“Oh Sehun!” Luhan calls, running through her apartment after her 7 year old son. “Get back here, you little brat!”

 

“No, mama!” Sehun squeals, struggling when his mother picks him up and tickles him aggressively. “Mama, mama, please!”

 

Luhan carries her son and throws him onto the couch, climbing over him and tickling him, blowing raspberries onto his tummy despite his protests, until he’s crying with laughter and squirming, begging his mother to have mercy on him.

 

“Mama!” Sehun cries, laughing, tears falling from his eyes. “Mama, stop!”

 

With one last raspberry to his belly, Luhan stops tickling her son, her hair in a disarray. Sehun giggles, and Luhan looks down at her son fondly. For all his mischief, she really couldn’t ask more from him, especially since they weren’t a traditional family.

 

Luhan and her son, Oh Sehun, live in a one bedroom apartment, since money was tight. She had moved to Seoul from China, made a series of bad choices, and had ended up pregnant. Her boyfriend at the time had left her due to his parent’s commands, and Luhan couldn’t help but think that it would be unlikely that she could ever forgive him.

 

Sometimes Sehun would ask about his father, and Luhan kept the stories as true as she possibly could. She didn’t want her son to have ideas of a fantastic father, or a father who was a terrible man. Wu Yifan had, in many ways, been the highlight of Luhan’s life, and she wasn’t going to tell her son lies of how horrible a person he was just because he, well, hadn’t taken responsibility over their child.

 

“But why is my name not Wu Sehun, mama? Or Lu Sehun?” Sehun had asked, the first time that she’d told him about his father, and Luhan had smiled, a little sadly. “Because I don’t want you to take my name, baby,” Luhan had explained. “So many people are going to hold it against you if you have your mother’s name. It tells them all that your mom’s a single mom.”

 

“I don’t care!” Sehun had insisted vehemently. “You’re my mama! I don’t care!”

 

Luhan had teared up upon hearing that, and tugged her son into her arms. She didn’t say anything to Sehun’s retort, only asked if he wanted to know why his last name was ‘Oh’ and not ‘Wu’.

 

Sehun had wiped the tears from his mother’s face, telling her not to cry, before he’d nodded, knowing that the previous topic was not one that his mother would like to talk about. “Yes, mama. Please don’t cry, mama.”

 

Luhan had chuckled, and taken her son in her arms, bringing them over to the couch. “Because here, in Korea, Sehun-ah,” She had explained. “Your father’s name, Wu Yifan, is Oh Yeokbom.”

 

“What’s my Chinese name, then, Mama? What’s your Korean name?”

 

“Yours is Wu Shixun, baby,” Luhan had said, gently running a hand through her son’s hair. “My Korean name’s Rokhan.”

 

Sehun had made a face. “I like Luhan better, mama.”

 

Luhan had laughed, kissing her son on the forehead. “I do too, baby.”

 

“Mama,” Sehun calls, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looks down at her son, who beams up at her. “I’m hungry.”

 

Luhan laughs and stoops to let her child drape himself across her back, carrying him to the kitchen.

 

---

 

As with every weekday, Luhan rushes over from her workplace to her best friend’s house to pick up her son. Her work schedule makes it impossible to pick her son up from elementary school, and as such, the responsibility falls to Jongdae.

 

“Hello, auntie Luhan,” Jongin greets when he opens the door for her, beaming from ear to ear. He’s a little sweaty, and Luhan doesn’t really want to know what that entails. Knowing Jongin and her son, it could be anything from running around chasing imaginary animals to brawling.

 

Luhan smiles beatifically at Jongin and bends down to pick him up. Jongin giggles, burying his face into her neck, and she walks into the house, kicking the door close behind her even as she hears Jongdae’s raised voice and Sehun’s laughter.

 

“Terrorizing my son, I see,” Luhan says when she enters the living room to see Jongdae running around the living room, as though she were a dinosaur intent on eating him.

 

Jongdae looks up and smirks. “Monopolizing mine in return, I take it?”

 

“Mama!” The two boys call at once, reaching their arms out to their mothers. Luhan chuckles, quickly passing Jongin over to Jongdae and hefting Sehun up.

 

Luhan sends Jongdae a grateful look. It’s an expression that Jongdae is used to, considering Luhan comes over every evening to a well fed Sehun, and even though Jongdae has told her best friend time and time again that she didn’t have to be, Luhan never seemed to understand that she had no need to always be grateful for Jongdae’s help.

 

“Did you have fun today, baby?” Luhan asks, bouncing her child in her arms as Jongdae wanders into the kitchen with Jongin in tow, the younger boy whining something about chicken. “Was school okay?”

 

“Mmhmm!” Sehun nodded enthusiastically. While he wasn’t entirely okay with waking up early in the morning just to haul himself to school, he very much enjoyed it when he was already there. Being with Jongin, especially, always seemed to cheer him up, even if the boy was always mostly asleep in school. “Mr Kris taught us how to speak English today, mama! Like, like apple is apple and pen is pen!”

 

“So smart of you,” Luhan coos, and Jongdae makes gagging noises from where she’s in the kitchen. Luhan sticks her tongue out at her best friend, and Sehun does the same. Like very mature adults, Jongdae returns the gesture, causing Jongin to do so as well.

 

It’s this sight that Junmyeon, Jongdae’s husband, returns to.

 

“I see we’re all being adults today,” He comments. Jongin leaps out of Jongdae’s arms – well, he tries, but Jongdae has an iron grip on him and lets him down onto the ground so that he can sprint into his father’s embrace.

 

“Papa!” Jongin calls, grinning widely. He snuggles into his father’s hug and snuffles happily, rubbing his cheek against Junmyeon’s. “Papa, I missed you!”

 

“As I did you, big boy,” Junmyeon smiles, shifting his son onto one arm. He spies Sehun in Luhan’s arms, looking a little forlorn, and his smile widens. “Hello, Sehun,” He greets. “Didn’t you miss your uncle Junmyeon?”

 

It’s this invitation, combined with his spread arm that has Sehun barrelling into Junmyeon’s hug as well, and the man has two children nuzzling into his neck, complaining about the scent of his cologne and the strange texture his hair is from the hair gel.

 

Jongdae comes towards Luhan and wraps her best friend up in her arms. “Unnie,” She starts, but Luhan quickly shakes her head. She knows what her friend is going to say, because she tries to convince Luhan every chance she can, but Luhan doesn’t want to take advantage of Jongdae’s kindness and generosity, even if Jongdae has tried to persuade her again and again that she wouldn’t be.

 

See, Jongdae and Junmyeon are what society deems to be the perfect power couple. Junmyeon’s job as a university professor doesn’t have a startling high pay, but he makes enough to get by. That, alongside the many lectures that he’s invited to give and the books that he’s published, propels both him and his salary into far more prestigious places. Jongdae’s essentially a stay at home mother, taking care of Jongin and helping Luhan fetch her child from school whenever she picks Jongin up. Despite that, it’s not as though she doesn’t bring in any income, considering the fact that her previous job as a model has allowed her to come up with her own brand and design of clothing, which she now does from home.

 

Time and time again, Jongdae’s tried to convince Luhan to move in with them, or at least, into the neighbouring houses, somewhere closer, but Luhan always refuses. There was no way that she could move into her best friend’s home and disrupt her family’s life, and there was no way that she would be able to afford any of the houses in this neighbourhood. She knew that Jongdae would have offered to pay for her, but she didn’t want that.

 

“No, Jongdae,” Luhan says, as she always does. She feels more than hear Jongdae’s sigh at her refusal and turns around to smile at her best friend. “You know how I feel about this.”

 

“And you know how I feel, unnie!” Jongdae returns, vehement. Out of all the people that Luhan knew, Jongdae was the one who held the largest grudge against Yifan for leaving Luhan when she had needed him. To Jongdae, if Yifan hadn’t gotten her best friend knocked up and then left her, her friend wouldn’t be in this situation. They’d had plans, in the past, to become models together, to live out their lives together with their significant others by their side.

 

Back then, before Jongdae had found Junmyeon, it had been her who had been envious of her best friend, for having found someone whom she loved and who loved her in return. She had watched Luhan fall deeper and deeper for Yifan’s charms, had seen the smitten expression on Yifan’s face whenever he looked at her, and it had her thinking that yes, this was the kind of fairytale romance that she wanted for herself.

 

Then Yifan had gotten Luhan pregnant, and hadn’t taken responsibility for it. Like a damned coward, he’d listened to his parents and left, left her best friend at the tender age of 21, pregnant and with no way of taking care of herself. Luhan’s parents – strict, almost typical Asian parents – had disowned her the moment they heard that their daughter had a child out of wedlock, and Luhan had been living in Seoul ever since then.

 

It had only been through the persuasion of Jongdae that Luhan moved into her parent’s home to finish off university, and although the Kims had specifically told Luhan that she was always welcome, and that they would always take care of her – like she were their own daughter – no matter what, Luhan’s stubborn independence had her moving out once she’d recovered enough from Sehun’s birth, and she’d never returned – to stay, at least, since she did go back to the people she deemed her benefactors to visit them and introduce Sehun to her godparents.

 

“I know,” Luhan replies, smiling sadly. She watches Junmyeon play with Jongin and Sehun, and she can’t help but wonder, sometimes, if this was what Yifan would have been like if he hadn’t left her. “I know, Jongdae, but I can’t-”

 

“You can, unnie,” Jongdae sighs. “You can, and you know you can. But you’re so, so stubborn, Luhan-unnie.” She reaches out to cup Luhan’s face gently in her palm and leans forward to touch their foreheads together. “And I don’t know why.”

 

Luhan doesn’t have an answer to that. Truth be told, she doesn’t really know why she’s so stubborn, either. Jongdae had reiterated, often enough, that accepting help from her wasn’t taking advantage of her generosity, but Luhan refused to listen. She smiles and turns her head to kiss Jongdae on the cheek. “Thank you, Jongdae.”

 

“Stealing my wife?” Junmyeon’s voice comes. They break apart to see Junmyeon’s hair utterly messed up, Jongin and Sehun giggling to themselves as they follow behind him.

 

“Don’t steal my mama, auntie!” Jongin shouts, bursting forward to launch himself at Jongdae. “She’s my mama!”

 

Jongdae laughs and ruffles her son’s hair, her eyes crinkling up prettily into crescents. “Maybe I’m the one stealing Sehun’s mama, Jongin-ah.”

 

Sehun gasps and bolts forward too, pushing his mother behind him. “No, auntie Jongdae, you can’t, you can’t!”

 

Luhan picks her son up and kisses his chubby cheek. She runs a hand through his sweaty hair, smoothing it back. “Baby, you know Jongdae’s just joking. No one would ever steal me away from you, silly.”

 

“Really, mama?” Sehun asks, eyes wide in wonder.

 

“Of course, baby,” Luhan answers, smile soft and fond.

 

Luhan looks up from her conversation to see Jongdae enveloped in Junmyeon’s arms, Jongin snuggled comfortably between them. A lump builds in at the sight of the family, and even though she’s long gotten used to the looks of pure adoration between Jongdae and Junmyeon, the image of such a perfect family is almost too much for her to take.

 

“We shouldn’t intrude any longer,” Luhan says, hefting Sehun up further into her arms as he tries to squirm down her body to play more. She can see Jongdae’s mouth open, and quickly cuts her off. “It’s late, Jongdae. This boy here needs to shower and sleep, or he won’t be able to wake up in time for school tomorrow.”

 

Jongdae sighs and nods, understanding. While she may not like her best friend’s use of words - ‘intrude’ - Sehun needing to get home is not something that she can deny.

 

“I’ll see you two tomorrow, then,” Jongdae says as walks them to the porch and waves goodbye. She watches, worried, as her best friend and her son wave back to her, walking towards the bus station to catch the bus home. She would offer to drive them home, of course, but Luhan has never – and probably never would – let her.

 

“Worried?” Junmyeon asks, hugging her from behind. They can hear Jongin somewhere in the background playing with his toys. Toys that Sehun hardly had, could only play in their home because Luhan only accepted gifts on special occasions, and even then, she didn’t let them buy a lot.

 

Jongdae leans back into her husband’s embrace, never letting her eyes leave Luhan’s slight figure, watching them until Luhan had boarded the bus and the vehicle had driven away. “You know I do.”

 

---

 

 

“Mama,” Sehun says, tugging something out of his bag when they reach home. Luhan looks down at her son, eyebrows raised. “Here, mama.”

 

Luhan takes the envelope and pulls the paper out, scanning it. She sighs as she reads what’s on the paper. A parent-teacher meeting, huh? It wasn’t as though she didn’t want to go, but missing a day of work meant less money for her, and Sehun had been clamouring for dance lessons alongside Jongin recently. Money was short, and she needed all the hours that she could put in.

 

Her son hardly ever asked for anything as much as he had requested for dance lessons, and who was Luhan to deny her beloved son something that he wanted so much? She bites her lip, placing the paper down on the table and looking at her son.

 

“You’re going right, mama?” Sehun asks, his eyes wide as he stares up at his mother. Luhan doesn’t know how to tell him, how to tell him that no matter how much he wants her to go, she can’t, because she couldn’t afford to miss a day of work. “You are, right? I’ve already told Mr. Kris that you would!”

 

Luhan bends down so that she’s level with him, and pushes a hand through his hair. “Sehun-ah, you know that I would love to go-”

 

“You have to, mama!” Sehun cries, all of a sudden. Luhan is taken aback at Sehun’s outburst, his lower lip wobbling. “You have to! You need to show them- To show them that- That just because Sehun doesn’t have a papa doesn’t- It doesn’t mean he doesn’t-”

 

Luhan stares at her son, aghast. She quickly tugs him into his arms, but his tirade had been open ended. Luhan knows, instinctively, where it’s going to go, but Sehun continues to wail even as he shakes his head and struggles against her hold. “It doesn’t mean Sehun doesn’t have a mama, too!”

 

Luhan closes her eyes, disappointment and guilt welling in . She hugs her son closer to herself, her hand rubbing a soothing rhythm up and down his back. “Shh, baby, it’s okay,” She coos, even though is closing up and she wants to cry like her son, more than anything. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I promise to go, okay, baby? I promise you.”

 

“Really?” Sehun asks, hiccuping, and Luhan’s heart breaks. “Promise me?”

 

“I promise, Sehun-ah,” Luhan assures, holding her son tight to her. “Mama promises.”

 

---

 

 

The parent-teacher meeting is in a week. Luhan pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and sighs to herself. She’ll definitely have to take the day off for it, and considering she probably has the worst boss on the planet, it’s going to be really difficult for her to get permission to attend.

 

She tries, really, but her boss just wouldn’t listen.

 

“He’s my only son, it’s his first parent teacher meeting-”

 

“I don’t care what your only son, or tenth son has on that day, you’re working, and that’s final.”

 

Luhan loses her temper, then, and, consequently, her job.

 

With no paperwork, no reference from her boss – she didn’t want one, anyway, considering it would be a terrible reference – there was really not much that Luhan could do but find another job at an equally ty place. Yes, she had graduated from high school, but most employers looked at her single mother status and the fact that she had to leave at 7 and shook their heads.

 

In a state of panic, Luhan found herself in front of her apartment’s door, trembling and harried, trying to get her key to fit into the keyhole.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Luhan’s head snaps up, and her eyes meet a pair of almond shaped eyes, wide with concern. She supposes that she must look terrible, all things considered, and wills herself to calm down. She nods shakily at the man in front of her, who, she thinks, is probably the neighbour who moved in 2 weeks ago that she hasn’t had the time to greet yet.

 

“I’m fine,” She manages, smiling weakly, her left hand clutching onto her right wrist as though she could physically stop herself from shaking. “I will be, at least.”

 

“Do you need any help?” He asks, gesturing towards her set of keys. “If nothing else, I could at least help you open the door.”

 

Sheepish, Luhan nods, her hair falling over her shoulder and into her face, covering it from him. She hands her key to him, and he unlocks her apartment door with ease. “There you go,” He says. “I’ve heard tea is good for calming the nerves.”

 

He’s got a pretty smile, Luhan thinks. It’s gummy, his lips pulling up and Luhan doesn’t really want to think about gummy smiles and crinkled eyes, not when-

 

Well.

 

“Would you like to come in for a cup?” She hears herself asking. Internally, she’s screaming at herself to get away from this man, who has a smile so similar to the man who’d left her a single mother, but her upbringing tells her to at least offer him a cup of tea for helping. “As a thank you for helping me.”

 

The man shakes his head cordially. “It was no problem, really,” He replies, rocking back and forth on the balls and heels of his feet, hands clasped behind his back. “I don’t want to be a bother.”

 

“You wouldn’t be,” Luhan offers, smiling. “It’s the least I can do.”

 

A tilt of his head, and Luhan can almost see the man’s resistance crumble down. Absently, she wonders if he could be a serial murderer, then lets the thought float away.

 

“A cup, then,” The man says, grinning once more. “Although, would you happen to have coffee?”

 

It’s then that Luhan realizes that she doesn’t actually own any tea, owing to the fact that she’s a coffee addict. She blushes, and ducks her head down. “I do, in fact. I don’t… Actually own any tea, to be quite honest. I’m much more of a coffee drinker.”

 

“Ah, common interests~” The man singsongs. He slips his shoes off and steps into Luhan’s apartment with a bow of his head. “Oh! I’m Minseok, by the way. Kim Minseok. It’s nice to finally meet you, neighbour.”

 

Luhan takes the hand that he stuck out, shaking it, bursting into giggles. “I’m Luhan. Family name Lu, name Han, but I go by Luhan.”

 

“Not Korean, I assume?” Minseok muses, though he says it in such a neutral tone that Luhan instinctively knows that he doesn’t mean any offence by it.

 

Luhan shakes her head, busying herself with boiling water so that she can make them both cups of coffee. She couldn’t afford the expensive kind, so she only has packets of instant coffee, even though she would prefer to have coffee made from ground coffee beans. Beggars can’t be choosers, though, so Luhan makes do with what she has.

 

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Minseok starts, a little awkwardly when they’re both settled down in the sitting area of the small apartment. “Why were you so harried just now, outside?”

 

Gripping her cup a little tighter, Luhan holds it in two hands, resting it on her lap. She doesn’t know if she wants to share something so personal with Minseok, but she supposes that telling him just a small part of it wouldn’t hurt. It would be nice to have someone to share her thoughts with.

 

“I lost my job,” She says, softly, staring down at the remaining dregs of her coffee. “And I don’t have the qualifications to get a desk job nor the time to get one in retail or F&B.”

 

Minseok tilts his head at that, in thought. He doesn’t say anything for a while, as though calculating something. When he opens his mouth, his words are deliberate, slow.

 

“I own a coffee shop,” Minseok says. “It’s called Seoli Coffee. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but we’re a little short on staff right now, mostly for the morning rush. If the timing is okay for you…?”

 

There it is: a job opportunity. Luhan counts and thanks all her lucky stars for this, but she also has to count all the days that she can actually make it into work for the morning rush. Sehun has to be sent to school at 7 everyday. Depending on where Seoli Coffee is and how early she can get Sehun to wake up, she could potentially be able to send Sehun to school and pick him up from school, no longer having to burden Jongdae.

 

“I- I have to- My son-”

 

Luhan quickly snaps shut. In all the time that she’s had Minseok in the apartment, she’d never even let slip that she had a son. She’s not ashamed of Sehun, no, never would be, but she’s afraid of how Minseok’s view of her, on them would change.

 

Minseok seems to understand, his gaze lingering on something behind Luhan. Luhan spins around to see the photo frames that hold pictures of herself and Sehun, sometimes with Junmyeon, Jongdae and Jongin in them as well, and realizes that Minseok’s probably known all along about Sehun.

 

“If you could come in by 7:30,” Minseok says softly, as though she were a small animal and he was afraid of startling her. “I could schedule your lunch break – or even when you knock off – to be when your son’s school lets out, as long as you’re able to work the lunch hour as well.”

 

“Y-You’re okay with letting me work at your coffee shop?” Luhan asks, almost unable to believe it. “I don’t have a degree or anything, and paperwork-”

 

Minseok smiles at her. “There are a lot of things that I, as a degree holder, do not have, but you possess. You would be surprised at how hard it is to raise and take care of children; The qualities required are not easily gained. You speak more than one language, as well, meaning you would be able to communicate more easily with tourists. As for the paperwork, we will, of course, deal with it later on, should you accept my offer. Your pay will be decided when we go through all the details.”

 

Should she accept his offer? How could Luhan not? A job making coffee, one of the things she was most passionate about, with working hours that allowed her to both send and pick Sehun up from school was something she could only have dreamed about in the past.

 

“I’d be glad to! I can start as soon as possible- Oh, but I’ll need to take next Friday off, if that’s okay with you...” Luhan trails off. She doesn’t know if he’ll let her take a day off so quickly into her new job, and considering it was this fact that had gotten her fired in the first place, Luhan wasn’t so sure she would be allowed this.

 

Minseok asks for her reason, and when she tells it to him, he waves her off. “That’s fine. It’s important to your son that you’re there, isn’t it? I’m definitely not so cruel a person to deny children that. He’s probably really excited to have you attend.”

 

“He is,” Luhan confirms, grateful beyond belief. She thinks about the fact that there were people who were cruel enough to deny her son his wish, but keeps it to herself. He doesn’t need to know everything about her. After all, they’d only met today, and a few hours ago, at that. “Thank you so much, Minseok-ssi, your help means the world to me.”

 

“No need to be so formal,” He says. “Just oppa is fine, or- Which year were you born in?”

 

“1990,” Is Luhan’s reply.

 

Minseok’s eyes widen, his eyebrows shooting up. “We’re the same age, then! You look so much younger, I didn’t expect that.”

 

Luhan scrutinizes him. “You’re one to talk.”

 

It gets a laugh from Minseok, and Luhan’s soon giggling along with him. “Touché. But still, Minseok is fine, then.”

 

“As long as Luhan is okay with you,” Luhan shoots back, her smile widening.

 

Luhan’s new job is amazing.

 

Minseok’s a good boss. He teaches her what she needs to know for the first two days, standing beside her and showing her how things work, how to work the cash register, how to make orders, how to be efficient when there are 10 cups of coffee she has to make at one time. Luhan picks things up quickly, much to Minseok’s delight, but she wouldn’t have been able to do it if Minseok hadn’t been such a good teacher.

 

Her co-workers are nice, as well. There’s Chanyeol, who’s Minseok’s girlfriend, all long limbs and perfect teeth, who’s a little clumsy, but endearing in her own way.

 

She's younger than Luhan, so even though Chanyeol's been working in the coffee shop for longer than Luhan has, she takes Chanyeol under her wing. It's cute, the way that Minseok and Chanyeol interact. Much like Jongdae and Junmyeon, there's a lot of affection, almost to the point of vomit-inducing, but Luhan can't begrudge them on that.

 

After all, there had been a point in time when Luhan had been that disgustingly smitten with someone as well.

 

Then there's Yixing, who's adorably ditzy. She's from China as well, Luhan realizes when Yixing converses in Mandarin with a customer without any difficulty whatsoever. She sticks to Yixing like glue, after she finds out. Yixing doesn't mind - well, she doesn't seem to mind - but Luhan thinks that Yixing doesn't have a single mean bone in her body, and she's only known the girl for a couple of days.

 

There's also the fact that Luhan was allowed to take the Friday of Sehun's parent-teacher meeting off. When she had told her son that she was definitely going to make it to the event, the way that he had lit up and ran straight into her arms was something that she wouldn't have traded - would never trade - for anything.

 

There's a part of her that doesn't believe that she's this lucky, that she had managed to find a boss and a group of co-workers that were so understanding and fun to be with. Even though she had been at her old job for a couple of years, she had never clicked with the other people there, and they had all seen her as a sore sight, all because she was a single mother.

 

Here, though, everyone thought that she was an amazing person and a strong woman for being able to do what she was doing. There was no prejudice, only support (and a strange sense of pride from Chanyeol), and Luhan has never felt this welcomed in a workplace, much less by people who weren't Jongdae and Junmyeon.

 

"Unnie!" Chanyeol calls, when the morning rush is over. There's a small trickle of customers, but it quickly dies out and the coffee shop is empty at 11 in the morning, save for the regular customer in the corner who always orders a latte and sketches for hours on end, according to Yixing. "Unnie, we should go out for a drink tonight!"

 

Luhan blinks at Chanyeol, and makes to decline. There's no way that she can go out, since she has to take care of Sehun. Plus, it's a weekday, and Luhan doesn't plan on getting drunk on a weekday. "Not thanks, Chanyeol," Luhan declines, smiling sheepishly. "I can't leave Sehun at home, and I have to bring him to school tomorrow. Can't exactly do that with a hangover, considering everyone already gives me looks for being a single mother."

 

"Well they !" Chanyeol defends her passionately, and Luhan smiles indulgently at the younger, her heart growing even fonder of the younger girl. "And you shouldn't care what they think, because they don't matter! But I get your point," Chanyeol accepts, even if she starts sulking a little. "Maybe we could go out and grab dinner together some time? You could bring Sehun along! I'd like to meet him!"

 

Laughter bubbles out of Luhan's throat and she nods, accepting Chanyeol's invitation. "Of course, of course. After Sehun's parent teacher meeting is over and done with, perhaps? I'll bring him along and we can go out for dinner together. Is everyone coming along?"

 

Chanyeol punches the air with her fist suddenly, and Luhan leans back in alarm. An apology spills out of Chanyeol's mouth as she calms herself done, but she nods in response to Luhan's question. "Yup! You're the last one to accept, unnie!"

 

Luhan sticks her tongue out at Chanyeol. "You literally just asked me, Chanyeol, of course I was the last one to accept! You probably forgot about me and didn't think to ask because I'm new, didn't you?" She starts to sniffle, all crocodile tears and exaggerated sobs. "You forgot that I started working here too, right?"

 

Maybe someone else would have fallen for it, Luhan thinks to console herself. Chanyeol definitely doesn't, as she sticks her tongue right back out at Luhan. "Your fake tears won't work on me, unnie, try harder next time. And of course I didn't, why would I have? You're here all the time, how could I have forgotten?"

 

Rolling her eyes, Luhan flicks water from the sink at Chanyeol, to which she yelps, and their melodious laughter rings in the emptiness of the coffee shop.

 

---

 

 

Sehun is all smiles and poorly contained excitement when he comes home from school that day, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he informs his mother of all the wondrous things that he did in school today, under the guidance of Mr. Kris. The man is her son's favourite teacher, and he's always a part of Sehun's tales when the child comes home from school. More than once, Luhan has heard from her son that he's going to marry Mr. Kris one day.

 

"His name is Kris Wu, mama!" Sehun had exclaimed happily when he'd come home on the first day of school. "And if I marry him, then I'll be Wu Sehun!"

 

At that time, Luhan had yet to tell Sehun of Yifan, and it had been a pang in her chest to hear her son's name, as it would have been if Yifan had never left. Wu Sehun; Wu Shixun. Luhan had gone strangely quiet, leading to Sehun worrying. Sehun had never mentioned Kris' full name once he found out that he was supposed to have the last name 'Wu', but he'd never stopped informing Luhan of his plans to marry Mr. Kris.

 

It was cute, all fun and games, really. Luhan never stopped her son from his wild imagination, and even indulged him sometimes, agreeing to see if this Mr. Kris was suitable for her son, worthy of her son. Sehun had always defended Mr. Kris vehemently, nodding his head vigorously at all the questions that Luhan play-interrogated Sehun with, claiming that Mr. Kris was the best teacher, best person, best Mister ever! And wow, mama, you really have to meet him so that you can tell him how you've allowed Sehun-ah to marry him, okay?

 

"I told Mr. Kris that you're going to be able to come to the parent-teacher meeting, mama!" Sehun exclaims as he scarfs his dinner down like a starving man. In the beginning, Luhan had been terrified at the speed that Sehun ate his food, but then had realized that it was just part of him being an excited child, always wanting to get his food down so that he could head off to do something else. "And he said that he's excited to see you!"

 

"Aw, baby," Luhan coos as she wipes his face with a cloth. "I'm excited to see Mr. Kris, too. I'm sure he's an amazing person, seeing as my Sehun-ah is so eager to marry him, won't stop talking about him, even."

 

Sehun flushes a cute shade of pink, whining at his mother not to - where did he even pick that tactic up from? Luhan makes a mental note to talk to Jongdae and what she's been doing around her son - even as he leans into his mother's touch. "Shh, mama, don't make fun of Sehun!"

 

Luhan laughs at how adorable her son is, and acquiesces. "I'm sorry, baby."

 

Sehun nods his head in acknowledgement and acceptance of his mother's apology, and Luhan laughs again. She's really excited to meet this mysterious Kris Wu, if she's being truthful with herself. Sehun is a difficult child to win over, and if he had been able to captivate Sehun from the first day of school, he was probably something special. Perhaps she would take a few tips from him on how to manage her rascal of a child.

 

"Oh! We're going out to eat dinner with some of my colleagues, as well, after your parent teacher meeting, Sehun-ah," She informs, and Sehun cheers out loud from his seat. "So be sure to behave!"

 

"I will, mama!" Sehun promises, beaming up at her from his chair. She melts at the adorable sight and kisses his forehead, taking his plate to wash and instructing him to go take his shower.

 

Luhan does the dishes as she watches her son take off towards his room to grab clothes so that he can take his shower. She smiles fondly, placing the dish on the drying rack and going into the bathroom just in time to see Sehun on the tips of his toes, jumping to try to reach the shower head, and thinks that she honestly wouldn't have her son any other way.

 

On the day of the parent teacher meeting, Luhan drags herself out of bed at six to prepare Sehun for school, as usual. The actual meeting would take place only in the afternoon after the school session was over, which meant that Luhan would send her son to school, head into work, meet Sehun at school instead of just picking him up at the entrance, meeting Sehun’s precious Mr. Kris, then head back to the coffee shop with Sehun to have dinner with her co-workers.

 

By some miracle, Minseok had decided to go along with his girlfriend's wishes and close the coffee shop on a Friday night. Sure, perhaps everyone else was more into clubbing at such a time, but it couldn't be denied that Friday nights were nights where people had more free time, since they didn't have to work the next day. Maybe it was a sign of how smitten Minseok was with Chanyeol.

 

Luhan wasn't going to question her boss, though. She'd promised Sehun that they were going out to eat, and she wasn't about to have to retract that statement - and thus break her promise to her son - just because she couldn't keep shut. Luhan enjoyed her breaks much like anyone else on the planet, thank you very much.

 

"Mama!" Comes the screech from outside, and Luhan laughs. It's rare that Sehun is so excited, raring to go to school. Sure, Mr. Kris does play a big part in getting Sehun to actually roll out of bed and into his uniform so that he can head to school, but Sehun was, still, a child that liked his bed a little too much.

 

Luhan liked her bed a little too much. She didn't allow anyone on it, not Jongdae, not- Not Yifan, when they had been dating. No one except Sehun, her little ball of sunshine. It was a fact that she'd never told anyone, of course. She wasn't about to divulge her secrets to her little baby and have him question why. She herself didn't exactly know why she was so possessive of her bed.

 

She flings the covers away from her so that she wouldn't be able to go back to the warmth of her blanket cocoon - or what she liked to call, the point of no return - and meets her son at her door just as he flings it open, narrowly missing her face.

 

"Trying to kill your mother so early in the morning, Sehun?" She teases, even though her heart is, admittedly, pounding after that experience. Sure, she wouldn't have died, but she would have earned herself a broken nose and that just wasn't going to fly at the parent-teacher meeting. She didn't need anymore stares than she usually got, much less the judgmental ones that she would definitely attract more of if she walked into the school with a broken nose.

 

Sehun's eyes widen in concern at his mother. He quickly shakes his head vehemently, denying his mother's accusations. "No, mama!" He says. "I'm sorry!"

 

He gestures for Luhan to bend down with waves of his hand, and Luhan obeys. Sehun's tiny hands roam her face, as though to make sure she was unharmed before he nodded to himself, his expression so serious that Luhan bursts out laughing and snatches her son up in her arms, swinging him as she walks towards the bathroom.

 

"Our Sehun's a big boy now, isn't he?" She coos. She's already beginning to have trouble carrying and carting him around; He's getting so big. Sehun giggles and hides his face in his mother's neck, nuzzling into the soft warmth of her nape.

 

The preparation for school passes by in a breeze, as it always does. There's so much to do and so little time, and Luhan soon has to grab Sehun's bag in one hand and his socks in the other, desperately trying to cram his lunchbox and water bottle into it as Sehun puts his socks on and tries his best to tie his shoelaces.

 

"Bye, baby," Luhan pants out as she drops Sehun off at school. She pecks him on the cheek and hands his bag over to him. Sehun hugs her around a leg and presses a kiss to her hand, giggling as he runs into school. She can see him meet up with Jongin halfway at the courtyard, Jongdae evidently having dropped her son off earlier that day.

 

Speaking of Jongdae, Luhan is startled with a "Boo" in her right ear. She jumps about a foot into the air, Jongdae cackling beside her when she turns to glare at her best friend. Luhan can almost feel the stares that the two of them are getting.

 

They're an unlikely duo, after all. Kim Jongdae's one of the most looked up to women in the country, while Luhan is the furthest one could get from that, yet Jongdae's always seen with Luhan whenever the two of them are in the vicinity of each other.

 

"You're a terrible best friend," Luhan says, pouting prettily. "I don't know why I put up with you."

 

"Because you love me," Jongdae's retort comes in a sing-song voice. "And because I'm going to drive you to work now."

 

Luhan starts to frown, and Jongdae's hand flies out to smooth out Luhan's brow. "I'm not taking no for an answer, unnie. I know you're stubborn, but I can be stubborn too, if you want to go there. I'm driving you to work, picking you up from work, and we're both coming here together for the parent-teacher meeting, okay?"

 

Luhan sighs, knowing that in the state her best friend is in, there's no use in arguing with her. Kim Jongdae didn't get to where she is by being a pushover, no. Jongdae's demanding when she has to be, and she knows how to get what she wants, when she wants it.

 

"Okay, okay," Luhan relents, shaking her head fondly. Jongdae beams, a smile that brightens up her face and has her eyes crinkling into pretty crescents. "Whatever you say, Dae."

 

"Good," Jongdae sniffs haughtily. "Now get in the car and tell me about your new boss. Sehun told Jongin that he's cute. Do you find him cute, unnie?"

 

Luhan rolls her eyes at her best friend. Even when she's starting up her car and changing gears, Jongdae still has the time to . Luhan's been adamant about the fact that she won't be finding a significant other any time soon - if at all - since Sehun's her number one priority, but Jongdae won't let up.

 

She knows that her best friend means well, really, but she's just not in the mood nor the right position to be thinking of a significant other. She just wants to raise her son and have him happy and healthy. It's all she wants right now.

 

"He's cute, yes," Luhan says, flippantly. She pauses, and she can almost feel Jongdae vibrating in excitement, like a firecracker about to go off, before she continues. "So's his girlfriend."

 

"There go all my hopes, dreams and aspirations," Jongdae grumbles, stopping at a traffic junction. "So he's not single and available?"

 

Luhan snorts at her friend's exaggeration. "I'll be sure to give Junmyeon a note that your hopes, dreams and aspirations all reside in my love life. Also, definitely not single and available. Cute, though. Kind of looks like a steamed bun."

 

"That kind of cute?" Jongdae asks, looking aghast. Luhan almost wants to snort again. "I feel betrayed that you've been lying to me like this, unnie."

 

Luhan shrugs. "You asked, I delivered. I didn't lie, y'know. You asked if he was cute. It's not my fault your definition of cute is different from mine."

 

Jongdae sticks her tongue out at Luhan, the perfect picture of maturity, even as she pulls up in front of Seoli to park. Luhan leans over the console to peck her best friend on the cheek, but Jongdae makes to get out of the car, too, and Luhan's eyes widen. "You are not."

 

A sly grin stretches the curved corners of Jongdae's lips. "Am too, unnie. I'm not letting you off that easily."

 

Luhan speeds into the coffee shop in a futile - and rather silly - attempt to get away from Jongdae. She quickly ducks behind the counter, disappearing behind the Staff Only door to change into her uniform and pin her name tag onto her blouse.

 

She exits the door just as Jongdae saunters into the store, looking for all the world like she owns the place. She could, technically, if she wanted to. Jongdae had enough money to buy the building that Seoli was located in ten times over and still have enough for a private island or two. You know, if Minseok would ever let go of his beloved coffee shop, which was highly unlikely, but it was difficult to say no to a person like Kim Jongdae, much less Kim Jongdae herself.

 

"Unnie!" Jongdae greets her at the cashier. "Why did you run away from me?" She's pouting prettily, in the way that she knows is the most effective against people who she's not familiar with.

 

There's a squeal from the left side of her, and Chanyeol's moving out from behind the counter to take a closer look at Jongdae. Luhan can't even answer her best friend, because Chanyeol has her hands on Jongdae's face, looking at her intently.

 

"You're Kim Jongdae!" She exclaims after a moment of scrutinizing, in which Jongdae has a politely bemused expression on her face even as Luhan watches on in amusement. "Oh my gosh, you're Kim Jongdae, I love you!"

 

Minseok comes out of the kitchen to see his girlfriend potentially assaulting a customer and speeds in to peel his girlfriend off of Luhan's best friend. "I'm so sorry," He apologizes, bowing lowly even as Jongdae shakes her head and tries to get him to straighten up again. "Chanyeol's a little, well, she doesn't understand social conventions. Please don't hold it against her too much."

 

Jongdae laughs, waving him off. "It was nothing, really, I've been through worse," She reassures. Minseok looks startled at this fact. "Are you a fan?"

 

"Of both you and your work!" Chanyeol manages to get out, her eyes wide. "Luhan unnie, you never told me that your best friend was the Kim Jongdae."

 

"And how was I supposed to know that you're a huge fan of hers?" Luhan questions, still amused.

 

Chanyeol whines at her and Luhan sticks her tongue out at the younger. Jongdae's still giggling to herself, and Luhan knows through experience that that's never a good sign. With how much Chanyeol seems in awe of Jongdae, there's a hundred and twenty one percent chance that-

 

"Hey, Chanyeol, let's be friends!"

 

-Jongdae was going to take Chanyeol under her wing.

 

Damn it.

 

"Oh my god, you want to be friends with me?" Chanyeol gushes, blushing red and fanning herself. Minseok looks like he's given up, and when he goes behind the counter and disappears into the kitchen Luhan knows that he's given Chanyeol up to Jongdae as a lost case. It's cute, kind of, the way he just lets his girlfriend do whatever she wants as long as it makes her happy. "Of course, let's be friends, Jongdae-ssi!"

 

It takes Chanyeol approximately 15 minutes to drop the honorific once Jongdae points out that they're the same age, an hour to have herself draped comfortably on Jongdae, and by the time Luhan's taking the rest of the day off work so that she can attend the parent-teacher meeting, Chanyeol's already invited her - and by extension, Jongin - to the dinner later that night.

 

Jongdae, of course, social butterfly that she is, agrees.

 

"Your colleagues are fun," Jongdae notes as she pulls out of the parking lot and drives towards the elementary school. "I'm glad that you found this job, unnie. You seem a lot happier than you did at the previous place."

 

"I am," Luhan admits, smiling. "They're all amazing."

 

"I'm glad," Jongdae repeats softly.

 

---

 

 

"Mama!" Sehun screeches when he sees her exiting Jongdae's car. He rushes towards her with Jongin in tow and Luhan speeds towards the two of them, less out of excitement to see them and more out of fear that they're going to be run over by a car.

 

"Don't ever run out onto the road like that again, do you hear me, Oh Sehun?" Luhan scolds, frowning. Sehun wilts under the reprimand, but Luhan has to make sure that her son's learned his lesson. "You could've gotten yourself and Jongin hurt. Would you want that?"

 

Sehun shakes his head, bottom lip shaking. "No, mama. I'm sorry, mama."

 

"I'm sure Sehun knows what he's done wrong," Jongdae chirps from where she had come to stand with the two of them even though she'd given her own little scolding to Jongin as well, whom she now held in her arms. "Don't you, Sehun?"

 

"Yes, auntie Jongdae," Sehun sniffs sadly. "I do, auntie Jongdae, mama. Sehun knows he's wrong."

 

"There's a good boy," Luhan says, voice soft as she brings Sehun up into her arms, kissing his cheek gently. "As long as you know your mistake, baby."

 

"Yes, mama," Sehun swallows, sniffing once more before he breaks into a large grin. "Mama, mama! I can finally show you Mr. Kris! Mama, you have to meet him, mama, he's the best teacher and-"

 

"Breathe, baby," Luhan laughs as Sehun gulps in lungfuls of air. "Yes, I'll finally meet your darling Mr. Kris. Try to calm down a little so you can properly introduce us, okay?"

 

"Mm!"

 

Sehun wriggles in his mother's hold to be let down, and when Luhan lowers him to the ground, he takes a hold of his mother's hand and runs forward into the school, dodging people left and right as he tugs his mother along to his classroom. Jongin, who hadn't been as excited, seems to have been affected by his best friend's enthusiasm, and he grabs his mother's hand and runs forward, too.

 

The four of them make quite the picture, running through the hallways like that, but Luhan and Jongdae both indulge their children. It is, after all, the first time that they've been in the school together with their children.

 

"We're here, mama, we're here!" Sehun gushes, pushing the door open with one small hand. "Mr. Kris, Mr. Kris, my mama's here, my mama's finally come to see you!"

 

Luhan steps into the classroom, a polite, if apologetic, smile on her face. Her eyes scan the classroom, taking in the small chairs and tables, to the man standing behind the teacher's desk-

 

Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no.

 

This isn't happening. This could not be happening. There was no way that the person standing behind the desk, the Mr. Kris that her son was so enamoured with, the Mr. Kris that her son had said he wanted to marry, even, was Wu Yifan, his father.

 

Luhan shocked into stillness as she was, could feel Jongdae bristling behind her. She reached back to touch Jongdae's arm, silently telling her not to do anything brash. Jongdae was one of the most level-headed people she knew, but even the designer had her moments, especially when she had held a grudge against Yifan for so long.

 

"Mama?" Sehun calls, blinking up at her, and she snaps back to attention, looking down at her son. He was looking up at her, concern in his eyes, and she shakes her head at him when she asks if she's okay.

 

"I'm okay, baby," She tells him, smiling at him so that he stops looking at her like she's a ghost. "Really. Why don't you introduce me to your friends?"

 

"Okay!"

 

She takes the time to calm herself down. Sehun's friends are all nice, even though the same could hardly be said around their parents. With Mr. Kris - with Yifan - around, the parents are more amicable, less prone to looking at her like she's an abomination, and she's grateful for that. She can see how much Sehun enjoys himself at school, even if there are a few people that he doesn't introduce her to, and she figures that those are the bullies, the ones that for having only a mother and no father figure.

 

But he does have a father, Luhan thinks, glancing at the teacher's table. His father's sitting right there.

 

She wills herself not to do anything, though. It wouldn't do to cause a scene at her son's first parent teacher meeting. Instead, she sits next to Sehun while Mr. Kris - while Yifan - calls up parent after parent to speak with them at the front of the class.

 

When Yifan calls Jongdae forward, Luhan can see Jongdae physically restrain herself. Jongin, not knowing of the tension between his teacher and his mother, cheerfully, if rather sleepily, tugs his mother to the front of the class, climbing up onto the chair that was higher than he was used to and settling himself comfortably down on it.

 

Jongdae sat herself down primly, ever the picture of the successful model, her expression schooled into one that could fool anyone except Luhan.

 

To anyone else there was nothing wrong with the talk that Yifan and Jongdae were having. Jongdae was, as always, all polite smiles and friendly gestures, everything that had gotten her as famous and as well liked as she was. Luhan, however, could see the tension between the two of them.

 

It was unlikely that Yifan had forgotten who Jongdae was, seeing as she had been attached to Luhan by the hip when they were in university, and if not for Jongdae's kitten smile and sharp eyes, then by the fact that Jongdae was on every other billboard in the city.

 

When Yifan finishes his meeting with Jongdae, Jongin jumps down from his chair and quickly asks his mother for ice cream. Jongdae shakes her head at him, but lets him lead her out of the classroom. She shoots Luhan a look and mouths that she'll be waiting for her outside, and Luhan nods.

 

Every student and their parent goes before Luhan. Luhan doesn't know if Yifan had chosen to meet her last, or if he was going in alphabetical order and 'Oh' was genuinely the last one on his list.

 

Luhan has to conceal her nervousness when she walks up to the table, sitting down on it as Sehun clambers onto his chair, his eyes shining bright and grin as wide as could be.

 

Yifan looks up from where he's been peering at his notes and locks eyes with Luhan, and Luhan finds that she can't breathe. Despite not having seen him for 7, going on 8 years, Yifan's gaze is still as familiar, as warm as it had ever been.

 

But no, Luhan cannot let herself fall, not now, not for him. Not when he had left.

 

"Mrs. Oh," Yifan starts, but Sehun quickly cuts him off.

 

"My mama's Ms. Lu, Mr. Kris!" He informs. Luhan's so busy smiling fondly at her son that she misses the widening of Kris' eyes and the slightly parting of his lips in surprise. "The prettiest Miss ever!"

 

Luhan laughs softly under her breath and turns back to Yifan. Her breath catches in before she wills herself to breathe normally. Internally, she's upset that even after all this time, even after so long of not having seen him, he still has the ability to make her breathless.

 

Out of sight, out of mind.

 

It was what Jongdae had told her a long time ago, when she'd been newly pregnant, and Yifan had left. It was something that she swore by, a new phrase that would take her through her life.

 

Now that she was here, now that Yifan was right in front of her, Luhan realizes that that's not how it worked, not for her, at least.

 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

 

And Luhan's heart had grown fonder, evidently.

 

"Very well, then," Yifan's voice cuts through her thoughts. She snaps her head up to look at him, only to find his head bowed as he runs the nib of his pen across his notes, lightly, enough that no ink transfers. "Ms. Lu, your son Sehun's been an excellent student so far."

 

Sehun beams up at his teacher, and Yifan sends him back a quick wink.

 

"He's done well in all his subjects and he hardly ever causes any trouble for me or the class. These are his grades," Yifan retrieves a piece of laminated paper from his folder and lays it on the table, using his pen to gesture at the different subjects.

 

"His test results have been good. Not excellent, of course, he'll need to stop talking to Jongin in class if he wants the best scores," Yifan says teasingly, to which Sehun whines at him. "But overall, he's a very good student. There's nothing that you have to worry about with him, really."

 

Sehun giggles as he hides his face, evidently shy at the praise that his favourite teacher is giving him.

 

"Do you have any questions for me, Ms. Lu?"

 

Luhan glances down at her son and steels herself for the upcoming question. Yifan or not, Sehun's father or not, it's a question that Luhan needs answered. "Sehun has come home to me before," Luhan starts, not really knowing how to phrase her query. "Saying that there are classmates of his that make fun of him for only having a mother. Do you know about this?"

 

She knows that her question sounds like she's putting the blame on Yifan for leaving. Perhaps, on an unconscious level, she was. Outwardly, however, her concern was that Sehun was potentially getting bullied because he didn't have a father. She didn't want to put the blame on Yifan for leaving, on him for being a bad teacher, she just wanted to know if Yifan could prevent it.

 

At this, Yifan sighs deeply and leans forward, linking his fingers together as he rests his elbows on the table. He rests his chin on his linked fingers, thinking of a way to answer Luhan. "I do," He begins, and pauses for a moment, thinking of what to say. "I could potentially stop it, yes, prevent it from happening, but it mostly takes place when I'm not around, or when I cannot hear it. Sehun himself is not someone to snitch on someone, so he usually takes the words by himself and doesn't tell me when he's being teased by the other students."

 

Luhan, surprised, turns to Sehun. This was a fact that she didn't know of. "Really, Sehun? You don't go to Yif- Mr. Kris when you're being teased by your classmates?"

 

Sehun bites his bottom lip, fidgeting in his seat. It's a habit that Yifan used to have, and Luhan's heart aches at the similarity. "I don't- I don't want to give Mr. Kris trouble, mama."

 

"You're not giving me trouble, Sehun," Yifan says, voice soft. "I'm your teacher. It's my responsibility to make sure that all of you have fun in school, learning, and that you're safe from bullying, even if it's just verbal teasing. I don't want you to have to go home upset because you have classmates who think that they can bully you because you don't have a father, do you understand?"

 

"Yes, Mr. Kris," Sehun whispers his reply. "Yes, mama."

 

"I apologize," Yifan turns back to Luhan, directing his words at her now. His eyes are impossibly warm, impossibly earnest. "I will try my best to make sure that it doesn't happen again. The safety of our students is of my utmost concern and is a part of my responsibility as a teacher. I hope that Sehun will not have to go through teasing again."

 

"Children can be cruel," Is Luhan's reply, smiling sadly. Adults too, she thinks, but doesn't say. "Because they do not know the severity behind their words. Your words assure me, however, Mr. Kris. Thank you."

 

"My pleasure. Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

 

Luhan shakes her head, smiling softly. Sehun bounces down from his chair, clearly excited that he's going to be going out for dinner that night. It's not often that he can eat out, considering their financial status, after all. He runs over to hug his teacher, and Yifan bends down to envelope Sehun in his embrace.

 

"Bye, Mr. Kris!" Sehun greets, tightening his tiny arms around his teacher's large frame before letting go. "See you next week!"

 

Yifan laughs, straightening up and waving as Sehun speeds out the door. "See you next week, Sehun."

 

Luhan makes to follow after her son when he runs out, afraid that he would fall and hurt himself, but Yifan's voice stops her.

 

"Luhan."

 

It's all he says, nothing else, but Luhan's still compelled to turn around to look at him. He looks sad more than anything, his eyes lingering on her.

 

"Yes, Mr. Kris?"

 

Her voice is cold, clipped. The warmth and familiarity she had used when Sehun had still been in the room gone from it.

 

Yifan makes his way towards her, large steps quickly bringing him close to her. She stands rooted to where she is, finding herself unable to move. "Sehun," He starts, his hand coming up to hold onto her arm, where it's hanging uselessly by her side. She doesn't shake him off, so he tightens his grip, enough that she can still break away if she wanted to, but tight enough that it's a testament to how nervous he is. "Sehun, is he- Is he my- Ours?"

 

Luhan doesn't say anything, merely closes her eyes for some time. When she opens them again, she only looks at the door, not deigning to let Yifan see her expression.

 

She shakes her way out of his hold and heads for the door, pushing it open and leaving. She doesn't look back, doesn't want to let him see the weakness and the tears in her eyes, the sheer want to admit that yes, Sehun was his son, was their son, could he please, please come back?

 

She doesn't answer Yifan, doesn't reply to his question. But, she thinks, that the way that she had left the classroom told him, perhaps, everything that he needed to know.

 

"Unnie," Is Jongdae's greeting when she walks far enough to where her best friend is waiting for her. "Unnie, it's him, oh god, it's him." Her voice is small enough that their children cannot hear them, playing together in the corner as they are. "Are you okay? He didn't try to do anything, did he?"

 

Luhan shakes her head, laughing a little hysterically. "He didn't do anything, Jongdae. Silly girl. You say that like he would hurt me, and you know he never has."

 

"Not physically, at least," Jongdae spits out, venom in her words. "But really, unnie, did he do anything?"

 

"Like I said, he didn't try anything. He- He did ask if Sehun was his child, but I didn't answer him."

 

Jongdae sighs and wraps her arms around Luhan. "You probably gave him all the answer he needed by walking out. It's more than he deserves."

 

Luhan smiles shakily. Jongdae calls both Jongin and Sehun to their sides, an arm comfortably, reassuringly wrapped around Luhan's waist. She leads the three of them to her car and tells Luhan to get in and get herself composed while she straps both children in.

 

"Is everyone ready for dinner~?" Jongdae singsongs as she starts up the engine of her car. Luhan knows that she's distracting the kids to give Luhan some time to herself so that she can calm down from meeting Yifan again after so long, and she's so, so grateful to her best friend for that.

 

She can vaguely hear Jongin and Sehun cheering from where they're seated at the back of the car, clearly excited to be eating out, and with each other. It's not often that they get to spend time together outside school now, ever since Luhan had gotten her job at Seoli and could pick Sehun up directly from school and not have to make Jongdae pick her son up as well.

 

By the time they make it to the diner that they're supposed to meet her co-workers at, she's calmed down significantly and managed to get her thoughts together. Jongdae sends her a questioning gaze when she parks the car and exits the vehicle to lead Jongin out, and Luhan sends her a reassuring smile as she does the same for Sehun.

 

"Thank you," Luhan says as they walk side by side to the diner, Sehun and Jongin rushing ahead. "You're the best, really."

 

Jongdae chuckles, smirking slightly, but her eyes are soft when she replies. "Anything for you, unnie.”

 

Luhan doesn't think about Yifan - wills herself not to think about Yifan - for the rest of the day. She spends her time at the diner with her friends, her co-workers, and prevents Sehun from trying to swallow his sausage whole just because Jongin said he couldn't.

 

"Mama," Sehun says when they reach home, when Luhan's tucked him into bed and is just about to kiss him goodnight. He's looking sleepily up at her, eyes barely open, fighting off the imminent. "Now that you've met Mr. Kris, you'll let me marry him, right?"

 

Luhan blinks at his question and smiles, if a little sadly. She doesn't answer his question, but Sehun's already out cold, snuggling into his blankets.

 

She hadn't expected Yifan to come back into her life, not in this way, not at all. To see him again after so long was like a stab to her heart.

 

Lying in her bed, she looks to the side and sees Sehun. It feels strangely empty in a way, even though her son was right there. Back when Yifan had just left her, this was the feeling that she had gotten whenever she'd looked at the other side of her bed. Now, even though Sehun fills the spot that Yifan had left, it still doesn’t feel right, because he’s supposed to be here, too. Supposed to be in the bed with them, cuddling Sehun close to his chest and his son’s hair until they all fell asleep. But he isn’t, and Luhan’s heart aches.

 

She stares at her son until she falls asleep, the dampness of her pillow going unnoticed with how emotionally and physically exhausted she is.

 

---

 

 

Busy as she is, Luhan doesn't think about Yifan as much as she, admittedly, had initially thought that she would. Although Sehun still speaks a lot about his favourite 'Mr. Kris', in between working at Seoli and taking care of Sehun, she doesn't get as much time to think about her ex-boyfriend.

 

Of course, there are times when she's lying in bed after Sehun's gone to sleep, when she thinks about what life would be like if Yifan hadn't left her, but what was new, really? She entertains the idea of him coming back into her life, into Sehun's life, even, but after a while, she gets rid of that thought, too. It wouldn't do to be caught up in fantasies, in things that would not come true.

 

It's not until one day when she's so caught up in her work, so busy during the lunch hour rush that she forgets to pick Sehun up from school. Normally, this would never have happened; Sehun is the most important thing, most important person in her life, and to forget him was nigh impossible. But she hadn't slept well, if at all, the previous night, and the rush hour coupled with her sleep addled mind led to her forgetting to pick her son up.

 

By the time it was well past the time that she would normally have picked Sehun up from school, Yifan had given her a call.

 

"Hello?" She greets when she picks up the call from an unknown number.

 

"Luhan?"

 

The voice, deep and so familiar yet so foreign, sends shudders through her. Why would Yifan be calling her? Where had he even gotten her number from? She had changed hers after he'd left her, and there was no way Jongdae could have given it to him, unless-

 

"Oh, god, Sehun!" She gasps, suddenly in a state of panic. She glances at the clock and realizes that it's already past 2 hours past the time that she should have gone to pick Sehun up. "Oh god, I'm so, so sorry! I'll come right now to get him!"

 

"Calm down, Luhan," She hears him say, and she can almost see the small smile on his face as he speaks to her. "I'm with Sehun right now. We're outside the school, in my car, because they had to lock the school up. I understand that you'll want to arrive as quickly as possible, but you need to remember to stay safe, okay?"

 

"Stay safe on your way home, okay, baby?"

 

The words, from so long ago, echo in her mind. She really needs to stop living in the past, she thinks, but it's not exactly something she can help. Despite everything, despite Yifan having left her and causing her to have to go through so much, she had never really fallen out of love with Yifan.

 

"Yeah," She replies, then clears . "Yes, thank you. I'll be there as soon as I can."

 

She hangs up and speeds into the staff room, where Minseok looks up in shock when she suddenly appears in the room. She sends him a quick apology and a "Forgot to pick Sehun up from school", to which he nods understandingly and goes back to what he had been doing.

 

She doesn't bother changing her clothes, opting to just rush out of the back door of the coffee shop. She has to sprint towards the bus stop when she sees the bus just about to arrive, and by the time she's on the bus and willing the driver to go faster than the speed limit allowed, she was flushed and out of breath.

 

By the time the bus arrives in front of Sehun's school, Luhan is more than antsy. She practically bursts out of the doors of the bus and makes her way towards the only vehicle still there.

 

Yifan opens the door when he sees her coming, moving to the back to open the door for Sehun. "Mama!" Sehun accuses, pouting sadly. "I can't believe you forgot about me, mama."

 

"I'm sorry, baby," Luhan apologizes, getting down onto her knees so that she can tug Sehun into her arms. She hides her face in his hair, trying to calm the anxious pounding of her heart. Even though she had known that Sehun was with Yifan, she didn't have much reason to trust him to take good care of her son.

 

Sure, she was being unfair to him, perhaps, since Sehun was absolutely smitten with him and had always said that he was the best teacher, and he had given her his word that he would try his best to make sure that Sehun wasn't bullied in class as much as he could help it, but in Luhan's mind, all she saw was the man that had left her when she needed him the most, when she had had no one else but him.

 

"Forgive me? I won't forget you ever again, I promise."

 

Sehun takes some time to ponder it, glances at Yifan, then turns back to his mother. He grins happily. "Okay! But only if mama takes me and Mr. Kris for ice cream."

 

Luhan's blood runs cold at the thought of being in close proximity with Yifan. She pulls away from the hug and holds her son at one arm's length to judge how serious he's being, but Sehun's expectant smile and the hope shining in his eyes tells her everything that she needs to know. She doesn't want to disappoint her son, doesn't want to see that smile fall, but at the same time, she doesn't exactly want to go out and have ice cream with Yifan.

 

She glances up at Yifan, almost expecting him to decline. He doesn't say anything to accept her offer, but he doesn't make it sound as though he has a prior engagement either. He smiles sheepishly at her, and she raises her eyebrow at him back in return.

 

It feels so familiar, as though the last seven years without him hadn't happened. The way that she could just raise her eyebrow at him without thinking of the consequences, knowing that he would return her expression with an equally sarcastic one of his own.

 

"Please!" Sehun pleads, getting on his tip toes and pouting at her with the shiniest, saddest eyes that he could muster. Luhan likes to believe that she's immune to her son's puppy-dog eyes by now, but even she can't deny her son when he wants something this much. She braces herself internally for the awkwardness that is soon and sure to come, and relents.

 

"Okay, baby. But only 1 scoop of ice cream for you, got it?" She says, tapping her son on his nose gently. "Can't have you getting sick."

 

"Yay!" Sehun cheers, spinning around in a circle with his thumbs tucked under his bag straps to prevent them from falling off as he turns. "You're the best, mama! Mr. Kris, Mr. Kris, mama's going to bring us to eat ice cream!"

 

Yifan squats down so that he's level - or, well, as level as someone of his stature could get with an elementary schooler - with Sehun and Luhan. He grins, that gummy smile of his that Luhan has always associated with him. "She's the best mama, isn't she?"

 

"Mmhm!" Sehun agrees, nodding his head almost aggressively. "My mama's the best mama anyone could ever have! If," And here Sehun gets shy, looking down at his shoes and playing with the straps of his bag. "If you... If we get married, she could be your mama, too..."

 

Luhan's eyes widen at the same time as Yifan's. As much as Sehun had come home praising his 'Mr. Kris', she never thought that he would actually tell Yifan that he wanted to marry him. Yifan seems to take it in stride, though, taking advantage of the fact that Sehun had mumbled out his previous sentence. "I'm sorry, Sehun, I couldn't hear you. What did you say?"

 

"N-Nothing!" Sehun gets out, shaking his hands in front of him. "Nothing. Let's just go for ice cream, mama."

 

She shoots Yifan an apologetic, but also grateful glance, to which he responds with a reassuring smile. She ignores the butterflies in her tummy and stands up, thinking of going to the bus stop when Yifan's words stop her.

 

"I could drive us there," Yifan offers. "It'd be a lot faster and more convenient than taking the bus."

 

Luhan's about to decline his offer when Sehun starts bouncing up and down next to her. "Oh, oh please, mama, please! Mr. Kris' car is really cool, mama, and he let me listen to all my favourite songs on the radio when we were waiting for you to arrive!"

 

She sighs. She knows that she's not supposed to keep giving in to Sehun's requests, considering the possibility of spoiling him, but honestly, Sehun doesn't ask for much, and in the rare instances where he does ask for something, who is she to deny him?

 

"If it's really okay with you...?" She directs at Yifan. He smiles winningly at her, gesturing to his car.

 

"I want to sit with Mr. Kris in front!" Sehun calls, running towards the front door. Luhan frowns, but it's ultimately Yifan who denies him of his request.

 

"The front's only for people 12 years and older, Sehun-ah," He says, opening the back door from Sehun to clamber in instead, albeit petulantly. He cheers up quickly anyways, bouncing in place and tugging Luhan into the seat next to him.

 

Yifan smiles at the sight, wistfully, almost, but the expression is gone before Luhan can properly catch it, and he slides into the driver's seat.

 

"Where are we going, Sehun-ah?"

 

"To get ice cream!"

 

Yifan chuckles. "I know, silly. Where would you like to go, though?"

 

Sehun mulls over it for a while, but he can't come up with an answer. He doesn't go out for ice cream because Luhan's always busy, and they can't afford luxuries like this. "I don't know..."

 

"I have a friend who owns an ice cream shop," Yifan says, glancing back at the both of them in the rear view mirror. "Would you two be okay with going there?"

 

"Ice cream!" Sehun hollers and punches the air with his fist.

 

Both Yifan and Luhan chuckle simultaneously in amusement. Sehun giggles from where he's seated, wriggling in excitement, and Luhan's so glad, above everything else, to see how happy her son is. Ice cream is a treat that's rare for him, and Luhan can't deny that it's Yifan who's made her son so exhilarated.

 

Thanks are in order, Luhan thinks, but, perhaps, not right now.

 

Yifan gives in to Sehun's requests, playing songs that he would definitely not have listened to were he alone in the car. He has to remove a disc from the CD player of his car, which he hides quickly, but then lets Sehun play all the songs that he wants from his phone, connecting it to his car speakers via Bluetooth. Sehun, very obviously not having had this sort of technology in his hands before, is overwhelmed.

 

"Mama, this is so cool, mama!" He cheers, squirming in his seat to show his mother what's on Yifan's phone. Luhan smiles as Sehun quickly picks up the methods of using the smartphone. He accidentally presses the home screen button, and Youtube is minimized and is that-

 

Sehun starts up Youtube again quickly enough, but in the short few seconds that Luhan had seen Yifan's home screen, he's pretty sure that that's a photo of the two of them before, well, before everything had happened. She thinks that she's probably right, because that photo had been her favourite photo of them.

 

"I'll take the photo for you two, okay, stop arguing!" Jongdae had rolled her eyes, stomping forward to grab the phone out of Yifan's hand. She had had to jump a little to get to it, and Luhan had found the sight absolutely adorable.

 

Before she could coo at her best friend, however, Yifan had already spun her around to wrap her up in his arms, smiling down at her as he leaned her forehead against hers. Luhan, heart pounding with affection, had tilted her head up to smile at her boyfriend, oblivious to everything around her except Yifan, except the two of them.

 

She could still remember the fake gagging noises that her - very mature - best friend had made as she had taken the photo. Yes, she admitted, it was one of the cheesiest things that she had done with Yifan, but it had been such a beautiful spring day, and Yifan had told her how absolutely gorgeous she was compared to that day, and it had been difficult not to fall further in love with her boyfriend.

 

But why did Yifan have that photo as his home screen wallpaper? It made absolutely no sense for him to still keep it, unless he was that lazy and hadn't bothered to change his wallpaper in the last seven years.

 

Because... Because if not, there was only one other reason, and Luhan wasn't going to entertain that thought. Because if that thought were true, then why had he given in to the demands of his parents, left her with a child, alone? Luhan had gotten disowned by her parents when they had found out that she had a child out of wedlock while Yifan had run, like a damn coward, with his tail between his legs.

 

She ignores the feeling of hysteria climbing up and wills herself to calm down. It wouldn't do to start shouting at Yifan, wouldn't do to take out all her frustrations at him in such an enclosed space. Sehun didn't even know that Yifan was his father, and now was not a good time to tell him, not when he was so smitten with his Mr. Kris.

 

"We're here," Yifan informs as he slowly parks his car in front of a nondescript building. It's a red brick building, looking nothing special, but from what Luhan can see of the inside, it's cozy. It reminds her a lot of Seoli, to be honest.

 

Yifan changes gears and turns the engine of his car off, opening the door and helping Sehun out of his seat before Luhan can even get to her son. It makes her heart ache, thinking of Yifan taking care of her son - of their son - like this, that this was how it would have been if he hadn't left.

 

She sends the thought out of her mind, moving forward to take Sehun's hand. Sehun, however, refuses to let go of Yifan's hand, shaking his head petulantly up at her. Like this, with Sehun between them, Luhan can't help but want.

 

But she can't.

 

Yifan looks sheepish, if anything, as he leads them into the ice cream store. A small man, perhaps the same height as Junmyeon, Luhan thinks, looks up when they enter. There's only a handful of high schoolers here, giggling in the corner on their sappy dates. Luhan smiles, almost wistfully.

 

The man raises his eyebrows when he spots them, his eyes zeroing in on Yifan's large hand holding Sehun's much smaller one. It's cute, Luhan thinks, despite everything. Yifan's hand is so large that it envelopes Sehun's entirely, and Sehun only holds onto Yifan's thumb, because it's the only part of Yifan's hand that he can entirely wrap his own around.

 

"Kyungsoo," Yifan greets, and the man - Kyungsoo - nods at him in return.

 

Luhan notices that Sehun's gone quiet. She tilts her head down to look at her son to find him completely wide eyed, staring at the shopkeeper like he's just found the answer to all his questions. Sehun flushes, and Luhan raises an eyebrow, amused.

 

"Sehun," She says, picking her son up in her arms so that he can see the flavours of ice cream. "Pick the one you want."

 

Sehun glances at Kyungsoo again, then looks back down at the ice cream flavours. He looks like he's considering which ice cream flavour would put him in Kyungsoo's good books, but Kyungsoo just stands there, waiting for his decision.

 

"Chocolate," He decides after a while, jabbing his finger at the glass. "I want chocolate!" He pauses here and looks up at Kyungsoo. "Please?"

 

Kyungsoo breaks out into a smile, his lips forming a heart, and Sehun's face flushes even more. He quickly turns around and hides his face in Luhan's shoulder, clinging onto his mother. Of course, curiosity has him turning back soon, though, and he watches as Kyungsoo grabs the ice cream scoop and digs into the chocolate treat.

 

"C-can I have an extra large scoop, please?" Sehun asks timidly.

 

"Sehun," Luhan reprimands, frowning.

 

"But mama said I could have one scoop! An extra large scoop is still one scoop, right? I've been a good boy!" He pouts, turning his sad eyes on her. She's about to shake her head and deny her child when Kyungsoo laughs.

 

"If your mother says no, then you can't, Sehun," He says, almost sage like. But he continues to scoop the ice cream, and when he places it into a paper cup with a wink directed at the boy, it's definitely not a normal sized scoop. "You must always listen to your mother, okay?"

 

"Okay!"

 

Sehun takes the offered ice cream cup with a small 'thank you' and runs off to sit near the window, gingerly placing his cup onto the table before clambering onto his seat. Luhan looks at the prices, internally cringing at the price. It wasn't that expensive, all things considered, but it wasn't something that Luhan could casually drop money on, either, especially with how little she earned.

 

She's just about to reach into her purse when Kyungsoo shakes his head at her. "Pay later, please. That's how we work around here."

 

Luhan blinks, then nods and walks towards Sehun, leaving Yifan alone with Kyungsoo. She watches the happy smile on Sehun's face as he spoons scoop after scoop of chocolate ice cream into his mouth, his face a picture of contentment.

 

Yifan slides into the seat opposite hers when Sehun is about a third finished with his portion. He has two cups of ice cream in his hands, the scoops of ice cream a lot more decently sized than Sehun's are. She looks up at him in question as he slides one of the cups across the table to her silently.

 

She looks at the cup of ice cream, noticing that it's Shooting Star, her favourite flavour from so long ago. She looks back up at him, but he's not looking at her, his gaze directed at Sehun as the child plows through his treat like a man starved.

 

She sighs at the fact that she'll have to pay for yet another cup of ice cream even as her heart is about to leap out from due to the fact that he still remembers what her favourite flavour of ice cream is. She doesn't make to take the cup, though, and it's not until he nudges the cup towards her again that she looks up at him once more.

 

"Eat," He says, voice soft, cautious as though she were a small animal and he was trying not to startle her.

 

Sehun turns at the voice, looking down at the cup that's in front of her. "Mama, you have to eat quickly! It won't taste good if the ice cream melts!"

 

Luhan glances at Sehun, at Yifan, then relents. She pulls the frozen treat towards her and spoons a bite into , returning Sehun's smile when he beams up at her happily, as though proud that his mother's eating ice cream the way that it's supposed to be eaten - frozen, and not melted. Sehun quickly turns his attention back to his own cup, going back to devouring the treat and potentially giving himself brain freeze.

 

The familiar taste brings back memories she'd rather not think about with Yifan right in front of her, so alike the dates that they used to go on back in university. She watches her son eat, instead, mechanically spooning bite after bite of ice cream into .

 

When they're done, she stands up to make payment at the same time Yifan excuses himself to go to the bathroom. She walks up to where Kyungsoo's on his phone, since there aren’t any customers. He puts the device away when she comes up to the counter. "Payment?" She asks.

 

He doesn't move from where he's leaning on the counter behind the cashier, his lips now pulled into a politely amused smirk.

 

"They've been paid for," He informs, looking so smug Luhan suddenly has the urge to punch him in the face. "But since you're here," He tilts his head as he pushes himself off the counter and leans his elbows on the counter where the cash register is. "Who might you be to walk into my shop with Yifan and a child? I've known him for three years and he's never shown any inkling of being with anyone."

 

Luhan bristles at his words, but she knows that it's not his fault. Luhan hasn’t seen Yifan in seven years, not since he walked out after his parents told him to leave her. If Kyungsoo had met Yifan three years ago, there was no way that he would have known about her. She wills herself to calm down and not claw his face off - Jongdae would probably be proud if she did - and smiles politely at him before stalking off.

 

Yifan's back at the table by the time she gets back after her one-sided conversation with Kyungsoo. He's looking at her sheepishly, a little anxiously, as though he's afraid that Luhan will do something now that she knows that he's paid for the ice cream that was supposed to be her treat.

 

"Thank you," Is all she says, earnestly. His eyes widen slightly even as she ducks her head in thanks. "For the ice cream."

 

"Not at all," He breathes, looking a little overwhelmed.

 

"Come on, Sehun," She says, opening her arms for Sehun to run into and taking his hand in hers. "We should go home, now. Say goodbye to Yi- To Mr. Kris."

 

"Bye, Mr. Kris!" Sehun calls, beaming up at Yifan with all his teeth. "Thank you for letting us ride in your car!"

 

Yifan shakes his head at that. "You're always welcome to taking a ride in my car, Sehun-ah. In fact, would you like to be driven home?"

 

Sehun's eyes widen and he releases Luhan's hand to run straight into Yifan, hugging his thigh and beaming up at Yifan like he's just been promised everything and anything he could have asked for. "Mama, please!"

 

Just for today, then, Luhan thinks to herself. She might as well give in to everything that Sehun wants, for today, since he's so happy. She nods and Sehun races back to hug her, this time, clinging onto his mother and babbling about how he has the best mother and the best teacher ever.

 

Sehun settles himself deep into the leather of the seats in Yifan's car as Luhan gives Yifan the address of their apartment. She watches as her son leans his head against her shoulder, his eyes fixated on what's outside the window. She doesn't notice Yifan's gaze settling on the two of them whenever there's a red light, her attention on Sehun.

 

He soon falls asleep, cocooned in the warmth of his mother's embrace and blanketed by the soft rumbling of the car.

 

It takes Yifan 15 minutes and 1 wrong turn to get to their apartment. Luhan gently lifts Sehun's head off her shoulder and exits the car the moment it comes to a halt. She crosses over to the other side, only to see Yifan opening the door.

 

He turns to look at her, even as he's bending down to cradle Sehun into his arms. "You must be tired from working," He says to her, softly, so as not to wake Sehun. "I'll carry him."

 

Luhan narrows her eyes at him. "I've carried him for the last seven years," She retorts, keeping her voice low, but it doesn't hide the venom. "Just because you're here, it doesn't mean that I've magically lost all of my strength."

 

Yifan falters at her words. He dips his head and says nothing, but he doesn't hand Sehun over to her, either. Frustrated, and knowing how stubborn he can be, Luhan has no choice but to stalk over to the apartment building. Hopefully, he'll leave after he gets Sehun in bed.

 

The ride up to their apartment in the rickety elevator is awkward. Luhan soothes Sehun's hair away from his eyes, but by doing so, she has to get within arm's length of Yifan, something that she isn't particularly fond of doing.

 

"You live here?" Yifan asks when she has to jab her key into the lock - it wouldn't have gone in any other way, as old as the lock is. She sends him a sideways glance, pushing the door open.

 

"Not all of us are loaded," Is her reply. She turns the lights on, leading the way to the bedroom - the only room - in the apartment. A part of her is ashamed of the fact that this is all she has, but a larger part of her is proud that she's managed to get this far, and she refuses to let Yifan ridicule her.

 

He doesn't.

 

Quietly, he sets Sehun down on the bed. Luhan speeds in and starts to gently tug his clothes off, earning sleepy mumbles and muted snuffles. She gets a warm towel and wipes him down, figuring that she'll wake him up earlier the next morning so he can shower before school, pulling on his pajamas.

 

"Night, mama," Sehun murmurs, smiling sleepily at Luhan. He snuggles deep into the bed he shares with Luhan, eyes blearily focused on Yifan's figure, just as he falls asleep. "Night, papa."

 

Both adults stiffen at his words. Once she comes back to her senses, Luhan quickly moves to the door and drags Yifan with her, closing the door behind her as quietly as she can. "Thank you for the ice cream, and for carrying Sehun back," She says. "Please leave."

 

Yifan hesitates, glancing around at the apartment. She looks up at him, defiant, almost. "I need to prepare to sleep. Tomorrow will be another busy day and I don't want to forget to pick Sehun up from school again. I'm sorry I was late today, but I won't be in future. Thank you for taking care of my son, Mr. Kris."

 

"Luhan," Yifan says, pleading. "Sehun is- Sehun's my son, too."

 

"You lost the right to be his father when you left," Luhan snaps, eyes flashing with anger. Don't cry, don't cry, She chants in her mind. You said you would never cry in front of this jerk. "You don't get to come back after seven years and tell me that he's your son, too, when you never played any part in raising him."

 

"I tried to look for you," Yifan implores. Luhan's turned to pushing him physically out of the house by now, both palms flat on his chest. It would be a comical sight if they were not both desperate for the other to listen to them, Yifan to his reasoning and Luhan to get out of the apartment. "After I- After I left my parents' home once I graduated, I tried to look for you, but you were gone! You'd changed your phone number and I had no way of contacting you!"

 

"It doesn't change the fact that you left!" Luhan screeches, her eyes now wild with hysteria and tears pouring down her face. She doesn't want to hear his excuses, doesn't want to hear anything from him regarding the fact that he had left her when she had needed him the most. No matter what he did after that, no matter how much effort he claims to have put into searching for her, he hadn't managed to. It spoke volumes about his attempts. "Nothing can change the fact that you left, so please, please just get out of my apartment!"

 

Yifan, seeing how distraught Luhan was, dips his head in submission. He bows out of the apartment, slipping his shoes on when the door is slammed in his face. He stares at the door for a couple of seconds before he sighs and places his palm on the wood. "I'm sorry," He whispers to the door. "Even if you won't accept my apology, Luhan. I never- I never stopped loving you, never stopped looking for you."

 

There's silence before his footsteps echo in the hallway as he walks away.

 

On the other side of the door, leaning against the wood, Luhan slides down to the floor and cries.

 

---

 

 

The next day, Luhan sends Sehun to school a little earlier than she normally would. Instead of sending him to the door, Luhan waits at the bus stop for the familiar sight of Jongdae’s car. It’s probably a cowardly act, but she doesn’t really care at the moment.

 

When Jongdae arrives, she doesn’t seem surprised that Luhan’s there. She pulls up in front of the bus stop once she’s made sure that there aren’t any buses behind her car and tilts her head, asking Luhan to get in. Relieved and eternally grateful for her best friend, Luhan opens the back door to guide Sehun into the car before getting into the front seat herself.

 

“Good morning, auntie Luhan!”

 

“Good morning, auntie Jongdae!”

 

Sehun and Jongin chorus together before turning to each other with wide eyes and open mouths, before slapping each other and bursting into giggles. Luhan and Jongdae smile fondly at their children, waiting for them to calm down before returning the greeting.

 

It only takes a couple of minutes before Jongdae’s turning into the elementary school. Luhan doesn’t get out of the car, instead turning around to blow Sehun a kiss. If Sehun’s confused by the lack of affection, he doesn’t say it. Luhan attributes it to being in Jongdae’s car.

 

The two children scramble out of the car, tugging their backpacks higher up on their tiny shoulders. Luhan smiles and leans across to wave goodbye at Sehun as he turns back to give his mother his biggest grin.

 

Then there’s a shadow falling over the two children, and Sehun’s eyes flick up to meet those of his favourite teacher’s. Yifan’s raises his gaze to make eye contact with Luhan, who’s frozen in her seat. Yifan looks like he’s about to say something when Jongdae sticks her head out her open window and starts saying goodbye to Jongin as obnoxiously as she can.

 

“Bye, darling!” She yells, as though Jongin were across the car park instead of just a couple of metres away. “Be good in school, stay safe! Remember to stick close to Sehun and do what I told you, okay?”

 

Jongin flushes in embarrassment, but he nods and waves back to his mother.

 

Satisfied, Jongdae drives out of the school. Luhan leans back in her seat, closing her eyes. “Thank you,” She says, eyes still closed.

 

Jongdae takes one hand off the wheel to wave airily at Luhan. “I’m your best friend,” Is her reply. “I’m supposed to look out for you, keep bastards away from you and all that.”

 

Luhan giggles at Jongdae calling Yifan a ‘bastard’, feeling much better. Jongdae’s always so good to her, always knows what to do and say to cheer her up when she’s feeling down. She’s lucky to have Jongdae in her life, really.

 

They make a little more conversation before they arrive at Seoli. Luhan makes to get out of the car, but Jongdae whines at her, telling her to wait for her. Luhan raises an eyebrow. “You’re coming in again?”

 

Jongdae flips her hair haughtily, and Luhan tugs on a strand, enough to make Jongdae whine even more. “My number 1 fan is in there,” She gestures, sniffing, then laughs, shaking her head. “I’m working on a new collection of clothing. I wanted to get Chanyeol’s opinion on the pieces. I even brought my sketchbook and everything, so there’s no way you’re stopping me.”

 

“Why Chanyeol’s opinion?” Luhan blinks, closing the car door as they both get out, walking up to the coffee shop together.

 

“It’s difficult for girls of her height to buy clothes that are flattering on her, she told me,” Jongdae replies. “My clothes have always been targeted at girls who’re of a shorter stature, but it never occurred to me that taller girls have difficulties finding clothes, too. I want to help her and, well, all the other tall girls out there out.”

 

She doesn’t know why, but she gets a little emotional at the thought of Jongdae wanting to help Chanyeol. That her best friend and her co-workers - who are slowly becoming her closest friends - are getting along means more to Luhan than she had expected.

 

Jongdae gives her a one armed squeeze just before they part ways, Luhan into the back room to change and Jongdae to put her order in at the counter.

 

Jongdae sits in the corner that she’s chosen for herself for the rest of the morning rush. She gets quite a large number of looks, mostly from females who’re fans of her and men who’re giving her a once over, as though she were a piece of meat. Jongdae very obviously doesn’t care, however, and spends her time with her head down, sketching.

 

Minseok takes over the counter once the morning rush thins out, shooing both Luhan, Chanyeol and Yixing to take a break. Yixing stays with Minseok, though, adamant on not letting him man the counter alone, and the two of them manage to chat as they take the orders and prepare the drinks of a small trickle of customers.

 

Luhan and Chanyeol, of course, gravitate towards Jongdae. Luhan sits next to her best friend, a warm drink in hand and leaning her head against her best friend’s shoulder. Jongdae doesn’t seem to mind, letting her head rest there as she shows her sketches with Chanyeol, much to the tall girl’s absolute delight.

 

Jongdae excuses herself to use the bathroom about halfway through Luhan and Chanyeol's break. It's then that Chanyeol really turns to look at Luhan, staring at her to the point where she feels a little self-conscious.

 

"Is there something on my face?" She asks, bringing her hands up to her cheeks and feeling to see if there's anything, but she can't feel anything.

 

Chanyeol shakes her head and really looks at Luhan. "Unnie," She starts, hesitantly. It's weird to see Chanyeol like this, who's normally shoot and go, and doesn't think about her words before she says them. "Are you okay?"

 

Luhan blinks at her co-worker. "Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?"

 

"It's just," She breaks off here, biting down on her bottom lip. She looks a little troubled, as though she's thinking about the best way to string her words together. "You seem a little less... Cheery, today. And your eyes, unnie, they're red and puffy, like you've been crying. Were you?"

 

Luhan swallows, leaning back in her seat. She doesn't want to lie to Chanyeol, but at the same time she's not sure if she's ready to share something like that with her co-worker. Chanyeol's a good friend, and she's always ready to defend Luhan whenever she mentions something about parents not taking her seriously.

 

"I met him yesterday," She finally decides to say. "Sehun's father."

 

"You what?!" Chanyeol yells, startling Luhan and the customers in the coffee shop. Minseok sends his girlfriend a baleful glare, who bows her head apologetically. Keeping her voice down to a whisper - that was almost theatrical - she repeats her words. "You what?"

 

"At the parent-teacher meeting yesterday," Luhan says again. "I met Sehun's father."

 

"That !" Chanyeol says, eyes narrowing, and Luhan doesn't know if she should laugh or cry that Chanyeol's so angry. "So he's a father now? And if he's got a child the same age as yours, then that means he got someone else pregnant-"

 

"Slow down there, champ," Jongdae pats Chanyeol on the back when she returns, smoothly sliding into her seat. "No one said he was a father."

 

"He's not?" Chanyeol asks, confused now. "Then why would he be at the parent-teacher meeting?"

 

Luhan giggles a little at how dense Chanyeol's being. "It's a parent-teacher meeting, Chanyeol."

 

The two best friends can see when the realization dawns on Chanyeol through the glint in her eyes. "You mean he's Sehun's teacher?"

 

Luhan nods.

 

Chanyeol looks like she's about to have an aneurysm.

 

"Wait, doesn't Sehun want to marry Mr. Kris?" Jongdae questions all of a sudden. Luhan shoots her best friend a look, but doesn't do or say anything to disprove her question - or statement, in this case, considering Jongdae's been on the receiving end of Sehun's endless praise of Mr. Kris more than Luhan has.

 

Chanyeol snickers behind her hands, and Luhan flings a serviette at her. She quickly sobers up, though, as does Jongdae, and they both give Luhan a quick squeeze.

 

"It'll be okay, unnie," Chanyeol reassures her, holding both her hands in her own. "You're a strong woman. You'll be fine."

 

Luhan smiles gratefully at Chanyeol, and tries her best to believe her.

 

---

 

 

It's not that Luhan hasn't been trying her damned best to avoid Yifan, it's that life seems to think that it's fun to screw Luhan over. A fortnight after Yifan had sent both her and Sehun home, Yifan walks through the doors of Seoli Coffee.

 

He's not alone. With him is Kyungsoo, and it's a small blessing that it's the latter who strides up to the counter to place their orders and not Yifan. Luhan pushes Chanyeol to the front, Chanyeol blinking in confusion, and disappears behind the coffee machines to hide herself.

 

When Chanyeol's done taking Kyungsoo's order, she joins Luhan behind the coffee machines, although her height makes it absolutely impossible for her to hide herself. "Unnie," She asks, her voice low. "What's wrong?"

 

"That's him," Luhan whispers back, mixing up a latte. She stares at the order for a little while, noting how the latte was not how Yifan used to order it, but rather how she had used to take her coffee. He had always asked for mochas, instead.

 

She doesn't have to elaborate, because Chanyeol gets it right away. There's only one person that Luhan would have the need to hide from, and that's Sehun's father. "The one who ordered?" She questions, looking down at the name that she had written on the plastic cup. "Kyungsoo?"

 

Luhan sends Chanyeol a look that has Chanyeol looking over the coffee machines and at where Kyungsoo and Yifan had taken their seats. gapes rather unattractively, and Luhan reaches up to close for her.

 

"He's hot," Chanyeol says approvingly. "You have good taste, unnie."

 

"In face, perhaps," Luhan grumbles, grabbing the drinks without thinking and bringing them over to the counter. "Kyungsoo!" She calls.

 

Chanyeol's grabs her arm and tries to push her behind her, but Luhan hears the calling of her name before Chanyeol can properly conceal her.

 

"Luhan."

 

It's not Kyungsoo that stands before them, but Yifan. He's staring down at her like she has two heads, like he can't comprehend why she's standing in front of him. He’s wearing a plaid shirt over a black one and he looks so good. Luhan kind of wants to slap herself. She doesn't say anything, and Chanyeol gestures towards the two cups of coffee on the counter.

 

Yifan doesn't make any move to take the drinks, and it's then that Minseok comes out of the backroom. He's walking towards the cashier, barely sparing them a glance, but when he sees how pale Luhan is and the tension in the air, he changes direction.

 

"Luhan," He calls, his voice soft and laced with concern. "Are you okay? Do you need to rest?"

 

He has a hand placed on Luhan's shoulder and another on her waist. Chanyeol doesn't seem to mind, if she notices at all, given the fact that she's busy glaring at Yifan like he's personally offended her by still standing there. Luhan knows that it's not in Minseok's personality to be so touchy-feely, which is probably a testament to how pale she looks.

 

"I'm fine, Minseok," She replies, voice just as soft. She smiles gratefully at Minseok, shaking her head when he asks her if she needs to take a rest in the backroom.

 

There's a strangled noise, and their eyes flick towards Yifan. He's glowering at Minseok like he wants to fire daggers at him. Minseok doesn't seem perturbed by it, merely gives Luhan a quick reassuring squeeze and going to the cashier like he had initially intended.

 

Kyungsoo's appeared, during this time, jabbing his elbow into Yifan's side and earning himself a howl of pain. Luhan giggles at this, and Yifan's eyes snap back to hers. She bites her lip to stop the laughter from bubbling through at the familiarity of him reacting to pain, casting her eyes down.

 

With a roll of his eyes, Kyungsoo takes his drink and shoves Yifan's into his hands, dragging the taller man away from the counter. They return to their seats, leaving Chanyeol free to interrogate Luhan, but Luhan can't tear her eyes away from where Kyungsoo and Yifan are seated.

 

She steals subtle glances at Yifan, who doesn't seem to notice, because he's too busy glaring daggers at Minseok's form. Luhan won't lie and say that she understands why he's sending Minseok these glares.

 

“He’s jealous of my boyfriend,” Chanyeol informs, and Luhan realizes that she’s been thinking out loud.

 

“What?”

 

Chanyeol tilts her head, her eyes flicking back and forth between Luhan and Yifan. “He’s jealous of Minseok oppa. There’s no way that he knows that we’re dating, and with the way that Minseok oppa touched you just now, you look pretty close.”

 

Luhan shakes her head. “There’s no way that he would be jealous.”

 

“I think you’ll find yourself wrong on that account, unnie,” Chanyeol sniffs haughtily. “But that means that he’s still into you.”

 

Luhan sighs, going towards the sink to rinse out the blender. Chanyeol follows her, considering there aren’t any customers needing their attention right now. “I already know that,” Luhan says, turning the tap on while Chanyeol stands beside her with a cloth to dry the blender off. “He said that, to the, well, to the door.”

 

“He said that he’s still into you to the door?” Chanyeol asks, an eyebrow raised.

 

“After I forgot to pick Sehun up from school, a couple of weeks ago. We went out together, the three of us, because Sehun wanted compensation for me forgetting about him. It got a little out of hand – and you know I can never deny Sehun, since he doesn’t ask for much – and he sent us home. After he put Sehun into bed, he started talking about how he had never stopped looking for me, never stopped loving me, and… And I couldn’t take it. I yelled at him, hysterically, and I told him to get out.”

 

Chanyeol begins to grumble when Luhan gets to the point in her story about Yifan never having stopped looking for Luhan, but by the time Luhan’s monologue comes to an end, she has a thoughtful look on her face. It’s an expression that very honestly scares the out of Luhan.

 

“I think you should talk to him.”

 

Luhan’s head snaps up and her hand jerks. The water sprays at her, drenching her as Chanyeol lets out a screech that Jongdae would be proud of had she heard it. Luhan, sputtering, bats blindly at the sink until her hand makes contact with the handle and the tap turns off.

 

Minseok quickly rushes over to them, first patting Chanyeol down, looking worried. Chanyeol did get wet, but not as much as Luhan, who’s positively drenched.

 

“It’s okay, Minseok oppa,” Chanyeol soothes her boyfriend. “I have spare clothes I can change into, don’t worry.”

 

“I don’t,” Luhan sighs, a little morosely. She had worn her uniform polo to work today, thinking that there was no need to wear her casual clothes and come into the coffee shop to change. Minseok gestures for her to go to the staff room and dry off before heading home, despite Luhan’s protests.

 

“It’s almost time for you to knock off, anyway.”

 

It’s a fight that Luhan knows she won’t be able to win, so she leaves the counter and starts moving toward the back room. There’s a tap on her shoulder, and Luhan turns around, thinking that Minseok wanted to say something else, but it’s Yifan standing behind her. He’s not wearing his plaid shirt any more; It’s bundled up in his arms, and he pushes it into Luhan’s arms before she can say anything.

 

“Be careful not to catch a cold,” He murmurs, a little awkwardly, as though he didn’t know where he stood with Luhan. And, Luhan thinks, of course he doesn’t. Why would he?

 

Luhan stares down at the shirt that she’s holding, then back up at Yifan. She’s not one to deny help when she can get it – being a single mother has taught her that if someone offers you a helping hand, you reach out to take it and thank them – even if it’s from Yifan. “Thank you,” She replies, smiling gratefully at Yifan. “I’ll make sure to wash and return it to you by tomorrow.”

 

The corners of Yifan’s lips twitch up. “Tomorrow’s a weekend.”

 

Luhan blinks, then looks down in embarrassment, her face heating up. Yifan chuckles, hands in his pockets. “I might see you more often, though,” He says casually. “Now that I know you work here, how could I pass up your coffee?”

 

Chanyeol chooses that moment to barge in, her hands on Luhan’s shoulders as she steers her away from Yifan and into the back room. Luhan, a little shell shocked by the change, doesn’t react in time, and by the time she realizes it, she’s already inside the room.

 

“He just gave you his shirt, unnie!” Chanyeol squeals. “That’s so cute! I wish I could wear Minseok oppa’s shirts.” She pouts.

 

Luhan whacks her with Yifan’s shirt. “I thought you were rooting for me? Why are you suddenly so happy that he’s trying to win me back?”

 

“Because it’s cute!” Chanyeol repeats, then bends down and looks Luhan in the eye. “And I can tell it’s working, unnie.”

 

Luhan sputters, trying to deny it, but Chanyeol sees right through her. Truthfully, Luhan’s starting to soften up, too. She knows that it’s a stupid thing to do, but with Yifan acting like how he used to when they were still dating, it was hard not to fall for him all over again, when she had been just as helpless the first time.

 

She pulls her shirt over her head, and Chanyeol wolf whistles. Luhan laughs, flinging her wet shirt at Chanyeol’s face when Chanyeol removes her shirt as well. She slides Yifan’s shirt on, and it dwarfs her, just the tips of her fingers peeking out from the sleeves. It reaches down to her knees so she tucks it into her dark jeans.

 

“You look… Really good, unnie,” Chanyeol comments thoughtfully from where she’s rummaging through her stuff to find her spare shirt. Trust Chanyeol not to find the shirt before stripping, but Luhan figures that that’s part of her charm. “It suits you.”

 

Luhan looks down at herself and shrugs. It’s something that she would have worn in university, considering all the shirts she’s stolen from Yifan. She can’t remember if she still has them, or if she’d thrown them away in anger.

 

“Want to bet he’s going to fall to his knees when he sees you?” Chanyeol teases. Luhan makes a face at her co-worker that Chanyeol laughs at in return, slinging an arm over her shoulders as they walk out of the back room.

 

Yifan’s leaning against the wall outside, and his eyes widen when he sees Luhan. Chanyeol snickers into Luhan’s ear, to which Luhan swats at her arm. She waves goodbye to Minseok at the counter and doesn’t see Yifan’s jaw clenching. Chanyeol does though, and she hides a smile behind Luhan’s head.

 

“Luhan,” Yifan calls, softly. “Are you going home? Could we… Talk?”

 

Luhan spares him a sideways glance. She wasn’t in the mood to talk with him – but honestly, when would she ever be? - but Chanyeol’s nudging her side and gesturing almost widely. Luhan sighs, and shakes her head at her friend, but acquiesces to Yifan’s request.

 

She walks out the door of Seoli without saying anything else, and Yifan hurries to catch up with her. Not that it takes much effort from him with his insanely long legs, really.

 

“Sehun not with you today?” He questions, awkward.

 

She shakes her head again, walking forward. “He’s over at Jongdae’s today.”

 

At the mention of her best friend, Yifan tenses up. Luhan swallows her laughter. Jongdae has this wonderful, amazing ability to instil deep, petrifying fear in men. Yifan, especially. Considering Jongdae had been at the parent-teacher meeting, and Jongin had left the table first, she wouldn’t put it past Jongdae to have threatened bodily harm on Yifan.

 

If there was anyone you should take seriously, it was Kim Jongdae. But Yifan probably already knew that.

 

They walk in silence after that. Luhan doesn’t have anything to say to Yifan, and Yifan is unlikely to start their conversation here, in public, of all places.

 

She unlocks the door to her apartment and walks in. She doesn’t think about the last time Yifan walked through those doors, when he’d admitted that he’d been searching for her, that he was still in love with her. It had been to the door, yes, but she had heard his confession, anyway.

 

She gestures towards the couch and moves to the kitchen. She doesn’t have much, but it would be rude to not serve him anything, so she makes him coffee, like he’s always liked it. She makes a cup for herself, as well. She’ll probably need it.

 

He’s sitting on the couch, looking at Sehun’s baby pictures that Luhan’s littered on the coffee table. Since they don’t own a television, there’s a lot of wall space that Luhan’s chosen to hang pictures on. Sehun by himself, Sehun with her, the two of them with Jongdae and her family, Luhan with Jongdae’s parents, even one of herself and her parents, who’ve long disowned her.

 

Luhan places Yifan’s mug of coffee down on the coffee table and cradles her own in her hands. She doesn’t have coasters, considering the coffee table is old and she doesn’t see the need to protect it. As it is, the wooden surface still bares the remnants of Sehun’s colouring spree with his crayons when he was just three years old. Luhan’s tried to get the colour out to no avail, so she leaves it as it is. It’s cute, after all, a reminder of how young her son used to be.

 

Yifan takes a sip of his coffee, and he stares down at the dark liquid for some time, silent. Luhan fidgets nervously, afraid of what he’s going to tell her.

 

“You still make it the same way,” Is what he says first. Luhan raises an eyebrow at him, and he smiles. It’s a small, soft smile, almost bashful. “You remember how I take my coffee.”

 

Luhan sighs at this, a reaction Yifan had obviously not been expecting, since his smile falters. “Yes, Yifan,” Luhan says. “I remember the way you take your coffee. Isn’t that pathetic of me? To still have the preferences of the boyfriend who left me pregnant seven years ago at my fingertips?”

 

“I-” Yifan stutters, clearly at a loss of what to say. “That’s not what I meant,” He finishes, lamely, looking down at the mug, but this time in embarrassment, in shame. “I’m just,” He starts again, trailing off, but Luhan doesn’t say anything, so he continues. “I’m just really glad that you remember.”

 

A small part of Luhan is warmed by this sentiment, but she’s had seven years to stew in her grudge, seven years of hardship because Yifan left her. She knows, somewhere Mariana Trench deep down inside her, that he was forced by his parents, but Luhan had been disowned because of the child that she’d been carrying, surely Yifan could go against his parents wishes. He was the only son, his parents couldn’t afford to lose him.

 

Not like Luhan. Luhan was a daughter; dispensable, especially after she’d brought shame to the family name.

 

“You said you wanted to talk,” Luhan starts when the silence starts to get tense. “So talk.”

 

Yifan lifts his head to look at her, then. Luhan doesn’t react, outwardly, at least. Inside, her heart is pounding, whether because of him or because she’s afraid of what he’s going to say, she doesn’t know.

 

“I’m sorry,” Is how he begins. “I know it doesn’t do anything, and all my apologies are useless because they can’t take back the last seven years that you’ve gone through alone, but I would like to, first and foremost, apologise.

 

“Other than that, well, there’s not much I can say to defend myself. You know, of course, that my parents were the ones to ask me to leave you. I hadn’t wanted to. You were – are – the love of my life. But they put pressure on me, threatened to hurt your family’s social status, to harm you, even, and I know now that they would never have acted on it, but at that time I was just so afraid for you.

 

“After I graduated, I went to work immediately, in the hopes that I would be able to make enough to support you and our child by the time I found you again. You’d disappeared after you graduated, and I managed to find Jongdae because of how popular she was back then, but she refused me any kind of contact, and I was left without any way of finding you.”

 

Jongdae hadn’t told her anything about Yifan attempting to make contact with her. She doesn’t know whether she would have preferred for Jongdae to tell her or not, but she figures that it’s highly unlikely that Jongdae would have informed her of his attempt.

 

“I left my family,” Yifan continues. “After I’d established enough for myself. I knew that they wouldn’t approve of me, well, coming back to you. And I know that it’s silly for me to still have hopes of you returning to me, but it’s a hope that I’ve never given up on.”

 

His eyes are beseeching as he looks at her, but Luhan keeps her face neutral. There are many things that have to be taken into account, after all, and just because he regretted leaving her, it didn’t magically undo the seven years of hardship that she had gone through because of it. Raising a child, especially at the young age that she was at, without a family, had been difficult.

 

“More than anything else, really, I’d like to ask for your forgiveness. If nothing else, I’d like to earn that.”

 

Luhan, at this point in time, sets her mug of coffee down on the table. She hasn’t drunk any of it – it had been more of a comfort than anything else. “You say that you regret leaving,” Luhan starts. She doesn’t really know where she’s going with this. “It doesn’t solve anything.”

 

“I know,” Yifan replies. “I know this. I’d like to make up for it, but that would have to be your call.”

 

And it is, Luhan realizes. It’s her choice whether she wants to forgive Yifan or not, whether she will allow him to make it up to her or not. There’s nothing that he can do unless she lets him back in, unless she allows him into her and Sehun’s lives, other than somehow get her forgiveness.

 

She thinks that she’s pretty close to forgiving him. It’s unlikely that she’ll ever forget what he’s done, because it’s something that’s had a pretty large impact on her life, but she thinks that, at least, given how sincere he is, she could forgive him.

 

“Forgiveness is possible,” Luhan says. “You know as well as I do that I’m not one to hold grudges. But I can’t forget what you’ve done, Yifan.”

 

Yifan looks down at his mug of coffee, his large hands dwarfing it. “I know. I don’t expect you to. While I can’t deny that I would like more, forgiveness is all I ask.”

 

“You might get it,” Luhan smiles. It’s a small smile, but it has hope and warmth blooming in Yifan’s chest. “Sooner than you think.”

 

---

 

 

They speak for a couple more hours, catching up with each other. Luhan learns that Yifan’s been teaching for a couple of years, partly because he likes working with children, and partly because it reminds him of what he’s lost and what he’s working towards. Yifan learns of Luhan’s troubles, what she’s had to go through, the help that she’s gotten from Jongdae and Junmyeon, of her old workplace and of her new.

 

It has Yifan smiling his signature gummy smile, Luhan hiding her laughter behind her hand.

 

The door bursts open, making them both jump, and Jongdae saunters into the room, her hands outstretched like she’s the Queen. “I’m here, plebeians!”

 

Her eyes lock onto Yifan’s form sitting on the couch, and her eyes narrow. Jongin and Sehun watch as she pauses in her step, shrug, and push past her, running into the dining room to grab pouches of juice. Jongdae doesn’t even stop Jongin when she normally would have, so busy glaring daggers at a very tense Yifan.

 

“Luhan,” She starts, her voice sickeningly sweet, as she turns her beatific smile onto her best friend. “I see you forgot to take out the trash.”

 

Luhan raises an eyebrow, and she can see Yifan wilt in his seat in her peripheral vision. It’s amusing, to see such a large man afraid of a woman as petite as Jongdae is.

 

“Don’t be rude,” She scolds, flicking Jongdae on the forehead. Jongdae gives an ‘ow’, holding her hands to her head like a child, and Luhan rolls her eyes. “You might not like him, but he’s still your senior.”

 

“Yeah, cause he’s old,” Jongdae says, pouting.

 

“Junmyeon’s the same age,” Is Luhan’s retort, and she walks over to Sehun and Jongin before Jongdae can start insulting her own husband to try to insult Yifan at the same time.

 

“Hey, baby,” She greets, hefting Sehun into her arms. Sehun wriggles, stretching out of her grip towards Yifan, clenching and unclenching his fists in the universal child gesture of want. She sighs and brings him over to the couch, even as Jongin runs to his mother and hides behind her legs, staring wide-eyed at Yifan. Evidently, he’d never seen his teacher outside of school before.

 

“Mr. Kris!” Sehun crows happily, crawling out of Luhan’s lap and into Yifan’s. Yifan quickly places his mug on the table before Sehun can upend it and cause the coffee to spill everywhere, wrapping one arm around Sehun to prevent him from falling off as he leans forward. Luhan’s heart warms at how well he’s taking care of her son.

 

His son. Their son.

 

Luhan finds that she wants to keep this moment forever, wants to bottle it up and keep it in her chest, close to her heart, so that she can look back at this moment and never forget it, if Yifan left her - left them - again.

 

It's a silly thought, and Jongdae would most likely tell her that should she be able to hear Luhan's thoughts. Perhaps it was for the best that Jongdae could not, or Luhan would never hear the end of it. As it was, no matter how much Luhan loved and trusted her best friend, there were some things that were meant to be kept a secret.

 

She watches Yifan play with Sehun, tickling him until he was giggling. She could feel Jongdae's disapproving gaze on her back, as though she was trying to burn a hole into Luhan's back with her disapproval, but Luhan doesn't really care. This is the closest that she's had to her family being complete in a long, long time, and even if it might not be this way forever, she wants this little slice of heaven to last as long as it possibly can.

 

The bubble is popped, however, when Minseok sticks his head into the apartment through the window from where he’s standing in the corridor. Jongin shrieks at the sudden appearance, and Minseok laughs apologetically. "Luhan," He calls, nodding his greeting at Jongdae, and giving Yifan a quizzical look, as though wondering why he was sitting in Luhan's apartment. But Minseok isn't one to pry, so he doesn't say anything.

 

Before he can continue what he was about to say, though, Sehun peels Yifan's arms off of him and sprints towards the open window, jumping up and down to try to reach Minseok. "Uncle Minseok!" He calls as he hops on the spot. Minseok grins, reaching down to ruffle Sehun's hair. "Uncle Minseok, uncle Minseok!"

 

"Hey, buddy," Minseok chuckles, bending over the window to pick Sehun up from inside the apartment. Yifan looks like he's just swallowed a frog, looking displeased and somewhat green, which confuses Luhan until she remembers Chanyeol's words.

 

"He's jealous of my boyfriend."

 

That would make a lot more sense as to why Yifan looked like he was halfway between going to throw up and spontaneously combusting. The familiarity between Minseok and Sehun probably pushed the thorns of jealousy in deeper, because Sehun, was, well, Yifan's child.

 

The vindictive side of Luhan thought that it served Yifan right. It was his fault that he hadn't been in Sehun's life. He was a teacher to Sehun, whereas Minseok was an uncle, a parental, fatherly figure, almost, who always spoiled Sehun rotten when he was in the coffee shop and who gave Sehun cookies and taught him how to hide them from his mother, cheekily grinning at him when he succeeded.

 

"Well then," Jongdae pipes up, and Luhan jumps about a foot into the air. Her best friend raises an eyebrow at her, as though knowing that Luhan had forgotten about her existence. "It seems Sehun has made it back home, well and safe, you're welcome, by the way, unnie," She sniffs haughtily. Luhan can tell she's joking - at least, she thought Jongdae was joking - and she smiles apologetically at Jongdae.

 

"Come on, Jongin," Jongdae huffs, picking Jongin up, who was still hiding behind her legs. She kisses her son on the cheek and comes over to give Luhan a one armed squeeze. "Bye, Minseok oppa," She greets, waving goodbye to the man still outside the apartment when she exits, slipping her shoes on.

 

The tension in the air is almost palpable when everyone realizes that she hadn't acknowledged Yifan's presence in the house, baring the snide comment about him being the trash that Luhan had forgotten to dispose of, and Minseok chuckles a little nervously. Sehun, unable to read the atmosphere, snuggles happily into Minseok's neck and babbles about treats.

 

"Ah," Minseok remembers, setting Sehun down and earning himself a whine of unhappiness from Sehun when his feet touch the ground. Minseok laughs and reaches into his bag, dangling a bag of cookies just out of Sehun's reach so that the boy has to jump to try to get to it. "I made a last batch at the coffee shop, but I forgot about them, and I can't eat that many cookies, would you like to have some, Sehun-ah?"

 

"Cookies!" Sehun shouts in glee, happily jumping up to grab the bag. "Sehun's cookies!"

 

Luhan laughs, walking over to Sehun and placing her hands on his shoulders. "I hope you gave some to Chanyeol as well, or she'll be knocking on my door demanding them."

 

Minseok snorts. "Do you think she would have let me leave if she hadn't gotten her share of cookies, Luhan?"

 

Sehun gurgles happily when Minseok's grip slackens enough for him to rip the cookies out of his grip. He stands on his tip toes and waves Minseok's head down, pecking him on the cheek and giggling. "Thank you, uncle Minseok!"

 

Minseok shakes his head fondly, ruffling Sehun's hair one more time before he backs away from the window, lest he look like a creep to any of their other neighbours. "You're welcome, Sehun. Make sure you dunk them in milk!"

 

"I will!"

 

"Thank you, Minseok," Luhan echoes the sentiment, smiling at Minseok. Minseok waves it off, saying that it was nothing, and disappears into his own apartment.

 

Luhan laughs as she hears Minseok trip over something and curse. Her neighbour was just too cute, honestly. She turns around to try to get Sehun to shower when she sees Yifan still sitting on the couch, looking like he would rather be anywhere than where he was right now.

 

"Oh," She says, a little surprised. "You're still here."

 

Yifan flinches at that sentence, and Luhan quickly backtracks. "I didn't... I didn't mean it like that. I was just a little surprised, I'm sorry."

 

Yifan shifts awkwardly, a habit of his that Luhan recognizes. It's what he does when he wants to say something but doesn't know how to word it. "What's wrong?" She asks, moving to sit beside him. She can hear Sehun banging around in the kitchen, likely trying to pour himself milk. She knows that he'll probably make a mess, but she knows that Sehun will whine at her about wanting independence if she goes to help him, so she stays where he is.

 

"That man..." Yifan mumbles under his breath, staring at his hands. "That man, who is he to you?"

 

Luhan blinks, then remembers Chanyeol's words again. "Minseok's my neighbour. He lives in the apartment next door. And he's my employer. I guess you could say that he's a very close family friend as well? He's very good to Sehun, and I trust him."

 

Yifan doesn't say anything for some time, and Luhan asks, a little cautiously. "Chanyeol... Chanyeol said that you might be jealous of Minseok. Is that... Is it true?"

 

Yifan gulps, and he looks as though he hopes that the floor will open up and swallow him in, if his expression is anything to go by. "I don't have any right to be jealous," He mumbles, his voice still as soft. "But I can't deny that I am."

 

Luhan giggles at this, especially when Yifan's head snaps up and he stares at her like he's personally offended him. She supposes that it might seem like she's being insensitive and making fun of his feelings, but it's just so funny to her.

 

"Minseok has a girlfriend, you know," She informs, and the realisation that dawns on Yifan's face is just as - if not even more - amusing to watch as compared to his face when Luhan had started giggling. "And it's Chanyeol. They've been together for longer than I've known Minseok. If you're afraid that Minseok will steal me away, or something, you don't have to worry. I'm not his type."

 

"Then he's an idiot," Yifan manages to get out, covering his face with his hands in embarrassment.

 

Luhan smiles fondly at Yifan, even though she know that he can't see her expression. "Besides," She says softly. "You don't have to be jealous, because... Well, because it's unlikely that I'll ever give my heart to anyone else. Not when you still have it."

 

By the end, her voice has almost trailed off into a whisper. Yifan quickly looks up, removing his hands from his face. He's staring at her like he's never seen anyone or any thing more beautiful, and it's making Luhan flustered. She's no stranger to this particular expression of his, but it's been a long time she's been on the receiving end of this look, and she's not used to it.

 

He's leaning in, slowly, as though giving Luhan the chance to back away if she doesn't want it, and she's so, so nervous. She doesn't know if she wants to stop him or not, and it's terrifying, because there's a huge part of her that just wants to give in and let him kiss her, to let herself fall into the embrace she's been denied of for so long.

 

Sehun slams the fridge door and they both jump, the moment broken. Sehun runs out with his bag of cookies and a glass of milk held between his tiny hands. He puts the glass on the table and climbs up onto the couch, snuggling into his mother.

 

"Cookies?" He asks, beaming up at them with his cute little teeth and the brightest smile that Luhan's seen on his face yet. It's adorable, and even with the broken moment that he'd unknowingly caused, she can't hold it against him.

 

"Of course," She agrees, nodding.

 

Sehun rips open the bag just as Yifan stands up awkwardly. "I should... I should probably go now. It's late."

 

Sehun peers up at his teacher. "But Mr. Kris, you haven't had your cookies yet!"

 

Yifan shakes his head, declining. "It's late, and I shouldn't intrude on you and your mother any longer. Enjoy your cookies, okay, Sehun?"

 

"Okay!" Sehun agrees, even if he's pouting a little. Yifan smiles, ruffling Sehun's hair, causing him to whine and cover his head with his hands. "Good night, Mr. Kris!"

 

"Good night, Sehun."

 

Luhan stands up and kisses Sehun on the forehead as she walks to see Yifan out. He takes some time to slip his shoes on, lacing up his Adidas Superstars. Luhan stands, not really knowing what to do as he puts his shoes on.

 

"Thank you for today," Yifan says, his hands in his pockets. He smiles, softly. "For listening to me."

 

Luhan doesn't know what to reply to that, so she just shrugs a little. "It was nice speaking to you, if nothing else."

 

"Are you-" Yifan starts, then cuts himself off. He fidgets - that habit of his again - and Luhan waits for him to speak. "Would you- Is there perhaps-"

 

He scoffs at his own inability to speak, and Luhan giggles. It might have been the sound of her laughter, Luhan doesn't know, that gave him the courage to speak, because he shoots her a sheepish grin and asks. "Are you perhaps, free tomorrow?"

 

Luhan blinks. She glances at Sehun, and rolls her eyes up as she thinks. "Sehun has dance lessons from one to four tomorrow. I'll be free then. What did you have in mind?"

 

"Uh, if you wouldn't mind... Coming by my apartment? It'll be more convenient for us to speak in private than in public. Or at least, if nothing else, more comfortable for the both of us?"

 

Luhan takes a moment to look at Yifan, to just look at him. His face is scrunched up in worry, as though he were afraid of being turned down. There's something, weariness, in his eyes, and something else that she can't pinpoint.

 

He takes her silence as a rejection, and shakes his head. "It's okay if you don't want to," He says, turning away to leave.

 

"No!" She calls, perhaps a little too loudly, because Sehun looks up to peer curiously at her. She smiles apologetically at her son, and turns back to Yifan, who's looking at her, eyes wide. "I- I would love to."

 

"Oh," He intones, and he steps closer to her, his hand coming up awkwardly to frame her left cheek. Just frame, not cup, because he doesn't touch her, but she lifts a hand to take his, nuzzling into the palm of his hand, and he breathes out, sharply.

 

He swallows. She can see the bob of his Adam's apple, and they're both so nervous she would have found it funny if the situation wasn't so nerve wrecking. He steps closer to her and leans down, just slightly, like he always used to do.

 

Luhan closes her eyes, just as his lips brush across her forehead, softly, gently, his hand holding her in the same way, as though he were afraid that she would break or disappear should he hold her too tightly.

 

She opens her eyes again when the pressure is lifted, and they stare at each other for a couple of moments, just looking at each other.

 

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Yifan murmurs, his eyes never leaving hers.

 

"Yeah," Is her reply, and she breaks out into a smile, happiness and warmth and hope blossoming in her heart. "See you tomorrow."

 

---

 

 

Luhan sends Sehun off to dance class the next day. Or, well, she kisses him goodbye when Jongdae swings over to pick Sehun up, since Jongin attends the same class and Jongdae always insists on sending the both of them so that Luhan can have some time to herself.She doesn’t tell Jongdae her plans, because she knows that Jongdae would, come hell or high water, try to prevent it.

 

“See you later, mama!” Sehun calls as he walks down the corridor backwards, stumbling over his little feet. Luhan waves at him, laughing indulgently.

 

Once they round the corner to the lift lobby, Luhan closes the door to the apartment and leans against it. Approximately 3 seconds later, she starts panicking because oh god, Yifan’s coming over soon to bring me to his apartment I’m so screwed why did I agree to this.

 

She rushes into the room to get changed, but when she flings her closet door open in a panic there’s nothing much that she thinks she would look good in. After she’d had Sehun, she hadn’t had much money to spend on luxuries. There wasn’t any need for her to buy them, after all, since the only thing that she had to do was take care of Sehun. As an infant, a toddler, he had needed so much more than she had.

 

She bites her bottom lip, then pulls out a pair of jeans and a shirt from Jongdae’s collection that Jongdae had given to her as a gift. Well, more like sneaked into her closet and refused to take back since. Luhan had never worn it before, but it was pretty, a soft baby blue silk number.

 

She slips it on over her head and goes to the bathroom to fix her hair and conceal the dark eye circles she successfully earned for herself when she spent the whole night in bed tossing and turning, thinking about Yifan and generally being a menace to her son until Sehun had whined about being unable to sleep.

 

“You’re over-thinking this,” Luhan says to her reflection in the mirror. “You’ll be fine.”

 

The doorbell rings, then, and Luhan jumps.

 

“Oh, no, I won’t be fine.”

 

She gives herself one last look in the mirror and pats her clothes down, swallowing nervously. Quickly moving to the door just in case Yifan thinks that she’s stood him up, she opens the door to see Yifan looking as nervous as she feels.

 

“Hi,” Luhan greets, then internally cringes. Eloquent, Luhan.

 

But Yifan laughs good naturedly, returning the greeting. “Hello, Luhan. Are you ready to go?”

 

Luhan blinks, then reaches over to the counter to grab her wallet, keys and phone, and a small bag, stuffing her things inside as she locks the door.

 

The drive over to Yifan’s apartment is silent, but it’s comfortable, at the very least. Even though Yifan’s hand no longer rests, palm up, on the armrest between them, holding onto Luhan’s hand, it brings back memories of something from so long ago. It keeps the both of their thoughts occupied.

 

Yifan pulls into the parking lot of his apartment building and exits the car quickly enough that he’s able to hold the door of the car open for Luhan by the time Luhan’s done fumbling with her seat belt. She blinks up at him and smiles, thanking him and taking his offered hand to help her out of the car.

 

The actions are so similar to what they were when they were still in university, where there was nothing to worry about but exams and where they were going to go for their next date.

 

They walk up to Yifan’s apartment, and Luhan swallows, a lump in , and reaches tentatively out to brush her hand against Yifan’s. It almost seems to embolden Yifan, who takes her hand in his.

 

They’re both smiling, and they kind of look like idiots, standing in the elevator with their hands clasped like that. Yifan leads the way to his apartment, and Luhan waits while he opens the door and gestures for her to go inside.

 

On the inside, it’s very, well, Yifan, for lack of a better word. It’s a little messy, there’s hardly any decoration, and everything is black, white, or some shade of grey in between.

 

“Hungry?”

 

Luhan looks at Yifan, tearing her eyes away from the apartment. He’s standing in the kitchen, a soft, amused smile on his face. It’s then she realizes that she hasn’t had lunch, and she nods. “You don’t have to go out of your way, though,” She says. “I can grab something to eat on the way back.”

 

Yifan shakes his head. “What kind of host would I be, then?” He moves to the fridge and takes out a couple of containers of food that has Luhan’s eyes widening. It’s the restaurant that they liked to frequent when they were still in university because the owners were Chinese and the food was authentic. It had always cured their homesickness, laughing over their plates of sweet and sour pork.

 

She hadn’t been there since she’d gotten pregnant and Yifan left, refusing to go to a place where there were so many – once happy – painful memories for her. To see the familiar logo of the restaurant was like a punch in the gut.

 

She’s laughing, and she’s crying, before she can register herself doing it. Yifan’s eyes widen in horror, and it makes her laugh even harder, but she’s still crying, and Yifan rushes over to quickly to awkwardly wrap her in a hug, his long arms enveloping her. She cries into his shirt, hiccuping because her emotions are everywhere, and by the time she’s calmed down, there’s a wet patch on Yifan’s shirt.

 

“I’m sorry,” She apologizes. “I didn’t mean to ruin your shirt.”

 

Yifan shakes his head. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just...”

 

“No,” Luhan laughs, still teary eyed. “That’s not why- Not why I’m crying. I’m sorry. Let’s- Let’s just eat?”

 

Yifan pulls away from the embrace and wipes the tear tracks away from Luhan’s face with his thumb. “You sure you’re okay?”

 

Luhan nods, and Yifan stares at her for a little longer before he relents and stands to bring the containers of food over. Luhan’s almost salivating, and Yifan laughs at the eagerness on her face. He hands her a small container of rice and opens the rest, one of Luhan’s favourite sweet and sour pork, the other spicy shrimp, and a last one of garlic stir-fried.

 

“God,” Luhan almost moans. “It’s as good as it used to be.”

 

Yifan chuckles, shovelling rice into his own mouth. They’re both quick eaters, even if none of them are as terrifying as Jongdae when she’s hungry. They talk over the meal, small talk, and Yifan asks about Sehun. Where she would have been hesitant to reply him before, now she answers him with a smile on her face.

 

When they’re stuffed full of food and have disposed of the trash, they sit on Yifan’s couch with a mug of coffee each, and it feels so much like the previous day that Luhan starts giggling to herself. Yifan levels her with a puzzled look, but she shakes her head.

 

It happens quickly, so fast that Luhan’s unable to react in time. One second he’s looking at her fondly, and the next his face is right in front of hers. His eyes flick down to her lips, and she gulps. He leans forward slowly, as though giving her time to back away should she want to, but she finds that she doesn’t want to.

 

So she leans forward, and the kiss isn’t perfect, because they bump their noses together, and they’re both laughing like this is their first time, before Yifan cups her face with his hand and slides his fingers into her hair, leaning forward, head tilted so that their noses don’t bump into each other this time, and presses their lips together.

 

It’s slow, the two of them relearning each other, but it escalates when Yifan’s hand moves down her body to her waist, pulling her closer, and Luhan clambers onto Yifan’s lap, straddling his thighs and pressing herself close, as close as she can, to him.

 

When they have to pull away for air, Luhan’s cheeks are flushed, lips swollen, and Yifan’s looking up at her like he’s never seen anything more beautiful. “That was nice,” He comments, and Luhan giggles in his hold. “Shall we do it again?”

 

Luhan rolls her eyes and flicks him on the forehead. He whines at the pain, but she soothes the spot with her thumb and leans back down to kiss him, again.

 

---

 

 

They spend a lot more time together after that, and if Jongdae hadn’t noticed before, she certainly noticed it now. After all, since Jongdae had started coming to Seoli like it was her second home, Yifan had started to come in every weekend and her eyes narrowed into slits every time he walked in. Luhan was pretty sure that Yifan was still absolutely terrified of Jongdae, but he steeled his nerves and came nevertheless.

 

Jongdae drags Luhan away from Yifan, one day, before he could offer to take her and Sehun home – Sehun had started coming to the coffee shop on weekends to work on his homework and be a general nuisance alongside Jongin – and sits her down at the table that she’s sitting at.

 

“You’re back with him again,” Jongdae says, getting straight to the point. “Or, getting there, I don’t know, because you’ve neglected to tell me. Me, your best friend.”

 

Luhan opens to defend herself, but Jongdae cuts her off with a wave of her hand. “The important thing here is whether you know what you’re getting yourself into, and whether or not you’re sure that he can guarantee you happiness. He left you once, he’s capable of doing it again.”

 

“I know,” Luhan says. “But I’m willing to give him a chance.”

 

Jongdae sighs, and looks over to where Yifan is conversing awkwardly with Chanyeol. Chanyeol’s face looks stern, and Jongdae wonders if she’s grilling him about Luhan. “I just want you to be happy, unnie,” She says. “You know that.”

 

Luhan smiles. “I always have, Jongdae.”

 

“Well, if you’re sure,” Jongdae relents, even though Luhan can tell that she’s reluctant. She stands up abruptly and walks over to Yifan, Luhan trailing behind her worriedly.

 

“If you ever hurt Luhan again,” Jongdae spits at Yifan. “I’ll personally cut your balls off, cook them into stew and make you eat it, do you understand me?”

 

Yifan nods jerkily, his face paling, blanching when Chanyeol raises her hand for a high five and Jongdae gleefully connects their palms with a loud smack.

 

Luhan laughs at how pale Yifan looks, and she goes over to link arms with him, beaming up at him when he looks down, and he relaxes, shooting her a smile of his own.

 

She may not have forgiven him completely. She may not have and she will probably never forget what he did to her. But for now, this, him, them, it’s enough.

 

It’s more than enough.

 

“Mom,” Sehun says, timidly. “Dad?”

 

Luhan and Yifan perk up at the call of their son, now tall and lanky, breaking hearts when he turns girls down, according to one of his best friends, Baekhyun. Baekhyun and Luhan are absolute best friends, despite the fact that Luhan could be his mother, and Sehun loathes their companionship because Baekhyun never fails to report every single thing that he does to Luhan.

 

He’s standing at the entrance of their house, looking for all in the world like he would rather be anywhere else. “I, uh, I have something to tell you.”

 

“Sure,” Luhan says, tugging Yifan to sit at the couch. Yifan’s grumbling about something inconsequential, which Luhan’s learned to tune out by now. “What’s wrong?”

 

Sehun fidgets nervously, and it’s a habit Luhan is pretty sure he picked up from Yifan. He opens the door behind him and Jongin peeks in nervously. Luhan raises an eyebrow. Jongin’s been welcome in their house since he was born, and it was unlike him to be so shy about coming into the house.

 

Sehun and Jongin have a hushed conversation, until Sehun pulls Jongin over to sit beside him on the love seat that’s perpendicular to the couch.

 

“Um, mom, dad, I, uh-” Sehun chokes. “I’m, uh, gay. And uh, Jongin’s my boyfriend.”

 

Luhan’s fist shoots into the air and crows in victory. “Yifan, you owe me 50000won!”

 

“You can’t date him!” Yifan yells at the same time, pointing his finger at Jongin. Jongin pales and seems to shrink into himself. “He poured glue all over my shoes when he was 7 years old! You can date anyone but him!”

 

Luhan slaps Yifan’s arm as Sehun sputters at the fact that his parents had made a bet on his uality. “Wait, you knew?”

 

Luhan flips her hair over her shoulder. “I had a hunch. I’m not your mother for nothing, you know.” She wags a finger at Sehun, mock stern. She then turns to Jongin and smiles. “Ignore Yifan. He just has the mental capacity of a 5 year old. But remember,” And her face becomes a little melancholic. “Practice safe .”

 

Sehun and Jongin flush, and trip over their own feet trying to get away from Sehun’s embarrassing parents. Luhan giggles as they stomp their way up to Sehun’s room.

 

Yifan nudges Luhan, his face serious. “I’m sorry.”

 

It’s the umpteenth time he’s apologized; He’s been at it for the past 12 years. But Luhan, like every time he’s apologized in the past 10 years, tilts her head up to kiss him softly on the lips and smile at him.

 

“I forgave you a long time ago.”

 

 

 

1. In case you were wondering how Jongdae has a son at the same age as Sehun, Jongin is actually adopted. If I ever write the SuChen spin-off, it’ll be addressed there. No promises, though.

2. Jongdae yelling “Remember what I told you to do!” refers to Jongin pouring glue on Yifan’s shoes, as stated in the epilogue.

3. I apologize if you found that Luhan forgave Yifan too quickly, but it was written this way after a lot of thought and consulting various people close to me.

4. If you noticed Tao’s absence, congratulations! Have a panda cookie. He – she – plays a pretty large part in the aforementioned SuChen spin-off, and not at all in Luhan’s life, which is why she isn’t mentioned in this fic.

5. Minseok’s coffee shop, Seoli, means ‘frost’ in Korean, because I am an unoriginal person.

6. Sehun’s crush on Yifan is null and void starting from when he saw Kyungsoo. When Luhan tells Sehun that Yifan is his father at 13 years old, Sehun takes two days to take in this information, and on the third he tells Yifan that he’ll acknowledge him as his father if he gets Kyungsoo to come over more often.

7. If you finished reading the fic, thank you for following Luhan and Yifan throughout their journey.