ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʟᴇᴀʀ ᴇɴᴇᴍʏ || ᴊ.ᴡʏ + ᴄ.ꜱ

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟓

"So is it usually just you here?" San tried after they'd sat there in uncomfortable silence for what seemed like at least twenty minutes while Wooyoung put all of his attention on finishing up his work on the tire. It almost seemed like he had forgotten San was beside him.

He hadn't. He just really didn't have it in him to take part in their typical bantering, not really even able to care at that point about anything that left San's mouth.

All he could think—or question rather, was, 'Why does this day, every single year, always feel so lonely, and why does the saying "time heals all wounds" feel like such a blatant fucking lie every day of his life?'

Year after year it was the same ache that never went away, not even a little bit.

His mom had been a huge part of his life, like many, and, therefore, had left a huge gaping hole in him that nothing and no one had been able to fill. As expected.

He hadn't even made the slightest effort to try to fill it since he knew, without question, there was just no point.

In answer to San's pointless question if it was usually just him there, Wooyoung emotionlessly mumbled, "Guess so," and San, trying anything to lift the sour mood that hung over the room, went on to jest, "So there's no guy with freakishly sexy dimples here, or anyone with their name tattooed permanently on your body that you can replace me with, huh?"

Wooyoung turned to him viciously, his eyes hard and livid, and, in a dark tone, hissed, "Don't say anything about that to me again." 

The drill he'd been using to secure the tire pointed itself dangerously in San's direction.

It hadn't been at all intentional, the machinery just simply residing in Wooyoung's hand when he'd turned to the idiot that was San, but, regardless, it certainly gave an edge to his already harsh demeanor.

San furrowed his eyebrows, weirded out by the sudden rise he'd gotten out of the other just at the mention of some fucking tattoo, and proceeded to shift his body away from the drill that was aimed at him just to be safe.

"Why're you hanging around here anyway?" Wooyoung trained his eyes back on the tire he was working on. "Go fuck around somewhere else." 

He shoved San's two hands off that had been supporting the tire before easily bolstering it with his one hand while he finished securing it using the drill in his other hand to tighten the last bolt before finally cranking the jack to lower the Humvee back down, making it look easy.

San made a sound of pure annoyance as he stood up and pulled his radio up to his mouth, turning his back to Wooyoung as he radioed in to his lieutenant.

"Private Choi, number 205 reporting, sir. The letters have been personally delivered to the main office, sir-"

Wooyoung eavesdropped as San spoke into the device and heard a voice come back through that told San to report back to the showers with his team in order.

A small part of Wooyoung thought that just maybe San had shown up there solely for him—that he'd somehow known what day it was and had wanted to distract him with his annoying antics. He felt stupid for the twinge of dejection that faintly pricked at him.

Moreover, why was he letting that screw with him when no less than a second ago he'd just told the idiot to fuck off? It served as a reminder that he really wasn't in his right mind today, clearly.

As San stopped in front of the table where he'd left the snack bag, deciding whether or not to leave the precious cargo with such an insolent dick, his radio began sounding off again, this time with Lieutenant Jeon's urgent commands to hurry back to camp—but not by himself.