Kyungsoo's mother greeted her husband and sons with open arms. Much like his father, she embraced the two boys tightly, as if she wasn't planning on letting go. Jongin wasn't the least bit uncomfortable; Mrs. Do had been like a third mother to him ever since he started dating her son. Kyungsoo was the more discontent of the two.

"Mom, you're squeezing too tight!" He meant well, though. He loved his mother more than anything else in the world.

"What can I do? I missed you!" She was not as conservative with her words as her husband. "Yah! Why do you make your poor mother miss you so much? How hard is it to take a bus over once in a while?" Jongin snickered, but not for long. Soon she had him as well. "And you! At least this one calls, you don't even do that! Ah, what am I to do with you two?" She smiled and pulled both of the boys closer to her, first placing a kiss on her son's head, and then one on his boyfriend's. "At least you're here now, huh?"

When the boys were finally free, they went down the hall to Kyungsoo's old room to settle in. Upon entering, Kyungsoo made sure to set face-down one of the picture frames sitting atop his old desk. "I don't understand why Mom insists on bringing it out," he said.

Jongin disagreed. "I don't understand why you insist on pretending it doesn't exist." He picked up the photograph and stares at it with a smile. "You were adorable!"

"Correction; I am adorable. I had braces!" Kyungsoo pointed out, snatching the school portrait out of his boyfriend's untrustworthy hands. Who knows, he might post it online or something.

Jongin put his hands on Kyungsoo's cheeks and squished them together. He laughed as his boyfriend shot him helpless glares over his fishy lips. "You will always be adorable to me. Past, present, future. Forever. Honestly, you can't get rid of me." With that, he leaned in to graze the shorter boy's forcefully pouting lips with his own.

There was a knock on the open door and Jongin let go of the older boy to turn around. Mr. Do was smirking at the boys' acts of love. "Dinner will be ready in thirty, you might want to get freshened up. Minseok arrives at eight, we still have to pick him up from the airport."

The boys, having showered before the trip, didn't find it necessary to take another one. Instead they just used the washroom, and helped out in the kitchen, setting the table.

"I'm so happy you're joining us this year, Jongin," gushed Kyungsoo's mother, her earlier scolding a memory in the past.

Jongin smiled sincerely as he set a pair of chopsticks beside each plate. "I'm glad to be here. Thank you for inviting me."

"Nonsense. You're practically our son-in-law anyway. Six years is a long time." From her spot in front of the stove, she glanced over her shoulder at the young boy. "Do you want to know how many years Mr. Do and I knew each other before getting married? Three." She carried a large pot into the dining room and set it on a wooden trivet in the middle of the table. "I want to see my son's wedding before I die, do you hear me?"

Kyungsoo coughed nervously. "W-wedding?"

His mother put her hands on her hips. "Is that too much to ask?"

"Well... I mean, lawfully..." It would be a lie to say that Kyungsoo hadn't thought of marrying Jongin one day. But in order to do that, they would have to move to a different country, and he wasn't sure if he or Jongin were ready for that.

"Ah, screw the documents! You're still having a proper ceremony whether you like it or not." Mrs. Do returned to the kitchen and was soon replaced by Mr. Do.

"I wouldn't argue with her. She raised her own nieces and nephews, she's greatly accustomed to standing her ground," the man warned.

Jongin stared at his feet, trying to hide the blush that had taken over his face throughout this entire conversation. It wasn't until Kyungsoo grabbed his hand and laced their fingers that he looked up.

"Will you marry me?" Kyungsoo had to stand on his toes to whisper in Jongin's ear.

Jongin glanced at the parents before he nodded. "Yeah, I suppose," he said nonchalantly.

Kyungsoo lightly punched his boyfriend's arm for his lack of enthusiasm and the entire room was filled instantly with laughter. "I'm sorry if you have better things you'd rather be doing."

Jongin wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and dug his chin into the top of his fluffy head. Kyungsoo squirmed and groaned, "Oww!" He started to swat the younger boy away, to no avail. "So annoying," he muttered with a smile, arms falling to his sides.

"But you still love me," Jongin said.

"For reasons unknown to man," grumbled the shorter boy.

Mrs. Do, getting impatient, whipped Jongin's with a towel, making him jump away. She promptly did the same to Kyungsoo before he could make a run for it. "Come on, let's eat!"

The two students hadn't tasted a home-cooked meal in months. The fact amused the parents, just as much as it worried them. "Have you been eating anything healthy at all?" asked Mr. Do. "Kyungsoo, you look squishier than usual. You haven't been living off of instant ramen, have you?"

Kyungsoo cleared his throat awkwardly. In all honesty, he hated food court food. Nothing compared to cooking his own meal for himself, but with the limited space in the dorm, that was next to impossible. Still, the food court had healthier (and much less appealing) food no one ever bought. With that as his point, he said, "Of course we eat healthy. What are we, toddlers?"

Jongin nodded, not wanting to get on anyone's bad side. "Totally. You know, parents are right when they say junk food doesn't fill you. You need full, nutritious foods to function properly."

Mrs. Do beamed with pride. "Spoken like a true dancer. Kyungsoo, you should take note, my, look how handsome our little Jongin has become?"

The biological son had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping. If anything, Jongin cared less about what he stuffed in his mouth than Kyungsoo did! Way to make him look bad in front of his parents, Jongin.

***

As soon as Joonmyun's plane landed on American soil, he was already missing home. By home, he obviously meant his dorm in Korea, and not the place his father owned a large company.

There was a man holding a sign at the pick ups. "Mr. Kim Joonmyun" it read. The man holding it wore a black suit, black sunglasses, and an earpiece with a curly wire going down the back of his shirt. He showed no emotion, whatsoever.

With a sigh, Joonmyun made his way to the man and handed him his luggages. "Where's Dad?" he asked.

"Your father is in a board meeting. He will be home tonight." The man's voice was monotone, and straight-to-business.

"Of course he will." Joonmyun stared out into the California sky through the window. "And Mom?"

"Your mother is attending her own appointments."

Obviously this man didn't know what Joonmyun's mother was up to; no one knew w