Changmin, unsurprisingly, passed all the four tests with flying colour. To say Mr. Cho had taken a liking to him was an understatement of the year. The man was totally besotted with his future son-in-law –as Mrs. Cho had fondly put– after taking a bite of Changmin’s homemade meal.

The first test of manners went smoothly. He had lost count on how many suits he had changed into. His table manners were terrific and by the end of the test he had also charmed the maids. Changmin was glad to say that his sisters had taught him well.

The next test had resulted in a brand new living room for the Chos. Changmin was told to choose furniture from a famous magazine and he had done so without thinking much and because of that he was unprepared to see men carrying his chosen furniture into the house half an hour later when he was busy cleaning the living room. He had almost fainted. Rich people nowadays…

The third task was where Changmin had totally captured the queen with a simple handkerchief with sewed in initials of Mrs. Cho.

The final test was cooking dinner. There was nothing much to say except that Shim Changmin had totally swept the floor clean. He had gone all out just to make Kyuhyun’s parents to like him and because of that, the huge dining table was totally filled with Changmin’s cooking.

Mrs. Cho had freaking squeal.

“This is amazing, Changmin!” Mr. Cho hummed in delight after taking another bite.

Changmin smiled shyly and thanked the older man. Kyuhyun ate silently beside him as his mother gushed about how Changmin would be the perfect bride for their son. Changmin laughed awkwardly despite the blush that he had sported at the older woman’s words.

“Ah, honey. I want to show you something.”

Changmin watched as Kyuhyun’s mother pulled out her phone and showed something on the phone to her husband. Mr. Cho chuckled amusedly and Mrs. Cho giggled. Changmin’s interest was piqued.

“What is it?” Kyuhyun drawled.

Mrs. Cho grinned smugly and turned the phone to the two boys. Changmin choked on his food and Kyuhyun stopped eating.

It was a picture of Changmin and Kyuhyun kissing.

Right, Changmin had forgotten about that.

Changmin was too preoccupied with what he was doing when Kyuhyun came into the kitchen.

“Smells good.”

He jolted in surprise and accidentally burnt his hand.

Kyuhyun calmly stalked forward at Chanmin’s wince, grabbed his hand and dragged him to the sink.

“Why are you so clumsy?” Kyuhyun growled as he opened the tap and brought Changmin’s hand underneath the water.

Changmin flinched at the cold sensation on his burning hand even as he grumbled about whose fault was that that he had burnt his hand. He fought the shiver when he felt Kyuhyun rubbing in soothing circles around the red spot.

Not knowing where to look at, Changmin found himself staring at Kyuhyun’s profile. Sharp jaws, high cheekbones and eyelashes that looked so…feathery. He really was handsome and the latter apparently knew it too because he had on a knowing smirk as he looked up and met Changmin’s gaze.

“Like what you see?”

Changmin spluttered, indignant.

“I-In your dream!”

Pulling his hand from under the water and out of Kyuhyun’s grasp, he huffed in embarrassment and turned away from the annoying boy just to trip over his own feet.

Changmin yelped in surprise as he was quickly tumbling to the floor and then Kyuhyun had  grabbed his upper arm in reflex, pulling him back but unfortunately, Kyuhyun miscalculated his own steps because when Changmin body collided against him, he slipped and they both fell to the floor in a tangled of limbs.

Or, to put it nicely, Changmin fell on top of Kyuhyun.

Changmin groaned and hoped he did not sprain anything before lifting his head from Kyuhyun’s chest.

“It hurts….” he trailed off as Kyuhyun opened his eyes and their gazes met, faces just inches away.

Changmin’s face turned into an interesting shade of red.

“I-I’m sorry.” He tried to get off of the other boy but a hand on the back of his head pushed him back towards Kyuhyun. More precisely, Kyuhyun’s lips.

And their lips met.

Changmin’s eyes widen in surprise and he could see even Kyuhyun was taken aback by the change of event. He saw Kyuhyun glanced at the side and he followed suit.

It was Mrs. Cho, crouching beside them with one of her hands on Changmin’s head, snapping photos of them two with her phone.

Changmin looked back at Kyuhyun while their lips still locked together. He quickly recognized the ‘just go along’ look of Kyuhyun’s in the latter eyes. Sighing inwardly, Changmin closed his eyes and moved his lips against Kyuhyun’s supple ones.

A hand immediately s around his waist and another down his back as they both engaged in a slow kiss that quickly escalated into something more. Changmin felt the hand on his head let go and he knew he should have pulled away by then but he needed this. Needed to feel that that what they had was not a mere act even though he knew better.

Mrs.Cho slowly crept out of the kitchen, giggling madly to herself.

Changmin flushed when he thought about the incident. Kyuhyun resumed eating, seeming unbothered.

Kyuhyun’s mother winked playfully at him. Changmin ducked his head in embarrassment looking anywhere but the boy beside him and apparently the fan-girl of a mother sitting opposite him.

“So, Changmin. Tell us more about you.” Mr.Cho prompted.

“Well, I live with my older sisters. Five of them actually. I’m the youngest and the only son.”

“Sisters? Where’re your parents?”

Changmin froze and swallowed. The older Chos looked at him expectantly and he felt Kyuhyun’s gaze on him.

“They passed away.” He muttered in a small voice.

Silence rang heavily in the spacious dining hall after that before Changmin felt a hand gripped his gently. He looked up to meet a pair of kind eyes that belonged to Mrs.Cho.

“Well, you have us now.” She gestured at her husband who smiled gently at Changmin.

Changmin fought the lump in his throat at her words and he blinked at the sudden sting behind his eyes. Guilt welled up in him as he gave the couple a watery smile. He was deceiving them yet they showed him such kindness that Changmin felt ashamed to be the receiving end of said kindness.

He cleared his throat before attempting to speak, “Thank you.”

And if the Chos noticed how his voice was a bit coarse and his eyes were strangely bright, they didn’t show it instead choosing to only smile at him.

“And that means,” Mrs.Cho continued and squeezed his hand briefly before letting go, “you passed our tests, Changmin, dear.”

Changmin could only blink in surprise.

“You have our blessing to date and marry our son now.” Mr. Cho added at Changmin’s confusion.

Ah. He had forgotten about the tests.

He turned to look at Kyuhyun and was surprised once again to see Kyuhyun was looking at him too with his lips curved into a convincingly genuine smile. He stared as the other boy brought his arm to wrap around Changmin’s shoulder and pulled him closer. Kyuhyun leaned in and laid a kiss on his temple.

“Shall I say, welcome to the family, Max?” Kyuhyun whispered against his temple.

Changmin felt his chest swelled with warmth despite Kyuhyun’s sarcastic tone and tried to control his features so he did not look too happy for it to not be an act.

“Wow, that’s a lot of food.”

All heads turned to the entrance of the dining room where a grinning Sungmin stood. Changmin tried to ignore the pang in his heart when Kyuhyun quickly released his hold on him.

He suddenly felt cold.

“Sungmin!” Mrs. Cho squealed delightedly as she stood up to hug the young man.

Sungmin chuckled as he was enthusiastically engulfed in a bear hug.

“Where have you been?” Mrs. Cho pouted when she was done hugging the life out of Sungmin.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been busy these days. What’s with all the food? Is there an occasion?”

“Changminnie was the one who cooked all this food.”

“Changmin?” Sungmin frowned as he looked over Mrs. Cho’s shoulder to locate Changmin’s where about.

Changmin watched as Sungmin’s eyes lit up when his eyes landed on him and he was unprepared to have an armful of Sungmin.

“Changminnnnn!!!” Changmin winced when the latter shouted near his ear but he could not help but smile at Sungmin’s delight just from seeing him.

Though it didn’t last long because when he glanced at Kyuhyun, he was kind of glaring at him. Changmin dropped his arms that were hugging Sungmin at his sides as he squirmed uncomfortably in Sungmin’s hold.

Right. Him and Sungmin. I forgot. He mused bitterly.

As if sensing his discomfort, Sungmin released him and stood back but his smile was still adorning his face.

“What are you doing here?” Sungmin asked as he took a seat at the table.

“Uh, that’s a long story.” Changmin bit his lips.

Sungmin narrowed his eyes at him until something dawned at him. He turned to Kyuhyun’s parents and gasped, “You really kidnapped him?”

Kyuhyun’s parents looked a bit sheepish as they nodded. Sungmin gaped incredulously before he burst into laughter.

“Wow.” Sungmin wiped a stray tear from laughing too much before glancing at all the food laid on the table.

“So, judging from all this,” He gestured at the food, “Changmin passed them?”

“Yes! Sungmin, he’s perfect for Kyuhyun!” Mrs.Cho gushed.

Changmin flushed but he could not help but noticed that Kyuhyun looked…irritated as he stared at the smirking Sungmin.

“I know, right?” Sungmin giggled alongside Mrs.Cho and surprisingly, Mr.Cho.

“Stop it.” Kyuhyun growled.

They stopped and stared at the scowling Kyuhyun. Uncomfortable silence descended upon them and Changmin ducked his head to stare at his almost empty plate. He took a shaky breath before he put down his fork and knife and stood up.

He muttered something about going to the bathroom and went out of the dining hall. He heard Mrs.Cho asking Kyuhyun something but he tuned it out. He tuned out everything until he was safely inside a bathroom. Changmin wondered how he had managed to navigate himself around Kyuhyun’s house considering he did get lost a few times during his stay but he shrugged it off.

Changmin moved to stand in front of the sink and stared at his image reflected in the mirror above the sink.

Pathetic. That was what he looked like, he thought.  A pathetic boy pathetically pining for a boy that was in love with another boy. How more messed up his life could get?

He huffed out a humourless laugh, “What am I doing?”

Changmin ran a hand through his hair and sighed. His free hand brushed something that buldged out of his pocket and he paused before remembering he had his phone back.

His phone.

“Oh no.”

Changmin took out his phone and turned it on. He sat on the toilet seat as he waited for his phone to come back to life, tapping his foot against the marble tiles.

89 missed calls and 67 messages. Changmin groaned as he scrolled through the messages.

Kim Jaejoong

-Min, where are you? Class gonna start soon.

Kim Junsu

-Changmin, where are you? Jae is freaking out.

Kim Jaejoong

-SHIM CHANGMIN! WHERE ARE YOUUU!!!???

Minji-noona

-Minnie, where did you go? Jaejoong and Junsu came just now. Please give us a call.

Sarang-noona

-Your sisters are worried sick. Come home.

Great. Now he felt worst.

Changmin dialled Jaejoong’s number, bracing himself. Jaejoong answered on the first ring.

“Jae-”

“WHAT THE DID YOU DO TO MY FRIEND!!!??”

“Jaej-”

“I SWEAR IF YOU HURT CHANGMIN I’M GOING TO HUNT YOU DOWN AND TEAR YOU LIMB TO LIMB, YOU ING PSYCHOPATH!!! AND I’LL TELL MY YUNHO TO-”

“JAEJOONG! IT’S ME!”

“-KICK….Changmin?”

Changmin sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, “Yes, it’s me.”

“Oh. My. God. Are you okay??!! Where are you? What happened? Why didn’t you answer your phone?!”

“I’m fine, Jae. I’m at Kyuhyun’s.”

There was a pause at Jaejoong’s end before all hell broke loose.

“WHAT THE , SHIM CHANGMIN!? WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT YOU AND YOU WERE AT KYUHYUN’S ALL THIS TIME? YOU DIDN’T THINK TO GIVE US A DAMN CALL?”

Changmin winced and pulled his phone away from his ear.

“-HAVE WITH KYUHYUN?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD AND YOUR ORGANS ARE BEING SHIPPED TO ANOTHER COUNTRY! I DON’T BELIEVE-”

“I DID NOT HAVE WITH KYUHYUN! I WAS KIDNAPPED!”

A pause.

“WHAAAAATTTT?!!!” Jaejoong screeched.

“Can you please stop screaming down the line and listen!?” Changmin huffed.

“…”

“Thank you. At first I thought I was kidnapped because I was knocked out and when I woke up I was already at his house.”

“Kyuhyun you?!”

“NO! God, how did you come up with that conclusion? Anyway, no. He did not me. His cousin-”

“His cousin you?!”

“NO!!! Would you please shut up for a second and stop it with the talk?”

“….” Changmin sighed.

“His cousin brought me here because his parents wanted to meet me.”

“His parents? Then, why did his cousin has to knock you out?”

“It’s a long story.”

“…Well, that’s just messed up.”

“I know.”

“Why did his parents want to meet you?”

“To test me.”

“…What?”

“To know if I can be the perfect ‘wife’ for Kyuhyun.” Changmin mumbled embarrassedly.

There was a long silence before Jaejoong guffawed loudly. Changmin pouted.

“Done?” He grumbled.

“Haha…ha…That…is…hilarious..ha… My stomach hurt.”

“Go die, Jae.”

“Alright, I’m sorry but you got to admit it’s funny.”

Changmin chuckled and nodded, “Yeah, a bit.”

“Did you pass it?”

Changmin nodded before he remembered Jaejoong could not see him. “Yeah.”

“That’s my Changmin. Tell me about it later. Spare no details, alright?”

“Alright.”

They talked a bit more before Changmin decided to come out of his hiding place. Besides, he had been too long in the bathroom. He didn’t want them to get suspicious.

“Jae, can you call my sisters for me and tell them I’m okay? I need to get back to them.”

“Sure. Do you want me to pick you up later?”

“You drive?”

Changmin could hear Jaejoong’s eye rolling when he responded, “Yunho, duh.”

“Oh. I don’t know. I’ll call you later.”

“I came with Kangin just now.”

Kangin?

Changmin almost missed the dark look that crossed Kyuhyun’s usually nonchalant expression.

“It’s alright. I’ll call my driver to pick me up. Besides, I don’t want interrupt these lovebirds.” Sungmin grinned and nudged Changmin.

Changmin could see hesitation flickered in Kyuhyun’s eyes and his heart squeezed painfully as he forced himself to utter the words, “Actually, I’m going to my friend’s house next. It’s just nearby here and I called him before and he already agreed to give me a ride.”

Kyuhyun and Sungmin stared at him.

“So, Sungmin, I think you should ride with Kyuhyun. It’s easier that way.” He forced a grin.

“But-” Sungmin tried to speak up but Changmin was having none of it.

“I think I should go now,” he turned to Mrs. Cho who gave him a hug and Mr. Cho who patted his back.

“Thank you for having me here.”

“Take care, Changmin.”

Changmin looked up from his spot behind a random bush that was lining around some stranger’s house.

Jaejoong sighed sadly as he helped his friend to his feet. He took off his coat and wrapped it around Changmin’s shivering frame.

“Why did you have to lie? You could have just waited for us at Kyuhyun’s house. It’s cold out here.” Jaejoong chided softly as he guided his friend into Yunho’s car.

“I had to get away, Jae.” Changmin muttered.

Jaejoong shook his head and got into the car too. Yunho raised a questioning brow but Jaejoong could only shrug because he also did not know what had happened at Kyuhyun’s house that had made Changmin so upset.

The entire car ride was silent until Changmin himself broke it off.

“Jae?”

“Hmm?” Jaejoong glanced at him through the rear view mirror.

“Do you know someone named Kangin?”

Jae contemplated the name for a few seconds before shaking his head. “No. Yunho?”

“I think he’s a second year.” Yunho responded.

“Is he…Is he in a relationship with someone?”

“Yeah. He has a boyfriend. Lee Sungmin if I’m not mistaken. A first year. Why do you ask?”

That makes sense.

“Nothing.”

Changmin leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes, clutching Jaejoong’s coat tighter around him.

He was so cold.