A/N: I'm the worst author ever for not updating for so long and I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting. If you've not completely forgotten this story I thank you! Now there's really only a few more things to happen, and it will come to a close.

The following day, Minseok ended up serving Luhan breakfast on bed. The latter was aching terribly and as Minseok figured it was - at least partially - his fault, he thought he should make it up as the righteous person he was. He hadn't made breakfast in ages anyways seeing how it somehow had become Luhan's job, and it was nice to be the one standing in the kitchen for a change. He always made cornflakes for himself as he was too lazy to make something else, but today he found the frying pan, eggs and soy sauce, and decided to go from there.

As Luhan was enjoying the food pleasingly, Minseok saw his chance to seize the bathroom. The younger would use about a thousand years in the shower - he knew that from earlier experience - and he decided it was better getting it over and done with already.

As he stripped himself of the clothes he had found on the floor that morning after realizing he probably shouldn't be cooking , he studied himself in the mirror. He was pretty lean, and despite his chubby cheeks his torso didn't carry any unnecessary fat. His skin was clear and not very tanned even after enjoying the summer at beaches in Busan, but the reason he was now reviewing himself was not the spotless skin. Rather, it was the skin that was supposed to be spotless. Red marks covered his neck and upper body, and although it wasn't an unusual sight he found himself wondering how long it would take for them to disappear. It took everything from a couple of days to weeks, and he would have enjoyed it very much of he could escape wearing turtlenecks to school for a very long time. Tao and Sehun always sent him knowing looks when he did, and it irritated him because every time he asked them to stop they would just look at each other and snicker, like it was the funniest thing in the world. Sighing Minseok tore his gaze from the mirror and stepped into the shower, trying to ignore the love marks that covered him like a bunch of glowing, red lights.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but probably was something like twenty minutes, Minseok walked out of the bathroom with steam following as hot and dense air met cold. He was wearing one of the comfortable, too big t-shirts that always was put in the laundry basket to be washed, but never was anyways as it always was picked up for another two hours of use. He only wore them a couple of hours at a time, so he decided he could wear them at least four times before they equaled a whole day. And this had only been worn once. With a towel slung around his neck he greeted a still half-asleep Luhan who sat in the bed with the breakfast long gone.

He had not yet noticed Minseok, but sighed happily. Minseok discreetly coughed to let the younger know he was there, but when he did Luhan only looked up and smiled dreamily.

"I think I forgot how comfortable beds really are," he hummed.

Minseok raised an eyebrow to the comment, flashing him a grin. "That's because I'm there. But now that you have realized the true wonder that is my bed, you can just make it your permanent sleeping destination already,"

Luhan rolled his eyes even in his almost sleeping state, dropping down in the mess of pillows and blankets. "You wish. Although I have to admit, it's quite comfortable..."

"Right?"

"I'll think about it, stupid," he said and threw a pillow after Minseok. "Though I think it's my turn to capture the bathroom now." He quickly sat up in the sheets and gave the elder a smile before getting up and walking over the the bathroom, slamming the door in the face of a somewhat surprised Minseok. Yeah, whatever.

They were sitting in the sofa and mindlessly swapped between brain-dead morning-dramas. As Cha Eun Sang did this or Song Sam Dong did that they commented the stupid things, laughing at the overly used clichés or idiotic plots. Luhan still had problems understanding why the producers spent half a minute zooming in because the oblivious main characters wow they held hands, while Minseok laughed at how dense the leads seemed to be. But it was nice like that. It was routines like this that made them appreciate the small moments during their hectic every day lives.

Minseok's phone buzzed and signalized an incoming message at one point, making him groan as he stuck his hands out from the soft and comfortable blankets he and Luhan hid beneath. He felt shivers run down his spine as his hand met the cold air, and he quickly grabbed the phone from the table and retreated to warmness. Luhan asked him a silent 'who?' with his eyes as he noticed Minseok's movements, eyes wandering from the TV to the elder. Minseok just managed to read the sender and reply a confused “Yixing,” before someone knocked at the door. Not sure who would bother coming to their house as it was still morning - eleven o'clock was quite early for both of the inhabitants of the house - Minseok sighed and sat up. He had been sitting with Luhan positioned in the crook of his arm, and they had been enjoying the silence the morning had offered them so far. He thought it was a waste - they had been joking and just done nothing, and he quite enjoyed it. Jongdae still couldn't understand how they were in the disgustingly sweet and fluffy honeymoon-phase half a year after getting together, and although Minseok sometimes wondered about it himself he decided not to ponder about it as he liked whatever phase they were currently in. He honestly didn't care if Yixing pretended to throw up every time Luhan came with some cheesy comment or Jongdae violently acted out how they hugged with Yixing as his companion. After all, it wasn't his fault the two had acted like complete idiots and ended up not confessing for something like four hundred years and Jongdae went all the way to England because he was a coward. He still didn’t have that story quite down and didn’t know if he wanted to.

When the two people Minseok were thinking about were the ones at the door, he didn't even pretend to be surprised. Some would call stuff like that funny coincidences, but then again Minseok and Luhan hardly had visits from anyone but their previous co-workers so it wasn't really a game of guessing. As sad as it was, they didn't really have friends other than each other - and maybe Yixing's older brother Yifan, but he had gone to some fancy art-school in Jeolla so they didn't really see him any more.

As soon as he opened the door Yixing stuck a bunch of boxes in Minseok's face. "We brought food, now let us in," he declared, inviting himself inside.

Minseok took the boxes of take-away in confusion, having both Yixing and Jongdae taking off their shoes in the hallway before he had registered what had happened.

Yixing noticed his probably very obvious confusion, and shrugged. “Don’t look so surprised. I texted you, telling you we would come.” Oh. So that was the text he had gotten when they arrived. Maybe it was because he still hadn't really woken up yet and his head still felt like it was filled with cotton, but he didn't oppose them and instead directed his attention to the food instead.

"Why did you bring chinese takeaway?" he wondered.

Jongdae straightened up after placing his worn Nikes beside Minseok's own shoes, and raised an eyebrow.

"Something wrong about it?" he asked.

"But it's eleven in the morning."

"You want it or not?"

"Want it, I guess."

"Thought so." He hung his jacket up on the coatrack and walked into the living room after Yixing, dropping by the kitchen on the way just to check if the food they smelled in the air was still there. When it was clear is wasn't, they continued to the couch where Luhan still lay under the blankets, greeting the two rather unexpected guests. As they sat in the couch opposite of the small table where Luhan and Minseok were, they put the takeaway on the table and looked at Luhan with looks of sympathy.

"We heard you were in hospital for a whole week in the isolated area because of infection risks, but we are happy you are better now," Yixing said seriously.

Luhan looked at the two for a second and then at Minseok who came walking in just as Yixing started to talk, questioning the latter with his eyes. He could not remember having gone to hospital the past week, but when Minseok shook his head and widened his eyes as to say "just play along," he decided to not question it further and go with it for the time being.

"Yeah..." He said baffled, not really sure how to reply. Usually people just brought flowers, right? Although he guessed Chinese takeaway was more practical. "Thanks... I am better now."

"I can't believe you got such a terrible virus," Yixing continued. "And then Minseok got the flu as well. You should eat more oranges. I make Jongdae eat his five a day and he's never ill."

"Could you please fill me on your relationship-status again?" Minseok shot in from the side, sitting down beside Luhan. "Because I'm getting confused on whether you're his mother or boyfriend,"

"He likes to think he's a blend of both," Jongdae sighed, and rolled his eyes answering before Yixing got the chance. "But we are so not discussing Xing's weird ways right now."

"Gee, thanks Dae."

The two kept on bickering as Minseok and Luhan watched, and the hot food turned lukewarm at an even pace. Minseok found his ways under the blankets again and sat with his legs crossed in the sofa, looking the visitors with amused eyes. Even if it became annoying after a certain amount of time, it was quite nice to have the two guests there like that. It was in moments like these he remembered why he liked the people he hung around, why he didn't want to return to his scary mother and estranged father. Minseok honestly thought he was lucky; when he had first moved on his own his social skills had been close to zero, and he had been having trouble even figuring how the underground worked. He had been completely on by himself, and the people at university didn't really help either. He had first encountered Yixing when he had applied for a job on a whim, and later Sehun and Tao when they entered university. They had been really helpful, and he would probably have died if he was left like that.

"So, what do think Luhan?" Yixing sighed and shut the way-too-willing-to-fight-Jongdae up with a glance. His sudden change woke Minseok up from the semi-trance he had been in, and he blinked twice and Yixing turned to Luhan. He was seemingly nervous - his hands were fidgeting, hugging the soft pillow he had grabbed when they sat down tight.

Luhan on his side tilted his head confused. "What?" He asked as his eyebrows crept together with questioning eyes, turning to Minseok for an explanation.

At first Minseok was as confused as Luhan. He hadn’t really done anything the last days, but if he was to do something he would probably have remembered it considering the fact that he’d procrastinate and postpone doing it as much as he could while Luhan was away.

Aaand… then it hit him. As Yixing raised an eyebrow and looked at him suspiciously, he remembered the car ride home when he had last returned.

“Oh.”

“I take hat as you didn’t talk about it?” Yixing sighed and shook his head, not really disappointed, like he predicted something like this could have happened. Minseok was usually really tidy and his apartment was always in perfect condition, but his head was such a mess it was hard to believe sometimes. Of course, Yixing knew there was more to the story than he knew – there was no way Minseok would end up on that side of town even if he was walking blindfolded. He had seemed distracted on their way home as well, like he couldn’t quite settle for a single thought or way of being. Yixing knew Minseok better than he thought the latter liked to believe, but he preferred not to poke into things that weren’t his business. Now, maybe Minseok and Luhan were – or had already – slowly become Yixing’s business in the weird turn of events, but he still hadn’t asked about it. He strongly suspected it had something to do with the gang Luhan was tangled into, although he liked to believe they were out of the picture for good. He knew they let Luhan be when he got the job, but it didn’t take much to understand they’d be on his trail again when the coffee shop closed down. And for some reason, Yixing didn’t believe Luhan had been to the hospital for illness, if he had been there at all. He honestly wanted Minseok to trust him enough to tell him, but then again he knew how his friend was and didn’t expect much. That way they were different, as Minseok preferred dealing with things himself. And Yixing accepted that and didn’t push him, as he was the one he was after all.

Minseok shifted and stole a glance at his wristwatch, before looking at Luhan. The latter seemed even more confused and lost as the conversation proceeded, and Minseok couldn’t blame him.

“Well," he blinked a couple of times, trying to find the right words to phrase himself. Luhan waited patiently with curious eyes, and Yixing looked at him as if he was urging him on to say it. Jongdae seemed like he was ready to spill everything himself, but concealed as a loving gesture Yixing gently took his hand and squeezed it. Jongdae’s face threatened to give in and express whatever he felt, but he kept it in and Minseok was left to say it. There was a weird layer of silence hovering above their heads like a cloud, and he couldn’t quite get rid of it.

“Yeah…” Great start Minseok, he scolded himself. You might was well sink into a hole of awkwardness and disappear. But Luhan just tilted his head slightly, asking him to continue.

It wasn’t that Minseok was nervous about the plan in itself. It was a good plan, in fact. The thing was that they would have to touch the topic that at some point had become a taboo, something that remained a prominent factor in their lives, yet they never talked about it. It was uncomfortable for the both of them, so just not mentioning had worked great so far. But for some reason, Luhan’s small gesture gave him confidence.

For now, his only plan was to get through it as fast as possible. “Uhm, yeah, it’s about the coffee shop.” Well, duh. “It’s been closed for a while now, but… Xing and Jongdae want to open it again with the help of us. We’re already funded by the boss-lady, and… yeah, they’ve registered the café as a business already and we’re put as owners with them. I don’t think we have a choice really, although I don’t see why we would refuse it. Long story short, I think this will help us and our… economy can become stable again.” Wow. He really did at explanations. But Yixing nodded approvingly and Jongdae grinned, so he guessed it was okay.

Luhan however, was another thing. Minseok could see his mind trying to form a comprehensible answer, but it didn’t look like it worked.

“Hey, Yixing is as much as done with his studies and Jongdae got his diploma at that school in England.  I major in business so I’ll take care of the numbers and stuff. We’re in on his 100 percent.” It didn’t look like Luhan needed more convincing to be honest, but the words slipped out of his mouth before he realized it.

“But…” Luhan furred his eyebrows, as if not really believing them. “Is this really what you want?” His gaze shifted from person to person before resting on Minseok, but said person just kept his mouth shut this time. Because Minseok had no idea what he really wanted. What he did know though, that the coffee shop was much better than anything else and he loved being there. And those reasons were more than enough for him.

Instead Yixing answered, in the ever-so-calming voice he possessed. “Well, opening something like this has always been my dream and Jongdae is the same. I don’t know about Minseok, but it’s quite obvious he doesn’t like where he’s headed now though he loves the coffee shop. You’re free to leave whenever you want, but we have already agreed so everything we need is your approval, really. Then we can start working,” he smiled. And Luhan’s concerned face broke into a grin, laughing as he did so.

“Yes!” he exclaimed. “Let’s do this!”

I'm in my last year of junior high school and my grades now literally decides my future, so even though I want to promise you fast and regular updates I can't. I've also been having health problems and have been whole weeks off from school, so there's that as well.