{30}

I had to do this on my own.

"The cases have risen at a concerning rate over the course of last one week. What will the government do?"

"Absolutely not. You are not going there alone." I love Soobin, I love him a lot; but I hate how sometimes he was one of the most stubborn human beings in my life.

"Come on, it's not like my own parents would eat me up."

"Correction, it's only your mom who wouldn't eat you up. I am not very sure about that man you call your dad."

See, that's what I am talking about. I hate it. "Oh please, as if you don't try to devour him every few minutes." Soobin gave a disbelieving side glance to Beomgyu who was a push away from falling into peals of laughter.

"I never do that!"

"It has been three days and all I can see is you eating his face throughout the house."

I threw a lighthearted glare at the man. "You weren't even home. Half the time you were out doing god knows what."

So I had decided to go back home. Alone. I had dragged Soobin into enough stuff already. Nobody knew what would've ensued with my dad being the way he was. I didn't want to lower Soobin's self-confidence-- knowing now that it affected him a lot.

But of course, he wouldn't leave me alone without any protests. He wouldn't leave me at all, and that was the hardest part. I did, however, manage to convince him off of it by offering for him to dye my hair. It worked and, surprisingly, he didn't choose blond this time.

"Don't worry, I was using my time productively." Beomgyu's eyes were fond when he said that as if living a memory that he cherished. And then he ruffled my now brown hair out of the blue. Was he always that random?

I could only chuckle. "Now am I allowed to go?" I asked, turning to face Soobin. His eyebrows were turned into a frown, his bottom lip stuck between his bunny teeth.

"Take care, Hyunnie. Give me a call if things don't go as planned." I smiled.

"Of course."

~~~

Third Person POV

"Iseul?"

As soon as she heard it, Iseul straightened her back, wiping away the tears on her tanned cheeks. She did not bother to look up, instead staring at the paperwork she was using as an excuse for distraction, not that it helped. "What is it?" Her voice reflected no emotion, except the slight crack towards the end.

"Are you not even going look at me?" The man was faced with silence. Kang Hwan was aware of the mistake he had done but was he ready to accept it?

Iseul sighed, still not obliging to see the older. "I-I am busy."

"You've been staring at those papers and weeping for the last seven hours," Hwan crossed his arms. "Just let it out. I know you want to scold me."

Iseul darted her eyes to her husband, anger prominent. That was it, he knew it was. "You tried to hurt my son." She was calm but every single word of hers went right through the old man's chest like arrows. He was left stunned.

It took him a while before he finally cleared his throat and spoke in a stern voice. "You make it sound like I've committed a crime. I am his father and he was walking out of limits. Do you think I wanted to harm him?" And that was another mistake. The realization dawned upon him soon after.

"Was he wrong though? Think about it." That was when Hwan decided to ignore the entire conversation and take his leave to contemplate dozens of other things piled up for him. However, the sound of something crashing against the floor made him turn back with wide eyes.

"What in the-" The sight wasn't one that he would've never expected. Kang Iseul stood out of her armchair in the middle of the living room, a vase shattered in pieces right in front of her.

"I've had enough with the Damsel in distress shit."

"Have you gone crazy?!" Hwan shouted, eyeing Iseul with horror.

"Oh yes, I have. I have gone crazy because my husband is a complete and utter idiot." This time an entire table was on the floor. Hwan stepped back. "I thought you were better than this. My son just wanted to be himself and live his life with the person he liked! Was that too much for you to process, Mr Kang?" Iseul's 'paperwork' went flying as she threw it out of her rage that finally blew up, like a volcano.

Hwan prayed for his life, shielding himself with a pincushion he found from the sofa. "Calm down, let's sit down and talk!"

Iseul gave a humourless chuckle. "Sit down and talk you say?" She stomped towards him, taking a pincushion herself. And before he could've guessed, she started hitting him with it. "You," a hit, "complete," and another, "fool!"

"Stop it, Iseul! You are being childish-"

"The one acting childish here, is you! Taehyun is younger than you, yet he is more mature than your mental age of five-"

"I am sorry!" Iseul stopped altogether, her chest heaving as her head drooped low. And then her shoulders were shaking as her tears started to fall yet again, leaving dark patches on the grey carpet. Her knees gave out and she broke down, Hwan frantically reaching to hold her from falling but sliding to the ground himself.

"Is he okay? Is he safe? " She asked to no one in particular, her voice trembling. Hwan guiltily stared at empty spaces, gulping down the bile forming in his throat.

"I am sure he is. He is with that boy- what was his name?"

"Soobin."

"Yes. Him. He seemed... trustworthy." Hwan meant it,  even though that meant that he accepted his defeat. And,  he was honest to himself, he was tired with the last one and a half days being the most stressful period of his life. But you can't really blame him for acting the way he did, he just wanted Taehyun's well-being. And he did realize in the span of the same past one and a half days that he was wrong in thinking that it wouldn't be good for the boy to be with the person loved, that so happens to be another boy. He needed time to wrap his head around that idea, but he could try.

Hwan's eyes wandered around to something that was lying on the floor, oddly familiar to him. "Is that... " He trailed off, reaching for the object and examining it closely. It was a music box. "You still have this?"

Iseul shifted her gaze from her place in Hwan's arms, a small smile flashing upon her thin lips. "Ah, yes. It's the one you gave me back in school." A sense of nostalgia dawned upon both of them as they reminisced those days that were long gone. Those beautiful times. The start of it all.

"I assume it doesn't sound the same."

Iseul looked at the music box thoughtfully. "I doubt." Hwan turned the handle out of curiosity. No, it doesn't sound the same but it's still melodious, the tune that filled the air. And for that very moment, both of them forgot everything around them...

...until

"Mom? Dad?"