“Hi mom,” Tao greeted his mother, rushing to hug the woman as she entered the cafeteria, “how was the drive here? Was the traffic bad? What about the line at the front gate? Sorry that you had to call ahead this time, the security has really stepped things up.”

“For good reason,” D.O spoke up, smiling slightly at his friend’s mother.

“It was alright,” she smiled, pulling away from her son so that she could hug D.O, “how is school going for both of you.”

“Things are going good so far,” D.O told her, “kind of odd being back here after so long away. Taking a while to get back into the flow of things.”

“It’s like summer all over again,” Tao laughed, “you get used to sleeping all day, so waking up for class and doing homework feels weird.”

“True,” she laughed, “I used to feel the same why when school started back up again.”

“Come on,” D.O smiled, taking her hand while Tao took her other hand, “let’s go back to our dorm room to talk.”

“Your parents didn’t register?” she asked, careful not to upset D.O by bringing up his parents.

“No,” D.O frowned slightly, wishing that he could hold back the pain he felt over this matter, “they didn’t even call to ask about parents’ day.”

“They just need time,” she assured him, “you’re still their son and they love you. I know they do.”

“Maybe one day,” D.O nodded, but he didn’t believe her.

He was dead to his family.

They would never talk to him again.

“I was thinking of joining the ISBIP,” D.O said, wishing to change the subject.

Tao’s mother let the subject change, asking about the ISBIP, but she wasn’t going to let it drop forever.

--

“Where’s Ravi hyung?” Hyuk asked, dropping down into the space between Hongbin and Ken.

“He’s with Sori,” Leo replied, looking up from what he was cooking.

One of the best additions to the dorms was that each room had its own kitchen. It was nothing massive, not like the kitchen on the first floor, but it worked well enough if a student wanted a midnight snack. To be fair, most students only had ramen or candy or simple stuff like in their kitchens.

At that moment, Leo was proving that he wasn’t one of those students. He actually had food in his fourth of the kitchen.

Kris, Luhan, and N fell in to the majority, however.

“Should he really be there?” Hongbin questioned, “I mean, this will be Sori’s first time seeing her parents since she was, like, three or four.”

“That’s exactly why he needs to be there,” N spoke up, trying to focus on the book in his lap, “because this will be the first time seeing them in ages.”

“N hyung is right,” Ken nodded, “she’ll need the emotional support if things go wrong.”

“What time are they supposed to show up?” Hyuk asked, “do you think we should go downstairs too?”

“They should be here any time now,” Hongbin said, looking at his watch before turning to look at Hyuk, “and why should we go down there?”

“For even more emotional support,” Hyuk replied, “to let Sori know that she has us, too.”

“We can let her know that later,” N told him, “right now…..right now isn’t the time for that.”

“N is right,” Leo nodded, “right now, the only one she needs is Ravi. If we’re all there…….it might overwhelm her.”

“This is Sori after all,” Ken added, “she doesn’t like a lot of people knowing what she’s thinking of feeling.”

“True,” Hyuk sighed, “I’m just worried about her.”

“We all are,” N said, finally looking up, “but we just have to trust that Ravi will be able to look after her.”

“He will,” Leo said, giving the others a small smile, “he’ll be able to help her with everything.”

“You’re right,” Hongbin smiled as well, “everything will be fine.”

--

“They’re late,” Sori scowled slightly, but both Lito and Ravi could see past her glare and angry pacing that was keeping everyone else away from the three of them.

They could tell that she was nervous.

Very, very nervous.

Beyond nervous really.

“They’re probably just being held up at the gate,” Ravi assured her, “this is the time when the most parents are coming, right?”

“They’ll be here soon,” Lito smiled, grabbing Sori’s hand and giving it a squeeze.

“You’re right,” Sori sighed, taking a seat on the stairs between the pair, “I’m just freaking out.”

“Stop freaking out,” Ravi told her, “everything is going to work out.”

“I hope you’re right,” she nodded, trying to smile even a small smile but she was too worried for that, “I want everything to work out so badly.”

“They do, too,” Lito assured her, “mom and dad are just as worried as you are.”

“Really?”

“They are,” he nodded, “they……they aren’t sure if they can have a relationship with you of any kind. They don’t think that they even deserve a chance to get to know you.”

The three fell into a moment of silence after that.

“Doesn’t matter if they think they deserve it or not,” Sori said, looking down at her lap, “I want to know them. I want them to know me.”

“I’m sure that they’ll love to hear that,” Ravi told her, “so when they show up, tell them.”

At that moment, Sori and Lito’s parents entered the front hall. They looked around, taking in everything, before their eyes settled on their children.

“Mom!” Lito grinned, rushing over to hug them, “Dad!”

“What do I do?” Sori whispered to Ravi, gripping his hand tightly, “do…do I go over there and greet them? Do I stay here?” She noticing others in the hall looking over. “People are looking. Ravi, people who know who they are and who I am are looking!”

“Calm down,” Ravi told her, gripping her hand just as tightly, “just breathe. Inhale and exhale. In and out and in and out”

“Breathing,” she nodded, “what…what do I do?”

“Let’s all go outside,” Ravi said, just loud enough for her parents and Lito to hear, “away from prying eyes. We can talk there.”

“The forest behind the dorms should be empty,” Lito said, taking his parents’ hands and leading them out knowing that Ravi and Sori were following, “we can go for a walk through them. Maybe see the lake?”

“Everything will be alright,” Ravi whispered in Sori’s ear, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek, “don’t panic, everything will work out.”

“You’re right,” Sori nodded, still not letting go of the death grip she had on Ravi’s hand, “everything will be fine.”

A/N: so the original plan was for the whole Sori-parents-talk thing to be this whole chapter, but then *shrug* things change.