Chapter Sixty-nine (1/1)
Jeonghan looks at Mingyu's cooking with a small smile. "Simple food tonight." He spotted the breaded chicken and ramen. "Josh said he has a friend coming over tonight, so I wanted to go simple." Mingyu smiled. Jeonghan chuckled. "I guess it didn't take long for Josh to replace Jaemin, huh?" He folded his arms and leaned against the counter, watching Mingyu stir the ramen before putting the seasonings inside. Mingyu shrugged. "In a friendship manner, maybe." He said. Joshua walked into the kitchen and saw Jeonghan there. He looked at his watch and nodded. "My friend will be here soon.." He said, letting Seungcheol walk past him. "Let me just say this, he is really beautiful." Joshua put his hands up. Seungcheol tipped a glass of water back while Jeonghan chuckled. "Are you cheating on Jaemin?" Jeonghan asked, scratching his exposed forehead. "No, I am not." Joshua replied. "I'm simply saying, he's a boy from Gwangju that is really pretty." He stated, making Seungcheol lower his glass. Jeonghan was perplexed. "Gwangju..?" Joshua nodded. "He said his asshole dad is from Gwangju, but he wants to work here without him." He stated, watching the other kids coming in from just arriving from a long day at school. "He's gorgeous, Jeonghan." He looked at Jeonghan with serious eyes. Jeonghan's eyes wandered around until he met Seungcheol's eyes. "No," He folded his arms, "don't even think that." He poked Seungcheol's chest. "What am I thinking?" Seungcheol put his glass down and picked a napkin up to clean his chin from the spilled water. "Whatever it is, stop thinking about it." He narrowed his eyes.
Joshua gave a skeptical gaze. Nonetheless, he walked out of the kitchen when he heard the doorbell. Opening the door, Joshua smiles at the blonde. "Come in," He motioned to the kitchen. "Okay, everyone, this is Ren." He introduced. "These are my parents, Seungcheol and Jeonghan." Seungcheol waved and Jeonghan looked at the soft face the younger had. His eyebrows are thin and his eyes are big. However, his lips are relatively plump compared to Jeonghan's lips. Seungcheol looked between the two, noticing Ren had the same natural pout in his lips. "Ren, these are my siblings." Joshua turned to the table that already has the kids sitting down. "Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, Seokmin, Mingyu, Minghao, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino." He listed. Ren bowed and had a big smile. "Your family is really big." He commented. "Thank you for having me for dinner." He said, turning back to the parents. Jeonghan faked a smile and showed the empty chair. "Sit down," He offered as he sat down next to Seungcheol. Ren obeyed and looked at the other siblings. They looked at him before looking at Jeonghan. The younger had a confused expression. "What?" Jeonghan looked around them. Joshua cleared his throat. "So what are you planning on doing now that you're in Incheon, Ren?" He asked, picking up his fork to cut the chicken. "Well I want to go far away from the business industry." He replied as he picked up his chopsticks. Hoshi raised his eyebrows. "What's wrong with business?" He asked. Ren chewed on the noodles. "My dad's all about business, I couldn't get a break from it when being in Gwangju." He replied. "I have nothing against it, I just don't want to be a part of it." He said honestly. Mingyu held his chin. "So what do you plan on doing? Or are you content just working at the cafe like Josh?" He asked. "Hey, I'm saving up for law school." Joshua pouted. Ren chuckled a bit. "No.. I haven't figured out what I want yet.." He said, poking at the chicken.
Seungcheol swallowed some water. "What schools have you gone to?" He asked. "Let's see.. Mystic Academy, which I never want to go back to." He started listing. "And I went to college for business in Gwangju, which I never want to go back to.." Jeonghan raised his eyebrows. "You're a stork kid then?" He asked. Ren nodded a bit. "Crow.. but yeah." He answered. "My dad would go on about how his ex cheated on him and that he was worthless." He waved his chopsticks. "So you grew up without your other dad?" Minghao asked in shock. Ren shrugged. "I lived in a dorm all of my life at stork school, so I kinda grew up with neither parent." He replied. "Even if I were to study in Gwangju, it's not like I'd see my dad anyway. He's been a jail bird for all my life." He angrily chomped on the chicken. Jeonghan held his forehead while poking the noodles. "Is that so.." He muttered.
"Yeah, and when I got back to Gwangju, he was on parole. Oh how I hated those years." He shuddered. "He did bad things.." He stated. Seungcheol put his chopsticks down. "What bad things?" He asked. "Cheol.. don't ask personal questions." Jeonghan poked him angrily. Ren shook his head. "It's fine, I feel.. comfortable here." He smiled a bit. "Like we're actually related in a way." He stated. Joshua nonchalantly looked Jeonghan's way. "Anyway," Ren started up, "he said that his ex used to have long hair when they were dating." Ren stated. "So he made me grow my hair out so he could put his hand through it. When we were alone in a room together, he.. pretended I was my other dad." He furrowed his eyebrows. Seungcheol gripped the fork tighter. "What a bastard.." He muttered. Jeonghan felt his hair until he reached the roots. He subtly pulled on the hair while having his head low to the table. "I've never met my other dad, but I don't want to believe what my dad says." Ren started up. "I don't think that he cheated on him or was mean to him. I think my dad was just an asshole who took advantage.. But that's just my belief." He said, stuffing another round of noodles in his mouth. Joshua saw the kids having knowing eyes. Even Dino motioned from Ren to Jeonghan. "What is your father's name, Ren?" Joshua asked. Ren looked around the table, seeing the eyes on him. He noticed Jeonghan peaking up too. "Minhyuk." He answered. Jeonghan shook his head. "No, no, no! That can't be possible." He looked at Seungcheol with wide eyes. "We never- I didn't allow him to- It never happened, Cheol." He said. Ren put his fork down and looked Jeonghan's way. "I made sure that each and every time, Minhyuk had protection." Jeonghan stated. "He is not my child." He whispered, however, Ren could still hear it. Ren looked at Joshua with furrowed eyebrows. "You invited me to dinner because..?" He had a saddened expression. Joshua sighed. "Jeonghan is Minhyuk's biggest ex, Ren." He stated. "And you reminded me so much of Jeonghan, that.."
Seungkwan raised his eyebrows. "For once, it's not me who's causing the drama." He commented. Jeonghan stood up. "There's no way though." He walked around the table to get to Ren. "You.." He cupped the boy's cheek. Ren had sad eyes. "I'm your son, aren't I?" He stood up and looked the older in the eyes. Seungcheol cleared his throat. "You have the same look in your eyes that Jeonghan has when he's upset," He mentioned, "there's no way that you're not Jeonghan's kid." Jeonghan sighed. "But how..?" Ren made space between them and looked around the table. "I thought moving to Incheon would make me get farther away from my dad. I thought I could just work and live in peace." He said, looking back at Jeonghan. "But it seems like wherever I go, there's something always hating me." Jeonghan let a tear go down. "Ren-" "Minhyuk has sexually abused me, Jeonghan." Ren interrupted. "He called me bad things because I reminded him of you. He had a grudge against you that I had to bear." He held his chest.
Seungcheol stood up. "Ren," He got everyone's attention, "Minhyuk was put in jail for a reason." He walked to the boy and stood beside Jeonghan. "I know," Ren said, "and I wish I didn't have to visit him." He muttered. "You're Jeonghan's child, there's no getting past that." Seungcheol stated, looking at the two of them. "There's no reason you should feel hated, either of you." Jeonghan breathed in and out. "Why wouldn't you hate me, Cheol? I never loved Minhyuk.." He muttered. "Jeonghan, look at me." Seungcheol ordered. "It's all in the past and we're here together now." He looked at Ren. "Even though you're not my child, I would still like to welcome you in my home." Ren widened his eyes. "But.." "I don't expect to be called dad or anything like that," Seungcheol raised his hand, "but I'm glad you're alright. I'm excited to learn about you and what you like." He smiled. The boy looked from Seungcheol to Jeonghan. "What if I'm not your child?" He asked in a whisper. "You know enough about me to be me, Ren." Jeonghan said in defeat. "You hate me, don't you..?" Ren asked in a sigh. Jeonghan broke away from Seungcheol's arms and cupped the boy's cheeks. "No, I don't hate you. I just hate that asshole who didn't ever tell me about you." He whispered. "I hate that you grew up like that. We were so close but I never knew about you." A tear went down his cheek. The other kids watch in silence as Jeonghan pulls Ren into a hug. "I'm so sorry, Ren.." He held him tightly. Ren puts his arms around Jeonghan and silently lets his tears go down his face. "It's okay, it's over.." He said, getting closer to Jeonghan. Seungcheol looked at the kids. Joshua had a relieved yet depressed look on his face. He sighed and patted Ren's shoulder. "You don't have to move in if you don't want to. But just know that you're always welcome here, Ren." He said softly. Ren pulled back and cautiously put his hand out to shake. However, Seungcheol hugged him instead. "Thank you, Cheol.. dad.." He muttered, hugging back. Joshua smiled softly and motioned the other kids to eat. I'm not the first kid anymore.. He thought as he chewed on the chicken.
*** "Why didn't Minhyuk tell me about Ren?" Jeonghan paced back and forth in the bedroom as he would normally do when his nerves are getting to him. "The last time we were together, it seemed like something was off. I knew something was off about him." He folded his arms. Seungcheol sat down and dried his hair with the fan on the nightstand. "How did he act that night?" He asked. "He didn't beat me up." Jeonghan answered. "He was talking about it, but he never did it." He stated, putting his arms around the front of his body. "I know he was my boyfriend, but he was acting like he was in love with me. Like he never wanted to hurt me." Seungcheol pouted his lip. "Maybe if I wasn't there, he would have told you then.." He muttered. Jeonghan sighed. "I'm torn, Cheol." He sat down beside Seungcheol. "I hate that Ren grew up like that. I hate that Minhyuk never told me. And maybe if you weren't there that night, we would have eaten together and he would have told me about Ren. "But I also loved you being there. It made me happy and warm. It made me feel something I never felt with anyone else." Jeonghan smiled. "And seeing you everyday made me even happier.” Seungcheol agreed. He's glad they had their moments together, but having Ren grow up without his parents and then being abused while being an adult made Seungcheol upset. "True.." He held his chin. "What do you think about him moving in with us?" He asked. Jeonghan sighed and closed his eyes. "We're already gathering the funds and such for Wonwoo's expansion to the house. Maybe when his room opens up, Ren can move in then. But he didn't seem to want to move in at dinner time." Jeonghan said. "We should wait awhile to ask him again. He needs to get used to us and living in the town first. He might find he wants to move somewhere else if he gets interested in something." Seungcheol nodded and held Jeonghan's hand. "I meant you personally." He said. "Oh," Jeonghan watched his hand get kissed by the other man, "well.. I feel like we're not connected enough for us to live together." He said. "I want to get to know him more first. At this point, I feel like Jaemin would be better moving in." He chuckled.
Seungcheol laughed along and lay down with the younger male. "So you accept Jae?" He teased. "Yeah.. I guess so." Jeonghan let the older rest his head on his chest. "He's really serious with Josh.." He muttered. Seungcheol hummed. "He called me earlier today, asking what he should do if someone made fun of his kid about being a stork kid." He mentioned. "He did?" Jeonghan looked up at the ceiling while playing with Seungcheol's hair. "How did you answer?" He was curious. "I haven't ever come across the problem, but what I would personally do? I would hug my child." Seungcheol closed his eyes. "I would kiss him, hug him, and tell him no matter what, I love him." He said. Jeonghan smiled and closed his eyes. "It's time to sleep, isn't it?" He commented. "I'm tired tonight." Seungcheol mentioned, turning the lamp off. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be, you need some rest." He kissed Seungcheol's lips. "Sleep well, I love you." "I love you too." Seungcheol held the boy close to him.
It went a bit too quickly, I know. But I didn't want to focus too much on the angsty feeling.
Ren's here, and there's not changing it.
Jeonghan knows that, and he wants to get closer to the boy.
Thankfully Cheol accepts him too XD
<3
I just wanted to update you guys~ I'm going tobe starting a new job next week!
I'm excited for it, and I hope that my new manager won't treat me like trash like the last one~ :D