Moon Ji Sung would tell you himself that this story is not his but it it is his to tell. It isn't about him and it never was. This story... this - it's about St John and all of his boys: Ji Sung, Jared, Adriaan, Noah, Bophelo, Zulu, Marco, Pyotr...
St John's College isn't a regular boarding school. It's an absolute fantasy - built and fabricated on the wet, green grass of KwaZulu-Natal's midlands. It's like a still-life in which Ji Sung walked into. The school's fat corridors swallowed him, its windows and doors inhaled him and most of all its walls listened to him and watched him, just as much as it did the other boys.
St John let his boys be boys, as violently, as softly, as aggressively, as intellectually and as happily, as they pleased. Boys hid behind him when they feared becoming men or when their loved ones feared the men they would become.
What these boys, however, did not know, especially Ji Sung, is that letting a boy be a boy is the only way he'll become a man.
A/N: I know the description is very cryptic but to simplify it I will say that the story revolves around Ji Sung who starts attending a new boarding school in South Africa where he meets a lot of boys. His experiences and those of the boys he met teach them a lot about themselves and each other and thus the boys are becoming men.
For 17-year-old high school senior Evan Brooks, life could be better. He's a social outcast at school, stuck in a rural Alabama small town he never wanted to move to, and he's got a secret he's desperately trying to keep: he's gay. When he embarks on a weekend vacation to the Florida panhandle with his hypermasculine brother, homophobic stepdad, and aloof mother, none of them can anticipate how much a simple 3-day trip will change their lives forever...
**2025 Update: Hi! This was my very first attempt at crafting an entire story from scratch all the way back in 2020, and I'd like to think my writing has since improved. I've started working on a big rewrite project, so stay tuned for a newly enhanced story! Please visit the last chapter (2025 Rewrite Info/Updates) for more details. In the meantime, the original story will remain here in full - just know that I know some parts of it are cringe lol. I hope you still enjoy it though! :) Some details have changed between this story and Road to Rockdale in anticipation of the rewrite, so please excuse some inconsistencies if you're coming from that story. I promise everything will line up eventually!
CONTENT WARNING/TRIGGERS: Please note that this story contains very strong language at times and some mature themes. Some characters face emotional abuse. There is also a small amount of physical abuse, but it is mostly implied apart from one scene which is not extremely graphic. Some characters are homophobic, and a slur is used a handful of times.