Warning: violence, abusive relationship. Nothing too graphic but we'll look a little further into Jinwook's relationship with Choi Suwon, so just a little heads up.

“How was dinner with your Mom yesterday? I was already asleep when you got back”, Jinwook questioned the next morning while making coffee. Kogyeol sighed and slumped down on one of the chairs, after he'd just finished taking a shower.

“Choi Suwon was there”, he said. Jinwook visibly tensed up. “I didn’t stay very long. He was pushing his luck and I promised you not to murder him...”, Kogyeol continued.

Jinwook sat down across from him while setting down one of the coffee mugs in front of his boyfriend. “You know, I really want my Mom to be happy but...I don’t know if I can sit through an entire wedding with Choi Suwon in the same room. And I don’t want to put you through it, either...”

Jinwook didn’t answer, instead he just took a sip from his coffee. “I should talk to her...my Mom, I mean...”, Kogyeol continued. “And tell her what?” Jinwook questioned. “I don’t know...maybe that I just don’t get along with Choi Suwon and-”

“Please, don’t...”, the older interrupted him. “Your Mom deserves to be happy. And even if Choi Suwon is not the best stepson, you shouldn’t disapprove of the wedding only because you know what he did to me. It would break her heart”, he explained.

Kogyeol took his hand across the table. “What am I supposed to do? I can barely stand a dinner with him and I probably have to see him more often from now on...and my Mom wants you to come along next time...I don‘t want you to be closer to him than you have to be”, he said to Jinwook who was staring into his mug.

A silence followed. Jinwook pulled his hand from Kogyeol’s grip and took a deep breath. “I...spoke to Wooseok yesterday...after you left”, he admitted. Kogyeol furrowed his brows. “Okay?” He wasn’t quite sure where Jinwook was going with that. The older took some time before he continued.

“I told him that I didn’t want to be the reason for your new family not to work out...”, he finally said. Kogyeol looked even more confused. “Why would you think that?” he asked. “Because...you’re right. I’m not okay. I’m less than okay...but if I had told you that from the start you would have ripped Choi Suwon’s head off. I repressed my feelings after the whole incident. Not even Wooseok knows everything that happened between me and Suwon. I shouldn’t have bottled it up but I did and seeing him yesterday made me realize that I never really got over it. I just thought I did because I never talked about it...”, Jinwook said.

Kogyeol got up and went around the table to crouch down next to Jinwook's chair. “Then talk to me. I want to help you...”, he said, his tone full of worry. 

“I can only tell you everything from beginning to end if you promise me not to freak out and beat up Choi Suwon. I need to be able to trust you with this”, Jinwook said shakily. Kogyeol nodded firmly. He would do anything in his power to help Jinwook get over the situation. If it meant not murdering Choi Suwon, he would accept that.

Jinwook rose from his chair and walked over to the bed. Kogyeol followed and they both took a seat, cross-legged. Jinwook took another deep breath. He knew he should have done this before. Talking about it was the only way to cope with it. Even if it meant re-living it for a short span of time. He trusted Kogyeol more than anyone in the world and he knew that he was the only one who could help him through this.

“Okay, as I told you before...”, Jinwook began. “He was very possessive after we got together. He would demand for us to spend time together all the time and every time I declined he got super angry. He’d say stuff like ‘I didn’t know your friends mattered more to you than I do’. He’d literally guilt trip me into going on dates with him. I began to stop telling him when I was meeting up with friends because he would always tell me to do something with him instead. I didn’t want the others to notice that something was weird, so I tried to make as much time for them as possible. I felt watched sometimes...like he was stalking me, but I never saw him when I was out with my friends...he’d often message me to ask where I was.”

Jinwook paused for a second but Kogyeol didn’t say anything. He would let Jinwook do this at his own pace and on his own terms. “He would always say I was his and that I was the center of his universe and everything...it was...burdensome. Even though he said that he loved me, I didn’t feel loved...and when I once told him that he said that he’s only this “observant” because he loves me. There were several times when I suggested to spend a few days apart but he insisted on seeing me at least once every single day. I tried to slowly distance myself from him but he wouldn’t let it happen”, he said.

Kogyeol reached for his hands when he realized how they had started shaking again. “All of a sudden he was everywhere. I felt trapped...and it took me so long to finally muster the courage to straight up break up with him. After I saw how badly he’d beaten up my classmate I was a bit hesitant but I thought, come on, he wouldn’t do that to me, would he? Turns out, I was wrong...”, Jinwook continued.

“I called him to my room one afternoon. It was right before the semester holidays and he had already made plans for us to stay at his beach house in Busan. I told him I wasn’t coming and he asked me what I meant...I told him that I couldn’t be with him anymore, that I gave it lots of thought and that I came to the conclusion that we just don’t work out...”

-Flashback-

“What?” Suwon questioned. Jinwook had his arms crossed over his chest defensively. “Don’t make me say it again, Choi Suwon. I want to break up!” he said, sounding more confident than he actually felt. The taller male’s face darkened as he took two steps closer towards Jinwook. “You don’t mean that!” he said in a low voice. Jinwook looked at the floor. “I do...I mean it and I think it’s best if you leave now. I’m meeting with a friend in a while”, he said.

Choi Suwon came even closer. “Why are you being like this all of a sudden? Don’t you know how much I love you?” he asked. Jinwook looked back at him. “I told you before that it doesn’t feel like it! You don’t treat me like I’m your equal, you treat me like I’m your property!” he snapped, driven by new-found courage. Suwon’s eyes had a dangerous glint in them as he reached up to caress Jinwook’s face.

“You are my property. You can’t break up with me. I say when it’s over!” Jinwook was scared of him; the way he spoke and the look he regarded him with. It was scary. But he knew he would never get out of this relationship if he didn’t stand his ground now. “This is where you’re wrong, Choi Suwon. I am done with you. I’m not your puppy”, he said. The older leaned in and tried to press a forceful kiss on Jinwook’s lips in an attempt to shut him up amd change his mind but Jinwook pushed him off.

Next thing he knew was a throbbing pain erupting right above his left eyebrow. He held the side of his head and stared at Choi Suwon’s hand that had just punched him. He could feel blood running over his cheek from where the ring on the other’s finger had collided with Jinwook’s head.

“You better come to your senses!” Suwon warned. Jinwook’s head throbbed but he wouldn’t back down. It was the first time the older had hit him but it wouldn’t be the last if he didn't end this right now.

“Go to hell”, he said as calmly as possible, lunging forward to attack Suwon but the older was faster. He placed another punch in Jinwook’s face that caused him to fall over. Before he knew it Choi Suwon was on top of him throwing punch after punch after punch at his face.

Jinwook’s mind became hazier and he felt as if his skull was being smashed into tiny pieces. Finally, after what seemed like an hour Suwon got up and looked down at Jinwook.

“You just made a mistake. Nobody’s ever going to love you like I did!” he said before placing one solid kick to Jinwook’s stomach and storming off, leaving him there on the floor. He wanted to cry but he couldn’t. He wanted to get up but his body wasn’t responding. After a few minutes everything went black.

-Flashback end-

“The next thing I remember is waking up at the hospital with Wooseok sitting next to the bed. He asked me if I was mugged and if he should call Suwon, but I begged him not to. I could barely utter a word, but I told him that he was the one who put me there. I made him promise not to tell the others any details, just maybe that I don’t want to see him again. He told the others and some of them went to threaten Suwon to leave me alone, which, thankfully, he did...”, Jinwook closed his story.

Kogyeol had known some of it but hearing it in detail made it a complete new experience. He scooted closer to Jinwook and wrapped his arms around the older, pulling him close. “I’m sorry you had to go through this...”, he said into the crook of his neck. “I just wish I would have had the balls to talk about it sooner...I let him get away with it...”, Jinwook answered.

He pulled back. Surprisingly, he wasn’t crying like he thought he would. He still felt sick to his stomach just thinking about Suwon’s face, but letting it all out felt like a heavy weight being lifted from his chest. He looked at Kogyeol and smiled a small smile.

“Thank you”, he said. “For what?” Kogyeol questioned, confused by Jinwook’s sudden display of gratitude. “Just for listening and being here. You’re the only person I could ever tell the whole story to...I just...I love you”, he said. Kogyeol caressed his cheek softly. “I love you, too”, he answered. “And I promise you that I’ll never let him put his hands on you again.”