Mini warning: There's a little bit of overt homophobia in this one, nothing too graphic or nasty but still there.

Soojung's head is resting against his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his own. When the class ended earlier she had asked him to go with her to buy Jinri an anniversary present. That was a lie, and after a quick trip to pick up snacks Sehun found himself being cuddled up to on Soojung's couch.

"I'm so stressed," she whines, voice muffled by Sehun's shoulder. He mutes the television and quirks a brow even if she can't see it. "My mom says that once my sister gets back from America we're going to have a ladies' day at the spa, but I don't think I can hold on for that long." Sehun tries to stop his laughter but it doesn't work, and Soojung just makes a whining noise, shaking the arm she has in her grasp.

"What do you want me to do," he asks when his laughter dies a bit.

"Distract me," Soojung says, her voice higher pitched in a perfect imitation of cutesy baby tone. "Seriously Sehun, What's been going on with you two." Her cutesy tone has shifted into something more conspiratorial.

"How is that a distraction," Sehun asks instead, the humor still filling his tone. He doesn't mind her nosy behavior but it doesn't mean he's not going to make her work for it.

"Because," she says nearly sighing the word as she pulls away. "I can focus on your problems instead of my own and it's good practice." She lists each point on a fingertip before giving him a large smile. "Seriously though, it's my life mission to have you and Jongin work things out." She doesn't say it's her life mission to get them together which Sehun is grateful for.

"That's sad," he jokes, "you should have just stopped at wanting to therapist practice." She lightly hits as his arm with her fists as Sehun breaks into another round of teasing laughter.

They calm down after a moment and Soojung goes back to resting her head on Sehun's shoulder. The television is still muted, the remote being held loosely in his hands. Soojung doesn't complain, she's humming softly, and Sehun doesn't budge he's too busy working through the thoughts in his head, wondering if he should tell her and if he does where he should start.

"You've never asked me why I left Seoul," he suddenly states.

Soojung moves her chin pressing into his shoulder as he attempts to look him into the eyes despite the odd angle. "I haven't," she askes with narrowed eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Sehun says, "I can remember all your nosey questions, and why I left Seoul definitely wasn't a part of them."

She hits him again, this time her fist crashes softly against his waist but it's enough to have him squirm in his seat. "Alright then, why did you leave Seoul?"

"There was a boy," Sehun begins as he readjusts how they're sitting, pulling Soojung closer to him in the process.

"All the best stories begin that way," Soojung says in response.

"Do they," Sehun asks with a sardonic twist to his lips. "Do they also begin with an uncomfortably ugly sofa and having his parents walk in on you?"

Soojung doesn't respond so he tells her the whole story from the beginning. Starting with a boy that transfers into Sehun's all-boys school in the middle of first year. How they, Sehun and the boy, sat next to each other. How the boy named Heesung, unassuming and nearly unimpressive, average in looks and height had captivated Sehun from day one. He'd showered Sehun in compliments, nothing to do with money or his clothes and the brands that came attached to them, and everything to do with how funny Sehun was, and how pretty he looked when he smiled, and how smart he was.

Before Heesung, Sehun's friend group consisted of people always expecting him to treat them to meals, and Karaoke, and every other little thing they could think of in the name of friendship. Heesung with his stupid little compliments would always protest when Sehun bought rather it was a few snacks from the snack bar or a meal after class, and maybe that won him over more than the compliments.

They shared their first kiss the summer before second year. Sehun doesn't really remember who kissed who first, just that the day was really humid leading up to it, and they were walking back to Heesung's place after spending hours at the arcade. He does remember that at the moment, suddenly everything else he'd ever felt before it made sense. The heart-fluttering moments, the stomach butterflies, the weirdly timed arousal, wasn't just his hormones going haywire liked he'd talked himself into believing. There was suddenly a big bold word that accompanied it, that explained why it happened with other boys and not the few girls he'd encounter when he went with his friends on group dates.

Sehun became almost obsessive afterward, obsessed with kissing and touching and feeling, of learning and knowing and understanding, and Heesung reciprocated. He met Sehun's obsession head-on with eager lips and eager hands. No one knew and Sehun didn't mind, in fact, he liked it that way, a private thing that only he and one other person knew.

Then one evening Sehun was invited over to study. They got through about a third of their homework before Sehun found himself pinned underneath Heesung pressed against a leather sofa, the cushions sticking uncomfortably against the bit of exposed skin from where his shirt had ridden up.

Unlucky for the pair of them, Heesung's parents came home early from wherever they were. They were supposed to be away, at a reunion or something, he doesn't fully remember but he does remember the feeling of his stomach sinking and the fear that seized his heart. Heesung tried to stutter out some type of excuse, while Sehun gathered his things as fast as he could, leaving a notebook behind in the process, fleeing the apartment.

He milled about for a while refusing to go home and too scared to try calling Heesung after being caught. It had been an hour or two of walking aimlessly through the city before coming home to parents that had no clue what had transpired. He had not been able to work up the nerve to call Heesung but he did send a text well after midnight which he never got a response for.

Sehun knew it was over without needing to be told, and on Monday he wanted nothing more than to check in with Heesung and make sure he was okay. Heesung didn't show up to class and would not reply to the numerous texts Sehun sent. He couldn't get it out of his mind that day and when he was called to the principal's office right before school let out he knew immediately it about that evening. It wasn't just the principal waiting or his homeroom teacher, no, it was both of them, Heesung, Heesung's parents, and even his own.

In that room before him, his parents, and teachers, Heesung's parents had taken control spinning a web of lies. They claimed Sehun was a bully, that he used his wealth to get the things that he wanted. That-because he had purchased things for Heesung, snacks, and meals and little trinkets-he had pressured Heesung into a 'homoual relationship'. They claimed that Sehun used his wealth on all of his friends, implied that he had a harem of boys, like he was some sort of predator.

Sehun's parents had defended him, told the principal and his homeroom teacher that it was impossible, that Sehun was nothing like that, but had come up short when Heesung's parents brought up the Friday night incident.  They recalled each detail, Heesung's mother's account was vivid and almost sinister with how she described catching them, Sehun underneath her son and with his shirt nearly off. His parents still tried to defend him, of course, but they were obviously too shocked by the details.

Sehun tried to defend himself as well, refusing to allow his reputation to be tarnished by one mistake, but the threat of having the principal ask his other rathers about the validity of the claims scared him into silence. If his friends denied the claims he would still be outed, forced to face another year in an all-boys school where everyone knew he was gay.

By the end of the meeting, the ball was in Heesung's court, every adult waiting to hear what he had to say, and Sehun only hoping that he would speak up before it was too late. In the end, all Heesung do was give a little shrug. Everyone took it as if he was agreeing to the allegations but was too fearful to voice it, and as a result, Heesung had asked if maybe Sehun could write an "apology".

That moment hurt more than being called into that office and having his integrity and morals questioned, it hurt more than being outed to his parents. Heesung was the first and only person that felt like a real friend, the only person that Sehun had felt attracted to enough to act on those feelings, and Sehun was thrown under the bus without a glance of remorse.

Heesung's parents didn't agree, they believed that Sehun should be expelled. He could hardly blame them with how they built him up to be a predator in their eyes. To them, an apology letter would do nothing to stop Sehun from acting again once this had died down. Sehun wouldn't look in Heesung's direction after this, let alone speak to him.

Before the case for expulsion could really be made, Sehun's father had recovered from his shock and intervened. He had promised that expulsion was unnecessary, that Sehun would never be in contact with Heesung again, that they would go over the details with the principal at a later date, alone. He asked that instead, Sehun be given a leave of absence, which the principal agreed to without much cajoling.

Sehun remembers feeling as he wasn't truly there in the moment, as if he was watching a film about his life without someone else as the actor. He felt physically numb and sick to his stomach. When the meeting adjourned, after Heesung left with his parents, Sehun was told to go back to his class and collect his books. That was the last time Sehun step foot in that class and he could hardly look at his classmates as he packed away book after book into his schoolbag. It felt as if a look alone would tell them what had transpired.

Not too long after he took his final exams in the teacher's office with the homeroom teacher overseeing things to make sure he didn't cheat. It was the worst great he'd ever gotten on a test, he had been too distracted with wondering if the whole school knew, and if they did what version of events did they know, the one that truly happened, or the one that Heesung and his parents had thought up. His homeroom teacher had obviously believed Heesung's parents, every minute the tests ticked by he'd feel his homeroom teacher's stare hot on his skin, and each occasional glance up made him feel like the scum on the man's shoe.

That day of the meeting Sehun's father had asked him if it was true, and Sehun said that he never brided or forced himself on anyone. That he would never do such a thing, however, the image of Sehun underneath Heesung as told by Heesung's parents remained a cost thought on his parents' mind. He could tell by the way their eyes looked him, and that's how Sehun found himself sent to his aunt's home outside of Seoul.

"It could have been worse," Sehun says at the end of his story with a bit of a shrug. There's a new program on and Sehun watches halfheartedly as the celebrities grin at the camera.

"I'm going to kill him," Soojung says, voice broken up as she tries not to cry against him. "No, I'm going to set Jinri on him. She'll make him regret the day he was born." She pulls away and looks him in the eye.

"I love you, Oh Sehun," She tells him. "From one rich kid to another, I love you for you. Jinri loves you too, and I'm sure she'll want to tell you all the reasons why and I promise you it won't be about your money, and Jongin-" she pauses as he flinches only to lean in close. "I'm telling you the truth even if you don't want to hear it. He loves you."

"I know already," Sehun mutters, trying and failing to shake her off. She does pull away for a moment, her eyes hard and her lips pulled into a frown.

"Is this why you're so hesitant," She says each word, really slow as if she's testing them in her head before saying them out loud or if she's waiting for him to interrupt and correct her. "About things with Jongin. Are you worried about history repeating itself?"

She pauses in a way that tells him she has more to say but knows better than to say it. "I don't think I'm a predator," Sehun says with bite before apologizing. Jongin's mother and father are kind to him. They treat him like a part of the family despite Sehun constantly imposing on him, but Heesung's parents were once kind to him as well. At least with Heesung, they were learning together with Jongin...

He can't finish the thought and shakes his head instead. "I don't really want to talk about that anymore."

"Okay," Soojung says voice filled with clear reluctance, "but I do think you should tell Jongin because you're friends and I know how he thinks and he'll never forgive that boy and he'll move mountain and earth to make sure that nothing like that will ever happen, or at least he'll say all of that while crying and Jongin crying always makes me feel better."

"Jinri is rubbing off on you," Sehun jokes, laughing as the girl continues talking about how Jongin crying makes her want to console him and point and laugh all at once.

******

"Where is she," Jinri whines, she's kicking her feet as she lets her face dramatically hit the desk before turning towards Sehun as if he hasn't already told her where Soojung was a number of times before.

That's it, I'm going to break up with her. This is the end. I get you in the custody arrangement." Sehun laughs at the look of offensive Jongin gives Jinri when he finally looks up from his notebook.

"I've known you longer," Jongin reminds her.

"I don't care," Jinri retorts, still kicking her legs impatiently. "How are you so calm."

Jongin blinks at her for a moment, and Sehun bites down another grin, knowing that Jongin's nonchalance is driving his friend mad. Then the boy shrugs and looks back to his notebook. "I realized that it's not nearly as big of a deal as it feels. I can always try next year."

Before Jinri can say anything in response to Jongin's flippancy the door to the room is shoved open and Soojung walks in a sense of urgency, taking a seat beside Sehun.

"Are we ready to do this thing," she calls out to the room, smartphone in hand, and meeting Jongin and Jinri's eyes. The pair each give a solemn nod in agreeance before looking down to their phones. The minutes pass slow and all Sehun can do is sit in anticipatory silence, not wanting to distract the trio but finding himself nearly as anxious as they are.

Jinri, the most impatient of the three, is the first to react. She stands with a screech that makes Sehun thankful that school is over. The force of her movement causes her chair to slam noisily into the ground. "I got in," she exclaims. Sehun flashes her a smile, but the other two are still too busy to give much of a reaction.

Soojung is the next to react, she slams her phone down onto the desk with enough force to have Sehun flinching. She crosses the space of the room with two quick steps, meeting Jinri in the middle and wrapping her arms around her waist. The pair spin together, their happy laugh bouncing off the walls. "I did too," she exclaims as they twirl.

Sehun watches them with pride for a moment longer before dropping his gaze to where Jongin sits across from him. Jongin's got a grin lighting up the entirety of his face as he stares after his friends, phone held loosely in his hands.

"Well, Jongin," Sehun calls out over the girls' gleeful cheers and laughter. It catches Jinri and Soojung's attention and they both pause in their celebrating to look over to him.

Jongin doesn't respond right away, he meets Soojung's eyes, then Jinri, then finally looks towards Sehun. "I got in," he says that same grin still in place as Jinri whoops and Soojung pulls him into her arms, hugging him tight.

"Come here you two," She commands Jinri and Sehun. Sehun stands and crosses the space, feeling a sense of pride at the accomplishments of his friends.

******

Days later Sehun finds himself in a Korean barbeque restaurant, manning the grill. Jongdae and his friends had decided to take them all out in celebration of Jongin and the others getting into their first-choice colleges, promising to split the bill amongst the three of them. Baekhyun commands the table as he seems to usually do, bright smiles and contagious laughter as he tells them to eat and drink to their heart's content, like a king. Baekyhun sits on one end of the table and Sehun sits on the opposite, Jongin is in between them. On the opposite side, sits Jinri, Jongdae, and Chanyeol in that order.

Chanyeol isn't wearing his leather jacket, he's wearing a navy button-down, the first few buttons undone, and gold-wire-rimmed glasses. While he looked like a rockstar that first night they met, with that leather jacket and wind-swept hair. He looks like a grade-school teacher now, with his face breaking out into a dimpled smile. He still feels dangerous to Sehun, less like he's going to cause Sehun to spill all of his secrets and more like he's a trap designed to draw every second of Sehun's attention. Sehun welcomes it this time, preferring to look at him then have Jongdae catch him starring at his brother a little too long and too longingly.

Sehun notices Soojung approaching before anyone else. She had come with them but her older sister had finally video-called her when they were right outside of the restaurant, so with her urging they went ahead of her. Kyungsoo is right behind her, eyes sweeping the length of the room. Soojung takes the empty seat beside Jinri and Kyungsoo sits beside him.

"Kyungsoo," Baekhyun cheers, holding his glass up. "I thought you wouldn't make it."

"I had time," Kyungsoo states in reply, thanking Jinri when she passes him a glass of water.

"It's good to see you," Sehun beams, feeling just a little more grounded. He likes everyone here, they're all kind to him and try to include him but it doesn't stop him from feeling out of place in a group that's known each other since they were children. Kyungsoo is a part of this group as well, but it's different. Kyungsoo and he share a secret, a secret that even if he lets the others know will be something that connects him to Kyungsoo unlike any other.

Somewhere amongst the drinking and eating Sehun finds himself the center of attention. Everyone here is a college student or will be, everyone except him. Baekhyun brings it up after toasting the group. It's not meant to be rude, although it's a bit on the invasive side Sehun doesn't feel the slightest bit of uncomfortable. Baekhyun simply looks from around Jongin, mouth twisted into a thoughtful frown as he asks, "Sehun, what'd you have planned next?"

When Sehun flushes pink, it's not from the nature of the question but the eyes that seem to zero in on him, awaiting his reply.

"Sehun's going to France," Jinri says, speaking up for him. "He's going to spend a year abroad." It breaks the ice a bit and allows Sehun to regain his confidence enough to speak as well.

"And after, when I get back I think I might pursue medicine," Sehun adds. Chanyeol lets out a cheer, standing up slightly so that he can high-five him, excited at the prospect of another STEM major amongst the group of mostly liberal arts students. Baekhyun has a look of pain as if the idea of math and science physically hurts him.

"You might," Jongin presses, turning towards him with that pout he makes. The one that makes Sehun want to more and more to see how far his lip can jut out before he looks absolutely ridiculous.

"Yeah," Sehun says, grinning at him. "I think I'd look good in a white coat."

"Sehun helps me study sometimes," Kyungsoo says with a bit of an eye roll, elbowing Sehun as he reaches for more food.

"He's brilliant," Soojung adds on, influenced by Kyungsoo's statement. "He's in the top five of our class." The embarrassed little blush that started to fade from having all their eyes on him returns with a force at the sudden compliments, especially as Jinri and Jongin join in.

Eventually, Kyungsoo stands with stretch explaining that he's got work tomorrow before class. He's been putting in more and more hours since the summer because he's saving for something, and with the extra work, he's been spending the remainder of his free time studying so that he doesn't fall behind in his classes. Kyungsoo's stretch is the signal for him, the girls, and Jongin to get ready. The older boys will stay behind for a bit longer eating and drinking for a while longer before heading back to their apartment. Sehun and the others will be catching a ride back with Kyungsoo so that they don't have to wait for the next bus.

Jinri claims the passenger seat before they even leave the restaurant, Sehun gets the seat behind Kyungsoo, Soojung gets the seat behind Jinri and Jongin is stuck in the middle. The car ride is silent, the late evening and the alcohol catching up with them, that aside from the late-night easy listening radio the only thing puncturing the silence is exhausted yawns.

The boys are dropped off first at the very end of the street. Kyungsoo and the girls say goodnight before driving off and Sehun and Jongin wave at the car, waiting till it gets out of sight before making the small trek the rest of the way home.  The air is warm but humid and the thick clouds blocking the moon hints at overnight rainfall.

"I wish you had taken the test with us," Jongin suddenly says, breaking the silence of their walk. Sehun frowns a little, turning his head to look at Jongin and then looking forward again.

"If you wanted me to give you the answers, I'm sure we could have planned a way around me not taking the test," Sehun teases, laughing a little when Jongin pushes gently against him in protest.

"Not that," Jongin whines. "It would have been nice taking the test together. Starting university together."

They talk about this often, what they will do after high school. Soojung and Jinri joke about the four of them living together. It always sounds nice until the prospect of someone's mother coming around unannounced is brought up. Soojung says that it'll be like a television show she once saw one late night in a hotel room in America. In reality, Soojung and Jinri will move into together, they've already started the apartment-hunting process and Jongin gives a lazy little shrug when he talks about his future living arrangements. The girls want him to choose an apartment in the same complex so they can be nearby.

"You'll get a headstart," Sehun says, "but I like it like that. You've had a 19-year headstart here and still managed to make space for me."

Jongin's looking at him so Sehun stops in his tracks because it feels like the right thing to do. They are two houses away and Sehun wishes they were farther. For the first time in his life, he regrets not the bus. With the sky cloudy the street is darker than usual despite the sparse streetlamps lighting the path, and Sehun doesn't know if he wishes it was darker or brighter. He wonders what he'll see if he turns towards Jongin again. He fears it, so he doesn't. Instead, Sehun clears his throat, the noise breaking through the heavy silence that surrounded them. He places his hands in his jacket pocket and stares straight ahead at their bench.

"Do you want to sleepover at my place," Jongin asks him. Sehun hasn't slept at Jongin's house since his birthday. He had fled that next morning, after being unable to fall asleep. Leaving while Jongin was still unconscious, pretending it was because he needed to get ready for school and not spend an hour sitting on his bedroom floor back against his bed and facing away from his window regretting every action and decision leading up to that point.

The question this time is so much heavier than any other time. This time it was after Sehun's late-night confession after he'd laid his truth bare. Jongin had to have put two and two together by now if he had not done so even before Sehun came out. Jongin knew now without a doubt that Sehun was gay, so he must know that the kiss they shared all those months ago was because Sehun couldn't help himself, because Sehun had feelings for him. Maybe Jongin isn't gay, maybe Jongin doesn't really like him, maybe he's just curious. Regardless Sehun can't really find it in himself to say no, so he swallows down his inhibitions, blames it on the two glasses of beer at dinner, and agrees.

We have one more chapter before we end this journey and I'm so excited, I love everything about writing this fanfic but I can't wait to give you guys a proper ending after joining me on this adventure. This chapter pretty much writes itself which is why I was able to update in under a month and I hope the next chapter comes as easy to me. I'm doing it on AO3 and maybe also here, but when this ends I'm going to do a behind-the-scenes on this stohary and a sneakpeek into the next.