begin again | woosan

- seventy six -

as the new semester got started, wooyoung was doing really well with creating a routine that put his recovery on the right track. he had been going to therapy consistently and started to bring bada with him as well, as the boy's therapist had wanted to see if there were ways that bada could help more than he already did.

the puppy himself was starting to get a bit bigger, and was much stronger too. a recent visit to the vet had told them that bada was finally on track with his growth, as the poor baby had been behind due to his previous situation.

the boys had a longer weekend coming up, which had wooyoung stressed as he didn't know what he wanted to do, while almost all of his friends were going home. san had planned to go home himself, but he was hoping that he could convince wooyoung to go with him.

"joongie, are you going home too?" wooyoung asked as the group ate lunch together.

"i'm going home with seonghwa, sunshine. i'm sorry," hongjoong sympathized.

"no, no it's okay... i just wanted to see. i haven't even decided if i'm staying here or what."

san gently rested his hand on the boy's knee, smiling small.

"wanna come home with me, love?" he asked gently.

wooyoung whipped his head around to look at san, his eyes widened in shock.

"what?"

"do you want to come home with me? my parents want to meet you."

"t-they know? i-i thought—"

"i told them at christmas. they didn't care, they just want me happy. they'd love to finally meet you."

"c-can we talk more about this later?" wooyoung pleaded, his mind growing foggy from how overwhelmed he had become.

san simply nodded, kissing the boy's shoulder, then yunho changed the topic to one of his classes, the rest of the boys listening attentively.

"it was crazy, guys! the instructor gave us the combo and this girl decided to try and show off and ended up rolling her ankle."

"is she okay?" yeosang asked.

"oh yeah, she's fine. but the instructor called her out on it, said to her that's what you get for trying to show off instead of doing the combo right."

"oh shit, which instructor was it?"

"guest instructor in ms yoo's class. i didn't check her name."

san stifled a laugh at yunho's story, then focused his attention on wooyoung, who was still stiffly seated beside him. noticing this, the boy tried to discreetly comfort the younger, not wanting to embarrass him.

half an hour passed before the group started to disperse, san and wooyoung staying put until they were the last two there. san pulled the boy close, kissing his shoulder gently.

"overwhelmed?"

"yeah..." he whispered.

"we don't have to go if you're not ready, love. i'll gladly stay here with you instead."

"i-i just... i'm worried they won't like me, sannie. i-i'm bad at meeting people."

"my love... you're better than you think when it comes to meeting people. but i'm serious, woo. we don't have to go if you're not ready."

"i-i'll think about it... i-i think i want to bring it up in therapy later."

"how's therapy been going, angel?"

"it's been good... bada is learning some really helpful things for when i have panic attacks and such, too."

"good... i'm glad, woo."