Start

--

SeHun does not think that he overworks himself.

It never even crosses his mind that, wow, I should take a break, yes?, and that terrifies the people that work under him at his workplace.

It never even occurs to him that even his boss notices the crazy amount of time he puts into this work, and Mr. Wu pulls him inside his office one morning, he’s expecting to get fired and kicked out of the building.

The outcome is very different, though.

But the twenty two year old is still kicked out of the building with a first-class seat to China and a reservation at a, “world-famous, beautiful and modern” hotel, (according to the pamphlet), that, “ensures a wonderful, relaxing time”, as well as the fact that the hotel managers that, ‘is a partnership with the biggest travel agency in the world”, and will provide him with a, “knowledgeable tour guide that will communicate in whatever language you prefer!” SeHun decides to call bull on the pamphlet when he sees that the “you” in the last sentence is bolded in red font.

He curls up late that night, the little clock next to him flashing a 02:17 AM, gingerly petting his puppy, it’s white fluffy hair with a sigh.

“Vivi, do you think I overwork myself?”

The little bichon dog stares up at him expectantly, and SeHun manages an exasperated sigh before he falls asleep under the shrouded moon, fan whirring away.

--

After a week, SeHun finds himself at Seoul’s airport, passport and visa in his hand, wondering how he had even gotten there in the first place.

A few days after his boss had kicked him out, he had called his friends and told them, and to his surprise, they all praised Mr. Wu, and began shoving out suitcases and papers, telling him that he needed to go on this trip, and that this trip was important.

SeHun just shrugged and didn’t mind the commotion, but instead sat down and opened his work laptop and briefcase.

His friends came over and shut the computer down. Then confiscated it.

He sighed at Joonmyun and ChanYeol, and Kyungsoo was too busy putting SeHun’s laptop away to care about the younger’s dead look.

His older friends just smiled back at him and gave him a pat on the head, which caused SeHun to frown more.

The day before he left, he walked over to Jongin’s house and gave him Vivi to watch. The look on Jongin’s face was joyful, and SeHun immediately regretted the decision to give his most prized possession away to someone so careless, but he really didn’t want to give his best friend away to anyone else, so he just sighed and dialed Kyungsoo until the older male picked up with an angry hiss of, “Oh SeHun, I’m in a meeting!” so SeHun went with texting Kyungsoo the details. He ruffled his dog’s hair one last time and went back to his apartment to finish arranging the details.

And that was how he found himself in an airport, he decides.

And that is how he is now on a one-way flight to Beijing, he also decides.

Oh SeHun decides not to resist this free vacation and slowly drowns out the screaming from the child behind him and the flight attendant’s annoying voice with his headphones before he falls asleep.

--

The next time SeHun wakes up is when the plane lands, and he wakes up with a grumpy pout on his face, ears popping from the crazy drop in altitude.

Immediately after getting off the airplane, the rush of heat hits him head on, and it makes him wince, and the amount of gas in the air was also much more than Seoul’s. Walking down through security with his headphones plugged in, volume set high, he reaches into his bag and pulls out his facemask and continues through bag checks and swarms of people reuniting.

The worst part, he decides, is the language barrier. Looking up, he can tell where to go where from signs in English, and his is very broken. Most Chinese people understand a hint of Korean, but he can only converse with them in English. When he finally gets out of the busy airport, the area seems busier outside. People waving signs and yelling for passengers; so he just cranks up the volume and continues to walk.

Then he stops.

And he stares at the boy.

White.

White, white hair.

Like Vivi’s hair.

Fluffy fluffy fluffy hair, and all SeHun wants to do is touch that hair because it hasn’t even been a full two days and he misses his Vivi.

So, he goes over and begins to pet the boy’s hair, in the middle of summer in Beijing, China, no idea who this white-haired boy is.

The boy turns on him, and all SeHun can think is beautiful.

His skin is a milky color, dark doe eyes, and a quirky pink mouth.

Then he frowns and his eyebrows knit.

“Hey, mister. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

SeHun frowns right back at him,

“Are you speaking Korean?”

The boy puts his hands on his hips.

“Yes, do you have a problem with that? You look Korean. Are you not?”

SeHun crosses his arms.

“I’m sorry, little boy, go return to your mother or something, she’ll probably be worried.” He says in a huff.

“Excuse you,” the other chides. “I’m twenty six years old, my mother isn’t here and it isn’t my fault that some stranger decides to come over here and pat me on the head like I’m some dog!”

(The stranger does not tell SeHun this, but he tried very hard not to accidentally squeeze the word “handsome” in between some and stranger.)

SeHun’s scoffs and the “twenty six”, but his face falls at the, “dog”.

“I’m sorry mister hyung,” he begins, voice laced with sarcasm, “But I’m looking for my tour guide.”

“Oh,” the other smirks, “Did your mother get sick of your whiny and kick you out?”

SeHun gasps.

“No, actually, my boss sent me on this trip because he thought I was doing so well.”

LuHan rolls his eyes. “More like taking his so well…” he mutters, but SeHun hears and gasps again.

“Anyways, boy, as much fun as it was to talk to you, I’m here to look for someone as well that I’m supposed to pick up. At least my boss still values my face and my hard work.”

SeHun rolls his eyes, but then eyes the stranger’s sign under his left arm.

“Oh SeHun here!” he can make out.

The younger bores his eyes into the older’s eyes.

“You’re here for an ‘Oh SeHun?’”

The other nods his head.

“Yes, and I bet he’ll be more off a pleasure to talk to than you are.”

“...I am Oh SeHun.”

--

The stranger, who SeHun found out to be named LuHan did not believe him and checked his passport and questioned him with questions on his visa before groaning into his hands.

Beckoning the other to follow him to the hotel’s van, they wasted time on small talk, mostly ending with LuHan absolutely roasting the other, then rolling his eyes at SeHun’s loud gasp afterwards.

By the time they roll into the hotel, LuHan gives SeHun their procedures. SeHun is staying for two weeks, and LuHan tells him that his schedule is already booked.

The older slaps SeHun with facts, sends him to his room and tells him that he will be at his door the next morning at 7:00 sharp.

SeHun rolls his eyes and nods before unlocking his room and marching in.

He sighs with happiness at the clean room, and begins to unpack. Then he freezes.

What about dinner?

--

SeHun knocks on the older’s door an hour later after he’s showered and grown accustomed to his new home for the next two weeks.

The other opens the door, hair dripping wet, and SeHun blushes at the older man, with only a t-shirt on, the bottom half covered by a towel, as he emits a low growl at the other.

“Oh SeHun, what the hell are you doing?”

The younger smiles.

“Wow, hyung! It’s not even been a day yet and I can feel the déjà vu already!” he says with fake enthusiasm, and the older shuts the door on his face.

SeHun knocks on the door again and threatens him with a bad report to the travel agency, which makes LuHan sigh and let the other in.

As LuHan finishes up in the bathroom, SeHun walks around LuHan’s room.

It’s smaller than his own, to his surprise, and LuHan has already filled his room with his own belongings; picture frames, stuffed animals, his backpacks of different shapes and sizes.

He sits on the older’s bed and looks at the frame on the desk closest to him.

It’s LuHan, he can tell, with his parents, he’s guessing and probably his grandparents as well. He also sees a girl, and the first thing he thinks is, ‘girlfriend?’ but they look too similar, and SeHun decides to categorize her as, ‘sister’.

Then he switches to the other picture frame, and he sees LuHan again, but he sees someone else with him, another boy. Straight black hair, that is streaked with white from the camera flash. Both of them hold each other close, and this time, SeHun can’t identify him as, ‘brother’, because that would be impossible.

Yet, for some reason, the middle of the picture is all bent and creased, like someone was trying to rip the photo, but could not.

That made SeHun think.

LuHan finally comes out, and SeHun whips his head over to look at the other male, who is dressed very plainly. He smiles and tells SeHun that, “this is my family,” but the smile never reaches his eyes, and he doesn’t bring up the other photo.

SeHun doesn’t ask.

--

“Are you serious. You came over here, when I was half , for dinner? Did you not read the schedule?” LuHan pries, dryly when SeHun had told the older why he had come along.

SeHun merely gives a shrug.

LuHan whips out the schedule, showing a “eat dinner at the hotel” under date, and begins to circle that bubble in red over and over.

SeHun merely stares.

LuHan sighs and brings SeHun down to eat dinner with him.

SeHun believes that this was actually a good idea, because of LuHan’s knowledge on what to eat, and his eagerness to talk about food cracked SeHun up.

By the end of the night, LuHan had promised SeHun a trip to go eat Beijing peking duck, and for once, they didn’t hate each other.

As much.

And LuHan decides that SeHun has a cute laugh.

And SeHun decides that LuHan is as cute as Vivi. (maybe)

--