WISHING OUR ADORABLE BELOVED BAOZI A VERY VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! SAENGIL CHUKKA HAMNIDA MINSEOK OPPA! :)

Now on to the story :) .....

Luhan looked up with wide eyes.

“Myu…” he stopped short at the sight of the man standing in front of him, the father of his first born – the biological father of Shihan, Luhan’s ex ---

“Myungsoo?”

Luhan stared at the man in front of him, in his shop, with shocked eyes.

Never in those 4 years did he ever imagine of crossing paths with Myungsoo again. Granted that his ex was Korean but Myungsoo lived all his life in China. His family was all over in China and he didn’t even have any close relatives in Seoul or anywhere in South Korea. So when Luhan had made his decision to come to Seoul 4 years ago, the thought of seeing Myungsoo never occurred to him. And yet there he was, standing face to face with the one person he wasn’t looking forward to see…ever.

“What are you doing here, Myungsoo?” Luhan asked although his voice was barely audible, shock evident in it.

The older boy huffed, “Is that how you welcome all your customers or am I getting a special service here?”

Luhan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “Really Myungsoo, I don’t have time for your sarcasm. What are you doing in Seoul?”

Myungsoo raised an eyebrow, “I could ask you the same question, Han.”

Luhan gritted his teeth at the old nickname. There was a time when he loved when Myungsoo called him ‘Han’, but not anymore.

“Are you really here to annoy the hell out of me Kim Myungsoo?” Luhan asked, irritated. His pregnancy hormones were not helping the matter either.

Pregnancy.

Luhan unconsciously touched his stomach at the thought of being pregnant. He was carrying a new life and his old life decided to come and haunt him.

Fate had a cruel sense of humor, Luhan decided. Last time he was pregnant with Myungsoo’s child but found love in Sehun. And this time around, he was carrying Sehun’s child and hoped to every power up there that history would not repeat itself, after four years.

Myungsoo scoffed, “Barely. I didn’t even know you were in Seoul”

“Right. You didn’t even know. How would you? You decided to take the easy way out 4 years ago” Luhan couldn’t help the bitter sound in his voice.

“That” Myungsoo looked flustered, “that wasn’t … look Han, I ---”

“STOP CALLING ME HAN!”

Myungsoo was surprised at the sudden outburst as well as Luhan, himself. By then both Jongdae and Joonmyeon also took notice of their boss with the new customer and from the looks of it, they could tell that Luhan knew the new guy.

“S-Sorry?” Myungsoo rubbed his neck, nervously, looking around. This side of Luhan was new to him, even though they were together for 2 years.

Luhan sighed, feeling drained of his energy.

“Look Myungsoo, I- I didn’t mean to yell at you, I’m – I’m sorry. Just I’m not really… can we just drop the matter and get to the part why you came to my shop in the first place?”

Myungsoo frowned for a bit then nodded, “Yeah okay. I – I need ten choc chip cupcakes and 9 French vanilla iced coffee to go. That’s all.”

Luhan nodded, “Take a seat. I’ll get your order”

Myungsoo walked to the seat beside the window and sat down, fiddling with his phone. He didn’t need to look up to know that he and Luhan had attracted some audience with their little conversation. He could feel eyes on him and if he was honest with himself, those were judging eyes.

He didn’t need to wait too long. In less than ten minutes Luhan came in with his orders and placed them on the table.

“You really are eager to get rid of me Ha- Luhan” Myungsoo joked.

He expected another huff or eye roll from the younger boy but was pleasantly surprised when Luhan laughed at him.

“Your mug is scaring my customers” Luhan joked back and placed another coffee in front of the older. “Black, no sugar”

Myungsoo looked at Luhan, surprised, making the baker roll his eyes.

“Don’t go reading too much into this. I know you can’t stand all the fancy flavored coffee. You ordered ten cupcakes but nine cups of coffee. Clearly you weren’t in the mood to drink it. So just take the black one so that you don’t stick out like a sore thumb”

Myungsoo laughed at his ex boyfriend’s explanation, “Same old Luhan. Never beating around the bush.” He sighed, “Look, I just wanted to say that I was sorry. For what I did. It was a coward move and I was confused”

Luhan nodded, “Yeah I get it. It’s fine Myungsoo. It’s in the past. I was mad then, I’m still mad now, but may be not as much. Point is I get it now that you were not ready. You probably are still not ready. You don’t have to be sorry. You made your choice, I made mine. We have both moved on… so no hard feelings”

Myungsoo looked surprised at Luhan’s words and relieved too, “Are you sure? Because when I first came in you looked ready to murder me”

Luhan laughed, “Yeah that – you sort of caught me off guard. I blame it on my…” he stopped before saying further. He didn’t want to share private news of his life with Myungsoo. He wasn’t important, not anymore.

“On your?” Myungsoo asked but before Luhan could answer, a little boy came running.

“Baba! Baba! Shihannie maked new drawing!”

From the way Luhan tensed up and from his obvious uncomfortable look, Myungsoo didn’t need to be a genius to tell that the kid was his. Although he was a bit surprised to find no resemblance of himself. Absolutely none. It was as if he wasn’t the father.

“Tha-that’s really really beautiful bao bao. Did you show it to Uncle Joonmyeon and Uncle Jongdae?” Luhan smiled, kissing his baby’s nose.

“Yes! Baba can Shihan show it to Appa?” the little child asked eagerly.

“Ofcourse you can baby boy. Why don’t you go and put it in your bag safely?”

“Okay Baba” Shihan left, running to the way he came from.

There was an uncomfortable silence between Luhan and Myungsoo, both wondering what to say to make it less uneasy.

“So…” they both started together but Luhan stopped and gestured for Myungsoo to go on.

“Shihan huh” the older boy commented.

Luhan looked conflicted, “Look Myungsoo…” but the older boy cut him off.

“It’s okay Luhan. You don’t have to explain anything to me. I know I don’t have any right over him. I’m not here to cause any trouble”

Luhan released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. A part of him always feared that someday Myungsoo might find out about Shihan and demand his right – he was, after all, Shihan’s biological father. But when he cleared off that fear, Luhan could breathe again.

“Thank you” Luhan said softly.

“Seems like a good kid” Myungsoo smiled.

“What else did you expect? Ofcourse he is” Luhan smiled proudly.

“What really brings you to Seoul?” he asked Myungsoo.

“Work” Myungsoo replied.

“You are working here?” Luhan looked surprised.

Myungsoo shook his head, “No. I am in England, actually. Here for a conference with my fellow colleagues for a couple of days. The order’s for them” he explained.

“Aha! Kim Myungsoo getting ordered around by his co-workers. I never thought I would live to see this day” Luhan teased.

Myungsoo rolled his eyes, “I wasn’t getting ordered around. I just lost to rock paper scissors”

But Luhan laughed nonetheless, “Whatever helps you sleep at night”

Myungsoo smiled softly, “I see you have moved on”

Luhan gave him a pointed look, “If you tell me that you haven’t and expect me to believe you then you are mistaken”

Myungsoo ducked his head and rubbed his neck, “Yeah okay, you win. I am glad you are happy Luhan. Really I am”

Luhan nodded, “Me too. And I – I am glad we met, again”

Myungsoo looked astonished at that but Luhan continued, “I won’t lie I was pretty mad at you. I did hate you a lot Myungsoo. But that’s in the past. I am still mad that you couldn’t man up and take your responsibility but I forgave you for that a long time ago. I wanted the baby, you didn’t, you made yourself clear and so did I, end of story. Fact is I never thought I would meet you again but I am glad I did. I didn’t want you to think that I hated your guts. So yeah. I am over your actions of the past.”

Myungsoo stared at Luhan for a while, “Wow! I – thanks, I guess I never thought I would be forgiven by you but it means a lot to be forgiven. Thanks Luhan.”

“I guess fatherhood softened me” Luhan smiled.

“Pretty sure it did” Myungsoo smiled back, “Anyway, I need to get going now. It was really great seeing you again Luhan and…” he paused a little, “Shihan too. Have a nice life”

“You too, Kim Myungsoo” Luhan bade the older goodbye after accepting the payment.

As soon as Myungsoo left the shop, Luhan found Jongdae giving him a narrowed eyed look.

“Don’t look at me like that, camel” Luhan rolled his eyes at the young baker.

“That” Jongdae pointed an accusing finger at the door where Myungsoo went out, “That was him right? You ex?”

Luhan only hummed, making himself busy with cleaning the tables.

“What was he doing here?” Jongdae asked.

“What do people do here Jongdae? He came for cupcakes and coffee” Luhan replied, not meeting his eyes.

“He took a lot more time than to just take his order and leave” Jongdae pointed out.

Luhan remained silent. Even though he had no feelings left for Myungsoo, yet he didn’t feel comfortable talking about him to his friends.

“Luhan hyung?” Jongdae called out when he didn’t get any answer from Luhan.

That made the older baker look up, “What do want me to say? He came, we talked. That’s all” Luhan replied back.

“Did he want anything to do with Shihan?” it was Joonmyeon who asked that.

Luhan sighed shaking his head, “He was just here as a co-incidence. He had no idea I own this place and neither did he know anything about Shihan. He said himself that he had no right over him. It’s fine guys, relax.”

Both his workers nodded but they still didn’t look convinced.

“Are you okay Luhan? It’s not every day that you see the father for your child whom you have broken up with. How are you holding up?” Joonmyeon asked in his big brotherly voice.

Luhan thought about it, “I- I don’t know Joonmyeon-ah, I really don’t know. Myungsoo was a big part of my life, we were friends before we got together. Granted that he hurt me deeply to the point that I swore never to love again, but I can’t deny the fact that he is Shihan’s biological father. I love Sehun, I do, with all my heart and there’s no doubt in that. But Myungsoo would be a part of my life too and that’s the truth I am scared of. Seeing him made it more real”

Joonmyeon nodded in understanding, “No one’s going to judge you for that Luhan, no one, not even Sehun. Your ex is not just an old chapter of your life. Shihan is a part of him too and you can’t wipe away that. I am sure Sehun understands that too. I know seeing your ex again must have brought back memories – good and bad – if you want to talk about it, you know we are always here for you”

Luhan gave a grateful smile, “Thanks but I’m okay, really I am. I admit that seeing Myungsoo again kind of overwhelmed me. It’ll take some time to get over that sudden shock. But I’ll be fine. And I know you guys are always here for me, I never doubted that”

Joonmyeon squeezed Luhan’s shoulder in support and turned to leave, when the Chinese boy called him, “Joonmyeon-ah, I would appreciate it if you not tell Sehun about any of it”

The other boy shook his head, “But Luhan I think you should tell Sehun about it. Hiding it will only make you feel guilty later on”

Luhan nodded his head, “I know I know and I won’t hide it. I promise I won’t. There’s nothing to hide, it's not like I am still in love with Myungsoo. I just need some time to process this whole thing and then I will tell Sehun everything. Till then I hope you and Jongdae don’t say anything to him. I know both of you care about him like big brothers and I can assure you that I won’t hurt your maknae. I can’t do that, he is too precious and important to me”

Both the workers looked at each other and nodded, “Okay we won’t say a word to Sehun. It’s your decision hyung and we will respect that. And we know that you won’t hurt our maknae” Jongdae smiled, squeezing Luhan’s hand in assurance.

---

Luhan sat on the living room couch with the television on to some Disney show but his interest was not on it. He sat there eating a slice of pizza with maple syrup on it. Don’t ask, Luhan craved for it. His mind was far away from either the tv or the disgusting food he was eating. If there was something Luhan hated it were problems, unsolved things, complications. He loathed mathematics in school because he had always disliked complicated things. Funny how his life turned into one such complication.

He should have been happy, ecstatic to give Sehun the news about his pregnancy but something stopped him.

Myungsoo.

Why on earth the man showed up again in Luhan’s life, he wondered. He knew that it was a pure co incidence that they met but how was he going to say that to Sehun.

“Hey! Guess what? I bumped into my ex today at the shop. Oh and congratulations! I’m pregnant”

Luhan cringed at his own thought. Or may be…

“Sehunnie, you are going to be a father! By the way, I saw my ex after four years today at the shop”

“Argh!” Luhan pulled his hair in frustration. He already had a headache and all these thoughts were only worsening his throbbing head.

“Baba? What wrong?” Shihan’s little voice came from his left.

Turning his head, Luhan found his son looking at him with eyes filled with worry.

He gave the child a small smile, “Nothing bao bao, nothing’s wrong” he opened his arms for a hug.

The little boy instantly crawled on his father’s lap and wrapped his small chubby arms around his neck.

“But Baba look sad. Tell Shihan what wrong,Baba. Shihan make the sad go bye bye” the kid said adorably in his innocent childish way.

Luhan kissed his son’s button nose, “Baba just has a headache bao bao, don’t worry about it” he smiled, rocking his son on his lap.

Shihan touched Luhan’s cheeks with his little hands and stood up on his lap. He leaned in and gave soft kisses on his Baba’s forehead.

“Shihan kiss Baba’s head. Now headache go bye bye” he clapped his hands happily making Luhan smile from his heart.

“I feel already better, bao bao. Thank you so much” he hugged and tickled his son, letting himself forget about the complications of his life for a while.

Soon…I will tell Sehun about everything soon…very soon.

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