Not Too Late | Choi San

EPILOGUE

I believe that there must be a reason
It's too latе, too late,
Oh, not too late,
Find the light to facе someday.
- ateez, not too late.

•••

"and for the final step, we destroy him."

          rain is pouring down heavily as San looks outside of the window in the dimly-lit room he's in. he feels sick to his stomach, and his fingers twitch very often. he longs for one of his members, for the comfort their presence bring. but he's stuck here alone waiting for the private detective who's taking his sweet time to appear.

his mind wanders to all of the events from the last few hours, and he feels something heavy being lifted off of his shoulders. his father has been arrested upon the tip anonymously given to the police department with all the evidence they had gathered, and upon hearing the news through TV the group of eight jumped in the air and engulfed each other into a hug. San couldn't believe the words he had heard, nor did his mind process them up until now. he could hear the laughter and happiness of others and he felt happy too, but his happiness was limited as he just couldn't believe it's true.

then San has been called into the investigation department as the only relative to the man, and Gyuknim made sure that he finds the best detective beforehand, making sure he won't spell anything to the public eye about the violence San has gone through. but he also wanted to make sure he gets punished for what he did to the poor boy.

San looks up upon hearing the door open, and in walks a tall man with an intimidating aurora. he doesn't look like someone you should mess with, with sharp black eyes and black hair with an undercut. his shirt's sleeves are folded up and his khaki pants look crisp and fit him perfectly. San eyes him silently as the man walks in with two cups, placing one in front of San.

"my apologies for being late," his voice is deep, but calming in a sense. "i was talking to Gyuk-ssi. a very nice man, may i say."

San nods.

"i hope you like coffee, i thought you'd need one to pass through this heavy session," his eyes look sympathetic and San takes the cup into his hands, enjoying how warm it is against his cold skin. "my name's Jeon Wonwoo, but you can call me whatever you're comfortable with."

"ok."

"so— Sanssi, tell me everything, from the start please, and don't leave any detail out."

the man holds a clipboard and a pencil and places a black-framed glasses on his face. San takes a deep breath, willing his mind to calm down as he starts to spill his sob story to detective Wonwoo.

"snow has melted, let's go out and play!" Wooyoung says one sunny day at the end of march, bouncing excitedly as he looks at his unamused hyungs. "seriously guys, c'mon! we can go to the han river and ride bikes and eat gimbap rolls!"

"i'm coming," San raises his hand from where he's sitting on the couch, attempting to braid Yunho's long hair. "only for the gimbap though, i can't ride bikes."

"yess!" Wooyoung fists the air. "one down, six to go! c'mon y'all, don't be boringgggg!"

it takes Wooyoung around half an hour to push his lazy members out of their seats and into their shoes. they message their manager about going out and he wishes them luck, saying that he won't be able to go with them because he has a date.