There was no usual chatter at the table, despite how full it was now. The plates and bowls were set accordingly at each seat and the steaming portions of food were ready to be eaten but still, no one said a word. Only glances and shuffled movements between one person to another.

Jongin was the first the speak up with a cough, "L-Let's eat!"

There was a clatter of chopsticks and short screeches of chairs against the floor as everyone moved at once.

"Lu-"

"Hello, my name is Haru." Haru says, cutting Kyungsoo off. Luhan tenses in his seat. He still sat beside Sehun but the uninvited guest had taken the seat on the other side, sitting too close for Luhan's liking.

"Kyungsoo." The male introduces himself with a simple nod and Haru smiles at him. For a quick second, even he became confused with his uality, despite his lover being right beside him. It was the first time he had fully seen her since Jongin announced her arrival at the palace.

"I heard from Sehun that you prepare dinner most of the time! Did you make all this?" She asks with curiosity and once again, Kyungsoo slightly nods his head.

"Wow! That's amazing! You should totally teach me something! I'll need to pick up a few skills here and there if I want to please Sehun."

No one said anything about her last comment and Luhan pretended to not pay attention. Kyungsoo's eyes flickered from Luhan's to Haru's to Sehun's but he couldn't tell what the two 'ex' lovers were thinking about this. It was obvious Luhan was trying to hide his frustration but Sehun seemed to not show any emotion.

"Which should I try first?" Haru says, eyeing the food from dish to dish until she stops at one of them. It was as if there was no silent pause between what she had said just a minute before.

"That's-"

"It's so good! What kind of fish is this?" Haru says with amazement and Luhan can't help the urge to say it himself.

"Mackerel." He clears his voice. "It's mackerel."

It seemed to have been the first time that Haru noticed Luhan's presence. She leaned over with wide eyes before flashing another flawless smile at Luhan.

"Oh, hello! I didn't even notice you there! And you are..?"

Luhan wondered if she knew that Sehun had been 'in love' with him while she was in Japan. That he was the person Sehun had kissed even though they were supposed to get married. He wondered if she knew that he, too, was Sehun's fiance.

"My name is Luhan..I'm Sehun's friend." Luhan says, trying to keep his tone light before elbowing Sehun on the side.

"What the hell?" Sehun furrowed his eyebrows but Luhan ignored it. That was the least of the paid he deserved.

"He can be quite annoying at tim-"

"I totally understand!" Haru exclaims, cutting Luhan off. "Sehun always wants everything his way and if it's not- well, it usually is." Haru laughs

Kyungsoo, Jongin, and Luhan look at each other before Jongin tries to join in. "Yeah, Sehun is still as annoying as the old days. Stubborn as ev-"

"Yah!" Sehun glares at Jongin who only shrugs with a smile.

By now, everyone was eating but Luhan still felt uncomfortable.

"Seh-"

"Sehun! Eat some mackerel! It's really, good!" Haru says while spooning some up from the huge plate in the middle of the table, and placing it into Sehun bowl before Luhan could even finish his statement.

"I can do this myself Haru." Sehuns says, almost glaring at her but she doesn't notice, nor doe she seem to be phased by it.

"But I want to. I need to get used to being by your side before our wedding!"

At that, everyone froze and Kyungsoo nearly dropped his chopsticks from his grasp. Even Halmeoni seemed to stop her eating and look over at Haru without saying a word.

"Oh, did I mention, I'm Sehun's fiance. We're also childhood friends so we're pretty close!" Haru says, looking at Sehun beside her with endearment in her voice.

Close my ! Luhan couldn't help but think to himself.

You don't know anything about Sehun.

Do you even love him?

Why are you trying to replace me?

"F-Fiance?" Kyungsoo asks as if he didn't know and Haru proudly nods. Luhan tries to not frown and nods his head as if he was trying to understand the topic.

"Sehun has been my fiance since I was..14? But anyway, we're still together and that's why I've suddenly moved into the palace. Though, I'm not sure when our wedding is.." Her voice seemed to have rambled on and on and Luhan was barely listening to her anymore.

Why is she promoting herself to be Sehun's wife? Why isn't Sehun saying anything about it?

"That's quite a long time. Are you two in love?" Kyungsoo fires the question and Luhan wishes he never heard the answer

"We are."

Luhan's heart felt as if it was being ripped open. It wasn't that he wasn't expecting that answer, because he truly had, but the fact that it had come from Sehun, made his hands tremble with shock.

Luhan swallowed and looked straight at Sehun with all the strength he had to not break down or show any pain in his expressions. "That's great the hear! Marriage is something that should be between two people who love each other and cherish each other before themselves. It has to be a mutual feeling or else it'll fall apart before you even know it."

He didn't know what or why he had said that but it felt necessary. Somehow he had wanted to direct his words more to Sehun than Haru without making it too obvious that he had any memory of their previous relationship. He knew why his and Sehun's marriage was never going to work out but seeing Haru all excited for her's made his blood boil. He deeply wished that their marriage never had to take place. That it never would take place, yet that, seemed impossible.

Kyungsoo was on the edge of his seat, his eyes trained on Luhan. He kept wondering if Luhan was going to admit his short engagement to Sehun but he didn't and Kyungsoo almost let out a breath of relief.

"You seem to know a lot! How old are you?" Haru asks, speaking to him almost as if he was a child.

Not again..

"I'm 23. People often tell me that I look like a teenager." Luhan includes before she can say anything and she only nods with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, that's what I thought too. But considering that you're older than me, I'll take your wise words as a piece of advice for Sehun and my relationship!" She says before laying her head on Sehun's shoulder and looking up at him with admiration.

Kyungsoo tries to not cringe, Jongin spoons another scoop of rice into his mouth and Luhan simply looks away with disinterest.

Halmoeni speaks up and now than Luhan thought about it, Haru hadn't even addressed herself to Halmeoni yet. Who had even invited her to the dinner table?

Sehun..? That's highly likely.

"Luhan," Halmoni says, and looks at Luhan. "Do you know where Yixing is?"

Luhan shakes his head. "Unfortunately no, Halmeoni. I haven't seen him since this afternoon.."

Halmeoni frowns before glancing at Haru. "Nevermind then. Let's finish dinner first."

After anotther quiet 15 minutes, with a few murmurs of Haru trying to feed Sehun, dinner was over.

"The food was absolutely amazing!" Haru exclaims and smiles at Kyungsoo, who just nods with gratitude for her comment.

--

"Yixing-ah." Halmeoni leans back on her chair in her office and the said male bows with respect, seated across from her.

"Yes, your highness."

"Do you know anything about Luhan's condition?" Halmeoni asks but Yixing can only sigh. Knowing his loyalty, Halmeoni nods her head slowly.

"Haru.." Halmeoni said in a low whisper.

"She's-"

"You and Luhan are the same in this situation. You must do everything you can to protect him. He mustn't suffer, Yixing. Not because of her."

Yixing nods right away before bowing once more and exits Halmeoni's office.

---

"What should I do Kyungsoo?" Luhan frowns, his body flailed out on his best friend's bed.

The said male was seated on Jongin's lap with his boyfriend's arms wrapped securely around his waist.

"Nothing. Don't do anything. Haru is clearly trying to squeeze herself beside Sehun."

"Could she be any clingier? It's only been a day- no, even less! And she's acting as if she's been around the past, what, 5 years?" Jongin adds.

"Do you know her, Jongin?" Luhan asks and Kyungsoo also listens in.

"Well, the three of us were friends when we were younger. But it's true that she's had a crush on Sehun since we were 13. I don't remember her much but she was just as stubborn as she was back then. She always got everything she wanted, whether it was a pet dog or a new mansion. She named it, it was hers."

"She must be really rich." Luhan says with slight envy in her voice.

"Extremely! I would say her family is even more wealthy than Sehun's. They're very well known in China as well, so they have many business partners all over Asia and even in other European and western countries."

"Was Sehun blackmailed into this marriage?" Kyungsoo asks but Jongin shakes his head.

"Unfortunately, at the time, Halmeoni had whole heartedly agreed to the marriage. Sehun and Haru had always been together so for him, marrying her was no big deal."

"I have to be honest with you guys though, Haru is..just, absolutely beautiful." Kyungsoo says sincerely and Luhan can't help but agree.

"Another reason why she should be with Sehun. They look so good next to each other. I'm no match for her." Luhan rolls over so that his face is buried into the pillows.

"Don't say that Luhan. I'm sure you and Sehun will be fine."

"But I don't want us to be 'fine'. It was so painful just to sit there and watch Haru feed Sehun food and take care of him, even when he's the older one. I'm always the one to serve Sehun mackerel and I can't believe he just let her! I always give him the best parts!" Luhan childishly complains.

"I didn't know she was going to do that. I took me by surprise, too." Jongin comments with a frown. "At least now that you're better, you two can hopefully spend some time together. Even if you guys are just friends, maybe you can still enjoy hanging out with him. You can always ask and I'll be gad to join if things get awkard." Jongin offers and Luhan gives him a thumbs up.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

"Speaking of time, I should probably get going now. It's pretty late and today has been utterly exhausting."

"Definitely get some rest." Kyungsoo says with a smile and Luhan nods.

"Alrigh then, I'll be going now. See you two later," Luhan lazily gets off the bed with a tired wave and quietly exits the room, mumbling 'good night. 

As Luhan walked back to his and Sehun's room, he couldn't help but wonder what he would say to him.

Hey, Sehun. It's been a whil-

No! It's only been 2 days, don't be silly.

Yo, what's up, Sehun!?

..No, it seems too casual and careless.

Luhan;s thoughts trailed on. Oh how he missed waking up wrapped around Sehun, having a warm body to snuggle with. He missed Sehun's smell that intoxicated him even in his sleep. It was comforting and addicting. He tried to think of how to approach Sehun but nothing seemed to be right. He feared that he would say something stupid or false and get caught in his web of lies yet just to think that they could go back to how they were before made him smile.

Luhan stopped at the door he became too familiar with and took a deep breath before putting one handle on the door.

Just as he was about to pull it open heard a girl's voice giggling. His heart stopped for a short second and he tried to convince himself that it wasn't who he thought it was. It didn't make sense, why would she be inside his and Sehun's room? Why would Sehun let her in?

Luhan shut his eyes and prepared himself for the sight. But his preparation wasn't enough.

He entered the room, but his eyes were immediately fixed on Sehun's lean body hovering over Haru's on their bed.

Yay! The finished chapter is up! ^.^

Leave a comment! Comments on Haru? What do you think Sehun and Haru were doing? What do you think Halmeoni thinks/knows?

Thank you guys for being so patient and cooperative with my bad updating schedule! Expect an update this weekend! :D

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