Work Text:
“You’ve got everything?” San asked as he carefully packed his suitcase in the hotel room. Wooyoung was already sitting on the bed, his bags placed next to the door.
“I think so. But if I forgot something, I’m sure Hongjoong will notice,” he giggled, glancing down at his phone.
The whole group had gone on a vacation together. Of course, they were planning to film a show during the week, but most of the time was free to use however they wanted. San and Wooyoung, for example, had decided to go on a shopping tour together since Tokyo had countless stores they wanted to visit. They had also planned a big dinner with all the members, supposedly to “strengthen” the group, as if they weren’t already basically a family at this point.
“One bed?” San asked when he looked around the small but cozy hotel room. Wooyoung nodded.
The thought didn’t make San feel shy or uncomfortable. They had shared a bed plenty of times before. It wasn’t anything new, and definitely not weird for friends like them.
After bringing all their stuff into the room, San took a shower and got his things ready for the next day. While he was in the bathroom, Wooyoung simply laid on the bed scrolling through social media. Later, they switched. Wooyoung spent way too long in the shower while San played video games on his phone.
“Did you miss me, San-ah?” Wooyoung sang as he stepped out of the bathroom. San rolled his eyes, though he couldn’t hide his smile either. Wooyoung grinned proudly when he noticed the smile tugging at San’s lips.
“There it is,” he said as he walked over to the bed. “You were lonely without me.”
“I was peaceful without you,” San corrected, eyes still focused on the game in his hands.
“Liar.”
Wooyoung dropped onto the bed beside him dramatically, close enough for their shoulders to bump. The mattress dipped under his weight, making San groan quietly.
“You’re taking up all the space already.”
“And yet you’re not telling me to move.” Wooyoung tilted his head with a teasing smile. “Interesting.”
San finally looked at him then, unimpressed on purpose. “You talk too much after showering.”
“That’s because I’m refreshed.”
“You used all the hot water.”
Wooyoung gasped theatrically. “Wow. So this is how you treat me on vacation?”
Before San could answer, Wooyoung suddenly leaned closer to look at the screen in his hands, their faces ending up way too close for absolutely no reason.
“You’re losing, by the way.”
“I was winning before you attacked me.”
“I didn’t attack you,” Wooyoung argued. “I blessed you with my presence.”
San snorted softly, shaking his head.
Yeah. Peaceful was definitely the wrong word.
San closed his phone, realizing that concentrating on the game was impossible at this point. He looked over at Wooyoung, whose hair was still damp because he was always too lazy to dry it properly. But honestly, he looked good like that. Really good. Wet hair, oversized shirt, no makeup, natural but beautiful.
San would be lying if he said he didn’t find him attractive.
Actually, San rarely lied at all.
“You look good, Woo,” he said calmly.
Wooyoung blinked at him, visibly caught off guard for half a second.
“But you’re still hella annoying.”
His expression immediately changed into an offended glare.
“You’re so mean,” he muttered before standing up dramatically and walking away, leaving San alone on the bed.
“Come on,” San laughed, sitting up slightly. “Why can you say stuff like that to me all the time, but get upset when I do it?”
“I’m not upset,” Wooyoung mumbled while aggressively digging through his backpack.
Then he paused.
“You know what? I actually bought you a gift,” he said. “But now I’ve finally opened my eyes and realized how mean you are.”
San’s eyes widened immediately. “No, you did not.”
“I did.”
“I’m sorry, okay?” San said quickly, suddenly far more interested in the conversation than before.
Wooyoung sniffed dramatically. “Too late. You’re not getting it anymore.”
For a moment, San genuinely looked disappointed. But after watching Wooyoung struggle to hide the corner of his smile, he narrowed his eyes.
“You don’t have a gift.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t,” San said with a quiet laugh before laying back down and grabbing his phone again.
“Hey!” Wooyoung turned around instantly. “I DO have one.”
San only hummed.
“Aish…” Wooyoung groaned under his breath, now visibly annoyed that he wasn’t getting enough attention anymore.
Wooyoung stared at San for a few more seconds, waiting for him to react again. Nothing.
San just kept scrolling on his phone with the smallest smile on his face, completely unbothered.
“You’re actually irritating,” Wooyoung complained.
“Mm.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“You’re still talking, so clearly it’s working.”
Wooyoung let out an offended gasp and grabbed the nearest pillow, throwing it directly at San’s face.
San barely reacted, catching it lazily before it could hit him properly.
“Violence now?” he asked calmly.
“You deserve worse.”
San laughed quietly, finally putting his phone down again. “Okay, fine. Show me the gift then.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you called me annoying.”
“You are annoying.”
Wooyoung grabbed another pillow.
“But you also said I look good,” he pointed out suspiciously.
San looked at him for a moment before shrugging. “Both can be true.”
Wooyoung tried, genuinely tried, not to look pleased by that answer. Failed immediately.
San noticed, of course.
The smile on his face softened a little as he watched Wooyoung avoid eye contact by pretending to organize his bag again.
“You’re cute when you’re sulking,” San said calmly.
Wooyoung froze.
Slowly, he turned around. “You need to stop saying things like that so casually.”
“Why?” San asked innocently.
“Because I tend to interpret things differently sometimes. ”
The room suddenly got quieter.
Not awkward. Just… different.
San tilted his head slightly. “Maybe you're interpretating them correctly."
Wooyoung stared at him.
For a second, he didn’t even know what to do with that answer.
"What?” he finally asked, but it came out quieter than he wanted. San just shrugged, like he hadn’t dropped anything remotely significant.
“Nothing,” he said, turning his attention back to his phone again. Completely calm. Completely normal. Like he hadn’t just flipped the atmosphere upside down.
That somehow made it worse.
Wooyoung stood there for a moment, still holding his backpack, like he was waiting for the rest of the sentence that never came.
But nothing came.
San didn’t explain. Didn’t correct himself. Didn’t tease him further.
Just… existed.
Unbothered.
Wooyoung swallowed, suddenly hyper-aware of how warm the room felt, how close the bed was, how San wasn’t looking at him anymore like he’d just said something interesting and moved on.
"You’re weird,” Wooyoung muttered.
“Mm,” San answered again, like that settled it.
That tiny sound was the final straw.
Wooyoung exhaled through his nose, half annoyed, half confused, half something he didn’t want to name.
Then he walked back to the bed.
Slowly.
Like he hadn’t fully decided it himself.
He dropped onto it with a soft thump, rolling onto his side so his back faced San.
“Whatever,” he mumbled into the pillow.
San glanced over for a second.
A small smile tugged at his lips.
“Goodnight already?” he asked casually.
Wooyoung didn’t turn around.
“Just shut up,” he replied, but it was muffled, tired, and way less dramatic than before.
San giggled quietly and shifted closer on the bed, wrapping an arm around Wooyoung and pulling him into a loose cuddle.
“I know you like me,” he whispered, voice light but way too confident for how soft the moment felt.
Wooyoung stiffened immediately.
For a second, he didn’t move at all, just frozen in place like his brain had short-circuited.
“You’re annoying,” he muttered, but it came out smaller than usual.
San only hummed, like that wasn’t really a denial.
Wooyoung shifted slightly, still not turning around, but he didn’t pull away either.
He just buried his face a little deeper into the pillow like that would fix whatever was happening to his thoughts right now.
“You’re really..” he started, then stopped, exhaling.
San tightened his hold just a bit, still gentle.
“I’m what?” he asked, amused.
Wooyoung hesitated.
“…delusional,” he finished, but there was no conviction behind it. San laughed softly right next to his ear.
“Maybe,” he said. “But you didn’t move away.”
That shut Wooyoung up completely.
“I’m tired..." Wooyoung mumbled.
“Sleep then.”
And instead of arguing further, Wooyoung just made a small, defeated sound and finally relaxed into the bed properly, still close, still held, but not escaping anymore.
An hour later, Wooyoung was already asleep, still lying on San’s arm. San, however, wasn’t.
He usually stayed up a little longer, so it wasn’t unusual for him to still be awake. At first, he just lay there quietly, thinking about the week ahead and what they could do during their free time.
Eventually, he turned off the light and tried to fall asleep as well, but it didn’t really work. His thoughts kept drifting, and after about an hour, he couldn’t just stay there anymore.
He wanted to get up and go drink some water, but something stopped him.
Wooyoung was still there, completely relaxed, like nothing in the world could possibly bother him right now.
San exhaled quietly and ran a hand through his hair, trying to ignore how warm his arm had become from staying in the same position for too long.
“Just five minutes,” he whispered to himself, like that would somehow make it more reasonable.
He tried to shift again, carefully, slower this time. His arm moved a few centimeters, almost free.
Then Wooyoung made a small sound in his sleep which made San stop mid movement.
“…you’re not even awake,” he muttered under his breath, staring at him in disbelief.
Wooyoung didn’t answer, of course. Just kept breathing softly, completely unbothered by the situation he was causing.
San stayed still for a moment, then slowly relaxed back into the mattress.
The water bottle could wait.
Or maybe it couldn't.
About 15 minutes later San started to worry that he will be tired tomorrow. If Wooyoung fell asleep earlier, that means he will wake up earlier and wake up San too.
He shifted carefully, trying to slide his arm out from under Wooyoung without waking him.
It was slow. Controlled. Almost too careful.
For a second, it actually worked.
His arm slipped free a little.
San paused, thinking he had gotten away with it.
But then..
“San-ah…”
It was barely a sound.
Soft. Sleep-heavy. Half formed, like it had slipped out before Wooyoung’s brain could stop it.
San froze instantly.
He didn’t move at all.
Slowly, he turned his head to look down at him.
Wooyoung hadn’t woken up. His eyes were still closed, face relaxed.
“Hm?” San answered quietly, unsure if he was even supposed to respond.
Wooyoung didn’t say anything else for a moment.
Then, even softer:
“Don't..”
That was it.
No explanation. No context.
Just that one word, quiet and instinctive.
San stared at him for a second longer.
Then, very slowly, he lowered himself back down.
“Okay..." he whispered.
He smiled amused hugging Wooyoung again.
Wooyoung always used to act annoyed when San got clingy, and he rarely acted clingy himself. Even though he secretly liked it, he always tried to play it cool and act distant. Sometimes that was harder, especially when it came from San.
Somehow, whenever San said or did something cute, it made him feel something. He often got shy or struggled to pull away. Even when he didn't want to.
Well.
While he was sleeping, he couldn’t fight himself.
And San enjoyed it.
On the next day, San woke up slowly, blinking a few times as the room came into focus.
The space beside him was empty. Warm, but empty.
He frowned slightly, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. The light from the bathroom was on, soft and muted through the door, so Wooyoung was probably already up.
San stretched a little, still half sleepy, but then the memory from earlier night came back in fragments. Wooyoung holding onto him. His voice. That quiet “San-ah…”
A slow smile started forming before he even realized it.
Of course.
He leaned back against the pillows, waiting.
A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened and Wooyoung stepped out, hair slightly damp again, adjusting his shirt like nothing special had happened.
“Morning,” he said casually.
San looked at him immediately, way too awake for someone who had just opened his eyes.
“Can I get a hug?” he asked, like he’d never been turned down for it before.
Wooyoung paused mid step.
“What?”
“A hug,” San repeated, still smiling.
“No.”
San’s smile didn’t even fade. It only grew.
“Wow,” he said, tilting his head. “You’re really saying no?”
“Yes.”
San leaned forward slightly, eyes sparkling with obvious amusement.
“You wanted to hug me last night though.”
Wooyoung froze.
San’s grin widened instantly, like he had just won something important.
“Oh?” he continued, voice light and teasing now. “Now you don’t remember?”
Wooyoung stared at him for a second, clearly trying to process what exactly he was referring to.
San just kept smiling at him like a cat that had already caught the mouse and was just waiting for it to realize.
“Come on,” he added softly, still grinning. “You were pretty cute about it too.”
Wooyoung, who had never asked for a hug before (even if he sometimes wanted one) just stood there looking at San with a confused expression.
He felt a little nervous, though he couldn’t quite tell why. And asking felt even scarier. What if he really did ask and forgot?
No. That couldn’t be it. It didn’t make sense. Not at all.
San tilted his head slightly, still looking way too pleased with himself.
“You were talking in your sleep,” he explained, clearly amused by Wooyoung’s expression.
“No, I don’t.”
“Apparently you do.”
Wooyoung huffed and looked away. “What did I even say?”
“My name.”
Wooyoung’s expression changed immediately, somewhere between embarrassment and nervousness.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No,” Wooyoung repeated, as if saying it twice would somehow change the answer.
San watched him for a moment, still grinning like a cat. He leaned back against the wall, pretending to think deeply about it.
“Hm… and then there was the part where you didn’t want to let me go,” he continued, sounding like he was mostly talking to himself now just to tease Wooyoung even more. “You really wanted me to stay close, huh?”
That made Wooyoung completely speechless for a moment.
For a second, he didn’t answer.
Then he scoffed and looked away again.
“You probably just dreamed it,” he muttered, trying to defend himself somehow.
San’s grin widened instantly.
“Maybe you dreamed of me.”
A second later, a pillow hit him straight in the face.
“Why can’t you just shut up and let it go?” Wooyoung complained loudly, already hitting him again before San could properly recover.
San only laughed harder, not even trying to stop him.
“Hey, I’m just excited,” he said between laughs. “You were clingy for once in your life.”
At that point, arguing clearly wasn’t helping anymore, so Wooyoung finally stopped attacking him with the pillow. He huffed dramatically and walked over to his suitcase, where he had already prepared his clothes for the day.
“I’m going to Hongjoong’s room.”
“Hey!” San whined immediately, trying to sound hurt instead of entertained. “You can’t just leave me alone.”
Wooyoung ignored him and grabbed his things.
San smiled to himself before adding, “I didn’t leave when you asked me to stay.”
Wooyoung froze for half a second before turning around and shooting him an angry glare.
Then he left the hotel room with his clothes in his hands.
The second the door closed, San burst out laughing again.
He really liked teasing Wooyoung.
And maybe even more than that, he liked the reason why he could tease him about it in the first place.
Hongjoong honestly acted like the father of the group all the time. He was checking if everyone was there, asking where they wanted to go and whether anyone needed anything. A real captain, even outside of work.
Of course, he already had an entire plan prepared too. Before coming to Tokyo, he had apparently spent hours looking up different sights, activities, and places they could visit around the city.
The plan was to explore everything around the city center first, then head to the pedestrian district where everyone could eat, go shopping, or just wander around however they wanted. At the end of the day, they planned to meet up again for dinner and try some proper Japanese food together at a restaurant Hongjoong had picked out earlier.
During the sightseeing part, San mostly spent time with Mingi, since Wooyoung didn’t really stop avoiding him. Well, at first he wasn’t even trying to avoid him properly, but Choi San, in his true form, had already ruined that by asking for a hug again at the very beginning. Typical.
Mingi was easy to be around though, joking and pointing things out as they walked, making the whole thing feel more relaxed.
Still, even while laughing at whatever Mingi said, San’s thoughts kept drifting somewhere else most of the time.
“San, do you think we can grab a coffee by any chance?” Mingi asked quietly, clearly not wanting to ask the captain himself. San rolled his eyes at the way Mingi was acting.
“Joong-ah,” he called out loudly. “Can Mingi get a coffee from that café down there?”
That immediately earned him a shy smile from Mingi.
“Oh, yeah, of course,” Hongjoong replied without hesitation. “I think we can take a little break here. Whoever wants can join Mingi. The others can stay here or look around a bit more.”
“I think I’ll take a look inside that park,” Seonghwa said calmly, pointing toward a small flower park a few meters away.
Naturally, Hongjoong joined him immediately. Total lovebirds.
Yeosang and Jongho both decided to stay and rest for a bit, while Yunho and Wooyoung joined Mingi.
And the second San saw Wooyoung going too, he followed without even thinking about it.
Walking down the street, Yunho naturally stayed next to Mingi, talking about random things as usual. Which meant that Wooyoung and San ended up walking alone together.
San glanced at Wooyoung a few times, trying to hide his smile.
Wooyoung, meanwhile, coldly ignored him and kept looking around at the city instead.
As always, San wanted attention.
So he slowly moved closer and closer while they walked. A few minutes later, he was right beside Wooyoung, their hands almost brushing against each other every few seconds.
Wooyoung didn’t move away this time, but he also didn’t give San any attention at all, which San clearly didn’t enjoy.
Without thinking twice, San reached over and grabbed Wooyoung’s hand, holding onto it firmly.
“What the f—” Wooyoung stuttered, immediately nervous and embarrassed.
“Just let me hold your hand,” San whispered, leaning slightly closer so Yunho and Mingi wouldn’t hear. “Nothing scary.”
Wooyoung tried pulling away at first, but San was obviously stronger than him. After a minute, he finally gave up and continued walking while still holding his hand.
San enjoyed this way too much.
He was practically smiling like a child, while Wooyoung quietly followed beside him, refusing to look in his direction.
Honestly, the weirdest part was that Wooyoung wasn’t even getting loud or properly annoyed anymore.
If anything, he looked like he was blushing.
And of course San noticed immediately.
“Awh, Woo, you’re blushing,” he teased softly, looking over at him.
“I’m begging you, don’t make this more embarrassing,” Wooyoung mumbled quietly. “Or I’ll actually start crying.”
He still refused to look at San, almost like eye contact would somehow make everything worse.
Somehow, San really did make him nervous.
In their friendship, teasing each other had always been normal. Flirting as a joke, getting clingy, acting shy, throwing themselves at each other dramatically. It had become such a natural part of their relationship that neither of them really questioned it anymore. Maybe fan service had made that line even blurrier over time.
San had always been naturally affectionate. Hugging the members, holding onto them, asking for attention constantly. Including Wooyoung.
And sometimes Wooyoung openly enjoyed it.
Most of the time, though, he acted distant instead, embarrassed by how soft San could make him feel.
Maybe because part of him thought it was childish. Corny.
Or maybe because he secretly loved how childish and corny San was, and didn’t know what to do with that feeling.
Because the truth was simple.
Wooyoung felt different about San than he did about the others.
San was his favorite person without hesitation.
And sometimes, he made Wooyoung feel things he wasn’t used to feeling at all.
The worst part was not knowing if San meant any of it the same way he did.
Or the way he wished he would.
Wooyoung hated how comfortable this felt.
At some point, he had stopped trying to pull his hand away completely. Now he just walked beside San quietly, listening to Yunho and Mingi talk somewhere ahead of them.
San still looked way too happy about the situation.
Every few seconds, Wooyoung could feel him glance over again, probably smiling to himself like an idiot.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Wooyoung muttered eventually.
“Like what?”
“Like you just won something.”
San’s grin instantly widened.
“Maybe I did.”
Wooyoung looked at San, slightly surprised and somehow a little touched by the answer.
It was kind of cute, honestly.
But of course, San ruined the moment almost immediately.
“I already won when you said my name in your sleep.”
Wooyoung’s expression dropped instantly.
“There it is,” he groaned. “I knew you couldn’t survive five minutes without bringing that up again.”
San only laughed proudly, clearly not ashamed at all.
“You were cute.”
“I was asleep.”
“You were clingy.”
“I hate you.”
“That’s not what you sounded like last night.”
“Choi San.”
San was already grinning too hard to stop now, still holding onto Wooyoung’s hand like he had no intention of letting go anytime soon.
Wooyoung looked around quickly before suddenly using both hands to pry San’s fingers off him.
“Finally,” he muttered dramatically after freeing himself.
San gasped in fake betrayal. “Wow.”
“You lost hand-holding privileges.”
“I had privileges?”
“No. But now you especially don’t.”
San laughed again while Wooyoung immediately shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, almost like he was protecting himself from further attacks.
Still, even while walking faster to catch up with Yunho and Mingi again, his ears were visibly red. And unfortunately for him, San noticed that too.
“Come on, just admit it,” San complained dramatically.
He loved teasing Wooyoung, sure, but if Wooyoung actually admitted any of it out loud, San was pretty sure it would make his entire week. For whatever reason.
Wooyoung only rolled his eyes and covered his ears immediately.
“Blah blah blah, I can’t hear you,” he said loudly, trying to shut him up before things got even more embarrassing.
Unfortunately, San had completely different intentions.
Without warning, he grabbed Wooyoung by the waist and pulled him closer.
“Why can’t you just stop pretending you don’t like being close to me?”
His voice came out unfairly soft, almost teasingly low, and Wooyoung’s face instantly turned red.
“San,” he hissed quietly, looking around nervously to make sure nobody was paying attention.
San only smiled.
“What?” he asked innocently, even though he clearly knew exactly what he was doing.
Wooyoung hated that.
Mostly because it was working.
Wooyoung tried to push San away immediately, but San only held him closer for another second, clearly enjoying the reaction way too much.
“Seriously,” Wooyoung muttered, voice noticeably less stable than before. “What is wrong with you?”
“You,” San answered without hesitation.
That only made Wooyoung stare at him in disbelief.
“How do you even say stuff like that with a straight face?”
San shrugged casually, though the smile on his face never disappeared.
“Because it’s true.”
Wooyoung opened his mouth, probably ready to argue again, but nothing came out immediately. San was standing way too close, still holding his waist, looking at him with that annoyingly soft expression that made thinking difficult.
And San noticed that too.
“You’re blushing again,” he whispered proudly.
“I hate you so much.”
“No, you don’t.”
Wooyoung clicked his tongue in annoyance and finally managed to shove San away from him properly this time.
“You’re unbelievable,” he complained, immediately taking a step back to create distance again.
San just laughed quietly, watching him with way too much satisfaction.
For a moment, neither of them noticed that Yunho and Mingi had apparently been watching them almost the entire time.
“Are we interrupting something?” Mingi asked with a surprised but amused smile.
Wooyoung nearly died on the spot.
And San?
San just laughed casually and told them to keep walking like nothing had happened at all.
The whole group continued moving through the city, but now Wooyoung’s thoughts were a complete mess.
Because what exactly had that been?
San had always been naturally affectionate. Touchy. Flirty. Teasing.
That wasn’t new.
But lately, it felt different somehow.
More direct.
More intentional.
And honestly, that was the scariest part.
Wooyoung didn’t know how to understand any of this anymore.
Were these still jokes to San?
Or was Wooyoung not the only one starting to mean them?
After finally getting the coffee they returned to the group. The way back Wooyoung talked with Yunho, trying to not get to San again. Which surprisingly worked.
The other members were already waiting and were glad when the group reunited again. As Hongjoong planned, they took the bus to another place in Tokyo which they wanted to visit.
The whole afternoon Wooyoung stayed unusually quiet.
Even while the others talked around them, laughed, pointed at random stores or argued about where to eat later, his mind stayed somewhere else completely.
And San noticed.
Of course he did.
Every now and then, San glanced over at him with a softer expression than before, like he was trying to figure something out.
Which only made Wooyoung more nervous.
At some point, the group stopped in front of another store Hongjoong wanted to visit. While everyone slowly walked inside, Wooyoung stayed outside for a moment, pretending to check something on his phone.
He just needed one second to breathe.
Unfortunately, San followed him out almost immediately.
“You’ve been weirdly quiet,” he said softly, stopping beside him.
Wooyoung scoffed lightly without looking up. “Maybe you finally annoyed me to death.”
San laughed a little at that.
But this time, Wooyoung didn’t laugh with him.
That was enough to make San’s smile fade. Suddenly, he felt weird, like he had done something wrong without realizing it.
“Did I actually upset you?” he asked carefully, now genuinely unsure if he had hurt Wooyoung’s feelings or made him uncomfortable.
Wooyoung pressed his lips together, still staring down at his phone without really doing anything on the screen.
“No.”
“That sounded very convincing.”
Wooyoung let out a quiet breath through his nose.
And San waited.
Which somehow made everything worse.
Usually, San would keep joking, keep teasing, keep talking until Wooyoung forgot how “annoying” he was being. But now he was just standing there patiently, looking at him seriously for once.
“Do you… actually mean the things you say to me?” Wooyoung suddenly asked.
He finally looked up, meeting San’s eyes properly.
San froze for a second. The way Wooyoung had suddenly become so serious made him unsure how to react.
“What do you mean?”
“Everything. The flirting. The clingy stuff. All of it.”
For a moment, San just looked surprised.
Then he let out a small laugh, more confused than teasing.
“Why are you asking like it’s something serious?”
And that hit Wooyoung way harder than it probably should have.
“Because it is.”
San swallowed.
He had never really seen Wooyoung like this before.
Sure, they always joked around and teased each other, but Wooyoung had never reacted like this, no matter how annoying San got.
“You keep saying things like they don’t matter at all,” Wooyoung muttered quietly. “And then you laugh about them right after.”
He let out a small nervous laugh himself, though there was nothing amused about it.
“It’s confusing, okay?” he admitted. “I never know if you’re serious or if I’m just stupid for taking any of it seriously.”
Something about those words made San’s chest tighten unexpectedly.
Because suddenly, all the teasing from earlier didn’t feel harmless anymore.
Just as San opened his mouth to respond, they heard a familiar laugh nearby. Seonghwa walked out of the store together with the others, talking loudly about something that had happened inside.
The moment broke instantly.
And honestly, that somehow made everything worse.
Because now both of them were left standing there with thoughts they didn’t know how to explain anymore.
And at this point, neither of them really knew what the other actually wanted.
The rest of the day felt strangely awkward after that.
Not painfully awkward. Nobody else really noticed anything. The members still laughed together, argued over food, took pictures, visited random stores and complained about how much walking Hongjoong had planned for them.
But between San and Wooyoung, something had changed.
The teasing stopped.
At least for the first time all day.
San still stayed close sometimes out of habit, but now both of them seemed way more aware of it. Every accidental touch suddenly felt noticeable. Every glance lasted a second too long before one of them looked away again.
Wooyoung hated how quiet San became afterward.
Because somehow, that felt even more serious than the teasing.
At dinner, San barely joked with him at all. He mostly listened to the others talk while occasionally glancing at Wooyoung like he was thinking about something the entire time.
And Wooyoung noticed every single glance.
Then, after dinner, the members decided to walk around a little longer before heading back.
Tokyo looked different at night. Brighter somehow. The streets were filled with light from stores, signs and restaurants, while people passed by around them nonstop.
The group slowly spread out while walking. Some stopped to look inside random stores, others got distracted by food stands or arcades.
Wooyoung stayed near the back this time, quietly scrolling on his phone while following the others.
That was until San suddenly appeared next to him again.
“Can we talk for a second?” he asked quietly.
Wooyoung looked up immediately.
San sounded nervous.
Actually nervous.
And that alone made Wooyoung’s stomach tighten.
For a moment, he just stared at him before nodding slightly.
San glanced ahead at the others before gently grabbing Wooyoung’s sleeve and pulling him away from the crowded street. Finally, they ended up in a quieter alleyway beside a small shop, far enough away that the others could no longer hear them, but still close enough to see the bright lights of the city from where they stood.
For a second, neither of them said anything.
And somehow, after everything that had happened that day, the silence suddenly felt terrifying.
“Listen… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you,” San said quietly. He kept looking at Wooyoung while Wooyoung still avoided his eyes completely.
“I was just joking around. I didn’t think you’d take this stuff so seriously.”
Those words repeated in Wooyoung’s head immediately.
Joking.
So he really had been joking.
All of it.
“So you don’t mean any of it?” Wooyoung asked quietly. His voice sounded strangely small now, almost disappointed.
San frowned slightly. “No, I do. Of course I do.”
Wooyoung finally looked up at him then.
“How do you mean it?”
San froze.
The way Wooyoung kept looking at him so seriously, so directly, made him unexpectedly nervous.
Usually talking to Wooyoung was easy. Natural. But now it suddenly felt like every word mattered too much.
And San didn’t know what to say anymore.
After hesitating for a moment, San let out a small breath.
"I mean.. It's not that deep." he spoke trying to sound normal, but it came out a bit off. "I always joked around like this."
Wooyoung’s expression changed instantly.
Not angry. Not sad.
More like something in him just snapped into place.
He took a small step closer.
“Not that deep?” he repeated slowly.
Then he tilted his head slightly, eyes fixed on him.
“Say that again,” he murmured.
San blinked. “What?”
Wooyoung stepped closer, now right in front of him.
“Say it again,” he repeated, calmer this time, but somehow even more intense.
“Say what again?” San asked, genuinely confused now.
“That you don’t mean it.”
San took a breath, trying to steady himself in the middle of everything.
“Listen,” he started, voice serious but still unsure. “I don’t understand what you want me to say right now.”
He looked at Wooyoung properly, like he was searching for the right answer in his expression alone.
But Wooyoung’s reaction shifted immediately.
Something in him snapped again, but this time sharper.
“You want to know what this means to me?” Wooyoung asked, voice rising slightly, disbelief and frustration mixing together.
Wooyoung didn’t wait for an answer.
He grabbed San’s collar and pulled him forward.
San barely had time to react before Wooyoung closed the distance and kissed him.
It wasn’t gentle at all.
It was messy, impulsive, like all the words he couldn’t say properly were suddenly spilling out in a single action.
San froze completely for a second, shocked beyond anything he had expected.
Then reality caught up and Wooyoung pulled back just slightly, still holding onto him, breathing fast.
San's eyes were still wide, like his brain hadn’t caught up with what just happened.
Wooyoung on the other hand regretted it immediately, but at the same time didn’t move an inch, still gripping San’s shirt tightly.
"Woo.." San finally said, his voice unsteady.
Wooyoung didn't avoid him this time. He looked straight into his eyes, a sort of pain and disappointment in his eyes.
“You laugh, you joke...” he said quietly. “You act like none of it matters.”
San blinked slowly, still processing.
Wooyoung’s grip tightened a little.
“But it doesn't mean nothing to me,” he added, more raw now. “Not to me.”
San’s expression softened immediately, confusion still there, but now mixed with something else.
His eyes flicked over Wooyoung’s face again, like he was trying to make sure he understood every single word properly.
“I didn’t know you felt it like that...” he said quietly.
Wooyoung opened his mouth, like he wanted to say more, like there was still too much stuck in his throat but before he could, a voice suddenly cut through the moment.
“Uh… guys?”
Both of them froze instantly.
From a few meters away, Jongho was standing there, holding a shopping bag, looking between them with obvious confusion and concern.
“Hongjoong is calling everyone,” he added, a bit awkwardly. “We’re supposed to head back.”
Silence dropped over them again.
Wooyoung quickly stepped back from San, letting go of his shirt like he had been burned.
San didn’t move right away.
He just looked at Wooyoung for a second longer, like he still wasn’t done, like the conversation had stopped mid-sentence in his head.
Then he slowly nodded.
“Yeah,” he said finally, voice still raw and serious. “We’re coming.”
Wooyoung turned away first.
And this time, neither of them joked on the way back.
The walk back to the hotel somehow felt too short and too long at the same time.
The members kept talking normally around them, laughing about random things, arguing about who would have to wake up first tomorrow, but between San and Wooyoung there was only silence.
Not awkward silence.
Just the kind where both people think too much.
And somehow, once they got back to the hotel room, it became even worse.
Usually, San would have said something immediately. Some dumb comment. A joke. He would have teased Wooyoung or thrown himself onto the bed dramatically just to get attention.
Tonight, he didn’t.
He just sat down quietly on the bed, looking at his phone even though he clearly wasn’t actually reading anything.
Wooyoung stayed in the bathroom longer than necessary, trying to calm himself down somehow.
And when he finally came back out, San was still sitting there.
Quiet.
For some reason, that made Wooyoung more nervous than all the teasing from earlier combined.
“I’m sorry,” Wooyoung suddenly said quietly. “I shouldn’t have… just forget what happened earlier.”
San immediately looked up at him.
The embarrassment on Wooyoung’s face was impossible to miss now. So was the regret.
Wooyoung looked away again almost instantly.
“I honestly don’t even know why I did that,” he muttered. “You shouldn’t have to apologize for joking around.”
For a moment, San just stared at him in silence.
Then he slowly put his phone down beside him.
“Wooyoung,” San said softly.
Wooyoung hated how gentle his voice sounded.
“It’s not that easy to just forget.”
Wooyoung let out a quiet laugh through his nose, though it sounded more nervous than amused.
“Well, I’m trying to make it easy for you.”
San frowned slightly at that.
“Why are you acting like I want to forget it?”
That finally made Wooyoung look at him again.
For a second, he genuinely thought he had heard him wrong.
Because that was not the answer he had expected.
His expression shifted slightly, confusion mixing with the nervousness already written all over his face.
San looked just as unsure now, but unlike before, he didn’t look away this time.
“I mean it,” he said quietly.
He slowly stood up and walked over to Wooyoung until he was standing right in front of him.
The atmosphere between them suddenly felt different. Warmer. Heavier somehow.
San carefully reached for Wooyoung’s hands, and Wooyoung took them without hesitation.
“I mean everything I say, you know that,” San said quietly.
Then he went silent for a few seconds.
But this time, the silence didn’t feel awkward.
“Not as a friend...”
The second the words left his mouth, San suddenly got shy himself. He looked away with a small smile, almost embarrassed by his own confession. Typical.
And somehow, Wooyoung found that unbelievably cute.
He laughed softly and lightly hit San’s shoulder.
“San-ah,” he complained quietly, smiling now too. “Why can’t you stay serious during moments like this?”
San laughed too, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly while Wooyoung shook his head at him.
Somehow, everything suddenly felt normal again.
Well. Almost everything.
“I like you, Jung Wooyoung,” San admitted properly this time, looking back at him with the warmest smile Wooyoung had ever seen. “I really do.”
And while saying it, he gently squeezed Wooyoung’s hands in his.
For a second, Wooyoung just stared at him silently.
Not because he didn’t know what to say.
Mostly because hearing those words out loud felt unreal after spending almost a year doubting them.
San looked nervous again under his stare, which honestly made the whole thing even cuter.
“You’re smiling too much,” Wooyoung mumbled eventually, trying to hide his own smile.
“I just confessed to you. Let me be happy.”
Wooyoung let out a quiet laugh and looked down for a moment, suddenly feeling shy himself now that everything was finally out in the open.
Then he squeezed San’s hands back.
“I like you too, idiot,” he admitted softly.
San’s face immediately lit up again like he had just won the lottery. His eyes got all soft and shiny, his smile growing wider and wider until he looked ridiculously happy, almost like an excited kitten that had just gotten exactly what it wanted.
Cute.
Way too cute.
Wooyoung hated how weak that expression made him feel.
“Why do you look this happy?” he muttered, trying to sound annoyed, but the smile on his own face ruined it completely.
“Because you like me back,” San answered instantly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
And somehow, hearing him say it so openly made Wooyoung’s heart stutter all over again.
San moved even closer without thinking about it, still holding both of Wooyoung’s hands tightly like he was scared this moment would disappear if he let go.
“Should I show you how I actually mean it?” San asked with a small smirk, moving a little closer again.
Wooyoung’s eyes sparkled slightly at the question, excitement and nervousness mixing together all over again.
He nodded quietly.
The distance between them disappeared as their lips met once more.
Unlike the first kiss, this one wasn’t rushed or emotional in a messy way. It was soft. Mutual. Slow.
Their lips moved together carefully, naturally, like they had both wanted this for much longer than either of them had realized.
San’s hands rested on Wooyoung’s waist, gently pulling him closer. And this time, Wooyoung didn’t fight it at all. He let San hold him as close as he wanted.
Eventually, the kiss broke when San suddenly started giggling against his lips.
Wooyoung smiled immediately too, though he still gave him a fake annoyed glare.
“I’m sorry,” San mumbled quietly, unable to stop smiling. “I just can’t believe this is real.”
His eyes were practically shining now, his smile so warm and excited that he looked unbelievably cute.
“I’m so happy,” he admitted softly.
And honestly, the way San said it so openly made Wooyoung melt even more.
This was so ridiculously him.
Wooyoung let out a small breath, still holding onto him like he didn’t fully trust the moment to stay real.
“You’re so annoying.”
“But you like me.”
San just grinned again, that soft, stupidly happy expression still all over his face.
“Doesn’t make you less annoying.”
That made San laugh, shaking his head as he leaned his forehead lightly against Wooyoung’s for a second.
“This doesn’t feel real…” Wooyoung whispered, closing his eyes.
“What did you expect to happen?” San murmured back. “You really thought saying my name in your sleep would leave me cold?”
Wooyoung gave him a complaining look, but it softened into a small giggle right after.
Outside, Tokyo was still loud, bright, and moving like nothing had changed.
But right here, in the small space between them, everything already had.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
BONUS:
The whole week passed quickly. The show ATEEZ filmed was already finished, the city had been explored, and every store they wanted to visit had been checked off their list. It had been a great time.
Apparently, after that night, San and Wooyoung didn’t act distant anymore. They were just… more naturally close now, like they didn’t need excuses to stay near each other. Even if they had always been like that to some degree, something about it felt different.
The members probably noticed it too, but no one asked any questions, letting them stay in their own little world.
On the last day, they were packing their things in the hotel rooms. While Wooyoung was in the shower, San sat on the bed scrolling through his phone.
“San-ah, could you give me my face cleanser?” Wooyoung called out suddenly.
“Yeah,” San replied immediately, standing up without thinking. “Where is it?”
“It’s in my backpack.”
San opened the bag, searching through it casually.
But then something else caught his attention.
A small cat plush sat inside, soft and slightly fluffy, with a cute little smile that weirdly reminded him of something.
Maybe himself.
He picked it up, turning it in his hands.
And then he saw it.
A small tag attached to it.
'For San.'
San froze for a second.
Then his entire face changed.
Slowly at first, like his brain needed a moment to process what he was seeing.
And then it hit him.
His eyes widened, a huge smile spreading across his face before he could even stop it.
“For me…?” he whispered to himself, looking at the plush again like it was something way more important than it should’ve been.
He let out a quiet laugh, still grinning like a child.
Without thinking twice, he gently placed the plush back into Wooyoung’s backpack exactly how he found it, like it was something precious he didn’t want to mess up.
Then he grabbed the face cleanser and practically bounced out of the room.
When he reached the bathroom door, he was still smiling.
Wooyoung peeked out slightly after hearing him come closer.
“Did you find it?”
“Yeah,” San said quickly, still way too happy.
“Why are you like that?” he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. “You’re smiling way too much for someone holding face cleanser.”
San looked at him, still grinning.
“I just found something in your bag,” he said.
Wooyoung paused. “What.”
San’s smile softened even more.
“You didn't lie back then. You really got me a gift,” he said, almost like he couldn’t believe it.
For a second, Wooyoung didn’t say anything.
Then he looked away, ears slightly red.
“You saw it..?”
San nodded, still way too happy.
“Yeah,” he said. “And I like it.”
Wooyoung clicked his tongue quietly, trying to hide his smile.
“Idiot.”
San just laughed, still looking like the happiest person ever.
Maybe because he was.