Jeonghan sat inside his apartment strumming leisurely on his bass guitar. He'd been taking things slow ever since returning from Thailand and it was doing wonders for his sleeping schedule as well as his overall state of mind. Jeonghan didn’t really have much planned aside from the dinner that Seungcheol and Mingyu’s mom had invited him to. He was about to get up when his phone began vibrating from the coffee table in front of him, he leaned over from the sofa and picked it up. Wonwoo was on the other end.

"Hello?" Jeonghan answered.

"Hey man, did you and the guys get back safe?" Wonwoo asked.

"Yeah, we got home just fine. Seungcheol got his bucket hat stolen by a fan but that was more of a blessing than anything else, I hated that thing."

"That's good, me and Soonyoung are at the beach and-" Wonwoo's suddenly started shouting. "Soonyoung! That's a jellyfish! Put it down! Put it down before it stings you! Where the did you find a jellyfish?!"

"Hello? Wonwoo?" All Jeonghan could hear from the other end was loud noise.

"I'm here, I'm here. I feel like I'm babysitting an overly curious seven year old," Wonwoo sighed.

"Would you have it any other way?" Jeonghan quirked a brow.

"No, he's perfect," Wonwoo finally said.

"Have fun in Thailand and come back safe," Jeonghan said.

"Yeah, thanks Jeong-" another pause from Wonwoo. "Soonyoung! Leave the ing jellyfish alone!"

Jeonghan heard the line go dead and placed his phone back on the coffee table. He was about to continue playing on his bass when he heard a knock at his door. He shuffled over to the door and looked out to see Seungcheol standing on the other side. He opened the door right away.

"You ready to head over to my mom’s house?" Seungcheol asked.

"I'll grab my jacket and we can go," Jeonghan nodded.

"Oh yeah, this was outside your door when I came," Seungcheol handed the bassist a bouquet of red roses.

"Are you sure?" Jeonghan looked sceptical.

"Yeah, Mingyu probably tried to be romantic," Seungcheol guessed.

"Mingyu would never give me roses, he knows I hate them," Jeonghan said as he took the bouquet off Seungcheol, they were the fourth bunch of flowers to arrive at his door in that week.

"Then who sent them?" Seungcheol asked.

"It's not the first time I've received gifts from an anonymous source," Jeonghan thought about past incidents concerning overzealous fans who had found his address.

"Might be time to move again," Seungcheol said eyeing the bouquet in his band mate's hands.

"You might be right," Jeonghan said with a sigh, why was getting privacy so hard?

"We better go now, mom's going to throw a fit if we're late for practice," Seungcheol looked down at his phone.

"Let's go," Jeonghan threw the bouquet of roses haphazardly onto his kitchen counter without as much as an ounce of care.

As he and Seungcheol headed down to the residential car park Jeonghan began noticing somethings that to him looked rather strange. He had a bad feeling in his gut when he saw that the front entrance to his apartment complex had been pinned open by a stack of boxes, the door wasn't supposed to be kept open -- that was why it had a pin pad so that only residents of the building could get in. Not knowing whether or not it was being kept open for a reason Jeonghan decided to continue walking with Seungcheol, maybe he was just being a little too paranoid. When the two of them finally got to his car Jeonghan's face fell upon seeing that a single rose tucked under the windshield wiper. He quickly removed the rose and noticed the small note hanging from the stem. There was no message, just a picture with a heart with a slash running through it.

"I really think you should move somewhere else," Seungcheol said looking over Jeonghan's shoulder at the little note.

"Get in," Jeonghan threw the flower on the ground treading on it as he climbed into the driver's seat, a sasaeng fan was nothing new.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jeonghan pulled into the driveway of Seungcheol’s family home taking a quick glance at his own house next door. As expected the lights were off, his parents still lead busy lives meaning they were never home. He got out of the car and even before he got to the porch Mrs. Choi flung open the front door running to him in a yellow apron and a hair roller in her hair.

“Jeonghan! It’s so good to see you!” Mrs. Choi’s greeting made him feel like he was a teenager all over again.

“You haven’t aged a day,” Jeonghan complimented the woman.

“You were always such a sweet talker,” Mrs. Choi giggled as she linked arms with the bassist leading him into the house.

“That’s fine, ignore me. It’s not like I’m your first born or anything,” Seungcheol griped as he followed his mother and Jeonghan.

Jeonghan smiled as he stuck his head into the kitchen, Mingyu was stood in front of the stove stirring something in a pot. The boy’s broad back looked amazing under his thin black t-shirt. The bassist quietly walked into the kitchen and s his arms around Mingyu’s waist before tiptoeing up to nibble at the boy’s earlobe.

“Hey,” Jeonghan whispered into Mingyu’s ear.

“Hey,” Mingyu returned grasping one of Jeonghan’s hands in his.

“This feels familiar, does it not?” Jeonghan asked as he looked at the pale yellow walls of the Choi household.

“Hm,” Mingyu turned around touching his hyung’s lower lip bending in for a kiss.

“Uh-uh your mother is here, behave yourself,” Jeonghan pulled away giving the boy a playful smile.

“Hyung,” Mingyu whined.

“Jeonghan, can you help Mingyu and cut up those vegetables for me?” Mrs. Choi asked as she went into the back garden.

“Sure,” Jeonghan said.

While he was slicing carrots and onions he noticed Mingyu giving him looks over his shoulder, the boy looked like a golden retriever begging for affection. Jeonghan found it rather amusing so he continued to ignore his lover. The bassist only stopped his teasing when he heard his lover let out a sigh.

“Come here,” Jeonghan turned opening his arms.

Mingyu catapulted himself into Jeonghan inhaling the scent of his hyung, the boy’s shoulders immediately sagged as Jeonghan rubbed his back. Mingyu closed his eyes as he felt his hyung’s hands massage the back of his scalp and gave a satisfied sigh as his lover’s lips pressed into his forehead. Jeonghan knew exactly how to ease away the tension in his body, he felt like a soft noodle in the older boy’s arms.

“Is my really that fascinating?” Jeonghan quirked a brow feeling Mingyu’s large hands on his behind.

Before the younger boy could answer the sound of Mrs.Choi’s footsteps prompted them to let go of each other. Mingyu went back to the stove and Jeonghan busied himself with cutting up the other ingredients. Mrs. Choi didn’t notice anything amiss as she took over for Jeonghan and set the small basket of cabbage she’d plucked from her garden. The bassist sat on the opposite side of the counter feeling a strong sense of déjà vu as he sat watching the mouth and son working together in the kitchen. He rested his chin on his hand watching Mingyu walk back and forth, images of a puppyish Mingyu with long awkward limbs and yellow slippers playing in Jeonghan’s head. The boy had grown up so much yet he was very much still the innocent boy who lived next door.

“Jeonghan, are you dating anyone?” Mrs. Choi asked, Mingyu dropped the ladle he was holding but quickly picked it up.

“I might be,” Jeonghan answered with a calm smile.

“It was about time, a handsome boy like you shouldn’t be alone,” Mrs.Choi touched Jeonghan’s hand.

“Thank you,” Jeonghan smiled giving a wink over at Mingyu whose cheeks were flushed a bright pink.

“So, tell me about this person you’re dating,” Mrs. Choi gushed.

“The person I’m with is warm, treats me like I’m the centre of the universe and is able to make me hate and adore them all at the same time. We’re polar opposites and don’t share any kind of common interest yet we can’t seem to live without each other. This person makes me so happy,” Jeonghan said all the while maintaining eye contact with Mingyu.

“You’ve completely fallen for them, haven’t you?” Mrs. Choi smiled as she passed Jeonghan the plates to set the table.

“Am I that obvious?” Jeonghan threw over his shoulder.

“Mingyu, are you sick? You’re completely red in the face,” Mrs. Choi touched her younger son’s face.

“No, I’m fine,” Mingyu turned away, his ears the same colour as his face.

Mrs.Choi shouted for Seungcheol to come down and the four of them ate in comfortable silence. Jeonghan was in complete bliss, the dinner and the warm atmosphere brought him back to a time when he was still a high schooler w