as soon as byunghee flinched away, sung's leg did too, as the fear settled in that he might have made the wrong choice and made byunghee feel worse. yet, the fear quelled before it could fester, as he felt a relaxed byunghee reach to him, instead. for then, he could settle himself to feel like he was helping. after his mother left, they would be able to talk about it properly, so he could understand the limits. after all, if it was up to him to offer comfort without thinking of any other variables, he'd rather be sitting beside byunghee with the option of a far wider range of comforting motions.
although, he once again had to remind himself that being comforting meant leveling his own emotions, because even as his heart lurched at byunghee's interjection, he needed to stay as calm as he could be. sung didn't expect byunghee to be so brazen, considering the vague description he'd given was an out for both of them. he couldn't tell in the slightest how byunghee's mom felt about this, leaving him to guess and assume. as she brought up the word couple, his breath caught in his throat, halfway to a laugh prepped to diffuse the situation, but byunghee cut in.
his rain of thoughts on how terribly she might hate them for wearing a couple's costume and worse yet, sung wearing a female character's costume, quieted one by one for the time being with the change in topic. by the time the hammering in his heart slowed, he felt eyes, and like a magnetic pull, he turned his eyes to meet byunghee's.
sung swallowed. was this... byunghee admitting their relationship to his mother? was that the truth of the situation he was struggling to read? despite himself, his heart began to speed up again, but the mood had completely shifted. still unsure what cues were okay to pick up, he chose to skip past it for something he could understand better. "it's- it's okay. byunghee cares very deeply about you and his father. i believe he's only showing concern for his health like this because he cares." if he were more comfortable in this situation and family dynamic, he might have been more straightforward to tell byunghee if he isn't kind in his delivery, he won't get the result he wants, but also that his parents should take better care of themselves and accept care when given if they truly want to make byunghee happy. it wasn't the time, but he'd save those thoughts for the future.
byunghee had to muster all of his strength not to slam the door behind his mother as she left the apartment in a hurry. back when the scandal broke, a part of byunghee had wondered whether this would be something that could potentially damage his relationship with his parents, but he had brushed that thought away. if nothing else, byunghee had always been consistent in being grateful and supportive of his parents, of doing everything he possibly could to guarantee they'd live an easier life than they did for the past thirty years - a stark contrast to heeseung, who very obviously and openly resented their parents for the life they couldn't give him.
yet not a single word of apology had been thrown his way, no acknowledgment that the only reason byunghee became the subject of national scrutiny and judgment was because of a wrong call by his father, whom byunghee had trusted blindly. just a pat on the shoulder and a question of whether byunghee had made the money back. and byunghee had chosen not to show his annoyance at it, but of course the anger had been building all this time. his mother showing up unannounced and making demands about his life was only bound to bring all of that to the surface.
sung was not supposed to be caught in the crossfire, though. he wasn't supposed to be here and now, with his mother gone, byunghee felt that even more intensely. "i'm sorry," he said, turning to face joosung. "you weren't supposed to see that."
