“Omo, omo here he comes. He is so cute!” Ji Hyo squealed, watching the young Chinese man approach. It hadn’t been that difficult to get Luhan’s number (Jong Kook was happy to provide it, by whatever means he had gotten his hands on it the Kang’s neglected to find out) and it had been extremely easy to convince him to meet them for lunch. Well, a late lunch since the afternoon was well upon them.

“Don’t scare the poor boy.” Gary nudged his wife, maintaining a wide grin as he stood to greet Luhan. He looked him up and down and had to admit he was adorable.

Luhan bowed deeply to the Minseok’s parents, recognizing them at once. It helped that they were pointing at him and whispering to each other as he approached – it was a dead giveaway.

“Luhan, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Ji Hyo gestured for the man to sit across the table from where Gary and Ji Hyo were seated. Luhan took the offered seat, expecting that this lunch date was going to be a lot like an interrogation and not like a friendly meal.

“How are your parents?” Gary asked as they finished ordering, but he couldn’t mask the bite in his tone.

“Good, but I don’t really see them a whole lot.” Luhan was a bit nervous about the subject of his parents, after all they had done everything in their power to pull down Monday Enterprises in the past. He really liked Minseok and he hated the thought that their parents would be the end of their new relationship.

“Did you know who Minseok was when you agreed to move here? I mean, which company he worked for and our past dealings with your parents?” Ji Ho wanted to gush and coo over her son’s maybe-boyfriend but she knew they had to get a few things out of the way first. Some difficult things, like why Luhan was there to begin with. Gary and Ji Hyo had discussed it and they seriously doubted the man had shown up with an ulterior motive related to business, but they had to be sure. And they had to make sure they didn’t let Minseok pick up on that, hence their nonchalant attitudes earlier in the day.

Luhan bit his bottom lip, considering his response. He didn’t need to answer, Gary did for him. At least part of the way.

“We know you remember Minseok from when you were young…”

Luhan nodded, keeping quiet.

“And you know that he doesn’t remember you, right?”

Another nod from Luhan.

“You didn’t realize who he was when you met him on the island, did you?”

Luhan nodded again, looking at the table instead of at Gary and Ji Hyo. He didn’t really want to admit any of it, but they had seen right through him.

“So when did you realize it?”

Luhan took a deep breath “Yesterday, I let it slip to my parents and they weren’t about to drop it- they filled me on everything” Luhan felt sweat break out on his brow “Please don’t tell Minseok about it. He doesn’t remember, and it honestly doesn’t even matter. I mean, we weren’t friends for long and we were so young."

Ji Hyo and Gary were met with a wide eyed pleading stare from Luhan. They had figured it out as soon as they had discovered who exactly the young man that had accompanied Minseok back to Seoul was. Because they had clearly remembered a time long ago, when Minseok was seven, that he had made a friend in Beijing.

When Monday Enterprises had been in the thick of expanding their business to China they had practically relocated there, bringing their sons with them a multitude of times when they would be staying in the country for an extended period of time. Minseok was old enough for school so he had been taught by a tutor. A tutor who also taught other wealthy children, including the son of the Lu family.

That tutor had suggested a play date more than once between his charges, and that is how Minseok and Luhan had become friends. They had only known each other a short time, a few months, before the play dates ended due to the Lu family’s attacks against the Kang family.

Minseok had whined for a while that his playmate had been taken away but he got over it with time. In fact he forgot all about Luhan apparently, because he had never made the connection that the man who followed him to Seoul was the same person that he had been so taken with as a child. They were so young that it was no real surprise that their memories of each other would fade, at least one of their memories would fade. And the last thing either child probably cared about at the time was the business their parents operated, which would explain why Monday Enterprises was not a tip off for Luhan, at least not initially.

“You say it doesn’t matter, then why can’t we tell him?” Gary leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. Ji Hyo shadowed his movements, both putting up a solid front.

Luhan couldn’t tell the truth, which was that he had really, really liked his friend even when they were young. Really liked him. Liked him so much he never forgotten him. He couldn’t really say that this was some childhood unrequited crush, but it kind of was. Just one that came and went and didn’t dominate his every waking hour.

Luhan’s childhood was rather lonely, which was one of the many reasons he found activist work fulfilling. His parents had always kept him at home, taught by a tutor, away from other kids. They had only agreed to let him go off to Korea to study because he had threatened to run away and never speak to them again, which they took seriously when he actually ran away for two weeks in Beijing. So his friendship with Minseok, while not memorable to the Korean, was extremely memorable to Luhan. Minseok had been one of his only friends, even if it had lasted only a few months.

They were small children when they had met each other, so it wasn’t like he had any concept of romantic love at the time he was friends with Minseok. But he did know that as he aged, as he became an adult, he never found a friend he liked quite as much as his Korean friend. And he never found a boyfriend he liked that much either. In a way he had grown to idealize his childhood friendship in a way that was probably very unhealthy. That is until he found the chance of a lifetime via a surprise encounter with his old friend.

“I..um..well, I guess you can te-“ Luhan stumbled over his words.

“Just kidding! You are too adorable for words!” Ji Hyo sprung up from her chair and reached over to pinch Luhan’s cheeks. Gary started laughing and nudging Ji Hyo to sit down.

“Ya, isn’t it adorable Oppa? He has liked our Minseokkie since they were kids!” Ji Hyo sat down but gushed the words at the top of her lungs, causing other restaurant patrons to shoot the table annoyed and curious looks. Luhan visibly reddened. He felt like he was on fire. Why were Minseok’s parents so strange?

“I – yes… I guess I have.” Luhan was very embarrassed and a tad bit depressed too “But I don’t think he likes me.”

“He asked you to move here, right?” Gary reminded him, leaving out the elephant in the room – the marriage contest.

“Well, yeah, but he seems to get angry with me a lot. Already. And when he found out about my parents…”

“Oh, just ignore that. If you really like him I am sure he will come around.” Ji Hyo smiled brightly at the man.

“You think so?” Luhan felt a wave of confidence at Ji Hyo’s words.

“Yes. Minseok is a hard person to get along with sometimes, but his heart is in the right place. Just give it time.” Gary reached over to pat Luhan on the shoulder. “Buck up kid.”

Luhan was extremely happy he had accepted their lunch invitation. Extremely happy. An hour later he left the restaurant with a newfound spring in his step.

***

“I am the winner. The W-I-N-N-E-R.” Sehun was standing over Suho’s desk, moving his head from side to side as he singsonged the words “Tao is going to marry me.”

Suho just stared up at his youngest brother, annoyed.

“Hey Romeo, did you ask Tao why he agreed to marry you so quickly?” Chanyeol asked as he strolled into the office, a sandwich in hand.

“Because he likes me.” Sehun answered smugly.

“That isn’t what he told me.” Chanyeol replied while taking a huge bite of the lunch meat monstrosity he called an afternoon snack.

“What would you know? Like Tao would tell you?” Sehun rolled his eyes.

“He told half the damn office. Looks like you are funding a new venture little one.” Chanyeol plopped down on the leather sofa, taking another bite of his sandwich.

Sehun mumbled something before turning on his heels and stalking off.

“What did Tao say?” Suho asked once his brother was gone, truly curious what the rural young man would have planned.

“That, hyung, is a secret.” Chanyeol smiled “But I can tell you one thing.”

Suho sighed. Why was everything so difficult lately? “What?”

“A little birdy told me that Jongdae is considering a new job.”

Suho froze. Jongdae? As in Kim Jongdae? His friend Jongdae? The one he was going to work alongside until they retired Jongdae?

“That isn’t possible. We just had lunch together, he didn’t say anything about it.” Suho stood, ready to barge over to his friend’s desk and confirm the fact.

“Oh, but it is. Seems that he has had a really attractive offer” Chanyeol tried to wink but failed, “From a very attractive-“Chanyeol tried to wink again but failed. He gave up and decided to just be blunt “Some hot guy offered him a job.”

“What?!” Suho was gone in a second, Chanyeol’s laughter seeing him out.

***

Baekhyun needed a plan, a good plan. He didn’t have time to think of one though so he went straight for deceit and dramatic acting.

“Kyungsoo, I think I am sick!” Baekhyun clutched his side, hoping he could make himself turn pale if he tried hard enough.

“So?” Kyungsoo looked at him, watching his feigned illness.

“Do you need to go to the hospital?” Yixing had the right reaction, looking concerned as he watched Baekhyun in the rearview mirror.

“Um, no, but can you drop me off at home?” Baekhyun had panicked when Kyungsoo had blushed. Actually blushed when he met Mr. whats-his-name-construction-worker. That was not supposed to happen. Kyungsoo was supposed to be the untouchable little ball of fury until he fell for Baekhyun. Not Jong-build-stuff-guy. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Kyungsoo, can you help me up to my apartment? I don’t think I can make it.” Baekhyun did his best near death impression.

“Yixing can help you.” Kyungsoo answered, not bothering to cast another glance at Baekhyun.

“Pleeeeasssseee.” Baekhyun whined.

Kyungsoo didn’t respond but Baekhyun knew his silence was as good an answer as he was likely to get. When Yixing stopped in front of Baekhyun’s apartment building Kyungsoo got out, helping Baekhyun out of the car.

“He can take a cab home.” Baekhyun instructed Yixing in a low voice before he stumbled out of the car, sending the chauffeur/ secretary on his way.

“Yah! Why is he driving off?” Kyungsoo watched the company car reenter the madness of afternoon traffic.

“I need help Kyungsoo. Yixing knows that, can’t you just be a human being and help me?” Baekhyun stuck out his bottom lip and pouted, still clutching his side.

“We have work to do!”

“You can work from my apartment. Please?!”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, but went along with the plan. But he complained. A lot. As he helped Baekhyun into bed, as he started working, and as he made Baekhyun soup. Complaints all around.

***

“Are you quitting?”

Jongdae had never seen Suho so serious, so panicked before. Not even when they had entered that impossible drinking contest in college, the one where Suho woke up with magic marker on his face that wouldn’t come off for a week.

“Um, no. who told you that?” Jongdae had been dragged into the stairwell by his friend, with no idea what was going on.

“I knew Chanyeol was lying! He said some hot g- some guy offered you a job.” Suho looked a bit embarrassed “I knew you would never leave me.”

Jongdae carefully considered his response. Chanyeol had lied and it was pretty obvious he had done so for pretty simplistic and moronic reasons – he wanted Suho to understand what Jongdae meant to him. But this was the wrong way, exactly the wrong way, because all it did was make it even worse for Jongdae. Because it made it even more evident that Suho took him for granted. Or maybe that was the point. Damn Chanyeol.

“What would you do if did leave?” Jongdae challenged.

“You can’t leave!” Suho responded, not realizing how much of an he sounded like.

“I think I can if I wanted to.” Jongdae turned to go back into the offices, but stopped himself because he wasn’t done yet “That is the problem with you. You take me for granted, you take everyone for granted. What if I wanted to go? I am not saying I do, but you couldn’t even consider the possibility could you?”

Suho was dumbfounded. What had happened to his shoulder to lean on? His friend Jongdae?

“I, well, I appreciate you a lot and I just meant I don’t want you to quit.” Suho tried to backtrack but he knew it was too late. Jongdae didn’t stick around to hear any more before he left Suho standing alone in the stairwell, trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

***

Sehun found Tao in his office, humming a trot song while he clicked madly on his laptop.

“Hey Tao?” Sehun walked up behind where Tao was sitting, glancing over his shoulder he could see that the man was madly saving pictures. Fashion pictures. “Whatcha doing?”

“Hun-ah!” Tao stopped what he was doing long enough to turn and smile at his frie- fiancée “Just getting some things figured out.”

“Figured out for what?” Sehun asked carefully, already pretty sure he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Well if we are going to be rich I can start my fashion line now!”

“Your what?!” Sehun felt like hitting Tao and passing out at the same time. So that was it? That is why he had said yes so quickly?

“Hmmm. It has been a dream of mine for a while. I thought about all sorts of designs when I was navigating my fishing boat. It got kind of boring so I had time to think. What do you think of TAOShion as a name? I am thinking a fall collection first.”

“You have to be kidding me.” Sehun reached over and closed the laptop, causing Tao to jerk back like Sehun had hit him.

“Yah! What are you doing?”

“What ARE YOU doing?” Sehun was not happy and when Sehun was not happy he was not shy. “You only said yes so you could start a fashion line with MY money?”

“OUR money. You won’t have a dime unless I marry you, right?” Tao stood up. He was slightly taller than Sehun which had never been that apparent to Sehun until now. It suddenly felt like Tao was towering over him.

“And you will have nothing unless I marry you, right?” Sehun was fuming “And you seem to forget I could find someone else to marry and you would be left high and dry?”

Tao stared at Sehun for a couple of seconds. A couple of intense seconds. And then he burst into tears and ran for the nearest restroom.

Sehun was pretty sure he heard the word “jerk” as well as a few swears and “TAOshin” as Tao ran away. Suddenly he was no longer a winner. Damnit.

***

Sehun and Suho were really bad at charades. So was Chanyeol. Yixing was only mildly better.

“Who suggested this damn game anyway?” Suho slurred his words, reaching for another beer.

“You should take it easy hyung.” Chanyeol, done acting out the role of a pterodactyl, grabbed the drink out of Suho’s hand.

“Yah! You should be apologizing. You are the one that made Jongdae mad!” Suho grabbed the beer back from Chanyeol, opening it.

The four of them were a site for sore eyes. Well two of them at least. Sehun and Suho had sulked back to Suho’s apartment after leaving the office late in the evening, stopping at the nearest Family Mart for some beer on the way. Chanyeol and Yixing had shown up a little later. Yixing tagging along with Chanyeol, who told him that for sure two of the Kang brothers needed a bit of their humor and good cheer for the night, because they had ed their lives up. Or at least a little bit of their lives up, which given their personalities would seem like they had messed their entire lives up.

“Tao probably hates me.” Sehun hung his head. After Tao had cried his eyes out he had avoided Sehun, or at least tried to. Tao had gone back to Sehun’s office and refused to speak to him, doing some filing work until the clock hit five and he left.

“Well Jongdae hates me.” Suho chugged his beer. Jongdae hadn’t uttered another word to Suho all afternoon and it was killing him.

“And you are both idiots.” Chanyeol shook his head at the two of them “And you should be nicer to the people you like.”

“Like?” Sehun and Suho answered in unison.

“Well, you like them don’t you?” Yixing chimed in “You wouldn’t care otherwise. Okay, who can guess this one?”

“As a friend” Suho muttered, taking another drink.

Yixing jumped from the couch and contorted into a strange position, “Any guesses?”

“A unicorn!” Chanyeol shouted, fist pumping when Yixing told him he was correct.

The Kang brothers remained silent, drinking and pondering how in the hell their friends could be so smart and so stupid at the same time. And what the word like meant.

***

Minseok had texted Luhan a couple of times during the day, but he had no response. It worried him, but he tried to brush it off – which didn’t work so well. He was worried when he arrived back at his apartment, that he would walk in and find all of Luhan’s belongings gone.

When he opened the door and found silence he thought that his fears were realized. He took his shoes off and walked to the living room – well, made his way to the second bedroom to be exact so he could confirm that Luhan was really gone. He never made it. Because he found what he was looking for.

Luhan was lying on the couch, asleep. There were a few pamphlets for different charitable organizations scattered about, a pamphlet about a homeless youth organization lying open on Luhan’s stomach. He must have fallen asleep reading it, Minseok thought. He stared down at the man, drinking in his features.

Minseok would be lying if he did not admit how, well, pretty he thought Luhan was. He wasn’t conventionally handsome – all chiseled features and strong contours. He was more delicate, softer. And damn if Minseok didn’t think his face was extremely attractive.

He stared for longer than was probably necessary, happy that the Chinese boy hadn’t hightailed it home. Which made Minseok question a lot of things, like why he was as happy as he was just to see Luhan sleeping on the couch. When Luhan began to stir Minseok panicked, trying to make it to his room. His actions were a complete failure.

“Minseok?” Luhan whispered groggily, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“Hey.” Minseok turned and offered a weak smile, his retreat suddenly cut off.

“How was work?” Luhan asked, sitting up and running his hand through his hair, the pamphlets falling on the floor.

“Good. Did you find something new to support?” Minseok gestured towards the pamphlets, suddenly feeling very awkward.

“Oh” Luhan seemed to suddenly remember the reading materials “Maybe.”

“That’s…um..good.” Minseok smiled. That smile. The smile. The same smile that had recently become Luhan’s Achilles heel.

Luhan didn’t really want to continue the conversation for a couple of reasons. Firstly he was still half asleep. Secondly Minseok was not running away feigning a headache and he needed to act fast. Thirdly he had other things in mind- the acting fast bit.

Luhan stood up and approached Minseok slowly, fully expecting the man to run. But he didn’t. It was like he was waiting for him, even if that was wishful thinking on Luhan’s part.

“You look nice in a suit.” Luhan hummed, stopping in front of Minseok.

“You look nice when you are half asleep.” Minseok said shyly, looking down at the floor like it could save him from whatever was about to happen. It didn’t.

Luhan reached out a hand to cup Minseok’s chin, tilting his face upward. When Minseok didn’t stop him, didn’t turn way, he took a chance. Leaning in slowly, looking from Minseok’s wide eyes to Minseok’s lips, Luhan gave him a chance to run. But he didn’t. Which made it easy for Luhan to pull him close.

“I have wanted to do this since the day we met” Luhan whispered, leaning forward and capturing Minseok’s lips in his own, eliciting a moan from Minseok as he deepened the kiss.

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a/n- TAOshin anyone? Slap me now, that was the reason Tao said yes! Come on…you have to admit that is funny (I could totally see it any way, maybe I am just weird).

Yes, Suho seems like an right now, but never fear he will figure it all out, just like Kyungsoo. But it is going to take some time. *Relationship struggles*

And the kiss, the kiss! See, some things are moving forward. So who will win? Any ideas? Let me know in the comments section. Thanks for reading, subbing, and a million thanks for voting! Hugs!

PS- Running Man episode 223: Monday Enterprises the early years