Omma wants you home.

Now.

Luhan stared at the screen and sighed. It was probably one of those ‘emergencies’ she had when Yifan couldn’t was too busy to do things for her. He texted back his step-brother.

Alright.

Luhan finished his coffee and threw the paper cup in the trash. He headed out to his car and sat inside. He put his hand on the steering wheel and stared outside. “Luhan, it’s okay. She needs you for something. It’s something that Yifan can’t do,” he chanted to himself. He smiled and then drove home.

~OoO~

Sehun was being toured around the construction site of the new hotel. “This is where the pool will be. There is also going to be another one inside the building.”

Sehun nodded. Then, his phone vibrated. He fished it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was his father.

“How about we take a quick 5 minute break? I have an important call to take.”

The builder nodded. “Yes sir. That’s fine.”

When the man was gone, Sehun called back his father. “Abuji you called?”

“Yes. I need you to come home right now. It has something to do with you and Jongin.”

Sehun’s eyes widened. “H-how do you know about Jongin?”

“I have my ways. Now get home this instant Oh Sehun, and cancel any other meetings you have for today.” Then, he hung up.

Sehun’s hands shook as he took the phone away from his ear. He stared at the device before walking to his car. Halfway there, he was stopped by a worker. “We still have more to show you, Mr. Oh.”

“Another day. I’m busy,” Sehun replied, waving his hand dismissively. He went into his car and drove off. At a stop light, he used one hand to call Jongin. It was a while, but eventually the other picked up.

“Sehun? Why are you calling?” he asked. Jongin sounded a bit out of breath, and Sehun knew he called at a bad time.

“I’m sorry I bothered you, but this is important.”

Jongin sensed the urgency in his boyfriend’s voice. “What happened?”

“My Abuji found out about us.”

~OoO~

“Luhan go in the car first. I’ll be out after.”

Luhan nodded. He watched as Yifan disappeared upstairs, most likely to talk to his husband, and then looked at his reflection one last time. He looked perfect, too perfect, and he hated it. Whenever Luhan dressed up, he always seemed to look like a doll and he loathed it with a passion. He was a human, not a doll.

“Luhan why aren’t you in the car?” Yifan grumbled.

“I’m sorry,” Luhan mumbled, following Yifan outside.

“Are you feeling okay? You seem out of it.”

 Luhan shook his head. “I’m fine,” he replied.

“Omma already left. All we need is to get there on time,” Yifan mumbled.  

Luhan nodded. “Zitao isn’t coming?” he asked quietly. He hated asking Yifan questions because he always sounded angry or mocking when he answered.

“He never comes to any of our company meetings,” Yifan answered. He watched Luhan put his seatbelt on before driving out of the long driveway of the house.

“We’re here,” Yifan said as he stopped the car. Luhan blinked once, twice, three times, before unbuckling his seatbelt and leaving the car. The whole ride was silent. There was nothing to say between the two step-brothers, and there never was. After Luhan had found out that Yifan was to take over the company, he had kept an icy distance. It was supposed to be Luhan’s job, but because Yifan was older, he took it instead.

Luhan followed Yifan inside the well-lit building and the two were led to a private room. There, Luhan saw his mother and three other people sitting around the table. He bowed to the other adults and sat down beside his mother, across a younger man who he assumed was the other adults’ son. The man was staring down the whole time, his blonde hair covering his face.

“This is my step-son Yifan and my son Luhan. This is Mr. and Mrs. Oh.”

“Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Oh,” Yifan and Luhan said.

The two smiled and introduced their son. “This is our son, Sehun.”

Luhan felt himself tense up at the name and when the young man across him looked up, Luhan felt like he wanted to jump off Namsan Tower.

It was Oh Sehun. His ex-boyfriend.

~OoO~

 “Why does it have to be you?” Sehun said to himself as he pulled at his hair. The older adults had left, leaving Luhan and Sehun alone. “What am I going to tell Jongin? Oh my god...”

From Luhan’s perspective, Sehun looked utterly helpless. He wanted to reach out and grab Sehun’s hand to tell him it was okay, that everything was going to be alright, but he couldn’t. In the past, he was able to, but the present was a different story. Sehun seemed to hate him, and Luhan didn’t know why. He just knew that he did something wrong and Sehun left him.

“Are you trying to ruin my life?”

Those words broke Luhan out of his reverie. “What?”

“Are you trying to screw up my relationship with Jongin because I broke up with you?” Sehun hissed.

Luhan shook his head fervently. “Why would I do something like that?” Then, he let out a sigh. “Sehun, I thought after dating me for a year you would know I would not do something like that,” he sighed. “I guess I thought wrong.”

“Luhan-sshi, I know you think very highly of me, but please don’t let past encounters cloud your judgment today. I am very different from two weeks ago, which means I am completely different than the Oh Sehun you knew two years ago,” Sehun said coldly.

Luhan felt tears burning in his eyes. “I see.”

Sehun stared at the other for a few moments before fishing out his wallet and handing Luhan some bills. “Use this to get home. I expect you to be alive in a month so we can get married.” Then, he stood up. “Luhan-sshi, know that this marriage is an act. Leave my personal life alone, and I’ll do the same for you. I don’t have feelings for you anymore.” He headed towards the door, but stopped when he heard Luhan’s soft voice.

“I know we’re done and all that, but please, don’t screw this up. You know what I’m about to tell you. I’ll do anything to make my mother happy, even if it means sacrificing my own happiness. If this makes her happy, I’ll take it. Please don’t ruin this,” Luhan said.

Sehun turned to look at the man sitting with his back towards himself. “You’re begging me?” Sehun scoffed. “Pitiful.”

~OoO~

Luhan sat on the couch hugging a pillow to his chest. Minseok came and sat down next to him with a cup of hot chocolate.

“You look like you need it,” he said.

Luhan took the cup from his friend. “Thanks,” he mumbled. He took a sip and frowned. Placing the cup on the table, he went into Minseok’s kitchen and rummaged around in there.

“Don’t mess up my kitchen!” Minseok yelled.

Luhan came back a minute later with something in his mouth. “I burned my tongue,” he said through an ice cube.

Minseok laughed at his friend shook his head. He glanced at the clock. “Jongdae’s going to be home soon.”

Luhan took the cup from the table and held in it his hands. “You’re so lucky Minseok...” he mumbled, taking a small sip of the sweet liquid and putting the cup back down. Minseok cocked his head to the side. “You have someone to love you. You have someone to wake up next to every day.” Luhan sighed with a sad smile on his face. “I wish I had someone like that.”

Minseok let out a sigh and collected Luhan in his arms. “Oh, Luhan. You’ll find someone. They’ll be better than that bastard of a fiancé you have. Don’t worry.”

“He called me ‘Luhan-sshi’. He really doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.”

The moment was ruined by Minseok’s phone vibrating on the glass table. He pulled away from Luhan’s small frame and picked up his phone to read the message.

“Oh...”

“What happened?” Luhan asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Jongdae’s going to be late. His dongsaeng is upset about something and is not calming down.” Minseok put down the phone. “I always thought that Jongin was calm and collected. I wonder what happened...”

“Jongin?” Luhan mumbled. The name sounded familiar, and he was sure he heard it today. Then it hit him.

Jongin was Sehun’s boyfriend.

~OoO~

Sehun paced his apartment floor while holding his phone. His hair was messed up and he looked distraught. Whenever he sat down, he would only stand up a few minutes later to stare out the window. It was a cycle. Pacing, sitting down, standing up, then repeat. It went on for an hour before he saw the familiar red car drive into the parking lot. Sehun waited for the doorbell and when he heard it, he rushed to open it, pulling his boyfriend in a bone-crushing hug.

“Sehun what’s wrong?” Jongin asked. He patted Sehun’s back and tried to pull away, but Sehun didn’t let go. “Hey, is this about your dad?

“Just let me hug you okay?” Sehun mumbled. Jongin smiled and kicked the door closed. The two stood in the small hallway, Sehun squeezing the life out of his boyfriend.

“Sehun, I think this is enough. I need to breath.”

“Sorry,” Sehun said, pulling away.

“What’s wrong? My parents wouldn’t let me leave the house and I had to go all childish on them,” Jongin explained, pulling Sehun to the leather chair in the living room.

“My parents are making me do something I really don’t want to...It involves hurting people that I love,” Sehun replied. He buried his head in the crook of Jongin’s neck. “But I can’t back out of it.”

Jongin wrapped his arms around the taller’s waist. “What is it?” Jongin felt something wet on his shoulder and turned his head slightly to see what was happening to Sehun.

“They’re making me get married.”