When they finally arrived, Minhyun’s entire family was elated by the surprise. His mother had started to cry; his father took the day off work; his sister took a day off college.

Aron greeted them, and Minhyun explained to his parents that Aron hadn’t slept properly all night. His sister immediately escorted him to Minhyun’s bedroom, and Aron used the time Minhyun spent with his family to sleep.

The glum mood that had overtaken Minhyun during the trip to Busan was soon replaced with happiness as he spent time with his family after such a long time. Despite all of the difficulties of the trip, it was all worth it in the end.

When his mother dozed off to sleep, Minhyun’s father told him that this was the first time in a long time that she’d smiled. He made his mother happy; that was enough to tell Minhyun that all the crap was worth it. It was worth the reprimand he was going to receive from his managers. It was worth lying to Sihyun. It was worth the change in relationship between him and Aron.

Or was it?

The last one was the one that he dreaded the most. Remembering Aron’s confession made him feel glum again.

“What are you thinking about?” his sister Sujin asked him when they were alone.

“Nothing,” Minhyun lied with a smile.

“Liar,” she crossed her arms, “tell me.”

“Something happened with Aron,” Minhyun told her.

“What?”

“I’d rather not say. He wouldn’t want me to.”

“I won’t tell him,” she assured him, “but it’s obviously taking a toll on you and that’s not okay with me. Now tell me before I stroll into his room myself and wake him up to ask him.”

Minhyun sighed. He had always told her everything, and she always had a way to make things better whatever the circumstance, “he… he confessed to me,” Minhyun revealed to her.

Strangely, she didn’t seem too taken aback by it.

“And he asked me to ‘think about it,’” Minhyun told her, “and now… it’s like everything is different and… I just don’t know what to do.”

“Simple. Do you like him or not?”

“No, not like that.”

“Then say no.”

“But it’ll hurt him.”

“It might, but he’ll get over it.”

“But he’s liked me for over two years…”

“Let me ask you this: what’s more important to you, his happiness or yours?”

Minhyun blinked and hesitated, “both!”

“Okay,” she said, “what about him? Whose happiness do you think is more important to him? Yours or his own?”

“How would I know?”

“You do know! He loves you Minhyun. The answer is obvious.”

“Mine?”

“Yes. So he’d want you to do whatever makes you happy. If you don’t want to be with him as a lover, then don’t. He’ll understand and he’ll move on, and he’ll pray you find happiness with someone else. It might hurt a little, but trust me, it’ll hurt him even more if you do anything but reject him.”

Minhyun nodded in understanding. He never really saw it like that…

When Aron woke up that afternoon, Minhyun and Sujin had prepared a dinner for him. Aron sat with Minhyun and his family at the dinner table.

Minhyun’s mother insisted she sit beside Aron, and she put her arms around him and kissed his cheek vigorously, making Aron blush.

“Mom,” Minhyun laughed, rolling his eyes.

“What? I love him,” his mom announced, “thank you, Aron, for driving Minhyun all the way here,” she said to him, “you’re a great guy with a big heart. Thank you for taking care of my Minhyunnie, and bringing him to me when I needed him.”

She took Aron’s hand in hers and squeezed it to her heart. Aron bowed his head towards her, smiling graciously towards her. She then kissed his forehead and hugged him.

“Enough, honey!” his father told her, “you’re making the poor boy feel awkward!”

She pulled away and sat back down in her chair.

“You know,” Minhyun’s mom said as they began to eat, “I want to adopt Aron. Aron, I want you to be my son. If not my son, please be my son-in-law!”

The room fell silent. It was a joke, but neither Aron, Minhyun or his sister found it particularly funny.

“Why is everyone so quiet?” Minhyun’s mom said laughing, “Aron-ah, what do you think of our Sujin? You two should date!”

“Mom!” Sujin said, turning red.

“Shh, let me hear what he has to say!” Minhyun’s mom turned towards Aron in anticipation.

“Mom…” Minhyun began.

“Shh!” his mother shushed.

“I’m honored that you think so highly of me,” Aron responded, “but, I like… someone else.”

“That’s too bad,” his mother said crossing her arms, “what’s her name?”

“Mom! Enough, please…” Minhyun begged.

“Do you know who it is, Minhyun-ah?” she asked.

“No,” Minhyun lied, “but please stop with the awkward conversation.”

“Tell me,” his mother whined towards Aron, “ahjumma won’t tell anyone!”

Aron laughed awkwardly, and Minhyun could tell that Aron was suffering. In an attempt to save Aron from answering, Minhyun replied, “he likes Lime from Hello Venus. Now please stop with this interrogation.”

“Lime? The girl with the blue hair?” his mother asked Aron. Aron only nodded.

“She’s pretty, but our Sujin’s prettier!” his mom claimed.

“Mom! I also like someone else,” Sujin said quickly, also trying to save the conversation.

“You do?” his mother asked, disappointed, “how come you never told me?”

“Mom, we’ll have this conversation later,” Sujin urged, and her mom nodded in understanding.

“You know,” his mom said, turning towards Aron, “you should confess to her.”

“I did,” Aron said.

“And?”

“She… she doesn’t like me like that,” Aron replied sadly.

“Aw. That’s sad,” his mother said. “How do you feel about that?”

“Mom please…” Minhyun begged, “can we just drop the conversation?”

“No, I want to hear what he has to say.”

“I feel okay,” Aron shrugged. “I think she deserves better than me anyways. And we’re still friends. I still love her a lot, but that’ll fade, and I’ll be okay,” Aron said, making eye contact with Minhyun.

Minhyun eyes avoided Aron’s. He hated what was happening. He hated how no matter how much he tried to forget about Aron’s feelings, it always resurfaced somehow. Minhyun stood up and excused himself from the table. He just could not longer stand the tense atmosphere anymore.

Minhyun went into his room and collapsed onto his bed in frustration.

Seconds later, Aron followed.

“Why are you here?” Minhyun groaned; he left the table to get away from Aron.

“Are you okay?” Aron asked.

“No,” Minhyun answered truthfully. “Hyung, please never bring it up again, okay? Never. I don’t want to think about it. It’s making me uncomfortable…”

“Did you ever consider how it’s making me feel?” Aron asked Minhyun.

“Yes and I think it’s better for both of us if…”

“Forget it,” Aron said with a sad expression in his eyes, “I won’t bring it up again, okay?”

Sujin entered the room at the moment, “are you guys okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Aron answered.

“I’m sorry about my mom’s nosiness,” Sujin apologized to Aron and bowed to him.

Minhyun usually knew how to read people. He usually foresaw when Aron was about to burst. Not this time though. Before Minhyun realized it, Aron covered his face with his hands and began to cry.

Minhyun and Sujin stood there for a few seconds, not really knowing what to do about this.

“I’m going to leave you two alone,” Sujin announced, and left the room closing the door behind her.

“Hyung…” Minhyun called softly.

“Can we please just go home?” Aron asked, “back to Seoul? Now. Please?” Aron asked through sniffles.

“Do you wanna talk or…?”

“No,” Aron said, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, “I want to go home.”

“Hyung… I’m sorry,” Minhyun apologized. He didn’t know why he was apologizing, but he knew that he was the principal reason for Aron’s tears.

“I’ll meet you in the car. Tell your parents I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye to them,” Aron told Minhyun. He grabbed his bag and left the room.

Minhyun didn’t try to stop him. He knew that it was his obligation as a friend to do something about, but he didn’t understand why Aron burst like that to be able to comfort him. And it felt like nothing Minhyun could do would be able to help Aron.

Minhyun walked back towards the dining room with his head hung low.

“Is Aron okay?” Sujin asked.

“I’m going back to Seoul now,” Minhyun announced to his family, “Aron’s already in the car.”

“Was it anything I said that upset him?” his mother asked guiltily.

“No mom,” Minhyun told her, hugging her from behind and kissing her cheek, “I love you. Take care of yourself, okay?”

“You too, sweetheart,” his mother said.

After Sujin packed some dinner for them on the way, and Minhyun asked his father for money, Minhyun said goodbye to his family and headed back into the car where Aron was waiting.

As Minhyun got into the front seat, he found himself dreading the next seven hours.