Flowers for you [SeungJin]

Chapter 7

He'd missed lunch but dinner was unavoidable. Dinner with his parents was...something. Like the diligent son he aspires to be, he helped his mother out this time as well. However, if you had to ask him what they cooked or ate for dinner he wouldn't be able to answer. He just chopped and grated and boiled what he was told. If he had to go by the taste though, he's say they ate ash.

His father cleared his throat. Hyunjin took a breath and nearly chocked when the almost-ash went down the wrong pipe.

"Perhaps you should keep your distance from your 걸커 friend" He said with a kind voice.

He was so shocked, he didn't even know what to say. They weren't usually so direct (although they still kept the polite Korean suggestive tone rather than forcefully demand). He looked at his mother, who wasn't usually as harsh as his father in his opinions but he only saw her nod.

"Surely you have other friends? You can be just colleagues. He is nice and polite but there was just something about him..." She said.

"Omma, Abba Seungminnie isn't gay! But I am! In case you forgot" He tried to explain.

"Nonsense. You cannot be gay. You're easily influenced. He probably got you thinking he's not interested in boys so you let your guard down" His father said dismissively.

"Father, I never said Seungmin isn't interested in boys. If you want I can show you some articles about different identities. It's not my place to tell you his but he's interested in boys AND other genders" He was getting a bit too defensive now but he tried to remember that his parents didn't have the internet and a great support system growing up. Even today in the news and in dramas and movies it wasn't common to see gay and lesbian people much less any other identity. Thank god for indie filmmakers who did the work of the gods.

"Pff other genders" his father continued to dismiss "You can say women son, it's not a bad word"

"I never said it is! I like women though I'm not attracted to them! I didn't say women because I actually meant other genders!" He was getting too angry so he tried to conclude the argument.

"Anyway, Seungminnie is my best friend. And even if he was my b-o-y-f-r-i-e-n-d you don't get any say in it. He treats me so well! You should be so lucky if he was your son-in-law. His family already treats me like I am theirs." He knew that it wasn't nice to compare but maybe if he did, it would appeal to their sense of competition and get them to change just so they would have something over the Kims "Even if I were to hang out with my other friends...none of them are actually straight" he finished.

"Ah, so you're doing it to fit in? There is no need sweety, you can always find new friends. You're such a friendly boy" His mother said, latching on to what she thought she understood just to get the situation to calm down. In her mind, she was protecting him.

"I will wash the plates and then I'm going to exercise. But no, I'm not doing it to fit in, believe me I was so lucky to have found my friends. They saved me" he tried one last time.

"Only god can save us" His father said.

If only people had the principle of saving each other.

Hyunjin gave up and went to wash the plates.

His parents approach him while he's setting up the workout equipment that is hardly ever used in the living room. Simply because he was here was no reason to slack of completely. He didn't like working out but it necessary in their field.

His father was first. He sat down on the sofa while Hyunjin set up a yoga mat right next to the rowing machine.

"I don't want to fight son. We are looking out for you because we love you. We cannot imagine what it must be like having the spotlight on you. We just don't want it to be harder for you." he explained. Hyunjin had his reservations. They were like this even before he joined the company but he could also understand them. If there was one thing that Seungmin and him had learned from each other, it was to actually actively listen when speaking. South Korea wasn't the most open-minded country; it was very conservative and what people said about you could ruin you. There was some truth to what they were saying but he wasn't over the turmoil that this morning had provided.