Chapter Text
Wooyoung was in awe. How did he realise that he was in awe, specifically with Choi San?
It was all because he attended this random beach volleyball match in the middle of summer with his friend, Seonghwa, who only wanted to come because Yunho was in it. Seonghwa and Yunho grew up with each other and, therefore, were the best of buds and go to everything the other has on. So that meant that if Seonghwa was in a chess match, or whatever, Yunho would be there, and if Yunho was in a volleyball match, Seonghwa would be there.
Hence why Wooyoung was here right now, his eyes wide open as he stared at the volleyball team crowding around San, whose smile was as bright as the sun above them. Wooyoung just simply couldn't take his eyes off of the older, how he scored most of the points in this round, and the one before, which led their school to win the match overall.
All of San's movements were swift and flowing, almost like his body was on autopilot the entire time during the match. It was like—no, this must be what San was made for: volleyball. And Wooyoung could tell how much San loved it, too, by the way his face would light up whenever his defence puts the other school off.
By the end of it, Yunho was coming over to the pair of friends, along with San, and they were both laughing at something San had said. Wooyoung felt his cheeks reddening, suddenly conscious of his posture and the way his hair sat after hours of sitting on a bench near the beach. Seonghwa saw the way he was and chuckled, "you like San, don't you?"
"Shut up!" Wooyoung squeaked, aware of how close Yunho and San were compared to them. they'll be here very soon, and Wooyoung would be happier if his conversation with Seonghwa was not heard by the two volleyball players.
Seonghwa grinned, patting Wooyoung's shoulder, "I'll introduce you to him if you wanna."
Wooyoung was about to protest, claiming that he didn't want to be in a relationship right now when he knew himself that he'd want nothing to be able to be loved by San.
"Seonghwa! Thanks for coming!" Yunho greeted his childhood friend with a hug, Seonghwa chuckling at that and hugging Yunho twice as hard. Wooyoung smiled at that, hoping that he could have someone to share this relationship with. Imagine having someone that could understand you so, so well that you just know what they're thinking — Wooyoung would give anything to experience that.
“Well, this is kind of awkward," Wooyoung heard someone said, and he turned to see San scratching the back of his head, "I would hug you but I don't even know your name."
Wooyoung laughed softly, “I'm Wooyoung. I like the way you play volleyball. You're great at it."
San beamed, "thanks. Actually, you're one of the first people to tell me that."
Wooyoung gaped, his eyes blown wide in surprise, "no fucking way! You're, like, the star player of the match just now!"
Yunho cleared his throat, looking pointedly at the youngest, "excuse you, Wooyoung. I was playing splendidly as well as San was."
"I think different," Wooyoung whispered not so discretely to san, making the other let out an airy chuckle. "I like you, Wooyoung, and I have a feeling I’m gonna see you more often now that we know each other. Can i have your Instagram or something?"
Wooyoung's heart shouldn't be reacting like this. Wooyoung's heart shouldn't be feeling like it's on cloud 9, soaring amongst the stars. Nonetheless, he kept his expression neutral as he passed his phone to San, who typed in his Instagram before handing it back to Wooyoung.
“Well, I hope to see you around, Wooyoung. I’d sure like some more of those compliments you got up your sleeves,” San smiled, the sides of his eyes crinkling and, oh dear Lord, San has dimples, “c'mon, Yun, let's go shower, we fucking stink."
“Right. I’ll text you when I get home then,” Yunho said, but Seonghwa shook his head, “I’ll wait. We can catch the bus together if you shower quickly.”
“Wow, seems like Seonghwa’s gonna abandon me and have me get home by myself, again.” Wooyoung glared at Seonghwa playfully, the oldest having a smug smile on his face.
Yunho laughed, "not Seonghwa's fault that he likes me more than he likes you."
Wooyoung only rolled his eyes, knowing how important these weekly catch up sessions with Yunho were to Seonghwa. He always let it slide, telling Seonghwa that it's fine if he trekked home himself. However, they were at an unfamiliar place, so going home would require a lot of reliance on Google Maps, and let's just say that Wooyoung and Google Maps weren't the best of friends.
“Well, I can take you home if you want to. If you live close to Seonghwa, then I’m going to go the same direction as you,” San said, swinging an arm around Wooyoung's shoulders already. It wasn't like Wooyoung cared, but wouldn’t it too early to be swinging your arms around each other when you've only met for five minutes, maximum?
But San just continued talking as they left the two childhood friends alone. San talked to Wooyoung like he knew him for ages, and Wooyoung enjoyed it a lot. He liked it, and that's a first.
Five months later.
"A little birdie told me that someone's in love with you~" Seonghwa said annoyingly, and Wooyoung wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and hide himself in there. That's all Seonghwa had been talking about for the last week and Wooyoung could not be more bothered about it.
"For the last time, Seonghwa: just because I’m in love with him does not mean that he is, too!" Wooyoung said exasperatedly, waving his fork around to get his message across to Seonghwa. Seonghwa didn't seem to be fazed by it, however, and just had his very, very annoying smirk plastered across his face. Wooyoung groaned, "what now?"
Seonghwa pointed behind him. Wooyoung knew then that the whole volleyball team was probably standing behind him. Ever since that beach volleyball game, San and Yunho started hanging out with Wooyoung and Seonghwa, which eventually led to the whole volleyball team joining their table. Wooyoung didn't know how it happened; it just did one day and Wooyoung was still surprised by it every single time.
"There's the birdie,” Seonghwa pointed out, and Yeosang sat next down next to Wooyoung, swinging his arm around his shoulders. Honestly, what's with volleyball guys and wrapping their arms around another?
Yeosang grinned, "I'm assuming it's something I said. Uh, which one is it?"
Seonghwa signalled some sort of weird sign language to the younger and Yeosang's eyes widened like saucepans, "oh!" He looked over at Wooyoung, "yes. I trust my sources very fucking much, and I believe that what I told Seonghwa is 100% true."
Wooyoung scoffed, “I'm not believing anything until I hear it myself. Who did you hear it from?"
Yeosang's grin only widened, "oh, I can list you the entire chain of sources. I heard it from Mingi, who heard it from Yeonjun, who heard it from Chan — Lee Chan, not Bang Chan — who heard it from Hyunjin, who heard it from Felix, who heard it from Taehyun, who heard it from Yunho, who heard it from San! See, I think my sources are very reliable."
Wooyoung put down his food and blinked at Yeosang. "I, uh, have no doubt that it went through a lot of people. But have you considered that maybe, just maybe, the truth might be twisted since it went through so many people?"
"Well," Yeosang tapped his chin twice before swatting a hand at Wooyoung's head, "that's not the point, idiot! The point is, Choi San is-"
"Choi San is what?"
Both of them turned around and to their horror, San was standing right there. San was peering down at the duo, his expression unreadable and Wooyoung was just feel really fucking nervous right now. He mentally cursed at Yeosang for being so loud but also at himself, because why did he even ask Yeosang in the first place?
"We were just..." Yeosang was looking around the dining hall, as if that made the lie more believable, "just talking about how you're not here! You're always here, y'know, with Wooyoung and stuff. And I was just wondering where you were 'cause you're not with lover boy here."
Wooyoung cringed at Yeosang's words, "I'm no lover boy, stop spewing out absolute nonsense, idiot."
San chuckled lightly. He grabbed Yeosang's hand around Wooyoung's left shoulder and lifted it up, “actually, mind if I borrow Wooyoung for a sec?"
Yeosang's face glowed up like a Christmas tree and Wooyoung didn't like that at all, ”sure! In fact, you can take him away for the entire lunch and I'm pretty sure no one will be bothered by it!"
Wooyoung really wanted to yell at Yeosang now, and maybe yell at Seonghwa too, who didn't utter a single word about the situation. When Wooyoung glanced over to his friend, he realised why he wasn't engaged with the conversation. Seonghwa was with his new boyfriend, Hongjoong, and when those two were in lovey dovey island, there's absolutely no way in pulling them out of it.
San rolled his eyes, looking at Wooyoung, "how are you still putting up with him?"
Wooyoung laughed. He stood up and shook his head, "I honestly do not know. Let’s go."
The two left the dining hall afterwards, lots of wolf whistling and cheers going on everywhere as everyone was almost counting on the two ending up together at some point. Wooyoung was following San with his head bowed down in embarrassment, but San seemed to enjoy the attention, smiling at anyone that made a noise. Wooyoung wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
San led them to a secluded area of the school, where they could be left in peace and have their own little conversation.
"Don't tell me you're here to kill me," Wooyoung blurted out once they got there to ease out the atmosphere a bit. The two didn't talk at all going to the location, and it made Wooyoung nervous. What did San need him for?
San laughed, “if I were to do so, I wouldn’t do it on school grounds.”
Wooyoung’s face physically paled, his stance rigid and San immediately shook his head, “not that I would want to kill you! Actually, I, um, ah, how do I start?”
Wooyoung had never seen San this jumpy and stuttering with his words. He found himself smiling a little at how cute San seemed now, how real he was being compared to the sociable, confident San Wooyoung was used to seeing around school and especially on the volleyball court.
San let out a sigh, "I guess there's no easy way to say this. I like you, wooyoung. I like you a lot, actually. And I'm, um, I'm hoping you feel the same as well."
"Oh!" was all Wooyoung could let out at the moment. Even after all the hints Seonghwa had been pointing out to and the whole conversation he had with Yeosang just minutes before, Wooyoung still couldn't believe that San likes him. Choi San likes him. Not anyone else, but Jung Wooyoung.
This was blowing Wooyoung's tiny little brain up.
"Oh, um, thanks," Wooyoung noticed how San's shoulder slumped, and he was quick to redeem himself, "and I like you, too!"
San looked up at him with a surprised expression. When San didn’t say anything, Wooyoung scratched the back of his neck and continued, "heh, yeah, I like you. I like you a lot, too, San. I think I've liked you since that beach volleyball game. I’m sorry I sounded so surprised when I heard you say that, it's just—I guess I just never thought you'd like me as well." Wooyoung muttered, lowering his head, smiling widely at himself at the thought of San liking him back. This was like a dream come true to him. He never, in a million years, would've thought that San, out of all people, would like him.
San smiled, too, and lifted Wooyoung's chin to let their eyes meet, "that's cute," he glanced over Wooyoung's very distinct features, "you're cute, Wooyoung."
Wooyoung blushed at San's words, which only making San's smile widen at the cuteness, "can I kiss you, Wooyoung?"
Wooyoung nodded shyly. San leant forward until the two were only centimetres apart. Wooyoung closed his eyes, not quite sure of what to do since this would be his first kiss. Oh god, he’s sharing his first kiss with Choi San—
The world came to a halt when San's lips lightly touched Wooyoung's. Wooyoung's insides exploded like fireworks, bloomed like the flowers in spring, sung like the birds in the early mornings. He was feeling everything and nothing but San's lips all at once. It was a new but familiar sensation.
Wooyoung loved it.
Wooyoung boldly wrapped his arms around San's neck as he kissed back to his best abilities. He felt San smiling and wrapping his arms around his waist, pulling Wooyoung closer to him.
It was magical and unbelievable, just like snow on the beach.