"Jaehyun! My boy!" a woman yelled. She ran up and hugged the boy. "Hi mom," he said and hugged her back. He hadn't seen his mom for a year, not even in summer. He let go of her and looked up to see his step dad walking down the pathway. "He's here too?" Jaehyun asked, glaring at the man. He hated his step dad and his step dad hated him. Not mention he was also extremely homophobic but didn't know that Jaehyun was gay. Yet. "Listen, Jae, you have to get along in one way or another. Just for today, for me. Please." He looked down at his mother again and sighed. "Ok," he said and turned to walk inside.

"Do you want drinks?" Jaehyun asked from the kitchen. "I'll have a tea," his mom said. "Yeah, I'll have a beer," his step dad said. "I don't have any beer here," he huffed. "What man doesn't have beer in his house?" he shouted. Jaehyun turned the kettle on and walked back into the living room. "A non alcoholic," he said smoothly. His step dad scoffed and put his arm around his mom.

"So how's school? Oh! And how's Taeyong?" his mom asked excitedly. She'd always found his relationship with Taeyong adorable and she was completely accepting. "Who's that? Your boyfriend?" his step dad laughed. "Schools going great actually. Um me and Taeyong... we kind of split," he said with sadness in his voice. "He IS?" his step dad shouted. "Was. And so what old man?" he shouted back. He wasn't one to fight but in this case he'd had enough of his step dad's homophobic ways. Every time he saw him he'd talk about the LGBTQ+ community in a horrible way and he'd had it. "Being gay is wrong and a sin! It's disgusting!" he yelled. "And what about it? You're not even my dad, you have nothing on me. If you have anything to say you can get out of my house!" Jaehyun said and pointed to the door. His step dad stood up and kept yelling things until he slammed the door. "I'm so sorry for him Jae. I didn't know he'd act that way," his mom apologised. She burst into tears and Jaehyun was quick to hug and comfort her.

"So tell me what happened between you and Tae?" his mom asked after she stopped crying. "It's a long story."

"I saw you with that other guy Jaehyun!" Taeyong shouted while shoving his clothes in his bag. "Taeyong it was nothing! We're working on a project together and he kissed my cheek as a thank you. I never wanted it or consented! It's just happened!" Jaehyun tried to explain. He grabbed Taeyong's arm but he jutted his arm back and shook his hand off. He ended up hitting Jaehyun in the nose, causing him to stumble back. "Taeyong, please," he began to sob. Taeyong didn't look at him and carried on packing things in his rage. "Tae, baby, you know I love you," Jaehyun was fully crying on the floor now. He felt so helpless, so useless, so stupid. He really did love Taeyong and he couldn't do anything to stop him leaving.

He stood up and hugged Taeyong from the back, his body racking with sobs. He could feel Taeyong shaking too but he knew nothing would work. "Taeyong, I love you," he whispered through sobs. "Jaehyun, let go of me," Taeyong whispered. "No, please, please," he whispered. "Jaehyun," Taeyong said with a stern tone. He tried to undo Jaehyun's grip but he only tightened it. "Jaehyun, let me go, please," he said. Jaehyun hesitantly let go of Taeyong. He turned around to face Jaehyun's tear stained face with his own. "I'm sorry Jaehyun," he said and cupped his face. He leaned his forehead against Jaehyun's and closed his eyes. "I'm so, so sorry," he said and kissed Jaehyun's forehead. He let go and began to walk away. Jaehyun fell to his knees and broke down. He held his head in his hands and sobbed. He heard the door close and his heart break.

"Oh Jaehyun, why didn't you tell me," his mom said and hugged him. He was crying from talking about it, even though he hadn't finished. "There's more," he said. His mom looked at him, a signal for him to carry on. "A week before school started he text me saying he still liked me. I didn't know what I felt at the time so I said we'd be friends with benefits." His mom looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "School started again and we did a few... things and I don't know if I like him as well. I mean, I love being around him and everything he does is adorable and I love everything he does but I don't think he trusts me. Should I like him? He broke up with me because he thought I was cheating but I wasn't. I don't know what to do," he explained and put his head back in his hands. "I could slap you right now," she laughed. Jaehyun looked at her with confusion and she laughed more. "Jae, honey, I love you but you can be such an idiot when it comes to feelings. I'd say you like him still," she said. Jaehyun looked down and nodded. She's probably right.