Nam House

“Hyung, stop”, Sunggyu pushed Woohyun’s hand from his forehead; the teacher has been doing this even since he woke up after fainting, “I’m fine!”

“What do you mean you’re fine!! You fainted; you don’t get to talk, Mr!!” Woohyun then looked at his brother, “Hyung, do we need to go to the hospital?”

“Wah! I’m a doctor, you know.”

“Hmm, a doctor without tools!!!”

Boohyun shook his head, “I understand you now, Sunggyu, the thing you have to deal with.”

Woohyun pouted when his husband nodded, agreeing with his brother, “don’t agree with him!!”

“A kid, now leave the room. I want to examine Sunggyu.”

“I’m his husband!”

“Patient privacy, now be useful and get him something to eat as I check on him, leave!”

“Fine”, Woohyun kissed Sunggyu’s forehead, “I’ll be back.”

Boohyun waited until his brother left the room, making sure he was now downstairs before he asked as he took the younger’s blood pressure, “this isn’t your first-time fainting, right?”

“I’m really fine”, Sunggyu stopped the elder from squeezing the bulb, “can I ask you a favour, please?”

“You don’t want me to tell Woohyun that you know everything, do you?”

“Hmm, and Nuna too. They kept this a secret from me for a reason.”

“You’re right”, Boohyun looked at the younger worriedly; though Sunggyu was trying hard to smile at him, it didn’t look sincere, “are you going to be okay?”

“No”, Sunggyu said with a smile that confused the doctor, “but I’ll be okay, eventually.”

“I didn’t mean it’s your fault; it’s not your fault too, Araso?”

“She said my eyes reminded her of him”, Sunggyu wiped a tear before it fell, “it must be hard on her to look at me when I moved in here. God, I’m so selfish.”

“That’s impossible; you look nothing like that guy”, Boohyun lifted the younger’s face gently, “lately, she looked happier when she made peace with you.”

“Really?”

“Hmm, don’t be hard on yourself.”

A knocking on the door got the two attentions, “can I come in?”

Hearing her voice, Sunggyu hid under the cover, pretending to be sleeping, which was understandable; Sunggyu needed time to absorb everything “sure, come in, honey.”

Hyojung walked toward the bed, “sleeping?”

“Hmm, he needs rest.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

“Hmm, don’t worry.”

“Shouldn’t we like- take him to the hospital????”

“Wah, just like Woohyun!! I’m a doctor, you know!”

“A doctor with no tools!”

“Yah, Honey~~~!!!!”

Hyojung sighed, unable to get any closer to the younger; all she could do was stand by the bed and watch the boy she gave up and hated for 18 years, sick from far; she feels like she has no right to touch him or caress his hair.

“You think it’s because of me?”

“Ani, he was tired.”

“Maybe it’s because of the way I talked to him.”

Boohyun back hugged his wife, “honey~~, you two are victims; life wasn’t fair for neither one of you, so give yourself a break.”

“I never hated him; I couldn’t be around him because I felt guilty for giving him away even though I knew he had nothing to do with it.”

“Why don’t you tell him that?”

“Because I’d have to answer his questions, why I gave up on him and why I mistreated him!”

“Hmm, I get it.”

“I even lied to him just to make him feel bad; I’m a bad person”, Hyojung smiled, looking at the younger, “he doesn’t remind me of him.”

“Hmm, that was from the US; your genes won, baby.”

Hyojung and Boohyun chuckled, “honey~, that’s not funny.”

“Liar, I made you laugh”, Sunggyu turned to the other side, giving them his back, and Boohyun took it as a signal to leave, “let’s go and let him rest.”

“Araso, but pass by his room again and check on him; I don’t trust Woohyun.”

Woohyun walked in just in time, “wah, how dare you!! Hyung, take your wife and leave my room!”

“Make sure he eats something.”

“Hmm, now go”, Woohyun pushed them out and closed the door making sure his brother and wife were in their room, “you can stop pretending you’re sleeping.”

Sunggyu sat on the bed, “I’m not hungry.”

“You’re on medication, come on, two bites won’t harm”, Sunggyu looked away when Woohyun tried to feed him, “why are you like this? Are you doing this on purpose???”

“Hyung, stop-”

“NO, you stop!!!”

“Don’t yell at me!!”

“I don’t want to argue with you; sleep if you don’t want to eat”, Sunggyu got off the bed, “where are you doing!”

“Anywhere but here.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Yah-” Sunggyu didn’t give Woohyun a chance to say anything more; he just left and slammed the door on his way out, “FINE, LEAVE.”

Lee House

“Who is he?” Mr Lee pointed from the window at the guy sitting in Mrs Lee’s car; the man looked at least 20 years younger.

“That’s my boyfriend; we’re going to live together in the US.”

“Omg! What about your son?? I thought you wanted to bond with him!”

“You took me off guard! What was I supposed to do?”

“What!”

“I had to pretend like I care and drag the boy with me to the US; I know you did that on purpose!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I asked Hoya to move in with me thinking he’d refuse, knowing well how attached he is to you, but you had to make a scene about him dating his teacher.”

“I wasn’t making a scene your son is in love with his teacher.”

“And whose fault it is?” Mr Lee looked at her, shocked, as if she isn’t the same person he married, “Howon was always under your wings; if he is going to be a failure, it’s because he learned it from you.”

Mr Lee scoffed, understanding where this was going, “how about I spare you the energy and fix it for you!” he then opened the door, “get out from my house.”

Mrs Lee walked toward the door leaving, “and Howon?”

“Don’t worry about my son; I can take care of him; I have always done and will continue doing it.”

“Good, and his teacher affair?”

“That’s for me to concern.”

“Can I at least say goodbye to him?”

“No, I don’t want him to discover what kind of a woman his mother is.”

Mr Lee preferred to take the blame for not seeing his mother for the last time before she left than stan her image in his eyes, regardless of anything, Hoya loves his mother.

“Even better, goodbye then.”

Mr Lee regretted losing his mind for a second and acting selfishly towards his son; Hoya has no one else but him; his mother never cared about him; how did he think she actually cared this time and sincerely wanted to start fresh with her son!

An hour later,

Woohyun thought Sunggyu went to Nicky’s room like usual, so he let him be; he didn’t know that his husband had left the house and ran to Hoya’s house. Mr Lee wasn’t surprised to see Sunggyu; he is Hoya’s best friend.

“Howon is sleeping.”

Mr Lee was about to close the door, but Sunggyu stopped him, “uncle, please, let me in.”

“Are you okay?” Sunggyu looked paler than usual; he didn’t come here to see Hoya only, he- “did you run away from home?”

“Sunggyu??” Hoya ran toward his friend and hugged him; he was on his way to get a glass of water, “what’s wrong?”

“You kids go in; it’s cold”, Mr Lee prepared hot chocolate for the boys and cookies, “it will make you warm.”

“Thank you, uncle.”

The elder looked at his son, eyeing his friend worriedly, wondering whether separating them was a good idea. Mr Lee insisted on sending his son away because he couldn’t accept defeat; Dongwoo choosing his son over him made him upset, which now sounds silly. Mrs Lee coming at the last minute, opened his eyes, and now he intends to be the father Hoya always looked up to; he can’t believe he will ruin an excellent son-father relationship over a crush!

“Does your husband know you’re here?”

Sunggyu looked down and shook his head a no without saying a word, “what happened? Did Seonsaeng-nim do something?”

“I don’t want to get in trouble with your family, Sunggyu.”

“I don’t have a family, uncle”, a tear rolled on Sunggyu’s cheek “everyone lied to me, I’m all alone, and now you’re taking my friend away from me.”

“I see, is that why you ran away from home? To ask me to change my mind?”

“Appa!!”

“I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Araso, tell me what happen; I might change my mind depending on your story.”

Sunggyu told Mr Lee and Hoya everything, he didn’t have anyone else but them to share this secret, and regardless of how Mr Lee behaves sometimes, he always looked out for him.

“G-Gyu!! Are you okay?”

“No”, Sunggyu lowered his head, “you probably don’t want your son to hang out with someone like me.”

Mr Lee then shocked the younger when he sat next to him and hugged him, “I still see you as a good boy, Sunggyu.”

“Boohyun Hyung said she is a victim; it’s like I’m punishing her with my existence.”

“Hey~, it’s not your fault too, you didn’t ask for this”, Mr Lee hoped his family at least explained that to him; dropping such news without explanations isn’t fair for anyone, “I’m sure everyone in that house would agree with me.”

“Hmm, Boohyun Hyung said the same thing.”

“And he is right.”

“It still doesn’t erase the fact that my existence will forever remind her of what happened in the past.”

“You said she is trying to get closer to you; it means she is okay with you around now.”

Hoya held his friend’s hand and squeezed it, “dad is right.”

“So, what you’re going to do now?”

“I don’t know what to do; I don’t want Nuna to be uncomfortable, and I can’t deal with Woohyun Hyung; he is too much.”

Mr Lee smiled nodding, he agreed with Sunggyu, that teacher is too much to handle, “how about you stay here for a while?”

Sunggyu and Hoya looked at each other confused, “I can?”

“Of course, Howon, son, take your friend to your room.”

“And my trip?”

“It’s cancelled; I already talked to your mom; I wasn’t planning to send you away anyway.”

“Really!!!!”

“Hmm, you didn’t think I could give you away just like that, did you!”

Hoya hugged his father, “thank you, Appa!”

“Don’t make me regret my decision; I’m expecting A’s.”

“Yes, dad.”

“You too Sunggyu, I’m expecting A’s too.”

Sunggyu also hugged the