My bed, your bed, his bed - Part 2
Title: My Bed, Your Bed, His Bed 2/3 [ 1][2][ 3]
Pairing: Kyuhyun/Sungmin, Yesung/Sungmin, Yesung/Ryeowook, Heechul/Sungmin, Zhou Mi/Henry
Genre: AU, angst, drama
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Slash (BoyxBoy), non-exclusive sex
Summary: Rejected by Kyuhyun, Sungmin takes to escaping their dorm room at night.
.:Part 2:.
"How much did you hear?"
"Huh?"
"On Friday, you said you heard my friend and I talking. How much did you hear?"
"Just that bit, I didn't hang around." He rolled his eyes and quoted "'I keep having these dreams about Sungmin. I thought I could just deal with them and I'd get over it but last night it was really intense and I'm pretty sure he heard me'."
"Just saying. It's purely a lust issue. I still want nothing to do with you."
"That's not what it sounded like Thursday night, you were screaming my name."
Kyuhyun shrugged, persona falling flawlessly into indifference as he went back to work at his desk, back turned to Sungmin. "Just don't it again. I have no immediate need for STDs, thank you very much."
Sungmin stiffened. "I… do not have STDs."
"Oh, you're sure of that, are you?"
"Yes," Sungmin whispered.
Kyuhyun let out a sceptical snort. Sungmin stood unmoving by his bed, staring at his roommate's back. "Why?" he said, so quietly only a faint gust of breath left his lips.
"Did you say something, slut?"
Sungmin felt tears spring to his eyes and he snatched up his books from his own desk. "Going to the library," he muttered and hurried out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind him.
~
"Hey, Minnie."
Sungmin glanced up from his work, not turning around quite far enough for Yesung to see his face. "Hi, Sunngie."
"Whoa… are you crying?"
"No," Sungmin said firmly, staring at the page open in front of him. He was supposed to be memorizing the muscles of the leg for his anatomy unit, but the tiny print was swimming on the paper and his eyes just refused to see it.
He bit his lip, trying desperately to keep the tears in as Yesung hugged him. "What's the matter, Minnie?"
"Nothing important," Sungmin whispered, trying to surreptitiously wipe his eyes against Yesung's shoulder.
Yesung quickly trotted to the library desk and returned with a box of tissues. He handed it to Sungmin silently, pulling up a chair to sit beside him. "Sungmin…"
Sungmin felt his heart freeze over at Yesung calling his full name. "Wh-what?"
Yesung looked down at his hands. "I… I'm sorry this is a bad time, but… we can't see each other anymore."
"What?"
"I met someone."
"I see." Sungmin stared unseeingly at his textbook.
"I really like him, so I don't… want to be with you while…"
"No, I understand." Sungmin cut him off, more tears threatening to spill over. What a shitty day. "Who is it?"
"A first year. Kim Ryeowook."
Sungmin's eyes flew wide and he turned to Yesung. "K-K-Kyuhyun's friend?" he squeaked.
"Who? Oh, your roommate? Is he?" he frowned slightly as Sungmin kept staring at him with his mouth open. "Are you alright?"
Sungmin snapped his mouth shut and turned back to the desk. "I'm fine."
Yesung shifted closer and held the younger man's hand. "Min… we'll still be friends… just not… you know."
Sungmin nodded and wiped his eyes, sniffing slightly. "Okay." He squeezed his eyes tightly shut as Yesung hugged him, resting his cheek on his hair. "Sunggie… couldn't we…? One last time."
Yesung chuckled sadly and kissed his nose. "No, Min."
Sungmin's shoulders drooped but he crushed his lips against Yesung's anyway, wrapping his arms around his neck, savouring the last kiss. Yesung let him, hands resting lightly on his young friend's ribs.
"Don't cry, Min," he whispered gently when he broke away.
"It's n-not just because of you," Sungmin sniffled.
"I know. But please, don't cry." Yesung pressed his lips to Sungmin's cheek, lingering, then squeezed his fingers and stood up. "Goodbye, Sungmin."
"Goodbye." There was a slight pop of his lips on the 'b' but otherwise no sound came out. Yesung looked back once, sadly, before he left the library, leaving Sungmin staring blankly into space.
After about five minutes of complete stillness, Sungmin packed up his books and also left the library.
"Aish, it's you. What's up? Your eyes are like a free water factory."
"I…" Sungmin shook his head and looked down.
"What do you want?"
Sungmin didn't reply, raising a hand to his face, struggling and failing to stop his sobs.
"Oh my god, how old are you, five? Stop crying!" the words had the opposite effect to the one intended, and Sungmin cried harder. Heechul shook his head. "Come in, then."
Sungmin followed Heechul into the room, dumping his books on the floor beside the doorway. Heechul thrust a water bottle and a handkerchief at him. He quickly wiped his eyes, blew his nose and gulped down the entire bottle in one go.
"Something really bad must've happened to make you cry," Heechul, sitting on his bed, mused aloud and Sungmin clenched his fists.
"Shut up," he snapped unsteadily, clambering into Heechul's lap.
Heechul smirked. "We have all the time we want tonight, Geng's out for the weekend."
Sungmin didn't waste time replying, shoving his tongue down Heechul's throat and helping him impatiently out of his pants. He hoped Heechul would keep quiet during, because if he continued to make snide remarks about things that would remind him of Kyuhyun and Yesung it would negate the whole point of him being here.
Still, Heechul was a good fuck. Sungmin was fairly confident that once things picked up he'd forget the existence of all his problems.
Heechul extracted himself from Sungmin and reached under the bed, retrieving a black duffel bag and opening it with a smirk.
"S-seriously?" Sungmin squeaked when he saw the cuffs, twitching at the thought. Heechul grinned up at him. "How long has it been since we had the room all to ourselves for the whole night? Get on your knees."
Sungmin hesitated before complying, kneeling on the floor. Heechul pushed him down onto all fours, cuffing him to the leg of the bed and wiggling his finger against his hole.
"Heechul…"
Heechul slapped him hard on the ass. "What do you call me?"
"Oh, you're kidding."
Another slap and Sungmin winced. Heechul crouched by his shoulder, grabbing his chin and turning his face to look at him. "You're always welcome to go back to Kyuhyun." He smirked as Sungmin's face hardened.
"Well then, you'll do as I say, got that? You know what to do."
Sungmin swallowed and nodded. "Yes, master."
~
Monday morning Kyuhyun stopped dead, nearly dropping the tray as he stared at Ryeowook waving at him from a table. "What are youdoing with Wookie?" he demanded as he sat down, glaring hostilely at the man across the table.
Ryeowook looked between them, eyes wide and worried. "Um… you know each other?"
Yesung smiled sheepishly. "We didn't get off to a great start."
Kyuhyun snorted. "You could say that."
Ryeowook's face fell and Yesung squeezed his hand under the table top. "Ah, Kyu… well…"
"Hmm?" Kyuhyun continued eating. Ryeowook stuttered a bit more, unsure of how to say it. Yesung sighed. "Don't freak out, Kyu."
"Freak out about what? And I never said you could call me Kyu."
"W-well… on Friday, Yesung… and then on the weekend, we…"
"We're dating," Yesung interrupted quietly.
Kyuhyun choked on his lunch and knocked over his drink. Ryeowook scrambled to clean it up while he coughed and spluttered, eventually looking up and shooting a malevolent look at Yesung through watering eyes. "What did you just say!?"
"K-Kyu?" Ryeowook said nervously.
Kyuhyun pushed back his chair and stood up, grabbing Yesung by the front of his shirt and hauling him to his feet. "Stay here for a moment, Wookie," he growled, pulling Yesung away from the table. He curled his other fist in his shirt as well, sticking his face close. "What the hell?"
"Calm down," Yesung said placatingly. "It's okay, I won't hurt him."
"I won't let him go out with someone like you."
"You don't know me, Kyuhyun."
"I know enough. Wookie isn't like other guys."
"I realize that, really. I'll take care of him. Look, Kyuhyun, I understand your concerns, considering how we met, but I know he's nothing like Sungmin. He's special. I like him. And frankly, you're not his guardian, he's a grown man, he can make his own decisions."
"I know that! I'm not trying to shield him from the world, but as his friend it is my job to help him make the right decisions."
"You think I'm a wrong decision?"
"Very much so."
"Why don't you just give me a chance? I talked to Sungmin. He knows I won't be seeing him anymore."
Kyuhyun glared at him. "One week. You have one week to show me you can be good to him."
"I will be good to him for as long as he'll have me."
"Treat him right. He needs to be loved properly. Don't dare think for a moment you can get a fling from him, because I will kill you."
"I understand, Kyuhyun."
"And don't think you can get so familiar with me."
"I'm sorry, Kyuhyun-ssi."
Kyuhyun let go of his shirt and Yesung smoothed it out before they returned to the table where Ryeowook was waiting.
"Is… is everything okay?" he asked timidly.
"Everything's fine," Yesung's hand slid down his arm as he returned to his seat.
Heechul, Donghae and Hyukjae joined them shortly afterwards, easing up the conversation considerably. But then Sungmin also turned up in the food court, sitting with his girlfriends as per usual, and Kyuhyun zoned out of his friends' chatter.
Sungmin looked drawn and tired, his smiles lacking the shine they usually gave off.
"Kyuhyun, you with us?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry." Kyuhyun looked back at his friends and Yesung. He glanced at Heechul. "Who are those girls Sungmin always sits with?"
Heechul shrugged uninterestedly. "Cheerleading squad."
"Why does he sit with them?"
"Because he's so blatantly gay! You know how girls like that. I think he even lets them watch sometimes." He pulled a face.
"Hey, he's limping…"
"Probably had a rough night," Heechul smirked. "And anyway, who cares?"
Donghae snorted. "Pleased with yourself, are you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Heechul grinned.
Donghae rolled his eyes. "Sure you don't. I mean with Geng away for the weekend, you had a nice quiet room to just study in, didn't you?"
"Of course, what else would I have done?" Heechul and Donghae both broke out into laugher, Heechul turning to Kyuhyun and Yesung. "You don't mind, do you?"
"Mind? Of course not! Why would I care?" Kyuhyun snapped. Yesung smiled and shook his head, slinging his arm over the back of Ryeowook's chair. Somehow, though, Kyuhyun did mind. Perhaps it was because Heechul had scorned him when he'd first slept with Sungmin, and now he was shamelessly flaunting the fact that he'd made Sungmin limp.
~
Sungmin collapsed onto the bed beside Kyuhyun, panting. The younger man was just as breathless, though nowhere near as conscious, eyes closed already as his lungs sorted themselves out.
Sungmin turned his head over to watch his face, eyes following the droplet of sweat that ran from Kyuhyun's hair down the side of his face and disappearing behind his ear. He jumped slightly as his eyes flew open and turned to him, cold and piercing even in the darkness.
"I'm awake, aren't I?"
Sungmin nodded, swallowing. "Y-yes."
Kyuhyun's lip curled and he jerked the blankets over himself, inching away from Sungmin. "I thought I told you to stop doing this."
"I…"
"Get out of my bed."
"Kyu…"
"Kyu-hyun. Shoo."
"Kyuhyun, please, can't I just have a sec-"
"Get out, slut, I have classes in the morning and I need to sleep."
Sungmin let out a forlorn huff and slid off the bed, wincing as pain shot from his ass right up his spine. He climbed into his own bed and stared at the ceiling, night shadows streaking across it. "Goodnight, Kyuhyun," he whispered, curling his fingers in the doona and pulling it up to pool under his chin.
There was no reply from the other bed.
~
"I'm not a slut."
"What was that?" Kyuhyun asked, not looking up from his desk.
"I'm not a slut," Sungmin repeated, louder.
"All evidence to the contrary."
"I'm not."
"Please, Sungmin. You come back to the room once, maybe twice, a week, and each time you end up on my cock. By definition, you're a slut. Was there anything else? I'm busy."
"You let me! What does that make you?"
"That makes me a horny college student who's vulnerable to blowjobs when he's asleep."
"You dream about me. You have been for months, since you came here."
Kyuhyun shrugged. "Everyone dreams."
"I'm not sleeping with Yesung anymore."
"And how many people did you replace him with?"
"My point is, I'm only sleeping with single men."
"So? It's not like there's a shortage of singles in the school."
"I'm not a slut."
Kyuhyun made a derisive sound, turning the page of his textbook.
"Why are you like this?"
"Why do you care? You act like I'm the only one who calls you that."
"What is it with you?" Sungmin demanded shrilly, fists balled by his sides. "No, you're not the only one who calls me that, but I never cared before you came along! It never… hurt before."
"Oh, get over yourself."
Sungmin's breath caught, tears threatening to spill over. "Why are you like this?" he repeated.
"Why do you keep taking advantage of me in my sleep?"
"Because… you wouldn't let me if you were awake."
"And you can't go one night without a cock up your ass?"
"Stop it!" Sungmin cried, slapping Kyuhyun hard across the back of his head. Kyuhyun turned slowly, eyes dark and glittering up through his lashes. For a split second, Sungmin was actually scared.
"Let's get this straight," Kyuhyun said silkily, standing up and advancing on Sungmin. Sungmin was only five centimetres shorter than his roommate but somehow it seemed that Kyuhyun was towering over him menacingly. He continued. "I can't deny that you are attractive, and that when I first arrived at the college I lusted after you. But you are a vapid, useless, needy whore and I don't need or want you."
"S-stop."
"You come in here and wreck my reputation, my friendships, my sleep, my grades…"
"Hey, that's not my-"
"You're going to end up giving me some sort of disease you picked up from god knows where, one of these days, and frankly, I don't need that sort of shit right now. I have a degree to earn."
"I… don't have…"
"You're disgusting," Kyuhyun spat. "You're just an example of why the world is such a fucked up place."
"Why?" Sungmin screamed, tears streaming down his face. "Why are you such a bitch?"
"BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GETTING THE MESSAGE," Kyuhyun yelled. "I. Don't. Like. You. You make me sick, you take advantage of me, and since the housing board denied my application to move rooms I'm stuck with you, and I don't need you thinking for a second we could be anything more than two people lumped together in the same room. Even that's far too close for my liking."
"You… tried to change rooms?"
"I guess it's not so bad. With my luck I'd probably end up with someone who liked you and I'd have to leave the room all the time so you could have fun with him. Slut."
"Stop calling me that!"
"SLUT!" Kyuhyun roared, taking a step forward and making Sungmin stumble back. "It's the truth, get over it."
Sungmin screamed out a sob and ran, slamming the door behind him.
Kyuhyun felt a slight twinge in his heart, but remembering that the last time he'd run out crying he'd ended up playing slave to Heechul, he pushed the guilt to the back of his mind and sat back down to work.
Sungmin wandered aimlessly around the halls, trying to hold in his sobs so no-one would come out of their room and find him like this. He had nowhere to go. The thought of going to Heechul or Hangeng or Kangin or Kibum made him feel sick, and Yesung was no longer an option, neither for sex nor for just talking.
Eventually he found himself in the dorm library. The librarian had disappeared since curfew had kicked in about fifteen minutes ago but the door as usual had been left unlocked so he ran inside and found a dark corner near the back. He curled in it and sobbed into his knees.
He had no idea how long he sat there, curled in a pathetic little ball of tears and pain and guilt. Several times he almost gained control of himself, but each time he re-remembered the unguarded hatred in Kyuhyun's eyes as he'd screamed in his face and he dissolved into tears again.
SLUT! … vapid, useless, needy whore … slut … slut … it's the truth, get over it … I don't need or want you … you can't go one nightwithout a cock up your ass? … slut … useless whore …
"Um, are you alright?" a quiet voice, tinted with accent, asked.
Sungmin's head jerked up so fast he cricked his neck. He winced, one hand reaching up to rub at it. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." He muttered to the newcomer's feet.
"Bullshit." The boy knelt, studying Sungmin as he wiped his eyes, each breath stuttering its way into his lungs and heaving out unsteadily. He offered the older man a handkerchief and Sungmin took it gratefully, scrubbing at his cheeks before blowing his nose.
"Why are you here? It's after curfew," Sungmin hiccuped.
"Well, you're here too," retorted the boy, not unkindly. "My name's Henry L- I mean, Lau Henry, how about you?"
"L-Lee Sungmin." Sungmin looked up. Henry was looking at him with a concerned half-smile, and he was cute. Short, wavy brown hair with a slight red tint, chunky sneakers, an Angry Birds hoodie, small Chinese-y eyes and insanely chubby cheeks that made him look fourteen.
"Nice to meet you." Henry shuffled over to the wall and sat down against it, beside Sungmin.
"What's your accent?" Sungmin asked curiously, brain not quite working enough to place it.
"I'm exchange from Canada," Henry's smile widened, showing his teeth.
"Oh, I see." Sungmin smiled slightly then groaned and threw his head back. It hit the wall with a hollow thump that made Henry wince.
"Um… wanna tell me about it?"
Sungmin shrugged, closing his eyes.
"I'm a good listener. And hey, who am I gonna tell? I'm just the Canadian exchange student." He smiled sadly. "Seriously, you shouldn't cry alone. It's not good for you. That's what friends are for."
"I don't have any friends anymore."
"Anymore?"
Sungmin laughed bitterly. "Lee Sungmin, Henry. Haven't you heard anything about me?"
The name did trigger a faint something in Henry's memory. "Nope," he said instead.
"Huh." Sungmin sighed. "Well… a few weeks ago I had a friend… of sorts… I guess… but not anymore."
"How come?"
"He… met someone and it kind of became… awkward for us to still talk."
"Oh." Henry frowned. "She - the person he met - doesn't like you?"
"I wish it were that simple." Sungmin rubbed his face. "And oh, yeah, my roommate detests me."
"'Detests' is kind of a strong…"
"In his own words, he hates me," Sungmin said, tears welling up again. "I disgust him, I make him sick, and the only reason he's still my roommate is that the housing board refused to let him move." Henry remained silent and Sungmin stretched out his legs. "Have you ever been in love, Henry?"
Henry blushed furiously. That depended on how he defined 'love'. Could you love someone you'd never actually met, never spoken to, only ever typed at? Never seen, more than a carefully selected carpet of pixels? "I… um…"
"Tell me, what do you think love is?"
Henry shrugged, still blushing. "Love is… someone being so important to you that no matter who else catches your eye, they're still the one you always come back to. No matter what they do, you can forgive them. And they make you feel like… warm. Like if they're happy, it seems like the world is the most beautiful place, and if they're sad, you just want to help them because if they're sad then it's not worth it to exist."
Sungmin felt a strange sort of relief. So he wasn't in love with Kyuhyun.
"…But that's just my opinion." Henry sighed. "I've only been in love once. At least, I think I was. I might not have been. Actually, some people I know say love starts from hate."
Not what Sungmin needed to hear.
"That doesn't make sense," he muttered. "How can you love someone you hate?"
"Love doesn't make sense."
"You know what else doesn't make sense? How can you not know you're in love?" Sungmin frowned.
"How do you know you are in love?"
"B-because…" how did you know? He sniffed and changed the subject. "I don't know what to do."
"Well for now, I think you should go to bed."
"I can't, what if he's still awake?"
Henry paused. "Well… I guess… you could come back with me? I haven't got a roommate yet."
"I don't think that's such a good idea."
Henry nodded. "Okay."
"I don't want to get you in trouble."
"Oh, that's why? Don't worry, no-one will know."
Sungmin laughed. "You really must have no idea who I am. I didn't mean from supervisors."
"Huh?"
"Never mind." Henry had been the first person in a long time who'd been nice to him for a reason other than wanting to get into his pants, and Sungmin suspected it was because he didn't know his reputation. And, even though Henry was cute, Sungmin felt no need to kiss him or touch him or any of the other things he usually felt around an attractive guy who smiled at him. He'd find out soon enough, and Sungmin wasn't in any particular mood to tell him.
"Well, it's up to you. If your roommate's still awake and you want to get out, I'm in building C, second floor. Even if you just want to drop by until he falls asleep." Henry stood up. "But you shouldn't stay here." He held out a hand and Sungmin took it, letting the younger haul him to his feet.
Sungmin wiped his eyes again. "Thanks… Henry."
~
"K-Kyuhyun?" Sungmin whispered as he opened the door to their room. It was dark and there was a motionless, mop-haired lump on Kyuhyun's bed. Sungmin sighed and slid into the room, closing the door silently behind him. He sank onto his bed, trying to convince himself to change, watching the inert mound that was Kyuhyun. He crossed over, kneeling beside the other bed, watching Kyuhyun's sleeping face, resisting the urge to kiss him or touch him or do anything that would make him hate him even more.
But he couldn't stop his hand reaching out to brush Kyuhyun's bangs out of his eyes so he could see him properly.
The eyes flew open and Kyuhyun's hand shot out to grab his wrist. Sungmin let out a surprised squeak and fell back, trying to get free, but Kyuhyun's grip was like a vice. "What the fuck is your issue?"
"I-I w-wasn't…" Sungmin whimpered, jerking his hand free. Kyuhyun curled his fingers back as if they were contaminated. "K-Kyuhyun, I'm sorry, sorry for everything."
"Leave me alone then."
"P-please…"
"What?"
Sungmin felt his tears return and track down his cheeks. "Please don't hate me."
"Give me one good reason why not."
Sungmin mouthed silently, nothing coming to mind. "Please."
"I'm trying to sleep, go away. Stay away. Stay away from me. Stay away from Yesung and don't do anything to ruin things for Wookie. And especially stay away from Wookie."
"You w-want me to stay away from Yesung?"
"And Wookie. They're like… attached now."
"Yesung is my friend…"
"He can't have you both," Kyuhyun snapped unsympathetically. "Are you going to be the one to ask him to choose?" Sungmin didn't reply. "I don't care what your past with Yesung is, I won't let you anywhere near Ryeowook. He deserves better. So stay away."
"Okay." Sungmin whispered, slinking back to his own bed. "But… asking me to give up my only friend… I want something in return."
"Oh, no you don't." Kyuhyun said in a warning tone.
"Not sex, I promise."
Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes in the darkness. "What?" he asked cautiously.
"Just that you don't hate me. And that you stop calling me a slut."
Kyuhyun let out a long slow sigh. "Fine. Whatever. As long as you don't ever speak to Wookie. Or Yesung when they're together."
"Done." Sungmin heard a rustle of sheets as Kyuhyun turned to the wall. "Goodnight, Kyuhyun."
"Yeah, night," Kyuhyun muttered back.
~
"Sungmin-hyung!" Sungmin turned with his tray to see Henry waving from a nearby table. He was by himself, a cheery smile on his chubby-cheeked face.
Sungmin hesitated. The cheerleaders' table was a little way away, the girls paying him no attention - they didn't usually, until he sat down. Henry lowered his arm, satisfied that Sungmin had seen him, shrugging. The smile didn't slip. Sungmin reluctantly wandered over to him.
"Henry-ah… I don't think you want to be seen with me."
Henry had remembered where he'd heard Sungmin's name by now. It had been one of those four-in-the-morning epiphanies and he was touched that the older student was so concerned about his reputation.
"As if people aren't avoiding and gossiping about me already," he argued, tapping one of the empty seats at the table. "Unless you have someone else to sit with."
"I…" Sungmin sighed, shrugged and sat down. "So, what are you taking?"
"Music and drama," Henry replied promptly, stuffing his cheeks full of food. "You?"
"Science… biology, mainly."
"Cool," Henry looked up in interest. "Hard work, though."
"Yeah…" Sungmin played with his food, wondering if the stares they were receiving were unusually abundant, or if he was only just beginning to notice them.
"Are you feeling better?" Henry asked after a minute, tone softening.
Sungmin blushed. "Um… I guess… yeah." A tiny smile appeared on his face. Henry raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"
"Well… I made him promise to not judge me so much, and to stop calling me a slut."
Henry coughed awkwardly. "Hyung, I don't know how much of what I've heard is true, but-"
"It's all true," Sungmin said quietly, looking over at Kyuhyun's table. "I'm not oblivious, I know what people say. It's all true."
"I don't believe that."
Sungmin turned back to Henry. "Why not?"
"You didn't do anything to me last night…" Henry blushed, realizing he'd just indirectly called himself attractive. Sungmin didn't seem to notice, toying with his lunch. "That doesn't mean I'm not usually like… like what they say."
Henry shrugged. "Well, you're nice to me. That's enough for me, for now." He smiled. "Hey, are you doing anything Sunday?"
Sungmin gave him an odd look. "Henry, did you just break up with someone?"
The smile and all the blood disappeared from Henry's face. "Wh-why would you ask that?"
"You did, didn't you?"
Henry suddenly looked miserable, nodding. Sungmin tilted his head. "You got dumped? Or you dumped hi- he- them?"
"Him," Henry whispered. "And… not that cleanly… we haven't spoken in… ages."
"Because you moved?"
He shook his head. "Before that. He doesn't even know I left Canada." He looked down at his fingers in his lap.
"Go on."
"I met him online. Not on a dating site," Henry added quickly. "But I met him and we started chatting, then chatting in private… we became really close. He said he liked me. I definitely liked him. When I found out he was a guy I… I realized I didn't care. I still liked him. We video-chatted once, and we sent each other photos… and I… well." He blushed. "He's gorgeous."
Sungmin grinned.
"Anyway, he lives in China." Henry sighed.
"That's not why you broke up." It wasn't a question.
"No, but… I think he must've found someone else." Henry smiled sadly and shrugged. "He stopped coming online for more than fifteen minutes, tops. His emails were all just a few lines long. But he… he kept saying he loved me, right up to when we stopped talking."
Sungmin slid his chair around the corner of the table and hugged the young man, who looked about to cry. "Next time," he muttered into his hyung's arm, "I'm going to fall for a pretty Korean girl who I can see."
Sungmin chuckled lowly. "It's okay, Henry."
Henry's eyes narrowed to try and hold in his tears. "I thought I loved him."
"Why do you say you didn't?"
Henry shrugged. "It just… doesn't feel right."
~
"Why won't you acknowledge me?"
A sigh. "I told you, baby. People in this school accept homosexuality but not as love, just as a good fuck."
"But-"
"They'd say all sorts of shit about you."
"I'm Chinese and studying in Korea, I'm used to it, I don't care-"
"You will, and I don't want you hurt like that."
"Would you stop feeding me crap?"
"I'm not! I'm not, really."
"Look, if you're worried about rumours, why don't you just say so?"
"Fine! If it will get you to drop it, I don't want rumours about us, about you, and alright, about me either."
A pout. "Fine."
"Look…"
"Don't worry, I understand."
The older of the two stepped forward and pulled the younger into his arms. "I love you, you know that, right?"
"If you say so."
"I do say so. I love you."
"Hmmm."
"Kiss me?"
The younger sighed and complied, unable to resist a smirk when he felt hands slide into his back pockets. "You really love me?"
"Yes." The reply was a purr.
"Because I let you grope my ass?"
"Aish, you're so sensitive!" the hands slid back up.
A giggle. "I'm just kidding." He kissed him again. "I love you too."