Stay ||| Wooyoung/Jongho/San (Ateez)

25

For the second day in a row, Wooyoung woke up alone.

He didn't mind though, because as soon as he sat up the weight of the previous day came crashing into him and he immediately buried his face in his knees.

All he could see was the pain on Jongho's face, the few rare times he would even look at Wooyoung. It was mixed in with the sad look San gave him too before comforting him.

He was nothing but trouble for both of them... And all he had done was bring them pain.

Tears pooled in Wooyoung's eyes as he sniffed and rubbed his nose. He placed a hand on San's pillow.

It was cold, indicating that he had been awake for some time now.

Dreading what needed to happen next, Wooyoung pushed himself out of bed and sniffed once more.

He was still in his suit from the night before, but his jacket was draped over the back of a chair in the corner.

After picking it up, he walked slowly into the main area while keeping his head bowed.

He instantly heard the tapping of keys from a keyboard and his eyes flicked to the island in the kitchen.

San was sitting in one of the bar stools with his glasses perched on his nose and a hard look on his face. His lips were pursed in concentration and he hardly blinked.

Wooyoung was almost scared to make his presence known, but he knew he needed to just get this over with. So he cleared his throat and peered at San from under his eyelashes.

The older looked up at him and gave him a quick, small smile. "Good morning." He said before turning back to his laptop.

That was like a stab in the heart.

Wooyoung took a step back and swallowed. He knew his mind was taking him to places that he shouldn't be going, but that simple action felt like the loudest rejection. And to make it worse, now he didn't know what to do with himself.

He turned and looked at the elevator and was tempted to just walk over to it and leave without saying another word.

But then San let out a long sigh and closed his laptop while rubbing his temples. "Why are you just standing there?"

The words held an inquisitive tone behind them, but there was nothing harsh about it. Even so, Wooyoung bit his tongue and looked at the ground.

He heard the stool San was sitting on scrap against the floor and everything seized up to the point where he didn't think he could move a muscle.

"Hey, come on. Come sit down, you look like you're about to pass out." San wrapped an arm around Wooyoung's shoulder to guide him to the couch. "I need you to take a deep breath baby."

The younger tried to do so, but he still couldn't bring himself to look at San. Not after everything he had done.

And yet San was willing to sit there and rub his back and try to comfort him.

"Why?" He finally asked, although the word caught in his throat and it came out as more of a croak.

He felt San's hand stop on his back and it sat there for a second, then the comforting weight was gone.

San let out another long sigh before placing his elbows on his knees and bringing his fingers to his lips. "I know... That you must be in a lot of pain, or be confused... And to be honest I am too."

Here it comes... Wooyoung wrapped his arms around his stomach and closed his eyes.

"I guess for me, I didn't realize you were seeing someone else. I suspected things, because I'd notice your face light up sometimes when you received a text. But I never felt like it was my place to ask because we haven't been seeing each other very long." San paused. "For it to be Jongho, though..." He let out a nervous laugh and finally looked at Wooyoung. "It must be the blonde hair, right?"