(no subject)
“He hasn’t been eating,” Jude said. It was barely sunrise, the sun just starting to peak over the city. In front of him was the vice president of the company he worked for, behind a wooden desk, littered with pictures, papers, pens and everything else. The man, Henry’s father, nodded solemnly, thanked Jude and dismissed him.
Jude stood a moment longer before turning to leave the office. Just as his hand hit the metal doorknob, Jude turned his head and said, “He is homesick. Maybe there’s someone in particular he misses?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve worked with Henry for a long while and I may not know a lot about him, but that much is obvious,” Jude said. “Maybe his father should look into it?” And with that said, Jude left.
The man sighed, and stared at an old picture of his family, with his ex-wife. He remembered everything he had done wrong, how he drove her away from him. He remembered how it felt when he found out she was taking his middle son and how she was trying to gain custody of the other two. He drove both Henry and his ex-wife away from him…. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the phone and dialed a number he’d only called once.
‘Yeobosaeyo?’ a voice said into the phone, a familiar feminine voice Collins had forgotten. It’s been years since he’d spoken to his ex-wife, and he’s not sure if calling her was exactly appropriate, but what’s done was done and he might as well try and gain anything that would happen to help him, and Jude, with Henry.
“Meling?” the vice president asked into the receiver, finding a new voice. “It’s me, Collins.”
‘Collins?’ she asked, sounding confused and Collins could almost see her eyebrows furrowed and her lips in the little frown they’d always be in when he was puzzled.
Collins, Henry’s father, sighed and tried to forget the image. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and said, “Yes, I’m calling because of Henry - ”
‘Henry?’ she interrupted, ‘Oh, my goodness! How is he? He’s not hurt, is he?’ Meling asked desperately.
Collins pursed his lips. “He’s… fine. His manager and I had a talk today, and… we think something is bothering him, but we, I, don’t know what it is.”
It was silent on both ends for a long moment before Meling spoke up. ‘Do you…know about Geng?’
Collins blinked and tried to think of anyone he knew called ‘Geng’. “Geng… your stepson?” Collins turned a little in his swivel chair, turning a complete circle before facing his desk again and resting his chin in his free hand.
Meling was silent again, for a moment, before asking, ‘Has Henry spoken of him?’
“Not to me,” Collins answered. “Maybe to Jude….They’re close, so he might have talked about him with Jude. Why? What does Geng have to do with…?”
‘Geng was…” Meling began, her voice fading out for a moment. Collins didn’t say anything to rush her, but waited patiently for her to continue. ‘Geng was…Henry’s boyfriend.’
Collins eyebrows rose. “Boyfriend?”
Meling confirmed it with an almost inaudible ‘yes’. ‘I don’t know for how long, but I know they were together for a long while before I found out.’
“What happened?”
‘I think…’ Meling began, swallowing hard as her mind struggled over what words to say. ‘I over reacted. I pushed Henry away…!’ And, quietly, she added, ‘ I… I hit him.’
Collins eyes widened. Meling had never hit anyone, no matter what they might have done. And, here she is, telling him she hit Henry?
‘Geng hasn’t been acting the same, either,’ Meling told him when Collins didn’t say anything. ‘something’s happened between them, and I don’t know what it is. Geng won’t talk to anyone anymore…. I haven’t spoken to Henry since he left.’
“I haven’t seen him much either,” Collins confessed. “He’s always busy, and so am I. he spends most of his time with Jude, but he’s so loyal to our son that he wouldn’t tell me anything.”
‘Just…watch out for him…ok?’ Meling asked. ‘I’m worried. Just look out for him.’
Months pass and nothing changes, but nothing remains the same either.
Benny won a scholarship and would be going off to college soon. My debut was coming up, and my schedule’s been tighter than ever and my father was almost never seen. Jude watches me like a hawk and he’s not as sneaky as he thinks he is.
Its midnight and I’m laying face-first in my bed, trying not to think of Korea, but failing. My mind wanders on its own, to when I met Kuan, to when I began my Korean lessons with the young Chinese man that would eventually be my brother.
I remember all the times I spent with Hankyung, all the sweet words, loving hugs and tender kisses. I remember being afraid of our secret getting out and how hard my heart was beating when it did.
“Henli always worried about you, you know. He always thought of you and how you’d feel.”
It was silent for a moment or two before she asked, “And you?”
“I never cared about what anyone thought of us,” Hankyung answered swiftly, flat out. “If I had, I would have never fallen in love with Henli.”
I turned in my bed, turning to stare at the ceiling. My room was bare, nothing but a bed, a end-table by the bed, and a desk I never used. There was nothing else.
Moonlight leaked into the room through the window and as I turned my attention to that, I wondered what Hankyung was doing right now.
Suddenly, he was leaning down to me, his lips appearing right next to my ear. “Time to get up,” he whispered, “baby brother.”
My eyes went wide, heat rushed to my cheeks and I made an effort to push Hankyung off of me, but he refused to budge.
“You don’t like me doing this, baby bro?” Hankyung asked, letting out a little chuckle as the words passed his lips. “I thought you liked it when I kissed you.”
“Not here, gege!” I shrieked as I felt the press of lips to my neck, right below my ear. “mom and uncle are home! What if they catch us?”
“They won’t,” Hankyung answered simply, pushing the comforter away and then reattaching his lips to my neck.
I wish I had even half of the confidence Hankyung has. If I did, I probably wouldn’t be lying, alone, in my old bedroom in my old house in Canada. If I had half of the confidence, Hankyung wouldn’t be mad at me, he wouldn’t have broken it off with me.
We could have been happy - my mom would have been happy too, and Uncle seemed to have no qualms about us being a couple. Hankyung would smile at me again.
“It’s ok,” he said, “it’s alright. Don’t push yourself, Henli.”
I sobbed, finally not being able to hold back, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him closer, crying into his bare chest. “…b-but…”
“No ‘but’s,” Hankyung scolded, holding me tighter when he heard my sobs. “Don’t ever do anything you don’t think you’re ready for. Just tell me, and I’ll stop, or do whatever it takes for you to be comfortable again. In any situation you’re in, just call my name and I’ll fix it.” When I looked up at him, my crying coming to a halt, Hankyung smiled down at me, ruffled my hair and whispered, “I promise.”
I frowned and wiped the wetness from my cheeks. I didn’t realize I was crying, I didn’t know when the tears began. I reached over to the little table beside my bed and grabbed my cell phone. I typed in a familiar number, with some extra digits for long distance, and pressed the phone to my ear.
I didn’t know why I was calling Hankyung. I had no clue what I planned to say, or why I was suddenly calling him. The ringing sound in the background told me he wasn’t picking up. When the ringing broke and the call sounded like it connected, I pulled the phone away and ended the call before I could hear his voice.
I was scared. I don’t know what to do anymore.
Turning back into my pillow, I cried.
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i adore Jude ^^ he's my favorite OC, next to Kuan.
i've been depressed...i can't believe my idol is dead.... RIP Michael Jackson
so..is chapter 17 as big of a disappointment to you as it is to me?