Onew's face in this picture... I melt like a popsicle on the 4th of July

I said this would be up yesterday... I lied.  My mom is gone for about 2 weeks so it's just me and my dad and I have to be all domestic and stuff, cooking dinner and doing laundry.  Plus working full time so I get busy sometimes.

But anyways.  Here it is. 

“So he really got expelled?”  Jonghyun asked excitedly over the phone.

“Yeah!  Isn’t that so cool?  Becoming a martyr because he defended his little brother against bullies!”  Onew said dreamily, now that he knew the truth the star struck look was back in his eyes.

“I wouldn’t go as far as to call him a martyr but it is pretty cool,” Jonghyun said, laughing lightly at Onew’s one-eighty attitude change.

“Well the real question now is what do I do?”  Onew said, sighing softly. 

“Well, now you have to show him what he is missing out on hyung!”  Jonghyun replied, trying to sound encouraging. 

“Well how the hell do I do that?”  Onew questioned.

“Well, I don’t know!  I. Like. Girls. Remember?  And they always come to me; I don’t know how to get with a guy,” Jonghyun replied simply.    

“God you are just useless!”  Onew groaned.

“That was rude,” Jonghyun responded in a mockingly offended tone.   

“Whatever.  I’ve got to go, call me if you think of anything.  Be ready to brainstorm at lunch,” Onew responded as he neared his neighborhood.    

Jonghyun groaned in obvious annoyance and made a noncommittal grunt into the phone before it went dead in Onew’s ear. 

Onew practically skipped the rest of the way home.  After he had managed to get over the initial shock and confusion that Taemin’s confession had brought him, he could feel nothing but bliss. 

Minho liked him. 

Really liked him. 

Liked him enough that he was avoiding Onew in fear of what they could become.  It seemed a little backwards really, that Onew was now excited because Minho was avoiding him.  But it managed to ease all his earlier fears and gave him a sense of hope. 

Onew understood Minho’s concern and they were legitimate.  He was willing to keep things simple and silent until they were out of school.  While Onew was a romantic at heart and would love nothing more than for Minho to rush up to him at lunch and kiss him in front of everyone.  He knew realistically the ramifications of something like that.  And he figured he could sacrifice the film-worthy public display of affection for something less flashy, as long as he still got Minho in the end Onew would be happy. 

Onew was glad to see his mother was already home from work when he reached the house.  He slid his shoes off quickly and followed the scent of dinner into the kitchen to greet his mother. 

"Jinki darling have you eaten yet?"  His mother asked as soon as he stepped in the room.

"No umma, I just got back from tutoring," he replied, fixing himself a drink and trying to sneakily grab an apple off of the counter to snack on without his mother noticing. 

"Well sit down, I'll fix you something," his mother glanced up, her bright smile faltering, "honey why are you so pale?  Are you getting sick?  Do you feel okay?" 

"I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well last night," Onew responded, only telling her half the truth.

Regardless of his words however, his mother still began fawning over him, feeling his forehead to check for a fever and asking him if he needed a cool cloth for the headache he didn't have. 

"Umma I'm fine.  I swear," he said, rolling his eyes and pushing her hands away from his face.

His mother gave him hard look before setting the food on the table for him and took the seat across from him, "Eat, then talk."

"There is nothing to talk about umma," Onew responded just a little too quickly.  

She rolled her eyes, "Well how about you tell me how your date went this weekend."

"What date," Onew muttered, his body betraying him as his cheeks flared bright red. 

"You are honestly going to try an convince me that you voluntarily attended a sports function and there was no cute boy involved?"  His mother remarked, the obvious disbelief painted on her face.

Onew’s cheeks were practically burning, while his parents were aware of his ual orientation it was not something he was used to talking about so it made him uncomfortable to be having this conversation with his mother of all people. 

"It wasn't a date.  We are just friends, " Onew remarked, his eyes boring holes into the wooden table top.  He was ready to sink into the floorboards, wanting nothing more than for this conversation to just end. 

"And you mean to tell me you are okay with that?"  His mother asked, her ability to read Onew’s body language was uncanny.

"Umma this isn't something I want to talk to you about," He muttered, sinking lower into his chair. 

"You really do like this boy don't you?" she asked with excitement. 

"Yes," Onew relented with a sigh, "But it's complicated umma." 

"You are 17. What could be so complicated?"  She said with a huff, a smile still plastered on her face.

"He just transferred here because people were bullying him and his brother after he came out.  I really don't blame him for not wanting to get involved with anyone," Onew replied, trying to keep it as simple as possible and simply praying his mother didn’t ask him for more details. 

And honestly, he did really understand Minho’s point-of-view.  He couldn’t even imagine the guilt Minhi had felt because Taemin had gotten injured because of who his older brother was.  Onew sighed; he didn’t blame Minho in the slightest for acting the way that he did.  The younger boy was scared and he had good reason to be.  Onew’s school wouldn’t be any better, if he were to come out, the same sort of things would happen.  Minho was simply being smart and careful in trying to distance himself.

"Jinki, relationships are about taking risks.  You will never know what you could become if you never give it a chance.  Love makes you do stupid things.  It makes you go against logic and common sense.  But if it is real it is always worth the trouble it can cause.  If you like this boy and he likes you than it will be worth it to try.  You just have to show him that you are serious," His mother advised, her sincerity managing to cut through all of Onew’s insecurities. 

"Well how do I do that?  I only see him for an hour a day!  Hardly enough time to forge a relationship when he won’t even talk to me!" 

"Well you just have to find a way to be a part of his life," his mother said simply, giving him a loving pat on the head before leaving him to his thoughts.

~~~

Onew laid back on his bed, bring the phone up to his ear as the shrill ringing was upset by Taemin’s soft voice. 

—   “Taemin-ah, I have an idea, but I will need your help for it to work.”

—   “Of course hyung!  Anything at all!”

—   “Good.  I was hoping you would say something like that.”

So yeah.  Not terribly exciting but whatever.  Onew and his momma remind me of my best friend and his mom so much.  She is always wanting to do clique gay boy things with him and he is just like "I like boys, that doesn't make me a girl, I don't like shoe shopping."  And it is just cute to watch them.  She want to talk about their feelings and he wants them to accept it and move on.  Cute. 

And I really don't think Onew's dad will be written in this at all.  He exists, I think Jong made so reference to him travelling for work a lot at one point.  I just wanted my characters to have nomal, not depressing lives.  No dead parents because that just gets depressing to read and some people do come from totally normal, intact families. And I don't want to deal with homophobic parents either.  And I feel like that is what Onew's dad would be if I tried to bring him in, so just not going to do it. 

I think I am almost done with the Onho that didn't happen.  Idk if I mentioned it on here or just in my blog... but I caved and wrote a piece for this story.  But it will be a separate oneshot because this story wasn't supposed to be rated.  But I JUST COULDN'T RESIST OKAY!  THEY ARE TOO CUTE!  But it won't be posted until this story is over.  But it is like 3000 words now, and it isn't done.  And I want to add some context to the beginning because right now it is pwp.  But it is adorable.  And awkward as .  I love it so much!

Longest A/N ever...