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

at those words, wooyoung stopping crying and looked up to the elder. no one had ever said anything like that about him before. not even changbin.

but at that moment, they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"do you want me to get that?" san asked.

"no, I'll go" replied wooyoung, wiping the tears from his face.

san shuffled awkwardly in his seat: it would look super weird if anyone found wooyoung's therapist in his home.

"woo - are you okay?"

the voice that came from the door sounded like it was someone wooyoung was very familiar with which made san a little nervous. he heard wooyoung mumble something and then invite the guest in.

"oh... sorry, I didn't know you had company" the boy said as he neared san.

"yunho, this is my... urm, therapist, dr. choi" wooyoung explained hesitantly.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" yunho replied with a small smirk.

"no, I was just leaving" said san, noticing the frown that became evident on wooyoung's face.

"I'll come see you out" he offered.

when the pair were out of earshot of yunho, wooyoung spoke. "you don't have to leave, it's not as if you're my teacher and I'm fifteen"

"I know, but you need time alone with your friend. I'll see you for our next session next monday"

"wait!" wooyoung exclaimed, "I haven't paid you"

"it's cool" san replied. "by the way, here's my card. ring me before you do anything like this again - please"

and then he disappeared down the driveway leaving wooyoung with an unexplainable empty feeling in the pit of his stomach.

-----

"fuck, he is cute" yunho spoke up as soon as wooyoung re-entered the room.

"shut up, yunho" wooyoung rolled his eyes.

"but he is, isn't he?"

"well... yes... I guess"

yunho let out a loud laugh. "you more than just guess, woo"

"what are you even doing here anyway?" wooyoung asked, slightly irritated.

"I could ask what dr. choi was doing here but-" but at the moment yunho caught sight of the bandage peaking out from under the sleeve of wooyoung's hoodie. his face turned serious as he asked; "what happened, woo?"

"changbin... he has a new boyfriend" wooyoung whispered.

"oh who the fuck cares? he's nothing"

"yunho!"

"well you know how I feel about him!"

wooyoung remembered how angry yunho had been that changbin had just "given up on him". he had wanted to give wooyoung's ex a piece of his mind but wooyoung had stopped him.

"well, let's see him then"

wooyoung hung his head. "I don't want to look again"

"I bet he's gross"

wooyoung sighed defeatedly and opened his phone to see the post again. but as his eyes met the screen, a sick feeling ran through his entire body. his eyes opened wide and his heart started to pound.

"what is it?" yunho asked, noticing the change in his friend's demeanor.

wooyoung said nothing and just stared at the screen.

"woo? what's wrong?" yunho snatched the phone from wooyoung when he failed to reply to his question. and then he saw what had made wooyoung react this way. beneath the photo was a comment from '@/hwang_hyunjinnn' that read:

'and not just because your new boyfriend isn't a child killer hahaha'

"block him. both of them. now" yunho said, trying to hide just how pissed he was right now.

wooyoung still said nothing and just stared at the floor in despair. 

"woo? are you listening to me? fucking pieces of shit I swear I'm gonna-"

"everytime I think it's going away, something always happens to remind me that it will never go away"

"woo, listen..." yunho pleaded - but to no avail.

"it won't ever go away"

"woo, you need to push these thoughts out of your head, you've done enough damage to yourself today"

"it won't go away until I go away"

"woo - no!"

but at that moment, wooyoung shot up from his seat and grabbed his phone and keys on the way out of the door.

"wooyoung? what are you doing?!" yunho called after him. "please wait!"

but it was no use, wooyoung was already jogging down the drive and away from the apartment. yunho looked out of the door to see no sign of his best friend.

"fuck!"  he cursed. as he shot back inside, confused as to what was the best course of action. wooyoung wouldn't come back for anyone else so it was no use. except maybe...

san.

he'd noticed san's business card on the table while wooyoung was saying goodbye to the doctor earlier. he picked it up and quickly dialled the number, wasting no time. he knew just what wooyoung was capable of.

"hello, you've reached dr. choi"  came the voice from the other end of the phone.

"san- dr. choi, this is yunho, wooyoung's friend. I need you to come over"

"is wooyoung okay?!" san asked, his tone laced with concern.

"he saw something on his phone and took off out of the house, I'm really worried"

"I'm on my way"

-----

"you have no idea where he would go?" san asked as he drove around town, looking down every street and alleyway as he did.

"I have no clue" yunho replied, biting his nails in anxiety.

"what was the comment anyway?"

"it was changbin's new boyfriend - he said something about wooyoung being a child murderer"

"oh shit" san cursed. he knew this was bad. from what he knew about the way wooyoung's mind worked, he knew this would take a lot of coming back from.

the two searched for a little over an hour, yunho constantly trying wooyoung's phone but to no avail.

until at the last moment, san spotted wooyoung on a park bench with a very large bottle of some kind of spirit.

"oh fuck..." were yunho's words.

"we have to go over, he's gonna get picked up by the police"

"he ran away from me so you should go" yunho told the other.

"isn't he gonna be mad you called me?"

yunho simply shrugged and san sighed, reaching for the door handle. he quietly got out and walked over to where wooyoung was sat, leant forward with one hand on his head and one hand round the bottle.

as san reached the boy, he called out his name, "wooyoung?"

wooyoung looked up and tried to focus on the figure in front of him but clearly finding it difficult.

"dr..." came his voice.

"wooyoung, honey, how about we get you home?"

"dr..." was all he said again.

san placed himself next to wooyoung and placed his hand on his thigh.

"woo, I know what happened and I'm here for you"

and at that, wooyoung started weeping audibly next to him before throwing his head onto san's lap and burying his face there.

"that's it woo, you get it out. I'm right here" san soothed as yunho looked on sadly from the car window.

san stroked the younger's hair as he cried and cried on san's lap. san didn't care that people were watching, he just sat there underneath the streetlight and waited for wooyoung to be finished.

the whole time he felt his heart break over the small boy who he hadn't even known until just over a week ago.