The morning in Kim’s place was never as noisy as now before. Knowing that Kyuhyun lived at Heechul’s place made Donghae refused to go back home because he said he had friend to go to school. And his parents agreed to him because they knew Heechul was dependable and an adult. And Heechul got headache whenever Donghae argued with Kyuhyun because hell, that teenagers were really loud and immature and he really wanted to kick them out as soon as possible. But damn Kyuhyun, he didn’t have plan to go home yet so he couldn’t say anything to that damn brat. Kyuhyun always got what he wanted and Heechul was curious who was the first who let Kyuhyun went wild like this.

This morning Donghae whined all the time because he hadn’t finished his assignment yet Kyuhyun didn’t plan on helping him because Donghae would only copy his assignment but Kyuhyun wanted Donghae to know better but Donghae said it was the last time he would copy his assignment. But Kyuhyun knew better. And Heechul got another headache. So Donghae went sulky and he didn’t know whose assignment he would copy this morning, but Kyuhyun didn’t give him a . That damn Cho had his breakfast quietly like nothing happened while Heechul was sighing endlessly, knowing that the two would bicker until they stepped out of the house. How annoying.

It was all quiet when those immature boy left the house. Finally Heechul could have time for his own in his own place. And so he took out his canned beer and played his favorite drama he hadn’t watched, didn’t forget the popcorn he immediately made as those brats gone. He planned on not going to café today—he needed his own time.

In the middle of his drama time, someone pushed the bell that he almost wouldn’t open his door for the guest. Well, it was his drama time, anyway. With curses under his breath, Heechul opened his door to welcome his smiling and beautiful guest. She stood before his door and made her way inside without Heechul invited her in. Heechul followed in, actually feeling taken aback because who she was searching for was not here in the moment. But well, Heechul reminded her to not coming here because her son wouldn’t see her anyway, but she came still, so she probably had something to talk about with Heechul instead.

The woman took her seat in the place Heechul was sitting earlier. She even checked out the drama Heechul was watching, and took a bite of the owner of the place’s popcorn. Heechul was actually a bit annoyed because hell, she shouldn’t do that but she was his friend’s mother. That damn man could only bit his bottom lips seeing her acting all comfy. “What bring you here, Ahjumma?” Heechul tried to not looking annoyed at all and took his seat on the armchair. “I told you to not coming here when Kyuhyun’s around, no?”

“Chill up, baby.” Mrs. Cho was smiling brightly. “I saw Kyuhyun went off to school so I take this chance to talk to you.” She crossed one of his legs on another to see Heechul better and even had this serious look on her face. “I want to know more about Lee Sungmin.”

Heechul froze on his chair. He wasn’t prepared to answer that. He knew Mrs. Cho would come to him asking about Sungmin but not now, not today. Kyuhyun wasn’t accepted as gay and Sungmin as their son’s partner were bad enough for them, and Heechul wasn’t the right person to talk about Sungmin like this. If Mrs. Cho really was curious then she should have asked her son instead, so she knew how precious Sungmin was. Although Heechul would say Sungmin was also precious for him, but now the condition was different. “W-why so sudden?” Heechul didn’t make a contact to a super serious Mrs. Cho. He chose to chow down on his popcorn or his beer.

“It’s not sudden at all when you know Lee Sungmin already.” Mrs. Cho rolled her eyes the way Kyuhyun did. “I know he works for you, and I know you know him. Tell me about him.”

“Why do you want to know about my worker? I mean, it’s a personal information, I shouldn’t talk about it.” Heechul shrugged, trying to help Sungmin no matter what that woman thinking.

Mrs. Cho groaned so loud Heechul jumped in his chair. “I know he’s my son’s partner, Heechul! I know your café’s the place they met! And you wouldn’t help me even though you said you’d help Kyuhyun? If I know about him maybe I would reconsider him!”

Heechul shifted to his serious mode. It’s Sungmin they were talking about—his worker and his lately crush before he had to crush his feeling instead. If this woman before him was about to do something to Sungmin then he would step in and save Sungmin rather than being all good boy and rooted for Mrs. Cho. If needed he would beat Kyuhyun to death if something happened to Sungmin. “It’s not my place to tell you about Sungmin, Ahjumma.” He gave a look to now desperate Mrs. Cho. “I know you’d like to know him more, but I think it’s better to ask Kyuhyun about him.”

“And have him hating me for the rest of his life?”

Heechul sipped more of his beer, then rearranged his position on the chair to look Mrs. Cho better. “You know Kyuhyun better than me because you’re his mother, right? You know he won’t hate you for such reason, and frankly, I think he’ll be happy if you ask about Sungmin to him.”

“Heechul-ah,” Mrs. Cho called his name in low tone that Heechul thought he would get smack later, “if I ask Kyuhyun, what bad news I can get? I want to know how bad person he is and think to myself why my boy would fall for him.” She reached for a new can of beer Heechul had prepared, not thinking about what if she’s drunk. She wanted to be drunk today. “I know how it feels when I fell in love with Kyuhyun’s father, how it feels when he proposed to me… and I know Kyuhyun’s father felt the same. But one thing crushed everything and I’m glad everything has returned to normal now…” she gulped down almost half of the can, feeling a bit relieve. “I just want to know how great he is, because Kyuhyun won’t like everything easily except his games. I want to know if this person is a bad person, that’s it.”

Heechul was actually confused. He knew Mrs. Cho’s feeling was that of mother that he couldn’t blame at, and Sungmin wasn’t the bad person Mrs. Cho wanted he was. A mother must be feeling really hard to know that her son wasn’t straight and even refused to meet her. She must be feeling really stressed and didn’t know what to do. “Ahjumma,” Heechul said in low tone, “If there’s Sungmin’s bad side, it’s his life.” Heechul promised himself to treat Sungmin better from now on. “If you know Sungmin, you’ll say he’s perfect. He’s kind and polite, good in talking and has a lot of friends, easy going, punctual and even neat. He’s nice to kids because he has two brothers—even I must say I want to be him because he’s too perfect. But when I know him better, then I won’t say I want to be him anymore.”

Mrs. Cho had her eyes focused on Heechul although she didn’t stop her drinking. It was the same whit the lady on the kimbab house—too much praises for Sungmin. “He lost his parents too early, starting his part time job too early, becomes the head of family too early too. He’s the oldest brother yet the parent for his brothers, but he never complains. I never see him has sad face although his problems must be far difficult from me.”

“He’s only high school, right?”

“Yeah, he is.” Heechul nodded. “And when Kyuhyun met him, Kyuhyun fell in love instantly, I don’t know why.” And I have to let go of my feeling too, Heechul added in his mind. “Kyuhyun tells us everything about you and ahjusshi, but he never really dare to talk to you two. He’s a bad boy but also a coward. He becomes a cool yet lonely boy, and when he’s stressed out, he calls for his friends. But when he meets Sungmin, he never calls us anymore. I don’t know what Sungmin had taught him, but he tells us that he talks to both of you. Tells us that finally you two have back together and he’s happy for it and he becomes a bright boy afterward.”

Mrs. Cho had to hold her tears, so she gulped down the rest of the beer. She even opened another can after, sipped it to make feel sick so no sound would be heard if she really was crying. Heechul knew she wanted to drink so he let her. “I know then Sungmin has changed Kyuhyun. He changed your boy into a mature one, at least. And I’d like to tell you that no, Sungmin is not a bad person at all.”

It was a long day for Mrs. Cho. She didn’t leave for almost lunch time, but when Heechul asked her to have lunch together, she said her husband told her to go home in which no messages had come that day. She needed some times for herself, for accepting that she lost to this boy named Lee Sungmin, for accepting that his little boy had his own life now.

----

Sungmin waited on the hallway besides his boyfriend’s classroom alone, hoping his boyfriend went out of class and walked towards him in smiley face. Lately Kyuhyun was so down but Sungmin couldn’t ask him because whenever Sungmin asked, he would change his face as handsome as he would be, and he wouldn’t tell him anything. Guess Kyuhyun didn’t want him to be worried at anything in Kyuhyun’s head. It must be something Kyuhyun could face himself.

“Hey!” someone approached Sungmin, but that wasn’t Kyuhyun. It was Sungmin’s classmates, Eunhyuk, who was walking towards Kyuhyun’s class but he saw Sungmin so he stopped to greet him. “What are you doing here?”

“U-um… hi,” Sungmin smiled his best, trying to not obvious that he was waiting for his boyfriend. “What are you doing here?”

“Isn’t that what I ask you, Minnie?” Eunhyuk chuckled, to Sungmin’s relieve. “I’m here to see Donghae, you know him? You know him right? Because he said you’re Kyuhyun’s boyfriend.” Wait, what? What did he say? Kyuhyun’s boyfriend?! And how the hell—oh, Donghae. That boy surely had a big mouth, wasn’t he? Kyuhyun had to know, really. “Oh, you must be waiting for you boyfriend, right? Well then I’ll wait with you.” He stood behind Sungmin, his back leaned on the white wall behind him, hands in his pockets. What a sigh to wait a girlfriend.

Just before Sungmin asked him how he knew he was Kyuhyun’s boyfriend, the said Donghae was out from his class. Donghae greeted Eunhyuk with a sweet smile while the other was blushing, and Sungmin was spotted like an abandoned kitty or puppy on the roadside. “Oh hello there, Lee Sungmin.” It was Donghae who greeted him. He replied with a little nod and a smile, an awkward smile to boot. “You came for Kyuhyun didn’t you? He’s in the toilet and probably be here soon. Don’t leave him, okay?”

This Donghae must be really unique.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t plan to.” Sungmin laughed awkwardly.

“Okay then, see you later.” Donghae and Eunhyuk then walked away without another look from Eunhyuk. They looked really well matched together, and sometimes Donghae did something to make Eunhyuk gone mad and they would run like kids did. Sungmin didn’t thought they were that nice when they together.

Not long after, Kyuhyun came. He smiled so brightly when he saw Sungmin stood by his class, and without a word or thinking where was Donghae, he took his bag and silently stood by waiting Sungmin. The latter was unaware of his presence but then he saw the familiar shoes of the person next to him. The oldest Lee then lifted his head to see a cute smiling of Cho Kyuhyun.  “What are you doing here, Lee Sungmin?” Kyuhyun asked as he put his arms on his chest, teasing the shorter guy. Sungmin amused by this.

Sungmin did the pose Kyuhyun did, facing his now boyfriend with an amused smile. “I’m waiting for my boyfriend. What are you doing here, Cho Kyuhyun?” he said in playful tone that Kyuhyun couldn’t help but chuckled to it.

Kyuhyun couldn’t help but made his smile wider. “I’m waiting for my boyfriend too. I think it’s fate for us to meet here.” He shrugged his shoulders, chuckling when Sungmin made a thinking face. “Maybe you’re the one I’m actually waiting for.” The Lee couldn’t help but hiding his red face between his palms. Cheesy Kyuhyun was striking again.

“I can’t get enough of your cheesy love line, really.” Sungmin finally got a hold of his expression. “Oh anyway, Donghae told me to don’t leave you back. Is he your guardian or what?” Sungmin asked as they made their way to the front gate of their school. “And Eunhyuk, my friend, knows that we’re an item although I didn’t tell him anything.” He gave a serious gaze to Kyuhyun which the latter found funny. Well, serious Sungmin was actually cute—or anything Sungmin did was cute for Kyuhyun. Well, they were a couple in loves, it was normal for Kyuhyun to think Sungmin was cute for whatever he did.

“Donghae did?”

“Who else?” Sungmin rolled his eyes. “Eunhyuk knows Donghae very well, and I think Donghae likes to talk every little thing to Eunhyuk. I just hope it doesn’t affect them although I know they are also a couple.” Sungmin smiled a little, feeling happy that his friend also had someone to run to. It was happiness for him to have someone he could lean on when he felt down. Although he wasn’t an adult, but he made him feel secure.

Kyuhyun smiled despite the topic they were talking wasn’t that his focus right now. The smile Sungmin gave always made his heart skip a beat, and he couldn’t ever stop himself from smiling as brightly as Sungmin did. “Don’t worry, you don’t know Donghae yet.” Kyuhyun shrugged as he said so. Well, he was right—Sungmin didn’t know Donghae at all, so he wouldn’t know how stupid Donghae was. “Anyway, what do you want to eat? I guess it’ll be okay for us to go out sometimes before we pick Minseok up.” They took a left turn after their school gate, the opposite direction of the bus stop they usually wait for.

“Hm?” Sungmin tilted his head. “Jinki would pick Minseok up today. And I gave them money a little bit too much for Jinki, so I guess it’ll be okay for them to get lunch by their own today,” he ended it by a shy smile that made Kyuhyun wanted to kiss him there on the spot. Luckily, Kyuhyun quickly covered his face and pulled Sungmin to the nearest udon house.

The udon house is quite crowded. It was lunch time and everybody was craving of food, moreover it was near their school so most of the costumers were their school mates. Kyuhyun even saw his own classmate on one of the table with a girl he didn’t know. Well, it was their business anyway. They took a seat in the corner, the only available table on the house. They order the same thing because Kyuhyun said it was the best thing on the menu, and Sungmin said he would pay everything because he had money from the new job he was doing.

“So, what exactly your new job is?” Kyuhyun asked as they chow down their meal, too curious as to what Sungmin did for the money. Didn’t mean Kyuhyun was thinking Sungmin did a dirty job or what—it just he was worried. Sometimes Sungmin was too innocent and he didn’t want his boyfriend to end up in jail because of some job he didn’t really understand how it worked. “You got a well-paid job and I didn’t know what it is until now.”

Sungmin was blowing on his udon when Kyuhyun asked. He let himself tasting the udon first before he thought what he should say. “I did say someone texted me and asked me to do things in a company, right?” Sungmin stopped eating. “It’s a construction company, a big one, and I don’t know how they get my contact. I mean, it’s really helpful because I got paid once my job is done, so I don’t have to wait for the money.”

Kyuhyun frowned. How could a big company know a student’s contact like him? And Sungmin didn’t know the one who contacted him too. “What did you do in the company, exactly?”

Sungmin smiled. “I became their assistant.” He chose to start eating again. Somehow he could feel the curiosity and worrisome of his boyfriend. Probably he didn’t want Sungmin to be in trouble. “Helping each other out, copying the document, sending out files between departments… I think that’s a nice job isn’t that?”

“What company you’re working at? Maybe I know it.”

“It’s Taehan Construction.” Kyuhyun choked on his food, making Sungmin panic for a sec before he gave the ocha to him. “What’s wrong? Eat it slowly, Kyuhyun.”

“N-no,” the taller one breathed out words despite the rough chough he had. “It’s okay, thanks.” Kyuhyun then stop flirting and talking for the rest of the day.

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To Be Continued