Author’s Note: This story is set in an alternate universe, in an imaginary town and country, and during an ambiguous time period.

 

“Whatever is going on between you boys, you need to stop it,” momma said in a stern voice, passing Yunho his drink with a look of disapproval. Lemonade. She smelled of baked goods and melted chocolate. She had been baking.

 

“Thank you,” he said, avoiding eye contact.

 

It was hard to lie about the status of his relationship with Jaejoong when it was being played out right in front of everyone’s eyes. 

 

After their tense, fruitless encounter in the library, everyone at school seemed to remember that they were once friends and were not anymore. No one was yet saying it, but with every second that passed, Yunho knew what they must be thinking.

 

He was ed again. All because Jaejoong had no self control.

 

“Yunho, listen.”

 

Swallowing, he nodded and looked up at his elder. 

 

“Whatever happened, I do not think it is worth destroying such a long friendship over.” She tutted and shook her head in what Yunho could only describe as a mixture of disapproval and disappointment.

 

“Grandma, I–” He shrugged. “I don’t know what to say. we’re….We’re not friends.” He shrugged again, popping the straw in his mouth. The lemonade was fresh and delicious.

 

She tutted and shook her head again. She looked in Jaejoong’s direction, and he turned to look at their way just then. He made eye contact with the older lady. He looked startled. She smiled and waved at him. He flushed red, smiled, quickly waved back and hastily looked away.

 

Caught red handed. Yunho swallowed his laugh and hoped his momma didn’t see the way the corner of his lips had quirked up. 

 

She looked down at Yunho from his position on top of the block of hay and said, “He is such a sweet boy.” She stopped and stared at a silent Yunho. “You two were such good friends.”

 

Yunho was tired of the statement. He shrugged and decided to drop the conversation. His grandmother hadn’t decided the same thing.

 

“Whatever he did, or you did, it cannot be so bad that you two won’t even let each other have a chance to explain yourselves.”

 

“Momma, please drop it.”

 

She stared at him, gave him a kind smile, and waved at someone behind him. “I cannot. I just don’t like how you two are treating each other. Work cannot be fun this way.”

 

Work didn’t have to be fun, he thought bitterly. However, he did not say that to his momma.

 

“Please?” He said again.

 

She sighed and tutted. “Think about it; all I can say is, I don’t like this,” she said before walking away.

 

He could feel Jaejoong’s eyes boring holes on his back. He’d been looking at him on and off since he clocked in.

 

Jaejoong had made it very clear he wanted to convey his apologies to him and he would not stop until he accepted it. Yunho had made it very clear he wanted him to stay away from him and wasn’t accepting an apology from him today or tomorrow. 

 

Yes, such different thinking made working together difficult, but Yunho thought it was best if he did not bend to Jaejoong’s will this time around. 

 

Jaejoong had no self control and didn’t care. He would always be fine. Green Meadow and his parents’ status would protect him. Not Yunho, the boy with parentage that set Green Meadow’s gossiping tongue on fire.  He would always be in the wrong.

 

He had to protect himself.

 

----

“Hey.”

 

Yunho looked away from the inside of his locker, his fingers on the spine of his textbook. He blinked at Kimberli. “Hi?”

 

She gave him a nervous smile, lifted the strap of her backpack she had on her left shoulder, and fixed the position of the navy blue backpack on her back. Leaning against the lockers, she ran her fingers through her boxed braids and said, “I have a quick question for you.”

 

His heart thudded. He did not understand why he suddenly felt nervous. It probably was his mirror neurons at work. Kimberli looked nervous.

 

He tried to shake the spooky feeling off. “Yeah?”

 

“So, MeadowSecret, have you been on there yet?”

 

He laughed without humor. She arched a quizzical eyebrow.

 

“I saw it,” he said directly.

 

“Ooh. I….Saw what exactly?” She squinted slightly at him.

 

“The reason you’re here.”

 

She sighed. “Listen, just ignore them. They do not know you, you know?”

 

He laughed again, he couldn’t help himself. “Yeah, I know.”

 

“Stop laughing,” she said, looking alarmed. “I am serious. It’s really not that serious.”

 

“Okay. I’m laughing because I don’t care.” 

 

For the first time in a long time, he actually was not lying about not caring. He knew it would come. He was back in Green Meadow after being gone for so long. The rumor quieted down, but it never died off. With him back, it had just been a matter of when not if. He knew Jaejoong’s friends would find a way to make his life turbulent in Green Meadow. They couldn’t. 

 

Last night, yeah, he was upset. He had finally decided to give it a go and check out the ty blog-post Changmin wouldn’t shut up about, and the moment he did so, someone posted something ty about him. He had been stunned and hurt. But, after a good night of sleep, he realized how stupid the whole thing was. The whole town already thought he was gay, thought his mother had done something to him, and thought his parentage led him to such a life. This was nothing new. He would be fine.

 

One year and he would be out of here. He wasn’t fazed.

 

Exhaling, he said in a calm, measured voice, “Why are you here?” 

 

Kimberli paused and blinked. “I….Even though we started MeadowSecret, we do not...I mean, we cannot regulate it, like...” She stopped and inhaled loudly. “We reported the post and will try to get it down.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“We’re truly sorry.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“We, no, I, feel responsible. I don’t know. I don’t like teenagers,” she muttered, her eyes squinting into small crescents.

 

“That’s the intent of the page, right?”

 

She blinked and furrowed her thick eyebrows. “No! It’s….When we thought of it and created it, its purpose was supposed to be fun. High school gossip, not to bully.”

 

“High school gossip is bullying — for the most part. Also, I am not being bullied.”

 

“I—”

 

He interrupted her. “Calling someone gay—. Calling me gay is not bullying.”

 

“Okay, I am glad you think so, but….”

 

“That is not why I moved.”

 

Apparently, no one really forgot about the scandal. He did not even know why Jaejoong thought he would ever forgive him.

 

She pressed her glossy lips together and pulled them in a straight line. “Okay. I didn’t mean—”

 

“Good. Are we done?”

 

“No; how can I let this go if you’re acting so upset.”

 

“What?” He smiled, showing his bemusement. “I am not. I just told you that.”

 

She gave him a tender look. To Yunho, it looked pitiful. He was now starting to get upset.

 

“Listen, I know this is not fair. But kids are mean. High school teens are trash, alright”

 

“Yeah. I know.” Yunho shrugged nonchalantly.

 

“But not all of us are like that. At least we’re sorry and know that it is nothing but baseless rumors.” She smiled and nodded assuringly at him. She was assuring herself more than him, because he simply gave her a blank stare. 

 

Swallowing, she inhaled and continued, “Hey, listen.” She pushed away from the lockers and finished her thought, “You know it’s been years and we were so young; plus, no one really, really believes it.”

 

He felt a surge of impatience and anger. She knew nothing. Why was she so nosy? Why were they all so damned nosy? He snorted and closed his locker with a loud, irritated bang. “Kimberli, I am gay.”

 

Her eyes grew wide and she froze. Then she came to and she began to stutter, blood rushed to her cheeks. “I...I...I didn’t….”

 

He chuckled, it held no humor. Fixing his backpack on his back, he said, “I’m joking. Like I said, it’s fine.”

 

“!” She shouted, garnering some looks. She was smiling when she reached over and slapped him on the arm. “Don’t joke with me like that.”

 

He gave her a smile. “I said it was fine. You refused to let it go.”

 

“Because.” She stopped and pulled her hand back and realized what she had done. “, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to—” 

 

“It’s fine.” He cut her off. “Everything is fine.”

 

“No, I am just so touchy and used to playfully hitting friends. It’s a bad habit.”

 

“Cool. It’s fine. We’re good. I have to get to class, though.”

 

“My class is in the same direction as yours.” She fell into steps next to him.

 

!

 

“Listen, we’re really, really sorry that this is happening to you. You know, I might be out of place for saying this, but I think Jaejoong should—”

 

“You’re completely out of place. He doesn’t have to do anything.” He wasn’t trying to be stern, but they needed boundaries.

 

She looked up at him, expression clear. No hurt, just curiosity shone in her dark, slanted eyes. “Yeah, okay. However, before I start respecting your boundaries, I have to say he was the one that—”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

She frowned at him, then inhaled, nodded a few times at no one in particular, and then smiled at him. “Yes, I’m sorry. You’re right. So, are you free this weekend?”

 

“No. I have work.”

 

“Saturday night?”

 

“I don’t work into the night. I am not enslaved.”

 

She chuckled. “Great. We’re having a little bonfire party. Tell no one.” she winked at him. “It’s illegal.”

 

“What?”

 

“I promise you that we won’t bring “alcoholic” beverages. The ‘we’ doesn’t include me. I will. So, you can too, if you want. You know. I’ll text you the address.”

 

“What?” He felt steam-rolled. He never even gave his ‘yes,’ and there she was acting like they had all it figured out.

 

“Don’t worry. It’s fun. We love autumn around here and get lit. In the small town way, of course.”

 

He smiled at her and said, “Kimberli, See you later, yeah?”

 

She reached for his arm and they stopped right in the middle of the hallway. “Listen, I know you do not really “know” us, the gang, but stop being so reserved. Join us. We’re not that bad, you know?”

 

He had to say it. “Changmin created MeadowSecret.”

 

“Yeah? But that’s not what connects us, you know?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“Lovebirds, move.” 

 

The boy didn’t push Kimberli, but he purposefully made sure their shoulders brushed.

 

Rolling her eyes, Kimberli looked over at the grinning teen and gave him the middle finger. “ off.”

 

“You just bullied me, Ms. Yoshi,” the tall, lanky teenager said in a mocking tone, walking backwards and giving her two middle fingers. He had a huge smirk on his face.

 

“Jerk! You know that’s not my name.”

 

“Right, because you’re nowhere near righteous, Ms. I-hate-all-men.”

 

“ off, one-brain-cell jerk. Grow some hair!”

 

He stuck out his tongue at her like a child. “You know you like the bald look.”

 

Kimberli simply gave him the middle finger and let him walk away on a wave of hooting laughter.

 

Yunho vaguely recognized the guy. He was in his composition class and he was the baldheaded guy he had seen in the library with Jaejoong and during lunch. 

 

Rolling her eyes, she looked back at a quietly curious, observant Yunho. “Ignore him. He is stupid.”

 

“You know him?”

 

“Who doesn’t know him? It’s cumhead Ken.”

 

He laughed. “Ken? Barbie’s boyfriend Ken?”

 

She let out a heavy sigh and nodded despondently. “Ken. Kentaro Sakaguchi. Unfortunately another one of Jaejoong’s friends you’re better off not knowing.” 

 

Maybe it was in the way she said his full name, or the tension Yunho had detected in their brief interaction, but Yunho knew this tall, lanky teen was different from the other ones. At least to Kimberli.

 

“I thought you hated his friends. I didn’t know you were on talking terms with ‘the popular crowd’?”

 

“Huh? Him?” She pointed in the direction Kentaro was headed. Yunho shrugged.

 

“Ooh, hell no! I might have let him know what I thought of him, which is very, very negative, and we have an almost identical schedule. I hate him so much.” 

 

She didn’t sound like she did.

 

“Right.”

 

She frowned at him. “You don’t believe me?”

 

He shrugged again. “What? No. I just think that hate is a strong word.”

 

She rolled her eyes, but chuckled. “Okay. I don’t hate him. I just dislike him. A lot. Anyone who messes up your name to be funny is a jerk.”

 

“Ooh.”

 

She smiled openly at him. “It’s Unmei. My Japanese name. My dad thought it was important that I honor both sides of me.”

 

“Cool.”

 

She stepped away from him and let his arm go. “You know, if I was not on the uality spectrum, Ken, yeah, he’s hot, I’d climb that tree.”

 

“Ooh.” He simply gave her a confused, amused, and surprised expression. He knew he looked weird with a face that wanted to show three reactions at the same time. 

 

She laughed. “You look like how I think I did a moment ago.”

 

“Ooh.”
 

He was curious about her confession and deeply confused about it, too. However, most of all, Yunho knew he didn't want to ask any questions. He had a sinking suspicion that Kimberli would take it as them building a connection, forming a bond, and, therefore, it would become an entrance to ask him all bizarre questions. He wasn't interested.  

 

“Yeah.” She shrugged, giving him a carefree grin. “It’s no big deal. But, you know, Green Meadow. Only my close friends know.” She poke him on the side. He jumped. She winked at him and grinned. “So, Saturday night?”

 

“I don’t know. It’s a long day and I have work. I’ll probably be too—”

 

“Come to the game with us on Friday then.”

 

“I’ll think about it.” 

 

The music telling them they had 45 seconds left to get to class started.

 

She had just decided that he was a close friend. Now he literally could not shake them off.