Chapter Thirty-Eight:
You Showed Me that You Believed in Me

 

The drive to Junmyeon’s parents was a lot quieter than the blond expected, but then again he hadn’t gone on a trip with Jongdae before to learn if he was the kind to fall asleep in the car, blast the radio or be his usual self. Instead he just sat quietly in the passenger seat, playing on his mobile. When they were about ten minutes from the house Junmyeon peeked over at him to find the brunet staring out the window and he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"Jongdae, with my parents... Please try to be on your best behavior?" he said, feeling the others eyes on him. "My parents are really... Reserved. I'm worried that they'll think poorly of you if you're constantly making innuendos and being really grabby with me," he explained, seeing Jongdae look back out the window from the corner of his eye.

"You don't have to worry, Junnie. I know how to behave."

"Junmyeon, sweetie!" his mother called from the door way before she was hurrying down the walkway from the house to hug the blond. She pulled back from the embrace, fussing over his hair and causing him to crack a small smile before he gestured to the brunet pulling their suitcase from the back seat of the car.

"Mom, I would like to introduce you to my boyfriend, Kim Jongdae," he said, and her attention was on him. She gave him a good once over as he joined Junmyeon's side before she smiled.

"Welcome, Jongdae. It’s nice to finally meet you," she said, Junmyeon looking up and seeing his dad standing in the door way.

"Come inside, its cold out there." he called, and Junmyeon tried to take the suitcase from the younger who refused to give it up, and he placed his hand on Jongdae's back instead.

"My dear, what happened to your arm?" Junmyeon's mother asked, and Jongdae looked down at the casted arm, pulling it closer to his torso.

"First and last time riding a motorcycle." he admitted shyly, receiving a shake of the head as Mrs. Kim ushered the pair inside.

"Exactly the reason I won't let your father get one," she tisked, Junmyeon resisting a sigh as the door shut behind them. "Now, you two are probably tired from your trip, have you eaten?"

"Yes mom, we ate with Yixing before we started the drive here,” Junmyeon said as his father pulled him into a one armed hug. “He wanted me to tell you two hello for him, by the way. But we are tired, is it alright if we just head to bed? We have all day tomorrow to catch up,” Junmyeon asked and his father nodded.

“Let them get their rest,” he said, Mrs. Kim sighing a little in response, her lips making a small pout.

“Oh, alright,” she sighed, Mr. Kim cracking a smile as he moved to stand beside her and wrap an arm around her waist. “Your old room is still just how you left it, so you two can spend the weekend sleeping in there,” she said, Junmyeon nodding. Jongdae bowed his head to the pair before trailing behind Junmyeon as the older lead the way to their temporary room.

Junmyeon helped Jongdae into his short sleeved dress shirt, his gaze unfocused as he worked on the buttons, looking up when he heard Jongdae call his name.

“You missed the top one, so they’re lopsided,” the brunet pointed out, and Junmyeon sighed, shaking his head as he worked on ing the few he had done.

“Sorry about that, Jongdae,” He said, frowning when the other shrugged and looked away. “Hey, are you alright? You haven’t said much since we got into the car; you’re worrying me a little.”

“I’m trying to be quiet,” Jongdae stated, Junmyeon reaching up to cup his cheek to make the other look at him.

“Why?”

“Have you met me? When I’m not quiet I do nothing but come up with innuendos around you, and I need to be on my best behavior,” he deadpanned and Junmyeon felt his heart drop.

“Jongdae, that isn’t what I was meaning when I said I wanted you to behave,” Junmyeon said, finishing the button he was on quickly and pulling Jongdae against himself. “I didn’t mean for you to not be yourself, I was more wanting you to just… tone it down a little. As if we were around kids,” Junmyeon tried, pulling back to kiss the younger’s forehead. “And if you slip up and say something erted, it’s not like I’m going to hate you, or my parents are going to. I really don’t care what they think, it’s just… it makes things a little easier if they have a high opinion of you.” Jongdae met the older’s gaze for the first time that day, and Junmyeon smiled softly when he saw the corner of the younger’s lips perk up a little. “Now let’s get that vest on you and get this dinner over with, alright?”

“So Junmyeon, how did you two meet?” The blond hid a grimace as he took a drink of his water, watching the waiter collect the menus after the four of them had ordered. He was sure that ‘oh I met him online and then happened to be living next door to him when my phone was broken and he worked at the repair shop’ was the last thing that would give them the warm fuzzies about the younger.

“We uh, we live next door to each other, at the apartments by the school,” Junmyeon said, eyes flickering over to the other, who was moving his silverware to the other side of his plate so he could have better access to it with his good hand.

“Right, the one you share with Yixing,” Mr. Kim mused, Junmyeon nodding. “Do you two attend the same school?”

“Yes,” Junmyeon said with another nod, his mother turning her attention to the quiet brunet.

“I see. What is it that you’re going to school for, Jongdae?”

“I’m… not really sure,” Jongdae admitted, Junmyeon cringing when his mother raised her eyebrows in response.

“You’re not sure? Junmyeon says you’re a school year behind him, which would make you a second year, and you don’t know what you want to major in? Shouldn’t you have figured that out before you started attending classes?”

“Mother!” Junmyeon exclaimed and her eyebrows relaxed, her lips pursing when she looked back to him.

“I’m sorry hun, I didn’t mean for that to come out as rude. It’s just that your brother is already finishing grad school, you’re getting close to finishing your third year and in a year you’ll have your English degree. I would just hate for… you two to be separated because he’s spending more than just a year more than you are in school because he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life.” Junmyeon felt the back of his jaw starting to ache, and he was about to open his mouth when Jongdae pulled his hand from the table, setting it in his lap and speaking up before the older had the chance.

“I guess I just… never really thought about it while I was growing up. My dad left when my brother and I were young, and our mother took it really hard. I don’t think she ever really recovered, and she got sick a lot after he left. So my brother got a job before he should have so he could help her with the bills, and when I was old enough to get around town on my own I got one too. Since my brother was still able to keep up his grades while working, I did my best to follow in his footsteps, and I even managed to end my high school year with a 3.7 gpa compared to his 3.8 so he tried to get me to apply to the college he was going to but…”

The brunet shook his head, his gaze never leaving the table. “But his school was a few cities over from where we lived, and I was worried about our mother. So I chose to start going to the college Junmyeon and I go to now, but only part time so I could still work as much as my body would let me and I could still be of some help to my mother.”

The table fell silent as Jongdae finished his explanation, Junmyeon realizing that he had never asked why it was that Jongdae wasn’t attending full time. He had just accepted the younger’s statements of not being sure what he wanted to do and assumed the few part time jobs he had were his way of trying to figure that out. He reached out, taking a gentle hold of Jongdae’s hand, feeling the faint flinch as the other seemed to be brought back to focus as the waiter brought in their entrees and filled their water glasses before leaving again.

“You’re a very admirable and mature young man, Jongdae,” Mr. Kim said, all three of the others at the table looking over at him. “I was a little worried since Junmyeon seemed hesitant about bringing you to meet us even though you two have been together for over a year. But now I have no doubts that you’ll be perfectly capable taking care of our son,” He continued, looking over at his wife who took a deep breath before nodding and turning a smile over to the pair across the table. “On top of that if you’re a fan of electronics, and you take some business classes next year, I would love to have you join my team,” he finished, Junmyeon catching the hint of confusion in the younger’s expression.

“My father is the CEO of a technology company that mostly deals with computers. But neither my brother nor I really have any interest in tech stuff, so he’s been trying to find someone that he feels like he can pass on the new location he’s building on to,” Junmyeon explained.

“It’s only a half hour from the school that Junmyeon decided to attend, so I was sure that he would agree to take over, but then he told us he was going for an English degree and, well…”

“We wanted him to be happy, so he decided to try and find a new successor,” Mrs. Kim finished, her husband nodding. “What he’s trying to say, Jongdae, is that he… we approve of your relationship. Not that you two need our approval, but-”
 

“It’s still very much appreciated, Mr. and Mrs. Kim,” Jongdae said, feeling Junmyeon hold his hand a little tighter.
 

“Have a safe trip home you two,” Mrs. Kim said, giving a hug to Junmyeon and Jongdae, Jongdae laughing when Mr. Kim pulled the blond into a hug as well before shaking Jongdae’s good hand. “Good luck with the rest of your term. I hope you’re able to get some rest and your arm heals soon,” she added as Junmyeon opened the car door to slide their suit case inside.

“Well I’m pretty sure I behaved well enough that Junnie’s gonna me so hard I can’t walk for two weeks, so it’s fine if it doesn’t,” Jongdae said with a bright smile, though it fell almost instantly, Junmyeon’s hand coming up to cover his face as he groaned.

“We were so close,” he muttered under his breath, feeling a dark blush cross his cheeks at the mildly horrified look on his parent’s face as he dragged the brunet to the car.

“Wait, wait, let me try again-”

“No, you’re done talking.”