Kyungsoo’s mother has always thought she was funny.

Thought, was the correction that Kyungsoo always added when this was brought up, because from his experience that was all there was to it. 

Other people had no idea what it was actually like to grow up in a house with someone like her, never quite prepared for when a handful of plastic spiders might come sailing over his shower curtain right after he had soaped up, or a stray raw egg left hidden in the toe of his shoe waiting to be crushed when he was thoughtlessly rushing out of the door. 

If it had just been those pranks only, those harmless jokes, Kyungsoo would have probably not been so annoyed, but what made him totally over it were the stories. They were too much.

He was eight-years-old when he tried to do the Heimlich maneuver on his best friend, Minseok, at the lunch table after his friend had carelessly picked up and swallowed the watermelon seeds Kyungsoo had carefully dissected from the fruit. 

“What are you doing? It’s going to grow watermelons in your tummy,” Kyungsoo howled, hot tears streaming down his pudgy cheeks while pumping his arms around Minseok’s middle, “you have to spit them out.”

It had taken years before anyone sat next to him at the table again on watermelon day. And, of course, Minseok still after each time they ate one even now, pretending to be sick and pushing out his stomach.  And it didn’t stop with fruit. There were cracks on the sidewalk Kyungsoo had refused to walk over until he was ten, and the cheese he was convinced came from the moon, and always, always telling everyone. The list went on and on, and so did the teasing.

It added up, and even though he managed to survive elementary and middle school, teenager Kyungsoo wasn’t having any of it. By then, he refused to believe anything that came out of , especially her claims that he had no sense of humor. 

So when Kyungsoo came through the front door exhausted on Friday afternoon and spotted his mother leaning against the stair railing, he paused, trying to decide if maybe it would be better to turn right back around and go back to school. He did not have the energy for this.

Today he had taken the final in his second year voice technique class, Kyungsoo’s favorite class before today, but this afternoon, standing alone in front of a panel of professors he wanted to impress more than anything, things had taken a bit of a different turn.  Everything had started out fine. The chosen song was perfect, showcasing both his vocal range and how well he could manage his breath, but with all of his practice his voice had cracked, cracked, on a particular high note, and his confidence along with it. None of the professors would meet his eye when he finally slumped away from the classroom. He summed the entire experience up as a disaster.

Now all Kyungsoo wanted to do was get into bed, line up a Netflix queue, and binge eat carbs until he passed out, hopefully repeating this cycle until the semester was over next week. He hadn’t been expecting to have to pass another, probably harder challenge to get there. His mother.

“Not in the mood” Kyungsoo announced as a greeting, fully coming into the door and swinging his bag to his feet. He paused briefly enough to nudge the back of black leather shoes off with his toes, not wanting to spend the time to reach down and undo the tight laces properly, before kicking them beside his bag and making his way quickly past the looming figure.

Do Hyojin stood up straighter, eyeing him nervously, the serious look out of place on her usually soft, playful features. He didn’t fail to notice that she was clad in black silk, diamonds pooling in the opening at , indicating that his parents must be going out for some event tonight, but that wasn’t too unusual. His father being CEO of one of the largest electronic manufacturing companies in the country kept his parents fairly busy, and Kyungsoo signed out a breath of relief that whatever she had planned for him wouldn’t last long if they were on their way out. She’s probably just bored waiting for dad to come down, he decided, not bothering to look at her as he moved past.

“You’re late, and-” She backed up, stopping when he didn’t pause at her words. He took the stairs two at a time, and had just reached the landing when the voice rang out, loud and authoritative. “Stop,”

Kyungsoo didn’t want to, but years of polite training anchored his feet to the floor. She tread up the stairs carefully in the three-inch heels while Kyungsoo watched impatiently.

“Come on mom, I’ve had a really crappy day. Whatever this is,” He waved his hand around at her, “you can do it tomorrow, okay?” Kyungsoo knew he sounded petulant, but he couldn’t help it. Maybe she would take pity on him and let him leave.

She gave him a sad smile, reaching up to push the hair back from his eyes but stopped when he took a step back, out of her reach. 

“Kyungsoo, I…” Hyojin stopped, open for the next word, but nothing came out. Her outstretched hand dropped into the other, and she wrung her hands together nervously for a moment.

Whatever this is, she sure is laying it on thick, he noted irritably, realizing that he probably should have just left when he still had time. He was about to take his chances and run to his room when she took a deep breath, steadying her shoulders.

“Kyungsoo,” She said again, this time her voice was strong and steady. “I’m sorry this is short notice but I wasn’t expecting you to be late and I wanted to tell you in person.” She paused, and her look was almost reprimanding. Kyungsoo stared steadily back, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at the theatrics. “But we are going to meet some very important people for dinner tonight, and your father has requested that you go with us.”

Kyungsoo let out a breath, deflating with the air. Dinner with the family was just a small step down from one of his mother’s famous jokes, but worse, because it was something he couldn’t ignore his way out of.

“But whyyyy?” He whined, irritation growing. He had been lucky enough to be born with an older brother who was actually interested in taking over the family business, and had been spared from growing up with expectations of doing things he didn’t care about. His father hadn’t exactly been thrilled that he was going to a performance university, majoring in music and singing, but he wasn’t going to stop his son from following his dream, either. The only concession had been that Kyungsoo had to intern summers at the main facility ‘in case he ever came to his senses’, as his father put it. Kyungsoo had agreed to the terms easily, not minding the experience, and of course the pay, that came with the position.

But as far as business dinners went it was usually Seung-Soo who had to do the heavy lifting. In fact, Kyungsoo wasn’t even sure if most people even knew Do Hyun had two sons.

“Because...because” She stammered, and Kyungsoo looked at her suspiciously again. She was turning slightly red, shifting nervously. “Because your father requested it.” His mother finally answered, “And he never asks, so just this once okay?” This time he didn’t back away when she reached up, sweeping the stray hair away from his forehead. 

Her face lit up at this, and making him feel a little guilty about his mood. Kyungsoo gave her a small nod knowing he was beat, and his heel to finally disappear into his bedroom.

"Dress nice.” She called, the closing door shutting off whatever else she wanted to add. Kyungsoo leaned against the door, looking around his messy bedroom, the blue comforter piled carelessly on the end of the bed calling him over. He shook his head sadly. This is the worst day of my life, he decided, cursing his fate. But one thought cheered him as he made his way towards the bathroom attached to the far side of the room.

What else could possibly go wrong?

 

Apparently a lot, Kyungsoo observed an hour later, sitting in the backseat beside the fidgeting figure of his mother. His father, it turned out, was meeting them at the restaurant.

Ever since the car started on its journey Hyojin hadn’t stopped moving. She had fixed Kyungsoo’s tie, which he had left crooked on purpose, applied another layer on top of the already red painted lips, and was now starting to brush miniscule pieces of lint off of his crisp black slacks.

“What’s up with you?” He asked, eyeing her nervously. She never made a fuss about anything. One time she had shown up to a formal dinner hosted in their home in pajamas as a prank, pretending as though she had no idea that the guests were showing up. His father was the only reason she put any effort into her appearance for these functions, and she never bothered over Kyungsoo’s. Whatever she was up to, she was going all in.

“There is something I need to tell you before we get there,” She said, lowering her voice to a near whisper. He leaned towards her instinctively, moving back quickly when he realized what he had done. 

“Really, not tonight. This is bad enough.” Kyungsoo insisted, turning his eyes away from her and out the window. It was getting dark, and he could just make out the shapes of trees and houses moving past the windows as they made their way through the neighborhood. 

“I’m really serious this time. I don’t know why you’re always so dramatic like this.” She huffed, sounding hurt.

“Like the time you told me Auntie Seohyun was secretly royalty?” He shot back, rolling the hand off, “And I had to bow to her every time she walked into the room, calling her ‘your highness’. She told everyone I was soft in the head. Does that count as being dramatic?”

“Yes,” His mother murmured, sighing when he turned his back on her again, his arms wrapped tight around his middle. “I’m sorry, Kyungsoo, you’re just so easy to tease.” She chuckled to herself, and went silent. He was just starting to relax, hoping Hyojin took the hint when she sighed again, this time longer.

“I wish this was just a joke. It seems more impossible than anything I could come up with. I don’t know what your father was thinking.” He found himself listening, almost starting to believe her against his better judgement, but didn’t turn around. Looking interested was a rookie mistake.
“You’re father’s business is in trouble.” She confessed, her voice dropping even lower. He had to struggle to hear her, and glanced over at their driver. The man’s head looked to be turned in their direction, trying to pick up the conversation, and he unconsciously moved closer to his mother, finally turning back to face her. 

“Bull,” He whispered back, ignoring her look of disapproval at his language. Kyungsoo realized that if this was a real joke she wouldn’t bother to be so secretive about it, but he couldn’t quite be sure. “Everything is fine.”

She shook her head, giving him a sad smile. “There’s a lot of competition these days, a lot of technology opening up that we don’t have. It’s fine now, but we’ve had a few bad years and...I don’t know how many more we can have. That’s why this dinner is so important. There’s another tech company who is willing to do a merger, and it’s just not any company either. This is going to save us, but-”

But what? Kyungsoo wanted to ask when she stopped abruptly, not understanding why she was telling him all of this. This kind of thing, business and mergers and bad years were not really his business. But even with all of that, he couldn’t help but be drawn in. Just like he always, he reminded himself, frustrated. 

“But there’s a condition,” She answered, satisfying his curiosity anyway right as the car slowed, pulling smoothly to the curb. Kyungsoo saw the lights around the sign, Hanok scrawled in red cursive against the flat white background, a restaurant he had been many times with his parents.

The driver got out, moving to open Hyojin’s door, but she stopped him with a wave of her hand.

“I promised you’re father I would tell you first, but I didn’t know you were going to be so difficult.” She looked down at her watch, raising her voice back to normal. “The condition is you Kyungsoo. That’s why we dragged you here. I don’t know why, but they insisted on...you…”

Kyungsoo blinked, the words turning in circles in his mind, but not quite coming together in any way that made sense. “You’re selling me to a company so they can save dad?” He asked, confused. This wasn’t her usual type of prank, and he was having trouble figuring out the punchline.

“Selling you, of course not.” She rebuked, as though he was the one saying crazy things, “I meant marriage. They will only do the merger if you marry their youngest child.” 

“Not funny,” He announced, turning to his own car door and reaching for the handle. “You are never funny.” He added when she reached over, stopping him. He leaned back in his seat, annoyed but waiting.

His mother reached up, running a hand through her hair in frustration before realizing what she was doing. She pulled out the small mirror, quickly patting down the stray pieces. “I don’t know what to tell you to convince you, Kyungsoo.” Hyojin huffed, not taking her eyes off her own image, “But in one minute we are going to go in there and you are going to meet these people so please, please don’t embarrass your father by acting like this is all a joke, okay?”

“Acting like this is a joke?” Kyungsoo echoed in disbelief, a knot of fear uncoiling deep in the pit of his stomach. “Stop already, okay. You’re starting to freak me out. I know dad would never sell me to some company to save himself. It’s 2019, no one does arranged marriages anymore.”Kyungsoo knew he was babbling, but he didn’t care. The more he spoke the better he felt. His arguments made sense. “And besides, I’m gay.” He added triumphantly, knowing this was the real argument that was going to break her down and they could finally go inside and she could have a laugh at the table at her foolish son’s expense, because one thing Kyungsoo was sure about his parents was they might not like that his preferences, but they would never force him to marry a woman.

“So is their son,” She shot back easily, turning her attention back to him. It seemed to finally dawn on her just how much Kyungsoo was panicking. “Listen sweetie, nothing is set in stone, okay? You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. This is just to meet, like I said, and if you two like each other, well-”

The shrill ring from Hyojin’s purse cut off whatever excuses she was about to make. She pulled out the device with a frown, swiping the screen with her thumb.

“We’re on our way in,” The explanation came rushed, in place of a greeting. There was a pause while she listened to, what he assumed, his father was saying before adding, “Yes, I told him. Everything’s fine. We’ll be there in a minute.”

Kyungsoo listened in disbelief, the realization that this might actually be real sinking in. “You’re serious?” He questioned as soon as she hung up the phone.

She nodded, reaching over to grab his hand. Her palm was as hot and slippery as his own, and he could tell she was nervous too. For some reason, that made him feel a little better.  “We’re just meeting them tonight, but like I told you, you don’t have to do this. But Kyungsoo,” She let go, giving the driver a signal to open the door, “At least give him a chance.”

 

The inside of Hanok was familiar, but the refined, old world setting was lost on Kyungsoo as he followed his mother in a daze through the labyrinth of discrete hallways. He finally jerked awake when their host slid the heavy wooden door open, revealing his father and two strangers sitting comfortably across from each other at a low wooden table. 

Everyone turned, their eyes sweeping past Hyojin and landing on him. The woman, younger than his mother perhaps, but not quite as attractive, gave him an appraising gaze. She didn’t try to hide it as her eyes scanned the entire length of him. 

Checking out what you bought? Kyungsoo thought bitterly, lowering his head in a bow. Beside her the man was also looking at him, although more disinterested. He was more of a copy of Kyungsoo's own father, a generic businessman, and his eyes didn't hold any real interest in the person in front of him. To him, Kyungsoo assumed, this was another business deal, just like any other he would make. Nothing special.

The whole thing made him want to turn around and leave, the bile rising in his throat at the thought of these people becoming his in-laws. The expression on his mother’s face, pleading and slightly apologetic, pushed the thought away. He took a deep breath and stepped into the room, taking the empty space left at the end of the table. 

Kyungsoo adjusted himself on the long, silk pillow while introductions passed. The Kim’s, his father announced formally, were very happy to meet him. 

“My son is running a little behind, you will have to forgive him.” The small woman leaned over slightly, murmuring softly. “He is usually very prompt, so please don’t hold this against him.” She added, her voice so grave that Kyungsoo easily could believe she was apologizing for her son committing murder. 

And why would she think I would care? Seemed to be a better question. But until then everything had been happening so fast that it hadn’t yet occurred to Kyungsoo that something, or rather a very important someone, was missing from the room. And now that he had noticed, it irritated him. This guy is probably the type of person who was going to take over from his father someday, Kyungsoo decided bitterly, imaging another version of Seung-Soo coming in the door, rushed and distracted, and always late. Just as their father’s matched, so would their ambitious, boring sons.

He politely nodded at her, however, realizing she was waiting for some kind of response from him, and started scanning the table for something to eat, hoping to soothe the churning in his gut. Food always managed to calm him, and Kyungsoo spotted a bowl of fishcakes and reached out with his chopsticks, taking a few and stuffing them into his mouth, chewing slowly.

It was then the door slid slowly open, revealing the host from earlier, and behind him was, arguably, the hottest guy Kyungsoo had ever seen. He gasped, forgetting his mouth was stuffed with food, forcing it down his throat and straight into his lungs.

All eyes turned to him while he choked and coughed with looks of concern and confusion, except for his mother’s, who he could only describe as smug. 

As the convulsions in his chest began to quiet down a fresh set of introductions took place. This, Mrs. Kim announced, is her son Jongin. Kyungsoo struggled to both regain his breath and check out the newcomer, who had just finished his bow, but the image hadn’t changed. strangely, though, it was a face he was familiar with, although he couldn’t quite place from where. Maybe he’s a model, Kyungsoo guessed, taking in Jongin’s full lips, sharp jawline, and windswept blonde hair. The shallow part of his mind felt a thrill at the prospect that this person was about to be all his, arranged or not. 

But as the tall figure started to edge his way towards the only empty seat, the one on the pillow next to him, and another though started to take shape, one that brought him out of his daze with a crash. 

Jongin was attractive. Attractive people were s. This was a law of nature as fixed as gravity itself. This is a set-up, he realized bitterly as the pieces fell into place, moving over as far as the small cushion would allow while Jongin eased down beside him. Kyungsoo had seen enough dramas to know what was going to happen next, why they were all really here. The Kim’s set this up to tame their playboy son. They are going to dump him on me and now I’m going to have to live with some player who brings strangers home at all hours while treating me like . He’s going to-

“It’s nice to meet you,” Kyungsoo’s internal ranting was cut short by a soft voice, directed towards him alone. Jongin was sitting even closer than Kyungsoo noticed when he turned towards the sound, and somehow managed to look even better close up with bits of color splashing his cheeks, his soft, brown eyes not quite meeting Kyungsoo’s glare. 

He would almost think Jongin was shy by the way the color crawled all the way up to his ears, his hands busily playing with the edge of the table cloth under Kyungsoo’s probing stare. Almost. But Kyungsoo wasn’t going to be fooled that easily. 

Kyungsoo picked up the glass of water in front of him, trying to ease the dull, dry ache in his throat left from the coughing fit before returning the greeting. He would be polite, in any case.

“Jongin goes to your school.” Jongin’s mother continued with the introductions, her voice full of parental pride. “He’s a Sophomore in dance and performance arts. Maybe you’ve seen him perform?”
 
For the second time that night, Kyungsoo began to choke, the water carving the same burning path to his lungs as the fishcakes, but he couldn’t help it, because he knew who Jongin was, and also why he didn’t fully recognize him at first. He had never seen this face properly in the light before, or without a layer of make-up skillfully applied to highlight the already sharp lines. But mostly it was because whenever Kyungsoo had seen the other in the past he wasn’t exactly focusing on Jongin’s face. 

Somehow, his parents managed to set him up with Lean Cuisine, a reoccurring star of the dance teams hip-hop group and some of Kyungsoo's late night fantasies. He was well known at their school as dancer that was always topless during recitals, although sometimes decorated with leather crisscrossing his hard pecs as an extra bonus. Kyungsoo had sat through these performances, legs pressed firmly together and whispering all the things he could do to those perfectly flat abs to an annoyed Minseok, and the nickname was born. It looked like Jongin wasn’t another Seung-soo after all, but he didn’t know if that made him feel better or worse.

Kyungsoo screwed his eyes shut tight, focusing on breathing through the spasms that were racking his chest. You will not swallow anything else tonight. He promised himself firmly, embarrassment seeping through every pore at being exposed for a second time. Nothing, he repeated firmly, unable to stop the thoughts from going in another direction as the person next to him shifted, his warm, woody scent blending in with the air Kyungsoo was gulping. 

The door slid open for the third time, and this time Kyungsoo was thankful for the diversion as everyone’s attention moved to the group at the door, the team of servers delivering multiple trays of food and drinks.  As the dishes were distributed, the men, seated across from one another on the outside, fell into business conversation as soon as their glasses were filled. Now that the introductions were over, they no longer had any interest in anything other than their own affairs.

The ladies had both taken a smaller portions of stew, ignoring most of the sides. He noticed Jongin wasn’t putting food on his plate either. His hands were busy with the same section of tablecloth, rubbing the corner of fabric through his fingers, and it occurred to him that Jongin probably didn't actually eat, anyway. How else would he keep those abs? The thought made Kyungsoo sad. There would obviously be no late night carb binging after a bad day with this guy. 

“I hear that you’re a singer, Kyungsoo.” He had hoped their mother’s would fall into conversation as well, leaving them on the sidelines until it was time to go and he could tell him mother thanks, but no thanks and put an end to this disaster, but as usual luck wasn’t on his side.

“He gets it from me,” His mother said confidentially, a blatant lie. “When he graduates we are going to hit the road as a mother-and-son duo.”

“Yeah, right.” He scoffed, shaking his head. “Don’t listen to anything she says. None of it is true.”

Hyojin smiled widely, and Kyungsoo realized his mother’s words were meant to draw him into the conversation. He leaned back, pressing his lips together firmly.

“I don’t know who Jongin gets it from. No one in our family is artistic at all.” She admitted ruefully. “His father always thought he would get bored of it and eventually join the business like his sisters, but seriously, how many business people does one family need? That would be so boring for me.”

The ladies both gave a small laugh, and he could see the figure stiffen beside him. Apparently Jongin didn’t find the idea funny, and he guessed Jongin’s dad didn’t either. 

“That’s why I’m so happy you’ve agreed to take on our Jongin, Kyungsoo.” Mrs. Kim continued, her casual tone making it sound as though he was simply going to take Jongin to the movies instead of as a life partner. “He can get some real world experience from someone who is in the same boat as him, if you know what I mean.”

Kyungsoo didn’t have a clue what she meant. Real world experience? What did they expect him to do with Jongin? He couldn’t help but think his original theory was right, that Jongin is so out of control they have given up. 

“I assure you, he will be in good hands with Kyungsoo.” Hyojin supplied when he stayed quiet. 

“I’m sure he will.” She agreed, smiling over at him. “Jongin is very shy, so I think this experience will be good to help get him out of his shell a little.”

Kyungsoo snorted before he could stop himself, but he had seen too many Lean Cuisine signature hip s to believe that. His mother must have told her he was easy to fool, but not this easy.

“I’ve seen him dance....” Kyungsoo finally supplied after a beat, six staring eyes goading him into speaking. “I mean, he looks pretty confident on stage.” He clarified, trying not to sound more logical and less lusting ert.

“You’ve seen him? How wonderful,” She reached over, nudging Jongin playfully, but he seemed to get even tenser at the gesture, his posture so rigid he might break with the slightest touch. Kyungsoo wondered how Jongin felt about everyone talking about him like he wasn’t there, the conversation completely about him and he had yet to open his mouth. He’s probably just trying to tune us out until he can get out of here and hit the club. Although, Kyungsoo had to admit, Jongin looked much more like he wished the floor would swallow him up than a person who was too cool for the rest of them. 

None of this was making sense, and suddenly Kyungsoo felt the urge to hear Jongin speak, to find out what kind of things he would say. To find out what Jongin was really like. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to find himself interested. 

“And you’re sure it’s okay for Jongin to stay over at your house?” Kyungsoo’s head snapped up at the question, and Mrs. Kim was looking at his mother nervously. “We can arrange for-”

“It is completely fine.” Hyojin interrupted the speech, and Kyungsoo looked from one woman to another, wondering what else they had planned without telling him. So much for giving me the choice, he thought bitterly. It looked like the whole thing was already set in stone, and quickly too. “Kyungsoo has plenty of room, and he doesn’t mind sharing. Do you Kyungsoo?”

He was about to open his mouth to inform her that yes, he did mind very much sharing, but it was obvious she could read his features, knowing what was to come, spoke first. “It’s all settled.” She said, as though finishing the matter. 

Kyungsoo glared at her, his temper flaring. All of his previous curiosity about Jongin vanished under the anger he felt towards his mother, and he convinced himself more than ever that there was no way he was going through with this. 

Hyojin looked evenly back at him, chewing thoughtfully. “You know,” She started, her eyes moving from one boy to another, “This is sort of a boring Friday night for you boys, isn’t it, eating with your parents? I think maybe it would be easier for you two to get to know each other without all of us stuffy adults around.”

“Of course. I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Jongin’s mother agreed a little too quickly, and Kyungsoo had the feeling this, along with everything else, was something that had been planned without them ahead of time. 

“There’s a pizza place nearby Kyungsoo loves. Maybe you would like to try it since you two still haven’t eaten anything?” Hyojin was talking to Jongin, and he couldn’t help but look over to see the other’s reaction to what was obviously becoming a date. Jongin ducked his head in a nod, the best response she was going to get. “You can have the driver, I’ll go back with your father.” She added to Kyungsoo.

Jongin rose easily from the seat without any argument, and Kyungsoo, realizing they had just been dismissed, scrambled to follow. He murmured his goodbyes to the rest of the group and followed Jongin into the hall, and as the door closed for the last time, separating them the rest of the group, and a wave of nervousness hit him all over again. 

He was alone with Jongin, his potential husband, among other things, and he had no idea what was really going on. This truly is the worst day of my life, he decided, stepping into the crisp night air. But as Jongin turned, waiting for him with a small, hidden smile on his lips, Kyungsoo wasn’t so sure about that after all.