begin again | woosan

- one -

he felt like he was suffocating. everything around him felt like it was spinning, and the boy couldn't control his breathing. it felt as though someone was stepping on his chest as he sunk to the ground, sobbing.

everything was simply too much, and wooyoung didn't know what to do. he knew that within the next couple of minutes, yeosang would be at his bathroom door, asking if he was okay, but right now he couldn't even focus on that thought.

breathe, he thought. you just need to breathe.

this wasn't the first time that this had happened to wooyoung. ever since his last relationship had ended, the boy had been struggling to find a new normal. after all of the pain that he had endured, none of his friends were surprised by this, and did everything they could to support the boy, but he just felt so weak.

he was sick of the panic spells that brought him into this state, he was sick of the constant anxiety, he was just sick of everything. he wanted this to be over, he didn't want to live in fear anymore.

"wooyoung?" yeosang asked softly, knocking on the door.

wooyoung flinched at the sound, hurriedly trying to pull himself together.

"youngie, are you okay?" yeosang asked again, his tone laced with worry.

"i-i—"

"is it happening again?"

"y-yeah..."

"can i come in?"

"i-i d-don't— i-i can't—"

"i'm coming in youngie..."

moments later, yeosang stepped into the room, carefully shutting the door behind him and pulling wooyoung close to his chest.

"i'm here, woo," yeosang whispered.

wooyoung let out a soft whimper, leaning into his best friend's touch as he continued to cry. he felt awful that everyone around him had to take care of him like this, he just wanted things to feel normal again.

"he won't hurt you, yeah? we're all here for you, bub. we know it's going to be hard to overcome this, but we're always going to stick by your side. remember that, okay?"

wooyoung could only nod, not trusting his voice, but that was all yeosang needed to see.

"okay... do you want to come back out now? hwa was thinking of putting on a movie when the others arrive."

wooyoung gave another nod, clinging to his best friend. yeosang gently kissed the boy's head and nodded, then the two made their way out of the bathroom after wooyoung quickly rinsed his face off. the younger boy clung to yeosang's arm, almost as if it were the only thing keeping him calm in that moment, and if you asked wooyoung, he would've told you it was.

"woo, c'mere, bubba," seonghwa said softly, opening his arms for a hug as the boys got closer.

wooyoung pouted softly and got on the couch, curling up in the oldest's arms and sighing shakily.

"i've gotchu, yeah? you just let me know if i can do anything to make you more comfy."

wooyoung nodded in response, nuzzling his head into seonghwa's chest.

"yunho and mingi are going to be here soon... we'll start the movie then."

"i-is hongjoong coming?" wooyoung asked quietly.

"no, he said he couldn't come today... something about that group project for his production class."

wooyoung went back to pouting at this news, causing seonghwa to chuckle.