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"Hey mum, I'll call you back later, okay? I'm going out." Heeseung had been talking to his mum for a couple of minutes already, all while getting changed. Looking at the hour, he knew he should have left a few minutes ago, but it wasn't all that important.
"Oh? Are you meeting your friends? Where are you going?" His mum asked, despite hearing Heeseung's hurried tone.
"I'm going out with Sunghoon, we'll watch a movie he wanted and then have some food," he still answered, already by the door and putting on his shoes. "I'm running a little late," he said, so maybe his mum would get the hint.
"Ah, Sunghoon, of course," she commented. "Don't worry about me, then, let's talk another day, yeah? Have fun!" She said, surprisingly happy.
"Okay, bye, mum," Heeseung didn't pay much attention to her tone, too much in a hurry to care. Sunghoon was going to judge him until he broke if he was late again.
Sunghoon was, probably, one of the only friends Heeseung had whose name was remembered by his mum. It wasn't that Heeseung didn't have any other friends or that he didn't talk about them, Sunghoon just came up more often. There was nothing wrong or weird with that, they were really close friends who happened to have similar schedules. Of course they'd meet more often than with their other friends.
Somewhat, his mum was always a little weird about it. For the most part, Heeseung ignored it. Well, he had been mostly oblivious to it, because he thought it had nothing to do with Sunghoon in particular. Regardless, it wasn't even a bad tone, just strange. Like she knew something and was waiting for Heeseung to tell her. Since there was nothing for him to say, Heeseung dismissed and forgot about it. It only occasionally came back to his thoughts when she made a point to ask about Sunghoon insistently. But only barely, because again, there was nothing for him to tell her.
So, not caring about his mum's tone once more, he left to meet Sunghoon. They went out like they did almost every week, watched the movie though Heeseung hadn't even known what it'd be about when it started, and later went out to eat at whatever restaurant they could find open and with no wait. It was late by the time they were done and Heeseung's flat was closer, so Sunghoon just crashed there. It was the usual stuff, they'd sleep at whichever flat was closer.
Everything was fine and normal, until a couple of weeks later.
"You know, your brother's bringing Hyomi this weekend," Heeseung's mum had called again, and was asking Heeseung if he'd be coming over for his dad's birthday. A stupid question, he never missed it. "Why don't you ask Sunghoon to come as well?" She suggested.
"Sure, I'll ask him," Heeseung had agreed easily. After all, it'd be during the weekend and he knew Sunghoon had free time. Besides, his dad always had barbecue for his birthday, and Sunghoon loved meat. Also, it'd be fun to have Sunghoon finally meeting his family, his mum never failed to mention how much she wanted to meet him. "I'm sure he'll agree."
"Wonderful, remember to be here before twelve, okay?" She reminded him, mostly because she knew he'd be late.
"Yes, mum," he rolled his eyes, but couldn't really argue. Maybe he'd tell Sunghoon to force him to be on time.
Like he'd expected, Sunghoon had instantly agreed to go to his dad's birthday. He wasn't too keen on a gathering with people he didn't know, but it was Heeseung's family. So, logically, it couldn't be too bad. Heeseung spoke great things about them. Also, he'd be with Heeseung, literally nothing could go wrong if Heeseung was around.
Came the weekend, and Sunghoon actually managed to get them both there on time. Heeseung drove them there, but Sunghoon had stayed with his the night before just to make sure they left the flat with plenty of time for them to get to Heeseung's parent's house when they were told to arrive. Sunghoon looked proud of himself as they rang the doorbell, and honestly, Heeseung was proud of him too. He'd never been on time to his dad's birthday before.
"Heeseung, you actually got here before twelve," his mum greeted him as soon as she opened the door.
"Hi, mum," Heeseung said first. "Sunghoon helped with that," he chuckled and pointed behind himself, where Sunghoon stood awkwardly and shyly. Then his mum looked at Sunghoon, who froze as she brought him in for a hug.
"Oh, Sunghoon, I've heard so much about you," she animatedly spoke. "Pretty and responsible, where did my son even find someone like you?" She laughed and turned back towards the door to let them in. Sunghoon coughed out an awkward laughed because it seemed like the right thing to do.
Sunghoon had fit right in with Heeseung's family, despite this awkward and confusing first impression of his mum. Heeseung's dad had been quieter at first, but just as welcoming. He kept sending Heeseung looks of approval, but Heeseung had no clue what he was approving of. Some minutes after them, Heeseung's brother and his girlfriend had arrived. He had looked confused for half a second over Sunghoon's presence, but after one look over at their mum, he'd shrugged and greeted Sunghoon with calm friendliness.
The food was good, and Sunghoon stayed by Heeseung's side the whole time. While he felt welcomed and strangely loved by everyone there, he'd rather just stay with Heeseung. It felt safer. He was also a little shy and intimidated by how open everyone was being with him. He wasn't used to so much affection from basically strangers. Heeseung understood this, so he'd occasionally check on him by placing a hand over his thigh or lower back.
Heeseung, meanwhile, was trying to understand what the deal was with his family. Sure, he loved that they seemed to like Sunghoon so much, but something was definitely off. They had never been like this with his friends in the past. They hadn't been like this with his brother's girlfriend either. It was close to that, but it seemed even more extreme with Sunghoon. It was as if they were trying really hard to show they wanted Sunghoon there. It was just plain strange.
"Your family is exhausting," Sunghoon told him later that night, curling onto his side.
They had stayed over since they had drank a little, and Heeseung's mum refused to let either of them drive. Heeseung suspected she just wanted them to stay longer, so he didn't argue. As a result, they ended up sharing Heeseung's childhood bed, which was definitely not big enough for both of them. They made it work, anyway.
"I don't know what's up with them," Heeseung said, looking down at Sunghoon. "They aren't normally so… like that," he explained. He had yet to figure out what had happened for them to behave like that.
"They seem nice, I was just… not prepared for such intensity," Sunghoon clarified. He'd enjoyed the day with Heeseung's family, but he now needed several days to recharge.
"That's the thing," Heeseung said. "They are never like this, or I've never seen them quite this… excited over someone." Heeseung held Sunghoon a little tighter to get his attention. "I just don't want you to think—"
"Don't worry, hyung," Sunghoon reassured him, eyes closing. "I could never think anything bad about your family."
Heeseung let the event go. They went back to their regular routine and forgot all about how weird his family had behaved. Since it had been a one-off situation, he could let it fade into his memories. Sunghoon hadn't seen them behaving any other way, and they had been nice, so he really didn't hold their overenthusiasm against them. That was, of course, until something brought it back to the forefront of his mind and gave the interaction a new perspective.
"How's your boyfriend doing?" Heeseung was on a call with his mum again, she'd been calling more often since his father's birthday. And maybe this hadn't been the most subtle hint at what had been going on, but Heeseung couldn't be blamed for not realising sooner.
What froze him wasn't even the question, but the fact that he had immediately thought of Sunghoon.
Yet, it made sense. He could see why she'd think he was dating Sunghoon based on what they talked about on the phone, and their behaviour at the party probably solidified the idea for her. He thought back at how she'd brought up inviting Sunghoon over and felt a little stupid for not making the connection. God, she hadn't even brought out the spare mattress they had for guests. Which Heeseung knew about, but had completely forgotten of because of how used he was to sharing a bed with Sunghoon.
"Heeseung? Is something wrong?" It seemed he had taken too long to response, and that had worried his mum.
"We are not dating," he said, though it pained him more than he was willing to admit.
"What do you mean?" His mum seemed too surprised by it, even if Heeseung had been as blunt as he could.
"Sunghoon and I, we are not— we aren't together," he repeated, slightly shaky.
"Did— Did you break up? Did something happen?" She asked. "I thought—"
"No, I mean," Heeseung paused, thinking how he wanted to word it. "We were never dating— Sunghoon's never been my boyfriend, we are just friends."
There was now a long pause from his mum's side.
"And you are being honest, right? You know we'll support—" She started, as if they all hadn't made it abundantly clear that they would support his relationship with Sunghoon. If there had been one.
"Yes, mum," he interrupted her, feeling uncomfortable for some reason. "I'm… I'm not even gay." There was once again a long silence.
"Okay," she said slowly. "But you know, if you were, we'd support you."
"Right, yes, thank you?" Heeseung didn't know how to respond anymore.
Unfortunately, he couldn't put the thought to rest after the call. How could he when he was meeting with Sunghoon again? He just kept putting all the pieces together and seeing how their relationship looked to outsiders. More importantly, he was starting to rethink how he saw it himself.
First and foremost, they were friends and that fact was undeniable. But he also had to admit they were closer than most other friends, and they were a lot touchier too. They went out a lot as well, in ways that would absolutely be considered dates by some. And sure, Sunghoon was gay; Heeseung had known from the start and had never been bothered by it. But Heeseung wasn't, or so he had told his mum. The truth was, he had never stopped to think about it, never had a reason to. Until, of course, now. He was aware that Sunghoon was objectively very pretty. He was attractive, Heeseung wasn't blind, but that didn't mean he was attracted to him.
Except, maybe, he kind of was. He had this terrifying realisation as he sat in front of Sunghoon, who thankfully was too distracted by his food to notice Heeseung's crisis.
"My mum thought we were dating," Heeseung blurted out, because he could not keep his crises to himself. Sunghoon stop mid-bite as he stared up at Heeseung, somewhat shocked and panicking.
"I'm sorry…" Sunghoon apologised, which had not been Heeseung's intention and he had no idea why he even was sorry to begin with.
"No, I… I think she thought I was gay and— Well, I talk about you a lot when she calls, so I'm not that surprised," Heeseung began rambling. "And I hadn't thought about it, about how we look like to other people… how it sounds when I tell my mum almost every time she calls that I'm going somewhere with you…" Sunghoon let him keep going, probably debating over what he should say. "My point is, if any, it's my fault she thought that, not yours."
"Okay," Sunghoon nodded slowly, meticulously, and then bit his lips like there was something he wanted to say but didn't let himself speak the words.
"And also, it got me thinking? Kind of?" Heeseung wasn't done, so Sunghoon would have more time to decide if he wanted to say whatever was on his mind. "Because it really does look like we are dating, and now I can't stop thinking about it; if the waiter thought we were on a date and if people on the street thought we were a couple since we actually walked holding hands…"
"Do you… want to be less—?" Sunghoon sounded hesitant as he spoke, but Heeseung still had more to say.
"No, I…" he stopped for half a second, quickly looking Sunghoon in the eyes. Sunghoon almost flinched at the intensity of Heeseung's stare, eyes that were begging for him to understand he was serious and to believe every word he'd say. "I think I want to be more."
"More?" Sunghoon asked, not wanting to misunderstand.
"What I'm saying is… please go on a date with me? An actual date," he clarified. "My mum thought we were dating and I kind of realised I like you."
"Your mum might have been right," Sunghoon spoke softly. "I like you too, but…" Sunghoon said, once again seemingly deciding if he should speak his mind. Heeseung's heart almost stopped. "I think we've been to enough dates already, maybe we can skip to being boyfriends," Sunghoon's cheeks burnt and even his ears turned red. Since Heeseung was basically the same, he couldn't really tease him for it.
"Yes, absolutely," Heeseung breathed out, relieved. "We can totally skip to being boyfriends," he smiled, big and warm, it hurt a little from how wide his smile was.
Later that night, once they got back to Sunghoon's place, Heeseung kissed his boyfriend for the first time. And then for the first twenty more times. They were giggling and smiling like idiots unable to contain their happiness, and feeling more than a bit silly for not realising earlier. The next time Heeseung was on a call with his mum, he stuttered through admitting he was now actually dating Sunghoon. Saying it out loud left him feeling warm and giddy.
To his mum's credit, she didn't call him out for being an oblivious idiot, she just congratulated them and asked when Sunghoon would be coming over again.