“What am I going to do…?” Hakyeon exclaimed, a heavy sigh leaving his lips as he let his head sink into his crossed arms on the table.
“Maybe she's a really nice person…?” Sanghyuk tried to reason with his best friend who, quite honestly, was drowning in despair.
“I don't care if she's a nice person…! I don't like women and my heart already belongs to Taekwoon… Help me, Hyukie….!”
A comforting hand was placed on the brunets shoulder.
“I'm sorry Hyung, I can't help you. I wish I could but you know your parents. They want their grandchild and they won't accept anything else….”
“It's 2017 for gods sake! Not everything is black and white…! There are dozens of kids who don't have parents, what about them?”
“Yeah try telling this your parents. They're as open as a locked treasure chest. The company is everything for them. They wouldn't let just anyone other than their own blood take over.”
“I know…
What time is it?”
“Almost 2 pm.”

A loud, almost animal like groan left the elders throat as he looked at his best friend again, who was in the process of getting up.
“I have to go now, she'll be here every minute.”
Sanghyuk's wrist was suddenly grabbed in a last desperate attempt at help. “Don't leave me alone! Can't you stay with me! I don't want to meet her alone….!”
“I wish I could but no can do, Hyung. Come on you'll manage it just right. Just try and talk with her, get to know her and maybe if the timing is right you can explain your situation to her and see how she reacts.”

With a final sigh he let go of the youngers wrist and gave way to his fate.
“Can you at least tell Taekwoon that I love him when you go over to him?”
An adoring smile stole itself on Sanghyuk's lips.
“Don't worry he knows already,” he answered and finally got up, “You'll manage just fine. We're there for you Hyung, Fighting!”

With these final words and a last hug Hakyeon was being left alone in the half empty café. A few days ago it was still his favourite place to drink his coffee but now he despised it like the pest.
Honestly, he really, really loved his parents. They gave him all the love a parent could give their child, let him do everything he wanted but the one thing they never accepted was his uality.
From a young age, Hakyeon knew he wasn't like the others. He got better along with the girls in his class than the boys, he liked to make himself presentable and he ing liked watching hot boys run around in tight trainers. Everyone and their grandmother, heck even a blind person, could see he was gay. But no his parents just ignored it. No matter how often he told them they just dismissed it as a phase and that he was just confused and blah, blah, blah!

 

Though before his thoughts could take a more hateful turn he got interrupted by a soft female voice.

“Are you Cha Hakyeon?”

Looking up from the table, his eyes met with a pair of coffee brown one’s. The dark orbs belonged to the oval shaped face of a young woman. Her face was spotless and smooth. Her hair, almost the same colour as her eyes, was about medium length and braided loosely on her right side. She seemed to be a fashionable women with an elegant white dress hugging her slim body, a black leather jacket slung loosely around her delicate shoulders. Honestly she was a true beauty in every sense. A bit overwhelmed Hakyeon clumsily stumbled up from his chair to properly greet her. He wasn't okay with this arranged marriage but that didn't mean he would be petty about it. Hakyeon's mother had taught him better.

“Yes and I assume you're Sung Kyuri.” The woman in question gave a nod in agreement and held her hand out which Hakyeon obviously took.
“It's nice to meet you Kyuri-sshi.”
“Just call me Kyuri. It seems like we'll be spending a lot of time together,” the brunette said with a sheepish smile as Hakyeon pulled out the chair opposite him for Kyuri to take a seat.
“Yes it seems so. Call me Hakyeon. We're too young to use formalities, right,” he tried to lighten the mood as it seemed like she also wasn't that prone on being here.
“You're right. I see you've already ordered?" She looked at the Chai-Latte on the table in front of Hakyeon. "Anything you can recommend?”
“Ah yes, sorry. I've been here for quite some time because I've met up with a friend a few moments ago. But if I can recommend something you should really try the apple pie. There's nothing better.”
“I love apples!” the brunette exclaimed. “But I think I have to pass. My body doesn't really like them.”
“Oh… you're allergic?”
“Yup.”
“Wow that's harsh when you're allergic to something you like… Alright, I'll remember this.”
“Yes, it isn't exactly fun but oh well, can't do anything about it, can I? I think I'll just take a cappuccino then. I've eaten already before coming here.” Hakyeon laughed at her sheepish smile and stood up again.
“Okay. I'll get it for you real quick.”

---

Once he came back with Kyuri's order and had placed it in front of her they fell into a comfortable conversation. They had some small talk about trivial things and Hakyeon learnt that Kyuri was a really sympathetic and charismatic person. She liked cooking and dancing as well as ice skating and photography. Her personality was quite interesting because she wasn't that much like your typical business girl. The brunette preferred wearing sneakers instead of high heels and generally favoured comfortable clothing, though she still tried to look good. Hakyeon had to admit that he quite liked her but still no one could live up to his Taekwoon.

It wasn't fair to her because she deserved someone who really loved her or at least her gender and therefore could come to love her one day. He should really talk to her like Sanghyuk had suggested and tell her the truth. It was only fair.

Having made up his mind he waited for a lull in conversation and brought the topic up.

“Hey uh… Listen I need to tell you something important.” The brunette looked up from her coffee with a questioning look
“Sure, go on.”
“I- Okay so you seem like a very nice person and I very much enjoyed our time together today but I need to be honest with you.” The blond took a deep breath. “I'm gay.”

Silence followed his statement and he only waited for the disgust that was sure to follow, like it did most of the time. But instead of said disgust there was a sigh of relieve followed by a happy laugh which made Hakyeon look up in wonder.
“This is great! Oh my god, this is fantastic! I can't believe my luck!”
“… What…?”
“Wait here a moment,” Kyuri exclaimed as she stood up, “I'll be back right away.”

And with that she stormed off to a table on the far end of the café and talked to the person sitting there. Hakyeon was left behind, a puzzled expression written all over his face.

Before he could wonder about the youngers reaction though she was already back, a second female being dragged behind her. They were about the same height though where Kyuri's face was all soft and round, the black haired's was made of more sharper angles. Her jet black hair was way shorter than Kyuri's, shorn on the sides with thick bangs at the front. Her clothes consisted of a simple white tank-top that was tucked into the front of a pair of loose fitting, black linen pants. He'd never seen her before and couldn't imagine just what was going on.
Luckily though the brunette clarified what the stranger had to do with everything.

“Yoonmi; this is Cha Hakyeon, my 'future husband',” she introduced him and the second female seemed as confused as himself. Before he could ask though Kyuri went on.
“Hakyeon; meet Pak Yoonmi, my girlfriend and the love of my life.” Suddenly it dawned on him.
“You mean-”
“What are you talking about, Kyuri!” Yoonmi interrupted him, a look of horror resting upon her face as she quickly turned to Hakyeon.
“Forget what she said. She-” this time Yoonmi was interrupted by the brunette who rested an arm around the latter’s shoulder. “Calm down, Yoonmi.”
“Kyuri, this isn't funny. What if he tells on his parents and-”
“He's gay.”
“- then everything will fall back on you-
Wait… What??”
Kyuri laughed at her girlfriend's dumbfounded expression and Hakyeon couldn't help the chuckle escaping himself.
“I'm gay.”
“You mean gay as in you don't like women?”
“Well at least my boyfriend wouldn't be so happy if I did.”
“Wait, you're gay and you have a boyfriend?!”
“Yes and we've been going strong for eight years.”
“See Yoonmi? Everything is alright. Come on let's sit down and talk, hm?”

“This is a joke, right? Or am I dreaming?” the raven haired asked once all three of them were seated.
“No it's not. Just accept that it is a gift of fate, my love,” Kyuri answered and lightly tapped her girlfriends nose with a fond smile.

“Okay so, you are gay and in a relationship and I'm gay and in a relationship. Now what?” Hakyeon asked as the surprise had settled and silence returned to the
table.
“We have an idea,” Kyuri stated, “I assume your parents aren't okay with your uality, right? Or do they not know?”
“They know, but they're not accepting it. Don't get me wrong, they don't hate me for it or treat me any differently, but they're just ignoring it, saying it's just a phase and it would go away once I've found a pretty girl.” Hakyeon couldn't help the eye roll but the two women just nodded in understanding.
“Yeah I know what that's like. My mother thinks the same which, honestly, is quite stupid seeing as this 'phase' has been going on for about ten years now. But I can work with that now. I think there could be a way to get them off our backs.”

Slowly Hakyeon's mind was catching on.

“You mean the marriage?”
“Yes. I mean there wouldn't be a real huge wedding in the first place, I made that deal with my mother already, so we'd just be married on paper. It would for one keep our parents offour backs and our firms could only profit from this union.”
“But I know my parents. They want an heir and they'd expect us to live together and be that happy little business family,” the blond retorted which didn't seem to bother the two others.
“That's not a problem, we also have a plan for that. It may sound crazy so don't be weirded out by us, but Yoonmi and I sometimes imagined this scenario to happen, whenever my mother brought up marriage. You know like being married to someone who's also gay and then just quietly living next to each other while we could be with our real partners. The living together part wouldn't be exactly hard. I'm sure we could talk our parents into buying a flat with at least two bedrooms, because well we don't exactly know each other and sleeping together in one bed would be way too much.”
“You're right, that makes sense.” Hakyeon's brows pulled together in thought. “But what about the hair?”
“Ever heard of artificial insemination?”
“Wait, so you'd…”
Kyuri nodded. “Me and Yoonmi would love to have kids of our own and I'm sure you’d like that too. I'd even be ready to carry the baby.” Yoonmi had taken her girlfriends hand in the meanwhile as she nodded her head in agreement.

Honestly it sounded too good to be true. Taekwoon and Hakyeon had often talked about kids, but with his parents breathing down his neck the idea was always discarded. Now though with Kyuri's plan it could actually be possible to live a life with his boyfriend. They'd just had to watch their back and be careful about what they were doing but in a country like Korea where the acceptance with the LGBT+ community wasn't that high to begin with, it wasn't a big change.

“I have to say that it's quite a good plan actually. But I'd still need to talk to Taekwoon about it.”
“Taekwoon is your boyfriend I take it?” Yoonmi piqued up out of curiosity to which Hakyeon just nodded.
“Well how about you call him right away to meet up with us now,” the raven haired suggested and not a minute later he found himself dialling his boyfriends number.

The call was picked up after five rings though instead of his boyfriends feather like voice it was a more guttural one.

”Hyung! Is everything alright?! Why are you calling? I thought the meeting took longer! Did something happen?! You know I can just come over-”

“Dear god, Wonshik take a breath you stupid worry-wat.
What are you even doing on Taekwoon's phone??”

”He's getting something to drink and Wonshik Hyung saw your name on the screen and thought that maybe it's something serious concerining you're meeting and
then just picked up, a second voice explained, which Hakyeon could identify to be Sanghyuk's.

“You know that Taekwoon will have your head for that, don't you?”

”I don't care. It could be important and I want to help my friend. That you didn't call me in the first place is beyond my imagination. So are you still at the café with her?”

“Yes I am still with her and I need Taekwoon here.”

”Oh god, is she ugly?!”

“What? No!” Hakyeon answered incredulous. “She's everything but ugly and quite a nice person.” He threw a cheeky wink at the girls before him in a joking manner, which was returned by Kyuri with a blown hand kiss.

”Then why are you calling?”

“Like I said I need Taekwoon to come here-”

”What are you doing on my phone?” a solemn voice suddenly spoke on the other side of the phone and Hakyeon could practically feel Taekwoon's death glare.

”Hyung, I can explain, I- ouch! It's not what it looks like! No! Please spare me! Hakyeon needs your help!”

”He's on the phone?”

“Yes, that's why Hyung picked up in the first place!” There was a slight crackle in the line and a few moments later Taekwoon's soft voice resounded right through the phone.

”Hakyeon?”

“Yes, don't throttle Wonshik. He meant well.”

”It's your lucky day, Hakyeon saved you from your ultimate demise,” Taekwoon spoke probably towards Wonshik before bringing his attention back to his boyfriend.

“Why are you calling? Are you done with meeting her?”

“No, she's still with me and I need you to come over here.”

”Why?”

“I want you to meet her.”

”Hakyeon no. I don't think this is a good idea…”

“It's the best idea, believe me.”

”Hakyeon I love you, but I can't just go there, meet her and act like we're just good friends.”

“I love you too and that's why I need you to come over. I promise it won't be like that. I've got a surprise for you, so please believe me…”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few moments and Hakyeon literally saw Taekwoon worrying his lip with his teeth. It was almost creepy how good Hakyeon knew his boyfriend. And he also knew that the latter wouldn't let him hanging as finally a sigh came through the phone.

”Okay. I'll come over.” A big, fat grin spread over Hakyeon's whole face.

”Stop grinning like an idiot. I'm just doing this because of you.”

“I'm not grinning and I already know that I'm special to you.”

Groaning Taekwoon gave way to his fate.

”I'll be there in about 15 minutes and I want an extra large iced americano.”

“Of course your majesty. Anything else?” The elder joked fondly and exchanged knowing looks with the two lady's in front of him.

”A lemon cupcake.”

“Oh yes, how could I forget your sweet tooth.”

”You're unbelievable…”

“And you love me for it, don't deny it. See you soon, Taekwoonie.”

Without an answer the line went dead and Hakyeon stuffed his phone back into his bag.

“He'll be here in about 15 minutes,” he clarified.
“He sound's really sweet,” Yoonmi remarked with a smile and swatted Kyuri's hand away from her vanilla latte to take a sip herself.
“He is. Though many people mistake him for being cold and aloof. But he isn't. Just a bit on the shy end.”
“Just like Kyuri. I have the feeling, they'll get along just fine.”
“Really? You don't seem like the shy type to me…”
“No but she also sometimes comes along as cold, though she has a very warm heart.” That comment earned Yoonmi a kiss on the cheek by her girlfriend.
“What did I do to deserve this flattery?”
“For being you?” The black haired stated as if it was the most obvious answer and gave her a short sideways hug, though their seat arrangement made it a bit awkward.
“Okay until Taekwoon's here, how about you two tell me how you've got to know each other? I'm a very curious person and a er for romance.”

---

And so they spent most of the time waiting with talking and Hakyeon found out that the two of them had met seven years ago. Kyuri was new to the city to attend university. Not wanting to neglect her passion she joined the basketball club a few months after the move, when everything had settled a bit. There she met Yoonmi, who was playing on a different team. They hadn't talked to each other until the third time their teams competed against each other, were the two of them had a minor run in with each other. Minor being that both of them ended on the bench with a bloody nose for the rest of the game and so they got to know each other better. One thing led to another and two years later they got together. It was cute and Hakyeon was happy for them.

About ten minutes later Hakyeon left the table to fetch Taekwoon's orders and excused himself from the two women in order to wait outside, after he had put the beverage and cupcake on the table. The blond worried that his boyfriend wouldn't enter the café by himself or come to their table all alone.
It was quite a hot day and Hakyeon was glad for the yellow shirt and white shorts he wore, as he stood outside the shop just a few feet away from it's entrance.

Luckily he hadn't had to wait much longer as about three minutes later he he saw his beloveds black mane coming towards him, styled so that his fringe partly covered his right eye. He was wearing the simple blue-white stripped shirt they had bought together just the day before in addition to his favourite pair of ripped, black jeans as well as his brown leather sandals.

“There you are!” Hakyeon exclaimed as he met his boyfriend halfway in order to enclose him in a tight hug which was reciprocated with a bit less vigour by the younger, before letting him go again.
“I just came for the cupcake,” retorted Taekwoon as he tried to avoid Hakyeon's eyes.
“On the phone you told me it was only because I asked you.”
“I changed my mind.” The blond chuckled fondly and softly moved a stray strand of black hair out of Taekwoon's left eye. “Thanks for coming. I promise it will be worth it.”
“Whatever.” Taking that as his boyfriends okay, Hakyeon grabbed the latter’s hand and pulled him along behind him into the café. There weren't many people and the one's who were there didn't bother to look up.

As they neared the table were Kyuri and Yoonmi sat with their backs to them, he felt Taekwoon trying to escape his grip, but it only resulted in him tightening it.
“Hakyeon…”
“Trust me,” he just simply answered and finally they'd arrived at their table and stepped into the two women's field of view. The two stopped their current conversation to look at the newcomer and smiled at them.

“Kyuri, Yoonmi: This is Jung Taekwoon, my boyfriend of eight years.” With his eyes screaming in horror, the raven haired looked at his boyfriend as if he was crazy. The latter though ignored him and went on.
“Taekwoon: This is my almost 'fiancée' Sung Kyuri,” he pointed at the younger female before going over to the black haired, “and her girlfriend Pak Yoonmi.”
It was funny, how Taekwoon's expression didn't really differ from Yoonmi's as she found out that Hakyeon was gay. His eyes were just that bit bigger as he tried to put everything together. Out of fear his boyfriend would faint he quickly ushered him to sit down, before taking the chair next to him.
“Here, drink something. It will help cool your head,” Hakyeon adviced as he forced the ice cold beverage into Taekwoon's hand who did what his boyfriend said.
“Wait so…-
They are gay…? And in a relationship…? Like us?” Laughing at the dumbfounded expression on the youngers face Hakyeon rested his hand on the latter’s shoulder.
“Yes love, they are gay and in a relationship. Just like us.”
“And also just like you,” Yoonmi added, “Kyuri's parents are only forcing this marriage on her because they aren't okay with her uality.”
“That's right and I'll need your boyfriend to get us all out of this,” Kyuri said with a smirk and together they began explaining everything to Taekwoon.

---

“So? What do you think? About them?” Hakyeon asked once they were out of the café and on their way to Taekwoon's apartment.
“They are nice.”
“They are, aren't they? And what do you think about the idea?” His boyfriend hadn't looked so sure about their whole plan in the café and it took Taekwoon a bit longer to answer that question, but when he did he quickly grabbed Hakyeon's hand -after making sure no one was there to witness it- and squeezed it gently.

“I don't like the idea of you marring anyone else other than me to be honest...” Hakyeon looked up at his boyfriend just in time to see the light blush colouring his face and he couldn't help but smile as he squeezed back.
“I don't like it either but it's better marring someone who is in the same situation as us. And as much as I wish to marry you, we both know that even without my parents it wouldn't be possible. Not here, were it's still forbidden.”
“We could go somewhere where it's allowed...”
“You know I can't just leave my parents and the firm behind like that.” Hakyeon quickly surveyed their surroundings and pressed a chaste but nonetheless sweet kiss onto the youngers cheek when he was sure that no one would be there to watch them.
“I'm sorry, Love, but we have to work with what we have. Kyuri and Yoonmi are our only possibility to have a normal life for once, without my parents breathing down our necks…”
“I know,” Taekwoon said reluctantly and Hakyeon gave him a soft smile.
“How about we sleep a few nights over it? We don't have to decide it on the spot. Not even my parents are that desperate. We'll thoroughly think about it tomorrow, in a week or in a month and then, when we are really hundred percent sure we'll decide. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Great!” Hakyeon beamed and pulled the younger faster down the streets.
“Now come on. I'm sure Wonshik and the others are dying to know how it went and I want to properly kiss the air out of your lungs without having to care about anyone watching.”
Taekwoon's throat escaped a light chuckle as he nodded to himself and fastened his steps.

They had time and the idea wasn't exactly unappealing. Maybe it was worth considering it.