Jinyoung woke up with a pounding headache and a constantly buzzing phone. He groaned into the empty morning air, pulling the covers over his head. His attempt to go back to sleep failed, the strong sun rays casting his room in a bright light that even his blankets couldn’t block. Groaning again, he threw the covers away, propping himself up on shaky elbows and pawing drearily at his face.

He fumbled around his bedside table for his phone, nearly knocking it off the table in his haste. He peered blearily at the screen, brain trying to make sense of the words. Then the headlines came into focus.

The Parks of Park Jewelers confirm son Jinyoung’s engagement to openly gay man

Chaebol Park Jinyoung spotted with Mark Tuan of Tuan Technologies at charity gala

Everything we know about the Jinyoung-Mark-Yena scandal!

Park Jewelers stock crumbles in wake of chaebol’s homoual scandal

Kim Yena shows support for ex-fiancé Park Jinyoung’s new engagement in public response

18 missed calls. 40 messages.

Jinyoung fought the urge to call his parents to apologize. He knew how pointless it would be. He could already hear his mother cluck her tongue. It’s not your fault, she would say. We can handle this. Don’t be ashamed of being yourself.

Yena would probably say something similar, given the fact that she’d already released a statement. There would be no wallowing in his guilt and shame at burdening his family.

He got up slowly, feeling his muscles protest. He opened the window, staring at the view below. From way up here, everything seemed normal. The world hadn’t imploded overnight. Outside of his phone still blowing up, the world was still moving, the same as yesterday, the same as a year ago. He would get through this. They all would.

Jinyoung spent a few more minutes at the window, breathing in the cold morning air to calm his nerves, before heading to the bathroom to get ready for the day. As he passed Mark’s room, he could hear Mark’s snores, calm and steady. Jinyoung smiled. At least one of them was resting peacefully.

His mind kept wandering to the news articles still linked on his phone as he went through his morning routines. Every time, he had to forcefully shove the thought away, shaking his head. No regrets. He has no regrets about what he did. He’s just so used to suppressing everything for the sake of his company and family reputation that it still feels selfish to do things like this.

This felt like flying with weights on.

Being able to express who he was, without fear of losing his parents, losing Yena, losing everything he’d ever loved because of who he loved, freed him in a way he’d never expected it to be. At the same time, though, he’d caused a major fallout in the chaebol world. How many business connections were lost? How many people had returned their jewelry to Park Jewelers out of disgust? How many potential customers had they chased away?

He glanced at his reflection in the mirror; bleary-eyed, disheveled, dressed in well-worn pajamas, with a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. Nothing seemed to have changed. One chaebol heir in the chaebol world can make major waves, but one chaebol in the entire world? Could he even consider himself a drop in an ocean? To others, realizing that their actions meant little in the long run might be demoralizing, but for Jinyoung it was a relief.

Finishing up in the bathroom, he trudged into the kitchen, opening the fridge. Both Mark and Jinyoung had taken the week off at Yena’s suggestionーa good idea, in hindsight. Jinyoung didn’t want to even imagine leaving the apartment after the media storm he and Mark started. They’d even gotten groceries beforehand, so they had everything they needed to wait out the storm.

Now what to make for breakfast...

Mark stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes with one hand while he blindly followed the smell of cooking food. “G’morning.”

“Morning, Mark,” Jinyoung greeted, heart leaping into his throat as memories flooded his brain. The ghost feeling of lips pressed against his almost made him drop the pan, and he tightened his grip on the handle before he ruined breakfast. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, the alcohol knocked me out,” Mark groaned, all but throwing himself into a chair. “Did you make breakfast for me too?”

Jinyoung rolled his eyes. “Of course I did. I’m pretty sure it’s in the terms listed for our arranged marriage.”

Mark let out a loud snort. “You know damn well it wasn’t. The contract’s basically a glorified roommate agreement.”

“Husbands, roommates, same thing,” Jinyoung retorted, turning around with two plates in his hands.

Mark peered at the sandwich on the plate as Jinyoung set it down in front of him, turning it this way and that to get a better look at it. “Is this Korean street toast?”

Jinyoung nodded, setting his own plate down. “I can’t make a proper American breakfast, but I can make you something similar.”

Mark gave Jinyoung a bright smile. “Thanks, Jinyoung. It looks delicious.”

“Let me know if it tastes as good as it looks, then,” Jinyoung replied.

Breakfast passed in almost comfortable silence. Mark ate in silent gusto, taking large bites out of the sandwich, taking brief moments to shoot Jinyoung a thumbs up whenever they made eye contact.

The normalcy unsettled Jinyoung. They’d officially come out to the public, there had been general outrage from the traditionalists in the chaebol world and acceptance from the more open-minded ones, and now the whole world knew and was giving their own opinions on the matter. Jinyoung and Mark and even Yena were suffering the consequences, even as their families tried to contain the damage. And now, Mark and Jinyoung were just hiding as Yena went about her day, pointedly ignoring her newfound attention.

, Mark and Jinyoung kissed last night.

Even hours later, with a raging headache and the lingering taste of alcohol on his breath, Jinyoung didn’t regret that kiss. Confused by the real motivations behind the kiss itself, yes. But regretting it ever happened? No, not really. Jinyoung deciding to kiss Mark on a whim, in public, in front of everyone he’d been scared to reveal himself to, had single-handedly turned his world on its head, even more than their coming out had turned the world in general on its head. Mark acting like nothing happened shot his heart rate up into the sky.

Jinyoung watched Mark in disbelief. How could he act so normal? How could anyone sit next to someone after having fundamentally changed the nature of their relationship and act like it had never happened?

Mark caught his eye and smiled, eyes curving into little crescents as he held up his toasted sandwich, nearly demolished. “It’s really good, Jinyoungie!”

Jinyoung coughed, scrambling for some semblance of a response. Sandwich, Mark was talking about the sandwich. “R-Really?”

“Yeah.” Mark nodded. “You should make me it again sometime.”

“I’ll... keep that in mind,” Jinyoung said, turning to his practically untouched sandwich. He picked it up, taking a tentative bite. It did taste good. 

Breakfast passed in comfortable silence, the two of them lost in thoughts. Neither of them reached for their phone. Yena would call if they needed to know something. Jinyoung couldn’t stop himself from stewing in his thoughts again. Why was Mark not saying anything? Did he remember Jinyoung kissing him? They hadn’t been drinking then, had they? Maybe Mark had had a few drinks and Jinyoung hadn’t noticed? They’d definitely drank after, so maybe the alcohol affected Mark’s memories that much? 

Maybe Mark didn’t forget. Maybe he was trying to give Jinyoung space. Maybe Mark thought Jinyoung was drunk and decided to act normal and pretend like nothing happened. It would be like Mark to do something like that. Maybe Mark was waiting to talk about it with Jinyoung too. Maybe...

Jinyoung shook his head. He couldn’t think like that. He’d get lost in what-ifs and drive himself insane for no reason. If he wanted to know something, he could just ask. Decide what he wanted to do and just... do it. He liked Mark. He kissed Mark because he liked him and wanted to keep him safe. He wanted to protect Mark however he could, and sometimes that meant keeping him from decking a homophobic bigot in front of a crowd of influential people, some of whom were their investors and stakeholders. And... maybe he wanted to show the world that he and Mark were genuine. Maybe they weren’t in love, but they c