Why me? >Woosan<

12.

Wooyoung POV

When I woke up Monday morning, my phone wouldn't stop buzzing. Sixty-three notifications.

What the hell?

I blinked the sleep from my eyes and opened the first message, from Minho.

Minho: What the fuck, dude? Answer your phone.

Then another.

Jun: Why didn't you tell us? Didn't you trust us?

And another.

Minji: Woo, how could you keep this from us?

My heart started to race. I didn't understand. What were they talking about?

Then I saw it, a link.

I clicked it.

The page loaded slowly, my stomach twisting with every second that passed.
And then I saw the headline.

"ATEEZ's Choi San Spotted Leaving Apartment Complex — Mystery Man Identified by resident."

There were photos.
Blurry, taken from a distance, but clear enough.
San.
Me.
My door.

My breath caught in my throat. My body went cold, knees giving out as I sank to the floor. The phone slipped from my hand, clattering against the hardwood.

It wasn't paparazzi.

It was someone from the building.

The article said "an anonymous resident shared footage."

My stomach turned.

They must've filmed him walking down the hall that night, the grainy screenshot looked like it came from a phone camera. San in his hoodie, head down, mask on, right outside my door.

The caption underneath made me want to throw up.

My vision blurred.

I ruined him.

He trusted me. And I ruined him.

The screen lit up again, Minji calling.
I forced myself to answer.

"Wooyoung?" Her voice was soft, careful.

I couldn't speak. Just shallow breaths and broken sobs.

"Woo, breathe. Okay? Just breathe."

"I...I don't know what happened," I stammered between hiccups. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I swear, I didn't..."

"I know. It's okay. Just slow down. Have you talked to San?"

"No," I whispered. "He must hate me."

"Woo..." She sighed. "You should call him."

"I tried. He won't answer."

Silence stretched between us, heavy and full of things neither of us could fix.

"You should have told us," she said finally, her voice breaking a little.

"I know," I said. "I was scared."

"Of what?"

"I don't know. Of ruining things. Of saying it out loud."

"I'm not angry," she said softly. "None of us are. We just wish you'd trusted us. You don't have to do this alone, okay?"

"Okay," I whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Call him, Woo. Then we'll talk later, yeah?"

After we hung up, I tried. Over and over.

10:24
San, are you okay? I saw the article. I'm so sorry.