Chanyeol insisted that I stayed for dinner with his family. He even invited me to the guestroom (not so much invited as opposed to subtle force because he put my luggage there anyways). I was still a little haggard over the ‘kidnapping’ but over dinner he didn’t seem scary or anything. He was helping his sons cut the chicken chop while Baekhyun was helping to serve the meatballs. They were all smiling and laughing like a normal family.

                “Taehyung don’t spill gravy on your new shirt.” Baekhyun warned.

                “But Jimin has some on his!”

                “Here Jimin have a napkin.” I handed the small child a napkin. He took it from me and wiped his pants furiously. Taehyung had a fork in his hand as he looked up at me. “Are you Daddy’s work friend?”

                “Sort of.” I laughed.

                “Appa is he staying with us?” Jimin asked.

                “He is indeed.” Baekhyun nodded. “While he is here remember to be nice and don't leave your toys all over the floor okay?”

                “Those are not my toys.” Jimin shook his head while his twin slapped his arm.

                “Yes they are! Daddy!!! Jimin is being lying again!!”

                “Stop hitting your brother it’s not nice.”

                “Boy does this bring back memories.” I laughed. “Luhan and I used to fight as much as they did.”

                “Luhan?” a fork dropped on the plate, making a ‘clang’ noise and then I realized my mistake. The twins stopped everything and stared at me. They stood on the chair and before you know it I was mauled by children only two feet tall.

                “Where’s Mr. Deer??! Is he coming back for us?!?!?”

                “Children please…”

                “Tell us Mr. Wu!!! Tell us!!”

                “Jimin, Taehyung,” Chanyeol picked up both boys and sat them back down. “Sit down this instant.”

                “Daddy…”

                “I don’t want to hear a word about Luhan anymore do you understand?”

                “Daddy…”

                “He has left us and is not coming back, okay? So shut up and eat your peas.”

                “Chanyeol come on….” Baekhyun placed a hand on his husband.

                The damage has been done. Both twins’ dropped their food back on the plate. Tears clouded their little eyes. Taehyung was the first to leave the table and ran away. Jimin followed milliseconds later and Chanyeol just sighed deeply.

                “I’m sorry.” I apologized. “I forgot I wasn’t supposed to mention Luhan’s name.”

                “It’s alright. The kids have to know sooner or later.”

                “I was going to tell them myself, why did you do that?” Baekhyun groaned. “Now our dinner is just spoilt.”

                “I’m sorry honey I…” a baby’s cry rang through the room and Baekhyun rose from his feet.

                “Now I have to attend to another baby, as if there aren’t enough in this house already.” He threw his napkin down and pulled his sleeves up as he walked away. Chanyeol and I were on the ends of the table, awkwardly staring at each other with cold food between us.

                “Please enjoy the food. I have to be excused.” Chanyeol pushed his plate and left. I looked around me and there were still mash potatoes and salad left. No sense letting that go to waste.

                It was hard to tell what Luhan did here during his time here, but whatever he did he certainly left an impact. Both twins wanted him back so badly, and it seems like everything went downhill when he left. What in heaven’s name did my brother do?

                I found Baekhyun and Chanyeol on the porch together. Baekhyun had Jungkook in his arms while Chanyeol watched his husband and his baby boy fondly. He reached out to hold Baekhyun’s hand and rubbed the back of it. Baekhyun smiled softly at him and back at the baby. I didn’t want to go out at all. It felt like I was interrupting a private moment.

                Then I did something stupid. I stubbed my foot against the wall.

                “Ow!!”

                “Oh Kris!” Chanyeol called when I yelped in pain. “Is everything okay?”

                “Nothing a few minutes of pain tolerance can’t cure.”

                “Why don’t you come out and join us?”

                “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to interrupt.”

                “Not at all.” Baekhyun beckoned and pulled a chair up for me. I sat down between the couple and Chanyeol knew instantly what I wanted to talk to them about. “You want to know more about your brother and his time here.”

                “Yeah.”

                “Luhan was a wonderful nanny. He was so attached to the twins, something the other nannies couldn’t do.” Baekhyun said. “He helped me with Jungkook while I was running my shop, he picked the twins up from school and he even did some housework.”

                “He didn’t stay with us too long. After 2 and a half weeks he had to leave again. We paid him handsomely for his work and he left the next day.”

                “Did he talk to you about his personal life?”

                “No I don’t believe so.” Baekhyun shook his head.

                “He didn’t tell you where he was going either?”

                “No.” Chanyeol replied. “We asked him but he replied that he didn’t know where to go yet. I asked him why he had to leave, he said he was running out of time.”

                “Running out of time?” What?

                “His exact words indeed.” Baekhyun patted Jungkook’s head.

                “My brother has this thing where he left clues and letters behind. Did you find anything?”

                “I don’t recall him leaving anything except some official documents I gave you.”

                “You paid him in cash didn’t you?”

                “I did. He needed the money right away.” Chanyeol said.

                “You know, if you want to know more about Luhan, the best people to talk to are the twins.” Baekhyun said. “He spent the most time with them. They would know how he was like.”

                “Good idea. Have you seen them?”

                “I’m afraid they are tucked into bed already. Perhaps tomorrow morning?”

                “I guess so. Thanks guys.”

                “Anytime.” Chanyeol beamed. “Good night Kris.”

                “Good night.” I waved and went into my room. I laid there on the bed for several minutes, looking through documents that gave no indication of his whereabouts now. Luhan would never write on something like this anyways. I need to find scrap paper.

                One thing I have noticed about my travels so far is that Luhan has impacted the lives of the people he touched or came across in some way. He’s not just eloping, he’s also on some journey of some kind. Meeting the people who knew him while he was running away was like looking at photos of a dead person. How I wish I was there with him, instead of trying to catch him.

                It was getting late and I heard tiny footsteps outside my window. I sat up in my bed and was prepared to toss something at the intruder when I looked out and saw two small figures climbing up a tree. The twins!

                “Jimin! Taehyung!” I opened the window and called their names. “Get down this instant!”

                “Don’t wanna!”

                “Oh for ’s sake.” I got out of my bed, ran down the stairs and into the yard. I looked up the tree and saw that there was a treehouse up there. “Boys! Get down! It’s late and you’ll injure yourself!”

                “But we wanna see the stars!”

                “Luhan said if we wish upon a star it will come true!”

                “Get back down here! Boys!” Silence came through and I knew the boys were no longer listening. I sighed and rolled up my pants. “Fine, since you won’t come down, I’ll just go up.”

                Climbing the tree was not hard at all. Luhan and I used to climb even taller ones when we were small. The treehouse itself was small, about the size of the Japanese living room, but it had a big glass window looking out, and indeed the stars were glistening that night.

                I also remembered that I am not as small as I think I am.

                “Mr. Wu you are so big!”

                “I know that. It’s called being an adult.” I groaned as I tried to tuck in my legs. I gave up halfway and decided to just dangle them. “What are you boys doing up here?”

                “Making a wish.”

                “You guys really missed Luhan eh?”

                There was a small silence as the moon illustrated their faces. Jimin nodded slowly.

                “He was our best friend.” Taehyung choked on a sob.

                “Appa and Daddy are always too busy to play with us. They don’t care about us anymore. All they care about is Jungkook. Nobody loves us anymore.”

                “That’s not true.”

                “Yes it is. Daddy is always scolding me, saying I’m a bad boy and I should behave. Appa likes Jungkook better. He’s always calling him darling and sweetheart. Appa never calls us that.”

                “Your parents love you two a lot trust me.” I held their tiny hands. I knew exactly what they were going through. When I was young I used to think my parents loved Luhan more than me. Sometimes I still do.

                “Luhan played with us all the time. He said we were smart and fun. He never called us bad boys.”

                “I know.” The two boys crawled to my side and I wrapped both arms around them.

                “Is Luhan never coming back?”

                “Did we do something wrong?”

                “Does he not love us anymore?”

                “Luhan is on a very big adventure boys.” I said. “He will come back one day and tell you all about it.”

                “Why didn’t he take us with him?”

                “Because it’s dangerous. There are lions and tigers involved, and sea creatures with 7 eyes and 3 legs!”

                “We can fight sea monsters! We are strong!” Jimin puffed up his chest and beat it the way a gorilla would. I laughed and hugged his precious body close to mine.

                “Yes indeed but what happens if you get hurt? Appa and Daddy will be so sad.”

                “No they won’t.”

                “Yeah they don’t care about us anymore.”

                “Now why would you say that? If your Appa and Daddy didn’t love you anymore would they still feed you? Still buy you toys? Still pick you up from school?”

                “They have to, or else the police would catch them.”

                “Haha! Trust me boys, your parents love you.” I told them. “They love you and your baby brother more than anything else in the world, and they will do everything they can to make you happy. That’s why they hired Luhan.”

                “So that he can play with us?”

                “That’s right. They were afraid you two would get lonely, so they told Luhan to come and play with you boys.”

                “Why did they let Luhan go then?”

                “Because Luhan needs to finish his mission, then he can come back and tell you incredible stories.”

                “When will he come back?”

                That was a good question. I looked at them and then at the stars again. “I don’t know boys. I’m waiting for him to come home too.”

                “Where is his home?”

                “In South Korea.”

                “Where’s that?”

                “Somewhere very far away.”

                “Didn’t he tell you where he was going?”

                “No he didn’t.”

                “Did he tell you where he was?” Taehyung asked with wide eyes as he cuddled closer.

                “Not exactly.”

                “Are you looking for him?”

                “Yes.”

                “So you’re on an adventure too?”

                “Yes I am. The Adventure of the Missing Luhan.” I laughed and the twins giggled beside me. I am on an adventure. An adventure that took me half way across the globe to a small treehouse with two kids. Monsters not included.

                “Do you know if Luhan loves us?” Taehyung asked.

                “Yes.” I answered without a doubt. “I’m sure he loved you very much.”

                “How do you know?” Jimin asked.

                “See up there?” I pointed to the stars. “They told me.”

                “The stars talk?”

                “Oh yes. If you miss Luhan, just look up and talk to him. The stars will pass the message to Luhan so he can hear them.”

                “Can we hear him talk to us?”

                “If you close your eyes and believe, you definitely can.”

                The twins closed their eyes immediately and clasped their hands together. I laughed silently as they snuggled up close to me. This is the magic of children. They are so innocent and quick to believe anything you tell them. When they love, they love with all their heart and they believe in monsters and fairies, in witches and supermen.

                They believe in hope and dreams. They live life better than the adults do.

                I closed my eyes and prayed with them. I want brother back. Please Magic Star, bring my brother back.

                The twins fell asleep in the treehouse. The night air in Sydney is cold, so I went back inside to get a blanket. As I came out of the room, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a message from Tao.

                Please take the next flight home. Your dad just had a heart attack. He is stable now.

                Magic Star, you’re doing a lousy job.

A/N: There's a big development in this story that's coming soon, so stay tuned for more!! Love you guys!!!