Endless chase [Woosan ff]

1 - The Beginning

San is 5 when he meets Wooyoung.

San is at a park, and his mother is sitting on a bench quite far from him, but somewhere where she can still keep an eye on her child.

San is tired and wants to go home, but his mother won't stop talking to that woman. He wants to yell at his mom, but he knows that's wrong and impolite, and he knows he can behave.

He feels a tug on his arm and turns in that direction, unpleasantly surprised when he sees a boy his age, smiling shyly while holding a basketball.

San has to fight back a frown, because he doesn't want to be rude, but he also really doesn't feel like playing basketball right now. He just wants to drag his mom away from that other woman and lay on the couch and watch cartoons for the rest of the evening.

- Do... Do you want to... - The other boy is shy, hands almost shaking when offering the ball to San.

San tries to meet his eyes, but they are casted on the pavement, then on the slide next to them, then on the swings.

Then this weird feeling settles within him. The other boy seems desperate for a friend, has those pleading eyes and flushed skin, and San is sure that if he'll refuse, the other will start crying and will feel betrayed just like San feels every time he's been refused affection by his mother.

So he opens his mouth to speak, and a smile almost automatically appears on his face.

- Sure, mom's taking ages anyway. -

The other boy just chuckles, glancing at the two women who are far too immersed in their conversations to even notice that their sons are playing together.

- Yeah. - That's the only response Wooyoung manages to put together, but San is satisfied, because the next second he's walking to the small basketball field and asking Wooyoung to pass him the ball.

He puts the ball to the floor, bounces it a couple of times and tries a trick his dad showed him a while ago, and Wooyoung is mesmerized, because he wishes he knew some tricks to show off.

- Wanna play the world's game? - San asks, attempting to score. He fails, and has to run to catch the ball, but luckily it stops on the grass before it runs too far.

Wooyoung is standing there, silent and observing. He doesn't know the game, but he doesn't want to sound stupid.

- Sure. - He feebly replies, taking a step towards the other boy. - You start. -

•••

Wooyoung is sitting in first row on the first day of primary school, and San knows all too well that's because his mom forced him to.

And he also knows that there's no way San's sitting anywhere else, because everybody looks scary and Wooyoung is his only friend. So he has to tag along, huffing when he notices he can see their teacher's face way too closely.

There's a hint of stubble growing on the man's chin, and two grey hair peek from the side of his styled hair.

He prays for their first day to come to an end, and when it does that's all it takes for him to tug at Wooyoung's arm and whine.

- I can't do this for the rest of my life. - He has that high-pitched tone he gets when he's upset, and Wooyoung has to bite back a smile because of that. He knows that if he'll ever let a sound out San will kill him, because he can't make fun of him in his moments of weakness.

Well, he can't make fun of San ever, he's too snappish for that. But Wooyoung doesn't mind, so he just leans back on his chair and smiles pitifully at him.