“Would you like to have someone in your life who calls you 'appa'?” Luhan whispers in Minseok's ear. Minseok takes a pause to think of why Luhan would ask him about possible future children (or potentially people with a ) in the middle of a conversation about the UEFA League.

“Ummm... what?” is the best reply Minseok's brain can come up with at 2.45am. After a day of practice and promotional events, it's difficult to be very eloquent.

“I saw your Instagram update. What a chubby, sassy baby,” Luhan says, laughing on the other end of the line. “I was trying to imagine you carrying a younger you but then I found the fan edits online and no longer had to imagine.” Minseok can almost see the happy tears at the corners of Luhan's crinkled up eyes.

“I'm happy to hear you were so amused,” Minseok hums to the phone. He's having trouble keeping his eyelids from drooping. There's a prickling pain somewhere behind them that is trying its best to hurry Minseok to bed. But Minseok already misses these late night moments with Luhan. He wants to stay up and on the phone for a little longer.

“Tell me about your kids, Minseok-ah,” Luhan murmurs, somewhere in Beijing, in his room at his parents' house. Minseok has never seen where or how Luhan's family lives but somehow he can imagine a Western-style house with traditional Chinese touches. Luhan's room probably still has his old TVXQ posters on the wall and little deer figurines scattered around different surfaces.

“My future kids, huh?” Minseok decides to humor Luhan. “I suppose I would like a boy and a girl. Don't really care who's the older child. I just want them to be happy and healthy. And I want to be a good parent to them. Choose my spouse well, too, so they'll have two good parents, you know?”

“How about me, Minseok-ah?” Luhan slurs his words a little and that's when Minseok hears it. It's a faint sound, but he's sure he hears it correct. Liquid splashing inside a container.

“Are you drinking right now, Hanie?” Minseok asks, not sure what to think.

“Just a little. It's been a long day and I'm feeling a little sorry for myself,” Luhan confesses with an ironic chuckle.

“Have you been drinking this whole time?” Minseok asks, still not sure what to think but becoming increasingly worried.

“Yeah. I was drinking from a glass at first. It's empty now. It's just easier with the bottle, you know? No need to refill it. I guess it's finally kicking in, too. I didn't feel drunk when I called you,” Luhan mutters absentmindedly, causing Minseok to stifle the giggle that's about the escape his mouth at the thought of a drunken, pouting Luhan mumbling into the phone with an air of embarrassment floating around him.

“Yeah, you're starting to sound like you've had a drink or two. Is something the matter? You know you call tell me, right?” Minseok hates the thought that he may have been replaced as the one Luhan pours his heart to.

“Yes and no, Minseok-ah. I'm at the top of the world now. My parents are finally happy with my work. All of China is weeping tears of happiness to finally have their precious son back home, not having to share him with another nation anymore. But who do I have? Huh? I'm all alone.” Luhan's voice is shaking and Minseok wishes he were in Beijing to hold Luhan and try his best to make him stop thinking like this. Millions of people are supporting Luhan and hoping for nothing but his success but for some reason – a reason that Minseok is almost sure he knows – he can't stop feeling lonely.

“No you're not, Luhan,” Minseok says with that particular tone of his voice that he himself has always considered the most convincing. “You've got Lao Gao there with you all the time. You can never be lonely with your best friend around. And you've got all of us just a phone call away.”

“You used to be just an arm's length away at most, Minseok-ah,” Luhan says at the other end of the line.

Minseok doesn't know how to answer him. It was Luhan's decision to leave. Well, Luhan's and Luhan's parents'. Minseok is in another country because of what they decided. If Minseok got his way, Luhan would be back in Seoul with him, only happier, healthier and better rested than before. The Luhan from their trainee days or from their first year as EXO-M. Not the tired, sickly, overworked Luhan who the company literally worked to the bone. As much as Minseok hates the fact that Luhan is somewhere far away, knowing that he is healthy again makes it all worth it.

“I could be a good parent, Minseok-ah,” Luhan mutters into the receiver. “How about we have a chubby baby or two once all of this is over? Once I've got enough guts to rebel against my parents once more, once the world has stopped whispering our names with admiration? I could be a good parent, you know that, right?”

“Of course you could and you will. Aren't your parents already looking for a nice girl for you?” Minseok says, feeling the sting in his heart from the words he forces out. “Listen, maybe you should put the bottle down and get some sleep. You have an early morning tomorrow, right?”

“I don't want some nice girl my parents think is suitable,” Luhan says, whining just little enough not to sound childish.

“I know.” Neither do I, Minseok thinks. “It's best if you go get some sleep now, Lao Gao's picking you up the first thing in the morning.”

“Please promise me Minseok-ah. Once this is all over, okay? I could be a great parent.” Luhan sounds like he's slipping away into dream land, thanks to a busy day and a few too many gulps from the bottle.

“Okay, let's get a chubby kid or two. Once this is all over and you become a rebel again,” Minseok says, chuckling. “Put the bottle down, okay? Good night, Luhan.”

“Good night, Minseok,” Luhan mumbles right before hanging up. “Don't forget, no matter what happens before then.”

“Did I really sign up for this?!” Minseok sighs, wiping flour off his face with a wet wipe. Five minutes earlier he was measuring the ingredients for pancakes when his three-year-old twins ran into the kitchen, bumped into their father and caused him to spill flour all over the counter, the floor and himself. Now the children are sitting at the dining table, drawing pictures with their crayons while Minseok cleans everything up, starting with himself.

Once Minseok has wiped most of the flour off himself he cleans the floor with a small broom and a dustpan that he keeps in the tiny closet under the sink. Then he turns around to wipe the counter and carefully gets all the flour off before resuming putting all the ingredients together to make pancake batter.

It isn't until Minseok turns around with a frying pan in his hand to face to stove on the kitchen island that he notices his children are no longer sitting at the table. Unfinished drawings are left on the table, the crayons have been scattered everywhere, including the floor. Minseok leaves the pan on the kitchen island and walks into the living room in search of the twins. The moment he enters it, he wishes he had stayed in bed with his partner.

“Seonhwa, Seonjoon, the crayons are for paper only! Not the sofa! Not the sofa!” Minseok tries to tear the crayons from his children's hands, but his terrified reaction only serves to amuse the children, who are coloring their cream colored sofa in all the colors of a rainbow even more intensely than before.

“We need a new sofa again?” A voice asks from behind Minseok and that's when he knows his partner is finally awake.

“I'm not cleaning that up for a second time. Some of those earlier stains are still on it, you know,” Minseok sighs and gives up trying to make the children stop terrorizing the furniture.

“Awwww, poor Baozi. Too much chaos, too early?” Luhan walks over to stand behind Minseok and wraps his arms around him.

“You could say that,” Minseok answers, leaning into Luhan's embrace. “I never signed up for two, you know?”

“And yet you were the more excited one out of the two of us when they told us we would be getting twins.” Luhan chuckles and kisses Minseok's cheek. The sofa is mostly covered in color now.

“I was hoping they'd help me clean but clearly they both take after you. Only they don't mind if others take a seat on their beds,” Minseok teases, grinning up at Luhan.

“Don't say that, Baozi,” Luhan tells Minseok, holding him even tighter. “I let you into my bed, didn't I? In fact, maybe we should leave the kids to work on their art project for a while and sneak back to the bedroom, I think I've got just enough time to—” Luhan is in the middle of wiggling his eyebrows suggestively when he gets interrupted by Minseok.

“No, Luhan. You've got twenty minutes left to shower and get dressed or you'll be late to work. To the bathroom, now.” Minseok squirms out of Luhan's embrace and accentuates his command by pointing a finger towards the direction of the bathroom, one hand on his hip.

“Will you join me?” Luhan asks, wiggling his eyebrows again. Minseok laughs, each little sound of it full of happiness.

“No. But I'll make you a cup of coffee and a packed breakfast you can eat at the office, okay?” Minseok says, already walking towards the kitchen.

“I love you, Baozi!” Luhan singsongs on his way the bathroom.

In the kitchen, Minseok prepares a cup of coffee for Luhan, just the way he likes it. He leaves it on the kitchen table to cool for a moment and makes a couple of sandwiches, packs them in a little lunch box with a cartoon deer on it, and sets the box down next to the cup.

Luhan walks into the kitchen a moment later, a shirt and dress pants on and a tie hanging loose around his neck. His hair has been towel dried and combed to perfection. He sits down at the table and sips on his coffee, sighing in satisfaction.

“How are you able to prepare such a great cup of coffee while the kids drive you towards madness?” Luhan asks, grinning at Minseok.

“Don't joke. This was all your idea, Hanie. How long has it been your plan to make my life such a mess?” Minseok whines, pushing his forehead onto Luhan's shoulder.

“Ever since saw you at the SM Building for the first time and became that creep who stared at you all the time and made you feel a bit uncomfortable,” Luhan says, smiling at Minseok who couldn't look or sound any cuter to Luhan than he does right then, rubbing his forehead on Luhan's shoulder in exasperation. “Yes, I know, I didn't even know you then – but somewhere deep down it felt like I had come home. You felt like I had come home. All those days and nights we spent teaching each other about our native languages and cultures, to me it was all in preparation for this, not work. And from the first time I saw your baby pictures, that cute dumpling-faced little Minseok, I knew I wanted there to be a baby Baozi to go with the slightly bigger Baozi I've got. Yes, it is messy and it will be messy for a few more years, but you've already had to clean up after me for quite some time now, how much worse can it get?”

Luhan winks at Minseok and it brings a smile back onto Minseok's face. He kisses Minseok, nice and slow and the kind of lazy that's customary of them in the mornings. Luhan leans away only when he remembers to take a look at his wristwatch that is ticking away the seconds before his workday begins.

“, I have to get to work!” Luhan exclaims. “I have to make money for a new sofa, don't I?” he says, grinning at Minseok again. “Shàn huā, Shàn jùn, bàba's leaving for work! Aren't you going to come kiss me goodbye?” Luhan shouts into the living room. The children run over to the kitchen, crayons still in hand, and kiss Luhan on each side of his face before wishing him a great day at work and disappearing back into the living room.

“Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye, Minseok-ah?” Luhan asks and Minseok can tell from the tone of his voice that if Luhan weren't in such a hurry, he would be more than happy to make a little detour through the bedroom on his way to work.

“I am,” Minseok says, smiling, and walks Luhan to the door before kissing him softly on the cheek. When the leans back, his smile is even wider.

“What?” Luhan asks, unsure of why Minseok is suddenly all smiles after the sofa incident. And the bathroom flooding incident a few days earlier. And the balcony fire incident the previous week – which was, for the most part, Luhan's fault, not the kids'.

“Nothing,” Minseok counters, still smiling.

“Come on, tell me why you're smiling like that!” Luhan demands, attempting to tickle the truth out of Minseok It only takes a few precise tickles to his sides before he is giggling and screaming out a loud 'fine, I'll tell you'.

“I'm glad you got me to promise I would do this with you, that is all,” Minseok begins, feeling a little shy and gently leaning into Luhan's arms, placing his head against Luhan's shoulder. “You were drunk that night, I was sure had forgotten all about it the next day, but I'm really happy you didn't. And seeing the kids kiss you goodbye before work and having a moment with you in the kitchen, nothing out of the ordinary but still so precious to me, it all reminded me of why this is all so worth it.” Minseok looks up at Luhan with so much love in his eyes. “You know I'm sometimes on my last nerve because I like things neat and clean and that's so not going to happen with a couple of three-year-olds in the house but I still wouldn't trade this for the world. And besides, if I could survive living with Sehun and Jongin for all those years, I can survive anything involving a mess.” Minseok finishes with a happy chuckle, thinking back to his days as an idol and how much his groupmates were driving him up the wall sometimes.

“I'm glad you feel that way, Minseok-ah,” Luhan says, kissing Minseok's forehead. “I'm so sorry to break the moment but my assistants are going to tear my head off if I'm late again. There's only so many times that I can blame it on the children and keep it convincing. I'll be back after six, I'll see you all then! I'll be wanting baozi for dinner and Baozi for dessert okay?” Luhan shouts into the house while shutting the door, winking at Minseok from the little crack between the door and the frame.

Feeling so much better about the start to his day and much less stressed out about the mess around him, Minseok turns around and walks back into the kitchen to rinse Luhan's mug and place it in the dish washer. He notices Luhan forgot his breakfast sandwiches and quickly texts one of Luhan's assistants to make sure they prepare something for Luhan to eat before he arrives at work. He then walks back into the living room to see how the children are doing. What awaits him isn't what he expected.

“No, no, not the curtains, too!”

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and happy holidays to those who don't! ^^

Here's domestic future xiuhan (and their twins) mixed with slightly angsty present day xiuhan. I don't know where the present day xiuhan came from... but they changed this a little from my original plan. I really wish I had had more time to work on this but the holidays have kept me too busy to do a lot of writing. Sorry, everyone. :(

On the kids' names: I actually did some research on this because I wanted the twins to have names that have nice meanings and work in both Korean and Chinese without sounding too different in the two languages. After some googling around I came up with Seonhwa (Shàn huā or 善花 in Chinese) for the girl and Seonjoon (Shàn jùn or 善俊 in Chinese) for the boy. In Chinese 花 'means 'flower' and 俊 means 'handsome' while 善 means 'virtuous'.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you liked this despite the fact that it's a little rushed. ^^;;;