CHASING YOUTH. wsn ✓

012.

i want to go back to those times so bad.

—

"what now?" san exclaimed one friday afternoon when the two were stuck in the chemistry lab doing chemistry. it was pouring cats and dogs outside, the windows filled with streaks of rain where if you look at your own reflection, it'd be lopsided and wonky.

wooyoung rolled his eyes and stared right back at san, "i said that we should go for a run, or something. it's so boring here, don't you think?"

san blinked twice before snickering. there's no way what wooyoung said was true. "i don't know if you can see or not, but one, it's pouring outside. we'd be drenched the first second we get out! and two, that is so unlike you to say that."

"are you saying that i couldn't be rebellious sometimes, sannie?" wooyoung pouted, leaning forward on his arms as they draped across the lab table, "c'mon, it'll be fun!"

san groaned, "okay, okay. just let me finish these two questions first."

wooyoung didn't know what got to him. he wasn't feeling that great at all this morning given that he'll have to see his parents in a few days' time (it's nearly the christmas holidays already) and with that means to hear how disappointed his parents are with him. wooyoung was a bit grumpy towards yunho the whole day, but yunho gets it. yunho was always considerate and understanding, which was what wooyoung appreciated most about yunho.

but something changed in wooyoung when he saw san. when san came to him with a subtle smile on his face and his backpack swung halfway down his shoulder, wooyoung felt his inside tumble over with happiness and... and love? wooyoung didn't know. maybe somewhere between last year and now, his small, teeny crush on san developed into something more.

perhaps that's why he's offering this now. maybe wooyoung just needed a breather away from everything — from school, from family, from life, in general. he just needed time away and then he'll be him again. yeah, that sounds about right.

san finished those two questions rather quickly and as soon as he's done, he's shoving it towards wooyoung so the younger to mark it and deem him off for the day. unsurprisingly, san's getting everything right. wooyoung smiled to himself. guess they could move on to the next topic next session.

"alright. let's go, young-ah." san grinned as he stood up. wooyoung froze in his seat, "w-what did you just call me?"

san turned back around and chuckled, "what? you like me calling you that? young-ah?"

wooyoung's face reddened and san would've made fun of him if not for his own heart thumping harder than usual in his chest. san liked making wooyoung blush; it was fun and it also made him feel proud that he was the one that made wooyoung red like that. "you're so cute, young-ah."

wooyoung groaned and started standing up, pushing san's grinning face away from him. san laughed even louder, and wooyoung genuinely felt happy in that second. san's laughing away at wooyoung getting flustered and wooyoung's, of course, embarrassed. but it all felt good. it felt like how his teenage years should be like. teenagers shouldn't be burying their heads down studying and trying to 'make the most out of it' by joining all the school clubs and nominating themselves for the school committee. teenagers should be enjoying their lives, laughing and crying with their friends, fail a few classes once in a while but most importantly, have fun. they won't get that when they get older and have to worry about university, internships, works and families.

it was their senior year as well. wooyoung was going to make the most of it. he'll skip school when he can, maybe go out partying with san more often, and definitely go to that arcade yunho had been blabbering on and on about. wooyoung had been the model student of never missing school, handing in all his homework in on time (although they're always 30% correct at most because he just didn't want the spotlight) and participated in clubs (although he never really actually shows up). it felt like he should let loose for once, just allow himself to actually feel like a teenager for once.

the two boys ran out of the school building, school bags held on top of their head as the minimal effort to block the rain. they were laughing, giggling, chuckling — they were enjoying themselves. they were splashing rainwater onto each other from puddles, laughing and tackling each other. their white uniform were getting stained from the rainwater, getting browner and browner as they fell onto the floor more often and more wet as they stayed under the rain longer.

they soon arrived at a 7-11 just around the corner, entering it and allowing the water to drip from their hair and school bag onto the convenience store's floor. the guy behind the counter yelled at them, telling them to dry themselves before coming in, but neither listened to him. the two just giggled their way through the instant noodles section and the fridge to grab their drinks as well.

"that's 6,000 wons, assholes." the guy spat out when they dumped their food and drinks onto the counter.

san rolled his eyes while wooyoung pouted, "that's a bit mean, sir. we've just come running from school and all we want is a shelter and some warm food. plus, we're literally paying for your salary, so it would help if you were nicer to us. sir."

san held back a chuckle as he looked back at the cash register guy. but to his dismay, the guy was checking wooyoung out. due to the rain, wooyoung's — and san's — shirt was a bit see-through and that meant that-

san didn't hesitate to pull off his jacket and drape it over wooyoung's shoulders, zipping up the jacket forcefully and glared at the guy. he slammed a 10,000 won onto the counter and leaned forward, his other arm sliding to hold wooyoung's waist and tug the younger closer to him, "keep the change, asshole."

with that, san grabbed all their food and drinks in one arm while pulling wooyoung away from the counter with another. they arrived at one of the tables and put their stuff down, san going to boil their noodles without a single word exchanged.

wooyoung snickered, placing an elbow on the counter and leaned on it, "what? is the king jealous?"

san turned back to glare at him, "one word and you're dead, jung."

"where did the nickname go?" wooyoung pouted, tilting his head to the side and made his best efforts to muster up his puppy eyes, "c'mon, sannie. i liked it."

san, thankfully, saw the hot water arrive up to the water line inside the noodle cup and stopped the water before it overflowed. he took both noodles and went back to stand next to wooyoung, holding wooyoung's shoulder and forced him, along with san, to face outside instead of each other.

"you sounded like you liked me for a second there, sweetheart." san uttered, opening his can of coke as he chugged it down. he was thirsty from all the running and catching up with wooyoung on their way to the 7-11. plus, after that whole cash register guy fiesta, he did need to cool down a bit.

wooyoung hummed. he, too, opened his bottle of water and started sipping from it. after he had enough of it, he turned to san with the cheekiest smile san had ever seen present on the younger's face. "and what if i did?"

san choked on his coke and started coughing nonstop, the gas rising back up to his throat and he felt like burping as well. wooyoung just hollered in laughter, patting san's back to try and soothe the other's pain. "i'm sorry, sannie, i'm sorry." wooyoung kept on saying. it didn't help much, not really, but it warmed san's heart that wooyoung actually cared.

"did you-" san stopped himself to let wooyoung look up at him after opening his noodles, "did you mean that?"

wooyoung shrugged, grabbing his chopsticks and started to dig into the noodles. "oh my fucking god, it's so good. and, sannie, i guess you'll just never know."

—

a/n: obviously don't skip school lawl. but yes, do enjoy ur teenage years bc you'll never be able to relive them. (idk why im saying this im literally 15)