“Baby, I’m on my way” Kris spoke into his phone. “I know. I told him. He’s coming too.” He covered the phone “Tao, hurry up!” He yelled to his younger brother in the other room.

“Duizhang, have you seen my…”

“What babe? A hoodie? Sure. I’ll bring you the one with the cat on it that you like.” Kris smiled and then…

“KRIS!”

“WHAT?!”

“Where’s that cat hoodie?”

“Hell no! I’m bringing it for Bummie!”

Tao appeared now “Are you serious? Key gets all the good stuff..” Tao pouted. He liked Key but this happened way too often. Kris threw a pillow at him and he dodged it and smiled. “Mehrong!” Kris hissed a threat at him in Mandarin and Tao pouted even harder. He then hurried to finish getting ready.

“Okay babe, love you. See you in a bit.” Kris hung up and hurried to the kitchen to put some bread into the toaster.

“Taozi, call mom.” Today was their mother’s birthday. She had encouraged them to follow their dreams by moving to Korea but they could tell she wasn’t taking it well. It had been a year since they left but she had been sick constantly which was a stark contrast to the vibrant woman they had known. The doctor had only ever identified it as a common cold but they knew it was some form of separation anxiety. She’d kill them though, if they ever came back on her account so they just decided to focus on succeeding first.

Tao returned fully dressed, phone in hand, and joined Kris in the kitchen. He dialed and put it on speaker.

/*cough, cough* “Hello?”/ Kris frowned

“Hi mommy!” said Tao

/”Hi baby..”/ she replied weakly

“How are you? Are you taking good care of yourself? Hows papa? Are you guys eating well?” Kris pinched him for asking so many questions at once. She just laughed.

/”Yes, yes, we’re okay. I miss you, my little panda bear.”/

He smiled “I miss you too, mommy.”

/”Aw, and where’s your brother?”/

“He’s here” He looked at Kris.

“Happy Birthday, mom.”

/”Thank you, sweetie. How’s work?”/

“I can’t complain. I’m working my way up.”

/”Good. My babies are taking care of each other, right?”/

“Yea, mom. Don’t worry.” He smiled at Tao and Tao spoke again. “We’re going to an audition today!”

/”Oh? That’s good baby, let me know how it goes.”/

“Okay” then it was silent for a moment.

/*sniff* ”Well, I’ll talk to you boys later. Your father is taking me to the Opera!”/

“Okay mom, have fun. And tell him we say hi.” said Kris.

/”Boys, I love you…”/ Tao seemed on the verge of tears now.

“We love you too” they said in unison.

/”bye”/

*click*

“bye” said Tao. Kris pulled him into a hug and he buried his face in the crook of Kris’ neck. “Duizhang she’s…”

“It’s okay Taozi, dad is still with her. We just have to work hard and make her proud. Then we can go back and this whole trip will have been worth it.” Tao nodded.

“Gege..”

“Hm?”

“What’s that smell?”

He sniffed.

“..  THE TOAST!”

+++

“Ugh, finally!” Key stomped over to Kris as he and Tao entered the lobby. Key kissed Kris and Kris handed him the sweater. “Thanks baby, hey Tao!”

“Oh hey, Kibum.” Tao waved halfheartedly and then walked over to the front desk.

“What’s wrong with him? He never calls me Kibum.”

“We talked to mom today.”

“Oh yeah, how is she?”

“Not great. She’s trying but she’s just not used to us being so far away. I don’t think he is either so he’s usually pretty upset after we talk to her.”

“Poor baby..  maybe you should go talk to him.”

“What about the audition?”

“I’ll figure something out. Just go. Family is more important.”

“Thanks Bummie!” Kris smiled and kissed Key on his temple.

+++

Kris and Tao went to the roof where they kept the individual telescopes. Tao stared at the sky.

“Are you okay, Taozi?”

“Yea, I just miss her, you know? I miss both of them.” Kris nodded. “And I feel guilty sometimes, as if we’re responsible for her illness.” This made Kris’ heart hurt and he pulled Tao into a backhug with his arms around the younger’s waist. They looked at the stars together.

“But you know, this happens to a lot of families. Key says it’s called ’empty nest syndrome’.” Although he could argue that their family was having a harder time adjusting. “The first month after Yixing moved here, his mother cried to him on the phone every night.”

“really?” said Tao

“Yep, and Luhan’s mom even stayed here with him for the first week.” They both laughed. “So we’re okay. We just need time.” Kris smiled and hugged his brother tighter.

“Hey Kris, do you think mom is looking at the same sky as we are?”

“Yeah,” Kris nodded “Yeah she is..”

A/N: Ok so here is my 2nd "bro chapter" and the promised double update. I hope everyone hasn't given up on me yet. *desperately throws hearts* But honestly. Has my writing gotten a bit better since chapter one? Comments are lovely and so are you! :)