Luhan didn’t really understand what he had done wrong in his past life to deserve this treatment. It’s bad enough that his girlfriend’s father hates him. Now, her eight-year-old sister is blackmailing him.

Yerim is hands down, the cutest kid Luhan knows (as long as you don’t mention how she’s pretty much the only kid he knows) and he adores her. But the kid is evil.

Luhan has already accepted that Minseok’s father will probably never like him. First it was his ‘unnatural’ hair color, understandable because Luhan wasn’t too big of a fan of the fairy pink hair that he sported for two months, but Minseok dyed it, and liked it so he indulged her because a happy Minseok meant an affectionate Minseok (though even his now normal blonde still warrants him dirty looks whenever he comes over for dinner).  Second, Mr. Kim didn’t like when Luhan’s parents gifted him with a new car on his 18^th birthday, claiming that they were just asking for him to convince Minseok to do questionable things in said car (Anything he's ever done with Minseok has been consensual, and the things they did in the car weren’t always questionable). Third, he thought Luhan was a troublemaker, which wasn’t fair because it wasn’t entirely his fault he got suspended from school that one time…and tattoos or piercings don’t equal delinquent (he has one tattoo, sure, and that was only because his older brother Yifan signed the form for him. In fact, his mom still doesn’t know about it).

Luhan was pleased to find out that Yerim (along with her and Minseok’s mother Sohee) liked him. But, Yerim also appeared to like watching him suffer.

It was July 15^th…the day Luhan’s life turned for the worse. It started off a normal day. He woke up at like two in the afternoon, alone in his home since his parents were at work and his older brother was dying a slow death in his college courses. Luhan ate some leftover dumplings for breakfast/lunch, and then played some FIFA on his gaming system. At around 4:30PM, he got a text from Minseok complaining about cramps. Luhan has now experienced enough menstrual cycles with Minseok to know that a simple gesture could mean a lot to his girlfriend and gain him a ton of brownie points. Since he was bored and not doing much, he took it upon himself to head to the store, buying a box of tampons, chocolates and mocha bread, and then made his way to Minseok’s. It was easy sneaking in (he had done it plenty of times before), and delivering the goods to a very cuddly Minseok. Luhan didn’t expect anything in return, honestly. He just got lucky that Minseok was in a good mood, and rewarded him for being a good boyfriend with a simple (and mind-blowing) . However, since Luhan’s mind was blown, he wasn’t in the most alert state for sneaking out of the apartment. That’s when he got caught by Yerim as he snuck out of Minseok’s room.

Yerim’s first reaction was surprise, after all, its not everyday you see a teenage boy coming out of your older sister’s room when your parents aren’t home. Then, the situation must have dawned on her, because the first thing she said to Luhan was “You’re going to be in trouble!”. He had to make a deal, forcing the little one to promise to keep it a secret in return for whatever she wanted…and Yerim knew how to grasp opportunities by the metaphorical horns.

Luhan thought he’d be off the hook when he purchased some expensive plush toy for her with his last paycheck, but he was so very wrong.

~~~

Minseok was doing her hair when Yerim entered her room, skipping to some imaginary beat. “Unnie! A new princess themed café opened up and all my friends have gone already! Take me there!” Yeri said, crashing on Minseok’s bed. Minseok looked at her little sister through the mirror of her vanity, a small smile tugging on her lips.

“I have a date with Luhan.”

“He can come too!”

“How about ask him, and see what he says?” Minseok laughed, she was never one to flat-out deny Yerim, but at the same time she didn’t want to share her boyfriend, especially because she had plans for their movie date (aka makeout and cop a feel or two). 

“I will!” Yerim promised, running out of the room with an extra pep in her step. Minseok’s laughter turned into a sigh and she decided to give up, not even bothering to put any more of an extra effort into her look today since there will most likely be a change of plans. She hated that fact that she possibly wasted a good outfit too…

When Luhan parked his car in the garage of Minseok’s apartment complex, the first thing he did was look around for Minseok’s father’s car. Luhan was well acquainted with the chief of police’s vehicle of choice in the past two years, doing whatever he could to avoid ever seeing it (even if he was in public and/or without Minseok). His relationship was a whole lot better when her father wasn’t around to make things difficult. When he saw that the car was nowhere to be found, he happily made his way to the elevator and up to Minseok’s floor.

After knocking, he expected Yerim to open the door, but he didn’t expect the mischievous smile he got as she opened it for him. “Luhan oppa~” She smiled, and now Luhan was afraid.

“Hi Yeri…” He figured maybe if he used her cute nickname, she’d go easy on him.

“Unnie is putting on her face, but you can come sit.” Yerim grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the couch, barely giving him time to ditch his shoes in exchange for slippers. Luhan sat on the couch, waiting. “There’s a princess café that I want to go to…see?” She shoved an iPad into his face, the website to this café on display along with the address.

“…Why not ask your dad to take you?” Luhan questioned carefully.

“I want you and unnie to take me.”

“Ha, cute, but Min and I were going to go see a movie today.”

“But oppa…” Yerim began, her bottom lip poking out into a pout. , he was screwed. “All of my friends have gone already… and you’ll get to be a king, and unnie will be the queen, and I’ll be the princess who hosts the best tea party our kingdom has ever seen!” The thought of Minseok in a crown and being a royal, only made him think of role-play...and he had to quickly stomp those ideas out of his brain because getting a hard-on in front of a kid is creepy and gross. He didn’t need more reasons for Mr. Kim to hate him (nor did he need a reason to hate himself, he quite liked himself). “Plus, I won’t tell appa about you sneaking in to see unnie.” Luhan sighed, leaning back and letting his head rest against the back of the couch. Yerim has never flat out detailed how she was blackmailing him to do things for her, and now that she has, it just adds to her evilness. He should just give in, make it easy on the both of them, and just accept the fact that he would not be making out with Minseok in the back of a dimly lit theatre with his hand up her skirt instead of in a bowl of popcorn like he planned.

“Yeri, why didn’t you tell me Luhan was here?” Minseok asked, breaking Luhan out of his thoughts. His head snapped up, taking in his beautiful girlfriend’s appearance, and it immediately made him feel worse about the fact that they would have a third wheel. Minseok walked over, sitting herself down on his lap and removing his snapback in favor of running her fingers through his hair. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Luhan greeted with a smile. Minseok was the definition of perfection, and with her peachy toned makeup accentuating her features, he was convinced he hit the lotto. He placed the quickest peck on her cheek before turning to Yerim, who was growing impatient. The front door opened, and Luhan’s blood ran cold as he turned to catch Mr. Kim entering the household. Minseok quickly slid off his lap and he scooted a bit away, leaving a noticeable distance between their bodies on the couch. Yerim smiled at Luhan, before turning and calling out a cheerful “Appa!”. Oh no…what was she going to do?

Yerim jumped up into her father’s arms, wrapping her tiny hands around his neck and giving him the biggest smile she could muster. “I’m going to finally go to the new princess café!”

“Oh yeah? With who?” Kim Jaejoong asked, smiling at his youngest daughter.

“Unnie and Luhan oppa, of course.” Yerim said turning to look at Luhan who was trying not to look scared less as Jaejoong’s face turned stone cold and he locked eyes with Luhan.

“Hi Minseok.” Jaejoong greeted, kissing Yerim’s forehead and putting her down on the ground before walking over to his oldest daughter. “Boy.” That was his customary greeting to Luhan, which made Minseok roll her eyes in annoyance each time.

Luhan, on the other hand, shot up from his seat, removing his snapback, giving a 90-degree bow and greeting with a “Hello Chief of Police sir.” He was conditioned to greet Jaejoong this way since they started dating back two years ago when Luhan asked Minseok to be his date to homecoming. Luhan knew it was more of a way to show off the title, and say ‘I can do damage to you’ without outright threatening him. It worked well.

“Have a seat.” Jaejoong instructed and Luhan did as he was told, sitting in the same seat as before. Jaejoong then took a seat right between himself and Minseok. “So you’re taking both of my daughters out tonight…”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“This is your first time taking Yeri out, so I just want to lay some ground rules.”

“That’s not necessary… I’ll be there, you know.” Minseok tried to save Luhan.

“I just want to share a few things, Minseok.” Jaejoong began, “Like Yeri’s bedtime is 9, so I expect her to be back home by 7:30PM the latest. If Yeri’s home at that time, that also means that Minseok is home at that time, furthermore that means you leave here no later than 8PM. Minseok does have work tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.” Luhan agreed though this . If he had to take Yeri to this dumb princess café, he should at least still be able to see a movie with Minseok after. He glanced over at his girlfriend who was glaring holes into the side of her father’s head.

“I also want you kids to wear your seatbelts! Just because those…idols don’t wear them doesn’t mean car safety is uncool. Safety is always cool, especially when it comes to the safety of my daughters.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I just want my girls to have fun. Can you make sure that happens?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

~~~

Luhan had never driven to a place abiding by all posted speed limits, but now that Yerim was in the car, singing along to the radio, he suddenly felt the need to be as cautious of a driver as his grandmother. “What’s in the bag?” He asked, referring to the canvas bag that Yerim held in her lap.

“Some accessories to help us play the role accurately.” Minseok answered for Yerim, though it appeared her focus was more on Instagram.

“What?”

“She expects you to wear the crown that she brought along with her.”

“I can’t do that. Sorry.”

“Yes, you can.”

“Nope. I don’t even want to go to a princess café. I’m being forced against my will!”

“No, you’re not. She asked you and you said yes.”

“But…” Luhan stopped and thought about the conditions. Should he tell Minseok that Yerim was blackmailing him? It would make him feel better, but it could also totally backfire. It could get Yerim in trouble, which will in turn get him in trouble. Or Minseok could get paranoid about having him over, which can leave him lonely, ually frustrated and therefore, in trouble. The bottom line is, neither solution really benefitted Luhan in any way, shape or form.

“But what?” Minseok asked, pausing through her Instagram scroll to look over at him.

“Never mind.” Luhan pouted, and Minseok reached over, playing with his ear briefly before focusing back on her phone.

“You’ll have to leave the hat in the car too.” Minseok mentioned and Luhan groaned.

~~~

Apparently, this princess café was a hot commodity because Luhan, for the life of him, could not find parking close to it. Instead, they were directed a couple blocks away, and would have to walk. However, with Yerim being cute Yerim, she insisted that they all hold hands so ‘no one could get lost’. Luhan felt it translated more to ‘I don’t want Luhan oppa to have fun with unnie, so I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen’. So, here they were, walking down the street with Yerim in the middle, holding a hand from each Luhan and Minseok. If Luhan wasn’t still sulking about going to this café, he would revel in the fact that it was kind of cute, and maybe this would be him and Minseok in ten years with their own kid. But he was still sulking, so he did not allow himself that luxury.

“It’s so pretty!” Yerim called out as they neared the café, her eyes lighting up at the inside view from the windows. There was pink, purples, and sky blues all around the place, and honestly, it felt like a unicorn threw up in it with the amount of sparkly things dangling from the walls and ceiling. Some girls were even full-on dressed in princess costumes, wearing tiaras and sipping tea.

“This is so cute.” Minseok gushed as they waited to be seated. Luhan kept his mouth shut, and continued scanning the inside. His eyes going to the only other male in the establishment… a toddler. 

“Yeah…cute…” Luhan winced as the words left his mouth.

When they were seated, Yeri was practically bouncing in her seat. “You have to wear these!” She reached into her bag, pulling out the crowns. Luhan reluctantly put it on, while Minseok did the same. Yerim then put on her own crown. “Now to plan the tea party…” Yeri began to flip through the menu, and looked over at the sheet given to them by the staff. “I’ve never had a real tea party… I don’t know how to fill this out.”

“I’ll help you.” Minseok offered, leaning over to help Yerim plan out their food. Luhan just sat back and watched, feeling as if he was having out outer body experience or something. This almost did not feel real.

Yerim settled on the menu, and Minseok filled out the sheet. They would have jade oolong tea, scones with Devonshire cream and strawberry jam, salmon and cream cheese finger sandwiches, with various tea cakes and petit fours for dessert. “My friend from school is here! I’m going to go say hi.” Yerim stated, pointing over to a table where one adult sat with three girls who all looked about Yeri’s age. Once Yerim left the table, Minseok turned to Luhan.

“This is quite the establishment. It’s a good money-making idea, every little girl wants to have a princess tea party.” Minseok stated and Luhan nodded his head.

“I guess, still not really my…cup of tea.”

“She’s so happy though.” Minseok glanced over to where Yerim was laughing with her friends.

“Yeah, that makes one of us.”

“Try to have fun today. I know our date plans have altered, but she’s my younger sister and we’ll be starting college soon plus I’ll pick up more shifts at the salon, so I won’t get to spend as much time with her.” Minseok prompted, reaching out to hold his hand.

“I get it, Min, I really do.” Luhan gave his girlfriend a small smile. He could try for her.

“You look cute in your crown by the way.”

Luhan reached up, fiddling with it, “I think it suits you and Yerim more.”

“Does it?” Minseok grabbed her phone, using her front-facing camera as a mirror.

“Definitely. You’re the most beautiful queen in all the land.” Luhan smirked, bringing her hand to his lips and placing a kiss on the back of it, causing Minseok to smile.

“When Yeri comes back, I want a picture of the two of you. I’ll set it as my wallpaper and show it off to all the stylists at the salon.”

“Sure. I want a picture of you and Yerim too then, so I can show it off to all the staff at the restaurant.”

When Yerim did come prancing back, she was giggling behind her hand. “What’s so funny?” Luhan questioned as she took her seat.

“My friends kept calling you ‘handsome Prince Charming’!”

“Well…they’re not wrong.” Minseok teased.

“Even Sooyoung’s mom thought you were pretty.”

“…Thanks Princess Yeri.” Luhan has accepted that he will probably forever receive ‘pretty’ compliments, but he was still slightly salty over them. A server came over delivering their tea and the three-tier platter holding their food.

“I’ll pour your tea as a thank you for taking me here!” Yeri volunteered, grabbing the tea pot. She carefully tipped it over, filling up Luhan’s cup, and Minseok quickly snapped a picture. Luhan probably didn’t realize it, but he was smiling quite wide.

~~~

Luhan had a bit more fun that he really expected, and the tea and food was quite delicious. After paying the bill, he escorted Yerim and Minseok back to his car. “Did you have fun, Yeri?” Minseok asked as her little sister grabbed her hand and then Luhan’s.

Yerim looked up at Minseok, beaming, “Yes! I did! Thanks again Luhan oppa.” 

“It’s no problem. I’m glad you had fun.” Luhan stated, watching Yeri smile at him before her face fell and a pout replaced it. “What’s wrong, Yerim?”

Yeri turned back to Minseok, “Unnie, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I’m sorry for ruining your date.” Yeri apologized and Luhan was confused.

“You didn’t ruin my date, Yeri. I had fun tonight. Luhan had fun too.”

“But… I saw Luhan oppa sneak out of your room that one night, and I’ve been using it against him, promising not to tell appa, so he could buy me things and take me to this café.”

“Is that true?” Minseok questioned, her gaze falling on Luhan.

“Yes?” Luhan admitted, avoiding Minseok’s eyes.

“Yeri, that’s not very nice…”

“I know, and I’m sorry!”

“Don’t apologize to me…apologize to Luhan.”

“No, no, you don’t have to apologize! I shouldn’t have snuck in.” Luhan tried to argue.

“But I was mean to you. I am sorry.”

“And I don’t want you to get in trouble, so it’s really fine.” Luhan unlocked his car, opening the door for Yeri. “Are you mad?” Luhan asked opening the door for Minseok next.

“We will talk later.”

~~~

When they arrived back at the Kim’s apartment complex, it was only 6:30, meaning Luhan still had a bit of time to hangout with Minseok before getting kicked out by her father. His palms began to sweat as Minseok unlocked the door and the three of them entered, removing their shoes and calling out greetings. Sohee was first to greet them back, coming over to hug her daughters and Luhan, while Jaejoong sat on the couch. “How was it?” He asked Yerim, though his eyes narrowed at Luhan.

“It was so much fun!” Yerim exclaimed, running over to tell her father all about it.

“You two came back just in time… I was preparing dinner and I noticed that we were missing a few ingredients. Do you mind running to the store for me?” Sohee questioned, and Luhan wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad. He still could not gauge Minseok’s reaction to the whole Yeri blackmailing him thing, and it was killing him on the inside.

“Sure.” Minseok agreed, accepting the list and the cash Sohee was handing over to her. “Come on, Lu. We’ll be back!” She grabbed him by the hand, pulling him back out the door.

They decided to walk to the store since it was only down the block, and Luhan intertwined his fingers with Minseok’s. “So…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Minseok questioned him, stuffing the list and the money into her purse.

“I didn’t know how you would react? I still don’t know, but I figured you would either be mad at Yerim, or be mad at me for getting caught.”

“I’m not mad at anyone.” Minseok informed, “Though I can’t believe you let an eight-year-old play you.”

“She’s your little sister. If she’s learned these things, she probably learned from you!”

“Maybe… you have to admit she did a good job milking you for stuff. I saw the plush you bought for her, that thing was massive. I'm dating you and can't even get you to buy me stuffed toys.”

“Yeah, she did…but looking back, I don’t really mind? Plus I buy you better gifts than plushies!” Luhan stated, taking a glance at Minseok who was looking back at him, “What?”

“I don’t know,” Minseok began, looking away from him, “I think it’s sweet that you two get along.”

“She means a lot to you, so she means a lot to me.”

“She speaks highly of you, during family dinners when my dad is doing his whole over-protective thing, you know? She has my back when I'm defending you.”

“I’m glad that I have one Kim approval.”

“You have many! My mom loves you, she just stays silent during my dad's lectures. My cousins Jongin and Jongdae love you... I love you.” Minseok confessed, cheeks turning pink. Luhan couldn’t bite back his grin. It wasn’t the first time the words were spoken, he said them quite often, but Minseok was more reserved with her love confessions.

“I love your cousins, your mom and Yeri too.” Luhan teased, laughing when Minseok tugged on his hand, a pout gracing her lips. “I love you most though.”

“You’re such a sap.” Minseok groaned before leaning in to give him a kiss. “Let’s take our time at the store, yeah? I don’t want you to go home yet. I want to spend more time with you.”

“If we take too long, your dad will come looking for us and have my head.”

“I suppose…maybe I should ask my mom if you can stay for dinner? Will your mom mind?”

Luhan thought about his own family, his mother Victoria, step-father Changmin and then Yifan… “I don’t think so, she’s probably accepted that I would be home late. She knows I was planning on taking you to the movies.”

“Then you should definitely stay for dinner because your parents are not expecting you, so probably won’t wait for you… and since my mom hasn’t started yet, you might have to stay a bit past 8:00PM…” Minseok pieced together, and everything started to click for Luhan.

“Right…”

“And you can just hang in my room until dinner.” Minseok added, and Luhan flashbacked to his earlier plans at the movies. His hands up Minseok’s skirt instead of a bowl of popcorn still sounds like a good idea.