Secrets | Woosan

46

"Sir," Yeji started as she followed San through the winding hallways. She tried to keep up with him but her heels and his extreme walking pace kept putting more and more distance between them. "Sir!" She screeched at last, the clipboard in her hand almost clattering to the floor.

"What?" San hissed as he slowly spun around on the balls of his feet, "What is so important?"

With a sigh, she held out the clipboard and pointed to the slot that lined up with twelve pm. "You have a phone appointment you're just about to miss," Yeji responded flatly.

Checking his watch, San let out a small oh before nearly sprinting down the hallway. "Thank you, Yeji!" He yelled, as he rounded the corner.

San plopped down into the chair behind his desk just as the phone began to ring. He let out a small sigh of relief as he held it up to his ear. "Good afternoon," he spoke gently, quietly rummaging around on his desk for a pen and a piece of paper. Although it almost never happened, San liked to pretend like he was the most organized man in the world...but if it wasn't for Sana and Yeji he wouldn't make a single meeting on time.

"Ah yes, Mr Lee, it's nice to speak to you again. I hope our last interaction wasn't too damning for me—but withdrawing from my company as a whole on such short notice, sir, still comes as a big shock."

✨✨✨

"Yes, I understand you have received better offers from other companies. What makes you think I wouldn't match any offer your receive, or even give you more? We have been in business together for decades—our fathers used to sit where we do now. It would be silly to throw that all away over money I have no problem giving you."

A small smile formed on San's lips when he heard the man's next words, knowing that he had finally convinced him to stay with the company. One thing San despised was old business partners dropping their partnership over money San always had. If there was one thing businessmen needed to work on, that thing was communication.

"Thank you so much for your time, Mr Lee, I look forward to future interactions with you. I'll send one of my associates to you tomorrow to figure out the logistics."

"Yes, of course, we should definitely go out for a drink sometime," San continued, playing friendly business man for the sake of his company

He listened as the man droned on about things that had no meaning to San. Over the man's voice, he heard the deep crack of a gun resonate through the walls then saw the screen of his phone light up next to him.

"Mr Lee, something very important just arose, I have to let you go." San didn't give him a moment to respond before slamming the landline back into its spot. At that exact moment, the lights flickered off.

Putting his own phone up to his ear, San held it in place with his shoulder as he unlocked the second drawer of his desk to pull out the pistol he hid.

"Yeji?" He asked, waiting for the girl to explain what exactly was going on.

"A guy—he just—I don't know what happened, sir, nobody came inside I was here the whole time."

"Do you know where he is?" San asked calmly, trying to give at least a little comfort to the girl after hearing her shaky voice.

"He—he just went up the stairs...I think I heard him say something about the third...no fourth floor."

It felt as if San's heart plummeted into his stomach as those words hit his ear. "Wooyoung," he whispered, letting the device fall to the floor before running as fast as he could up to the fourth floor.

The building was eerily quiet going up the stairs. He heard another shot just two steps from where he needed to be. "How nice of you to join us, San, you're just in time." San heard when he finally opened the door.

The breath seemed to be ripped from his lungs as he stared down the barrel of the pistol in his hands to see it pointing at his best friend. A smile flickered across Seonghwa's face before he tightened his grip on Wooyoung's arm, pushing the gun harder against the side of his head.

"Put the gun down, Seonghwa," San hissed, aiming his own gun at the elder's forehead.

"Now why would I do that?" He asked tauntingly, "You're not going to shoot me—not while I have Wooyoung."

San glanced at Wooyoung's face. His cheeks were slick with tears and he had a gash on his forehead as if he had been struck with something. "What do you want? You know where the safes are—you know everything! If you want money just take it!" He yelled, growing more impatient every second that gun was pointed at Wooyoung's head.

"Oh Sannie, it's always been about money for you. That's where we're different. I don't want a dime, San, I want you to watch as I take everything from you. And now I know for sure...Wooyoung is everything to you."

"Wooyoung didn't do anything to you—let him go."

Seonghwa laughed at his friend's words, "Of course Wooyoung didn't do anything—it was you, San. My parents are dead because of your father. Your father slaughtered my parents in their bed because they we short one hundred dollars on one of their payments. I grew up with out parents because of your family!"

"My father killed a lot of people, Seonghwa, my mother is dead because of him. I'm sorry he hurt you—but this has nothing to do with Wooyoung. If you want to kill somebody, kill me."

"Sorry doesn't bring them back, San!"

"Neither does killing Wooyoung!"

Another smile flickered across Seonghwa's lips as his eyes glistened with tears. "I already know I'm going to die tonight, San, ruining you gives me the peace I need."

"Sannie, I love you," Wooyoung whispered through the lump in his throat as he felt Seonghwa's grip get unbearably rough.

One final bullet left a gun, the deafening crack echoing through the whole building, shaking the very foundation they stood on. In that dark room, one body fell to the floor, blood soaking into the carpet beneath their feet.

San stood there frozen, unable to breathe as he looked up to see Yunho where Seonghwa once stood. The gun in Yunho's hand fell to the ground, the gun he used to kill his friend.

"Wooyoung!" San nearly yelled as he rushed over to the boy, pulling him into his arms. Wooyoung let himself fall into the elder as he sobbed into his shirt, trying to overcome the shock of having a gun pointed at him for so long.

After a few minutes of simply holding the boy, San felt something soaking into his shirt. It was almost level with his torso, too low to be from any tears.

"Yunho—call an ambulance!" San yelled just as Wooyoung's legs gave out from underneath him. Holding the boy in his arms, San sat on the floor, finally seeing the younger's shirt turned a crimson red in the darkness.

"What is it?" Wooyoung asked quietly when he felt San pick him up, hurrying down the stairs.

San looked down and smiled at him, "Nothing, baby, everything's okay."

"I'm tired, can we go home?"

"Don't go to sleep yet," San said softly, as they reached the parking lot. "Can you tell me about your favorite butterflies from yesterday?" He asked, trying to keep the boy awake.

A smile rested on Wooyoung's lips, his eyes fluttering closed only to quickly open once again. "They were so pretty, Sannie, they were all different colors. We should go back again soon."

———
Only two more chapter after this

Thanks for reading <3