WHO ARE YOU?|ATEEZ FANFIC (In Editing Progress)

Chapter 29|Me, myself and I|Breathe

"See you later!' Wooyoung called to his four friends, who were running straight down the street from the department store. Yeosang and Seonghwa answered his call. Seonghwa smiled and raised his arm to wave to Wooyoung.

"Be careful!" he called to him.

"Don't make Mr. Deathwish moves!" Yeosang added, and Wooyoung chuckled, shaking his head in amusement.

"You too!" he replied. Yeosang grinned as Jongho tapped him on the shoulder, catching his attention. Yeosang looked at the younger man, who was saying something to him, then turned around to wave again before running with Jongho after Yunho and Seonghwa. Wooyoung watched them for a brief moment when he heard San's voice behind him.

"Take care, buddy."  Wooyoung turned around and saw San pat Mingi on the shoulder, who just grimaced uncompassionately and nodded.

"You too," he said. San just nodded.

"It'll be okay." With that, he turned away from Mingi, who remained standing at the entrance of the department store, hesitating. Wooyoung could see that he was scared. Of course, he was scared too, but at least he was lucky that San could accompany him for a bit before their paths diverged. Mingi was completely on his own from the start, just like Hongjoong. When San suddenly stood next to him, looking at him questioningly, Wooyoung looked away from Mingi and looked into San's warm brown eyes.

"Ready?" the blond asked, holding out his hand. Wooyoung hesitated. Ready was definitely not the right word for how he felt, but he nodded slightly, took San's hand, and took a deep breath.  "I guess so." Hand in hand, they turned away from the department store and walked down the left side street. They were silent for a moment. While San kept his eyes peeled, watching for potential dangers, Wooyoung looked around in awe. They walked through a pretty little neighborhood with small single-family homes in warm, light sand colors and gray, orange, and blue roofs. The gardens all looked well-maintained. The grass was green, and trees and bushes provided shade for both adults and children in the blazing afternoon sun. A few birds chirped, making their silence seem less loud, which calmed Wooyoung. He cautiously turned his gaze to San, who was walking beside him with a serious expression. With everything that had happened in the last few days, he didn't know how to approach San. It had been so weird with San after he and Seonghwa had talked briefly, then Wooyoung had stayed over at his place and for the next two days there was complete radio silence between them again. Added to that was the way San had looked at him during his argument with Jongho. Since the underground incident, the atmosphere had already been strange, as if San no longer trusted Wooyoung as much as before, but since seeing the Halateez at Manson, San seemed even more distant than before. Wooyoung couldn't even remember having really spoken to him since the night he slept with San. Would it be weird if he just approached him now? But what should he say? Should he try to talk to him about what had happened? Or confront him about his behavior towards Wooyoung? That would be weird. But he found small talk just as weird. They'd never just made small talk. If he started it now, it would definitely be weird. When San saw out of the corner of his eye that Wooyoung was looking at him with a slightly uncertain expression, he forced himself to suppress a grin and smiled slightly.

"Where do you need to go?"  He asked, turning to look at Wooyoung, who, somewhat perplexed by the sudden question and the eye contact, quickly looked away and cleared his throat. San couldn't help but grin slightly at that moment. He saw Wooyoung's cheeks flush slightly and felt Wooyoung's hand grip his a little tighter. He had surprised him.

"Um..." Wooyoung stammered. He had barely heard San's question, so perplexed had he been to be suddenly addressed by him.

"I don't know exactly." He then said. San nodded.