A/N: a short, but eventful chapter! hope you enjoy the drama <3 tell me your opinion in the comments!! also, just a few warnings for homophobia and swearing.

Everything was over. All of his hard work, his caution, and his ingenious lies. In the end, it was all for nothing, and Kibum couldn’t help but pray to the gods for forgiveness at what that implied. He could hear his heartbeat pounding loudly in his chest and the apprehension which soaked his every limb was making it difficult to breathe. He could feel the pure disgust and anger exuding off his father beside him, and couldn’t help but feel sympathy for his teacher and what she was about to endure.

It was silent. Almost too silent. The room was chilling and every tiny sound was decipherable within the enclosed space. Kibum tried desperately to breathe at an even pace, but it was futile. He was much too nervous to think rationally, on edge at the look which he knew his father was sending his way.

The man’s cold voice broke through the silence, striking Kibum with a bout of unadulterated and genuine fear directed at his own father.

“What do you mean Jonghyun doesn’t go to this school?” he gritted through bared teeth, large hands gripping the table so tightly that his fingers turned white.

Kibum’s teacher coughed awkwardly in embarrassment and hurriedly flicked through her files once more. “I’m sorry, sir…the only Jonghyuns we have at this school are first years. Maybe you’re just thinking of someone el—“

Her feeble attempt at reducing the tension came to an abrupt halt as Kibum’s father roughly stood up, his chair falling down behind him at the sheer force. “Then tell me, son,” he spat, glaring down at the boy with an almost sickening anger in his eyes. “If Jonghyun doesn’t go to your school, then who the is that creep you’ve been spending so much time with? The one who’s been corrupting you?!”

Visibly shaking, Kibum could only shake his head, unable to find any words which could defend his current predicament. His mother too sat ghostly beside him, staring forward at nothing in particular with a mixture of guilt, fear and sympathy for her son.

“I-It’s Jonghyun,” Kibum stuttered feebly, “He just…He just doesn’t go to this school, is all.”

Kibum’s father growled in his throat, before promptly grabbing the neck of Kibum’s shirt and wrenching him to his feet. “First the ing dancing and now this? I’ve just about had it with you, boy.” the man snarled menacingly, giving Kibum one last, repulsed look over before shoving him back into his chair and taking a seat.

Desperate to change the subject of conversation to anything except what they were talking about, Kibum’s mother started awkwardly. “Well…How about the project Kibum’s told us all about? The one with Amber?”

At her seemingly innocent words, Kibum’s blood ran cold, and judging by the expression upon his father’s face, he was equally aware of Kibum’s utter trepidation and was basking in it.

It was apparent that the teacher didn’t want to say anything more which would evoke an eruption from the man before her, however crumbled beneath their stern, expectant glares. Kibum’s family really were something else, and she briefly gave one of her favourite students a sympathetic smile before turning back to the monster beside him. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I haven’t assigned anything like that…perhaps one of Kibum’s other teachers—“

But her excuses were futile, for Kibum was already being strewn from his chair and onto the cold floor below. No resonating ‘slaps’ sounded throughout the room – instead, Kibum’s chair had merely been kicked over by his raging father, whose beet red face loomed over Kibum’s frail form.

“Pray tell me, Kibum, because I’m very curious...” the man began, taking another step forward. Kibum desperately scurried back onto his feet and took an instinctive step back.  “If you haven’t been with Amber for every godforsaken time of day, then what the have you been doing? Oh wait, let me guess. You’ve been with that Jonghyun boy – if that’s even his name – committing all kinds of indecent acts that he forced you into.”

Kibum could handle a lot of the bull that his father tended to spurt out. But accusing Jonghyun of something so atrocious and disgusting? Clenching his fists so hard that he was certain there would be crescent marks imprinted into the skin, Kibum could no longer contain the rage and hatred for his father which had been gradually building up for far too long.

“Don’t you dare accuse him of something like that, you sick bastard.” Kibum scowled, ignoring the startled gasps of shock which sounded from the women. “Unlike you, some people in this world actually have a few shreds of decency and don’t take out their anger and issues on harmless kids. So don’t you ing dare chide me for spending time with someone who actually cares about me and my wellbeing, and who would gladly go out of their way to make sure I was safe and happy. You’re the indecent creep, and sometimes I wish you would just die!”

The teacher and Kibum’s mother looked at each other with mutual expressions of distress, before nodding to each other in a silent expression of agreement. The two noiselessly lifted from their seats and made way towards the door, knowing that there was simply nothing else they could do but seek help. Kibum’s mother gave her son one last look over her shoulder as she left, eyes soundlessly screaming at him to ‘stay safe’.

Jonghyun strolled down the school’s hallways and through the waiting families casually, giving every class a quick peak through the window in an attempt to find where Kibum was. He, quite frankly, wasn’t really meant to be here, and had flushed in utter embarrassment the few times a teacher had seen him staring in at them shamelessly. But he had, after all, been invited by Kibum’s mother a few weeks ago, and Jonghyun figured that he looked enough like a student to not raise any suspicions.

Once he got to Kibum’s classroom, Jonghyun wasn’t quite positive of what he was going to do. Sure, he could wait outside and surprise Kibum on the family’s way out, or poke his head in and say hello. But Kibum’s father was still in the picture, and Jonghyun didn’t think that he could ever confront that man after what he had overheard from his position in Kibum’s wardrobe.

The singer continued to contemplate these strategies as he pressed his face against multiple more windows in search of Kibum, sighing in disappointment each time his eyes were met with unfamiliar strangers. But it seemed that Jonghyun didn’t have to search for long, because all of a sudden two women came hastily around the corner, one of whom Jonghyun immediately recognized as Kibum’s mother.

“Mrs Kim!” he exclaimed, smiling widely at his luck. “I’ve been looking for you guys.”

Kibum’s mother smiled fondly at the man which she had recently learned was the object of her son’s affection, but her grin was immediately replaced by a frown of worried desperation. “J-Jonghyun,” she stuttered. “It’s Kibum. He’s fighting with his father and things are getting bad and I just don’t know what that brute might do—“

But Jonghyun was already running down the hall towards the classroom which the women had come from, only one thought resonating throughout his head. If that harsh slap had been brought about by Kibum simply making a joke, then Jonghyun didn’t want to even think about what would happen to his boyfriend if the two males were actually arguing. He was vaguely aware of the two women which trailed behind him but paid them no mind, simply barging through the door of the classroom which he could decipher the loud shouts were sounding from.

“—not have these unnatural tendencies infecting my son. They started because of him, and we both know it!”

“Did you ever consider that maybe that’s just who I am?! No one caused this but me – I’m sick of you controlling my life, okay? Stay out of my goddamn business, because I swear to god if I hear one more threat or insult from your dirty, old mouth, I’ll put arsenic in your coffee and smile as you choke.”

The middle aged man stepped forward with a growl in his throat. “Is that a threat, boy? I’m ing done with all your bull. I knew from the moment I saw you, you were a … I tried to put a stop to it, I really did. But you’re beyond help, boy – you’re sick. Constant lies from your filthy mouth, that makeup you’re always putting on your face, the dancing…If it doesn’t stop, boy, then you better get out of my goddamn house and never come back.”

Jonghyun, despite his utmost fear and guilt, ran forward and stepped between the two, gently pushing Kibum to the side. The younger boy’s expression immediately morphed into surprise, then relief, then worry, before finally settling on downright dread.

“P-Please sir,” Jonghyun stuttered. “I think that’s enough…You need to think rationally, Kibum’s your son!”

The room fell silent, before all of a sudden a burly fist came flying out of nowhere and smashed Jonghyun ruthlessly against the face. The sheer force of the blow knocked Jonghyun off his feet and back onto the rough floor below, ears ringing as his head rebounded painfully against it.

“Don’t interfere. This is between the boy and I, and the last thing we need is berating from the son of a who got us into this mess to begin with.”

Upon impact with the ground, Kibum had ran immediately over to Jonghyun and knelt by his side, making sure that the older boy was alright. A trail of blood ran down his chin and his head pounded painfully, but other than that, Jonghyun was fine, eliciting Kibum to sigh in relief.

Kibum’s father watched the exchange with revulsion, adding coldly, “Besides – that is not my son.”

Those words stung Kibum more than he’d ever let on, but he merely glared up at the man with insurmountable hatred. “Glad the feelings are mutual,” he spat, grabbing Jonghyun’s hand and helping the older boy stand up.

“Don’t think you’ll be allowed back at my house.”

Kibum ignored his father and simply smiled sadly at his teacher who had witnessed the whole, horrifying ordeal. “I’m sorry about what happened, Miss. I’ll come talk to you at lunchtime tomorrow or on Friday.”

She smiled back. “See you, Kibum.”

Kibum began to walk out of the classroom, Jonghyun’s hand locked in his. He hovered beneath the door frame, and looked back one last time at his mother, searching for something that even he wasn’t quite sure of. But her gaze remained firmly locked on a poster situated above the teacher’s desk, not straying even as Kibum shut the door firmly behind him.

The pair walked solemnly down the hallway hand in hand, eventually reaching Kibum’s locker. Kibum unlocked it almost mechanically, grabbing out his homework for the night and shoving it into the bag he had brought along.

“Kibum?” spoke Jonghyun softly, afraid to break the silence.

“Mn?”

Tears stung Jonghyun’s eyes, and he began pitifully. “I’m so sorry, Kibum.” he choked out. “For everything. I didn’t know that things were so bad at home, but I should have paid more attention. I let you stay with that…that monster…and I did nothing.” The tears began to run down Jonghyun’s face as he spoke, mixing with blood as he tasted salt on his tongue. “When I heard him hit you from the wardrobe, all I could do was run home and cry – I didn’t even get out of bed until yesterday. I-I’ve been so pathetic, Kibum. I don’t deserve someone like you…I let you go through all that , and now all I can do is say sorry. I shou—“

“Jonghyun.”

The older boy looked up, startled.

“I love you.”

If possible, Jonghyun’s tears began to fall even harder, watching with wide eyes as Kibum hands lifted gently to wipe them away. He smiled radiantly, and to Jonghyun, it was the most beautiful site in the world.

“I’m not the one meant to be crying right now,” he laughed softly, face flushed from both his tears and embarrassment.

Kibum leant forward and pressed his lips soundly against Jonghyun’s. “I love you.” he repeated, staring into Jonghyun’s eyes with nothing but pure admiration.

Jonghyun grinned, kissing Kibum back delicately as his arms wrapped around the younger’s waist.  “I love you too.” he whispered into the embrace, and for just a moment, the two boys forgot about everything which had occurred and allowed themselves to submerge into a world where they were the only two that mattered.