CHASING YOUTH. wsn ✓

011.

we were so young, those days were so pretty.

—

the study sessions were going quite well. well, give or take a few tantrums san threw over doing chemistry at 5pm on a friday, it's been going better than wooyoung's expectations. san's personality — not that it was a good thing — would change every time they enter the science lab. it's almost like san had to put on a show outside the lab and when they get back into their little world, it's just the two of them where san wouldn't have to put on a mask to be king san.

"okay, so how many moles are there for this compound?" wooyoung asked, pointing at one of the compounds on the sheet in front of them. san groaned, punching in some numbers into the calculator quite aggressively, "0.025? please tell me it's correct."

wooyoung did the calculations himself and his eyes brightened, "holy shit san!"

san beamed instantly and hugged the younger, the two boys laughing at san's minimal success. it was better than nothing, they both thought, and given the fact that san had only started grasping upon the concept of moles (although he really should've had it nailed two years ago) a few days ago, it was impressive that san had gotten it right already.

"that's amazing, sannie, i'm so proud of you. okay, why don't you finish these two questions and then we'll have a break? how's that?" wooyoung offered. san nodded his head and continued doing the chemistry questions, wooyoung smiling slightly at how concentrated san looked at the moment.

over the month of their study sessions, wooyoung realised that san wasn't at all bad at studies. he realised it first time during the summer, but wooyoung figured it might just be the summer and, y'know, you're not really studying for anything during the summer. but now that san was able to hold onto concepts so easily and quickly and also adapt to wooyoung's learning way with little to no effort, wooyoung was convinced that san just didn't want to study. if san decided that one day, he's skipping all the parties in town and just study, san would probably get top marks and very possibly take wooyoung's place as second best after yeosang.

"san?" wooyoung asked. san only hummed while his pen flew through the paper with equations and calculations. it was cute to see san this concentrated. "why—why don't you give a shit about studying?"

san's pen stopped its motion. wooyoung gulped and backed off a bit, "y-you don't have to answer if you don't wanna. i'm sorry if i've touched upon a sensitive topic and-"

"parents." san replied. he stopped for a while before scoffing, turning the other side, "they always wanted me to do something that has a high salary. and i know what you're thinking: parents of rich bad boy wanting their son to work in an office? yeah," san let out a dry laugh, "it doesn't make that much sense. but all they ever want for me was for me to start off as an intern and end up as a CEO. that way, they'll have at least four corporations under their control — along with the corporation my sister ended up in — and they'll be able to genuinely have money pouring into their banks from the citizens of seoul."

san sighed, leaning back until his back was lying fully on the lab table behind him, "i don't know, wooyoung. it just doesn't seem like the path i'm destined for. plus, seeing all the tears and hard work my sister had to put into — all just to impress my parents and make them happy, i just don't see myself doing it and i know i wouldn't want to go through that. maybe i'll have an awakening when i'm in university, when i'm probably studying business because my parents wanted me to. i don't know, i just feel like my entire life's been planned out even before i've decided to start my life."

san looked over at wooyoung, and wooyoung felt his face burn with the smile san threw at him and how — just how good san looked right now. "how about you? why do you work your ass off but never show it?"

wooyoung shrugged. he slumped on his stool as one of his elbows were placed onto the table, "parents as well. i guess they've always wanted me to be the independent one and better than my older brother and set an example for my younger brother. being a middle child sucks. i have to try my best to fix the mistakes my older brother made and set a good example for my younger brother so he doesn't end up like me or my older brother. to make sure i get on well on my own, they've kicked me out of the house when i started high school and i've been living alone ever since. the whole purpose was for me to work harder and be more independent but i guess, when i became a sophomore, i just stopped trying to become a better version of myself.

"i stopped becoming their puppet and decided to fail some classes so they could get their expectations lower. maybe teach them a lesson so they can expect lesser so their disappointment would be lower. i'm happier after that, i guess, but then they weren't. they got so mad." wooyoung chuckled, "they threatened to disown me. so now i only do good in the end of year exams and don't do good in the normal tests. i just couldn't be bothered anymore. i know that if i do well in my finals, then i'd get into a good university. if i don't, then i'll probably do some volunteering here and there to get my experiences up before applying for community college. it's fine. i've learnt to not care in the past few years."

"that's bad, wooyoung ah," san teased, the smug smirk still on his face as he perked himself up, he sat up straight with his elbows on his knees, "shouldn't you care more about university and your future?"

wooyoung smiled as well, leaning forward to eliminate possible spaces between the two, "yeah. but you know, i can always just find a sugar daddy or something and live off of him."

san felt something spark within him when wooyoung said that. it was a bad spark, san knew, but san felt like it was meant to be there. with his feelings towards wooyoung, it's probably normal that he didn't want anyone to get near him, right? san knew that it was toxic to want to only keep wooyoung to himself, especially when they have no labels whatsoever. but san was slowly convincing himself that it was alright, that he's reasoning himself out so that the feeling made sense to him.

"i can be your sugar daddy if you wanna." san said through gritted teeth, trying to make it as funny as it should be. wooyoung laughed, nodding and holding out his pinky, "alright. if i'm 30 and i'm still jobless, i'd be calling you up. i expect you to be the top CEO of seoul by then and make a profit off of your parents' asses, yeah?"

san didn't want this to be a joke. san wanted this to be as real as possible but knowing wooyoung, it was probably one of his funny jokes that he'd forget after two years. nonetheless, san intertwined his pinky with wooyoung's as his grin stretched even wider, "deal, princey."