With Baekhyun and Chanyeol

            Baekhyun stayed quiet, pondering the supposedly easy question. Several times, the King would begin to answer only to continue to stammer into a barely comprehendible blabber. Chanyeol cocked an eyebrow at the King, who was playing with his fingers now.

“Hey, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I know the famous Byun family can’t give away many secrets.” This threw the King into a wave of confusion, as he did not once recall mentioning his last name. As if reading his mind, Chanyeol quickly jumped in to clear the confusion, “Your family's company bought over my family’s little business. At dinner the Byun name was never left without a cuss.” The rapper smirked at the memory of his father shoveling rice into his mouth all while proclaiming that one day he would buy out the entirety of Byun Enterprises and make all the Byuns bake buns for him. Baekhyun couldn’t help but to feel a bit sorry, as for whenever his family bought another company, they would fire the original owners so that the past employees wouldn’t try to talk their boss into pulling out. Which meant that, since Baekhyun’s parents bought Chanyeol’s family business, Chanyeol’s parents eventually lost their jobs.

“Oh. I’m sorry…” The sentence lightly danced next to the curly haired's ears. The smiling idiot didn’t hesitate to deny the apology, to remind him that it wasn’t his job in the first place, and his parents are faring well and happy now so no harm was caused in the end. “Umm...Hyung?” Baekhyun tested the title on his tongue, enjoying the way it felt to be able to call one of the most lusted after males 'Hyung'. Luckily for him, Chanyeol allowed him to continue without any opposition. “Where are we going?”

“Why, my favorite place of course.”

Once they get there

Slowly exiting the car, Baekhyun looked up at the unfamiliar sign written in a foreign language. Although the sign was in English, Baekhyun had heard about the name and had somewhat of an idea what lay inside the building.

“Hyung….why are we at Sky High?”

“I believe the better question here is why not?” The smiling idiot laughed at his own pointless joke before grabbing onto Baekhyun’s wrist, dragging him into the building. The king couldn’t help but raise the fact that the facility was designed for children 12 and under. Turning around with a majestical gleam in his eye, Chanyeol practically screamed his response, “That’s exactly why we’re here!”

Once they get in

Baekhyun finally understood the truth that stood behind Chanyeol’s statement. No one would believe that the 18-year-old rapper could be such a little kid as he bounced from trampoline to trampoline, not caring that he was just repeating the same movement. The singer on the other hand was not as impressed with the small fun house, giving off a smile here and there as he watched the elder’s childish antics. “Baekhyun! Stop being such a fuddy duddy and come play with me!” Baekhyun merely rolled his eyes, and shook his head before returning to the parent's viewing section. “Yah! Baekhyun-sshi! You’re a sshi, not an appa or ajusshi. Get off your lazy and come here!” Somehow the rapper was able to move from the opposite side of the room to right in front of Baekhyun, all while speaking. “Baekhieeee, please?” A little known fact about the deep-voiced rapper is that he has an overabundance of aegyo, which should easily rival Tao’s own bbuing bbuing. Baekhyun, who was thrown into a state of shock seeing the random burst of aegyo, wasn't exactly sure what happened next, as all he knew was it is not 30 minutes later, and he is sweating from jumping around so much. “See! I told you!” Chanyeol yelled as he bounced across the room, his own laughing enclosing on Baekhyun, forcing the singer’s laughter to ring out. Amidst the childish games, Baekhyun realized something a bit interesting. He was genuinely smiling. It wasn’t one of his 'I’m about to get laid' smiles like he has on at school, but a genuinely happy smile that only comes out with the other Kings. Looking over at the hysterical rapper, Baekhyun allowed himself to embrace that little kid within and for once, have fun.  

After they finished

Baekhyun was following, well being pulled, by Chanyeol through the park. No lights were on as the full moon was shining down, lighting the trails of the two. Not realizing that the leader stopped, Baekhyun ran straight into the taller’s back, successfully bruising his nose.

“Why’d you stop??”

“Look.”

Looking out over Chanyeol’s shoulder, Baekhyun was amazed. The skyscrapers of Seoul danced, their lights on the rippling pond, performing for the young couple. The two took shelter under a rather large weeping willow, enjoying the rare silence that the city hardly ever brought. Even though Baekhyun had lived in Seoul all his life, he never saw the city in such a perspective.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Baekhyun tilted his head to find Chanyeol with a light smile on his face, staring intently at the water. “When I was about 8, my best friend Kyungsoo and I would come here and watch the lights every night. He told me that the lights were his mom and dad watching over him from the Heavens. One day, when we came out, there was another little boy here, a bit older than both of us. His name was Lay; he told us that the lights were his parents saying hi to him from China. As we got closer, he introduced us to his friend, Joonmyun who was the oldest. He was 13 at the time, and was always too cool to play with us, always sitting down and complaining like an ajusshi. Five years later, Joonmyun took in a little kid; he was 2 years younger than me and about the same age as Tao. Now, 5 years again, I have my family with me once more… I’m sorry I just dropped my life story on you…” Baekhyun didn’t say anything, simply giving Chanyeol a smile, reassuring the elder. As time went by, the two continued in silence, but unlike before it wasn’t an awkward silence, it was comfortable. As it grew late, Baekhyun grew colder; not bringing a jacket at night wasn’t really a smart idea. He didn’t know when his chattering teeth grew louder, but an arm soon enveloped him into a cave of warmth. Blushing a bit, the oh-so-mighty King settled in between Chanyeol’s legs, his head resting on the older’s chest. The rapper had somehow also managed to wrap his arms around the singer’s waist before planting a small kiss on his cheek. Chanyeol relaxed into the comforting warmth, knowing that Baekhyun was doing the exact same.

Earlier with Lay

“Hello? Anyone home?” The umma of the house walked in, covered in sweat from his dance practice. Slipping into the living room, he noticed the sleeping lump, also known as Luhan, on the couch. Sneaking behind the body, Lay became the larger spoon, smiling as he took in the scent of his favorite housemate.

“Yah…gege…. you’re stinky..” Yixing smirked a bit, allowing his older thoughts to take over.

“I can make you sweaty too.” Immediately Luhan was on his feet, an accusing finger pointed straight at the smirking dancer.

“Yah! You ert! Aish, and you’re supposed to be my mother?” Running a stressed hand through his hair, the youngest plopped down on the side ottoman. Suddenly, the atmosphere became a bit tense as the maknae spoke once more, “Yixing ge? Can I ask you something?” Lay sat up a bit, concerned as Luhan never called him Yixing unless it was extremely important to him. The singer’s face reddened a bit before he began his question, “So you and Appa have known each other for 16 years now, right?” Lay nodded slowly, not quiet sure where the question was leading. “And you two have known Tao, Yeolie and Kyung for ten years, right?” Once again, Lay slowly nodded, a bit bewildered, confused as to why the younger was going through his friendship timeline. “And you’ve only known me for five….” Luhan’s voice trailed off, his shoulders slumping a bit. “Yixing ge? Appa must love you more than he loves me…”

“LUHAN!” Now it was the addressed boy’s turn to be confused as the elder was on his feet looking as though he was ready to run him over with an army of tanks. “Suho-hyung probably loves you the most!” The singer turned his head a bit, letting the word 'liar' slip out of his mouth. Lay didn’t know what came over him, but one thing led to another and Luhan was now sporting a red cheek. “How could you even say that?! He took you in when he was 18! You ungrateful brat.”

Luhan was thrown into a rage at being called a brat. The Chinese boy didn’t know if it was all the stress building up, but Luhan completely lost all composure. “CAN’T I WONDER?! WOULDN’T IT MAKE SENSE?! I HAD FIVE LESS YEARS WITH HIM, HE NEVER ASKS ME HOW I’M DOING AND WHEN I SIT DOWN HE LEAVES! I KNOW I’M NOT UP TO YOUR GUYS’ COMPANY STANDARDS, BUT WHY AM I NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE YOUR BROTHER?!” Luhan stomped off, leaving the shocked umma to ponder by himself.

Rushing into his own bathroom, Luhan couldn’t get that voice of hatred out of his head, each word a new cut in his mind, “You’re not good enough. You’re hideous. You’re worthless. I wish I got rid of you. You mean nothing to me. You’re a waste of space. No one cares about you.” Luhan allowed the tears to drip, the insults running through his head again and again. Gripping the sink counter, the sobbing boy couldn’t control his emotions, he was now just a sobbing mess. All that was on his mind was the worst thing he had ever been told.

“I hate you. Your mother, my beloved wife, was corrupted by you, you piece of crap. I wish I could kill you with my own hands.”

Later when Kyungsoo comes home

The singer poked his head through the doorframe, looking to see if any of his housemates were inside. Deeming the coast to be clear, Kyungsoo ran, well limped, as quickly as he could to the stairs. However before he could actually begin his journey up the stairs an arm stopped his path.

“Hyung…what happened to you?” D.O. slowly turned around to meet the worried eyes of his maknae, appa and umma.

“I fell down a flight of stairs. Clumsy me.” A forced laugh escaped his bleeding mouth, trying to throw the others off.

“Kyungsoo, you can’t expect us to believe that… I mean look at you!” Suho’s fatherly instincts kicked in as he gestured at the broken teen. Kyungsoo however, would rather not look at himself. He didn’t want to see the black eye, the blood crusted over his face. He didn’t want to face the growing bruises on his swollen cheek, the reddening handprints that decorated his neck. He didn’t want to accept the countless amount of bruises, cuts and bumps that donned his body.

“Appa I promise, I was on my phone and I didn’t see the stop. I promise it’s not as bad as it looks!” As Suho tried to lecture the younger on telling the truth as he was no where close to being fooled, Lay merely picked up the younger into a baby’s cradle, softly placing him onto the couch before going to retrieve the familiar first aid kit. Luhan carefully helped the doe-eyed boy out of his tattered, blood stained t-shirt. As the shirt revealed more skin, Luhan began to feel weaker. Every part of the mini-umma’s body was growing discolored and what seemed like a normal color of flesh was filled with cuts and dried blood. A sickening feel of familiarity came into his guts upon seeing the patterned injuries.

“-han! LUHAN!” Snapping back to reality, Luhan was greeted with Lay shooing him away. Retreating to where Suho was, the two watched painfully as Lay cleaned the deep wounds.

“Appa? Is this how you felt when I came home?” Neither took their eyes off the withering singer, but Suho did speak quietly.

“No.” A bit surprised with the answer, Luhan threw the elder a hurt look, believing that he still isn’t as important as Kyungsoo. Knowing that Luhan believed he wasn’t as loved for they have been together the shortest amount of time, Suho placed a hand on the taller’s shoulder. “I was even more worried.” Now this caused Luhan to grow even more surprised, asking his legal appa the reasoning behind such a strong statement. “You’re my son. You came back with broken bones. How else should I feel, Luhan? And when I asked you what happened, you brushed it off like it was nothing.” Suho now turned to be eye-to-eye with the Chinese boy. “You may be my son on paper and we may address each like a parent and child, but I’m way too young to be your father. You’re my little brother and my best friend, Lulu. I love you. Don’t ever doubt that.” Luhan smiled at hearing his old nickname that was given to him a mere 5 years ago.

Flashback

The short Chinese boy hesitantly approached the man who he was told was his new father. Bending down to his height, Suho examined the younger, asking if he was able to speak Korean. Seeing as a translator had to answer, Suho tried his best to use body gestures. Waving his hand, Suho chuckled a bit to see Luhan wiggle a finger back. Pointing to himself, Suho slowly pronounced his real name, Joonmyun. Fixing the shorter’s hair, the angel couldn’t help but laugh at Luhan’s attempts to pronounce the complicated Korean name. Pointing to himself again Suho spoke slowly,

“Suho.” Letting the name play on his lips a bit, Luhan easily became embarrassed, cowering back a bit, clutching his beloved box even closer. As Suho turned his back to talk to the translators and social workers, Luhan began playing with the elder’s name. However, every time the name escaped his lips, it came out to be SuSu rather than Suho. Turning around after hearing the attempts, Suho pointed to himself once more, “SuSu?” Luhan laughed hearing his nickname being used, before enthusiastically nodding his head. Suho continued to point at Luhan, “Lulu.” Luhan smiled once more, raising his finger to point at Suho,

“SuSu.” Turning so his thumb faced himself “Lulu!”

I owe so much to my betas: Kojafras and bestgirlfriend. They made this a lot cleaner and flow a lot better. So I hoped this chapter is long enough, I'm going to take longer time updating, but with longer chapters as that was the poll winner. Also I would like to say thank you so much for commenting, and subscribing, I feel really lucky that so many people are interested in this story. So as a thank you I decided to do a quick Q&A addressing the most fequently asked questions about this story.

Q: Why did Kai take it so far? It is just a bet.

A: Remember Kyungsoo was going to break up with Kai because he cheated. Kai beat him so that he would be too scared to leave him, still messed up, but that's his reasoning.

Q: Will Luhan's family find out about the Kings?

A: In time.

Q: How come Luhan doesn't show the real him?

A: Because he doesn't want to make shallow friends who only like him for his looks.

Q: Is orange Chen?

A: If I tell you where would the fun of the mystery be?

Q: Why did Xiumin get burned and who did it?

A: Because he knew about the bet, this was the King's intimadation. And the people who did it are hired gang members.

Q: Will Sehun continue with the bet?

A: We shall see.

Q: Is this a happy ending? 

A: I will neither confirm nor deny.