Sehun’s call didn’t come. 

            After four hours of waiting, Suho decided to settle down for the night.  He was in bed with his Oxford book in hand, but he was still on the same page he was on half an hour ago.  Sehun should be home by now and he promised to call. 

            Suho picked up his phone and dialed Sehun’s number.  It went straight to voicemail.  Of course.  Sehun’s battery had died.  He wouldn’t be able to use his phone anyway.  But the younger should be charging it. 

            Two hours later, Sehun’s phone still went straight to voicemail and Suho couldn’t help but worry.  Did Sehun change his bandages? Did he return home safely?  Was Sehun in trouble with his parents? 

           Suho hadn’t worried this much for someone in a long time.  It scared him at how much he cared about Sehun.  He only knew the younger for two months and Sehun was already evoking Suho’s feelings like he’d never experienced with his former girlfriends or boyfriends. 

            Suho was almost tempted to go to Sehun’s house and see if he was okay.  He had Sehun’s address from when he applied for the pool boy job.  But he didn’t want to be like an obsessive boyfriend who worried over something trivial.  But nothing about Sehun was trivial to Suho. 

            Two days later and still no word from Sehun; Suho was going crazy. 

            “Suho, he’s probably just in trouble with his parents and is banned from using the phone or something,” Baekhyun pointed out when Suho called him.

            “Do parents do that?” Suho was alarmed, “How can someone not be able to use their phone? How can someone survive without their phone?”

            “It’s possible,” Baekhyun sounded bored, “Look just give it some more time before you go stomping to his house like a maniac.”

            “But how about if he was kidnapped or something? Have you heard the crazy taxi hostage stories out there?  They’re disgusting!” Suho was already putting on his jacket. 

            “Suho, calm down.  I’m sure the kid is alright!  You’re like not on your way out are you?”

            Suho was silent.

            “Suho, I swear if you leave Busan to go all the way to Seoul, you are a maniac.”

            Suho laughed, “Weren’t you the one who left Gyeongju and went all the way to China when you thought Tao was leaving you for some other Chinese guy when he was just visiting family?”

            Suho heard another voice chuckle and knew he was probably on speaker with Baekhyun and Tao.

            “Hey Tao,” Suho mumbled.

            “Hey, hyung.”

            “Hey it turned out great!” Baekhyun argued, “His parents love me now!”

            “Only because you’re cute.  You’re so small and adorable, like a little puppy!”

            “Ouch! Tao! Stop it!”

            “But you’re so cute!”

            “Hey stop pinching my cheeks now!”

            “Ouch!  Why’d you hit me, little puppy?  Ouch!  Okay, okay.  I’ll stop; just stop hitting me!”

            “Back to the problem at hand,” Baekhyun’s voice seemed satisfied, “Don’t do something stupid.”

            “Since when do I ever do something stupid?” Suho asked.  He had a hand on the doorknob when he heard a beep to show he had another call; it was from Sehun.  Without telling the Baektao couple, he hung up on them and switched the call.

            “Sehun thank God.  Why haven’t you called me back?  You were supposed to three days ago!”

            “Sorry hyung.  My parents were extremely mad at me when I came home.  I wound up telling them I was going to Busan every day.”

            “Wait,” Suho paused, “They didn’t already know?”

            There was silence on the other end, “It doesn’t matter anymore, hyung. I can’t go to Busan anymore.  My parents say it’s too far away and I can find another job here.”

            “Wait so what does that mean?”

            “I don’t know.”

            Sehun tried to argue with his parents.  He told them that the family he was working for was really nice.  That he was getting paid for his troubles by more than enough, but his parents stood their ground.

            “Sehun, it’s not worth the time.  Busan is too far away.  Is that where you’ve been going every day?”

            “But mom--”

            “No buts Sehun.  You’re not going to Busan and that’s the end of it.  And how could you be so careless?” she was pointing at his foot.

            “I’m just glad you got the proper medical attention.  You should’ve called us.  We were worried sick.” 

            “I’m okay.”

            “We have to know where you are at all times.  Until you can become more responsible we’re going to ground you.”

            Sehun sighed as he looked out his bedroom window.  He didn’t know where he stood with Suho.  He couldn’t go to Busan anymore which meant he wouldn’t be seeing Suho any time soon.  Did that mean that their relationship was over?  Faster than he thought it would end?  The summer wasn’t even over yet.  He threw his phone on his desk. 

            Suho had hung up quickly after Sehun told him what his parents forbid him to do.  He said something about Baekhyun on the other line. 

            Sehun sighed.  He was disappointed because this summer seemed like it was going to be the best summer he’d ever have.  He was falling in love with the perfect guy.  An actual summer love. 

            It’s not like he could explain the situation to his parents.  He couldn’t tell them that the real reason that he went to Busan everyday was because of Suho.  His parents would love Suho no doubt about that.  And they definitely wanted Sehun to be happy.  They wanted their son to date.  But they didn’t know their son was gay and Sehun wasn’t prepared to tell them yet. 

            So I guess this is where the summer love would end. 

            He texted Suho, “I’m so sorry.” 

            “Why do you look depressed?” Jongin eyed Sehun as he entered the café. 

            “Suho never replied,” Sehun muttered as he sat down at the coffee counter. 

            “I’m not surprised.  From how you describe the guy, I’m surprised he even stayed with you that long,” Jongin stated before he yelled in pain, “What the hell was….oh.” 

            Jongin looked like a kicked puppy when he saw Kyungsoo was the one who kicked him.

            “Is that how you treat your best friend?”

            Kyungsoo put some whipped cream on Sehun’s coffee and offered the cup back to Sehun. 

            “Maybe he needs time to think.  You know, like how I need to think about my sanity each time I agree to go on a date with this guy,” Kyungsoo elbowed Jongin. 

            Sehun just put his head on the counter, “We really could’ve been the perfect couple.”

            “Don’t give up hope,” Kyungsoo patted Sehun on the back. 

            Jongin patted Sehun too, “He’ll come around.” 

            When Sehun arrived back home from visiting Jongin at the coffee shop, he nearly got a heart attack. 

            “Sehun can you come in here for a second?” his dad’s voice came from the dining room and Sehun thought he was in trouble yet again. 

            “Dad I’m home in time.  I had my phone on me.  You didn’t call so---holy cow!”

            When he entered the dining room he saw Suho sitting right across from his parents. 

            “Hey Sehun!” Suho smiled and waved at him, his eyes brightening at the sight of him. 

            Sehun looked at him and then backed out of the dining room.  He inspected the house.  Yes it was indeed his house.  Suho was in his house.  He re-entered the dining room, his eyes on Suho. 

            “Sehun, you know Suho,” his Dad pointed at Suho.  Of course he knew Suho.  He knew more of Suho than his parents probably would’ve liked.  And then his eyes widened in panic.  How about if Suho had told his parents that….OMG did his parents know was gay.

            “Suho told us that you’ve been working for him in Busan.” 

            Sehun gulped, “Yeah.  I was.”

            His parents looked adoringly at Suho, “After talking to him for a while, he convinced us that you should work for him again.  We didn’t know how important you were to him.”

            “What?” Sehun’s voice went up an octave. 

            “Well he said that you were the best at cleaning the pool as well as helping out around the house.  He also told us that he’s been helping you with your English.”

            “Um…oh yeah.”  Sehun didn’t know what nonsense his dad was spitting out of his mouth but he knew that Suho probably charmed his parents into getting his job back.  But then again he wasn’t surprised.  Because Suho was a natural born charmer. 

            “And he’s great at cooking,” his mom exclaimed happily as she held out a plate to Sehun. 

            “It’s…what is this again?” his mom turned to Suho.

            “Quiche Lorraine,” Suho answered with perfect pronunciation. 

            “We’ve decided that you can work for him again, Sehun.  He told us he’s the one who took care of your foot.”

            “Yes.  I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. and Mrs. Oh.  I should’ve told him to call; I just didn’t want him to strain himself.  Actually has he been changing his bandages at night, because he’s actually quite forgetful,” Suho moved forward to talk more intimately with his parents.  There was genuine concern in his eyes.

            “Yes we have to keep reminding him as well but he’s healing nicely,” his mom said, “We’re so thankful you were there to help him.”

            “Yeah I had a whole summer to train in first aid and CPR,” Suho explained. 

            “Wait I can work for Suho again?” Sehun asked dumbly. 

            “Yes, we’re allowing it on the condition that you call us next time something like this happens to you again,” his dad was pointing at his foot.

            “Oh don’t worry. I’ll make sure he does.”

            All through dinner, Sehun was shocked at how much his parents loved Suho.  Suho made his parents laugh, engaged them in conversation and was basically just great.  He was sure his parents wanted to adopt Suho by the end of the night. 

            “Well it’s been great, Mr. and Mrs. Oh but I should be heading back home.  It’s kind of a long trip.” 

            Mr. and Mrs. Oh were hugging Suho as they said their goodbyes.  And Sehun finally found the will to speak.  And what he said next had everyone fall silent.

            “Suho hyung and I are dating!”

            Suho turned to him with wide eyes.  He basically knew Sehun’s parents didn’t know their son was gay. Throughout dinner, his parents kept on telling Suho about Sehun and his previous girlfriends and complaining about how Sehun wasn’t seeing anyone.  Suho would shoot Sehun looks through the stories as he squirmed awkwardly in his seat. 

            But luckily his parents were okay with it.  And because they already liked Suho, they didn’t mind Sehun keeping that secret from them.  A weight was lifted off of Sehun’s shoulders.  His parents really were the best.  

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Author's Note: 

I'm actually wondering why you guys subbed this story?  

TEASER FOR NEXT CHAPTER - NEXT UPDATE:  8/09 

“So it’s pretty serious between you and Sehun isn’t it?” Baekhyun asked as he held out a fork of cake for Tao to eat. 

            “I guess,” Suho laid back in his chair, “I just don’t know what will happen when the summer ends.”

            Tao and Baekhyun eyed each other knowingly. 

            Suho looked quizzically from one to the other, “What?”

            “Nothing.  I guess summer romances are hard to give up,” Tao answered. 

            “If you will give it up that is,” Baekhyun eyed Suho, “You could always try long distance when you go back to England.”

            Suho eyed Baekyun disbelievingly, “It’s going to be hard to keep up a long distance relationship.  I won’t be back until next summer and things would probably change.  Once the summer ends, this relationship has to end.”