ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʟᴇᴀʀ ᴇɴᴇᴍʏ || ᴊ.ᴡʏ + ᴄ.ꜱ

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟖

In answer to San's curiosity, Wooyoung gave a brief shrug and sent a casual glance to his thigh that San didn't catch, or might've purposely ignored, eager to be wrong.

Wooyoung, having had no intention of elaborating further, huffed out a breath but ended up doing so anyway after an unimpressed look toward San, seeing he was somehow still in the dark.

"Mmmmm.." he started with his eyes directed slightly upwards in bored concentration, deciding how he wanted to explain, "Before she couldn't write anymore, my mom left me this letter that my grandma decided to give me a while later after she was gone."

The way Wooyoung shrugged his shoulders again, San could tell he was trying to dissociate and shrug it off—pretend it all didn't mean as much as it did.

Closing himself off had become quite the habit.

"She quoted some poem in the letter, and that was why I got my first tattoo. She thought it was important enough to write in a letter to me so I thought I should try to remember it," he stopped and then quickly added, "And her handwriting too."

San now understood why he'd been so defensive over "a fucking tattoo." God, he'd been so dense and kept joking around about it.

Stupid stupid, San.

You know," Wooyoung said eyeing him. "This one." Wooyoung casually slid his short leg up to reveal the exceptionally clean and pretty writing on his thigh before mindlessly shoving it back down.

"If you're gonna show it to me, can I actually get a look?" San gave him a pointed look that Wooyoung replied to with an annoyed scoff before tugging up the fabric once more, but just when San started to inch closer, Wooyoung suddenly covered it up again.

"Didn't you get a good enough look that time in the shower?" He inquired with a raise of his eyebrows, that first day of training sticking in his mind.

San closed his eyes and sighed.

"Probably not because I was too busy having a dick contest, and poetry and dicks don't really go together," San joked with a still serious face, adding, "Well, aside from both of them being on your body."

San's eyes shined with laughter and they both looked away with a quiet snort.

When San turned back, Wooyoung had lifted his pant leg again quietly; and San, just as quietly leaned in to take another look at the tattoo that he now had the meaning behind.

It almost appeared differently now that he knew the story behind it. It was beautiful in a way—how the writing was so incredibly delicate yet so intentionally written with the mustered-up strength of his mother at one of her weakest moments.

He was about to read it out loud before Wooyoung beat him to it as he peered amusedly down at San giving his thigh laser eyes for the second time now.

"The mountain is my heart I've left for you, full of strength and solace," he quoted by memory and went on to comment, "Poetry makes zero sense," looking off across the room with an unreadable look.

"I think it's impressive—all of it," San remarked, alluding not only to the actual tattoo but to the story behind the tattoo. It was refreshing to see a new side to Wooyoung, a thoughtful side, something he must've gotten from her.

"The writing is so delicate, but it's also strong in a way." San leaned in and glazed a finger over the first few words, outlining them against the warm skin of Wooyoung's leg. "She was charming wasn't she, Woo?"

Wooyoung's eyes fell past San briefly and went into a light daze as he responded, "She was," before his eyes flicked back to San and he wordlessly watched the other outline his tattoo.