quickly and started to rub the boy's back, helping him to calm down enough to get inside.

"alright, come this way. i'll get you two settled in a room and let dr. kim know you're ready."

san relaxed as soon as she said "two" and the group walked to a room. san and wooyoung entered first, the nurse behind him.

"i'm dr. kim's student assistant, ryujin. i'll be helping him out with just about everything while you're here, as i'm studying to be a psychiatrist myself. is there anything you have questions about before i go get dr. kim?"

"can he stay for everything?" san asked quickly, pointing at wooyoung.

"that will ultimately be up to dr. kim, but i don't see why he wouldn't be allowed to. dr. kim prefers for his clients to be comfortable, especially when they come for their initial evaluations. he may not be allowed if you're asked to come for therapy sessions, but he will always be welcome in the waiting room at the very least."

"thank you," san whispered.

ryujin nodded and quickly left the room, then wooyoung got up from his seat and hugged san.

"see, sannie? everything's going to be okay..."

"woo... n-none of this would be happening if i hadn't—"

"hey, shh... maybe it wouldn't be happening right now, but i would've asked you if you would consider trying this out eventually. i know you've been battling yourself, and i just want you to be free. i want you to be happy, san. this is a step in the right direction..."

"thank you... i-i needed to hear that."

"of course, love..."

there was a knock on the door and san let wooyoung go as the door opened, allowing wooyoung to go back to his seat. the doctor explained the evaluations that would be gone through and how he would come to conclusions for a diagnosis, then san was handed a small packet and told to go through and rank each symptom he may be experiencing. wooyoung sat quietly in the seat by the door, knowing he had to let san do the evaluation by himself. outside input would skew the results and cause a possible misdiagnosis.