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

Jaejoong woke up to his sisters doing their best attempt at trying to break his door down. 

Jumping up on his bed, startled from an uneventful sleep, his hangover making his head feel like it was being batted from the inside, he slipped from under his sheets and walked to open the door.

The four siblings stood there facing each other in a piercing silence.

“Good morning?” he croaked, vexed.

Jiae sighed and reached for his shoulder, making him take a step back as she walked in. He scowled at her. 

They didn’t let him share his displeasure at being awoken so early and to such ruckus. “Have you been on social media yet today?” Jiae asked gently, sounding cautious.

He crossed his arm over his chest. “Just woke up. Why?” He asked, voice thick with sleep.

He looked at her ashened visage, and his heart skittered around, his hands growing clammy. “Why?” He felt his body tensing up. He suddenly felt on edge. 

“,” Jinjoo muttered. She did not look like she was ready for the talk that it appeared they were set out to have with him.

“What’s going on?” He was getting scared now. He ran through a list of possibilities and crossed most of them off because they involved his family members and harm and knew his parents would be with his sisters if that were true. 

So, then what?

“You’re scaring me?” He said the statement like a question, and it’s because it was. Why were they acting as if they were about to tell him the earth was ending in three seconds time. 

“Come here,” Jangmi said, walking in his room with the rest of their sisters. She grabbed his hand and fused their fingers together. 

Ooh no.

He tugged his hand free, but dutifully followed her. “What’s this all about?”

They said nothing. 

He’d learned soon enough what was wrong. Jinjoo pulled him to his bed, sat down, tugged him down next to her, and pulled up instagram on her phone.

A handle he’d never thought he would see again showed on his sister’s phone: Gro0vie_Tea. A gossip website that used to dominate his high school peers' teenage lives. 

He turned cold when he saw the picture.

It was of him and Yunho, the night they went to McDonald’s, kissing. They looked like lovers. They were kissing!

Now he realized why his sisters had said nothing. 

He also knew that there was nothing he could say that would make this better. There was no lie he could spew, no farfetch story, no explanation, no excuses he could give that would make this better. He had to admit he was in hot water; he had to come clean. He had to tell the truth 

They were kissing.

It was them. There was no ignoring it. 

The caption was a paragraph long description of their “undying love” for each other, their turbulent history, and how they’ve always had something for each other. The tags were ing ridiculous. 

He was being targeted. They were being targeted. 

Supposedly, they were their town's hottest new couple.

The post reeked of homophobia.

And Jaejoong not only knew who did this, he also knew why this was happening. This had nothing to do with him. This was payback from Nathen, and the target was Yunho. Nathan wanted to hurt and embarrass Yunho.

“I already reported it,” she softly said, dropping her hand on his arm.

It felt like a hot iron. He pulled away. He could not say anything. 

Blood pounded in his ears. He felt lightheaded.

His sisters stared at him with pity and confusion.

“I don’t….” He rubbed his bottom lip. “I….”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Jinjoo rapidly said, dropping on his other side and grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers. Her grip was tight. “You don’t have—”

“Nathen,” he managed to choke out.

“We figured,” Jiae muttered.

“I am sorry,” Jinjoo said. 

“He’s like a roach that won’t die,” Jangmi lamented.

He managed to yank his hand free and covered his face with them. Pressing his elbows on his legs and dropping his head, he knew there was nowhere else to hide. He had to tell them the hurt. 

“I am so sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Jangmi said, his back.

“No, don’t be. This is not your fault. However, I do need to know what’s going on between you and Yunho? Are you two friends or something? What’s going on?” She sounded incredilous.

The cat was out of the bag. He could no longer lie and pretend. He had to come clean.

He didn’t want to. 

He wanted to run away. 

“I didn’t know it was him at first.”

“What?” Jinjoo said.

“And...it was by accident and then when we got back, we started talking and I….I rejected him. We don’t talk anymore,” he was trying to explain himself, but everything was coming out in incomprehensible bits and pieces.

“Jaejoong, you’re still our brother.”

“Yeah,” Jiae said, agreeing with her older sister. 

“We’re going to take care of this.”

Jaejoong shook his head, feeling the tears sliding down his cheeks. 

“Jaejoong, we’ll always love you and never judge.”

He shuddered and felt a sob rocking through his body. 

He wanted to believe Jinjoo, but he felt so wrong. It was hard to trust that they were not feeling slighted upset with his thoughtless choices he made over the summer. 

“I’m sorry.”

He wanted to disappear. They knew everything now. There was no hiding. They got a first class view of his breakdown and his mortification.

“Don’t be,” Jangmi said, also joining her two sisters. She soothinly ran her fingers in a circle on her baby brother's back. 

“Okay, calm down. It’ll be alright,” Jinjoo said, hugging him. 

Would it?

"We'll take care of everything," Jangmin added tenderly.

"The Kims are going to teach that roach a lesson," Jinjoo said firmly.

He couldn't help but laugh through his tears at his sister's comment, but he still didn't see how they could make this better when this was all his fault.

He was the reason this has happened.

, Yunho!

Writer’s Note: Hey everyone! I just finished editing the last few chapters. It ended up being way more than just two chapters, lol. But I am done. I will be updating a chapter a day for the next few days. Thank you for all the support and love. Until next time!

P.s. If you feel compelled, please share your thoughts by leaving me a comment. Thank you