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“Hyung.”
Jason looked up at Tae Hyun. “Are you okay?”
Tae Hyun sighed as he sat beside Jason. “I don’t know.” He looked at Jason’s profile. The cool afternoon sun brightly reflected off his cheeks, giving him an almost angelic glow. “I imagined a hundred different ways this could’ve gone. But I see now this was the only way it would be.
Jason nodded. “I’m sorry. I know I fucked everything up in there.”
“No, you didn’t.” Tae Hyun ruefully chuckled. “It didn’t help anything, but everything was already fucked up long before we even got here.”
Jason shrugged. “Give them some time. They might still come around.”
Tae Hyun chuckled. “You don’t believe that.”
“No, I don’t.” Jason shrugged again. “But what the hell do I know? Just because my parents are irredeemable doesn’t mean yours are.”
Tae Hyun felt a sharp sting from a sudden burst of cold wind against his cheek and wondered how red it was. He leaned against Jason’s shoulder, so Jason lifted his arm, wrapped it around Tae Hyun’s shoulder, and pulled him close. Tae Hyun enjoyed the comforting warmth of Jason’s touch. “I’m sorry you had to see all that. But I’m glad you came with me.”
Jason gave Tae Hyun a gentle squeeze. “I told you I’d march to the gates of hell with you, didn’t I?”
Tae Hyun snorted. “Maybe. But my father’s not the devil.”
“No, he’s not.” Jason bent down and kissed Tae Hyun’s forehead. “But I’d protect you from the devil himself, too, if I had to.”
12
Jason regretted his behavior the moment he set foot outside. Despite his promise to behave, he’d done exactly the opposite. But seeing and hearing the way that old fucker treated the man he loved triggered the same reactions he had when he dealt with his own father. The two men were so much alike it was scary. Put Woo Jeong Ho in a mansion and dress him in a ten-thousand-dollar Italian suit, and they would’ve practically been the same person. But Jason had never laid a hand on his father. And he imagined that if he ever gripped Gerald Park’s forearm like that, it wouldn’t have felt as spindly and weak. Jason had no doubt about how easily he could’ve snapped it. But there was no way he could stand by and watch him slap Tae Hyun like that. The sound alone had awakened the rage he’d tried to dampen when he stepped into the home.
But Tae Hyun had let him off the hook with none of his usual lectures about image and appearance. And Jason briefly wondered if Tae Hyun had planned it that way all along. The thought disturbed him, but not enough to question Tae Hyun about it. At least, not right away. Jason was who he was. And he was nothing if not predictable. If Tae Hyun had truly not wanted Jason’s interference, he would’ve left him behind.
The only good thing to come from their disastrous Daejeon trip was the surprising, budding mutual crush between Yun Seo and Seong Min. Jason noticed Seong Min’s half of the crush first, between his extra care and courtesy as he helped Yun Seo into the car and his constant glances toward her when he thought she wasn’t looking. But the way they almost giddily chatted like school friends on the train back to Seoul was the clincher. Jason had no idea how they’d make anything work between them. But far be it from him to stand in their way.
Seong Woo and Yoo Mi were both out when Jason and Tae Hyun finally arrived at their condo, which meant they could avoid the initialhow did it goquestions and go straight to bed for a nap before dinner. That was fortunate since Jason was fucking exhausted. And he had no idea how to answer those questions yet, anyway.
Jason woke sometime later to someone gently shaking him. He cracked an eyelid open to see Tae Hyun smiling as he lay beside him. Jason smiled back. “Hi.”
Tae Hyun chuckled. “Hi. We should get up soon so we have time to get ready for dinner.”
“Okay.” Jason snuck his arm underneath Tae Hyun and pulled him close enough to lay his head on Jason’s chest. “So–”
Tae Hyun quietly sighed. “You want to talk about what happened.”
“You don’t? Cuz I kinda think we should.”
Tae Hyun began to gently caress Jason’s chest. “I don’t know. It was awful. My parents are awful.” He sighed again. “And I don’t know what to do.”
“Are you asking me? Because I don’t think you want to do what I did.”
Tae Hyun snorted. “Yeah, I don’t know if I’m ready to disown them yet.”
Jason frowned. “Is that what you think you should do?”
“No. But it’s what I think you think.”
Jason quietly huffed. “Just because I did that with my parents doesn’t mean it’s what I think you should do. My parents have had a decade to come to terms with who I am. Yours have only had a few months.”
“As if that would make a difference.” Tae Hyun looked up at Jason, his soft brown eyes glistening with a hint of sadness. “They’ve always been like that. But they’ve never turned it against me before.”
“I say fuck what they think.” Jason softly kissed Tae Hyun’s forehead. “You’re worthy of their love. Being gay doesn’t change that.”
