Kris couldn´t remember why he had chosen Korea, of all places, to study. He supposed he wanted to experience something new, something that was entirely his own.

Back then, he was a youngster with rich parents and an only child at that. Kris loved his parents dearly, but they tended to be overprotective.
When Kris had announced he wanted to study abroad, they had immediately made plans to send him to his grandparents in China where he would be safe and around family.

Kris, in a spur of the moment decision, had chosen to go to Korea instead. He had regretted it after a few weeks, homesick and alone in a country that didn´t share a language with him, but he was determined to make it. He was a quick learner, and he picked up Korean rapidly.

Besides, he had gotten distracted very early into the semester. Close to campus was a coffee shop, and the coffee shop employed the cutest barista Kris had ever seen.

Normally, Kris wouldn´t be hesitant to ask the person out. He was good-looking, not to mention far from poor, but there was one major problem.
The object of his affection was a boy. A tiny, sweater-wearing, very cute boy.

He knew that gay relationships were a sore topic here, or at least more so than in his home country. Kris didn´t want to face discrimination so early into his academic career, but with every day, the boy became cuter and Kris´s resolve was crumbling.

Damn it. He could study in Canada if this went wrong very badly.

“Hi”, Kris said, giving the boy his brightest smile. Junmyeon, his nametag said. How adorable.
“Hello”, Junmyeon said. He was smiling as well and his eyes crinkled when he did. Kris was melting. “What can I do for you?”

“A Latte Macchiato”, Kris said, “and your number, maybe?”

Junmyeon, who had been in the motion of preparing his drink, froze.
“E-excuse me?”, he stuttered, a blush present on his cheeks.
“Your number”, Kris repeated, “can I take you out for dinner sometime?”

“O-oh”, Junmyeon said, looking around. Kris had picked a rainy Monday morning to confess; no one else was around to witness his confession.

“I-i…”

Junmyeon looked a bit helpless.
“You can say no”, Kris offered. It would kind of break his heart if he did, but Junmyeon looked so taken aback Kris was taking pity on him.

“D-dinner?”, Junmyeon said, “like, as friends?”
Kris raised an eyebrow. “No.”
Junmyeon´s blush became worse. “Oh.”

He fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “Okay?”

Kris felt the smile on his face return. “Okay?”
Junmyeon nodded. “Okay.”

A few minutes later, Kris received his drink, a number sprawled across the paper cup in shaky handwriting. He winked at Junmyeon before he left, earning a quiet shriek from the boy.

Adorable.

Everything about Junmyeon was adorable.

In the course of the next few months, Kris learned that Junmyeon was an extremely friendly person. He wanted to be an Elementary School teacher because he loved children so much, his favourite colour was light blue, and he tasted like strawberries when Kris kissed him.

Junmyeon also told him how Kris was the first person to ever ask him out, boy or girl, and that Junmyeon´s parents would throw a fit if they ever found out.

Kris was sad he couldn´t show how much he liked Junmyeon in public, but he understood. He didn´t want to put Junmyeon into any danger.

They dated for almost two years before Junmyeon agreed to move in with him. In the eyes of Junmyeon´s parents, they became roommates, but behind closed doors, they lived like any couple would.

Kris graduated, moved onto his Master´s degree, and everything was fine. He was unsure of his future with Junmyeon in a country like Korea, but he knew he wasn´t willing to give Junmyeon up no matter how much his parents begged for Kris to come home.

Somewhere along the lines, Kris had fallen in love with his coffee shop boy and now there was no getting out of it.

Yet, he was fine. As fine as he could be, at least, until the day where he received that fateful phone call.
Junmyeon was away to visit his parents and Kris had settled down with a glass of wine and pizza, aimlessly scrolling through the newest Kpop releases, when his phone went off.

He frowned when he saw Junmyeon´s number and pressed the green button.
“Hello?”
“Kris?”, Junmyeon´s voice replied. He sounded like he was crying and Kris sat up straight.

“Baby? Are you okay? Where are you?”
“At my parents´”, Junmyeon said, “can you come and get me? They found out, Kris. They told me to leave.”

That night would remain a hazy memory for Kris forever. By that time, he had been with Junmyeon for close to four years, and accepted that this was it. This was the love of his life and he was crying and sobbing in his arms in front of his parents´ apartment block.

“They told me to never come back again”, Junmyeon hiccupped against his throat, “they told me I´m not their son anymore.”

Kris´s heart was breaking for Junmyeon, but there was nothing he could do.

He took the other back to their shared apartment, dried his tears and tucked him into bed. It was only a few days later that Junmyeon finally found the strength to talk about it.

“They wanted me to marry this girl”, Junmyeon said, “the daughter of my father´s friend. I refused and my father suddenly became angry. ´It´s because you´re one of those, isn´t it?` he asked me, ´you´re gay´. I was frozen, I didn´t know how to react. For him, it was either admitting to being gay or marrying that girl and before I knew what I was doing, I said I´m…gay”, Junmyeon said, “he didn´t even look at me, Kris. He just told me to get out. Mum didn´t say anything, she just cried.”

Kris hoped Junmyeon´s parents would come around after a while, but they didn´t. Junmyeon finished school, paid for with Kris´s money, and there was no contact, nothing.

In the end, Kris brought up leaving.
“I can´t leave Korea, Kris”, Junmyeon told him with teary eyes, “it´s my home and I love it here. I grew up here. Everything I know is here.”

“Myeonnie”, Kris said seriously, “you´re gay. Do you really think you can be happy here?”
“Countries can change”, Junmyeon said, “and what kind of person would I be if I wasn´t here to see it?”

However, Junmyeon soon had to face many other forms of discrimination. None of the schools close to their apartment would hire him because his father had told pretty much everyone he knew how much of a disgrace his son was.

Kris couldn´t even count how many nights he held Junmyeon while he cried. At some point, he couldn´t take it anymore.

“Come with me to Canada”, he said, almost begged, “let us leave. There is no future for us here.”

Not much later, Junmyeon was with him on a plane to Canada.
“And your parents won´t mind?”, he asked again.
“They´ll love you”, Kris assured him, “they know about you, they´ve known about you since the beginning, and they don´t mind.”

A year later, Kris and Junmyeon were married and had their own house. Junmyeon cou