Here's to Never Growing Up (Peter Pan - HunHan) by: zyixingsgrowl

EXO AU Collection

AN: Trigger warning for: character death, mentions of bullying 

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Here’s to never growing up. Here’s to being a kid forever.

Sehun wasn’t sure why he was best friends with a kid who was in a 24 year-old’s body, but had the mental age of a ten year old. He never understood why he, Mr. Popular, accepted the special kid into his group of friends. It wasn’t because Sehun was a nice kid, he wasn’t known for being anything like that. He was a bully towards most but something about Lu Han made him see the light.

Most people thought Sehun was going to torment Lu Han for being “different” from others. No one was going to sit around and watch that. Sure, Sehun had a lot of friends but he had plenty of people against him too. Sehun was at first focused on making Lu Han’s life hell for whatever reason. Since Lu Han was probably the most beloved kid in school. Everyone adored him and Sehun wanted that for himself, to be liked.

So why was he mean all the time? Because wasn’t that the cool way to be? Be mean to those below you, right? Sehun couldn’t be more wrong.

Sehun was mean to Lu Han at first, who just accepted the bullying because he didn’t really understand that Sehun was being mean to him. Lu Han didn’t know better than to laugh and clap his hands. This frustrated Sehun. But soon, Sehun began to develop a soft spot of the older boy. Soon he realized that he didn’t want to be anything but nice to Lu Han and for that, some called him a loser.

Sehun found out, the hard way, who his true friends were and those “popular” guys were nowhere close to being friends. Sehun’s days were now entirely focused on taking care of Lu Han because all of Sehun’s “friends” left him.

“Look, look!” Lu Han was bent over on the ground, a smile plastered on his face because he had just found a worm. Lu Han was overjoyed by the animal world, even something as simple as a worm delighted him. Sehun couldn’t help but smile because it was too adorable how Lu Han loved every living thing.

“What did you find?” Sehun bent down next Lu Han who pointed at the worm that was making its way across the wet dirt since it had just rained.

“It’s a—umm—Sehunnie, what is that called?” Lu Han also had a hard time learning things, but Sehun never lost his temper with him. Sehun adored Lu Han more than Lu Han adored this little worm.

“It’s called a worm. Come on Lu Han, we have get you home. Your mom is probably worried about you.  She’s probably afraid you are going to get sick from this cold weather.” Sehun stood up, but Lu Han didn’t follow, instead he was still laughing and pointing at the worm. Sehun couldn’t get mad at him because it was beautiful how Lu Han took pride in everything.

“Lu Han, seriously let’s go,” Sehun’s voice was serious so Lu Han knew it was time to go to home.

“Ookaayyy Sehun,” Lu Han said mockingly. For someone who had the mental age of a 10 year old, he was one sassy ten year old.

Lu Han followed Sehun all the way home, skipping along behind him, singing a song in Chinese. Lu Han lived in Korea, but was Chinese. He could speak Korean just fine; it was almost like he was Korean and not a foreigner. It was actually impressive how smart Lu Han was, most people just assumed he was helpless, and sure in some cases he might be, but he was a smart and tough kid.

They finally arrived in front of Lu Han’s house, which was only a few blocks away from Sehun’s; this allowed the two boys to see each other often. Sehun said hello to Lu Han’s mother and gave Lu Han his goodbye hug before heading back to his own house.

He opened the door and was greeted by the smell of food. Sehun’s stomach growled, not realizing how hungry he was.

“Smells amazing Mom!” Sehun called from the living room as he discarded his shoes.

“Thanks! How was school, sweetie?” His mom asked from the kitchen.

Sehun walked into the kitchen to hug his mother and grab a glass of water. “It was alright, you know it was school,” Sehun shrugged.

“How is Lu Han doing?” His mom loved Lu Han and would adopt him if she could. But Lu Han had two very loving parents and Sehun’s mom was just out of luck on that. They did, however, get to have him over on the weekends and when Lu Han’s parents were away on business trips.

“Lu Han is doing great. He made me stop for 10 minutes while he watched a worm wiggle across wet dirt.” Sehun smiled at the memory, Lu Han was an amazing human being and he never ceased to amaze Sehun.

“He is so cute. I don’t understand why you two aren’t an item yet.” Oh, another thing, Sehun’s mom was convinced Sehun was in love with Lu Han, but Sehun would deny it every time.

“Because we are best friends, and you and Lu Han’s mom need to stop setting us up on pretend dates.” Sehun was on to them.

“Whatever do you mean?” His mom acted innocent but Sehun knew otherwise.

“Like the nights you just left me alone at the restaurant and Lu Han would come strolling in. Yeah, like I would believe that!” Sehun walked out of the kitchen, almost angrily, and up to his room to begin his homework.
 

The next day, Sehun was met by a crying Lu Han. This happened every so often and each time was just as painful as the last. It was those days when Lu Han would fight with his mother because she was would get frustrated that Lu Han didn’t understand that he wasn’t a kid anymore and that he needed to take care of himself. Lu Han would then tell his mother that growing up was something he was doing and he didn’t know why she couldn’t see that. Of course, she would yell back that Lu Han couldn’t grow up even if he tried.

Sehun knew she didn’t mean it, and he also knew that Lu Han’s mother blamed herself for Lu Han’s mental state because she felt she did something wrong though none of this was her fault at all.. Lu Han understood a lot but he didn’t understand this. Lu Han didn’t get that he was stuck at this mental age forever. Lu Han didn’t get that he couldn’t change no matter how hard he tried. He hated knowing Lu Han had these fights with his mom. To be honest, Lu Han probably didn’t even know it was a fight; Lu Han just knew she was upset . Sehun didn’t believe that made Lu Han dumb or anything, because he wasn’t.

“Ice cream?” It was only 4 degrees Celsius outside but Sehun knew the drill. Every time they fought, it was ice cream time. He could feel Lu Han nod as he held him against his chest. He didn’t let his arm fall from Lu Han’s waist as they made their way to the ice cream shop.

Once they arrived, Lu Han got his usual triple scoop strawberry ice cream that he never would finish. Sehun ordered the hot fudge brownie sundae and about died in heaven. Of course Lu Han ended up sharing his and getting most of it all over himself. Lu Han was a messy eater, and Sehun didn’t mind cleaning up the mess.

Once it was time to go, Sehun left an extra big tip to thank the people for putting up with Lu Han’s bagging of spoons and spilling and flinging of ice cream. It was hard to control him when he got excited. But it was also great when Lu Han just lit up and it was easy to forget, sometimes, that he had the mentality of a ten year old; he was simply a 24 year old who was acting immature, but the ten year old was hardly there anymore. Sehun lived for those moments because it gave him hope that maybe one day, Lu Han would grow up like the rest of the world did.
 

It was a Saturday night and Lu Han came banging on Sehun’s door at 3 am. Of course, Sehun’s parents weren’t angry with Lu Han because he really didn’t know better, but then again he probably should have by the fifth time.

“I don’t want to grow up.” Lu Han said, sitting on Sehun’s bed, while Sehun got Lu Han some clothes to sleep in. The boy was still in his school uniform, how he kept that thing on for five minutes after school ended was beyond Sehun. It’s the worst thing ever! And it’s also a tad too small for him.

“Then don’t. Stay young forever, Lulu.” Growing up anyway.

“Maybe I can be Peter Pan and stay a kid forever! Sehun, you’d stay with me right?” Lu Han always asked him this question, or something similar. Sehun sighed, it was late and he really didn’t want to deal with Lu Han’s questions right now.

“Of course, now let’s change your clothes and go to bed okay?” Sehun quickly helped Lu Han change. Even though Lu Han could dress himself, he demanded Sehun to do it for him because he was too tired from walking. Yeah right, it was two blocks, Lu Han.

Sehun never really questioned why Peter Pan was Lu Han’s favorite movie. He never let the idea boil in his head because it was only a movie to Sehun. He assumed Lu Han thought the same way even when he was giggling and clapping his hands. Or saying how he would agree with Peter Pan when saying he didn’t want to grow up. It never really struck Sehun even when Lu Han would always say it constantly.

It was only a month later that Sehun was hit with a sad reality. Peter Pan was a cartoon and it was full of magic flying, ships and a hero. In real life, there was no magic, and no flying, and at times there wasn’t even a hero. Sehun didn’t like those facts, but it was true.

It was a rainy Saturday night and Lu Han had just had another fight with his mother. And Sehun was at home peacefully doing his homework when the phone rang.

“I got it!” Sehun yelled as he answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello, am I speaking with Mr. Oh?” A voice said.

“Well, with one of them. I am the son of Mr. Oh, are you looking for my father?” Sehun asked, about ready to head to his parent’s room.

“Are you Sehun?” The person on the phone asked.

“Yes, who is this?” Sehun was a little scared because he didn’t recognize the voice at all, so how did they know him?

“I’m sorry to be calling you like this, but my name is Nurse Sootae. Your friend, Lu Han, was hit by a car.” Sehun hung up on the nurse then and ran out of the house immediately, not even caring that it was raining or that he didn’t have a coat.

He kept running, even with rain consistently hitting him in the face. He didn’t have time to feel tired because Lu Han needed him. He had to be fast for Lu Han.

Sehun thought back to that one sunny day, the grass had been extra green and it had felt like the sun was shining at just right amount, where it wasn’t too hot or too cold. Sehun had laid down next Lu Han, his hand over top of Lu Han’s so Lu Han would feel safe, or that’s what Sehun would claim anyway.

“Sehun, are you fast?” Lu Han liked to ask him random questions like that all the time. Sehun had chuckled because he never knew how to answer those questions and he never wanted to let Lu Han down, but he knew he wasn’t very fast.

“No, Lu Han,” Sehun turned to smile at Lu Han.

“Sehunnie! I need you to be fast! Always!” Lu Han had yelled then before bursting into giggles.


And as he came out of the memory, he could feel his tears mixing with the rain as he thought of Lu Han’s beautiful smile that day. It was on that day that he had taught Lu Han to bake cookies but Lu Han had forgotten as usual. So, every time he tried to make them afterwards, he would end up burning them. Sehun would eat them all anyway.

He kept running until he was at the hospital, panting and ready to collapse, but he needed to see Lu Han.

“Hi, my name is Sehun. I’m Lu Han’s friend, I need to see him please.” Sehun was in tears again; he couldn’t hold it together.

“Room 405, to your left.” The nurse said and Sehun didn’t even say thank you because he could no longer wait.  

“Lu Han!” Sehun yelled, bursting through the door and running to his side. Lu Han had several scratches on his face, and a bandage on his head. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing, but just barely. Sehun could see his heart slowing down with each breath, and each beat took longer than the previous one.

“Sehunnie?” Lu Han gasped, his breath short and his eyes barely open, and yet even in that horrible state, he was still smiling.

“Yes, Lu Han?” Sehun took Lu Han’s hand, more tears welling up in his eyes.

“Let’s be like Peter Pan and never grow up, okay?” Lu Han asked.

“Here’s to never growing up, Lu Han.”

Sehun couldn’t even be sure that Lu Han had heard him, because that was when the heart monitor went flat. And along with Lu Han’s heart, Sehun felt like his had stopped beating as well.

 

The End

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I'm very sorry for all the sad that happens in this fic ; A ;. Please forgive me! 
Please look forward to get the update next month!! ^_^ <3 
Thank you for all the support you guys are amazing! Love you so much! 
~ Abby (zyixingsgrowl)  

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littlelionlovesptv
Sorry we're a little late this month! Between midterms and other schedules, we've been running a little late on everything. I promise that we'll get one up soon

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Sugar-and-Salt
#1
Chapter 14: Welllll.... surprise! :D
I'm still here, and not disappointed at all!
If you had no time for this, it's okay, really.
You guys technically don't iwe us anything, so relax ♡
But if you do wanna update, I'd be super happy~! :3

...so yeah. I'm patient, and I'm still here is all I wanna say I guess.
Enjoy the holidays ♥︎
MissMugiwara #2
Chapter 4: Wow, so much angst... I feared it wouldn't end well, and I'm relieved there's a happy end to all of that. Both Soo and Jongin's lives were so horrible ;u; Your writing style was heavy, and it definitely added a nice touch to the story. Great job!
vannina66
#3
Chapter 4: I had such high expectations for this, but god! too much angst
I think the story would have been great without going overboard with abuse, yuck
Maybe you should put a trigger warning or at least put the angst label?
SoSquishy #4
Chapter 4: Yeheyyyy so tragic but sweet. Love this. ♥
flytothesKAI
#5
Chapter 4: Omg the best fic ever! Hurray for the happy ending (but since I'm a masochist I prefer not-so-happy ending hahaha) I really like your writing. Please never stop writing Kaisoo :))
Sugar-and-Salt
#6
Chapter 13: The horrible thing is: You got me perfectly conditioned in a way that I was EXPECTING something gruesome to happen until the very end! xD
Now I feel relieved and slightly trolled.
(but I trolled myself I guess)

Tao's egocentric character and Sehun's whiny behaviour was sooo on point! xD
Though Tao kicking him out was just too cruel. But some people get reeeally grumpy when denied their sleep, right?

And for some reason the fat cat was so... endearing? I bet the ball of fluff was totally fed up(no pun intended) with Sehun as an owner.
I guess Minseok's gonna spoil the cat until it can do nothing but roll around! xD

Thanks for writing this ♥︎
xingnini
#7
Chapter 4: yUP SO THIS STORY MADE ME CRY A LOT IDK WHAT TO DO WITH THESE FEELS IT WAS 3 AM WHEN I READ IT NOW ITS 4 AM AND IM STILL NOT OVER IT UGHGUHGURHAGSKGAKJD