Chen’s mother was already seated at the small café where they’d decided to eat when Xiumin and Chen entered the building. Chen pulled Xiumin to the table, refusing to release his hand. They sat across from his mother, who looked up and smiled at the pair of them.

          “Jong Dae-ah, Minnie-ah, it’s good to see you,” she said warmly.

Chen smiled back at his mother and greeted her.

          “You too, Umma. How are you?” Chen asked.

          “I’m doing well. Oh, Minnie-ah! You look so adorable today!” she exclaimed.

          “Thank you, Mrs. Kim,” Xiumin said with a smile.

          “Please, call me Hye Rin or Umma,” she said.

          “Ne, Hye Rin-ssi,” Xiumin replied.

          “I found some very cute videos of you yesterday, Minnie. Omo, you’re so sweet,” Hye Rin said.

          “Ah… Nothing too embarrassing, I hope,” Xiumin said politely.

          “Oh no~ you’re too adorable for anything to look bad!”

Chen laughed beside Xiumin as the latter turned bright pink.

          “I told you that you were her bias, Xiumin,” Chen said.

          “You are most definitely my bias, Minnie,” Hye Rin assured.

          “Eh… Thank you…” Xiumin said, unsure of how to respond.

Hye Rin and Chen laughed at his awkwardness. After a waitress came and took their orders, the atmosphere became more serious as they began to talk about the issue at hand.

          “Well… You both know why we’re here, so I suppose we shouldn’t beat around the bush much more,” Hye Rin said.

          “Ne,” Chen agreed.

Hye Rin sighed.

          “Your father is not very happy with you…”

          “He did disown me, so I’d say that might be a bit of an understatement.”

          “Well… Technically, he didn’t really disown you. He may have said he did, but he hasn’t made any sort of move to make it official, such as cut you off or remove you from the family portraits and tree,” Hye Rin replied.

          “Why hasn’t he?” Xiumin asked.

          “I think that he may believe that Jong Dae will come back and apologize to him. Although, it was made quite clear at our meeting that you will not meet your father’s terms, Jong Dae,” Chen nodded as his mother continued, “I am going to speak to him again tonight. I’m not sure what it will take to convince him that you two should be allowed to be together, but I will try my best to support you.”

          “Gamsahapnida,” Xiumin said.

Hye Rin turned to him and laid her hand on top of his.

          “As for the two of you, I just want you to not let this bother you too much. I don’t want this to hurt your relationship. Alright?”

          “Ne,” Xiumin said.

          “Okay, Umma, but I want you to be careful. Abeoji isn’t always very reasonable…” Chen said warningly.

          “I know, Jong Dae. Trust me when I say everything will be okay, arasseo?”

          “Arasseo…” Chen said reluctantly.

The waitress brought their food, and the three of them ate happily.

          Chen and Xiumin returned to the dorm after meeting with Hye Rin. Xiumin collapsed face-first on the sofa after entering the living room. The other boys were either out and about or holed up in their rooms with electronics to keep them entertained. Chen followed Xiumin into the living room after closing the door behind them. He lifted Xiumin’s feet and sat down before letting them fall back down into his lap. Looking over his shoulder, Xiumin watched Chen pick up a magazine from the coffee table and begin flipping through it. With a smile, Xiumin flipped around so that his head resting on Chen’s leg. Chen hummed, but didn’t look away from the magazine. Xiumin began fiddling with the metal circlet around Chen’s wrist in an attempt to get his attention, but Chen’s eyes continued scanning over the pages. Xiumin sat up and turned toward him, linking their arms and curling up beside him. He leaned his head on Chen’s shoulder, and although the younger didn’t spare him a glance, a small smile formed on his lips.

          “Yah,” Xiumin said softly.

          “Hm?” Chen hummed innocently.

          “You troll… Ignoring me like this,” Xiumin said with a pout.

Chen chuckled and finally laid the magazine to the side. He turned toward Xiumin and wrapped his arms around the smaller.

          “Happy?”

          “Almost,” Xiumin said, leaning in closer.

Chen smiled and moved in. With only a centimeter separating their lips, Chen’s smile turned wicked, and he swooped to the side, blowing a raspberry on Xiumin’s neck. Xiumin jumped in Chen’s arms.

          “Yah! I’m going to kill you for that one, Kim Jong Dae!” Xiumin yelled as Chen leapt up from the couch and bounded away.

          “Only if you can catch me!”

Xiumin jumped up and ran after Chen, only to have the door to his and Lay’s room slammed in his face.

          “Yah! Come out here and face me like a man!” Xiumin shouted.

          “Yah! Shut up and let some of us get some sleep!” Kris shouted from behind his closed door.

Xiumin knocked furiously on Chen’s door, but Chen made no move of letting the elder inside, even though Xiumin could clearly hear his maniacal laughter from outside the room. Xiumin scowled and turned away from the door. As Xiumin was about to open his own door, Luhan appeared on the other side, scaring Xiumin out of his wits.

          “Oh! Minnie-hyung! Do you want to play some soccer?” Luhan asked.

Xiumin smiled as he spotted Luhan’s workout clothes and the soccer ball in his hands. A good, long game of soccer was just what he needed to clear his mind.

          “Ne, that sounds perfect. I’m going to change, and then I’ll be right out. Wait for me, arasseo?” Xiumin said.

          “Okay,” Luhan said, walking past Xiumin and toward the living room.

Xiumin quickly changed into some gym shorts and a loose t-shirt. He grabbed his cleats and hurried to meet Luhan. At the door, Luhan handed him a water bottle and the pair set off for the park nearby. There was an open field there that was perfect for playing soccer.

          “So…. I heard you and Chen met his mother for lunch today?” Luhan asked on the way to the field.

          “Yeah… She likes me a lot, I guess. Apparently, she spent her night watching videos of us and decided I was her favorite. Chen’s convinced that she likes me more than him,” Xiumin said with a laugh.

Luhan chuckled as he tossed the ball up into the air.

          “So is everything okay with you two then? We were all worried when you disappeared…” Luhan said, his voice laced with concern.

          “We’re good now,” Xiumin said with a smile plastered on his face.

          “It’s good to see you smile again,” Luhan said kindly.

          “Waeyo?” Xiumin asked confusedly.

          “Because you’re about to get your whooped,” Luhan said, running onto the field as they arrived.

          “Not so fast! We’ll see who gets their whooped!” Xiumin called after him.

          Xiumin and Luhan played for over an hour before deciding to head back to the dorm. Some of their fans had shown up and cheered them on as they kicked the ball back and forth across the field. They smiled and did their best to play despite the constant cheering and high female screeches when they made a goal. By the end of their game, they were exhausted. They walked home as the sun began to cast an orange hazy light over the city. Arriving back at the dorm, they were ushered into the living room by D.O., who was coming from the kitchen.

          “Suho’s gathered us for a family meeting,” he said pushing the two eldest members toward the room.

Everyone was gathered around in a circle. Suho and Kris stood in the center, each holding a folder.

          “There you two are! Kris, I told you to keep better track of your kids! You said they went shopping; they were obviously playing soccer…” Suho chastised.

          “They left, but came back and that’s all that matters,” Kris retorted.

Suho sighed.

          “Anyways, come sit down,” Suho said.

After Xiumin and Luhan took their seats, Suho began.

          “Okay… So tomorrow, we have to return to work,” the boys chorused in groaning, “I know, I know… We’ve all enjoyed our days off, but it’s time to go back. Luckily, we’ll have an easy start. The company wants us to join in a sort of mentoring program with some of the trainees. We’ve each been assigned a trainee to mentor over the next few weeks,” Suho said, obviously excited about the whole process.

          “Why us? It’s not like we have anything wise and insightful to say,” Baekhyun asked.

          “Because we’ve been pretty successful, and I guess the company wants to continue that with these new trainees,” Kris said grumpily.

          “Exactly. Now Kris and I have folders with the name and information of each of your mentees,” Suho said.

            “Mentos?!” Chanyeol exclaimed.

            “No, Chanyeol—mentees. Now, go and see your leader to get your person!” Suho announced.

Xiumin and Luhan stood together. EXO-M formed a small circle around Kris and patiently waited for their paper, whereas Suho was swarmed with the EXO-K boys and had his entire folder snatched out of his hands by Chanyeol and Baekhyun. Kris handed each of them their paper. Xiumin received his last. He looked down and began reading.

          Choi Hyun Jae | Age:21

          Specialty: Dancer|Singer

          Nationality: Korean

The boy’s photo was also there. Xiumin took off the paper clip and looked at it. His eyes widened as he realized who was in the photo.

It was the boy from the park.

A/N: Sorry for such the late update... I haven't had any time lately. I am in theatre at my school and we are working on our fall show :p I've been at school until 7 about everyday... It is over next week though, so hopefully I'll have more time to update ^3^ I said I would go back and edit chapters, but never had time... Maybe I will after the show, so just continue to be aware of this. Thank you everyone for reading! Please subscribe, upvote, and comment~I love hearing from everyone <3