Sungyeol wanted to follow Myungsoo but he stayed behind. Not only the younger had been right that Woohyun would hate him and Sungyeol wouldn't probably have enough words to comfort him, but Sungjong was right as well, this was a family matter and if Sungyeol interfered he might take the chance of Myungsoo to grow as a person, and as a father, out of his ex-lover. He didn’t want to do that but he couldn’t help but worry.

He decided to busy himself with bringing some food for Woohyun he must be hungry and given his mood, he would spend some time begging. He barely had started with this task when Sonmi returned to his apartment because Myungsoo kicked her out. Sungyeol could see she was sad and worried about her son but tried to focus on Woohyun only for the boy to avoid her. 

Both Sungjong and Moonsoo appeared twenty minutes later with half of Woohyun stuff packed, the young uncle still tried to talk to Woohyun again but the boy turned him down, making sure to tell everyone that it wasn’t because he had accepted to stay with the elder couple that he wasn’t angry at all the Kim’s for lying or that he wanted to stay near any of them. He didn’t bother about any other apartment in Seoul.

After Moonsoo was hurt and Sungjong gave Sungyeol a pointy glare, they both left. Sungyeol tried to talk to Woohyun again but the boy didn’t want to listen to this time, the max Sungyeol could do was get Woohyun to eat breakfast and lunch. Later, when the elders finally found an apartment (it was already mid-afternoon) he was also able to convince Woohyun to detach from Sunggyu and go with the elders.

The rest of the day both Sungyeol and Sunggyu attached himself to his brother’s body, the boy was deeply worried and sad for his friend so he needed some special attention and comforting from his brother. 

_________________________________________________

When Monday came, both Sungyeol and Sunggyu moods were not that great due to the happenings at the weekend.

Sungyeol still tired to knock on Myungsoo door to check on him but since the younger didn't open, he considered he wasn't home or he didn't want to be bothered so he quickly grabbed Sunggyu hand and left, hoping that at least he could check Woohyun in school. 

For the past few months, the two brothers and Woohyun would talk to each other during the ride, then when Woohyun stopped coming with them the two brothers were able to keep the conversation flowing somehow, but today the silence they produced together was hard to handle.

Once Sungyeol the car was parked and locked, and the brothers entered school, Sunggyu dragged his brother as quick as he could, he was anxious to meet his friend and check on him. When Sunggyu entered his classroom, he scanned the class but didn’t find his friend so he felt a little anxious, still, he decided to be positive, maybe Woohyun was just late right?

Once he spotted the pair of brothers, Dongwoo quickly came to talk to Sungyeol as Sunggyu left his brother to put his bag on his desk. “The weekend was a disaster, right?” The pink-haired teacher asked as he made a worried face. 

“Yes.” Sungyeol replied as he slumped his shoulders and then pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at the elder again. “You saw how much Woohyun cried on Saturday. I calmed him enough so he could talk to Myungsoo and things could be explained the next morning, but things were as messy as they could be.” He sighed deeply before explaining further. “It was so serious Woohyun made his family rent an apartment through Airbnb and move to Incheon.”

“What? Why?” Dongwoo asked confused and Sungyeol was about to open his mouth when Dongwoo changed his mind. “No, scratch that, start from the beginning, why Woohyun ran away from home?” Now Sungyeol was reluctant to talk but Dongwoo didn’t notice and conjectured. “Woohyun is one of the most groomed kids here, his relationship with his family is great, why he would want to run away from home? Did he find out about you two?”

Sungyeol gulped hard, that wasn’t an alternative he wanted. “No, if he did he probably wouldn’t have spent the night at my place talking to me.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot you said you calmed him down.” Dongwoo softly slapped his forehead but then made a confused expression. “Then what happened?”

Unknowingly to the adults, Sunggyu had come back silently only to pull Dongwoo shirt to get his teacher attention right at that moment. “Hyung, can you wait to start class? We have to wait for Woohyunnie to arrive.”

While Sungyeol breathed out with some relief, Dongwoo felt a burden on his shoulders. “I can’t Sunggyu, Woohyun won’t be coming today.”

“How come?” “How do you know?” Both brothers asked at the same time.

Dongwoo hesitated a bit but ended up spilling the beans. “He came early with his grandparents, but as soon as they were out Woohyun started to cry rivers, like sobbing, really hard, so they decided to take him back.”

While Sungyeol rubbed his hands on his face, Sunggyu immediately turned to him. “Hyung, we need to go help him.”

“Gosh, what do I do? I want to help but at the same time I shouldn’t in.” Sungyeol groaned to himself before he squatted on the ground and grabbed Sunggyu both hands. “We can’t go to him, I have to go to work and you have to stay in school…” Sunggyu made a face that showed he didn’t like that option before Sungyeol continued. “Besides, I don’t know where he is.” Now Sunggyu seemed dispirited when he remembered Myungsoo’s parents hadn’t said anything about the address before they left. “I’ll try to find where he is staying and, if I discover, we will go visit him tonight, ok? Meanwhile, you have to stay and pay attention to your classes, so you can have an excuse to spend some time with Woohyun later.” Sungyeol winked and hoped Sunggyu would accept that.

Sunggyu breathed deeply. “Ok.” The boy dragged his feet to his desk where other boys and girls were waiting for him, he didn’t like that option but if that was going to be his excuse to be beside his best friend later, then he would take it.

Sungyeol breathed relieved as he got up and both adults watched Sunggyu for a bit before Dongwoo turned to him. “What is happening?” He asked.

“Woohyun discovered Myungsoo is not his biological dad - there, I said - this is why we couldn’t be upfront about us when Myungsoo and I were together, Woouhyun would have put two and two together earlier.” Sungyeol finally spilled, a lot was going on for some time already and not only Myungsoo but he was close to his limit too. Besides, if he needed Hoya help at any moment, Dongwoo would probably know sooner or later.

“Oh, lord, and you knew.” Dongwoo gasped, he soon understood why Woohyun was having such heavy emotional breakdown.

“Yeah, I don’t know what to do to fix this, I mean…" Sungyeol half stuttered but was interrupted by a stern look from Dongwoo.

“I don’t think there is anything you can do right now.” Sungyeol made a face as if he was struggling to accept that so Dongwoo had to be more incisive. “Sungyeol, seriously, you can’t fix every Myungsoo problem. Remember you’re trying to be impartial towards him in college too, it was chosen to help him there and distance yourself personally. If you try to coddle him...”

“Sungjong thinks like that too.” Sungyeol conceded a bit only to disagree completely later. “But if I manage to do anything I won’t be helping  Myungsoo, I’ll be helping Woohyun.” Sungyeol said and while Dongwoo worried how he should voice his thoughts Sungyeol turned to leave. “I have to go now, see you later, bye hyung. BYE SUNGGYU!” He waved at Sunggyu when he was halfway out.

“BYE!” Sunggyu waved back from his desk and after a second or two Sungyeol was out of sight.

“At this point, it doesn’t matter who you help because it is the same thing, Sungyeol, and I know you know that.” Dongwoo breathed to himself as he looked at the door.

________________________________________________________

Monday was slow, work needed to be done but this time perhaps not with Sungyeol usual efficiency, he tried working but both Woohyun and Myungsoo pained expressions kept haunting him. Sungyeol sighed for the umpteenth time, he wanted the people he cared about to don’t have these kinds of heavy problems, but at the same time, he knew both Sungjong and Dongwoo were right.

At the same time, Sungyeol knew a situation like this would happen somehow since Myungsoo told him about his secret. Back then there was no other problem so he was able to think about a way to help, but he was torn into doing anything at the moment, maybe Woohyun and Myungsoo just needed more time to solve their problem and if he would try to help that could annoy Woohyun even more.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, he didn’t notice the time passing but maybe one of his students were done with other classes and wanted to talk about the assignment due next Friday.

“Come in.” He said.

“Hey, hyung.” Chanyeol poked his head inside the door but didn’t wait for the elder Yeol reply to enter the room.

“Chanyeol.” The elder greeted without any cheerfulness and motioned his friend to sit in front of him. “Are you here about the Friday assignment?” He asked in a dull tone.

“No, Dara noona wrote a paper about that so she said she would help me with it.” Sungyeol raised a confused brow so the taller continued. “I came here because I am almost finished with my graduation thesis and I was wondering if you could take a look over a few paragraphs because I don’t think I’m explaining a few things the way I want.” He opened a smile. “Come on, I pay your lunch this time.” Sungyeol let out an insufferable sigh and the others frowned. “What happened?”

“The less you know the better it is.” Sungyeol replied idly and he didn’t need to say anything more for Chanyeol to know.

“Is it Myungsoo?” The taller asked after a glance in the other office to be sure it was empty.

Sungyeol sighed, he knew what he said previously was the truth but at the same time Chanyeol was the friend that knew most of what was going on, he needed to confide a few his worries at him even if he didn’t aim to talk about Myungsoo secret.

“In away.” He ended up agreeing. “A few things happened and I’m a bit worried.”

Chanyeol didn’t say anything at first but his expression practically said that it was obvious. “The rumor didn’t work?” He tried to guess.

“Even though I have to thank you for the help, it is not about that Chanyeol, and I won’t comment on his personal life.” Sungyeol sighed as he tried to lean back on the chair backrest. 

“Then if it is personal life why you’re bothered?” Chanyeol seemed a little confused at first and then he bit his lip in worry he thought about something else. “Did he get another lover that soon?” He asked but at the same time regretted openly bringing this up. “Sorry.”

“I don’t even want to think about that right now, but no.” He sighed and at the end, he couldn’t hold himself and just let his feelings out a bit. “It’s just… we’re taking a big risk with this already, so it would be better if we could proceed without other things interfering, but things aren’t working like that so I… urgh, I guess I’m a bit frustrated though he is probably way more.”

His time Chanyeol guessed he shouldn’t ask too much but tried to cheer up his friend. “The deadline is nearing, this will soon be over, you just have to hang on a bit.”

“That’s the problem.” Sungyeol said tiredly.

Chanyeol tilted his head in confusion. “You don’t want this to end? I thought...”

“Of course I want what is happening here to be over, but I was talking about the deadline.” Sungyeol explained and the younger made a noise to say he understood.

“That’s what worries me, what if his problems swallow him and he is not able to meet the deadline?” That was a legitimate concern, the situation with Woohyun totally could cause Myungsoo to just give up on his graduation. “I mean, it  wouldn’t hurt my CV but that would have a huge impact on his life.” Sungyeol argued worried.

Chanyeol snorted a bit. “I don’t think he would be that irresponsible, but it’s not like he can’t play if he doesn’t graduate and you were sure to help him with that.”

“Yeah, I did, but he doesn’t know and up till now I don’t know if he will take that chance, what if he doesn’t want to play?” Sungyeol asked. “He will need his diploma… and... and...”

“Then he will in deep .” Chanyeol conceded and Sungyeol made a face, there was a big ‘see?’ practically written in his forehead. “But you’re worrying too much now.” He said as he moved to grab Sungyeol by the arm. 

“Last time you told me he had progressed a lot, maybe he will surprise you and appear with things done ahead of the schedule. For now, you need a distraction so why don’t we have lunch together and talk about my project? It is only a page or two, it will be really quick.”

Sungyeol sighed but let his friend drag him out of the office. The weekend was chaotic and Myungsoo was wrecked but there was a long afternoon and maybe Myungsoo could appear with the things he wrote before happened on the weekend right? He needed to be positive, but who he wanted to fool? He had seen Myungsoo state, he probably wouldn’t appear today.

____________________________________________

If Myungsoo were to be honest, he did hear the neighbors knocking on his door but he wasn’t in a mood to see people, even more if the person was Sungyeol when he was confused about his feelings and kind of embarrassed by his actions yesterday. After his conversation with Woohyun yesterday he cried until his body couldn’t be able to produce them anymore then he tried to sleep only to figure out he wouldn’t be able to, so he thought and thought about his situation.

Despite knowing that Woohyun had destroyed what was left of his heart the day before, he felt a bit relieved Woohyun finally knew the truth somehow, this way he didn’t have to carry this huge burden on his back or worry in anticipation anymore. That was good, but he felt guilty about it. How could Myungsoo think like that when his son screamed in his face that he didn’t want to see him anymore? Woohyun didn’t even believe in him anymore. He knew that aside from the name-calling he purposely hid, he told Woohyun most of the truth so he thought about how to gain his son trust back, it was not like he couldn’t prove anything, he had the DVD with the phone recording and Jihyun explanatory video in it didn’t he?

He called his parents to know about Woohyun shortly after Sungyeol left. Sonmi had told him about what happened in school today and that Woohyun had refused to eat and that got him worried, he had to do something, not for Woohyun to forgive him right away, but for the boy to function properly. After a bit of thinking, he had a slight idea of what could work.

After he managed to find Moonsoo and borrow the younger car, he made a trip to Incheon and then stopped briefly home to take a bath before heading out to the apartment where his family would be staying during this crisis. He ended up knocking at the apartment near lunchtime.

“Myungsoo.” His father opened the door and promptly let him enter.

“How is he?” Myungsoo asked.

“Pretty much like you.” Bumsoo pointed and Myungsoo already knew that couldn't be good, he didn’t feel ok at all. “He doesn’t want to eat, he doesn’t want us to be near him, he is not calling us grandma and grandpa, he is crying… a lot, I think he barely slept. And when he finally accepted to go to school he cried even more when he arrived there…”

“Yeah, I know, mom told me earlier.” Myungsoo said guiltily he had decided not to worry about school, Woohyun rarely got sick, he could skip one day. 

“Your mother and I were pretty confused, I mean, we can understand that in his current state he probably wouldn't be able to pay attention to his classes but he agreed to go and it seemed like he was anticipating to go there to get rid of us but then everything changed and we had to bring him back home… do you know if he has any other problem there?”

Myungsoo rubbed his forehead tiredly, he could only guess that when Woohyun saw his classmates he remembered all the situation that happened last semester when the boys messed up with his head asking about his mother. Maybe Woohyun was dreading to face another situation like this if they discovered that he wasn’t the boy’s father again.

“That can be solved if we get through this.” He ended up saying and not knowing what else to do, Bumsoo nodded. “Did he ate anything after I called?” Myungsoo decided to change the subject.

Bumsoo shook his head then looked at the door of the room Woohyun was staying then sighed. “No, Sonmi is trying really hard but he is rejecting food left and right, he barely ate yesterday, his last full meal was breakfast Sungyeol made yesterday.”

Myungsoo started walking by his father to go to the room Woohyun was in but Bumsoo grabbed his arm and spun him around.

“Myungsoo!” Bumsoo stopped him with a warning tone, he didn’t say anything more but it was clear enough for Myungsoo that Bumsoo didn’t think that meeting the boy wasn’t a good idea right now.

“Let me talk to my son.” Myungsoo demanded lowly, almost angry with his father.

Bumsoo kept holding his arm. “Do you think it is a good idea?”

Myungsoo blinked a couple of times as he thought about it. Things probably wouldn’t go smooth but he had to try. “I want to gain his trust back and I can only do that if I start being honest with him and I’m… I’m not finished.” Myungsoo explained and then raised his other arm to show Bumsoo something the older hadn’t paid any attention; a bag. “I think I can convince him to eat at least.” Bumsoo didn’t know what was inside and he was curious about it, but if Myungsoo was confident that he could at least make Woohyun eat he would let him go.

As soon as Myungsoo was free he walked to the room with his father in toll only to see Woohyun, still dressed in his uniform giving his back to Sonmi, that was trying to feed him at least a bit.

“Noooo~~~, go away!” The boy sobbed. 

“But Woohyun, you have to eat.” Sonmi insisted. “Eat a bit, please.” She tried to be gentle and coaxing.

“I’m not hungry, leave me alone Sonmi-shi.” Woohyun sobbed again and Sonmi was sad because he used her name but she about to walk around the bed and try again when Myungsoo made himself known. 

“Woohyun.” He called and the boy promptly tried to wipe his tears then turned around to confront him.

“What are you doing here? I don’t want to see you.” He spat angrily.

Myungsoo gulped hard then gave a step in the boy’s direction. “I know.” 

Woohyun looked at his father messy face, with eye bags and dark circles but he forced himself to not get worried since they were unrelated, he didn’t notice the bag Myungsoo was holding in his hands. “Then go away.” Woohyun demanded as he gave his back again.

“I don’t know what to do anymore.” Sonmi confessed sadly and Bumsoo rushed to hug her.

Myungsoo sighed then decided to try again. “Yesterday you told me to tell you the truth right?” He asked and Woohyun eyes darted to his left, he didn’t turn to face Myungsoo, but he was paying attention. “I know you’re sad, upset and you don’t believe me, but I thought a lot and I figured that, since I already started telling you the truth yesterday, I should keep being honest with you. ”

Woohyun stopped breathing for a second but dared himself to ask. “What do you have to say? I won’t believe your lies.” The boy warned.

“I came to ask a question, but maybe you should be more interested in what I brought to give you.” Myungsoo said and made sure to grab the bag with both hands so Woohyun was sure he was holding something. 

Woohyun huffed, he was a curious child and he wanted to know what was inside the bag, but at the same time, he didn’t want to forgive Myungsoo just because he brought a gift. “I don’t want your gift.”. He tried to say but he sounded as if he wasn't really sure.

“Even if it’s things from your mom?” Myungsoo asked and now that got Woohyun attention. 

The boy promptly turned to him and looked at the bag in Myungsoo hand then at the elder with distrust. What could have been there that could belong to his mother? Did it really belong to her? Woohyun didn’t know how to feel about that but his craving from anything from his mother was too big and he ended up making grabbing hands. “Give to me.”

Myungsoo stretched his lips in a thin smile, at least now he knew Woohyun was interested and that would make things a bit easier. “Not so fast, will you eat if I give you this?” He showed the bag again and Woohyun wondered why didn’t notice the bag before, it was kind of a big bag.

“I don’t want to.” Woohyun said in a definitive tone.

“Then I won’t give you this.” Myungsoo replied in the same tone and made a show to move the bag to Bumsoo and Sonmi while Woohyun kept his eyes intently at it. “Can you guys keep this outside for me for a while?” He asked and he could see Woohyun inner struggle until the boy gave in, but not exactly how Myungsoo was expecting.

"No, wait!"  The boy begged and Myungsoo moved the bag away from his parents and held in front of himself again. “I just can’t.” Woohyun confessed as he looked down the bed to not lock eyes with any of the adults. “I feel like I can’t swallow.” The boy explained in a low tone.

“Oh, maybe it’s better if we tried with soup.” Bumsoo thought aloud but Woohyun exasperated rub on his face made it clear he didn’t think he would be able to eat some soup as well, but that was enough to make Myungsooo heart to melt and hurt in guilt again, it was his fault Woohyun felt like that.

He sighed and ended up approaching Woohyun bed but didn’t dare to sit at the edge to not upset the boy. “Let’s see if you feel better enough to eat after you see this then.” He made sure to place the bag as near the boy as possible.

Woohyun glared at him then pulled the bag closer to himself, he didn’t know if the elder had to be serious when he said it was stuff that belonged to his mother, but if it wasn’t he could always throw the bag contents in his fake father face. He opened and placed a hand inside only to sense a bunch of papers that, by what he felt on his fingertips, seemed to be pictures.

“What’s this?” The boy asked as he tried to take too many pictures for his small hand from the bag.

“Even if you don’t believe in me I already told you the truth, so I figured it was time for me to be more open and for you to better know your mom. I indeed lost all the pictures of her that I had on my computer a few years back but what you don’t know is that I had many of them printed, so I tried to clean some of them enough so I could bring them to you and you won’t sneeze. You have the right to see and keep her pictures.” Myungsoo explained as Woohyun promptly looked at them, the boy pressed his plump lips in a thin line and his eyes instantly watered. “Sorry, I might appear in one or two because we were always together, it was hard to find those she was alone.” 

Sensing that Woohyun was about to cry, Sonmi passed Woohyun plate to her husband and rushed to the boy side to comfort him. The boy tears were probably produced out of happiness because he was finally being able to see his mother and she couldn’t help but think Myungsoo had made the right move this time.

“It’s ok Namu, it’s ok.” She said as she rubbed her hands on the boy's shoulders and surprisingly he finally let her touch him.

“She’s so pretty.” He said in a strained tone as he traced his fingers over Jihyun cheeks in the picture.

“She is, isn’t she?” Sonmi agreed as Woohyun started to pass the pages to look at his mother. “Look at this one, it was her birthday.” She pointed to a particular photo. “She loved the same cake you do, see?” Woohyun finally stretched his lips a bit in what could be considered a small smile and tried to dry his tears once more. 

Both Myungsoo and Bumsoo watched that moment with tears in the eyes as Woohyun forgot the existence of the adults, his feelings and everything else so he could finally be able to look at his mom and somehow connect with her. The boy patted her hair in some pictures, smiled at her antics in others and kissed her cheeks whenever she in the picture alone, he took some time for that but didn’t want to see everything right now when there was a bunch of adults looking at him. 

At the end Woohyun felt like he needed to thank Myungsoo but didn’t want to, seeing that, Myungsoo didn’t feel like pressuring the boy to thank him. Even so, the boy found a way to show the appreciation for the gift without but the boy found a way to show his appreciation by prompting Myungsoo to talk.

“What is your question?”

Myungsoo shifted nervously in place. He had thought a lot about this and at this point, even if they got hurt and because he already knew how could this go, he just wanted to get over it so he and Woohyun could restart. He inhaled deeply to gather his courage them finally carefully threw his question.

“After our last conversation, do you have any desire to meet the guy who got your mother pregnant?” 

“What?” Bumsoo gasped as Sonmi eyes grew big, they weren’t expecting that question.

“You mean my father.” Woohyun said as he squinted his eyes at Myungsoo, not bothering with the elders' reactions.

“No, I am your father.” Myungsoo retorted

“You’re not!” Woohyun insisted and Myungsoo held himself to not break down right there.

“I’m talking about the guy in the picture.” Myungsoo clarified even if he was hurt, he didn’t want to upset the boy with this kind of push and pull right now. “I know where he can be found so I can take you there if you want.”

Woohyun seemed a bit at a loss because Myungsoo was offering that and he took some time to properly register what he was being said, time that Bumsoo took advantage to grab Myungsoo by the arm and spun him around so they could be face to face.

“Myungsoo, you can’t do that!” Bumsoo spat and that's when Woohyun noticed that the grandparents didn't seem to like what Myungsoo just said. Why didn't they want him to know the whole truth? Why Bumsoo was grabbing Myungsoo by the arm like that? That had never happened before.

"Let him tell me the truth!" Woohyun complained/pleaded.

“I can, I just did.” Myungsoo said simultaneously as he looked from his father to his son, trying to reply to both of them at the same time. 

"But we didn't agree on anything yet!" Bumsoo insisted angrily and elevating the tone of his voice.

"What does it matter? Woohyun already knows!" Myungsoo growled as Woohyun watched them hen turned to the boy. “His name is Jung Taegun, he is twenty 25, and...”

“Myungsoo!” Bumsoo tried to shake his son so he could stop talking but Myungsoo kept spilling the beans.

“... I never knew your grandfather name because your mother also didn’t know, but when I fought Ji mom she told me his name is Heo Jonho, he was an old politician…”

“Myungsoo, this is not necessary!” Bumsoo shook Myungsoo again that this time grabbed his father hands and forced them out of his body so he could keep talking.

“... and he was arrested because he committed crimes.” Woohyun gasped. “I’m telling you this because you need to know the full truth about your origins but you can’t visit him in prison but if you want to visit the guy of the picture...”

“For the love of god shut up!” Bumsoo hissed the minute he noticed Woohyun received too much information and grabbed Myungsoo strongly by the arm again.

"SHUT UP YOU TWO!" Sonmi shouted for the two men shut up and pointed to Woohyun with her head, the boy aside taking some time to process everything, had never seen father and son like this so he was beyond apprehensive too. She briefly pats Woohyun back then got up to detach her husband from her son. "What you guys think you’re doing huh? Fighting like that in front of him.” She scolded.

“Woohyun needs to know, I don’t want to hide anything more from him.” Myungsoo tried to explain as he rubbed his arm, damn it hurt.

“Oh really?” Bumsoo asked sarcastically and Myungsoo immediately knew his father was talking about Sungyeol.

“ENOUGH!” Sonmi elevated her voice again. “Do you want this to be traumatic for him?” She asked Myungsoo that promptly looked down at the floor so she looked at her husband. “What about you? Do you want to lose Woohyun trust?”

“I don’t think... I don’t think Myungsoo is in his right mind.” Bumsoo tried to defend himself but Sonmi couldn’t care more.

“Oppa, look at your son, he is a grown-up for god sake!” She pointed at Myungsoo. “You might not agree on how he decided to deal with things but remember that we are here to help them mend their relationship, not to force Myungsoo what we want. Remember that this is one of the reasons Myungsoo lied to us since the beginning.” Now Bumsoo was the one that looked guiltily at the ground and Myungsoo shifted awkwardly in place. “Myungsoo is not a little boy anymore, even if you don’t agree, respect his decisions!” She ended up scolding before looking from one another. “And don’t you ever fight like this in front of Woohyun again.” She gave a last glare to both of them then moved beside Woohyun. “Are you ok Namu? Are you scared?” 

The boy gulped hard, that sort of exchange made him very taken aback, he wasn’t able to talk properly.

“I’m sorry you had to see this.” Myungsoo was the first one to apologize. “I just don’t want to lie to you anymore.”

Bumsoo sighed and opened his mouth right after. “I’m sorry too, to both of you. I think I’m a bit paranoid and I guess we have different ways of handling things but we both love you Woohyun-ah, we just want to protect this family.” Bumsoo tried to explain but once Woohyun grabbed Sonmi’s hand to feel safe and get some courage.

“I'm not your family, leave me alone!” He pleaded, scared but looking at the pair of father and son in front of him.

Woohyun eyes were enough to make Bumsoo feel guilty about scaring the boy, he couldn’t take to be in Woohyun eyesight anymore. “I think It’s better if I leave.” They watched Bumsoo leave and close the door

“Get out!” Woohyun hissed at him with tears in his eyes when he noticed Myungsoo wasn’t leaving.

“I will.” Myungsoo conceded but dared to give some steps to the front to finish his conversation with the boy. “I’ll leave you in my parents care and I'll give you some time and space so you can process everything I’ve told you, you don't have to see me. But if you need to meet the other guy, ask your grandma to call me, I want to be there if that ever happens.”

Woohyun stuffed his chest the max he could and held Sonmi hand tightly as tears he couldn’t hold anymore fell, he was emotionally done. “GET OUT!” 

With a final sigh and slumped shoulders Myungsoo turned around to follow his dad.

________________________________________________________________________

Sungyeol waited all day but Myungsoo didn’t come. He expected to read everything Myungsoo had written before the fight happened but he could understand why Myungsoo didn’t come, the neighbor was going through a lot and, last time they met, he had managed to advance a lot so it was not like he really was behind schedule. At least that thought comforted Sungyeol, Myungsoo still had a very small time margin. 

He had sent Myungsoo mom a message around 3 PM - Where you guys are staying? Sunggyu and I want to visit Woohyun and show him our support - but that message wasn’t properly replied until he was gathering his belongings to leave the university.

Myungsoo mom: Although the idea is good, I don’t think Woohyun is in the mood to see anyone.

Of course, Woohyun wasn’t in the mood but at the same time, Sungyeol found that message weird. As far as he knew, his and Sunggyu’s relationship with Woohyun was still good and they both managed to comfort the boy somehow. He kinda doubted the boy would not want to see them when Woohyun had expressly asked him to stay beside him the day before and he promised he would do so.

As soon as he locked the office, he dialed Myungsoo’s mother number to know more about it and it didn’t take too long for the old woman to take the call.

“Sungyeol…” She greeted in a sad tone.

“Hi, can you explain your message better? I mean, I know Woohyun isn’t happy but I made a promise to be there for him and I don’t want to break it. Sunggyu and I are worried too, so can we please see him?”

“I want to say yes but…” Sonmi halted her words and Sungyeol managed to hear desperate and full-lungs loud cries for a brief period. “Just a second.”

Sungyeol eyes grew big and he halted his steps in the middle of the hallway so he could try to hear it better but the sound only lasted for a couple of seconds. “What was that?” He asked in alarm but Sonmi didn’t reply at first, it seemed like she tried to talk to her husband so Sungyeol decided to listen attentively.

“He is not stopping, eh?” Bumsoo seemed to ask with a sad/guilty tone.

“Yeah and I couldn’t make him stop screaming, he only let me get close for a brief period before he turned his back on me. But he is not as loud as he was earlier so I think he is tiring out.” She said tiredly.

“Are you talking to Myungsoo again?” Bumsoo asked.

“No, no, Sungyeol. He is asking if he and Sunggyu can come to see him.” Sonmi whispered but Sungyeol could hear, after that, there were a couple of seconds of silence, then there was a strange sound for a moment that led Sungyeol to conclude that he phone was passing around.

“Sungyeol, you’re still there?” Bumsoo asked.

“Yes, Bumsoo-shi, was that Woohyun crying?”

“Unfortunately.” He said tiredly. “Myungsoo came here and… It was disastrous, there is no other word for it.”

“Oh man.” Sungyeol slightly whined, he wasn’t sure if this was the best decision Myungsoo could have taken at the moment even though he hadn’t the slightest idea what had been said between them.

“Myungsoo and I sort of fought in front of Woohyun and he got a bit scared but Myungsoo also said a few things to him and Woohyun started crying and screaming ever since.” He informed but then Sungyeol heard the noise again and the next second he was hearing Sonmi again.

“I… I don’t know what to do, my two sons were never like that before… even before anything happened today Woohyun was already in a bad state, we couldn’t even make him eat breakfast and the last full meal he ate was the breakfast you coaxed him to eat…” She confessed worriedly. 

“You’re telling me that Woohyun had nothing on his stomach for the entire day?” Sungyeol gasped in shock, this was not the boy he knew, Woohyun must be so stressed that he probably lost his once-great appetite. 

“I’ve tried everything and- and… I just want him to eat for now.” She said with a helpless tone.

“Can Sunggyu and I try to help you with that?” Sungyeol asked/begged, who knew maybe Woohyun could open up and then he would be able to, at least, eat a little. “You just need to say where you’re staying, I’ll pick Sunggyu up and we will go straight to where you are.” He knew that even if he thought Sungjng and Dongwoo were right, his heart told him, begged him to go there for Woohyun, the poor boy was in need.

“Would that be ok for you to come to help him when you’re trying to help Myungsoo in college? Wouldn’t that burden you?” She asked in concern.

There was that and he figured it wouldn’t help anyone if he told Sonmi Myungsoo skipped a meeting with him. He resumed walking, this time fast while looking everywhere like he was scared someone would hear what he was saying. 

“I don’t have to be close to any parent if Sunggyu wants to welcome his friends into our house, our college policies state that I’m forbidden to have a ual relationship with him, but it says nothing about befriending his son. Please, mam, tell me where you guys are staying at, maybe I can help him eat at least, it is not a burden if it’s Woohyun.” 

“We rented an apartment for the time being on XXXXXXX st. 5th floor, apartment 520, it is the only white building. There is a café nearby, Julia’s.” She hurriedly said.

“Ok, I’m gonna pick Sunggyu up and I’m on my way.” Sungyeol started running desperately and he was sure he would be fined because he sped up, but he considered that Woohyun was practically from the family and Sungyeol would rather die than to not help the boy to at least eat.

_______________________________________________________

Sunggyu was proud he was trusted by his teacher with Woohyun homework but he didn't get the chance to tell his brother because the elder appeared running desperately to pick him up. The boy didn't mind he didn't get to tell his brother about Woohyun homework because one look at the elder made him sure that something was not right.

"Grab your things, we are going to see Woohyun!" Sungyeol had said and Sunggyu didn't lose time to gather his stuff and run with his brother out of the school. It was so fast that Dongwoo barely saw them, one second they were there, the next they weren't.

Sungyeol explained Sunggyu the situation briefly during the ride and the mission was simple, keep Woohyun company while they waited for food, that by the elder instructions Sunggyu ordered.

Myungsoo’s parents were previously informed of their arrival so, when they knocked at their door, the elders didn’t take long to open.

“Hi Sungyeol, Sunggyu.” Sonmi greeted and had enough kindness to ruffle Sunggyu hair even if she was sad before letting them in.

"Where is Woohyunnie?" Sunggyu was faster than Sungyeol with that question.

"In that room." Bumsoo replied as he came from the kitchen with a whole guilty posture that they didn't understand.

"Sunggyu, Woohyunnie is very sad so be sure to ask if he is ok to see you ok?" Sonmi instructed and Sunggyu took off to go to the door and knock as he was instructed."Woohyunnie? It's me, Sunggyu!" The boy said and promptly glued his ear on the door to better listen but at the end got too impatient and just pushed the door open before entering.

“Hyuuuuung~~~” Everybody could hear Woohyun relief wail.

"I ordered some food for everybody, call me when it arrives ok?" Sungyeol explained/ begged with an apologetic expression for his manners as he moved to follow his brother, he didn't want to lose time talking and whatever happened he could discover through Woohyun.

As Bumsoo and Sonmi sighed, Sungyeol closed the door behind himself only to see Woohyun crying and hugging Sunggyu for dear life while the older boy patted his back.

"Hy-hyungs." The boy stuttered and Sungyeol rushed so he could hug Woohyun and, consequently, Sunggyu too.

"We are here for you Woohyun, like we promised." He said gently.

"Ta-take me with you." The boy pleaded.

Sungyeol pulled from the hug although Sunggyu didn't and Woohyun rested his head in Sunggyu little shoulder. "Woohyun-ah, we already talked about this, things are not that simple. Besides, Myungsoo will be the first to know because he lives across my door, at some point you would be taken." He carefully explained.

Woohyun sobbed more and both brothers let him pour out his tears for a bit before he recollected himself enough. "Then- then help me please!" The boy pleaded.

Sunggyu didn't lose time to urge his brother to answer. "We will, right hyung?"

"Yes, we can try." Sungyeol said as he offered a kind of smile. “We didn’t talk about your conversation with Myungsoo yesterday, why don’t you tell hyung everything Myungsoo told you and then we can see what we can do?”

Woohyun breathed in and out a couple of times so he could calm himself, he tried to school his expressions but things were too painful for him to be able to. “Hyung, everybody knew but me.”

“Oh no.” Sunggyu gasped and made a worried expression as he heard his friend.

Well, that wasn’t news to Sungyeol because Myungsoo had been opening up to him every time he made some kind of progress but he wasn’t expecting that his ex-boyfriend would spill every detail about Woohyun origins. 

“I’m sorry to hear that Woohyun.” Sungyeol tried to be as sincere as he could, the boy already knew Sungyeol had knowledge about his origins but he didn’t know it was Myungsoo that told him. If he knew Sungyeol feared that the trust Woohyun still had on him would be destroyed, although Woohyun could surprise and not bother since he wasn’t really his ‘family member’, either way, he didn’t want to test theories with the boy. “How are you feeling about that?”

“They all betrayed me, I hate them all.” The boy tried to be firm but his voice cracked so Sungyeol knew this kind of speech came from hurt.

“It hurts right?” Sungyeol asked softly and pulled the boy to another hug so Sunggyu held the boy hand this time.

“They all be-betrayed me…” He whimpered a little more before agreeing. “It hurts so much.” The boy was ready to complain but decided to agree, he sobbed as he placed his free hand on his face. 

“I know Woohyun, I know.” Sungyeol said as he tried to comfort the kid and unexpectedly Sunggyu was the one talking.

“The truth hurts sometimes.” The boy said idly, he seemed to be thinking about his own experiences. “When hyung told me my parents died it hurt so bad too.” The boy explained and held himself to not let his own tears fall and Sungyeol pulled him in a hug as well.

“Hyung is sorry about the way I told you.” Sungyeol said to Sunggyu but the boy didn’t say anything back, Sungyeol didn’t know if that at this point that would make a big difference in Sunggyu life.

“Sometimes the truth makes us sad, but sometimes it's best to know.” Sunggyu said pensively. 

“But I want to stop hurting.” Woohyun whined.

“I know, we all want you to stop hurting too.” The elder said.

“It takes time.” Sunggyu supplied as he squeezed Woohyun hand.

“Sunggyu is right.” Sungyeol said, kinda proud of his baby bro. “And it also takes effort, but the pain can go away if you’re willing to forgive them and start anew.” He advised.

“Nooo~~~Hyung nooo~~~, how can you say that?” Woohyun asked as he moved in Sungyeol arms. “I-I never want to see any of them again.”

“Why?” Sunggyu asked.

“Because…" Woohyun pulled away to look in the elder eyes. "Because they don’t want me to know the truth, so ho-how can I believe their story?"

The pair of brothers frowned with such statement, Sunggyu made a confused expression and Sungyeol decided it was better to ask. "Why are you saying they don't want you to know?"

"Because da-Myungsoo-shi came here today to tell me more stuff and then grand-Bumsoo-shi didn't want to let him so they fought and-and grand-Sonmi-shi had to part them." The boy tried to explain even though he tripped on his words, not sure how to call everyone now that he discovered he wasn't related to them.

"They fought?" Sungyeol gasped in surprise though that would explain Bumsoo beyond depressed demeanor. Woohyun nodded quickly. "How? With words?"

Woohyun thought for a second then made an unsure nod. “I never saw them like this and I think Myungsoo-shi arm was hurt." Woohyun blurted and the other two eyes became big. Myungsoo got a beating from his dad? Why? Why Bumsoo didn’t want Myungsoo to open his mouth when that was everything Myungsoo needed to do and everything Woohyun wanted?

"Were you scared?" Sunggyu asked and Woohyun shifted in bed but ended up nodding, seeing Myungsoo rubbing his arm cause Woohyun some feeling he didn't want to have at the moment."You don't need to be scared anymore, hyung will protect you." Sungyeol didn't know if Sunggyu used the word to talk about himself (as if he could protect his friend) or if he was talking about him, either way, this could be solved at another moment. 

"I don't think they will do that again, your grandfather seems very guilty when I saw him outside." Sungyeol tried to convince the boy and Woohyun looked down the bed, wondering if he should believe this, but Sungyeol didn't take long to bring him back out of his thoughts. "What Myungsoo told you?" He asked gently.

"He said he wanted to be more honest and that my dad name is Jung Taegun and my grandpa is called Heo Joonho." Woohyun shifted a bit before he said in a barely audible voice. "He told me grandpa is in jail."

"Oh, he told you the names of your relatives." Sungyeol gasped in surprise, he definitely wasn't expecting that. He could see why Bumsoo fought his son now, Sungyeol also couldn’t agree 100% with Myungsoo decision to involve Woohyun grandfather since the guy was out of the picture during Jihyun whole life and now it was known in South Korea he was going to trial for crimes, what if Woohyun would want to meet his grandpa in jail? Even so, he couldn’t help but give Myungsoo some kudos, he was trying to be as transparent as he could and maybe if it wasn’t Bumsoo butting in maybe he would have gained some trust points back. “That’s a good thing right? Myungsoo must want to tell you all the truth now.” He tried to encourage Woohyun to trust Myungsoo again but couldn’t help but ask worriedly. “Will you want to meet them?

Woohyun stayed in silence as he seemed uncomfortable when Sungyeol asked that so Sunggyu got worried with his friend. "Are you ok Woohyunnie? You didn’t like to know about them?"

“You don’t have to meet them if you don’t want to.” Sungyeol said he was sure Myungsoo would be delighted to hear Woohyun saying that.

“I don’t think I have a choice, Myungsoo-shi wants to get rid of me so he can date a boy or whatever.” 

“He told you he was gay?” Sungyeol gasped in utmost shock, he had talked with Myungsoo about it but Myungsoo hadn’t been clear if he was gonna tell Woohyun about that. Woohyun nodded sadly and Sungyeol snapped from his thoughts right away, that probably wasn’t the right time to talk about Myungsoo uality with the boy. “Hey, don’t say that! Myungsoo loves you to the moon and back, he would never want to ‘get rid of you’.” Sungyeol scolded.

“He said he could take me to my father.” Woohyun said and Sunggyu gasped in shock. Sungyeol wanted to hit his head in the hardest surface around, whatever Myungsoo tried to do, backfired hard.

“I’m sure it was not like that, maybe he just wanted to tell you all the truth so you would start to believe him again.” Sungyeol tried to make the boy think otherwise. “He told me countless times how much he loves you.”

“He does.” Sunggyu nodded in agreement.

“It doesn’t matter, he is not my father so I can’t stay with him.” Woohyun shook his head sadly.

“You can!” Sunggyu tried to reason but didn’t find more words to be persuasive. 

Woohyun ignored his friend and rubbed a hand on his eyes to somehow dry them, even though new tears formed, then he looked at Sungyeol with the most pitiful eyes the elder had ever seen. “Now that I discovered that I’m not a Kim, how can I be a Nam if mom didn’t want me? Am I a Jung?  Or am I a Heo?” The boy started to cry again as both brothers gasped again with the new information, no wonder Woohyun didn’t stop crying the day before and didn’t want to open up. “Which family do I belong to? Who should I be with it? Is grandpa really in jail? What if Myungsoo-shi lied about my dad not wanting me? But what if he told me the truth and dad doesn’t want me? Will I end up in an orphanage?”

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AN: Hey guys, thank you a lot for the comments on the last chapter, my mood is really weird with the fic right now and I feel like I've done something wrong along the way and I think I just messed up again in this chapter (I think the last scene is weird) somehow but I've consulted here and there and at least I'm being able to sort my ideas these days. depending of the comments I will just wait till I reach this chapter in AO3 to edit the scene. By the way, on AO3 we are already in Chapter 59, and I'm trying to catch up so I can upload the final chapter simultaneously.

Have patience with little Woohyun please? It will probably feel like he will stay like this for some chapters but as the chapter title says everything happened here on Monday and I'll be sure to point the days so you guys can do the math and figure how long Woohyun stayed like that. I still have some scenes written from that month which I didn't update and I'm trying to organize the timeline of the scenes in my head but there is two to three weeks (not for real, in the fic) till the fic is over but there is also a lot to happen.

See you guys soon and sorry for being moody/ weird/rambling

Have you guys joined the yeobong shaming party today? Our fandom can be so funny.