There is slight mentions of cheating, while also written topics about drinking, relapsing via alcohol, and confrontation/yelling. Please do not read any further if these topics are sensitive to you.

⸻✧ ༺ ∞ ༻ ✧⸻

In the midst of watching a movie with Yunho, Yeosang and Jongho had decided to join, sitting down on the opposite, smaller sofa, sitting closely, but not enough to be considered cuddling. Wooyoung was internally curious about how their morning run had gone, and if their relationship was smoothing out. But he'd have to wait, considering the movie wasn't even close to over. Wooyoung was leaning into San, nearly laying down, legs bent at the knees to avoid imposing on Yunho's space on the other end of the couch. San's hand rested on Wooyoung's hip, smoothing soft circles on his body delicately, moving up his sides and back down, extending to the middle of his thigh before resting back on his hip. Wooyoung couldn't describe how desperately close he wanted to be with San right now, but he knew San wouldn't complain. He usually always craved some type of intimacy, but the unspoken type of intimacy was everything he had been craving the last hour. It was healing, to say the least.

The front door suddenly opens again. Only Yeosang and Jongho turn to look, spotting Seonghwa and Hongjoong finally coming home.

"Jesus," Seonghwa huffs. "I thought we'd be the only ones back."

"We only went for a run," Yeosang mentions, watching as the pair take off their shoes before heading towards the living space. "Woosan have been here the whole time."

"Oh?" Seonghwa peers down at the couple laid together on the couch, watching as San turns to glance at him.

"We were too tired to do anything. Lazing around seems like a good way to spend quality time, don't you think?"

"Valid." Hongjoong mutters as he approaches also, hand resting on Seonghwa's lower back. "We went to a street market and the beach downtown. It's a nice walk into town."

"Where's Mingi?" Seonghwa infers quietly, earning a glance from Yunho, who stays silent.

"He's been out back for an hour." San says quietly. "Hasn't said anything to us."

"I kind of want to go into the pool again," Yeosang mentions out of nowhere, earning a glance from nearly everyone. "It's the last day for us to do that before we head back into town, where it's cold as shit."

"That is true." Wooyoung adds in. San turns his gaze onto Wooyoung, almost slightly confused, but he wouldn't bother to ask about Wooyoung's change in demeanor as long as he was happy.

"I agree." Jongho gets off of the couch, taking a few steps before turning to Yeosang. "Coming?"

Wooyoung watches Yeosang curiously, watching as a smile curls on his lips easily.

"Yeah." Yeosang rises off the couch and follows Jongho without hesitance, disappearing into the hallway towards their room. Yunho turns to face Seonghwa and Hongjoong, almost on the verge of saying something, but he ultimately decides not to. San watches him sadly, wondering about what he was struggling to say, but also wondering why he was struggling to say it.

Wooyoung sits upright, leaning away from San's touch as he scoots closer slightly, leaning towards San's ear.

"You should come swim with me." Wooyoung smiles at him, watching San take a contemplating breath with a small smile. "Come with me, jagi. Please?"

"I'm gonna go talk to Mingi first," San responds quietly, only enough for Wooyoung to hear, listening as Seonghwa and Hongjoong also turn to walk away. "I'll meet you outside."

Wooyoung readily nods at him, pressing a kiss to San's cheek before rising up and off of the couch, walking towards the hall and into their room.

"Yunho?" San asks quietly, now noticing that it was just the two of them within the living space.

"Hm?"

"I'm gonna go and try to talk to Mingi," San says timidly, watching Yunho's expression for any sign of hesitance or nervousness. "Is there anything you want me to ask him?"

"No, not in particular. Just. . . tell him to come talk to me in our room when he's calm. We have to smooth things out before we go home."

"I'll mention that." San leans away from the back of the couch, reaching for the remote and tossing it over to Yunho, who catches it easily. "I'll be back."

"Thank you, Sannie." Yunho smiles weakly, and San smiles back.

"You don't have to thank me." San assures as he heads away from the couch and towards the back door. Admittedly, he is a bit nervous about discussing Mingi and Yunho's situation as an outsider, but if it smoothed out the rips and tears of their relationship, San would do it again in a heartbeat.

San opens the back door, walking outside and peering around the immediate space, but catching no sight of Mingi at first glance. He walks around the pool, past the tanning chairs and towards the edge of the yard, still without sight of Mingi.

With a defeated breath, he heads down the wooden, sandy steps to make his way towards the beach, eyes wandering across the horizon line as he studies the calm waves. If Mingi was going to be anywhere, he would be down here. San was adamant in thinking so.

"Come looking for me?" Mingi suddenly asks from a few feet down the beach, settled in a white chair with sunglasses covering his eyes. San stops in his path, standing at the bottom of the steps as he looks towards Mingi, trying to remain expressionless.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"You're you. You always do this kind of shit."

"Right." San spots a free seat next to Mingi, and he decides to take it, wiping off the bottom to free the chair of any leftover sand. "Tell me what happened."

"Straight to the point?" Mingi doesn't bother to look at San, too focused on the waves.

"Yeah. After consoling your best fucking friend twice in less than twenty-four hours, I want to know what the hell happened between the two of you. I've never seen the two of you argue like this."

"I'm sure he's told you what happened." Mingi frowns. "Do you just want me to admit it?"

"Tell me whatever you want, Mingi. As long as it's the truth."

"We slept together and we kissed like three times or something, I don't know. I thought that it all meant nothing, since most of what had happened was when we were drunk. Yunho told me that he has feelings for me, and I told him that I can't be in a relationship."

"Can't? Or won't be in one?"

"Why are you asking me that?" Mingi turns to look at San, who was looking back at him unamusingly.

"Because I think you're full of shit. Hyeon broke up with you, I get that. But you would never cheat on someone you're with. That isn't like you, regardless of how many drinks you had. You're also a fucking bartender. You can hold your drinks a lot better than most people. So, sorry if I'm a little harsh in saying this, Mingi, but I don't believe a fucking word you say when you sit here and try to tell me that having drunk sex with Yunho meant nothing. You knew what you were doing because a part of you wanted it." San watches Mingi's jaw tighten, gaze slowly turning away to face back towards the waves. San allows for a moment of silence before speaking again. "Am I right?"

"You don't have any right to talk to me like that."

"Man, do not fucking push me out, Mingi. I know you. We've been friends for over a decade. We grew up together, don't you forget. I was in the same boat as you, okay? I was in love with Wooyoung for years, and I kept it to myself because I was afraid of being rejected. But, do you know what solved my problem? Do you know how we ended up together?"

"How is this relevant?" Mingi drawls.

"Stop it. You know how it's relevant." San leans back into his chair, rubbing his hands over his thighs, willing himself to relax. He didn't want to be so mean to Mingi, but San knew Mingi would only hear him out with an act of tough-love. "We talked. I heard him out, he heard me out. And guess what? He loved me too. He was scared that our dynamic was going to change too much and that our friends would hate us together like this. But he realized that none of that mattered as long as we had each other."

"I can't be with him." Mingi admits coldly, but San isn't phased.

"Tell me why."

"I just can't, okay? Is that fucking good enough for you?" Mingi snaps suddenly, but San remains still, listening to Mingi voice the frustrations San so desperately willed to pull out of him.

"Nope. It's not. We're not gonna stop talking until you're fucking honest with me."

"God, you're fucking irritating." Mingi huffs, crossing his arms against his chest.

"If you're not going to be honest with me, then you better go inside and be honest to Yunho. He deserves it. He deserves to know why you're being such a dick."

"How the fuck do you expect me to tell him that I don't feel the same?"

Silence. San turns his gaze to Mingi with wide eyes, heart thumping against his chest. This wasn't the confession he was expecting to hear, and now he fully understands Mingi's hesitance in talking to Yunho. Their entire friendship was at stake now, and from the sounds of it, their entire dynamic was at stake the moment they had slept together. But. . . why didn't Mingi deny wanting to sleep with Yunho? None of this made any sense to San, but it wasn't his mess to put together and clean up. He was just trying to convince both parties to talk to one another and fix it on their own. But after this, San isn't sure if there was any possible way to salvage whatever was left.

"I-"

"Right. That's what I thought." Mingi's head tilts down with a sigh. San watches him with a pain in his chest. Why did it feel like this god forsaken beach house did nothing except tear their group apart? Why did he even agree to come here? Why? Why? Why?!

"You need to tell him that." San settles for after taking a deep breath. "You can't leave him in this fog of not knowing how you feel and where your relationship stands. He needs to know."

"I can't bring myself to tell him. We fucking live together, San. I can't afford to move out right now and I really don't want to stop being friends with him."

"Express that to him, but be honest with him. He's probably going to be upset, but he can always come stay at my place. Wooyoung won't mind. We're packing and shit right now, so he might appreciate the company when I'm gone or in class. There's several options and outcomes to this, but it all depends on your actions, Mingi."

"I'll talk with him tonight." Mingi says quietly, toying with his hands intermittently. San lets a silence hang over them comfortably, listening as the waves crash into shore to fill the aching void. San knows there's no good ending to all of this, but even still, Mingi had to be honest with Yunho, even if it tore them apart.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." San admits. "I don't mean to be hard on you, but I didn't know if you'd listen to me otherwise."

"No, it's okay. I don't fault you for it." Mingi turns his gaze to San, pushing his sunglasses up so they rest on the top of his head. Mingi's eyes were red as if he were about to start crying, or that he had just gotten done crying. Either way, there was hope of Mingi shedding some sort of sadness for the situation as a whole.

"Promise me that you'll talk to him tonight."

"I will. You can beat my ass or whatever if I don't. I don't care."

"I'll hold you to it." San sighs as he gets out of his chair, looking at the waves again. "There's a bunch of us going swimming, so. . . feel free to join us. No one else knows about you and Yunho. Just Wooyoung and myself."

"Okay." Mingi nods, glancing up at San. "I'll follow in a minute. Just kind of want time to think about everything."

"Sure. Take the time you need." San reaches over and gently taps Mingi's shoulder a few times, almost a silent way of reassuring him. Mingi half-smiles at him before looking away, leaning back into his seat. San turns on his heel and leaves, moving towards the steps as he leaves Mingi alone on the beach.

"Sannie," Wooyoung hums in the kitchen, swimming trunks on his waist with a black tee covering his torso. San smiles at him as he walks inside and closes the door behind him, wandering over to the kitchen island where Wooyoung was sitting next to Yeosang.

"Hi jagi." San wraps an arm around the back of Wooyoung's counter stool, his other hand coming up to press beneath Wooyoung's chin, tilting his head up to kiss him chastely. "Why aren't you swimming yet?"

"Catching up with Yeosang." Wooyoung smiles with a slight tilt to his head as San's hand falls away from his chin. "Also waiting for you."

"Well I'm here now," San hums, looking up to see Seonghwa and Hongjoong entering into the kitchen space. "Let me change really quickly, then we can swim."

"I'll come with you. I've gotta tell you something." Wooyoung moves out of his chair readily, and San doesn't protest. If it was about Yeosang and Jongho, then he surely wanted to know what Wooyoung had found out.

San leads the younger into the hall, listening to his friends laugh about something in the kitchen as they reach their bedroom door, pushing it open.

"What's so important-" San begins to say, turning on his heel as Wooyoung presses close to him, chest to chest, pressing a deep kiss to San's lips. San melts easily into the intensity of the kiss, humming contently as Wooyoung threads a hand through his hair and settles his other hand on the back of his neck.

"Jagi-" San mutters between feverish kisses, feeling Wooyoung push him backwards towards the bed. San's legs greet the edge of the mattress as Wooyoung's hands move to his shoulders, pushing him down onto the bed as he scrambles to straddle San.

"Be quiet, Sannie," Wooyoung says with a breath, kissing San's jaw and throat, hips steadily beginning to move forwards and back.

"Woo," San's breath hitches, hands quickly moving to Wooyoung's waist. He wasn't sure what the intention was behind any of this, and as much as he didn't want to deny Wooyoung for a second time at having sex, now really did not seem like keen timing.

He knew Wooyoung was dying to remain close to him, seeming unusually clingy after their argument, and San can really only boil it down to one thing: Wooyoung wanted to be as close as possible after feeling like he was so close to losing him. San didn't blame him, mainly because he could envision himself doing the same thing. But all of this felt like inappropriate timing.

"Wooyoung." San says adamantly, feeling the younger's assault on his neck pause suddenly. Wooyoung looks up at him, hips steadying to a halt as he looks down worriedly. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

Wooyoung dejectedly looks down, leaning back slightly. San could tell that his feelings were hurt, but he remains nearly unsure as to why. "It's not you."

"Okay," San says softly. "What happened?"

"I just-" Wooyoung's hands tumble to San's shirt, messing with the hem and fabric of it. "I wanted you. I'm sorry if I'm pressuring you into something you don't want."

"Baby, I always want you. But I don't think you're in the right headspace for this right now. There's been a lot of stuff happening between us and everyone else. Are you sure that you're okay?"

"I don't know." San can see a hint of sadness laced behind his russet hues, and for a second, he feels his heart ache. San uses his elbows to help himself sit upright, one arm swinging around to hold Wooyoung on his lap as he sits up, nearly chest to chest with the younger. Wooyoung watches him curiously, but can't seem to hide the upset expression plaguing his face.

San would give him everything, but this wasn't the right time. Their friends were waiting for them and would be expecting them back any minute, not to mention that the door was still wide open.

"No more hiding things, remember?" San hums quietly, gazing into Wooyoung's eyes, searching for a hint of anything. "Please tell me."

"I just crave being close to you right now." Wooyoung admits softly, leaning forward to press his forehead against San's with his eyes closed. San remains quiet, patient; hoping that the silence will encourage Wooyoung to keep talking. "I think a part of me was worried. . . that I couldn't have you again, so I don't know- I wanted you or whatever I could have of you. I wanted to be close to you and to kiss you and to touch you."

"I had a feeling it was that," San holds Wooyoung tighter, running one hand down his spine in a soothing drag. "Do you think that there's a part of you that's worried that I'm going to leave you when we get home?"

Wooyoung nods, chewing the inside of his cheek. "I'm being annoying about all of this, aren't I?"

"No, love." San takes a breath, knowing that Wooyoung's anxiety must be destroying him from the inside right now, and possibly this entire morning. "You can't help it. I don't mind reassuring you over this."

"Okay." Wooyoung leans away, sneaking his hands beneath San's shirt, seeking skin. San doesn't protest, sitting there and smiling at his partner, allowing Wooyoung to take whatever he needed from him within reason.

"You're allowed to touch me and kiss me all you want, you know you don't have to ask. I don't want you thinking too much into me saying no to all of this right now, though. Let's go swim and enjoy the last day here before we go back home tomorrow, hm?"

"Mhm."

"I promise you that we're okay and that I love you."

Wooyoung smiles at him, and San smiles right back at him. "I love you."

"Let me change and then we can go in the pool." San rubs Wooyoung's hips with small circles using his thumbs, watching as Wooyoung begins to lean away from him. San holds him still, just for a moment, only long enough for San to lean forward and kiss him reassuringly. Wooyoung smiles against him, kissing him back, then moves off of his lap.

They might need time to feel the trust heal between them, but San would wait an eternity for Wooyoung, and Wooyoung would remain patient for San. Trust can be rebuilt, slowly but surely, and Wooyoung would do anything to rebuild what he had broken.

"Seonghwa!" Wooyoung yells, ducking behind San for cover as Seonghwa and Hongjoong loom closer, arms outstretched, clearly prepared to dunk Wooyoung beneath the surface of the water like he had so graciously done to the both of them two minutes ago. "PLEASE!"

"Nope." Seonghwa smiles, shaking his head, water dripping down the sides of his face. "No mercy for you."

"San'ah!" Wooyoung pleads, hands gripping onto San's shoulders tightly, head ducked behind San's neck.

San shares a glance with Hongjoong and Seonghwa both, smiling mischievously, watching as both of his friends glance at him with a curious gaze. Suddenly, San ducks down, pulling himself beneath the surface of the water, leaving Wooyoung exposed. Wooyoung shrieks, laughing nervously as he tries to back away, but Hongjoong pounces over to him, grabbing his shoulders as Seonghwa moves around San. San breaches the surface of the water, pushing wet strands of hair out of his face as he turns around to see Seonghwa fake-punching Wooyoung's chest, hair still dripping with water as he seeks revenge on his best friend. Wooyoung laughs like an idiot, a smile beamed across his lips as Hongjoong holds him in place, somehow telling Seonghwa to try and have mercy on him.

"He gets it, Hwa." Hongjoong laughs, letting Wooyoung's shoulders go and moving to grab one of Seonghwa's wrists. "He knows he's guilty."

"I'll find you." Seonghwa threatens teasingly, but as San strides over, everyone turns to glance at him. Wooyoung smiles at him at first, then realizes the intent laced within his eyes.

"Sannie?"

"They might have mercy on you," San says with a breath. "I won't."

"Wha-?" Wooyoung's eyes widened with surprise as San pushed him beneath the surface of the water by his shoulders. San immediately lets go once Wooyoung was under, watching as Wooyoung rises back up almost instantly. He takes an inward breath of sharp air, looking at San with fake anger, eyes lidded, water dripping off of his hair and down his face.

Seonghwa and Hongjoong were laughing, clearly enjoying picking on their younger friend and watching as his own boyfriend joined in on their revenge. San wasn't in it for their benefit, however, he just really wanted to tease Wooyoung.

"I hate you." Wooyoung mutters with a curling smile, and San rolls his eyes, brushing Wooyoung's hair out of his face.

"I'm sure you do. You deserved that though."

Wooyoung pouts. "You're mean to me."

"Yeah, yeah." San wades closer to him, leaning down slightly to run his hands down the back of his thighs, pressing his fingers into the skin there as Wooyoung catches on and wraps his arms around San's neck. Instinctually, Wooyoung jumps up, San's hands catching him carefully as he holds the male against him, Wooyoung's legs wrapped around his waist as San holds onto him. It was a wordless apology for dunking his beloved under the water, not that Wooyoung seemed to care that much anyway, but San knew that Wooyoung would appreciate the closeness regardless.

Wooyoung shamelessly giggles into the crook of San's neck, turning his head to face Seonghwa and sticking his tongue out, somehow feeling like he was safe from anyone else's teasing.

"You guys are gross." Yeosang yells from across the pool, sitting on a pool float, sunglasses pushed up as he glares at Wooyoung jokingly.

Wooyoung raises his head and smiles at Yeosang, doing the only normal thing he could think of; kissing his boyfriend to only add to their disgusting PDA. Yeosang audibly groans while Seonghwa laughs, and Wooyoung separates from the kiss with a hum.

"Yunho! Get your ass in this pool!" Yeosang yells again, leaning up on his float just barely. Yunho sits on the edge of the pool, feet dangling into the water as he watches all of the chaos unfold from his friends. He shrugs, muttering something close to why not under his breath before shedding his gray tee and tossing it aside, lowering himself into the water without a wince.

"Yeosang!" Wooyoung yells, earning the elder's attention back on to himself. "Get your fucking boyfriend in this pool!"

Yeosang rolls his eyes, searching around the edge of the pool for Jongho, but the male was seemingly nowhere to be found. "Let me go find him."

Yeosang hops off of his float, sinking his legs and waist into the water before heading towards the stairs, walking out with water seeping from his trunks. Seonghwa immediately runs for the float, placing his arms and torso across it when he reaches it. He struggles for a moment, trying his best to hop on top of the float before Hongjoong comes up behind him and helps him on to it.

Float officially stolen, Seonghwa lays back, an arm laid over his eyes as he lets the sun rain down on his skin, smiling mischievously. Hongjoong keeps a hand on the float, almost as if he was keeping Seonghwa from drifting away, otherwise looking over his shoulder at Mingi, who rested in a tanning chair not too far away from the steps of the pool.

Yunho and Mingi hadn't spoken a single word to one another since everyone gathered around the pool, almost blissfully ignoring each other. Wooyoung had noticed it readily, but didn't bother to mention it.

"Young'ah?" San asks quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Did you talk to Yeosang?"

"Oh! Yeah, I did." Wooyoung turns to look at San, leaning backwards slightly. "Apparently, all Jongho needed was a three mile run to confess what was actually wrong. Yeosang said he didn't have any intentions of talking about anything if Jongho didn't want to, but Jongho just started talking and apparently couldn't stop talking."

"He did mention to me that he found it hard to communicate, and that seemed to be the downfall of his relationship in his eyes."

"When did he say that?"

"When you were playing cup pong with Yeosang last night. Jongho and I were watching the both of you, and he explained that to me. He did seem to be coming clean about his emotions just barely, which is more than I've ever gotten from him in years."

"Yeosang said he wanted to cry at how honest Jongho was being." Wooyoung watches San's eyes widen slightly. He smiles at him. "Their talk went well. Yeosang says that he still needs to work on forgiving Jongho for how he treated him, but they seem to be on the path to rebuilding their relationship."

"Ah, thank god." San nearly breathes with relief, feeling Wooyoung lean back into him. San settles into the water comfortably, bending his knees just like how he had yesterday, letting Wooyoung sit down on his lap beneath the surface of the water. Wooyoung hangs onto him, clinging to him like a koala, humming contently as he leans into the crook of his neck.

"I don't think Mingi and Yunho are going to fix their problems, Wooyoung." San says quietly, presently aware of Yunho being a few feet away from him as he spoke to Seonghwa. Wooyoung suddenly grows tense, and San almost immediately feels bad. He drags a hand down Wooyoung's back soothingly, voice dropping lower into a whisper. "I don't think there's anything we can do to fix it."

"Does Mingi not love him or something?" Wooyoung asks softly. San sighs, nodding his head just barely.

"That's exactly the problem. Mingi was refusing to be honest at first. I kind of yelled at him about it."

"San'ah-" Wooyoung playfully gasps quietly.

"I know, I know. I shouldn't have done that, but. . . he needed to know that what he did was not okay."

"Well, knowing you, you apologized. Didn't you?"

"Of course I did." San rolls his eyes as he listens to Wooyoung giggle against his skin, pressing a few featherlight kisses to his shoulder and neck.

"You have such a big heart. You're just a softie."

"Well, I cherish all of my friends. You know that. But I'm only a softie for you." San says pointedly, listening to Wooyoung giggle again.

"Mhm. Sure, Sannie."

"I found him!" Yeosang announces as he marches back outside, hand holding on to Jongho's wrist as he pulls the male into the sunlight. Yeosang has a smile curled onto his lips, that is, until he glances down and spots Seonghwa on his float, and he immediately frowns.

"HWA!" Yeosang grimaces, stalking towards the pool with Jongho on his heels.

"You moved. It was fair game." Seonghwa shrugs, smiling still. Hongjoong glances away, unwilling to either defend his partner or Yeosang, refusing to plant himself in the middle. He may be the eldest of the eight of them, but he was not about to diffuse an argument either way.

"You suck." Yeosang rolls his eyes as he sinks back into the pool. "You're lucky I'm not mean enough to roll the float over and dunk you back into the water."

"If you did that, I'd kill you." Seonghwa leans upright onto his elbows, making a point to glare at Yeosang slightly. Yeosang laughs, shrugging.

The rest of the day melts into the evening. The group messes around in the pool for another two hours, playing some interesting pool games before deciding everyone was hungry for dinner. After a shower and a change of clothes, everyone found themselves settled in the living space. Wooyoung was still insistent on remaining close to San, so they settled in the large armchair, Wooyoung sat in San's lap with his arm slung around his shoulders. Yeosang and Jongho were cuddled on the smaller sofa, while Seonghwa and Hongjoong sat closely next to one another on the main couch. Mingi and Yunho had disappeared into their room, presumably to talk. They never said why, not that the group openly questioned them to begin with, but Wooyoung and San both knew what they were doing.

They were all mindlessly watching a horror movie of some sort, one that Yeosang claimed to be interesting, but Wooyoung wasn't that into the movie. The storyline was slightly dramatic, the actors moreso, but the killer wasn't all that interesting. San seemed enthralled enough, eyes glued to the television with his hand resting on Wooyoung's hip.

Wooyoung was melting into San's touch, nosing into San's neck and breathing him in comfortably, letting a sense of contentment wash over his skin. He was tired, emotionally so, given how much his brain went into overdrive this morning. He was thankful that everything had worked itself out, finally settling into a sense of peace. It's all Wooyoung could've asked for, given the situation they had dealt with. Even if he still was a little anxious about the whole thing, he decided to let it go. San had reassured him time and time again today, and now all he wanted to do was to be close with him. Any sense of touch or comfort he could pull from San, he would take, only if San was willing to give.

Another hour passes, Wooyoung clinging onto San still, eating their dinner and finishing the movie without complaint. Before they realize it, each couple saunters off to bed one-by-one, leaving Wooyoung and San to head into their room last.

Wooyoung practically flops into bed, colliding into his pillow with an exhausted huff. After a few hours spent swimming, and a few more crying, his body was ready to fall into a state of sleep.

"Long day?" San asks curiously, even if he knew the answer to it.

"The longest." Wooyoung sighs, rolling onto his back, sliding his legs beneath the comforter as San sits down on the bed. San was facing away from him, reading something on his phone for a moment, and Wooyoung feels guilt pool in his abdomen. "Can I tell you something?"

San turns over his shoulder, blinking at him before putting his phone down on the bedside table, swinging his legs onto the bed properly. "Go ahead."

"Before you say anything-" Wooyoung watches San's eyes flick towards him as he rolls onto his side, now facing him. "Let me just. . . talk for a second. I need to get it off my chest."

A look of concern floods San's expression, but he just nods, listening devotedly.

"I know you told me to stop apologizing and to stop feeling guilty, but I don't think I'm ever going to be saying sorry enough. I don't think I'm ever going to stop apologizing for this. I want to get better again, and I want to be better for you. I want to be a better partner to you. I hate that you're always cleaning up my mess without complaint, and even now, you've forgiven me so easily for what I did. I'm gonna make some changes to myself, San'ah. I don't ever want to put you through anything like this ever again."

San waits for a moment before he speaks, making sure that Wooyoung had said all that he wanted to. "I forgive you."

Wooyoung takes a breath of relief, slightly smiling, turning to his side also. "Thank you, jagi."

"C'mere." San holds his arms open, waiting for Wooyoung to press against his chest. Wooyoung scoots closer, wrapping his arms around San comfortably. "Can I say something now, too?"

"Mhm."

"I forgive you because I love you. There's nothing more to it. The road ahead is probably going to be hard, and I would not leave you to deal with that alone. I won't lie to you and say that I'm not hurt by all of it, but I can deal with my feelings on my own. I'm always going to be worried about you, and I will do my best to be there for you whenever you need me. You know I'd move mountains if I could for you, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, we're fine. I still love you as much as I did before, I promise you that. You're mine, okay?"

"Mhm." Wooyoung presses a kiss to San's chest. "You're mine, too."

Wooyoung felt a slight weight drift away from his shoulders after they had talked to hell and back about his relapse. He didn't think it was possible for him to love San more than he already had, but after listening to San reassure him all day long and remain so patient, Wooyoung determines that he needs a stronger word for love to describe how he felt about him. He just hoped that this happiness and this comfort would carry him until the stress of their move was over so he could begin his new chapter with San.