𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 | 𝖼.𝗌 𝗑 𝗃.𝗐

s̸e̸v̸e̸n̸

as they hurried back to wooyoung's apartment, san didn't say much. he just held the towel tightly to wooyoung's arm and walked quickly following the other boy's directions.

but as they closed the door behind them, san pulled his client in for a tight hug, forgetting the boundaries there was supposed to be between them. after a few seconds he stepped back and searched in the bag for the bandages he'd purchased at the pharmacy.

through the silence, wooyoung spoke. "san, I'm sorry"

"shhh. we have to stop you from bleeding" san replied, engrossed in opening the packet containing the bandage. "where's your bathroom?" he demanded to know.

"follow me" wooyoung whispered. this was probably the most embarrassed he'd ever felt. he felt stupid, so fucking stupid. that he actually hated himself enough to do this shit every night - and even more stupid that san was here cleaning up his mess.

after reaching the bathroom, san took the towel from the boy's arm and gasped audibly. it was bad. and this had also revealed the copious amount of other scars that littered his arm.

san paused but said nothing and then proceeded to clean the injury with some liquid he had also decided it might be wise to buy from the pharmacy. he did this and then bandaged it up carefully all without another word.

wooyoung was being a burden again. san must be so pissed he has to spend his free time doing this. what an idiot he was.

after tying a firm knot in the bandage, san took a deep breath. "wooyoung..."

"you can leave now" wooyoung offered. "I'm sorry"

"didn't you hear me? I'm not leaving you. or at least... I know you don't know me well so... I'm not leaving until you call yunho"

"I'm not bothering yunho with this"

"then I'm staying"

wooyoung looked awkwardly at san. why was he so bothered about what happened to wooyoung? he barely knew him.

"what happened to cause this?" san wanted to know.

"nothing"

san sighed "you can trust me, wooyoung. I know you might find it hard to trust, that's understandable. especially after changbin..."

wooyoung cringed at the word "changbin" as san continued, "but I want to be here for you"

"you barely know me" wooyoung pointed out the obvious. he was right, san thought. but wooyoung already had some kind of hold on him.

"but I'm your therapist, it's my job to care for you..." san thought for a second. "if you really want me to leave, I will..."

wooyoung was embarrassed, granted. but the thought of being alone with his thoughts after what he'd discovered today made him feel sick to his stomach. "no...no... it's cool" he replied, playing it off like it didn't matter either way.

"then let's go sit down, woo. I'll make you a drink" san nicknamed wooyoung like it was the most casual thing in the world but inside he felt like it was probably super weird. regardless, wooyoung smiled at the name and exited the bathroom.

-----

as san set a freshly made coffee down on the table, he scanned wooyoung for any change in demeanor. he was trying to scope out whether wooyoung was ready to talk or not yet.

"I like your place" san began, "it's super cosy"

"you mean it's small" wooyoung let out a small laugh which made san do a double-take. he felt glad wooyoung was seemingly in slightly higher spirits than an hour ago.

"I do not mean that!" he protested before he made his face more serious. "woo, if you're ready, please tell me if something happened today. you seemed a little happier when I saw you earlier"

"I told you I do this every night regardless of whether something happens or not"

san knew that very well.

"but, this... this is bad"

wooyoung looked to the floor. he knew it was worse than usual to be fair to san.

"something happened, didn't it?" san pressed.

"changbin has a new boyfriend" wooyoung replied.

san tried to push down the fleeting feeling of jealousy that wooyoung was still hung up over his ex-boyfriend. "you saw him?"

"no, I saw it on instagram"

san nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry, woo"

"I didn't deserve him anyway"

"no, you deserve someone better than him"

wooyoung scoffed in disagreement.

"do you not realise that he was not good for you? he was selfish, arrogant..." san realised just how jealous he was sounding right now. he reverted back to his therapist persona as he continued, "I'm just saying, for someone like you, you need someone who is patient, kind, caring"

"like you" wooyoung said in his head. but out loud, he simply said, "maybe".

"you're worth way more than you could imagine"

"you're the only person in the world who thinks so. do you think the parents of that little girl think so?!" wooyoung's voice raised slightly and tears began to form in his eyes. "looking back now, I can't actually believe I managed to keep changbin as long as I did" he continued with tears swimming in his eyes.

san reached out to touch wooyoung's hand which was resting on his thigh. "please don't cry, woo. you don't need him. I promise - one day you will realise your worth"

"that will never happen"

"it will, because I will make you see it" san said passionately. he moved closer to wooyoung as he looked into his eyes which were shining with tears.

wooyoung leaned back on the couch as tears began to fall down his cheeks. mirroring his actions, san also leaned back but kept his hand on wooyoung's. before he knew it, wooyoung was resting his head on san's shoulder as the tears kept coming.

san proceeded to rub wooyoung's hand to comfort him as he heard wooyoung whimpering next to him. his heart was truly breaking for the boy, he just wanted to wrap him up in a tight hug again until he stopped crying. but even though it became increasingly harder, he tried to show an air of professionalism. so he just sat patiently and let wooyoung cry into his shoulder.

"shhh" he soothed after a while.

"I can't do it anymore"

"don't you say that, wooyoung. I told you I'm going to help you and I will if it takes 1000 years"

"why?!"

"because I can see everything you are, everything that you cannot"