CHASING YOUTH. wsn ✓

017.

deep blue, but you painted me golden.

—

"your parents have always been my parents' friends?" wooyoung exclaimed once they were up in his bedroom. they've excused themselves after a while of sticking there, the two greeting yunho and mingi as well as each other's family. they promised wooyoung's parents that they'd go back after a break upstairs, which neither had plan on keeping.

san nodded, "ever since your brother and my sister was born. they go way back; they were business partners back in the day and the reason why your parents are so rich are my parents. my parents helped make sure that your parents' business would soar through the sky and be one of the top businesses in seoul."

wooyoung scoffed, leaning against his windowsill as he stared at san, who was standing near his bed, "and you never thought of telling me about it?"

"i just-" san cut himself off, noticing how much wooyoung hated the dishonesty between them. san sighed, dropping his head, "i figured that you'd want to be disassociated from your family from what you've always told me about them. so i thought that you'd be better off not knowing about it."

wooyoung understood san, he really did. he understood why san didn't want to tell him about their little family history, but it still felt wrong that san decided to omit this information from him.

"look, sannie," wooyoung started. he abandoned his place near the windowsill and walked towards san, stretching his arms out as he wrapped his arms around san's neck, "i'm not mad at you. i really am not. i just... i just wish you talked to me about this. it didn't matter if i hated my parents' way of living or not, i still would love to know that our families were connected like this. maybe that way, i wouldn't have panicked so much just now."

san raised an eyebrow. he, once again, sneaked his arms around wooyoung's waist, them resting there comfortably as if they claim their places there. "you panicked just now? why?"

wooyoung shook his head, "don't worry about it."

silence was, again, placed upon them before wooyoung found his voice again, "see? i told you we could've just danced in my room. you could hear those sophisticated-ass classical music up here."

san chuckled. he picked up one of wooyoung's hand with his right hand, guiding wooyoung to follow his steps. they were no longer dancing to the classical box step but rather creating their own dance, like how they're weaving their own string of destiny together.

they weren't supposed to be together, they figured out. if their parents had been friends for so long and they still haven't met each other until this year, there must be a reason their parents decided to keep them apart. perhaps it was because together, they'd make a great pair: san with his impulsiveness and strong mind and heart to do good with wooyoung's big heart of helping others and his disregards to his wealth. together, they'd make the dream team. perhaps that's why they're never introduced to each other.

"you know," san said when wooyoung's head was laying on san's chest, wooyoung feeling the deep rumble of san's voice from his chest, "we're doing an awful lot of dancing lately."

wooyoung giggled, lifting his head to look at the older boy, "that is so true. maybe dancing could be, you know, our thing."

san frowned, "our thing? what do you mean, our thing?"

wooyoung feigned an offended face, "how dare you! i thought you'd be, like, those hopeless romantic type of boy that reads romantic novels and only wishes you were the main protagonist in them."

"sounds an awful lot like you." san retorted, which earned him a light slap on the chest form wooyoung.

"some couple's thing is late night calls, some are afternoon arcade dates, some are baking together. our thing could be dancing together; no matter the time, no matter the place. we'd be dancing until our feet get tired and us smiling so hard that it could light up an entire galaxy. how does that sound?" wooyoung asked, his eyes searching for any kind of emotion from san's ones.

san looked at the younger so endearingly wooyoung almost felt the love radiating off of him. of course, wooyoung couldn't assume anything. sure, the two kissed once, but even to this day, wooyoung doesn't know if the kiss came out of love or out of frustration. no matter how hard wooyoung tried to convince himself that it was the prior, he just couldn't bring himself to do so. without san's confirmation, wooyoung was nothing but a boy in love without knowing if the other loved him back.

luckily for him, san did (obviously) love him back. san had loved the boy since day one. he admired how smart and bright the boy was, how big his smile would be when he was with yunho. he learned from wooyoung's big heart to help others to love himself and appreciated how humble the younger was, slowly adapting to a more humble, mature lifestyle. in a way, by loving wooyoung from afar moulded san into a better version of himself. and san was glad it did. because without this long lasting feeling, san would still been the arrogant bad boy he was years ago.

the next second came without warning. both boys just acted based on their instincts and without any inclination whatsoever, their lips met in the middle, wooyoung leaning up slightly to match with san's height and san cooping the younger up with his arms.

the kiss was nothing but intimate. it was like they communicated a thousand feelings and words with just one touch of their lips. the feeling was indescribable; it was joyous for both since it's gone for far too long in both their opinions without either one confessing to the other and yet, there was this lingering sadness hidden behind their kiss.

what would they be now? were they even friends at all? how would their parents react when they obviously didn't want them to meet each other? how do they move on from this?

"sannie," wooyoung muttered against san's lips as they drew apart for a bit. san only hummed, his heart telling him to chase the smaller's plump lips until they were bruised and marked as his. wooyoung giggled softly at san's tactic, him still being safely in san's arms and san finally cracking his eyes open to glance at the beauty just a few inches shorter than him.

"yes, sweetheart?" san mumbled. he didn't want anything to ruin their moment. if their thing was dancing together no matter the circumstances, then their moments would be soft murmurs of sweet nothings against each other's lips after kisses upon kisses; showers of affections from hugging to kissing to spending quality time together; learning more about each other and learning to love themselves for themselves and one another. together, they become stronger and better. and that's what all couples strive for in the end, isn't it?

"no matter what happens," wooyoung started mindlessly tracing shapes on san's upper back, "no matter what happens, sannie, i want you to know that i love you. i love you to all the galaxies and back. i love you now and i'll love you forever."

san smiled softly, placing a kiss on the younger's forehead, "don't say that. you can't make promises you can't keep."

wooyoung shook his head, "it doesn't matter. i said it. you're the only one i ever want for my entire life. now say it back."

"i love you, too, sweetheart," san replied, tightening his arms around wooyoung's waist so he could bring him closer to his chest; closer to his home, "i'll be willing to love you through your bests and through your worsts. nothing, sweetheart, will ever stop me from loving you."

and in that moment, they felt completed. although soulmates were a concept san enjoyed and wooyoung partially believed in, they really felt the connection between their hearts and souls in that moment, like their love was so strong that the gods just had to mend the two together to complete each other. and in that moment, nothing else mattered. in that moment, it was just them against the entire world.

in that moment, it was just two teenagers in love, chasing the tail of their youth to try and make the most out of it.

—

a/n: feel like chapter 17 is always my best work i SWEAR it always happens even in my other books

edit: i went through destined my fallen angel and red string and realised that it only applied to red string. oops.