---

The next afternoon, Minseok, Jongdae, and Yixing arrive in front of Luhan's home for a small party via Minseok's car. And coming up behind Minseok as he parks the car at the curb is Kyungsoo with probably the others that are coming to celebrate him and Yixing being back.

The jet-lag struggle is real (and so is the coffee withdrawal), but Minseok's not gonna turn down an opportunity to see Luhan and their friends after these two weeks. Only thing is, even now he has to remember to think and speak in English as he talks to people. (And it seems to be the same for Yixing too.)

After he turns off the engine and such, all three of them get out and wait on the sidewalk for the others so that they can all walk together towards Luhan's place. Jongin's the first to get out of Kyungsoo's car, then the other three, and Minseok finds himself with a chirpy Baekhyun and a smiling Kyungsoo hugging him almost in an instant (while Jongin and Sehun hug Yixing). He laughs as they welcome him back and greets Jongin and Sehun too before frowning a little when he notices Sehun's expression once everyone pulls away from him and Yixing.

"Oh, where's Zitao?" he asks, after realizing who's missing.

Sehun's lips curl downwards into a frown. "Work."

"Ah."

He makes a mental note to ask him what's up later and they all chat with each other some more as they finally head towards Luhan's home. And that jet-lag Minseok has gets slightly pushed down and replaced by the jitters as they get closer, while his stomach rumbles around excitedly, and his lips curl upwards at the thought of seeing Luhan in person again.

But, before his hand can even land on the doorknob, the door gets yanked open from within and they all either flinch or jump backwards as some random person with a white hockey mask on and a torch in their hand--a literal torch greets them.

"Welcome..." the person hisses before narrowing their bright red eyes and glancing at all of them. "Wait, where are your costumes?"

After hearing the person's regular voice and realizing that it's his boyfriend, Minseok and the others relax significantly, but not before the majority of them ask why in the hell Luhan's dressed up like that.

Luhan pushes his mask up onto his hair, and Minseok's lips part as he sees how much dedication Luhan put into his costume. He has enough BB cream on his face to look as pale as a ghost, his eyes have dripping eyeliner around them, and every time he blinks, his color-contacted eyes send a chill of both fear and excitement to Minseok's body.

"Why am I dressed like--" Luhan turns his eyes to Sehun. "--wait. Did you not send the notice I gave?!"

"What notice?" Sehun responds in a bored tone, scratching at his own chin.

"Yo!"

"Ugh, can we come in while you two argue?" Yixing asks, rolling his eyes.

"in'- almost gave me a heart-attack..." Baekhyun grumbles behind him.

Luhan's eyes shift to them and he groans in annoyance before walking back inside so that they can all enter too. After they enter and the last person closes the door, Minseok stands by to watch Luhan and a grumpy Sehun argue while the others take off their shoes and jackets and look around at Luhan's decorated home with awe and appreciation.

It turns out that Sehun was supposed to text everyone about it being a late February Halloween party but he forgot. Minseok expects Luhan to stop arguing eventually, but the two just keep arguing and arguing to the point where Minseok shakes his head and walks away--feeling disappointed.

-------

A short moment later, Yixing and the others look up with raised eyebrows when Minseok plops down onto the seat next to him and puffs out his cheeks before exhaling. Yixing quickly pauses his conversation with Jongin and his boyfriend to ask Minseok what's wrong, though, he automatically asks in Mandarin first and repeats himself in English.

Minseok frowns. "Huh? Oh...it's nothing."

Yixing glances at the other two for a second before turning back to Minseok and placing a hand on his knee. Then, he's just about to respond to him when, as if he called his name three times in a mirror, Luhan appears seemingly out of nowhere and sits down on the opposite seat before taking Yixing's hand off and replacing it with his own.

With a roll of his eyes (but a small smile on his face nevertheless), Yixing turns and goes back to conversing with an equally amused Jongin and his boyfriend. Then, he barely hears anything from the other two besides them saying each other's names and I missed you's before the sounds of kissing can be heard. He tries ignoring them for a bit but then Luhan groans and he can't. There's just no way.

So, he shoots up from his seat, grabs a drink from the coffee-table, and heads towards Luhan's kitchen to not have to deal with that. But, instead of just being alone, he spots Sehun in the kitchen too, drinking some sort of soda while leaning against the fridge and looking fairly lost.

Sometimes it's easy for him to forget that even though Sehun's grown up so much from when they were kids, he's still the youngest. So, he walks up to him while trying to put a smile on his own face and Sehun seems to break out of whatever mind-space he was in as Yixing leans against the counter next to him.

"So..." Yixing starts, opening his canned beer and taking a sip.

Sehun just takes a sip of his own drink.

They stand there for a good moment of silence; watching as Jongin and his boyfriend chat, as Minseok leads Luhan towards another room, and as Jongdae and that guy Yixing's never met before (who reminds him of a puppy) start gossiping and laughing about something or another.

Then, Sehun finally speaks. "Yixing?"

Yixing turns to him, lifting his drink to his mouth again. "Hm?"

"...How come life sometimes?"

Yixing sputters. Oh .

He quickly tries to think of something intelligible and wise to say but ends up saying What? while also laughing awkwardly.

"It's just..." Sehun starts, scratching at his own arm. "My parents--they--they're kinda thinking of moving..."

Yixing's eyebrows raise. "Wha--? When?"

Sehun looks down for a moment and in his bottom lip to it. "Around the summer time...maybe."

Yixing then asks Sehun where, and Sehun names a specific city that's fortunately still in their state before taking another sip from his soda. And so, they chat for a bit more, with Yixing trying to summon all of his will-power to give actually good advice before Sehun soon leans off the fridge and they both walk back towards the others (with a make-up free and glasses-wearing Luhan and Minseok actually back too).

"Hey, what's wrong?" Minseok asks, placing a hand on Sehun's shoulder.

And so, Sehun tells them all again what he told Yixing (though Jongin and Luhan don't seem surprised). And Yixing frowns, wondering why he was told last about this out of their mutual friends.

"Really? But that's just about an hour away," Minseok says and Sehun's lips stretch into a thin line. "Though, I guess it'd be longer by bus..."

"That's what I told him," Jongin replies with a yawn. "But then he's scared no one would go drive to see him up there."

"Shut up," Sehun counters with a glare, and Luhan taps his chin repeatedly until Sehun squirms.

"Yo didn't I already tell you? Of course we'd ing go see you--it's not that far."

Minseok gives Luhan a look before his expression softens as he turns back to Sehun. "What he means to say is--well, something better than that."

"Though like," the puppy-looking guy starts to say and everybody turns to him. "Is there a reason why they're thinkin' of movin'? Like maybe ya could convince them to stay or somethin'?"

Everybody then turns to look at Sehun again, whose lips pull downwards into that grumpy frown of his, and Jongin starts chuckling out of nowhere while most of the others just look concerned and confused.

Then, Sehun lets out a sigh. "It's--it's partly 'cause we...we kinda got rats. Or, mice or whatever."

In an instant, Yixing cringes while the puppy-like guy looks practically scandalized. Minseok then asks Sehun if he and his family got any mouse traps and the two soon swap apartment-related stories (with Jongdae giving his own advice) that the others just can't completely relate too.

Either way, questions get asked of whether his parents called an exterminator; with Jongdae interrupting by asking if they've tried a more humane way, and that other guy and him eventually arguing about which way is better and the like. Jongin, Kyungsoo, and Luhan watch them argue before adding in their own points about disease-carriers vs cuteness, glue traps vs that, just use a bag and some cheese and Yixing and Minseok just lock eyes.

While shaking his head, Minseok moves to rub Sehun's back and Yixing joins in--both just silently judging their friends.

-------

After it gets to around five o' clock, Kyungsoo and the others say goodbye to Sehun, Yixing, and Jongin as Sehun's boyfriend comes to pick them up in a sleek-looking car. He and Jongin linger a bit by the front door to kiss even after the others are inside the car, and Kyungsoo sighs with happiness--wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's neck and pressing his body closer.

Then, a throat gets obnoxiously cleared behind them and they both reluctantly pull away before Kyungsoo turns to glare at a grinning Baekhyun and Jongdae duo. He then turns back to look up at Jongin, staring while he tries to think of what best to part ways with only for Jongin to beat him to it.

"Talk to you later?" Jongin asks, giving a lopsided grin.

Kyungsoo's eyes soften as he smiles. "Of course."

In the background, Baekhyun dramatically sticks his tongue out in mock-disgust and wraps his arms around Jongdae. Then, with a honk from Zitao's ride and a wave from the passengers, Jongin turns his head and laughs in disbelief before saying one last goodbye and running to catch up with the car