Perhaps a detour over the city would get him into trouble, but he didn’t care, he just needed to make sure that Junmyeon was safe.

It had been two days since the war had broken out fully and there had been no word, no anything from the others to let him know that they were safe. That they were okay.

It was that more than anything that spurred him into a run and a leap by where he transformed into his Dragon self.

The large crater that had swallowed half of the city was the first thing he bore witness to and it did nothing to ease his fear and worry.

He continued to scour the city for what felt like a life time before his eyes landed on the young Water Special and the Healer, fighting alongside one another and looking a little haggard.

But they were alive. Junmyeon was alive, that was all he needed to see before he flew back to the battle field.

He couldn’t read it. There were too many words that he didn’t know how to read yet and it was making him want to cry.

The five year old’s little legs carried him through the school to where he knew Onew’s office was.

He was glad when he found the door slightly ajar, because he wasn’t strong enough to open it by himself just yet. He pushed through into the office, the letter held tightly in his hand.

“You want me to read it to you again, Yifan?” Onew asked, peering down at the young boy.

Kris nodded almost shyly, “I still can’t read some parts” he said sadly, handing the letter over to the headmaster before climbing up onto one of the wooden chairs to listen.

“Our dear Yifan,” Onew read aloud, “We leave you this letter in the hopes that one day you will understand our sacrifice. It’s Christmas next week, your first Christmas, and we want you to be somewhere safe to see it.

 “We leave you here at EXO’s School because we only want you to be protected and be able to learn of you gift. We want the best for you, Yifan, and it pains me to know that what’s best for you, you will not find with your father and I.

 “Know that we love you and that I pray one day that we shall meet again in a better world. You will always be in our hearts, Yifan. The Galaxy is yours to control now, baby, our shining star.

 “Loving you forever, your mum and dad. Be well, sweetheart” Onew finished and looked up at Kris to see how the young boy was going to react to the letter he’d read to him a thousand times in the last year.

“Did you know them?” Kris asked softly, a question he’d not thought to ask before then.

Onew shook his head, “I met them only once and that was when they gave you to me” he told the boy, not willing to lie to the child.

Kris nodded as Onew handed him back the letter. He was about to say something more when Minho walked in with a small boy, who looked rather frightened.

“Sir. He’s one of us. He told me he ran away last week because he was being harassed over his powers. Water control” Minho announced.

Onew nodded, humming interestedly, “What’s your name, child? And your age?” he asked softly.

“J-Junmyeon” the boy answered, “I’m f-four”

Onew smiled “Only a year younger than our Yifan-ah. I’ll tell you what, why don’t you boys go and get to know one another over lunch. Yifan, take good care of Junmyeon whilst I speak to Minho, Okay?”

“Yes, sir” Kris nodded, hopping off of his chair, “Come on, Junmyeon” he said, taking the boy’s hand and leading him to the dining hall for some food.

They sat in silence for a while before Kris sighed and broke it, “I’m Yifan” he said, though Onew had said his name several times in front of the younger boy already.

“Eeyan?” Junmyeon tried.

“Yi-Fan”

“Ee-Pan”

“You know what… Call me Kris” Kris sighed, but he was smiling as he shook his head slightly in amusement. He liked his boy, he seemed sweet.

Junmyeon nodded, “Kris” he said, “Did you just come up with that?”

“No, it’s what Minho calls me when I’m being silly” Kris smiled, pushing a plate of chicken towards Junmyeon, a gentle smile on his lips.

Junmyeon smiled gratefully as he grabbed a piece and began to munch on it, “does this mean we’re friends now?” he asked cutely.

“I don’t know. I’ve never had a friend before” Kris admitted, “Is it hard?”

“No. It’s like having a brother that you chose” Junmyeon told him wisely.

Kris smiled, flashing his dorky little grin at Junmyeon, “You really want to be my friend?” he asked, “Really?”

“Of course, I like you Kris” Junmyeon giggled, “We are gonna be best friends! Forever!”

Kris giggled back, “Best friends” he held out his pinky, grinning  when Junmyeon linked it with his own.

“Kris, get your giant scaly arse back down here, now!” Minho shouted above the noise of the fight.

Kris rolled his eyes before swooping back down and dropping to the ground as his regular self, “You called” he said, turning and back-handing a Rogue that had made a grab for him.

“What do you think you’re playing at, kid? You can’t go gallivanting off whenever you feel like it! That isn’t how this works!” the defence teacher scolded.

Kris sighed, “I was just checking to make sure Junmyeon was okay” he said, “I’m sorry”

Minho ran a hand through his hair in annoyance, “Alright, just… Don’t do it again, Kris. This isn’t a game, okay! One wrong move and you’re dead” he shot back as a Rogue came running towards him. Minho puffed out his chest and a force like a bullet shot out of him, blasting it’s way straight through the Rogue’s chest.

“I didn’t know you could do that!” Kris gawked.

Minho hummed, “There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” he said, “Now go and fight!”

Kris, despite the atmosphere, laughed with a small shake of his head, “Incredible. You know a guy for twenty-two years and he still manages to find new ways to be a douche”

“I heard that!” Minho called.

“You were meant to!” Kris shot back before running off to give Tao a hand in fighting an ugly looking brute of a Rogue.

It was scary to Kris how this war had already done so much damage and that was regardless of what the Rogues had already achieved. The main fear that nagged at him was of how fast this war had turned them into killers.

It didn’t matter that this was war, they weren’t even batting an eyelid at taking people out. And though the Rogues didn’t act like it, they were still human. And this was still murder.

“I know what you’re thinking” Tao huffed as he dodged a punch thrown at his way, “And don’t. It isn’t like that. We don’t have a choice”

Kris shook his head, “There’s always a choice”

“Fine! And right now that choice is killed or be killed. Which would you rather?! It’s war! Normal rules don’t apply!” Tao said firmly. He was not a killer by choice. Nor would he ever be.

Kris sighed, “Yeah, but it’s not like anyone even hesitated” he said, ducking as a ball of boiling water flew at him.

Tao looked pissed off at that, he grabbed Kris’s arm and it was like time stopped. Everyone was frozen other than the two of them, “Do you even hear yourself?!” the younger boy demanded, “Kris, for ’s sake. Stop with the woe-is-me trip and get your ing head on straight. You wanna know why people didn’t hesitate? Because if they did it would mean their lives gone, their friends, their family’s lives gone! And they don’t want that blood on their hands. Don’t sit there and berate these people, or yourself for that matter, for having to kill to survive. Always a choice? Yeah, there is, and sometimes the choices we have aren’t always nice once, they aren’t always peachy and easy. Sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils and that’s what people are doing right now. And if you want to stay alive, you need to get your head out of your and realise that this isn’t a normal situation. This is a war, a war where people don’t know what the their doing, and they’re just trying to keep themselves alive, and hope to god that good wins out over evil. These people that we’re fighting… This isn’t like when Normals fight each other. This isn’t people not knowing that they’re doing wrong. All of these people joined the Rogue force out of choice, so don’t sit here and justify what they’re doing so that you won’t have to kill them.

 “Stop thinking that way, because it’s just going to you up even more and it’s going to make you lose focus. It’s going to get you killed!” he huffed.

Kris looked back at him in shock. Tao was never really one to talk back to Kris like this, if anything he tended to follow Kris around like a lost puppy and just nod along to everything the elder said, but right now, Kris was seeing a different side of Tao. The adult side of Tao, and though he shouldn’t have had to be a grown up, shouldn’t have had to be this… mature about life already, Kris couldn’t help but admire the younger for it.

Without a second thought, he pulled Tao close and kissed him firmly on the lips, pressing everything he had into the kiss. It was only a short kiss, but it was enough to have both their heads spinning.

“Don’t die” Was all Kris said before pulling away from Tao and time started back up again.

Tao blinked, his body moving automatically as he ducked and dodged Rogue attacks, “Don’t die…” he whispered to himself.

“! Jongdae! Dae, come on, open your eyes. Dae!” Minseok whispered frantically as he gently slapped Jongdae’s face.

Baekhyun’s eyes widened in fear, “What happened?!” he demanded frantically, dropping to his knees beside Minseok, “What’s wrong with him?!”

“He’s passed out. He hasn’t eaten, or slept in days… And he got hit pretty hard last night by that Rogue group that found us. He’s being playing hero and it’s finally caught up with him” Minseok explained, “Get me some water, hurry up!”

“I… I… don’t have any…” Baekhyun shook, his mouth opening and closing uselessly.

Minseok growled, “BAEKHYUN JUST GO AND FIND ME SOME ING WATER! BEFORE WE GET ATTACKED AGAIN, FOR ’S SAKE!”

“Hey!” Chanyeol snapped, “Calm down! He’s our friend too, we’re all worried”

Minseok snapped his head around to look at Chanyeol, “No. No, you don’t understand!” he stressed, “I can’t see him get hurt! I can’t lose him! Just… Get me the goddamn water! PLEASE!”

Chanyeol frowned slightly, but nudged Baekhyun, “Stay here with them, I’ll be back in a minute. There’s a stream just over the way” he said softly before taking off to get the water.

“Min… Do you… Do you have feelings for Jongdae?” Baekhyun asked softly, dipping a hand into one of his many pockets and pulling out a power bar, handing it over to Minseok for when they managed to wake Jongdae.

Minseok let out a small breath of frustration, “Well I should bloody well hope so” he said, “Or we shouldn’t be dating”

“You… You… Excuse me?” Baekhyun gawked, “You’re dating?! Since when?!”

Minseok shot him a tired look, “Is now really the time?” he asked, only to be met with a dead look from Baekhyun, “Fine, since like a year ago. Look, can we please talk about this when all of this is over? My boyfriend is kind of unconscious right now, and I’m really trying to keep it together, which isn’t that easy!”

“He’s going to be okay, Min” Baekhyun told him softly, “He’s just worn down. We’ll get some food and drink in him, then we’ll find somewhere to set up camp for the night. We’ll take turns keeping watch, and once we’ve all had a few hours kip, we’ll start fresh, okay?”

Minseok shook his head slightly, “But what if it’s not that? What if he got some, I don’t know, internal damage when we got jumped yesterday?! What if… W-What if…”

“Hey…” Baekhyun cut him off, pulling Minseok into him and holding him whilst he cried, “Don’t think that way. Don’t. He’s going to be fine. He’s going to wake up and crack a stupid joke, and we’re all going to look back on this and think it was stupid to have worried. This is Jongdae. The kid wouldn’t go down without a fight, or at least a stupid pun. He’s fine, he’s gonna be fine”

It was at that moment that Chanyeol came running back, a few bottles filled with water under his arm. Where he’d gotten the bottles from, they didn’t know, but they couldn’t have found it in themselves to care at that point. He handed them to Minseok, who used one to pour the cold liquid over Jongdae’s face.

It took a moment, but Jongdae finally started coughing, his eyes blinking open as he lifted his hands to push the water from his face. “M-Min? What’s going on? What happened?” he coughed out.

“You fainted you daft prick!” Minseok cried, pulling Jongdae up into a tight hug, “Don’t ever do that to me again! You hear me?!”

Jongdae laughed softly, “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to scare you” he said, pulling back to look properly at Minseok, “Looks like I just needed a bit of a nap, eh?”

Minseok laughed, though he was still pretty shaken up as he leant in and pressed a hard, needy kiss to Jongdae’s lips, “I hate you so much” he murmured against them, “So much!”

“I love you too” Jongdae hummed, kissing Minseok over and over before pulling back and noticing the power bar, “Is that for me?” he raised a brow, “Oh now I’m just being spoilt”

Minseok scoffed, though handed over the food, “Shut up and eat it” he said, “We need to get a move on. And drink this too. We’re going west to set up camp, then we’re all going to get some shut-eye, alright?”

“Wait… What the did I miss?!” Chanyeol asked in shock, “Did you two just… and I didn’t know that… Baek, did you know that… I’m so confused…”

Baekhyun shook his head, “Yeol, let them have their moment. We’ll ask questions later when we’re all rested, okay?” he said, getting back to his feet and moving to stand beside Chanyeol as Jongdae ate and got some water in him.

Minseok helped Jongdae to his feet, and passed the bottles of water around to everyone to keep them going. “Come on then. The sooner we rest, the sooner we can fight”

They were all pretty ragged, hair a mess and clothes muddy and tattered. They’d been at it for a good week or so now, on constant guard for any Rogues. They’d had maybe a few hours of sleep in total since it all started, as they’d all been too scared to even attempt more than that. But it was becoming obvious that it was starting to catch up with them, starting to wear them thin, and if they had any chance to surviving, then they needed to get their strength back.

They walked for a good ten minutes before they found a place. It was a small alcove of sorts between two large trees but offered enough protection that it would keep them hidden whilst they fought off their fatigue.

“You and Dae rest first” Baekhyun said when they’d set up their make-shift camp, “Me and Chanyeol will keep watch”

Minseok hesitated for a moment, “Are you sure?” he asked, “You look knackered…”

“Certain. I’ve pulled the light out from around us, so we should go unseen. I’ll wake you up at the first sign of danger, I promise. Please rest, Hyung. You’ve not slept in days” the younger pleaded with sad eyes, making Minseok relent.

Minseok sighed, “Alright” he said before crawling down next to Jongdae and lying beside him, only to have the younger pull him into his arms. “Are you mad they know?” he whispered to Jongdae.

“No” the younger replied softly, nuzzling into Minseok’s hair, “We kept it a secret so it’d be just ours, but even with them knowing I’m still only yours and you’re still only mine. I’m not mad at all, Minseok. I promise”

Minseok smiled slightly, “Good. And don’t ever scare me like that again, okay? I thought I’d lost you. I… I don’t know what I’d do without you, Jongdae. You’re my rock…”

“Don’t think about those things” Jongdae said softly against Minseok’s temple, “I’m not going to leave you. We’re going to get through this together and when we win, we’ll get a house, maybe a cat. And I’ll but you all the coffee and bread you could ever dream of” he smiled sleepily, “I’m gonna be with you for all of it, so don’t you leave me either, okay?”

Minseok smiled, “I promise” he said, closing his eyes as he felt Jongdae press a warm, reassuring kiss to his temple.

It was soon after that they were both asleep.

Outside of the make-shift tent, Chanyeol sat with his back resting against the trunk of one of the tree with Baekhyun sat beside him.

“I really never knew” Baekhyun mused, “One of my best friends in the entire world is in love and in a relationship… And I never knew”

Chanyeol pursed his lips, “Are you angry at him for not telling you?” he asked softly.

Baekhyun shook his head with a small smile, “I’m a little sad that he didn’t, but I get it. I can’t be mad at someone I love because they wanted to share something with their special someone for a while. I’m glad I know, but I’m more glad that he’s happy. I’m glad Minseok is happy too”

“How long do you reckon it’s been going on for?” Chanyeol asked, his eyes roaming for any sign of Rogues.

“Minseok told me it’s been about a year” Baekhyun shrugged, “Yeol, can I ask you something?”

“Anything”

Baekhyun bit down on his lip nervously, “How did you know you liked me? Why do you want to be with me?”

There was a small crease to Chanyeol’s brow as he looked back at Baekhyun, “I knew I liked you when you said hello to me for the first time. You told me not to worry or be scared about joining EXO because everyone would take care of me and I could always go to you if I ever needed anything, even a hug. And then you laughed but you looked sad. Then there was that day I fell asleep on the sofa and you woke me up from a nightmare… I spilled everything to you about my past and you looked me in the eyes and told me that I was still a good person, I had just been forced into a bad life. I knew I loved you in that moment, and then…”

“You kissed me for the first time” Baekhyun supplied with a whisper.

Chanyeol smiled, “Yeah. As for why I want to be with you… I want that because I feel like I’m alive when I’m with you, like I can accomplish anything. You make me happy and I think I make you happy too. So why wouldn’t I want to be with you?”

“Because I’m a mess”

“Yeah, but so am I, so I think our messes counteract each other and together we’re pretty damn solid” Chanyeol smiled, reaching out and holding Baekhyun’s hand in his own.

Baekhyun was quick to give Chanyeol’s hand a grateful squeeze.

He knew that they’d be fine if they were alone, but he wouldn’t want that. Being with Chanyeol made him happy and there was nothing that would make him leave, so long as Chanyeol was happy too.

“You’re happy with me? For certain?” Baekhyun checked one last time.

Chanyeol nodded, “One hundred percent” he confirmed easily, pressing a soft kiss to the back of Baekhyun’s hand.

Junmyeon panted as he and Yixing made it around the corner in time to avoid being shot at with metal shards. They’d been so caught up in running, they hadn’t noticed anyone in the small alley they’d it into.

“Ouch!” Yelped a familiar voice.

Yixing’s eyes widened, “Kyungsoo? Jongin? Oh thank god you’re alive!” he gasped, pulling Kyungsoo into a tight hug which the younger returned with equal verve as Jongin hugged Junmyeon.

“I was afraid we’d never see you again. It’s been almost two weeks and there was no word from anybody” Junmyeon got out frantically as Kyungsoo pulled back from Yixing to hug the eldest of the four of them.

Kyungsoo shook his head as he held Junmyeon tight, “We made a promise, remember. No one dies!” he reminded pointedly, though a little shakily.

Junmyeon pulled back and pressed a kiss to Kyungsoo’s forehead, “I’m so happy to see the pair of you. You have no idea”

“Me too, ‘Myeon. I’ve missed you both a lot. It feels like it’s been far longer than it has” Kyungsoo said, holding Junmyeon’s face in his hands.

“I hate to do this, but we’ve gotta go. Rogues are closing in. We’ll be trapped if we don’t move now” Jongin informed, tugging at Kyungsoo’s sleeve.

Kyungsoo nodded, “alright, let’s go. We’ll head two streets over and try and get rid of as many Rogues as we can along the way. You guys ready?”

“Bit tough if we aren’t” Yixing pointed out grimly, “Come on, then. Move out troops” he said, and then they were off, headed towards the aforementioned location.

The four of them made a good team, with Yixing taking people down, Kyungsoo or Junmyeon finishing them off and then Jongin dumping them in the pit Kyungsoo had created via teleportation, so that more bodies wouldn’t litter the streets.

“I hate this” Kyungsoo said as they moved stealthily along, his eyes looking over all the bodies, “I never wanted to be a part of something so chaotic and look… I’ve seen more dead than I have alive”

Yixing hummed, “It’s the smell that gets you the most. When you’re walking through a place with week old bodies… I tripped over one once. A girl, must have been no older than thirteen. She didn’t deserve all this. She was a child” he shook his head slowly, “I’ve seen some bad things, but this… I don’t even have a word to describe how ed up this all is”

“It’s something you’ll never forget” Jongin said quietly as they walked, “It’s all well and good hearing or reading about the dead bodies, you think you could handle it, but there’s nothing in this world that can prepare you for seeing it with your own two eyes. They don’t even look peaceful. It’s nothing like you imagine it to be. Not even close… I understand now why soldiers return home with PTSD and the like. It’s a hard position to be in. people will learn about this all one day and it’ll mean something, but they won’t understand it. They won’t know the feeling of watching a friend die right in front of you. And I’m glad they won’t, nobody should have to go through this.”

They remained silent after that as they walked as a small sign of respect for the fallen soldiers and innocent people that were caught in the crossfire.

“Have you eaten recently?” Kyungsoo asked as they reached their destination.

Yixing nodded, “Yesterday. Us and a few others shared some tinned food” he said, “Have you?”

“We ate the last of our bread this morning” Kyungsoo replied, checking that the coast was clear, “If we’d have saved it any longer it would have gone mouldy. We still have a couple of power bars though and a tin of soup”

Kyungsoo, Yixing and Junmyeon continued to discuss what supplies they had remaining, since they’d made the unspoken agreement that they four of them were to stick together from this point onwards.

“Wait,” Jongin hissed, placing a hand flat against Kyungsoo’s chest to still him and the other two, “is it me, or is it a little too… quiet?” he asked lowly.

It hit them then just how right Jongin was. The streets were deserted apart from the dead, then just like that, a noise began to fill their ears before a swarm of Rogues and Specials were running in from all directions, ready for battle.

That was when he saw them.

For a moment, Yixing forgot how to move. They looked a lot older than he remembered, looked as only people who had seen a lot of terrible things could look.

They were brilliant fighters and he was in awe with the way they moved. His mother was elegant even as she ducked and dodged bullets shot her way, whilst taking down her opponents all at once.

She was magnificent.

His father was beside her, sending molten lava from his fingers to hit the enemy, scolding them to within an inch of their lives.

He watched them as his body began to move of its own accord, fighting and dodging as necessary.

His parents were only a few feet from him, but they felt so very far away. They were breath-taking in the way they moved, complimenting each other’s style perfectly.

Yixing felt his chest swell with pride to be their son, to be a product of their love for one another.

“Ah!” he heard Junmyeon hiss from beside him. His eyes snapped away from his parents to focus on his lover, only to see a deep gash across Junmyeon chest that was bleeding rapidly.

He used the flat of his hand to send a quick hit to the nose of the man he was fighting, effectively breaking it and sending him to the floor in a heap of limbs before he darted to Junmyeon’s side.

Hs hands quickly became sticky with blood as he placed them over his boyfriend’s wound and began to heal as fast as he could. Junmyeon was losing a lot of blood and becoming paler and paler by the second.

Junmyeon’s lips were already blue by the time Yixing managed to stop the blood and heal the wound. It was terrifying to say the least, to literally feel the life draining out of the person you loved, to be responsible for making sure that you healed them before their light went out, but Junmyeon was alive ad that was what mattered.

“Thought you were gonna die on me” Yixing said, doing his best to remain calm as he wiped the blood off of his shaking hands.

Junmyeon smiled, “You can’t get rid of me that easily” he replied hoarsely. He blinked up at Yixing dazedly, his hands gripping onto the slightly younger boy’s top.

Yixing scoffed, “I should hope not. You’re not my strong man for nothing” he smiled slightly, pressing two fingers to Junmyeon’s forehead and putting some colour back into him. He relaxed a little as he watched Junmyeon’s lips and cheeks return to a healthy pink colour again.

“Right? Who’s gonna protect you from all the creepy crawlies if I pop my clogs?” the elder laughed, allowing Yixing to help him back to his feet. “What’s wrong?” he asked suddenly, as though realising he should have asked before, “You seem distracted”

“My parent are here” Yixing told him, “this is the first time I’ve seen them in god only knows how long. I… I want to go talk to them, but what if they don’t recognise me… what if they don’t know who I am…”

“They’ll know you” Junmyeon said firmly.

But Yixing shook his head worriedly, “You can’t know that… It’s been so long, and I was only a kid when they had to leave me… I… I couldn’t bear if they didn’t know who I was, Myeon… I… I…”

Junmyeon wrapped a comforting arm around Yixing’s waist as he blasted freezing water at any Rogue that came hear them, “No parent could ever forget their child” he prompted, pulling Yixing by his hand, closer to his mum and dad.

The fighting had died down somewhat as the Rogues had smartly retreated to strategize, leaving Yixing’s parents free to talk to.

Yixing was beyond nervous to be able to speak to them again, these were his parents, the people that gave him life, the people he’d been longing to see again for years, and he was about to actually speak to them, hear their voices again after so long…. He was almost overwhelmed by the nerves, but he ought not to have been.

He was maybe ten feet away when his mother looked up and caught his eye. Her eyes widened, then she was bounding over and sweeping Yixing into her arms, laughing and crying as she did.

“My baby” she cooed, “Oh my beautiful grown boy. It’s really you!”

His father joined them then, taking them both in his arms and holding them close, “my Yixing. Oh, how we’ve missed you so terribly” the man said as he fought back tears of his own.

“Mama… Baba…” Yixing whispered through his tears, “I can’t believe it’s really you. I love you both so much. So much. I’ve missed you more than anything”

“We’ve missed you too, sweetheart. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hold you like this again. My handsome Yixing…” His mother cried, kissing his head, his cheeks, his hair, anywhere she could, as though trying to convince herself that he was real. That it really was her baby boy in her arms.

Junmyeon watched on, feeling like he was intruding on a very intimate moment, but finding himself unable to look away.

There was something about seeing a family reunited that struck him. It was beautiful in so many ways of the word. It was something that could never be re-created. It was pure, unyielding love and it was amazing.

He was awestruck at just how much they cared for one another, just how much they longed for each other. The way that his mother refused to let go of her baby, the way that Yixing’s father kept them both in his arms as if the thought of letting go would make them disappear before his eyes.

They’d just gotten their baby back after years and years of not knowing if he was okay, not knowing if he was happy. And similarly, Yixing had his parents back. His parents, that nobody would ever be able to replace, they were back and holding him again, making him feel safe in a world of danger, making him feel like life had meaning, and that maybe there was a chance for good to win out in the world.

His hope was back and he was able to grasp it in his hands in the form of his mother and father.

It was at least ten minutes later of them holding onto one another and sobbing that Yixing’s mother caught sight of Junmyeon watching them, “Yixing, who’s this?” she asked softly.

“Mama, Baba,” Yixing said, holding his hand out and waiting for Junmyeon to lace their fingers together before he continued, “This is my other half, Kim Junmyeon” he told them with a proud look.

Yixing’s father smiled, reaching out and shaking Junmyeon’s free hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, son. Though I wish it could have been under better circumstances, still, I hope you’re taking good care of our Yixing”

“Of course, Sir” Junmyeon smiled, accepting the kiss that Yixing pressed to his cheek with a flush.

“Such a sweet boy” Yixing’s mother said softly, “You’ve done well for yourself, XingXing” she laughed, kissing her son on the forehead.

“Mama” Yixing whined, making the other three laugh.

“What? He’s handsome, and seems like he takes good care of you. Plus, look at that smile, it’s adorable!” Yixing’s mother laughed sweetly, “Don’t be embarrassed, you should show him off with pride”

Yixing laughed, shaking his head. It was like nothing had changed, his mother was just how he remembered her, and he loved it, “You’re terrible”

“I know, but you love it” his mother chuckled.

“You’ll get used to this, Junmyeon” Yixing’s father grinned at his family, “maybe… One day… I’m still getting there” he winked playfully.

Junmyeon smiled back, bright and happy, “I see where Yixing gets it from now” he joked, already feeling at home with Yixing’s parents. It was a magical feeling.

“He certainly takes after his mum” Yixing’s father said warmly, his eyes practically glowing with affection.

“A good thing too, your personality is nowhere near as brilliant as mine” Mrs Zhang snickered, sharing a cheeky look with Yixing, who was laughing happily along.

Junmyeon had never seen his boyfriend look so at ease. He was so happy to see Yixing so calm, so alight with warms and glee.

Yixing’s eyes were shining, and Junmyeon had never seen anything so astoundingly beautiful in his life. He’d known for a very long time that Yixing was his everything, but in that moment, he saw it all, saw them living their lives together in bliss, reading the paper in bed, laughing over terrible jokes, playing silly games at Christmas, sitting in the back garden and watching their kids play. He could see them growing old and bickering over who was better at making the coffee, and over whose turn it was to do the dishes.

He could see them taking terrible photos of one another and secretly loving that they did, though they’d whine about it for at least a week.

He could see Yixing, and Yixing was his soulmate. His spirit.