There's only a week left before summer break and everything is a ing mess. 

Joonmyun doesn't feel good; both from the fact that Minseok raised his hand on Jongdae and how the words of his younger brother is still gripping on his heart like some huge assed hand. 

He never want it to happen, really. His intentions are good. All he want is for them to stay out of trouble but it seems like not all good intentions are always for the best.

Sniffing the new batch of tears that are threatening to fall, he hugs his knees closer to his chest. Beside him, Minseok is not saying anything. He has his back on the wall and is eyeing the door to the study with a blank expression. They could hear the soft voices of their Uncle Siwon and Mrs. Lu as they converse, possibly assessing the current situation, and Joonmyun is once again reminded of the fight that transpired. 

"Don't worry yourself too much," Minseok suddenly speaks, his eyes not leaving the door. Joonmyun finds the uncharacteristic maturity in his voice a little unnerving. He isn't used to seeing the boy this way. The Minseok in his memory is a clueless baby who reprimands you in the most childish kind of way.

Then again, Minseok is also the most complex person that he knows. 

Not knowing what to respond, Joonmyun simply bobs his head. 

It takes another fifteen minutes for Siwon and Rongjia to finally emerge out of the study, and per usual, their uncle is looking like sunshine incarnate and it's sort of getting on Joonmyun's nerves. Behind him, Mrs. Lu is looking tired and so done with the world. 

A complete opposite. 

"I'm sorry that this mess had to happen, Joonmyun dear." The woman says and holds the boy's hand who had stood up the moment the door opened. "I feel like I failed you. I even promised your father that I would not let anything happen to any of you but obviously I wasn't able to do that." then she ends with a low dejected sigh. 

"It's okay, Auntie. I understand that you're busy." Joonmyun replies. There was no way in hell that either of Mr. And Mrs. Lu could look after them, especially with how busy they are. Mr. Lu is always out of the country on some business trip and Rongjia is busy managing their Korean branch, and no shade whatsoever, they can barely take care of Lu Han. That's why he became so crazy. 

"I'm gonna have to talk to Han about this. Wait, I should call Fon first and see what he'd say." The woman frets before facing Minseok who only blinks in return. "Don't worry honey, I will save you from the hungry jaws of my own son." Is what she says as she squeezes the boy's face in between her hands. 

"That's great!" Siwon exclaims from his spot before approaching Joonmyun and pulls him and Minseok in a hug. "See? You kids should stop putting your boxer's in a bunch and if it's Jongdae you're worried about, Jia here says that as long as he's with Yixing, he'll be fine." The look the woman throws him is a mixture of annoyance and disappointment. And it is then the man realizes that he probably shouldn't mention his youngest nephew and Rongjia's nephew in one sentence. 

The way Joonmyun's face falls even further at the mention of the two is enough to make Rongjia want to chuck Siwon in a toilet bowl.

"I think I probably shouldn't have said that." The man cringes. 

Rolling her eyes, the words Mrs. Lu is about to say are cut off by her phone ringing. She answers the call and after a brief conversation from the other line, she puts it back to the Chanel pouch she's holding. "My secretary." she says. "I need to go. I have a business dinner to attend, make yourself at home... But I'm pretty sure you don't need anyone to tell you that." She adds and rolls her eyes at Siwon who only grins wide in return. Turning to Joonmyun who still look like a kicked puppy, her smile softens.

"Anyway, don't worry yourself too much, love. I'll make sure to talk to my nephews and especially my son about this entire ordeal." the woman brushes the back of her finger on his chin in a affectionate manner. "And if they'll still bother you guys, I myself will organize your school transfer." She gives them one more sweet smile before turning around and walking to the direction of the front door. 

There is a silence that befalls them until Siwon clears his throat and squeezes them gently. "So!" he starts. "Who wants ice cream?" 

Sighing, Joonmyun shakes his head and removes his uncle's arm on his shoulder. "I think I'll pass. I should study for the exams tomorrow." he softly says and walks away, not even waiting for a reply from the man. 

Siwon watches his nephew's back with a slight pout. He was hoping for a small get together and seeing the boy not giving him that is making him sulk a bit. 

Until he feels a tug on his arm. 

Turning his head to the side, he is greeted by a pair of feline-like eyes innocently blinking at him. Pink lips then parts and says:

 

"I want ice cream."

 

---

 

Baekhyun finds his friends in a tea shop named "Koko-Bop" after his battle with the unreasonable test questions that day. He knows he failed majority of them and he's going to receive some serious whooping from his father and so, he decides to find his friends so that he can spend his remaining breathing hours with them. 

(Ain't he a good friend?)

And his decision serves as one of the best he had done in his life. 

Well for starters, the Koko-Bop tea shop is a real relaxing ground. It's more or less a greenhouse, with each tables separated by a bush or a flower pot. Different colors of butterflies are freely roaming around the vicinity and the way the sun peeks from the glass portion of the roof can only be defined as "fairytale-like". A classical song is being played via a trumpet shaped speakers—that is painted in gold—and Baekhyun allows himself to close his eyes and savor the relaxing aura of the tea shop. Opening them, he gives the girl who is behind the register a smile (who does the same) before he goes on to find his friends. 

He eventually finds them—well half of them anyway—on a table where there's already platters of sweets placed in the middle. 

He sees Zitao first who looks far too serious in his own liking, then Hani who now sports a silver hair and lastly—well, he don't really considers her as a friend but more of an acquaintance—Park Choa whose hair is the same as ever: short and blonde. He remembers Choa as—for the lack of better words—Jimin's lackey and is basically just around just to fill in for the other girl in their club. 

Hani is the first one who notices him first and just like she always does, she grins wide and makes a little scene. "And look who's back from the dead! It's Byun Baekhyun himself! Welcome back Lucifer!" 

Rolling his eyes, he plops down to the seat across from Tao before he kicks Hani on the shin. "Shut up." He says, ignoring how she whined and stuck her tongue out and addresses the unusual amount of Psychology books lying on the free spaces on the table. 

"Should I be worried?" Baekhyun questions and motions his chin on the books. 

Looking up from the one he's reading, Zitao hands it over to him. Zitao tells him to read the book and not really finding anything to argue about, he let his eyes falls on the bold letters of the chapter title. 

Multiple Personality Disorder / Dissociative Identity Disorder

Okay.

What?

"What?" Baekhyun voices out with one eyebrow raised. 

Zitao's tendencies to be random is nothing new, really, and he's kind of used to them after the time they had spent together. But this? This is something new. Or maybe not so. His guess is the boy possibly watched another movie that is able to convince him to venture to the confusing field of Psychology. 

"So, I have this awesome conspiracy theory about why Minseok acted like that last friday." he starts giddily. Choa and Hani simultaneously leans forward, their excitement is clearly shown in their eyes but Baekhyun is more concerned with one thing. 

"Tao?" He starts and gives his friend a look. "I don't think that's something that you should discuss in public." he says before kicking the younger under the chair. 

Of course his kick is reciprocated by another one before Zitao huffs and takes the book back from Baekhyun's grasp. 

"Oh, you don't have to worry about it. Taozi didn't told us anything." Comes in Choa's sweet voice which is coupled down with her sweet smile. 

"We saw his Snapchat story. Man, I never knew little Minnie had that in him! That slap was so—fetch!" Hani then continues, completely ignoring when Choa says "did you just say 'fetch'?". 

Ignoring her obvious misuse of the iconic word—and fetch is still not going to happen—Baekhyun shots Zitao a look equal to that of horrified and "are you ing serious?!" 

"What? It was some major drama! Of course I'd document it!" he exclaims in defence and Baekhyun leans forward to smack a little sense into the boy's head. "Watch it! It took me hours to perfect this hairstyle!" The boy whines but Baekhyun simply makes a motion of repeating it again. 

"Yeah, watch it. Watch my ing fist crash into your face!" He snarls and the other visibly recoils before pouting. "I can't believe you! That was a private affair and you just can't share it to the whole world!" Baekhyun reprimands and chucks a piece of bread on the younger boy's direction. 

"Sorry, okay? What's done is done and besides, I deleted it right away. But that's not the main topic here!" he exclaims before he's back to his earlier giddy self. Grinning wide, he motions the three of them to come closer. Although still in the state of wanting to rip Zitao's face off, Baekhyun adheres, curious to what kind of bull the boy has in mind. 

"Okay, so like I was saying I have this major conspiracy theory about what happened then." He starts and is almost jumping on his seat. "First of all, I've known Minseok since, like, I moved in with them. He's always the heads up in the clouds kind of guy and he only cares about his stupid cow. It's not even pretty. Trust me when I say that it's really hideous." Zitao snorts then rolls his eyes. "But anyway, what he did in the Lu's mansion is totally new. Like, that was the first time that I'd seen him that way and god, color me stoked." 

When none of his friends says a word—not even Baekhyun who usually doesn't run out of things to say—Zitao nods and folds his arms on top of the table. 

"So here's what I think," he halts just for the sake of the element of surprise. But when Baekhyun shots him a look, he clears his throat and finally states his theory. "I think, Minseok has two personalities in his tiny body." 

The silence that follows is almost comical especially with how the three of them are looking at Zitao like he just suggested that world peace can be acquired by distributing authentic branded apparels. 

Which is something that he'll probably say when one would think about it. 

"Are you watching Shane Dawson?" Choa questions with an incredulous look on her face. 

"I think all those chemicals that are added in those Guccis that you bought are getting into your head." Baekhyun comments after for a couple of minutes. 

"Ditto." Hani agrees which makes the pout of Zitao's lips return. 

"Guys! Come on, don't you think it's kind of strange? Like what he did was complete out of character!" he gasps. 

"Or maybe Jongdae simply went out the line, did you ever thought of that? I think it was natural for Minseok to snap. Imagine seeing your brother tell those hurtful things to the other, anyone would get their whooped." Baekhyun then argues, rolling his eyes at his friend's inability to see the most obvious reason. He watches as Zitao blinks a couple of times before his expression lightens like he'd just realized things. 

"Point taken." he simply says and the conversation then shifts to more mundane things while he removes the books on the table and places them on the ground. "Anyways, do you know where Jongdae is? He hasn't been replying to my messages and people are bombarding me with questions, thanks to that video Yixing uploaded on his Instagram." 

Right. 

Aka that video where Jongdae is cuddling with Chen on the couch—looking solemn and all—before Yixing comes into view and pokes his cheeks. It was only ten seconds long but ten seconds is enough for people to speculate and form idiotic conspiracy theories like Zitao did. 

"I think I saw him earlier with Taekwon," After scooping her near melted sundae and her spoon clean, Hani informs pertaining to Yixing's Beta friend. "He's really rising up the food chain. I never expected this. I mean Lu Han and Minseok was really out of nowhere, and now Yixing and Jongdae. I'm starting to think there's something about your family that makes you attract all the good men." She adds before grinning mischievously at Zitao. "You could be next." 

Snorting, Zitao takes a cherry from the tiny basket and pops it in his mouth. "Right, with who? Sehun? Hate to break it to you but I prefer my man older than me." And smarter. He wants to add but thought against it. Sehun could use a little break from being referred to as an idiot. 

"Then you could go with Yifan! I hear he's kind of nice." The girl insist and rests her chin on top of her closed fist. 

Zitao merely rolls his eyes at the notion. "First of all, I'm not interested in being in a relationship until I graduate high school." he says before picking up his teacup and drinks its contents. "Second of all, I'm enjoying my life as a single person so yeah. Give Yifan or Sehun to whoever because I'm not interested."

Baekhyun has enough of his friends at this point and instead of joining in with Hani and her teasing, he simply calls a waitress over and asks for a menu. 

Might as well eat his heart out before his father finds his test results and die. 

 

---

 

And after confirming that Zitao really needs to stop being such a basic white girl and learning that the Koko-Bop's pasta is one of the most delicious he had ever tasted, Baekhyun leaves the three of them to confront the biggest monster that has been bothering him. 

Well, the next monster after the Joonmyun and Jongdae fight.

Standing in front of the entrance of the greenhouse, he wears his most determined expression and takes a step forward.  

Everything's the same as it was before he ran out. The roses are still in bloom, the grape vines still wrapped around the steel gates before the entrance, the yellow Malaysian coconut trees are still full of fruits—fruits which are the main ingredients of Do Kyungsoo's delicious coconut shakes—every tropical plants are still taken good care off, the fountain is still functioning, and of course there's still that small freckled boy reading behind the marbled table in the middle of the space.

His light brown hair is glowing under the sunlight that's coming through the glass roof and it accentuate his freckles and every features that shows his foreign lineage. And oh, he's reading the book Baekhyun's supposed to make a report on.

On normal circumstances, he would have just ask him what the book is all about and then do that stupid report, but of course it isn't any normal circumstances and he can't just walk on him and ask for a chapter by chapter summary. 

Taking a little step closer, the other finally notices him and looks up from the page he's reading. 

He doesn't say a word. 

Do Kyungsoo never says the first word. 

What he does is simply stare at you until you become uncomfortable and say what you want. It's an old habit of his that's already there from when they were barely able to say anything aside from "mama" and "papa". And maybe also "" but he ain't telling. 

Giving in under Kyungsoo's unwavering gaze, Baekhyun juts his lower lip out and does his best kicked puppy look. "So... You're really not gonna apologize?" he asks. 

Kyungsoo simply blinks before he returns his eyes back to the book he's reading and doesn't say anything. Which, of course, makes Baekhyun sulk even more than he already do. 

"Y-you know! If you don't apologize then we have to cancel our plans t-to go to Maldives and we can't cause..." he halts and shifts his weight from one foot to another. "Because I already told Baekbeom about it and he's extremely jealous and... And, he'll laugh at me if he learns it's been cancelled."

The response he got is a simple sigh and Baekhyun feels the waterworks come. 

To his defence though, Kyungsoo's the only who has the power to make him cry, he always has. Okay maybe Chanyeol too because of what he'd done to his hair but that's beside the point! Kyungsoo knows he can make Baekhyun cry and that's exactly what he's doing. 

Hiccuping, he makes sure the other can perfectly hear him just so he would feel guilty and the elder is not the only one who ends up sniveling. 

Instead of an apology, all he hears is a chuckle. "Aren't you too old for that, Byun Baekhyun?" he says with his eyes still on the book. 

At this, Baekhyun immediately halts on his crying and returns to his pouting. "And for someone who called me immature, you're pretty immature yourself. You can't even apologize for hurting my feelings." he murmurs and childishly turns his head away, crossing his arms in the process. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes before finally putting his book down and faces the other. Baekhyun still has his face turned away with his lower lip jutted out. 

Kyungsoo shakes his head at the childish action. 

Standing up from his seat, he approaches the elder who visibly freezes in return. The younger has a unreadable expression plastered on his face and Baekhyun somewhat feels a little uneasy. He means, Kyungsoo could be plotting his death then and there because—surprisingly—he knows a couple of situation wherein he had get into the younger boy's skin.

Instead of a knife stab on his chest, what he got is an arm pulling him close before eventually wrapping around his form. 

Baekhyun has to blink a couple of times to interpret the sudden intimate gesture and when he does so, a big ol' grin breaks into his face. There's a squeal escaping his mouth before he envelope the younger into a bone crushing hug. 

Not exactly the kind of "apology" that he wants but knowing Do Kyungsoo, it must've took a lot to stand there and pull him into a hug. 

"Just so you know, I'm only doing this because I've already paid for that cruise and it's such a waste if I don't go." Kyungsoo says with a huff—a tinge of pink on his cheeks as Baekhyun nuzzles on his head. "And also... I'll admit, it was kind of boring without you and your loud around." he grumbles. 

Instead of being offended, Baekhyun simply sniffles his tears back and nods. "I miss you too, Soo. Everything's not the same not hearing your constant grumbling and cursing." he cries, to which the other merely scoffs at. He pats the back of the elder and he might not be able to say it, he made sure to relay the message that he feels the same. 

And Byun Baekhyun understood the simple gesture.

Maybe that's just how these long-time friendships work. Or he just watched way too many animes to understand how a "tsundere" works. 

 

---

 

Kim Joonmyun, like how he had been for the past days, is in a state of loneliness. 

He feels like the biggest jerk out there and it's coupled by the fact that Jongdae hasn't returned home yet. 

He tried going to his classroom just to make sure he is okay but he can't even say a word out before he sees the younger walk away.

He tells himself that this isn't permanent, that they'll eventually make up, and that everything's going to go back to how it always has. But he do wishes that it would happen soon because he doesn't like this entire ordeal. Not even a little bit. Sure, Minseok's been kind of sticking to him more than he usually do but Lu Han would always magically appear out of nowhere and snatch him away. Joonmyun guesses whatever "talk" that transpired between Lu Han and Lu Rongjia did the opposite outcome than what the woman would have want. Her son ended up being clingier and takes all the emotional comfort that Joonmyun needs as of the moment. 

Zitao and Siwon are no help at all. 

First, it's because they aren't really an empathetic duo and more often than not, they ends up making Joonmyun sadder. It isn't helping that his uncle—Choi Siwon—is a child trapped in a man's body who thinks that a tub of ice cream can fix anything. He wonders why his parents sent him in the first place but he would like to believe that they have a better reason than "well, he got nothing better to do anyway".

His other friends could be an option but he don't want to bother them with something that should be kept within family members. 

Now, even though examinations are out of the way and their summer break officially started two days ago, he can't find himself to rejoice. 

How could he? 

His little brother hates him. The Lus probably hates him too—even though Mrs. Lu assured him that they're don't—and the idea of being hated is making him lonelier with each passing moment. 

Which is why he choose to get out of that suddenly so stuffy mansion and find someplace to clear his thoughts. 

It was a long walk before he finds himself stumbling in an empty basketball court. It's surrounded by what appears to be the back some commercial buildings, he also notes the presence of some doves and the vending machine on the corner. There is a basket ball lying in the middle of the court but Joonmyun ignores it for two reasons. One is because he don't know how to play the sport and two, even if he can, he isn't really in the mood to do so. 

So instead, he approaches the benches and plops himself on it. 

He is alone for some time—silently controlling his tears from falling—before another figure enters the court. Joonmyun doesn't see him but the other figure notices him from a few meters back. One thick eyebrow is raised as he approaches the boy whose back is hunched and is visibly shaking. It is when he is only a couple of feet away that he registers his reddened eyes and nose. 

Wu Yifan—who is mildly surprised to find Kim Joonmyun in his not so secret place—frowns at the sight of the other looking so down. 

He isn't exactly ignorant of the little fight that occurred a few days before considering their maids loves gossips, and he'll admit that he feels a little sympathy for the other, but at the same time, he also feels a little annoyed upon knowing they were badly judged. 

Then again, seeing the boy like this is enough to erase the annoyance away—he isn't an despite of what people perceives them to be. That's only Lu Han—and all he feels now is pity. 

Yifan contemplates on simply leaving and pretend not to see anything but Joonmyun is already looking up from the ground and locks eyes with his. The elder visibly swallows when he is faced with a pair of glassy sad eyes. 

Raising one awkward hand, he forces himself to smile. "H-hi." he silently curses himself for stuttering. "Fancy seeing you here." he adds but is only rewarded by a timid tip of the head before Joonmyun is back on looking at the ground.

Well, I guess he doesn't want to talk. The boy thinks before he walks to the benches and places his duffel back on top of it, a meter away from the younger. He gives him a quick glance—contemplating if this is okay—then shakes his head and approaches the ball Stephen (one of his friends) left yesterday. 

Yifan is wordlessly bouncing the ball when Joonmyun looks up from the floor for the second time. 

He observes the back of the elder and notes his lose tank top—showing those biceps that flexes with his every movement—jersey shorts, and basketball shoes then promptly realizes that he must have specifically went here to play. 

And then an idea that Yifan could probably own this place and could kick him out anytime flashes his mind, but then he didn't and it makes Joonmyun finally cry for some unknown reason. 

Guilt maybe? Because when he thinks about it, Yifan hasn't done anything bad to him. Aside from slamming him on the locker, the boy never did anything that would hurt him.

Maybe after all these times, he is the . 

Yifan misses a shot just when Joonmyun's quiet sobbing turns into a full wail. Even his friends who has just arrived takes a couple of steps back and runs away upon seeing the crying boy on the bench, leaving him to deal with it and find a way to make him stop. 

Jerks.

Exhaling, he faces the younger whose expression has morphed into something not so attractive. 

Joonmyun is crying really hard at this point. He know he shouldn't, especially in front of the great Wu Yifan but he just couldn't stop himself. He never saw his self as a bad person but after all that had happened, he guess he really is a bad person.

What kind of a good person judges someone without fully knowing them anyway? What kind of a good person doesn't listen to what his brother thinks? What kind of a good person masks his selfish wants as something he's doing for the greater good? What kind of—

And then he blinks his tears away. 

He feels something cold rest on his cheeks and it prompts him to look up. Hiccuping, he sees Yifan standing in front of him with a tint of pink on his cheeks. Joonmyun raises his hand to feel the item on his face and then recognizes the smooth and cold texture of a soda can. Yifan let's go when the younger boy has the can in his hand. He watches Joonmyun stare at it for a couple of moment before he looks up and gives him a questioning look. 

(There's a sudden mental image of the boy with droopy bunny ears flashing on his mind but Yifan is quick to push it away.)

Coughing on his fist, the elder looks away and rubs his neck. "I... Uh, don't cry, I guess? I mean... Fighting is a part of life. I know it isn't good but fights are sometimes the key to a stronger bond." he awkwardly says as he shifts his weight from one foot to another. "It's bound to happen and I suppose this is the first time. But, uh, just hang in there?" then he kneels in front of the boy and as much as he could, he tries to smile in hope that it could at least lighten up the boy's mood. "Everything's going to alright."

And it is in his last words that makes Joonmyun cry even harder. He clutches the can of Coke closer to his chest and hunches forward, the realization that he could indeed be wrong with the Lus is making him more solemn than he already is. 

He never expected this. 

He never thought that in a million years that the one who will give him comfort is the very same reason why this mess happened in the first place.

But alas, it's the same person who he thought would do them bad who is giving him words of assurance, who is telling him that everything's going to be alright, and who is there when he's desperate to have someone to lean on. 

And it's also because of that reason that Joonmyun rushes forward—knocking Yifan on his in the process of doing so—and wraps his arms around the elder's neck. Yifan doesn't even have time to react and could only sit there as Joonmyun cries even harder on his shoulder. 

Relaxing for a bit, the elder let out a small sigh before he props a hand back and uses his free one to pat the younger boy on his back. The gesture is as sweet as it's supposed to be. 

And as Joonmyun continues to cry there, Yifan let him; with the pigeons serving as their witness. 

 

---

 

 

 

 

(っ°Д °; )っdon't cri. 

there's more krisho next chapteeer. 

 

 

THIS ALREADY HAS 70 UPVOTES?! TYSM GUISE. ( TДT) /crosses that out on my bucket list.