begin again | woosan

- two -

san walked out of the recording booth to hongjoong with his tongue slightly poked out of his mouth, focusing as he played around with a couple of things on his computer. the room was completely silent for the next couple of minutes, and although the others felt comfortable in the silence, san was anxious to fill the void.

he always felt a bit out of place during their sessions together, as he barely knew hongjoong, while jongho - who had been his best friend for years - knew the older quite well. san had only ever had one class with hongjoong prior to this, the older being a grade above him and jongho both. even still, hongjoong welcomed san's presence, but the boy couldn't help but feel awkward being around when the bond jongho and hongjoong had seemed so easy.

"it's done," hongjoong breathed out, beginning to smile.

jongho quickly cheered, hugging san warmly, who just stood there happily. he couldn't believe they had finally finished, but god, he was happy they were.

"what would you two think about celebrating a bit? my friends had suggested all of us celebrating together once we had finished..." hongjoong suggested.

"i'm in!" jongho quickly said.

"really? all of us?" san asked.

"yes, all of us. they'd love to meet you, san."

san blushed slightly at this, beginning to smile.

"count me in then..."

"great! i'll call hwa and figure out a plan, and i'll text the group chat as soon as i can with all the details!"

"yay! i can't wait, hyung!" jongho smiled. "see you later!"

jongho and san quickly left the room and headed back to their shared dorm, and jongho quickly gave san a look.

"you're not backing out. we're going."

"but—"

"san, when are you going to stop being so afraid of making more friends?"

"you should know better than anyone why i'm so afraid..." san muttered, frowning slightly.

"i do... but i'm so sick and tired of you being lonely. i want you happy, hyung..."

san let out a sigh, shaking his head.

"i don't want to end up hurting anyone, jongho."

"you're not that guy anymore, san... you have never intentionally been that guy in the first place. you got stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time, yeah? you haven't been like that for years."

"but what if i still am...?"

"san... please, give this a chance, yeah?"

san began to chew at his lip, giving himself a moment to think before nodding.

"fine... one chance."

"great... get ready, okay?"

san nodded again and the two boys went to their rooms, san starting emptily at his closet as he tried to decide what he would wear. he wanted to look at least somewhat decent when he met hongjoong's friends, it was all he could do to ensure a decent reaction.

less than half an hour later, jongho knocked on the boy's door, calling in to him.

"san? can i come in?"

"yeah, come on in..."

jongho walked in and smiled seeing san fixing his hair, a content look on the older's face.

"hyung just texted, we're meeting at his 'friend' seonghwa's apartment."

"why do you say 'friend' like that?"

"they're practically dating, they're just both too shy to ask the other out! but anyways, we're meeting there. three of his friends live together, so it's just the most convenient for everyone."

san muttered softly, nodding.

"it's also probably more convenient for them in case anything goes wrong."

"w-why would anything go wrong?"

"oh! i should probably warn you... i met them all before this started happening, but one of hongjoong's friends has a really hard time with new people... he'll probably be pretty quiet, but he's really sweet. they were all hesitant about having us all hang out but he insisted it would be okay, but i know they're all a bit worried still."

"oh... maybe i—"

"san, you're going. all i'm saying is that he's been having a really hard time branching out from his little friend group, i don't want that to discourage you. he may have to disappear for a little bit and it's much more convenient to do that if he's in the comfort of his own home, that's why i said that."

"o-okay..."

"i know you're nervous, but i promise it'll all be okay. remember mingi from class last year? he's one of hongjoong's friends. there! you already know someone."

"do you think they'll like me?"

"i know they will. now c'mon, we should head out."

san nodded and took one last look at himself in the mirror before following jongho out, the two quickly making their way to seonghwa's to meet the rest of the group.

now, san was left to wonder if jongho was right.

-
i just noticed that this is already nearing 100 reads despite not even being up for 24 hours??? wow .. i'm truly so grateful :')

bc of that,, here's the next chapter <333