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Mu Gyul stumbled into the apartment, clutching his hand, and Mary dropped her knitting and shot to her feet. "Mu Gyul, honey, what happened?!"
He didn't answer, only held out his hand and pouted at her. "I hurt it."
Mary took his hand and examined it. His fingers were red, with a sharp red cut across his knuckles. She needed to clean it before she bandaged it. "Come with me."
Mu Gyul followed her to the bathroom, and Mary turned the sink on as warm as she could stand to wash the cut. "It doesn't feel like anything's broken, thank goodness." She turned her attention from his hand back to his face. "What did you do?"
Mu Gyul's eyes widened innocently. "Nothing! Like I said, I just hurt it."
"How? By swinging your arms through thin air?" Mary finished washing the cut, patted it dry, and went to get the alcohol and a bandage. "Did a guitar string snap?"
Mu Gyul cradled his hand to his chest. "No, it didn't have anything to do with my guitar. I just, uh, got angry and punched something."
That was a vague enough explanation to be concerning. Mary brought the first aid kit to the sink and took Mu Gyul's hand again. "You punched something? What made you so angry?"
"It's not impor—ow!" Mu Gyul glared at her. "That hurts!"
"It's just rubbing alcohol, you big baby." Mary swiped the cotton ball over his knuckles again, and then tossed it in the trash and pulled out a bandage. "And it is important, if it make you angry enough that you hurt yourself!"
"I didn't mean to hurt myself!" Mu Gyul protested.
Mary was about to argue again—clearly he had to have known punching something would have hurt him, no matter how angry he was—when the front door opened and she heard Jung In talking in low, concerned tones as he walked into the apartment.
Mu Gyul flinched.
That was strange. Mary frowned, trying to figure out why hearing their boyfriend's voice would make Mu Gyul flinch.
A horrible thought occurred to her. "Mu Gyul! You didn't punch Jung In, did you?"
"No!" Mu Gyul looked aghast. "Why would I do something like that?"
"Then why did you flinch when you heard him?" she asked.
"That's not—" he started.
The bathroom door slid open, and Jung In stood there, staring vacantly at his now-silent cell phone, then up at Mary and Mu Gyul, and then down at the phone again. His expression was completely inscrutable.
"Kang Mu Gyul," he finally said, "did you hit my father?"
Mary jumped to her feet and whirled on Mu Gyul. "You what?"
Mu Gyul glowered at the corner of the bathroom. "He deserved it."
Mary continued to gape at him, not quite able to believe that Mu Gyul had punched Jung In's father. He had been...all right, he had been very awful while they had been in the process of getting together, but she hadn't expected Mu Gyul to get violent with him.
Jung In tucked his phone away. His expression was still as blank as Mary had ever seen it. "I know that you two have had your differences in the past, and having you kidnapped was really—"
Mu Gyul whipped his head around. "What? That's not why I did it!"
Jung In stopped, his brow furrowing just slightly. "It's not?"
"No." Mu Gyul scoffed. "Why do I care what that asshole thinks about me? He can go jump off a building."
Jung In blinked. "Then...why did you do it?"
Mu Gyul glanced away again, back to the corner of the bathroom.
Mary gingerly touched his shoulder. "Mu Gyul, honey—"
"He was saying awful things about Jung In!" Mu Gyul burst out. "I was leaving your office and he was outside, on the phone. I overheard what he was saying and I just..." He clenched his fist and winced.
Jung In opened his mouth and closed it again, but no words came out. Mary thought he looked as though he'd been slapped across the face with a fish.
"You're lucky he didn't have a bodyguard with him," she scolded Mu Gyul gently. "You could've been hurt much worse than this."
Mu Gyul made a rude noise. "He was alone, and even if he hadn't been, I don't care. He doesn't get to say that kind of stuff about Jung In." He looked back up to Jung In, a defiant glint in his eye. "I punched him and told him to stay the hell away from you. He doesn't deserve you."
Jung In continued staring at him, not saying anything, and it occurred to Mary that he had never, not once, had someone stand up to his father for his sake. Even if she didn't approve of the punching, Mu Gyul was protective of the people he cared about, and he cared very deeply for them both.
She reached out to take Jung In's hand and gently tugged him into the bathroom, until he was close enough that she could get her arms around both of her boys.
Mu Gyul held up his hand to Mary and looked up at her pleadingly. "It still hurts. I think a kiss will make it better."
"Not punching people will make it better," Mary said, but she kissed his knuckles anyway.
He held his hand up to Jung In next, the same pleading look on his face.
Jung In shook his head. "I can't believe you punched my father," he finally said. "Madam Yoon was livid."
"Is that who was on the phone?" Mary asked.
Jung In nodded. "My father called to tell her."
Mu Gyul scoffed and leaned against Mary. "Who cares what she thinks? I'd punch him again if I got the chance. I should've hit him harder."
"He's a dangerous man." Jung In rested a hand on Mu Gyul's shoulder. "You shouldn't have hit him at all. I don't want him to hurt you."
"After he's spent how many years saying shit like that?" Mu Gyul shot back. "I don't want him hurting you, either."
Mary squeezed Mu Gyul's arm, a silent reminder to calm down. "You know we both love you, right, Director?" she said to Jung In.
"I..." Jung In swallowed and exhaled sharply. "Yes. I know."
"I am sorry if I caused you more trouble," Mu Gyul said seriously. "I didn't mean to do that. But...I couldn't let him get away with saying that stuff. You deserve better than that."
Jung In didn't say anything. He just glanced from Mu Gyul to Mary, looking lost.
Mary slid her arms around him and hugged him, and Mu Gyul stood and did the same thing from Jung In's other side. Jung In stiffened at first, and then gradually relaxed into their arms.
None of them had great parents, Mary knew. She was probably the luckiest; her father could be selfish but he did love her, and he'd come to accept that Jung In and Mu Gyul were going to be a part of her life. But Jung In's father...she had seen only a glimpse of how he could be. She couldn't imagine growing up with that.
She took Jung In's hand and kissed his knuckles, and he squeezed her hand.
"You know, I'm the one who was injured," Mu Gyul grumbled.
"You did it to yourself," Jung In reminded him.
"I was defending your honor!" Mu Gyul held up his hand. "Look!"
Jung In rolled his eyes, but he took Mu Gyul's hand and kissed it. "There. You should stop fussing."
"He never stops fussing," Mary said.
Mu Gyul made a face at her.
Mary grinned and patted Jung In's stomach. "Come on into the kitchen and I'll start dinner. You're probably hungry."
"I'm hungry," Mu Gyul said piteously.
Mary laughed and kissed his cheek. "You're always hungry."
Both the boys followed her into the kitchen, and Jung In helped her cook while Mu Gyul cleaned up and poured them all drinks. It was a well-established dance at this point, comfortable and loving, and Mary watched as Jung In relaxed into it, the stiffness of his body and expression from earlier giving way to soft smiles and jokes.
And later, as the three of them cuddled together on the couch with Jung In in the middle, the last of the tension melted away entirely, washed clean with love.