In San's room, Wooyoung sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at San.

"Your appa only means well, San. He only cares about you," Wooyoung broke the silence. "I know... He probably wasn't too thrilled that I wanted to become an idol, but he seems to have made friends with it."

"At least your parents are there for you," Wooyoung breathed, causing San to nod and look worriedly at Wooyoung.

"And I'm here for you and Kyungmin too. Just like all the other members," said San encouragingly and pulled Wooyoung into a warm hug. Shortly afterwards, the door was pulled open and the two quickly moved away from each other. San's sister Haneul stood in the doorway and looked at them both with a raised eyebrow.

"Hi Noona!" smiled San. 'Sannie,' she said happily and hugged him. "Nice to see you here and Wooyoung too. Long time no see."

"Hi Haneul Noona," said Wooyoung friendly and smiled slightly. "Why are you two here?" The emphasis was on the two, which made San falter a little. "S-since when do you have something against Young-ah?" Since San's father had reacted in a similar way.

"Huh? I don't have anything against your friend, just the rumors.... I don't want anything new to be posted unnecessarily." She looked worriedly at San. "Besides, it's Appa's birthday. Wooyoung hardly wants to celebrate it with us."

"I'm always happy to be here," Wooyoung smiled nervously, "I-"

"Sannie, my son," Sannie's mother came into the room and hugged her son. She looked at Wooyoung. "Wooyoung, my other son. Come here!" She pulled him into a hug as well, causing Wooyoung to look at San in surprise.

"Nice to see you. Will you be there tonight?"

"Sure," said San happily and Wooyoung nodded silently. "Then get some rest. I'll make something to eat in a minute. Then you can come and you can help decorate, can't you?"

"Yes, no problem," Wooyoung replied. "Ah such a good boy," Sans mother patted his shoulder. "Oh Haneul, I hope you bring such a nice man home one day."

"Eomma!" she whined, "What? If Sannie can do it, then you should be able to do it too."

San's and Wooyoung's cheeks turned red and, unsure of what to say, San looked at his mother. "Eomma! You can't compare the two! He's his best friend!"

They both left the room arguing. Silence returned. Wooyoung looked at San. "When do you want to say it?"

"Preferably at dinner," San breathed gloomily. "Definitely before the party...."

✄┈┈┈┈

San and Wooyoung sat at the dining table. San's parents served the food while Haneul fed Byeol and then joined them. Wooyoung actually felt comfortable, but he sensed San's tension. But it couldn't be as bad as with his parents with San.

When everyone was seated and wished each other 'bon appétit', they all ate quietly. Until San's mother spoke to Wooyoung.

"How are you Wooyoung? We haven't seen each other for a long time," she said with a smile. "I hope you always eat well, I was really worried last time."

"Everything's fine. I'm... Eating normally again. San helped me," Wooyoung said quietly, as he often had problems with his body and some comments hadn't exactly encouraged it.

San's mother smiled. "Oh, I think it's nice to see how good friends you are."

"Yeah..." Wooyoung said uncomfortably as he could feel the tension. "A-about that...", San started and all eyes were on him.

"What's wrong Sannie?" his mother asked worriedly. "Well Wooyoung and I.... We're together."

As San said the words, his muscles relaxed and he felt Wooyoung's hand on his thigh. Silence. Nervously, San reached for Wooyoung's hand.

"I-I know how much you liked Haerin. But Wooyoung is the only one I feel real affection and love for. I-I hope you're no more disappointed in me." San bowed his head.

"But Sannie, my darling. That's nice," his mother said with a smile. "I was actually just waiting for this."

"What do you mean?" San looked up. "Well, ever since you first met Wooyoung, you've always talked about how great he is. And every time you brought him along, you were full of affection for him."

San's heart sank. "But you don't seem shocked that it's a boy either."

"Since you said back then that you weren't interested in Haerin, I figured as much. I didn't want to pressure you into saying something you weren't ready for, though." San smiled happily and wiped his eyes.

"And I always thought you were disappointed and that's why you were so dismissive..."

"We wanted to give you your space."

Haneul just eyed her brother silently, saying nothing about the matter. San looked at her nervously. "Noona?"

"Take care of yourself San. Your relationship can be dangerous and please don't do this in front of Grandma and Grandpa. They'll have a heart attack," she said and ate her food.

Wooyoung looked at Haneul skeptically, but she just smiled at Wooyoung and gestured to her father Ilseung.

"San..." Silence. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier when we talked about it? I feel really stupid for not noticing that..."

"Well... I was scared. I wanted you to have a nice birthday. I was afraid that you'd be disappointed in me. Like when I broke up with Haerin... And said I wanted to be an idol. I didn't want to disappoint you any more, because I didn't want to take over the taekwondo school either." San looked uncertainly at his father, who, like San, sometimes looks a little scary when he doesn't make any facial expressions.

"I have to admit, I was disappointed at first. But I've seen how you've grown up, pursuing the things you like. You're talented and that makes me proud. It's your life, not mine. You can do what you want. And.... That includes a homosexual relationship. I... Had problems accepting that. When you broke up, I had long conversations with your mother because of what you said. And I actually had hope that it would be different and you'd bring home a cute girl, but every time I saw you with Wooyoung, that hope faded bit by bit. We were actually just waiting for you to tell us. I still need time to get used to the fact that you're together," said San's father, causing San to look at him in surprise.

"Thank you Appa, that means a lot to me," said San happily. His father smiled and tousled San's hair. "After all, you're still my son and I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself and your opinions. After all, that's how I raised you. But your sister is right, don't necessarily let grandma and grandpa see that."

Wooyoung and San nodded. "Sannie, was your fanservice fake?"

San looked at his sister, speechless. "What? Of course I'm going to watch a few videos of you. I need to know what my brother is up to!"

"Yes, it was... Well, we only did it because the fans liked it so much and we were very close anyway," said Wooyoung, who had been quiet the whole time.

"And at what point did it become more than fanservice?"

"G-good question, I-I've liked San since the debut," Wooyoung said nervously.

"Did you take advantage of my brother?" Wooyoung winced and blinked. "No, the idea came from both of us!"

"I thought it made sense at the time. I was hoping we'd get more fans," San shrugged. "And Wooyoung was always so nice to me. I could hardly refuse him anything."

Wooyoung grinned happily and looked at San's sister, who was still looking skeptically at the two of them. "And well, in hindsight, I can say that my feelings for Wooyoung had nothing to do with fanservice. I've actually always liked him. But I realized it when we kissed for the first time."

"That long ago?" Wooyoung said, perplexed. "I can't believe it, and you only realized it afterwards?"

"Yeah? How was I supposed to know there was more interest? In hindsight, I realized that I liked you more than as a friend and I should have noticed that from the first kiss," San replied. Wooyoung snorted. "I've suffered months of your stupidity and mood swings for nothing? And Yoohyeon! Why?"

"Who is Yoohyeon?" asked Ilseung now.

"She was San's relationship? I don't know what it was, she used him to make someone jealous and San wanted to compensate for some feelings..."

"His feelings for you?" San's mother sighed reprovingly. "San..."

"I'm sorry okay... I had the same problem with her as I had with Haerin. That's when I realized how I really felt about Wooyoung," San pouted, which is why Wooyoung pinched his friend's cheek.

"Very nice. Nothing has changed between you," grinned Haneul.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈