Baekhyun knew something had happened at the Kim’s house, he could tell by the somber expressions of Luhan and Junmyeon as soon as they got home from the dinner with Junmyeon’s parents: the raven haired man was apathetic and he excused himself from the room before going straight to bed, pressing a kiss onto Tao’s sleeping head onto Baekhyun’s forehead, adding a sweet hug to Luhan in between.

Baekhyun had been confused, naturally, but he didn’t press, he understood that maybe Junmyeon did not want to talk the subject but, soon after Junmyeon went to bed, Luhan sat near him and told him about what happened. The younger man had never felt so surprised and so angry at something in his life. For once, he would never imagine that Junmyeon and Jongdae’s parents, who were people with money and influence, could speak to somebody like that, let alone be like that, and he felt angry at the way he had been treated; as someone who had been treated exactly like that, he would never wished it upon others, much less someone that nice as Junmyeon or Jongdae, who helped everyone and always treated him right.

It was a really horrible situation and Baekhyun felt the need to comfort the older male, he wanted too but Kyungsoo and Yifan would be picking Tao real soon and only when they picked up the baby, Luhan explaining, yet again, the situation, to them, was the time where he let his books be for the night and joined the other male in his bed, snuggling up to his back, arms circling up the other’s thin waist.

Junmyeon grabbed the other’s long hand, basking on the comfort that Baekhyun brought. They stood like that for a while, until Junmyeon felt Baekhyun’s breathing slowing down, a clear indicator that the younger man had fallen asleep.

The older man was glad, Baekhyun had been working hard on the last few days, either working or studying and rest did him a whole good, especially considering the fact that he was also dealing with Sehun, since Minseok seemed to have vanished from the top of the Earth.

He was still awake, feeling Baekhyun’s puffs of air on his neck and still holding onto the limp hands, when another body, a toner, taller one, lay down in front of him. It was warm and inviting and Junmyeon let go one of Baekhyun’s hands to grasp the other’s rough and dry, and so impossibly warm hand. It felt unbearably good and Junmyeon leaned against Luhan, sighing against him, forehead against the other’s chest.

A hand came to rest against the nape of his neck and Junmyeon almost let out a sob at the gesture, his chest feeling more and more pressured from the already constricting force that had been crushing him ever since he had left his parent’s house.

“How are you fairing?” he asked with a low tone of voice, trying not to disturb Baekhyun, who was sound asleep.

“I don’t know.” Replied Junmyeon quite honestly. “I wish I could give you a coherent answer, one that it would make sense but even my head don’t make sense right now. I am so angry and lost and hurt. I cannot understand why my parents are like this! I mean, I’ve dealt with the fact that they were never around, that they always worked hard to provide us with a good life and I am thankful for that but what they said today…I never expected that they actually put their interests like that over my happiness, so blatantly, which such clear disregard of my well-being. And I am furious over the fact that I never noticed how badly they’ve treated Jongdae; he is so happy with Chanyeol, he grew so much and turned into such a lovely young man and they are trying to ruin them, to destroy what they have! What were they thinking? Stopping Jongdae from marrying Chanyeol? Not going to happen. I feel…everything and yet I am so empty at the same time. I am not making sense, am I? I just want to forget and move along.”

“Understandable enough.”

“I think what I am struggling the most is the fact that I tried so hard to love them all this time, to keep the affection and respect for them all these year, even when Jongdae stopped from trying, even when people told me to be careful. I feel like a fool. I lost all the respect I ever had and it’s bothering me; it should not be like that.”

“But it is Junmyeon. It is and you have, unfortunately, lo live with this situation and live with the parents you were given. But I think that, instead of having negative feelings for them, as you will have, as you are allowed to have, I suggest you focus instead on the positive feelings, the good memories you have of them. It’s healthier for you and you don’t have to carry the burden you are now all the time.”

“I don’t like the fact that Jongdae was upset…”

“He is a very capable person, who has been taking care of himself for a while, he will be fine; also, he has you and he has Chanyeol to help, by giving him some pampering.”

“And I don’t like the fact that they treated you dismissively until they understood your father owned a company…”

“Irrelevant. I don’t really care about their opinion and neither should you!”

“It was rude!”

“People tend to be rude at times, Junmyeon, you cannot get rid of them nor can you expect to live a life completely devoid of it.”

“Nonetheless...”

“Stop worrying about it; rude people, we have them everywhere!”

“And I also don’t like to feel like this. Torn! I want to love them but I can’t. I ran out of excuses for them and out of motives.”

“Understandable. It’s quite a hard position to be in. However, I suggested you to sleep upon it and just rest. Tomorrow, hopefully, everything will be clearer.”

“Okay…” mumbled Junmyeon.

Luhan could see perfectly fine that the other male was almost asleep, voice slurring due to his tired state, mixed with the adrenaline hangover; now that the worst part was over: the discussions and yelling and overall nastiness, and Junmyeon finally allowed himself to unwind a little and let himself relax, unveil the tight know in his chest and muscles, the exhaustion claimed his body and he felt his eyes shutting close.

“Luhan…” he called in a whisper, eyes still closed, listening to the other’s soft hum in reply. “Did you father have a really big company like you said?”

“He does.” Replied Luhan honestly. “Everything I said at that table was the upmost truth.”

“You never told me any of those things.”

“You didn’t really ask, did you?”

Junmyeon stood quiet for a while and Luhan was beginning to think that the other had fallen asleep when he spoke again.

“If he can provide you a better life then why are you here? Dancing on bars and accepting invitations to horrid dinners with someone’s horrible parents?”

Junmyeon stood very still, his breathing slowing down so that he could hear the answer that Luhan might give, but it didn’t came. At least, not what he expected.

“Sleep, sweet cheeks.” Replied the blond male. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“But…”

“Sleep, Junmyeon.”

Unable to fight the tiredness any longer and lulled by the calm ministrations of Luhan on his hips, Junmyeon fell into a deep sleep, never would he realized that he and Baekhyun were the only ones sleeping for the night.

When Junmyeon woke up, later on the next morning, Luhan wasn’t on the bed and Baekhyun wasn’t either.

Baekhyun he could understand, the younger man would probably be either studying or working, since he sometimes got called to work, which was not all that odd since Heechul’s coffee shop often got full of people and he needed the extra workers and Baekhyun wouldn’t say no, the money was important to pay for his things.

Luhan though, he was sure that Luhan hadn’t left his house, that he had fallen asleep next to the blonde male, cocooned between him and Baekhyun and yet there was no sight of the cheeky blonde anywhere.

Junmyeon stood up, cracking all of his bones and twisting his neck to the sides in order to relieve some of the pressure that had built over night due to the fact that he had slept with his face half mushed on the pillow, half mushed on the mattress, leaning against Luhan’s chest.

He stood up and walked into the bathroom, freshening and relieving himself before moving into the living room and from there to the kitchen, where he could hear the sounds of something moving.

Luhan, the man he had been looking for, was standing in front of the toaster, a plate on his hand while scooped the warm toast to butter up lately. What made Junmyeon gasp lightly was the fact that the man was actually shirtless, bare, pale chest, looking smooth on the pale morning light.

“Oh.” Junmyeon immediately looked over at the blonde, who was speaking to him. “I didn’t realize you had already woken up.”

“I was asleep but the lack of warmth woke me up.”

“I figured. You don’t do that well without a constant and high amount of heat nearby to keep you asleep.” Joked Luhan before offering the plate to Junmyeon. “Toast?”

“No, thank you. I usually eat a granola bar at breakfast.”

“Baekhyun said that there weren’t any more granola bars in the cupboard. He tried to leave breakfast for you but he was running late and, well, your favorite breakfast is not really available at the moment, so I suggest you just eat the toast dear Luhannie made for you.”

Junmyeon was stunned to silence as the other male pulled him into a chair, his musky and spicy smell making him dizzy for a second, blushing slightly as the bare chest made contact with his body, even though it was through the clothes he was wearing.

“But…”

“Don’t argue with me sweet cheeks, it’s far too early in the morning and you need to eat since last night, as we all know, we did not eat as much as we could’ve.”

Junmyeon shot Luhan a glance, a clear warning not to remember him from what had transpired last night; not that he thought the other male had anything to do with it but he did not wanted to remember the episode again: living it had already been bad enough.

Luhan seemed a little apologetic at the joke he tried to do. In a much softer tone, eyes warm and gentle, he told Junmyeon he was sorry.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t, it is just a finicky topic for me at the moment. I should call Jongdae to talk a little about it; after all he is my brother and he heard the same things as I did, he must be upset too.”

“You do that.” Nodded Luhan “Just wait until it is a far more appropriate hour to call him than seven thirty in the morning, okay? I know for a fact that Chanyeol has a free day today and he is probably resting since his exams are just around the corner.”

“Okay, I wait until later I’ll just eat something and then I will prepare myself for work.”

“No need. I call your job and told them you weren’t coming today.”

“What?” asked Junmyeon in an almost shout.”Luhan?! Why would you do that?”

“Because your night yesterday was not the best and, as far as I was informed, you have too many vacation days accumulated. You need to rest.”

“And what gives you the right to do that?” asked Junmyeon, standing up from his chair clearly distressed, halfway to pick his phone and call the company that he was going to work.

Luhan followed him into his room, placing a hand on top of his when the other man reached for his phone.

“Stop it, Junmyeon…”

“No! I need to work!”

“You need to stop for a minute and breathe.” replied the blonde male placidly; nonchalant about Junmyeon’s flustered condition and his yelling.

“I can’t!”

“Why can’t you?” countered the taller male with an expressionless face on him.

“Because…” Junmyeon faltered slightly in his words, not finding a good enough reason that he could give to Luhan; at least not one that would validate his need for doing something because he was angry, sad and frustrated over the last night, especially know that he knew that Luhan was actually a psychology major and that he would probably knew that, in reality, Junmyeon was trying to forget his problems by overworking himself.

“Because?” enquired Luhan softly, trying to coax the smaller man into admitting what they both knew.

Junmyeon however, remained stubbornly quiet, not wanting to give Luhan the satisfaction of being right. He really needed a day off; despite being quite good at his work and actually liking what he did, Junmyeon often did extra hours or took work home because working was a better way of not dealing with things he didn’t want to, such as his separation from Minho.

Luhan was watching him over with something in his large eyes that Junmyeon couldn’t decipher, something soft and patient, as if he knew exactly that this scene was going to be just like this.

“I need to work.” Mumbled Junmyeon very faintly, almost going unheard if not for the silence that wrapped them up at the moment.

“Why? You need to work because it’s easier than dealing with your parent’s attitude? Because you can postpone the way you feel and leave it to be angry and sad for another day? Because another day you’ll be able to analyze the situation more clearly, without trying to make an excuse for them? I hate do disappoint you but that is not how we work. A human cannot postpone himself from feeling and, quite frankly that is very stupid, why should we? Live was made to be lived up to the maximum whether is leads you to good or bad situations, good or bad emotions. You have to deal with the situation!” advised Luhan, slowly extracting the hand that Junmyeon had placed on the cellphone.

“Allow yourself to experiment dealing with things and make amends and solve whatever conflict you have. Only then you’re able to move forward, if not, there is just another thing to corrode you from inside out. Problems are like acid, either you get rid of them or you’ll eventually burn.”

“Like the secrecy you make around your past?” shot Junmyeon immediately regretting his words as Luhan head whipped in his direction.

There was a slight feeling at the pit of his stomach, as if Junmyeon’s stomach had been cut open and filled with rocks; it was an off feeling, strange and bitter and he did not felt happy with himself, especially since Luhan’s eyes seemed to darken a little, as his entire body froze. He did not speak for a while and Junmyeon felt the need to apologize.

“Luhan, I am sorry, I did not mean to say that…”

“I know you didn’t and I am not angry but you have got to understand that sometimes there are things that people don’t want to talk about, not because they don’t want to share, not because they are ashamed of it but because sometimes, no matter how well you dealt with things it still hurts later on. It’s a process and I am still on the path of recovery. It’s not because I am being a hypocrite that I am giving you this advice. It’s purely by knowing how it is, because I have experienced it.”

Luhan spoke to him with his face turned to the wall, incapable to look at Junmyeon for the moment. Junmyeon felt even worse.

“I really didn’t mean what I’ve said I was just upset you changed my routine. You were right. I think last night’s events are taking their toll on me through phases, first I was hurt but now I feel angry; just angry and nothing else and I took it out on you, you did something that disrupt my normal routine and I got incensed, sorry! I am a little OCD with certain things.”

“I know Junmyeon, I know. I am not going to lie and say that it didn’t upset me a little; you need to realize that people are not vessels for you to deposit you negative feeling over but I am not mad. Okay.”

There was now a smile on the blonde’s face but one that did not reach his eyes. Junmyeon didn’t even know why he was so upset over the fact that Luhan was upset.

“Now, let’s go and eat breakfast, have a relaxation day. I have already planned a day for us, we are going to pick Baekhyun up after lunch since he is only working in the morning and we are going to pick Jongin before we go.”

“Jongin?” “asked Junmyeon in confusion, trying to make head and tails of the name, certain that he had heard it somewhere before.

“One of the waiters slash barman at Black Pearl. He is young but he is a good kid. Yixing is nuts over the kid, they have something going on, nothing that is publicly established but it’s Yixing and Jongin, they are pretty private people. Also, it’s good for Baekhyun to not be cooped up all the time inside the apartment and it will help him to build up energies for the exam period that is approaching quickly.”

Luhan was rambling, Junmyeon could tell. It was not something very common for the usually articulated man; Luhan was very coherent and eloquent and seeing him like this was off putting.

The shorter of the two bit his lip. He had upset Luhan because he couldn’t deal with his own emotions, like a child, and he was continually berating himself. He needed to compose himself and be an actual adult instead of dealing with things like a hormonal teenager. The second Luhan tried to bypass him, he held onto the other’s hand with a tender touch. Luhan looked at him alarmed.

“Come and eat breakfast with me.” he pleaded the other in a sweet, soft voice, looking at Luhan straight in the eyes, trying to convey everything that he hadn’t said in words to the other man.

Luhan shook his head, denying the request; taking is hand off from the smaller man’s grasp.

“I am going to take a shower and put on some clothes.” Seeing the look on Junmyeon’s face, Luhan added. “Don’t feel bad; you go and eat, I just need a moment to myself, okay? I’ll join you when I get my bearings together sweet cheeks.”

He felt a little more relieved when Junmyeon’s frown and pout seemed to dispel from his handsome face and he pecked the shorter male on the forehead reassuringly, showing him that he really wasn’t mad and he wasn’t going to walk away: Junmyeon had enough of those and he wasn’t going to be another one.

As he walked away, down to the bathroom, after sneaking some of Baekhyun’s and Junmyeon’s clothes in there to change himself, Luhan looked at Junmyeon from the top of his shoulder, watching the dark haired man stand in the middle of the room, looking adorable and terribly lost at the same time.

“Junmyeon,” he called “I need you to wait for me, okay? My past, what happened to me is something that I have been fighting all of my life to make amends with, to have a peace of mind over the matter, it’s been a real struggle to overcome it. Despite everything, what I have told you, the advices I gave you, they are all valid, after all it’s what I have slowly been doing. Rest assure that one day I’ll tell you all about it, about my history and origins but, until then, until I feel comfortable enough with the situation, I beg you to be patient and understanding. I will tell you I just need time.”

Junmyeon nodded, unable to speak and say something to Luhan, especially not after such a heartfelt confession, of what exactly, Junmyeon didn’t know, however, he would do as Luhan told him, he would be patient about it and wait for Luhan to come to him, whenever the blond was ready; Luhan had said so, so Junmyeon chose to believe.

Junmyeon eyed the ropes with distrust. Believe in Luhan? Never more, goddammit! The other man had promised him that the activities they were going to do this afternoon were harmless; now, here he was on top of a freaking mountain, waiting to be geared up to do some slide. He had already made rappel, which was fine with him, it was interesting, he had explored a underground aquatic cave, slipping through tight tunnels and diving into cold water but this? He was going to slide down a rope for a godforsaken, long distance! He was too old for this, or at least that was the excuse he was trying to pass to everyone as an excuse to not do this.

Luhan was having the time of his life and he made it look like he had done several times over, which the blonde male latter admitted that he had indeed done this before. The blonde attached the gear to himself all alone and jumped into the air with a smile on his face and a war scream that left everybody around laughing at him, not that Luhan minded much.

Baekhyun was tentative, he had never done anything like this, he couldn’t afford it but the owner was a friend of Luhan’s who had given them all free pass to wander around and try whatever they wanted. He was receptive to new thing although very cautious. Despite that, Junmyeon was actually happy enough that the raven haired man was interacting with people, asking questions and asking for information; he was particularly proud of the younger when he saw him sticking by Jongin, both males conversing quietly as Baekhyun was hooked into the rope, getting ready to go down, while Jongin helped him to secure the helmet, tapping it lightly.

It appeared that Jongin was a good influence over Baekhyun, not that he thought otherwise, if he was Yixing’s boyfriend, he was bound to be as gentle as Yixing was. Jongin, with his brown hair and easy smile, had a great ability of making everyone relax and his presence; he spoke calmly and he never got angry, which, in a way, made sense since Baekhyun seemed okay with him and Baekhyun wasn’t really that trusting.

The smaller male looks uncertainly at the distance between the top of the tower where he is standing and the soil, not until Jongin, who is hooked to the rope next to Baekhyun’s holds his hand out and grabs the smaller’s hand. With an encouraging smile and some muttered words, the both of them leap through the air and are gliding, suspended by their harnesses, on air.

He felt a sense of contentment as he saw Baekhyun looking so relaxed and genuinely happy, in a way that Junmyeon hadn’t seen in a while; he even had proof in the form of a very well taken photograph when they had been doing rappel earlier on.

However, when he realized that he was the next person on the slide, he felt the nervousness coming back to him. If there was a thing that Junmyeon did not enjoyed was not having his feet on the ground and while sliding he couldn’t that, he would be dangling on air. He bit his lip, anxious as he could be as the instructor hooked him up as well.

“How are you fairing sweet cheeks?” he heard Luhan asking him, turning only to find the blond behind him, cheeks flushed in delight at all the activities they had been doing.

“I’m…good!” stuttered Junmyeon more concerned about the height of the tower he was currently standing on in opposition to the ground.

“Really?” asked Luhan in amusement “Because I could swear you are trembling like a leaf at the thought of having to jump.

“I…”

Junmyeon paused. He didn’t want to admit he was scared, much less to Luhan who was always so fearless, throwing himself head first into something despite the consequences. That allied to the fact that he did want to appear as someone weak in front of Luhan, although he wasn’t sure why.

However, his honest side was far more powerful than anything else; that and the fact that he didn’t know how to lie, made him reveal the truth.

“I’m petrified.” He mumbled “This is so high!”

“Afraid of heights?”

“No, actually I am not afraid of heights but it petrifies me that I cannot put my feet on the ground while sliding.” confided Junmyeon, looking a little ashamed at the admission, especially knowing that he had a little argument with Luhan in the morning. It was true that everything seemed to be settled but, in Junmyeon’s mind remained the question: was it really?

To his surprise Luhan actually told him he would slide with him so that Junmyeon could feel a little more secure, if Junmyeon wanted that his. The raven haired man didn’t even bother to be prideful; he simply nodded eagerly, looking so very cute that Luhan actually pinched his cheeks, cooing at him.

Junmyeon actually shoved his hands away from his face, face flushed in embarrassment, whining a little, despite his usual seriousness. Luhan could only laugh, calling up the instructor and saying something to him who nodded happily and came over to strap Luhan’s harness and Junmyeon’s too.

“Okay,” begun the instructor cheerfully “since it’s going to be the two of you using the slide at the same time, we are going to advise you the same thing we told your friends: do not swing while sliding, meaning no sudden moves. It is perfectly fine and safe but the excessive of movements will make it difficult to stop your landing due to increasing momentum.”

Junmyeon looked panicked at the message that was delivered by the cheerful instructor but Luhan held his hand in a comforting gesture, not letting the smaller male feel scared.

“Hey!” called the blonde male making Junmyeon look at him “It’s okay, look at Baekhyun and Jongin, they are on the other side waiting for us, it’s gonna be awesome. And I am here, okay? Nothing’s gonna happen.”

It was comforting and Junmyeon felt assured at the other’s words. Luhan was, at the best and at the worst of times, the warmth that he needed to move on, to feel safe and to simply enjoy something. Luhan had become a great friend and Junmyeon knew that he was toeing at the edge of a fine line, which was a thought that he didn’t want to entertain, although he though a lot about it, in the calmness of the sanctuary that was his room. How could he not? Luhan was handsome, with the blonde hair and easy smiles, the wide and soft eyes. And Junmyeon was a little embarrassed over the fact that he had though so badly of Luhan at the beginning, purely over the fact that he danced on a bar, wearing skimpy outfits and dark makeup. But Luhan was more than that, he was a good friend, with a heart big as they could be, mysterious, sure, but he was grounding than everything that Junmyeon ever expected and truly speaking Luhan was like a rollercoaster, like that exact moment were you are about to drop and your stomach ascends to your throat before the euphoria that came next. That was Luhan.

With a smile Junmyeon reached for his blonde counterpart’s hand, grabbing it tightly within his and nodded, nerves stopping him of saying anything.

“On three, okay?” asked Luhan. “One, two, three…”

And with a powerful jump they were both sliding through the air. However, all the nerves Junmyeon though he wouldn’t feel, dissipated when his sweaty hand slipped out of Luhan’s grasp and panic overtook him.

It wasn’t really panic if Junmyeon was to be honest, it was a case of full blown hysteria. He felt as if his sense of security, his ground, was taken from him, literally and metaphorically, since he was sliding in the air, many, many meters above the ground.

“Luhan!” he yelled in a panic, kicking his legs and doing the opposite of what he had been told to but, at the moment, all the rational thoughts and composure had slipped from his mind.

“…Myeon…Junmyeon! Calm down! Calm down, I am right here! I’m next to you, just calm down, so I can hold your hand. Dammit! Listen to me Junmyeon.”

He could hear Luhan’s voice, he really could but the fear was talking louder than everything else. He kept kicking and shouting making him go faster and faster by the second, momentum building up due to his movements.

“Junmyeon, stop!”

Luhan cursed under his breath as he saw the carabiner linked to some of Junmyeon’s ropes and harness starting to give in due to the pressure and brusque movements of the smaller male, which was really no wonder because the other man was close to passing out as he hyperventilated, past the point of even being aware of anything.

It a sense of dread Luhan saw as the carabiner gave on, quickly sending Junmyeon tumbling to the ground beneath him but his rapid reflexes, he caught Junmyeon’s harness, holding him tightly, screaming at the pain on his shoulder, tear actually slipping from his eyes as he slid down the last meters to the platform where a worried Jongin and panicking Baekhyun, plus some workers were waiting for him, clearly ready for the duo.

They landed on the platform with a dull thud, immediately being surrounded by everyone waiting for them. Before they could even be pulled out of their harnesses, Luhan rolled over to Junmyeon, who calmed down as soon as he felt solid material underneath his body, and with a hand on his face he spoke very clearly, although it sure was noticeable the grueling amounts of pain he was in.

“Are you okay?”

Junmyeon was wide eyes, the fear of almost plummeting himself into his death, if not for Luhan, nodded, watching as Luhan’s face entered his field vision, looking very pale and seriously worried.

The blond male give a sigh in relief at his nodded, using one hand, albeit clumsily, to pull Junmyeon’s head into his space, not even thinking before he pressed a kiss into those plump pink lips in front of him, noting how Junmyeon’s eyes went even wider and rounder at the gesture, a small gasp passing through his lips.

“Good!”

He mumbled into Junmyeon’s hair after the short kiss. And that was the last thing Junmyeon heard or Luhan said.

Because everything turned black.

A/N: I AM SOOOOO SORRY! I am really, really worry for not being able to post anything during two weeks. It's just...things have not being easy at work, not at all, and I have being doing extra hours because my bosses want to up the amount of work done and I already do the work of two people and I seriously want nothing more than vacations...but I only have those in August. I don't even get to have national holidays without working!!!! So aside from not really necessary, they are making me do things that are NOT needed, it has been really exhausting and I sincerely apologise for the delay. 
I am not leaving this story, not at all, but sometimes I might take a little while and I beg you to be understanding and just stay with be! 
Anyways, sorry for the word vomit...I'm just a little stressed!
This was a light chapter, just building up to the ending really! How do you feel about it? Did you think that Junmyeon was right when arguing with Luhan? And wasn't Luhan sweet? What about his past? Any guesses?
Please, let me know all about it! I cannot wait and I promise to answer you all! ^^
As always, be safe, be healthy, love and allow yourself to be loved aaaaand, of course, BE HAPPY!
Lots and lots and lots of love!
<3