𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇

#.. EIGHT

the moment someone knocked on the door to gunil's room, the teen stiffened. he just returned from his meeting with seungmin, changing his clothes.

"wait, i'm changing!" he called, quickly putting on his shirt before his mother entered the room. she looked concerned.

sitting down on her son's bed, she gave him a glance that told him to sit down with her. gunil tried his best to avoid that exact conversation by staying outside until the moon was high up in the sky.

there was no fleeing now. making sure that the door was closed, gunil then sat down with a sigh. "is dad asleep?" he asked quietly, scared of talking too loud.

his mom shook her head. "that's why i'm talking to you now." at least that. gunil already faced enough abuse from his father, if the man found out that his only son was gay, he'd be dead. 100%

they've often called the police for it, but they couldn't do anything against it. the only thing his father received was a fine or maybe a few weeks in jail (but that's only if they're lucky and his mom pays for great lawyers.)

his mother sighed as she took her son's. "whatever you tell me now, i won't tell him" she tried to soothe gunil, her thumb rubbing over the backside of his hand.

gunil nodded, taking a deep breath. "i listened to your conversation with seungmin..." the teen admitted, looking away in shame.

"and it's true. i- i like boys. i feel so ashamed saying this out loud but, mom, i'm in love with a boy...

tears filled the boy's eyes, still not really looking at his mother, his dirty rug was more interesting. or maybe the lack of eye contact was the only thing that kept him from crying.

this was never his plan. he never wanted to tell his parents. at least not while living with them. gunil planned on telling them once he moved out and was financially stable.

his mother sighed, noticing her son's glassy eyes. "you shouldn't be ashamed of that" the woman sighed, one of her hands reaching up to cup gunil's cheeks.

gunil started weeping after that. he looked at his mother and broke down in tears, his face heating up and turning red.

this didn't surprise the woman, she just pulled her son into a hug, patting his back gently. "oh, baby.." she sighed, kissing his head.

this gesture made him cry even more as he held onto the woman's shirt. "it doesn't matter who you love" his mother mumbled, her hands continuing to comfortingly rub his back.

"it'll be alright..." gunil shook his head. "dad will kill me.. you'll tell him.." he felt a mixture of gratitude and fear.

gunil was glad his mother reacted so nicely, but he was scared that she'll tell her husband. he was suicidal anyway, this would be his final straw.

she shook her head, letting go of his hand to lay it on his head, brushing his hair away. "i don't want to put my only son at risk."

the next hour was spent with trying to comfort gunil, who was still crying.

[...]

returning back home from the hospital felt weird for hyeongjun. he knew that his parents would get mad.

at first, they didn't want him to go to that party. "who knows what kind of people will be there" his father told him. "you shouldn't drink at this age" was his mother's opinion.

but hyeongjun begged and begged, not wanting to leave jooyeon on his own. so eventually his parents gave in.

well, only if he listened to them... they'll probably be in a know-it-all mood. hyeongjun didn't gain any memories of that cursed night.