When Tao entered the house he looked back to see Kris frozen at the doorstep. He wasn’t surprised to see Kris reacting this way. He knew Kris was scared. He knew that Kris really didn’t want to be home.

            Kris wasn’t all too thrilled to be home, but when he looked up and saw Tao smiling at him he was okay. He didn’t want to run away and never come back. He actually wanted to go inside and confront his father. He wanted to see his mother for the first time in ages. He wanted to be home with his family.

            Once Kris had gotten ever his little fiasco in his own mind he stepped in to be greeted by warmth. But not just physical warmth but also a spiritual warmth. He felt at home. He felt like he was actually part of the family. He noticed Tao looking at him in such a warm way; almost alluring him to step inside just a little more to experience this feeling alongside with him. So he did. He walked up to Tao and put his arm around him and yelled out “We’re home.” The only difference was that this time he got a response, “Welcome home boys.”

            He only got one reply but he got two smiling faces facing him. Tao announced that he would go and freshen up before dinner started and he started his way towards his room but was stopped by Kris asking him if he could look at his room and received a smile of approval. As they went up to Taos’ room Kris noticed how different the house was. They weren’t major changes but they were just minor details that had changed, like the color of the walls was a shade darker, the picture frames were different but still held the same old pictures, some new pictures were added onto the walls with old frames, and the furniture seemed to have moved around but it was still the same. These changes made Kris realize how much he has missed his home and its ever-changing form. He himself missed this home.

            Kris expected Taos’ room to be Chanyeols’ old bedroom but was surprised to find out that it was the room next to it. He expected his parents to have given Tao that room since he was practically their son now and   loved him equally as much as they did Chanyeol.

“Everything’s the same in that room. I’ve only been in there a couple times but nothing ever changes. Everything just gets cleaned and put back in its place.”

“I was expecting my parents to give you his room.”

“They never forget. Parents never forget their children, especially when they’ve lost them early. Keeping his stuff the same gives them a reason to still hold a small chance of them just having a terrible nightmare. Your father has come to accept the fact that its not a dream, but mom still holds hope.”

“I guess it makes sense. If they put you in his room they would of  had to remove his traces. I guess its just reassurance that he still here with us, but maybe just in a different form.”

“Mmm. Come on, dinners going to be done soon and I still have to get changed.”

“Okay.”

They left the hallway and made their way into Tao’s bedroom. Kris though was still thinking about Chanyeol and his bedroom. He wandered if they ever cleaned up the sheets. He never went into his room after his death. He was to scared. He was scared that he would see Chanyeol again lying in the bed covered in blood. That image stuck in his head, he never could forget it. He still remembers every little detail about Chanyeols room and all the times they spent in their when they were small. All the while Tao was getting ready Kris was aimlessly walking around in his room just aimlessly touching things, picking them up and putting them down. His mind was in the past. He was reminiscing about his childhood but snapped out of it when he felt Tao put his hand upon his shoulder

“Come on, lets go. Mom called us down already.”

“Okay.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about Chanyeol and how we used to play in his room when we were little.”

“He must’ve been an amazing brother.”

“He was. I remember whenever we used to go get ice cream he would always get a triple scoop ice cream sundae-“

“He never finished it on his own so he always had Kris help him finish it. He never let anyone else help him with his ice cream. It was always Kris.”

            Kris didn’t see his mom standing in the doorway until he heard her finish his sentence. He looked up with a small smile on his face. He was happy to know that his mother remembered those little things of his childhood.  

“Diners ready.”

“Okay we’re going”

“Tao.”

“Yes.”

“It’s your turn to do the dishes tonight since you missed the last 2 days.”

“But, I was with Kris. It’s his fault.”

“You agreed to stay with him, so its still your turn.”

“I’ll help you.”

“Thanks.”

            Soon after they were descending down the stairs on their way to the dining area. They were greeted by Kris’ father sitting down at the end of the table just staring at the three of them. What came out of his mouth made all three laugh.

“Will you hurry up. I’m starving. I don’t have time for you three to just stand there and talk. I’m dying here come on.”

“Okay gosh just calm down. And you’re not going to die. You’ll just pass out for a little bit and then when you wake up you’ll  eat and then go back to sleep.”

You really had to go there didn’t you? And in front of the kids.”

            Kris just stared at his parents with a shocked look on his face. He was literally look at his parents fight over what’s going to happen to his father if they didn’t sit down because he was hungry.  He couldn’t help himself so he just let his laugh roar through the house. His laughter was soon followed by Tao who was bending over in half from his laughter. Neither of them could handle how childish their parents were acting. 

            When the laugher died down, they sat down at the table and ate their food with small talk. There was no mention of the past; just of what Kris had been doing and if Tao was bothering him too much. Kris denied any sort of bothersome activity from Tao. He told his parents that he liked having Tao come over. They ate at their own pace. The meal wasn’t rushed. The talking took up most of their time that they were at the table. Once they were done with the main course Kris’ mother cleared the table and told them to go to the living room and that they would have desert in there.

            They relocated to the living room where they sat on the couch and enjoyed the warmth of the house together. Soon after Kris’ mother came out with a tray of assorted pastries like: Strawberry Turnovers, Castanians, Custards, Cornucopias, Cream Biscuits, Cream Victorias, and Éclairs. Then she asked Kris to help her with the tray while she asked Tao to bring out the Tea. Once they were all comfortably sitting in the living room again they started to eat the pastries and resumed their conversation once again.

            Everything was going great. Kris had been talking to his father as if he had just talked to him just the day before instead of over a year ago. He felt at peace but then was abrubtly pushed by Tao off the couch and made to sit on the floor.

“Why’d you push me?”

“It’s more comfortable sitting on the floor. And you don’t have to reach as far for the food.”

“You could have just told me. You didn’t have to push me.”

“You were spacing out. Besides, when you space out there is hope in getting you back into reality unless I push you or something.”

“Okay fine, you win. Just don’t push me again. It hurt.”

“Boys, no fighting.”

“This isn’t fighting.”

            In the next second Tao was on the floor being tackled by Kris and them a scream was heard from when Kris started to tickle him. Tao yelled at Kris telling him to stop through his screams and laughter as he flailed around on the floor underneath Kris. Kris though wouldn’t stop and just kept at it until he saw that Tao had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. He soon stopped the tickling since he himself could no longer see through his tears from laughter.

            All the while both their mom and dad just looked at them from the couch. They looked at each other in a loving manner understanding what was happening. They saw they both boys were slowing falling for each other even if they themselves didn’t notice. In a way they were happy for them but were scared at the same time. They didn’t want things to become too hard for them because of what society thought. They were happy though that they saw that their son had finally found happiness.

            Kris might have never noticed it as a child, but his parents observed everything that he did. They knew that their son didn’t find any interest in girls so they never pushed the issue of him having a girlfriend. They noticed how depressed Kris was after Chanyeol died. They noticed every little thing about him. They noticed how; he stopped eating as much after Chanyeols death, he stopped going out as much with his friends, he stopped talking, he even stopped sleeping. They were worried about him but they followed as they were. His dad had long forgiven him about Chanyeol. He realized that Kris wasn’t at fault. It was their fault for favoring their other child. His mother even though noticing all these things about Kris never said anything because she did obviously love Chanyeol more than Kris no matter what she said to anyone. Chanyeol held more space in her heart than Kris. It was a sad reality, but even at one point she wanted Kris to have died instead of Chanyeol. She knew it was wrong to think that since Kris was her child as well.

            After his mother got over wanting Kris too no longer be alive, she realized how awful Kris must’ve felt especially after reading the letter. She put away her selfishness and tried to cater more to Kris’ needs but by that time Kris no longer wanted to live in that house and was planning to move out. He had gotten a job and hardly ever existed in his home. He was always at work or at school. He never notified his parents of when he would be home since he thought that they didn’t care anymore. Soon after Kris moved out his mother would cry herself to sleep. She cried because she had lost one child but pushed away her other child and treated him as if he was dead. 

            Every time she told Kris to come home. He never did. She still blamed herself for his attitude. It wasn’t his fault, it was hers. She treated him with no respect or love for four years and wishing he was gone but when he actually left she wanted him back in her arms.

            Tao filled a void that she had in her heart. Not the void of losing Chanyeol but of pushing away Kris. She tried to fill that void with Tao and cared for him to no end but then when Kris came home for Christmas she realized that she had filled that void to the brim and it was spilling over and there was no more room for Kris. When Kris broke down she herself felt a little piece of her heart break again, because again she loved someone more than her own son. She constantly asked Tao about how Kris was and if he was happy. She was happy to find out that Kris was okay. That he was starting to live. She was happy to hear that Kris was no longer just a sad silhouette of who he once was.

So this chapter is late. i was suposed to update on friday or saturday but on thursday and friday i had my midterms so i was studying and afterschool on friday my mom took me to go and pick out the color i wanted my room to be since i was sick of the color on my walls. but i didn't really think that we were going to paint it that night but we did. and then i didn't really get much sleep and then saturday we finished painting my room and moving all the stuff back into my room and i was just so tired and i decided to take a nap and i actually didn't wake up till my brother came home and gave me food. after i ate i went to sleep again and didnt wake up till like 7 this morning so thats why this update was late.

i really do hope you like how the story is turning out. its seems like other people like the story since i got 5 mor subscribers since my last update. 

leave me feedback on how you like the story and if i should fix some things in the chapter or even in the story. i am open to any ideas that you have and i really am doing this because people requested it. so i want those that wanted this sequel to be happy and i want everyone happy witht he way that this turns out. 

well enough ranting. i'll be posting again on friday. if i have time on tuesday i'll update a short chapter since i don't go back to school until wednesday.