some author notes:

1. italics are either flashbacks or thoughts

2. Jongin is 23 years old in this AU

3. Lay and Yixing, Kris and Wufan are different people in this AU

4. Taemin is a member of EXO, and Kai's twin in this AU

5. it will get more tangled and dramatic so yeah...ENJOY!!!

6. main image has nothing to do with the plot in this chapter. i just wanna look at coolboy!Luhan haha

By lunch time, Oh Se Hun is already panting in exhaustion.

He has been studying diligently in the teacher’s lounge under supervision of his favorite hyung, Jongin, as his classmates play dodgeball in the gym. Because of his asthma, Sehun is to be exempt from all PE classes. Sehun hates just sitting around and adding more weight to his already chubby bottom, but his lungs are not well since birth so Sehun resorts to reluctantly watching his friends change into their PE uniform with doleful eyes.

Sehun’s eyes light up as Jongin presents him with a delicious looking bento and a bowl of sheepish smiles, complete with a spoonful of love to match.

“Oh my, Jongin-hyung! You don’t have to! I can buy my own lunch...” Sehun chuckles while hitting Jongin playfully by the arm. Jongin’s grin grows.

“Kyungsoo makes this for both of us. “ Jongin says  while pushing the crispy tempura and neatly wrapped makis closer to Sehun. “You  need to eat more, Sehuna. You look like a walking skeleton. Gotta put some meat in it, don’t you think?”

“Ne, hyung.” Sehun nods shyly. He fails to notice the blush that is slowly adorning Jongin’s cheeks as the older turns the other way quickly.

“Besides, Ahjussi said I have to keep an eye on you. What would I do if you suddenly have an asthma attack in the cafeteria when I’m gone? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened.” Jongin says as he pops a California roll into his mouth. Even when the food is safely in his stomach, his heart would not stop doing acrobats in his ribcage. Sehunnie’s smile...Sehunnie smile can give a toothpaste ad model a run for their money.

“Sorry hyung. Sorry for being such a burden,” Sehun mumbles.

“You are my ray of sunshine, Sehunnie. Burden or not, I don’t care. You make me smile and that’s all that matters.”

Oh how Jongin wishes he can say it out loud. Oh how Jongin wishes he was born the same year as Sehun, the boy whose smile lights up this dark world of his. They could be friends and not just having this on and off teacher-and-student relationship that kills Jongin a little bit inside. He could be seventeen and young and understanding to Sehun’s childish thoughts, and not twenty-three, old, out of college, living a mundane life without a family to take care of. Oh how he can learn to obviate this barrier, this invisible wall threatening to split them apart.

“Hyung...” Sehun starts, and Jongin is mesmerized.

“Hmm?” That was all he could manage. Twenty three years of built up courage, emotions and the desire to break free of the drudgery that is school, and all Jongin could manage was a “hmm” in front of the boy he likes too much to categorize as a puppy love.

“Hyung! Why didn’t you say Park Chan Yeol is in my class? Oh my god earlier when I borrowed his book, our hands touched twice! Twice! Can you believe it? Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! ThisismylifeIhaveneverwantedanythingmore. I will never wash this hand omigosh omigosh omigosh and then he was like ... and then I was like .....”

Jongin drones out the rest of Sehun’s spazzing because he thinks something in his hindbrain - or is it midbrain? - just snapped and caused paralysis to spread all over his body. It is not a pleasant feeling, not at all, because Jongin feels like dying but he’s dying slowly and it’s painful and all. And then there is a little virus that is Oh Se Hun, in his fanboy mode, all giddy yet malignant and it’s causing a ruckus in Jongin’s nervous system. Jongin knows he’s screwed

One for that rascal Chanyeol, none for me, I guess... Jongin sighs dejectedly, then pops another tempura into his mouth as camouflage for his raging jealousy.

“Come on, eat. We only have an hour for lunch,” Jongin groans, or might as well trying to suppress a groan, and Sehun stops his rambling.

If Jongin says EXO’s Taemin is his twin brother, will Sehun toss him aside and lung for the dancing machine idol, too?

Sehun is not that kind of person, is he?

But then again he’s just a kid. He likes flashy lights and pretty idols who dance for a living and entertain for pay. He doesn’t look beyond pastel pants and deep dyed hair and the occasional lip-touching on cheesy music videos, because that’s all he sees. That’s all he needs right now. And when Jongin is too busy comforting his depressed patients to make Sehun smile, Chanyeol takes away his non-commission job. Chanyeol steals Sehun away through the television screen, the CD booklet and sleepless nights listening to the radio. And that voice...that voice makes Jongin’s y baritone voice sound like a boy in prepuberty years. It’s just something Jongin can’t compete with.

The nori suddenly tastes bitter on the tip of his tongue.

So he it up and takes a mental picture of Sehun’s cute eye-smile for the thousandth time.

When lunch is over, Jongin is still not recovered yet. There is this ominous feeling bubbling in his stomach that Jongin couldn’t put a finger on. Before Sehun leaves for class, the younger plants a brief kiss on Jongin’s cheeks, and he begins to live again.

“I love you so much, Jongin-hyung. See you after school!”

“A glass of Bellini, please.”

Junmyun turned around to a pair of lustful eyes and sinful lips. There was something about that voice that made him swoon, something burning and reverberating, something he knew would haunt him till the rest of his life. Junmyun didn’t get attached easily, not to any of the club’s guests, but this man before him, this man with lustful eyes and sinful lips, had hi captivated the moment he sat down, still sober.

“Are you even old enough to drink?” Suho says while grasping a bottle of sparkling wine in one hand, another of peach purée in the other. The man couldn’t have looked no older than eighteen, with boyish charms still hanging on his facial features and pale white skin that could make any woman angrily jealous. Junmyun thought it’s the lack of sleep that was slowly driving him insane, but he could be wrong. It’s this man before him.

“Are you even old enough to work here?” The man retorted, and Junmyun recoiled under the strong gaze that was drinking him in.

He knew he was seventeen and cutting cram school for an illegal job that led nowhere, but still trying to master the arts of never-ending possibilities. His boss, and now apparently this guy sitting in the counter before him, were the only ones who looked into him and could tell he was underage. Junmyun sure looked young, but a certain amount of wisdom in his eyes reflected years and years of hardship that put a veil on his true age..

So Junmyun laughed it off. “You’re not from around here, aren’t you, Sir.”

The stranger smirked, and Junmyun struggled inside a little more.

“How do you know?” The stranger took a hold of his tie and pulled him closer. Junmyun gasped at their close proximity, but tried not to look too fazed.

“Just a hunch, Sir.,” Junmyun answered quickly, letting out not a single hint of anxiety. Their noses were touching and Junmyun could hardly hear the music over his own heart beating so wildly in his chest.

“Let me guess...You’re from...America? No, Canada! Am I right?” Junmyun exclaimed as he looked into the stranger’s eyes. They glimmered with something Junmyun couldn’t fathom.

“You’re good.”  Stranger released his grip before patting Junmyun lovingly on his head. Junmyun thought long and hard about all the things he could say, but nothing could pass his lips. He tried to look into those dark eyes, trying to find a weakness, a spark, a glint of something he was not quite sure, but he got nothing. The man was an enigma, a mystery, a puzzle he knew he would get lost trying to solve.

“You’re pretty cute... Junmyun”. The stranger looked at Junmyun’s nametag and said after a while “In fact I think you might be even cuter chained to my bed..”

Junmyun immediately blushed. He thought his heart stopped beating then.

“Why, Mr...” Junmyun stammered. He couldn’t make sense of the situation no matter how hard he tried. Gripping the side of the counter, Junmyun held his breath.

“Wufan.” He stranger informed, the name rolling off his tongue like heaven’s nectar. He seemed amused.

“Thank you Mr. Wu., but...”

“No, just Wufan.”

“Oh, and...I’m not twelve years old if that’s what you’re thinking. My name is Luhan and I am seventeen. Keep that memorized,” When Luhan’s intense gaze brings Junmyun back to the present, the older of the two has to fight back the spasm of emotions threatening to spill.

“Alright, “Just Luhan”. I don’t date teenagers. Keep that memorized.” Junmyun almost sobbed. The resemblance between this young man and that person is hard not to notice. Whether his eyes are playing a trick on him, whether karma is coming back at him, Junmyun will never know. Junmyun will never want to know, because he can’t mistake those eyes from anywhere. Those hazel eyes staring back at him are no doubt Wufan’s soft ones.

“Heol.” Luhan huffed, feigning anger. “Playing hard to get, huh. But you’ll change your mind, soon. You’ll change your mind when I have you writhing under my skin.”

Junmyun was deadpanned at the remark. The very memory replays itself in front of his eyes. It’s like so many years ago - Junmyun has stopped counting - that Junmyun first felt his heart spinning fast for that person. Though this young man before him is swventeen years his junior, the feeling is the same.

“Or do you want to top? I can let you top,” Luhan says when he notices the older’s expressionless look. Luhan is pushing him to a dead end, and still Junmyun could not say a thing. That same impulsiveness, that same arrogance, that unceasing youth radiating off his body in spasms,...Everything reminds him of Wufan.

“I...I...I don’t-” Junmyun stammers as Luhan’s smirk grows wide. Before he has a chance to show any form of resistance, a lean body burst through the front door, aiming for Luhan and him.

“Luhan gege!” The person says, and Junmyun can hardly spot a mass of black hair and tanned skin before he drags Luhan by the arm with difficulty.

“How many times do I have to tell you to not follow me, Zitao?” Luhan groans while struggling to free himself from the boy’s iron grip.

“What if they are fraternal twins? One girl and one boy? How would we call them, then?”

“I would name the girl Taozi, and the boy ZItao.”

“Your obsession with peach never fails to amuse me, Yifan.”

“And how much you smell like peach never fails to give me a hard-on.”

“Yah! Wu Yi Fan! You ert...”

“Luhan ge, father’s flight is here. He says if you don’t go home, he will go find you himself,” the boy answers with desperation. Junmyun pretends not to understand the Chinese they are speaking nor the way Luhan’s eyes are growing soft at the mention of his father.

Luhan was reluctant to leave. Before he turns his heel, Luhan takes Junmyun by the collar and pecks him on his right cheek, just where Wufan marked him eighteen years ago. Junmyun feels like it’s burning, like it’s killing him.

“Goodbye, Suho-ssi. We’ll meet again.”

When the doors to the club closes with a click, Junmyun still can’t get out of his reverie. He decides to end his shift earlier, but has half a mind to stop by the bubble tea shop right across from work to buy Sehun a treat for his doing well at school. So Junmyun wanders the streets of Seoul, aimlessly, mindlessly, letting his own feet decide the route. He thinks back to the reddish hair and an attitude, back to seventeen years of endless youth and lost innocence all packed in the young Luhan. Who are his parents? Who taught him those things a seventeen-year-old should never know? Who spoil him and shower him in luxuries, just to have him going around drinking alcohol and flirting with strangers...? Junmyun suddenly feels agitated at such irresponsible parenting. Suddenly he feels proud for having Sehun.

Many trees passed, many blocks walked by, Junmyun started to venture into a familiar neighborhood. Nearby shops are still lit with artificial light and throngs of people. Then Junmyun thought about Xiao Han - or what he thinks is the little one’s name - and started to cry on his own.

If Xiao Han still lives well, he might be the same age as that Luhan he saw earlier.

Is he a good kid? Is he studying well at school? Is he nice and kind to other people as well? Does Wufan’s wife treat him well? Or, is he a spoilt brat like that Luhan, going about anywhere and everywhere, getting drunk, getting wasted...Junmyun’s heart clenches painfully at the very thought.

“Kyungsoo ah...” Junmyun is not sure why he stumbles upon Kyungsoo’s little wedding dress shop along the way, but he’s here, and he’s shaking from the pains of the past. The mere sight of Kyungsoo still working diligently on a beautiful gown cleanses his mind inside out.

“Oh! Suho-hyung! Come in, come in!” Kyungsoo smiles, eyes suddenly flooded with delight. The aura in the room feels oddly comfortable to Junmyun.

“Working overnight again?” Junmyun asks, not just out of politeness. He really cares about Kyungsoo, a little more like a brother and so much more than a friend.

Kyungsoo sighs, and Junmyun sees the beads of sweat adorning his beautiful forehead, “Ne, hyung. When a pair of twins get marry on the same day, the stress sort of doubles, I guess. Not as tiring as when those triplets order the three most intricate designs. Boy, I thought I’d die then.”

“But you didn’t!” Suho says quickly, but not until after the words left his lips did he realize how awkward it sounded.

Kyungsoo’s giggles ring through the air. It sounds like music, like a choir to Junmyun’s ear.

“Hyung, do you want to ...I mean...I’m going to Yixing-hyung’s death anniversary tomorrow. Would you like to come with me?” Kyungsoo says after a while, his eyes suddenly darken with despair.

“I will, Kyungsoo-yah. I owe him my life.” Junmyun almost whispers as his voice cracks. Yixing is Kyungsoo’s most dearest friend, and is like blood and flesh to Junmyun. Yet ever since he died a few years ago, Junmyun never had the courage to visit him. Junmyun hates himself for being such a coward, but he was left with no choice.

Visiting Yixing would mean coming back to China, to the hometown he left without regret. China where everything started, and everything ended. They both knew that the Wu family would be the death of them, yet they kept lunging themselves into danger. If Zhang Yi XIng did not commit suicide out of depression, Wu Yi Fan would pester him until he snap. And he did.

“I owe him my life...” Junmyun repeats, mostly to himself. The night is still long.

...A few hours ago...

“Ah~Isn’t this the idiot who can’t even spell his own name?”

By fifth period, the mean girls from his class has already gotten Sehun cornered. Sehun keeps a straight face as they taunt him, call him names and insult him. At first, the paper balls they throw didn’t hurt as much as they should, but then caustic remarks came and it rips the gash on his chest a little bit more.

“What is this . He will bring down our class rank with his stupidity!” One of the girls spat, eyes glaring daggers at Sehun who is now recoiling in anxiety.

“Girls, I’m sorry I’m such a burden to you. But please let me pass. I have to get home early.” Sehum mumbles. The leader of the group of five sniggers in contempt.

“Pass? No we’re not letting you ing pass!”

“I don’t know what the Chanyeol oppa sees in you, you little ! You’re such a stupid !” One of the taller girls pushes Sehun hard. His head bangs into the locker behind him, sending stars all over his vision.

“Yeah!”

“That’s right!”

“You should ing disappear!”

Sehun is scared. He begins to hyperventilate as he feels small and alienated, like he doesn’t belong. Everyone hates him. Nobody wants him here. Maybe he should really leave for good, no matter how Jongin-hyun begs him to stay he would still leave as they wish.

“Chanyeol oppa, he just pities you. Or do you not understand what pity means? You’re so pathetic.”

It hurts. Sehun begins to feel the despair building up in his chest. The walls are closing in on him, making it harder to breathe. He slips lower and lower until he’s curled into a suffocated mess on the floor, straining himself to take in more oxygen.

Jongin-hyung...Where are you? Where are you right now...

“Sehunna, I will protect you. If they bully you, I will beat them up until their parents can’t recognize them!”

“Isn’t that a little too much, hyung? You often told me that fighting is bad! Bad Jongin!”

“Well I have to use my teacher authority for something! It’s a promise! I promise to protect you till the end, Sehunna.”...

“Oh my god. What is wrong with him? Otteoke.”

“Run! What are you waiting for, run!”

Sehun can hardly hear what they are saying as they scurry off away from him. The world around him is spinning, spinning, spinning. He still can’t breathe. Every breath he takes is a chore. It seems like hours has passed until a pair of hands reach out for him in the darkness. Sehun opens his eyes, and his mind was screaming Jongin,Jongin,Jongin but what he sees aren’t Jongin’s eyes.

Those aren’t Jongin’s hands on his shoulders, trying to coo him into calming down.

“Come on, Sehun. You can do this. Breathe in. Breathe out. Slowly now. Breathe in. Breathe out.” the raspy voice sends shivers down Sehun’s spine, but Sehun is okay with it because it alleviates his pain. It is definitely Chanyeol - either that or his mind is playing tricks on him again - but Sehun smiled as he snuggled closer to the source of warmth he has been craving.

“Good boy.” Chanyeol combs through his silky hair in adoring , and Sehun arches into the hand. His breathing soon calms down after a round of struggle, but Sehun was a little disappointed that it wasn’t Jongin.

Sehun feels a little light-headed when he sees spots of white all over his vision again. Chanyeol picks him up easily, saying things like he’s carrying Sehun to the nurse’s office and how it would be okay after he takes the meds. Sehun falls asleep with Chanyeol’s smile imprinted in his mind. Neither of them notice the click of a camera going off in the distance.

In his dream he sees an army of teeth chasing him through a meadow of popcorns and before he reaches the cookie mountains, there is a Prince Charming, clad in white chocolate armor, riding a cotton candy horse, who picks him up bridal style and they run into the lollipop sunset together.

The Prince Charmng unmasks himself.

But before Sehun gets to see his face, he wakes up.

a/n: OMG THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH ITS ONLY TWO CHAPTERS BUT 70 SUBS OMG YOU GUYS MAKE ME FEEL LOVED. 

i read your comments over and over again because im so damned happy so i decided to turn this into a longfic until all of the problems and tangles are resolved. so yay no longer a shortfic hehe

Thank you and thank you again for your comments, subscribes and votes you make me feel so happy.

Have a nice, exotic day, everyone!