Key’s POV

                The silence that filled the inside of the car was crushing; the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. I kept my face turned away from Jonghyun’s father, watching the dreary landscape fly past the passenger window. Part of me wished he would turn on the radio or talk about the weather, but I knew the situation called for a more somber atmosphere.

                I jumped as Jonghyun’s father suddenly cleared his throat. Damn it, I thought we were going to wait until we got to the station to discuss this?

                “So,” he said casually, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. “Is that SooHye’s headband…?”

                I blushed as I suddenly remembered the glittering accessory perched on top of my head. I reached up and quickly pulled it off.

                Jonghyun’s father laughed lightly. “You really are one for fashion, aren’t you? I wouldn’t have expected Jonghyun to fall for someone so eccentric.”

                I felt my face heat up even more as I stared at my shoes. I really didn’t want to talk to him about my relationship with Jonghyun.

                “Ah, sorry. You probably don’t want to talk to me about that kind of stuff, huh?” He smiled ruefully and turned his gaze back to the road.

                “Um.” My voice caught. I cleared my throat softly. “It’s…still a bit confusing. But…you said it so…casually. Doesn’t it bother you that…?” My voice trailed off. I clasped my hands tightly together in my lap and let the sentence hang in the air between us.

                He smiled. “Does it bother me that my son is gay?”

                I nodded.

                “Of course not.” He shrugged. “Why would it?”

                “Well…” I bit my lip as I searched for the right words. “I mean, this isn’t America. The majority of people here aren’t very tolerant toward that kind of thing…”

                He shrugged again. “You’ve met my wife. She’s a very…free spirit. She never judges anyone. We’ve been married for a long time, and her attitude has definitely worn off on me. And besides, it’s Jonghyun’s life. He’s free to love whoever he wants to love. I don’t have the power to stop something like that.”

                I smiled slightly, despite the situation. “I think everyone would be a lot happier if they thought like that. It’s really nice to know I’m not being judged.”

                “You’ve got enough to deal with already. You shouldn’t have to worry about people hating you because of who you fall in love with.”

                I opened my mouth to reply, but quickly closed it again when I realized I had nothing to say. It was still so odd knowing that there were people who cared that much about me.

                The rest of the journey was spent in a more comfortable silence. The tension returned, however, when we pulled up in front of the police station. I felt my fingers curl into fists involuntarily. Was I really ready to talk about everything?

                Jonghyun’s father noticed my hesitation. “We can go back if you want to. You don’t have to talk.”

                I took a deep breath and shook my head. “No. No, it’s time somebody heard about it.”

                He nodded and opened the door.

                I stepped out of the car and followed him into the station. The hallway immediately inside the shining double doors was narrow and dimly lit. The industrial carpet was a dull, lifeless gray. The doors set deep into the walls were wide and made of a dark, reflective wood. Several of them sported small white signs that read “Interview In Progress. Do Not Enter.” My heart began to pound.

                I followed Jonghyun’s father into the last room on the left. It contained a small wooden table surrounded by four uncomfortable-looking chairs. A thin pad of paper and a pencil rested on top of the table, along with a tiny recording device and a glass of water.

                “You can sit wherever you want,” he said quietly, gesturing toward the matching set of chairs. I sat down hesitantly and watched as he left the room. I folded my hands in my lap, flinching involuntarily as the door clicked closed behind him.

                He returned several minutes later with two uniformed officers. Each of them carried their own notebooks and pens, and they smiled when they saw me.

                “Annyeong haseyo, Kibum,” one of the officers said kindly as she took the seat next to me. “I’m Officer Park.” She gestured to the man who had taken the seat across from her. “And this is Officer Lee. We’re here more as witnesses than interviewers, okay? So don’t pay too much attention to us.” She smiled again and placed her notebook on the table.

                I nodded silently and glanced up at Jonghyun’s father. He was sitting in the chair across from me, and he had his pencil poised over the thin yellow notepad. Officer Lee reached over and quickly the recording device.

                “All right, Kibum,” Jonghyun’s father said softly. “Feel free to begin whenever you’d like.”

                I cleared my throat, and the sound was uncomfortably loud in the silent room. “I… I guess I should probably start from the beginning…”

Jonghyun’s POV

                “Jonghyun, stop it.”

                My umma sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in her hand and an annoyed expression on her face. I had been pacing in front of the table for ten minutes, my thoughts whirling in a thousand different directions. What kinds of questions were they asking him? What was he saying? Was he crying? Was he angry? Afraid? Did the officers even care? Images of my father and his co-workers grilling Key relentlessly as he struggled to speak through a flood of tears kept flashing through my mind.

                “Umma, I’m so -”

                “Worried, I know. But he’ll be fine. Your father knows what he’s doing.”

                I ran my hands through my hair and sat down heavily. “I know, I know. But… Can you imagine how hard it must be for Key to talk about this? He hasn’t told anyone for five years…”

                My umma smiled gently and placed her hand over mine. “I bet he’s relieved, Jonghyun. He’s tried so hard to keep it from everyone; it’s probably nice to finally get it all out. And once the interview is over, we can focus more on helping him.”

                I sighed and nodded. “Ne, ne. I know. But how long does an interview take? He’s been gone for nearly two hours…”

                “Be patient. Things like this take time.”

                “Umma~~, you don’t understand -”

                She smiled again. “I know you miss him, Jonghyun. He’ll be back soon. And you better believe it when I say I am not letting him go back to that house. He’s staying here. He can have the guest room; we never use it anyway.”

                I couldn’t contain the small smile that played across my face at her words. Key would always be here, every single day. He would be by my side forever…

                My umma rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. “Aish~, you’re so in love. If you weren’t my son and I didn’t want to see you so happy, it’d be sickening. Sickening, I tell you.”

                I laughed. “Yeah, right, umma.”

                The sound of the front door opening caused me to stand up quickly, and the chair grated harshly against the tile of the kitchen floor. My father entered first, followed by Key. The latter looked slightly embarrassed, and I could see the streaks on his face where his tears hadn’t completely dried. But, above all, he looked relieved. He stood up a little bit straighter, and he smiled broadly when he saw me standing in the kitchen.

                I ran over to him and wrapped my arms around him without a second thought. He buried his face in my shoulder and tightened his arms around me.

                “How did it go?” I whispered.

                “Good,” he mumbled softly. “I feel so much better.”

                I pulled back and held him at arm’s length, examining him from head to toe. He was still wearing my oversized navy blue T-shirt and the pajama pants that were three inches too short. SooHye’s headband was clutched in one hand, and his tousled hair fell into his eyes. A small smile turned up one corner of his mouth, and his eyes shone with a kind of strength I had never seen in them before.

                “I’m glad,” I said quietly, lacing my fingers through his. I turned to see my appa standing by the table, talked to my umma in muted tones and gesturing occasionally as he tried to tell the story. “So, appa,” I called. “What now?”

                He turned and raised one hand to his forehead. “We’re going to go back to Key’s house to try to find his mother. No one’s heard from her for days. If we can find her, we’ll take her into custody and interview her. If his father is at the house when we go, we’re going to take him into custody immediately. If not… Well, none of us want to think about what will happen then.”

                My eyebrows lowered in confusion. “Wait, you’re going to take his mother into custody, too? Did…She didn’t abuse him, too…did she?” I glanced back at Key, but he only stared at me with wide, sorrowful eyes.

                My father sighed. “Ne, Jonghyun, she did. But not nearly as badly, and his father is the one who started it all. If we can’t find his mother, we’ll start a search, but she isn’t our priority right now.”

                I nodded mutely, but my heart twisted as I thought of Key’s mother hurting him. Throughout this whole ordeal, I had immediately pegged his father as the only bad guy. I had never stopped to think of what his mother could be doing.

                Key tightened his grip on my hand and smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it,” he said softly. “The police can deal with it all now. I haven’t felt this safe in years.”

                I smiled back, but the concerned look on Key’s face proved that the smile hadn’t appeared as genuine as I had tried to make it. I would only stop worrying when his parents were behind bars.

                “So when are you going back to his house?” I asked hesitantly.

                “As soon as I change into my uniform and pick up Officer Lee and Officer Park from the station. We can’t delay this any more than we already have.”

                I nodded again. Key suddenly pulled his hand from mine, and I glanced at him quizzically.

                “Can…can I come…?” He asked, his voice heavy with determination. “If my father is there, I want to see him get what he deserves.”

                “No,” I said instantly, shaking my head. “It might not be safe. What if he gets violent and resists arrest?”

                Key shrugged. “It wouldn’t be half as bad as some of the things I’ve seen him do.”

                I opened my mouth to retort, but realized he was right. Key had seen his father at his most violent; simply resisting an arrest would be nothing.

                “Then I want to come, too,” I said forcefully.

                My father shook his head. “An arrest isn’t a spectacle,” he said. “Key can come because it involves his family. Jonghyun, you need to stay here.”

                The thought of Key leaving again, especially to a place where he could be in danger, tied my stomach into knots and set my heart pounding. I shook my head again.

                “You’re my family, and this involves you, doesn’t it? And Key might as well be family.”

                “It isn’t the same thing. If all the officers brought their kids along, half of them would be dead, and the other half would be traumatized for life. You need to stay here.”

                I let out an exasperated breath and turned toward Key, hoping my desperation would show in my eyes. “Key, I really can’t bear the thought of you being in danger anymore. Do you have any idea how much I worry about you when you’re gone?”

                Key smiled slightly, but there was a deep sadness that wasn’t quite hidden in the depths of his eyes. “Jjong, do you know how long I’ve been waiting to see my father put behind bars? I feel like it won’t really be over until I see it with my own eyes.” He put his hand back in mine. “Do you understand that?”

                I closed my eyes and sighed. He had been through so much; he deserved to see it end once and for all. “Ne,” I whispered. “I understand.”

                I pulled him into a hug once more, burying my face in his hair and pulling him as close as I possibly could. I felt him laugh softly as he tightened his arms around me.

                I pulled back as I heard my father’s footsteps on the stairs. He was dressed in full uniform, with the pistol in its holster shining like a withheld threat. He pulled on his shoes methodically and headed for the door. Key squeezed my hand reassuringly and followed my father as he left the house.

                I watched the door close behind them, and my heart seemed to shift from my chest to somewhere in my throat. Without my mind’s complete consent, I threw open the door and ran onto the front porch. Key turned at the sudden noise, and the late winter sunlight glinting off of his breathtaking eyes was almost too much for me to handle. I grabbed him by the wrist, pulled him close, and pressed my lips against his with a passion that surprised even me.

                He froze for the briefest of instants, his body rigid with surprise. But, as I twisted my fingers into his hair, he moved closer and wrapped his arms around my neck. Just as I was about to pull away, he took a step forward, deepening the kiss and pressing my back against the wall of the house. My lips curled into an involuntary smile.

                He pulled away slowly and rested his forehead against mine. I played with his hair absently, letting his warmth envelop me as we stood in the chilly winter breeze.

                “Jjong,” he whispered, his lips mere inches from mine. “I have to go…”

                “I know,” I whispered back, my voice heavy with disappointment. “Just promise me that you’ll be safe. Don’t do anything reckless, okay?” I pressed my lips lightly against his once more.

                He hugged me tightly, and I felt his lips brush against my neck as he spoke. “I promise I’ll be safe, and I swear I won’t do anything reckless.”

                I rested my cheek against the top of his head. “You mean everything to me,” I said quietly. “I love you so much…”

                He took a step back and smiled softly. “I love you, too, Jjong. More than you’ll ever know.”

                With that, he turned and hurried down the porch steps. I watched as he climbed into my father’s police car and shut the door. I was in the house and halfway up the stairs before they made it out of the driveway.

Key’s POV

                My head began to ache as we got closer to my house. The drive to the station had been just as silent as the previous one, and Officer Lee and Officer Park didn’t do much to ease the tension. The painfully familiar houses of my neighborhood came into view, and I suddenly felt as if someone had reached into my chest and stolen all of my breath.

                We pulled into the driveway alongside my father’s car. Jonghyun’s father glanced at the vehicle and turned toward me. “Is that it?”

                I nodded. “Yeah, that’s it. He’s here.” My fingers curled into fists as I thought of him sitting inside, wasted and oblivious.

                “All right.” Jonghyun’s father squared his shoulders and opened the door slowly, gesturing for the other officers to follow. “Key, I need you to stay in the car.”

                I nodded and watched them make their way to the porch steps. They climbed them slowly, in a single file line. I resisted the urge to roll down the window and yell at them to hurry up. Why were they moving so slowly?

                Jonghyun’s father pounded on the door and ordered all occupants of the house to step outside. They waited several seconds, but the door remained closed. They repeated the process, with the same results. My heart began to race. What if he had climbed out a back window and was already halfway across the neighborhood? What would happen if we had to chase him down? I had promised Jonghyun that I would be safe, and I was pretty sure a car chase didn’t fall into the list of things he considered “safe.”

                Just as Jonghyun’s father lifted his fist to pound on the door once more, it flew open. From the driveway, all I could see of my father was the side of his face and a bit of his greasy, matted hair. The officers, however, seemed a bit shocked, and Officer Lee even took a small step backward. Were they seeing something I wasn’t?

                “Now, sir…” Jonghyun’s father said slowly and clearly, holding up one hand. My father took a threatening step forward, emerging onto the front porch and into my line of sight. My heart dropped, and I felt as if liquid nitrogen had seeped into my veins. He wasn’t alone.

                My mother stood next to him, her neck securely enclosed by his right arm. She began clawing at his arm futilely, and even from this distance I could see that she was gasping for air. But it wasn’t that that made my blood freeze and my breath catch. Pressed against her left temple was a dull silver pistol.

                “Put the gun down!” Officer Park commanded, drawing her own pistol and pointing it at my father’s head. He laughed bitterly.

                “If you shoot me, I’ll shoot her,” he sneered. “If you try to take me in, I’ll shoot her. If you try to grab her, I’ll shoot her. It seems like now would be a good time for you to leave.”

                “You’re under arrest for domestic violence and attempted murder,” Jonghyun’s father said forcefully. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. It’s your choice.”

                My father opened his mouth to spit back a nasty retort when his eyes landed on me. His lips pressed together into a hard line, and his eyes darkened with hate. “What are you doing here, boy?!” He shouted. “Come to see your old man get carried away to the slammer?”

                I glared back at him, but said nothing.

                He pressed the pistol harder against my mother’s temple. “Are you ready to see your mother die, boy? Are you prepared for that? Huh? Are you?!”

                Officer Park took a threatening step forward. “Put the gun down!” She shouted again.

                “Kibum!” My mother called, reaching toward me desperately. Tears began to spill down her face as my father tightened his hold around her neck. “Kibum, please don’t -”

                My fingers instinctively closed around the door handle. I couldn’t just sit here, doing nothing, while my mother… My mother…

                I threw open the car door and stepped onto the driveway.

                “Kibum!” My mother shouted again, her eyes wild with desperation.

                Officer Lee turned his head sharply, but kept his gun aimed toward my father. “Kibum, get back in the car!”

                Instead of complying, I took several steps forward across the lawn.

                My father’s laugh rang throughout the silent neighborhood. “What are you going to do, boy? You think you can protect her? I’ll just shoot you both!”

                Jonghyun’s father took another step forward.

                And in one split second that seemed to last a lifetime, my mother managed to pull my father’s arm away just enough to duck under it. She sprinted toward me frantically, reaching forward as if she wanted to embrace me one last time. Officer Lee turned, his eyebrows raised in surprise. My mouth opened to call out to her. I reached out toward her; she was so close…

                BANG!

                The world seemed to freeze as the gunshot echoed off the walls of every house, reverberating through the neighborhood and shooting through my skull. I saw my mother’s eyes widen in shock. She inhaled slowly, a long, shaky breath that stabbed through to my heart like a misplaced acupuncture needle. Her tears fell to the ground like drops of liquid quartz as she toppled forward.

                It was the sight of the blood that yanked time back to its proper place. My hands shook as the blood from my mother’s shoulder seeped onto the grass. I took a deep breath, but my overwhelming dizziness and the ringing in my ears told me it hadn’t worked. I tried to move, to take a step, but it was as if my feet had been nailed to the concrete.

                “U-U-Umma…Umma…” I whispered, my voice choked with tears. I fell to my knees and reached for her, brushing her hair back from her wounded shoulder.

                She lifted her head slowly and stared at me, her red-rimmed eyes shining with tears, pain, guilt, and loss. She took another shaky breath. “Kibum…” She whispered. “Kibum, it hurts…”

                I bit my lip as the tears spilled over. “I… I know, umma. I know. Don’t worry, everything will be okay. Just…just hang on, all right? There are plenty of people here to help you… You -” My voice caught as sobs began to build in my throat. “You’re going to be just fine,” I whispered.

                I glanced back over my shoulder as the car door opened. I saw Officer Park shove my handcuffed father roughly into the backseat. She slammed the door shut behind him and stood next to it defensively.

                Officer Lee had pulled on a pair of disposable latex gloves and was sealing my father’s handgun into a small plastic bag. He then shouldered open the door and made his way into the house.

                Jonghyun’s father was on the phone, presumably with 911, talking loudly and pacing back and forth.

                I brushed my mother’s hair back from her forehead. “Don’t worry, umma… Don’t worry…”

                Her eyes slipped closed, and her head fell forward onto the grass. The sound of a distant siren carried through the streets on the cold winter wind as my tears fell and the blood shone in the harsh light of the sun.

        HUZZAAAHHHH!

Finally I found some time to update. >.<

I actually have a good excuse for taking so long this time: I started college~ *dances happily*

And it's super amazing and fun and AWESOME. But...that means I have homework now. XP

And way more than I had in high school~~~ so I'm pretty busy *sigh*

But I did not die or drop off the face of the Earth or anything like that.

So here's a nice long chapter for all of you who are still awesome enough to put up with my ridiculously slow updates. >.<

You guys are seriously the best people ever. ^-^  <3 <3 <3 <3

Let me know what you think~~~

As always, comments (good ones, not trolling ones XP ) make my day all bright and happy and amazing and wonderful. ^-^