soft - woosan

chapter 32

wooyoung san

later that afternoon, when they had all exited the cooling water, refreshed and pushing each other around, it was time to meet back with the staff to find out their rooms as well as do a head count to make sure no one had run off.

wooyoung walked a few feet behind him, muttering under his breath as he attempted to wring the water out of his soaked shirt, attracting gaping stares to his bare torso and the salty droplets cascading down it.

san just rolled his eyes with a playful smile, walking shoulder to shoulder with hyunjin, both of them casually striding topless , their shirts around their necks like towels as they allowed themselves to relish in the lessening sunlight.

jeongin walked beside hyunjin, desperately trying to evade the boy who was trying to get him wet, intending to remain dry.

"is anyone missing?" asked a teacher, peering round all their faces.

a chorus of 'no's' sounded after briefly scouting the gathered students, as everyone appeared to be present.

"good." the woman sighed, hands on her hips. "this may cause ruckus, so everyone please shut up while i read out the rooms."

everyone quieted down, hands clasped in anticipation as they gazed up at her expectantly. reading from a clipboard, the teacher adjusted her glasses and cleared her throat, reading out the first room.

"room 1; kang yeosang, park seonghwa and lee seoho." san covered his mouth to muffle a laugh, his friend's jaw dropping to the floor as he began to protest but was shushed by minho who he seemed to have a mutual agreement with.

a few more rooms were read out with no one of significance to san, and he played with the hem of hyunjin's sweater that the boy conveniently slipped on to cover himself up.

"room 4; jung wooyoung, lee felix and shin hoseok." his ears perked up at he mention of his boyfriend's name, his hands stilling when he heard the rest of the names.

quickly checking for their reactions, san bit his lip as wooyoung flexed a muscle in his jaw and crossed his arms, felix oppositely widening his eyes with worry. wonho remained indifferent, looking mildly annoyed at the mention of his real name, simply shrugging and throwing a lingering stare on wooyoung that turned san's stomach.

"room 5; lee minho, song mingi and lee keonhee." the first two boys just exchanged a brief grateful glance, the last in question receiving a sympathetic pat from seoho.

"room 6; hwang hyunjin, jung yunho, and.." a wavering stare at jeongin, calculating where the boy originally planned for that room would go. "yang jeongin."

more names were read out, the dread only growing in san's stomach as the name of each person he could tolerate slowly disappeared until there were barely any left.

and finally, "room 11; choi san, seo changbin and chae hyungwon"

the dread crept over him like an icy chill, numbing his brain. in that frozen state his mind offered him only one thought. hyungwon.

there was no avoiding him. san was like an ignorant lamb being herded into a truck for the slaughter house, only the lamb didn't know where it was going, and he did.

his knees weakened, memories of that night flashing in his mind, quickening his unsteady breath and drowning reality away, like he was drunk again.

images resurfaced in his memory, as well as sensations of unwelcome dirty touches on his skin, causing san to shudder and swallow his nausea. like any good nightmare, it didn't matter where he ran, because the memories kept coming all the same.