Myungsoo stared wordlessly at his best friends, the shock written plainly in his face. After a moment, someone emerged from behind Hoya.

Park Jiyeon. He should have known.

Myungsoo’s gaze narrowed, “You followed me.” His tone was flat, accusing as his eyes pierced her.

Jiyeon didn’t dare to meet his eyes, “…I was worried about you. That’s why I went to look for your friends.”

There was a long silence. Then Myungsoo strode right past them, his eyes staring straight ahead.

Woohyun grabbed his hand, “Myungsoo. Listen to me. Stop doing this, it’s not worth it. If you need money then you can just borrow from any one of us, you know we won’t-”

“I don’t need your help!” Myungsoo shouted, vehement. He ripped his hand away from Woohyun’s grasp, “Just leave me alone!” He stopped abruptly, closing his eyes in an obvious effort to compose himself. After a moment, his expression changed, becoming the cold façade all of them knew so well. “You should listen when people tell you things.”

Without another word, he spun around and strode in the direction of his house.

“Myungsoo, wait-” Woohyun started to chase after him, when Sunggyu grabbed hold of him. Sunggyu shook his head, his expression grave, “Let him have some time to cool down. Even if we managed to catch up with him now, he’d never listen to us.”

Woohyun hesitated, staring after Myungsoo. Then, resigned, he turned back to Jiyeon, “Thanks for calling us, anyway. You’re Myungsoo’s…?”

“I’m his classmate.” Jiyeon replied, but her eyes were still staring after Myungsoo. Hoya noticed her gaze; as the other boys turned to leave, he stepped closer towards her, “I know this is a bit of an unreasonable request, but…could you please go to his house later and talk to him?”

Jiyeon turned to Hoya, surprised. Hoya gave a brief smile, “Well, you probably should go later so he has some time to cool down. And-” He hesitated for a moment, glancing around to make sure his friends couldn’t hear, “The others may not want to admit it, but he’s more likely to listen to you than to us. Myungsoo…he hates showing weakness in front of people he knows.”

Jiyeon stared at him, startled and uncomprehending. Hoya gave a cryptic smile, “Talk to him. Convince him. Please.” And with that, he turned, and left with his friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blood pounded in Myungsoo’s ears as he ran, the roads and people blurring before him.

They’d seen him. They knew. They knew everything.

He choked, the tears welling up in his eyes. After all that effort he’d made to keep the truth secret, it’d all been for naught. They’d found out anyway.

The shame overwhelmed him; he stopped abruptly, collapsing to his knees. The chokes turned into sobs, the tears spilling over like water dripping from a leaking faucet.

He could hear the whispers of the passers-by as walked past, pointing at him and murmuring to each other, but they seemed muffled, as if he was listening to them from a distance.

After a while, he forced himself to stand up. He couldn’t stand here wasting his time. Self-pity was pointless. Biting back a sigh, he slung his bag over his shoulder, wiped his tears away and made his way home.

As he reached home, he opened the door quietly so he wouldn’t alert Mother. Fortunately, she was in her room. Breathing a sigh of relief, he hurried back to his room.

The moment he closed the room to his door, he was tempted to just sit down and cry again. But he resisted the temptation, blinking rapidly to clear his tears. He couldn’t waste time like that anymore.

Quickly, he pulled out his books and began to study hard. He had a future, and he wasn’t about to waste away like that just yet.

The hours passed quickly; by the time Myungsoo finally looked up from his books, it was already dark out. He glanced at the watch he’d gotten from a roadside market and groaned. Eight o’clock already? Mother must be starving. He pushed himself up and headed to his mother’s room.

As he opened the door, the first impression he got was darkness. There was hardly any light in the room; the lights were all off, and the windows were drawn, making the room dark and gloomy.

Automatically, Myungsoo began to panic, “Mother? Where are you, mother?” He reached out for the lights, flicking them on quickly, “Mother?”

“I’m fine, Myungsoo. Just taking a nap.”

Myungsoo’s body relaxed as he saw his mother rising from her bed. Relieved, he sat down next to her, “Why don’t we go out for dinner now? It’s already eight, I bet you’re hungry.”

Mrs Kim gave a smile, “Sure. But…will your father be joining us?”

Myungsoo fought to keep his smile steady, “…No, mother. He’s on a business trip, remember? It'll be a while before he's back, and he can take us out to dinner then, all right?”

Mrs Kim’s smile faded, and she looked forlorn, “Oh. Oh well, I guess it’s just the two of us, then.”

Myungsoo smiled, taking his mother’s hand, “Come on, then.” He led her out to the front door, opening it with his free hand.

And then he froze, almost comically, his eyes wide. “You…”

Jiyeon gave an awkward smile, raising a hand in greeting, “Um…hi…?”

Mrs Kim glanced at Myungsoo, “Is she your friend, Myungsoo?”

Myungsoo’s expression turned cold, “Mother, can you go in and let us talk in private for a moment? I won’t take long.”

Mrs Kim hesitated, glancing swiftly at Jiyeon. She nodded, patting Myungsoo on the arm as she leaned forward with a small smile, whispering, “Be a gentleman.”

Myungsoo waited until the door was closed before turning back to Jiyeon, “What the hell are you doing here? Haven’t you caused enough trouble in my life yet?”

“Look, I’m here cos your friends asked me to talk to you, all right?” Jiyeon defended herself, “It’s not like I wanted to come here…”

Myungsoo shot her a look.

“Well okay I did, but that’s beside the point.” Jiyeon responded hastily. Myungsoo rolled his eyes, “Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what I said just now? I don’t want to talk to any of you. Just leave me alone.”

Jiyeon folded her arms, “Is it too much for me to ask you to just listen to me for five minutes? Five minutes, that’s all I want.”

“No.” Myungsoo said bluntly, “I won’t even give you one second. Now scram.” He folded his arms, staring coldly at her. They stood that way for a few minutes, Jiyeon staring back unwaveringly. Finally, she shrugged, “Whatever. But this won’t be the end of it. I’m not resting till you give me my five minutes.”

Myungsoo watched as she turned away and headed for the lifts. He turned back to the main door to fetch his mother. “Stubborn girl.”

But his lips curved up into a small smile as he spoke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The doorbell rang persistently; with a groan, Myungsoo got up and headed to answer the door. Even before he opened it, he knew who it was. “I thought I told you to leave me alone, for god’s sake.”

Jiyeon stared daggers at him, “Why have you withdrawn from school?”

“Because’s there’s an annoying girl who just won’t leave me alone. So I’m transferring to a school where this girl doesn’t study.” Myungsoo replied, straight-faced. He made to close the door, but Jiyeon jammed her foot in the opening, “Why are you so determined to run away from your friends?”

“You’re not my friend.”

“What about those guys from Infinite High. Aren’t they your friends? Why do you keep on refusing to see them?” Jiyeon demanded. There was a long silence as Myungsoo stared at her. Then he sighed, “I have no interest in listening to you preach, all right? Get lost.”

“Give me my five minutes. And then, if I still can’t convince you, I’ll leave your life forever.” Jiyeon folded her arms, her expression stubborn. Myungsoo paused, “You mean it? You’ll leave me alone?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. Start talking.” Myungsoo glanced at his watch.

“Look, honestly speaking, I don’t know you very well-”

Myungsoo snorted, “You got that right.”

“Will you let me finish?” Jiyeon snapped. She took a deep breath, clearing her thoughts before she began again, “Like I said, I don’t know you very well, at least not as well as your Infinite High friends. Nevertheless, I can see the truth when it’s staring me in the face. And honestly, I can tell you that-”

“You’ve got four minutes left.”

“I said, let me finish!” Jiyeon glared at him. Myungsoo shrugged, mildly amused. Jiyeon continued, “I can tell you that what you’re doing is wrong.”

Myungsoo stiffened. When he spoke, the humor was gone from his voice, “You have no idea how tough it’s been for me and my mother. No idea. You think what I’m doing is wrong? Then you’re a fool. Because sometimes, in life, we don’t have any choice-”

“But you do have a choice. You can ask your friends for help. I’m sure they’d gladly help you. They’re worried about you, Myungsoo. Even I can see that. Why do you keep on pushing them away? And honestly, don’t tell me that it’s for your mother. Do you think your mother wants to see you become a- look, no parent wants that for their child, all right?

“Stop talking like you know my mother.” Myungsoo snapped.

“Does that mean you think your mother won’t mind if she knows the truth?” Jiyeon demanded.

“What makes you think she doesn’t?” Myungsoo retorted. Jiyeon stopped, and he could read the pity in her eyes, “If she knew the truth she wouldn’t keep on asking you where your dad is.”

Myungsoo stared at her in shock, “How do you…”

“Your mother mentioned it to me, the first time I came here. You lied to her, didn’t you? Told her that your father’s on a business trip. What’s wrong with your mother, Myungsoo? Is she suppressing her memories? Lying to herself just like you’re lying to yourself?”

“Shut up. Shut the hell up.” Myungsoo muttered.

“Hoya came to my house last night.” Jiyeon continued relentlessly, “He wanted to talk to me. About you. Do you know how upset he is about all this? He’s sad, because you won’t accept his help, or the rest of your friends. He says it’s because you don’t want to owe other people favours, but frankly I just think that’s a bloody stupid excuse. If you need help, then ask for it. That’s what friends are for. And don’t tell me you don’t have any friends, because if that’s true, then I can tell you that you’ve wasted your life.”

Myungsoo was silenced by her hard words and suddenly piercing, fierce gaze. Five minutes had already passed, but he didn’t notice it at all.

After a moment, Jiyeon sighed, “Look, Myungsoo. I just don’t want to see someone as bright and talented as you are degrading yourself like that, especially when it’s obvious that you’ve got other choices.”

“…Are you done?” Myungsoo asked quietly. Jiyeon looked hopeful for a moment, but her hopes were dashed with his next sentence, “I hope you keep your promise, and not bother me again.”

With that, he turned and went back into his house.

Jiyeon stared after the closed door, her hands trembling, disbelieving. Had she failed? Had she really failed? She’d tried so hard to move him, to make him listen to her, and yet-

She’d failed.

As she turned to leave, the tears began to overwhelm her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Myungsoo leaned his head tiredly against the door. Jiyeon's words were ringing in his head, echoing loudly and drowning out everything else. 

Was she right? Was he really lying to himself the same way Mother was? 

...Yes. He was. He took a deep breath to compose himself. Then he called out, "Mother? Can you come out for a moment? I...I need to tell you something. It's about...about Father." 

April

And Kim Myungsoo didn’t turn up for class.

May

Still no Kim Myungsoo.

June

The seat behind Jiyeon was still unoccupied.

July

The school break started.

She met up regularly with the Infinite boys during this period of time. Only Hoya had mentioned seeing Myungsoo – and all he would say was that Myungsoo was “taking some time off to clear his thoughts” and "caring for his ailing mother".

Jiyeon was tempted to go and see him, but she knew she had to keep her promise. She couldn’t help but hope that he would come back after the break…

August

And her hopes were dashed once more.

September

And Jiyeon began to think about moving on.

October

And finally, he came back.

Jiyeon entered the class quietly, her expression listless as she steeled herself for another boring day in class.

And then she saw him.

There he was, sitting on his seat like he’d never left before. It was as if he’d sensed her; he turned around, and for the first time, she saw a real smile on his face. Directed at her.

She forced herself to maintain her composure as she sat down in front of him, acting as if she hadn’t noticed him.

There was a tap on her shoulder, and Myungsoo’s voice spoke, amused, “No response? Or are you angry at me?”

Jiyeon shipped around, “Shouldn’t I be angry? You left me hanging for so many months and-”

“Now I’m back. I think that’s what matters, isn’t it?” He smiled again, another dazzling, true smile as he reached out and took her hand.

He was right. The mistakes of the past didn’t matter. What mattered was the path you were on now. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>< The story suddenly became overwhelmingly cheesy at the end. 

Anyway, here's the end of this fanfic!

I think Myungsoo is my favourite character in this fic - his biggest flaw is that he's too prideful, so he doesn't like listening to others or accepting help from others. But he's not stupid either. Instead, he's determined to get over the obstacles in his life (i.e his constant studying, even his becoming a gigolo was to get through this tough period) But in the end Jiyeon's words got through to him - it took him a while to decide what he wanted to do, and he finally decided to listen to his friends again. 

Jiyeon is just a very, very goodhearted and stubborn girl. Yeah. She does kinda like Myungsoo, but the main reason why she's so determined to help him is because she's just a kind girl and she doesn't want to see anyone living that kind of life. And in the end her effort does pay off - Myungsoo is convinced by her, and their story ends on a hopeful note. 

Another theme in this story was about running away from the truth. The entire of Myungsoo's family ran away from life- his father ran away from the debts by committing suicide and abandoning his wife and son to suffer. His mother ran away from the truth of her husband's death by suppressing the memories and literally forgetting that he'd already died - that forced Myungsoo to step up to the responsibility of supporting the entire family and taking care of his mother. At first glance, Myungsoo isn't like his parents - he stands up to his responsibilties and tries to do what needs to be done. But if you look closely, he really is still running away from the truth - he's running away from his father's death by not telling his mother the truth, so that when he's with her, he can live some sort of fantasy that his father is still alive and will come back. He's also running away from the shame of bankruptcy and his father's death by avoiding his friends and refusing their help. But in the end, Jiyeon's words get through to him, and he faces up to his fears by telling his mother the truth. And by going back to her, he's indicating that he's accepting the things she said, and doing as she asked. 

So, I hope you guys enjoyed this story! It was a pretty fun ride. And remember, comment on your thoughts!