“Eomma! Appa!” he called out and smiled brightly at his parents.

“Minseok-a!” his mother exclaimed and pulled him into a tight hug, almost crushing her son.

“Eomma!” Xiumin gasped and Luhan laughed a little. Seemed like all mothers were the same. “Eomma, stop! I can’t breathe!”

“Oh! Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie,” Xiumin’s mother finally let him go and his father pulled him into a brief hug.

“Good to see you, son,” he said.

“So,” Xiumin’s mother beamed at him. “Where’s your girl?”

Xiumin frowned. “Girl? Which girl?”

“The girl you said you’d bring!”

“I never said, I’d bring a girl. Eomma, what are you talking about?”

“Of course you did! What did you say her name was? Lauri? Yes, Lauri.”

Xiumin stared at his mother with his mouth wide open before he burst out laughing while Luhan’s face took on the face of a tomato.

“Eomma!” Xiumin managed to gasp out between his laughter. “Lauri’s not... Lauri is... Eomma, that’s Lauri!”

He grabbed Luhan’s wrist and pulled closer and his mother gaped at him.

“Oh, Hello,” Luhan said and offered Xiumin’s mother a shy smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh! Oh my God!” Xiumin’s mother exclaimed as she realized her mistake. “Oh God, I’m sorry! I thought...”

She trailed off, embarrassed, but Luhan only smiled encouragingly at her.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I get that quite often actually.”

But it didn’t really help. Xiumin’s mother was still flustered and Xiumin was red in the face from laughing so hard. Well, that had certainly been an interesting way to start this visit.


Luhan was at Xiumin’s home for quite a few days now and just as Xiumin had predicted, Luhan and his parents got along splendidly. Of course they did, Luhan was probably the most pleasant and likeable person he knew.

And Xiumin really enjoyed all this. Since Luhan had left Korea, he hadn’t been able to spend as much time with him. And having Luhan at his home now was pretty nice. He had already showed Luhan around his hometown and had introduced him to his soccer friends but most of the time, they stayed at home, watching TV, playing video games and sleep around.

And that Luhan’s visit was during the World Cup was even better because it effectively combined two of their greatest hobbies. TV and football.

They were sitting on the couch in front of the TV, watching Germany play against Argentina.