I wanted to figure this out, but waiting for Minwoo to catch the hint seemed impossible.

Alright, I'll spell it out for him.

-

I told him to make time for me even though he said he was going to be pretty busy. He reluctantly promised me an afternoon with about 2 hours to spare.

Minwoo and I then carried our cups of coffee towards a nearby park, and we soon found a bench to sit on.

"It's a bit hot out here though. We should have stayed in the cafe." Minwoo fanned himself with his hand but decided to cool down with sips of his iced caramel macchiato instead, using the straw to poke at the whipped cream on top.

"Wanted to talk to you." I smiled slightly at his jabs, then taking a sip from my own iced Americano.

"We can talk at the cafe, no?"

I stayed silent for a while and wondered how to bring it up.

"Minwoo, what am I to you?"

Minwoo blinked, looking at me oddly. "You're my boyfriend."

"So what are we?"

"...what's with this quiz?" Minwoo sighed. "Donghyun-hyung, what is it?"

"What are we?" I repeated my question, turning to stare into his eyes.

He rolled his eyes in response. "Lovers. What else can we be? buddies? We don't even have that much recently."

I took in a deep breath and tried not to snap the way he did.

Minwoo looked at me and paused, then trying a smile. "Look, I don't know what you're trying to get to here. It definitely doesn't look like some marriage proposal with all this ambiguous questions you're tossing so I'd appreciate it if you could stop."

"Stop?" I almost laughed.

"I've got enough of my plate and it's been stressful. I don't need you to add onto it." Minwoo continued sipping on his drink. "Tell it to me straight."

"Okay." I nodded. "Does your mother know about us?"

Minwoo flinched, all signs of his previous impatience washed out of him.

"I followed you that day you walked out on me." I told him honestly, watching his facial expression harden. "I heard what you told her."

"Hyung-" He tried to argue.

"It's been 4 years since we started dating." I chuckled humourlessly, cutting him off. "I can understand why you have reservations letting your mom know you are dating a guy at 17 years old. But you're 21 now. How long did you intend to keep me as a secret?"

"I couldn't find the right time to let her know-"

"4 years. We've been through so much." I clenched my fist and tried not to let my tear ducts work. "Haven't I done enough to give you assurance about our relationship? Is that why you're hiding us?"

"Are you going to listen to me or not?" Minwoo took in a deep breath and opened his mouth when he received confirmation that I was listening. "She's homophobic, I'm her only son. I wanted to break it to her slowly-"

"Guess I need to wait 40 years." I resisted crushing the cup in my hand, barely keeping my breathing calm. "For now, I am just a friend while you go ahead and marry a woman and have kids."

"That's not-" Minwoo groaned, stopping short. "You know what? Fine. If that's the conclusion you want to come to, and nothing I say will change your mind, then let's go straight to the end."

"The end." I repeated in disbelief.

"You're picking a fight with me. You want to break up. Just say it straight."

I crushed the cup and felt the remnant ice offering resistance, coolness as if trying to fight my fire. "Who the said anything about a break up?"

"You won't listen to a word I say!" He yelled in annoyance, and I don't understand how he could be so indignant as if there was no reason for me to be upset at all.

"All I'm saying is I want your mom to know about us-"

"She can't!"

Perhaps I shouldn't have picked Americano as my drink.

This day was bitter enough.

"She can't?" I gave an ugly smile, one that caused all my facial muscles to twitch and the mere strength required to keep it up.

Minwoo scrunched his face up, shaking his head as if in disbelief of the situation.

I stood up, nodding in understanding.

"You're right. Let's break up."

-