It was raining. It was cold. But home was the last place he wanted to be. He didn’t have a jacket or an umbrella or anything. By the time he reached the basketball court, he was drenched to the bone. Exactly when had everything gone wrong?

Earlier that day…

“Is it here yet?”

“No,”

“How about now?”

“No!”

“Now?”

“God, Seungkwan, shut up!” snapped Wonwoo.

“It’s here!” screamed Woozi.

All fifteen heads crowded around the ipad. “Open it!” urged S.Coups.

Woozi pressed the email notification and read through the mail. Silence overtook the basketball court. “So?” asked Mingyu.

“I passed!” shouted Woozi.

The heads then turned to Hoshi who wore the same excitement on his face as he read through his own email. “I passed too!”

“Wonwoo-hyung? Jun-hyung? What about you two?” asked Vernon.

“I’m in!” Jun answered.

Wonwoo grinned zooming in on the word ‘passed’ in the email.

The court erupted in celebration. “Congratulations!” screamed Samuel, jumping up and down. Mingming enveloped Jun in a bone-crushing hug which he returned and Mingyu slapped Wonwoo on the back.

“It’s official. You four will be joining us in hell,” said S.Coups.

“I can finally move out of my parent’s house,” sighed Wonwoo.

The University offered apartments nearby although it was up to the students whether or not they wanted to move.

“I’ll need to talk to my parents about moving,” said Hoshi.

They all had to. And every parent agreed it was time to move out. But then what was so wrong?

They said yes. Then dropped a bomb.

That they had come to that conclusion… His whole world had crumbled.

The fact that they wanted to move apart from each other. That they no longer loved each other.

It hurt.

They said it didn’t matter since he was moving out as well. He wouldn’t have to worry about who to move in with. But who was he supposed to visit during Chuseok? Who was he supposed to visit during the holidays?

How was he meant to choose between the two people he loved most in the world?

He sat against the court wall, biting his lip to try stop the tears but they just flowed faster, racking his body with sobs.

S.Coups had no idea how long the boy had been in the court, but one look at his pale face and blue-tinged lips told him he’d been soaking in the rain a lot longer than he should have. He placed two fingers on the boy’s wrist and sighed in relief when he felt the boy’s pulse. At least he was alive.

The reason S.Coups had gone to the court so late at night was to retrieve his jacket, which he had left his car keys in, which he needed to open his car so that he could get a folder which he had left in his truck. It was one big mess and Joshua had scolded him for it but right now, he couldn’t be more relieved he had created such a big mess. God knows what state the boy would be in if he hadn’t found him till morning.

“Hoshi…” S.Coups lightly patted the boy’s cheek. The boy’s eyes opened slowly. “Can you walk?” S.Coups asked, glad the he was at least conscious.

He blinked and slowly tried to stand up. S.Coups put an arm around his waist for support. “Why the heck would you sit out in the rain, idiot,” he scolded.

Hoshi remained silent.

Joshua had freaked out when he saw the soaking wet couple standing in the doorway. He made S.Coups run all over the apartment fetching this and that while he helped Hoshi change out of his wet clothes and put him in Jeonghan’s bed. Jeonghan was out at one of the many convenience stores he worked part-time for, but Joshua knew he wouldn’t mind.

He placed a hand on Hoshi’s forehead, frowning at the heat emerging from it. “We need to call his parents,” he whispered to S.Coups as to not disturb the sleeping boy.

S.Coups nodded and left to find his phone.

Joshua knelt by the bed, watching Hoshi’s lips move mumbling illegible words. Then, a small tear ran across the side of his face. Joshua ran his fingers through Hoshi’s blonde-bleached hair. “What happened Soonyoung-ah?” he murmured.

“Hello? Mrs. Kwon?”

“Ah, Seungcheol! Have you seen Soonyoung?”

“Yeah, he was getting drenched in the basketball court. I brought him home, Jisoo’s taking care of him. Mrs. Kwon, he’s really sick,”

“…”

“Hello?”

“Umm, Seungcheol-ah, can you let him stay at your place for a few days? Things… happened… I don’t think Soonyoung is taking it too well,”

Obviously he’s not…

“What happened?”

“I… We… We told Soonyoung we were going to divorce,”

“…That… explains a lot…”

“I thought Soonyoung would understand.  He was going to move out so I thought he wouldn’t worry about where we end up,”

“Mrs. Kwon, he’s you and your husband’s son. He loves you both. Imagine how he feels knowing you don’t love each other,”

“Yes… I know… I love him too but these things happen Seungcheol-ah. Life is full of good and bad things. You’ll have to get past them,”

The call ended.

Joshua leaned against the bedroom doorway. “What did she say?”

“She asked whether Hoshi could stay here for a while. Then she gave me lecture about life,”

“Why is he like this though? Hyung, he’s even crying in his sleep,”

S.Coups sighed. “Hoshi’s parents broke up,”

Silence followed. No one knew what to say.

The ice was broken by the creak of the front door. Jeonghan slipped inside and frowned at the sombre atmosphere. “What happened? No offence, but you two look like a pair of dead zombies,” he joked.

“Stuff happened,” answered Joshua. He explained the situation.

“Poor kid… I can sleep on the couch for the time being,” the latter offered.

“Nope, the couch is my personal sleeping place. You can use my bed. In fact, just own my bed, I don’t need it,” S.Coups threw himself across the couch.

Hoshi woke up to his throat raw and sore and his nose stuffed. A wet towel dropped as he shifted onto his side. S.Coups, Jeonghan and Joshua had taken turns to sit with him through the night. Jeonghan lifted his head sleepily and smiled at the younger boy. “You feeling any better?” he asked softly.

S.Coups walked into the room yawning, half-dressed. “Oh, you’re awake,” He raked a hand through his hair trying to flatten it out. “Jun’s coming over in a while,” he informed them.

Joshua peeked in through the door. “Hoshi-ah, if you want to eat anything, there’s a bowl of soup on the kitchen table. Ask Jun to heat it for you, ok?” he said the last bit in English. “We’ll be leaving once S.Coups-hyung and Jeonghan-hyung get ready,”

Hoshi nodded and pulled himself into a sitting position. Jeonghan placed the back of his hand of Hoshi’s forehead. “Your fever’s gone down,” he stated smiling in relief. “Don’t stress yourself too much. S.Coups-Hyung talked to your parents; you’ll be staying with us for a while,” He then left to take a quick shower.

At that moment, the doorbell rang and a voice called from the living room. “Annyeong haesyo?” Jun kicked off his shoes and allowed himself entry to the apartment.

“Morning, Jun,” S.Coups yelled from the kitchen.

“Morning, Hyung,” the Chinese boy replied.

“Good, we were just about to leave,” Joshua knocked on the bathroom door. “Hyung, hurry up!”

“I’m nearly done!” Jeonghan shouted from the bathroom.

Jun took a seat beside Hoshi on the bed, watching their hyungs-in-chaos through the doorway. “This is really entertaining,” he commented. Hoshi smiled faintly, agreeing.

Jeonghan leapt out of the bathroom, his long hair still dripping wet. He waved a goodbye at Jun and Hoshi before running out the door. S.Coups followed, screaming “bye!” leaving Joshua the last to leave.

“Lock the door if you’re going out, ok? Bye, bye~” he threw a pair of keys at Jun and closed the door leaving Jun and Hoshi by themselves. “I swear, Joshua-Hyung is either an angel or a demon. There’s no in-between,” sighed Jun.

He tilted his head towards Hoshi. “I knew there was something wrong since that day,” he whispered, changing the subject. Hoshi kept his head down. “You’re always smiling. The moment that smile disappeared, I knew something was wrong,” He forced the corners of Hoshi’s lips up. “I want to see your smile again, Hoshi,”

Automatically, Hoshi’s lips curved up. Jun grinned. “Yup. That’s the one. That’s what I want to see,”

“Why did it have to be me though? Why do I have to deal with this?” Hoshi managed to ask, despite the soreness of his throat.

“Everyone has a time when they suffer. Everyone has secrets,” Jun answered simply.

“Do you have a secret, hyung?”

Jun hesitated. “Yes…” I’m just not suffering, yet.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, after a while.

Hoshi nodded, pouting cutely. “Joshua-Hyung said he left a bowl of soup in the kitchen,” he managed to say despite the soreness of his throat.

Jun returned a few minutes later with the steaming hot bowl placed on a tray. “Careful, it’s hot,” he warned.

The soup soothed Hoshi’s throat and it had all disappeared within minutes. No one can resist Joshua and Jeonghan’s cooking.

The two sat for a while, lost in different worlds. Then…

“Hyung. What’s your secret?”

Jun blinked. “Huh?”

“What’s your secret?” Hoshi repeated.

“My secret…” Jun trailed off. It wasn’t something he wanted to answer.

“You know mine. It’s only fair if you tell me yours,”

Jun shook his head “No. You’d judge me,”

“That just makes me even more curious… I won’t judge you. I won’t tell anyone. You can trust me,”

Part of him wanted to tell Hoshi. Part of him was afraid that if he knew, their friendship would be over.

“The way it looks to me is that you’re silently suffering by yourself right now,” said Hoshi. “What are you afraid of?”

“That you’ll look at me differently if you knew,”

“Wen Junhui, I have known you for… God knows how long. I couldn’t look at you any differently even if you turned out to be a serial killer who murdered hundreds,”

“Alright,”

Jun let out a deep breath. Hoshi was one of his closest friends. He could trust him. He could tell him.

“Mingming and I… We’re dating,”

Whew... That's done and over with.

Took me ages to write...

So Jun's secret has been spilled. How's Hoshi going to react?

Peace out! XOXO