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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you for over 100 subs~ Y'all a blessing, and I love y'all~

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“And…”

 

“Can I open them now?”

 

“Sshh.”

 

“Come on!”

 

“Not yet…”

 

“...”

 

“Okay, fine~”

 

“Now?”

 

“Yep!”

 

Slowly opening his eyes, Youngjae’s heart felt full and stomach swarmed with millions butterflies. It had been beautiful. These past months were the most magical months of his life. With no expectations to anything at all, he took Jaebum’s hands and they ran on. No looking back. No regretting their decisions. No fearing the consequences. Their little secret dating game was nothing but fun adventures and sweet kisses. Each moment they spent together, they cherished and treasured, as if they probably woudn't see each other again after the day ends. Which was the worse case, but it’s okay, though. Because at this point, their hearts refused to survive without each other’s warmth.

 

“SURPRISE!” Jaebum cheered, grinning widely and leaning over to kiss his boyfriend’s cheek. “Happy One-Hundredth Day!”

 

“What?” Youngjae raised an eyebrow, nonetheless, still returned Jaebum’s kiss with his own. “You did one already...”

 

“No, babe,” the older rolled his eyes, “That was the First-Month Anniversary. This is to celebrate one hundred days we’ve been together!”

 

“Is this normal?”

 

“Of course it is! Come here!” Jaebum dragged Youngjae towards the candle-lit table. “I worked so hard for this. Myungdae’s been giving me a lot of cooking lessons.” He pulled the chair out for Youngjae.

 

Amazed at the set of expensive silverwares in front of him, Youngjae smiled and reminded himself to ask Jaebum where did these came from, “Myungdae-hyung can cook?”

 

“Nope!” Jaebum replied casually, “We both kind of just ride-and-die together.”

 

“Thought so,” Youngjae chuckled, “Didn’t expect any of you to know how to cook.”

 

“You can’t either, so shut up and eat.”

 

“Thank you, Jaebummie. It’s…” The younger looked around Jaebum’s room, admiring the romantic setup. The dim light of the candles. The rose petals scattered all over the floor. The vase of blooming roses in the middle of the table. The atmosphere. The love. Just… Everything… There was nothing more Youngjae could have asked for. “It’s really nice. Thank you.”

 

For a long silence, Jaebum didn’t respond back. Instead, he lifted his eyes and looked over at Youngjae. Maybe Youngjae had already understood from the silence. Maybe there was really no need for words between them. Maybe the affections reflected in their eyes under the small light of hundreds of burning flames were enough words. Maybe.

 

Youngjae smiled. The smile that could melt thousands of hearts. The smile that could lit up the whole room. The smile that kept Jaebum’s heart beating so furiously fast. The smile that Jaebum knew he’d be willing to spend the rest of his life staring at, because his heart felt so cozy and crazily in love. They might be young and stupid, but they knew what they meant to each other.

 

“I’m eating now…”

 

“Um, y-yeah… Go ahead.”

 

“Any last words, Im?”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“I mean you might screwed this up, and we’ll end up ordering take-outs. Which is perfectly fine by the way-”

 

Quickly stuffing a spoonful of kimchi fried rice into Youngjae’s mouth, Jaebum looked extremely unimpressed. “Eat.”

 

Obediently, Youngjae chewed on the rice and tried to savor the taste. After a couple of seconds, the younger cracked a tiny encouraging smile, “That wasn’t too bad. You did great!”

 

“Lies,” Jaebum pouted, looking down at his plate and stabbing at the piece of roasted chicken with his fork.

 

“Awe, Jaebummie, come on! It’s not bad!”

 

“Men ain’t . All they do is lie.”

 

“You’re a man yourself, so what’s the point you’re trying to get here-”

 

“I hate you, Youngjae!”

 

Youngjae sighed, facepalmed and reached over to his boyfriend. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s your first time. The food’s edible. That’s all it matters. You did your best.”

 

“This… Isn’t the first time…”

 

“Oh. Okay. Well, then, um…”

 

“Yeah. So don’t try to sugarcoat it.”

 

Deciding to do something about this, because the last thing he needed was for this One-Hundredth Day to go down into history as the worse One-Hundredth Day ever, Youngjae got up from his seat and dragged his chair over to Jaebum’s side. When he settled down again, he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s neck and delivered a cute cheek kiss. “Everyone is good at something. Maybe cooking isn’t for you. But you’re good at other things.”

 

“Like?”

 

“Like making me happy!” Even with the limited lighting, Youngjae could see the blush on Jaebum’s face, which meant mission accomplished. “You’re the best boyfriend and best friend ever! Thank you for always being there for me these past years of my life. I know I have no friends other than you and Myungdae-hyung-”

 

“You consider that annoying bastard as your friend?”

 

“-But I’d rather that than not have known you. We’re not alike at all. And my mother deeply hates you. But it’s okay. We made it work, right? I mean if we didn’t, then we shouldn’t be at here, enjoying our One-Hundredth Day together-”

 

“A horrible one.”

 

“-And hoping for many more days to come. Jaebum-ah, I just want to say thank you for doing what you do best. Thank you for making me so happy.”

 

They sat there in silence for a while as Youngjae rested his head on Jaebum’s shoulder, waiting patiently for some sort of response. That whole confession just made Youngjae’s face as red as Jaebum’s.

 

“That’s all?” Jaebum cleared his throat.

 

“Yes, that is all.”

 

“So… Do I also get a kiss along with it, too, or…”

 

“You do.”

 

“Oh. Wow. All right.” The frown on Jaebum’s face immediately disappeared as he closed his eyes and protruded his lips a little.

 

Youngjae wanted to slap his boyfriend’s ridiculous face, but in a way, it was cute. “This was all I had to do?”

 

“Hurry and kiss me~”

 

Rolling his eyes, Youngjae leaned in and sealed their lips together in a promise that they’ll be with each other forever. The promise was never mentioned out loud before, but they both knew. They were great at just understanding each other like that.

 

The kiss meant to be quick and innocent. But somehow, Jaebum turned that around and made it bursting with sparks and raging fire. Youngjae struggled to breathe, pulling them both apart before things could escalate any further than a heated make out session. Well, let’s say Youngjae was still shy and Jaebum was a very understanding boyfriend. Jaebum was willing to stop anytime and swore to never do anything that Youngjae didn’t consent to.

 

“We-we should eat.”

 

“Sure,” Jaebum smiled, still a bit breathless and a little , but that’s okay. “Want to sit on my lap and have me feed you?”

 

“Jaebummie!”

 

The older laughed, showering his lover’s face with kisses, “I love you~”

 

“I love you, too~”

 

<||><||><||><||><||>

 

A forceful knock woke Youngjae up from his sleep. Ignoring it, Youngjae rolled over in his bed and slapped a pillow over his ear. The dawn just broke. He wasn’t going to attend to anyone’s company at the moment.

 

“Youngjae.”

 

The young boy’s eyes snapped open at the voice. Immediately, he pulled away the covers and sat up. His heart picked up its speed. And Youngjae could only conclude that it’ll be something bad. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a second. Everything’s okay. Let’s not jump to any conclusion-

 

“Open your door this instant, Choi Youngjae! Don’t make me break this damn thing down!”

 

Okay. Maybe everything’s not okay.

 

Youngjae opened the door slowly, readying himself to face the worse to come. If Youngjae wasn’t fully awake yet, he is now. Madam Choi’s stern face seemed to snap every bone on the boy’s body. Like always, her cold eyes were intimidating and undeniably heartless. It was like she didn’t even regard her son as a human being. But whatever. Youngjae was already too used to her hateful gazes and frowny lips.

 

“How dare you made me wait.”

 

“Sorry, Mother…” Youngjae ducked his head, avoiding her sharp eyes as they plucked at his skin.

 

“We need to talk. Freshen up, you filth,” Madam Choi spat venomously, eyeing the ridiculous appearance her son was bearing in front of her. “You should already be up and dressed at this hour. Not lazing around in bed. This is why you can’t and won’t accomplish anything in life. I’m disappointed.”

 

Each word jabbed at Youngjae harshly. But all he could manage was a little bow, “I’m sorry for disappointing you, Mother.”

 

Madam Choi didn’t say anything more. Just a press of her red lips as she stared down on her son. That already said a lot. When she turned and walked away, Youngjae finally released the breath he had been holding. His body shaking slightly at the brutal aura of that woman. Only with a glance and she already held total control over his head like a puppeteer. Youngjae had no choice but to play by her strings. A child shouldn’t be this afraid of their own mother.

 

Doing as told, Youngjae freshened himself and dressed up nicely like how he usually does. Even in his own house, he wasn’t allowed to just wear his pajamas around the house. There was no such tolerant for something so inappropriate. Youngjae had to be in his slacks and button-downs the moment he stepped out of his room. At least that was the household’s rule Youngjae abidded to whenever his mother was home.

 

The young master arrived in the living room and took a seat on the sofa across from his mother’s single armchair. Madam Choi sat there waiting and sipping on her morning tea gracefully. She set down the cup when her son’s face came into view.

 

“Is something wrong, Mother?” Youngjae asked cautiously, thinking of the millions of things that could go wrong right in this moment. He had to prepare himself for the worse case scenario.

 

Madam Choi spared her son a glance before reaching down and picked up her cup of tea. Blowing softly to calm the steam, Madam Choi took her time. Because she knew perfectly well how impatient her son was sitting in front of her. Youngjae was too easy to read. His fidgeting fingers and shaky pupils didn’t go unnoticed by the madam’s hawk-like eyes.

 

“You should know,” she said calmly. “But I’ll tell you anyways. I’ve been hearing a lot from the streets lately. I don’t want to accuse you base on irrelevant rumors. Because Youngjae, these past months, you’ve been a good boy. Still topping all your classes. Your teachers have been very pleased with you. I would very much like to not bring this up, but I see that the issue is getting blasphemous. Do you know?”

 

“No… Mother….” The young boy stared at his hands on his lap. The walls closed in on him and squeezed his throat tight.

 

Sighing, the madam set down her cup. Her posture remained perfect and elegant like a true disciplined madam she grew up to be. “Listen, son, I do not like to repeat this over and over again. I’ve been disappointed in you before. I let you slide for skipping a whole week of school while I was away, because you’ve made it up by studying harder. But there are things that I’m not pleased with, Youngjae.”

 

“Mother-”

 

“What I’ve been hearing on the streets annoy me greatly. I’ve told you so many times to stop hanging out with that good-for-nothing punk! Yet, you went and defied me. Do you even think of me as your Mother anymore, son? Do you know what kind of reputation that boy has?! Do you know what you’re doing is a disgrace?! How can you, a young master, meddled yourself with the likes of something so filthy!”

 

“I-”

 

“Silence! You are not to talk while I am doing my job as a Mother to properly discipline you. That Jaebum kid, I want you to stop sneaking out and hanging with him! You think I don’t know? I know everything! If your damn excuse is that he’s your only friend, then shut it! It’s your fault your useless brain can’t make better friends. There’s people around you. Open your goddamn mouth and befriend them. Know your damn place, Choi Youngjae. You’re of jade and royalty. You can’t be friends with a peasant! No. Not even. That kid is a thief, the worse of the worse. Put some respect on yourself.”

 

He didn’t want this. Youngjae didn’t want to sit here and hear his own mother talking down on him and who he hang with. He hated it. Hated it so much. But he felt so powerless. Her words were like poison warping around his fragile heart. It hurts. How can a mother just sit there and say all of those disgusting things to her only child without batting an eyelash? How could she be so cruel and inconsiderate? How could she do this to her own blood? Questions with no answers. Because no one could possibly figure out the mind of Choi Eunhye.

 

Youngjae started to zone out every word that came out of his mother’s vicious mouth. Her words passed over his head. All these years of his life, his mother had always been the commander. Her demands were for him to carry out. But Youngjae thought he had about enough of this . There was a limit to everything.

 

“I don’t feel well. I’ll go back to my room,” the young master stood up, cutting off his mother’s angry slander.

 

“What? Excuse you, young man. You sit back down this instant!”

 

He, himself, couldn’t believe what exactly he was doing, but it felt good. The moment Youngjae ignored his mother and kept making his way to the staircase, he felt the adrenaline rushed to his brain. This was probably a bad idea. But Youngjae kept going.

 

“Don’t think I don’t know what kind of disgusting relationship you have with that boy!” Madam Choi roared, fury colored her pale face. Her fists balled and eyebrows knitted together. The redness of her lipstick ignited madly, setting fire upon her dominating stance.

 

Youngjae stopped. Nails digging into the railings of the staircase. Jaw clenching to suppress the anxiety pent up within the heavy heaves of his chest. Youngjae imagined a rope tied around his neck and hung him right from the ceiling of this prison.

 

“I can’t believe a son of mine would be selling himself to a man! Such disgrace! You should be lucky I still harbor such blasphemy in my house. I would love to throw you out by now,” the madam moved slowly towards the stairs where her son stood frozen in shock. “I was giving you a chance, Youngjae. You didn’t do this, right? It’s Jaebum, isn’t it? He pressured you to it, didn’t he? He did. He forced you to do this. Youngjae-ah, let me hear you say he forced you. I just need a confirmation. Your Mother can handle this, please, son-”

 

“S-stop it…” Youngjae shut his eyes tight, whimpering at the massive power his mother held against his neck, squeezing it so strongly that no air was spared.

 

“My dear son, say it. I’ll make it go away. I’ll make him go away.”

 

“No-no! I-”

 

“Youngjae-ah.”

 

Shaking his head wildly, Youngjae screamed in horror when he felt his mother’s cold hand lay on his shoulder. He could feel his skin turning into ice even through the thick material of his shirt. Shivers ran down his spine from that blood-curdling touch from the woman who gave birth to him. His knees felt weak and legs were shaking, but Youngjae crawled his way up the stairs and hurried into his room, where that monster couldn’t get to him.

 

But nowhere was safe in this household.

 

“This is my house! You can’t hide!”

 

The scared young master backed away from the door, eyes staring and fearing that the wood might turn into a hungry lion ready to swallow him alive. Never in his life had he been this scared. That woman wasn’t his mother. Each booming yell pushed Youngjae back further and further from the door. He could hear her getting closer. There wasn’t a way out of this. Youngjae was sure his mother wouldn't hesitate to kill him. Her reputation meant everything to her. She held it higher than her own son. So of course, if getting rid of this abomination of a child would restore the elegance in her name, then that’ll be exactly what she would do.

 

It was scary how much Youngjae knew his mother. While she could barely get his favorite ice cream flavor right, he knew as much there was to know about her. Choi Eunhye don’t around. Especially when her benefits are on the line.

 

“Choi Youngjae! It’s useless. Come out and talk to me. Or I’ll come in and you’ll suffer greater consequences!”

 

“NO!” Youngjae shouted, tears streaming down his face as he tried to even out his breathing. Obviously, Youngjae couldn’t possibly win. But he won’t give in. “Leave me alone! I will never say it! Because it isn’t true! No one forced me to do anything!”

 

“Stop lying to yourself! You think that boy really likes you? Get over yourself, son. He’s just using you. The moment he’s done sleeping with you, he’ll leave. You mean nothing more to him than an easy, rich kid! Only I know what’s best for you-”

 

“No, you don’t!” Screamed the young master as he wiped his tears angrily. “I don’t need you so-” Before Youngjae could finish the most rebellious sentence he’d ever said to his mother, his body staggered by a tug of his arm. Youngjae turned his head back, completely surprised by the greet of an awfully familiar face.

 

“Let’s go,” Jaebum whispered in the troubled young master’s ear.

 

<||><||><||><||><||>

 

When Madam Choi got the door to open with the master key, her rage only fueled more violently. Standing at the door, Madam Choi’s gaze could melt iron. She had expected for her son to be shaking in fear in front of her eyes. She had expected for her son to immediately drop to his knees and apologize for his disrespectful behavior towards her. She had expected her son to listen to her every command again. What she didn’t expect was to find the room empty.

 

“What-” Madam Choi looked over at the opened window, and like lightning, vexation poured from her mad eyes. She hit her fist against the wall. “Damn you, Im Jaebum!”

 

 

<||><||><||><||><||>

 

After a whole day of just running around the town eating and having fun, the two young boys stopped by a sauna to end their night with something steamy. With their matching blue T-shirts and shorts, they sat down in the general resting area. Jaebum put down a bowl of baked eggs in front of Youngjae. The older began cracking and peeling the shell carefully.

 

“Say ‘ah’~” Jaebum cooed, holding the egg to Youngjae’s mouth.

 

The younger giggled and tried to take the egg from his boyfriend’s hand, but the insistent lover didn't let that happen easily. Youngjae whined, lightly slapping Jaebum’s arm, “I can eat by myself!”

 

“That won’t be as romantic,” Jaebum rolled his eyes. He blew softly on the egg to cool it down, then he held it up to Youngjae’s mouth again. “Come on~ You were so sweet and loving the whole day. Let me have this, too.”

 

Youngjae raised an eyebrow at Jaebum’s attempt to act cute. It didn’t work at all, but at least Jaebum was trying. Sighing, Youngjae shook his head, “And I’m the younger one?”

 

“Yeah, you’re my baby~”

 

“Stop that~ There’s people here.”

 

“There’s barely anyone, Jae. And the people here are all asleep.”

 

Looking around, Youngjae did a quick count. Jaebum was right. There weren’t that many people. Maybe around four others, but they were all sleeping peacefully. Two of the four were a couple. Youngjae blushed a little as he watched the man gently pet the woman’s hair unconsciously in his sleep. Must be nice to be able to be affectionate in public because society accepts it.

 

“If you eat, I could do the same to you,” Jaebum said softly with that charming smile where his eyes disappeared into these adorable crescents. That charming smile never failed to melt Youngjae’s heart.

 

“No, I’m good.”

 

“Everyone’s sleeping. And I’m sure the news of us being intimate had already spread throughout the entire town.”

 

Youngjae didn’t say anything, instead he opened his mouth and let Jaebum fed him. They sat silently like that. Just Jaebum continued peeling and blowing onto the eggs before breaking it in halves to feed his Youngjae. At some point, the roles reversed, and Jaebum ended up eating off of Youngjae’s hand. But being the more playful one of the two, Jaebum couldn’t help but at the tips of the younger’s fingers. His excuse was there was still a bit of yolk. Of course, like always, Youngjae bored an unimpressed expression on his face contrary to the rouge color of his cheeks.

 

Their silence broke as soon as Jaebum decided to tease Youngjae by trying really hard to cuddle. Then somehow that turned into a mess of a tickling party with suppressed laughs and tiny giggles. But Youngjae accidentally squeaked a bit too loudly and earned both of them a frustrated hushed from an old lady who got woken up. Youngjae apologized in embarrassment. The old lady just sighed and muttered quietly for them to get a room if they can’t keep their hands to themselves. Jaebum smirked and wiggled his eyebrows, to which Youngjae didn’t miss to smack the older’s chest. The reply to that smack was a soft kiss to the side of the younger’s head.

 

Finally, Jaebum succeed in exhausting Youngjae. They lied down all pressed up to each other. Youngjae was too tired to struggle, so he just accepted his fate and let his childish boyfriend have it this time. Though, Youngjae always loved being wrapped up protectively in Jaebum’s arms. After what had happened earlier in the morning, all Youngjae wanted was to be in the embrace of the person he loves.

 

“Sorry,” Jaebum mumbled, face half buried in Youngjae’s hair.

 

“What for?”

 

“Well, you could be sleeping on a bed.”

 

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t really care.”

 

“You sure? I mean I know you’re used to being treated like a prince. Suddenly now, you’re just sleeping on the floor at some random cheap-, sketchy- sauna.”

 

Youngjae chuckled, shaking his head slightly, “It’s fine. Thank you. Really thank you. I had so much fun today.”

 

“I’m glad I decided to climb through the window at the right moment,” Jaebum placed a kiss on top of his boyfriend’s head. “I swear I was going to burst through that damn door and kill your mom myself. But I saw how you looked for a second… And it just broke me. I just had to get you out of there.”

 

Snuggling closer to Jaebum, Youngjae smiled, “Thank you.”

 

The older took the cue and hugged his boyfriend tighter. “Would have been better if we’re on a bed… Sorry, again, I just don’t want you to see me get beat by my Dad. It’ll be too much for your poor heart. You’ll cry. And I’ll be stuck with fresh bruises and a crybaby.”

 

“I won’t cry!” Youngjae smacked his boyfriend’s chest, earning himself a hiss.

 

 

“Sshhh. You’re loud. Goodness, how loud are you going to be when we fu-”

 

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear your inappropriate joke.”

 

Jaebum muffled his laughter in Youngjae hair. “Kidding~ Anyways, I was saying that my house wouldn’t be a great place for you to shelter on your runaway.”

 

“I didn’t ran…” Youngjae pouted, “You kidnapped me.”

 

“Well, you have a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome then ‘cause you’re all over this hot piece of mess.”

 

“Did you just called yourself ‘hot’? Seriously?”

 

“Am I not?”

 

“...”

 

“I thought so.”

 

“Jaebummie, you’re annoying.”

 

“Yeah, whatever, let me see your face for a bit.”

 

“Huh?” Youngjae lifted his face upwards in confusion.

 

Jaebum just smiled and leaned down, perfectly sliding their lips together. The angle made it easier for them to deepen their sweet lip lock. The kiss was chaste but full of burning passion for each other. The need for each other’s comfort written clearly between their lips. Their scents mixed together and created an elixir of pure love. Drowned in the fantasy of a wondrous world with just the two of them, they didn’t want this to ever end. But nothing really lasts forever.

 

Youngjae pulled away first, breathless with his cheeks decorated with streaks of pretty pink and eyes sparkling like crystals. He looked at Jaebum affectionately as he caressed the older’s flaming cheek. “I love you,” Youngjae said softly. “Thank you for taking me away.”

 

“I don’t need your thank you’s,” Jaebum gently ran his fingers through Youngjae’s hair, “I just need you to know that no matter what I will always take you away.”

 

Kissing Youngjae again, Jaebum promised to be the captor of Youngjae’s tender heart.