2 weeks later,
Bronxville, NY
Ryojin's apartment
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"Landon," Ash announced the second Landon answered the phone, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
Landon slowly climbed out of the bed so he didn't disturb Ryojin, who was peacefully sleeping on the other side of the queen bed.
"Dad? What's up?" he frowned, going into the bathroom and splashing water onto his face; sighing at the sight of curly black hair.
I forgot to bring my straightener yesterday, guess I'll have to do it at home, he groaned to himself.
"It's Light. Something happened in Trinidad and he got hurt, they're flying him into the hospital in Manhattan." Ash replied in a calm tone but his voice was wavering and Landon could tell he was worried.
Landon gasped, "Oh my god! I'm coming home, I'll see you in less than an hour." he quickly announced before hanging up the phone and rushing back into Ryojin's bedroom.
The teacher was sitting up on his bed, typing on his laptop when Landon came running in and started pulling his clothes back on.
"Cookie? What's wrong?" Ryojin frowned curiously at the sight of Landon tripping over himself as he tried to quickly pull up his jeans.
"My dad is in the hospital. I'm sorry, I know I said we could spend the weekend together but-" Landon furrowed his eyebrows in discomfort, he didn't want Ryojin to be disappointed in him.
Ryojin climbed out of bed and cupped Landon's chin with his tattooed hand, "Don't apologize, go to your family, it's okay. Do you want me to drive you?" he offered with a small smile.
Landon shook his head, "No sir, thank you. I'll call an Uber, I have to go." he got on his toes and kissed Ryojin's lips softly.
The brunet pushed for a deeper kiss when he firmly squeezed Landon's neck, causing him to bite back a needy moan.
"Call me when you have a chance," Ryojin ordered, flicking Landon's forehead before releasing the teen's neck so he could finally leave.
Landon slipped on his shoes and grabbed his phone, heading for the living room, "Landon," Ryojin called, causing him to stop and look back.
"I..." love you, he caught himself before he could say those words, "want you to be safe." Ryojin said instead with a nod.
The teen smiled softly and nodded, "I will, bye!" he ran out of the apartment and left Ryojin to his own panic.
Ryojin groaned into his hands as he sat down on the bed, "Ryojin, you can't tell him that. He's young, he might freak out and run away." he mumbled to himself in Korean.
He laid back on his bed, grabbing his laptop and rolling his eyes as he shut it; Ryojin didn't feel like writing up a syllabus right now.
Instead, Ryojin picked up his phone and called Mi Kyong to which the call was instantly answered.
"Mocha, how are you? Is something wrong?" she said in a worried voice, concerned as to why Ryojin was calling.
"No, Noona, I'm fine. Why does something have to be wrong for me to call?" Ryojin frowned, tapping his foot against his bare shin casually.
Mi Kyong sighed, "It doesn't. But we spoke yesterday, and so I thought maybe something was the matter." she responded, clearly now smiling behind the phone.
Ryojin chewed on his lip for a second before clicking his tongue, "I'll go."
"Hm?" Mi Kyong asked confused.
"Home, for Christmas. You can tell mom and dad I'm coming back." he muttered in a low voice, dreading wanting to see his parents.
Mi Kyong squealed happily, "Ah great! It'll be just like before!" she announced excitedly.
Before I came out and got shunned by my parents and most of my cousins. Ryojin breathed deeply, he was quite annoyed with the reminder.
"Are you going to be bringing Landon? I'm sure he'd like to see Daegu in the winter." she asked slowly.
Ryojin sat up from his bed, gripping the phone tightly, "Are you crazy? Do you want for Mom to make him miserable during holidays too?" he asked in a furious rant of Korean.
"No, of course not." Mi Kyong answered.
"Then why the hell would you even suggest it?"
Mi Kyong sighed, "I'm sorry, okay?" she asked dissatisfied.
"And..." Ryojin huffed, "even if it wasn't for them, we aren't that serious. Not enough for me to introduce someone else to the family." he admitted in a soft voice.
Mi Kyong clicked her tongue sadly, "Mocha, you can't stay loyal to her forever. It's not healthy."
"I'm not. I just think that maybe I owe it to Jackie not to move on so fast. It's only been 2 years." he reminded the older woman.
"It is because of her," Mi Kyong ignored his excuse and continued, "if it wasn't, you would've gotten the mark covered up or removed already. Like you said, it's been 2 years."
Ryojin huffed, "I have to go Noona, love you." he quickly tried to get off the phone, he didn't want to admit she was right.
"Bye, I'll tell mom and dad you're coming home. I love you, Mocha." Mi Kyong allowed him to hang up, knowing she'd gone too far by mentioning...her.
meanwhile,
Manhattan, NYC, NY
Manhattan City Hospital
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Landon knocked on the hospital room door, which was quickly opened by Ace who had tear marks going down his cheeks.
"Is he okay?" Landon asked, stepping into the room and placing a hand on Leah's shoulder since the young blond was sitting on a chair nervously picking at his nails.
Anxiety, it was something Light, Landon, and Leah all shared.
"We don't know yet, he's still asleep. But apparently he broke his leg." Ash answered calmly.
He was the only one, aside from Landon, who was calm.
Mostly because Ash had gone through many stressful situations and had to be the strong one for his husbands and sons.
"His leg?" Landon frowned, What the fuck happened?
In all of Landon's life, he's never seen Light get hurt so this injury was surprising to him.
"I think I fell." the brunet gave a short laugh, gaining everyone's attention since he was now awake.
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bc new character upcoming ~