PRODUCE 101 | c.s + j.wy

XXXVIII

The presenter waited some more seconds before saying something. In the meantime, on the behind screen the names and the pictures of the eliminated, which were six people, so one more than they were expecting.

Wooyoung had frozen in his place. He could feel his blood stopping his running, the breath getting caught in his throat, the head getting dizzy. He wasn't able to process the information, yet his body did. And he tried his best to stay still, because he didn't want to have an excessive reaction in front of the cameras. He was about to pass out.

Instead, Seonghwa and San had shocked looks on their faces. They also shared a concerning gaze, and Seonghwa had to stop San from running towards the other. San was also about to cry but did his best to roll tears back in his eyes. Yet, they were clearly watery and red.

What the fuck?

Some more guys were crying.

"We were so close..."

Then, the presenter added some words and the broadcast ended. Everything was muffled and foggy. Wooyoung made his legs to move for the backstage, to follow all the guys, but his mind was shut. It was somewhere else. When they finally reached the back room, he sat and stayed silent. Seonghwa ran in his direction, together with San and Hongjoong. San was now clearly crying.

"Wooyoung... Are you okay?" the dark-haired boy looked like a dementor had just eaten his soul. Pale skin, widened eyes, not a clear feeling of what was happening around him. Seonghwa stayed at proper distance, and forced San to stay there, too. The guy didn't say a word but close his eyes and started to take deep breath.

"Woo... Please, talk..." he buried his head between his fingers and stayed like this for minutes. Seonghwa suggested to leave him some space, but San didn't want to. San was acting like the rational part of Wooyoung: crying, yelling at everything and everyone, because it simply couldn't be. Seonghwa had to hug him tightly to shut his mouth, the other trainees were a bit confused for his reaction, though it was clear that the two were very close.

"San, listen to me. This is not the end. There's a life outside. You're gonna meet him again, ok?" Seonghwa kept pushing the shorter's face in his chest, as his crying became more sobbing and desperate and the grip on his shoulder wasn't planning on loosening.

___ • ___

Wooyoung walked in his room and sat himself on the ground, against the door. His roommate wasn't there. He got eliminated, too, so he was talking and doing stuff with some friends, before packing. They had to leave immediately. But Wooyoung definitely needed some more time to process everything. He still didn't have energy to cry out his feelings, nor to try to answer all the questions he could have. Which he didn't have, actually. The voice of his thoughts was just a mess right now, he couldn't understand a thing.

That's when some knocks burst into the room, making him to flinch out of the blue. The person outside wasn't talking, but he was sure he was San.

And he was right.

Just as he opened the door, a messy San appeared. Even if the guy wanted to jump into the room and hug him tightly, he forced himself to leave Wooyoung some space. By the way, the younger didn't like that look of pity. It was the last thing he needed, honestly.

San slowly brushed his face, making the shorter's gaze to go on their feet. He tried to make a step further and Wooyoung let him enter the room, closing the door behind them.

"How much time do you have before leaving?" San tried to speak quietly.

Wooyoung processed the question, opened his mouth to answer, but the voice died in his chest. His eyes watered immediately, like he just understood everything. He stared deeply in San's dark eyes and he could see all the past months in them: the training, the final exam, the first win. San. Lights out.
His breath started to come out hard and rough, and that's when San urged to hug him and circled his arms around his body.