"Tell me that you like me, Bae."

"I like you, Jiyong."

"Tell me again."

"I like you."

"Again."

"I like you."

Faint whispers could be heard from the brunette's room. Youngbae hugged him from behind, lips almost dry from how often he had told him that he liked him. That he did like him, to be more specific. Jiyong had his eyes closed but he wasn't sleeping. It was almost afternoon now. God knows how long they had been lying there on the big and comfortable bed . It felt as if it was already time to go to sleep again when in fact, they had just woken up a few hours ago. But then again, today's events could have filled 24 hours very easily. Yes, today had been a bit too much for the both of them. Today had been exhausting. 

Youngbae sighed deeply and burried his face in Jiyong's small back, mouthing the words 'I like you' because he couldn't voice them out anymore. In response, the unsatisfied brunette would squeeze his hand, urging him to continue and the educator would shift his mouth back to his ear and whisper sweet words to him. 

"I like you. I like spending time with you, like cooking for you and playing with you. I like how you smell, how you laugh and how you walk. God, Jiyong. I could go on until midnight. I don't know what else to say, honestly."

"I want to hear more. I want to believe that you really like me."

Youngbae propped himself up on his elbow and tugged a strand of brown hair behind his protégé's ear. "I have been lying here with you the whole time, doing nothing but sincerely telling you how much I like you."

Jiyong opened his eyes and stared at the wall before him. The images of the older man and Madleine kissing in front of him appeared in his head again, making him feel angry, sad and betrayed. It was the same feeling that had made him almost breathless a few hours ago and his chest almost constricted the more he thought about what he had seen. What was this? He had absolutely no clue. The only thing he knew was that he totally hated what he had witnessed. He had hated seeing Madleine so close to his educator, had hated seeing them doing something that only he did with him before. He wanted to be the only one Youngbae kissed, hugged and played with and cooked for. Before, it had only been the two of them, but now?  Now it seemed like, even though Madleine was gone, she was still in his educator's head and it bothered him so much that he had to let out a ragged breath in order to avoid having a panic attack again.

As if sensing his fear, Youngbae brought up his hand on Jiyong's shoulder, gently making him lie on his back so that he could build eye contact, which was something an educator should always do before talking to his protégé. It was one of the first rules Youngbae had had to memorize back then.  

"Look at me, Jiyong."

The brunette felt how the older man grasped his chin, gently turning his head towards him so that he had no chance but to face him. Youngbae's eyes softened.

"Madleine and I ... we are not lovers. We are just really good friends. We were." Youngbae lowered the tone of his voice. To be honest, he did not know if he and her could ever be friends again. Hell, he did not even know if he could ever look her in the eye again. 

"Why did you kiss her then? I am your best friend."

Youngbae smiled. "Correct. That's why I have kissed you often, while I have shared my first kiss with Madleine only today. And it wasn't even voluntary."

"Does that mean she kissed you?", Jiyong asked, gasping. How could she?

"Yes. She kissed me right after she told me that she lo- , I mean she told me that she really, really liked me. And in order to prove it to me, she kissed me just like I have kissed you in order to show you that I like you."

"But you don't like her, right? That's why you pushed her away, right?", the brunette asked hopefully.

Youngbae sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I do like her. But I don't like her enough to let her kiss me. Do you understand what I am trying to say?"

Jiyong's frown smoothed the more he analysed what he had been told. He flushed terribly once he came to a conclusion. "Does that mean that you like me so much that you even let me kiss you?"

The older man couldn't help but smirk. His playful side took over him when he lowered himself until he was literally face to face with the blushing brunette, staring into his eyes. "What do you think?", he asked softly.

Jiyong's poor heart couldn't take the proximity. He shrieked and quickly burried his face in his hands, refusing to look at Youngbae because he felt so shy, it was almost unbearable. His adorable actions made Youngbae laugh loudly. While most of the time, the brunette was rather bold, there were also moments like this when he became so embarrassed that he had to hide himself. He was really unpredictable.

Youngbae made several attempts at removing those hands but the stubborn boy wouldn't give up so easily. It was then when the educator let his fingers wander down Jiyong's body, stopping at his sides and tickling him like there is no tomorrow. The brunette yelped and immedaitely tried to protect himself. The both of them started laughing light-heartedly, forgetting the negative things that had happened that day. Even if it was just for a while. Youngbae took in the way Jiyong gasped, laughed and squealed under him, begging him to stop and it made his heart flutter with feelings for this brunette boy. 

He had lost someone that day. In fact, he had lost one of his best friends. Another aspect was added to the list of things he had given up for Jiyong. Homeland, sanity, heart, friends. They say that love requires big sacrifices and Youngbae had made them. For having to reject Madleine, he felt like an . For making her and Jiyong cry at once, he felt incredibly guilty.  And for liking this brunette so much, he even felt like a fool. But at this moment, he was such a happy fool. And no matter how painful a loss can feel, this bright smile in front of him was his source of strength and hopefully would always be. Youngbae didn't think much of himself but since he decided not to think about himself anymore , that was okay. 

He looked at Jiyong again and this time it was him who was breathless. He stopped tickling him and pinned his hands above his head before intertwining them with his, leaning down and kissing those lips for a while longer than usual. And God, did it feel wonderful.

Jiyong closed his eyes and tried to imitate the expert moves of the soft mouth that was pressed so gently against his own. He didn't care if he failed. He didn't care that he was breathless again, because he now knew how much Youngbae liked him. He could tell by the way one of hands went through his hair so passionately while the other squeezed his own so tightly above his head. 

The educator didn't know that he soon had to make his biggest sacrifice.

1 week later

The telephone was ringing and Youngbae hastily wiped his wet hands on a dishtowel before rushing to the living room. Jiyong only munched on his favourite cereals and looked after him. Things had been great between them. They had gone out a lot, having so much fun, the brunette couldn't be any happier at the moment. Youngbae had even taken him to Disney Land again and had bought him cotton candy, just like he did the last time they went there. The difference was though that Jiyong hadn't shed a single tear of sadness that day. It was awesome!

The brunette loved being woken up by his educator, even if it was early in the morning. They cuddled in the mornings and in the evenings, when it was time to sleep. Youngbae would kiss him more often and hug him more often than he had earlier and Jiyong found himself liking him more and more every day. Whenever his educator was near him, he couldn't help but touch him, not wanting to let go of him because he was so addicted to the warmth of his body. Jiyong felt as if something had changed between them even though he couldn't really tell what exactly had become different. It wasn't that he cared anyway, because he was happy with the way they were now. Youngbae would still refuse to bath with him no matter what but the brunette just told himself to try and try until he would say 'yes'. He smiled a toothy grinn at that thought. 

A moment later, Youngbae walked back into the kitchen, bidding his goodbyes to the person on the other line and Jiyong tilted his head at him as if asking who he was speaking to. The educator smiled and walked towards his curious protégé before handing him the handset. Jiyong only looked at him questioningly. 

"You have a call from Moscow." , Youngbae said, winking at him and Jiyong shrieked excitedly and immediately took the phone from his hand.

"Omma! Appa!"

"Oh, my precious! It's Omma, sweetheart. How are you?"

"I am fine. I miss you two a lot!", the brunette said, sulking.

"We miss you, too, honey. You know what? I cried the moment we landed in Russia and if your father wasn't there, I would have taken the next flight back to Paris, right on the spot!" She laughed.

Jiyong giggled. "Don't worry about me, Omma. Bae is looking after me so well." , he reassured her while taking a glance at his educator's busy back.

"I am happy to hear that. Do you two eat enough? Yah, I hope you haven't been living on junkfood all this time!"

Jiyong shook his head, as if his mother would be able to see him. "No, we haven't. Actually, Bae cooks a lot of the food I like at home. And he makes me eat a lot of fruits and vegetables." The brunette stuck his tongue out since he usually prefered sweet stuff. 

"Really? Ah, our dependable Youngbae-ah. I am so glad we met him."

"I am glad, too." 

"Anyway, you sound happy, my son. I feel relieved. Your father really wanted to talk to you, too but he is currently in a meeting. However, we sent you some pictures! I already told Youngbae to show them to you." 

"Pictures? I want to see them! I want to see them now!", Jiyong said excitedy, jumping up and down on his seat. 

Mrs. Kwon laughed. "You will love them! There is one picture I made of Appa when he was drooling in his sleep. It's hilarious!"

"Yah, Omma! You are so evil!"

"I know, I know!" For a brief moment, there was a pause at the other end and it sounded like Jiyong's mother had to hang up. "Honey, I have to go now. Please take care of yourself, okay? Eat a lot and dress warmly and sleep early and - "

"Yes, Omma!"

"Alright. I love you, my son!"

"I love you, too, mum."

Jiyong sighed and put the handset on the table before making his way towards Youngbae, who was washing the dishes. He wrapped his arms around his torso and giggled. 

"Why are you laughing?", Youngbae asked, smiling.

"Omma said she took a funny picture of Appa. I want to see it." 

"Is that so?", the older man chuckled. He put his hand on top of the brunette's. "Let me finish this plate and we will go and check them out, alright?"

"Okay." Jiyong said and burried his face between his shoulder blades.

"You are not going to let me go?"

"No. I don't want to." The younger man grinned against his educator's back. 

When Youngbae was finally done with the dishes, the two of them made their way inside his room and sat down on his desk, turning on the laptop. Jiyong made himself comfortable on Youngbae's lap and excitedly waited for him to log in into his e-mail account. 

"Let's see what your mother sent us.", the educator said playfully and draped his arm around the smaller man's waist, leaning his chin on his right shoulder because he was blocking his view with his brown, puffy head. 

Youngbae saw that he had received several e-mails and spontanously opened the first one without checking who the sender was. The moment he clicked on the mail, he was greeted with a text that was written in Hangul but there were no pictures attached. Youngbae frowned. 

"Bae, what does it say? Where are the pictures?", Jiyong asked and pouted. He didn't know how to read Hangul, that means he did, but he wasn't really good at it. Though he spoke Korean, it usually took him while until he was able to fully read and understand a text. 

"This is ... not from your mother. It's from my big sister!" 

Youngbae's heart throbbed. It had been long since he last had spoken to his family and he felt guilty for not contacting them often despite missing them so much. He roughly scanned the mail and started shaking.

Something was off. 

He started reading again, this time more properly.

Youngbae-ah,

I am sending you this message and hope that you will receive it as soon as possible. If you called us a bit more often, if you only thought about your family more frequently, I wouldn't even have to type this. You should be ashamed of making your older sister contacting you first when it should be the other way around. But honestly, this is not even relevant anymore as you probably won't be able to talk to mother ever again. It is too late to even hear her voice for the last time, because she will no longer want to hear your voice, Youngbae - ah. An ungrateful son that didn't even once come back to the home that raised him and cherrished him so much does not deserve her attention. We brushed it off first, thinking that you may want to study for longer, that you found a job that you liked and got used to, that you probably found friends you couldn't seperate from. Mother tolerated your stay with tears in her eyes every night she walked past your empty bedroom. She kept telling herself  and others that it was okay, that you were busy with work and that one day, you would knock on our door and she would have you in her arms again, that one day, our family would be complete again. However, you have crushed all our hopes at once with your selfish acts, Youngbae-ah. You should be ashamed of yourself for bringing so much shame over our name. You should be ashamed of living over there comfortably while we worried ourselves sick about you. But most of all, you should be ashamed of starting a releationship with an disabled person who is also a man. How can you be so cold-hearted and selfish, taking advantage of someone who is barely aware of his surroundings? We always thought highly about you, Youngbae-ah, but the West has turned you into a shameless person with no depth. The polite and well-educated boy who we used to know has died in foreign streets and we didn't even know when. When did you change into such an egoist, Youngbae - ah?  When did my dongsaeng become like this? Do you have an idea what's going on here right now? No, of course you don't. You live over there comfortably and light-heartedly. You cannot see mother's tears, you cannot hear how she curses your name. She worked with no rest all those years only to be able to send you to Europe and you? You didn't even thank her, did not even come to see her over the holidays and for what? For loving someone who is forbidden to you, for loving someone who cannot even considered an adult. I am disgusted. I am truly disgusted. And I will try to forget having a younger brother and mother will try and forget having given birth to someone so ungrateful and immoral like you. 

I am bidding my goodbyes to you.

Hyerin.

Youngbae thought he was dying.

Homeland, sanity, heart, friends, family.

A/N: Hi guys! I am sorry for the late update! I am so extremely busy! >.< This chapter is not very long but I hope the first part was able to make it up a bit! Thank you for supporting me and most of all, thank you for your patience! Will update as soon as I am done with school work! Love you!