“Expecting an important call?”

Luhan looked up, his Father was standing over him, a curious look on his face. “No sir.”

“I really wish you would drop the sir. You make me sound like some kind of mean old man.” Mr. Lu sat down next to his son “You seem to be pretty interested in your phone today.”

Luhan colored slightly. It was true, he was waiting for a text from Minseok. He had a few free hours that evening and he was hoping they could go to dinner.

“So, are you seeing anyone these days?” Mr. Lu asked, not bothering to be subtle with his inquiry. He was sitting next to his son in one of the poorly padded airport seats that were lined up, back to back, in the boarding area of Jeju International Airport. They had flown in earlier in the day for a meeting with a developer, they were headed back to Seoul now that the meetings were finished.

Luhan swallowed “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It seems your Mother thinks you are involved with that Kang boy again.”

“What if I am?” Luhan spoke without thinking, cursing himself mentally for replying in such a way.

His Father sighed, leaning back. “I can’t say I am happy.”

Luhan nodded, looking at the floor.

“From what your Mother says he used you before.”

“It wasn’t like that!” He answered yet again without fully considering his words. Damnit.

His Father cocked an eyebrow “Hm. Just remember that work comes first.”

“Yes sir.” Luhan had the right response for once. Finally his phone vibrated.

Sorry, I am going to be working late. Do you have time tomorrow?

Luhan slowly typed his response

No. Sorry, I have meetings late tomorrow.

His Father watched out of the corner of his eye, only looking away once Luhan leaned back in his chair and put his phone away, his disappointment evident.

***

 Yixing had dreaded the meeting. He had dreaded the meeting even more so because it was based on the condition that Minseok was there too.

“Don’t go hyung, I don’t want to.” Yixing had told Minseok, pleading with his friend to deny the request.

“I am guessing this is going to be standard evil mother fare- she will tell me to never see her son ag-“Minseok paused, cringing at what he had just said. He had to get used to the fact that Luhan’s Mother was Yixing’s Mother as well. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

“Don’t worry hyung.” Yixing said quietly “I can’t claim she is an angel.”

“Still, she is your Mom.” Minseok sighed “I guess I just want to get this over with. I figured it was only a matter of time before she told me to stay away from Luhan.”

Yixing nodded. He wasn’t ready to see his Mother again but he would if his friend attended. He couldn’t let Minseok face her alone.

“I hate the fact she is playing you like this though.” Minseok frowned “If only she knew how great of a son she had.”

Yixing smiled sadly “Thanks hyung,that means a lot to me.”

The hour hand was hovering over seven when Minseok and Yixing walked into the upscale Gangnam restaurant. They were both dressed in suits, having come straight from the office. Minseok was already regretting the meeting before it began- he had turned down a few precious hours with Luhan for this. But he still wanted to see this through, get it over with.

Mrs. Lu had not yet arrived, the hostess informed them as they were seated. Yixing and Minseok ordered water, both having agreed beforehand they would be leaving shortly after Mrs. Lu arrived. They had no intentions to actually eat with the woman.

It was twenty minutes before she showed, dressed to the nines in Givenchy and carrying the latest trendy handbag. Yixing and Minseok stood and bowed when she reached the table, their manners oblivious to the moral compass of their company.

“Sit, sit. I won’t have any of that.” Mrs. Lu smiled.

She ordered white wine and attempted to make small talk while the waiter fetched her drink. The weather, the restaurant – everything but the reason they had come to dinner was the topic.

Finally Minseok spoke up “Was there a reason that you asked us to dinner?”

Mrs. Lu laughed “Of course there is! But I thought we should eat first.”

“If it is alright with you I think we would rather just get everything out in the open first.” Yixing said firmly. Minseok looked at his friend in surprise, he wasn’t used to seeing Yixing speak so strongly.

Mrs. Lu looked flustered for a second, but quickly composed herself “Fine. I have a proposition for the both of you.”

When neither man responded she continued “My family has a lot of money. Minseok,” She made eye contact with him “That probably doesn’t matter to you. So I am not going to sit here like an evil drama mother and offer you cash. Yixing, however, could use money.”

Yixing felt like running. It was hard enough knowing that someone so seemingly cold was his biological mother, hearing her speak like he was a person to be paid off drove his anger to an entirely different level. “Do not say another word. I don’t want your money.”

“Fine. I was just trying to help you.” Mrs. Lu flashed a sickeningly sweet smile, so false “And I want to help Minseok too. Dear, if you want Luhan to be happy please listen to me. You have to admit that what happened three years ago was horrible. Why repeat it?”

“We are not repeating three years ago.” Minseok spat.

“Good. I don’t want to see either of you hurt. I am a Mother, Minseok-ah, I want my child to be happy. I don’t think that will happen with you.” She took a sip of the recently delivered wine before continuing “He needs his family.”

“Why can’t he have both?” Minseok countered. It was similar to what he thought it would be, this meeting. While Mrs. Lu was smart enough to not throw a wad of cash on the table and demand things she was still demanding, utilizing a different tactic.

“Why don’t you ask your parents why this won’t work? What they did years ago?” She answered.

Minseok was ready to respond with a barbed comment but he stopped when he saw Mrs. Lu’s face light up with recognition. Looking over his shoulder, Minseok caught the sight of Luhan and the man he supposed was Luhan’s father entering the restaurant. From Mrs. Lu’s reaction it was clear she was not expecting them.

The two men followed the hostess to the table. When Luhan saw Yixing and Minseok he paled.

“Dear.” Luhan’s Father greeted his Mother warmly, moving to sit next to her “The maid told me you were here.”

“What a pleasant surprise!” Mrs. Lu’s demeanor immediately changed, morphing into a warm and welcoming matron.

Luhan’s hand brushed Minseok’s as he sat at the head of the table. “Hello. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Luhan was confused. So this is why Minseok had turned down his invitation, to meet with his Mother? And why was Yixing there? It had to be connected to Yixing calling her Mother a few days prior.

“Same.” Minseok replied, trying to keep calm.

Mr. Lu gave Yixing and Minseok a strange look “And who are these fine young men you are eating with?”

Mrs. Lu laughed, lilting, cheerful “Dear, this is Kang Minseok and Zhang Yixing. Kids, this is my husband.”

“Nice to meet you.” The two men greeted in unison, standing to bow again.

“So, you know my son?” Mr. Lu asked, his face a mask of politeness.

“Yes, we know each other.” Luhan answered for the three of them.

The waiter approached the table, breaking up the tense introductions. As Mr. Lu ordered his drink Minseok felt a hand on his knee. He didn’t need to look over to know that it was Luhan, squeezing his leg in a reassuring manner.

***

It was beyond lazy.

“Mmmmmmm” It was as much a sound as he felt like making.

Tao scoffed, rolling his eyes at the sight. Sehun was lying on his couch, using a selca stick to try to edge the bowl of popcorn on the floor closer.

“Yah! Just get up and grab it.” Tao was standing in the kitchen of his apartment, pouring two perfectly made glasses of bubble tea.

“I don’t wanna.” Sehun pouted when the selca stick failed to do the job. Thankfully Tao picked up where the device left off. He grabbed the bowl and sat down on the floor next to the couch, handing Sehun a glass.

“Bubble?!” Sehun’s mouth was on the straw as soon as he asked, up the concoction with glee.

“You are such a kid.” Tao took a handful of popcorn and stuffed it in his mouth. Grabbing the remote he flipped through the channels until he landed on a familiar drama.

“Again?!” Sehun asked, removing his mouth from the straw long enough to give Tao for watching the same show yet again. Tao must have watched My Girlfriend is a Gumiho at least a hundred times by now. When an episode, a re-run, was on Tao was watching. If that failed he had the drama on DVD and Blu-ray. He was obsessed with the story.

“Hey! You should pay attention to the story. Do you know what it is about?” Tao looked genuinely annoyed.

“A fox lady and some guy who wears flannel shirts?” Sehun answered, receiving another scowl from Tao.

“No! It is about sacrifice” Tao waved his hand for emphasis.

“Got it.” Sehun said sarcastically.

Tao whirled around, facing Sehun “They would give their lives for each other. For love! Don’t you think that is a great story?!”

“Yeah, it kind of is.” Sehun agreed. He wasn’t about to make Tao so angry that he kicked him out- or worse, stopped speaking to him all together. He had gone crazy enough getting this far, he wasn’t about to revert to stalking.

They settled into silence, watching the nine tailed fox and the “guy in flannel” embark on an awkward bus ride. Sehun started to get sleepy as he considered the fact Tao might just like the show because he was as adorable as the nine tailed fox herself. Maybe, just maybe.

Tao turned up the volume when Sehun started snoring. He didn’t want to miss this episode, even if he had almost every line memorized.

***

“Yes, we met your parents years ago. In fact I think you met Luhan when you were both children.” Mr. Lu said between bites of his steak “In fact, I think you two were playmates for a while.”

Minseok stopped eating. Were they? He barely recalled living in Beijing when he was young. If he thought hard enough he could remember a friend when he was there, but he was so young. Was that friend, that fuzzy memory, Luhan? Was that boy, the one who ran around the park with him and jumped in the mud and ended up with a scolding from their nannies, Luhan?

“We had the same tutor.” Luhan’s hand found Minseok’s knee under the table again “Or so my parents tell me.”

Luhan smiled, but behind his feigned happiness was the realization that Minseok didn’t remember him from when they were children. It hurt to a degree, because he had never forgotten. Still, being together in the here and now negated a large part of the pain.

“But I don’t recall ever meeting you.” Mr. Lu mused, looking at Yixing “Though you do have a very familiar face.”

“I believe he works with Minseok. Isn’t that right?”

Yixing swallowed. His dislike of this woman grew with every comment she made.

“Actually, I am her son.” Yixing said loudly, staring at Mr. and Mrs. Lu with determination. He had made a rash decision. It wasn’t that he wanted to be acknowledged as her child, in fact his motivation was unusually spiteful- for him anyway. He wanted to see her squirm, he wanted to see her bad intentions countered by something powerful. Later he would regret his actions, at the time he answered based on an anger he couldn’t defuse easily.

Mrs. Lu started to laugh “What a joker.”

She stopped laughing when she saw the look on Mr. Lu’s face. He had turned pale as a light of recognition passed over him. It was every so brief, the man quickly composed himself.

Minseok felt Luhan’s hand on his knee tense at Yixing’s words. They had not discussed the question of Yixing since the restaurant incident.

***

Sehun dreamt of a nine tailed fox that looked like Tao, ate chicken like Tao, and giggled like Tao. And when he woke up the first thing he saw was Tao. Thankfully he didn’t have nine tails.

“Sleepyhead.” Tao whispered, bending down to plant a peck on Sehun’s cheek “Go into bed.”

“You won’t try anything, will you?” Sehun asked, smiling “I mean, ME on your bed...”

“Just go to sleep. I can tell you are dead tired.”

Sehun nodded, stumbling from the couch towards the bedroom “Remember I have three brothers and they will kick your if you try anything.”

“Hm” Tao responded, using the remote to play the next episode of his favorite drama. He sunk back into the couch, ignoring the world until ‘Mirotic’- his ringtone- sent him crashing back into reality.

He checked the number. Groaning, he picked it up.

“What do you want?”

“To know how it is going.”

 “I am starting to think our goals are not the same.”

“Now why would you say that?”

“You want money.”

“Tao, of course I do. But I think we can all agree we will be happier with the outcome.”

“Fine. But I don’t think I am the one to get you what you want.”

Sehun was after a glass of water. He stumbled from the bed back towards the living room when he paused. Who was Tao talking to?

Tao was oblivious to Sehun’s eavesdropping. Unfortunately.

***

Yixing had tears in his eyes, but his expression was unwavering. He stared his biological mother down, waiting to see how she could explain this all away. Preparing himself for another spewing of vile words by the woman, he was shocked when the opposite occurred.

“Luhan, please greet your younger brother. And dear-“she leaned closer to her husband as she continued “Don’t pretend like you had no idea.”

Yixing froze. He wasn’t sure what to do. Suddenly all eyes were on him. Then Mr. Lu spoke.

“Well, yes, I can’t say I didn’t know.” He looked extremely uncomfortable at first, but his expression and posture warmed. Minseok observed them, realizing that the ability to put on a strong front, a mask, was a trait shared by both Luhan’s Mother and Father.

Luhan, however, was not one to hide his emotions behind a mask. Especially when faced with something like this – delivered in hushed tones in the middle of a bustling restaurant.

“I need to go.” Luhan stood up, bowing slightly to his parents he turned. Minseok was right behind him, Yixing at their heels.

“I am going home, hyung.” Yixing whispered, pushing in front of Minseok and Luhan, prepared to go home via a cab. Luhan stopped him.

“No. Let’s go – please. I want to talk.” Luhan pleaded, putting his hand on Yixing’s shoulder.

“I will go, you guys have a lot to talk about.” Minseok said, wanting to let the brothers catch up.

“No!” Yixing and Luhan answered in unison.

Minseok chucked, despite the seriousness of the situation “I guess you guys are related.”

Yixing and Luhan looked at each other at Minseok’s comment, smiling “I guess so.”

A half an hour later the three men found their way to a street food cart, sitting down they ordered Soju. It felt right.

***

The name. That name. Kris.

Why was Tao talking to Kris? Sehun strained to hear the rest of the conversation- at least the one side of it he could hear.

“He is easy, his parents are what will be difficult.”

“Yeah, well, he doesn’t really hold that important of a position there.”

“Don’t you think I am trying?”

“I don’t think we ARE on the same page Kris.”

It was a terrible feeling. Sehun tiptoed back to the bedroom, tears in his eyes. Why was Tao talking to his ex-boyfriend and why did it seem like they were talking about Sehun?

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a/n- Some plot development for y’all. And some Yixing being in your face. Because I am still not over this:

Thanks for subbing, voting, and/or reading! Hugs! Double hugs if you made it through last chapter’s bizarre Baeksoo ! *Still hiding head*