Pride, Prejudice, and Pretty Boys -- Episode 9: Good Boy

Taking a deep breath, the little boy steps up to the center of the stage. He looks out to the audience, hoping to see the three people that were his entire world. And he sees them—sitting near the back of the theater—and takes another breath, beginning his lines in his school play.

But before he finishes his line, the stern-looking man crosses his arms and leaves his seat, and the other two –the boy’s mother and older sister—soon follow.

The little boy smiles and finishes his lines perfectly before retreating to the back stage with his classmates, ignoring the worried glances from two older boys from his school. He smiles through the rest of his class play, executing his lines perfectly and earning all the praise from his kindergarten teacher.

“Sanghyuk-ah—” one of the older boys calls out, only to be cut off as the curtain call began.

And Sanghyuk smiled as brightly as ever, hiding his tears as he always had. He wouldn’t be a crybaby. He wouldn’t complain. He wouldn’t seek attention. He would be a good boy. And then maybe. Just maybe. Just maybe his parents would see him.

Taking a deep breath, the young boy steps up to the center of the stage. He looks out to the audience, hoping to see the three people that were his entire world before he began his solo. And he smiles with empty eyes, perfectly hitting all the notes in the Christmas carol.

It’s ok. Dad and mom already saw noona’s recital. It’s all right; dad and mom are tired.

He recited this over and over in his mind until the last notes in his class’ recital dissipated into the auditorium air. But it’s not OK—because his family was not even at the back of the auditorium-- and he flees from the stage as soon as the curtain closes.

“Hyukkie—” One boy from his kindergarten catches his elbow as he runs past, pulling him into a hug. They were in different school buildings now—Sanghyuk was in grade one of five in elementary, and Hakyeon and Taekwoon were in grade one of four in middle school—and Hakyeon was now much taller than him. “Are you OK?”

“What do you mean, hyung?” Sanghyuk asks, smiling innocently as the tan pre-teen frowns at him. “OW!” He rubs the top of his head as soon as a set of white knuckles leaves his hair, twisting in Hakyeon’s hold to look up at the middle-schooler in the taekwondo uniform.

“Good job.” Taekwoon says stiffly, quietly.

“Woon-ah—”

Whatever scolding Hakyeon was about to give his best friend was lost to Sanghyuk as he escaped, hiding in the solitude of a bathroom stall.

It’s ok.

It wasn’t ok. His parents never seemed to see him.

It’s ok. Dad and mom already saw noona’s recital.

It wasn’t ok; his sister always did everything first. His parents had already seen all the class plays and recitals, and they were always the same. Why should they have to sit through everything they endured for his sister for him? It wasn’t as exciting or new for them, anyway. And they were so busy at work; it wasn’t his place to be a crybaby or pine for attention like a dog. That would just make them angry and compare him to his sister; the model child.

Good boy.

That’s what his father had called him when he’d told his father he’d take the bus home after the field trip, so that his father wouldn’t have to come pick him up. Because he knew that his father was very tired from work, and his father complained about the early evening traffic two years ago when he picked up Sanghyuk’s sister from the same field trip.

Good boy.

That’s what his mother had called him when he’d told her she didn’t have to come to his recital, because he knew that she’d already sat through his sister’s two years ago. Because he knew that his mother didn’t like the school’s musical selection, and she didn’t like how out of tune the rest of the kids were two years ago.

Good boy.

That’s what both his parents called him when he didn’t cry or whine when they refused to send him a class trip that they sent his sister on two years ago. Because they already wasted a lot of money to send her on a trip that she came back unhappy from.

Good boy. Good boy. Good boy.

He was a bad boy and a crybaby today; just crying alone in the privacy of the bathroom stall while waiting for his parents to come take him home.

Taking a deep breath, the teenager steps up to the center of the stage to begin his dance solo. Habitually, he looks out at the audience with empty eyes; he’s not even surprised as his three family members aren’t there. He was hoping that just once—just for one damn time—that they would surprise him and be there. Strangling that weed that was his disappointment, he moves with the beat, popping and moving his shoulders and feet perfectly as he did at practice. And as he does that finishing pose, he almost falls to his knees with embarrassment as he sees his number one fan holding up a fan banner while perched on a pale man’s shoulders.

“Wooooooooo, Han Sanghyuk is sooooo cool!” cheers Hakyeon from behind the crowd. “Hey, stop wobbling! I’ll fall!” He complains to his boyfriend, Taekwoon.

“You’re heavy,” groans Taekwoon. “And I can’t see—did Hyukkie do OK? And seriously, how is it my fault you didn’t grow any taller—OW!”

“It just is. Now be a good boy and be my ladder so I can watch our Hyukkie be a man.” Hakyeon gently pats his boyfriend’s cheek, earning a small eye roll and sigh.

And the rest of the dance competition went on without a hitch. Sanghyuk didn’t win any trophies, but today—oddly—he felt as if he had beaten first place.

“Hyung, aren’t you busy?” Sanghyuk asks as the audience and other dancers began filing out of the theater. He was in high school now, and these two hyungs from his childhood were in college.

“Ye—no!” Taekwoon yowled as Hakyeon pinched his back. “Hakyeonie—” he began to whine as his boyfriend lightly pecked his cheek.

“Ew, mom and dad are flirting!” Sanghyuk sticks out his tongue, laughing as Hakyeon catches both of his boys in a headlock.

“Be good, boys,” Hakyeon scolds. “Or I’ll pinch my Taekwoonie again.”

“Why just me—OW!”

// Good Boy

20171022 - long time no update, sorry >_< & Jaedelle is such a Neo-trash =____________=* Just a brainfart-AU I wrote~ Sorry for typos TT_TT