dedicated to

"you don't have to get me a boyfriend, tern." ten laughed as he spoke to his sister on the phone in thai. his sibling was one of the only people who knew he was gay and kept trying to hook him up with someone from thailand and honestly, she was quite bad at it.

"fine. oh right, have you told your members yet?" tern asked as ten heard some rustling from the other side of the phone. ten scoffed, probably she fell. "no, not yet. i'm kind of scared of what they would think, you know?" ten said as he flopped down ont his bed, sighing as he stared at the ceiling.

tern hummed. "but i thought like half of them are gay." ten furrowed his eyebrow at the information that even he, as a nct member, didn't know when his sister, who is 3593 km away from him, knows. as tern heard nothing from her older brother, she just quickly patched it up with a bunch of lies. "or maybe i'm just being insane." ten snorted. "we're always insane."

tern laughed and nodded. "true. you took a picture while i was getting scolded by mom, i'm still mad at you for not helping." ten chortled as he heard a small hmp from his little sister. "i mean, that photo is legendary. i'm not taking it back." ten stated as he looked at the photo that he actually printed out and stuck it onto the wall as a little decoration.

"anyways, i have to go now. make sure to call me if you need a boyfriend!" tern quickly said before hanging up, ten sighed with a smile. although she could be annoying sometimes, he really did love his little sister.

ten stood up and walked out of his room, going to the kitchen to grab a cup of water. as he did so, he noticed johnny who was waiting for his coffee to be done while scrolling down on his phone. ten greeted him with a tired smile. "hey, how did practice go?"

johnny sighed as he leaned his elbow on the counter table. "horrible. the substitute teacher was not serious at all and was the actual definition of a boomer." johnny complained in english as he poured his coffee onto his mug, ten doing the same but with water. "were you calling your sister?"

ten nodded. when he was about to say what happened during the call, he realized he was about to tell his sexuality and shut his mouth. "yep." he said blandly which he regretted sorely as he drank his water, trying to cover up his embarrassment. johnny arched an eyebrow as he took a sip of his coffee. he placed down the mug and looked at ten. "you know, you can tell me anything, right? i'll listen."

ten looked at him and nodded. he hesitated to come out. he was worried he might get a bad reaction from johnny or even was get hated by the members and everyone. ten shook his head internally and decided to tell him. "uhm.. you said anything, right?" johnny was even more suspicious but nodded.

ten sighed before saying, "i'm gay. i'm scared of what you would think and i was scared you might hate me for who i am. i wanted to tell you for a long time, but i didn't have the balls to do it because i didn't know what your reactions would be and was scared that i might break our friendship and-"

"ten, rambling." johnny said to ten who was a bit into his feelings. ten then realized what he had done and apologized. "s-sorry."

johnny sighed and brought him into a hug. "even if you are gay, you're still my friend. you're still the same ten and i don't care if you like dating men or whatever. i'll always be supporting you." johnny said and pulled away to ruffle his hair roughly, a big grin on his handsome face.

ten teared up slightly but smiled through. johnny then clapped his hands. "now, please tell me i am the first member to hear you come out?" ten chuckled and nodded. johnny cheered silently, ten watching him do so. "so, can i help you come out to the other?"

ten smiled. "that would be nice, giant."

"chittaporn."

"sigh. i'm regretting my decisions already."

"too late."

~*~

"so you're gay." yuta stated the words ten just said to the whole nct group. the thai male nodded, starting to get nervous of all the eyes caught to him.

"yep." ten said while glancing at johnny, who gave him am okay sign. ten shook his head while waiting for his member's reactions. it was quiet for a while with some rustling from some of the members fidgeting due to the awkwardness. it was like the crows were waiting for someone to speak which donghyuck did.

".. mark, pay up you canadian seagull." donghyuck said to mark who groaned with his eyes rolling. the rest just laughed including johnny, ten was more confused than ever.

"we know you're gay, ten. we're still your friends, no matter what. the only thing breaking us apart is nothing." taeyong said as he hugged ten tightly, his hug make ten almost cry at touch as he hugged back. everyone just watched with bing smiles on thier face. lucas and doyoung looked at each other before grinning.

"everyone, time for a group hug!"

"oh god."