I updated kind of fast so don't forget to read Chapter 23: 'The Dance' before this one. 

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All Friday Seunghyun had been actively avoiding Tablo. The latter of which simply gave him his distance for once. Still, Tablo managed to beam a smile and wave every time he and Seunghyun happened to look in one another's direction. At first it absolutely appalled Seunghyun, but by lunch time he found himself inwardly liking the toothy grin Tablo never failed to send his way. That doesn't mean he was going to tell the shorter boy that. 

"Hey Seunghyun!" The lunch bell had just rang and Tablo literally ran to Seunghyun's side, hoping he could take Daesung's position as the walking partner for the day. 

"Go away." Seunghyun didn't even look up from the book he was reading in his reply to Tablo's appearance.

"Aww, come on Seunghyun. You never tell Daesung to go away." 

Seunghyun found eye contact with the suddenly-clingy boy. "Well you're not Daesung." The words snowed out, cold as ice.

"Oh. I see." Tablo hung his head low. "See you this afternoon then." He walked away. 

Damnit Seunghyun, now he's gonna go cry again. 

"Hey Seunghyun!" He was shaken from his thoughts by his blonde-haired (and now stripper) friend.

After putting his book down, the two walked to lunch together as they had for the rest of the week. 

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Before Seunghyun realized it, the school day was ending. The bell went off, shaking he and Daesung from the staring/silly face contest they were having across the classroom. To be completely honest, Seunghyun had no idea what Mr. Yang had been going over for the last 15 minutes. He and Daesung walked out into the hallway and took their time, joking and shoving as always. Then Seunghyun remembered the day before.

"Daesung, why'd you sneak off yesterday?"

"Well, every time Tablo walks over you focus all on him. I feel left out." Daesung pouted, but then smiled and pushed Seunghyun a little. "But it's okay, you two look good together!" He flashed his famous thumbs up.  

Seunghyun grabbed at his chest and heaved, as if he had just been shot. "We-we-we we are not together!"

Daesung simply shrugged. "Whatever you say lover-boy, just tell me how your little date goes today." Then he made kissy sounds, much to the chagrin of his taller friend.

"Yah! It's not like that!" Seunghyun's blush seemed to say otherwise.

"Okay okay, but I gotta go! Minzy's waiting for me. Bye!" 

"Bye!" Seunghyun waved to Daesung as he walked away. 

But before the blonde hair was too far out of ear-shot, he turned around for his final words of parting. "Use protection!" Daesung ran away before he could witness the effect those words had on Seunghyun. Though he wouldn't have missed much because Seunghyun's phone started going off before he could react to his silly friend's words. 

Tablo's attempt at being cute didn't work. 

And with that, the text messages stopped. Walking as he texted, Seunghyun realized he had made it home. So he walked through the door to the empty house, climbed up the stairs until he got to his empty room, plopped down onto his empty bed, and fell asleep so he couldn't feel the emptiness in his heart. 

It was almost dark by the time Seunghyun woke up. With a yawn he swung his long legs over the edge of the bed and went downstairs to see if anyone was home. Of course no one was. No one ever is. He grabbed a banana from on top of the counter and took a bite. Then thoughts of his talk with Daesung came to mind and he found himself laughing as he finished it. Trying to throw the peel away, lest someone trip on it, he found the garbage can completely full. Duh, I am the man of the house. Who else is gonna take it out? He grumbled as he heaved the bag out of the small can and moved towards the front door. For a house where only two people eat, there's a lot of stuff in here. He opened the door and nearly had a heart attack. There was a body laying across the porch by the steps. Seunghyun dropped the bag and ran to see who it was laying face down a few feet from the door. 

Afraid to touch the possible dead body with his hands, Seunghyun nudged it with his foot as he spoke. "Hey man, you alright?" He received a few angry grunts in response. Well at least I know he's alive, but who the is he. He nudged harder. "Yo, you can't be here. We don't have any extra money if that's what you need. There's a shelter in town." 

"I don't want your ing money." The stranger started to heave himself up and look at Seunghyun. Tablo yawned. "Oh, hey Seunghyun." He even gave him a sleepy smile. 

"What the are you doing here?" Seunghyun was not amused. 

"I'm here to pick you up." Tablo stood up and dusted his clothes off. 

"I told you I wasn't coming, anyway, you're late." Seunghyun looked at the clock on his phone from his pocket. "It's 7.30." 

Tablo shrugged. "Actually, I've been here since about 4:45." 

Seunghyun was taken aback. "Why?" 

"Well, you told me not to text you back, so I couldn't let you know that I was here. I tried knocking on the door but got no answer. That's when I decided to sit on the steps and wait for you to notice me by some chance." Tablo scratched his head and looked at his puddle of drool on the ground. "I guess I got kind of tired though." A nervous laugh escaped his lips. 

"So you've been here for almost 3 hours, even after I told you I wasn't coming?" 

"Yes." 

"Why?" 

"Because, there was a 1% chance that you'd change your mind." 

"That's a really small chance." 

"Any chance is enough with you." Tablo looked so sincere, so pure, so honest when he said that that Seunghyun couldn't even find it in his heart to be mad at him anymore. 

"Here. Throw this away for me." Seunghyun pointed at the trash bag next to his feet. 

Tablo looked at him questioningly. "But...um...okay?" He picked it up and started slowly backing up, waiting for Seunghyun to explain when Tablo had become the garbage man. 

"I'd hurry up if I were you. The sooner you finish the sooner we can go to your apartment for this 'Friendly HANGOUT'." 

Tablo's face lit up and he literally took off, falling down the steps in the process. The garbage scattered everywhere but he picked it up in record speed and trucked it to the garbage bale by the street. 

Seunghyun could only laugh, a full-hearted, genuine laugh. 

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The boys arrived at Tablo's front door and Seunghyun was already less than impressed. If judging by the peeling walls, cracked doors, and critter infested outside was anything to go by, then the inside of his apartment was going to be no better. 

It usually wasn't. 

But this time, Tablo had actually made the effort to clean. The apartment was still small. The walls were still peeling. The floor boards were still at risk of breaking with every step. The carpet still had stains from lord knows how many centuries in it. But damnit, the tiny apartment was clean for once. 

Seunghyun looked it up and down as he let his thoughts of it be known. "Um, nice smell you got in here." 

"Thanks. I lit some candles and sprayed some air freshener earlier. Strawberry and bananas." Seunghyun broke into laughter at the mention of the yellow fruit, scaring the hell out of Tablo. "Yah! What's so funny?!" 

"Oh, nothing, you just had to be there." He continued giggling to himself. Then the giggle stopped immediately, there, in the middle of the living room was a table. This was no ordinary table. It was obviously set up for two people. The yellow table cloth, tall candles, glasses, bouquet of roses, and surprisingly shiny silverware made that apparent. "Damnit Tablo, what the is this?"

He feigned innocence. "Oh that? That's just the usual table set-up. Why?" 

"This is a ing romantic dinner set up! What the hell is wrong with you?! I told you, this is not a date!" Seunghyun was livid now. "Let it go! It's not happening! I will never date you! I could never date someone as evil and heartless as you!" He yelled the last sentence so loud he was sure the rest of the world had heard him. 

"But..." 

"No! Shut up! I'd kill myself before I'd date you! In fact, you've made me want to kill myself! On the daily basis! For years! So don't think because you've been nice for a week that everything's going to change all of a sudden!" 

"Seunghyun..." 

"No! Shut up! I'm not done! You are a horrible person! I can't ing stand you! I hate you so much! I used to love myself! I used to! And then you came into the picture! I hope you ---"

"SEUNGHYUN!" Seunghyun got cut off by Tablo's yell. 

Oh , mad Tablo's back. , , . I went too far. I'm going to die. This is where I'm dying. He started backing away in fear waiting for the lashing out. 

It never came. 

Tablo faced away from Seunghyun and scrunched his eyes shut as he pointed towards the door. "The door's over there." There was no emotion in his voice, no hurt, no anger, just nothing. Seunghyun knew that sound all too well, he often heard it in his own voice. Tablo didn't wait for Seunghyun to respond as he began picking up the silverware and blowing out the candles on the table, the taller boy just watched. Trying to carry too much in his arms, a silver tray fell out of his hands and rolled over towards Seunghyun's feet. He picked it up and then noticed there was still a price tag on it. 

"Oh my god! Tablo! This is expensive!" 

Tablo simply took it out of Seunghyun's hand grumbling something along the lines of "You're worth it." Seeing the conditions Tablo was in, Seunghyun knew that those trays definitely took a toll on the boy's bank account. Between that and the lack of emotion in Tablo's entire demeanor at this point, Seunghyun was guilted into doing the unthinkable. 

He sat down in one of the chairs at the table. 

He tucked his napkin into his collar. 

And when Tablo stepped out of the kitchen, expecting to clear the rest of the table. Seunghyun looked him the eye and made a request. "Tablo, would you like to join me for a lovely dinner date this evening?" 

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The boys had been eating the pizza Tablo ordered for about 45 minutes ago. He originally had intended for them to enjoy fancier, more respected food, but after waiting for 3 hours for a sleeping Seunghyun to wake up, the food was no good. The pizza sufficed though. 

Initially, after Tablo accepted the request, things had been extremely awkward at the table. The boys simply looked at each other until their stomachs growled in the same moment, breaking the silence. Then they nearly died of laughter and the mood lightened. Now, 45 minutes, good jokes, and 1.5 pizzas later, the two boys were relaxing in their chairs. A comfortable silence ensued. Both parties had their hands sitting on the table, just mindlessly there. Tablo reached his across the table and placed it on top of Seunghyun's, cringing his face in preparation for the moment when Seunghyun would pull way like he always did. This time though, he didn't. So Tablo went ahead with his plan and asked his question, the top of Seunghyun's hand with his thumb as he spoke. 

"Seunghyun, do you hate me?" 

Ripping his focus from the surprisingly relaxing monotony of Tablo's rubs, Seunghyun thought for a second. "Not anymore." 

Tablo didn't look happy by that response. "You should." He talked to the table as he spoke.

"Why is that?" 

"Because I made you hate yourself," he looked up. "When you're the most beautiful person in the world. I'm evil. You were right." 

"If you thought I was so beautiful, why'd you treat me like that?" 

Tablo sighed. "Because, I was scared. Scared of what would happen if we were together. Where I come from, that just doesn't happen. So I figured if I treated you like , I could make even myself believe that you weren't as beautiful as you truly are." 

"I see." 

"But Seunghyun, it didn't work. I only ended up hurting myself every time I hurt you." 

"What do you mean?" 

Tablo stopped rubbing Seunghyun's hand and the latter missed it immediately. Instead, Tablo brought his right hand to the sleeve of his left shirt and raised it up, showing his wrist to Seunghyun.

That was when Seunghyun realized that Tablo always wore long sleeved shirts and jackets. Now he knew why. It was Seunghyun's turn to stretch his hand across the table as he ran his fingers across the scarred wrist, the freshest one was no more than a week old. It was by far the deepest one. "Why?" The question just hung in the air. 

"Because I didn't want you to hurt alone. Seunghyun, I love you." 

Seunghyun held his breath and looked into Tablo's glistening eyes. "But I can't love you." 

Tablo's glistening dams began to break as his tears fell, reflecting the light of the candles. "Please, I know you can't now but maybe some day. Just let me love you until then." 

Seunghyun's own damns began to crack. "Tablo, no, you've hurt me too much. I've forgiven you, but I can't forget what you put me through." Seunghyun let go of Tablo's wrist and then sat back down in his seat. 

Tablo ran around the table and kneeled in front of Seunghyun. He took the taller boy's hand and then pressed it onto his wrists, hard. He winced as he spoke. "You see, Seunghyun? Neither can I. I don't want to forget all the hurt I've caused you because it makes me just want to bring you more joy from now on." Seunghyun tried to jerk his hand away but Tablo held fast.

"I can't. I can't trust you." 

"Seunghyun please! I can't do this anymore! Watching you from a distance, it's breaking me in two!" Tablo began sobbing as he dug his own hands into the fabric of Seunghyun's pants. 

"I want to, but I can't. I can't just let the last few years go."

Tablo grabbed Seunghyun's hands and brought them to his lips, giving them butterfly kisses. He talked through his sobs. "I'm not asking you to forget the past. I'm asking you to look to the future, Seunghyun. A future with me." He began kissing up Seunghyun's left hand, to his wrist.

"I can't." 

Tablo continued kissing up Seunghyun's forearm. "Yes you can, please." 

"No, I can't." Seunghyun couldn't pull away either. 

Tablo kissed up Seunghyun's bicep, to his shoulder. "Yes you can, please." There was a trail of tears down Seunghyun's arm. 

Seunghyun closed his eyes. "No Tablo, I can't." 

Tablo continued his kisses up Seunghyun's neck, to his left ear. "Please."

Seunghyun's tears began to fall. "I can't, Tablo, I'm sorry." Please stop, don't do that to me again. Please. 

"Okay then, I won't make you." Tablo pulled a few inches away from Seunghyun who still had his eyes closed.

Did he just? Yes, he did. He stopped. Seunghyun's eyes flew open. Only to find Tablo's staring back into them. "You stopped." It was sobbed out.

Tablo sadly smiled. "I told you I wouldn't hurt you anymore. I meant what I said."

And that was how Seunghyun got his first ever boyfriend.

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A/N: Don't hate me guys!  You'll love me for this in the finale! I promise! Speaking of that, here's the news...

1) There is one more chapter left, 'The Grand Finale'. I was going to break into two parts but then I thought to myself, what's grander than one super long, super amazing big finale for this fic? Besides, most of you all have been so loyal that I think you deserve one time with out a cliffhanger. So everything will be resolved in the final chapter. 

2) Going along with number 1, the finale will most likely be significantly longer than even this chapter (which is the longest so far). This coupled with the fact that I'm also posting the first chapter to "The Masquerade" in the same night means that it's gonna take me longer than my usual one day to type it. 

3) Therefore, the next few days will be spent typing and making sure the 'The Grand Finale' and the first chapter of "The Masquerade" are above my usual low quality chapters so bear with me. Unless some terrible accident happens I guarantee they'll be up Friday, back to back. 

In the mean time, go subscribe to my new story "The Masquerade" 
http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/509791