ONE SHOTS || ATEEZ

Woosan<Faded promises>

Two-shot first part.

Angst, cheating.

Wooyoung watched as San entered their shared apartment, drenched in the late afternoon rain. His footsteps were heavy, weighed down by something more than just the wet clothes clinging to his body. Wooyoung’s heart twisted, knowing where San had come from, but he couldn't bear to speak. The silence between them was suffocating.

“Hey,” Wooyoung finally said, his voice hoarse. “You’re late.”

San didn’t meet his eyes. Instead, he shrugged off his coat, hanging it by the door with a soft sigh. “I had things to take care of.”

Things. That one word was all it took for the unspoken truth to settle like a shadow in the room. Wooyoung’s hands clenched into fists, hidden in the pockets of his hoodie. He had promised himself he wouldn’t confront San tonight, but the words clawed at his throat.

“Were you with him again?” The question sliced through the silence, raw and vulnerable.

San froze, his back still turned to Wooyoung. “Wooyoung…”

“Don’t lie to me.” Wooyoung’s voice broke, and the flood of emotions he had been holding back came rushing in. He stood from the couch, staring at San’s back. “Were you with Yeosang?”

San turned slowly, his face a mixture of guilt and sadness. “It’s not what you think.”

“It’s exactly what I think.” Wooyoung felt the tears burn at the edges of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. “You’re still in love with him, aren’t you?”

San opened his mouth to respond but closed it again, his silence louder than any answer. Wooyoung felt his heart crack a little more.

“I can’t…” Wooyoung whispered, his voice shaking. “I can’t keep pretending like this is normal, San. I can’t keep pretending that you don’t look at him the way you used to look at me.”

San took a step closer, his eyes pleading. “Wooyoung, I love you. I’m your husband. This is real.”

Wooyoung let out a bitter laugh, tears spilling over now. “Real? How is any of this real when you keep running to him?”

San’s face crumpled, and he reached out to touch Wooyoung’s hand, but Wooyoung pulled away, the sting of betrayal too deep to bear. “Don’t,” Wooyoung whispered. “Don’t touch me if you’re going to go back to him.”

“Yeosang and I…” San started, but the words caught in his throat. “We have a past, but that’s all it is. I chose you, Wooyoung.”

Wooyoung shook his head, taking a step back. “But your heart… your heart is still with him.”

The room felt colder than the rain outside. San stood in the middle, torn between his past with Yeosang and his present with Wooyoung. But Wooyoung could see it in his eyes. San’s love for Yeosang was still there, lingering in the shadows, no matter how much he tried to deny it.

“Do you think I don’t see the way you change when you come back from seeing him?” Wooyoung continued, voice trembling. “How your smile fades, how distant you become? You don’t even look at me the same anymore.”

San’s head hung low, the weight of his mistakes pulling him down. “I don’t know what to say.”

Wooyoung took a deep breath, the ache in his chest unbearable. “Maybe there’s nothing left to say.”

The silence between them stretched out once more, suffocating and heavy with regret. Wooyoung wiped his eyes, swallowing down the sob that threatened to escape. “I love you, San. I always have. But I’m not going to stand here and watch you love someone else.”

San finally looked up, his own eyes glistening with tears. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“But you already have,” Wooyoung whispered, his voice broken. He took one last look at San, his husband, the man he thought he would spend the rest of his life with. But love wasn’t enough when San’s heart was split between two people. “You already have.”

Wooyoung turned and walked towards the door, the weight of his decision crushing him with each step. He paused at the threshold, waiting for San to call out, to beg him to stay.

But all he heard was the soft sound of San’s quiet sobs behind him.

And then, he left.