If We Could (Again)

By: mayangel

Rating: PG

Word Count: 500

Pairings: Sehun/Xiumin

Warnings: teacher-student relationship (but not really)

They crash into each other on the top of the staircase, at a time when the school is supposed to be empty.

Minseok nearly stumbles over the top of the stairs, barely caught in the arms of the other person. “Sehun?” he blurts out before he can stop himself.

Sehun releases his grip on Minseok almost immediately, stepping back with a bow. “Good afternoon, Mr. Kim.”

He walks past Minseok, and Minseok doesn’t say anything because, really, what is there to say?

It’s nice to be in his hometown again, Minseok thinks as he walks past familiar stores. Four years is a long time, and it’s always nice to be home again.

The cake bakery is just a block away from the high school, and Minseok stops at the doorway, looking in. This is the very store that he used to look into as a little kid.

He used to bring Sehun here, back when he babysat the young seven-year-old kid with boundless energy.

Sehun was close enough to be his younger brother, though he was nearly the opposite of Junmyeon, Minseok’s actual brother. Junmyeon had been the hope and dreams of their family, but then he turned and decided to pursue a career in the military rather than law.

“I’ll send back some heads to you,” Junmyeon had said when Minseok asked why he’d chosen to pursue such an outrageous profession.

Their smiles had been guarded and no one really asked because coexistence was the law in the Kim household.

In a way, Sehun was the only outlier to the law.

Sehun, whose smile glowed in the sunlight, would hold on to Minseok’s hand and talk for hours with no inhibitions. He proved that controlling your emotions didn’t necessarily mean you were stronger, that it was okay to cry and laugh and comfort others. Sehun had never hesitated to tell Minseok, “I love you,” speaking the three words that were never heard in the Kims’ house.

Of course, those had been words spoken out of respect, the way a young child would speak them to his hero.

Sehun’s parents were often busy with work, but at least they tried, showering Sehun with care and affection rather than the tired silence Minseok was greeted with every evening.

Minseok isn’t sure when that changed, but he also isn’t sure if he’d imagined the change.

He continues past the shop, stopping at a place that always served noodles when he was a kid. He smiles politely at the woman, whom he doesn’t recognize, and orders the same dish that he and Sehun used to get every evening.

The whole town is littered with memories of Sehun, happy moments stamped within the crevices of eternal brick along the old houses lining the streets. Minseok had known that he was taking a risk coming back—but he’d also known that he would bump into Sehun one day. One day, he decides, pouring more spice into his noodles, he’ll set things right with Oh Sehun.

Foreword

mayangel