By seven in the evening when Baekhyun and Chanyeol moseyed in, Luhan was curled up on his couch, sulking and about how his life was a failure. Haowen was asleep in his arms, cuddled up to his father’s chest. His tiny, cherubic face contorted when he shifted mid-dream, reading an expression of agony. He had woken up with a stomach virus and was constantly crying in pain.

“What’s this? Why do you look like you just rolled out of bed, Lu? You have a date in two hours, dude,” Baekhyun greeted with a soft voice. He immediately plopped down on the couch next to the father and son. His forehead creased in worry once he saw Haowen. 

“’m not going. Haowen has a cold, my poor little guy.” Luhan soothed his son’s hair with a gentle hand.

Chanyeol sat in the loveseat next to them. “Don’t worry, Lu. We can take care of Haowen while you’re on your date. Go get dressed.” 

Before Luhan could even answer, Baekhyun’s arms were already hoisting Haowen up from Luhan’s grasp and into his own. He threw a blanket over the tiny creature, cooing at the cuteness beneath him.

The blond sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Luhan, what is there to hesitate about?” Baekhyun’s hushed voice was laced with annoyance. “You’re with your son every day, you feed him, care for him, tuck him in, every day. You’re a great parent. You haven’t dated since he was born. You didn’t even date before that! Chanyeol’s a doctor, Lu. If anyone here is good at patient care, it’s him.” 

“I hate to break it to you, but Baekhyun is right. You know you’re a great dad to your little one,” Chanyeol interjected, his eyes falling on Haowen’s sleeping form. “Go on your date. You haven’t seen your prince charming in almost two weeks, right?” 

The pair did have a point, but guilt couldn’t help but creep in the back of his mind. As much as he needed a well-deserved break from work and parental duties, parenthood was something he took seriously. He was with his son every day and would continue to always be with him. Luhan was about to open his mouth and protest but was met with glares from the two men hovered over his son. 

“I’m gonna shower, then. If he wakes up feed him the rice and soup that’s on the stove.” Luhan grumbled. He headed to the bathroom. It was almost time for leave for his date and the last thing he wanted to do was keep Yifan waiting.

It’d been two weeks since they’d last seen each other. Yifan had gone on a business trip to Shanghai and had made a pitstop in his home city to visit his parents. Although they'd texted and spoke on the phone daily, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit lonely without his physical presence. Yifan’s alluring, assertively masculine presence could be felt in an entire room. It was honestly the hottest thing he’d felt, much less seen, in a long time.

Luhan took his time scrubbing all over his body and washing through his hair. The idea of Yifan possibly holding him tonight and smelling the sweet scent of his body wash was enough to get him furiously swiping all over his torso. The younger man had always looked so presentable when they went on dates. Always clad in designer suits, hair slicked back neatly, and he smelled the way he looked: expensive. Meanwhile, Luhan had always come out of the hospital in unruly burgundy scrubs and the scent of phenolics. 

Although he wanted to look extra special tonight, he settled for a nice tee and jeans. His budget didn’t allow frivolous spending and he’d much rather use the money for clothes to pay for his son’s own necessities. 

When he came out from his room and into the living room Haowen was already eating his rice and soup. Chanyeol was sitting next to him, supervising while serving himself a helping of the soup. Baekhyun was in the kitchen, most likely cleaning the leftover plates. 

Chanyeol whistled at him. “Whoa Haowennie, look who’s here. Doesn’t Baba look handsome?” 

Haowen responded with a nod. His eyes turned to saucers and a big smile erupted on his little face. Luhan couldn’t help but chuckle at his son’s adorable face. 

“You look great, Lu. I’m sure your hot date will appreciate the eye candy.” 

“What’s eye candy?” Haowen blurted out, staring at the two men in confusion.

“It’s candy for your eyes, honeybun,” Luhan explained jokingly and wiped a napkin over the boy’s oil-stained mouth. “Don’t talk with your mouth full, silly boy. Remember?” 

Baekhyun entered the living room with a pleased expression. “My, my, someone’s looking good.” He stood in front of Luhan and proceeded to soothe the small wrinkles on the man’s t-shirt. Luhan shooed his hand away playfully and shook his head. 

“Well, I’m ready to go make a fool of myself,” Luhan concluded.

Baekhyun plopped down on the couch once more and flipped through the channels. “What makes you say that, hot stuff?” He settled on a reality television show program.

“I mean look at me. I look like I work at a gas station. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m just saying, I’m going over to a multi-millionaire businessman’s house!” Luhan cried out. 

Chanyeol sneered. “Yeah, a dirty multi-millionaire businessman. I’m sure he and his tycoon buddies hang out with men and women who wear a lot less than you, Lu.” 

“Oh God, not this,” The older man rubbed at his forehead in feigned frustration. “Where are you guys even getting that from? Baekhyun told me the same thing two days ago. What do you guys even mean by him being dirty?” 

“Lu, come on, wake up!” Chanyeol shouted incredulously. “You told us he’s the heir to a bigtime construction company, right? Yeah, that sounds amazing and all, but look at the circumstances that you met him under! His employee came in with a bullet in his face! He was beaten bloody and shot up! What construction foreman comes in looking like he was in a fight? You know what a workplace accident looks like, Lu, and so do I. We’re trained to know this stuff and you know what’s really going on here.” 

“So what? You’re insinuating he’s some kind of underworld guy? What if he’s just a regular guy?” Luhan refused to believe that Yifan could be anything but the charismatic businessman he thought him to be.

The other man shook his head. “I’m not insinuating anything. I’m telling you that guy is in the mafia. This is what they do, Lu. They have shell companies that hide their crimes. They come into the hospital, book the most expensive rooms and have guys standing in the doorway all day. There was a whole segment on the news about these types of guys.” 

“Oh, so just because the news at nine says it, it’s true? If you really believed that you’d have insisted a lot more. I know you guys,” Luhan narrowed his eyes at his friends. They returned his stare with blank gazes. 

Baekhyun sat down next to his husband. “Luhan, you’re grown. We don’t stop you because we know you’re capable of handling any man you confront. We also hope to reap the benefits of your new rich boyfriend. I’ve been wanting a Bentley, after all.” 

The blond stuck his tongue out. “You guys are unbelievable,” He threw a hoodie over his head and put it on. He felt terribly casual for the event, but if he spent any more time fussing over what to wear, he’d probably be late for his date. Within only a few seconds, he grabbed his wallet, gave his son a peck on the cheek and waved goodbye to his two good friends.

Haowen would always be in good hands with his Uncles Baekhyun and Chanyeol. They truly cared for and loved his son almost as much as Luhan did. He was grateful to have the couple in his life. 

It was still early enough to take the metro to Yifan’s estate, and the commute wasn’t more than an hour. Luhan decided it’d be more economic to take the metro and make use of his legs while he was at it. He swiped his pass and waited on the platform for the metro that seemed to be nowhere in sight.

His friend’s words weighed on him increasingly. Thoughts of Yifan being part such a seedy organization filled him with familiar anxiety that could only remind him of his run with Sehun. Although he’d only known Sehun for about two weeks, there was no denying that the lifestyle he had was undesirable to the common man. Sehun had been constantly surrounded by guards who stood outside of his room, sniffed menacingly at every beverage or dish that was brought to him and waved around their pistols in the direction of anyone that overstepped their bounds. The younger man seemed to never mind. In fact, he’d been aloof to anyone around him.

Memories rushed in as if the discord between his brain and his gut was getting him nowhere. Sehun’s eyes were always blank, and the only moods he’d shift between rage and total blankness. When he was with Luhan his eyes had lit up with something alien. Whatever it was, Luhan had ended up as collateral damage, a background actor in Sehun’s life. 

Obviously, Yifan and Sehun were two different people. If Yifan was truly involved with the mafia, he was by far the most professional gangster he’d met. Yifan undoubtedly did everything in his power to make sure Luhan was never exposed to his way of life. Times with him were contained within smiles and cheesy jokes. Though, part of him acknowledged that if Yifan were truly gang-affiliated and their relationship continued, he’d certainly become a target. Haowen could become a target. Anybody close to Luhan was a potential target for the deranged contract killers and loan sharks that Yifan potentially surrounded himself with. 

Luhan struggled to comprehend that his relationship with such a dazzling person might end tonight. It cut him in two to think that he’d make Yifan distraught by his breakup. He’d come to develop strong feelings for the younger man.

The metro came rushing into the station and snapped Luhan out of his melancholic trance. He hoped with everything in him that Yifan was truly who he claimed to be. Although by no means was he optimistic. 

To say that Yifan’s home was large was a great understatement. The massive western style home sat atop a massive hill next to other massive mansions. It was about as top of the market as any home in Seoul could get. The home was entirely black and sleek, made out of some kind of material that was probably expensive to manufacture. The house shied in comparison to the homes of the successful doctors he worked with. Life of the superrich, he deemed it.

Luhan expected to be greeted by a line of maids and butlers waiting for him. Instead, he was met with a familiar face that immediately grinned upon meeting eyes with Luhan. 

“Lu,” Yifan greeted and reached out to wrap the other in his embrace. Luhan felt himself deflating in the taller man’s hold. It felt so good to have him back in his arms. He smelled of Dior, leather and probably other expensive scents that Luhan could only dream of affording.

“Yifan,” Luhan breathed out. His heart panged inside his chest. When their hug finally broke, Luhan had tilted his head upward to peck the other’s lips. “Even though it was only two weeks, I missed you a lot.” 

The taller blond pecked the smaller man in return, allowing his lips to linger for a few seconds. “I missed you too. You look great, as usual.” He caressed the small of Luhan’s back. The large hand traveled a little further, resting atop the shorter man’s bottom. “Why don’t we come in? I’ll give you the impromptu tour and then we can eat. It’s gonna sound a little strange but I managed to smuggle back some pretty good recipes from my mom while I was back home. She makes pretty good pho and I know you told me you like pho a lot.”