Yunho was in his living room, nervously counting his expenses for that month and cursed when he saw how drastically his financial state has worsened. It's been a while since he had met with his father and at first he didn't really care too much about his father's words, when the man said that he would disown him and cut him out of the family. Something like that wasn't really new to Yunho, so he really thought that the man was just bluffing. However, he quickly realised that that was far from being true. Even though Yunho was living on his own and didn't get along with his father, the other one would still pay the rent of Yunho's apartment and every month Yunho would get some money from his father. So, he was quite shocked when he got a letter, which was letting him know that he was late with the payment of the apartment’s rent that month.

Yunho gritted his teeth when he realised that he would probably have to move out; the apartment was way to expensive. Since he was living in a big apartment, in a quite rich part of the town, it was nothing strange that the rent was that high and Yunho never thought about it too much. He wouldn't even panic that much, because he had quite large savings on his other bank account. However, when he tried to get the money from the bank, he was let known that his bank account had been locked at Yunho knew that that was his father’s doing as well. He knew it far too well that that was his father’s way of getting him to return back home. However, there was no way that he was going to do something like that. But without his savings and having just a small amount of money left, Yunho really didn’t know what he was going to do.

Well, he knew that he would have to sell his apartment, that much was pretty clear to him. But finding a new apartment, which’s rent wouldn’t be too expensive would be quite difficult. Not only that, but Yunho knew that he would have to find a job and that was what he hated the most. He was so used to his old life and a part of him wanted it back, because back then he really didn’t have to do anything and he would still have money. He leaned back in the couch and let out an annoyed groan. Maybe he could ask his mother to help him?

Yunho straightened himself up and frowned, thinking hard. He knew that his mother wasn’t really that different from his father. However, there were times that he showed a bit more affection to him than his own father, so Yunho thought that maybe he would have better luck with his mother. On the other hand, he knew that he shouldn’t get his hopes too high. Yunho shrugged and nervously chewed on his lower lip; it looked like that finding a job was his only way out of this. But where should he work and what kind of a job was good for him? Yunho pressed his lips together, thinking even harder and because he couldn’t think of anything, he let out another annoyed groan and laid down.

He , Yunho knew that. He was almost 20, but he had never in his life have a part-time job; he never had to find one. However, now that it was finally the time to get one, he had no idea how to get a job and what kind of job would he be good at. There really was nothing special about him and Yunho knew that he didn’t have any special skills as well; there was no way that someone would hire him as a worker. He had always thought that after finishing the college, he would work at his father’s company, no matter how much he hated his old man. He knew that by working there, he would be able to earn a lot of money and that was all that Yunho cared for. However, now he was completely torn… why did he have to be so useless? Even tough he was working hard to change, deep inside Yunho still knew that he was nothing but a mere spoiled and rich brat.

As he continued to thinking about it, his doorbell suddenly rang and he was immediately on his legs. He frowned, because he had no idea how could be at that hour, but when he thought about it a bit longer, he suddenly realised that it must’ve been Jaejoong. He and Jaejoong made plans that day to go out for a dinner at a new restaurant, but to be honest Yunho didn’t feel like going out. He just wanted to be left alone at that moment. Not only that, but he couldn’t believe that he had forgotten about his plans with Jaejoong. He had been so caught up in the whole thinking thing that he had completely forgot about Jaejoong.

“Oh, hi,” said Yunho when he opened the door and then leaned in, giving Jaejoong a few gentle kisses before pulling back, forcing a small smile on his face. “You finally came.”

“Yunho!” said Jaejoong, excited to see his lover and he then chuckled when the other one came closer to him, immediately returning the other one kisses. When Yunho pulled back a bit, Jaejoong noticed that the other one wasn’t really ready for their date and then he followed Yunho into the living room as the other one made his way there. Something seemed off about Yunho. Not just then, but Jaejoong noticed that a few days ago. It was as if something was bothering Yunho, because the other one was quite distant from him. At first Jaejoong didn’t think much of it, but now it was slowly becoming to concern him as well. It’s been a while since he had last seen Yunho smile and Jaejoong just had to wonder; did something happen between Yunho and his family again?

After that day, when Yunho met his father, it seemed to Jaejoong that Yunho got over it quite quickly and the older male was glad about that, because he couldn’t handle it when something was troubling his student. However, now that Yunho’s troubled expression was back, Jaejoong just couldn’t help but to worry. He didn’t really want to upset Yunho, so he didn’t ask him if something happened again. However, even if he didn’t ask, it was quite clear to Jaejoong that something was wrong with Yunho and he could just hope that the other one would come around and decide to tell him on his own.

“Are you ready for our date?” asked Jaejoong, trying to ignore his worries and he then smiled walking up to Yunho, who didn’t smile when the date was mentioned. That made Jaejoong’s heart shrink and he nervously chewed on his lower lip. “Come on, I’ll wait for you here. We still have some time, just go and get ready, okay?”

Yunho sighed and nodded, but didn’t go anywhere. He was looking forward to his date with Jaejoong, of course he was. It was always fun if Jaejoong was around, all of their dates were filled with happiness and excitement. However, that time it was different, Yunho just wanted to stay inside and not to go anywhere. If it was up to him, he would send Jaejoong home, because he really wasn’t in the mood to be talking to anyone else; he needed to be alone because he needed to come up with a good plan that would help him get by.

“Look, Jaejoong,” said Yunho with a serious voice and the man’s eyes were immediately on him. “What if we cancel our reservations there? I really don’t feel like going anywhere,” he then said and watched how Jaejoong’s face became concerned, which immediately made him look away.

“Why?” asked Jaejoong and came closer to the younger one. “It’s fine if you don’t want to go there, you know. We could go somewhere else and-”

“What if we stay inside today?” asked Yunho and slowly looked up at the older one. “I’ll cook us the dinner or something like that.”

“Okay, seems like fun,” said Jaejoong and smiled, but he still couldn’t help but to wonder what made Yunho change his mind. Jaejoong didn’t really care about where they were, as long as they would be together it would be fun.

“Good,” said Yunho and nodded. He then forced a smile and turned around. There was no way that he would tell Jaejoong about his financial problems. He didn’t want the other one to worry about him, Jaejoong had done enough for him already. Not only that, but Yunho wanted to take care of it on his own. He wanted to prove to himself that he could do it; that he could make it on his own. “Okay so let’s just-” started Yunho, but was interrupted by Jaejoong, who wrapped his arms around his body and pulled him in for a hug and Yunho’s body gave up. The younger one wrapped his arms around his professor’s neck and nuzzled into his shoulder, immediately feeling a lot better and he let out a gasp when Jaejoong buried his fingers into his hair.

“You’re acting strange again,” said Jaejoong and Yunho’s eyes were opened immediately. “Something has happened, because you’re being troubled about something again,” he said and felt how Yunho’s body stiffened up. “Did something bad happen again?”

“No.”

“Liar,” said Jaejoong and pulled back a bit. At that Yunho looked down, but not for long, because Jaejoong placed his fingers under Yunho’s chin and lifted his face, forcing Yunho to make eye contact with him. “It’s so obvious when you’re lying to me and you know how much I dislike it.”

“Everything is fine,” went on by lying Yunho and he then placed his hands on top of Jaejoong’s shoulders, pushing the older male gently away. He then took in a deep breath and watched how Jaejoong’s expression stiffened and Yunho gulped, knowing that he had made Jaejoong probably annoyed. He nervously looked away and shrugged, still refusing to say what was really bothering him.

“Why do you have to be so stubborn all the time, Yunho?” asked Jaejoong and folded his arms, giving Yunho an annoyed look. “Wherever’s something bothering you, you just lie to me that everything is okay and then you push me away,” he said and Yunho quickly looked at him, feeling bad. He didn’t want to make Jaejoong think that he was pushing him away; that was the last thing that he wanted the other one to think. “You should know by now that talking about things help and-”

“Do you want something to drink?” interrupted Yunho and Jaejoong gave him a confused look.

Jaejoong then watched how the other one disappeared into the kitchen and let out a sigh, knowing that it was impossible to talk some sense into his lover. It was true that Yunho had changed a lot over the past couple of months, but sometimes he would still like a brat, which was driving Jaejoong insane. He couldn’t really understand what was keeping Yunho away from telling him the truth. Not only that, but he felt hurt by the fact that Yunho felt like he couldn’t trust him with whatever was bothering him. He knew that Yunho probably didn’t want him to worry, but that kind of logic seemed stupid to Jaejoong. If they really were in a serious relationship, then it was only normal to worry about the other person.

“Never mind,” he then said to himself and walked to the couch, sitting on it as he waited for the other one to return from the kitchen with the promised drinks. He noticed that Yunho’s coffee table was a mess, there were a lot of papers lying on it. Next to them, there was a calculator and Jaejoong frowned; had Yunho been studying for the upcoming exam? The man then pressed his lips together and looked around and since Yunho wasn’t around, he decided to check how his student was doing on his studies. Maybe this was why Yunho was acting like that; maybe his studies weren’t going as he planned them to go? However, as Jaejoong took a closer look on what was written on those papers, he quickly realised that he shouldn’t have looked.

Jaejoong’s eyes widened when he saw Yunho’s financial state. The other one still had quite a lot of money on his bank account, but judging by Yunho’s calculations, Jaejoong could see that those savings weren’t going to last for a very long time and Jaejoong’s heart shook when he saw the letter, which was letting Yunho know that he was late with his payment for the rent of the apartment. Shocked, Jaejoong placed everything back down and he then leaned down; so this was what was bothering Yunho, right? But why would Yunho suddenly be lacking money… oh wait, that was Yunho’s father’s doing, wasn’t it?

Feeling angry, Jaejoong clicked with his tongue in annoyance and he then exhaled. He had never met any of Yunho’s family before, but Jaejoong disliked them already. He couldn’t understand what kind of a father would act like this towards his own son. His heart shook at that and he immediately looked up when he heard footsteps coming closer to the living room. Jaejoong shook his head and forced a small smile, but he soon dropped it when he saw the expression on Yunho’s face.

“You saw it, didn’t you?” asked Yunho with a small voice and pointed on the papers, which were still on the table. He then walked over to the couch and sat down next to his professor.

“Yeah,” said Jaejoong and nodded. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t do it without your permission.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind,” said Yunho and shrugged. “It’s better that you found out, you said that you didn’t like it when I lie to you, right? So here you have it, the truth. I’m broke,” went on by saying Yunho and he then looked down. “I’m sorry that I refused to tell you earlier. It’s just that I’m not used to it. It’s hard for me to admit that I have financial problems.”

“I get that,” said Jaejoong and nodded. “But you aren’t exactly broke, Yunho. You still have enough to buy yourself enough time, so that you can figure things out,” he said. “You’ll have to find a job and move out from here. I had no idea that the rent is so high here and if you continue living here, you’ll really be broke in a few months.”

“I know, I know,” said Yunho and leaned back. “The most important thing for me right now is to move out from here. I was already trying to find a new apartment on my own, but all the cheap ones are really far from here.”

“So?” asked Jaejoong in confusion.

“We already live far away from each other,” muttered Yunho and looked down. “I don’t want to move even further away from you.”

A small smile came upon Jaejoong’s face when he heard Yunho say that and he closed his eyes after feeling Yunho’s fingers in his hair. Jaejoong leaned into the touch, making all of the bad mood disappear from Yunho’s body in a split second. The younger one then wrapped his arms around Jaejoong’s waist, pulling his closer. Yunho was afraid that his words would make him a brat again, but after seeing a smile on his professor’s lips, he smiled as well. That really was one of the main reasons that he didn’t want to move, if it meant moving further away from Jaejoong. He always wanted to be close to the man, so there was no way that he would do that.

Jaejoong’s smile widened when he felt Yunho’s arms around his body and he let out a happy sigh. He then slowly opened his eyes, finding Yunho to be one of the most adorable things he had ever seen in his life. Hearing Yunho say something like that was enough to melt Jaejoong’s heart and he bit his lower lip as an idea popped into his mind. What if Yunho moved in with him, just for the time being? It was true that his apartment was really small, but Jaejoong would love having Yunho there. He would sometimes get really lonely, so having Yunho to fill that loneliness seemed perfect to Jaejoong.

“Do you want to stay at my place, just until you figure things out?” asked Jaejoong and watched how Yunho’s eyes widened.

Yunho’s heart started beating faster when Jaejoong said that and he blinked a few times, just to make sure that he really heard it right. Staying with Jaejoong seemed like a perfect solution for the time being and a hug smile brightened Yunho’s face. “Can I really?” asked Yunho, like a small child and Jaejoong nodded, chuckling when he saw how happy Yunho looked. “I’d be more than happy to stay with you then,” he said and chuckled when Jaejoong leaned in for a kiss.

A few days later

Yunho was in his living room, getting everything ready for his move to Jaejoong’s place, which was going to happen later that week. He couldn’t be happier about it, because not only that he would be able to save a lot of money that way, but he could also spend much more time with Jaejoong and that was what Yunho had been looking forward the most. The other one was also just as excited as he was and Yunho couldn’t be happier about it.

Yunho then straightened himself up and started looking around his apartment, which only looked huger and colder now that it was being emptied. That apartment meant a lot to Yunho, because that was his first way out of his father’s control and ever since then he loved living on his own. On the other hand, he wasn’t going to miss it at all, especially now that he was moving to Jaejoong’s. A smile came upon his face and when he looked up, his eyes glanced at the clock. Yunho suddenly remembered that his mother had called him a few days ago, saying that they needed to talk. Knowing that his mother probably knew what was going on, Yunho thought that maybe the woman wanted to give him some help, so because of this he agreed to meet up with her.

Five minutes later or so, the doorbell rang and Yunho was immediately at the door, knowing that it was probably his mother. He straightened his clothes, rubbed his palms together and then slowly opened the door, hoping for the best. He knew that his mom wasn’t as horrible as his dad, so he really hoped that there was nothing to be worried about.

“Hello, mother,” said Yunho politely, bowed down and then opened the door wider, letting the woman inside. His mother didn’t say anything, she just gave her son a strange look and then made her way into Yunho’s apartment.

Yunho followed the woman inside in silence and then noticed how his mother started looking around the apartment and he nervously chewed on his lower lip, his heart fastening as well. He knew that when his mother would be quiet, that meant bad news and he just couldn’t help but to worry. Would her reaction be the same as his father’s? With that on his mind, Yunho quickly stepped in front of his mother and took in a deep breath before speaking.

“Sit down please,” he said and pointed at the couch. “I’ll bring you something to drink. A-are you hungry? I can make you something to eat as well, if you’d like to and-”

“That won’t be necessary,” finally spoke the woman and sat down, her eyes still skimming Yunho’s apartment. Yunho noticed that her mother’s voice was colder than usual and so was her expression. ! “I won’t be staying here for long. Sit down, Yunho. We need to talk.”

“A-alright,” stuttered out Yunho, suddenly feeling very nervous without even knowing why. It had always been like that. He didn’t care what his father would say or do to him; it didn’t phase Yunho at all. His mother’s words, on the other hand, had much bigger impact on Yunho. “What do you want to talk about, mother?”

“I’ve heard about what had happened a few days ago between you and your father,” started the woman and Yunho’s body stiffened. “By the way, why is your apartment so empty? Are you going somewhere?”

“Ah, that,” said Yunho and stayed quiet for a few seconds. “Then you must know that my father blocked my bank account with all of my savings on. I really don’t have a choice, do I? I’m moving away, into a much cheaper place.”

“It’s your fault that he reacted that way,” said the woman and Yunho felt coldness creeping behind him. There was no way that the conversation was going to end on good terms. Yunho knew that when his mother would get like this, she could be even crueller than his father. “You will marry that girl, if you like it or not.”

Angry, Yunho rolled his eyes. “What makes you think so? There is no way that I’m going to marry someone I don’t know,” said Yunho. “Also, didn’t father tell you that I already have someone that I care for? There’s no way that I’m going to leave him.”

“Ah, yes he mentioned that you have a boyfriend,” said the woman and Yunho’s anger only worsened when he heard the way that his mother said that. “But we both know that you’ll leave him and come home. It’s always been like that.”

“Not this time, mom!” snapped Yunho, who had it absolutely enough. He was so glad that he had decided to go away; to Jaejoong. He knew that once he would be there, his family would never get to him again. No matter how much it hurt, Yunho couldn’t wait to be away from his family. “I’ll never leave him, no matter how much you hate it!”

“Is that so?” asked the woman, her facial expression never changing and Yunho’s body stiffened at that. That meant that his mother had something else planning up and Yunho didn’t like where that was leading at all. “Then I guess I’ll have to give you a little bit of motivation to leave him.”

“W-what are you talking about?” asked Yunho, his heart speeding up.

“A little birdy told me that your precious lover would be in a big trouble if others found out that the two of you were together,” said Yunho’s mother and Yunho gritted is teeth, his mind going blank for a split second. What the hell was his mother talking about? Did she know…? No, there was no way, they were always so careful and-

“You don’t want that professor Kim would get into any trouble, do you?” went on by saying the woman and Yunho’s heart fell to the pit of his stomach. He felt sick, he wanted to throw up. “You do realise that if something would happen to him, it would be your fault, right?”

“W-what are you talking about, mom?” asked Yunho, trying to play it cool. “Professor Kim… you seriously think that we-”

“Break up with him, Yunho,” said the woman and stood up. “If you don’t, I promise that things won’t end up pretty for him… I’ll make sure of that.”

“How do you know that-”

“Goodbye, Yunho,” she went on by saying and walked to the door, opening it and before leaving she said: “Stop packing your things, Yunho. We both know now that you won’t be going anywhere.”

When his mother left, Yunho sat down, he had to because legs couldn’t support his weight anymore. His heart was racing, he felt sick and so helpless. How the hell did his mother find out about him and Jaejoong anyway? Someone had to tell her, there was no doubt about that and Yunho knew that if he would happen to figure out who it was, the other person wouldn't be so lucky. He then closed his eyes, thinking. Even though he didn't want to tell Jaejoong what had just happened, he knew that Jaejoong needed to know what was going on. Hurting or getting Jaejoong in trouble was the last thing that Yunho wanted. Knowing his mother, Yunho knew that she was being serious; there was no doubt about it. She was going to let someone know what was going on between him and Jaejoong if he wouldn't listen to her.

Yunho sighed, still thinking. He had enough of the whole thing; he hated that he and Jaejoong had to be hiding all the time. He was so sick of it, why wouldn't others just let them be? Yeah, it was true that Jaejoong was his professor, but so what? Yunho was old enough, so why was it so bad for them to be together? He then let out an another groan. Breaking up with Jaejoong wasn't even an option for Yunho, he wasn't stupid. He was so sick of his own family. However, he managed to calm himself down as soon as he remembered what Jaejoong told him; that he was more important to him than his job or what other people thought about him. A small smile came upon Yunho's face and he felt how weight lifted off of his chest.

Yunho then got onto his legs and continued with packing his things; the sooner that he moved out, the better. He knew that telling Jaejoong what had happened between him and his mother was going to be difficult, but he wasn't as scared as he was anymore. He knew that as long as they would be together, nothing could hurt him or Jaejoong... no matter how cheesy it sounded.