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High school had been hell. Not only had he had to deal with his own feelings growing up and figuring out his identity and sexuality, but he had also been forced to deal with his parents’ divorce and moving into a whole other country. A country with a completely different language, different culture and even more homophobic than his home country. He had gone from being a happy and well-liked kid with good grades to being a bullied outcast who could barely focus on his studies from how much he was hurting.
Ten years had passed since his high school graduation. And even though the wounds had healed, the scars were still there and those were not times he liked to remember, so his first response to the idea of a reunion had been a huge no.
But then Jisung, one of the very few friends he had managed to get during high school, reached out to him. He practically begged him to go to the reunion, both because he’d love to meet him again and because the best way for them to heal would be to make peace with everyone in their class who gave them hard times in the past. Or, if that didn’t work, they could at least show everyone how well they were doing in the present.
The idea of showing his high school bullies that he was doing good pleased him in a way. Not that he thought his life to be the best out there, he was pretty sure his past classmates were probably doing better than him, but a part of him wanted to show them that they were wrong. Every time they made fun of him in the past, every time told him he would never accomplish anything, they were wrong.
- Felix! – Jisung’s face lit up with happiness as soon as they found each other in the small crowd and he stepped towards Felix with his arms open.
Felix met him halfway with a hug, happy to see his friend again. They had met a couple of times after graduating but adult life had cut their chances to meet, so a couple of years had passed since they had last seen each other. Even though they texted and called each other at least around their birthdays, Felix realized he had actually missed Jisung.
- I’m glad you could make it. – Jisung continued, smiling at him as he stepped away. His eyebrows shoot up then, like he suddenly remembered something. – You remember Sunwoo, right? – and he stepped aside to gesture towards the guy standing next to them.
Felix recognized him right away, drawing a smile and nodding. Sunwoo gave off a totally different vibe than Felix remembered because his messy uniform had been replaced with nice clothes and he smiled a lot more, but his face had changed so little that Felix could easily recognize him still. It was interesting to Felix because Sunwoo had been quite the troublemaker during their high school years, always grumpy and avoiding everyone, but he looked totally calm now, with a glass on one hand and a blond guy’s hand on the other.
- And that’s his boyfriend – Jisung continued, turning to the blond guy with confused eyebrows. – Chanhee?
- Yes – the guy confirmed with a chuckle, greeting Felix with a nod. – Nice to meet you.
- Can you believe he tamed Sunwoo? – Jisung turned to Felix again, eyes wide in surprise.
- Stop talking about me like I’m some wild animal! – Sunwoo protested.
- You were! – Jisung argued right away, proceeding to tell Chanhee about how his boyfriend was such a troublemaker back in the day.
Felix was thankful for Jisung, for that ability to break the ice and lead the conversation nicely, allowing the mood to not be as awkward. There was only so much he could do, though, and it inevitably became awkward as they went around the room and greeted other people. New people who were there as plus-ones, old classmates Felix didn’t really remember the names of, some he only remembered for bad reasons and Changbin.
Seo Changbin. Felix’s very first boyfriend.
Felix couldn’t stop his breathing from hitching when his eyes met Changbin’s. He was not still hung up on the guy, obviously, and he was perfectly happy with his current relationship, but it wasn’t like Changbin had meant nothing to him. He had been the first boy to kiss Felix, the first to touch him and the first to break his heart; he would always have some impact on Felix.
- You look good! – was the first thing Changbin actually said to him, sounding mildly surprised.
Felix forced himself to smile. – You too.
And Felix kind of wished Changbin didn’t look good but he did. The cute boy Felix had dated as a teen had grown into a very attractive man. Even if his height hadn’t changed much, his face had matured and his body had gotten larger, with nice muscles obvious even through his clothing. One other detail that had changed was the guy holding Changbin’s hand; not the same he had left Felix for but a different one; taller than him, with pretty features and sporting a cute eye-smile.
- Didn’t you two use to date? – a voice asked, waking Felix from his little trance. There was a small crowd gathering around them, smiling and holding drinks, and everyone’s eyes were on Felix and Changbin.
- They did, I remember it! – someone else replied. Felix recognized her face but couldn’t name her.
- We broke up in college. – Felix replied, slightly uncomfortable about the topic because he really didn’t like people commenting on his personal life.
- Yeah, we followed different paths. – Changbin dismissed it.
- Oh, I thought you’d still be together. – the woman from before lamented but it didn’t sound genuine at all.
- We were just kids back then. – was Felix’s reply to her, to which Changbin immediately agreed.
- Yes, that’s right. – said he, before glancing at the guy next to him. – And later I found the most amazing boyfriend ever, so the past is in the past. – declared. He was met with multiple ooh’s in appreciation as his boyfriend rolled his eyes with a smile.
- Feels like Changbin was the only one to move on, though. – someone commented, making all eyes turn to Felix again. Felix eyed the woman back, recognizing her cynical eyes from back in school; Eunji.
- Felix moved on too. – Jisung argued by his side, speaking up when Felix remained silent. – He has a gorgeous boyfriend!
- You do? – Changbin was the first one to react, apparently surprised.
Felix hummed in hesitation as everyone stared at him, awaiting a reply. – Yeah.
- Where is he? – Eunji asked right away.
- Why didn’t you bring him? – one of her friends added. Yoorim, if Felix remembered it correctly.
- He’s busy, so he couldn’t make it. – he could feel his jaw hardening has he replied, annoyed by that entire setup.
- Oh, of course he didn’t. – Eunji falsely lamented, so heavily cynical it would be impossible for anyone to not notice it.
- Believe whatever you want. – Jisung reacted again, throwing annoyed glances around. – Let’s get some drinks, Lix. – and he pulled Felix away from that group while the people in it took the chance to continue commenting.
- He totally made that up!
- I know, right? That’s so embarrassing.
- Sorry, I spoke too much. – Jisung started as they walked away, throwing Felix an apologetic glance. – I didn’t mean to mention your relationship, I know you’re very private about it, but those two are just – he made a face as he closed his hands into fists. And Felix chuckled at the reaction, partly entertained.
- It’s okay. – he said. – They’re still very annoying.
- I did wanna meet your mysterious boyfriend, though. – Jisung gave him sad puppy eyes and pouted, making Felix laugh.
Since Jisung had been the only high school friend Felix had kept any contact with, he knew that Felix was in a relationship, but that was about as much as he knew about it. Felix had always been quite private about his personal life, not liking to have anyone minding his business, and being in a relationship with the person he was in a relationship with had added to that. None of them were fond of rubbing their private lives in the faces of strangers.
- He might join us later. – Felix told his friend, giving him a suggestive glance and a smile.
Jisung looked excited about the idea but he didn’t comment on it anymore and Felix kept it like that. Still, when everyone moved into a different room so they could all have dinner together, Felix chose one of the round tables near the end of the room and put his jacket down to save the seat to his right. He wasn’t sure if his plus-one would arrive on time to actually have dinner but, regardless of that, he had told the reunion’s organizing members that he would be taking someone so there should be a seat for him too.
- You’re saving that one? – Changbin asked as he approached him, smiling when Felix nodded. – Can I take this? – he gestured to the next seat, waiting for a positive response before actually sitting down; his boyfriend sitting by his other side. – You’re not mad at me anymore, right? – asked then, expression turning genuinely sweet with a tint of worry.
- No, we’re good. – Felix chuckled, glancing back sweetly so Changbin knew there were no hard feelings on his part. Not anymore.
- Great! – Changbin actually sighed, like he had needed to get that worry off his chest. – This is Seungmin, by the way. I don’t think I got to introduce him before. – he leaned back a bit so his boyfriend and Felix could see each other properly.
- Nice to meet you – Seungmin smiled at him.
- You too. – Felix replied right away, smiling back.
- I’m Jisung. – Jisung introduced himself from the seat by Felix’s left, making them laugh at the attitude.
Unfortunately, their good mood was ruined after only a couple of minutes. Sunwoo and his boyfriend had found their table and joined them too, which added to the nice mood, but the remaining five seats ended up being taken by no one other than Eunji, Yoorim, the other woman whose name Felix couldn’t remember and two average-looking men who he assumed were Eunji and the other woman’s dates. It was clear from the start that they were there to ruin the mood, maybe even try to ridicule Felix like they used to do back in high school, so he tried his best to blatantly ignore them.
It worked for a moment, while they started eating and sharing casual conversation about all their own achievements in life. It was a lot of showing off, bragging about how they had found real relationships and managed to get good jobs with nice pay, so Felix mostly ignored it, keeping a quiet conversation with Jisung.
- What about you, Felix? – Eunji spoke up from across the round table, determined to not leave him alone. – What do you do for a living? – her interest was clearly not for how good Felix could be doing but for how it compared to others, so he debated for a moment whether he should reply at all. The whole table seemed to be waiting for him to.
- I have a bakery. – he said, keeping his voice neutral.
- So you make cakes? – Yoorim asked, sitting between Eunji and the other woman who hid a giggle behind her manicured hand.
- I design them. – Felix corrected. – My bakers are the ones actually baking them.
- Oh, sure. – Eunji laughed, very clearly entertained.
- Where is this bakery? We’d love to visit. – the other woman asked.
- Well, you’re welcome to. – a smile pulled at the corners of Felix’s lips as he replied with fake kindness. – Not sure you can afford it, but it’s right across the street from 2H Entertainment’s building. It’s called Taste. – continued, unafraid to stare back at them. He got a couple of offended scoffs back before Eunji seemed to remember something.
- Oh! Changbin, didn’t you say you work at 2H? – she said, redirecting everyone’s attention to Changbin. – Maybe you went to this bakery.
- Yeah, I’ve worked there for a few months – Changbin replied right away, a little confused. – I’m not big on cakes, though, so I don’t think I ever noticed a bakery. – lamented, continuing to eat his food calmly.
- So how do we know this bakery is real? – Eunji asked, feigning innocent confusion.
- I think he’s lying again. – the other woman scoffed. Was her name Jimin? Felix’s mind kept offering that name but he really wasn’t sure.
- That’s so shameless. – Yoorim commented too, throwing glances at her companions from behind her wine glass.
- Why the fuck do you ask if you’re not gonna believe him? – Sunwoo spoke up in response, clearly annoyed. It gave Felix little flashbacks to how explosive he used to be during high school and it made Chanhee frown and elbow him discreetly before giving him some food, as if he was trying to shut him up with it.
- Some brains didn’t develop past high school. – Jisung offered as a response but the ones he was referring to didn’t seem offended, putting on some falsely innocent expressions instead.
- We’re just being realistic. – Eunji argued. – He already lied about having a gorgeous boyfriend.
- Yeah, if he really had a gorgeous boyfriend, he’d bring him and not give out the most basic excuse.
- You do realize a person’s worth is not measured by how good their man is, right? – Felix raised one eyebrow at them. It almost saddened him, the way some people not only saw relationships as an accomplishment but also prided themselves on their significant other’s success like it was their own too, something to brag about.
- For you to say that, you’re either not dating at all or dating some middle-aged fat ugly guy. – Eunji replied, staring at him in a challenging manner. And Felix couldn’t totally repress his disbelieved chuckle, looking down at his plate and giving up on that conversation, which seemed to please the woman across the table.
- Who is that? – the woman next to Yoorim elbowed her discreetly, finally getting hers and Eunji’s attention away from Felix. – Did he go to school with us? – the disbelief in her voice made everyone else turn in the direction she was staring.
- No, I would totally remember him. – Eunji replied at the same time Felix actually turned around to look at whoever they were talking about.
It was Hyunjin. His Hyunjin, who had just walked into the room and stopped, looking around. As soon as his eyes met Felix’s across the room, Hyunjin drew a smile and started walking to him calmly.
Felix didn’t really mean to show him off, but he couldn’t stop himself from finding it entertaining how the whole room had gone so quiet solely thanks to Hyunjin’s presence. It wasn’t silent because there were multiple comments being quietly thrown around but the mood had definitely changed from everyone talking to each other to everyone being curious about who Hyunjin was. Thankfully, Felix knew Hyunjin didn’t mind the attention.
- He looks like an actor or a model. – someone at their table commented.
- He looks like the future father of my children. – Yoorim made her friends chuckle but also took the smile off Felix’s face, making him turn to her immediately.
- He most certainly doesn’t. – he stated, getting their attention and some disdain. Maybe his possessiveness kicked in a bit, making him draw little cynical smile. – And he’s already taken. – added as he stood up, turning to Hyunjin just in time to receive him.
- Parking around here is terrible. – Hyunjin complained before meeting Felix’s cheek with a kiss; hand on Felix’s waist out of habit. – Sorry for being late. – added quietly, giving Felix an apologetic look.
- Your timing is actually perfect. – Felix replied as quietly, only then turning towards the table and meeting mostly shocked faces. – Everyone, this is Hyunjin. – he introduced as he glanced around the table. He took his jacket out of the seat he had saved.
- Nice to meet you. – Hyunjin offered a polite smile and a small bow. – Forgive my tardiness, I had an important meeting I couldn’t miss. – he said, taking off his jacket to get comfortable before sitting down.
- Felix told me you were gorgeous but, wow – Jisung was the first one to actually react, looking at Hyunjin like he was absolutely stunned and getting back a big smile that made him gasp and look away. He even blushed a bit.
- No way you’re Felix’s boyfriend. – Eunji scoffed from across the table, getting their attention.
Hyunjin stared at her with a contained smile. – Boyfriend? – he raised his eyebrows in apparent surprise before turning to Felix with a rather offended expression. – You told them I’m your boyfriend?
Felix repressed a smile and rolled his eyes, aware of what was about to come, but he couldn’t help noticing Eunji’s momentary satisfaction about Hyunjin’s reaction. A satisfaction Hyunjin destroyed after a falsely offended scoff.
- I’m his fiancé. – he announced, grabbing Felix’s hand to show both their rings together.
The expressions on Eunji and her friends’ faces were pretty much priceless, each with their unique mix of disbelief and irritation. Everyone else was mostly surprised.
- You’re engaged? – Jisung turned to Felix, genuinely surprised but sporting the biggest smile.
- It’s pretty recent. – Felix offered as justification for the fact that he hadn’t mentioned his engagement before.
- It took months for him to stop dismissing my proposals. – Hyunjin added, going as far as pouting about it, and Felix hid his face against the palm of his hand with a laugh.
- No – he heard from Jisung, in pure disbelief.
- I swear! – Hyunjin continued with indignation, keeping his act even as Felix looked back up at him.
- We’ve been over this. – he tried to glare at Hyunjin but he couldn’t keep the smile out of his own face, especially when his fiancé was staring and smiling at him as sweetly as Hyunjin was. – Asking me to marry you right after we have sex is not a proposal. – argued, fighting back a smile upon watching Hyunjin’s pleased grin while Jisung burst into laughter.
- You look like an actor, are you an actor? – Eunji spoke up again, getting their attention.
- I do work at an entertainment company but not as an actor. – Hyunjin turned to her, answering casually. His modesty made Felix lower his head to hide a smile he failed to repress.
- Oh, really? What do you do? – Eunji continued and, if one didn’t look at her at all, it kind of sounded like genuine interest.
- I’m currently working with the mail management team at 2H Entertainment. – Hyunjin answered still, unaffected by the almost discreet laughs that followed.
- Oh, the mail team. – Eunji gave her friends a knowing glance, with a venomous grin on her face.
- You work at 2H? – Changbin asked by Hyunjin’s side, looking up at him with surprised eyes. Contrary to the women across the table, his reaction was genuine.
- Changbin works at 2H too but he’s a producer. – Eunji butted in again, followed by her friend.
- Looks like Felix downgraded, after all. – she said, not even minding to lower her voice.
Felix rolled his eyes at the comment, finding it absolutely ridiculous that they were even comparing his current relationship with his previous one. He wouldn’t love Hyunjin any less if he was actually a mail staff or if he had a completely different job.
He noticed Hyunjin glancing at them but his fiancé didn’t give the comment any attention, turning his focus towards Changbin instead.
- You’ve been hired recently, no? – he said, drawing a smile. – I worked at the bar for most of last year and I don’t remember seeing you there. – he wondered, promptly ignoring the little laughs and comments from across the table.
- The bar!
- He’s not serving coffee anymore, he’s delivering letters.
- Yeah, I got hired earlier this year. – Changbin replied after glancing across the table, ignoring them too.
- Who do you work with? – Hyunjin kept the conversation, actually invested in finding out what Changbin did at his company.
- Bang Chan. – Changbin replied right away, equally invested. That response made Hyunjin gasp in enthusiasm and turn in his chair to face Changbin directly; one hand flying to land on Changbin’s shoulder.
- You’re SpearB? – Hyunjin asked, with a smile so radiant it almost made Felix a little jealous that it wasn’t directed at him.
- You know my work? – Changbin’s eyes got wide with surprise again.
- Yes, it’s great! – Hyunjin continued. – Chan is a good friend of mine, so he showed me your work when he found you online. We both agreed we had to hire you. – and he threw Changbin a sweet smile too. Felix lightly pushed him with his elbow.
- Stop smiling at him like that. – he mumbled, getting an overly entertained chuckle back from his fiancé.
Changbin didn’t seem affected by Hyunjin’s smile. Instead, he looked utterly confused, blinking up at Hyunjin.
- Hire me?
- Yes. – Hyunjin turned to him again, fighting back a laugh at the confused expression before adding – I’m kinda your boss.
And Changbin stopped responding, showing no reaction at all. Seungmin leaned over the table to peek at his boyfriend’s face, chuckling silently, and Felix laughed at the scene. From across the table, though, the reactions were loud enough to get their attention again.
- You just said you work with the mail team and now you’re saying you’re his boss? – Eunji scoffed, laughing in disdain.
- I guess he’s a liar just like his fiancé. – Yoorim added, matching the tone.
- My father believes a good CEO needs to know how the whole company works, so I’m working with every team before he officially passes the company to me. – Hyunjin told them, keeping a smile and not allowing them to ruin his mood.
Eunji scoffed again. – You’re saying you’re the heir of 2H Entertainment now? – she basically challenged him, laughing with her friends then.
- They’re out of control.
- Can’t all of you just shut the fuck up already? – Sunwoo complained, sounding highly irritated.
- I swear to god! – Jisung added, indignant.
Felix heard them but his attention was in the way Hyunjin was staring across the table.
- Leave it. – he mumbled, caressing Hyunjin’s arm. – Let’s just eat.
Hyunjin turned to him to give him a reassuring smile, caressing Felix’s hand, but he turned towards the women again. Taking his phone out of the pocket of his jacket, he opened a web browser and searched his own name together with the company’s name. As expected, the first few results included a bunch of photos of him and news articles about him being the heir of the company, together with some gossip posts too. He extended the phone towards Changbin.
- Do you mind passing it around to them? – requested calmly, which Changbin did right away.
They passed Hyunjin’s phone around until it reached Eunji’s hand and it was fairly entertaining to see all three women look at the phone and back up at Hyunjin multiple times. It took them a couple of minutes to actually realize Hyunjin was in fact the heir and future CEO of 2H Entertainment, one of the biggest entertainment companies in the country, and multiple emotions showed on their faces during the process. Shock, disbelief, irritation.
- I don’t appreciate you calling me or my fiancé liars. – Hyunjin told them, keeping a serious posture. When they turned to him again, their smiles were a lot more polite than before but still fake.
- Well, forgive me for not believing it – Eunji was the one replying, falsely apologetic. – I just don’t see why the heir to a big company would ever date Weirdelix. – yet she was taunting them still, using the name bullies had given Felix back in high school.
- You’re really pushing it – Sunwoo stood up like he was ready to fight, but he held back when Hyunjin stood as well.
Unlike Sunwoo, who was clearly irritated and aggressive, Hyunjin looked calm. He stood up silently and stared down at Eunji, with his tense jaw and his serious eyes being the only sign of his irritation. Eunji had to regain her composure after trembling slightly, obviously intimidated, and that was when Hyunjin leaned into the table between them, propping himself on his hands placed a bit after the empty plate in front of him.
- First of all, my fiancé is wonderful. – he started, voice void of sympathy as he stared at Eunji. – He has more kindness in his pinkie than you do as a whole. He’s so honest and hardworking he has created his own business instead of just trying to marry rich, even though I would gladly spoil him rotten if he let me. And he’s so hot your date looks at him more than he looks at you. So if you’re trying to feel superior to him, I’ll recommend you give it up; you’d have to be born again to even consider trying to reach his level. – he enunciated each word calmly and with the most class one could ever, rendering Eunji speechless and making Felix repress a smile at the words. – I’ll have my phone back now.
Yoorim took the phone out of Eunji’s hands, apparently embarrassed, and passed it back around the table until it reached Hyunjin again. He didn’t thank them for it, which he normally would, and instead simply straightened up and turned towards Felix.
- Come on, angel, we’ll have dinner somewhere else. – his voice turned sweet even though his face was still mostly serious and he grabbed Felix’s jacket from the chair’s back, helping him put it on.
Felix had to try is very best to not laugh at everyone’s reactions. Even Jisung, who was probably the most talkative of them, was just looking around at their table, half shocked and half entertained but totally speechless.
- I’ll see you at the company. – Hyunjin turned to Changbin as he put his own jacket on, drawing a simple smile. – We should get some drinks sometime. – added before turning to the rest of the people at the table. – We’ll be leaving first. – announced, not waiting for a reply and immediately guiding Felix away; one arm around his waist.
Felix couldn’t help his smile then, lowering his head as it turned into a chuckle and partially hiding it against Hyunjin’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure how much of the conversation the people in the other tables had heard or understood but anyway they were all looking at them as they left and Felix found it hilarious, especially considering he was mostly invisible during all his time with those people before.
- That was super hot right now. – he mumbled, glancing up at Hyunjin.
- She really pissed me off. – Hyunjin replied through gritted teeth before looking back at him. – You’re too good.
- I don’t need to prove anything to them. – Felix offered as the reason why he didn’t reply or take action and it was true.
It was not like he couldn’t defend himself, he simply chose not to because it was worthless. Whatever those people said or thought about him had absolutely no impact on his life anymore, so he didn’t see a reason to change their minds about him. But Hyunjin was different. Hyunjin couldn’t see someone he cared for being taunted and keep quiet.
It took him the entire walk to his car to calm down from the scene inside the venue they had rented for the reunion.
- So is that Changbin your Changbin? – a different topic was on his mind then.
- My first boyfriend? – Felix looked up at him with a little grin, entertained. – Yes, that’s him. – he stopped near the car. Instead of walking away, Hyunjin walked closer, surrounding Felix’s waist with both arms as he hummed at the sky above them.
- How far did you go with him? – he looked back at Felix with a pout forming on his lips. It was like he was asking so he could decide how jealous to get and Felix found it absolutely adorable.
- We went to Jeju once, on a school trip. – Felix teased him and got pulled closer against Hyunjin’s chest.
- Very funny. – Hyunjin complained, stumbling to press Felix against the car and making him giggle. – You know what I mean.
- It’s not important. – Felix argued, looping his arms around Hyunjin’s neck and looking at him sweetly.
Hyunjin actually pouted. – He’s your first boyfriend.
- And you’re my last. – he immediately replied, reaching up to kiss Hyunjin’s pout away. – I’m marrying you, remember? – teased but Hyunjin remained unconvinced, rolling his eyes. Felix kissed him longer. – I love you. – whispered close to Hyunjin’s mouth, smiling into another kiss then.
- Forget dinner, I’m eating you as soon as we get home. – Hyunjin decided, pecking Felix’s lips before letting go and finally walking around the car to get into the driver’s seat.