freedom ;; xdinary heroes

twenty nine

"I heard that Jiseok has a boyfriend..."

"Boyfriend?!"

"Yeah, from another school. Overheard him talking to his friend. He's also... done it with him."

"Done it? What, like... that?"

"Yeah, you idiot. At least he has a boyfriend and isn't crushing on anyone here."

"Yeah, thank goodness, I don't like guys."

Jiseok lifted his head from his desk, having heard enough from the two classmates standing at the door. The two boys noticed Jiseok raising his head, and they quickly left to avoid Jiseok's eyes. He pressed his lips together, staring out at the window beside his desk. He was worried that things would spread around, even if he was quite okay with everyone knowing.

But those boys knew he had slept with Seungmin.

Jiseok glanced down at his phone, wondering if Seungmin was on lunch break. It was a pity that Jooyeon was absent from school that day — he would've had someone to be with him. Unfortunately, with the reservation of 'best friend' being made for one person, Jiseok didn't quite have a friend group to call his own. He felt odd being with Jungsu and his friends since he was only friends with the blonde boy and often kept to himself when with them.

Jiseok had no one this particular day. He picked up his phone, unlocked it, and scrolled through his numerous notifications until he came on a chat notification. He opened it, his expression falling immediately.

hanjunnie
> seungmin told me to message u
> he's crying in the bathroom, and he said to please call him

Jiseok quickly attempted to call his boyfriend, hands almost shaking as he stood up from his seat. He heard ringing on the other end, a seemingly endless buzz of nothing meeting his ear. Eventually, the buzz stopped, and Seungmin answered with a sniffle.

"Seungmin, are you okay? Hyeongjun—"

"My friend was just swearing and calling me slurs. Don't think too much about it," Seungmin said quickly. "Uhm... he found out about you and I. Apparently, he's a piece of shit and hates gay people. I told him I'm bisexual, but he just wouldn't understand. Whatever, he wasn't the favourite of the group, anyway."

"Oh... some guys were talking about me as well," Jiseok muttered. "I mean, I'm already out and all, but... hearing other people talk about the fact that I've slept with a guy already..."

"Oh, they know that much? How?"

"They overheard me talking to Jooyeon, I guess," Jiseok replied. "It doesn't matter, I'm already out. You just outed by one of your friends. Isn't that... concerning? Did anything happen?"

"No, nothing yet. This literally happened five minutes ago," Seungmin chuckled. "Hyeongjun followed me all the way to the bathroom and I... kind of yelled at him. Tell him I didn't mean it, I wouldn't yell at him like that unless I was angry."

"He sounded very concerned — I think he knows you were just angry," Jiseok muttered. "All of this before your day of suspension. Something's off. Are you sure none of that suspended girl's lackeys had any play in it?"

"It could've been Ryuhan, but how did he find out that we're dating? I never told anyone that I'm your boyfriend, let alone that we've... slept together."

"That's the thing, I haven't mentioned recently to Jooyeon what we've been doing, so how did those boys find out?" Jiseok sighed, resting his head in his hands. "Whatever. I don't want to think about it. I'm sorry that you got outed by your friend. Probably wasn't much of a friend, it seems. Stay safe, love."

"I will, baby," Seungmin said softly. Jisoek could tell he was smiling. "I mean... my week suspension starts tomorrow, so I think I'll be fine. If my parents find out that I'm bi, there might be some problems, though. I'm grounded, too, so thank God we did what we did last night. I would've felt miserable without your love."

Jiseok felt shy with agreeing, giggling in response. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm going to miss you, though. You can't even come to Starlight?"

"They're at work during the day, so I think I can sneak you in."

"Or I can sneak you in."

"I'll beg my parents to let me see you."

Jiseok smiled slightly. "I'll probably just see you after the week. We can video call and stuff during our my time — just to be safe. I love you, okay?"

"Mhm. Me too, baby. I'll call you after school."

"Okay. Bye, love."

•

"Seungmin, you're well aware of why I called you to the office, correct?"

Seungmin was worried, glancing at his mother beside him with shaking eyes. He shook his head, sitting down in the seat in front of the principal nervously. "Is it regarding the fight...?"

"The one earlier."

Oh.

"Seungmin, you're still fighting?!" his mother exclaimed, jumping up from her seat in shock. Seungmin felt silent, not knowing what to say to his mother. Before things could get out of hand, the principal quickly stepped up.

"It wasn't exactly a fight, Mrs Oh," he corrected himself. "Your son here got into a very... heated disagreement between himself and Cha Daejoo. In the process, Daejoo-ssi was yelling a lot of vulgar, harmful words that caused a lot of concern. We called you, his mother, in today to... check the tension because this could affect Seungmin long-term."

"Tension? What tension?" Mrs Oh asked, turning to her son in confusion.

Seungmin glanced at the principal with pleading eyes, but he only gave an encouraging nod. Seungmin's body deflated slightly, looking at his mother with teary eyes. "Mom, I... I can't say it..."

Her expression softened, sitting down in her seat and quickly holding Seungmin's hand. "It's okay, my son. I'm your mother — whatever it is, I can handle it."

Seungmin shook his head, wiping his eyes quickly before his tears fell. "No, it's, uhm... complicated. You'll surely hate me."

"Seungmin, no matter how bad you get, you'll still be my son. I'll always love you."

Seungmin pressed his lips together nervously before sniffling. "I... I have... a b-boyfriend."