Wooyoung sat on his couch, the only thing accompanying him in the dark living room being the hushed sounds of the TV.

He glanced at the doorway, hearing the soft creaking of footsteps approach it. He hoped to god it wasn't his dad this time. He didn't know if he could bear hearing another word from the man.

It was his dad.
Wooyoung hated how a nervousness immediately swelled up in his chest. He hated having to feel this way in his own household.

The man walked quietly into the living room, giving his son a tired glance before striding over to the couch. He took a seat next to Wooyoung, with a heavy sigh accompanying the action.

Wooyoung stared at his father. If not by his suddenly tense posture, his gaze certainly showed how confused he was at the action.

"Wooyoung," the man started, turning to look at the younger.

"...Yes?" the boy in question responded, not having expected to be called out. He watched as his dad seemed to struggle with choosing a tone to continue with.

"Why are you never home nowadays?" the man asked, with a strangely calm tone.

Wooyoung blinked. His dad had never seemed to ask or care beforehand, and he thought now was a rather weird time to notice it.

"What?" was all Wooyoung muttered, feeling his fight or flight response start to kick in.

"I saw the bag you packed in your room. What's with that? It seems like we never see you here anymore," the dad continued, reaching over to the TV remote and muting the audio.

A heavy silence filled the room. All Wooyoung could do was hold back the urge to yell the truth at his father. His fear of the consequences kept him silent.

"Wooyoung?" the father repeated, noticing the way his son had fallen quiet.

"Why do you care?" Wooyoung retorted. He instantly cringed at his own tone, knowing it was rougher than he'd intended.

"Excuse me?" the father said, taken aback by the comment. "If you think you have the right to speak to me that way..." the man trailed off, trying to quell his own shock.

"Dad. It's nothing. Calm down," Wooyoung tried, despite not seeming very convincing.

"Nothing? God, Wooyoung," the father buried his face in his hands. "Did I do something? Did I offend you somehow?"

Wooyoung paused at this. "Huh?" he said, having no idea what to make of the question.

"Can't you just try to be normal at least? For your family?" the man's voice raised a bit, "I don't get why you want to be like that so badly."

Wooyoung felt himself stiffen. "Like what? Gay? Is that what you're trying to hint at?"

"Yes, for fuck's sake! This whole stupid thing of yours... Did your mom and I do something? How have we pissed you off so badly to make you do this to us?" the elder began to rant, a mix of emotions painted across his face.

"Can we not talk about this for once?" Wooyoung begged, not liking the direction he figured this conversation would head in.

"I'll leave you alone if you tell me what you packed that bag for," the dad said, crossing his arms.

Wooyoung only kept his gaze on the wall. He knew he couldn't explain it truthfully.

"You were going to see that bitch you're friends with, right? Is it because I said you can't have him over?" the father stated with a terrifying accuracy. Wooyoung didn't know why he suddenly felt cold.

The father huffed before continuing. "You asking for me to ground you? I know your mother allows it, but there's no way I'm going to let you wander off with that damn f—"

"Don't fucking talk about him like that," Wooyoung snapped at the man, having forgotten for a moment any fear of repercussions.

The man stared at his son, quite startled at his attitude. "Christ, Wooyoung. I already know you have some weird thing for him, but... can't you just get over it already?"

"It's not a weird thing. I love him," he corrected quietly.

A scoff came from the father. "You think it's love. It's not. I thought my crushes were love too, when I was your age. If they really were, would I be here now, married to your mother?"

Wooyoung rolled his eyes. "That's not the same thing at all, but okay," he responded. "Those weren't crushes on boys, you were just immature."

"Who said they weren't on boys?" the father spat back, with an air of intensity new to the situation.

Wooyoung's gaze instantly turned to his father, his eyebrows furrowed. "What...?" he questioned.

"I was like you too, when I was young and stupid. Thankfully, my parents figured out what was happening the first time I brought a boy home and they showed me the truth; that it was wrong and sinful," the man ranted, digging up memories from his past.

Wooyoung's expression became more concerned by the second. "Dad, what???"

"I'm saying I understand your temptation, but you have to choose what's right and find a nice girlfriend. It kills me to see you still making the same mistakes I did as a teen," the man insisted.

Wooyoung felt his heart racing. "Dad," he started, "you're saying... you were attracted to men?" he spoke hesitantly, as if afraid to even voice the words.

The elder stayed silent for a second, pondering his words. "What matters is that I chose to be normal and date your mother. I found a woman I love, and married her. Why can't you do the same?"

"You love mom?" Wooyoung now interrogated, feeling as if his whole world was spinning.

"Of course I love her! She's a kind and intelligent woman, how could I not?"

"But are you in love with her?" Wooyoung dared to ask, seeing his father's jaw clench at the question.

Wooyoung could almost hear the crickets chirping outside the walls of his house. The lack of sound in the room became almost suffocating.

"I see. So you'd rather have me follow in your footsteps and live a shitty life married to someone I'm not attracted to, is that it?" Wooyoung taunted, beginning to enjoy the anger welling up in his father's expression.

"Jung Wooyoung, I-"

"Sorry I can't be you, dad. I plan to have a nice marriage like my In-Laws do. Maybe buy a small house?"

"What the hell do you mean, your In-Laws? Who the hell..."

"San's parents. They really seem to like me, should I ask them to move in? That way you won't have to deal with me anymore—"

"Jesus, Wooyoung! What the fuck are you talking about, why are you bringing up... what's his name, San?" the father spoke, exasperated. He stared at his son as if he were some sort of wild animal.

Wooyoung felt a surge of adrenaline just begging him to reveal his secret. He couldn't deny it any longer.

Wooyoung held up his left hand, on which a small ring could clearly be seen adorning the fourth finger.
"Haven't you noticed this by now?" he questioned.

The father stared at the piece of jewelry, remaining eerily quiet.

"You'll never guess who has the matching one," Wooyoung continued, his tone almost mocking.

The elder took a deep breath. "You're joking. You have to be," he insisted.

"You think I would joke about having a boyfriend?" Wooyoung said, noting how his father flinched at the word.

"It's a sick joke. Jung Wooyoung, if you expect me to believe this bullshit..." the man said, slowly standing from his seat on the couch.

Wooyoung fought the urge to shrink back before his father's imposing figure.

"Hurt me! Hurt me, I dare you. I fucking dare you," Wooyoung taunted, standing up as well.
The father, surprised, seemed to step back a bit.

"You are going to call San right now. You are going to explain to him that this was all a dumb mistake, and that you're not gay," the man ordered, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

Wooyoung felt himself internally shaking at the sight, yet his urge to protest was overpowering.

"No. I'm not scared of you," Wooyoung stated calmly, despite being very scared of the man.

"Call him. Or else," the father demanded.

Wooyoung, shrugging, pulled out his phone. He typed for a short moment, followed by the sound of a dial tone.

A click came through the speaker. Wooyoung gave his dad a look, as if to say 'this is what you wanted.'

"Wooyoung...? Baby, it's really late, are you okay?" the warm voice came through the speaker, causing Wooyoung to subconsciously smile.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm fine. I'm just calling to say that um..." Wooyoung paused, making eye contact with his father who gestured him to go on.

"To say that I really really love you, and I want you to make me some coffee tomorrow morning," Wooyoung blurted out, catching a wave of anger flash across his dad's face.

"I love you too, and okay? You could've texted, are you alri—"

‏The call was promptly cut off as the elder yanked Wooyoung's phone from his hands, pressing the button to hang up.

"Yikes, shouldn't have hung up. Not my fault if he comes over here now, he tends to get worried," Wooyoung said, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Do you think this shit is funny?" the father yelled, slamming his fist down on the side table.

"What the hell is happening in here?" came a voice hurrying into the living room.

Both males turned to see Wooyoung's mom rushing into the living room, the woman almost tripping in her silk nightgown and slippers.

"It's... it's okay honey, go back to sleep. We're just talking," the father immediately backed down, although he seemed to avert his gaze from his wife's.

"Can't you just leave him alone for once? God, I can't believe I used to agree with you on this!" the woman lamented, running a hand through her hair.

"What do you mean used to... wait, did you know about these two?" the man questioned, a look of betrayal on his face.

"Yes, I knew, okay? I didn't agree with it at first either, I had no choice but to let them date!" she answered honestly.

"No choice? The hell does that mean, you always have a choice..." the father paused, seeing his wife's expression change to one of guiltiness.

Wooyoung found himself squirming under the gaze of his mother, who had now turned to look at him.

"I lied that day, Wooyoung. The day you called me with San," she said, watching her son's expression carefully.

Wooyoung kept a blank face. He didn't know what to think, yet wanted the full explanation.

"Your teacher did email me," she admitted, "but it wasn't exactly how I said."

"You told me she sent you some articles...?" Wooyoung mumbled, with the mother nodding in confirmation.

"She did send some, but mainly..." she hesitated, giving a wary glance to the father in the room.

"To be honest, she threatened to call services if she had reason to suspect you were being treated like this at home ever again..." the mother admitted, "So I figured I might as well pretend to accept it."

"But then I started seeing you and San interact, and I just..." she sighed, leaning against the wall. "I don't know, I just started feeling like maybe I wasn't right about gay people after all."

"Honey... don't tell me you've let them get to you with this crap," the father pleaded. The mother glared at him silently.

"You wouldn't be doing this if you saw how that kid protects our son," she snapped. "I'm sorry, but I gave birth to this boy and damn me to hell if I won't accept someone who loves him too."

Wooyoung was in shock at what he was hearing. Just a month prior he would have expected to be killed during a conversation like this.

"Wooyoung, honey, call San back and tell him you're fine," the mother instructed calmly, ignoring her husband's outraged expression.

"You're kidding me. There's no way we're done here, this brat needs to respect our damn wishes..." the father insisted, yet was met with a stern gaze from the mother.

"Get out of my damn house," she said, much to her husband's surprise.

"Honey... what? You can't be serious," he laughed in disbelief.

"Go!" she pointed towards the door. "Don't let me see you again until you're ready to love our son for who he is."

The father hesitated, glancing between the door, his wife, and Wooyoung.

"If you're not out of here within ten seconds..." she warned. This seemed to give the father the message, as he grabbed his wallet and keys before shuffling over to the door.

As he turned the handle, Wooyoung couldn't resist the urge to give him an absolutely evil smile, knowing he had won once and for all.

And thus the father scoffed, before stepping out and slamming the door.