“Sit still,” Kyungsoo chided for the millionth time.

Jongin sighed dramatically but stopped jiggling his foot against the leg of the coffee table where he was currently perched.

“Honestly,” Kyungsoo said, though there was more than a touch of fondness in his voice. “I can’t believe you’re nineteen years old and you still don’t know how to tie a tie.”

“I hate wearing ties,” Jongin complained, pursing his lips out in a very distracting manner. “Besides, any time I needed to wear a tie, I just had one of the manservants do it for me.”

Kyungsoo gave in to the urge to lean down and capture his boyfriend’s familiar lips in a quick kiss, his hands still deftly fixing the silk around Jongin’s neck. “Well you don’t have any manservants anymore, so you should learn to do it yourself.”

“I’ll always have you though, right?” Jongin grinned impishly.

Kyungsoo was torn between gagging at the cheesiness and blushing right down to his toes. “Don’t do that,” he whined. “You know you’ll always have me.”

“Damn straight,” Jongin grinned, and this time it was he who pulled Kyungsoo in for a kiss.

“Don’t muss me too much,” Kyungsoo said, though without any real conviction as he leaned into his lover’s embrace. “They’ll be here to pick us up soon.”

As if right on cue, the doorbell rang. Kyungsoo pulled away and went to answer the door, straightening his own tie as he went.

Sure enough, there stood an incredibly impatient Luhan. “Get the lead out already,” he said. “We’re going to be late!”

“Calm your ,” Jongin suggested, grabbing his jacket and following his friend and his boyfriend out of the apartment. “We’ve got plenty of time to get there.”

“Not if there’s traffic,” Luhan pointed out, and Kyungsoo had to stifle a giggle because it was unusual to see the normally-composed Luhan so flustered.

“It’s a high school graduation, hyung,” Jongin pointed out as they took the elevator down to the first floor. “It’s not that big a deal.”

“It is a big deal,” Luhan said, pouting. “Sehun is graduating. That means that we will officially be able to live together after this. This is a huge deal.”

“Don’t worry, hyung,” Kyungsoo assured him with a smile. “We’ll get there in plenty of time.”

Yixing had offered to drive, so he was parked out front of Jongin and Kyungsoo’s building when they came out into the chilly February morning.

“Good morning!” Seoyun called from the front seat as the three of them scrambled into the back and reached for their seatbelts.

“It’ll only be good if we get on the road immediately,” Luhan retorted.

Yixing chuckled good-naturedly, putting the car in drive and pulling away from the curb. “Damn, you and Sehun are a lot more alike than I realized.”

“Only when there’s someone important to get to,” Luhan corrected, but he was smiling again now that they were officially on their way.

It wasn’t that long of a drive up to Seonbi’s campus, but it felt weird to be back again after a year away. Kyungsoo felt his lips tugging up in a smile as the scenery outside the foggy windows became more and more familiar, and he was grinning like an idiot by the time the spires of the tall buildings of Seonbi came into view.

It wasn’t that he missed high school, really. He didn’t miss all the homework and being forced to take classes he wasn’t really interested in. He didn’t miss the fights he and Jongin had gone through, or the times he’d been bullied for one reason or another. But he had a lot of happy memories of this place. A lot more good memories than bad ones.

“What’s got you so cheerful?” Jongin asked teasingly as Yixing pulled through the main gate and into the car park on the other side of the dormitories. “It’s just a lame high school graduation.”

Kyungsoo shrugged, automatically reaching for his boyfriend’s hand, lacing their fingers together intimately. “This place,” he said, almost dreamily. “I have a lot of good memories.” He chuckled a little bit. “When I first came here, all I cared about was studying. I had no friends and no real hobbies. Now look at me.” He gestured around the car and laughed again.

“I know what you mean,” Seoyun agreed with a smile. “Without this place, I don’t even know where I would be.” She gave Yixing a meaningful look, which he returned with a dimpled smile.

“Ugh, you guys are too sentimental,” Luhan pretended to gag. “Let’s get going already. I want to find Sehun before the ceremony starts.”

They found their friend standing off to the side of the auditorium, sandwiched between his parents and looking none too pleased with the arrangement. His mother was fussing over him, smoothing down his hair and adjusting the collar of his shirt.

“Oh thank god,” he groaned when his friends came into sight. “Rescue me. Please.”

“Sehunnie, are these your friends?” Mrs. Oh asked politely, tucking away the handkerchief she’d been using to wipe at an imaginary spot on his cheek. “Introduce us, why don’t you?”

Sehun groaned again. “Mom, you know Jongin and Yixing. We’ve been friends forever.”

“Of course,” Mrs. Oh smiled. “It’s so lovely to see you again.” She purposefully looked over Luhan to Seoyun. “And who is this beautiful girl?”

Seoyun blushed prettily. “I’m Seoyun, ma’am. It’s nice to meet you. Sehun is a good friend of mine.”

“Are the two of you dating, perhaps?” Mrs. Oh wanted to know – maybe a bit too eagerly.

Again, Seoyun blushed. She reached for Yixing’s hand. “No, we’re just friends. I’m engaged to Yixing.”

Mrs. Oh sighed as if she must have known it was too good to be true. “What about you, Jonginnie? Are you seeing someone?”

“Yes ma’am,” Jongin replied proudly, wrapping an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “This is my boyfriend, Kyungsoo.”

When he said the word boyfriend, Mrs. Oh automatically stiffened. Then she sighed dramatically. “Oh, so you’re dabbling as well.”

Sehun groaned loudly. “We’re not dabbling, mom. We like who we like. Gender doesn’t matter.”

“It’s just a phase,” Mrs. Oh insisted to her husband, who was on the phone and wasn’t paying any attention to the conversation. “One day soon, both of you will realize how ridiculous you’re being and you’ll find nice girls to settle down with.”

“It’s not a phase, Mom,” Sehun said through clenched teeth. “Trust me. I’m never going to find a nice girl. I’m never even going to find a bad girl. Girls are out of the picture for me.” He grabbed Luhan’s hand and dragged him forward. “You remember Luhan, right?”

Mrs. Oh finally turned her icy gaze onto her son’s boyfriend. “How could I forget? The one who likes to dress up like a girl.”

Luhan’s face turned crimson. “A-ah, about that…”

“That was one time, Mom,” Sehun grumbled. “And if you had learned to knock, you would never have walked in on us ing. So you’ve really got no one to blame but yourself.”

“Oh Sehun!” his mother practically growled. “Don’t you dare use that sort of language when speaking to me! And don’t talk to me like that, either.”

Sehun was clearly finished with the current conversation. “Whatever. I’m going to talk with my friends now. You and Dad can go sit down already.” And he purposefully turned his back on her. 

Luhan was not at all pleased as their group wound their way through the crowd, away from Sehun’s parents. “Your mom literally hates me,” he groaned. “I mean, like she really hates me.”

“She’s old fashioned,” Sehun shrugged. “She doesn’t get the whole guys dating thing.”

“It also might have something to do with the fact that she walked in on your role play,” Jongin pointed out with a snicker.

Luhan glared at him. “I thought we agreed to never bring that up,” he said sullenly.

“She also might not like you because you were porking her underage son,” Yixing pointed out thoughtfully.

Luhan groaned again. “You guys are really not helping, just so you know.”

But Sehun was strangely unaffected. “To hell with what my mom thinks,” he said, taking his boyfriend’s hand and linking their fingers intimately. “I’m not underage now, and pretty soon we’re going to have our own place where nobody can walk in on us no matter what things we’re doing.”

“But aren’t you guys sort of exhibitionists?” Kyungsoo pointed out. “I think you’ll start to get bored if you keep your private times private.”

Sehun pretended to think about that quite seriously. “Kyunggie’s right,” he agreed. “I guess we’ll have to invite you guys over to spy on us sometimes.”

“So from now on we’ll have to treat any invitation to Sehun and Luhan’s place very carefully,” Seoyun cracked, and they all chuckled.

Luhan smiled. “Thanks guys. For cheering me up, I mean.” He pecked Sehun on the cheek. “You guys are right. Who cares what Sehun’s mom thinks? We’re together, despite all the odds, and that’s all that matters.”

Sehun blushed – actually blushed – and kissed his boyfriend on the lips. “God, all the cheesiness is going to make me barf and the stupid ceremony hasn’t even started yet. Way to go, Lulu.”

The ceremony got underway then, so Kyungsoo and his friends found some seats while Sehun went to join the others graduating in his class out on the floor. The graduation was long and – for the most part – incredibly boring. Kyungsoo’s friends cheered loudly for Minho and Sehun and a few others they remembered from their own time at Seonbi, and then the ceremony was over and the new graduates were released to find their friends and family.

Kyungsoo and Jongin ran into Jinki and the others as they were looking for Sehun. Taemin was clinging to Minho, blubbering horribly despite his best efforts to not.

“Looks like somebody’s having a rough day,” Jongin said, reaching out to ruffle Taemin’s hair.

“I-it’s not fair,” Taemin sniffled. “All of you are gone now. Who am I going to hang out with? How am I going to survive a whole year of being in this place alone?”

Minho hugged his boyfriend tightly. “You have other friends, dummy. Don’t be so silly. And we’ll still talk all the time and see each other on the weekends. Seoul isn’t all that far from here.”

Jinki chuckled. “And it might do you some good to be celibate for a while. I’ve seen Minho and I don’t even know how you can walk anymore.”

“Hyung!” Taemin wailed, embarrassed, but it wasn’t like Kyungsoo hadn’t seen them going at it more than once. Who knew who else had walked in on them over the course of their licentious relationship.

“You can come and visit us at university lots,” Kyungsoo promised with a warm smile. “We can have a guys weekend or something.”

“What am I, chopped liver?” Seoyun joked.

Jongin grinned. “Who are you kidding, Seoyun? You’re practically a guy.”

Yixing laughed. “I’d turn gay for you, Seoyun.”

She chuckled and slapped him on the shoulder. “You’d better,” she teased.

They found Sehun having a rather loud argument with his parents near the auditorium doors. Mr. Oh looked embarrassed by it, like he would rather be anywhere but there, but Mrs. Oh and Sehun were having a full-on face off.

“I will not let my baby boy shack up with some-some ert!” Mrs. Oh was practically seething.

Jongin winced. “I guess Sehun finally told her he was moving in with Luhan next month.”

“Luhan is not a ert, Mom,” Sehun growled. “He’s my boyfriend and I love him. And nothing you say will change the fact that I’m moving in with him. Whether it’s tonight or in a month is up to you.”

Mrs. Oh clearly wasn’t used to receiving ultimatums, especially not from her teenage son. “If you go through with this absolutely ridiculous plan, Oh Sehun, you will never see another cent from your father and I again. You will be completely on my own.”

“If you’re going to prevent me from being happy, then fine,” Sehun spat back. “Good riddance.”

His mother sneered. “You won’t survive on your own. You’re just a kid.”

“Jongin is doing it,” Sehun said smugly. “If Jongin can survive without his parents’ money, then so can I. I would willingly do a lot worse if it meant I got to be with Luhan.”

Mrs. Oh opened to retort, her face going an alarming shade of red, but her husband’s hand on her shoulder stopped her before she could get a word out.

“Leave him alone,” Mr. Oh said sternly, looking a little sad. “If he’s happy, then he’s happy. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Mrs. Oh looked utterly flabbergasted that her husband was siding with Sehun on this point. “He thinks he’s in love!” she exclaimed, as though Sehun had no idea what love was.

Mr. Oh shrugged. “Maybe he is, and maybe he isn’t. But it’s his journey to take, not ours. And if he is in love, then he should go for it.” His face clouded over a bit. “The worst thing in the world is to be married to someone you don’t love.”

Mrs. Oh looked like she’d been slapped in the face. Without another word, she turned and stalked off.

Mr. Oh sighed and turned to his son, smiling thinly at both Sehun and Luhan. “Whatever you need, son, just ask.” His smile became a bit more genuine. “Be happy, okay?”

Luhan stepped forward cautiously. “Does this mean you don’t…hate me?”

Mr. Oh chuckled a bit dryly. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not overly thrilled at the thought of my son having when he’s still just a kid, but if he’s in love then he’s in love. He clearly cares a lot about you, so you must be treating him right.”

Luhan beamed. “I try.”

“Good for you, son,” Mr. Oh said. Then he sighed. “I’d better go do damage control. Are you coming home tonight, Sehun? Or are you going to your boyfriend’s place?”

“Luhan lives on campus until we get a place next month,” Sehun said. “So I guess I’ll go home.” He smiled ruefully. “I guess I should try to make peace with Mom. She did give birth to me, after all, and I know she’s only doing what she thinks is right.”

Mr. Oh smiled and wrapped an arm around his son’s shoulders. “It was a pleasure to meet all of you,” he said to Sehun’s assembled friends. “Once all this mess blows over, we’ll have a graduation party or something so we can all get to know one another a bit more.”

Sehun smiled at them all, a genuine smile. “See you guys later.” He pecked Luhan on the lips right in front of his father. “I’ll call you the second I get home.”

Luhan smiled into the kiss. “I can’t wait.” 

So Sehun and Minho have graduated, Sehun will be moving in with Luhan, and Sehun's dad is pretty understanding, even if his mom is not. Yay. 

Soooo I apologize for the lack of updates. Turns out planning a wedding takes up way more of my time than I ever would have thought possible. Literally almost all of my time when I'm not working, out with friends, or at dance class is spent planning the wedding. I'm getting married in four months. FOUR MONTHS. This is insane. 

Also, I went to America and surprised my sister. 

She was very surprised. 

(she was in the middle of doing her hair, so don't judge)

And then, after 43 hours of labor, she had the most precious little girl in the whole wide world. 

I'm so in love with her it's not even funny. And it's not even my baby. 

(4 months and 1 day until I get married!)