Chapter Text
The entire ride to the Lee estate was spent in silence. Jisung kept sneaking small quick glances towards Minho, but his face remained unchanged, a hard stare out of the carriage window. Jisung couldn’t even imagine what was going through his mind, but decided to question him later. It wasn’t long before Jisung and Minho arrived at the Lee estate and walked up to the front door. Minho, unlike what Jisung had witnessed up until this point, was acting tough, and determined. He took a hold of Jisung’s hand and kept a rather firm grip on it, perhaps the only thing that betrayed how nervous he might actually be feeling.
With two heavy knocks on the front door, Minho stood waiting, back perfectly straight, eyes fixed forward and hand still gripping tightly onto Jisung’s. It wasn’t before long that the front door opened, revealing Chan. Minho’s facade broke when he saw his best friend standing in the doorway.
“Min? How… where… your mother is going to freak.” Chan said, smiling at the pair. “And who’s this? Met someone knew wherever it is you were?”
Minho took a second to recompose himself before answering, the hard look back on his face despite the friendly face looking back at him. “This is Jisung Han. Proper introductions can be done later. Speaking of my mother, I must see her, and my father, immediately.” Minho took a step towards the house and Chan quickly moved out of his way. Chan knew Minho long enough to know that when that boy had his mind set on something, nothing would stand in his way. Minho marched into the house, Jisung very slightly behind him and called out for his parents. “Mother! Father! I’m home, and we need to talk!”
Within seconds Mrs. Lee appeared on the staircase in the foyer that, Jisung presumed, led up to the bedrooms. It was there that he had last seen her, her husband and their eldest son, a week ago at this point, during their holiday party. “Minho! Where in the world have you been?” Mrs. Lee did not rush down the stairs, not even her voice seemed to resemble one of a worried mother. She stayed on the staircase, arms crossed, eyes narrowed towards the two of them. Silently judging, Jisung thought, knowing that look anywhere.
“Does it really matter? I’m not staying for long. Now, where is my father?” Minho called up to Mrs. Lee, pulling Jisung a slight bit closer to him. He didn’t want to hide the younger boy behind him, but he felt like he should protect him against Mrs. Lee.
“Not staying for long? Why come back at all, in that case? And bring in whatever rif-raf you seem to have found along the way with you.” Mrs. Lee stood taller on the staircase, as if she had the upper hand. It was clear now, to anyone witnessing this interaction, that Mrs. Lee clearly did not care for her youngest son; or as Jisung had discovered, Mr. Lee’s youngest bastard. Minho did not give Mrs. Lee a response for a while, instead narrowing his own eyes at her.
“If you must know, mother” Sarcasm dripped from his voice on the last word, “This is Peter Han. I did not find him along the way, and he most definitely is not rif-raf. I am sure his parents, Lord and Lady Han, would be most upset in hearing that you called their eldest child as such. Perhaps we shall tell them later, once we’re back to the estate, don’t you think so dear?” Minho turned to Jisung and let go of his hand, opting instead to put an arm around his waist and pull him even closer. It was only when Minho was looking at Jisung that his eyes softened and all the hatred he showed Mrs. Lee disappeared, replaced instead by love. Jisung, gaze shifting between Mrs. Lee and Minho nodded his head, not trusting his voice. Mrs. Lee scared him, and Minho could tell, choosing to plant a small kiss on Jisung’s forehead as a way of comforting him.
Mrs. Lee was confused and infuriated at the same time. Confused as to who this boy was, she knew very well that Lord and Lady Han only had one son, Seungmin, who was much younger than this boy. Infuriated because, no matter who this boy was, it was clear he and Minho were romantically involved. Minho might not be her son, but he was still a Lee, and therefore, still had standards and expectations to uphold. “Did I hear that right, Minho? ‘Dear’? You mean to tell me that, on top of everything, you are involved with a boy? Oh I knew I should have sent you away as soon as I could.” It was at this point that Mr. Lee appeared. He stood behind his wife and looked down at his youngest son. His face was very hard to decifre, try as Jisung might. It was a mixture of worry, disappointment, anger, relief, and a few other things Jisung could not pinpoint.
“Minho. This certainly is… well. Glad to have you home, son.” Mr Lee said, making his way down the stairs. Before he could get too far down, Mrs. Lee reached out a hand and grabbed onto his sleeve, effectively stopping Mr. Lee on his tracks. Mr. Lee looked up at his wife before looking back at his son. Jisung understood, at that moment, that Mrs. Lee was telling him to choose. His bastard son, who clearly was romanticaly involved with a man and would bring even further shame onto the family, or his wife. Mr. Lee took a deep breath before taking one step back up the stairs and placed a hand on Mrs. Lee’s shoulder. A smug smiled creeped onto Mrs. Lee’s face. In her view, she had won. Minho scoffed. He had lost nothing, because he had given up on this family a long time ago.
“I’m not coming home, father. I’m here for a few of my things and to say goodbye to Chan. Oh, and my mother’s letters, of course.” It was Minho’s turn to smile smugly. At the mention of his mother’s letters, both Mr. and Mrs. Lee’s face fell. Mr. Lee’s eyebrows shot up on his face and Mrs. Lee looked dumbfounded.
“Your mother’s letters? What do you-” Before Mr. Lee could finish his question, Minho interrupted him.
“Oh I know everything. I know that your wife isn’t my mother. My real mother is a lovely farmer in Scotland, who has been sending me letters since the day she left me with you. Letters saying that she misses me, that she loves me, begging me to forgive her for giving me up. All she wanted was for me to have the best opportunities possible.” At this point, Jisung looked over at Minho’s face and realized that there were tears forming on the corners of his eyes. Gently, Jisung placed his hand on Minho’s back and rubbed slightly, attempting to give him some comfort. “It doesn’t matter now, anyway. If you’ll excuse me, Mr. Lee, Mrs. Lee. I’ll just take my things and leave.” Minho once again took Jisung’s hand and started up the stairs. By the time he had reached the third step, Mrs. Lee had left the staircase, headed into her own chambers. Mr. Lee waited until Minho was beside him before saying, in a low voice.
“I am sure you already know where they are, but just in case. My office. Last drawer. Take them all. And, for all it’s worth, I’m glad you know now. If you ever see her, tell her I said goodbye.” Mr. Lee followed his wife with one last nod towards Jisung.
Minho quickly led Jisung to his father’s office and wasted no time in rushing to the desk, pulling open the drawer and pulling out all of his mother’s letters. He quickly looked through them to make sure he got them all before putting them in the pocket on the inside of his coat. Afterward, he guided Jisung back to his room, where Chan was already packing a suitcase.
“Thought you could use some help, friend.” Chan said when he noticed the two of them come in. Minho closed the door behind him and walked straight up to Chan, giving him a large hug. “I’ll miss you too, Min.” Chan said, returning the hug, voice muffled by Minho’s coat. After a while, the two separated and Chan returned to packing while Minho took a seat on his bed, patting the spot next to him, inviting Jisung to sit down.
“Do you remember the last time you were in here?” Minho asked, taking one of Jisung’s hands and playing with the fingers.
“I believe it was also the last time you were in here. But yes, of course I remember. First time I actually felt like… me.” Jisung said, looking around the room. Minho seemed to have calmed down from his initial near mania and Jisung was glad for that.
Minho chuckled a bit before laying his head on Jisung’s shoulder. Jisung smiled before laying his head on Minho’s head. “God, I am not going to miss this place. The people, sure, but not this place.”
“Not a lot of good memories?”
“Not exactly. Getting locked in my room without dinner for running outside barefoot, getting mocked by my brother for, anything really. Hearing Mrs. Lee complain how I’m good for nothing and how she can’t wait to get rid of me. You know, the first time I actually felt happy in this place in a very long time was when I heard that you and Felicia were coming for tea.” Minho tilted his head to look up at Jisung. “I thought, oh finally. I’ll be able to talk to someone with actual brains. I had heard a bit about you, how your parents let you two do almost anything you wanted, how you used to take your father’s old clothes and wear them around the estate. How you used to climb trees to read books among the branches.” Jisung blushed at what Minho was saying. “I thought you were… amazing. I couldn’t wait to talk to you. I knew I could never talk freely during that tea. Between my brother loving the sound of his own voice and I’m certain at least one servant spying for Mrs. Lee, there was no possible way. So, I thought to do something memorable. And I suppose it was. I did think to try and talk to you at the holiday party, but I couldn’t do it. That day that we ran into each other at the market… let’s just say, it now marks the happiest day of my life.”
Jisung chuckled. “The happiest day of your life? Really?” Minho leaned up and gently leaned his forehead against Jisung’s.
“Ok, second happiest. First was today. This morning. When you told me you love me.” Jisung blushed once again and smiled before leaning in, his eyes slipping shut. Minho met him half way in a sweet, simple, love filled kiss.
“Good. Because I do.” Jisung whispered against Minho’s lips. The two of them stayed that way, foreheads against each other, for a while. They were only broken apart when Chan cleared his throat and slammed the suitcase shut.
“That’ll be it, I imagine.” Chan rubbed his hands together before picking up the suitcase and walking out of the room. “I’ll take this to the Han carriage outside. I’ll see you out there.” Minho and Jisung followed Chan soon after. On their way out, they didn’t see Mr. Lee, Mrs. Lee or Arthur. Minho thought it was for the best. Once outside, Minho and Chan shared one more hug, before Chan hugged Jisung. “Keep an eye on him for me, Jisung.”
“Of course, Chan. Promise” Jisung replied, giving Chan one last squeeze before joining Minho inside the carriage.
Jisung and Minho were back at the Han estate just in time for dinner. Seungmin and Jeongin were both very excited to have Jisung back and to have Minho join them indefinitely. During supper, Jisung and Minho told the children stories about the things they saw in London, the Shakespear play, the hidden market, Mari and her interesting friends. After supper, Seungmin gave Jisung Felicia’s letter and said that he was glad both of his older siblings were safe and happy.
After a brief discussion, Lord and Lady Han agreed with letting Minho stay in Jisung’s room. After all, they had been sharing a bed for the past few days and they trusted the two of them to behave.
It was late at night, the rest of the house sound asleep, when Jisung turned to Minho while they were in bed.
“Minho. Min. Are you awake?” Jisung asked quietly, gently squeezing Minho with the arm that was wrapped around him. Minho stirred on top of Jisung’s chest and leaned his head up slightly to look at Jisung.
“Couldn’t sleep either?” Minho asked. When Jisung shook his head, Minho moved from his spot, laying next to Jisung instead of on top of him, on his side. Jisung mirrored his position so they both layed on their side looking at each other. “What’s going on?”
“I guess I’m just excited. For the first time in a very long time, I’m actually looking forward to the future. Going to Scotland, meeting your mother. Spending the rest of our lives together.”
“Why, Mr. Han, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that was a proposal.” Minho laugh when Jisung hit him on the arm, with no heat behind it at all. Jisung joined in the laughter, both trying to keep the other from making too much noise. “I know what you mean. I can’t wait to have a real mother. Although, based on dinner, I’d say that your mother took up that mantle quite quickly. Which I am grateful for, of course.” Minho cupped Jisung’s cheek gently and smoothed a thumb over the freckles on his face. “Have I ever told you I love you?”
“You might have mentioned it once of twice. Have I ever said it back?” Jisung smiled, leaning in towards Minho.
“In more ways than you know.” Minho whispered before closing the gap between them.
Minho and Jisung considered that night to be the night they both officially committed to each other. That was the day they celebrated anniversaries, until they began celebrating their wedding anniversary, a few years later. After that day, neither would be too far away from the other. From their journey to Scotland, to their move to America, they would alway be together, Jisung and Minho.