MISSING, jongsang

00 ; epilogue

"comin'!"

san's cheery voice from the other side of his apartment door met yeosang's ears, who chuckled quietly as his fist fell back to his side. in his hearing, the doorknob rattled for a moment, before it swung open with an obnoxious creak, revealing san's taller figure — an inviting grin across his lips and his fingers firmly wrapped around a breadstick.

"you planning to jus' stand there, yeosangie?" san started through an amused giggle.

yeosang smiled sheepishly in return, before stepping inside. "sorry, i was just, y'know... thinking about stuff," he lied.

nothing much had changed between them over the past few months. san was just as great to yeosang as he'd always been, yet, for a reason he still couldn't articulate, the older caught his stomach churn uneasily whenever it was just the two of them. it always made him feel so guilty, because san was the last person he should've been wary of, but what could he do?

locking the door behind yeosang, san hummed in understanding and followed him into the sitting room. he plopped back into his seat on the couch, returning to his bowl of chocolate sauce, while yeosang awkwardly busied himself with a spring toy laying around.

"woo's still at therapy, but he'll be back in a couple minutes!" san said, answering yeosang's thoughts. "so you can do whatever till he gets here, you know i don' mind."

"can i... ask you something?" yeosang bit down at the inside of his mouth.

almost immediately, san nodded his head, causing the latter's eyes to flicker elsewhere nervously. yeosang knew that the second the words leave his lips he'd regret his choice even coming here, but he blurted out, regardless, "about wooyoung's therapy — do you think... he's getting better?"

something within yeosang ached when san's eyes, previously identical to the sun's bright rays, sunk downwards in dismay. tense at the question, his arms moved to hug onto his own frame.

and what did you gain from that? a voice asked yeosang, who watched as san's mouth peeped open.

"i..." the red-haired shook his head, knees lifting to his chest. "i can't really tell you. i-i'm not wooyoung, i don't know what goes on in his head... as much as i wish i did sometimes," he confessed in a saddened whisper. "but i think- i-i know his night terrors are getting less frequent than they were at the beginning! and th-that's obviously a good thing..." san tried to smile, his attempts a failure.

"yeah, that is really good, you're right," yeosang said softly. no matter how difficult it could be around the younger, his optimism was always something he so admired; yeosang couldn't help but blame himself for sucking that away from him. "i was just wondering, 'cause you know how he can be. to be honest, i... i was worried that maybe he wasn't telling me all of it."

"i worry 'bout that, too, sometimes," san mumbled slowly, coming as a surprise to yeosang, but he remained quiet and listened. "i want to do all i can to help him, b-but i know he'd prefer doin' it on his own... and i-i don' know, i just—"

at the shimmer brought forth in san's eyes, yeosang interrupted him, "hey, i understand. but it's okay, san, i mean it. i get that it's hard to accept, but, truth is, he's stubborn."

san chuckled. "very stubborn, yeah."

"you know what, though?" yeosang continued gently. "he's strong, too, so unbelievably strong that i know for sure he'll get through this. so, i know it's not the easiest thing to do, but please... just trust him. because i can assure you that he's only doing what he thinks is best for you both."