Chapter Text
“Get out of my house right now! I won’t have an ungrateful brat staying under my roof, let alone one with all these unnatural, disgusting thoughts. Don’t show your face around here again until you’ve finally come to your senses!”
Even though the confrontation had happened hours ago, his father’s spiteful words were still echoing around Geonhak’s head. After he’d left, he had stumbled around aimlessly in the streets for a while, blankly watching as twilight slowly descended and the brilliant jewel tones of the setting sun faded slowly from the darkening sky.
Honestly, he still feels a little numb. He had known that his parents wouldn’t like the truth, but he’d never expected to be thrown out of the house. He finally lets his sneakers shuffle to a stop outside some random store, as he pauses to lean against its wall, all of a sudden overcome with weariness and a deep sense of despair.
Where was he supposed to go now? What was he going to do, now that he had no place to call home?
As he shifts position slightly, he feels the hard edge of his phone digging into his thigh. Suddenly he realizes that he could call someone for help, and the resulting rush of relief has him almost dropping his phone as he fumbles it out of his pocket.
Thankfully, his phone is at about half charge, so he quickly pulls up his contacts. But as he scrolls through the few numbers on his phone, he feels the brief flare of hope stuttering with doubt.
The thing is, Geonhak doesn't really have many friends. He has always been more of the quiet type, and people tended to be intimidated by his looks and deep, growly voice. Not that he really gave them much reason to look further than his outward demeanor- he usually preferred to keep to himself.
When he reaches the very bottom of his short contact list, the name Youngjo-hyung stares up at him. His thumb hovers uncertainty over the call icon.
He and Youngjo went way back, as they had been friends as young children. They’d gone to the same schools and had been in the same clubs. But right before high school, Youngjo and his family had moved away to a bigger city. They’d exchanged contact info, and still kept in touch with semi-frequent phone calls and texts. Youngjo was his closest friend, but it had still been years since they’d seen each other in person.
But it isn’t like he has anyone else to call right now. With his heart in his throat, he hits the call button and presses his phone to his ear, only hearing a couple rings before the line connects with a click.
“Hello? Geonhak, what’s up?” Youngjo’s voice is so welcome and familiar that Geonhak feels his body finally relaxing from the hunched tenseness that he has been carrying in his shoulders for the past few hours.
“Hyung, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice right now. I-I just” Geonhak suddenly doesn't know what to say, and he feels his throat closing up as he blinks back the burning in his eyes.
“Geonhak?!” Now Youngjo sounds concerned. “Hak, what’s wrong?”
“My parents, they uh, found out about m-me liking boys and they kicked me out.” Geonhak finally chokes out.
Youngjo is silent for a long moment and Geonhak is seized with shame and a crippling doubt. “I’m sorry hyung, I shouldn’t be shoving my problems onto you, I shouldn’t have even cal-”
“Geonhak, calm down for a minute! There is no way in hell that I would be upset with you . I just had to take a minute to collect myself so I didn’t take the next bus over to your parents’ house right now to rip them both a new one.”
Geonhak hears some shuffling and the sound of a door shutting on the other end before Youngjo’s concerned voice filters back through his speakers.
“Where are you now, Hak? Do you have anywhere to go?”
“Not really. I’ve just been walking around town since they kicked me out. I don’t really know what to do now.” Geonhak admits, leaning back to let the back of his head thunk softly back against the rough brick wall.
“Why don’t you come stay here? I have a spare room anyway. Oh, and my cafe has been doing pretty well! So much so that I was thinking of hiring someone to help me expand the bakery portion. I’m sure you’d be fine at the job- you’ve always been good at cooking so baking shouldn’t be too hard for you.”
Geonhak blinks incredulously, jaw slackening for a moment in shock. “H-Hyung, that’s too much! You can’t be serious!” He finally stutters out.
“I wouldn’t be offering if I wasn’t serious, Hak. You’re a good friend and you don’t deserve this, no one does. Look, there’s a nice enough community college nearby- I’ve taken some classes there. They offer a child education major. You can save up money and take classes by staying with me. It’s really an ideal set up for you.”
“But hyung, I can’t impose on you-”
“Geonhak.” Youngjo’s serious tone instantly cuts off any more of Geonhak’s protests. “Think about taking care of yourself for once. Please.”
“Are you sure, Youngjo?” Geonhak has to make sure.
“I’m 100% sure about this. Now go get a bus ticket and get your ass here. I’ll get the guest room ready for you. Oh wait, do you have money for the fare? I can send-”.
“Thank you, hyung, I really mean it.” Geonhak interrupts. “I should have enough on me for a one-way ticket, you don’t have to worry. I- I really appreciate this, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”
“Aish, Geonhakkie it’s fine. I just want you to be okay." Youngjo’s voice softened. “So go get the first bus ticket you can over here- I can’t wait to see you again. I’ll send you the address to my cafe since I’ll be at work all day tomorrow. Just come to the store, okay?”
“Okay hyung.” Geonhak swallows past the lump in his throat. “Thank you again. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Of couse Hak.” Youngjo’s voice is warm with fondness. “What are friends for?”
Since the bus station is on the other side of town, it takes almost an hour to make his way over there. The ticket booth attendant gives him the stink eye for showing up at the very last minute to buy a ticket, but still slides the slightly crumpled slip of paper to him over the grimy counter with little fuss.
Almost immediately, the bus pulls up to the stop and Geonhak has to hurry to board. It’s the overnight bus, so it’ll drive through the night and arrive in the city sometime in the morning.
Now it’s almost 4 am, and Geonhak is cold and a bit sore from sitting in the uncomfortable plastic seat for hours. He wishes he had the time and forethought to snag one of his favorite jackets on the way out the door, but with the way that his father had been spitting insults at him and his mom had been so silent and stone-faced, he’d slammed his way out of his house as fast as he could. As it is, he just wraps his arms around himself, and let’s his head loll against the window pane.
He feels drained, both physically and emotionally. He should try and sleep, but he knows it would be futile with the worried thoughts still circling round and round in his head. Instead, he casts his gaze around the bus, seeking some kind of distraction.
There is only one other passenger on the bus at this ungodly hour of the morning. There’s a boy dozing off in one of the back seats, with his arms draped in a loose hug around the bookbag in his lap. He looks dead to the world, with his head tipped forward and eyes closed, his hair a mess of tousled ash curls that knocks gently against the window every time the bus makes a turn. He has these ridiculously long and pretty eyelashes that any girl in Geonhak’s class would have been jealous of. Even in the faint light that filters through the bus windows, Geonhak can tell that the boy is cute in exactly the way that would have Geonhak blushing and sneaking glances at him during class if they had been schoolmates.
Geonhak has to look away because he doesn’t want to think about his parents' reaction to him accidentally coming out to them. But he can’t help glancing back when the boy abruptly jerks awake with a faint cry and scrambles to his feet while yelling.
“Stop the bus! You need to sto-“
Suddenly the whole bus shudders and everything goes pitch black.