((Whee, short chapter. Will make it up with the next one being longer~ ))

LuHan sighed, scrolling through his missed calls, hesitating over the contact he had saved under Minseok’s name. How had he even gotten his phone number? He had been so careful, keeping a close eye on the trail he was leaving. At first when he got a call from a familiar area code he thought it was the school asking for information about his transfer credits but… He set his phone down, sitting up, running a hand through his hair. Who had gotten his phone number recently? Who did he even talk to enough to consider a friend? His eyes widened when one face came to mind, and he grit his teeth a little, scrambling to get out of bed, rushing out of the house down the path he took daily.

“Have you been spying on me?” The Chinese man behind the counter slowly looked up from his phone, offering a smile and slight tilt of the head as LuHan stormed into the coffee shop.

“Hmm?”

“I know you heard me,” LuHan argued, gripping at the counter as Zhou Mi set his phone on it.

“Someone sounds like they haven’t had their morning coffee. One iced Americano coming right up,” Zhou Mi chimed, making his way over to the coffee grinder as LuHan let out an irritated huff. He kept a sharp look on the other that was only distracted when he heard a soft buzz and he looked down at Zhou Mi’s mobile, the screen lighting up with a message in Korean and the dark haired male grit his teeth. “One iced Americano, on the house,” Zhou Mi chimed, sliding the drink over to LuHan, who turned his attention back up to him.

“Why are you getting messages in Korean?” He asked, Zhou Mi’s permanent smile grinding on his nerves.

“Who’s the one doing the spying now, little Lu?” He teased, LuHan’s irritation far from fading. “So I’ve got a cute Korean boyfriend and he doesn’t know Chinese very well yet, what’s my crime?” Zhou Mi asked, arching an eyebrow at the younger before nudging the coffee closer to him. “Come now, don’t let it go to waste,” he pressed, LuHan slowly picking up the drink, sipping on it before he turned, making his way out of the café.

“Are you sure it’s not a waste of money?” LuHan asked, scrolling down on his mobile to check the price once again. He had been following the release of a new music mixing software, and it had finally had its second release after all the bugs had been improved from the first. “I don’t know… It’s nice, but when would I actually use the program?”

“Wouldn’t it be worth the money as a music major?” Zhou Mi asked, picking up his cup of coffee for a sip, not noticing the way that LuHan froze.

“I’ve… never mentioned being interested in being a music major.” Zhou Mi took a long slow drink, the cup hovering near his lips as he watch LuHan’s face.

“Why else would you want some kind of music making program?” he asked innocently, LuHan narrowing his eyes at the older.

“You seriously have been giving me the stalker feeling lately,” he accused, Zhou Mi humming as he took another drink, setting the cup down.

“I prefer the term ‘long-distance-babysitter’.”

“What?” LuHan asked, Zhou Mi sighing as he leaned back against his seat.

“Well, I guess I can’t really keep this a secret anymore,” he mused, scrolling on his mobile for a few moments. “About a month ago one of my… clients in Korea told me about someone disappearing and he was sure that that person was going to be coming back to China. This person was the cause of worry for several people, and my client wanted me to keep an ear out and gather information on anyone around here who seemed new,” he explained. “I first noticed that you had a bit of a strange accent even though you spoke perfect mandarin, so I focused on gathering as much information about you as I could. When I offered that information back to my client he confirmed that you were the one he was looking for, and I passed your mobile number to him. What he did with it was none of my concern; I was simply doing my job.”

“Who… Who had you try to find me?” LuHan asked, Zhou Mi leaning forward as he held a finger to his lips.

“Sorry, that goes against the code of confidentiality~” he cooed, LuHan rolling his eyes. “But apparently they found you, or else you wouldn’t be coming to me all upset because you were found when you didn’t want to be. Moving to a different country, changing the color of your hair… From the sound of it, it’s amazing you didn’t end up changing your name to stay hidden,” Zhou Mi said, resting his chin in the palm on his hand, elbow resting on the table. “I’m curious; just what is it that you’re running from?” LuHan’s knee knocked into the table as he stood, drink forgotten as he left the table, taking long strides to exit the building.

~

“The caterer’s number was… somewhere in this pile,” Kyungsoo murmured to himself, flipping through several pages before finding the correct order, typing the number into his mobile.

He had been at this for close to two hours; but at least he was almost done. Last on the list were the wedding decorator and then his and Jongin’s parents. The decorator had lost his mind over the whole call, asking over and over about why they were canceling and why they weren’t going to get married, and it took all of Kyungsoo’s patience not to hang up. When you heard the same question over a dozen times it started to wear on your nerves, even for the most patient person. His mother hadn’t answered, so he left a brief voicemail about the date being postponed without a new date confirmed, then hung up and selected Mrs. Kim hesitating for a moment. With a small sigh he selected call, holding the device up to his ear.

“Kyungsoo?”

“Hello Eomma-nim,” he replied, hearing her giggle on the other end of the line.

“I’ve told you hundreds of times, just call me ‘Eomma’, I’m going to be your mother-in-law in less than two months.”

“Actually… that’s what I’m calling about, Eomma-nim. We’re… not getting married on the 13th.” Kyungsoo was met with a long moment of silence, his stomach knotting up.

“Ah? You- what do you mean you’re not getting married? Aigoo, what has my airhead of a son done now?” She tsked, Kyungsoo leaning back in the dining room chair.

“He hasn’t done anything, Eomma-nim, it-”

“It’s the dogs, isn’t it? I tried to tell him that three was too many, oh your poor kitten must be tormented daily, that has to be so hard for you!”

“Eomma-nim, please listen-”

“You two are so perfect together, there has to be a way to fix this-”

“Eomma!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, silencing Mrs. Kim. “We are still getting married, I can promise you this. There’s nothing that Jongin could do to ever make me not want to marry him. The thing is that Sehun is going through a really hard time right now, and as his platonic soul mate, Jongin is doing his best to be there for him as much as he can. Because of this, Jongin’s head isn’t in it right now. We’re going to postpone things for now, and start planning things once again after things calm down here. Okay?” he asked, running his tongue over his lips as he waited for a response.

“You… you called me ‘Eomma’.” Kyungsoo’s hand came up, rubbing his face as he bit back a sigh, praying that wasn’t the only thing that she had retained from what he had said.

“Yes, I did.”

“And you two are still going to get married?”

“There are a few things that need to get sorted out with our friends, but yes. I love Jongin and he loves me, so we’re still going to be getting married, I can promise you that. Okay, Eooma?”

“Can you promise me one more thing?” Mrs. Kim asked, Kyungsoo nodding and he hummed to prompt her to continue. “Call me ‘Eomma’ from now on? No more ‘nim’, it’s far too formal.” Kyungsoo laughed, hanging his head a little as he relaxed.

“I promise, Eomma.”
~

"Sehun-ssi?" The blond looked over his shoulder as he was called, making his way over to his dance instructor as she waves him over. "I don't like to pry into the lives of my students but...I'm worried about you. You've been my student for three years now, and you're always amazing me with what you're able to do." Sebum nodded, watching as she worried her lower lip with her teeth.

"Lately you seem... Almost as if you're lost... Or like you've lost something. On your best day you're half a beat behind the music and on your worst... You're only in class for a few minutes before you leave. The Sehun I know is so full of life, who puts his heart and soul into each move." Sehun shuffled under the other's attention, looking down for only a moment before there was a gentle hand on his shoulder and he hesitantly looked back up at her.

"What happened to that Sehun? Where has he gone?" He offered a small shrug, seeing the studio door open in the reflection of the mirror, pulling away from his teacher's hand as Jongin came into view.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, Sehun glancing back at her, turning away and taking long strides over to his cousin.

"Everything's fine," he replied softly, Jongin hooking arms with him as they made their way away from the studio.