Ah, a matchmaking invitation. How uncommon. Jaehwan's Master plucked that invitation out of his mailbox. He undid the navy blue envelope laced with a gold ribbon. Usually, he turned them down immediately, throwing them into the trash bin but for some reason, he felt unusually drawn to this one. He read the contents carefully, liking what he was seeing.
An image of Jaehwan's pathetic smile flashed in his mind and he hurriedly shoved the invitation back into his post box. He couldn't possibly hurt Jaehwan like that. No, that would be cruel. To hurt someone whom he loved so much, his one and only. He shook his head and tucked his fur jacket neatly and headed for the patio so that he could sit with Jaehwan.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, darling,"Shujin smiled and plopped himself in the chair next to Jaehwan. "It's okay, Master. I get it,". Shujin looked at Jaehwan's innocent face and groaned internally.
Really, would he want to go to a matchmaking event and risk losing such a precious person in his life? He did raise Jaehwan. He brought Jaehwan up and heavily sheltered him from external influence. Jaehwan didn't even have a smartphone until he was 16. He was also homeschooled for the most part. The only person he had ever talked properly with was his Master.
He huffed again and rubbed his tired eyes.
But then again, Shujin was probably too old for Jaehwan. His precious Jaehwan already has a partner who is the same age as him. He eyed Jaehwan's friendly hazel eyes which always had a benign gaze to them, his soft pink lips and porcelain skin.
Could he really ever find someone else just like this? Jaehwan smiled at his Master and raised his glass shyly. "Cheers Master. I love you,". The man shot him a wide smile to mask his guilty face. "Cheers my baby. I love you too,". Their glasses clinked and Shujin watched his little darling sip on his wine. "It's delicious Master~~ Thank you,"He giggled and pecked the man on the cheek gently.
Shujin just pecked him on the forehead and sipped from his glass. "You're welcome, Angel. I'll send you home tomorrow. I'm happy that you've kept your promise,". Jaehwan just giggled even more and smiled at his Master, eyes twinkling like they had the stars in them.
How sad it would be to have another happy mirage of Jaehwan's shatter.
_____________________________
Only the elite were there. Those who could afford such luxury. Those who were wealthy enough to even show their faces. That matchmaking event. People recognised Shujin, no doubt about it.
However, Shujin was very good at hiding the fact that he had been raising a boy more than a decade so they didn't really know about Jaehwan's existence. The old man himself sat across the bar, being entertained by the live band at the end of the room. He overflowed with charisma, the room filled up with his presence as he walked around. The man felt guilty and he planned to bury the truth from Jaehwan for as long as he could.
"Is that seat next to you empty?" Came a soft yet masculine voice. Shujin looked up to see a blonde, slightly younger looking male. "Yes, it is. Have a seat,". The young male pleasantly took a seat next to Shujin, grinning shyly. "You know, I've been watching you across the room, (Shujin's real surname but we'll call him Shujin only)-san. You have such a strong aura around you, it really draws anyone in." Shujin just chuckled in a friendly manner and sipped on his wine. "Have you ever had sex?". The older man froze.
'Wow? Asking me that already? Sheesh'.
Annoyed, Shujin just grunted, trying to kill the conversation without being too rude. "Was your partner great in bed? Are you guys together?". Shujin bit his lip. He thought about Jaehwan coming over every month and calling him every week, as promised.
But that was because he made him promise to do it, right? Would he and Jaehwan even be considered to be together if Jaehwan already had Aki? No. Jaehwan is his pet, his little baby. He did love him, but he wouldn't want to bear children with him right? Of course, parasites were of no expense to him but would Aki even let Jaehwan go through such a thing?
Just the thought of the answer made his lips tremble. "He was amazing in bed. But..."He hesitated to say the answer. The blonde male harrumphed impatiently and tapped his foot.
"Well?". The image of Jaehwan calling him played back in his head. An innocent boy who wouldn't hurt a fly if he could.
Yet absolutely psychologically damaged if Shujin had ever seen someone; and it was mostly his fault. That one time of them relaxing on the patio together replayed in his head.
"Master~ I love you".
Forcing himself to smile at the younger male, he took a sip of his drink. "No, we're not really involved with each other anymore,". The blondie's eyes lit up. "Great! Can I be your new partner in bed then?". Shujin stood up abruptly. "Woah, woah. That's too fast. I don't even know your name and you already want to fuck?". The blonde male grinned and stood up as well, shaking Shujin's freehand cockily. "My name's Vincent. It's a pleasure to meet you,".
Clicking his tongue to express his dissatisfaction, Shujin dropped his hand at once. "You're nothing cute or loveable. How can you expect me to fuck you?". Vincent pouted and clung onto his arm, alcohol on his breath. "Please~ Come on Shujin-san, you are just so manly and sexy when I see you,". Shujin pushed him away and grumbled. "I already have someone in bed anyway. I don't think I'll need you,".
Vincent straddled him, making him drop the empty glass in sheer surprise. "I'm better in bed than he'll ever be. Tenfold. I can make you love me,". Shujin was surprised to see someone so assertive, it was a nice little change. He wanted to see how far he could get with this kid, but there was only one problem.
He couldn't possibly let Jaehwan find out. Ever.
_____________________________
A year has passed since Shujin's secret affair. Jaehwan is still clueless about it. He has been together with Aki for a year now.
"Jae, has your Master not called you yet?"Aki asked as he sat down next to his boyfriend, who was watching his phone anxiously, cross legged on the futon. "I'm worried, Aki. What if he got into an accident or something? He hasn't been calling me at all lately. It's 1am now, he's never called me this late before,". Aki sighed, turning his attention to his partner's phone.
The 18 call logs from Jaehwan to Shujin just put him off. "Jae, I think you should turn in for the night. If he wanted to call you, he would have done so earlier,". Jaehwan bit his lip nervously and hugged his knees. "But, if I don't pick up, he'll threaten me again. Plus, he's my Master. I have to listen to him and wait for him,".
It was already very late and Aki didn't want Jaehwan to wait up for Shujin. He pulled his partner into his arms, trying to convince him to go to bed. "Come on, my darling. We need to wake up early tomorrow. We're going to meet Sumi tomorrow morning,".Jaehwan nodded and glanced at his phone once more before he gave in and let Aki carry him to bed.
Unfortunately, that night, Shujin didn't even call him back. Jaehwan felt disappointed and worried when he checked his phone the next morning. Aki felt like Shujin was destroying the confidence Jaehwan had with his selfishness and called him using Jaehwan's phone to grumble at him.
This time, Shujin picked up. "Baby, are you okay?". Aki quickly handed the phone back to Jaehwan and listened in. "Master, I called you 18 times yesterday,"He sighed and crossed his arms. Shujin stopped for a bit and you could hear him checking his phone. "Oh, so you have,".
"That's all you can say for yourself? When he was waiting up all night for your irresponsible ass to call him? You didn't even leave him a text saying that you couldn't call. If you can't follow your own rules, don't expect him to follow them either,"Aki scoffed and you could hear the old man sigh.
If there was anything he knew, it was that Aki did not give two flying fucks about who you were. He would be ready to scold you for being an asshole. "Jaehwan, your old Master's sorry. I'll pick up the following times,". Jaehwan bit his lip quietly and nodded intently. "I'd like that Master. But what were you doing last night?". Shujin huffed and you could hear him shift in the bed. "Hm? I had to do more paperwork regarding the mall,".
Jaehwan sighed, exasperated. "But you would always pick up your calls, even for five minutes. I don't get to see you everyday. Even back then, when the mall was under construction, you still picked up even for a little while,". Shujin replied to him, sounding apologetic. "I'm sorry, my precious Angel. I got a little carried away with my work. I'll make sure to answer your calls next time,".
Leaning against Aki's muscular shoulder for comfort, Jaehwan nodded innocently. "Master, promise me,". Shujin chuckled from the other side of the phone. "I promise you. Okay, I have a meeting in an hour and I need to get ready. I'll call you tomorrow night, okay Jaehwan?". Jaehwan nodded enthusiastically and smiled. "Bye bye, Master. I'm relieved that you're okay. Make sure you do call me,". Aki pulled Jaehwan down on the bed to cuddle with him once the call was over.
"Your Master seemed really nervous. Is he really okay?". Jaehwan shot a look of surprise at him. "My Master was nervous? Gosh, I hope he is okay. Maybe the mall hasn't been doing so well,". Aki shook his head. "Nope, that thing is almost as popular as Akihabara now. Your Master is a marketing genius,".
That statement made Jaehwan nervous. Why would his usually strict, scary and stoic Master be nervous around him? Nervous about what?
'Why? Just why? Maybe he doesn't love me anymore'. Jaehwan thought as he lay down next to Aki for a bit. 'No, I'm overthinking this. He does love me. He's just busy. He's nervous about the meeting. It's fine'.
Unusually quiet, Aki was staring off into blank space. Perhaps he himself was nervous about how Asuna would react after her eldest brother had finally come to visit her. "Kiki? We have to pick Sumi up right?". Aki snapped out of his trance and nodded, quickly getting dressed. "Right! We do! Let's get changed nice and quickly and we can have breakfast at the airport,"He smiled and ran a hand through his messy and curly brown hair.
When they arrived at the airport, Sumi was already waiting for them at a café. There, they could sit down to a nice meal with him before he hung out with them for the rest of the day. This time, Sumi was staying over at Jaehwan's place, now that they were much closer together. Aki greeted his brother with a bear hug and he was squeezed back.
"You've certainly put on more muscle. You're getting tougher to squeeze,". That made Aki grin and Sumi handed him a trinket and a book that he had brought with him. "I thought that you'd want these,". Aki picked up the book and smiled. "More of my childhood photos huh? Thanks,". Jaehwan craned his neck comically to see the photos and it made Aki laugh. "You really are cute. I'll show them to you, you don't have to stretch your neck out like an ostrich,".
Pointing to one photo, nostalgia just flooded Aki's face. It was a picture of him at a science festival with Sumi standing next to him. "This was when I was like 12 years old...I think? Sumi entered my experiment into this national science festival thingy and it got a gold medal from the judges,". Jaehwan was not too surprised that Aki was a genius since young but he tried to act the part. "That's amazing Kiki!".
Sad, Aki hurriedly flipped to the next page. "Yeah, but some of the people over there are really racist. They would say stuff along the lines of 'Of course the Asian kid would get it! They're all nerds!' or because I've been speaking to Sumi in Japanese all this while they'd complain that they awarded the medal to someone who couldn't even speak English. It was awful really. I'm glad to have been sent away here,".
Then, he pointed at a photo of him cradling a small child in his arms. "That's a photo of me with Asuna when she was 6 months old. She was so small and a real darling. I absolutely adored her. Sumi was doing part-time jobs around the time so he couldn't really take care of her and play with her much but I could. I guess that's why she grew really attached to me,". Aki sighed as he stared at the photos.
Hearing teardrops fall onto the album, Jaehwan tried to console him by patting him on the back. "Aki no..Don't cry..."He whispered, rocking him back and forth gently. "D-do you think Asuna would h-have had a better life had I j-just left her in the States? She would h-have been more fluent in English and she would have had less of a s-struggling childhood-" He cried and Sumi interjected.
"No, Aki. You raised her. You didn't have to even when she decided to follow you. You could have left her be, but no...". Sumi smiled through the tears in his eyes. "You worked your ass off her to school. I remember those times that you texted me about needing money to pay for her fees and her food and I just sent money to you right away. You risked everything to make her happy,".
Aki began full on sobbing at this point. He was a loud crier so he muffled his voice by sinking into Jaehwan's shirt. Sumi pulled out a tissue from his bag and dabbed at his teary eyes. "Even those break ups that you've been through because they couldn't stand Suna-chan around them. It was all worth it. Without going through all that, you would have never found someone like Jaehwan, who makes you and her so happy, right?". Aki nodded and sniffled as Jaehwan held him close.
"I will admit, Mom and Dad were unreasonably harsh on you. Yeah, their conservative minds will never change but I don't think a high school student casually going out with someone of the same gender warrants being isolated in another country,". Aki looked up, wiping his watery eyes with his sleeves. "Speaking of, how are they?".
Fishing out an envelope from his bag, Sumi's tone of voice instantly became dimmer. "They tried to spend the money that they had kept in the trust fund for you and Asuna by taking it out for a vacation. The bank wouldn't allow it and asked to see both of you present but they couldn't deliver. So, guess who sued them?".
Say what now? Aki was surprised that he even had a trust fund. "What? We had a trust fund?".
Sumi sighed and nodded, handing the envelope to Aki. "Yeah. I guess they assumed that you'd give up, and crawl back to them for help and mercy so they kept putting in money for your college. But you never came back,". When Aki opened the envelope, his jaw dropped. He looked Sumi in the eyes, as if to confirm that this was real. His older brother just shot him a smile.
"I won the lawsuit".
.
.
.
Just the sheer size of Jaehwan's place made Sumi gasp. "Wow...This is amazing. Your Master bought this for you?" He asked as he heard Jaehwan locking the door. "Yeah, he didn't want me to worry about rent and expenses so he bought this under my name,". Sumi gasped and looked all over as he looked around. "It must have been expensive, right?". Jaehwan shrugged, smiling as he put his keys away. "He refuses to tell me the price he bought it for, but considering he also threw a tip in there, it must be worth a fortune,".
Sitting himself down in the living room, Sumi's eyes looked around and admired the interior. "What's your Master like?". Jaehwan bit his lip and shifted his eyes. "Oh..He's scary, really strict and controlling with everything I try to do. Yet somehow, he's also kind. He was the first person who was ever nice to me since escaping from a hellhole,".
The older of the two was listening intently until Aki came back from the kitchen with a bowl of snacks and two cans of beer. "Thanks, Aki. Sit down," Sumi laughed and picked a handful of chips. "I have to text him daily. He makes me call him every week. I have to make round trips to Nagano every month to visit him. I have to notify him of my whereabouts everytime-"Jaehwan blurted out at once and Sumi was having a hard time churning all of that information.
"Wait..what? Who the hell does he think you are? A fucking puppet?". Jaehwan shrugged meekly, twiddling with his thumbs. "But he hasn't been picking up my calls lately. He says he's rather busy. But even during his busiest times last year, he still managed to call me, even if it was for five minutes. I don't understand it,".
Thoughts circulated around Sumi's head as he tried to wrap his head around what Jaehwan told him. "Yeah, well, things like that happen. Sometimes I myself am too busy to answer any of the calls I get. Working with the law sometimes leaves you no room to breathe,". Aki agreed with him and the three of them continued chatting with each other.
Reluctant to break Jaehwan's heart and start accusations, Sumi sipped on his cold beer trying to ignore the other thought he had lingering at the back of his own mind.
'What if your Master is cheating on you?'.
_____________________________
"Suna-chan? I have some great news for you!" Aki smiled as he held her hands tightly. "You know how Jaehwan-Oniichan and I promised to take you to an amusement park during the holidays? It's cancelled now!". Asuna whined at her brother and pouted. "How is that good news?!".
Before she started bawling outside of the school gates, Aki carried her in his arms and hugged her. "Because, instead of any old amusement park, we're going to Shiuma Park!". That made the girl squeal in joy and she hugged him back warmly. "Nii-chan! How did you get the money for that?". Aki chuckled and kissed her on the cheek. "Let's just say your Oniichan stepped in to help us,".
As she was lowered back onto the ground, Asuna adjusted her clothes while looking at Jaehwan. "Jaehwan-Oniichan?". Aki shook his head and Sumi popped his head out from the corner of the building. "Nope! Your bigger, older Oniichan!".
Oh, the way she yelled in joy. People outside of her school compound must have thought some kind of accident happened by the way she screamed. She had never seen Sumi in 8 years and to be united with him again made her very happy.
She beckoned him with a tight bear hug and Sumi was getting his breath squeezed out of him. Aki hugged both of them and looked at Jaehwan who was staring at them from the pavement, smiling.
"What are you doing standing there? Come on in!".
"I shouldn't be ruining your family moment,".
"Jae, are you being serious? You are part of our family! Come on!".
Sumi and Asuna looked up and motioned for Jaehwan to come in and join in on the hug too. With that, Jaehwan sprinted towards them, with the biggest smile on his face you'd have ever seen.
_φ(･ω･ Author's Note
Envisioning that group hug at the end made me smile. Did you like this chapter? Voting is appreciated! Thank you for reading this chapter of A Heart To Heal! ♡