𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 - 𝐒𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐠

"In This Light, I Swear I'm Blind"

"Mom, Dad, can we talk?"

Instantly the chattering and moving around came to a stop. The two adults both turned to look at one another, confusion written all over their face, before redirecting their heads towards their son in unison.

"Yes, of course," Mrs. Park placed the plate she was drying off in its corresponding spot before drying her own hands to walk over to her son. Mr. Park also put down the tray in which held the left over turkey before following his wife's actions.

Seonghwa sat shaking in his spot as his parents approached, taking a seat on the sofas on either side of him.

They adjusted themselves and both put all their attention on Seonghwa, only making him even more nervous than he already was.

"What's up, bud?" His father asked in the most calming tone. Seonghwa only hoped that tone remained the same during the whole night.

Seonghwa took a deep breath, shutting his eyes to ease the anxious feeling tickling his body. "I'm only going to ask for you guys to let me talk," He said, slowly. "J-just give me twenty to t-thirty minutes, maybe more. Is that okay?" He opened one of his eyes, peeking out for his parents' reaction to his request.

They simply nodded in response, giving each other that glance once again.

"Alright," Seonghwa exhaled, opening both of his eyes but maintaining his stare towards the fire place.

"I hope it's not too late to let you guys know what I'm grateful for," Seonghwa chuckled. His parents shook their heads and chuckled along with him, gesturing for him to continue. "Well, I know this might sound cheesy and all but I'm thankful to have you guys as my parents. I know sometimes we get into arguments about some of the dumbest things and I'm not the perfect child.

"Yet I've never felt so glad to have someone love me and care for me as much as you guys have. I feel so glad to be able to come home and feel safe and comfortable. I feel glad to have you guys support me through tough times or when I just need that little motivation." Seonghwa smiled to himself as he heard his parents giggle softly.

"Of course, baby, you're our son-" His mother was about to speak but was cut off by Mr. Park who held out a hand in front of her to give Seonghwa his respected time.

"But," Seonghwa's smile faded into a thin line. "I'm afraid that love and support will fade-away or just disappear." He raised his eyes up to meet his parents'. They both furrowed their eyebrows in confusion.

"I know you guys never really liked Hongjoong. I only brought him around because I thought that maybe if you guys were okay with me just bringing men only, you would be okay with me bringing Yeosang. I didn't want you guys to get fed up with me only bringing boys and not girls to the point you wouldn't want me to bring Yeosang around either.

"The thing is, Yeosang isn't- well... Yeah, Yeosang isn't straight. He likes m-men." Seonghwa shut his eyes, waiting to hear his parents reaction. But the couple remained silent, still not understanding where this was going.

"I was a-afraid of you guys not wanting me to hang out with him anymore b-because," The words were harder to spit out than he thought they would be. Sure, Seonghwa had planned it all out, but now that the moment had arrived, the simple phrase was holding onto his tongue for dear life. But this simple phrase had to be let out before the tension got worse.

Mr. Park's foot began to hop rapidly. A part of him was already expecting the answer, wanting Seonghwa to just let the words out. But that other side of him wanted it not to be what he was thinking. It just couldn't be.

Seonghwa released his breath once more before he finally let the words pour out of his mouth like a waterfall.

"Because I like him. I like Kang Yeosang." The blonde haired boy immediately covered his face, wanting to avoid whatever face his parents had just made.

Mrs. Park sat there gawking at the sudden come out. She felt lost, confused, she just couldn't wrap her head around how her son came to be this way. Seonghwa likes a guy? A male? The thought of it didn't sound right, it felt off. A same sex-relationship could simply not work out, right?

Mr. Park was right. His son did turn out to like a boy, but why? He could've easily got himself whatever girl he liked. How was he supposed to have children? Wasn't same sex marriage forbidden according to the bible or was that all just a bunch of misinterpretation? Abuse of scripture? This was all just a phase, right? He's simply confused, he can't like a male. Who would continue the family name? None of this was making sense, not at all.

"You like... Yeosang?" Mrs. Park asked quietly after the three sat in awkward silence. Seonghwa looked up with red, tears eyes, nodding his head slowly, fearing the worst.

"I-I'm gay," Seonghwa wiped his nose with the hem of his sleeve. "I-I've found myself crushing on some of t-the seniors at s-school before... and a-all of them were m-male."

Mrs. Park nodded, lips formed into a thin line as he furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

"I swear, I-I've tried d-dating girls. I've t-tried liking g-girls only but I couldn't-" Seonghwa sobbed, the blank, serious expression on his parents' face only making him feel worse. That was it. They found him disgusting, they hated him. "I really tried, but I just couldn't bring myself to like one-"

"Seonghwa, relax." Mr. Park spoke rather loudly but continued to maintain his calm tone. The crying boy bit his lip trying to hold in the sobs threatening to escape his lips. They remained their eyes on Seonghwa as his shoulders began to hop from the hiccups he developed and was also holding back.

"I really don't know what to tell you, Seonghwa. I wasn't expecting this," Mrs. Park crossed her arms and looked down at the floor, shaking her head softly to herself. "It was kind of the last I was expecting."

"I just don't understand, I really don't." Mr. Park rubbed his forehead. "Why like another male? It's wrong, Seonghwa. It just doesn't settle with me." He mumbled, but Seonghwa was able to hear.

"I-I'm so s-sorry, Mom. I'm s-so sorry, Dad." Seonghwa bit harshly on his lip, jerking up from the sofa and running towards his room. Upon reaching his room, he shut and locked the door behind him before throwing himself onto his bed, forgetting all about changing into his night wear and releasing all his stress onto a grey, soft pillow, the boy he loves once got him. He hugged the pillow tightly as he cried into it, hoping to wake up to Monday and skip whatever was coming ahead of him.

"It's wrong, Seonghwa."

What was he expecting really? He knew his parents wouldn't give in so easily. They're probably disgusted by him, they probably hate him. Their next move might be to kick him out, oh why couldn't he just have stayed in the closet longer?

"I'm sorry," he whispered into the darkness.

"I'm sorry..."

~🌼~
authors note

i started school 🥴
WHICH MEANS
i won't be staying up often because i'm going to be getting that beauty rest to look flawless on camera 🤩

JUST KIDDING

anyway,
writing this chapter was kind of hard(?) because my thoughts on the lgbtq+ community are WAY different from any homophobic person out there. i had to search up reasons why people were against homosexuality and add in stuff people have told me when i brought it up. so hopefully this chapter isn't trashy.

hope everyone is staying safe! tysm for over 600 reads 😭😭❤️!!

see ya!!