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"No!" Doyoung's mom hissed, "I'm not letting a random woman into our house!"
Jungwoo awkwardly glanced between his boyfriend and the angry woman, waiting for one of them to attack the other. Not wanting to cause any more problems, he reached out and gently grabbed Doyoung's hand. "It's fine, we can just explain things twice," he whispered, finally feeling reality sink in.
They were here to explain that somebody had outed them to the whole school. A school where a boy who'd been killed when he was outed was just collateral damage. The grip on Doyoung's hand tightened as the younger felt his chest tighten with anxiety. His life was over. There was no point in graduating and getting a job, there was no point in living. This would chase him for the rest of his life and someday it would undoubtedly catch up with him.
Doyoung looked at the boy and saw the panic in his eyes. It made his heart hurt knowing how scared the boy was and not being able to do anything about it. The fact that both of his moms and a lurking Dahye were watching them didn't make things any easier. Letting out a groan, he pulled Jungwoo out of the living room and into his room so they could have some privacy. He was bound to get yelled at for walking away in the middle or a conversation with his mom, but he prioritized his boyfriend more.
"You thinking about what's going to happen isn't helping anything," the elder said softly as he placed his hand's on Jungwoo's face.
Just the sound of Doyoung's voice made his bottom lip wobble as two tears raced down his cheeks. "I k—know."
Doyoung wiped the boys cheeks with his thumbs before walking over to sit on his bed. He pulled Jungwoo down onto his lap. It felt awkward to the younger as he was quite big to be sitting on somebody's lap, he tried to get up but was quickly pulled back down. "I don't fit," he whined, trying to break out of Doyoung's arms.
The elder shook his head, "that doesn't matter."
"I just still don't understand why Jiwon would do this...I never did anything wrong." He said quietly, relaxing against his boyfriends chest.
Doyoung agreed with the boy, "You didn't, she just didn't like the fact you stared dating about after her, that's why she started to take the pictures."
Pushing himself back up, Jungwoo gave the elder a confused look. "How would you know why she was mad?"
His eyes widened, "I just—that's what I assume because why else—"
"Did you know!? Did you know she was stalking us and you didn't tell me!?"
It felt as if he was stuck in a corner, he couldn't lie about it anymore, but he knew Jungwoo would be upset if he knew the truth. "Listen...I didn't mean for this to happen—I thought all the pictures were on the camera. I had no idea she already had copies...I'm sorry."
Getting off of the elder, Jungwoo began to pace, "You're sorry? Doyoung you're supposed to tell me about things like this!"
"Jungwoo—"
"Were you ever going to tell me...or were you just hoping that we wouldn't get killed in the process?" Jungwoo felt tears well up in his eyes once again, but this time they were because of anger. "Who the hell keeps something like that a secret!?"
Doyoung reached out for his boyfriend, but was pushed away. "I...I thought I could handle it—I though I could fix everything without worrying you over it." The younger felt his heart drop into his stomach upon hearing Doyoung's hurt tone. He glanced up at him to see tears glistening on his cheeks. "I—I'm sorry."
Although Jungwoo wanted to turn around and tell the elder it was okay and comfort him, he couldn't. He felt like Doyoung didn't trust him, why else would he keep something like that. "I...I should go home," he whispered before walking out of the room.
✨✨✨
It felt as if the tears would never stop coming. He'd almost spent the whole day crying yet it didn't seem like it would end any time soon.
Jungwoo's mom rubbed her sons back as he continued to cry into her shoulder. "E—Everything's falling apart...everything I've w—worked so hard for."
She shushed him, "honey, everything is going to be okay, I promise you."
"B—But you hate Doyoung, everybody at school hates me, a—and now I don't even know what's going to happen between us..." he whispered.
The woman let out a small sigh, "I've never hated Doyoung. I honestly think he's great for you—but the second I realized what could actually happen...I freaked out. Maybe I shouldn't have gone about things the way I did and I'm sorry. I just wanted to protect you while I still could." She brought a hand up to wipe at her eyes, "I obviously didn't do a good job of that though..."
Laying his head on her shoulder, Jungwoo snuggled into the woman, feeling a little better now that everything was out in the open. "You've done a great job with everything, mom." She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by the phone ringing. Wiggling his way out of her arms, Jungwoo got up and walked out to the kitchen to answer the phone. "Hello?"
"Jungwoo? Hi, it's Changkyun." He felt his stomach churn, feeling like no good would come from talking to the elder. "I got your number from somebody at football practice—but I just called to tell you that the shit with the posters, it doesn't change anything."
Jungwoo raised an eyebrow, not knowing where he was going with that, "Thanks?"
"Look, I'm not the biggest fan of Doyoung—and to be honest I'm kinda hurt you never tried to hit on me—but I'm just glad you're happy. You're like a really good person and you deserve a happy relationship." He cleared his throat, "Well I'm rambling now but the point is I won't let anything happen at school. And tell Doyoung if he ever hurts you I'll kill him—not because he's gay but because I care about you."
A small giggle slipped past his lips as he listened to Changkyun's words, "Thank you, it really means a lot that at least somebody at school doesn't hate me."
"All you have to do is give me names and I'll beat them up."
"Do you think you can keep student council going while I'm gone? I don't know how long it'll be...but don't fight with Tzuyu." Jungwoo asked softly.
A small hum echoed through the phone, "I'll be nice to her, but only while you're gone. But hurry back, okay? Things will fall apart without you."
———
...I'm not sure the exact amount, but I think there's less than ten chapters left in this book
