Mrs. Kim looked like a wreck when she showed up. Her hair was thrown up in a loose bun, and the streaks of mascara on her cheeks indicated that she had been crying. A lot. When she came stumbling into the office, the head of school let out a surprised yelp.

“Myungsoo,” she practically wailed, not even bothering to acknowledge the woman behind the desk. “Let’s go. Now.”

He immediately stood up and moved towards the door, deciding that speaking was useless. When his mother was upset, it was best to let her be as much as possible. Otherwise, she’d end up falling into a sobbing mess on the floor.

Once in the car, only the sniffles of Myungsoo’s mother could be heard. She motioned towards the tissue box in the backseat of the car every once in a while, prompting her son to grab one for her so she could wipe her eyes. After ten minutes she still hadn’t managed to compose herself, so she pulled over to the side of the road.

“Mom, are you okay?” Myungsoo asked timidly. As expected, she burst into tears, and had to lean on the steering wheel for support. Myungsoo let out a sigh. “I can drive, if you want.”

The sobbing woman shook her head. “No. I just…I need a moment. And we need to talk.”

“About…?”

“About your father.”

Oh God. “How angry is he?”

She just shook her head.

“That bad?” A nod answered his question. “Did he hurt you?” No response, which probably meant something bad. “Mom? Did he?”

“Myungsoo.”

“I’ll kill him.”

“Myungsoo! He’s your father.”

Myungsoo smacked the dashboard with his fist. “That doesn’t matter! Ugh—” He leaned forward and grabbed fistfuls of his hair to calm himself down, breathing hard. “That doesn’t matter,” he repeated, more softly this time.

“He’s waiting for you at home.”

“I know.” He took a deep breath. “He probably won’t listen to me, but…can I tell you what happened? Why I got suspended?” The question sounded a lot like a challenge.

“Of course.”

“I was visiting Sungjong.”

“Again?”

He nodded, and felt tears welling up in his eyes. He pushed them away. “Y-Yeah. His mom is taking him back to Japan, where she lives.” Willed by a sudden burst of courage, he looked up into his mother’s eyes. “I love him, Mom.”

She gulped. “I know, sweetie…he’s one of your best friends, right?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

The reality of the situation seemed to hit her all at once, robbing her of a response. She stared at Myungsoo with fear in her eyes.

“Dad is going to kill me, huh.”

The sobbing started again after that.

---

Walking up to his front door seemed to take Myungsoo hours. He knew what waited on the other side of the wooden barrier, and no matter how hard he tried to prepare himself, he wasn’t sure he was ready to face it. Slowly, he raised his hand and placed it on the brass knob in front of him.

“Go inside, Myungsoo. Your father is waiting.”

Waiting was an understatement. He must have heard Myungsoo’s mother’s voice on the other side, because he opened the door himself before Myungsoo had a chance to.

“You’re home.”

Myungsoo nodded.

“Get inside.”

He obeyed, stepping into the foyer while his mother edged around him and stood slightly behind her husband. Moonsoo emerged from the kitchen and stood next to her. Myungsoo avoided his eyes, which he could feel burning into his own.

“Honey, I—” His mother began, placing a hand on her husband’s shoulder.

“Shut up,” he growled, shaking her off. She stepped back timidly. “Both of you, leave us alone. We need to…talk.”

Moonsoo was about to protest, but was cut off by a stern look from his mom. The two of them slowly retreated down the hallway.

As soon as they were out of sight, Myungsoo’s father grabbed him by the collar and pushed him up against the door. Myungsoo didn’t make a sound, even though his shoulder was burning from being shoved into the hard surface.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he snarled, his face just inches from Myungsoo’s. “What is it going to take to get you to listen?” When Myungsoo didn’t answer, he dropped him onto the floor, where he sat silently, rubbing his shoulder. “And how dare you skip school?” He stalked towards his son, breathing through clenched teeth.

“I was visiting Sungjong,” Myungsoo said as calmly as possible, struggling to avoid his father’s fiery eyes.

“You skipped school to visit someone?”

“Not just anyone,” Myungsoo said. He raised his head and looked straight into the bloodshot eyes of the man standing over him. “My boyfriend.”

Myungsoo barely had enough time to move out of the way before a fist slammed into the wood just centimeters from his head. Mr. Kim let out a pained screech and stumbled backwards, giving Myungsoo time to get back on his feet.

“Get out of my house,” he seethed, gripping his bloody knuckles and eyeing Myungsoo with a venomous look. “You have five minutes. If you’re here when I get back, I’ll kill you.”

As Mr. Kim entered the powder room in the hallway to tend to his hand, Moonsoo came careening into the foyer from the kitchen, followed less enthusiastically by his mother.

Moonsoo half-tackled Myungsoo and stood there for a bit with his arms wrapped around his older brother. “Do you really have to leave?” he mumbled into Myungsoo’s shirt. He started hiccupping, a sure sign that Moonsoo was crying.

“Yeah. I can’t stay here anymore. You understand, right?”

Moonsoo nodded. “Yeah.”

Myungsoo smiled and pulled away from his younger brother. “Take care of your mom. Make sure he doesn’t hurt her. And don’t let him hurt you. If he lays a finger on you, call me, okay? Call the police, too. I’ll come pick you up.”

“Okay. But…where are you going to go?”

“I have an idea. I’ll call you when I get there, promise.”

“Pinky swear?” Moonsoo held out his hand, and Myungsoo intertwined their pinky fingers.

“Pinky swear.” He turned to his mother then. “Mom.”

“Mmm?” She looked up at her son with tear-stained eyes.

“You have to stay strong, okay? I can’t do that for you anymore.”

“O-Okay,” she responded weakly.

Myungsoo walked forward and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “I’ll see you soon. Don’t worry.”

“I know.” She sniffled dejectedly. “Now go; your five minutes are almost up, and your father…well, he keeps true to his word.”

“Yeah,” Myungsoo breathed. “I’ll be going then.” He gave Moonsoo one final hug and walked towards the door. As he was heading out he considered turning around and saying something else, something meaningful and inspiring, but the words escaped him. So he left.

---

Once out the door, he knew exactly where he was heading. It didn’t take long before he was positioned in front of a house nearly as familiar to him as his own. He rang the doorbell and jumped up and down to keep himself warm. It was cold outside, and he had forgotten to grab a jacket on his way out. Luckily, it wasn’t long until someone came to answer the door.

“Myungsoo? What are you doing here?” The tired face of Mr. Lee greeted him from the other side of the entrance.

“My dad kicked me out.”

Mr. Lee’s eyes widened. “You must be freezing. Come in.”

“Where’s Sungjong?” Myungsoo asked once they were both inside, cups of hot tea in their hands.

Sungjong’s father sighed and looked down. “Gone. His mom moved him out this morning.”

“Seriously?!” Myungsoo shook his head in disbelief. He was hoping to see his boyfriend at least one more time before he left for Japan.

“Yeah. She wanted him out of here as fast as possible. Not the nicest woman…but from what I gather, the concept of y parents is nothing new to you.”

Myungsoo let out a small laugh. “Very true. I don’t think I’ll be going back there for a while. Or ever.”

“I don’t blame you. Do you wanna tell me what happened?”

“Uh…sure.” The boy took a deep breath. “Where do I start…”

---

“Whoa. Your dad is a nutcase,” Mr. Lee said with a gulp. “I don’t blame you for leaving.”

Myungsoo nodded. “I’m more worried about my mom and brother, though. I don’t want my dad to take his anger out on them now that I’m not there.”

Mr. Lee gave him a sad look. “Hey, there’s no point in worrying about that now. From what I hear, Moonsoo’s a pretty cool kid. He’ll take care of your mom, right?”

“I hope so,” Myungsoo sighed.

Suddenly, Mr. Lee seemed to remember something important. “Wait a second. Where are you going to stay?”

“Well…” Myungsoo twiddled his thumbs. “I haven’t really figured that out yet. Maybe I can get a job and stay at a motel or something—”

“Nonsense,” Mr. Lee cut him off. “You’ll stay with me.”

“Huh? N-No, I don’t want to intrude—”

“Listen. You are the only reason Sungjong was able to make it through his time in the hospital. You’re the most special person in his life right now, meaning you’re practically family. This house is open to you as long as you need it.” He smiled at Myungsoo, who looked like he was going to cry again. “Hey now, don’t cry. What’s wrong?”

Myungsoo sniffled. “Just…thank you. I’m not used to people being as generous as you are.”

“No problem. Anything else you’re worried about?”

“Um…yeah, one more thing. Do you think Sungjong’s mom will let me see him? If I can earn enough money to go to Japan, I mean?” He looked down at his hands.

“Earn enough money, my ,” said Mr. Lee with a dramatic scoff. “I plan on visiting him in a month or two, and I intend to take you with me.” He paused and lowered his voice to a mischievous whisper. “And if abducting Sungjong for a day of fun is necessary, then so be it. H-Hey, why are you crying?”

“I blame the tea,” Myungsoo sobbed, taking another sip before clinking it down on the coffee table. “Making me cry manly tears.”

“That’d be Sleepy Time tea, my favorite. One round of manly tears per cup.”

a/n: Wow, this chapter was a . I mean, seriously. I rewrote this another four or five times, and eventually went back to my original plan. Go figure. But YAYYYY, I DID IT. Sort of. Still gotta wrap this baby up, which I plan to do tomorrow, assuming jetlag doesn't bite me in the too hard (I just got home from a trip) and I have enough candy on hand. Yeah. I just noticed how unprofessional my last two author's notes have been. Maybe I should go write some comedy or something. That could be fun. Right now though, I should probably go to bed...I'll edit this tomorrow and hopefully have the final chapter up! See you on the other side, chicos y chicas. 

Also, thanks to all you new subscribers! I was not expecting your spontaneous appearance. And once again, thanks to all you old readers for not ditching me. You're the bestest ;u;