With the addition of Kyung to the family, things got a little awkward. Jiho and Kyung turned out to be the cheesy, kind of couple and they could barely keep their hands to themselves. Moreover they’d never even think of keeping a dirty joke to themselves. Yongguk was unsure of how many times he’d sighed and muttered ‘kids these days’ the last few weeks, but it was obviously too many as Jiho, Kyung and, surprisingly, Zelo had begun teasing him for being an old man.

Yes, Yongguk was worried about the influence Jiho and Kyung had on Zelo. Zelo was still an innocent child, even if he was nearing his twelfth year.

He kept his contact with Himchan even if they’d calmed a little with the dirty stuff. Yongguk’s spoken Chinese had improved enough for him to be able to ask Himchan simple questions and at least understand the context of what Himchan replied. Himchan’s Chinese, on the other hand, was improving more and more and his Korean accent got less and less noticeable each time Yongguk spoke to him.

“I have a boyfriend,” Himchan said one day. “He doesn’t really like it when I talk to you… I think it’s mostly because he’s unsure of what role you have in my life.”

“Then tell him,” Yongguk suggested.

“Mm, might have to,” Himchan murmured, “at least if we’re gonna continue like this.”

“Anyway, what’s he like? Is he nice?” Yongguk asked, slightly teasing. Himchan laughed softly on the other end.

“His name is Luhan,” he said. “He’s really pretty, like a doll. And yeah, he’s nice.”

“Good, he better be.”

They spoke for another while about everything under the sun, mixing Korean with some Chinese until Zelo sneaked up on Yongguk and straddled his waist, babbling nonsense so quickly Yongguk didn’t catch it.

“Seems Zelo wants something,” Yongguk said in his accented Chinese and Himchan hummed, “I’ll talk to you some other day.”

He put the phone on the nightstand once he’d hung up and looked up at Zelo with one raised eyebrow and a smirk playing on his lip. Zelo grinned back at him and bounced a little, causing Yongguk to grimace.

“Why do you talk so much to Himchan-hyung?” Zelo asked, tilting his head cutely to the side. Yongguk sighed.

“Because I want to,” Yongguk replied. “Himchan is my friend, after all.”

Zelo pouted and looked away, not uttering another word. Yongguk chuckled and poked his side.

“Are you jealous?” he teased. Zelo looked back at him, pouting even more.

“Yes,” he muttered sullenly, catching Yongguk by surprise. For a moment, he was unsure of what to say.

“Himchan has a boyfriend, you know,” he settled on after a moment, poking Zelo’s side again. Zelo looked down at him, seemingly thinking over the statement.

“That’s not you?” he asked. Yongguk smiled and shook his head.

“Some guy named Luhan. Himchan says he looks like a doll.”

Zelo nodded and leaned forward slightly to play with Yongguk’s bangs, twirling them around his fingers and eventually calming to make a little braid. He pulled a little too hard sometimes and Yongguk almost wanted him to stop, but the concentrated look on his face was way too adorable.

“Was there something you wanted to tell me?” Yongguk asked when Zelo finished the braid and put it to rest along his forehead.

“Mm, I was just going to say that Kyung is attempting to bend Jiho over the kitchen table.”

Yongguk was up in a second, pushing Zelo off his waist – being careful to push him towards the wall, not the floor – and running down the stairs. Zelo had been right, he realized as he was halfway downstairs, as a moan echoes form the direction of the kitchen.

“Jiho!” Yongguk called. The moan was abruptly cut off. When he entered the kitchen, he found Jiho sitting on the sink, shirt haphazardly thrown on, cheeks flushed bright red and hair ruffled. Kyung was in a similar state but at a safe distance from Jiho, sitting by the table.

“Sorry, hyung,” Jiho muttered shakily, biting his lower lip and staring at the floor. He flushed, if possible, an even deeper shade of red. Kyung on the other hand had his eyes fixed on Jiho, their color darkened so much they were almost black. Yongguk sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Go upstairs,” he said. “And tell Zelo to come downstairs.”

Jiho looked up with a surprised expression on his face. Kyung seemed to take in enough of the information to know that he was allowed to get up, pull Jiho from the sink and push him in front of himself all the way upstairs, arms firmly locked around his waist.

Zelo bounded downstairs a few moments later, the color of his cheeks competing with that of Jiho’s and a little embarrassed grin on his lips. He hid his face briefly in his hands as another loud, strangled moan sounded from upstairs.

“Wanna go out?” Yongguk suggested and Zelo looked up, nodding furiously with his eyes opened wide.

The two decided they’d get ice cream first thing they did. Yongguk promised on the condition that they’d go grocery shopping afterwards, because they were in desperate need of more milk, but Junhong somehow managed to talk him into going to the playground.

Curse wide, wet eyes and wobbly lips.

Yongguk let out a sigh and leaned forward to dry some excess chocolate ice cream off Zelo’s cheek before he straightened up and nodded. Zelo let out a whoop and jumped on him, almost causing him to fall.

They’d been at the playground for almost half an hour when Yongguk got a text from Jiho that held maybe a little more information than he’d wanted.

From: Jiho
To: Yongguk-hyung

Didn’t know it was possible to feel this good. You can come back now btw.

Yongguk looked up to where Zelo was standing on a swing, swinging as high as possible without flipping over and singing about the birds in the sky, seemingly completely oblivious to his surroundings. An involuntary smile tugged at Yongguk’s lips as Zelo accidentally swung a little too high, nearly flipped and let out a shocked, high-pitched ah! before stopping the swing and looking up at Yongguk with wide eyes.

“Jiho says we can go home now,” Yongguk said as he approached Zelo. The boy was now sitting on the swing, bouncing up and down and gesturing for Yongguk to push him. He pouted at his words. Yongguk chuckled.

“Don’t want to go home?” he asked as he obeyed Zelo’s silent request, grabbing the swing and pushing it. He could feel the jealous looks of the other people in the playground on him. It seemed Zelo could leave an impression on anyone, as easily as he breathed.

“It’s okay, we can stay a little longer,” Yongguk assured when Zelo shook his head. Once Zelo’s swing had gained some speed he picked up his phone to send Jiho a text that said they’d be home in an hour.

Zelo managed to drag Yongguk and two kids, age six and eight according to their mother, into an impromptu game without many words but with lots of laughter and little shrieks of delight. Yongguk was surprised at how fun it actually was and he didn’t at all mind the sand that he managed to get everywhere, even in his hair.

He was sweaty when the game finally ended as the kids’ mother called for them, even if it was rather cold outside. He collapsed on a bench, smiling when Zelo sat down in his lap and curled up against his chest.

“We should probably go home before Jiho panics,” Yongguk suggested. Zelo hummed, neither in agreement nor opposition.

Yongguk allowed himself to sit there for a few more moments before he stood up, carrying Zelo in his arms. The boy let out a little laugh and pushed at Yongguk’s arms, looking at him with a gaze that said put me down. Yongguk merely laughed and held on tighter and Zelo eventually gave up, deciding to cling to him like a koala instead.

By the time they reached home Zelo was fast asleep. Kyung and Jiho ‘aww’ed so loudly they almost woke him up when Yongguk and Zelo entered, but agreed to put him in bed while Yongguk took a shower.

Zelo woke up by himself when dinner was almost finished and Yongguk helped him with a quick shower before they took a seat at the table.

“Mom offered Jiho to live with us for a week,” Kyung said, “she says she misses me as she almost never sees me. And she said that if inviting Jiho as well is the price, then she’ll pay it.”

Jiho snorted and shook his head, but kept whatever comments he might have to himself. Yongguk rather appreciated it.

“It’s up to you if you’ll accept it, I guess,” Yongguk shrugged. “I’m not your dad.”

This time Jiho laughed and almost choked on his food. Yongguk didn’t really understand what was so funny, but decided not to ask. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

In the end Jiho decided to take his boyfriend up on the offer and went with him home. The week passed, Jiho came back, and more weeks passed. Zelo seemed to be happy; he smiled a lot and when they were home he talked more than ever before. Jiho, Kyung and Yongguk were all curious about it, but decided not to ask. They supposed that Zelo had his reasons and that he would tell them if they needed to know.

Only, when he finally told them, Yongguk wasn’t sure he would’ve liked to know either way.

“Hyung,” Zelo said while they were doing their homework and all the other three boys in the room hummed in response. There was a small pause in which Zelo sighed softly and to his back, staring at the ceiling.

“There’s this girl in school I think is really pretty,” he said after a few moments and Yongguk froze. “But I don’t know if I like her. I mean, she’s pretty and I like to look at her… but she’s annoying.”

Yongguk relaxed. At least it didn’t seem like Zelo had a real crush on the girl he was speaking of. Then he mentally berated himself. What did it matter if Zelo had a crush on a girl? He should have. He was around the age when he should start having crushes on girls.

Of course, Yongguk had been around Zelo’s age when he realized he didn’t think of girls the way his friends did. He’d been around Zelo’s age when he had his first crush – on a boy. He just hoped Zelo wouldn’t be the same.

“Yeah, girls are pretty,” Yongguk agreed, sighing and stretching. “But I don’t like them very much either.”

Zelo giggled but didn’t say anything, staying in position and staring at the ceiling a little longer before he rolled back onto his stomach with another soft sigh and continued his homework. Yongguk decided to ignore all his jealousy and anger feelings for Zelo’s future crushes and support the boy as well as he could.

--

Spring of the year Zelo was going to be twelve was probably the best Yongguk could ever remember experiencing. Spring seemed to bring the energy to everyone, but that was only a good thing for Yongguk and Zelo, it seemed. Heechul and Hankyung put the energy into their work and staying cheerful when they came home, while Jiho and Kyung put the energy into not giving a about schoolwork and having loud or making out where it was easy to see them.

Zelo and Yongguk on the other hand put their energy into studying and playing around together. They also yelled at Jiho and Kyung and tried to force them outside, but it was practically impossible. They did manage to wrestle Kyung into some clothes once, but once Jiho noticed it, their efforts were undone in a matter of seconds.

Summer passed in a haze of hot days, ice cream cones and sunny smile until one day the doorbell rang and Yongguk opened it, only to be met with a boy he didn’t recognize. The boy was rather small and he wore a bright smile that made his eyes crinkle. He looked rather doll-like, Yongguk thought.

“Hello,” he said in accented Korean, “are you Bang Yongguk?”

Yongguk nodded slowly, uncertain, before he remembered something Himchan had told him long ago – a boyfriend, as pretty as a doll.

“You must be Luhan,” he said and the boy’s face lit up when he made the effort of speaking Chinese. He said something in quick, thick Mandarin Yongguk didn’t catch, but it obviously wasn’t aimed at him as someone else answered.

The other boy looked more boyish than Luhan. He wasn’t as pretty, but he was definitely handsome. His long, black hair was tied into a ponytail, but some strands had loosened and were framing his face.

“Yongguk!” a very familiar voice called, startling Yongguk out of his thoughts. He looked over the two Chinese boys on his doorstep and spotted someone he hadn’t seen in what felt like forever.

“Himchan!” he called and pushed past Luhan and the other boy, jogging towards Himchan, who laughed and opened his arms for a hug. “What are you doing here?”

“Visiting you, of course,” Himchan answered with a roll of his eyes. The two walked back up to the house with their arms around each other’s shoulders and Yongguk had to suppress an amused chuckle when he noticed the way Luhan glared at him.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “we’re just friends.”

Luhan stared at him for another moment before his gaze softened and he smiled, reaching for Himchan’s free hand and grabbing it tightly with his own. The stranger was left standing awkwardly to the side.

“Oh! Right, Yongguk, this is Yixing,” Himchan introduced the stranger with a quite unnerving smirk on his face. “Luhan and I thought you needed someone to . Yixing thought you were attractive.”

Yongguk stared. First at Himchan, then at Yixing and back to Himchan again. Then he grimaced.

“Are you crazy,” he said and Himchan laughed. Luhan laughed along and the other boy, Yixing, offered a small, confused smile. Luhan translated what had been said for him and Yongguk watched as a blush crept up his cheeks.

Well, he thought to himself, Yixing wasn’t half bad when it came to looks.


And, it turned out, Yixing was really nice. He made an effort to speak slowly and use the extremely limited Korean he knew when Luhan or Himchan weren’t around to translate, and they weren’t around a lot. Usually they sneaked off to somewhere no one would find them to do things Yongguk refused to think of.

Jiho and Kyung offered to live with Kyung’s family while Himchan, Luhan and Yixing stayed in Korea, as not to make the already full house too full to be able to live in.

Yixing quickly became friends with Zelo, which was a surprise because of two reasons; the language barrier and the fact that Zelo never made friends with anyone in less than a week. Apparently Zhang Yixing was an exception.

The older kindly offered Zelo to call him Lay when he failed to pronounce his name for the umpteenth time and Zelo proceeded to ask Lay-ge for daily dancing lessons. Because, yes, Yixing also turned out to be really good at dancing.

“I… apologize for Luhan’s and Himchan’s straightforwardness,” Yixing murmured one night when they’d made sure Zelo was fast asleep. “They showed me a picture of you and asked me what I thought… When I said I thought you were good-looking, they started laughing and whispering. I didn’t know until we got here. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Yongguk assured, “I mean, I know Himchan can be weird at times and it seems like Luhan adores him, so I’m not very surprised…”

They were left standing in a borderline awkward silence. Luhan and Himchan had gone out on a date, Hankyung was making some late evening snacks for Heechul and himself in the kitchen and Heechul was nowhere to be found. He’d disappeared after dinner and only Hankyung seemed to know where he was going, but if someone asked him, he refused to answer.

Yongguk shyly observed Yixing from under his lashes. He was good-looking, no one could deny that. He was nice too, and a good friend. Suddenly, Yixing looked up and caught Yongguk’s gaze. Yongguk felt his breath hitch silently in his throat as Yixing gave a small smile.

He wasn’t sure which one of them moved forward first, if either of them thought of it, but their lips met halfway in between them.

Not only was Yixing’s personality and looks nice, his lips were really nice as well, Yongguk decided. Slightly chapped, but soft and warm underneath it.

He sighed against the younger’s mouth as he felt arms wrap around his waist and pull him in closer. Whereas Yongguk had been dominant in his two previous relationships, it felt nice to give the control to Yixing this time, to try something new.

They parted slowly, hesitantly, and shyly met each other’s gazes. Yongguk knew for a fact that if they went through with this, it’d be just . Kind of like friends with benefits. Yongguk was in love with Zelo and he suspected Yixing might have someone else too, if the dreamy look he got on his face every now and then was an exception.

“I… don’t like you that way,” Yixing whispered and nervously bit his lower lip, but he didn’t avert his gaze. Yongguk smiled and shook his head.

“I know,” he answered and Yixing’s look of worry was exchanged for one of relief. “I don’t like you that way either.”

“Good. We shouldn’t then, even if it might be nice,” Yixing murmured with a small smile, blush creeping up his cheeks. Yongguk chuckled and nodded as he took a step back.

When Luhan and Himchan came back about an hour later, Yongguk and Yixing were watching a movie. Himchan pouted at them and crossed his arms across his chest. Luhan raised an eyebrow.

“Why aren’t you ing yet,” Himchan demanded. Yixing made a noise but didn’t look up from the TV, so Yongguk decided to explain the situation to his ex-boyfriend.

“Just because two people think the other is attractive doesn’t mean they want to ,” he told Himchan in Korean. “It doesn’t work that way.”

Himchan stared at him for a few moments. Then he threw his hands in the air and let out a high-pitched whine of disappointment as he his heel and left for the bathroom. Luhan watched him, still with a raised eyebrow, before he dropped on the couch next to Yongguk with a sigh. Yongguk moved a little closer to Yixing so he wouldn’t be squished against Luhan’s side. He was pretty sure Himchan wouldn’t like that.

“No chemistry?” Luhan asked in broken Korean. Yongguk hummed, but it turned out he didn’t need to say anything as Yixing soon began talking to Luhan.

“Hyung?” The room silenced as a small voice spoke from the side. Yongguk turned his head and was met with Zelo, clad in his pajama, hair ruffled and clutching a stuffed toy to his chest. Yongguk smiled and got up from where he was sitting in between Yixing and Luhan.

“I can’t sleep,” he whispered, “won’t you come to bed soon, hyung?”

Yongguk scooped him up in his arms and hugged him tight, the smile on his lips only widening when Zelo dropped the plushie on the floor in favor of returning the hug. He was almost twelve years old, but so much like a kid in so many aspects.

“Luhan, Yixing, I’m going to bed now,” he told the two boys on the couch, receiving acknowledging hums which he ignored as he carried Zelo back upstairs.

“Wait!” Yixing cried when they were almost at the second floor. They paused as the Chinese boy came running after them, waving something in his hand. “Your plushie,” he smiled as he gave the toy to Zelo, who shyly smiled back as he accepted it.

Yongguk shared a bed with Zelo for the first time in a while that night.

Author's Note: First of all, I'm so very sorry for the super-late update! I know it's no excuse, but I kind of had a writer's block and it doesn't help that EXO is doing things to me.
Anyway, chapter 16 is finally here! I've started working on 17 and hopefully it won't take as long...
Thank you to all of those who patiently waited <3
and yes, the random Lay & Luhan are probably due to my obsession with EXO. Idek what happened, I promised myself not to become as obsessed with them as everyone else, but then... well.