𝙨𝙢𝙣 𝘸𝘴 | discontinued

[❁] fourty-seven

Squeaky noises rose with every step San took on the damp floor. The company bathroom was recently cleaned, the "Caution! Wet floor!" sign functioning as a door stopper. Who had thought it was a good idea to leave the door to the men's bathroom wide open, San had no idea. At least the urinals were out of sight, albeit not out of the hallway's earshot.

San had his black gym bag flung over his shoulder as he steeled himself to move out of the bathroom. Excitement tingled under his skin. Maybe a small voice warned him about his insecurities. Maybe there was a part of him that cursed himself for wanting to make a grand entrance, to make things unnecessarily special and therefore harder for him, when he could have taken an easier route. But he knew, that was just his irrational nervousness. His anticipation easily pushed those negative feelings into the background. Besides, every big step in life came with a little bit of anxiety. So San welcomed the feeling, a smile creeping to his face, as he imagined for the dozenth time what the next few hours would bring.

Determined, he stepped into the hallway only to double back when he almost crashed into another person. Before he even caught a glimpse of the other person, his head already lowered as he hurriedly bowed multiple times in apology.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." His run-in was a boy, who had talked so fast, the words blurred together. He seemed to have realized it himself, and a melodic giggle rang through the hallway. "Sorry about that. Are you good?"

San straightened his back and nodded with a reassuring smile before he mustered the person opposite of him. The boy was only a few inches shorter than him, with sandy brown hair and a mullet. His features gave him a soft look and, San noticed, Kim Hongjoong looked quite pretty in real life.

"You look familiar." Hongjoong's curious eyes took him in. His eyebrows jumped and realization lightened his face. "Wait, you're Choi San, aren't you?"

San wasn't sure why he was surprised, he knew Hongjoong followed him on Instagram – vice versa. Maybe he just hadn't expected him to actually remember him. A pleasant, even shortly dimpled, smile appeared on his face as he nodded in affirmation.

Hongjoong mirrored his smile as he bowed his head in a greeting. "I'm Kim Hongjoong, Wooyoung's friend. I believe we texted once."

Oh yes, San remembered. He remembered his sweaty hands as he had tried to come up with a way to convince him that he was indeed not a serial killer. Without being able to hold it back, San's grin spread.

"What?" Hongjoong chuckled.

With a wide grin, he reached for his phone. For a split second, his hand stilled. San didn't know why he hesitated, probably because the moment before he retrieved his phone from his pocket to reveal his unusual way of communication was always filled with the nerve-wrecking tension of him not knowing how the other person will react. But he ignored the too familiar tightness in his chest, kept smiling brightly, and fished his phone from his jeans. In a matter of seconds he had opened his notes app. Hongjoong waited patiently while San typed.

I'm just wondering whether you want to search my gym bag to check that I am not a serial killer.

Hongjoong stilled as he read the message. Then his eyes turned into crescents and a giggle escaped his mouth. "I thought it was an axe murderer? Either way, I guess I'm just going to take my chances today."

San couldn't help himself and he broke into silent chuckles, his dimples disappearing behind his right hand. They stood in each other's company until the laughter in their eyes faded into friendly amusement. As their shared smiles slowly calmed, a slightly awkward silence filled the hallway.

Hongjoong sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "You don't happen to be the new addition to our background dance team? Wooyoung said you dance..."

At the mention of Wooyoung's name, San's stomach did a baby backflip. Thinking about the prospect of Wooyoung alive and in colour right in front of San was one thing. Another person talking about him so casually let the fact of Wooyoung's existence mere metres away from him hit San like a brick. Holy mother of Jesus. Wooyoung was in the same building. Why had he not really realized this earlier, even though he had known?

Despite his sudden inner turmoil, San managed to nod, genuinely surprised at the individual in front of him who had pieced everything together so quickly. This stranger – or how do you call a friend of a friend that you have never met but follow on social media – seemed full of surprises. Hongjoong seemed to read the emotion right off his face, because a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"You're a dancer and our dance practice starts in ten minutes," he said with a shrug. Apparently the dots were easy to connect. "Wanna walk together?"

This time, San got over his astonishment fairly fast and instead shot Hongjoong a smile. To his own amazement, the leader of Ateez was incredibly easy to talk to. There was some nervous tingling at the back of his head that worried about him fucking it up, but it was easily blended out, lost in the natural and joyous flow of the conversation. San quickly typed on his phone, then showed it to the other.

Thank you.

Hongjoong knitted his brows in confusion. "For what?"

For not giving him the bird when San pulled out his phone. For talking to him. For not cussing him out because he ran into Hongjoong. For a fun conversation. For acting like nothing about this was abnormal.

Now I'm not going to be late my first time training with you because I couldn't find the studio.

Hongjoong's surprised laugh echoed through the hallway. "If we go now, we'll even be early, imagine that."

San grinned at the boy next to him. Five minutes ago he had been driving himself crazy about what Wooyoung's friends would think about him. He knew he shouldn't screw it up, ghosting Wooyoung had obviously done enough damage. He had been afraid of standing out, of coming across weird and extra because he didn't communicate like everyone else, of them thinking he wasn't good for Wooyoung.

Hongjoong didn't act like San stood out from the rest of the people he usually interacted with. He didn't say a word when San started typing away on his phone or when he laughed silently. Hongjoong was just standing there, laughing with him, making jokes, and acting like doing all the things San did were an everyday occurrence.

At a simple tip of the head, Hongjoong finally put them into motion and they started to make their way to the dance studio. They kept up a light conversation and walked in a slow pace, stopping every few metres, so Hongjoong could read San's replies. It didn't seem to bother either one of them and as they stepped into the elevator, San realized that right now, in this very moment, he felt normal. His dimples grew a little deeper.

They rode the elevator in comfortable silence. The bell rang, the doors opened. San was about to step out into the hallway when he noticed Hongjoong had stayed behind and was thoughtfully looking at him, his head tipped slightly to the side as if it helped him to understand him better.

San cocked his head in question, still standing one foot in the elevator and the other in the hallway.

Hongjoong locked his gaze.

"I like you. You're good for him." It was casually said and in a genuine, soft tone. Nothing in Hongjoong's expression gave away the sudden change of topic, nothing indicated that it wasn't a part of the natural flow of the conversation they'd had on their way up. San wondered about how light Hongjoong's voice would sound if he was ever to upset or hurt Wooyoung – again.

Good thing he didn't plan on doing that.

Hongjoong stepped out of the elevator with grace, first walking by San, but turning around to wait for him. The rest of the way was spent in light conversation, until San stopped dead his tracks. A high-pitched laughter echoed through the halls. San's heart nervously skipped a beat.

He knew who he would find behind the door at the end of the hallway.

San 😺🌋
i can hear you laughing from a mile away

⭑⭑⭑

A/N
Next update: unknown

edit: the story is on hold, possibly discontinued.