Stendhal's Syndrome - JongSang ✔︎

Chapter 5

Yeosang waited for the perfect opening, getting ready to tell them about his thoughts. Just as everything went completely silent, he saw an opportunity to speak and snatched it.

“I want Jongho to help me,” Yeosang blurted out, instantly regretting it the second it left his mouth.

He thought his parents were on the verge of choking but he simply watched them in silence. He didn't know why they were so dramatic. It wasn't as if they were expecting him to remain unwilling forever but still, the news shocked them.

“Why the sudden change of heart?” Mr Kang asked, glancing at his son with a curious expression after taking a sip of water to calm himself down.

“It's just because I don't want to faint forever. You know, it would be nice to live without fainting at all but here I am.”

"Hmm. Are you sure you aren't starting to fall for him?"

Yeosang spluttered over his drink and aggressively coughed. He was but he wouldn't admit it, yet.

"Absolutely not! I won't be catching feelings for him!" Yeosang remarked, crossing his arms in defiance.

"Alright, alright," Mrs Kang attempted to soothe, not wanting a dramatic scene at the moment. "I’ll invite them for dinner tomorrow and we can explain your situation to them, good?"

Yeosang nodded and clapped happily, stopping himself midway when he noticed the look his Father gave him and scoffed before taking his plate to the sink and running up the stairs to his room.

He snuggled contentedly under his fluffy blanket and sighed in relief when he figured he would be able to somehow stop his syndrome soon enough even if it would take long. He was eager to know if the younger male had any ideas on how to begin and desperately hoped that it would all stop within the month. A mere month was left and if Yeosang was able to control the fainting in the presence of Jongho, he would be able to control the fainting anywhere else. So the task that lay ahead was grand.

He stared at his ceiling that glowed and Yeosang had a sudden thought that nearly made him gag out loud.

"Now imagine I actually did end up liking him a lot and we cuddled right here as we looked at the stars?"

The realization of what he said made him quickly slap a hand over his mouth and he glanced at the door to ensure that the universe wasn't against him and had sent one of his parents who would hear those words. 

Luckily, he was safe and no one heard him. He just hoped everything would go smoothly and without any hitches.

._._.

"I'm so glad you guys came!" Mrs Kang gushed as the Choi's family of four walked into the warm house.

Yeosang awkwardly stood in the corner of the living room watching as everyone entered and he refused to glance at Jongho even though he felt the younger's stares on him.

"Yeosang, dear?" Mrs Kang said, interrupting his process of trying to ignore everyone. "Come say hello."

Suppressing the biggest sigh and faking an excited smile, Yeosang walked over to them and greeted each of them. No one missed the way he completely ignored Jongho and instead kind of nodded his head at the taller without actually looking at him.

"Oh? Did something happen between them?" Mrs Choi asked, a bit surprised to see the action.

"Oh no, no. That's actually one of the reasons we invited you, to discuss Yeosang's behaviour."

Yeosang rolled his eyes at the way his Mother worded everything. She made it sound as if he was a problem child and needed disciplining when the situation was really much different.