Like a Fool - Hyungwonho

4.

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"You're home?" Hyungwon almost jumped out of his skin when he heard his mother's voice from the kitchen as he was passing it by. The boy stopped, clearing his throat. "Yeah. I stopped by Changkyun and Hyunwoo's after classes." He explained shortly, leaning on the doorframe.

The woman nodded her head before asking for him to sit down at the table. Hyungwon just hoped that it wasn't a lecture about anything because he really didn't want to listen to it right then and there.

Nonetheless, the student took a seat closely following his parent's movement, noticing how stiff it was. His mother was uncomfortable with the topic that was coming up in a second and if Hyungwon didn't have a clue about the topic, it quickly became clear.

"It's about dad, right?" he asked, with a low tone. He wasn't sure if Jooheon was home yet so yelling it out wasn't an option. Hyungwon lowered his head slightly when his mother nodded her head and took a seat.

"I know this isn't easy and it's not meant to be." She started. There was always sugar coating over the topic when it was brought up. "But Jooheon... We need to tell him before the release day comes." Hyungwon frowned slightly, feeling an uncomfortable twist in his guts.

Jooheon was living happily and without trouble, thinking that their biological father was dead and buried. He even thought that the man had done nothing wrong. Sometimes Hyungwon, and probably their mom, was glad that the young boy had hit his head back then, even though it sounded twisted. The younger had been living in that belief since he was twelve and breaking the truth would likely crush his worldview. 

Convincing Jooheon, that all the rumors about their dad being a murderer had been hard enough on its own.

Now Hyungwon would have to admit, that everything that had been going around was true and that he had been lying on a daily basis. It would feel awful for Hyungwon but he couldn't even imagine the pain it would cause Jooheon.

Lying had been the safer option, it always had been for Hyungwon. Keeping Jooheon away from remembering the traumatic things he went through was for the better of the boy, right? But Jooheon deserved to know.

Hyungwon rubbed his face slightly, nodding his head slightly to show that he acknowledged his mom's words. "It would be worse to let him find out on his own..." Hyungwon stated simply and sighed. The worst that could happen was the man going to look for Jooheon on his own accord, which would cause a whole shit show if it happened in front of the younger's friends. 

"I'll handle it... He can then take it out on me instead of you guys." After all, Hyungwon had been the most responsible in affirming the lies since Jooheon clung to him when they were younger. 

"Hyungwon. You were a child back then... You aren't responsible for what happened." He knew that very well. "But why was it always him and you, but never me? It's... "

Not fair.

His mother smiled at him comfortingly. "He was an awful father and husband. Even worse of a human." And Hyungwon couldn't agree more. Assault, murder, child abuse. Hyugnwon was sure there were more to the list of charges, but he didn't go to the court hearing back then. He couldn't.

"Hold on... Is that a bruise?" His mother asked causing Hyungwon to immediately raise a hand to his cheek to cover the mark Minhyuk had left. He hadn't seen it since inspecting it in Changkyun's bathroom when it was still quite red-ish. A chuckled slightly before grinning slightly. "You know me and Changkyun.." He lied through his teeth.

"Oh, dear. You two need to be more careful." The woman tutted, and got up to get a bag of beans from the freezer. Not much they could do at this point anymore but the cold would feel great. "How are those two, by the way?" His mother then asked, handing the means to Hyungwon who pressed the bag onto his cheek.