Chansung

The next two weeks dragged by at a snail's pace. Chansung only got to see Junho on the mornings when he dropped Jay off at school. His parents picked Jay up in the afternoon with the exception of when it was Jea's time with Jay.

Now that the custody battle was in full-swing, she was picking Jay up when she was scheduled to see him. It wasn't like before when she'd call twenty minutes before the school day ended asking Chansung to keep Jay for the night. 

He missed that extra time with his son, especially now that it was possible he was going to lose all contact with the boy. Last night around midnight, Chansung had come up with an idea that would allow him to see Jay and possibly end the custody fight once and for all. If he moved to Connecticut, he'd be able to see Jay all the time. Plus he'd be calling Jea's bluff in the process.

With a little online research he found out there were twelve public libraries in the Greenwich, Connecticut area. He should have no trouble finding a job at one of them and even if he didn't, he'd get a job flipping burgers at McDonald's.

He'd kept the idea turning in his head all day at work. Pulling into his parents' driveway, he stared at the house he'd grown up in. The small Cape-Cod style house had been painted navy blue since his parents had bought the house in early 1980's.

This was the house where he'd celebrated every Christmas and every birthday of his life. He'd been broken-hearted here and won the state baseball championship here. It was also the place he'd told his parents they were about to become grandparents and the place Jay saw as a second home.

If he were able to see his son all the time, he could live with only coming back to his parents' house occasionally. He was sure he'd be back for holidays and maybe some vacation time, if his new library gave vacation time to new employees. Town budgets were notoriously tight and there wasn't always room in it for newbie vacation time. 

He stood in the driveway staring up at his bedroom window, remembering the times that Jea would toss pebbles at the glass on hot summer nights while they were still in high school. Shaking his head, he huddled into his coat and headed for the front door "Mom? It's me!"

"Your mother's not here, son. She took Jay to the grocery store with her. It's just me." Hwang Kwanghee shuffled into the kitchen wearing jeans and a faded flannel shirt that had obviously seen better days.

"Hey, Dad." growing up, his father had been the type of guy who was more comfortable saying nothing rather than getting into lengthy discussions about feelings. If Chansung needed help in Calculus, his father was the person to go to. Everything else fell into his mother's wheelhouse.

"Come here, Chansung." Kwanghee pulled his son into his arms and held on tight "We're gonna figure a way out of this mess and keep that away from my grandson." his father promised with a vehemence in his voice that Chansung had never heard before.

"Dad, I don't know if we can win this. Courts almost never rule against biological mothers in favor of fathers. With Jea getting remarried that gives her an even bigger advantage because now she'll have a husband, another father for Jay. What judge is going to rule in my favor?"

Kwanghee pulled back from his son, steering him toward the dining room table "Any judge with an ounce of common sense is going to see how much you love Jaebeom and that this custody fight is just a cheap shot on Jea's part before she moves on with her new life."

"Maybe, Dad, but it goes beyond me being a good parent. If I get a judge who doesn't think gay men should be fathers then I'm sunk. Jea will get full custody and she'll be able to determine when or if I see Jay."

"Don't think like that, Chansung. You said yourself that this hot shot attorney is working real hard to keep you and Jaebeom together."

"He can work as hard as he wants, but at the end of the day, the decision is in someone else's hands. That's why I've decided to move to Connecticut."

"Move to Connecticut? What are you talking about? This is your home."

The thought of leaving Seoul and Junho behind was killing him, but this was the only way he could think to keep his family together "I know it is Dad, but I can't lose Jay. If I move with Jea then maybe the judge would keep our joint custody arrangement in effect."

"We can't lose Jaebeom either. Sometimes I think that little ball of sunshine is what keeps your mother and me so young. If we didn't have that boy to chase after what would happen to us?"

Chansung slumped down in his chair. He really hadn't stopped to consider how his move would affect his parents. Being an only child, he and Jay were all they had. Was his dad right? Was Jay responsible for keeping his parents feeling so young? Would they wither here like hot-house flower in a blizzard if he and Jay left Seoul?

Come to think of it, he hadn't stopped to consider Junho either. Seoul was his home. His parents were here, so was a job that he loved and best friends who had extended their circle to include him.

With as crazy as things had been, Chansung hadn't even told Junho that Jongup was taking his case for a huge fee discount. He had a feeling part of it was the Little Wonder Clover family discount, but the rest was Jongup wanting to kick Jea's homophobic .

"Dad, no. I never stopped to consider how you and Mom would take the idea of me leaving. I never even stopped to think how this would affect Junho." Chansung buried his head in his hands.

"You love that boy a lot, don't you?" Kwanghee wore an amused smile.

"I do, Dad, and he loves me too."

Kwanghee nodded "I see that every time we pick up Jaebeom from his class. It's also pretty obvious Junho-ssi is crazy about Jaebeom."

"We all know that feeling is mutual. All Jay does is talk about Lee-sunsengnim." Chansung picked his head up "I was so close, Dad. Junho and I were getting serious. We were both going to tell him that Sunday night after I went to see Kim Jongup that we were a couple and Junho was going to be in his life forever. Then the next thing I know, my life is crashing down in pieces around me."

Kwanghee cocked an eyebrow at his son "Your mother and I never raised you to be an ostrich who sticks his head in the sand at the first sign of tough times. Listen to what your lawyer is telling you and find a way to fight back."

Chansung nodded his head. Jea had been pure poison in his life for the last six years. It was time he stood up to her. She wasn't going to take the love of his life and his son away from him without a fight.

Junho

Junho was sitting at his kitchen table going over his lesson plans for the next week. With Halloween quickly approaching, he needed to figure out how he wanted to celebrate with his students. Maybe they'd make scary paper masks like he'd seen on Pinterest. Or, maybe they could make homemade Trick or Treat bags. He'd seen those cute designs on Pinterest too.

He shook his head. Pinterest was one of those places he could get lost in and not realize hours had passed while he looked at class project ideas. Standing up from the table, he stretched his muscles and headed to the cabinet for a mug. What he needed right now was a cup of tea.

Actually what he really needed was a shot of Chansung, straight up. Junho had no idea how he'd managed to make it through the last two weeks without touching his lover. He and Chansung spent so much time rubbing the back of their necks, their agreed upon sign meaning I love you, that he was surprised neither of them had bald spots.

Holding the mug under the tap, Junho jumped a mile when his doorbell rang. He wasn't expecting any company and Minjun and Ewon had stopped babying him and were only stopping by on every other day now, instead of every day.  They had both stopped by earlier in the day.

Setting down the mug, he headed toward the front door, wishing Chansung were on the other side of it "Probably just the pizza guy delivering to the wrong house." throwing open the door, Junho was shocked to see Chansung standing on his doorstep.

"Surprise!" Chansung was all smiles.

"What are you doing here?"

"Taking back control of my life." Chansung wore a determined look on his tired face.

"I don't understand. Come inside before someone sees you." Junho ushered him into the house, wanting nothing more than to get his hands on his lover.

Once the door was shut behind them, Chansung swept Junho up in his arms "I missed you so much." Chansung held him tighter. 

It was like a dream come true for Junho. If Chansung weren't practically squeezing the breath out of him, he'd think this was actually a dream "Chansung, how?"

"I thought the answer to my problem was to move to Connecticut with Jea and Jay. That way I could see him all the time."

Junho felt gut-kicked again. He moved to pull away, but Chansung's strong arms stopped him "I figured you could move too and then we could all be together as one happy family."

"Oh, so you're just gonna uproot me from my family, my friends and my job without consulting me first?" Junho wiggled again, trying to break free from Chansung's arms.

"Stop trying to escape and just hear me out." Chansung pecked Junho's lips but pulled quickly back.

"Okay, I'm listening, but don't think I'm not gonna have my own two twenty won to contribute later on."

"I'm counting on your contribution." Chansung waggled his eyebrows suggestively "Anyway, I went to see my mom tonight to run this idea by her, but she was out. My dad was home and he didn't react quite the way I expected him to."

"What do you mean?" 

"My father is a man of very few words and let me tell you, he had some chosen ones for me over the idea of giving up the fight and heading to another country with Jay. I never really understood how much Jay means to them until my father laid it all out for me. My dad thinks Jay keeps them young."

Junho nodded "I believe it. You know what it's like trying to keep up with Jay all day. Either you match his energy level or he leaves you in the dust. Your dad's perspective makes perfect sense to me."

"You're right. My dad's anger at me wanting to move made me think of you. Not only would I be leaving my parents behind, but I'd be leaving you too, which is of course when I got the crazy idea for you to come with me."

"You think it would be that easy for us to just pick up stakes and move? Oh and both find new jobs?" Junho shook his head. He liked the idea of Chansung trying to find a way to keep them together, but on the other hand, it was a pretty y plan.

"I know, pretty ballsy of me, huh?" not bothering to wait for an answer, Chansung pressed a kiss to Junho's lips "It also struck me that we wouldn't be free in Connecticut either."

"What do you mean?" Junho was having a hard time following along. One minute Chansung was telling a very disjointed story and the next his lover was kissing him. 

"If I don't stand up to Jea and fight, then I'm giving her permission to me over until Jay is eighteen and possibly longer if she manages to brainwash him against me."

"Okay, now you're starting to make sense. I hate to say it, but I agree with you. I get the feeling she'll dog you until her dying day unless you do something to stop her."

"Come spend the night with me tomorrow night." Chansung kissed Junho, sliding their lips together and holding him tighter.

Junho was in no mood to fight against the tidal wave of feelings crashing through his body. Chansung had gone and changed the subject again seemingly out of the blue, but with their tongues getting reacquainted, he couldn't bring himself to care much.

"Jay is going with his mom this weekend. She's picking him up from school tomorrow.  I'll be all alone in my apartment and you'll be all alone here. We should be alone together."

Junho burst out laughing "You know that makes no sense, right?"

"Just say yes, Junho." Chansung's smile lit up the whole room.

"Yes!" what other answer could Junho possibly give to the love of his life?