The Secret | HyungWonho

03.

Here's to the third! Enjoy! :3

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As soon as he arrived home, Hyungwon immediately went towards the stairs so that he can go to his room, without bothering to greet nor notice his father, which was seated on the sofa of their living room, facing the television.

Hyungwon closed the door behind him quickly, not wanting his father to notice his arrival. He always locked himself inside his room, never wanting anyone from outside to enter. He hated it. He never wanted anyone to enter his 'haven' – the only place in the world for him for which he finds peace.

Peace...

For Hyungwon, his house was nothing he would call a 'home'. He had somewhere to sleep in, but he had nowhere to dream in. He had a place to eat to, but not a venue to enjoy his meal. He had a shelter to call, but not as warm as it could be.

Not because of that man...

Hyungwon hated his father so much. Well, if he would call him his very one 'father'. Similar to his house, he had a 'father' to call, but not a father, if you would ideally call it. It was a long story for Hyungwon, but he never talked much about his very own family, especially of the man that he had lived with right now.

He walked towards his bed and lay down, his feet still on the floor. He brought his phone to eye level and began typing a message. He had sent Hoseok a message informing him that he was already at his house.

Of all the people related to his life, Hoseok was the one who knew Hyungwon's past, as well as with his family background. And above all, it was Hoseok who understood him the most. If not for the other, Hyungwon may have probably been gone.

Hyungwon could still remember the time it all began. The time his misery swooped over his fortunate life. It was the time that his mother had found out a secret his father had long hidden from their family. A secret he wished he would have never found out.

The secret that destroyed my whole life...

Soon after finding out about this, his mom left Hyungwon and his father, not leaving a trace as to where she would go or what would happen to him. Hyungwon had tried to contact her via phone, but the operator would simply come up, informing that the number cannot be reached. At first, he had no idea why his mother had left, and his father had always assured that she would come back to them, because she loved them so much. Hyungwon had always waited for that day. The day that his mother would come back and take care of them once again, forming a complete family.

But that day never came...

Instead, what came in was a surprise for Hyungwon. It was also that day for which he started hating the man that brought him into this world. It was the day he had realized how much of a lie his whole life was. It was the day his ideals, his beliefs, his principles, and his personality had changed.

It was the very day that had changed his life forever.

It was on this very same day, two years ago. That day had gone normal for Hyungwon and Hoseok. After class, the two of them would usually hang out somewhere in school and go home late. But that day was an exception, for it was a day before exams, and both of them had been warned that they had to study, otherwise, they would fail. Fearing the possibility of failure, they decided not to hang out and go home instead, to study.

Hyungwon usually walked from school to his house since it was not that far. Hoseok would ride the bus from the school. As they parted, Hyungwon began walking towards their house's direction. For an afternoon, it was unusually cold for Hyungwon. He felt the cold winds blow against his direction, as if warning that something dark would happen. Nevertheless, he continued his walk and soon after, arrived in front of their house. He had taken the key from his pocket, opened the door quietly, and went inside.

As soon as he was in, he was wondering why there were two pairs of shoes on the front door. He recognized one of the pairs as his father's, but he wasn't sure as to who the other shoe had belonged to. Nevertheless, Hyungwon removed his shoes and started walking quietly towards the stairs. As he passed by the living room, his eyes widened at the sight that he had seen.

He wasn't sure if his father had seen him, but as soon as he started running up the stairs and into his room, he heard his father shouting his name as he also began to chase him. Luckily, Hyungwon had made it inside his room and double-locked the door. Hyungwon feel to his knees, his whole being still in a shock. He wasn't able to believe what he had seen. He wanted to believe that it was all a lie, that it wasn't true. But his sanity and his awareness had told him that what he had just seen was true, that it was real. He was shocked to see the event with his own eyes.

He was shocked to see his father making out... with another man.

Hyungwon began crying as the bits and pieces of the mystery of his mother's departure began falling into place. From the time that his mother had found out about his father's secret, to the very moment he has seen his father in such a state. Hyungwon had always believed that his father did not have any fault in the said secret, that it was all a misunderstanding, that everything was just a lack of communication.

But it was all a lie...

At that moment, Hyungwon realized that he too had to go far away and leave his father. He started packing his clothes and gathering his important belongings. In the midst of packing, Hyungwon heard a knock from his door and his father calling out to him.

"Hyungwon, please open the door. We need to talk," his father had called out. But Hyungwon did not listen to his father. He never wanted to talk to him. Focusing on his decision, Hyungwon dropped the bag on the window of his room. The moment he had dropped his bag, he heard his father inserting the key to his room onto the lock. He knew that moment that it wouldn't take long for him to open the second lock on the door. He had to act quickly.

He started fitting his thin frame out of the window, carefully laying his feet onto where they should be stepped onto. This wasn't the first time Hyungwon had climbed through the window and out of the house. After all, there were already a lot of instances for which he had escaped home just to be free for the night.

But tonight was different...

As soon as he could climb out, Hyungwon immediately ran for it, with no specific place in mind for which he wanted to go to. Hyungwon ran through the night, with the moonlight shining upon him. He could feel eyes looking at him, even though he knew for a fact that he was alone. He could feel that he was being followed. He also felt that it was as if the moonlight was guiding his pursuer towards him, this mysterious being catching up to his heels.

Faster...

After a few minutes of running, Hyungwon found himself in front of Hoseok's house. He felt tired, but he knew that he had to hide inside his friend's house. He knocked madly at the door, the noise enough to wake up the dead. Hyungwon didn't care about the disruption he was making, for all he wanted was to make it to safety, for which was given to him, as a few moments later, Hoseok opened the door, seeing a sweat-soaked Hyungwon.

"Hyungwon! What are you doing?!" Hoseok asked, his tone giving a hint of surprise.

"I'll explain later. Please let me in!" Hyungwon informed. Hoseok sensed the urgency in Hyungwon's voice, and that was enough to make him act into letting the other enter his home and climb up to his room. As soon as both were inside Hoseok's room, Hyungwon began to tell the story of how he ended up in front of their house in the middle of the night. Hoseok listened carefully, as he could no longer sleep.

It was indeed a long night...

Hoseok recalled the story as he lay on his bed, remembering the reason why Hyungwon became homophobic. He could still remember all the details of Hyungwon's story, the night he was telling the tale vivid in his mind. It was in the same room for which he had been lying on, his own room. As he recalled this bitter past that his best friend had gone through, he could also remember the lines that Hyungwon had left before he fell asleep due to his exhaustion.

Whatever remains a mystery should remain as it is.

A secret.