Ah, thank you so much to all of my subscribers! I never excpected my story to get this appreciated... Thank you so much :D And I'm sorry this chapter is kind of short, but hopefully the following ones will be longer ^^

 

Jiho came to visit again the following day, but this time he walked up to Yongguk’s table in school.

“Hey, Yongguk-hyung,” he greeted, a little nervously. Zelo looked at him, eyes wide. Yongguk was not sure, but he suspected the boy missed him. He’d expected Jiho to come over almost every day, but he’d seen surprisingly little of him.

“Hey, Jiho,” Yongguk greeted back with a nod, even if Jiho’s eyes weren’t on him, but on Zelo. “What’s up.”

“Can you…” Jiho finally turned to look filly at Yongguk. “Can you and Zelo come over this afternoon?”

Yongguk shrugged.

“Sure, why?” he asked. Jiho looked down at the floor.

“No reason. I just want to hang out. It was a while ago. My parents are away until tomorrow,” he said, looking up once more. Yongguk nodded and flashed him a quick smile.

“Sure. See ya, then.”

Jiho nodded and walked away without looking back. Yongguk observed the way Zelo watched him go with longing in his eyes, a little worried crease forming between his brows.

“Who’s that?” Kyuhyun asked and Yongguk blinked out of his daze.

“Woo Jiho,” he answered, turning to look at Kyuhyun. “A friend of mine. Or well, the son of the friends of my parents, really. We used to be best buddies, but then I came out of the closet, my parents disowned me and his parents didn’t want me to hang out with him.”

Kyuhyun’s eyes widened, but Yongguk merely shrugged, even as he realized it was the first time he’d told Kyuhyun his story.

“Ouch,” Kyuhyun said with a grimace. “You were disowned?”

“Yeah, my parents are kind of homophobic,” Yongguk replied with yet another shrug. He’d gotten over it long ago, but he knew it could be shocking to other people.

“But you and Jiho are still friends,” Kyuhyun stated. Yoseob and Yongguk both nodded.

“Behind his parents’ back, of course, which sometimes makes it a little difficult. But we keep to text messaging and stuff, although we barely speak anymore,” Yongguk explained. Kyuhyun nodded in understanding, but didn’t say anything more. Yongguk was relieved — his relationships with people were complicating and difficult to explain.

Or at least they had become so since he moved in with Heechul.

~~

The rest of the day passed quickly and Yongguk and Zelo parted with Yoseob and Kyuhyun by the school gates to go separate ways — Yoseob and Kyuhyun would go home while Yongguk and Zelo would head for Jiho’s place, which was the opposite way.

It took longer than it might have because Yoseob refused to let Yongguk go without a kiss. That kiss soon turned into another and then another until Kyuhyun forcefully pulled them apart, reprimanding them for tainting ‘poor Zelo’s poor innocent mind’.

Yongguk felt like he was in a place he shouldn’t be when he walked up to Jiho’s front door — which he technically was — and moved to ring the doorbell, but Zelo was faster than him.

There was the sound of something hitting the floor, a muttered curse and the shuffling of feet before the door opened to show a scowling Jiho. Zelo looked up at him with wide eyes, while Yongguk couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped him.

“Nice,” he commented on the bruise that was forming on his cheek. “How did you do that?”

“You scared me,” Jiho answered, glaring even harder at Yongguk, “and I turned my head too quickly so I hit my cheek in the cupboard.”

This time Yongguk couldn’t restrain his laughter as he was ushered into the house, but he quieted down once he realized something. The house was oddly… empty.

“Yeah,” Jiho said when he noticed Yongguk’s expression. “We’re moving. Pretty far, too.”

He turned to Zelo, putting his hands on his shoulders as he looked into his eyes. It reminded Yongguk of when Jiho had handed him over, but different.

Zelo and Jiho stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment before Jiho enveloped the boy in a tight hug with a small, barely-noticeable sound. And for the first time for as long as Yongguk had known him, Zelo hugged back.

The blonde clung tight to Jiho’s frame, wrapping his legs around him as well and almost causing Jiho to lose his balance.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Jiho whispered against Zelo’s neck and Yongguk backed away, feeling like he was witnessing something private. “Don’t you dare forget me, okay? I’ll come back one day. I’ll come to look for you.”

Eventually Jiho pried Zelo off himself, even if the boy seemed like he never wanted to let go. Yongguk could hear Jiho swallow before he turned to him. He had tears in his eyes and Yongguk felt his own throat start to close up.

“That’s all I wanted to say, really,” Jiho said with a nod. “You should probably go, mom and dad are coming home soon…”

“Thanks, Jiho. You still have my phone number, right?” Yongguk said as he stepped forward, putting one hand on Zelo’s shoulder. Jiho nodded, but he wasn’t looking at Yongguk.

“Good. I’ll see you sometime, then.”

It looked like Jiho was going to simply let them go, but at the last second, he reached his arms out and enveloped Zelo in another tight hug, quicker this time. When he let him go, he pushed at both Zelo and Yongguk slightly, ushering them out of his house.

The walk home was a little awkward, as Yongguk wasn’t sure what to do about the tears that silently, prettily, fell along Zelo’s cheeks, making salty tracks appear in the red of his pale cheeks.

It took him the whole walk home to decide what to do to try and comfort Zelo. As soon as they stepped inside, Yongguk silently, just as mute as Zelo, helped the blonde boy off with his shoes and jacket and wrapped him in a blanket, disposing him on the couch while he took off his own shoes and jacket and placed his backpack in his room.

When he went back into the living room, he sat down on the couch next to him and pulled him into his lap. He allowed Zelo to cry with his face hidden against his neck, quietly sniffling.

They stayed in position even after Zelo had long since stopped crying, until Yongguk’s phone rang. With a small sigh, he let go of Zelo who curled into a ball as he watched Yongguk while the older picked up his phone.

“Seobie-ah!” he greeted when he heard his boyfriend’s voice on the other end.

“You home now?” Yoseob asked and Yongguk unconsciously nodded.

“Yeah, we got home a while ago… Jiho just wanted to tell us he was moving, really,” he answered. There was a small pause on the other end.

“Where’s he moving to?” Yoseob asked then. Yongguk sat back down on the couch next to Zelo, one arm wrapping around the boy’s shoulders.

“Dunno. He didn’t tell me. Hey, you want to come over? I think Zelo could use some distraction, besides… I miss you.”

Yoseob giggled on the other line.

“Sure, I’ll be there soon. Love ya!” he said before hanging up. Yongguk put his phone on the table and returned his attention to the sad boy once again sitting in his lap.

“Yoseob’s coming over. Is there anything you want to do? Maybe we can continue teaching you how to read and write?” he suggested and Zelo gave a tiny nod.

The afternoon was spent teaching Zelo to at least recognize the letters and write them down, although he refused to sound them out — it was no less than what they had expected, so they weren’t surprised in the least.

They finally stopped when Zelo spelled out I’M HUNGRY across the paper they were practicing on. Yoseob and Yongguk stared at the words for a few moments, unable to believe Zelo had actually communicated clearly for once, but then Zelo’s stomach growled really loudly. The couple looked up at each other before looking at Zelo whose eyes flickered between them before they burst into laughter.

“Okay,” Yongguk said and got off the floor on which they’d been lying. “I’ll make you something to eat.”

“Oh no, mister!” Yoseob immediately protested, scrambling off the floor only to latch himself onto Yongguk’s back, nearly pulling him back onto the floor. “You’re pretty horrible at cooking. I’ll do it.”

The two bickered back and forth for a while, even turning to Zelo a few times, but the boy said nothing. Amusement was, however, written across his entire face.

In the end, they settled for a simple vegetable soup and quickly set to work, making sure to include Zelo by giving him simple tasks as well. Yongguk felt like Yoseob was his wife (well, husband, but he felt more like a wife) and Zelo was their child.  He was perfectly content.

The soup was finished just as Heechul came home, once more dragging Hankyung after him.

“Mm,” the Chinese man commented as he entered the kitchen. “Smells good. Vegetable soup?”

Yoseob nodded with a proud smile on his face, leaning in to Yongguk’s embrace. Zelo was already sitting by the table, watching the silently. Well, silently until his stomach growled once more.

“Hyung!” Yongguk called to Heechul through his chuckling. “When is Hankyung-hyung gonna move in?”

Hankyung blushed while Heechul glared.

“First of all, Hankyung is Chinese, so that’s gege for you. Second…” Heechul paused to throw an arm around Hankyung’s shoulders and let the smile slowly spread on his lips. “Hannie is moving in next week.”

Yongguk stared. Yoseob’s eyes widened for a moment before he shot forward to embrace the couple in a hug and judging by their expressions, Yongguk wasn’t the only one who was taken aback.

“Congratulations hyung, gege!” Yoseob said, taking a step back and shining up at Heechul and Hankyung. No, he was most definitely not trying to up to them because he was Yongguk’s boyfriend — he was genuinely happy for them.

“I’m glad you finally found the one for you, Heechul-hyung,” he added and Yongguk resisted the urge to laugh. A snort still escaped him, which earned him a dirty glare from Heechul. He quickly arranged his features to a warm smile.

“I’m happy for you,” he said and he really meant it.

Yoseob, Yongguk and Zelo continued playing mini happy-family during dinner; Yoseob and Yongguk would take turns feeding Zelo and Zelo would shift between sitting in Yoseob’s and Yongguk’s laps. Hankyung and Heechul held a separate conversation, but none of the three younger boys noticed the warm, amused glances sent their way.

Eventually, Yoseob’s mom called him and ordered him to come home right now or he would be grounded for a week. He went through the usual process of saying goodbye to Yongguk — showering him with ‘I love you’s and ‘I’ll miss you’s, begging for a kiss, that automatically turned into a make out session someone else had to interrupt, one last peck on the lips and a pair of sad puppy eyes.

Yongguk actually did not blame him. They rarely had any alone time together — this he blamed his stupid, worrisome, mother hen self for — and saying goodbye was the best reason they had to have a hot make out session.

The downside of this was, of course, was that they were two teenage boys and easily got carried away by their hormones. Yongguk mostly managed to shrug it off, because he didn’t think it was that big of a deal — despite Zelo was a very good distraction, especially when he kept writing what Yongguk thought were jokes in his tiniest handwriting… on the floor.

That night, Zelo refused to lie down in bed before Yongguk got back from getting ready himself. Once Yongguk was settled and was about to shut the lights off, Zelo suddenly crawled over into his bed. Yongguk paused in the middle of a move.

“You want to sleep in my bed?” Zelo nodded. “With me?”

Another nod. Yongguk smiled and turned the lights off before lying back in bed, arms automatically going around Zelo’s back as the boy curled into him.

“Hm… I’ll have to talk to Yoseob, but maybe we can take you to the amusement park later this week,” Yongguk mused out loud, fingers absentmindedly carding through Zelo’s surprisingly soft hair. “I think you’d like that.”

Zelo was still and silent, but Yongguk could feel his smile against his skin as he drifted off to sleep.

~~

Yoseob was, like Yongguk had suspected, very keen on taking Zelo to the amusement park and immediately went to beg his parents for as much money as possible. Heechul and Hankyung both gave Yongguk and Zelo a considerable amount of money each without the boys even asking.

“On one condition, Bang Yongguk,” Heechul smirked as he held the money just out of reach. Yongguk scowled at him, but said nothing. “You’ll dye your hair blonde, too.”

Yongguk was taken aback. Why did he have to dye his hair blonde? He liked it the way it was!

“… Okay. Sure. But if it’s horrible, I’ll dye it back.”

Heechul’s smirk widened as he handed the money to Yongguk.

“It won’t be horrible,” he said, sounding absolutely sure of himself.

Unfortunately, the bastard was correct.

~~

Zelo loved the amusement park, at least as much as Yoseob. Yongguk liked it too, but he wasn’t too fond of all the people, the long queue and the sweets his lover and mute little brother, as he’d come to think of Zelo, liked to stuff their mouths with.

The amusement park also meant hearing Zelo’s voice for the first time. He hadn’t uttered a sound during the first three, relatively calm carousels they got on, but he did scream when Yongguk brought him onto his first rollercoaster.

His voice was hoarse and broken, but the enchantment mixed with horror was still more than evident in it. Afterwards, he immediately ran over to Yoseob, grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled him over to stand in line once more. The smile seemed to be etched permanently on his face and neither Yoseob nor Yongguk seemed to be able to stop smiling either.

Unfortunately, Zelo went back to his normal, silent, still self pretty soon after they went home. He was excited while showing off all the things Yoseob and Yongguk bought for him to Heechul and Hankyung but he stopped smiling quickly. Heechul called him an ungrateful brat, but Yongguk could see that he still appreciated the gifts.

There was just something else, something bigger, that was compelling him not to speak.

Yongguk was determined to find out what it was.