If his hands weren't wrapped in layers of gauze, he'd be strangling someone. 

 

"What. the. ?"

 

Minho is furious. He loves his mother; he really does. She has been one of his major role models in his life as a Choi, and he appreciates all of her efforts to be the best mother she can be. But right now, as new things about her are revealed to him, he wonders if he ever knew her in the first place.

 

"Minho, please let us explain—"

 

He gapes at his father, incredulous. "She had an affair. With Park Suho. Taemin's father. What the is there left to explain. Oh wait, I got one. Explain to me why my own parents forgot to tell me about the affair that one of them had more than a decade ago with my boyfriend's biological father."

 

He is sorry for being so incredibly rude to his parents and for the overflowing sarcasm in his voice, but really, how else is he supposed to react to news such as this besides the usual explosion of rage? "No- better yet, answer this one. Were you even planning on telling me any of this?"

 

"We considered telling you, really!" Mr. Choi's eyes are frantic as he explains, "Hell, I even considered divorcing her when I first found out—"

 

"But I split up with the guy and it was over as quick as it happened." Mrs. Choi, on the other hand, sounds unfeeling and it is like it doesn't even matter to her. Her tone is dismissive, and it irritates Minho. "Your father and I patched things up in a few months, and since things were okay again and we figured you were too young for all of that, we... kept it secret."

 

"Honey, the least you could do now is tell your son the whole truth."

 

Mrs. Choi snaps at him. "Yeah, and I bet you'd get a kick out of that, won't you?" She crosses her arms, looking indignant. Yun-Gyeom only gives her a reprimanding look before jerking his head to Minho's direction, silently urging her to speak up.

 

The woman sighs defeatedly and leans back on the couch. She isn't looking Minho in the eye. “When Suho and I were together, I found out that he was having another affair with another man." She says it like it is the most normal thing in the world. "So I broke it off with him and eventually your father found out."

 

"And you were fine with it?!" Minho's voice is shrill and disbelieving as he questions his father and in his opinion, the man's non-existent dignity.

 

"Believe me, Minho," Yun-Gyeom shakes his head, "I was anything but fine. I wanted her out of our lives. But I knew that we couldn't just throw away what we had off of—" He gestures with his hands, "whatever I felt back then." 

 

Minho does not understand how his father could have found it in himself to forgive his mother for what she'd done. When he thinks back on the moments when the three of them were together, imagining how his parents had acted like nothing wrong was happening between them. It makes him wonder how much of a lie his life really is. It infuriates him. But what is really pushing him to go berserk is the fact that his mother is one of the people responsible for giving Taemin a childhood (if he can even call it that) that he so obviously did not deserve. It makes him doubt even more if he is the right person for Taemin.

 

"Is that why you're so against Taemin? Because he's Park's son?"

 

"Of course not." His mother's self-righteous air irritates him so much. It reminds him of how he was before, and it pains him to see how horrible he was. "I didn't even know that he was related to Suho. I don't like him simply because he's gay. And all homouals are the same. They are unfaithful and they will cheat—"

 

"YOU. CHEATED. ON DAD. YOU ING HYPOCRITE."

 

Mrs. Choi looks positively aghast, her jaw dropping from the cursing and the insult. "My situation is entirely different—"

 

"HOW IS THAT EVEN REMOTELY DIFFERENT? YOU AND THAT SUHO BASTARD- YOU BOTH CHEATED ON YOUR HUSBAND AND WIFE. JUST BECAUSE HE HAD ANOTHER MAN ON THE SIDE DOESN'T MAKE YOU ANY BETTER."

 

Mrs. Choi does not answer. Mr. Choi makes no move to speak.

 

He rubs his temple with the hand that isn't in a cast and is instead only wrapped in gauze, trying to will away the dull throbbing in his head. He can't deal with any of this right now. "I think we're done here. Please leave." He does not give his parents a chance to protest as he darts to his bedroom, slamming the door closed. He hears their hushed voices in the other side, and it sounds like they are arguing. He is worried that they will force Minho out of his room, but relief washes over him when he hears their footsteps fading farther and farther away and then the sound of a door closing.  

 

He drops to the ground against the side of his bed, leaning back against the bed frame. The thick carpeting of his floor is comfortable enough for him at the moment. There would be no point in lounging around on his bed because even though it is eleven in the evening, he wouldn't be able to get any sleep, no matter how soft the linens and pillows. That's how it's been for four days, anyway.

 

He pulls out his phone, dead-set on dealing with the only thing that matters right now. The brunette's sleeping face flashes in his phone as the ringer, but he does not hear any rings—only beeps.

 

"Who could he possibly be calling at this time of night?" He grumbles to himself about annoying black-haired best friends who are after his brunette before dialling Taemin's number again.

 

No rings, only beeps.

 

He tries this again and again for several more minutes, but it seems that Taemin is too occupied with the person he is talking to at the moments. He grunts out in annoyance because he is most likely on the phone with that Kai bastard. He gives up and clambers into his bed, pulling the comforter over his head, forcing himself to fall asleep amidst all of the disturbing revelations of today.

 

 

"Tomorrow," Taemin forces his voice out, trying his best to sound stern and not to stutter, "2 P.M."

 

"Where?"

 

"Café on 5^th."

 

"Alright then." He can practically feel the grin radiating from the person on the other line, "Thanks, son!"

 

The brunette drops the phone from his ear and takes another swig of wine. If being a little tipsy tomorrow is what will allow him to face Park Suho, then so be it.

 

 

"You sure you can do this?"

 

"Yes."

 

"You're not going to storm out without finding out what he wants first?"

 

"No."

 

"You're not going to freak out?"

 

"No."

 

"Are you sure—"

 

"Kai."

 

"Okay, okay. Good luck."

 

Taemin nods in acknowledgement and thanks Kai for the ride before getting out of the car.

 

Servers are milling about in the cafe and it takes Taemin a while to spot the man he is looking for. He cranes his neck to see more of the room, and at the far back booth is where he sees Park Suho. He bites his lip, wanting more than anything to walk away from all of this, but advances anyway despite the urge to escape. 

 

"Son!"

 

"Don't call me that." He grunts as he slides into the booth, keeping as much space as possible between them.

 

"Then what do you suggest I call you?" The man leans forward and props his chin on his intertwined fingers, smirk apparent on his lips and his scruffy jaw.

 

"Taemin." Then he shakes his head, "Or no, don't even call me anything at all."

 

"Taemin." Taemin tries his hardest not to glare at the man's saucy smirk. 

 

"Why did you show up?" His voice is anything but pleased. In fact, he makes his tone as accusing as possible.

 

The elder man looks insulted. "Don't you want to do some catching up first, Taemin? It's been a long time since we've last seen each other you know—“

 

"Precisely my point." He cuts him off, because honestly, the man's sugar-coated words disgust him. "After all this time. You show up. What do you want from me." A server comes around their table and asks if they would like some coffee, but Taemin waves him off without even looking at him.

 

"I'm just an old man who's trying to patch things up with his son." There he is again with the sneaky smile, giving away the secret intentions that Taemin is sure he has.

 

"Shut up and tell me the truth."

 

"Don't use that tone on me." People are starting to take notice of their argument. "I'm still your father."

 

"You stopped being my father 19 years ago."

 

"Looks like your new family raised a brat."

 

"Bastard, if you don't stop bullting me—"

 

A sharp sting to his cheek stops Taemin's lips immediately. He does not let it show on his face, but inside, he is mortified, he is afraid. Suho had slapped him. People are eavesdropping now, and the older man only had to glare at them to make them go back to their own businesses.

 

"Did that shut you up, brat?" He snarls. 

 

He wants to raise his hand to his face to try and ease away the pain, but doing that would show his father that he was hurt. That he was affected by what he had done. And he will be damned if he will allow his father the satisfaction of knowing that he still affects his so in so many ways. So he only clenches his jaw, looks away, and mutters, "Bastard."

 

From the corner of his eye, he sees the sharp movement of his father's hand, and he flinches. His eyes are shut tight and his teeth are bared for the impact, but nothing happens. The slap never comes. He warily opens his eyes and sneaks a peek at the older man, only to see that he is laughing, looking very satisfied with himself.

 

Damn you.

 

When the man's laughter finally ceases and he has pulled himself together, he speaks with a serious tone. "Fine. You want to know the truth?" Taemin does not answer. He only stares at the man. Suho leans back in his seat and drapes his arms over the back of it. "I need money."

 

Taemin arches a brow, "And?"

 

Suho regards him incredulously, as if it should already be obvious. "And you're loaded." The brunette lets the man's words sink in. His eyes widen when he realizes the man's real motive behind all of this.

 

"Are you ing kidding me." The older man shakes his head unashamedly. "You came looking for me after all these years... so you can ask for some cash? Do you know how much of an you're being right now?"

 

Suho shrugs his shoulders and it annoys Taemin so much that he wants to return the favor of the slap. But he doesn't, because the older man is saying something. "Hey, you're the only one I got left."

 

"What, your mistress left you or something?" As angry as he is, he still finds a sick sort of happiness in hearing about his father's miseries after he cast him and his mother aside for this other woman.

 

"Nah. I left her." He even sounds proud of it. "I tried asking her about this before I looked for you, but she wouldn't even look at me, so..." He shrugs again, as if that explains everything.

 

Put simply, Taemin is baffled. How shameless can a person get? "And you thought I'd listen to what you have to say?"

 

"Of course." That arrogant smile that is plastered on Suho's face just makes Taemin want to flip the table over on the man's face. He was never really a violent person, but for his 'father', he will make an exception. He glares at Suho as the man continues to speak, "Not if you want people to find out about your little boy toy."

 

"I... I have no idea what you're talking about." He was never really a good liar either.

 

"Oh please," Taemin doesn't have to look at the older man to know that he is rollling his eyes, "I've been watching you for weeks now. Choi Minho, right?"

 

Taemin freezes.

 

"Most successful businessman of his era, 1/2 of the so-called 'Golden Couple, representative for several organizations in Korea, sought after by fashion industries the world over, " Suho checks each one off his fingers, like an imaginary checklist. "Need I go on?"    

 

Taemin clenches and unclenches his fists. His upper and lower teeth are grinding against each other. "How much."

 

"1.5 million."

 

Taemin's shoulders slump in relief. Easy enough.

 

"Dollars."

 

"WHAT?"

 

"Hey, I got myself and my partner in a mess with some Americans," he reasons out, "They're gonna kill us if we don't pay up by next week."

 

As much as he hates having to help his father, what can he do? Making their relationship known to the public would only hurt Minho's reputation. It would hurt their company, and it would hurt Minho.   

 

Suho leans forward again, still wearing that cocky smirk. "So, what do you say?"

 

Taemin shakes his head, not quite believing that he is allowing himself to do what he is about to do. He pulls out a checkbook from his bag, and scribbles down the amount. He rips it off with an overwhelming fierceness and throws it to his father's face. The man grins a shady grin and runs the paper through his fingers.

 

"Man, I should've done this a long time ago, then!" His eyes scan over the words on the paper greedily.  You must really like that callboy of yours!"

 

That's it.

 

Taemin slams his hand on the table, not caring that other diners are watching them again. "Look, you bastard. Say what you want about me, but never mention another ing word about Minho again. And don't you dare involve him or my family with this stupid game you're playing. I already gave you what you want, so you can get out of my life."

 

Suho only gapes at him, jaw dropped and eyes wide. There is the possibility that he will get slapped again, but he is too far gone to worry about another sharp hit on the cheek. He slides out of the booth.  

 

Before walking away, he throws a wad of bills to his father's still shocked face. "Grab a bite to eat while you're at it. Choke on something."

 

He strides past the counter, and though he did not buy anything, he leaves a generous tip for the gaping waiters, as an apology for the slight trouble he's caused them. Now that that's over with, he can finally deal with the one person that's been running through his mind since five ing days ago.

 

---

 

 

Sorry, revelations are difficult to write T_T 2min in the next chapter! :)