Hyunwoo manages to forget the awful feeling he’d awoken with throughout the day. Lunch, of course, helps immensely, as it’s the only time of the day he gets to see Kihyun. Being a senior, he doesn’t really get any classes with his boyfriend, or any of his other friends, for that matter. It’s the only thing he regrets about it being his last year.

When Kihyun invites him over after school as he always does, Hyunwoo surprises them both when he declines. He isn’t sure why, but he feels as if he should get home as soon as he can. Something is definitely amiss, but he isn’t sure what. Granted, part of him is screaming to steer clear of his home, but he knows that won’t do any good. It could even make matters worse by worrying his mother to no end as to his whereabouts.

“Call me later, okay?” Kihyun asks, hovering by the school gate with Hyunwoo. The older keeps a watchful eye out for his bus, but it seems the driver is late, as always.

“Of course,” he tells the younger, smiling benevolently. Kihyun chuckles, though the smile doesn’t seem to ease his nerves. Hyunwoo can’t help but sigh, knowing he’s made his boyfriend nervous with his own foreboding mood. He’s tried to ease his mind however he can, but it hasn’t worked in the slightest.

“Come on, Kihyun-ssi,” Minhyuk interjects with a tired sigh, shaking the shorter by his shoulders. “Let lover-boy go so we can start our walk back. My eomma has sworn to murder me if I’m late getting home again tonight. Do you really want my blood on your hands? Do you just love me so much you want me to haunt you for the rest of your life?” Kihyun rolls his eyes at his friend’s typical dramatics, and gives Hyunwoo an apologetic smile.

“I’ll talk to you later,” he mutters to his boyfriend. He leans up on his tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. Minhyuk then tugs him away by the wrist, earning a sigh of annoyance from Kihyun. Hyunwoo merely chuckles, and waves at them as they depart.

“Text me, Moongie~!” Hoseok shouts after them, earning a hum of acknowledgment from the younger’s retreating back. Hyunwoo chuckles knowingly, though he doesn’t move his eyes from watching Kihyun leave him.

Hyunwoo know something is wrong the second he gets home. He fidgets with his bag strap as he takes off his shoes and leaves them at the door. He pokes his head into the kitchen, but his eomma isn’t there. The only sounds in the house is his own breathing, and he dares to hope that his parents are just working late tonight.

It’s a hope that’s dashed a second later.

“Son Hyunwoo,” his father’s voice calls from the living room. The sound causes Hyunwoo to jump slightly. It’s deeper than it should be, and tenser than he’s ever heard it before. It sets Hyunwoo’s heart racing a million miles faster than it should. He slowly steps into the living room, and greets the man with the typical bow.

Just play it cool, he tells himself, the irate energy in the room not helping his nerves in the slightest. There’s no way he knows.

“Good afternoon, Appa. How was your—?”

“I got an interesting call today,” his father interrupts. Hyunwoo’s gaze flicks over to the paper his father is typically reading right now, but it lies beside him clearly untouched. The sight causes the teen to gulp with dread. “It was from one of your classmates… Boyeon, I think his name was.” Hyunwoo visibly bristles at this, knowing this is anything but good.

“Boyeon isn’t—”

“I wasn’t finished.” Hyunwoo bows in apology, though it doesn’t seem to do much to appease his father. The older man clears his throat, and shifts in his seat ever so slightly. He drums his fingers against a knee, one of his feet tapping impatiently against the hardwood floor.

“He says he saw you kissing someone today, talking about a date night this Friday. He says that the person you kissed was a boy… Yoo Kihyun, no less.” Hyunwoo becomes frozen where he stands, all his nightmares coming to fruition at once.

Just deny it, Hyunwoo tells himself. He’ll believe me if I just deny it. However, the words get stuck in Hyunwoo’s throat and absolutely refuse to come out. Deny it… Say it isn’t true. Say you don’t even have any classes with that prat. Just say—

“So you aren’t going to deny it?”

His father sounds almost hopeful when he asks this, as if begging him to lie, but Hyunwoo can only stare down at the floor in shame. He can’t bring himself to outright lie to his father, no matter the circumstance. He can’t force himself to deny his love for the shorter male, even though he knows it’d make his life a lot easier. He could never refuse that he’s fallen for that special Yoo Kihyun.

The man sighs then, and stands from the couch. He walks past his son, breaking the boy’s heart at the lack of even a glance in his general direction.

“I’ll give you an hour to pack up your belongings. I’ll not have that kind of behavior in my house, so you can’t stay here anymore. Be gone by the time I get back.”

He hears the front door open and close, but it sounds far off into the distance. His blood turns to molasses as he moves instinctively to comply with the man’s words.

As he packs his things, his entire life seemingly up in the air right now, he can’t help but smile.

Boyeon had probably done this to break him and Kihyun up, he’s sure. But, it couldn’t have blown up in his face anymore, for it’s only proven to Hyunwoo how much he loves the younger, and how much he’s willing to give up for that love.

"Thanks for the food, Eomma!" Kihyun says excitedly, popping open the takeout food containers and snapping together his chopsticks excitedly. The older woman chuckles warmly at her son, showing off dimples that closely resemble his.

“You’ve been working so hard, my Kihyunnie,” she tells him, reaching over to teasingly pull at his cheek. “I was passing your favorite chicken place, and I knew I just had to get you a treat. Now eat up quickly, so we can finish before I go to work.” Kihyun chuckles around the piece of chicken he’s shoving down his own throat, humming after doing so.

She grabs the remote to turn on the television, and switches it over to a drama rerun. She and Kihyun have seen it before, but it’s a good episode that they don’t mind watching again.

Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door. Kihyun stares at his mother questioningly, who merely shrugs and leans closer to the food to get a bite. He sighs, and stands from his seat on the floor to see who it is.

“Hyung?!”

Hyunwoo stands on the other side, bags and suitcases surrounding his feet. His face is as emotionless as a statue. Kihyun raises a demanding brow as he quickly pulls his boyfriend inside.

“What’re you doing here? What happened?” Hyunwoo heaves a heavy breath, a tired smile coming to him. He sings out a low ‘oooh’, as if he’s trying to figure out how best to word it.

“My dad got a call, about us,” Hyunwoo finally says. “He kicked me out.”