#we all need metal to reclaim his title so badly

[goldninja91]

Sonic Movie Franchise: 2nd Trilogy Predictions

Obviously, spoilers for Sonic 3 inbound. Read at your own risk XD

All righty, everyone out? Good. Now, let's talk predictions! I'm assuming that everyone here has seen the credits scenes of Sonic 3, and I've been cooking up some ideas as to where the plotlines of future movies could go, even without Eggman as the main villain. We can't hold Jim Carrey hostage forever, after all XD

So obviously we're going to get both Amy and Metal Sonic for Sonic 4. The question is, what game plotline will they be adapting, if any at all? Well, here's my theory/pitch for what Sonic 4 could be.

Metal and Amy both debuted in Sonic CD, a game that heavily used time travel in its plot. Given the fact that Metal found Sonic in what seems to be mere days after the Eclipse Cannon crisis, it almost seems to be too fast for him to have just sprung up on his own. We know that Eggman himself was mostly just wallowing in his defeat at the hands of Super Sonic, so why would he have built a mechanical Sonic and not use him at all in 3's events? Furthermore, where did the 'lesser' Metal Sonic drones come from, and how was it that Amy found Sonic mere moments after Metal did?

My theory is that this Metal Sonic was created by some future version of Eggman, potentially from an alternate timeline, and was sent back in time to just after the events of the Eclipse Cannon. And given how experienced Amy seems to be at handling the Metal Horde, it's possible that she hails from this future as well. I mean, I know she's a massive Sonic fangirl, but it's significantly less probable for her to find him in this universe as opposed to someone like Tails.

As for Metal's role in Sonic 4... I personally hope that he ends up being the main villain. He has so much potential to be more than just Eggman's lackey, especially with his story in Sonic Heroes. I theorize that Sonic 4's story could end up being some kind of combination of both CD and Heroes, with Metal aiming to take over Eggman's position of power and copy everyone's abilities, becoming the true ultimate life form. It also seems like they could be taking inspiration from the Metallix from the Fleetway comics, which would also be incredibly cool.

This could also be a 2nd chance to use the missed opportunity that was Neo Metal Sonic, having that be the final form for Metal instead of the Metal Overlord. Although if they wanted to include it, the Metal Overlord/Metallic Madness could be some kind of metallic kaiju that Metal builds himself to fight the heroes while he stays in his Neo form.

And with that out of the way, I hope you're prepared for even wilder speculation regarding the next two movies! XD There was a vague hint about Shadow's origin in Sonic 3 when they mentioned he fell to Earth in a meteor, which looked suspiciously like a miniature Black Comet. I believe that they could be setting up some kind of Black Arms invasion for a more Shadow-centric Sonic 5. The reason I'm pushing this back to a 5th movie is because it would be incredibly difficult to mash both Metal Sonic and the Black Arms into a single Sonic 4. This is also a chance to integrate Rouge and Omega into the story as Shadow's own team, separate from Sonic's.

(Though now that I think about it, if Paramount does opt for a Shadow/Knuckles tv show, that could take its time to focus on a Black Arms storyline instead. However, this is currently in wild unbased speculation territory.)

As for the final movie in the trilogy... I'm honestly not sure. I have two vague ideas as to what the villain could be, as without Eggman as a factor (even with the possibility of an evil future version of him, somewhat similar to Eggman Nega) the options are somewhat limited. My top two picks are either Dark Gaia or Chaos as the final villain, though considering how the movies scale things I think that Chaos could be more likely, as I don't think they'd be quite bold enough to shatter Earth into 7 pieces just like that.

But both of them offer opportunities to explore more alien lore and more things revolving around the Chaos/Master Emerald as well. Another reason I say Chaos is more likely is because while Unleashed has a great story, it's mainly focused on Sonic and Chip as opposed to the more team/family-centric themes that the movies like to focus on. In that vein of thought, the defeat of Chaos with the positive energies of the Emeralds feels more in line with that family dynamic the movies tend to lean towards.

Buuuut those are just my thoughts. What do y'all think?

[darkcloud-kcalifornia]

You know, I think it’s time for me to try watching that there new video game movie.  Based on a real old game too.  What was it called again…?  Ah yes, Dragon Quest: Your Story.

 What?  Why in the world would I wanna watch a Sonic movie?

 * This opening is not filling me with confidence for the rest of this movie.  I mean yeah, there’s a lot of story to cover in Dragon Quest 5 if you’re making an adaptation, but that’s, like, why it’d be better to not try and cover all of it.  Like, one movie for childhood, one for young adulthood, and one for fatherhood. Instead we’re skipping past almost all of childhood with a whole lot of exposition thrown in quite clunkily and through game footage.

* Well, give the movie some credit here, they’ve introduced Dr. Agon a bit earlier so as to establish relevance (and yet more exposition…), and he doesn’t have the indignity of Luca and co. having to rescue him from a runaway mine cart.

* Well I’m not entirely sold on character appearance, and the dialog seems to be sped up often to match mouth flaps, but some of the scenery shots are downright gorgeous.

* Suspicious slime is suspicious.

* Aw… no Harry falling in love with a cute nun?

* Man, this whole thing is pretty much on fast forward.  I don’t like it.

* Well, interesting change about the sword being the one in, um, the rich person’s care (look, it’s a long name and I’m horrible with those, alright).  Although this makes me thing that they’re going to skip the rest of the Zenithian equipment and focus on just the sword.  Because if not, well, Luca’d be claiming the sword right about now.

* OK, the metal slime scene was pretty good.  As was Luca being stocked about the cash drop from the Goodybag and Mimic.  Because let’s face it, if there’s two things every Dragon Quest player is familiar with, it’s the frustration of trying to kill those slimes and being short on cash.

* And again we get the ludicrous fast pace with him suddenly getting Gootrude and Purrcy on the team.

* OK, as much as I love the DQ theme and for all that it makes sense for a “starting off on the journey” choice, ending with the triumphant trumpets as Luca comes upon a recently burned city?  The amount of dissonance here is unbelievable.  Who directed this?!

* Um… I don’t think you need to translate the subtitles into English when the subtitles where there to translate something written in English.  Also, they’ve changed the marriage quest to demon slaying rather than magical wedding ring retrieval?

* I know this awkwardness between Luca and Nera is supposed to be cute.  But it’s not.  It’s really not.  I’ll admit though that I might have had a bit more emotional investment here if their previous interactions as children wasn’t brushed past in 3 seconds of sprite work!

* Gootrude has the sword! She must be the Heavenly Hero! …Dang it, I was making a stupid joke, but now I can’t help but wonder what her and Luca’s kids would end up looking like.  Stupid generational plot.

* Alright, time to give the movie credit again.  The failed attempt at drawing the Sword was pretty funny.

* Oh come on, at least let us see Bjorn in the party!

* Again, the supposed emotional connection would be a lot stronger if they didn’t skip past the adventures as a kid with Bianca too.

* Well, if Luca owes Bianca half the reward I guess she’s marrying Nera too now.  Rather naughty of Nera, trying to get two spouses like this. Well OK, to be fair this is more her dad’s decision.

* Bianca is three sheets to the wind.  How old is she supposed to be right now again?  I mean, medieval society, different standards for drinking and all. I just hope that Luca and Nera don’t mind her tendency to get hammered occasionally.

* But seriously it’s a little late to be pulling the “which one will Luca marry” thing after he’s already popped the question to Nera.

* Man, they are seriously trying to push the Bianca possibility with now having a pushy fortuneteller.  I mean not that I’m complaining about the ship, Bianca was my bride of choice in the game, it’s just, well… he already proposed and is quite happy with his choice. There’s a point where it’s a bit too late to indulge in this plotline!

* Although it would be kinda funny if drinking that potion showed him a vision of Deborah completely dominating him.  Never mind that Deborah hasn’t been in this movie yet.

* “Refusing to drink a strange glowing potion given to you by a very pushy magic woman obviously means you’re in denial!”

* *Luca falls into his subconscious*  When did this become a Kingdom Hearts movie?

* Alright, while most of the wedding plotline wasn’t very good, and Luca changing his mind after proposing was kinda infuriating, the old woman being Nera in disguise was a nice touch.

* Only one kid? Before Luca finds out about and reclaims his kingdom?  There’s supposed to be royal twins!

* Also kinda weird how they changed the two-bloodline thing needed for the hero to just having even more Zenithian blood.  But then Bianca was captured rather than petrified, so really we’ve pretty much almost completely jumped the plot rails at this point.

* Ah there’s the petrification.

* Yeah, this version of the years in petrification is kinda sad, but honestly I found Luca being placed in the garden of a family as a supposed protective spirit, being there to watch the family’s young boy grow up, only to be helpless to do anything when the boy is kidnapped my monsters to experience they same kind of horrific slavery he did, the father yelling impotently at the statue he purchased and pushing it over, only for even more years to pass, to be far more poignant. I mean, that scene wouldn’t have even taken that much more time than this one did.

* OK, I kinda like the monster just being able to follow Ollice’s Zoom spell with one of their own to be pretty good.  It’d be nice to see that in the games at some point.

* And the drawing and first use of the Zenithian Sword was definitely cool.

* “That’s just how it is this time around.”  Wait, is Dr. Agon suggesting multiple timelines here?  And that he’s aware of them?  You know, that would be one way of handwaving all of the discrepancies between this movie and the game.  Or even the differing versions of the game.  Different timelines and realities.  Or that could apply to the different games in which the Zenithian Dragon appears; rather than a continuous timeline which wouldn’t make much sense due to the massive differences in the landmasses and lore of the settings, it could be different realities that the Zenithian Dragon has been appointed over by the Goddess, and thus has a split awareness.  …Which in turn suggests more realities through multiverse theory on which girl Luca marries.  The timeline here just got incredibly complicated.

* This… this time travel plotline is being bungled so badly.  And Luca was the one who gave himself relationship advice in the past? Uuuuuuuugh.

* It’s Mada!  Mada is dead!  OK, honestly that one isn’t different at all from the game.

* Sudden reinforcements? OK, I’ll admit I was kinda hoping that Bjorn would show up, but I wasn’t expecting Harry.  At least not after the battle has already begun.  Like, if they were going to toss this one in wouldn’t it have made a lot more sense to have the heroes gather forces before the big battle than have them show up out of nowhere during the big fight?

* Well that’s… odd. I’d crack a joke about the movie crashing, but I have the feeling that plot point isn’t out of the question here.

* OK, so, the movie really is a game world, and “Nimzo” is a virus that was inserted into the programmed final boss, so now everything is going absolutely haywire.  Well I guess that’s what the “Your Story” title is about. It’s the story of the player of the game.  And as Luca is the player avatar, he’s the only one still with any kind of awareness. But Dr. Agon and Mada seemed to have some awareness of the nature of their world, hence their reference to “this time around”.  It’s “this time the game is being played”.  But if things were changed about the basic nature of the game, some of the plot points and so forth, that makes me wonder if the reason for those changes is because this isn’t the base game, it’s actually a ROM Hack. One that carried a virus in it.

* So I was mistaken. It was a remake for a VR system. Oh crap, the virus is going to try to do a mind hijacking, isn’t it?

* No, just a nerd pissing match.  Man, this thing got strange.  And kinda disappointingly shallow for big bad motivation.

 Well, that’s the movie. I guess they wanted to try and do something of an examination of nostalgia and gaming?  But honestly in the end even that plot point was rushed, and even if there were a few hints at something being off that still felt like it came out of nowhere.  Points for effort?  But this was not a good movie.  At all.  I can see what it was trying to do, and that could have made for good storytelling if enough time and care had been devoted to it.  But there just wasn’t.

[longsightmyth]

So no review per se but here are a hella lot of status updates under the cut:

March 16, 2016 –  3.0% "I'm not sure how I feel about this season divide country thing but we'll see"

March 18, 2016 –  24.0% "See, I thought they were meeting in a town or city, which would be hard enough to find someone in, but the instructions were apparently 'meet me in a country'"

March 18, 2016 –  25.0% "Yes it DOES explain the oath. You don't need to explain that to us, we get it."

March 22, 2016 –  28.0% "Idk if the book wanted me to think that the government is terrible and everything with the question about whether the maids always obey the king's orders (which... Yes? That is actually their job?) but when a pretty low-ranking guest's lady's maid talks like Rose is talking like she is, it isn't successful."

March 22, 2016 –  29.0% "Not that outspoken servants cannot still be oppressed servants, but the general attitude does not point in that direction (also, still am not fond of New Meira)"

March 25, 2016 –  29.0% "Bets on Meira being a swapped out baby queen."

March 25, 2016 –  31.0% "MORE instalove? Isn't one a book enough?"

March 25, 2016 –  33.0% "Oh no a king is thinking of politics and the wellbeing of his kingdom. What calumny. What horror. (I can understand MEIRA being upset, I can, she had no warning whatsoever, but the book is trying to make me think Noam is evil, and so far I have evidence only of the opposite.)"

March 25, 2016 –  34.0% "A king just doesn't want to throw his kingdom into a war and you automatically assume he had something to do with the death of his wife. Because that totally makes sense...?"

March 25, 2016 –  34.0% "Okay maybe Meira isn't the Secret Queen. Which begs the question of WHY she's important enough to hand off in a political alliance marriage. I mean, king's foster sister is a perfectly respectable and important relation usually, but since literally nobody knows anything about her parentage or if she'd be a reasonably competent queen it makes no sense that Noam wants her to marry his son so badly."

March 30, 2016 –  34.0% "Okay book I just finished The Winner's Kiss so you had better up your game, this bullshit threatening of kings with nothing to back it up isn't going to fly."

March 30, 2016 –  35.0% "Also you appear to have used a name I gave one of my ocs in my lotr fanfic. Obviously only to hurt me."

March 30, 2016 –  38.0% "Seriously wtf is with the complete personality swap I cannot get over it"

March 30, 2016 –  39.0% "Book, you tried hard to tell me that women who like pretty things are just as cool as women who like sharp pointy stabby things, but every time Meira talks about ladies or pretty things she is SUPER scornful and I don't see anything to contradict her. You realize noble ladies find power even when they aren't given it overtly right?"

March 31, 2016 –  44.0% "There's nothing INCREDIBLY wrong with this section - at least nothing I can pin down - but all of this seems really overdramatic, and the love interests don't have enough character for me to say whether or not the supremely stupid display of toxic masculinity was in character or not. Also that fight was particularly silly."

March 31, 2016 –  45.0% "Hang on, still confused about magic access. The only places to get magic are the season kingdoms, but the rhythm kingdoms have magic conduits too? Do they have to pay a fee to go recharge them or something, or have I missed some key point of magic use?"

March 31, 2016 –  46.0% "Wait, how did Winter have food if it was always winter? Did everyone live off evergreens? What about the animals? Was there a thriving greenhouse agricultural system? These are things I want answered."

March 31, 2016 –  46.0% "In the words of Meira herself: Sweet snow! Is she going to learn that protocol isn't useless and being in a position of power might actually help?!"

March 31, 2016 –  46.0% "What, Cordell can't spring for a tutor for their queen-to-be, she has to go to a classroom?"

March 31, 2016 –  47.0% "Wait wait wait you can MINE magic? Why the fuck hang everyone been doing it?!"

March 31, 2016 –  47.0% "Like, I get that it's apparently super deep down, but guys. Magic. Everybody wants more of it, and even if it's hard to get to you have the means to do it. And I haven't seen that this is a Balrog situation either."

March 31, 2016 –  50.0% "Honestly I think the dialogue wouldn't bother me so much if there weren't so many dramatic whispers and things. 'Said' is not a bad word, no matter how many creative writing teachers try to tell you otherwise."

April 1, 2016 –  51.0% "Are. Are there no guards on a king's study? The king's chambers? Even I he isn't there important shit is, as evidenced by what Meira just found! WHAT IS WITH GUARDS IN YA LITERATURE?!"

April 1, 2016 –  51.0% "Do all YA guards go to the same crappy guard school or something?!"

April 1, 2016 –  52.0% "Oh for heaven's sake. A king's foster sister without titles of her own would be a powerful political asset in that the King would (theoretically) care for her, or at least care for his reputation as a person who takes care of those close to him, so you forge an alliance based on that. She wouldn't give anyone any rights over her foster sibling's country, because she's a foster sibling with no title."

April 1, 2016 –  52.0% "There is no way that having Theron marry her would give anyone any sort of authority."

April 1, 2016 –  52.0% "Aside from that, Noam playing all sides of the board is pretty clever and sometimes what rulers have to do to keep their people safe from an apparently magical apparently tyrannical dickface."

April 1, 2016 –  53.0% "For a bunch of people convinced that Noam acts in whatever way is politically expedient for the wellbeing of his country (and also that doing so makes him evil) these people seem awfully surprised that Noam is acting in whatever way is politically expedient for the wellbeing of his country."

April 1, 2016 –  53.0% ""Spring is here. In Cordell." (Meaning spring the country). Well gosh. Would've been great if somebody had FORGED AN ALLIANCE WITH THEM. (Though actually, Noam, you made copies of your top secret correspondence? Really?)"

April 1, 2016 –  54.0% "Sure, six folks against an army, why not. If the soldiers are trained as shoddily as all the guards it makes total sense."

April 1, 2016 –  54.0% ""Let's go jeopardize our entire planned alliance by getting the principle members killed! Sound good? Cool." WHAT IS WITH THESE PEOPLE."

April 1, 2016 –  55.0% "Oh look our evil king puts all his magic into agriculture, otherwise known as HELPING HIS PEOPLE EAT. What true tyranny! (Seriously though how did Winterians get food if their queen put all her magic into mining I need to know. Did they adapt to eat rocks or something? Eating is srs bsns, book)"

April 1, 2016 –  56.0% ""Noam truly believes he was doing us a favor?" I mean. He kind of was. It's not everybody who looks at a group of eight refugees and goes 'sure, let my son marry the king's untitled foster sister and I'll help you reclaim your kingdom'."

April 1, 2016 –  56.0% ""You brought them here! When you started writing that letter..." Y'all do realize that there was a public announcement and ball for the engagement of the heir to the throne and a Winterian, right. Like, Mather was announced as the King of Winter. Does. Does nobody but me remember this? Did you think nobody heard about it?"

April 1, 2016 –  57.0% "Did you just send the heirless King of your exiled country into battle. Did you. Yes you did, because everyone in this book except Noam is completely incompetent when it comes to strategy, and even he has his moments."

April 1, 2016 –  58.0% "How are those cannons moving so quickly?"

April 1, 2016 –  58.0% "HELMETS ARE NOT JUST FOR DISGUISE THEY SERVE A VITAL PROTECTIVE FUNCTION IN THAT THEY PROTECT YOUR HEAD OH MY GOD WHY WOULD YOU JUST TAKE THE HELMET OFF JUST BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE JESUS CHRIST WHY WOULDN'T HE TELL YOU TO PUT IT BACK ON I HATE EVERYTHING YOU ARE IN THE MIDST OF MEDIEVAL ISH MAGIC BATTLE JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE CANONS DOESN'T MEAN YOU CANT PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST THE ARROWS OH MY GOD"

April 1, 2016 –  64.0% "That part (with Meira actually appearing to care about the enslaved Winterians when she sees them, and not just us being told she cares) was actually pretty good."

April 1, 2016 –  72.0% "Credit where credit is due - this just improved by leaps and bounds, not least by Meira starting to wonder if she has in fact been something of a brat."

April 1, 2016 –  74.0% "EXPONENTIALLY better"

April 1, 2016 –  76.0% "Okay book, you're getting better and all, and this isn't exclusive to you, but where did this idea that not screaming meant strength come from? Like, not screaming while in pain can be a statement or a way to not bother other people in dire situations, but not screaming when you're being whipped doesn't automatically mean strength okay."

April 1, 2016 –  76.0% "Okay book she has to get water eventually or she's going to literally die unless Winterian body processes are different from other humans. Which, I guess, would explain how they didn't need to grow food in a land of eternal ice and snow. But if she's human like the rest of us she's going to die if she constantly does heavy lifting and carrying without any water except breakfast and dinner. She's going to die QUICKLY."

April 1, 2016 –  78.0% "I admit that I am not an expert on metal, but I'm almost positive that an old belt buckle is not even serviceable knife material without a forge and some tempering."

April 1, 2016 –  80.0% "Dammit Meira."

April 1, 2016 –  80.0% "I'd like to refer you to my status at 29 percent and note for the record that I'm only refraining from gloating because it was so obvious."

April 1, 2016 –  87.0% ""The only thing that saved us was our magically exhaustible magical conduit that has to recharge, so my father didn't retaliate against the giant magical army that nearly killed us all. Obviously this means he's terrible." Book, do you ducking hear yourself."

April 1, 2016 –  88.0% "Book. Are you putting in a rape attempt in front of her love interest. Is this a thing I am reading in the year of our lord 2016."

April 1, 2016 –  88.0% "Book. Are you putting in a rape attempt in front of her love interest. Is this a thing I am reading in the year of our lord 2016."

April 1, 2016 –  88.0% ""There are no other weapons near me, no chairs I am break or vases I can throw" you know what, book, I am tired of theoretically weapon-and-fighting-competent chicks being like 'whoa is me there are no weapons' this is when your feet and fists and teeth and head come into play, you have been literally trained to murder people come on now. (Don't get me started on fixations on fancy weaponry)"

April 1, 2016 –  93.0% "'Exotic grace' when referring to the only people of color so far? Come on, book, get your shit together."

April 1, 2016 –  96.0% ""We'll need to barter rations from Cordell." Have you always done that or is this only because of the defeat of Angra? TELL ME."

April 1, 2016 –  97.0% "Really Noam you AND your heir rode into an unknown situation in a different country? I expected better of you, sir."

April 1, 2016 –  98.0% "Is Meira going to be forever follows by the ghost of her mom in a literal sense? Why have we seen no other ghosts? (Also, please stop with the gasping)" 

[ethicallysourcedhumanmeat]

Coming Clean: 2

[Masterpost]-[AO3]-[First] 6600 words - Warning for Biphobia and homophobia

Yoosung had been wrong about how often they’d have to see his mother.  It became clear around the third time they made excuses that she was suspicious but Yoosung did not want to relent.  He agreed to the next invitation but made excuses at the last minute, the next time he tried his father offered to call her family, invite them all to the house for dinner.

It sounded more like a threat than an invitation.

So they accepted the next few invites, Yoosung’s mood always sour the following day.  Both showering Seven with affection but also on edge, any small thing that went wrong would elicit either tears and apologies or a long rant.  Seven let him be, it only ever lasted a day and he was back to his normal happy self. 

They ended up finding a schedule that kept his mother happy, less suspicious, but she never failed to bring them down in their happiest moments.

“—‘s a very nice girl, Yoosung,” he could hear Mrs. Kim on the other line when he slipped into Yoosung’s apartment, a combination of the way she spoke and the volume of Yoosung’s phone carrying the other half of the conversation through the small apartment.

“Yes she is Mom,” Yoosung said through gritted teeth, exams were over and he was ready to reclaim his LOLOL title, finally number one with the retirement of the mysterious HackerGod.  Seven could see him mouse-ing over his characters waiting for the call to end.

“It’s just that I worry when I see you spending time with that boy.”

Seven’s ears perked up, they were very careful, there was almost never pictures of him on the internet anyway, even on the facebook account he maintained his face rarely appeared.  He only every allowed it for—

“That was an RFA meeting Mom.”

“I realize that sweetie but is it really a good—”

“I can’t control who’s a member Mom,” Yoosung growls his cheeks hot as he glances back at his boyfriend pulling out his own laptop.

“Perhaps I could speak to that nice man in charge, that Jumin Han, he seemed so nice last time I spoke to him.”

He lets out a sharp breath and sets his computer down on the beat up coffee table.  He can almost hear Yoosung’s teeth grinding while he tries to form a reasonable excuse for her not to.  Seven walks over to him and rests his hands on Yoosung’s shoulders pressing kisses to the top of his head and then across his forehead when the blond boy leans back and looks up at him.  He smiles and Yoosung forces himself to smile back.

“Mom, Seven works very hard for the RFA, you could just trust me,” he presses his lips together before he forces himself to say, “I love Sae now, it’s fine. Everyone is fine Mom.”

“I may call him anyway, just in case, you have another of those parties coming up don’t you, are you going to take Sae?”

“It’s work Mrs. Kim,” Seven calls out, his voice pitched slightly up, “Yoosung won’t have any time to dance with me so I refuse to go.”

He can hear her on the other end, flustered and apologizing, but he’s smiling his goofy smug smile when Yoosung hangs up and swivels in his chair to look at him.  “What?” He pouts, adjusting his clips where his phone had pushed them askew.

“It’s at least good that she thinks we’re two different people right?”

“That’s what you took away from that?” Yoosung snorts.

“I’m thinking about retiring from IT and joining Zen on the stage,” he says dropping into Yoosung’s lap.  “Maybe Sae could be my alter ego, and when you break her heart and go back to you filthy man loving ways she can date Zen!”

Seven erupts into a fit of laughter as Yoosun shoves him off his lap, but he’s laughing too.  It’s been Six months since Yoosung’s parents had met him, almost a year since he’d admitted to Yoosung that; No Babe, friends don’t actually practice kissing with one another outside bad teen films, almost a year since Yoosung had said thank god because I think I love you.

No one had been surprised when they started dating.  Seven’s attempts at romance were kindergarten level, they could all tell why he picked on Yoosung, they were just waiting for Yoosung to figure it out.  Yoosung had seemed disappointed by the reaction.

“Did you bring them,” Yoosung asks from his computer desk, already logged in now, not even glancing back at him.

“Bring what?” Seven asks innocently as he starts up LOLOL.

Yoosung snorts, he reaches into the little cube fridge on his desk and tosses a PhD Pepper to him without looking. Seven smiles, god he loved this tunnel vision nerd. “You know what,” Yoosung says with a wave of his hand that Seven knows means get on with it.

“Condoms?” Seven asks logging his character in, HackerGod may have retired but that didn’t mean he couldn’t help Yoosung keep his hand-me-down title.

“Saeyoung,” Yoosung whines.

“Yes I brought them,” Seven chuckles, knowing Yoosung means Honey Buddah Chips, but still liking to tease him.  “They’re in my trunk but you have to get them yourself, I feel like your dealer, it makes me feel dirty.”

“Aw really?” Yoosung turns now, puppy dog eyes engaged, big fake pout.

“Yes really,” Seven nods, he’s going to be firm today, he’s not going to fall for the puppy eyes.

“Please?” Yoosung swivels his chair and bats his eyelashes.

“Babe,” Seven says, trying not to laugh.  If he laughs Yoosung will win, and Yoosung won way too often these days.

He pouts and he brushes his hair out of his face, flashing his best sad eyes at his boyfriend before he heaves himself out of his chair with a groan.  He shuffles past Seven on the couch, another pout carelessly tossed in his boyfriend’s direction before he slips his sneakers on and opens the door.

“Hey,” Seven calls from the couch and Yoosung turns, a big smile on his face turning confused when he hears the jangle of keys.  “You need these to open the trunk, Yoosungie.”

He struggles to catch them, managing mostly to bat them out of the air and straight to the floor. He grumbles when he has to pick them up.  When Yoosung is out the door Seven sits down at his computer, giving one playful spin on the protesting swivel chair before typing in a few commands to make Yoosung’s character effectively unkillable.

He’s sitting back at the couch looking bored when Yoosung lumbers through the door.  He drops the keys on the table next to Seven’s laptop and sits heavily on the couch with the box in his lap.  It’s covered in stickers, and Yoosung can’t help the smile, a combination of animal and medical themed stickers decorate it with little heart doodles.  Seven always decorated the box.

“You want a bag?” He asks, carefully opening the box.

Seven shakes his head and produces his own bag from his backpack. “Brought my own Cutie-Pie.”

“You’re a jerk,” Yoosung laughs and reaches into the box.

Seven turns to him. “You should reach to the bottom, I bet those bags are fresher,” he smirks.

Yoosung cocks an eyebrow but he does what his boyfriend says.

It’s easy to find the surprise at the bottom of the box, the hard metal box beneath crinkling bags full of air and chips.  Yoosung pulls it out and sets the big box on the floor with a curious glance at his boyfriend.  Seven is suddenly very busy sorting his inventory on LOLOL.

“What’s this?” Yoosung asks softly.

“Did you know,” Seven says lazily, but Yoosung can hear the nerves in the way he tries to joke, “that the next party is on our anniversary.”

Silence.

And then Yoosung is pressed against him, arms wrapping around him pressing kisses to his cheek, his nose, his temple, and his hair, he hasn’t even opened the box yet. “I didn’t,” he starts nervously toying with the smooth metal case in his hands, “I didn’t realize we had one of those.”

Seven laughs.

“I mean the way it happened, it’s not like one day we were friends and the next we were boyfriends,” Yoosung whispers.

He nods, “I just sort of picked a day in the middle,” it’s a lie.  He picked the day Yoosung had said he thought he loved him. “I thought you’d want to celebrate but I didn’t want to make a fuss at the party.”

“You’re a liar,” Yoosung chuckles, “you’re dying to make a fuss at the party.”

Seven laughs, “Okay, you’ve got me but you know we can’t.”

They’re quiet for a moment.  Mrs. Kim had infiltrated almost every second of their lives.  Making an effort to not even be seen standing too close to one another in the background of someone else’s photos.  Now she was infiltrating RFA meets via Instagram and harassing Yoosung.  He’d love for it to be over but he knows how badly Yoosung wants to rely on himself after this and he respects that.

Yoosung swallows, he presses his arm against Sevens and opens the box, a little gasps escaping his lips. “Saeyoung.”

“Do you like it?” He knows he’s blushing, Yoosung hadn’t exactly asked for a watch and he’s worried he’ll have an idea how much money he’s spent on it but he pushes forward turning it over in the smaller man’s hand. “Look I had it engraved.  I thought it was something you could wear in front of your Mom without making her suspicious.”

1011000011 is engraved on the inside of the watch.

“Wow,” Yoosung breaths, “it’s, wow.”

Seven smiles, “You like it?”

He nods, “But I don’t know what it means,” he says, his voice still low.

“707.”

Yoosung doesn’t realize just how expensive the watch is until he wears it to the party.  Seven expects it to be Jumin to break the news but he’s surprised when Zen whistles through his teeth and takes Yoosung by the wrist. “Damn, he’s really fallen for you huh?”

Yoosung pulls his arm back and shrugs with a goofy grin on his face. “I dunno, probably.”

Seven chuckles as he follows Jaehee behind the stage to fix some small technical problem she’s claiming is the end of the world.  He’s almost done when Yoosung pushes the curtains aside and stomps towards him.

“How much money did you spend on this?” He demands.

“That’s rude,” Seven chuckles frowning at the computer screen.

“It’s too much Saeyoung.”

Seven shrugs. “It’s fine.”

“I can’t, it’s too much,” Yoosung has the watch in his palm holding out towards Seven.

“I can’t return it, Yoosung,” he smiles closing his boyfriends hand over the watch, “not with the engraving.” He didn’t know if it was true or not and he hoped Yoosung wouldn’t either.

Yoosung sighs. “Why would you spend so much on me?”

“If you don’t like it,” Seven smiles and kisses him on the cheek, “you could always sell it, doesn’t matter to me.”

It takes Yoosung a full minute before he realizes what that means. “You’re impossible,” he says putting the watch back on.

Seven shrugs.  In retrospect that was probably the moment it happened.

“I’ve been told,” he chuckles as Yoosung struggles with the curtain behind him.

“I can’t, you, ugh,” Yoosung groans and hooks his arm around Seven’s.

“It’s your choice, I don’t mind either way, you could sell the watch and you’d have next semester’s tuition if you need it, or you keep it and you have a very nice watch.”

Yoosung whines again and buries his face in Seven’s shoulder for a moment before they step apart, the first few guests of the night filter in and they begin the ritual of being separate in public.

It’s weeks later when Yoosung gets a call from his sister.

“Yoosung,” she says, and he sets his controller on Seven’s coffee table gesturing for Saeran to turn the TV down.

“You sound worried what’s wrong.”

The twins turn to look at him.

“You sound fine,” she says carefully, “so you haven’t talked to her yet.”

Yoosung’s face falls and the twins mouth what’s wrong at him in unison.

He shakes his head and walks away from the couch. “Why,” he asks.  They’d met his parents for lunch in the city a few days before, nothing had seemed off.  His mother had even seemed more relaxed, he hadn’t even been as upset afterwards.

“You know your party was in the paper right?”

Yoosung shrugs and makes a non-committal noise.  Jaehee had mentioned it but he hadn’t really thought about it, he didn’t get the paper and he hadn’t considered looking.  It wasn’t the first time, it had been years since they started, and this was at least the third party since Jumin and Kit had taken over.

“Yoosung,” she says, “there’s a picture of you with your boyfriend.”

“That can’t be right,” he says, he felt so calm.

“Yoosung I’m looking at it,” she says softly.

“It’s just a group photo right,” he says, he knows he should be panicking but everything seems to be slowing down. Kit showed them all the official photos from the party, the whole group approved every photo they’d sent to the press. “I think Jumin stood him behind me?  Jumin has this—”

“Yoosung you’re standing on a stage holding his hand,” she says.

“No,” He says with a bit of a laugh, “no I don’t think so, I don’t think that happened.”  He’s still so calm, he feels like he’s floating.  Maybe he’s died, he considers, maybe his mother killed him with her mind and he’s dead.

“Yoosung I am looking at it,” she stresses.

He chews the inside of his cheek.  “Does she know?” He asks softly, grabbing the back of a chair, his chest if tight now and the calm floating feeling starting to dissipate.  The twins are behind him and somewhere underwater he hears Seven’s phone chime.

“She, I, Yoosung I don’t know.  She told me to get the paper, I think so,” his sister sounds nervous.  “But she hasn’t called you.”

He shakes his head and then he swallows, “N-no, I, no she hasn’t.”

Seven’s hand is on his elbow and he doesn’t hear what his sister is saying because all he can hear is “—ext week Mrs. Kim?  I don’t really know you should probably call Yoosung, ab— s-surprise him?”

Yoosung turns and his eyes meet Seven’s, he looks as confused as Yoosung, all he can do is nod.

“—ung, Yoosung,” his sister is almost yelling.

“Sorry, I’m here,” he turns from Seven back to his own conversation.

“I’m in the city right now, are you busy?  Can I buy you lunch.”

“Fuck,” Yoosung groans.  Things had been going so well, she wasn’t on his case he was hoping to get through Christmas.  Christmas money could have been put away with the bits he’d managed to save here and there, a few months rent at least.  His grades were back up but he’d had to work so hard, could he do the same with a job.

Could he sell the watch?

“Yoosung, remember that place Dad used to take us when we were kids, right before school started every year when we’d come into the city for our school supplies?”

“I can’t,” he tries and swallows again, “I can’t afford to buy lunch, not—”

“I’m buying Yoosung, bring your boyfriend.”

Yoosung fills Seven in while he grabs his things, and throws a sweater at Seven while apologizing to Saeran.  He’s a nervous mess in the car on the way to the restaurant, he doesn’t stop and wait to be seated, and it’s Seven who apologizes to the Hostess as he’s dragged behind Yoosung to the corner booth near the kitchen where a pretty woman in her late 20s , by Seven’s estimate, smiles at them.  The same Lavender eyes as Yoosung staring out from beneath golden brown bangs.

“I already ordered,” she says and the smile on her face starts to fade and she sizes him up, “so you’re my brother’s boyfriend.”

Seven nods as Yoosung slides into the bench across from his sister.

“Does he talk?” She laughs.

“I normally can’t stop him,” Yoosung glances at him and Seven slips in beside him.

“Sorry,” Seven says softly, “you two look a lot alike.”

They both blush.

“Mom hasn’t called you yet?” his sister asks.

“I, no Yuna, she hasn’t called me,” he says looking at Seven.

“She called me,” he nods, “but she didn’t say she knew, she wanted me to bring you to dinner Friday, s-she said to surprise you.”

He squeezes Yoosung’s hand in his own while they look to his sister.

“She invited you, to bring Yoosung to a surprise dinner?” Yuna frowns, and Seven watches as her face contorts into the same expression Yoosung wears while studying. “Why wou—”

“She didn’t know she was inviting Seven,” Yoosung cuts in, like he’d only just remembered.

“What?” Yuna asks, her frown deepens.

“Sae, she was inviting Sae to dinner to surprise me,” Yoosung finishes. “Seven is Sae.”

“Wait,” Yuna covers her face and they all sit back as a waiter places drinks in front of them and apologizes to her about the wait for their food.  She forces a smile and waves him off. “Yoosung what do you mean he’s Sae.”

Seven laughs, they both pull out their phones and pull up photos.  “She’s just me in a wig,” he shrugs.

 “And Mom hasn’t noticed?” Yuna covers her mouth, but the giggles spill out anyway.

Yoosung shrugs, “She made comments about how I better not break that girl’s heart the couple times Seven and I were too close to each other in the background of Zen’s selfies so I’m pretty sure she hasn’t.”

“I don’t think you’re parents looked too closely at me when they met me,” he says and Yoosung hugs his arm.

“What is she doing,” Yuna groans.

Yuna pulls a newspaper out of her purse and lays it down in front of them and Seven sends a photo of it to Jumin while the siblings frown at each other.

“She didn’t invite you to dinner though?” Yoosung asks and Yuna shakes her head.

“Normally Father Park would be coming to dinner and with Joon not being Catholic she doesn’t normally invite us.”

Yoosung and Seven glance at one another. “So she’s inviting Sae and I to dinner with Father Park?” Yoosung says slowly.

“Oh,” Yuna covers her mouth.

“Is he all, you know, fire and brimstone?” Seven asks.  He’d always been careful to find services held by more moderate priests.

“I don’t know,” Yoosung looks to Yuna but she shrugs, “he’s new, since I left for school.”

“Father Rhee was brimstone,” Yuna adds, “he suggested Mom disown me until Joon converted but I guess people probably just assume he’s catholic when they see him, or you know normal people don’t even care.”

“More convenient that, than being the wrong gender right?” Seven snorts.

“You know she had the girls baptized while I was having my appendix removed?” Yuna chuckles.

“S-she said you asked,” Yoosung stammers.

“You were there?” Seven frowns.

“I was visiting over summer break because Mom needed a hand with the girls.”

“Yoosung is a godfather.  When she kills me for taking his side are you prepared for that responsibility?” Yuna laughs.  “It’s not a big deal, I mean I go to church when we visit but we’re not really anything, so she splashed some water on their heads. At the time I was mad but it’s one less guilt trip so I let it go.”

“Is that what I should do,” Yoosung sighs.

“What?” Yuna and Seven almost shout.

“No, Yoosung, of course not.” Yuna shakes her head. “She’s passed far beyond harmless infuriating bullshit.”

Yoosung shakes his head.

“Are you going to be ok without the money?” She asks.

“I have a little saved,” he says quietly as their food is set in front of him, “and I’ve got my grades back up, I don’t know how I’ll deal with a job and classes and having to be in the clinic again next semester.”

“Do they do like, apprenticeships?” Yuna asks, “Can you get your clinic hours in and get paid?”

“I-I don’t think so,” Yoosung shrugs and fiddles with his watch.

“There’s always Jumin, he could probably hire you on as a temp at C&R,” Seven smiles.

“I don’t know if I could work for Jumin, especially now that Jaehee isn’t there.”

Seven chuckles. “You know I bought you that watch just for this reason.”

Yoosung sighs. “I know but, I don’t want to sell it just for me.”

“A watch?” Yuna cocks an eyebrow at them and Yoosung holds out his wrist.

“You know,” Seven smirks, “I could always just hack the school, if you lose your scholarship.”

“No!” Yoosung squeaks, “I don’t want that, I don’t— I appreciate you offering all of this but I want to do it myself, if I sell this watch I want it to be for something us not for me.  I don’t want you to hack for me, it’s bad enough you’re still doing it for Jumin.”  He starts aggressively shoveling his lunch into his mouth as if to end the conversation and both Yuna and Seven laugh.

Gradually the conversation turns more casual.  Seven loosens up and eggs Yoosung on to tell stories, Seven’s favorite being the time Yoosung had been volunteered during a livestock lesson to aid in a birth.  Yeah I’m still confident in our relationship, Seven liked to joke, who hasn’t been shoulder deep in a vagina in this day and age.

Yuna had cackled and Seven had blushed.

“You were kind of quiet,” Yoosung says on their way back from lunch.

“You told me to shut up three times,” he laughs.

Yoosung sighs, “You know what I mean.”

“I just,” he adjusts his glasses, “I wanted to be sure she was really on your side.  Mom used to play Saeran and I against one another.  I didn’t want to see you get hurt again.”

He waits for Yoosung to get defensive but all he does is laugh. “But she passed then, she’s safe.”

“I’m gonna have to run a background check just to be sure, check her credit, see if she has any shady underworld connections.”

Yoosung laughs. “God, you know Mom could be thankful, at least my boyfriend is Catholic.”

They both laugh.

“What was Yuna like when you were little?” Seven asks quietly. “You never really talked about her before.”

“I didn’t really know her before,” Yoosung shrugs.  “She’s a lot older than I am.  She was nice to me, except when she wasn’t but I think it was all normal sibling stuff. She moved out when I was nine or ten.”

Seven takes him home and he’s waiting for his bus when he gets the call from Jumin.

“Yoosung I wanted to let you know that Kit and I have spoken with the Newspaper, Seven has mentioned the photo has caused some trouble he was not specific.”

“I-It’s fine Jumin, we’re uh dealing with it,” Yoosung tries.  He doesn’t want to think about the photo or the weekend right now.

“Never the less, we had provided images to a number of publications, had this been a questionable photo of Zen or myself, or had it shown more of Seven’s face, we make these arrangements for a reason, it’s a breach of contract. I wished for you to know that I am not taking this lightly.”

“Thanks Jumin.” Yoosung drops into a window seat.

“Yoosung,” he can hear the tone of Jumin’s voice change and he braces himself, “Seven did not provide me with details of your trouble but I have to wonder, is this to do with your scholarship?  Have your grades slipped again?”

He groans, it was not what he was expecting but it was just as bad. “No Jumin, I’m doing a lot better in school, you know since everything.  I don’t know it’s been better my grades are fine.”

“Hmm, that is good to hear.  I had thought perhaps that had been his reason for buying you such a extravagant watch.”

“My watch,” Yoosung coughs, “how does everyone know about this watch but me? What about my watch?”

Jumin chuckles. “Seven had asked me to recommend a watch that would be worth a semester at university, he was not subtle, Yoosung.”

Yoosung sighs and sips at the coffee in the thermos Seven had given him.  He stares at the stainless steel cup and wonders if this is another mystery investment gift.

“I had simply wondered,” Jumin continued, “if you do find yourself in need of a job you need only ask, I hope you know that.  I would certainly make concessions for your time similar to those I’ve made with Seven.  I would make sure not to impact your school work, perhaps find something you could do remotely.”

“I-uh, thanks Jumin, if it comes to—thanks.”

The only times Yoosung feels at ease that week are when he’s working with animals and when he’s alone with Seven.  Even when they discuss what kind of things that might happen this weekend Yoosung feels calmer just knowing Seven has his back.

“What if they want to send you to one of those camps or whatever?” Saeran says giving his brother a shove the night before the dinner.

Yoosung chews on his lip. “I don’t think, I mean I’m an adult they’d have to have my permission right?  We’d just leave.”

“Yeah?” Saeran says leaning forward, “What if you can’t just leave.”

“Then I’ll come get him,” Seven frowns shoving his brother back. “Got you back didn’t I?”

Saeran snorts. “And I don’t even suck your dick.”

“Jesus, Saeran,” Seven laughs hitting his brother with a pillow while Yoosung hides his face.

They get up early the next morning.  Seven wrapping himself around Yoosung and burying his face in his hair, he whines when Yoosung tries to drag them both out from under the blankets, holding on tighter while his boyfriend laughs and struggles.

They shower together, laughing at one another as they brush their teeth in the shower to save the time Seven had wasted in bed.  Seven makes exaggerated sex noises while Yoosung washes his hair and then he pulls the smaller man closer to him and kisses him softly when he sees the blush on his face.

Seven is still in the bathroom with his towel around his waist staring into the mirror when Yoosung is finished getting dressed. “Not that it matters,” Yoosung tries to laugh, “but we’re going to be late.”

Golden eyes turn lazily to him and Seven smiles. “I know I just can’t decide how far to take this today.”

Yoosung looks at the makeup brushes and pencils sitting on the bathroom counter in front of him, next to a new package of daily contacts.

“Wear your glasses,” Yoosung shrugs. “It’s not like it matters right?”

“Are you sure Yoosung? What about—”

“And eyeliner,” Yoosung adds with a smirk, “not for her, I just thinkitscute,” the last few words run together as he loses his nerve.

Seven reaches out and pulls Yoosung against him again, tilting his chin up and staring down at him. “Cutie pie,” he coos and Yoosung can feel himself melt as Seven’s tongue slips into his mouth.

He lets out a small whine when Seven pulls back with a smile.

“We don’t have to go,” Seven smirks, “you could tell her off on the phone and we could spend the day in bed, test out Saeran’s noise canceling headphones?”

Yoosung can feel his ears turning pink and it takes considerable effort to bring himself to push away from his boyfriend.  Of course Seven could have simply asked him to sit on his couch and watch him field C&R IT calls for 8 hours and if would have sounded more appealing than whatever they would be walking into at his parents.

“Have you tried turning your boyfriend off and then on again?” Saeran grumbles shoving Seven out of the bathroom.

Seven laughs and grabs the eyeliner off the counter before stumbling into his blushing boyfriend.  “Come on,” he laughs, “I could put this on and we could go back to bed.”

Yoosung groans. “No I wa-need to do this.  We need to see it through.”

“I guess I did promise Yuna that I’d send her a picture of your Moms face when I took the wig off.”

“What?  When?”

“She called yesterday while you were in the bathroom, she also promised to send me baby pictures.”

“What!”

“Cute little Yoosungie baby pictures,” he giggles as Yoosung throws a pair of pants at him.

“Hey,” he laughs falling over, “what am I wearing this for, I thought you wanted her to be surprised.”

“That was past Yoosung,” he frowns digging through Seven’s dresser.  “Now I just want to get this over with.”

Seven had spent the evening before carefully braiding the purple wig in case the opportunity arose to be as dramatic as possible and once he’s dressed Yoosung helps him pin the wig on instead gluing it like he normally would.

The two hour drive to Yoosung’s parents house is quiet.  Neither of them really know exactly what they’re driving into, Mrs. Kim had asked Sae to surprise Yoosung but it’s not as though Yoosung would still be surprised by the time they got to the house, and Yuna had said they invite their priest to dinner, apparently many of the congregation did this.

Yoosung worried about what Saeran had said, about what would happen if they were prepared to try to force anything on to him.

Seven worried about his temper, and he worried about Yoosung.  He could handle how messed up his own family was, and he could handle Yoosung’s parents but he was used to shitty families.  Yoosung had grown up thinking his parents were old fashioned but basically good people and now he was watching that dissolve at a terrifying speed.  Yoosung had always had his family to fall back on, and Seven hoped that he could pick up the slack.

There was a period where he could see Yoosung staring wide eyed ahead that he wished he’d asked someone else to come with them.  Maybe his brother, or Zen.  Maybe he could call Jumin and have the entire RFA ready to storm Yoosung’s parents dinner and prove just how perfect he was.  Just how fucked up they were for doing this to him.

The Kim’s are waiting for them when he parks the car in front of their house.  Yoosung had insisted he bring the Red one, just like he’d insisted that Seven wear his glasses, and dress less femme.  Seven wasn’t sure if he was seeing how many boundaries he could push before they burst this bubble.  Or if he was proving to himself how little interest they’d taken in Seven so that he could rip the bandaid off easier.

“Father Park,” Yoosung’s mother is introducing them to the man in the sweater vest before they’ve even gotten their shoes off, “this is my son and his girlfriend.  I’m so sorry they’re late. Yoosung has never been punctual; I don’t know where he gets it from.”

Seven is pretty sure he can hear Yoosung growling under his breath.

Aside from glances the priest gives them, and the sad look Mrs. Kim has on her face when she thinks Seven can’t see her, there’s nothing particularly unusual about this dinner.  Yoosung’s father asks if he’d been surprised but Yoosung shakes his head.

“Sae doesn’t know anyone here, it was pretty obvious where we were going.”

The priest chuckles.

Seven takes as many chances as he can, he asks a number of questions of Father Park, all resulting in mostly moderate, largely open minded answers.  He has no idea where this dinner is going or why they continue to get pitying looks from this man.  Until they’ve finished dinner and Yoosung is helping Seven clear the table.

“Yoosung,” his father says in that tone he associates with their good cop, bad cop routine, “your mother was not entirely honest about why she asked Sae to bring you here.”

Suddenly Father Park looks very uncomfortable.

“Mom,” Yoosung starts, and Seven can hear how tired he is.  It’s kinder than he’s been when speaking of, or to her in weeks. “Mom,” he says again when she doesn’t look at him.  “Why don’t you sit down Mom.”

“I am fine Yoosung,” she says with a frown. 

“Mrs. Kim it was kind of you to have me for dinner,” Father Park forces a smile, “I believe we discussed this.”

“I understand Father but I think we should all sit down and have this out in front of god and—”

“If Yoosung, would like to talk with me about anything, I would happy to offer him direction but this is—”

“No this is fine,” Yoosung says shaking his head. “It’s alright Father, if my mother wants to do this I’m ok.”

Mrs. Kim narrows her eyes.  “Does your girlfriend know, Yoosung?”

“Does my girlfriend know what Mom, come on.”

“Does she know you’re a homo,” his father finishes.  The room goes quiet but his father only shrugs.  “Or whatever the term is, however you called yourself.”

Seven watches the way Yoosung’s face contorts as he tries to find the words.  He watches the way his parents’ eyes narrow on him waiting for his answer.  He sees the way the priest is trying his best to avoid eye contact with anyone.

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” Yoosung says quietly.  “I’ve never had a girlfriend.”

Seven freezes, is this the moment, is this when he pulls the wig off and shouts something witty and eye opening?  But Yoosung isn’t looking at him; he’s staring daggers at his parents.

“Yoosung,” his Mother speaks firmly, “does she know?” She repeats.

“It’s obvious she cares quite deeply for you,” his father continues.

“Did they tell you,” he turns on Father Park, “that they invited me here to, I don’t even know, out me to a person who doesn’t even exist.”

Father Park begins to talk and then stops, they all look at him and suddenly every smart ass comment he’s ever made in the history of his life was gone from his head.  So he smiles sheepishly and carefully pulls the wig off, stopping and pulling out the pins that stick.  He sets it on the table in front of him and runs his fingers through his hair.

“I look like I care deeply, because I do,” Seven says.  “Just like the day I pretended to break his heart so I didn’t have to watch you disown him.”

Yoosung swallows.

“They don’t even feel bad about it.” Mrs. Kim spits.

“I think I should go,” Father Park shakes his head, “you boys should leave too.”

“Is that all you have to say to them?” Yoosung’s mother turns on the priest.

“Mrs. Kim, I am aware some priests hold strong opinions on same sex relationships, I hope that I have never given that impression to my congregation.  Love is love and my God respects and cherishes all love.”  He turns to the boys, “I can’t exactly say I approve of this elaborate lie but I can respect you doing what you need to do to keep yourself safe.”

“I, t-thank you,” Yoosung stammers, more from shock than anything else.

A flash goes off and everyone looks at Seven. “For the scrap book,” he smirks.

“Do you boys have somewhere to go tonight?” Father Park asks as he puts on his Jacket.

“No thank you, Father,” Seven says, feeling lighter for the affirmation.

“Yoosung,” his mother almost growls as the door closes behind the priest, “this isn’t over; you don’t think we’ll continue to pay for your apartment.  I’m going to phone Mr. Han, your charity group should be aware what kind of people they allow in, I’m goin—”

“You were the last person I had to come out to Mom,” Yoosung interrupts her. “Jumin has already offered me a job if you cut me off, Seven and I are founding members of the RFA, and they’re like family, they knew before we knew.” He fumbles with the clasp of the watch and sets it on the table. “This is my tuition if I need it, my boyfriend owns a house if I need a place to stay.”

“Everything seems so simple when you’re young and know everything,” his mother throws up her hands.

“Your mother and I are just concerned about you Yoosung.”

“You’re not concerned about me,” Yoosung shouts.  “None of this has been about me, or you would have paid enough attention to the boyfriend I brought home to recognize when I brought him back in a wig.  You didn’t recognize his glasses or his car today.  You could see a tuft of his hair in the corner of an instagram photo but you didn’t see him sitting right in front of you.”

“We just want you to be happy,” his father tries again.

“You don’t want me to be happy,” his voice is shrill and he manages to laugh before he continues, “I am happy.”

“You’re a shining beacon of happiness,” Seven says carefully stepping up beside him, “that’s why I keep you around.”

Yoosung’s eyes narrow on his parents as he reaches for Seven’s hand.  “It’s never been about me,” he says quietly shaking his head and squeezing Seven’s hand so hard it almost hurts, “it’s about what people will think of you.  What the ladies at church will say behind your back and that’s not my problem.”

“Yoosung you need us,” his mother says weakly, sitting at the table, “we’re family.”

“You’re not my family,” Yoosung shakes his head, he doesn’t sound sad anymore.  Seven hasn’t ever heard Yoosung like this before.  Resolved, and confident, “I have Yuna and Joon, and I have Seven, and his brother and the RFA, I have my friends at school, I don’t need you.”

He starts to tug Seven out of the house but Seven stands firm.

“Come on, I want to go,” Yoosung says, not turning around.

“Hey Babe, just a minute,” Seven smiles at Yoosung’s scowling parents and waits for the blond to turn.  “I was going to wait until finals but I dunno?  I feel like spoiling you to prove a point.”

Yoosung laughs, a genuine laugh.

“Hold out your hand, Babe,” Seven smiles and when Yoosung does what he’s told he drops the Keys to the red car into his palm and closes his fingers around them.  “Now you can get to work without the bus, if that’s what you want to do.”

“Saeyoung,” Yoosung whispers letting the taller boy pull him into a hug.

“She was my first car and now she’s yours,” Seven glances at Yoosung’s parents, “I would give you anything in my power to see you safe and happy, I just ask,” his voice cracks a little and Yoosung twists a little to loosen his grip so he can look at him, “I ask that if you want to sell her, you sell her to me.”

Yoosung laughs and shoves him a little.  His parents are doing their best to ignore this little display and when Yoosung tugs Seven along behind him to leave Seven stops one last time in the door way to call out jovially, “Thanks for supper Mom and Dad, can’t wait to do it again next week.”