Page 31 of Idol Moves

“Thank you, Director Choo.”Satisfied that he’d gotten the answer he was looking for, the anchor turned to the camera.“To explore this matter further, we contacted someone with intimate knowledge of the situation. We’re joined now by Woo Jeong Ho and Byeon Sun Young from their home in Daejeon. Welcome to the both of you.”

Tae Hyun’s heart stopped again as a pair of faces appeared in a split screen. They were faces he knew well. They were his parents. “No.” The word was barely a whisper. What were they doing? In all the years he’d been an idol, his parents had never once talked with the media. That had been their longtime agreement in exchange for Tae Hyun’s continuing financial support. An agreement they’d just broken.

“We’re incredibly disappointed that our son has done these things,”Tae Hyun’s father spat, ignoring the anchor’s greeting as words he’d undoubtedly practiced a hundred times in anticipation of his interview suddenly rushed out.

“No!” The word was a shrieking hurricane wind pummeling his already battered surroundings. “No!” Tae Hyun squeezed the remote until he heard it creak. Then he flung it at the TV screen. It struck near the bottom corner and bounced back, leaving behind a pale web of cracks. He must’ve also paused the playback somehow. His parent’s faces had frozen, his father’s angry finger still pointing at their webcam, his mother’s an unknowable mask. Why would they do something like that? But he knew why. They’d been bought off. Ji Hoon, or, more likely, CEO Pak, had swooped in with an offer of support in exchange for turning against their son. Never mind that they’d kept taking the money he’d sent them. Never mind that–

“What the fuck, Tae Hyun?” Jason, finally awake, stomped from the hallway leading to their bedroom, bleary-eyed and rubbing his head. “What the hell are you doing? Why are you making so much noise?”

Words failed Tae Hyun, so he simply pointed at the screen.

Jason stopped rubbing his head to briefly rub his eyes as he focused on the faces floating on the lounge’s far wall. Recognition struck after a moment. “Oh, shit.” He shook his head. “Turn it off.”

Tae Hyun’s partially contained rage exploded. “What?” Words hadn’t failed him after all. “No! I need to know. I need to hear what–”

“You don’t need to hear shit.” Jason glanced around the room in search of something. He briefly frowned as his eyes landed on the TV screen’s damaged corner. “Where’s the remote?”

Tae Hyun’s eyes turned to where it lay on the floor between them, drawing Jason’s attention. Tae Hyun sprang as Jason bent to pick it up, knocking them both on the couch and landing atop Jason with an exasperated groan. He desperately reached for the remote. “Give it to me!”

“What the fuck, Tae Hyun?”

Jason held the remote out of Tae Hyun’s reach with his outstretched arm. But Tae Hyun knew he could still get it. He just needed to be quick. He crawled forward and–Whomp. Jason flipped over, knocking Tae Hyun off the couch. He fell to the floor, landing on his back with a dull thud. Then Jason crawled on top of him, sitting on his chest as he pinned Tae Hyun’s arms to the floor with his hands.

“Stop this,” Jason growled as Tae Hyun squirmed. “You’re gonna hurt yourself. Or me.”

Tae Hyun finally caught the pained confusion on Jason’s face and immediately stopped struggling. Why was he fighting with Jason over the remote? Had he lost his mind? “I’m–” The word was a child’s voice. He knew tears were coming and pushed out the second word before they arrived. “-sorry.” Then his vision blurred as the tears flooded his eyes.

Jason breathed a long sigh through his nose as he reversed his hold on Tae Hyun’s arms and lifted him to a seated position, wrapping his arms around Tae Hyun and cradling him to his chest as he cried. “It’s gonna be alright. Everything will be alright.”

“Nothing will be alright!” Tae Hyun’s voice nearly cracked as he sobbed. “How could they do this to me?” He weakly pounded both fists on Jason’s chest, which rang hollow. “Why would they do this?”

“I know it sucks right now, but you’ll get through this.”

Tae Hyun scoffed. “You don’t know that.” He didn’t mind being comforted. No, he liked it. But he didn’t need to be coddled. “You don’t understand.”

Jason gently pushed Tae Hyun back from his chest and looked down at him, his mouth twisted with a wry grin. “You’re telling me I don’t understand conservative Korean parents who’d rather publicly betray you than accept your being gay?”

Tae Hyun huffed. “Alright, yeah. I guess you do understand.” He looked away from Jason and spotted the frozen tableau of his parent’s disappointment. The last time he’d spoken with them, there’d been no talk of anything related to his relationship with Jason. His mother had called Jason his new friend. Jason was his colleague, according to his father. Tae Hyun knew they disapproved of him being gay. But he understood that they could at least carry on the semblance of a normal relationship as long as they didn’t talk about it. Now, even that was gone. “I really wish they hadn’t done this.”

“I know.” Jason pushed himself off his knees and stood before helping Tae Hyun to his feet. “The last time I spoke with my father, he told me he wished I was dead. So, I say fuck parents. If you don’t want to deal with a kid being their own person, then don’t have any.”

Tae Hyun nodded, even if he disagreed. His nerves were still too jangled for anything else, and he’d already put Jason through enough. But Jason had such an American point of view about most things, including families. Obeying his elders, and especially his parents, was so ingrained in Tae Hyun’s culture that even being gay had made him feel so guilty he kept up his charade with them after he’d publicly come out. He pointed to the TV. “I still need to watch this.”

“Maybe.” Jason frowned. “But let’s do it together after you’ve had some time to calm down. After that little display–”

Tae Hyun bowed his head. “I’m sorry about the TV.”

Jason scoffed. “I don’t care about the damn TV. It’s the cheapest fucking thing I own.” He stepped close enough that Tae Hyun could feel his body heat radiating off him. “I care about you.” He put his hands on Tae Hyun’s hips and pulled their bodies together. “But you can’t ever attack me like that again.”

“I know.” Tae Hyun sighed as he rested his head on Jason’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, hyung. I was so upset I wasn’t thinking clearly. Please forgive me.”

Jason put his hand on Tae Hyun’s head, gently pressing it to his shoulder. “I get that, too. Believe me. Just try not to do it again, please.”

Tae Hyun nodded as he wrapped his arms around Jason and squeezed. “I won’t. I promise.”

“Okay. Let’s clean up your mess.”

Tae Hyun pulled his head off Jason’s shoulder. “My mess?”

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