begin again | woosan (✓)

- one hundred four -

wooyoung rushed inside and upstairs, getting into the apartment in record time. not seeing yeosang or seonghwa in the living room, he knew that meant they were still holed up in seonghwa's room. he ran to the door, knocking carefully before walking inside.

"hwa..." wooyoung breathed out, shocked to see his best friend in such a distressed state.

"thank goodness you're here..." yeosang muttered softly. "i was starting to panic... i tried everything i usually try for you... none of it's working, youngie."

"go to the living room, yeah? i'll call out if i need you or anything," wooyoung insisted.

yeosang nodded and left the room as wooyoung sat on the bed, gently taking seonghwa's hands as the boy cried.

"hwa... what's going on?"

"c-can't..."

"can you at least do your best to tell me what i can do to help?"

"h-hug?"

the younger gave a nod, then pulling the latter into a warm hug.

"i'm here, hwa... i'm not going anywhere. we can talk about it when you're ready, i'm just worried about you right now..."

seonghwa nodded, replaying the events that had led to this moment in his head. he felt awful, finally understanding a bit more of why wooyoung's recovery was such a difficult process.

"i ran into minhyung at the store... h-he cornered me and wouldn't stop asking me about you. it makes me feel sick, woo... knowing how obsessed with you that sick bastard is? realizing he'd do anything to get his hands on you and hurt you again? that killed me. knowing that this is one of the reasons why this whole process has been so difficult... i'm so sorry, woo..."

"hwa... did he touch you?" wooyoung asked with worry.

"he grabbed my arm, but that was it... don't worry about me, baby... i just... i need you safe. seeing him freaked me out because of how extreme his desire is."

"he won't hurt me, hyung... i won't let it happen. i have six of the most amazing friends and the most amazing boyfriend to help protect me too, just by being around."

"still, i worry... what if he finds us again? you've been doing so much better recently, i don't want him to cause you to slip back again..."

"i've learned something recently, hwa... my healing isn't going to be linear. it's complex and it's scary and even if i'm doing better, i'm still going to have bad days, bad weeks even. i'll be okay. i have my resources... trust me, yeah?"

seonghwa nodded slightly, sniffling.

"i saw him today too... he didn't see me though. jongho and i were hanging out at one of the cafes we like to go to with the others and he came in... jongho saw him and we left before he saw us. and for the first time ever... i wasn't scared."

"woo..."

"i wasn't afraid of being in the same place as him. i was a little worried about what would happen if he recognized me, but i didn't panic. i was able to get out of there safely and without having a panic attack..."

"i'm so glad, baby... i know that's been one of the hardest things for you, the anxiety of there being a potential for him to show up anywhere you go. i'm really proud of you for getting through it."

wooyoung nodded, squeezing seonghwa's hand.

"don't worry too much about me, hwa. even if i slip a little, i think it's going to be easier to get back into routine. i have all of you guys to lean on too if i need it."