The Daily Lives of Highschool Boys

Sooyoung gets great news

If there was one thing we've been rooting for, it was for Park Sooyoung to be freed from an arranged wedding with a woman who never loved him and can't even respect his presence when they were supposed to be acting the perfect couple for high society's eyes. Kim Taeyeon would attend parties with him and get a toy just to strut around and show him what the boy knew he would never have, her father would try and scold her and make everything worse. Whenever the woman was supposed to be around her fiance, she would take her toy, get everyone to a more secluded area and have her fun while Sooyoung was placed as a scout, making sure nobody interrupted her during something important.

It was hell, Sooyoung grew up watching his parents, another arranged marriage, but both had been dedicated to one another since they were told about the engagement and lived a very happy life. But Taeyeon wanted to be the stereotypical rich girl, she wanted to party, hop from bed to bed before the sheets could get warm, drink her allowance away and, when the mood hit her, get crazy on whatever else was being offered.

The woman had been told she was to marry who her parents chose for her on her senior year in highschool, and she met Sooyoung during summer vacation, between highschool and college, to say she was surprised would be putting it lightly, she knew he was younger, but not that much younger, and he was good looking enough, but her will to get on her father's bad side and not let herself be tied down outweighed any hint of attraction she might have felt. Mr and Mrs Kim had also come from an arranged marriage, despite their rocky beginnings, they had found a rhythm both enjoyed and started working better together, there wasn't burning passion there, but the couple loved each other and had hoped their older daughter would understand she could be happy like they were.

It was a friday evening, there would be some beneficent event the next day and Sooyoung liked to prepare his own suit for those, he had learned with Joohyun how to properly wash and iron from his socks up to his tie (weirdly, his boxers too and they usually felt great). Public events meant he would be posing as his fiance's spotter while the woman was getting off with whomever caught her attention that evening. He really just wished he could go and not have to be around her at all. Mr Park arrives early, as his son was in the kitchen, with his ironing board and too many clothes all around him, he always got a good load whenever he turned on the iron, to save energy he said.

The man had called his wife earlier that day and explained everything, then asked for some time alone with their son once he got home, he believed he should be the one to tell the boy and they should have a conversation where he needed to apologise for what he had put his own son through. Sooyoung was on his last piece of clothing, also the hardest to get just right, his dress shirt, it always brought a little frown to his forehead and the most adorable pout.

Mr Park took a moment to watch, his son might be almost a man now and be much taller than himself, but times like this showed him it was still his baby boy, and that made his gut twist again when he thought about how much damage his narrow mind and business obsession brought to the person he swore to love and protect no matter what all those years ago, inside that infirmary as the nurse was immobilizing his broken wrist (who knew pregnant women would get that strong during labor).

"Sooyoungie?"

"Hey, dad." The boy greets without losing focus. "You are home early."

"I wanted to talk to you a little."

"Can we do this here or would you prefer to wait a bit. I'm almost done here."

"I'll take a quick shower while you finish, then. Lord knows I hate meeting with the executives, I always come out smelling like those cheap cigars they love to smoke in public so much." The man chuckles.

"Alright, I'll finish here and wait for you in your office."

"That would be great, can you make us something to drink too?"