Twilight//Woosan

5

Hongjoong sighed as he entered his office and sat at his desk, the others quietly filing in after him. He looked up at them and found them all staring at him expectantly.

"Right...Wooyoung" he spoke quietly, adjusting in his chair. Seonghwa stepped forward, sitting in one of the chairs infront of the desk and Jongho followed, sitting next to him. Yeosang and Yunhi remained standing behind the chairs.

"Come on Joong, you have to tell us eventually" Seonghwa spoke kindly, laying a hand on the desk. Hongjoong let out the breath he was holding and nodded, preparing himself to relive everything.

"So where do I even really start?" He asked rhetorically, running a hand through his hair. Anyone could tell he was nervous and that just made the others more curious. "I guess I should start about 6 years before I met you, Seonghwa. I told you that you were my oldest friend and I really wasn't lying at the time. I thought Wooyoung was dead but he wasn't and I still can't believe that fact." He took a deep breath and raised a shaky hand to fiddle with the paper laying infront of him.

"We grew up together, he never had any family. His dad was presumed to be dead before he was even born and his mom, she was a terrible woman, for lack of better words. She only really took care of him for two years after he was born, only for the sake of having something to help her make money. He didnt really mean anything to her, she used him so people would feel bad and give her money. She constantly had different men in their 'house', if you could even call it that, and god only knows what happened during that time." He grimaced at the fuzzy memories he still had.

"Keep in mind that most of this information came from my mother, as I was only a little older than four at this time but Wooyoung also told me a bit about everything before things truly went to shit." Hongjoong swallowed thickly, looking down at the paper he was messing with. "He was four when his mom died as well. I told you about the men, well this one didnt seem to be very happy when she tried to leave him and beat her to death. Honestly she deserved it but still I hate that he saw everything. The poor kid couldnt even tell me what happened until a week later." He looked up again and saw the tears in Seonghwa's eyes, a few already running down his cheeks and felt his own eyes sting.

"The man took her body with him and left Wooyoung there by himself and without me, he would have definitely died but as you know I didn't have much of a home life myself. I wanted to help but with my father drinking himself stupid every night and my mother close to leaving, I couldnt afford to let him in. He lived in that house, in that situation, for three years before it was all over. I used to visit him everyday since he was old enough to speak and then one day he was just...gone." Hongjoong choked out the last word, remembering the panic he felt. Wooyoung was small and couldn't defend himself, he had always been small.

"He was gone and I had no idea where he went. I looked for him for years but eventually I just knew that he was no longer anywhere close, if he was even alive at this point. He went missing at age seven and I wasnt there to save him. I hated myself and still do, that boy was my responsibility and I had let him down, let him get stolen. I was that way for six years, running frantic looking for him and then I met you" he looked up to meet Seonghwa's eyes and gave a watery smile.

"I met you and you changed my world, helped me to accept what had happened and you didnt even know it. I eventually accepted the fact that Wooyoung was probably dead, it had been six years after all. We became best friends and eventually ran away together, which leads us to now and I know that he's still alive but I cant help but still despise myself for what happened" by the end of the story Hongjoong couldn't hold it anymore and let himself finally cry, let himself break down into sobs as Seonghwa rushed forward to wrap him into his arms. They sat and cried together, the others feeling the pain as well. They all felt the clench in their chests and wished, not for the first time, to go back and change time.

"Shh, Joong you couldn't have done anything, you were only a child yourself." Seonghwa choked in between his own sobs, burying his head into Hongjoong's hair. He hadn't known Wooyoung for long but he already loved him and it killed him to hear all that, so he sat and cried, shared the pain with Hongjoong and not long after Mingi walked into the room, a wide smile present on his face. As he walked in and observed the room, his smile slowly died and he walked towards Seonghwa, crouching down to speak.

"What happened?" He asked worriedly, squeezing Seongjwa's shoulder when he let out a sob.

"That poor kid, Mingi he didnt deserve it" Seonghwa sobbed, still clinging to Hongjoong, who was sobbing as well. Mingi decided that this wasnt the time to ask questions and wrapped his arms around both of the men, holding them close.

"Shh, it'll be okay" he whispered, rocking slightly and running his hands down their backs. The others slowly gathered around and they all sat, comforting their captain and Seonghwa.

Wooyoung groaned quietly as he stretched, shifting on the bunk. He slowly opened his eyes, looking around the room. He sat up quickly when he found unfamiliar surrounding and panicked for a moment before the days events came back. As the memories became clearer he turned to look at San, only to find that he wasn't there. Wooyoung stood quickly and felt his breathing quicken. It became difficult to breath as he looked around the room for anything familiar, anything to help. He was so lost in his panic that he didnt hear the door open or the frantic footsteps run towards him, that was until hands met his shoulders and he lashed out, swinging his arms out.

San walked through the bunk room door, only to find Wooyoung in a state of panic. He quickly ran to the boy and reached out to steady him, to let him know that he was there. As soon as he touched Wooyoung, the other lashed out, swinging his arms and catching San in the jaw. San stumbled back slightly, holding his jaw from the unexpected hit. He was surprised, the boy was small but held a startling amount of power within him.

San dodged the fists trying to keep him away and wrapped his arms around the other, holding him close to his body.

"Shh, Wooyoung it's me. It's San, please stop, its okay, you're okay. I promise" he whispered, still holding the other close. Wooyoung swung his elbow back, hitting San in the chest and knocking the breath out of him but San still held on, not letting go until Wooyoung began to calm down. The boy slowly began to stop struggling, now only shaking as tears ran down his face. San held him closer as he stopped fighting completely, running one of his hands through Wooyoung's hair as the other continued to rub his back. He slowly lowered them to the ground and as soon as they sat, Wooyoung turned, climbing into San's lap and buried his face into his neck, still shaking.

"S-Sannie" Wooyoung mumbled, squeezing his arms around the other.

"Yeah baby, it's Sannie" he whispered, rocking the other as they sat, wrapped around each other. "Shh, you're okay. I'm here" he continued to whisper and Wooyoung eventually stopped crying but refused to move and honestly, for some reason, San was okay with that.