•   •   •

   With a firm knocking at the door, Gongchan knew it was time. Checking his phone, Gongchan knew who it was. 2:30pm on the dot, punctual as always. in his breath, Gongchan grabbed the handle of the door, exhaling and opening the door and seeing the face he knew would be there. 

   "Hello, father." Gongchan simply said.

   "Come, we can talk in the car. We'll be late." Gongchan's father said, still so business-like, even all this time apart from Gongchan. With Gongchan locking up his apartment, the duo made their way to the plain, black business car waiting in the parking lot below. From the stairs, Gongchan could spot his mother inside. Stashing his clothes in the trunk of the car, Gongchan got in and prepared himself for what he knew was going to come. With the car put in reverse, the party backed out and eventually pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road ahead of themselves to Gongchan's family's residence in Gangnam.

   "I hear that you've been fraternizing with men again, and not for business either." Gongchan's father, Gong Hye Sung, said some time later, albeit bitterly. Looking back in the rearview mirror, Hye Sung gave a disapproving shake of his head before turning his attention back on the road, his knuckles white with how tightly he was grasping the steering wheel. "You do remember what happened last time this happened?"

   "Yes... I remember." Gongchan replied, drawing himself inward slightly as he responded. He already recalled those events when his mother came to visit him in the hospital. Gongchan knew that he was in for a rough week at home.

   "If you remember, then what were you thinking? Did you want to back to that... that disgusting habit of yours?" Hye Sung spoke coldly. His words stung Gongchan, lashing out at his psyche and bringing him back to a time where he wanted nothing more than to die. Gongchan could feel it, his mind wanting to shut down to escape what he had went through all those years ago. Willing himself out of it by not wanting to appear weak, Gongchan looked out the window at the passersby.

   "I... I guess I wasn't thinking clearly, obviously. It was a momentary lapse in my better judgement and I'll see to it that it doesn't happen again." Gongchan spoke the words he knew that his parents wanted to hear. What Gongchan wondered was why his mother was staying quiet the entire car ride and instead letting his father speak the entire time. She had plenty to say at the hospital, so why is she holding back now?

   "Tell me why I should believe you. This isn't the first time you've permitted yourself to this hideous behavior and you pleaded with us to come back. We allowed you back in, and after all these years, this is how you repay us for our generosity." Hye Sung shook his head again, disappointed in what he thought his son had become. When Hye Sung went to turn right around the corner, that's when Gongchan saw it. It was subtle and hard to see from the backseat, but he knew it when he saw it.

   "Because I'm your son, and because disowning me when I just won a tennis championship would look suspicious." Gongchan replied back in monotone fashion. Gongchan had a point, and if there was anything that his father listened to, it was well thought-out logic. The next sentence both surprised Gongchan and sent shivers up his spine.

   "You were my son then too, but not the one I wanted."