Joonmyun doesn't think he has ever seen Yixing this nervous before. They're on the subway, and Yixing is a mess, leg bouncing, eyes flickering, hands unable to stay still. It's like their roles have been reversed, Yixing fidgeting anxiously while Joonmyun tries to calm him down the best he can when he's not even sure what's making Yixing so uneasy in the first place. Now that Joonmyun understands how it feels, he also feels bad for making Yixing go through this so often. “Sorry,” Yixing eventually says. He sounds so small and insecure that Joonmyun can't be anything but protective of him. “It's just... I've never met anyone's parents before.”

Joonmyun doesn't know if he should be surprised by that information or not, and maybe he'll ask about it later. Right now he just smiles and pats Yixing's hand soothingly. He would hold it if he could, but they're in public, and even though Joonmyun has mostly come to terms with his own identity at this point, he still doesn't want to take any risks. He knows other people might not be as accepting of him. Of them. “You'll be fine,” Joonmyun assures Yixing. “I'm sure my mom will love you. I know she'll love you, you're amazing. By the end of tonight, I'll probably have to fight her off with a stick.” That puts a smile on Yixing's face, at least, even if it's slightly shaky.

They're on their way to have dinner with Joonmyun's mother, and Yixing is kind of freaking out about their first meeting. Joonmyun kind of is, too, he's just better at hiding it than Yixing is. He has to stay collected for the both of them, so he stays close to Yixing's side, keeps talking to him, whispering that everything is going to be just fine and that he will do well, don't even worry about it.

By the time they make it to Joonmyun's mother's apartment, Yixing is significantly more relaxed. His hand still trembles slightly as he threads his fingers through Joonmyun's, but there's a determined expression in the set of his brow, and he stays put when Joonmyun reaches out to ring the doorbell. Everything is going to be just fine.

Except when the door opens, it's not Joonmyun's mother standing on the other side. Joonmyun feels his heart drop in time with Yixing's tightening hold on his hand. Oh no. “Joonmyunnie!”

“H-hyung,” he stutters, trying in vain to keep the rapidly oncoming panic out of his voice. “I-I didn't know that... that you were going to be here.” This could be bad. He doesn't know how his brother feels about homouality since they've never talked about it, never had the need to, so now he's not sure how this is going to turn out. He considers whether or not to let go of Yixing's hand but he decides against it. Even if he wanted to, which he doesn't really, there's no point in doing so when his brother already saw them holding hands. Any potential damage has been done. Besides, Yixing seems like he needs the support.

“Mom invited us to come, and you know I never say no to free food.” He turns his attention to Yixing, smiling and reaching out his hand. “Yixing, right?”

Yixing glances hesitantly at Joonmyun, who nods and nudges him slightly in encouragement. If his brother was secretly a raging homophobe, he would've probably already shown that side of himself by now, but he's as friendly and cheerful as always. Things seem to be going okay. “Y-yeah.” Yixing takes the outstretched hand with his own free one and shakes it. True to character, he also throws in a bow, always polite, as he introduces himself: “Zhang Yixing. Nice to meet you.”

“Kim Junsu,” comes the reply. “I'm Joonmyunnie's brother. It's very nice to meet you, too.” He's smiling and seems completely welcoming, but Joonmyun sees that little, almost unnoticeable spark in his eye that he would've probably missed if he didn't know it so well from himself. Just like Joonmyun, Junsu is a businessman, and he has the perfect customer service smile down to a T so he can smoothly placate clients while assessing the situation at the same time. That's what he's doing right now, except he's assessing Yixing instead, scrutinizing.

Joonmyun clears his throat. “Can we go inside?” he asks.

Junsu looks at Joonmyun as if he had almost forgotten he was even there at all, but then his smile eases into a more genuine one. “Sure, little brother. Come on in.” They take off their shoes and coats, then Junsu wraps his arm around Joonmyun's shoulders and leads him towards the living room, Yixing following not far behind them.

Junsu's wife is sitting on the couch. Her chestnut hair falls in waves past her shoulders, her pretty hands are folded primly in her lap, and when Joonmyun enters the room, she smiles and motions to stand up. In the blink of an eye, Junsu is by her side with one hand holding her by the elbow and the other placed on the small of her back so he can help her despite her insistence that she's perfectly capable of doing it by herself. Once she's on her feet, she waddles over to Joonmyun to give him a hug, making sure to keep a bit of distance between them to make room for her very pregnant belly. “It's been so long since we've seen anything of you,” she says in a slightly reprimanding tone that makes it obvious that she's going to be a mother soon.

“Sorry, noona,” Joonmyun says. “I've been busy.”

“So I hear.” There's a fond smile on her face when she pulls away, and then her eyes slide over to look curiously at Yixing, who has been shifting apprehensively in the background the way he tends to do when Joonmyun is talking to people he doesn't know. “And this must be Yixing.”

Yixing jerks into motion, as if remembering his manners, and bows to her. “N-nice to meet you, I'm Zhang Yixing,” he says. He stands up straight again and scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. “But I guess you already knew that.” Joonmyun takes his hand and gives it a squeeze, and once more Yixing relaxes somewhat. Knowing that Joonmyun is there seems to ease his nerves.

“Wang Feifei,” she replies, carefully bowing as well, and Yixing's eyes widen at the sound of her name. “Most people just call me Fei, though. Or jiejie, if you'd like.”

“You... you're Chinese?”

“I'm from Hainan,” she says with another beautiful smile, and Joonmyun can tell that Yixing feels instantly more at ease with that information. Maybe it's the aspect of having someone else to relate to, someone who understands what he has gone through as a foreigner in this country. Maybe it's knowing that since Joonmyun's brother married a Chinese person, at least Yixing's nationality isn't something that is going to be frowned upon. Not that that had been anything to worry about in the first place. Yixing couldn't possibly know, but Joonmyun knows for a fact that his mother would never judge anyone based on where they come from.

Speaking of his mother... “Where's mom?” he asks. “We should go say hello.”

“I wouldn't do that if I was you,” Junsu says. “She's been holed up in the kitchen ever since we got here. You know how she gets.”

“Oh,” Joonmyun says. “Right.”

“She stress-cooks,” Junsu says as an explanation to Yixing, who looks a little lost.

“She's stressed?” Yixing looks questioningly at Joonmyun, and Joonmyun opens his mouth to respond, but Fei beats him to it.

“Well, it's not every day her youngest son brings home a pretty boy for dinner,” she says with a wink, and the tips of Yixing's ears go a little red as he laughs sheepishly.

Instead they sit down to drink the tea set out on the coffee table, Junsu helping Fei back down on the couch just like he had helped her up. They ask questions about Yixing's work and hobbies and about his home in China (“I went back for the first time in eight years recently”). In return, Yixing asks questions about their jobs and about the pregnancy (“There's only about a month left, thank God. This little guy is probably going to grow up to be a football player with how much he kicks!”).

Joonmyun watches the whole thing fondly, both pleased and relieved to see how well everyone is getting along. Still, he can't help but feel like he's being watched, too, so he lets his gaze slide over to the open doorway to the kitchen where he sees, not surprisingly, his mother standing. She looks more hesitant than he has ever seen her before, and she startles when she looks at him and their eyes lock. At least she doesn't run away like he halfway expects her to.

Yixing seems to notice that Joonmyun's attention is elsewhere. Perhaps he looks at Joonmyun and follows the line of his gaze until he sees Joonmyun's mother as well, Joonmyun can't be too sure. In any case, Yixing soon scrambles to get on his feet so he can bow deeply. “Nice to meet you,” he says for the umpteenth time this night. “I'm-I'm... Yixing.”

“Yes, I know,” Joonmyun's mother says, bowing as well.

And then things are awkward. Yixing is standing there, opening and closing his mouth like he's trying to say something but he's either too nervous to speak or he just can't think of anything appropriate. Meanwhile, Joonmyun's mother is regarding him with that piercing gaze Joonmyun knows all too well, the one that makes it feel like she's reading your deepest thoughts, and Joonmyun knows how intimidating it is so he doesn't question Yixing's rigid posture one bit.

Junsu comes to the rescue. “How's dinner coming along, mom?” he asks. “Do you need any help with anything?” That makes Joonmyun's mother finally tear her eyes away from Yixing.

“Dinner is ready,” she simply says before turning on her heel and walking back the way she came.

With her out of the room, Yixing deflates visibly. Junsu is on his feet as well now, and he pats Yixing on the shoulder. “Don't worry, she's not as scary as she seems. She just wants people to think that she is.” Yixing gulps and nods, though he doesn't seem convinced in the least.

When Junsu goes to help Fei up again, Joonmyun moves closer to Yixing and whispers: “Now do you understand how I feel about Minseok?” That makes Yixing snort.

They go to the dining area where the table is set for the five of them, and while Joonmyun, who knows his mother's antics, isn't surprised by the amount of food before them, Yixing most definitely is. “Wow,” he mutters. “Is someone else coming to help us eat all of this?”

“Our mother can get a little... overzealous,” Joonmyun says.

“Overzealous,” Yixing repeats, looking over all the different dishes with raised eyebrows. “Right.”

Everyone finds their seats and start digging in, plates piling high with so much food Joonmyun doesn't even know what everything is. It's all incredibly delicious, though, and Yixing continuously compliments Joonmyun's mother's cooking to the point where, if Joonmyun didn't know Yixing, it could be considered brown-nosing. But Joonmyun does know Yixing, so he also knows that every single word he says comes from the heart. Everything is going well. Joonmyun had feared dinner would be awkward, but Junsu easily steps in and fills any silence with funny anecdotes from work, and stories about particularly difficult clients that have them all chuckling.

Eventually, there's another lull in the conversation, the quiet only broken by the sounds of utensils against plates and bowls once more. Out of the corner of his eye, Joonmyun notices his mother put down her chopsticks and wipe , and he knows from experience that she's about to say something so he's not surprised when she clears . “So, Yixing-sshi,” she begins, unable to drop formalities as usual. Yixing seems surprised to be addressed, but sits up straighter and pays close attention to her words. “What... what do you do for a living?”

There's a moment of slightly awkward silence as everyone waits for Yixing to finish chewing and swallowing before he answers: “I, uh... I dance.”

“Dance,” Joonmyun's mother repeats flatly, and Joonmyun can feel Yixing shrink in his seat at the obvious judgment coming from her in waves.

He puts his hand on Yixing's thigh. “Yixing is a teacher, mom. He teaches dance.” Joonmyun had asked about Yixing's new job on the day they reconciled. Yixing doesn't actually start for another few weeks, but he had been practically vibrating with excitement while talking about it so Joonmyun can tell he can't wait to begin teaching.

“Oh!” Joonmyun's mother perks up. “Joonmyun's father was a teacher as well.”

“Not a dance teacher, I presume,” Yixing says, which brings a laugh out of Joonmyun's mother. Yixing looks torn between being startled by her sudden laughter and pleased that he caused it.

“No, not quite,” she says, chuckling to herself.

“God, can you imagine dad trying to teach other people how to dance?” Junsu joins in with a snort. “If anyone needs classes it would be him.” Joonmyun's mother slaps him lightly on the arm and tells him to stop being a brat, but she's still laughing, and Joonmyun can feel his heart swell with happiness. If anyone had tried to tell him six months ago that he could bring a boyfriend home to meet his family without causing any trouble, Joonmyun would've thought them a liar.

But here he is now, watching his mother laughing at something Yixing said as Yixing's hand finds Joonmyun's under the table, and everything is working out so much better than anything he could have ever experienced in his wildest dreams. It makes him feel hopeful. Maybe, just maybe, things are going to turn out in his favor after all.

~*~

A/N: long time no see, long time no see.

you may be wondering why my updates have been so sporadic as of late when I usually pride myself in having a pretty regular schedule. welp, here's the dealio, my diddlerinos and diddlerinas: this story is approaching its inevitable end and I am kind of living in a constant state of denial about that fact. when I say 'approaching its end', I mean the next chapter is literally the final chapter. some of you might be sad to see it go, some of you might be thinking "good ing riddance, I was only in it for the D, #noswagrets" (and that's totally okay too). if you are a member of the former category, you might be able to sympathize with me and understand why I am trying to drag this on as long as possible. my baby has grown up so fast. ㅠㅡㅠ

anyway, less excuses and more talking about the actual chapter. important stuff happened! woo! gr8!!! first meeting with joonmyun's mother (as promised in a previous chapter about 800 years ago when I last updated), as well as a special bonus appearance by joonmyun's brother and his wife (who were also mentioned in a chapter so long ago that I couldn't even remember already mentioning beforehand that joonmyun has a brother in this story, but welp, I guess that's what happens when you get old like me). also, I have a massive crush on fei and I am not sorry about it at all cause she is a total babe. :)))))))

as for the game I suggested in the last chapter, I'll just put the answers here since a lot of people were struggling: the title, "alive", is a reference to the song 'still alive' from portal, because I am in love with that game. the line "murder his ing face off" is a quote shamelessly stolen from until dawn, because I am in love with that game. yixing calling baekhyun "assbutt" is a reference to supernatural, because I am in love with castiel. that is all.

ps. psssttttt, I wrote a seventeen story here cause I am meanie couple trash. :)))))))