Mondays always are and always have been the most tiring day of the week for everybody, and to Hyukjae it was no different. Taking care of and trying to teach history to a bunch of teenagers at eight in the morning wasn’t the most pleasant thing in the world, even less when the majority of them weren’t interested in the subject.

After a rather exhausting day of work, he dismissed his students and started saving his stuff in a plain black suitcase he carried everywhere and stopped one of the teenagers on his way out.

“Hey, Jihoon, do you know why Wonwoo didn’t come? His paper was due on Friday and I haven’t heard of him since” he asked the startled boy, a little bit worried.

“Uhm no, Professor Lee. He hasn’t told me anything, everything seemed fine with him last time we spoke” the petite one answered and bowed respectfully before catching up with his friends.

“Dammit that rascal” he muttered worried after sighing.

A spine-chilling presence took him out of his thoughts, making him look up. Jongwoon was waiting for him at the entrance of his classroom with his usual blank expression; he was holding some biology books between his short fingers which only meant he would be talking to him all night about it. He couldn’t be less excited.

Hyukjae didn’t say anything and went out of there, being followed by his new roommate.

It had almost been two days since he met Lee Donghae, two days that felt like an eternity. He didn’t know why but, every time he tried to text or call him, he felt he would mess up so he never took the chance.

Also, he hadn’t gotten any text from him either so he was worried it was actually a fake number.

Taking the subway at seven in the afternoon was the worst thing about his job. It was always packed up with people of all ages and he could never find a seat to relax for a second.

Of course, he could rest at home if it wasn’t for Jongwoon being a total mess and him having to clean everything up after him. Howon always called him a neat freak because he couldn’t wait even a second when things got messy but he considered himself to be a clean person, unlike them. No wonder they were cousins.

His best friend was a very hygienic person but since he worked a lot he was always too tired to tidy up his room –which Hyukjae usually did for him because he treated Howon like a baby just for being two years younger-.

After a thirty-minute trip he arrived at his apartment, pondering on the idea of ordering fried chicken instead of cooking rice porridge while he took out his keys and entered the place with the other one behind him.

However everything he had in mind disappeared when he saw a certain person sitting on his couch, talking to his best friend.

“Wonwoo-yah! Where the hell have you been?” he asked surprised and relieved at the same time, approaching the other and embracing his body in a warm hug. “Do you have any idea how concerned I was!? I’ve been texting you since last Thursday and when I called your parents they didn’t pick up!” he exclaimed after letting go, a little bit mad.

“Sorry, hyung” the teenager laughed softly before his expression became sad. “I actually had a huge fight with my parents and have been staying at Soonyoung’s for the past days. I also left my phone there so they wouldn’t try to find me… well, I don’t think they even want to” he explained in a more serious tone.

“What? What happened?” the teacher asked in disbelief.

Wonwoo, his youngest cousin, bit his lower lip and turned to look at Howon who had been next to him the whole time.

“Jongwoon hyung, let’s go buy some food” the latter spoke and walked past them, grabbing his relative’s arm and dragging him outside.

Hyukjae and Wonwoo had been great friends ever since the youngest had turned eight. Despite the huge , they had lots of things in common and the boy’s maturity made everything easier in their relationship. They usually spent the weekends together and the teacher used to babysit him. So, when he started to disappear and get away from him for the past weeks, Hyukjae had become really worried.

Once they were sitting, the student spoke in a wavering voice.

“Hyung, I came out”

“Is that why you fought with your parents?” he asked attentively.

“Yeah, they told me it’s probably because I hung out too much with you and your queers” his cousin looked down embarrassed. “But I told them that this is actually me and I wanted their approval. And then they rejected me and I got mad and everything just went down the hill from there!” he growled with his fists shut tightly. “They told me that I can’t hang with you because me being gay it’s your doing. They even asked me if you had abused me!”

“Wow… I knew your parents weren’t comfortable about my uality but I never thought they would reject you for yours” he tried comforting the other by caressing his back. “I could go and talk to them, you know. Or ask my parents” he suggested, really unsure of what to do.

“No, I want them to realize it themselves” the other grunted. “I hate to ask you this but; can I stay with you guys?”

“No, no, no. You’re going back to your house! You don’t even have a phone! Your parents must be worried sick!” Hyukjae stood up, taking his cellphone with him in order to call his uncle.

“No! I want them to learn the lesson!” Wonwoo yelled and tried to snatch the phone away.

“If something happens to you, then I’m going to be the bad guy and I-”

“Let him stay” a strong voice interrupted their struggle.

Hyukjae looked in disbelief at Howon, who had just arrived and had a bag of fried chicken in his hand.

“Why do you have a say in this?!” he yelled hysterically at his best friend.

“Because I know how he feels, hyung. And it’s not like he won’t escape again if you send him back, so just let him be” the younger man said in a calm but severe tone. “I bought enough for all of us, let’s eat”.

Needless to say, Howon was the decision-maker in the dorm. He had a really strong personality and Hyukjae was never good at winning discussions to him so he didn’t dare fight back; especially since his words actually made sense.

Without any other comment, the four of them sat at the table and ate until their hearts content.

Wonwoo looked more tired than ever and it made his cousin’s heart ache. He knew how hard it was to come out to a very religious family and the boy had always been really sensitive despite carrying that blank expression.

Luckily, Jongwoon was a mood maker on some occasions –really rare occasions- so it wasn’t that long until the teenager was laughing and behaving as if nothing happened. This turned out to be a great thing for everyone since each one of them had had an exhausting day.

“Oh, now that I remember!” yelled the newly arrived, startling the grown-ups. “Hyung, how were the speed-dates?”

All of them turned to look at him, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Did you call that guy?” the oldest asked.

“What guy?” Howon seemed offended because of not knowing about it first.

“I actually met someone but am too afraid of screwing it up” Hyukjae explained, kind of terrified about his best friend’s stare and embarrassed for being such a coward.

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter