It was four in the morning. Jongin hurriedly threw a few pieces of clothing and some necessities into a backpack.

He tip-toed out of his bedroom, down the stairs and across the living room, trying his best not to make a single sound or noise that might awaken his parents.

He quickly put on his pair of shoes. He unlatched the door and turned the knob of the door slowly, carefully ensuring that there would not be a squeak. He passed through the door and closed it cautiously so that it did not slam shut or creak.

Jongin bounded across the small garden they had. He knew the gate was locked by a security code. Opening it via the security code would cause a motorised whirl and would startle his parents in the quietness of the morning. He had to leave via another way.

His eyes scoured for a way to make his escape before his gaze settled a short stool.

I guess I just have to climb over the wall.

He flung his backpack over the gate and it hit the ground with a soft thump. Jongin sighed in relief. He leaned the stool against the wall and stood on it. Now he had to mount the wall. Luckily he was tall enough, but there was still a bit of difficulty as his arms clambered for the top of the wall. After a struggle, he managed to hoist his body up and both his legs straddled the wall. He peered at the road below. He closed his eyes and sincerely wishee that he would land on the ground without hurting himself badly. Jongin then leapt towards the ground and came crashing down with a small thud. He let out a soft groan and remained on the road for a few moments. Luckily his whole body was covered. He was wearing a sweat pants and hoodie so he had no scratches on his body.

Jongin quickly picked himself up and dusted himself a little. He headed to pick his backpack up. Turning to look at the house he called home for the last 18 years, he said a silent goodbye.

“I’m not going to look back from now onwards. Towards a new life,” he said.

Jongin knew that Taemin would always come out for an early morning jog. Jongin knew the path that Taemin would take and he decided to wait along the route.

Jongin paced up and down anxiously hoping for Taemin to appear. Running away is a covert operation and it had to be done fast.

Soon Jongin spotted a familiar svelte figure in sweat pairs and a hoodie heading his way.

“Taemin!” Jongin called out.

This caused the said boy to stop in his tracks.

“Jongin!” Taemin exclaimed in surprise. “What are you doing out here?”

Truth be told, Taemin was less than pleased to see Jongin.

“I came to find you,” Jongin said excitedly. “We need to talk. And I want to apologise for what had happened.”

“Forget it. I’ve put that incident behind me,” Taemin replied coolly. He averted eye contact with Jongin.

But Jongin remained oblivious to Taemin’s change in attitude. He grabbed Taemin by his waist and pulled Taemin in for a hug, startling the latter.

“I miss you so much Taemin-baby,” Jongin said.

Taemin gently pushed Jongin away and turned his gaze from Jongin.

“What’s wrong?” Jongin asked.

“We’re in a public place,” Taemin quickly came up with an excuse as he stared at the ground.

“Mianhae.”

“Dwae-sseo,” Taemin said as he continued to look at the ground. He paused for a few moments, “Jongin, I’m going to continue with my run. I’ll see you around sometime, okay?”

But just as Taemin was about to take off, Jongin grabbed Taemin by his left arm.

“Taemin-baby, will you run away with me?”

“Mweo?” Taemin turned around and stared wide-eyed at Jongin. “You want me to run away with you?”

Jongin nodded. “My parents want to break us up. They want to relocate to Seoul. So I thought that both of us could run away and build a life together. You love me, don’t you?”

Taemin brusquely brushed Jongin’s grasp off his arm and said coolly, “Maybe your parents’ decision is for the best.”

Jongin’s jaw dropped. He was feeling confused. He spluttered in shock: “Taemin-baby, what did you just say? I don’t get you. What do you mean it’s for the best? Don’t you get it? They want to break us up? We can’t be together anymore.”

“Jongin-ah, mianhae. Let’s break up.”

“Break up?” Jongin stuttered. “You want us to break up?”

Tears started to form in Jongin’s eyes. “Wae? Don’t you love me? What happened? Why this sudden change in you?”

“Jongin-ah, I don’t think I can be with you anymore after what happened that evening,” Taemin said indifferently.

“Wae?”

“It was humiliating for me!”” Taemin exclaimed.

“But…don’t…you love me…we even made love?” Jongin choked. “Isn’t our love strong enough to overcome small things like that?”

“You call being caught by a third party having with a guy a small thing, Kim Jongin?” Taemin hollered. “It’s not to me. I can never look at your parents straight in the eye again. And thankfully they didn’t tell my parents but who knows what’ll happen? I’m sorry Jongin. I just can’t be together with you anymore. I can’t forget about that incident. It brings me bad memories. I did love you, but I guess my love for you is not strong enough. I don't think I can give up my life here just to run away with you. Just forget about me. You’ll be able to find someone better than me who’ll love and cherish you more.”

Tears streamed down Jongin’s eyes. He could not believe what he was hearing. “I ran away from home just to be with you. And now you’re telling me you don’t love…”

Taemin cut in frostily, “You should just go home and forget everything that has happened and move on with life. It’s better for the both of us that way. Goodbye Jongin.”

With that Taemin took off. Jongin wanted to stretch out his hand to grab Taemin but he lacked the courage to do so as he watched the figure of the boy he loves disappear into the darkness of the morning.

Jongin felt that his heart had been ripped apart and torn into a million shreds.

What do I do? Where do I go? Should I go home since everything is now over between him and me?

I can’t go home. My parents might do something more drastic if they find out I had run away.

I’ll go to Seoul like I had planned. I could try to get a job at one of the gay bars in Itaewon, Jongno or Nagwan Dong. That’s what I do. I won’t go back home again.

Jongin soon found himself on the first train to Seoul.

This wasn’t Jongin’s first time in the capital though. He had been to the city many times before but it had always been with his parents.

As he stood outside Seoul Station, be took a deep breath and said, “To a new life!”

For the rest of the day, Jongin just roamed the streets of Seoul. When it was night, he decided to go in search of a job. Maybe he would get lucky and get employed at some gay bar which might provide him with a place to sleep.

Jongin had heard that Itaewon was a Mecca for homouals – many foreigners frequented that place. Another area would be the Jongno or Nagwan Dong area. He decided to try his luck at Jongno/Nagwan Dong area first.

The music was blasting to hard pounding beats as the dance floor was dimly lit except for some glittering lights and some mist spraying out every now and then.

It was his first time in a gay club. He went to the bar counter asking for a job but was told there were no positions there.

Jongin then went to a second club and to a third club but the clubs all said the same thing after hearing Jongin’s age – there were no positions available for him.

Jongin started to despair a little. This wasn’t what he expected.

Perhaps I should go back home. Maybe a psychiatrist can cure me of my homoual disease. Perhaps I could ask for hypnosis so that I can forget about Taemin.

He downed his first glass of liquor. He glanced at the surroundings around him. There were men exchanging kisses amongst themselves. Some were hugging. Others were busy swaying their bodies and hips and throwing their hands in the air or gyrate their bodies against their partners on the dance floor.  

If only Taemin was here. He would like it here. At least they would be able to kiss and hug freely in his place.

But Taemin wasn’t. He was back home. He was probably safe and sleeping in bed.

How Jongin missed Taemin’s bright smile and luscious soft lips.

Taemin had broken up with him less than 24 hours earlier. Taemin was no longer his.

The pain stabbed Jongin’s heart. He downed his second drink.

He started to envy those who had their partners with them. Never in his life had Jongin felt so alone and isolated as he downed his third drink.

Will I be able to find someone I love again?

I don’t deserve to be loved after I had messed things up. If only I had been more careful.

Why don’t my parents understand me?

He stumbled out of the club after setting his bill. Luckily, he still had some money left. He was a little high and tipsy. Damn, drinking is sure very good. It makes one so light and happy.

He wobbled to the nearest convenience store and picked out two bottles of soju. Heck, Jongin was going to get himself drunk tonight. He just wanted to forget about his parents, Taemin, the fact that he was gay and had run away from home and ended up in a gay area/district in Seoul.

He ambled along the roads and back alleys as he finished his first bottle of soju and started on his second bottle as tears streamed down his eyes. 

He staggered along a back lane. His head started to get heavy. His vision began to blur as his eyelids fluttered. Coupled with the fact he had not slept a wink since last night, he felt his energy was being drained out of his body. All of a sudden, Jongin belched and spewed all the contents in his stomach onto the ground.

Jongin felt that his pace was slowing. All of a sudden, he tripped and fell onto the ground.

……

It was past three in the morning when two teenagers were taking out the trash to a large rubbish bin located in the back alley/behind of one of the clubs/bars named Heaven. Each of them was carrying one big plastic bag of waste.

The taller one among the two yawned. “I’m so sleepy. I’m just going direct to bed.”

The shorter one playfully punched the taller boy gently on his chest. “Hey. At least have a bath. You smell.”

“You smell too,” the taller boy stuck his tongue up and laughed.

The shorter boy broke into a laugh. “Business was rather good tonight.”

“Ne. Appa and umma would be so… what was that?”

The taller boy exclaimed. His legs had kicked something soft. Both of them dropped the trash and crouched down to take a closer look.

They saw a person lying on the ground, the face turned to its side.

“Oh my God!” the shorter exclaimed. “Is it a dead body?”

The taller book shook his head. He then poked the person but there was no response.

“He isn’t moving! He’s dead!” the shorter guy exclaimed.

“Wait a minute. Let’s check to see if he is still breathing,” the taller one said.

When they turned him over, they were both astonished to see that it was a teenager like themselves. He was really handsome and had nice features.

The taller boy checked the motionless boy if he was still breathing.

“He’s still breathing,” the taller boy said in relief. “But he reeks of alcohol. He probably passed out drunk or something.”

“Let’s bring him in. It’s not safe to leave him outside here. Who knows what will happen to him?” the shorter boy said.

“But what about appa and umma? Will they be fine about us bringing him in just like that?” the taller boy asked.

“I’ll speak to them. Don’t worry. Knowing umma, I don’t think he will object,” the shorter boy said.

“Alright then let’s dump the trash and bring him in,” the taller boy said.

The two boys quickly dumped the plastic bags into the bin.

“Hey, Channie, can you carry him? I don’t think I’m able to carry him. He’s a bit tall.”

“Alright, Baekhyun-hyung,” the taller boy whose name was Chanyeol replied.

Baekhyun lifted the passed out boy up and placed him on Chanyeol’s back. He picked him the boy’s backpack from the ground.

The two teenagers then disappeared back into the building. 

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Thank you all for your patience.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Do you like this story so far? I hope you did.

My next update would be next Wednesday or Thursday as I'm still on holiday. So please be patient and bear with me.

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My other fan fics

KyuMin: Almost a love story

KyuMin: 60 Days 

It's You (너라고) Neorago (a YeWook fan-fic)