"So, that's it," Jongin said with a smack of his lips as an awkward finish. 

He'd just told Mr. and Mrs. Do, and Minseok about his syndrome and was waiting for a response. So far, nada. 

Then Minseok asked, "So... You have amnesia? I thought it wasn't possible to inherit amnesia." 

"It's a rare condition, but it happens. It's different for everybody," Jondae piped in, as he had done at random times in Jongin's speech, with the medical stuff. Things like, "The fact that it shows up in the males of the family only, it's a hint that it's carried by the Y chromosome," and, "The frequent blackout of memories only happens farther on in life. Until then, the syndrome is dormant. Once it awakens, without proper care, it can get really bad, really fast." 

Mrs. Do stood up and walked over to Kyungsoo's boyfriend. With a sudden motion, she took him in her arms in an embrace. "I'm happy you told us, Jongin. I want you to know that no matter what, we love you, okay? Don't go forgetting that." She smiled. 

Then her husband joined them. He placed a hand on Jongin's shoulder. "This changes nothing, son. As long as you're okay, we're okay." 

Son. This changes nothing. We love you. No matter what. Son. You told us. I'm happy. Son. 

The words kept spinning around in Jongin's head; words his own parents couldn't say in face of his uality, his boyfriend's parents were saying to something much, much more severe. The thought brought tears to his eyes, and he wrapped his arms around the married couple. His boyfriend joined in from behind him. 

"I feel left out. You'll always be my favourite person to tease," chimed Minseok. "You know, this even helps. That way I can recycle my jokes and you'll still laugh!" 

On cue the entire living room burst into laughter. 

Jongin couldn't help but think of Sehun. Not in a longing way, of course, he was happy with Kyungsoo. But would Sehun's mom ever be as motherly to him as Kyungsoo's? Jongin could remember that when they'd been dating, Ms. Oh never really got close with Jongin. He never knew why, but he knew that she even stopped talking to his aunt after they broke up, even though they'd broken up on good terms. They'd broken up because of... Wait. Why had they broken up? 

The event had happened in high school, so Jongin should have no problem with the memory, but suddenly it wasn't there! He tried his best to hide his panic from Kyungsoo, hoping he could find a chance to talk to Dr. Kim before he went to bed. 

Then they sat down. Kyungsoo and Jongin shared a single person sofa, The parents sat in armchairs on either side of the small table adorned with flowers by the windowsill, and Minseok and Jongdae sat in the love seat. 

Minseok cleared his throat. "Not to steal your spotlight or anything, Jongin, but I have an announcement to make, too." He tentatively took ahold of Jongdae's hand and squeezed. "Jongdae and I are dating." 

The room was quiet for about 2.5 seconds, until Kyungsoo exclaimed, "Ha! I called it!" He stuck out a hand and his father slapped a bill into it. Then he turned around and high-fived Jongin. 

"You bet on me?" Minseok asked. 

"No one goes years without a girlfriend without their family getting suspicious, hyung," Jongin said in defence. 

Jongdae laughed hysterically, getting glares from his boyfriend. "Sorry, it's just..." He began to guffaw again. "You look so cute when you're angry." 

Mrs. Do started to giggle. "How did you two meet?" 

Minseok explained how they'd met online through a mutual friend. At first it had been simple curiosity for friendship. They chatted back and forth. Apparently it had been Minseok who shot the first message, and when Jongdae replied really late due to his busy schedule, he'd almost given up. But seeing how they were sitting together now, it was clear that that hadn't been the case. 

After about five months going that way, the two men decided to meet when Jongdae had business in China. Minseok took a train to Beijing to see the man he'd been chatting with in person. They met up at a café and Jongdae said that as soon as Minseok laid eyes on him, the shorter man had wanted to hug him. 

At this point, Minseok shrugged. "He's cute." 

Jongin coughed awkwardly at his doctor being called cute by his boyfriend's cousin. 

Jongdae continued. "And when we were halfway through our drinks, this woman who, I guess, saw us hug, assumed we were gay and dating. She was giving us the nastiest stares. At first I thought it was because we were speaking in Korean, so I was just going to blow it off, but as she passed by our table on her way out, she turned to her friend and said, 'Those homos ruin everything.' She probably thought we wouldn't understand." 

Then, as the story continued, Minseok called out, in Mandarin, "What is it about love that disgusts you so much?" At first she seemed flustered that he had understood and was asking her about what she said, but then she gained confidence and replied, "It's just not natural. When I see two men kissing, it makes me feel like puking." And that was when Minseok leaned over the table and kissed an unsuspecting Jongdae, right on the lips. It drew lots of attention, and eventually they got kicked out for causing such a ruckus. Outside, Jongdae placed his lips on Minseok's, mostly to get revenge for surprising him before, but also because he kind of enjoyed it. 

"And that's the what." Minseok the back of Jongdae's hand with his thumb, drawing shapes and squiggles. 

Mrs. Do had her hand on her heart. "What a sweet story. You sure showed that woman!" 

Mr. Do, on the other hand, looked disappointed. "You couldn't have found a more romantic, less troublesome way to start your relationship?" 

Minseok exaggeratedly sighed. "Yah, gomobu~!" he whined, throwing the pillow at his aunt's husband. 

***

Three days after the story swapping, Kyungsoo and Jongin were out Christmas shopping. 

"He's your doctor, you should know what he likes. Huh?" Kyungsoo prompted. 

"Let's get him a stethoscope or something," Jongin said. 

"Wow. So creative." Kyungsoo sighed. "And how about Minseok?" 

The younger boy shrugged. "He's your cousin." 

Kyungsoo groaned. "We're hopeless." 

"Let's get him a vinyl." 

"Jongin, he sells those for a living." 

"Let's record our own vinyl." 

"I highly doubt he'll appreciate that as much as he should." 

"True, he might just give it away for free..." 

They stood there by the entrance of the store, deep in thought. Kyungsoo gasped. "Minseok really loved coffee. Remember?" 

Jongin didn't, which surprised him. "Uh, yeah," he said with nicely faked enthusiasm. "So let's get him one of those elaborate coffee machines!" 

"As long as it isn't too expensive." 

And it wasn't. At least, not the one they picked out. It had nice flavour options and even came with a few boxes of them.

Minseok's gift: check! 

"Have you noticed that Dr. Kim hums a lot?" Jongin asked. 

Kyungsoo nodded. "I also heard him singing in the shower." 

"Let's get him a karaoke machine," Jongin suggested.  

Jongdae's gift: check! 

"Are you sure you can carry both of thos