Luhan woke up at a clap of thunder. It was raining hard outside, leaving countless trail of water on the window. He slowly lifted up the blanket and slid out, making his way out of the room toward the direction that even if with his eyes close, he still managed to get right in.

Tenderly twisted the door knob, he peered into his parents’ room. It was dark but from the vision of the flat cover on the bed, he knew no one was there.

So dad is not home again.

He sighed out a long breath and closed the door, about to go back to his room when he heard something downstairs. He knew it was his mother. She lately found it hard to sleep whenever his father wasn’t at home and even though she assured him she was fine several times, he felt like something was going wrong.

Compared to a common eleven-year-old boy, Luhan was a brave kid. He was taught to do everything by himself from the age of three, been taken across the ocean for three weeks when he turned six and was left home alone so many nights he couldn’t keep track on. His parents were all busy with their job and not able to be with him often.

Even so he didn’t complain at all. As for a kid, he was raised to be generous and thoughtful , not that he wanted otherwise though.

When he reached downstairs, he was aware that this day would be one of the most frightened memories in his whole life.

His mother was lying on the floor, some small white pills could be seen nearby.

Because he was a small pure kid, he didn’t acknowledge what his mother had done was called suicide. Nobody had enough courage to explain the painful situation to an angel face like him and Luhan didn’t ask either. He refused to know more than what he already felt with his instinct and his heart. Somewhere deep inside, he knew the reason why his mother’s expression was always depressed. It’s because she had to live with his father. And because of him, her only child, she couldn’t leave.

“Mama, Luhan will be a good boy. Luhan loves mama very very much.”

“Mama loves Xiaolu too. But you have to promise to always listen to me, okay?”

“Uhmmm, Luhan will always listen to mama.”

“Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise!”

The not-so-sweet memory woke Luhan up. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand before checked the time on his watch.

One thirty

He mumbled, noticing he had been sleeping for almost an hour now. Normally Luhan didn’t sleep on plane but because of his waking up early this morning plus the anxiety about his mother’s condition, he guessed his mind was too tired to stay awake.

Leaned back on the chair, he closed his eyes again, suddenly regretted for turning down Sehun’s offer to go with him because now a warm wrap from his boyfriend would be the best treatment.

Beijing still looked the same since the last time he visited home, crowded and hasty. Luhan looked at his phone, let out a small sigh as noticing it ran out of battery and he couldn’t call Sehun like he had promised.

The taxi brought him straight to the hospital and Luhan wasted no time to run as fast as possible inside. The elevator slowly went up really poking in his nerves and he couldn’t help but tapping his foot continuously on the floor until the metal door opened.

The hallway was a little bit quieter than he expected but not that he cared, after all that was why his mother chose this private hospital. She liked the calm.

Luhan knocked twice before twisted the door knob. He was welcomed by a tight hug of his father and a soft smile from his mother on the bed in the middle of the room. He didn’t realize that he had missed them so much till his vision was getting blurrier by the tear. Swallowing all the emotion down, the young boy gave his father a pat on the back before parted them away, made his way toward the elder woman who was still smiling at him lovingly.

Pulling the chair nearby to sit down, he reached out to grab her hand and squeezed tenderly. His eyes dropped on her pale face worryingly

“Mama, how are you feeling now?”

“I’m fine, sweetie.”

Her voice was so soft that he almost didn’t catch it but by the look of her facial expression, he knew it was not good at all.

“What did the doctor say dad?”

His father sat up from the sofa, poured himself a glass of water and took a huge gulp of it. He lifted up the glass, asking Luhan if he wanted some but his son shook his head slightly in response.

“Her case would be easier if it’s found out sooner. But we’re lucky enough to find someone who agreed to donate bone marrow that perfectly corresponding to her own. Doctor Wu is setting up a date for the surgery.”

Luhan let out a small sigh, darted his eyes back to his mother again and pouting.

“Ma, you should have told me the last time we talked” he sounded reproachfully “What kind of a son am I that doesn’t have any clue of his mother’s condition. Not to mention that I’m your only child.”

She flashed him a strained smile

“I’m fine really. I don’t want to distract your studying, it’s your last year. Besides, I have Mei Mei by my side.”

“Who’s Mei Mei?” Luhan arched his brow, didn’t remember he had heard that name before.

Mr. Xi pulled down the curtain a little bit to prevent the sunray hit straight to the bed.

“Oh, that’s the girl who volunteered to donate her bone marrow. She comes here quite often.”

Luhan nodded knowingly but his pout seemed not disappear yet.

“But still, I’m your son.”

“I know, I know.”

His mother patted his hand few times comfortingly. He suddenly felt so peaceful. This was what he’s missing, being around his family even though it’s not perfect. And from the bottom of his heart, he wanted Sehun to be a part of it. He knew he had to find a right time to introduce his boyfriend to his parents. Sooner or later.

*********

Sehun crumpled up the music paper in his hand, tossed it into the dustbin nearby. He stole countless glances at the phone for more than an hour now. According to the ticket he had booked for Luhan on the way back to SIA, the Chinese boy must have landed almost half of a day ago. However until now there was not a single text announcing his arrival yet and Sehun had a hard time to fight against his urge to press the speed dial #1 since he didn’t want to disturb his boyfriend reunion with his family, especially when his mother was in hospital.

And he had to say being patient was not his strength. He had spent the whole morning working on his composure skill but no success. He couldn’t focus on what he was writing there because his mind was somewhere else thousand miles away. 

Groaning in frustration, Sehun got up from his chair and walked toward the fridge. He needed something cool to calm him down. A ringing tone from his phone jolted him back and he almost slipped as he rushed to table where the small electric device was placed earlier.

Thank God, it’s you

 He let out a long breath and swallowed whatever stuck in his throat before pressed the answer button. He didn’t want to scare Luhan with his sputtering and anxiety.

“Hello?”

“Sehun ah, it’s me.”

The soft voice from the other side of the line smoothed his brain pretty much. He plopped into the sofa, tried to make him comfortable to carry on the conversation.

“How’s everything there?”

He noticed a small pause before Luhan spoke up again, this time the uneasiness could be sensed very clearly

“She has leukemia but we’re lucky to have a bone marrow donor. The doctor said her chance is like 90% so there’s nothing to worry about. She’s scheduled to be on surgery in two days.”

Sehun nodded understandingly even though Luhan was not in front of him. He stayed silent in a split of second, his lips tightened into a thin line. He knew something was not fine like it sounded.

“Babe, are you okay?”

There went again with the small hesitation from the other side as if Luhan was fighting between acting cool and crying out. After about five seconds, he heard a whining and he had to force his brain cell to work harder to comprehend what his baby deer was saying

“I’m scared Sehun. What if something goes wrong? She was so weak right now. What if….”

Sehun had never felt so useless before as he listened his boyfriend sobbing somewhere in China alone. All he could do was trying his best to console Luhan through the phone

“Shushhh, I know I know. But the doctor said her chance is really high didn’t he? You have to trust him. Besides, she knows you and your father are waiting for her. She’ll be alright.”

“How do you know?” the older one’s breath was almost close to normal “You don’t even meet her yet.”

Sehun chuckled, knowing that Luhan calmed down a bit. He titled his head to find a good reason for backing up his prediction.

“Because she is your mother and since you’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met, I guess it’s her whom you inherit it from. So that means nothing will knock her down, right?”

And from that he got what he wanted to hear, a free giggle. Sehun pressed his hand against his chest in relief, at least he still could made the latter laugh over the nervous situation.

“Well, you’re right about the stubborn part. I couldn’t believe she hid her condition from me. But that’s all you think about me huh?”

The Korean male was a bit startled at the sudden sulking voice from the other side of the line. He imagined how Luhan’s kissable lips was pouting in the cutest way just like he did last night on the bed, trying to practice his seducing skill on Sehun when the younger told him he needed to sleep right away for the super waking up in the morning.

“Oh no, of course not. You’re also the iest one in the whole universe too.”

“Ahhh, that’s embarrassing Sehun ah.”

Luhan sounded like he had his hand over his mouth and that just entertained Sehun more. He kept teasing

“You know it’s true babe.”

Someone voice’s talking in Mandarin interrupted their lovey-dovey conversation and by the word “papa” from Luhan’s side, he knew who was with his boyfriend.

“Sehun ah, I have to go.” the Chinese boy spoke up softly. “I’ll call you later okay?”

“Okay, send my best wish to your mother.” Sehun quickly replied, didn’t want to keep the other any longer on phone since he was aware of the anxiety was rising up again.

“I will.”

He was about to disconnect the call when Luhan suddenly mumbled almost inaudibly
“I love you.”

But to Sehun, it sounded very clean and clear. Those three words he was dying to be whispered against his ear every day.

“I love you too. Be strong baby.”

Without any doubt he believed Luhan would stand still even if there’s something bad happened because just like him, the older had been through a lot in his life so far. However he knew it so well even though no word came out of Luhan’s mouth saying that he needed him there, Sehun could sense the craving for his presence.

That’s why the moment he tossed the phone aside, he immediately checked his schedule in the next week to see if he could rearrange his class to leave Korea for a couple of days.

After making some quick calls to his professors and classmates, Sehun grabbed his jacket and stormed out of his room, heading to a particular room in block A. He knocked few times and waited patiently for the owner to open the door.

There’s no need to say how surprised Yixing was when he saw his roommate’s boyfriend standing in front of him, knowing that Luhan was not the one he was looking for.

“I need your help.”

Sehun sounded seriously and the Chinese boy let the door open wide, motioned the latter to step inside then fished out his phone to cancel the extra dance practice with his partner.

It’s gonna be a long talk. 

---------

I know it’s a long time since my last update due to my tight schedule lately but I hope you guys still remember what happened in the previous chapter.

Just so you know the story is coming to an end soon so pls prepare yourself for it okay.

I love you all <3