𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 | VMINKOOK

Endless Possibilities

"You... are a homosexual, correct?"

Jin threw his head back and laughed. "Well, last I checked, yes," he said, uncrossing his legs.

I exhaled a shaky breath. "Then... do you consider yourself to be a bit more feminine than most men?"

Jin hummed in thought, seeming to give it some genuine thought. "Yes, I suppose so... but I don't see that as a bad thing. I mean, women are so much better than men, really. They're sweet and cute and always smell good. It's a shame they don't quite do it for me. Namjoon should call himself lucky I like myself a large coc-c-coffee. L-large cups of coffee, w-which he makes exceptionally well."

I frowned deeply, and began to pace back and forth through the cramped little bedroom. "You speak so casually about these things. It's as though your world is free of rules and obligations," I murmured. "As though you don't believe anyone would ever judge you for being yourself..."

"Oh, but people judge people no matter what, darling," Jin giggled, crossing his legs again. "I judge women for wearing brown with purple, I judge men for inventing suspenders, I judge Emilio for existing... but at the end of the day, that Spanish piece of rotten garbage still walks--"

"Jin..." I interrupted.

Jin sighed, dismissing his earlier statement with a wave of his hand. "My point is... living your life for the acceptance of others is futile and stupid, little master. You're only sixteen years old. Your future has endless possibilities."

My eyes fluttered, Jin's words coming in like a slap to the face. All I'd ever done was live my life for others...

"Us pretty boys don't need to worry about the minds of haters, master Park," Jin said in a sing-songy way, getting up from his bed and placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Our souls might be going to hell, but theirs are ugly... and, well, I'd rather die than be ugly, personally."

I wheezed, the footman's strange speech instilling a confidence in me previously buried under layers and layers of self-doubt. I'd forgotten what it was like to trust my instincts and believe in myself. I realised I waned to be exactly like Jin, and glow on people like a ray of sunshine even in the darkest of hours. I wanted to love myself, and appreciate every part of me, even if others didn't. I knew such a goal would be difficult to obtain, but I was going to be positive for a change.

"Jin, I need your advise on an outfit I was thinking of buying for my birthday... it's quite risqué, you see? So even though I find it gorgeous, I'm not sure if I can--"

"You can," Jin said before I'd even finished my sentence.

"But-- you don't even know--"

"Believe me, as long as it isn't brown and purple..." Jin said, giving my shoulder a squeeze and smiling at me in a way that lit the world ten times brighter. "You can."

_______

I left my room at the crack of dawn with the plan of buying a gramophone in the city for the party. It had been ages since I last woke up that early in the morning, but I was so excited I could hardly close my eyes. I marched down the corridor with a silly smile on my face and couldn't wait to breathe fresh air. But my excitement soon came to a sudden stop when--

"Hm, that arse is a crime, foreign boy. You better stop showing it off before I decide to own it."

I halted in my tracks when I heard a voice I didn't recognize come from one of the guest bedrooms. I tip-toed to the door, peeking inside like a nosey kid instead of the trained spy I was.

"Crime... own?" Taehyung asked, dusting off an old wooden closet with a disturbed expression on his face.

I finally remembered who the other man was when he stepped closer to the butler, and the daylight from a nearby window revealed his face. It was the cook, Jung Hoseok, who my father hired for reasons that were now becoming clear to me.