SEEKING FOR YOU. wsn ✓

1.2

A WEEK BEFORE SAN AND WOOYOUNG MET

yeosang dragged wooyoung to the principal's office. wooyoung groaned but refrained from complaining. wooyoung doesn't like talking, but yeosang understood what wooyoung wanted to say.

"oh, shut up, you big idiot. you have to go to school someday! come on, you're going to be fine. you got me here." yeosang said, trying to convince wooyoung. wooyoung looked at his mom for help, but his mom smiled at him.

"yeosang is right, woo. i can't homeschool you forever. plus, i think it will be good for you to meet more people and maybe some friends too!" mrs jung said, smiling softly at her son. wooyoung was shy growing up, he never really liked talking, which resulted in bullying. so mrs jung decided to homeschool wooyoung when he turned 8.

mrs jung enjoyed homeschooling wooyoung. wooyoung was a great student and of course, she just loved teaching her son. yeosang and wooyoung were friends since they were children. mrs kang and mrs jung were really good friends, which allowed yeosang to be best friends with wooyoung. she was glad that wooyoung and yeosang become friends, or else wooyoung would have no one except for her, which is not what mrs jung wants.

"ms jung seunri and mr jung wooyoung?" the principal's secretary said and gestured them to go into the principal's office. yeosang gave wooyoung a thumbs up before sitting back down, ignoring the principal's secretary's request for him to go back to his classes.

the principal saw the mother and son coming in and smiled, "please, have a seat. i'm kim jaeyoung, you can call me mr kim. so, mrs jung, you want to enrol your child into our school?"

mrs jung nodded. mr kim hummed and nodded, "it won't be a problem. the only thing i'm concerned about is..."

my selective mutism. wooyoung thought. but what came out of mr kim's mouth was different.

"his progress. i'm afraid he won't be able to catch up with curricular. i am aware that you homeschooled wooyoung personally, but the school's curricular is different from the usual. we focus more on experiencing the textbooks physically than just reading them at class." mr kim frowned.

mrs jung nodded, indicating that she understands. "i think wooyoung can adapt to new environments real quick. he's good at adapting. there's one more thing i'm concerned about, though, mr kim."

mr kim smiled at wooyoung with sympathy, which made wooyoung scoff inside. he had so many people just looking at him or smile at him with sympathy it got annoying. wooyoung doesn't need sympathy for others, it was as if he had a choice. it was as if the selective mutism wasn't inherited from his mom's side of relatives. it was as if he had a choice to choose from when he didn't.

"you'll be fine in our school, wooyoung," mr kim assured, "i will make sure no one bullies or even attempts to bully you. if you've seen some data, mrs jung, our school has the least amount of bullying cases in our area. your child is safe with us."

mrs jung looked at mr kim, then back at wooyoung, "you're going to tell me if anything happens, won't you?" wooyoung nodded, a small smile on his lips. mrs jung smiled back and faced the principal, "okay. where do i sign?"

—

"you're in?" yeosang jumped up when the jungs came out of the principal's office. wooyoung smiled at yeosang, nodding. yeosang's face lit up and he immediately went over to hug wooyoung.

mrs jung chuckled at the boys' interaction. yeosang always acted like an older brother to wooyoung, always protecting him and assuring him that he'll be fine. yeosang never hesitated to put himself between the bullies and wooyoung, he even earned a few bruises from protecting wooyoung.

"wooyoung will be going to school next monday, which isn't far away from now. you'll be with him the entire time, won't you, yeosang?" mrs jung asked.

yeosang nodded, "as long as woo has the same timetable as i do, then i'll be with him for the whole 9 hours of school. no worries, mrs jung!"

mrs jung smiled at the boy, "now go back to class. i don't want to see you skipping classes again or i'll tell your mom the second my foot leaves the campus." mrs jung threatened. yeosang's smile disappeared and he instantly grabbed his backpack off the seat he was sitting on.

"bye, mrs jung. bye, woo. see you on monday!" he yelled as he scrambled off to the next lesson since the bell rung. just before wooyoung was going to go with his mom, he tripped off something. a boy in front of him helped him up, asking him, "are you alright?"

wooyoung's eyes widened, but nodded his head. the boy that helped him smiled at wooyoung, showing him his perfect dimples, "you're not from here, are you?" wooyoung nodded.

"san! come on, we're gonna be late!" another voice yelled through the hallway.

'san' looked back at wooyoung, "see you around, i guess!"

wooyoung looked at the boy's back, confused about literally everything.

—

wooyoung plopped onto his bed once he got back home. his mother told him lunch would be ready in about ten minutes, so he decided to take a quick nap.

wooyoung's thoughts kept on going back to the boy with dimples. something about him was so peculiar and strange, but that only made wooyoung want to know him better. perhaps he could meet him properly on monday when he needs to meet everyone in his homeroom.

wooyoung's never been in a homeroom before, and the thought of being in one excites him. will he be in the same homeroom as yeosang? or will he be in the same homeroom as the dimple boy? wooyoung groaned at himself: why is everything so complicated?

"wooyoung, lunch's ready!" his mother yelled from the kitchen.

"i'm coming, mom!" he yelled back.

sometimes, wooyoung hoped he wasn't a selective mute. sometimes, he wants to yell at the top of his lungs whenever, wherever. sometimes, he just wants to let it all out with one yell.

but this stupid anxiety just takes over him the second the thought of yelling in public hits him. the thought goes away just as quickly as it comes. and wooyoung hates it. he hates how he's so scared of having people judging him. he hates how he's scared of social life in general. he hates that he is a selective mute.

but he just bares with it, like how he did when his father left, or when his uncle and aunts look down on him as if he's an alien of some sorts. he bares with it even though he hates it because he knows hating it isn't going to make it go away.

he sat down and rolled up his sleeves, his eyes catching on the inked words on his left wrist. he frowned.

"wooyoung, is something wrong?" his mother asked. wooyoung shook his head slowly, "nothing's wrong, mom."

but something was very wrong. his wrist, it's starting to itch. it's particularly itchy where the words are. where the words are you alright? resides.