“There isn’t a single petty bone in your body, is there?” Jisoo comments sarcastically as Junhee’s private cellphone goes off and Blow Me by Pink! blasts through the atelier.

The designer steps away from her current star model, putting the pin cushion down on the table before pulling out her iphone with a frown.

“I don’t know what time it is in stupid Beijing right now, but people in this timezone are working, Wu Yifan. What do you want?” Junhee bites out.

She is in the middle of finishing the fitting for a new design and if one Kris Wu, global supermodel and ex-husband extraordinaire were in his right mind he would certainly remember this is a sensitive time for Junhee during which not even a natural catastrophe is allowed to steal her concentration.

Yet, here they are and Yifan has scored another point on her list of annoyances with the surety and experience of an NBA basketball player at the free throw line.

“Sehun did it again” is all Yifan answers and Junhee rolls her eyes.

“What precisely? Drive your car and forgot to refill the tank? Lent and lost your favorite sunglasses? Got caught making out with Huang Zitao in a public setting again? Or Zhang Yixing this time? You have to specify what our son did or I can’t tell you what to do for damage control.”

“If you looked into his closet you’d figure.”

“I don’t go fashion police on our son. He knows what he can and cannot wear. He grew up surrounded by well-dressed people.” Junhee reminds her ex-husband.

“That’s not my issue here, Junhee.” Yifan hisses. “He keeps taking outfits from my wardrobe whenever he’s here and takes them to Paris. He doesn’t ask whether he can have them and he’s not bringing them back either. Instead I see him in the gossip news wearing gifts I received from designers to the airport or to parties. How does that make me look in front of the people I work for?”

“Is that my problem? Don’t you have a walk-in closet? I’m sure you can lock it. Besides, Sehun looks great in your clothes, you know that as well as I do.” Junhee rolls her eyes and sends a glare at Jisoo when he moves just the slightest bit.

“You could give him enough allowance money to buy designer clothes for himself.” Yifan suggests annoyed.

“Are we really discussing this again? He lives with me and I pay for his fashion design studies, I believe that is perfectly enough. If he wants to make it in this industry then he has to work hard for it. No one handed us our careers either. We wore pret-à-porter from clothing chains for a long time before you got designers thirsting to dress you and I had people lining up to model for me. If Sehun can’t make street and clothing chain fabrics fashion then he doesn’t have what it takes.”

“He can still choose a career in modeling.”

“Like you? Pray tell me, what will you do when they start replacing you with younger men? Be part of the jury of China’s Next Topmodel?” Junhee taunts.

“I am sure I get offers by magazines and designers to work in their production teams.”

“Oh and you know what could be useful then? A degree in fashion design for example.”

“Junhee.”

“Yifan.” Junhee imitates his whiny tone. Jisoo’s loud snort travels through the whole atelier.

“You’re not alone, huh?” Yifan asks with a suddenly very even tone.

“No, I’m in the atelier with Jisoo to do some fitting.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh.” Junhee repeats.

“Just fitting, huh?”

“Of course just fitting, none of my models are like you.”

“What is that even supposed to mean. Why are you acting as if that was solely one-sided.” Yifan defends himself.

“I didn’t say it was, I just asked you to not make assumptions.”

“Fine. Sorry for disturbing you during your fitting. I know you hate that.”

“Good to see that you remember.” Junhee says and picks the pin cushion up again. Jisoo looks pointedly into a completely different direction, but she can tell he is severely amused.

“How could I not. Look, I’ll send you a picture of the outfit I’m referring to. Please ask Sehun to return it.”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself, he’s your son too.”

“Junhee, please.”

“You know that once he loves an outfit it’s his. If you want to get it back you’ll have to pry it out of his clutching hands.”

There is silence on the line and Junhee checks her display to see if Yifan hung up on her. Wouldn’t be the first time. After his last visit they had a very unpleasant fight that ended with a yelling contest until the line went dead.

“Then how about I come to Paris and do just that? My schedule has a four days slot in three weeks. We could spend time as a family, if you’re okay with me staying at your place. I’ll talk to Sehun about this clothes lending business too, you won’t have to do it. In return I’d really love for you to do a design for a new coat for me. Just private. I’ve worn my last one out and you made that one for me. We both can admit you just know my requirements best.”

Junhee ponders for a moment. Last time Yifan was there he had demanded a new pair of pants from her with the same exact reasoning and it had ended rather unexpectedly with her getting a bit too lost in how attracted she was to her ex-husband still. Yifan’s suggestion is a rather poorly concealed request to repeat what divorced people certainly should not be doing with each other.

“Okay, fine. I’ll warn Sehun though.”

“Do that. And now I’ll stop bothering you at work.”

“You always bother me.”

“I know.”

_

“Your father wants his jacket and gucci shirt back.” Junhee yells into the hallway when her son returns from university early in the evening.

Sehun kicks his shoes off at the entrance before shuffling into the living room and dropping down on the couch, immediately resting his head on Junhee’s shoulder.

“When have I ever returned any of the outfits though? They look better on me than on him anyway.” Sehun comments with unconcealed narcissism and Junhee wonders not for the first time if it was such a good idea to mix her own DNA full of stubbornness, pride and charm with Yifan’s DNA of self-indulgence, cockiness and beauty. Then again, it hadn’t been an idea. It had been a full-fledged accident of two teenagers.

And what a handsome, lovable and life changing accident Sehun was.

Junhee turns her head to kiss Sehun’s forehead and smiles amused. It is true, Sehun naturally looks good in everything that looks good on his father and despite having a closet full of clothes in each parent’s apartment Sehun has made it a habit since the divorce to continuously import designer gifts to his father from Beijing to Paris. It almost looks like a scheme.

“So I told him. He really wants some of his things back though so he’ll come by in three weeks to pick them up. You might want to hide some of the outfits you can’t part with.” Junhee warns him.

“That’s not all there is, right?” Sehun pushes.

“What do you mean?”

“Please mother, who do you take me for to believe getting back his clothes is all he’s going to do here.” Sehun huffs offended.

“Okay, right. He’ll stay here too. In the guest room. I thought you might be happy to have us all under one roof for a few dinners again.” Junhee admits with a shrug.

“I bet you he bargained for a personal design from you, one of a kind, only for him and he is going to insist on a personal, intimate fitting which is going to end like last time when I stumbled into you two christening your otherwise sacred atelier.”

“That’s not-” Junhee stammers but Sehun snorts and gets up.

“Honestly, no one is going to throw a fit if you two decide to have a relationship again. I’m used to you two bickering twenty-four seven over the smallest things because friction has been your thing since 1992. Remember, I’ve been around twenty years of that? This half-baked something that’s currently going on .” Sehun rambles and Junhee regrets avoiding to have this conversation back when Sehun caught them red-handed being lost in each other. Then a thought comes to her.

“Say, Sehun. Could it be you steal his clothes purpose to make us communicate?” Junhee asks sharply.

Sehun winces and walks into the kitchen, his mother hot on his tail.

“So what if I do?” Sehun snaps as he grabs a glass from the shelf. “I know it’s not my position, but you’re being both so ing ridiculous. You managed to raise me and pursue your careers at the same time although you were terribly young. You’ve gotten through much more straining times together. We were a family until you two decided we aren’t. Or are we? You two really gotta decide, Mom.”

“It’s not that easy, Sehun. A divorce leaves scars behind.” Junhee explains but it is a fruitless attempt. Stubbornness runs in the family after all.

“Then make it simple. Do you still love Dad?”

Junhee sighs deeply.

“I haven’t loved anybody else since I was fifteen.”

“There you go. Do you regret the divorce?”

Junhee gives Sehun a long look. She generally refuses thinking about the divorce for too long and when her friends ask her about it she usually just vents about all the things that annoy her about Yifan. But this is Sehun and he’s her son. If she can’t be honest to him about this, towards who can she?

“Yes.”

“Then” Sehun says with a smile that grows pleased and triumphant, “you should talk to Dad. He always asks me about the male models who work for you and his jealousy is super transparent. You two belong together and everyone and their mother knows that.”

-

“Reconciliation? - Kris Wu to run for ex-wife’s label Gardienne on Paris Fashion Week”

“10 reasons why Fashion royalty Junhee Kim and Kris Wu might be back together”

“Spotted: Kris Wu and Junhee Kim on private dinner in Beijing”

Junhee chuckles quietly as she scrolls down her news feed on her phone. There is an arm draped over her waist under the covers and Yifan breathes hotly into her neck. His bed is comfortable, she has to give him that.

“We’re the talk in Fashion town.” Junhee informs her ex-husband when she feels him shifting behind her.

“Let them talk.” Yifan slurs tiredly and presses a kiss to her shoulder. “Most of those are probably ridiculous speculations.”

“Rumor has it we’re preparing to get remarried.” Junhee snorts. Yifan snorts too, but she does not miss it when he mumbles:

“I wish.”