89.

Sehun looked over to the front door when he heard a knock, frowning a little at the memory of the last time he had answered the door when he hadn’t been expecting anyone. He knew that Minseok felt back about everything, yet that didn’t make him feel any need to forgive the older. He pushed himself up off the couch, wincing a little as he was still getting used to the new brace he had been given, slowly making his way to the door. There was another hesitant knock as his hand reached for the handle, and he expected ZiTao or Minseok to be behind the door, eyebrows knitting together at the black haired male on the other side. His breathing came out in short bursts, as if he had been running, a sense of desperation in his eyes as he straightened, and Sehun felt breathless as he realized who he was looking at.

“LuHan-Hyung?” He choked out, throat tightening around his voice as one in his head told him to simply shut the door and forget ever seeing the older.

“You… You weren’t at home,” LuHan panted, and Sehun looked away from him, holding a little tighter on the door.

“It wasn’t a home without you there, it was just four walls around an empty space.” LuHan opened his mouth, Sehun cutting him off as he stepped back, and a little out of the doorway. “I need to sit down,” he said, LuHan stepping inside, careful not to touch Sehun as much as he wanted to pull him close, hold him tight and promise never to leave again. He looked down after Sehun had shut the door, biting at his lower lip when he noticed the brace on Sehun’s leg, slowly following after the blond who had the slightest limp.

“What… happened?” he asked, Sehun looking up once he had settled on the couch, noticing where LuHan was staring as he remained standing.

“I tripped during dance practice a month or so back.”

“A month? Shouldn’t it be healed by now? Did you break it or-”

“Hyung, why are you here?” LuHan almost flinched at the other’s tired tone, the way he closed his eyes and rest his head against the back of the couch.

“I… I came to apologize… for…” the black haired male hesitated for a moment. “For leaving without a word, for making Minseok-Hyung go behind your back, telling him he wasn’t allowed to tell anyone that we were talking, I… I honestly don’t even know why I told him that. They say these things are better later than never but…” He looked up at Sehun, the younger opening his eyes after a long moment of silence passed. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, I wouldn’t even think to ask you to… I just need you to know how sorry I am.”

“Alright, you’re sorry. Are you going back to China now?” Sehun asked, a defensive tone to his voice making it seem cold to anyone who didn’t know the blond dancer better.

“No. I’m back in Korea to stay, I… My parents were still trying to set me up with girls they knew… They even arranged an engagement behind my back, disguising it as a dinner between my father’s company and someone else’s,” LuHan explained, cringing a little at the flicker of pain that passed through Sehun’s eyes. He looked down at his lap, reaching into his pocket, slowly pulling out the ring Sehun had bought for him, offering it to the blond. “I love you… I truly do, and I know I was being stupid for running, for everything. I know that now. I also know that I can’t picture getting married to, raising children with, or growing old with anyone else,” he said, Sehun taking the ring, staring down at it in his palm. “But at the same time, I’ll understand if you’re never able to forgive what I’ve done.” The knots in his stomach continued to tighten as Sehun stared at the ring, his shoulders rising and falling in a sigh.

“I… I don’t know Hyung. It’s going to take time for me to decide,” he said, hearing the small click of the front door unlocking, LuHan nodding.

“I’ll respect your decision either way,” he got out before they heard a clatter, looking over at the pair standing in the door way.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Jongin snapped, Kyungsoo reaching to hold onto his arm to keep him back; he wasn’t able to get a strong enough hold on the younger though, letting the front door close behind them as he followed after Jongin. LuHan stood, raising his hands in surrender, the dark haired dancer ignoring the sign as he coiled his fingers into a fist, knocking them into LuHan’s cheek. 

“Jongin!” Sehun exclaimed, snapping out of his self-defensive mode as Kyungsoo got a hold of Jongin, hooking his arms under the younger’s armpits, doing his best to pull him out of swinging range of the black haired male now holding his cheek gingerly as he had been knocked back onto the couch he had stood from.

“How dare you show your face around here after what you’ve done, !” Jongin snarled, Sehun standing between them.

“Jongin, calm down, I chose to let him in,” Sehun stated, Jongin’s contorted expression easing a little as his eyes met Sehun’s.

“You… Why would you do that after-”

“Because I…” he glanced back at LuHan, who was blinking back the faint tears that laced his eyes from the mix of pain and shock, then turned his focus back to his cousin. “I needed answers… I needed closure. And I think I’ve gotten the answers I needed to be able to get that closure,” he added, wincing a little. Jongin’s rage seemed to dissipate and Kyungsoo released his fiancé so that he could help Sehun settle back on the couch. Jongin shot a glare at the eldest when he stood from the couch again, Sehun nudging his arm to try and make him stand down.

“I’ll see you around, I guess,” LuHan said softly, making his way around the coffee table between the two couches. He tensed when Kyungsoo caught his arm, pulling him over to the dining room table. He took a pad of sticky notes and a pen from the basket in the center, scribbling down a series of numbers, offering the yellow square to LuHan.

“Text him so he has your number, but after that it would probably be a good idea to wait for him to make the next move,” he said, LuHan taking the note and nodding before he made his way out of the apartment.

~

“Chanyeol-Hyung?” the dark haired male looked up from his pile of fries, attention falling on the blond male across from him. “That’s the tenth time that you’ve pulled on the collar of your shirt. Did you develop some kind of new habit?”

“No. And why have you been staring at me enough to notice something like that?” Chanyeol asked in turn, returning to eating his fries. “Weirdo,” he added with a grin that faded a little as ZiTao reached out, pulling down the older’s shirt collar enough to see a single, almost violently purple mark at the juncture of Chanyeol’s neck and collarbone. Chanyeol tried to be quick in freeing himself from the younger’s hold to tug his collar back into place, cheeks tinting as ZiTao broke out in a fit of high-pitched laughter.

“He doesn’t like to be subtle, does he?” ZiTao got out eventually, Chanyeol rolling his eyes and throwing a fry at the other.

“Yeah, yeah,” he replied as ZiTao tried to catch his breath. “I bet Minseok-Hyung doesn’t even give you hickies when you ask. He’s always so gentle,” he teased back, expecting a pout to take the other’s smile, rather than the playful smirk he got in response.

“Actually, Minseok-Hyung’s are better, and he’s rough more often than he’s gentle when we-” Chanyeol stuck out his tongue, hands coming up to cover his ears.

“Gross! I don’t wanna think about you like that!” he exclaimed, ZiTao letting out another laugh.

“Dude, we made out half the day we met,” he pointed out, Chanyeol scrunching up his face.

“That was one time! And for one, I was really, really drunk. And for two, it was back before I learned that you were twelve!” ZiTao squinted a little at the other.

“I’m only a year younger than you,” he pointed out, Chanyeol waving his hand dismissively.

“Still, you’re like my younger brother now, I don’t want to think about you doing anything near dirty,” the dark haired male said, making ZiTao laugh a little, stealing one of Chanyeol’s fries as Baekhyun made his way over to the table.

“Having fun?” he asked, settling beside Chanyeol, glancing from one to the other.

“We were just reminissing about the past,” Chanyeol replied simply, ZiTao taking a couple more fries, shoving them in his mouth as he pretended to be busy with his phone, pulling a small sigh from Baekhyun.

“ZiTao, I thought that I had apologized to you already. Chanyeol said that you were over what happened,” Baekhyun said, ZiTao looking up as he bit at the inside of his lip. “Seriously, what will make you forgive me?”

“Move your wedding date.” Baekhyun and Chanyeol blinked at the reply, glancing at each other before back to the blond across from them.

“Come again?”

“Move your wedding date and I’ll forgive you,” ZiTao said, rolling a fry between his thumb and his index finger.

“You’re kidding, right?” Baekhyun asked, frowning when the younger didn’t offer a reply. “Why do you want us to move out wedding date?”

“Because!” ZiTao exclaimed, looking up at them as the fry fell from between his fingers. “That’s the date that I wanted to marry Minseok-Hyung!” he stated childishly, pulling a snort from Baekhyun.

“Oh my god,” he muttered, shaking his head.

“You two aren’t even engaged yet, ZiTao,” Chanyeol pointed out, ZiTao crossing his arms over his chest.

“How do you know?” he asked, Chanyeol laughing as he shook his head.

“Well, you’re not wearing a new ring, let alone one that would look like an engagement ring. Not to mention you of all people wouldn’t be able to keep something like that off of your social media, and last I checked you and Minseok recently had a fight over LuHan... So I don’t think either of you have been in the mood to think of proposing.” ZiTao pouted, letting out a huff. “Speaking of that, have you two made up yet?” Chanyeol asked, his tone turning from teasing to serious, the pout fading from the younger’s expression.

“Yeah… We talked about it again after LuHan came back and started talking to Sehun again, and we made up.”

“Does that mean that he bought you that new Gucci bag you’ve been wanting for three weeks?” Baekhyun chimed in, ZiTao sticking his tongue out in response.

“Me forgiving Minseok-Hyung for the whole thing is nothing compared to Sehun thinking about forgiving LuHan-Ge.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? He’s been pretty messed up ever since LuHan-Hyung left,” Chanyeol pointed out, ZiTao shaking his head.

“No! After disappearing without a trace, no contact for over four months and then another month of secretly keeping on contact with Minseok-Hyung, he doesn’t deserve to be forgiven,” ZiTao argued, Chanyeol noticing the way that Baekhyun gripped at the fabric of his own jeans, and he reached over to intertwine his fingers with the elder’s.

“The thing is, ZiTao, just because you don’t think someone should be forgiven, that doesn’t mean you get to decide for someone else if they are or not. What if someone thought that you shouldn’t be forgiven for when you and I hooked up? By your logic Minseok-Hyung shouldn’t have forgiven either of us,” he said, ZiTao flinching a little.

“But-”

“No ‘but’s about it,” Chanyeol cut in. 

“It’s only been a few weeks since-” Chayeol arched an eyebrow at the blond, silencing him aside from the sigh he let out. “I guess you’re right,” he mumbled, a soft smile crossing Chanyeol’s lips. He gave Baekhyun’s hand a small squeeze before slipping his hand from the brunet’s, standing from the table as he collected the trash from the table.

“Don’t kill each other while I’m gone, alright?” he asked, Baekhyun arching an eyebrow up at him, watching him wander away from the table before he looked to ZiTao.

“Hey,” he started, ZiTao slow to look over at him, hesitant to respond.

“What is it, Baekhyun-Hyung?” the blond asked, watching Baekhyun as he seemed to be mentally struggling with what he wanted to say, ZiTao reaching for his bottle of coke.

“Would you… be willing to be one of Chanyeol’s groomsmen?” he asked, ZiTao choking on his drink, sputtering and coughing a little.

“Wait, what?” he asked, Baekhyun sighing.

“Look, I know you and Chanyeol are friends, and pretty close ones at that. I know that he’s too hesitant to ask you because he doesn’t want to upset me, so I’m asking for him." ZiTao stared at the brunet with wide eyes, swallowing hard.

“I try to tell you to move your wedding date, and now you’re asking me to be in your wedding?” he summarized for clarification, Baekhyun rolling his eyes.

“Yes or no, ZiTao? Before I change my mind,” he added with a small frown that didn’t meet his eyes, seeming more like an act than anything, and ZiTao smiled at that, nodding.

“It… it would mean a lot to me to be in your wedding.”