A/N: Possible trigger-warning ahead.

The scariest part wasn’t that Mark not prepared for this. It wasn’t the fact that he lacked control of the situation, as the GOT7 manager and Jaebum were embroiled in a loud argument, one Mark was sure the neighbours would be complaining about the following day. It wasn’t their talk about large corporate entities and media scandals and the dissolution of the group.

It was Jinyoung. It was the fact that even with Bambam by his side, Jinyoung was sitting on that sofa with his eyes to the ground, his hair obscuring his eyes from view – though the light caught each tear as it rolled down his face. It was the fact that Jinyoung had been sitting that way for what seemed like an eternity, in silent agony. It was the fact that, having been forced to stand on the opposite end of the room with Youngjae, Mark couldn’t do anything to calm him down and let him know that they'd get through this. That terrified Mark the most.

“So do you like boys, or what?” The manager yelled at Jinyoung.

Jaebum stepped in between them. “Just leave them alone, they haven’t done anything wrong.”

“You realize though they’ve been out together in the city. If they were seen --”

“They were careful to not get caught.”

“And then every time they both wanted to stay home?!”

Jackson stood up. “That’s their business.”

The manager took another step toward Jinyoung, before being blocked by Jaebum and Jackson. He decided to walk around calmly and head out the apartment, assumedly for a smoke and some contemplation.

“I’m sorry.” The maknae whimpered.

The maknae stood in another corner, alone. On two occasions did the boys witness Yugyeom cry as much as he did; the first was when Yugyeom was pranked into believing he had single-handedly caused the breakup of the group. The second was in that moment.

Jinyoung looked up at the boy. “You had no right.”

Yugyeom bowed his head in guilt.

“You had no right.” Jinyoung repeated, standing up as he did so. He began walking towards him before his hand was pulled back by Bambam.

“You think everything is fun and games, don’t you?!”

“Enough.” Jaebum interrupted. “It’s not his fault.”

In protest, Jinyoung fought Bambam’s hold his wrist, only to have Jackson step in and block him from moving any further.

“Listen to me. Jinyoung, listen to me.” Jaebum repeated, in a calm voice. “Yugyeom told me.”

The realization prompted the Busan boy to stop wrestling with Bambam and Jackson.

“He wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to protect you and Mark.”

“Then who told the manager?”

“I did.”

“Why?”

Jaebum’s expression was silent, though calm.

“Are you against this? Do you hate me, Jaebum?” Jinyoung asked, glaring from over Jackson’s shoulder. “Do you all hate me and Mark?”

“What? Do we hate gay people?” Jackson answered, scoffing as he did. “Jinyoung, my best friend back home is gay.”

“It’s a pretty common thing in Thailand, too.” Bambam said.

“I’ve pretty much been kissed by you all, and I don't hate anyone here." Youngjae joked, referencing the number of variety show kissing games they did together. “I don’t hate you or Mark.”

“No one's angry with you.” Jaebum said.

“But the manager--”

“The manager’s confused, there’s no precedent for what to do in a situation like this.”

“Don’t leave us.” Yugyeom bursted. “No one is angry with you.”

“We’re family now.” Jaebum added in. “Don't you get it? We're not against you.”

And in that moment, the eyes of the other boys began to connect with Jinyoung’s as they teared up once more, to reassure that Jaebum’s words were true. They’ve all heard enough stories about what happened with Jay Park and 2PM. They’ve all heard from Taecyeon and Nichkhun, how they had wished to have protected him better. None of them wished to repeat the same mistake in that moment.

“I’m… I’m sorry Yugyeom.” Jinyoung said. “Thank you for wanting to protect me and Mark.”

Yugyeom began tearing up once more. Jinyoung walked to him hesitantly. It took Jackson’s hand on his shoulder to guide him, to guide them both together in a sorrowful hug. Bambam joined in, bursting into tears as well.

Jaebum and Jackson then approached Mark and Youngjae. Their words were quiet, not wanting to disturb the other three.

“You need to talk with the manager, Mark. Trust me, he’ll be more accepting of it than you think.”

Jackson placed a hand on Mark’s back. “I’ll go with you if you want.”

…

Mark and Jackson stepped outside, where the manager leaned against a streetlamp across the street from the apartment.

“What’s going on inside?” The manager asked, taking another puff of his cigarette.

“Everything is okay.”

“That’s good.” The manager said, rubbing his forehead. “I’m sorry Mark that you had to see that.”

“Jaebum said I should talk to you.”

“Did he say to talk to me alone?” The manager responded, turning his eyes to Jackson.

The motion was threatening, and it nearly prompted Jackson to walk back inside – that was until the manager shot a cool grin.

“I’m joking.” He took another hit from his cigarette before tossing on the ground, extinguishing it with the tip of his boot. “Of course Jaebum said that.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because he wants you to know I’m on your side. It’s not that I don’t like you or Jinyoung. I’m not as conservative as I seem. Heck, I’m not much older than you either.”

The manager then stood up from leaning, rolling his shoulders from all the thought and tobacco.

“You see, as a manager I'm part of the company. My job is to protect the company's investments. I know another manager who’s older than me, but he worked for a company much smaller than JYP. He was watching over another group when one of the boys came out as gay.”

“What happened?"

“It was terrible. The boy had a passionate romance for another member. They ridiculed him for it, and made him leave.” The manager took a glance at the foreigners, making sure they could understand his slow and enunciated speech. 

“But not before they almost beat him to death. My friend, the manager, he was out getting groceries. When he came back, the boy was close to a pulp. And what’s worse is that the company protected the boys that beat him up. They terminated the contract of the other boy, without pay.”

Mark gulped down hard, shifting his head downward.

"I may be too conservative for gay rights. At the same time, I'm human enough to know that what happened to that other boy was a real tragedy. So it falls on me to protect you and Jinyoung. I know now that even after I attacked you and Jinyoung for being gay, the rest of your group will stand up for you. So I don’t need to worry about them beating you up. Thank you Jackson."

The boy nodded silently, respecftully.

“At the same time, if this becomes a scandal, I want to make sure that those company officials at the head office do what they were meant to do."

"What's that, hyung?"

"Protect their investments."