Omg has it really been that long?  Feel free to hate me... I think I deserve it at this point...

Onew stepped in the house quickly, sighing at the much-needed warmth as he pulling off his heavy coat and toed off his shoes.  His mind clouded with memories of Minho as he headed towards the living room, a satisfied smile permanent on his lips while he practically glided through the house.  He honestly couldn’t even remember why he had been so nervous before their date.  Minho just made everything so effortless, managing to make him feel comfortable and at ease no matter what.  It was almost laughable how anxious he had been since he was now so incredible blissed-out, high off of Minho’s touch.

“I take it your date went well Jinki darling?” his mom said, smirking at him from her spot on the sofa. 

Onew jumped a bit as his mother’s musical voice shattered his euphoric bubble; he truly hadn’t even noticed her sitting there, still lost in his memories of soft lips and hands intertwined in coat pockets.  He suddenly felt horribly embarrassed, he probably had a dopey, lovesick smile on his face and he was practically dancing around the house in his cartoon socks. 

“It was good,” he replied meekly, looking down bashfully, trying but failing to wipe the stupidly happy smile off of his face.

“Yes, I can see that,” she replied, nodding her head towards him, a playful note in her tone as her eyebrow raised just enough to make Onew feel uncomfortable.

He frowned in confusion for a second before his eyes widened in horror, his hand shooting up to the collar of his shirt.  He had completely forgotten about the love mark, and yeah, now that he had taken his coat off it was painfully visible.

He mom laughed at his comical expression, waving her hand dismissively at how painfully embarrassed he obviously was, “Come sit baby, I want to hear all about this boy.  And don’t even think about saying no.”

Onew thought about just making a run for it.  He really did.  Because sleeping on a park bench until he turned eighteen seemed like a much better future than talking to him mother about him first ever boyfriend and first ever hickey.  However, Onew was a rational being, and it was far too cold to be sleeping on park benches so he settled awkwardly on the edge couch next to her, fruitlessly trying to adjust his shirt so the telling red mark wasn’t quite so noticeable. 

He had no idea what he was supposed to say, ‘Hey mom I know I just started dating this guy three days ago, but things kind of got hot and heavy today at the movies and now I need you to buy me an assortment of decorative scarves.’  Yeah, that seemed like a super fun conversation. 

“So, how far did you go?” she asked.

“Mom!” he gasped, utterly horrified that she would ask something so personal.  Where most parents this… invasive?  Jonghyun never talked about his parents prying into his personal relationships like this and Lord-knows he brought home enough love marks over the years for them to take notice.  But then again, his parent’s weren’t the most observant in the world either.  Jonghyun’s father forgot Onew’s name half the time and the two of them had been friends for years. 

“That far huh?  Oh my goodness that is adorable!” she squealed, pulling him into a suffocating hug, rocking them back and forth in excitement.

“Mom, stop it.  We didn’t do anything, honest,” he whined, wanting nothing more than to melt into the carpet.  It was embarrassing enough to be almost eighteen years old and just now getting his first kiss, but to have his mother find out about his scandalous movie date with Minho?  Mortifying.

“Why ever not?  Oh fine.  Go.  Run away.  Don’t tell your poor, aging mother anything and deny her of her only true happiness in this world,” she said with an exaggerated fake pout.

“Thanks for understanding mom,” Onew said, placing a swift kiss against her cheek as he fled the room, making a beeline for the stairs, ignoring her rather insistent calls for him to come back.  He knew better than to fall for her antics.

He threw himself on his bed and pulling his phone out of his pocket and noticed he had a few messages in his inbox that he must have received while he was talking with his mother.  He opened the first one and his jaw dropped in horror.

From: Taemin

Hyung I’m so proud of you!  Minho’s neck looks awful!  Good job!

If Taemin knew then he had a feeling he knew who the other text messages were from as well…

From: Kibum

Oh my god Jinki hyung you finally did it!!!  Ride that stallion; Lord knows you both need to get some already!

Onew honestly didn’t know what would be worse, throwing himself in front of a moving vehicle or talking to Kibum and Taemin ever again.  Their messages were making him blush even when he was alone in his room.  How could they all know about it?  It had only happened an hour ago!  He quickly moved onto the next text message, not wanting to even think about what Kibum had suggested.

From: Minho

I’m so sorry hyung!  :(

And the last one was by far the one he was dreading the most.  Taemin and Key he could ignore pretty effectively until this whole fiasco began to blow over, but Jonghyun, he was a different story entirely.  

From: Jonghyun

Hyung you finally tapped that?  Damn, you can still see teeth marks in that bad boy! 

Oh god there was a picture. 

It was fuzzy and out of focus, as if the subject wouldn’t stop moving long enough to be captured, but he could only assume it was of Minho’s neck and the now infamous hickey. 

Damn Taemin.  Did he really have to take a picture and send it to everyone? 

He sighed, his embarrassment only out-weighed by the sheer dread he felt at the prospect of talking to Jonghyun as he opened up a reply window on his phone.

To Minho:

I am never leaving the house again.

His phone buzzed moments later as if Minho had been waiting for Onew to message him.

From: Minho

I’m so sorry hyung.  It was an accident. 

To: Minho

What happened?

From: Minho

Taemin walked in on me in the bathroom. :(

Onew tried to keep any and all mental pictures out of head from those words but it was difficult. 

To: Minho

Oh.

Kind of a stupid response but what was he supposed to say? 

From: Minho

I’m really sorry hyung.  I know how much you didn’t want anyone to know. ㅠㅠ

To: Minho

It’s okay.  I will just go into hiding or something - change schools, become the weird kid who smells faintly like moth balls and lock myself in the figurative closet until I die.  You know, the usual. 

From: Minho

-_-

To: Minho

I have to go talk to Jonghyun now.  I’ll call you once I’ve gotten settled in my new home in Alaska.

From: Minho

You know it isn’t that big of a deal right?  If you don’t act like the world is ending maybe they won’t tease you so much about it.

To: Minho

Easy for you to say, you aren’t the one with an inbox full of inappropriate comments from so-called friends.  

From: Minho

Well what are they saying (^.^)

To: Minho

No.  I’m not telling you.  Goodbye.

Minho continued to send him messages and cute emoticons but Onew ignored them, focusing on working up his nerve to call Jonghyun and deal with the painfully embarrassing reality that was his life. 

However, before he could gather all of his mental strength, his phone began vibrating in his hand. 

            Incoming call: Jong

.

That park bench wasn’t sounding quite so bad anymore.

Ummm... sorry.  Really.  Time really gets away from me sometimes.  Do you realize i've been in Korea for 5 months already?  That is just crazy talk alright.  I'm pretty sure i've been here like 3 weeks... tops.  I still haven't even hung up my posters for godsakes!  

Jinki bb's mom is forever my favorite.  She is me in 20 years okay.  Shameless, inappropriate and existing to torture my children. 

Also, there is really only one chapter left.  And .  But the doesn't count.  Because it is technically not a part of the story.  So one chapter left.  I have so many things to work on once this is finally finished.  Maybe during my vacation... I have like 2 things planned for my vacation.  The rest of the time my is staying home, drinking copious amounts of alcohol and ordering delivery pizza with my awful Korean skills... I will get back to writing.  I will damn it.