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‘Are you absolutely sure?’ Seungwan asks for the fifth time as both she and Joohyun pack their belongings into their respective bags. More accurately said, the singer attempts to squeeze into a small carry on whatever clean she could find at the last moment, while her roommate simply sits on the other side of the room, looking solemn.

‘Family is family, Seungwan. It means a lot to me still.’

‘Sehun still adamant about crushing the wedding?’

‘…he will not,’ Joohyun replies after a moment of hesitation, adjusting in her seat. The covers get temporarily wrinkled and her hand automatically reaches to smooth them. ‘At least I don’t think he will.’

‘Are you gonna be fine?’ Seungwan takes a seat next to the other girl, squeezing her palm in her own hands; Joohyun further pulls them into her lap, absent-mindedly playing with the younger’s fingers while she considers.

‘Junmyeon didn’t reply to any of my calls, I know he wants to wait me out. I know how his mind works. What I don’t know is what will happen once we are all forced back together. He’d never been one for direct confrontations, but recently his behaviour has gone completely askew. I’m not scared; it just makes me feel uneasy.’

‘Seulgi will need you,’ Seungwan reasons, still conflicted but it is not her place to interfere in the siblings’ life. Normally she would not mind giving a piece of her mind to any of her close friends; however, this is Joohyun and the matter is far too delicate to rush into unnecessary advice head first.

‘You’re a good friend, Seungwan,’ Joohyun observes, unconsciously putting more pressure on the palms that are still in her grasp. The younger, unable to turn away, can only lower her head in mild embarrassment. ‘You’re still thinking about Seulgi even though she is nothing to you.’

‘She’s important to you and that’s enough for me to care about her.’ She hastens the explanation under the elder’s scrutinising gaze. ‘Plus, I just feel that she is the true victim of this situation. She’s always seemed incredible gullible to me.’

‘That she is,’ Joohyun confirms quietly.

Seungwan gets up from the bed, mostly to avoid the brewing of the awkward atmosphere between them. It is a sensitive topic, and Joohyun appears to be at her limit despite the skilful act she has kept up till now.

‘Say, Seungwan.’ The singer turns around in question when the prompting is not followed by anything else. Her roommate looks conflicted, as if weighing her options. ‘Would it be alright if- if I called you during Christmas? Just… when I need to talk to somebody?’

It does not come easy for Joohyun Bae to admit a weakness, of which desire for moral support definitely is one. She does not even look at her companion when she poses the question, almost afraid of rejection. The assumption is plain ridiculous, considering Seungwan’s devotion to her and the younger student immediately alerts her to the fact, not hesitating to drop her things and envelop the other in a tight hug made of pure affection and encouragement. When they part, Seungwan sports a wide grin that dispels Joohyun’s unease more successfully than any conversations about the uncomfortable issue ever would.

‘Why would you even ask? I’ll fly on my broom to save you and punch that prick Junmyeon in the guts if I have to. Call me anytime you want, I’ll probably want to rant about Chanyeol, too. Dude, it is one thing to meet him daily but another to be attached to him by the hip twenty-four seven in his natural habitat. One day during summer holiday when I stayed over at his, I woke up with his old socks in my face. He apparently thought it was the funniest thing ever….’

The voice is drowned in the background as Joohyun simply continues to look at the other girl, no longer even taking note of what the monologue is about. Seungwan’s lips are moving, bombarding her roommate with her usual array of random information. If uninterrupted, Seungwan Son can continue for another thirty minutes, switching from one topic to another, frequently digressing and nearly losing plot at some point. Joohyun just stares at the other’s lips, not minding it one bit. The presence alone, the casualness with which she is being treated as opposed to fussing over her dysfunctional family makes her feel comforted and it is a first for her.

It is the first time in her life when Joohyun Bae does not turn to God first because there is somebody much more real - physically real – being there for her. She smiles at Seungwan who is still walking around, picking up the rest of her necessities, unaware of the attention she is on the receiving end of and the blush spreading on her companion’s face.

‘You sure you don’t wanna stay over at ours? Zhoumi wouldn’t mind.’ Sehun looks up from his phone to see Tao approaching from the direction of the main gate and propping himself against the wall of the boys’ dormitory right next to his friend.

‘Yixing already offered but I have to go back. I told you already.’ Sehun shrugs, looking at his cell one more time but no new messages appear so he pockets it carelessly in the front of his denim jacket.

‘Where is he?’

‘Went back home this morning. Wanted to stay and see me off first but I didn’t think it was such a good idea since my parents are coming to pick us up. I’d rather they didn’t see him in case Junmyeon mentioned his involvement. I think he’s still on the train,’ Sehun adds as an afterthought, hand reaching for the phone again almost unconsciously.

Tao only nods. They stand there for a longer moment, observing the crowd wandering there and back. The Christmas break is barely but ten days this year, though nobody really stays in the dormitory unless they are really forced to. Most parents are already there, dutifully dragging their offspring’s luggage to their respective vehicles and the queue to drive through the gate is insane. Whoever had to find their own transportation left early in the morning, like Yixing; partially to avoid the commotion.

‘We never really talked about this,’ Sehun observes quietly, eyes still trained on a random student arguing with her mother near the parking lot area. The girl looks reluctant to leave behind the big stuffed toy she is carrying in her arms. No doubt a gift from her first boyfriend, the boy can’t help but think.

‘About Junmyeon? I hear about him so much these days I’m literally ready to honk.’

‘I mean, about Yixing.’ Tao turns to his best friend, looking at him in alarm.

‘What happened to him now?!’

‘No, nothing. Just… you know. Him and… you know. You never asked me.’ Tao regards rumbling Sehun for a moment before he bursts out laughing, a slight disbelief in his eyes.

‘What’s there to ask about? I’ve known him for like five years. He’s a cool bloke. Not as insane as your siblings, anyway.’

‘Yeah, but you know… Him and I-‘

‘There is nothing to ask about,’ Tao assures again, entirely convinced of the truth. Relief washes over Sehun and he just smiles gratefully, looking down again.

His best friend stands back up, stretching energetically.

‘Now, you have a safe journey back, mate, and if it gets too much, you know where to find me. I’mma go find my girlfriend, I’m supposed to see her off to the train station.’

‘I swear you have too many girlfriends, I can’t keep up,’ Sehun scoffs, which only evokes an innocent smile and shrug from the other.

‘See you after the holiday, dude,’ Tao repeats only, extending his fist for a bump – something they haven’t done since they turned sixteen. Sehun laughs for real this time but reciprocates.

‘You’re the best, you know that, right?’

‘That’s what I was hoping to hear,’ Tao laughs, waving at him once and leaving in long quick strides.

Not even five minutes after the occurrence, Chanyeol Park emerges from the building, struggling with a large backpack.

‘Oh, you have a gift for me? You shouldn’t have,’ Sehun feigns cooing at the festive bag in Chanyeol’s left hand. His taller friend looks confused for a moment before the realisation downs on him and he quickly withdraws it out of the other’s reach.

‘Huh? It’s nothing.’ He haphazardly stuffs it into his luggage, hoping to end the topic as soon as possible.

Sehun is ready to enquire more about it – especially since Chanyeol is so defensive – but their attention is temporarily diverted by the arrival of Joohyun and Seungwan. The siblings share a look before nodding at each other with the air of finality.

‘You sure you don’t want to us to come with?’ Chanyeol can’t help but ask again. Naturally, the rush decision to join the Bae Christmas was instantly rejected by both Joohyun and Sehun, although for completely different reasons. Tao looked utterly relieved, for reasons that were never fully disclosed; Chanyeol’s spirits, on the other hand, seem to have been dampened and he has not stopped asking about it since.

‘It really is a family matter, Chanyeol Park. Your emotional… support is enough,’ the older girl settles for the word after a brief pause. His brother’s friend’s sentiments are appreciated, even if they appear to be terribly misplaced.

‘Don’t worry about us, mate,’ Sehun adds. ‘Plus, it’s not like we can invite you both to our house. There’s no place for you there. Especially not with Junmyeon’s wedding and all.’

‘We can just stay at a B’n’B. Seungwan got a new credit card for Christmas.’ The hit on the arm that Chanyeol receives at the statement is only half hearted. She did indeed get more money from her mother who did not even bother to call before the transfer, like she usually does. It would be one thing if the girl were able to actually use the money for something she enjoys, but when one is stuck in a boarding school and their spending history is automatically linked to their parent’s account, any joy of the experience is on principle out of it. The most Seungwan can do with the funds is buy more clothes she does not care for and stuff her face with dim sum sold near Old Market Square.

She can only imagine what would happen if her mother realised that Seungwan was not in York but instead in Darby, ordering a hotel room for two.

‘I’ll keep you posted,’ Joohyun promises though she is looking more at Seungwan.

Seungwan does not know what to think about it. If she were to be selfish, she would have found a way to weasel into the situation, but it is not her place to interfere; Joohyun trusts her not to. A part of the singer that shares Chanyeol’s concerns is disappointed but another also feels relieved. Confrontations with other people’s parents are not her forte.

‘When does your train leave?’

‘Oh, we still have over an hour and a half. I was just going to call for a taxi, but we’ll see you off first,’ Seungwan responds to Sehun’s query.

‘We can still change our reservations…’ Chanyeol adds snidely but Joohyun shakes her head, exasperated.

‘Don’t bother.’

The mindless banter lasts for some time before the siblings’ parents’ car finally rolls into the parking lot. All of a sudden, the atmosphere becomes tense. Sehun only nods at his friends before grabbing both his and his sister’s luggage and approaches the now parking vehicle. He looks determined but there is no doubt in Seungwan’s mind that the tough front is to conceal the trembling of his own heart.

Joohyun turns to Seungwan for a moment, before enveloping her in a tight hug.

‘I better go,’ she whispers. ‘I’ll call you later.’ Her companion nods once.

Only pastor Bae has come to collect his children – something that as far as they all know does not usually happen as their hometown can be easily reached by bus in about half an hour. Sehun only looks at his father briefly before putting their suitcases into the boot and not waiting for an invitation, immediately occupies the back seat. Joohyun expected as much; she knows that they cannot both sit at the back, so she mentally steels herself for the reserved conversation that will take place once she is in the passenger’s seat.

But she has to deal with it herself. It helps immensely to have people genuinely encouraging her along the way and ones that she can lean on in times of need, but this is something that she has to face alone. She has never regarded co-dependency on others as part of her nature.

As promised, Joohyun does call Seungwan in the evening – right in the middle of her dinner with the Parks. She excuses herself quickly and runs back up to Chanyeol’s room to pick up the call.

‘Am I interrupting something?’ Joohyun asks cautiously as soon as she notices the other’s laboured breath.

‘What? No, not at all. How’s everything?’ Seungwan relocates to the bed, simultaneously throwing off various items that most definitely do not belong there. It has been half a day and Chanyeol already managed to make himself well at home with all the mess surrounding them.

‘Not very great,’ Joohyun admits quietly. ‘The journey back was relatively calm, but that was only because none of us really said a word. How was yours?’ Now it does not seem like the right time to say that Seungwan and Chanyeol spent half of their time on the train throwing Doritos at each other.

‘Yeah, not bad. We got back safely. Is Junmyeon there?’ The pause is slightly longer.

‘Yes. Yes, of course.’

‘Did something happen?’ Seungwan is almost afraid to ask.

‘Seulgi’s family was here when we arrived. We ate lunch together.’

‘Awkward,’ the younger can’t help but sing-song under her breath. She hears her friend sigh.

‘I was expecting an open confrontation, but my father basically behaved as if Sehun didn’t exist. He talked to the Kangs about my brother’s involvement in the wedding and didn’t even react in any way when Sehun just stood up and left half way through the meal without a word. You know that we have been in boarding schools since childhood and to my knowledge Sehun doesn’t really have any friends here in Darby… I was getting worried but he eventually came back.’

‘Junmyeon?’ Seungwan prompts when Joohyun falls silent again.

‘He treats us both like air. I suppose he has it hard enough as it is.’

‘What he’s doing has no excuse.’ Seungwan has recently promised herself that she will refrain from constant judgement of the situation, at least in front of her roommate, but it seems to be impossible. Just the thought of the boy brings sour taste to Seungwan’s mouth.

‘He’s under so much pressure right now I’m not even trying to get through to him. He might just snap and I’d rather he didn’t, now when we are all here together. Seulgi’s parents are so unhappy with him. I mean, her mother just looks resigned – so does mine, to be perfectly honest. But her father… If he could, he’d probably shoot Junmyeon on the spot.’

‘Are you alright?’ That is the only question that really matters to Seungwan. Joohyun hums.

‘I’m fine. I’m-I’m fine,’ she settles for the most concise answer, but it still conveys the message quite clearly. Joohyun is not fine at all. ‘I’m worried about Seulgi, though. She looks like she hasn’t slept in weeks. It can’t be good for her or the baby.’

The conversation continues, moving on to other random subjects which consist mostly of Seungwan bugging Joohyun to tell her what her Christmas gift is and the older chuckling lightly, promising to exchange the presents as soon as they are back in school. Finally, Joohyun’s mother (and Seungwan’s hunger) forces them to end the phone call and they say their soft good byes.

At first, things are relatively uneventful the following Christmas Day. The Park family does not celebrate the occasion so it is just an excuse for the boy’s older adoptive sister Yoora to arrive with her husband and organise a family get together. Sehun does not pick up his phone as her best friend informs Seungwan – she can tell that Chanyeol is just itching to do something, not having abandoned his previous plans of going to Darby just yet. To district him, the two of them take the bus to town, ending up in Chocolate Story because there is never not the right time to go there. In fact, the girl thinks that if her biology tests were ever conducted on the process of chocolate making, she would ace them like no other. Chanyeol can only grumble when he is forced to go through the same tour for at least the tenth time in his life, though his protests are much weaker at the promise of Seungwan buying him hot chocolate afterwards.

In all honesty, Seungwan is simply passing the time, waiting for Joohyun’s evening phone call, even though they did not exactly agree to communicate daily. It does come – just not how the younger imagined it to.

‘You said that I could call you anytime,’ Joohyun starts without any preamble and Seungwan only listens, gradually sliding to the floor in Yoora’s old room where she usually sleeps when she stays over. Joohyun does not sob but the tone of her voice betrays the fact that she might actually have prior to the phone call. Seungwan’s heart feels heavy when she listens to the story which is why having hung up, she beckons Chanyeol over, sharing what she has learnt about the current situation in Joohyun’s house but at the same time not really expecting it to affect her directly. What she definitely does not expect is to be awaken at the crack of dawn the next day on the account of the matter.

So on Boxing Day at down, this happens.

‘Agent Park and agent Son walk down the stairs, looking around carefully. There is no time to waste, but they have to proceed cautiously. Target A can easily wake up and realise that his precious keys are missing- Uh, I told you, Wan, my father loves his bloody car too much, though I have to admit it is pretty awesome indeed… His car, mind you, not my dad… Where was I? Agent Park is now going to attempt to find the registration documents so we don’t get stopped half way to Darby-‘

‘Park, can you stop running your mouth for one second and just get the bloody paper so this trip doesn’t end before it even began?’ Seungwan hisses at her friend, squinting at the darkness and nearly tripping over that one floppy side of the carpet near the shoe shelf that she always forgets is there. She does not even understand why this whole matter needs to be so secretive. They could have just explained the situation to the Parks and simply take the first morning National Express – heck, maybe Mr. Park would even drive them there if he felt generous with his time. But no; Chanyeol just needs to steal the keys, borrow the brand new big Subaru, otherwise known as Mr. Park’s third child, and then see the chips fall where they may.

If Seungwan were not in such a rush to get to the Bae household herself, she might actually protest the insane creation of Chanyeol’s imagination because there is no way this can ever work and they reach further than Leeds before they are stopped for one reason or the other. Not with a barely legal chaotic driver behind the steering wheel and his tiny companion who does not know how to read maps. As it is, however, she just pushes him forward towards the jacket rack, hoping the boy will hurry up and dig out the relevant documents from the inside pocket of his father’s coat.

She hastily pulls on her sneakers and carefully turns the key stuck in the lock of the Park’s front door. This cannot possibly work. Mr. Park will walk down any second, catch us red-handed and then their family disowns me.

Nothing of that sort happens, though; Chanyeol manages to obtain the needed papers without any major obstacles and soon they are out of the door, entering the vehicle and trying to be as quiet as possible about it.

‘Just for the record, if this blows up, I’m telling your parents you kidnapped me,’ Seungwan informs her friend, fastening her belt and putting her palms under the thighs in a nervous gesture. She does not have to look at Chanyeol to know that he is grinning so hard his teeth probably sparkle in the dark.

He lives for chaos, that much Seungwan has always been certain of.

‘I left my father a message. He’ll understand,’ he reassures the singer. ‘Probably,’ he adds after a moment.

‘Let’s just go, the stupid wedding will start at 10 o’clock, we better get there on time before Sehun commits murder.’

‘Ah, our baby is growing up,’ Chanyeol pretends to wipe a tear, at the same time starting up the car and making the engine jump and push the car forward but a few inches due to his carelessness.

‘Would you bloody keep both your hands at the wheel? I refuse to die before I kiss Joohyun. I should have never agreed to get in the car with a homoual,’ Seungwan shakes her head exasperatedly to which Chanyeol frowns, deep offense marring his forehead.

‘Hey, now. Don’t you know that every group of gays actually has that one designated driver who is forever in charge of driving the rest everywhere? Looking thirty years into our future, I can already tell it’ll be me.’

Seungwan wants to retaliate, but straining her memory for counterarguments proves futile. None of their other queer friends have bothered to even attempt the driving licence examination; she remembers having been driven once by Kyungsoo Do, but he is not exactly anyone that she would count as part of their gang.

‘And you’re not allowed to name Minseok,’ Chanyeol adds quickly, as if in self-defence.

‘Minseok is not even gay,’ Seungwan replies, looking at her companion with a mixture of pity and exasperation.

‘But he’s, like, honorary gay. He’s too cool not to be included.’

Seungwan cannot disagree with that.

They arrive after nearly three hours. First they have to stop for about fifteen minutes around eight o’clock because Chanyeol receives a rather disturbing call from his father who have discovered the disappearance of his car and threatens to disown him if he does not turn around that same moment (which could maybe, just maybe save his belonging to the family but nothing is certain). Chanyeol refuses and failing to make his father understand the gravity of the situation, does the worst possible thing: hangs up on his parent. Seungwan thinks that she will miss Chanyeol in the next two years that he will be grounded.

Consequently, GPS leads them astray two times (or maybe it is just Seungwan who cannot count the streets properly but hush) and later neither of them can actually remember the exact address of the church or the Bae household. They finally find it by complete chance - they have been circling the same neighbourhood that Chanyeol is convinced he has heard Sehun mention for nearly twenty minutes, when they somewhat resignedly turn back to the main street that suddenly leaves them with the perfect view of the front lawn of the First Presbyterian Church of Darby.

That, and a tiny silhouette of Junmyeon swinging a punch at Yixing Zhang who does his best to calm him down despite the circumstances.

Wait, what? What kind of déjà vu is this?

It is a good thing that the two newcomers have just stopped at the traffic lights because gay or not, Seungwan fears that Chanyeol would have lost control over the steering wheel all the same.

A/N: Words cannot describe how emotional this feature has made me - I means so much because it comes from your guys' appreciation and interest, and upvotes of course. Thank you so much for all the nice comments and continuous engagement with the plot, and since I have gained over 200 new subscribers, I hope the story is to your liking too. Yes, it is slow burn and yes, it does have multiple characters but it is not everyday that I write chaptered fanfiction - in fact, I usually only write one shots - so for this story I planned it well, relying heavily on building the whole universe so it resembles reality as much as possible. It naturally demands engagement with all the characters, not just WenRene, but I hope you are still having fun reading it and understand how all the other things occuring to others affect our main pairing.

I hope you enjoyed this new, somewhat transitory chapter and I will update in the next two weeks with a longer one than usual - as thanks and in order not to keep you hanging when I will be away on holiday. Please upvote if you liked and have a nice day. Thank you again.