“Yah Park Cheondoong,” the dance instructor hissed as he walked over to Cheondoong, “Pay attention!  You’re falling behind again!”

Cheondoong sighed as the instructor shook his head and walked away.  It was four in the afternoon and he was already ready to pass out.  He’d barely slept for the past two nights.  It had been a constant case of insomnia, leaving him with barely any appetite and way too much exhaustion.  Most of it stemmed from worrying about his mother and whether or not he should visit her again.  It had been two days, after all, since her mental meltdown… was he due for another trip?  He still wasn’t completely sure he’d forgiven her, or made any emotional progress with her for that matter, but he was concerned about her mental health.  She had seemed… unstable that night.  And although he would never openly admit it, he was worried.

So after two sleepless nights, he’d overslept this morning which ticked off his instructor.  Things went from bad to worse when his instructor made him work through lunch to try and catch up.  He was now starving, sleep deprived, and mentally exhausted from worrying about his mother.  It’s been… a great day.

“Alright, everybody take five,” the instructor said, turning the music off, “Get a snack because we’re about to practice some complicated moves next!”

Inwardly groaning, Cheondoong shuffled to his duffle bag and pulled out his water bottle… only to find it empty.  Great… just great.  Could the day get any worse?

He mentally slapped himself for jinxing things because in the next moment, a staff member poked her head through the door and looked around before stopping on Cheondoong. 

“Oi, Park Cheondoong-shi,” she said, waving him over.

Cheondoong sighed and jogged over.  I mentally begged that it wouldn’t make his day any worse than it already was…

“Mun-bujangnim wants to see you in his office,” she said, looking at him anxiously, “Its urgent.”

Cheondoong blinked in surprise before he nodded.  Urgent?  Was he in trouble for leaving the dorms to visit his mother that night?  That couldn’t be it; he’d gone out on his own time.  Still though, KTA had strict rules regarding those kinds of things…

As he grabbed his bag and walked over to the instructor, he wondered if it was something about Joon or Seungho.  After all, it was well known that the three of them were friends prior to KTA… did that have something to do with it? 

As the instructor dismissed him, Cheondoong made his way to Hyunsik’s office.  Even as he reached the door, he couldn’t think of a single reason why Hyunsik would want to see him.  Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door a few times before he heard Hyunsik’s response to go inside.

The first thing that alarmed him was the two police officers sitting on Hyunsik’s couch.  They stood as he entered and glanced at Hyunsik, who was pacing.  His face was disturbingly grim as he stopped his pacing and beckoned Cheondoong inside.

“Sit,” he said quietly, pointing to the couch, “This is Officers Song and Baek.  They…”  He sighed and took off his glasses.  Giving his eyes a brief rub, he put them back on and sat across from Cheondoong.  “This morning… they got a call from the shift manager at Hangeul Foods,” he said gravely.

Cheondoong nodded, perplexed.  Hangeul Foods?  Wasn’t that where his mother worked?

“She missed her shifts two days in a row so,” he said softly, “The manager got worried and paid her a visit after his own shift.  When she didn’t respond to his knocking…”  He glanced at the police before he sighed.  “He called the police and…”  He trailed off and bit his lip.

Cheondoong could already feel his heart racing as he stared back at him with a heavy heart.  His mind was blank as he whispered, “And?”

“The police… theyfound your mother in the bathroom…” he said tightly, “She… she committed suicide.  I’m so sorry, Cheondoong-ah…”

Cheondoong stared at him in stunned silence.  Had he heard right?  Did… Did Hyunsik just say what he thought he’d said?  That his mother had… in the bathroom?  Why would he say that?  It didn’t make sense; there was no way she would do that…

Cheondoong felt the room spin as his ears roared with the pounding of his heart.  He stood and shook his head.  This was wrong; they were wrong.  It didn’t make sense.  His mother had promised she would turn herself in.  She wanted a new life with her children; it absolutely made no sense that she would take her own life.

“Cheondoong…” Hyunsik said, standing too.  He reached out and steadied Cheondoong as the latter wobbled dangerously on his weak legs.

“This is stupid,” Cheondoong snapped, pulling his arm away with anger, “This… this is stupid.”  He began walking towards the door.  He couldn’t think of anything else to say.  It was just so… ridiculous.  It was probably a joke; just a sick joke.  What else could it be? 

Feeling anger rise in his chest, he whirled around to unleash it on Hyunsik and the police when he suddenly lost his balance.  The world spun as he fell back.  His legs gave out from underneath him and the room before his eyes went dark.  He heard Hyunsik shouting his name as if the latter were standing at the end of a tunnel… and then he lost consciousness.

Joon took a shaky breath as he shifted his weight on his feet.  The priest continued on his dialogue as they lowered the ashes into the ground.  Beside him, Seungho stood in grave silence as the two looked on towards the ceremony.

Nearly a week had gone by since Cheondoong broke the news of his mother’s death.  He had been zombie-like at the time and would only nod when the two offered him their condolences.  Cheondoong had looked at Joon with a mix of expressions before bidding them goodnight.

As soon as Cheondoong left, Joon had lost strength in his legs.  Fortunately, Seungho caught him as he fell to the ground in stunned silence.  He himself had mixed feelings about Kyungran’s passing; she had shown him both love and subjected him to abuse during the years that they’d lived together.  Joon couldn’t deny that he felt incredibly overwhelmed with sadness over her death, just like he couldn’t deny that he felt a little bit of relief.

Seungho had stayed up the whole night with him and the two had talked.  Joon knew they should’ve spent the night with Cheondoong but when Seungho had offered, Cheondoong turned them down.  He said he wanted to spend some time alone and work out the funeral.

And now, as the burial finished, the small handful of people that attended began to pay their respects to Cheondoong before going their ways.  Like a model son, he accepted their condolences gracefully with a sad smile.  Joon watched as Cheondoong bowed again to an elderly couple.

Seungho sighed beside him and gazed towards Cheondoong’s hunched back.  “He looks exhausted,” he murmured, “It was a good thing Hyunsik-hyung gave him some time off…”

“Yeah,” Joon agreed, sighing as well, “Cheondoong… he didn’t seem close with Kyungran-buin but Dara-noona had wanted to still be a family.  Still though, it must be hard on him…”

“Yeah,” Seungho sighed.  He nudged Joon gently and looked at him.  “How are you doing?” he asked softly, “You were pretty upset too…”

“I’m…” Joon started but he wasn’t sure how to finish.  He was… what?  Incredibly sad at her passing?  That was a given.  But… the tremor of relief at the news of her death couldn’t be denied; now that she was gone, Joon would be free from his past… right?  “I’m fine,” Joon said, settling for that.  Seungho knew how he’d felt; they had talked about it the past few nights so there was no point in going into it again.

“I’m going to grab us some water,” Seungho said, digging in his pockets for some change, “They only have coffee here and… I don’t think caffeine’s a great idea right now.”  Patting Joon’s shoulders, he his heels and walked off towards the building.

Joon sighed as he turned his gaze back to Cheondoong.  He froze, however, when his peripheral vision caught the face of someone familiar.  The graveyard was relatively empty save the small handful of people remaining so it was easy to spot him.  His large figure was half hidden behind a tree in the distance but it was no mistake that he was facing Joon’s direction.  Dressed in his usual suit, he gazed at them from afar, his expression difficult to make out.

Joon felt a cold shiver run down his spine as his gaze became fixed on the man.  The hairs on his neck stood on ends and his skin became ridged with goose-bumps.  His heart raced in his chest, causing his breaths to hitch.  He subconsciously took a step backwards but he couldn’t look away.  It was as if the world was turning black; all he could see was the figure behind the tree…

“Hyung…”

Cheondoong’s voice suddenly jolted him out of his stupor.  He blinked and the world snapped back into color.  He whirled around to face him, his heart in his throat.

Cheondoong blinked and looked at him warily before asking, “You… you’re really pale.”

Joon opened his mouth reply but nothing came out.  He quickly turned back to the tree to look at the figure again but, like a ghost, he was gone.  Joon tried to calm his breathing as he turned back to Cheondoong and shook his head.  He must’ve been daydreaming; there was no way Jang Daeho would come to the funeral… right?

“Are you okay?” Joon asked, instead of addressing the issue, “You look terrible.”

“No, I’m not okay,” Cheondoong said, frowning suddenly, “Joonie-hyung… before my mother committed suicide… I met with her.  Did you know?”

Joon blinked in surprise at Cheondoong’s words.  “No,” he said slowly, “You didn’t tell me that…”

“Well I did,” he said, his eyes staring a hole into Joon’s face, “She said… some strange things about you.”  He paused and fell silent as he watched Joon with suspicious eyes.

Joon swallowed nervously as he waited for Cheondoong to continue.  When the latter didn’t, he asked, “Like what?”

“That you looked like you were from a well-off family,” Cheondoong said, crossing his arms and scrutinizing Joon’s face with suspicion, “And guess who else paid her a visit?”

“Wh-Who?” Joon asked, his heart racing.  Somehow, this conversation with Cheondoong made him incredibly nervous…

“Kim Dongmin,” Cheondoong said quietly, “Of Lee-Song Group.”  Again, he paused for a brief moment before he continued.  “So I did a little research,” he said, “To find out if any rich families reported missing children nine years ago.  Guess what I found…?”

Joon felt his breath hitch.  Surely, Cheondoong couldn’t have figured things out from a little simple media searching?  If it were that easy, he’d have been found and sent back to Lee-Song a long time ago!  “What?” Joon whispered, his eyes wavering as he looked at Cheondoong’s dark ones.

“There were quite a few families that reported missing childrens cases but only one family was recognizable for me as big and rich,” Cheondoong said, narrowing his eyes, “So my question to you is… who are you?  Why are you here?  Why are so many people interested in you?  Why-”

“Am I interrupting?” Seungho said as he walked over.  He held two bottles of water in his hands as he looked from Cheondoong to Joon with a raised brow.

“No,” Joon said quickly, relieved that Seungho had interrupted Cheondoong’s bombardment of questions.  Even if Joon wanted to, he wasn’t sure that he should tell Cheondoong his real identity.  After all, nothing was confirmed.

“Yes, actually,” Cheondoong said, uncrossing his arms and glaring at Seungho with anger, “You are, Seungho-hyung.”

Joon felt his jaw drop in surprise as Seungho also blinked in surprise.  It was the first time any of them had seen Cheondoong talk this way to either of them.  What was more surprising was that he wasn’t done.

“You’re always doing that,” Cheondoong spat, glaring at Seungho with irritation, “Coming to save the day for dear old Joonie-hyung-”

“Cheondoong-ah,” Seungho interrupted, frowning, “I know you’re upset right now but-”

“Damn right I’m upset,” Cheondoong snapped, “I was having a conversation with Joonie-hyung and you just interrupted.  What are you, his gatekeeper?”

Joon swallowed as he felt a shiver of anxiety slither through him.  But this time, it was for a whole other reason…

“Yah,” Seungho warned, his frown deepening at the way Cheondoong was speaking informally now.  But before he could say anymore, Cheondoong continued his rant.

“Seriously, what is going on between you two?  Because whatever it is, it’s not normal,” he said angrily, “I saw you two getting hanky-panky on the ride to the fundraiser and it wasn’t the first time you two gave each other inappropriate vibes.  Don’t tell me you’re hom-”

“Yah, Park Cheondoong,” Seungho barked with authority, his eyes dangerously narrow, “That’s enough.”

And just like that, Cheondoong fell silent.  Luckily, the guests had thinned out and were out of earshot.  Joon stood beside Seungho, biting his lip nervously as he watched the two stood off against each other with hostility.  It was the first time he’d seen either of them act this way; it made him extremely nervous watching them fight.

“Go home,” Seungho said, his tone softening considerably as did his expression, “You’re tired, and you’ve been through a lot.  Go home and… sleep it off.”  His eyes softened into kindness as he sighed.  

Cheondoong glanced at Joon stiffly before nodding and turning on his heels.  Without another word, he marched off towards the front gate of the cemetery.  His back was still stiff with, no doubt, irritation but Seungho’s overwhelming authority had trampled what little courage he had to let out some steam.  

Joon sighed in relief as he watched Cheondoong leave.  It was good that things ended where they did.  Joon wasn’t sure how Seungho felt about openly talking about their relationship with anyone other than themselves… he hoped it wouldn’t send Seungho spiralling back into doubt.

“I think,” Seungho said, as he also gazed at Cheondoong’s back, “We need to have a talk.”  He sighed.

Joon’s heart thudded heavily as he glanced at Seungho.  A talk… was he doubting…?

“I don’t think we can keep our relationship a secret anymore,” Seungho said softly, looking at Joon with gentle eyes, “At least not from Cheondoong.  We need to talk to him about it… get this issue cleared so he can focus on more important things.  And… honestly, I’m tired of keeping our love a secret.”  He smiled gently and brushed a thumb over Joon’s cheek.  “I want to hold your hand in public soon,” he murmured, “Maybe even introduce you to my parents one day.”

Joon couldn’t help the relief that flooded through him as he gazed back into Seungho’s warm eyes.  Of course Seungho didn’t doubt their relationship; he simply wanted to reveal the truth to Cheondoong.  That itself was a large step forward for them because of their fear of being socially scorned.  Still, Joon felt all the anxiety from a few moments before seep out of him.  It was clear that whatever came their way, whether it is the revelation of their relationship, or the return of Jang Daeho, Seungho just reassured Joon inadvertently that they would be in it together.

“Mmn,” Joon replied, leaning into the touch, “I would love that very much.”  And from the bottom of his heart, he knew he’d never speak truer words.

Author's notes:

I'm sorry for the long lag!  I've been working very hard at my MMORPG (what can I say?  I'm a game geek too!) so I've had little time to write this.  But hopefully, I won't let you guys down again!  I can't promise another update within the next day but I definitely promise it won't be this long again!!  

BTW, did you like the OMFGWUT moment in this chap?  XD  Both of them?  XD