❝ It was louder when you were quiet ❞
"Oh my God! Get in here!" Lucas' mother assisted Jungwoo in the door as he clung to his swollen and bruised hand as if it was about to fall off. "What happened?" she gasped as he unwrapped it from his shirt. It looked worse than Lucas thought it would be. "Lucas, honey, go grab my emergency kit from under my bed. We need to wrap this before— here, you need to set this book down really quick, sweety."
Lucas scoffed before jogging up the stairs as quick as possible. He didn't want to leave his mother down there with Jungwoo for too long out of fear he might do something to her.
"Hi, Mrs. Wong, it's nice to meet you again. I just upgraded to Lucas's boyfriend." His mother's mouth formed into an 'o' at this sudden news. She didn't have a clue Lucas and Jungwoo were intimate enough and neither did Lucas. "I asked him out weeks ago and he finally decided to say yes."
"What'd you just say? Weeks ago? And he didn't even tell me?" her face pale and heartbroken. Jungwoo knew exactly what he did wrong and he wasn't stopping there. "Lucas usually tells me these— You and Lucas are—" She turned away to look up the stairs where her child has disappeared to. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to put a rift between you two. You know, I assumed you were together all weekend which is why he wasn't answering his calls."
"Really?" Jungwoo pretended her words felt like a slap in the face. "He was on his phone all weekend. He barely had time for me or the wake." Jungwoo pouted which made Lucas's mom come to his comfort. "I'm just... I'm really trying. He's been a bit off ever since Mark unfriended him."
"Mark did what?" She covered her mouth in shock. Lucas came jogging down seconds later as his mom got up to collect the kit with shaky hands.
"You alright mom?" She just looked at him and shook her head. "Did I miss something?" He forced a smile.
"No, but I did. Why didn't you tell me you and Jungwoo were a thing. And then Mark? Your best friend, Mark? I raised him as if he was my own and he bails on you. I always knew he was a little jerk." Lucas's eyes trail to Jungwoo who is watching Mrs. Wong carefully wrap his hand. "Oh, the tape isn't in here. Hold this part down and I'll be back."
Lucas waited patiently tapping his foot against the wooden floor until his mother disappeared "You promised you wouldn't make any more additions to that damn book!" Lucas rushed to sit in the empty seat. "Now you're turning my parents against me too?"
"Your mother doesn't know we're together? Aren't you just a responsible boyfriend."
Lucas's mouth dropped. "Jungwoo, stop! You are supposed to be fixing things. When you get done with this whole acting scene, we're going to Mark's house and you're going to delete that damn video. More importantly, you're going to give those kids their jobs back."
Jungwoo splayed his hands at the boy. "Pft, no need for the last part. I had Taeyong pay them out of your life. They always had their job, just not for that day." Lucas formed his hands into the choking position and Jungwoo held out his neck. "Go ahead. You'll never be able to get the video of me giving you a blowjob."
Lucas covered the older's mouth as his mother came back down the stairs. "Lucas, what are you doing?" she scolded and swat his hands away. "Taking advantage of the handicapped?" Lucas couldn't do anything but roll his eyes. "I hope you're staying for dinner. Your father is picking up pork belly from the market."
"No thank you Umuni," he touched his mother's shoulder just for her to glare at him and shake it off. "Uhm, we have one last thing to do just to top off our relationship." His mother smiled at Jungwoo proudly while Lucas was trying to hold down whatever his empty stomach held on to.
Once Jungwoo was all wrapped up and Lucas gave him the pain medication, Lucas was already the first one to say his goodbyes. "We'll be back before tomorrow afternoon."
His mother rushed to them at the front door as if to win a race. "Tomorrow? You just got back. I haven't seen you all day! Your father literally got back from his business trip hours ago. He's expecting you!"
"Sorry, umma! I'm so sorry!" The two teenagers continued their trip to the car which involved Jungwoo stalling as much as he could. "You know where Taeyong lives right?"
"Aren't I the one who keyed the assholes car?" Jungwoo started the car with no hesitation and they both went cruising down the road.
Minutes passed and Jungwoo's yawning was getting intense. Lucas watched carefully waiting for his moment like no other. "Gosh, all this running around has got me worn out." Jungwoo looked at Lucas who was smiling brightly. "Did that medicine have any side effects?" He asked as his eyelids slowly got heavier. He even swerved on the road a little.
"Uh, not that I know of. But it usually makes people tired you know. I don't think it's a good idea you drive."
"The shit doesn't even work. My wrist is still killing me." Jungwoo looked at his wrist to see it was still pretty horrible. "Why'd you let me hit that window?" he yawned out. His head fell and he jolted upward and quickly put the car in the right lane. "Why am I—" Jungwoo pulled over to the side of the road and yawned out once more.
"Jungwoo?" Lucas said as the older's vision got blurry until his eyes were completely closed. "They were sleeping pills."
"What?" Jungwoo tried to fight Lucas but he was weak until he was out. Lucas quickly unbuckled Jungwoo. He then got out the car so he could pull Jungwoo to the back with success.
"First things first, delete the video." Lucas hopped in the front seat and took Jungwoo's phone out the cupholder. Like a pro, he used the unconscious male's finger to unlock the phone.
From the gallery to the cloud and even any drafts on social media, Lucas deleted anything that had to do with scandals and blackmails. Lucas even saw some pictures of Kun being happy that he wanted to delete. He didn't want Jungwoo to have anything happy about the one he pulled down, but he locked the phone back and tossed it on the floor.
Next stop was Taeyong's house.
"Who is it!" that voice still made Lucas fear his entire existence but he knew he wouldn't have a choice but to hear it once again. "Who—" one look at Lucas's face and Taeyong wanted to slam the door shut. "What the hell do you want? Where is Jungwoo? He's probably in the bushes watching like a creep. You have to go!"
"I drugged him, deleted you and Mark's sex tape, then stole his car to tell you that you no longer have to worry. I'm ending this." Taeyong's heart visibly dropped and so did his face when it landed in his hands. Lucas stood back and watched as Taeyong cried into his hands. It was loud and sloppy and exactly what Lucas needed to see.
"I love you, Lucas. I love you and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He pulled Lucas into a hug and cried into his shoulder. Lucas loosely hugged him back for pushing him off as politely as he could. "How did you-"
"He gave me a blow job in the backseat of his car. I came and said your name instead of his. After that... he lost it. He confessed it all. And that journal—"
Taeyong wiped his face quickly and his face went from depressed to shocked in a minute. "You got the journal?" Lucas nodded suspiciously. "Give me my note! You have to give me my note. Kun said he'd give us our notes when the whole thing was over. Now since you're ending it we can see what he wrote about us."
"I'm going to need proof before I do anything for you." Lucas stepped off the porch when Taeyong flashed his phone in the younger boys face. He read the text Kun sent weeks ago and nodded. "How do I know which one is yours?"
"It has a T on the back of it."
That being said, Lucas pulled out the two slips of papers he tried to steal. The cheater or abusive one had a T on the back and the speech had a K on the back. "I'm sorry. I already read it. I didn't know."
"This is it?" Lucas nodded. "That's all you're getting. Now I have to go see Mark."
"Wait! What are you going to do with Jungwoo once he wakes up?" Lucas just smiled and headed back to the car. Taeyong watched as his ex drove off leaving a trail of dust.
Holding the letter with the M on the back, Lucas knocked on Mark's window and the younger opened it seconds later. "Lucas! Is that really you!" He grabbed his older friend into a hug and Lucas hugged him tight enough to fall into the window with him. "Bro, what the fuck! You scared the shit out of me!" Mark was already crying not even seconds into the reunion. "I thought he— I thought he fucking killed your ass, dude! Hug me! Give me a damn hug!" Lucas listened and hugged him. It might of been the longest hug they've had since knowing each other.
"Mark, I have to make this quick because I don't know how long this will last." Lucas places the crumbled piece of paper in Mark's hand.
"You got the journal?"
"I haven't told anyone this but you. But I'll be gone for a while. Jungwoo needs help and he needs me with him."
"Oh no! Don't tell me he has you under some sort of spell?" Lucas chuckled while disagreeing. "We can just drop him off somewhere and forget about him. Please, I'm so sick of this. So sick of worrying that every given day he'll do it. He'll send it."
Lucas pulled Mark into one last hug for a while. "That video is gone. It's all gone. All you need to do is read that note and do me a favor."
Mark sniffled but eventually agreed. "Make a skateboarding video with Haechan and Jaemin." Mark almost passed out after hearing that. "And please dedicate it to me. I want to watch it when I get back and I want to laugh and I want everything to be back to normal. Promise me, Mark."
"I don't know, man."
Lucas rested both his hands on Mark's shoulder. The youngest was still shaken up he couldn't even stop fumbling with the note. "Promise. Me."
"Promise me you're coming back."
"I promise, Mark."
Lucas slipped out the window as Mark opened the small note he's been waiting to get his hands on since forever. "He'll forgive you... even if you can't forgive yourself."
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