Jung Ewon

The week after Taecyeon came out was like living a dream. Most of the time it felt like a beautiful one that I didn't want to wake from, such as getting to know each other's families. Then there were a few dark spots that felt a little nightmarish, like the hateful voicemail message Taecyeon received from his father or being stalked by the media. As frustrating as those moments were, the good times outnumbered them by a landslide. Taecyeon didn't seem to be too upset about his dad's message and no gauntlet of 

story hungry reporters were going to darken my days and keep me away from my love.

The chaos outside Ringside Magazine headquarters was more than my editor, Siwon, wanted to deal with daily, so he asked me to work from home until the circus died down. He figured they'd get tired of waiting for a guy who never showed up and would move on. Now, Siwon didn't tell me I had to work from my home, so I worked from Taecyeon's.

Taecyeon went off to train daily and Caesar and I worked poolside. It was the kind of life I always dreamed of - I was referring to sharing a life with the other half of my soul, not the luxurious surroundings part. So maybe I did take a midday swim with Caesar every now and then, but I gave as good as I got. I prepared healthy meals for my man every night and pampered his tired body with my hands and lips. The truth was, I would've lived in a tent to be with Taecyeon if I could pick up a Wi-Fi signal so I could work. Hey, he wasn't the only one who loved his career.

I was blown away by the amount of support we received on both the online story and the interview that went into print all around the world. It was hard for me to imagine, but there was most likely a copy of that magazine in nearly every doctor and dentist office throughout the continental U.S., Asia, and even Europe. It was doubtful people knew that I interviewed Taecyeon buck and there was a lot of heavy petting and going on, but that was okay because people didn't need to know everything. Taecyeon had answered many interview questions for me that day, but two of his answers stood out the sharpest and would be words I'd hold onto for the rest of my days. 

When was the first time you realized that it was okay to be gay?                                                          Honestly? It was when I met you for our first interview. You were this confident, sassy man who wasn't afraid for the world to know that he was attracted to other men. I thought to myself that I might never be as brave as you, but I at least recognized that it wasn't wrong for me to feel the way that I did.

What made you decide to come out?                                                                                                         I could never  be the man you needed me to be living in the shadows. I hurt you and subjected Yeeun to a lot of negative press with my publicity stunt. There isn't a title belt I could earn that would mean more to me than you do.

I was sure there were fighters who read the article and rolled their eyes or gagged on the sweetness of his words, but they were true and spoken from the heart. Let them underestimate his prowess in the ring since he came out as gay. It would be a lesson they'd never forget, that much I was sure of. Surprisingly, there were no fighters who came out and publicly took a stand against him. I wasn't sure if it was because word came down from the top that disrespecting him wouldn't be tolerated or if the men just wanted to avoid a media storm like the one we were dealing with more than a week after the online article went live.

Fans of the sport, and people on the internet in general, however, didn't show the same restraint as the ETC fighters did. The comments from the fans ranged from being disgusted by his "lifestyle choice" - which pissed me off because being gay wasn't a choice - to supportive and even jealous. The jealous ones cracked me up the most. It turned out, Taecyeon had a large fan base among gay men that he didn't know about. Some of 

them thought we were "awwww, such a cute couple" and others were like "what's he got that I don't?". In the beginning, I often wondered what the hell Taecyeon saw in me that made him want to turn his world upside down, and that was before he came out. My favorite commenter by far was the one who said I was "hot, but what the was up with my loafers?". It was Taecyeon's favorite too.

"I love having you here, Ewon." Taecyeon said one night when we were making out in his hot tub "Is there any possible way you could move here and still work for Ringside?" his question stunned me so much that I only stared at him for several long moments "Forget it, baby. I know it's too soon and it's not fair to..."

"I'll talk to Siwon tomorrow." I told him excitedly "Other reporters do it, so I don't know why I can't. Hell, I can do conference calls for meetings and it's not that big of a deal if I have to travel to Seoul once in a while. It's no different than any other kind of traveling I have to do." I set my glass of wine down and straddled Taecyeon's lap, completely unsurprised to find how hard his was. My baby was a fighter and a lover. "Are you sure you're ready for this, Taec?"

"Ewon, I'm only happy when you're by my side. I would move to Seoul if I could, but Vegas is the mecca of ETC fighting. I'd have to ask Jinyoung and his family to relocate or find a new trainer. I would do that if it was the only way to be by your side, but..."

"I'd never ask that. Either Siwon approves of the change or I'll find another job." I told him. 

"It's that simple for you?" he asked.

"Yes." I nodded "It's precisely that simple for me."

I talked to Siwon the following day, and as I suspected, he had no problem with me working from home - my new home in Vegas. I began making plans to move immediately. Step one was to break it to my family and friends and step two was to put my house on the market. My announcement shocked no one and listing my house turned out to be easier than I imagined. My neighborhood was an up and coming one for families with kids and the realtor thought I'd sell it quickly and for a hellacious profit.

Taecyeon and I were in Seoul the following weekend, sorting through my things to see what I wanted to move to his house and what I wanted to sell or give to charity. As much as I had grown to love Taecyeon's house, I thought he could use the warmth that my furniture would bring.

It was a good ing thing we were in Seoul and not Vegas when Taecyeon found out what Junho had done behind his back. We thought going public with our relationship would be the end of Junho and his need to humiliate Taecyeon, but we were terribly wrong.

"Holy !" Jokwon said as soon as I answered his call late Saturday night "Taecyeon must be ing furious."

I looked over at my guy who was standing at the refrigerator as the day he was born, looking for something healthy to nosh on "Nope. He's definitely not furious. I'm curious as to why you'd think so."

"Haven't you seen the latest article on The Daily Spew?" he asked.

"Why the hell would I read that and why are you? They make Dirty Laundry Magazine look like child's play." I told Jokwon.

"Okay, you found out about my dirty little secret. I like to read gossip and , but man, I hate to be the one to break this news to you guys." Jokwon said hesitantly.

"Wait a sec." I told him "Babe." I called over my shoulder to Taecyeon "Jokwon stumbled across something on The Daily Spew that he thinks we should know about." Taecyeon came over with a scowl on his face and I hit the button to put Jokwon on speaker.

"What's up, Jo?" Taecyeon asked. He smiled when he saw the way his no nonsense voice affected me.

"Hey, Taec." Jokwon said timidly "Damn, I hate that you're hearing this from me, but I guess it's better coming from a friend." he took a deep breath, then blew our world apart when he said "Your former manager, Junho, told The Daily Spew that you weren't as squeaky clean as you'd like people to believe. He told them that, prior to meeting Ewon, he and your coach provided you with gay escorts after every fight. He even got a few of the escorts to share their story, but the magazine graciously used fake names to protect their privacy. It's pretty steamy and damaging stuff." Jokwon said softly. 

Taecyeon looked like he was going to be sick and my head went into spin mode so we could turn this around to our advantage somehow. In order to do that, I had to know what was being said, even if I really didn't want to hear the play-by-play account of some of the escorts. I thanked Jokwon and hung up the phone.

"Don't, baby." Taecyeon pleaded with me "I don't want you to read those things, Ewon. I'm not at all proud of who I was until I met you."

"Then that's what you tell people. First, you need to read if the things they said were true. If not, you could sue Junho for defamation of character or something else."

"Baby, he broke his Non-Disclosure Agreement, so his is mine...figuratively mind you." he said when I scowled at him "I'll let Jinyoung know right away. Damn, I need a new publicist in the worst way. I have to make that a priority." Taecyeon said.

"There are several PR agencies in Seoul." I told him "Maybe you need to find someone outside your normal circle going forward. You don't really need them in your face 24/7, so having one based in Vegas isn't really a necessity, you just need them to act in your best interest."

"True." Taecyeon took a deep breath and pulled the website up on his tablet and we read it together.

"He liked it when I called him Champ." Christopher said. "It really revved him up and kept him inh for hours."

"He was a ing machine." Nicholas added. "I was sorry to hear he was off the market."

The interviewer went out of his way to try and get Junho to admit that Taecyeon didn't just have with the escorts in Vegas where it was legal, but also in other states where it wasn't. It could've been his self-preservation in full swing, but the dirty bastard refused to admit anything of the sort. He was quoted as saying "No, no. services were only purchased through legally licensed companies and never outside of Vegas. No laws were ever broken." when asked why he was outing his former client, Junho said "He's out there pretending to be this upstanding guy who wants to help teens accept who they are and to give them hope for a bright future where they'll be accepted. That's not who Ok Taecyeon really is, though. He's a user, a man who purchases the services of escorts and only walks tall and proud when he thinks he's going to lose the tight he wants to plow."

"Whoa." I said out loud. First, I was angry on behalf of Taecyeon because he really did want to give encouragement to teens who thought there was no hope for a happy life. He wanted to be a beacon for kids like himself and Junho's comments really made me angry. Then there was the comment about me, as if he still had no clue about how in love we were with one another. I said nothing about either of those things though, because I honestly didn't think anything I had to say would make Taecyeon feel any better "Sooo, you want me to start calling you Champ when we ?" I asked instead.

"Ewon." Taecyeon said, his voice was equal parts horror and humor. 

"Babe, there's nothing really that damaging in that stupid article. The whole world now knows that you're a ing machine and I'll once again have to read comments about how you're wasting your time with a guy like me, but I'm tough enough to take it." I meant every word I said to him, too "Taec, if you aren't proud of the fact that you used escorts, then that's what you tell people. If you feel like you owe people an apology for letting them down, then you can say that too. If you don't want to say anything at all, then that's the road you choose. Know this." I reached for his hand and tugged him closer "I'll be by your side every step of the way. Do you hear me? This changes nothing between us. Except that I know to call you Champ now when we ." I just couldn't resist adding that in.

"Ewon, I don't even know what to say to you right now." he stood up and paced in front of my coffee table "How can you even love me? I'm a guy who kept you hidden, broke your heart, and now I've embarrassed you in front of your family and friends."

"How have you embarrassed me?" I wasn't following.

"My past deeds impact how people see me, which extends to you by default." Taecyeon said "Your mom, sisters, your coworkers, and your friends are reading this and wondering why you're wasting your time on a loser like me."

"Taec, you're the furthest thing from a loser I know." I said "I think you're a winner and not just in the ing octagon, either. Throw out everything we know about you as a fighter and let's talk about Taecyeon the man - the one I'm head over heels in love with." I rose from the couch and walked to him "You are a man who speaks the truth from your heart. You are a man who had been raised to hate who he was, but rose above it. So many kids give up on themselves and life before they even have a chance to experience it. Not you, because you're a fighter to the very marrow of your bones." I linked my fingers through his "If anyone asks why I'm with you, I'm going to tell them that those are just a few of the reasons why I'm blessed to be the one you love."

"Damn, baby." Taecyeon whispered, lowering his forehead to mine "I crazy love you."

"I crazy love you right back." I lifted my chin and presented my lips for a kiss "Now, let's fire up your camp and start working on a response or a ' you', whichever you want, and then make plans to sue the hell out of Junho so he can't do this to someone else."

"Sounds like a plan." Taecyeon told me.

"Then you can me into the wee hours of the morning...Champ."

Taecyeon was quick, but for once I was quicker. I darted away from him but didn't run too fast or too far because I liked it when he caught me. Calling Jinyoung and the gang ended up waiting until the next morning.