not exactly super pleased with this chapter but thought I should post a little something since I'm flying overseas in a few hours. I haven't really got around to replying but thank you SO MUCH for the comments. I love reading them so keep them coming hehe. enjoy this chapter!

When they greet Hyukjae’s parents at the dining table his dad looks surprised to see Donghae next to him. Hyukjae wishes his dad could have done better at hiding the disappointment in his eyes because at this point it just seemed like he wasn’t even trying.

“Donghae, I didn’t realise you were here,” he says.

A compete 180 from his dad’s less-than-lukewarm welcome to Donghae, Mrs Lee looks pleasantly surprised by his appearance and flashed him a bright smile. “You’re back!”

She shouts for their servant to bring over another set of cutlery, while Mr Lee looks away from Donghae and back down at his food.  

Donghae gives a bashful smile as Hyukjae shifts uncomfortably next to him. “Hi Mr and Mrs Lee.”

“Hyukjae, you could have told us he was coming back today! Then I’d get Mrs Park to cook his favourite dishes,” Mrs Lee comments as she scoops rice onto their plates for them.

They take a seat and Donghae mutters a ‘thank you’ as he takes over both the plates.

“I didn’t expect our first meal to be at home,” Hyukjae responds, reaching over for some kimchi. “Maybe Mrs Park can cook them for him over the next few days, he has until next week anyway.”

Donghae is about to dig in and pray that this meal can be over as soon as it started when Mr Lee asks, “What brings you here today? I didn’t realise you were even in the country.”

Donghae hesitates as he watches Mr Lee’s eyebrow lift in a questioning manner and finds himself scrambling to explain, “I just came back from my mission today.”

Mr Lee doesn’t say a word and Mrs Lee clears in an attempt to break the awkward silence.

“Well, I for one am very glad you’re back safe and sound,” she says with a gentle smile that Donghae has always found to be comforting, but especially so right in this moment. “You must be famished. I’m sorry our Hyukjae dragged you over right after.”

Donghae sends her a grateful smile as he tries very hard not to take any kimchi from the plate Hyukjae has placed between them under Mr Lee’s gaze.

Hyukjae protests a discontented “I didn’t drag him over, he missed me is all” under his breath.

He wills Donghae into looking at him before quirking his eyebrow towards the plate of kimchi.

Hyukjae thinks Donghae looks ridiculously adorable trying to pretend he doesn’t eat out of Hyukjae’s bowl every other day just because his dad is seated right across them. “What, do you want more kimchi?” He can’t fight the smile that’s threatening to spill across his face, so he doesn’t.

Donghae thinks he himself is ing stupid for being shy over a plate of kimchi. Of all the things he could have been shy about, how come it’s over goddamn kimchi?

“No no, that’s fine. Thanks,” he mutters as he picks slices of kimchi into his own bowl, internally cursing at himself. Get over it, get over it, it’s just kimchi.

Hyukjae smiles because he thinks he must have saved the world in his past life. How else could he have scored the cutest boyfriend in the whole wide world?

Their eyes meet and a moment passes between them until Mr Lee’s low and commanding voice breaks it.

“You need to stop acting like that unless you want me out of the Blue House,” Mr Lee says, glancing up from his bowl after a long time and turns his gaze on the duo opposite him.

Mrs Lee nudges him in the elbow but he continues, “I heard about what you did at the airbase today, Hyukjae.”

Hyukjae tears his gaze away from Donghae, who’s visibly shifting uncomfortably in his seat and turns to look at his dad. “It’s nothing you can’t pay off, dad. My tongue slipped, it was an accident. Simple as that.”

Mr Lee puts down his utensils with more force than is necessary. The sound of metal against marble isn’t exactly pleasant to the ears. “What do you mean it’s simple as that? You-”

“Okay, okay. Don’t raise your voice at them, you know they’re just happy to see each other,” Mrs Lee cuts in. “Let’s just have a nice meal, okay?”

Mr Lee ignores her as he continues, “You know I usually don’t care for what you do in your own personal life. But this is my political career we’re talking about, Hyukjae. One wrong move and another party’s flag is going to be flying in the country’s skies tomorrow morning.”

Hyukjae refuses to look away from his father’s threatening glance and thinks in that moment, now I know where I got this stubbornness from as he raises his voice. “One wrong move? Wrong because I’m not dressed up the way Eunhyuk needs to be, or wrong because Donghae and I are a thing?”

Donghae sends him a worried glance and places a hand on Hyukjae’s knee in a bid to calm him down.

The father and son stare at each other for long and Hyukjae thinks to himself he’s not going to back down, not when it comes to Donghae, when Mr Lee responds with a quiet “You know which one better than I do, Hyukjae.”

Hyukjae stares at the half Windsor knot around his dad’s neck and wonders if you could strangle someone with it.

It’s a fleeting thought, of course. Hyukjae knows better than to throw South Korea into a state of chaos just because their President can’t watch his homophobic mouth in front of his obviously non-heteroual son.

“I’m sorry Mr Lee. I promise something like that won’t happen again,” Donghae says after a long period of silence.

Mr Lee doesn’t acknowledge it nor say anything in return. He instead pulls out a napkin to wipe his mouth before saying, “This election means everything to me, Hyukjae. Don’t even think you stand a chance at jeopardising my eventual victory.”

He makes a move to leave, and the chair legs drag across the wooden floor with an unpleasant screech.

“I don’t care that you haven’t seen each other for months. Mark my words: if either of you show up to the gala tomorrow night with anything – and by anything I mean even a tiny scratch, on places they shouldn’t be, you’ll see. Don’t try me, Hyukjae.”

An uncomfortable silence follows Mr Lee’s departure and Donghae has since been stuffing plain, white rice into his mouth again and again.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into him. He’s always so cranky and I’m so sorry the two of you had to deal with it,” Mrs Lee breaks the silence. Her eyes are wide and apologetic and Hyukjae wishes it was enough to make up for the rage in his dad’s eyes.

Donghae offers a small, sad smile and doesn’t say anything as he continues to scoop spoons of rice into his mouth.

He knows Mr Lee has never approved of their relationship. But times like this he can’t help but think back about a point in both their lives when Mr Lee had actually liked him. It was a long time ago, when Hyukjae and Donghae had just became friends. Donghae’s dad is university friends with Hyukjae’s dad, and used to bring Donghae over every time they had a meeting in the politician’s house. The first time they met he said Donghae had the prettiest eyes he’s ever seen, and Donghae had smiled in a way that won over his heart instantly. He used to sneak Donghae candy and chocolate bars when his dad wasn’t looking, and w