Sneak Peek - The Art of Coming Out

Inside the Chapter:

"In fact we've invited her over for dinner tomorrow night for you to meet her." Mrs. Lee chimed in.

"You did what?!" Joon practically choked on his own words, eyes bulging wide.

"Oh don't be such a stiff, Joon darling. She's really quite a lovely person I'm sure you two will get along just fine. Plus you two would have really precious babies." His mother continued.

"Mother I do not need help finding a date." He insisted.

"I call bull." Mr. Lee snorted, adding "If you're doing so well on your own how come you're not dating anyone?"

"Who says I'm not?" Joon argued.

Mrs. Lee gasped dramatically, clapping her hands together with a sharp squeal of excitement practically swooning when she said, "Really, Joon? Are you seeing someone?"

"Of course he's not." Mr. Lee interrupted.

"As a matter of fact I am." The raven haired man insisted.

"I can't believe you've been seeing someone! For how long? What's her name? What is she like? Why did you keep it from us?" Mrs. Lee was like a kid in a candy store who had just been told she could have anything she wanted.

"Alright my boy, so you're dating someone. Who is it?" Mr. Lee challenged.

Joon's logic seemed to falter beneath the bombarding of questions from his mother as well as his father's obviously disbelieving glare- how could he have honestly believed that just claiming he was dating someone would be enough to satisfy them. And if he went so far as to give the name of a friend of course they would now expect to see whomever it was around all the time which was nearly impossible since he worked so much and really just had no time for dating. But he knew his parents well enough to understand that this little investigation wasn't going to end at the dinner table, so who the hell could he claim to be dating? There was still the option of giving in admitting that he was lying, but it would only rile his mother up and satisfy his father who sincerely believed that his son was incapable of finding a date on his own.

Of course if he actually was interested in going out with someone it would've happened by now, they just didn't seem able to grasp the concept that he wasn't lonely and a part of him wasn't missing just because he wasn't romantically involved. And if he outed himself now they would both insist that he meet this girl, but after the last blind date his parents had fixed him up on with a borderline psychopath who had been described to him as "a nice girl" he definitely didn't want to take any chances with meeting another one.

"Come on, Joon, who is it?" His father coaxed with a knowing grin.

"It's.... er.."

"I hope everyone saved room for dessert!" Mir chided happily as he returned to the room with a small stack of plates.

"Mir!" Joon blurted out so loudly he startled everyone else in the room.

The copper haired male stood perfectly still wondering what the hell his friend was on about so suddenly, watching with wide eyes as Joon hopped out the chair and sprinted over grinning. He wrapped his arm around Mir's waist and pulled the younger closer just in case his parents hadn't understood his sudden claim, kissing the top of his friend's head just to take things a step further.

"I'm dating Mir." Joon clarified.

His parents looked at one another in confusion similar to the way Mir was now looking up at Joon wondering what had been said to make the older man so desperate to get them off his back that he'd come up with such a bizarre cover story. Not wanting to draw any attention to whatever scheme his roommate was cooking up, Mir set the plates on the table and bowed slightly to the Lees offering a kind smile.

"Please excuse us." Mir apologized, eyes darting to Joon, "Help me with the desserts, dear?"

Mir didn't wait for an answer, turning on his heel to shuffle back into the kitchen before Joon's parents starting asking questions that he would surely be unable to answer since he had no idea what had just happened. Lee Joon'sif he was actually gay this would be one hell of a way to let everyone know. With a shrug he folded his hands behind his back to follow Mir to the kitchen grateful to get away from his mother and father for a few moments, plus they would probably want to whisper to one another about it anyway.