“Can’t you drive any faster?”

“Oh ing Sehun. Shut up will you? Chanyeol’s driving as fast as he can without getting pulled over alright?” Baekhyun snapped.

“No, it’s alright. He’s freaking out internally right now. Leave him,” Chanyeol said. He glanced to his side to see Baekhyun fuming and placed a hand on his boyfriend’s. “It’s fine.”

“He’s being a brat.”

Sehun cleared his throat. “I’m right here.”

“No one told you to listen.”

Sehun rolled his eyes and huffed. His palms were sweating and he wiped them on his jeans. He was so nervous. Even having everything planned out in his head didn’t reassure him one bit. There were so many things that could go wrong. What if Luhan still hated him after he apologized? What if Luhan never came back from China? What if, what if, what if?

“Sehun, I think you need to calm down.” Sehun glanced up from his lap and looked at the back of Chanyeol’s head. “You’re freaking out. Breathing exercises would help.” Chanyeol gave him a smile and Sehun couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit relieved.

“Chanyeol, turn.” Leave it to Baekhyun to ruin Sehun’s security.

Sehun checked his phone for the umpteenth time as he scrambled around the airport, looking for any sign of Luhan.

Gate 4A

Flight time: 11:00 P.M. KST

Sehun wiped the sweat on his hands on his pants and picked up his pace. It was 10:15, and knowing Luhan, he would have wanted to come early to get everything settled. The phone he was gripping in his hand almost fell out due to his sweating palms and Sehun huffed, putting it in his pants pockets. He arrived at the line where Luhan should be and searched. No familiar pink hair. He turned was about to leave when, out of the corner of his eye, saw a flash of pink. He spun back around and ran in the direction of it.

But by the time Sehun fought through the crowd of people (that appeared out of nowhere) he had lost the person with pink hair. He slumped down to the ground and buried his face in his hands.

“Sehun!” He looked up and found Baekhyun waving him over. “Hurry!” Sehun frowned and stood up. He jogged to Baekhyun and Baekhyun pointed to a familiar head of pink hair (seriously, who else in the world dyes their hair pink?) getting in the line for baggage check-in. Sehun’s heart beat that much faster as he raced to Luhan and pulled the latter’s arm.

A noise came from the back of Luhan’s throat as Sehun reached down to pull Luhan into a kiss. At first, Luhan struggled, trying to push Sehun away with his free hand, but eventually he stopped. Sehun felt like the world stopped and, as cheesy as it sounded, that they were the only two on the planet. Eventually he pulled away, the two of them catching their breath. Sehun glanced at Luhan and found the elder’s cheeks in a light blush. He let out a small laugh and pulled Luhan into a hug.

“I’m sorry, I really am. I know it doesn’t mean anything to you anymore, but I have to let you know that.” Sehun closed his eyes and buried his face in Luhan’s shoulder. “Please don’t leave me,” he added in a small voice.

“Stop it, it tickles.”

Sehun felt a wave of nostalgia when the words came from Luhan’s mouth. “Can’t we go back to the way we were before?”

“Our ‘before’ wasn’t happy, Sehun.”

“No, I mean the before, before.”

“It’s too late for that.”

~OoO~

Luhan hated flying on planes. It wasn’t just his fear of heights, but the feeling of ascending and descending made his stomach churn. So when the flight was over, he was more than happy to get his two feet planted on ground again. Luhan pulled his suitcase behind him as he looked out the huge windows of the airport. He was back home. He was back at the place he lived for ten years of his life.

China.

“How was the flight?” Yifan asked.

Luhan yawned and covered his mouth with his hand. “Tiring.” He shifted in his seat and tried to find a comfortable spot to take a short nap. His eyes were fluttering closed when he heard Yifan speak.

“Han.”

“Hmm?”

“Are you going to tell me about what you meant on the phone last week?” Yifan sounded worried.

“Later. I’m tired. Wake me up when we get home.”

Luhan woke up in a room that seemed unfamiliar at first. After blinking sleep out of his eyes a few times, he recognized the room as his room. He kicked the blanket away and stepped on the floor. Even the slippers he wore when he was younger were still there. A small smile grew on Luhan’s lips and he put his right foot in the baby blue slipper. Of course it didn’t fit him anymore. He wore it when he was eight. Luhan stood up and left his room. He found Yifan sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper, and Zitao next to him, eyes glued to the TV screen as he watched a drama.

Yifan was the first to notice him. “How was your sleep?” he asked.

Luhan scratched his head. “Best sleep I’ve had in weeks.”

“Luhan! Kitchen, now.” Zitao turned the TV off and stalked off into the kitchen. Luhan glanced at his step-brother and found Yifan staring at the kitchen with a raised eyebrow. He wasn’t used to Zitao either, after all these years. Luhan walked into the kitchen and found Zitao sitting at the circular wooden table with a cup of tea in front of him. He pulled the chair across of Zitao and sat down. “Why didn’t you call me?” Zitao asked.

Luhan sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it. I came here to get it off my mind. Don’t remind me.”

“Luhan. I’m serious.”

“I’m serious too.”

“I want to know what’s going on, Luhan. Is that so much to ask?” Zitao asked. His voice was soft, but there was impatience laced in them.

“Please stop.” Luhan buried his head in his arms and closed his eyes. Even though Zitao didn’t even mention his name, Luhan’s mind was all on Sehun. Sehun hugging him, Sehun kissing him, Sehun telling him to not leave. It hurt all too much.

Zitao sighed. “I’ll stop for today, but I want answers Luhan, and you’re the only one who can give it to me.”

“Later, Zitao. I don’t want to talk about him right now.” Luhan sat up straight and glanced around the pristine white kitchen. Even if he hadn’t come back here since he left, the house was still clean, no speck of dust in sight. He heard a scraping and saw Zitao push a cup of tea in front of him.

“Drink it. I know you’re stressed.” He gave Luhan a small smile and Luhan picked up the china cup. He took a sip of the liquid and sighed happily.

“Thanks.”

~OoO~

“You let him go.”

“He needed space,” Sehun argued.

“But you let him leave!”

Sehun braced himself for the slap that was going to come, but it never did. “Appa?”

“I’m really disappointed in you.”

Sehun winced. Those were the five words he never wanted to hear. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t fix anything. You were just running from your problems. Did I raise you to be a coward?”

Sehun felt a pang in his chest. He felt like his world was shattering. Hot tears threatened to spill over and Sehun looked down at his feet. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. There was this small tinge of hope that his father would pat him on the back and say it was okay, but he knew it wouldn’t happen.

“Go home.”

The tears fell.

“Are you okay?” Sehun shook his head. Baekhyun rubbed his back comfortingly. “Don’t stress over it too much. He’s just angry.”

“He said he was disappointed in me, Baekhyun.” Sehun let out a shaky breath and continued, “Those were the words I never thought I’d hear.” Baekhyun was at a loss of words. Sehun was never like this. He had seen Sehun guilty and angry at himself, but never so vulnerable. “It hurts. I feel like I’ve let so many people down. Luhan, my dad, you. I feel like such a failure.”

“You’re not a failure,” Baekhyun said. “You’re rash, impulsive, stupid, and...well stupid, but you’re not a failure.” He put his hands on Sehun’s shoulders and made the other face him. “Repeat it. I. Am. Not. A. Failure.”

Sehun brushed Baekhyun’s hands away. “That doesn’t help, Baekhyun.”

“Then what will?”

“Luhan.”