HOUSE OF CARDS | VMINKOOK

21

Yiren shrugs. "Fuck them."

"Yiren!"

"I'm just saying— fuck what they think. It's your life. They already control what you wear, how you look, how you act. But neither you, nor them, can control how you feel, Jeonggukie."

"I know," Jeongguk looks back down at his work, mind off in space. "Sometimes I just still feel scared. Not as much as before, but still sometimes."

"And that makes sense. But don't let your fears keep you from living."

Jeongguk nods. He knows she's right— she almost always is. "Thank you, oh wise one," he giggles.

Yiren laughs as well, softly, since they are in a library. "Well my mom is a psychologist, so maybe that's why."

"Really? I didn't know that."

"Yeah," the girl hums, typing away on her computer. "That's why she was cool about it when my brother came out."

Jeongguk stops, eyebrows furrowed. He looks back up at Yiren, who looks up at the silence.

"C-Came out? As in..."

"My brother's gay."

"H-How come you never told me?" Jeongguk asks.

"Oh," Yiren frowns. "I thought I did...?"

"I definitely would have remembered that."

The girl giggles and closes her laptop. "Well yeah. He came out last year. My dad wasn't very happy about it. But my mom studied in the States, so she learned about it in some of her courses."

"So she was okay with it?"

"She supports!" Yiren smiles, seeing Jeongguk's confusion grow. "Jeongguk, not everyone thinks it's wrong. We just live in a place where society forces us to believe that. It's actually very common."

"Well yeah, in the States and stuff. My dad always talks about how the West glorifies sin. He rarely ever lets me watch American movies because of it."

"That's dumb."

Jeongguk looks down, snickering sadly. "I just... I don't understand."

"Don't understand what?"

"The whole... gay thing," Jeongguk admits, whispering again. Yiren snorts.

"What about it?"

"I don't know."

"I can't help you if you don't know what you want help with," Yiren laughs confusedly. Jeongguk still looks down, staring absentmindedly at his work. "Look, Jeongguk. Sexuality has a whole spectrum. There's so many different sexualities and all of them are valid. You're valid."

"Not in my parents' eyes."

"Stop thinking about them," Yiren snaps. "Think about yourself."

"Yiren, none of it matters. Yeah, so what? I'm probably gay," Jeongguk hisses, and takes a deep breath. "And maybe it's common, but... it's still unnatural."

"Actually, it occurs a lot in nature."

"Huh?" Jeongguk gasps.

"A lot of animals mate with the same sex. Technically, it is natural. Just the overly-conservative asshats don't want you to know that because it doesn't fit their narrative."

Jeongguk stares dumbly, blinking at Yiren as she talks. The girl is a lot smarter than him, and knows more about this topic, so he puts his trust in her.

Maybe it's not such a good idea to just blindly trust someone, but Jeongguk really just wants his feelings to be validated right now.

"So it is normal?" he says in a small voice.