Session 7 [Part 1]

San closed his eyes, keeping them there for a few seconds before he let go of a sigh.

"You seem to surprise me more every time I meet you" Y/N said simply.

She could see him struggle to keep himself from turning towards her in the least. His muscles were tense, and the slight shaking of his hands showed what was happening. He was good at hiding this stuff, but something told her this was involuntary for the first time ever.

"San..." She said softly. "At this point, you win nothing and lose nothing. You're here already. I had to pry answers out of people. I'm risking my life to solve this thing, all in the name of... well... you"

His eyes flew open as his chest stilled.

"I believe you are a friend of sorts and I would like to help the very few I have" She pulled out a small usb drive from her pocket. "And the trial reassured me that it was the case"

A silence fell over them, but she could tell by how his chest went up and down that he wanted to say something. She remembered the days where she would sit in front of him and know every detail of his mannerisms. And she was doing it again.

"You saw it?" He muttered, barely moving.

"A complete shit-show" She said, her eyes falling on her hand. "But I see where it all led to. They had circumstantial evidence that placed Irene out of the case entirely."

Her gaze went back up and she felt as if her blood had run completely cold. San's eyes were going right through her with a rather potent gaze, but the cuts, bruise, and bandages made her heart stop.

She swallowed.

"So I guess she paid her way out" She said in a much breathier voice.

She lowered her eyes to the floor as she put the drive back in her pocket.

"In short, I'm here to-" "Why did you come back?" He asked, his voice smooth, something she had not heard in a while.

She paused, looking up. She didn't expect that question, after all, his entire group of friends was constantly asking her to see him. Didn't he know that?

But nonetheless, she could at least iron some of the wrinkles in this huge problem of a friendship. If it was even called that.

"Well-" "I brought your family back from the dead. I attacked you. I lied and played with you. Why are you sitting there at all?" He interrupted.

Y/N blinked a few times, as shock took over her body.

"I'm sure I even ruined your professional-" "I know" She said. "I lived a through a fucking wreckage in less than a year."

She shifted in her seat and sighed.

"But it was a long time coming. I... can't say I'm not mad or scared, because we have this glass thing as proof." She leaned forwards. "San, if anything, I want to fucking murder you."

He looked away, his eyes glossy, his posture slumped.

"But I want to kill Allan more. I want to send Irene off a bridge. I want to send many people to hell. In short, San, I have way bigger things that already ruined my life. You only ripped off a bandaid that needed to disappear." She said.

A somewhat calming silence came between them. She played a few memories in her head as she remembered the very first time they were in front of one another. Both playing a role they really didn't belong in. Or, more as they were not it.

She blinked and looked up. His eyes were lost.

"San" She called out. "I'm here under the request of every person that has come across you, There is a reason they want me here. But I can leave if you really don't want me to stay"

Her voice was calm. Her eyes were soft as she waited for his answer. Seconds ticked by and he seemed to push her away even more. She sighed.

"I guess you really need a friend" She muttered to herself, standing up. "Maybe I can convince Jongho to come and see you. He genuinely worries about you"

She grabbed the chair, but she caught a strained noise coming from San's throat. Y/N's body did a complete pause.

She turned around and sat back down.

"Or I can be it" She said, looking up, catching his puffy eyes.

He sighed, closing his eyes. A few tears slipped past his eyelids as they rolled down his cheeks freely.

Y/N paused.

"San, let's go back in time a little" She said, feeling her chest fill back with anxiety. "Just like when we first met. Back to that"

San knitted his eyebrows together before opening his eyes. They were almost bloodshot red.

She gave him a small smile.

"We need to find a middle ground before I can even dare solve this goddamn thing. So..." She frowned a little as she tried to find the best standing point. "Highschool?"

San gave her a sad smile as he shifted in his seat.

"I met a few people." He answered. "But not the ones you are looking for."

Y/N could feel a weird familiarity slip past her limbs as she felt herself looking around for a pen.

"You met Seonghwa, Hongjoong and?"

"Everyone around my age, except for Jongho. He was a friend of a friend at the time" He answered.

She nodded.

"What about you?" He asked.

Y/N could only scoff at his question.

"It was a shitstorm." She said. "I had school during the day but I was back to seeing my uncle get convicted, my brother getting high and me running away with him just to get caught by a local gang"

A certain sense of vulnerability settled in her chest. But she knew this was better. He couldn't really use anything else against her if his almost killing her didn't work.

His eyes were large in surprise.

"And here I am." she said. "Now, beginning of college?"

"I met Irene and suddenly we were more people than expected." He said. "We had to go in an old van Hongjoong owned and even then, we barely fit."

Y/N was slightly baffled at his answer.

"We actually took out the seats." He said.

Y/N suddenly noticed that they were not looking at each other in the eye. But she could tell by his expression that he was remembering. Remembering something that probably swirled around in his head a lot.

"Childhood?" She asked softly.

"A happy one, even if I had lost my mother. I did think my dad had something to do with it but... I was a child" He shrugged.

"That's the weirdest part. I had a somewhat normal childhood only for it to end with my own dad getting convicted." She said. "College was supposed to be my happy years"

San let out a chuckle. Y/N shook her head lightly.

"I'm still confused" San suddenly said. "What made you come back?"

Y/N sighed.

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know" She said. "But I have nothing left to lose and someone needs help. I'm going back to square one, might as well do something about it"

"You are 10 times the person I thought I was" He mumbled.

She shook her head.

"Living rough is something that messes you up. You finish in two places. I just happened to be pulled by bad thing after bad thing, that I never really had time to sink into my own head." She said. "Once I did, however, I had to focus on college and my mom."

The last part of her sentence almost made her stutter. She was not sure on how she felt after so long.

"You know..." San dragged out. "There is a rumor Jongho brought back to me early on, telling me it was a weak spot."

Y/N lifted an eyebrow.

"That local gang..." He trailed off.

"If you are asking, yes. They did do it. I was the payment my brother gave them so he could get his pot, even if he didn't notice" She said.

"He didn't notice?" San asked.

"He was so addicted to it that he said yes to the payment and the man barely finished his sentence. I was suddenly dragged to a back alley and the rest is history" She said.

The nonechalanteless in her voice gave her a sense of confidence. She had no idea how she came out of that one and still managed to get by. But she felt lucky nonetheless that she was strong enough to get through it.

"I'm sorry" San said. "About everything that I caused"

"Nah" She said. "At this point, I give two shits about it. I tried and it failed, I'm not trying again"

"And the case?" He asked.

"It takes a different turn every time." She said. "You bastards did your fair share"

Y/N could feel the bitterness rise up her throat.

"Do you have any real idea as to why you did it?" She asked carefully, looking over to see his reaction.

His body tensed up.

"No" He breathed out.

"Were you planning on it being 13?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No"

Y/N sighed.

"I was never able to get your words out of my head" She said. "They haunted me through and through. You are good at what you do"

"I learned it from my father. He was a great liar. Years later I found out about his affairs, his sells, his business. He was a con artist of sorts. I told myself I was going to be better" He answered.

"It technically saved your life" She said.

"I guess that's a plus" He said.

Y/N let out a dry laugh. San tilted his head in curiosity at her sudden action.

"You were not wrong in the end" She muttered, looking up at him.

"We are almost one and the same."