Answer ||| Ateez

16

Wooyoung felt his entire body tremble as he waited for Seonghwa to respond. He knew he was risking everything by confessing his feelings, but he just couldn't stand it anymore. If Mercer was going to continue treating him like this, then he had to speak his mind at least once.

While he still had the chance...

Seonghwa opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, then lifted a hand to place it over Wooyoung's on his chest. "I... I don't..."

The younger felt his heart sink as the feeling of rejection started to fill him. He looked down and took a step back, pulling his hand away and letting it fall to his side. "It's ok... I just needed to say it. I've loved you for a long time, even before you even gave me the time of day or really noticed I was here. But I know you could never love me back..."

He started to turn around and walk away but suddenly he didn't know what to do. If he left the room hat meant going back to Mercer. If he stayed... that meant having to face Seonghwa and the humiliating moment he had just created.

Tears formed at the corner of his eyes. Wooyoung continued to twist the hem of Seonghwa's shirt in his hands and before he knew it, he had fallen to his knees.

It was hopeless.

He knew he was nothing. A nobody that would never know what it was like to be free from Mercer's control. He would always be a prisoner here.

Sobs tore from Wooyoung's throat once more, just like when he had been in the shower.

What had he done to deserve this?

"Wooyoung?" Seonghwa's voice cracked behind him and Wooyoung flinched at the sound.

"Just l-leave... I c-ca—" Wooyoung hiccuped and hid his face in his hands. "I can't do this anymore!"

Arms wrapped around him from behind and in a matter of seconds Seonghwa had pulled Wooyoung back into his chest. "It's ok." His voice still sounded strained and his arms were shaking too.

Part of Wooyoung wanted to push the older away and either yell at him or just run, but the other part is what had him readjusting his arms so that they were looped around Seonghwa's from the outside. He pressed his face forward so that Seonghwa's arm was covering his eyes and he continued to just bawl.

Right now he didn't know what else to do.

Everything had suddenly collapsed on him at once and it felt like there was no escape.

"It's going to be ok." Seonghwa kept whispering. He started to gently rock Wooyoung back and forth in a comforting motion. "We are going to figure this out."

Wooyoung wanted to believe him. He wanted to believe more than anything. But he knew that Seonghwa loved and looked up to his father... There was no way he would go against the man... He knew everything. He had grown up watching Mercer and Seonghwa train together, bonding, laughing, the proud looks Mercer would give him...

Mercer loved his son more than anything else, even if he had a hard time showing it sometimes. And Wooyoung knew the love was mutual.

So he stayed silent after getting control of himself and just tried to enjoy the moment. Although he couldn't even do that as much as he wanted to...

He could feel Seonghwa resting his forehead between his shoulder blades and every once in awhile the older would tighten his grip for a moment before relaxing again. It was obvious he was thinking about things, and Wooyoung longed to ask him about it.

But he couldn't...

He half expected Mercer to come storming in to resume beating him and blaming him for something he didn't do.