Kung Jin's POV:

I have no idea what came over me. I was only teasing him about the whole nickname thing, but the minute I heard that he was going to tell the others, it was like a switch turned on in my head. I like to think that I wasn't in control of my actions after that.

However, I would be lying.

For some reason, I wanted to keep that for myself. From the looks of it, he quite enjoyed how I handled the situation. I can't think about what happened though. If I think about it too much, I'll start to want him even more than I already do. That wouldn't be good at all. I stood up. "I'll be outside. Too many people drawing heat in here." I laughed to myself as I got no indication of anyone hearing what I just said.

I walked outside and breathed. I needed this to clear my head. 'The situation is getting way out of hand. I need to shake this before it's too late.'

"Before what's too late, Kung Jin?"

I jumped and turned around. Kenshi. Of course it's Kenshi. Fighting the urge to groan out loud at my cursed luck, I bowed slightly. He bowed back and repeated the question. I had no idea what to tell him. What could I say? "Hey, I was just thinking about your son and the fact that I keep getting a dangerously increasing urge to screw him." does not sound like a great explanation, albeit truthful.

"It's nothing to worry about. I'll sort it out eventually," was what I eventually went with. He nodded and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Whatever it is," he said gently "I hope that you know that we are here to help you should you need it. Myself and Takeda especially." He must have seen the complete confusion on my face because he laughed a little. Funny, I don't think anyone has heard him laugh before. "Takeda may talk of what a nuisance you are, but he really does think highly of you. You are his most treasured friend. I want to thank you for that. He looks happier now than I have ever seen. Before you came to stay with us, his thoughts often wandered to you and how your life was going at home."

Okay, so I guess I should explain the whole staying with them part. After I left my house, I refuse to call it home anymore, I didn't know where to go. I just walked. While walking, I saw Takeda and Kenshi in the middle of a field. They were talking about something, so I decided to keep walking. However, my feet would not listen to my brain. I found myself going toward the field. The two looked over when they heard the sound of me walking over. We greeted each other, and I asked them how life was for them. They were doing great after having avenged Takeda's mother's death. I smiled, happy for them.

I must not have looked as happy as I thought because Takeda asked what was wrong. I shook my head, but neither Takahashi was having any of it, so I finally told them of my desire to bring Lao back and how my family disowned me for it. Obviously, I left out the part where they threw my sexuality in my face. They offered, more like ordered, for me to stay with them. Knowing that they wouldn't take no for an answer, I accepted.

Now back to the present.

I saw the look on Kenshi's face. It was genuinely concerned for me. That just made me feel worse. If he only knew what the problem was... I don't think he'd, not able to actually look at his face. "I know that you honestly care about my well being. Thank you, but I think I have to deal with this alone." Kenshi sighed but let it go. He walked out, and I breathed a sigh of relief. If he had stayed and pressed just a little more, then I would have cracked and told him everything.

Of course, with my cursed luck, I should've known that I wouldn't have been able to stay out there by myself for long. "You know, the point of me being out here was to get away from the heat you're all drawing in that tiny room." I said when I felt another's presence behind me.

"I know, I heard. Unfortunately for you, I don't give a shit." Damn. Cassie. I sighed and turned around for the second time. "What do you want? Not in the mood for your family's famous sarcasm." She nodded. "Right, but you are in the mood to screw Takeda. That correct?" My eyes widened before narrowing. I grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the side of the house. "And you just say that out loud where anyone could've heard that why? Besides, what makes you say something like that?" I ruined the whole play innocent card since I reacted that way though, and we both knew it.

She just looked at me with a smug smirk on her face. "Yeah, I saw you two in the kitchen. I assume Jacqui doesn't know?" My eyes widened and I let go of the wrist that I belatedly realized I still had a hold of.

I could practically feel that smirk falter as I sank to the ground.

"Jin?" And that was the word that broke me. She gasped quietly as I began to laugh. The sound was as cold and dry as the Sahara desert at night. She blinked. "Okay, what the hell is wrong with you?" I suddenly stopped laughing. I blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. "No, she doesn't know. Takeda doesn't even know." She was confused. I knew it without even having to look at her. "How does Takeda not know if you're-" I put my hand up.

"No one knows but me, and now you. I don't care if you hate me. I'm begging you. Keep this to yourself. I've been shunned by one family. Please don't be the cause of me being shunned by another one. Not when I'm so close to actually being okay with myself."

To my horror, as that last sentence sunk in, the tears I was trying to hold back slid down my cheeks.

Cassie's POV:

I'll admit that I was mentioning this to Jin because I wanted to tell him that I was going to tell Jacqui about it. I wasn't even going to tell her really. I just wanted to see him shaken up a bit and wilt his ego some, but I never thought he'd react like this. I had no idea what to do. He was crying on the floor. Kung Jin doesn't cry. I don't know who this is in front of me. I could tell that my silence was making him even more upset, as he started to slightly whimper. I quickly spoke up. "Yeah, okay. I won't mention this to anyone. Just... Stop with the waterworks already." Being a Cage, comfort isn't exactly my strongest area. He slowly stopped crying, thank the Elder Gods.

"Thank you." His words were barely a whisper, and I almost didn't catch them. I bit back the urge to tell him that his ego was too big to even audibly say thank you. I was pretty proud of myself for managing that. I nodded and held my hand out to help him up. Of course, I just had to open my mouth.

"So what? Are you gay or something?"

He looked up at me, and I wanted to kick myself for asking. His eyes were red and slightly puffy. He had a certain look in his eyes that actually made me want to be nicer to him from now on. Protect him almost. He looked down at the ground. "Are you going to hate me even more now?" I shocked both him and myself with what I did next.

I hugged him.

Why? I don't know. The Cage family has always been known to be impulsive, so I'll blame that.

He stiffened for a second before hugging me back. Again, the almost inaudible "Thank you," was uttered. I pulled back. "Never hated you. You annoyed the hell out of me, but you do that with everyone. Look, I won't pretend that I understand you. You don't need that, but I'll try and take it easy on you. Besides, now we can stay up all night in one of our houses, braid each other's hair, watch some romantic comedies, and talk about boys." He laughed and lightly punched my shoulder.

"Shut it Cage; I'm not that gay, and you're not that girly."

I laughed too. "Can't argue with that logic." He nodded and looked almost... Nervous. "What?" I asked, knowing he needed a little push to get out what he was trying to say. "Really though, if I start to think that I feel alone in this whole Takeda situation... Can I...?" He trailed off, but I knew what he meant. "Yeah, you can come talk to me. Just spare me the gruesome and sexual details please." He laughed again. "Oh come on, have you seen that ass? You know you want to hear everything."

I thought for a second. He did have a pretty fantastic ass... "Hmm... I suppose I can't argue with that logic either. Alright fine, but you better not leave a single thing out. If you get a wet dream about him, I wanna know about it." We both laughed, knowing I was joking about that last part.

"You know what Jin? You're alright." His mouth quirked a bit. "You're not so bad yourself." We walked back inside laughing over some dumb topic and I realized that it had been a while since I was allowed to be like this. Jin could actually be a pretty good friend in the future. We ignored the confused looks everyone was giving us and went to the guest room I deemed as mine and shut the door. Raiden made sure there was "modern entertainment" in all the rooms should we need it.

I did need someone to help me kick some ass in Left 4 Dead 2.