soft - woosan

chapter 12

wooyoung san

after taking wooyoung to the infirmary and repeatedly rejecting his question, san was exhausted. not physically, but emotionally. spending so much time in the company of someone so complicated was taking its toll on him.

not only did he regret warming up to wooyoung again, but he did not trust that the other would not end up hurting him again or acting out.

he was not inclined to believe that cruelty delivered with one hand was redeemed by a caress from the other. san was determined not to forgive wooyoung so quickly.

making his way from the infirmary, he recieved a call from his brother, firmly requesting his presence back at home; their parents had returned from their business trip.

san found it amusing they even bothered to let him and jongho know, considering work was more important than their own children. even though san had been glad to be rid of his abusive father all those years ago, his mother had traded a life of pain and insecurity for one of constant work and neglect with jongho's rich businessman father, the ceo of a respected company.

the man's previous wife was likely a mistress, and not a topic brought up in the choi household. their family, in short, was a mess, hence the reason san did not look forward to returning home.

but there he was, lingering outside the door after seeing the almost unfamiliar sleek black bugatti veyron parked neatly in the driveway, evidence of his parent's return.

upon entering his household, he noticed it had undergone redecorating, which was unusual and grew wariness within him.

the large dining and living room was pampered lavishly beyond reason, decoration overrunning everything. anything that made it a home was not apparant, and no such evidence of habitation graced his incredulous stare.

san would feel he was in the house of a stranger, if not for the petite woman seated on the couch, freshly topped glass in hand whom he recognized as his mother.

he cleared his throat impatiently, dismissing the rudiments of polite etiquette he had been tought to practice in the company of his father.

his mother turned her head slowly in his direction, black hair swishing girlishly over the misleading young features of her made-up face. "san!" she displayed a broad smile, which he did not return.

"why did jongho call me here?" he deadpanned, skipping fake loving exchanges.

his mother frowned at his bluntless, taking a sip of her drink. "your father and i wanted to talk to you and your brother about something. he and jongho are in the study."

"talk about what?" san gritted his teeth, a sense of dread curling in the pit of his stomach.

"your father and i... we decided it would be good for us to spend some more time in the house. move back in, permanently."

"that's not necassary." san said icily, scanning his mother for a deeper motive.

"san." the stern voice of his step-father, jongun, sraightened out his back. "don't talk to your mother that way."

jongho followed the hard-faced man wordlessly, glancing at san apologetically. he had always been easy to suck up to his father, which san hated him for.

trying to let go of the hostility in his eyes, san rethought that particular approach and turned over the information he'd been given. turned it over again.

"is there a particular reason?" he asked carefully, playing with his hands.

"does there have to be a reason?" his mother replied tiredly. "we're your parents. that should be reason enough." jongun, who san had thought of as a father but never called him the word nodded in approval, betraying no emotion.