TIMEOUT - Part Sixteen
When Kyun walks into the house with his parents, he feels even more deeply how much he fucked up. They haven't spoken to him the whole way home. Sheepishly, he walks after them into the kitchen, watches his father hugging his mother while she covers her face.
Is she crying?
Kyun had no idea he could feel any more pain, but this?
"You're grounded!" his father says over his shoulder while his mother supports herself with her hands on the counter, her back turned to him. "No video games, no parties, no phone, no social media!"
"Yes, Sir!" Kyun mumbles.
"And if it weren't redundant I'd also forbid you to play football. You're lucky your mom prevented you from getting suspended! So you'll go to school and come home right after that, do you understand?"
Again Kyun nods. "Yes, Sir!"
For a moment the three of them stand there in silence. Kyun hates that he disappointed his parents so much.
"Mom.." he whispers. "Don't you wanna say something?"
"I don't know what to say!" Immediately she turns around to him and he sees her teary eyes. "I know I made mistakes as a mother but this isn't how I raised you! I never... never raised you to be a man who is so competitive that he starts fights!"
There's this urge to tell his mother why he beat up Emery. But that wouldn't change a thing. Cause it's true. His mum raised him as a pacifist... he always avoided fights as much as possible. Until now...
"Kyun, do you even realize what you did? You beat him unconscious! You know I'm always on your side... but I can't defend you this time..."
These words hit him just as hard as your break-up.
Since she was sixteen, she sacrificed her own life, her fun, her youth to give him a life in which he never had to worry about anything. And this is how he thanks her...
"Go to your room!" his father adds and Kyun turns around and walks upstairs.
When he arrives in the bathroom and his eyes fall on the mirror he flinches, shocked.
Gosh, he totally forgot that he caught a hit or two from Emery. His left eye is blue, almost black, and there are traces of dried blood under his nose...
Great. He looks exactly how he feels.
Groaning, he takes off his dirty shirt and tosses it into the hamper before carefully washing his hands. Hissing, he grimaces as the hot water runs over his open knuckles and he looks back into the mirror.
How could he have sunk this low?
One day later, Kyun lays in his bed and stares at the ceiling while drowning in self-pity. The happiness he felt until last week almost seems like a very vivid dream.
He had it all.
A dream.
A girl he loved.
And now? It's all gone.
Gulping, he tries to stop his eyes from watering when he suddenly hears a knock on his door. Groaning, he sits up and dries his face.
"Yeah?"
"Hey, darling!"
Kyun feels this weight in his chest lightening as he sees his mother's compassionate gaze after she opened the door.. She'd never given him the silent treatment before. This was horrible.
"Hey!" he says and sits up.
"May I come in?"
Immediately, he nods. "Of course!"
Slowly she walks in and sits with a loud sigh next to him on his bed before she gently takes his hand and lays it in her lap while holding it tightly.
"I talked to my boss earlier..." she says,staring at the door. "She... she said she'll do anything to bail you out of this if Emery's parents press charges against you..."
Oh shit.
He didn't even think about that.
Gosh, what else? Hasn't he suffered enough?
"But this isn't why I'm here!" she mumbles before Kyun has the chance to answer. "While we were talking, she kept on asking if we were really talking about you here. Cause she couldn't imagine that you could be capable of that. And this got me thinking. I mean... I thought about this a lot before but... suddenly it was so clear..."
Their eyes meet and he gulps heavily.
"So crystal clear that I'm ashamed that I never considered it..."
Kyun follows his mother's words, a little confused. "What do you mean?"
Sighing, she turns her body to him and holds his hand a little tighter.
"It was Emery, wasn't it? The one that hurt y/n?"
Fuck. Hearing your name hurts so much.
He bites his lip, to stop himself from crying cause the mere thought that his mother still believes in him and knows he would never beat up someone without a good reason, relieves him so much. Hesitantly, he nods and gulps heavily again.
"Why didn't you say anything?" she asks desperately.
Groaning, he gets up. "Cause this doesn't change anything!"
"It does!" his mother replies firmly and gets up as well. "Cause you're not the brainless, violent jock! You're a boy that loves someone so much that he can't stand the thought that someone hurt his love like this. In the past few hours, without this information, it was almost like I didn't recognize you anymore. And now? This matches the boy I raised so much more... you defended—"
"I didn't defend her!" he mumbles. "I was blinded by rage! She told me to stay out of this! She told me to not let myself get provoked. But the mere thought that he... did this to her..." his voice breaks. "And still tells everyone she's some kind of easy slut cause she slept with him... she didn't want this!"
Without being able to control it, he starts to cry for real and his mother pulls him into her embrace. It doesn't matter how tough he acts, and how mature. He needs this. Like a toddler, he clings to her and cries into her shoulder.
For the first time, he notices that his career ending before it even began and his failed school education don't matter. But losing you and what happened to you hurt him so damn much...
"She's so broken..." he sobs. "She lost her confidence and the sense of how much she's worth..."
For the first time, he lets it all out. He was always so strong. It's not that he was pretending, cause he really was stronger when you were with him but right now... he had no idea how much this strained him. His mother strokes his back gently before pulling him back to sit on his bed.
"When she... when she was here overnight... she.." he bites his lip at the thought of how much you were shaking when you suddenly got triggered. "She was crying so much cause she was scared I'd leave her if she didn't sleep with me? Mom... how... how could she think that?"
His mother gently dries his cheek and shakes her head, close to tears as well. "Many men are cruel. That's no secret. Society forces us, women, to be a specific way to be perfect. A good mom, independent, with a good job and a whore in bed, always willing to satisfy the man's needs... sex is such a huge topic in ours and your generation. They're more open. But people don't talk about the fact that not everyone is always willing to do it. Not every woman loves sex the way others do. I know you don't wanna hear this but after you were born... gosh I was so stressed, so tired... we didn't have sex for 9 months!"
Kyun can't believe she's doing this again.
"Mom..." he grimaces and she chuckles.
"I'm sorry! I'm just trying to tell you that her fear is understandable. The world is full of sex and boys drool after girls who wanna give it to them 24/7. That's quite a lot of pressure... But I'm sure you made it clear that you'll give her time, right?"
"Of course!" he rants. "I mean of course I wanna get that close with her but not before she's ready..."
For a long moment, his mother looks at him compassionately while caressing his cheek.
"And this, my precious son, makes you a better man than many others out there... I'm proud of you..."
Wow. Not touching a girl against her will seems like a heroic deed these days...
"This is nothing to be proud of.." he scoffs. "And it doesn't matter anyway..."
Suddenly he feels so weak and so tired. He doesn't wanna keep on talking about you now.
"Mom, Could you give me a little time alone?"
"Yes. Sure!" his mother leans closer and kisses his cheek before she stands up and leaves the room while Kyun lays down and tries to avoid his problems by sleeping them away...
Thanksgiving the next day has never been so quiet. Usually, the house is full of relatives from all over the country but this time, his family wanted to have a quieter one. His Dad's parents are on a cruise and his mother's were here for Chuseok last month anyway, and are getting too old to travel so far too often.
So it's just the three of them. And Kyun has never been more thankful. Cause he didn't wanna spend the day justifying and explaining himself for what he looked like.
Mama Im is super relaxed as well, which is great, cause usually, she's so stressed out from all the Thanksgiving cooking and when she's stressed, she's such a giant pain in the ass.
Kyun is just dumping another spoon of stuffing and turkey on his plate, when the doorbell rings. Confused, the family looks at each other before his father sighs and stands up while Kyun just keeps on eating.
"Shownu, boy. Hey!" his father's voice echoes into the living room and the Wide Receiver stops mid-motion and looks at his mum, who returns the gaze, just as baffled.
"Good evening and Happy Thanksgiving, Mrs. Im!" When Shownu walks in, he pulls his baseball cap from his head and bows politely.
"Happy Thanksgiving to you too!" his mother smiles.
"Bro" Shownu looks at Kyun. "Why aren't you answering your phone? We've been trying to call you for hours!"
He tilts his head. "It's Thanksgiving! That's why? What's up?"
Even though his parents re-appealed his ban to use his phone after they found out the real reason he attacked Emery, he's been avoiding it for two days now. He wasn't in the mood to socialize or get all the hateful or pitying messages from his teammates.
"I... I have news..."
Before Kyun can ask what kind of news, his dad pushes him closer to the table.
"Sit son, eat with us!"
Shownu scratches his head. "Actually I just ate at home..." for a moment he hesitates while looking at the filled table. "That looks really good though"
Smiling, he sits down while Kyun's Dad places a dish in front of him.
"Thank you!" the Quarterback says with wide eyes and immediately digs in.
Confused, Kyun watches him.
How can he tell him that he has news and forget about it the second he sees food?
"Bro?" Kyun rants and his buddy lifts his head, confused.
"What?"
"The news!"
"Oh!" Shownu drops his silverware and gasps. "I'm so sorry. But this..." he points it at his plate. "Is one of the best stuffings I've ever had, Mrs. Im. Seriously. Don't tell my mom please!"
His mom chuckles softly. "You're so sweet!"
For a moment they all fall silent while Kyun and his parents look at Shownu who suddenly seems to become kind of nervous.
"How openly can I speak? About Emery?" he asks hesitantly, looks at his parents and Kyun shrugs.
"They know all of it..."
From the corner of his eye, he can see them exchanging looks.
"Okay... um..." Shownu clears his throat. "Don't quite know how to start here, to be honest... L-last night was Lisa's annual pre-thanksgiving party..."
True. Usually, Kyun went to these parties. But, needless to say, he was in no mood this time, even if he hadn't been grounded from parties.
"So?" Kyun asks, slowly becoming impatient.
"We never thought this would happen but um... Emery was there too... gosh he looks so damn destroyed, you did a great job with him!"
There's this bright smirk appearing on his face and Kyun bites his lip to hide his own. Sure, it was stupid, but let's face it, he deserves it.
As Shownu's eyes fall on the adults, who don't look as amused as the teenagers do, his smile disappears.
"Sorry..." he clears his throat. "Seems like Emery wouldn't miss a single party even if he just got beaten up..."
Again he pauses and suddenly the Quarterback's facial expression changes. And this change worries Kyun.
"Changkyun, at that party... he did it again..."