“Changkyun-ah,” his older brother, Jooheon, prompts. Changkyun glances up from his book, biting on the inside of his cheek anxiously at sighting his father’s imperious gaze.

“Y-Yes?” he asks, dog-earing the page he’s on and putting it down permanently for the remainder of the meal. Candlelight flickers in the man’s eyes, giving him an even more intimidating aura than before. Changkyun finds himself gulping down the ball of nerves that have clawed its way up his throat as he waits for his father’s answer.

“We have some news concerning your future,” the man goes on to say. This doesn’t do anything to ease his growing unease. Jooheon seems to sense this, as he reaches over under the table to squeeze his brother’s knee reassuringly. Changkyun’s hand immediately comes up to meet his, and clings desperately to the older boy’s fingers for strength. “We’ve decided you’ll marry the second son of the Yoo Corporation after you graduate from high school.”

Changkyun blinks once, then twice. He continues to stare at his father, the emotionless gaze growing quite eerie as the moments tick by.

“Um,” Changkyun mumbles, quite sure he’d misheard, “sorry, Appa. Could you repeat that?”

“You’ve been betrothed to the second son of the Yoo Corporation.”

Changkyun laughs then in utter disbelief. His father has got to be joking… There’s just no way he’s serious. Other than the fact that it sounds absolutely absurd, he’s the fourth son in the line for the Im Group… Of all the sons to choose for something like this, no one would ever expect for it to be him.

He can feel Jooheon’s astonished stare on the back of his head, but he doesn’t dare turn around. His father’s gaze has hardened, and the harsh change makes the high-pitched laughter stick in his throat.

“This isn’t a joke, Changkyun-ah,” his father assures him coldly. “You will marry Yoo Kihyun after you graduate.”

“This is ridiculous,” Changkyun says defiantly, standing from his chair. He doesn’t know what’s gotten into him, but he just can’t stay in the room. His breathing has grown ragged in under a second. His lungs constrict painfully in his body as they fight for air, and adrenaline courses through his veins. He hears Jooheon call after him, but he doesn’t stop.

He’s just got to get out of there.

“Hyung,” Kihyun chuckles airily, shaking his head at his boyfriend. Hoseok looks over with his adorably pure, wide smile. “Come on, we ought to finish this assignment before it gets to be too late.”

“But, Kihyunnie,” Hoseok sighs, reaching over to wrap his arms around Kihyun’s small waist. He pulls the boy into his lap, and holds him close. “We’ve barely had time to spend together lately… The assignment isn’t due until the day after tomorrow. We can just wait ‘till tomorrow to do it.” Kihyun coos at how cute his boyfriend is being.

“You’ve got work tomorrow night,” Kihyun reminds him, “and I’ve got a family meeting. We have to do it tonight if it’s going to get done.”

“Just blow it off,” Hoseok tempts, leaning forward to graze his teeth against Kihyun’s ear lobe as he whispers tantalizingly in his ear. “C’mon, Kihyunnie~ Forget responsibility for one night… Let’s just go see a movie or something.” Kihyun sighs in exasperation, pulling far enough away to stare into the older’s eyes.

“Stop trying to tempt me to the dark side, Shin Hoseok,” he chastises, though his bright smile totally betrays his serious tone. Hoseok chuckles airily, and nuzzles his head against the younger boy’s chest.

“I can’t wait until you’ve graduated,” he sighs, leaning back against the bed behind him and staring wistfully up at the ceiling. “We’ll move in together, you’ll get to take whatever classes you want, and you’ll finally be able to start separating yourself from your family…” Kihyun hums in acknowledgment, his heart singing at just how wonderful that sounds.

He’s never been much for the family business, and he’s always been grateful for being the second-born. He doesn’t have to worry about marrying for money, or dedicating his life to the company. He’s merely the discarded, unnecessary son who’ll only ever be necessary if his older brother, Minhyuk, dies prematurely.

Of course, that’ll never happen, so he has nothing to worry about.

“I love you so much, Kihyunnie,” Hoseok mumbles, his voice thickened with emotion. Kihyun’s heart stops, and he presses his lips together. His mind goes a million miles a second as thinks of how he should respond, what he could possibly say that wouldn’t be wrong… but Hoseok doesn’t seem to expect one. The older merely snuggles against him, leaving Kihyun to wonder if he even had meant to speak in the first place.

God, hyung, Kihyun thinks as he dismounts Hoseok after a moment more of cuddling to get back to work. You wear your heart out on your sleeve more times than not… It’s gonna get you into trouble one day, I just know it.

Changkyun returns to his home a couple hours later. He’d spent the time walking around, just trying to clear his head. He still doesn’t quite believe what his father had told him before, but he knows he ought to get home. He knows his brothers will be worried sick about him, and, not matter how confused he is, he doesn’t want to worry his dear hyungs.

He silently slips his shoes off at the shoe rack and makes his way up the stairs to the room he typically shares with Jooheon. When he opens the door, he’s greeted by the sight of his three glowering brothers waiting for him on the other side.

Hyunwoo and Hyungwon, the older two, are glaring at him with crossed arms. Jooheon is perched on his bed, chewing on his bottom lip anxiously as he glances between their brothers and him. Hyungwon is the first to move, his lanky form gliding around elegantly.

“The hell were you thinking??” he demands, standing and closing the distance between them with a dark light overtaking his eyes. Changkyun flinches at the harsh tone, his irises practically shaking.

“I… I’m s-sorry,” Changkyun mutters, his voice breaking. “I just… I had to leave. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t—” His voice cracks, and he chokes on his own words.

Hyungwon sighs in defeat, and pulls his brother in for a comforting hug. Changkyun clings onto the older boy, breathing in his familiar scent as his long fingers comb through his hair.

Next thing he knows, all his brothers are circling him, wrapping him in their arms. He feels surrounded by their love and support, and for the first time in the past few hours, he finally feels himself relax.