It had been three days since the surprise visit from Jongin's father. Jongin stopped going to the gym. Kyungsoo hadn't left the house at all. The house became dark and dirty. They had been living off of ramen for the past few days. The couple grew conflicted with each day. At first it was all about silent cuddling and comforting each other. Then that silence transitioned into absolute silence and avoiding being in the same room with each other. They just didn't know what to do with themselves.

Kyungsoo was curled up on the couch with a blanket draped around his shoulders, his eyes and nose puffy and red. The TV was playing a comedy show that was going in one ear and out the other. Jongin came out of the master bedroom and slipped out the front door, and Kyungsoo didn't shift his gaze to even glance at his husband. Kyungsoo sighed, pulling his arms out of the blanket to reach for the remote and change the channel.

Breaking news! Yet another protest has broken out. The anarchists are demanding quote: "Freedom from the arranged marriages forced unto the people by the oppressive government." The general police assigned to this area have just announced that those still in the area will be apprehended and sentenced to life in prison once armed forces arrive. Yet, shockingly, none of the insurgents move! We'll be back after a word from our sponsors.

A reminder from your federal office. Alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, and drug paraphenalia are prohibitted and will result in incarceration. Marriages and Testing are--

Rrring, rrring... Kyungsoo jolted up and immediately reached for his phone. "Mom" flashed across the top of his phone, and he immediately slid his finger across the screen to answer.

"Hello?" Her sweet, gentle voice traveled through his ears. The sweet, comforting voice was enough to bring tears into dry, bloodshot eyes.

"Mom," he gasped out followed by a sniffle, "How are you?"

"I'm okay, but I should be asking you that. Are you alright?" She asked.

He nodded, unable to say anything through his tears for a moment, "Did you know?"

A pause, then a sigh. "He just told me. Uh, I want to talk more, but you know how your father is," she emphasized each word at the end of the sentence. Kyungsoo knew exactly what she meant. His father tracked everything his mom said and had surveillance throughout the house and on her phone calls. "I was passing by your apartment earlier and wanted to pop in and say hi and give you some chocolate, but you weren't home." Kyungsoo knew that was a lie. He'd been home 24/7. Something was up. "I gave the chocolate to the man in the lobby, so I think it's in your mailbox now."

"Thanks, mom. I just got home so I'll go down and check."

"Okay. I love you, Kyungsoo."

"I love you too."

"I'll try to call you again later."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

Kyungsoo hung up, and he got up immediately to go to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face for the first time in days. That phone call spiked his anxiety, and he needed to know what was happening right away. Just as he stepped out of the bathroom, Jongin came back through the front door carrying mail in his left hand and bags in his right.

The two hadn't talked in the last 32 hours and only shared an uncomfortable moment of staring each other, not knowing what to do or say. Jongin slipped off his shoes and spoke softly, "I thought that we deserved a change from the ramen we usually eat." Kyungsoo opened his mouth but closed it again, not really knowing how to respond. Jongin slipped off his shoes, "I got a box of fried chicken and ordered some take out from that meat restaurant you like."

Kyungsoo slowly nodded as he carefully approached Jongin as if he was walking on a tightrope, "Th-Thank you." He grabbed the mail from Jongin's hand.

Jongin smiled brightly, "Let's go eat." Kyungsoo followed Jongin into the kitchen, filing through the pile of letters in his hand until he reached the one labeled "Do Kyungsoo and Kim Jongin," written in his mom's handwriting. He held it tightly in his right hand.

"I'll set the table," Jongin said.

Kyungsoo nodded and sat down in his usual seat. With a racing heart, he opened the letter that came with a thick pamphlet.

Hello you two, I hope you're doing well despite the certain circumstances. I'll keep this short since I hope to see you two soon after you receive this. Both of you know my complicated and abusive relationship with my husband, and I've had enough of it. I reached out to a secret society of what most people would call "anarchists." Anarchist protests have increased in the past few weeks, and this is only part of their plan. Most people choose to join this society because they are people like me who would rather kill themselves than be with their paired spouse. But in your special  case, I'm hoping you'd want to get away to stay together. The packet with this letter is notes I have of the plan. Please consider it as seriously as I have. I hope to see you two next week.

"Soo?" Kyungsoo snapped his head up at Jongin's voice, "Let's eat." 

Kyungsoo nodded and put the letter and packet back into its envelope. His heart was racing, fingers shaking. This was some deep . Deep that could throw him, Jongin, and his mom into prison for the rest of their lives. 

Jongin had been observing Kyungsoo's behavior for the past five minutes. His eyes were wide and panicked, and his leg was bouncing so fast it could've caused an earthquake. After he set the table and plopped himself onto the chair next to Kyungsoo, he pushed the chicken and meat over to Kyungsoo for him to pick out of it first. He asked, "Soo, are you alright? You look kind of spooked. I-I know we haven't talked for a while, and that's partially my fault, but I don't want you to act like this."

Kyungsoo scooped rice onto his plate and timidly picked chicken and meat onto his plate. "It's not that. There's just stuff," he drifted off, shoving a large piece of chicken into his mouth. What was Kyungsoo doing? He had to tell Jongin. But what if Jongin didn't want to stay with Kyungsoo? What if he didn't want to get involved with the society?

"What kind of stuff?"

Kyungsoo shrugged.

"Alright," Jongin sighed.

Dinner trudged on slowly between the clanking of utensils and chewing noises. Finally, Jongin exploded, "Soo, please talk to me! It's just going to get worse if we don't talk, and I can't handle not talking to you and avoiding each other. I know you're probably conflicted, but so am I. This relationship goes two ways."

Kyungsoo stared at his plate not knowing how to respond. Jongin spoke up again, "If you have any doubts about me and my feelings for you, I want you to know that I do love you. I don't know how we'll get through this or if you even want to stay with me, but we can't figure anything out if we don't talk." Jongin stood up abruptly, put his plate in the dishwasher, and walked out of the dining room and into the master bedroom.

Jongin lay in bed, angrily scrolling through his social media. He was a mess of sad and mad, something Kyungsoo would call "smad" more often than people would think. He wanted to fix everything, but he knew that he couldn't force people to do things he wanted them to do all the time. Even if he and Kyungsoo tried to figure everything out, what could they do? Maybe him and Kyungsoo just weren't meant to be.

Just then, the door opened slowly. Jongin refused to acknowledge Kyungsoo who cautiously climbed under the blanket next to Jongin. Kyungsoo shuffled around until the front of his body was pressed up against Jongin's back. He wrapped his arms around Jongin and pressed his forehead against his back. "I'm sorry, Jongin. I was sad, and I let my emotions control me, and I know I shouldn't do that. I'm so sorry for making you mad. I-I," he sniffled, tears leaking from his eyes, "I know we have to talk, and I think I'm ready." As silence followed, Kyungsoo sighed and closed his eyes tightly as his arms coiled tighter around the other man.

The troubled couple remained in that curled up position for five minutes with only the sound of their breathing and Kyungsoo's occassional sniffle. Jongin put his phone down and closed his eyes, the pounding of his heart resonating through his ears. He placed one of his hands on top of Kyungsoo's and caressed them tenderly. He swiftly turned around to face Kyungsoo and enveloped him in his arms with enough force to nearly knock Kyungsoo off the bed. Kyungsoo gasped, burying his face into the other's chest.

After a few moments more of holding each other, Jongin pulled away slightly to wipe away Kyungsoo's tears. Then he smiled and placed a peck on his neck, "I forgive you."

Kyungsoo sniffled and messily wiped more away himself, "Good. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Jongin laughed. "Let's talk! I wanna get this over with. You know how bad I am with deep whatever the hell."

Jongin laughed again, "Alright, well, where do we start?" They stared into each other's eyes, trying to gauge the other's emotions.

"I don't know about you," Kyungsoo started, "but I... I want to stay with you. I've never been in an actual long relationship like you, and I'm not really sure how this whole thing works, but I want it to work. I know we haven't been together for long and that we started off rough and that it's going to be rough, but I just know I want to stay with you." Kyungsoo wanted to say so much more, but decided that maybe it was too soon to say he couldn't live without Jongin in his life.

"I want to stay with you too," Jongin simply said, afraid to say anymore due to the fact that he may start crying after hearing Kyungsoo's loving speech. "How are we going to do this, though? I don't think there's a way for us to go against our fathers. Unless we go into hiding forever in the woods or something. We could live in those cherry blossom fields forever," he joked. Kyungsoo's heart started racing. This was the perfect time to pull out the letter from his mom, but why wasn't he? Jongin could feel Kyungsoo's rapid heartbeat, and he scanned his frightened face, "Relax, Soo, I was just joking I'm sorry."

Kyungsoo panicked, "No, no it's not that! It's just," welp here it goes, he thought, reaching for the letter he set down on his bedside table before handing it to him, "Read this."

Jongin read the letter rather quickly, sitting up straight once he was done reading. He pulled out the pamphlet and began reading aloud, "Three locations to meet at... In person meeting for sign ups.... That's in two days. Soo," he looked up from the letter smiling, moving to hold Kyungsoo's hands in his, "This is perfect!"

Kyungsoo's face lit up, "I'm so glad you think so," he teared up again, "I was so afraid you wouldn't want to do something so incredibly illegal just to stay with me."

Jongin kissed Kyungsoo's forehead, "I'd do anything to stay with you."

"That was the letter I was reading before dinner, and it kind of spooked me. I don't think I thanked you for dinner. Thank you I appreciate it so much," He smiled, kissing Jongin on the lips.

Jongin kissed back, "You're welcome, Soo. Also, you do know that I use to smoke and drink all the time, right? Illegal stuff is my forte," he chuckled, mockingly tilting his head up to the ceiling as if he was looking off into the distance.

Kyungsoo scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Whatever you dumbo."

"So we're doing it?"

"Well, we don't really know what it is, but yeah I guess."

"Anything with me?"

"Everything with you."

~*~*~*~*~**~~

GROSS THAT WAS SAPPY LMAO Anyways thanks so much for reading I appreciate it so much (even tho this chapter was pretty boring but it'll pick up a little bit more in the future i promise)

Thank you for continuing to subscribe, comment, and upvoting it means so much to me! The next chapter will come in a few days to a week ish

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