ChenRis!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 26

The clock was still ticking but time seemed to have stopped moving. At least, that was how Chen felt as he sat poking his bowl of rice with his chopsticks. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten a full meal. Under the table Jongdeok nudged his leg and he looked up.

He had missed what his mum had asked him which was understandable since the entirety of their conversation so far had been focussed on his brother and his many, many achievements. Still, she looked pretty irritated about it.

“I said, how is school?” she repeated when she realised he had missed her question.

“Oh, it's fine.”

His grades were steady now and he had a basically stable pack. Fine just about summed it up.

“And what about your control?” His dad didn't look up from his food. His voice always had a way of making Chen nervous no matter how seemingly simple the question.

“It's getting better,” he answered quickly. “I haven't lost control for a long time now.”

A grunt was his only reply. He could have the best control in the school now and nobody around this table would care. Not after he took so long to shift and not after he had been so weak and uncontrolled for so long.

“What about your...” His mum shared a glance with his dad. “...mate.”

“What about him?” Chen shifted in his seat.

“Are you still together?”

“Yes.”

“But he didn't come to visit this weekend?”

“Was he too busy, being alpha and all?” The question should have been innocent but the way Jongdeok said it made it sound like he was almost teasing him.

“I didn't know he was invited,” Chen said through gritted teeth. He had preferred this conversation when he wasn't the focus of it. It felt like he was being attacked from all sides.

“Of course he was, just like at Christmas and Chinese New Year.”

“I told you, he was visiting his own family in China.”

“Hmm.”

Chen looked up at his dad, irritation making his face warm. “What does that mean?”

“I didn't say anything,” his dad replied with a warning tone. Chen continued to stare at him challengingly, forgetting momentarily that he was an alpha as well as his father.

“We're just saying,” his mum interrupted quickly, “that it's a little strange that you've never brought him to meet us.”

“You've never wanted to meet him before.”

She gave a little shrug and a sideways look and suddenly he realised what they were trying to say.

“I'm not lying!” he exclaimed. “I do have a pack and mate.”

The others exchanged a look around the table and Chen felt something snap inside him. Noisily he pushed back his chair and threw his chopsticks onto the table.

“Fine, don't believe me then.”

“Jongdae, sit down!”

He didn't. He his heel while his anger still held out and stormed towards the door.

“Jongdae, I am your alpha and you will listen to me!”

“Kris is my alpha,” he shouted back, “not you.”

The door slammed so hard that it seemed to shake its frame. In his little bedroom which had been loaded up with boxes and other things that needed a place to be stored after he had moved out, he grabbed his bag and shoved his few possessions back into it.

He didn't want to spend another second in that house. Being ignored while his brother regaled them all with exciting stories about his amazing life in America, listening to the praise that showered down on him from their parents. Being doubted over everything he said that made him look good. He wasn't even going to wait for the comments about how his mate and some of his pack were Chinese.

“Well, it's better than nothing,” his dad had said, his mouth twisting unpleasantly when he had first found out.

Chen zipped his bag shut and grabbed his cell phone off the nightstand. If he had forgotten anything then that was just bad luck. He wouldn't come back for it. He never should have come in the first place.

“Jongdae, hold on.”

He paused at the door, crouching to pull on his shoes as his brother reached him.

“Don't make such a big deal out of this.”

“Out of what? No one believing that I have a pack or a mate, like that's such a crazy idea?”

“It has come a little out of the blue.”

He straightened up and glared. Even Jongdeok didn't believe him. It's not like they were close anymore, not since they had been little kids, but he would have thought Jongdeok would have his back just a little.

“It's real,” he insisted. “Look.”

He unlocked his phone and swiped through the pictures until he found one of him and Kris. His mate's arms were wrapped around him and his chin was resting on his shoulder as Chen held the camera up to take a selca of them.

“That's Kris,” he said, holding out the phone.

Jongdeok looked at it for a moment, his mouth turning downwards. “He's… kind of good looking.”

Chen snatched back the phone and put it back in his pocket. He was very good looking and he belonged to Chen, whether his family believed him or not. He pulled the door open but Jongdeok grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Where are you going?”

“Home.”

“Jongdae, don't be like this. They didn't mean anything by it.”

“They always mean something by it except you don't notice it because it's never directed at you. You've never messed up and disappointed them.”

“That's not true,” he said half-heartedly and it just irritated Chen more.

There had been a time when they were friends but that was a long time ago. Back before he had become the annoying little brother that Jongdeok and his older friends liked to make fun of. They had nothing in common and everything that came so easily to Jongdeok – school, sports, making friends – had been so difficult for him. Now, when it felt like everything was starting to make sense and fall into place it felt like his family were trying to take it away from him.

“Just let me go.” He shook Jongdeok's hand off and stepped out the door. “I'm sorry for messing up your birthday. I'll see you later.”

Later would probably be months away. They didn't talk much. He didn't talk much with his family either. His pack were his family now and he realised as he walked away from the house that he never should have left them.

It was late when Kris thought he heard the front door open. He must have imagined it though because Chanyeol and Baekhyun were already in bed. He closed his eyes again. Maybe all his wishing that Chen was still around had him hearing things.

The bedroom door opened quietly and he lifted his head. He recognised the outline of his boyfriend in the darkness and thought for a moment that he had fallen asleep and was already dreaming.

“Chen?”

Shrugging off his hoodie and letting it fall to the floor Chen came over to him and lifted the covers. He slipped in beside him, burying his face against Kris's neck and breathing him in. Instantly Kris had him in his arms. His chest ached with joy to be holding him again. It had been so long and he had forgotten how good it felt.

“I thought you weren’t getting back until tomorrow.”

“I came back early,” Chen mumbled against his skin.

“Was it bad?”

He nodded. “I don't want to talk about it.” He pulled back then and looked at Kris shyly through the darkness. “I'm sorry that everything has been bad lately. I do love you.”

Kris couldn't help the smile on his face or the way his heart leapt. He kissed him, almost drowning in how good it made him feel. “I love you too. I'm sorry about that night when-”

Chen cut him off with a shake of his head. “Can we talk about it in the morning? I just want to sleep right now.”

He snuggled down into Kris's arms in his familiar position with his head against his chest and Kris couldn't bring himself to say no. He pulled him closer and kissed him on the forehead. He was still smiling when he closed his eyes again.

I love these two so much <3<3<3