Work Text:
April 2019
Yunho's the one who raises the subject. Mingi thinks he looks nervous, although they’ve talked about plenty of personal things before. The eight members have pulled out mats and are lying in various piles and degrees of undress. Some of them are still nibbling at the remainder of a late-night delivery order.
"Are any of you out to your parents?" Yunho asks. Blurts really, words tumbling over each other. A couple of quiet conversations fall still. Mingi looks at his best friend— boyfriend now, he reminds himself, though the label is like a new pair of shoes and still needs breaking in—but Yunho doesn't meet his eyes. The two of them have never talked about this.
"No," Yeosang replies quickly, his head in Seonghwa's lap. His tone doesn’t invite follow-up. Seonghwa strokes his hair.
"I am," Seonghwa offers when it's clear that’s all Yeosang has to say. "I..." he glances at Hongjoong, sitting on the other side of their messy circle. "I told them the first time I saw them after the company finalized the debut team." He laughs softly. "They took it better than I thought they would. I don't think they were very surprised."
Yeosang snorts quietly. Seonghwa flicks him gently then goes back to playing with his hair.
"I didn't have to," Mingi says into the pause. "My mom looked at me one day and said 'You like both boys and girls, don't you?' And I said yes." He laughs. "I'm not sure I'd ever even thought about it."
There's another pause, longer this time, and Mingi wonders if he should change the subject. Yunho brought it up but doesn't look eager to chime in. Sitting at Yunho’s side, Jongho looks perfectly relaxed, content to listen but closed as a vault. Mingi will eat his socks if their youngest says anything.
San and Wooyoung exchange one of their looks, then San smiles. "I came out when I told my parents I wanted to be a singer." His voice is calm but there's something a little regretful in his expression. "There was more than one reason I wanted to move to Seoul. It was… it worked out fine.”
Wooyoung seems unusually withdrawn. "I'm not," he says quickly, looking at San but not the rest of them. He sounds almost embarrassed. “But my brother knows,” he adds defensively, glaring at no one in particular.
This surprises Mingi, who wonders if Wooyoung's parents have ever met a gay person. It’s clearly not news to San, who kisses Wooyoung lightly on the cheek. Mingi wrinkles his nose and looks away, eyes drifting habitually back to Yunho.
Yunho's looking at Hongjoong, who shakes his head slightly and takes a bite of cold pizza. Mingi can’t tell if that means he isn’t going to answer or he isn’t out, but Yunho nods like he understands.
Yunho rubs the back of his neck and looks up, meeting Mingi's eyes. He still seems bothered but less than before. "I’m not either," he says finally, clearing his throat and looking around the circle before settling on Mingi again with a faint twitch to his lips. "Somehow I don't think they've picked up on anything."
Mingi huffs and rolls his eyes. He searches for a drink but there's nothing at hand. San sees him looking and holds up a bottle of water. Mingi nods and extends his hands. San's throw is bad, and Mingi fumbles the catch, but of course Wooyoung laughs at him. Mingi sticks out his tongue before cracking the lid and taking a sip.
San suggests a game, and they move on. Mingi makes a note to think about whether he should ask Yunho about the subject later. He keeps an eye on Yunho for the rest of the night—something he’d do anyhow—but after a minute or two Yunho appears to be back to his usual cheerful self.
Mingi wishes he could say he knows Yunho well enough to see whatever’s going on behind the face he shows the rest of the world, but that would be a lie. Even knowing the mask is there, the edges are invisible. Mingi isn’t sure even Yunho knows how to take it off.