Lee House

Dongwoo never thought that he’d get drunk from one glass; last night was vague; the last thing he remembers was Mr Lee inviting him for a drink. Dongwoo intended to convince Mr Lee to allow Hoya to move in with him temporary that way; he gets to tutor him privately as he and his wife fix things between them.

But how did he end up sleeping in Mr Lee’s bed!!!!!

“Good morning.”

Dongwoo got up from the bed, shocked, and why was he !! “What happened!!”

“Aigo~, when was the last time you got drunk Seonsaeng-nim?”

“I don’t drink, not anymore.”

“That’s why”, Mr Lee threw a towel next to him, “take a shower; I’m preparing breakfast.”

“Wait”, Mr Lee stopped “, did we-?”

“Awch, you hurt my feelings Seonsaeng-nim.”

“Mr Lee, I’m serious, did we or did we not?”

“I don’t kiss and tell”, Mr Lee smirked, “hurry up, you don’t want to be late to school.”

Dining table

Hoya joined his father on the dining table like usual for breakfast before school; usually, their breakfast isn’t that fancy, but his father tried this time.

“Food smells good!” Hoya took a seat in front of his father “what’s the occasion?”

“We have a guest.”

“Guest?”

“Hmm, haven’t you met someone coming down?”

“Is mom back??” Hoya looked around “where she is? I missed her.”

“Not your mom, son. I tried to talk to her, but she says she needs time.”

“Then who are you talking about?”

Taking too long to join them, Mr Lee figured that the teacher must’ve left without saying a word, probably too embarrassed to get caught by his student, “he probably left.”

“Appa, are you cheating on mom???”

“Your mother and I are on a break.”

“But it doesn’t mean you bring a random guy to your bed; you’re not divorced yet!”

“Watch it, son, I’m still your father”, Mr Lee sipped from his coffee “besides, he is not a random man.”

“Appa!”

“How about you let me manage my life, son?”

“What about me?”

“You’ll leave to college soon; I don’t think it will matter to you.”

“Appa!!”

“I bet you want to leave now if you had a place to crash in.”

Hoya put back the fork and pushed his plate. “I’m not hungry; bye, Appa.”

“I’ll drive you-”

“No, need I’m taking a taxi!”

Nam House

On the other side, Woohyun opened his eyes to the most beautiful view, Sunggyu sleeping next to him and facing him; usually, Sunggyu turns his back and scoots away from him. The elder made up his mind that taking care of Sunggyu should be his priority. He will teach himself to listen to the younger first before reacting. Lastly, he’ll make sure the younger is in love with him and forget about his mysterious lover.

Woohyun gently brushed Sunggyu’s hair from his forehead, then caressed his cheek, “wake up, Sunggyu.”

“…” no response.

So, Woohyun caressed the younger’s lips which awakened him, Sunggyu peeled his eyes difficultly, but they were wide open shocked at how close Woohyun was to his face “H-Hyung.”

Cute, the way Sunggyu panicked and backed a little was adorable, “why~~~? Didn’t we agree to try to get close to each other?”

“Right, I wasn’t ready, sorry.”

Woohyun smiled, “how about I give you a warning next time?”

Sunggyu gulped when Woohyun leaned closer, holding his cheek; he quickly covered his mouth, preventing Woohyun from getting closer. “I haven’t brushed my teeth.”

“Araso, let’s do it later; go brush your teeth.”

“You mean-?”

“Hmm, I mean that.”

The way Woohyun chuckled made Sunggyu realize that his husband is teasing him, something he isn’t used to “Hyung~~~, that’s not cool!!”

“All I wanted was a morning kiss!!”

Sunggyu tried to hold his smile but failed. “I’ll think about it”, he got off the bed, “check on Nicky.”

Adorable~~~~~~, “yes, sir.”

Downstairs

Hyojung joined Mr and Mrs Nam at the dining table; usually, Woohyun is there but not today. Something is holding him back, and it must be Sunggyu since he is always the reason whenever Woohyun is in a bad mood.

“Good morning, auntie, uncle.”

“Good morning, dear, have a seat.”

Hyojung took a seat “where is Woohyun?”

“He and Sunggyu are still upstairs.”

“Ugh, hope Sunggyu stays out of trouble for once.”

“What do you mean?” Mrs Nam questioned, unsure if there was something wrong between Woohyun and Sunggyu “everything alright between them?”

“Sunggyu was caught drinking in Mr Lee house next door.”

“What!” that got Mr Nam attention.

“Talking about setting a bad example to Nicky”, Hyojung added.

At that moment, Woohyun and Sunggyu joined them with Nicky; how everyone looked at Sunggyu made him uncomfortable as if he was being judged, “g-good morning.”

“Morning, Uma, Appa.”

“Nana~~~~.”

“I have to go”, Hyojung excused herself before the drama started; that way, no one will remember that she started it.

“Take care, dear”, Mrs Nam hugged the little boy, “you guys are late, everything okay?”

Sunggyu looked at Woohyun, letting the elder answer, “yes, of course, Sunggyu, don’t stand and eat; I don’t want your leg to get worse.”

“Araso, Nicky, do you want to share a sandwich?”

“Yah, eat yours all!”

“Geez, Araso-”

“Yeah, I’ll take care of Nicky from now on” Mrs Nam usually say it nicely; this time, it didn’t sound as if she wanted to make sure Sunggyu eats well.

“So”, Mr Nam started getting everyone’s attention, “Is anyone going to tell us what’s happening in this house or keep more secrets?”

“What secrets, Appa?”

Mr Nam looked at Sunggyu “your parents and uncle probably didn’t get to teach you this when you were younger, so let me set the rules again for you.”

“Appa!! What is this?”

“I’m talking about getting caught drinking at 18!! What would our neighbour say about us!!”

“Appa-”

“After all these years, trying to earn the neighbourhood respect, you bring home a kid to stain everything we worked hard on, our reputation!”

Sunggyu put back the sandwich bowed. “I apologize; it won’t happen again.”

“Why are you apologizing? Sit down and eat!!” the way Sunggyu looked at Woohyun broke the teacher’s heart; why is everyone so hard on him?? And just like that, Sunggyu left, as usual, whenever Woohyun sets it right and get Sunggyu to eat again, someone must interrupt, “Sunggyu, wait.”

“I can’t believe you, Woohyun! Nicky is with him 24/7. Is that how you want to raise your kid? I understand that he is his uncle, but he was raised in different houses; why are you rewarding him with a day off in school; this is unacceptable. And here I thought he’s sick!!”

Mrs Nam couldn’t say this in front of Sunggyu; though she agrees with her husband, she still considers Sunggyu’s feelings. Yet Sunggyu wasn’t entirely gone and heard her.

“Uma, Appa, that’s not what happened!!” Woohyun was so disappointed in his parents; among everyone, he thought that his parents got Sunggyu’s back no matter what.

“Then what happened!! Explain for us, son”, Mr Nam said.

“He wasn’t caught drinking. I misunderstood and accused him falsely; Mr Lee even apologized to Sunggyu for what happened in his house.”

“Omg!! And why didn’t you say anything!!! How could you let me talk to him like that!!”

“I tried to stop you, dad; you wouldn’t listen! Why would you hurt his feeling that way, Appa? It’s not like he chose to live in different houses.”

“I have to talk to him.”

“Appa, wait-”

“Follow him, son.”

Garden

Mr Nam found Sunggyu sitting on the bench waiting for Woohyun to drive him to school, he looked sad and depressed, and the elder knew it was because of him, which made him feel bad for saying such a thing to him, Sunggyu is a good kid.

“Sunggyu”, Mr Nam stopped Sunggyu from standing and joined him on the bench “you must know by now even adults make mistakes, don’t you?”

“…”

“I’m sorry, Sunggyu; Woohyun told us everything.”

“It’s okay, uncle; I understand why you were upset.”

“Why didn’t you defend yourself?”

“What’s the point?” Sunggyu smiled, “Auntie wasn't wrong; I was truly raised in different houses; I probably lack a lot of things.”

“Sunggyu, don’t say that I’m telling you this old man made a mistake; you’re a good boy.”

Sunggyu tried his best to show a sincere smile, “don’t worry about it, uncle, I’m not upset.”

“Sunggyu, let’s go to school”, Woohyun thought he’d save his boy from this situation; no matter how hard Sunggyu was trying to smile, Woohyun knew it wasn’t an honest one, even though his father fell for it.

SM High School

Woohyun made sure he doesn’t talk about what happened at home on their school ride; he hoped the younger would calm down as they reached the school. That way, when he talks about it, Sunggyu is calmer and not close to tears.

The teacher parked the car before he started. “Sunggyu?”

“Hmm?”

Woohyun held his hand, “are you okay?”

“Hmm.”

When Sunggyu nodded, a tear dropped on his cheek, “it’s okay to cry, my parents had no right to say this to you”, all Woohyun got was another nod and squeeze on his hand, “come here, I got you.”

And all it took was for Woohyun to pull the younger into a hug for his tears to flood and finally cry; at that moment, Woohyun promised himself to protect Sunggyu no matter what, but can he do it? Was he selfish when he married Sunggyu, giving him no option? Couldn’t he take care of him without marriage, right?

Office

“Woohyun, you’re late.”

Woohyun gave Sunggyu time to calm down; he was a mess. “I know, coffee, please.”

Sungyeol served his friend a cup of coffee as requested, “how are things with Sunggyu?”

“Not good, Sungyeol I think I’m hurting him.”

“Why would you say that? You love that boy.”

“But he doesn’t know that! He thinks I’m in love with someone else.”

“Now that’s stupid; why would you make up a childish story?”

“Yah! I had to lie; it turns out that boy is in love with someone else.”

“Really? I don’t remember Sungjong mention that.”

“Now why would Sungjong talks about his friends’ love life?”

“Sungjong and I are close; we tell each other everything.”

“Maybe he does but not you.”

Sungyeol smacked his friend’s head, “I told him half of the truth; I can’t just walk to my son and be like, hey son, I like your friend!!”

“So, what you’re going to do about it?”

“Wait until they graduate; the shock would be less. At least that’s what I’m hoping.”

“Hmm, probably” Woohyun then looked around, “where is Dongwoo?”

“Here”, Dongwoo walked in, not his usual self, “guys, I need help.”

Sungyeol gave his friend his share of coffee, “drink your coffee first; you look horrible! Did you drink last night?”

It was a guess, but the look on Dongwoo’s face confirmed