Not Too Late || ATEEZ Woosan
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"I believe that we are together for a reason."
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Choi San is a single father who is new to the city. He isn't looking for a relationship. He is simply just in the city to try and settle down and to try to start a new l...
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San let out an exhausted sigh as he waited in line at the local coffee shop, waiting so he could order his coffee and get going on his way to work. He had already dropped Jia off at her new school, which didn't really go as well as he was expecting.
~ONE HOUR EARLIER~
"I don't want to go daddy!" Jia yelled at San, throwing her blankets, pillows, and toys all over her room.
"Jia. You know that this behavior is inappropriate and wrong. Please stop. It's just a new school. You'll make lot's of new friends, I promise." San tried to reassure her, leaning down to stroke her hair softly, but she backed away and proceeded to throw more things before he could.
After a while of Jia throwing her tantrum, San managed to calm her down. He sat her on the edge of her bed and he kneeled in front of her, making direct eye contact with her.
"Jia. What's really going on? You know you can always tell me. I'm here to listen to you and understand your feelings." He told her in a soft tone, wanting her to know that he wasn't upset with her.
This was the first time that Jia had ever thrown a tantrum before. However, San and his wife had raised her to know that tantrums weren't the way to get what she wanted. They also taught her that they were a form of disrespect towards the both of them.
When San saw her throw this tantrum, he knew that there was a meaning behind it. She wouldn't have done it for no reason. But, unlike most kids who threw tantrums, it wasn't her way of trying to get what she wanted. She was trying to send a signal to her father.
As soon as those words came out of San's mouth, Jia raised her hand to her face, wiping her tears with her t-shirt sleeve as she sniffed.
"I want to see mommy. I don't want to go to school without her, daddy. She always gives me a kiss on the head and tells me that she'll be waiting for me when I'm done. Except, this time, she won't be waiting. In fact, she'll never be there waiting for me when I leave school now. It hurts, daddy." Jia sobbed, covering her face with her hands.
San felt tears threaten to spill down his cheeks as he hugged his daughter tightly. He never knew that she had felt this way. He had no idea that she was thinking about any of this. He felt as if he had failed as a father in a way. How could he not have known that these thoughts were going through his daughter's head?
~CURRENT TIME~
"One iced Americano, please." San heard the black-haired male in front of him order.
It was only when he saw him turn around that he noticed that the man was actually quite handsome. However, he pushed this thought into the back of his mind and continued on with his own business, ordering himself an iced Americano as well.
"Similar tastes." San thought.
He thanked the nice young lady for his coffee and headed on his way to work, walking. It wasn't that far from the cafe that he had already walked to, so he decided to get some much needed fresh air.
As he stood by the cross walk waiting to pass, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It appeared to be the same attractive man that he saw earlier who was standing in front of him in line at the cafe.
He looked to have his headphones in and glancing down at his phone, not realizing that the light was still red and that he shouldn't have been crossing at that time.
Cars were rushing towards him, some of them honking as well, trying to signal to the man for him to move.
"Hey! Watch out!" San yelled at the man, rushing out into the middle of the road and pulling at the back of the man's shirt, managing to yank him out of the way just in time.
San tumbled back and fell onto the concrete, spilling his iced Americano all over his white dress shirt. His palms were scraped up and already starting to bleed as he used them for balance when he fell back.
"Holy shit. I'm so sorry. I didn't see that the light was red. Are you okay?" The young man asked San, who was gazing up at him and making eye contact with him.
"I'm fine. It's just a few scrapes. Are you okay?" San asked the man, wanting to make sure that he wasn't traumatized or that he didn't choke him on accident when he grabbed the back of his shirt.
The young man smiled, "I'm perfectly fine. Thank you for saving me. I'm Jung Wooyoung." He introduced himself, extending his right arm, offering San a hand up.
"I'm Choi San." He replied as he took Wooyoung's hand and got up off of the concrete.
"Oh shit. You're bleeding. Here, let me help clean up your palms. If you have time, that is." Wooyoung offered, already trying to wipe away the dirt that was getting into San's small wounds.
San nodded, "I have some time to spare."
To that, Wooyoung responded with a smile and led the way to the park where the two of them sat on a bench.
Wooyoung pulled out a few band aids and some ointment for San's scrapes. San sat there, watching as the younger did his magic and helped cover his scrapes.
"Thank you. I really appreciate it." He said as Wooyoung finished, putting the supplies back into his bag.
"Yeah, of course. It's the least I could do. Oh, um, your shirt." Wooyoung mentioned, pointing at San's white dress shirt that was covered in coffee stains.
"Oh. Um, it's fine I guess. I'll just stop by my apartment real quick and put on another one. I'll be late for work, though. Dang it." San said, trying to figure something out.
"No, here. Wear this." Wooyoung told him, handing him another dress shirt that was in his bag. "I always keep an extra one. Sorry if it's a bit wrinkly. Also, I know this sounds crazy because we just met, but would you like to meet up for dinner tonight? It's on me."
San felt like he was losing his mind. There was a very handsome man in front of him, who has already helped clean the scrapes on his palms and given him another dress shirt to wear, and now he was asking him out to dinner?
But, part of him enjoyed this. Maybe Wooyoung could be his first friend in this new neighborhood. Or, maybe, he could be even more than that.
San smiled happily, "Sure. I would love that."
So, the two of them exchanged their numbers and said goodbye before they went on their separate ways to work.
"I'll see you later, San."
"See you later, Wooyoung."
~Edited~ I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! I'm so sorry for not updating for over a month. My life has been so busy recently with school and my relationship that I've been struggling to find some motivation to write. However, I have more ideas, so hopefully I will update faster this time! I love y'all so much and stay safe!
