After the others had left, Xiumin found himself surrounded by silence. Unnerved by the lack of sound, he the television to fill the quiet. As he ate, he lost himself within his own thoughts; the TV serving as background noise as he paid it no heed. He had finished his bacon after eating all of his eggs and then swiftly polished off the remainder of the juice before he was startled from his reverie by a knock at the door. Almost dropping his glass because of the intensity of the knock, he struggled to reach for his crutches. Lay had placed them almost out of reach from where he sat, but after a bit of a stretch, he managed to get a hold of them. He set his glass on the table and began his slow ascent. Xiumin glanced at the clock, wondering who could possibly be at the door. It was likely Chanyeol, from the sound of the knock and the fact that the giant frequently left things behind, including his keys.

“Just one minute!” Xiumin called as the person knocked again.

He hobbled over to the door and leaned against the wall as he reached for the knob. Swinging the door open, Xiumin was faced with a sight he did not expect. Instead of Chanyeol, he found himself face to face with Chen’s parents and brother. Xiumin’s mouth fell open in awe at the fact that they had come to the dorm, when they knew Chen was most likely working.

          “Oh, u-um… Chen—I mean, Jong Dae—isn’t here… He went into the, uh… the, um… company today,” Xiumin stuttered.

          “I am aware of that, young man,” Chen’s father began, “We are here to see you.”

          “Oh. I see… Come on in then,” Xiumin said, pushing off the wall and moving to allow the family inside.

Chen’s father passed him, walking brusquely and without a second glance, while his mother and brother looked at him and smiled softly. Xiumin closed the door behind them and turned to make his way to the living room. Chen’s father had seated himself on the center cushion of the couch and was joined by his wife and son on either side of him. With no other place to sit, Xiumin made his way to the recliner in the corner that was angled toward the center of room. He slowly sat down, trying to hide the pain he felt as he did the simple task. He laid his crutches down beside the chair, not wanting them to be as far away from him as they had been when Lay set them against the wall. Xiumin looked up to see that the family was observing him closely. Feeling a bit out of place under their scrutiny, he swallowed nervously and attempted to begin a conversation.

          “So what brings you three here today? Did Jong Dae leave anything here that you need?” Xiumin asked.

          “No. We came to see you, as I said earlier,” Chen’s father stated.

          “Ah,” Xiumin mumbled, looking away from the intense gaze he was faced with.

          “I understand you were in an accident a little while ago?”

          “Well, yes… I was. I’m doing alright now though,” Xiumin replied, meeting the eyes of Chen’s father once again.

          “Hmph. So I can see,” he sighed

“The reason we came here today is because while you were unconscious in the hospital, we visited Jong Dae to see how he was fairing after the accident,” Hye Rin said.

Xiumin nodded in understanding.

          “Anyways, while we were with him, he wasn’t doing very well. He continued insisting that it was his fault that you were injured so badly,” Hye Rin continued.

Xiumin felt a pang of sadness in his heart. So even his family saw him in that state of mind?

          “I’m sorry you had to see him like that… I’ve talked to him since then and assured him that it was not his fault.”

          “Thank you, Min Seok, but we’re not here so much because we’re worried about him. I knew that you’d speak to him once you were able to, but we came for a different reason,” Jong Deok finally spoke up.

          “Ne?” Xiumin said confusedly.

Hye Rin smiled warmly and nudged her husband.

          “We came to tell you that we approve,” Chen’s father said reluctantly.

          “You approve?” Xiumin asked, even more confused than before.

Approve of me getting in the accident or of reassuring Chen?

          “Approve of your relationship with Jong Dae,” Hye Rin clarified.

Xiumin blinked a few times, allowing what Chen’s mother had said to sink in.

          “You approve of us? Really?” Xiumin asked, voice full of disbelief.

          “After seeing my son so conflicted and guilty over potentially harming someone… I suppose I can believe that what he feels for you is legitimate,” Chen’s father said, “Despite not liking the idea of my son being in a relationship with another man, I can see that this is not another one of his foolish stunts to rebel against me. I will allow you to continue seeing my son on one condition though.”

          “What?” Xiumin asked, willing to agree to almost anything after hearing the news.

          “You must not stop him from achieving his dreams.”

          “His dreams? But, sir, I thought that—”

          “That I didn’t agree with his dreams of becoming a singer, yes. However, my wife managed to persuade me otherwise. I believe that Jong Deok will be capable of handling the company after me without Jong Dae’s help. My youngest son seems to be talented, and it would be best to let him pursue what he’s best at.”

          “Does Chen know about this yet?” Xiumin asked.

          “He’s meeting us for dinner tonight,” Hye Rin said with a smile.

Xiumin could feel water well up in his eyes. He couldn’t believe Chen’s father finally accepted them as a couple and also accepted Chen’s dream of being a singer.

          “T-thank you, sir… You have no idea how much this means to both me and Chen. Thank you so m-much,” Xiumin said as tears began to fall.

Hye Rin smiled and stood from her seat to embrace Xiumin. He returned the hug gladly as she rubbed his back soothingly.

          “It’s okay, Minnie-ah… We’re okay now,” Hye Rin cooed softly.

Xiumin calmed himself down and pulled away from Hye Rin.

          “Thank you,” he said again.

          “You’re welcome anytime, Minnie-ah.”

Jong Deok smiled from the couch. Xiumin’s initial impression of him had been that he disapproved of the relationship, but it appeared now that he had just been a messenger for his and Chen’s father. Despite their father saying he approved, Xiumin knew that it would be a while before he was completely comfortable around the couple. Until then, they’d just have to be discreet.

          “I have a meeting in half an hour, so we’d best be going,” Chen’s father said, standing up.

          “Ne. Thank you again, sir,” Xiumin said, reaching for his crutches.

He stood with Hye Rin’s help and walked the family to the door.

          “It was nice speaking with you, Min Seok. Have a nice day and… feel better soon,” Chen’s father said as he left.

Jong Deok bid him good bye politely, but he was soon swept up as Hye Rin hugged him and whispered a good bye in his ear.

          “See you later, Minnie-ah!”

Xiumin smiled and nodded, closing the door behind the family. He leaned against the closed door, lost in his thoughts about what just happened. He couldn’t believe that his and Chen’s relationship was now accepted by Chen’s family. He was overjoyed and wanted to tell his boyfriend immediately, but stopped when he remembered that the family would be meeting for dinner tonight to discuss what he’d just been told. His painkillers had kicked in, and he luckily did not feel any of the pain he’d felt upon waking up this morning, however, with his body still healing, he definitely felt worn out and tired already. He’d only been up for a few hours, but Xiumin found himself making his way back to bed, curling beneath the covers to dream of the brighter future that he was now given.

A/N: Summer break at last! Sadly, this summer will probably be pretty busy for me :( I will still update whenever I can though, so look forward to that! I hope you all enjoyed the bonus update last time to celebrate 100 subscribers! I really enjoyed writing it, so if you want anymore chapters similar to that, let me know ;) This fiction will be coming to an end sometime soon... I don't have the exact number of chapters planned out, but  there's probably fewer than 10 left. I will be starting a new Hunhan-centered fic after this one is complete though! I am very excited for it, and it will hopefully be a bit more organized than this one :/ I've kind of just updated this whenever I could, but with the new one, I have it all planned out and will be writing it ahead of time, so keep a lookout for that! I will add a link to it once I post the first chapter!