The Yellow Letters (Epilogue)
TITLE : THE YELLOW LETTERS (Epilogue)
PAIRING : KRISHAN
RATING : PG/ PG-13
WORD COUNT : 24K
A white curtain flutters in the chilly morning air and a stray ray of sunlight in shades of yellow sneaks in through the gap in to the room. It falls on a pile of clothes thrown over a chair and a table with a haphazard pile of papers, books and sticky notes and moves to spread over a wall almost completely covered with Polaroid pictures pasted on it without any rhyme or rhythm or pattern. The ray of bright light stealthily creeps over two lumps of figures occupying the bed, splatters over some abandoned socks on the ground before halting against the door of the room which is decorated with a colourful crayon drawing of three stick-figure people with heads too big for their bodies.
There is a small whining noise before something scratches against the door of the room. One of the sleeping figures on the bed grumbles at this noise and flops over in the bed, throwing an arm over his eyes to hide from the sunlight. A minute passes followed by another series of whines and scratches which are steadily ignored by the two gently snoring figures until the owner of the said whines and scratches decide to take matters into his own hands.
There is a couple of ‘thump’s before the door creaks open slightly, allowing the sneaky ray of sunlight to escape into the rest of the house. A pug-nosed white dog pads into the room, as if he owns it - he is not so small anymore, the passing years have done nothing but made him fatter and heavier and more spoilt. He wiggles his butt a few times, takes aim and jumps on to the bed - to somewhere right between the legs of one sleeping figure, probably squishing some very precious and sensitive body parts in the process, and the said figure gives a startled gasp of pain, complaining ‘Flooooofy! Dammit!’ The other however just snorts and curls further into the man now frowning while trying to ignore the dog who is walking all over his stomach.
A few peaceful minutes pass and the three settle back into a half slumber. Sadly, this peace doesn’t last for all too long.
A small banging noise is coming from the room next to theirs. One sleeping figure grumbles again but ignores it. The banging noise gets louder and then there’s a soft ‘flump’. This doesn’t bode well. He pokes at the blonde figure next to him with his toes, who just curls into him even more and pretends not to feel it. He pokes harder.
There is a high pitched giggle and another thump followed by the sound of something tearing.
“Han.”
“No.”
“Haaaan.” He whines.
“He is your kid.” Comes the mumbled reply.
“He is your kid too!” Kris grumbles back.
“Not at 6’ something in the morning.”
Kris huffs at this answer. He is about to kick a bit harder when Luhan suddenly runs a small hand across his chest and shifts his head slightly to place soft, warm lips right below Kris’ ear. All annoyance disappears and Kris melts right into the touch. Luhan runs a light finger up his bicep and the curve of his shoulder and places another kiss on his jaw line. Then another and another until stops inches away from meeting his lips. Kris moves instinctively in his direction but Luhan curls back into himself and moves away.
Kris groans. “Fine. Fine. I will check on him.”
Luhan grins into duvet, smug and satisfied.
Kris vents his frustration by pushing Floofy off the bed as he stumbles to the half open door that separates their two rooms and peeps in.
He had been their Christmas miracle. A tiny one year old left in the care of the child services centre that Chanyeol’s sister worked at. Parents gone in a flash, a few seconds of misjudgments on the slippery ice in the busy streets of Seoul one December and a toddler left barely hurt but orphaned. Kris had been there, passing by to give Chanyeol, Yura and Minseok their Christmas presents a little early- when he had seen the infant being brought in. Fluffy hair, eyes curved into half-moons and a giggle was all it took - it had been love at first sight.
It had been 2 years after Kris gave up his life in front of the cameras, 2 years since he had ended his contract with SM entertainment and moved away from the busy streets of Seoul to a quite neighborhood outside the city - the same neighborhood he had run into barefoot one December nearly 8 years ago. Two years of just being Kris, Luhan's Kris - and as much as he loved that it was just the 2 of them he could not bear to leave the little child behind.
So he had carried the energetic toddler home and sat underneath the Christmas tree until Luhan got back home late from work that day. It was the 24th, the night before Christmas. Luhan had taken one look at them, blinking confusedly, before disappearing into the bathroom. Kris had nearly bitten his nails off in anxiety waiting for Luhan to come back. He had come back with water dripping down his face, and pinching his arm.
“Oh. So I really did see you there with a baby. I was so tired I thought I was hallucinating.”
The baby had wriggled in Kris’ arms and continued to play with the roll of ribbon in his hands, not knowing that his future was being decided right there in front of him.
“Uh..no, you really did see us.”
Luhan had stood there, blinking at him for a few minutes. “Well? An explanation would be nice?” it had been 8 years with Kris now and Luhan was still so lost sometimes. Kris was an impulse buyer, and sometimes would come home with the most ridiculous and unnecessary things just this past 2 years they had been officially living together and Luhan would get annoyed, frustrated and sometimes even angry but it would last no more than five minutes. The things Kris bought mostly ended up getting thrown away or piled into cardboard boxes and put away and that would be it. But here he was all of a sudden, with a baby in his arms. They had never talked about children, never thought about it like most couples do and this was a baby, another results of Kris’ impulses but not something that could be thrown away or wrapped up in a box in the garage.
“Just-you know-chanyeol-I was there- and yura was…well the Christmas presents, you know- so then I saw, really, Luhan I couldn’t bare to I mean look at him-so then I-”
Luhan rubbed tiredly at him temples and held up his hand to stop Kris’ explanation. Or rant. Or gibberish, whatever. For an experienced idol with years of training to speak perfectly in front of cameras Kris could be remarkably incoherent and disjointed sometimes. Yixing used to say it was better to listen to a toddler trying to explain the Marlow’s hierarchy of needs than listen Kris explain how to put on a tshirt.
Luhan had come to kneel in front of the toddler, watching him twisting a red ribbon in his little at fists apprehensively. Once the baby felt Luhan's gaze on him he had dropped the ribbon and turned such a steady gaze on him that Luhan started to feel mildly uncomfortable under the thorough scrutiny. Kris had grown increasingly uneasy about the baby’s stare until he had surprised them both; springing out of Kris’ arms suddenly into Luhan's shocked arms. Luhan had fumbled, unsure and stunned, but had managed to wrap his arms around the small baby and hold him to his chest tightly. Kris had watched Luhan's eyes grow wide and terrified when the baby nuzzled happily into his neck seeming to have deemed Luhan worthy of affection after his lengthy examination.
Kris had watched it all play out in Luhan's shinning, expressive eyes. He had been stunned and scared but there had been questions, doubts, hesitance but the minute the baby had gurgled into Luhan's cheek flooding his senses with that unique baby smell Luhan had smiled and smiled and smiled and smiled at Kris over the baby’s small head and they had never looked back after that moment, never regretted their little Christmas miracle.
Right now though, Kris wishes their Christmas miracle was a little less resourceful and crafty. The railing that is supposed to keep the baby safely on the bed lies on the floor and there are pieces of paper flying across the room. Chen is sitting nearby, his tail swishing back and forth and his head swinging as he aims to jump at a piece of ribbon.
As Kris stares helplessly at the scene in front of him and curses the people who designed the baby bed warm hands encircle his body and Luhan's head peeps from around his back. His hair is mussed from sleep and his voice is scratchy as he giggles “So Sehunnie got to the Christmas present stash.”
“Told you. Told you that we should hide it somewhere else.”
Sehun looks up, startled at the voices and his mouth drops open in comical surprise. Then his whole face scrunches up as he tries not to look too guilty.
“Uh-ooh.” He squeals as he hides a teddy bear behind his back as if this will stop them from seeing the destruction he has done to the room - wrapping paper torn apart, ribbons flying around and toys scatters across the floor.
Lu Han laughs as he unwraps himself from around Kris and goes to kneel in front of Sehun. Sehun gurgles and crawls towards him happily because even at his young age he knows Lu Han is a sucker for his eye smiles. Lu Han picks him and in unison they pout at Kris. ‘Is daddy mad? Is daddy mad ‘cause Sehunnie got his presents early?’ he coos and Sehun giggles and mimics Lu Han saying “Daddy don’ be mad. Sehunie good boy.”
Kris tries to hide his smile but fails at it badly. His life was really hard now that not only Lu Han but also Sehun had realized that he was a big ol’ softie.
His contract with SM had ended when he was thirty and Kris had refused to renew it despite the company’s persuasions. He had been with Lu Han for 7 years by then but he was tired of the cameras, the screams, of not being able to hold Lu Han’s hand and walk in peace. He had given up his fancy Seoul apartment and moved to Lu Han’s house, after getting a job at a nearby Elementary school as an English teacher.
Some would take this as the time all artists go public with their hidden relationships, where the public and the fandom is thrown into a frenzy with the breaking news of the artists having been in secret relationships all these years while denying it. It is sort of a parting shot to the industry, a public declaration of love for someone that is not the ‘fan’, someone that they can finally call their own. But Kris never saw the need for it -and Luhan understood. He had had enough of press conferences, enough people following him around, enough people knowing his life inside out. Now he wanted nothing but the quite peace that every day with Luhan brought for him. Well it was never really all peaceful - Luhan was sometimes a devil child, all innocent smiles with sharp edges. The public had figured out of course, it was hard to hide for long what with the striking image they caught walking through the streets of Hongdae together eating their way through food stalls. The fangirls had been frantic, some heartbroken, some ecstatic, some hateful - but all of that had been so fleeting that neither of them cared. By the time they had found baby Sehun a year later people had long forgotten that Kris once stood on stage, caught up in their own lives and new fancy boy bands.
Yixing was baby Sehun’s godfather but Kyungsoo and EXO-K’s Sehun had fought over the godfather rights too. Kyungsoo claiming that he deserves it for all the things Kris had put him through during his idol days and Sehun of EXO had claimed the title because the baby shared his name. So Kris had offered Kyungsoo the godmother title which he had gotten beaten for and told Sehun to get lost which he had gotten beaten for some more.
Right now the house is quiet, Sehun playing with his new toys and Lu Han puttering around the kitchen but soon it will be full of Chanyeol, Yura, baby Xiumin, Sehun, Jongin, Jongin’s girlfriend, Kyungsoo, Yixing, Yixing’s wife and daughter and everybody else and it would be too noisy to even think.
Luhan is wearing nothing but one of his oversized sweaters which hangs off his shoulder and almost brushes his knees. Kris likes to complain about Luhan forever stealing his clothes when he had plenty of his own but Luhan knows how much he secretly loves it when Luhan prances around Kris’ clothes hanging off his small frame awkwardly. Kris comes out of the bathroom toweling his wet hair and Lu Han grins at him purposefully tugging at his sweater. Kris sticks his tongue out as he goes to poke at him.
“Again! Luhaaan…” he whines. “I’m never going to be able to save clothes from you am I?”
“Nope.never.”Lu Han answers smugly. Kris laughs as he steps closer and wraps his hands around Lu Han’s waist. Lu Han pushes back his face as he leans up to kiss him, and Kris thinks it is amazing that 10 years after that first kiss under snowflakes he is still feels dazed when kissing Lu Han. In the beginning it had been soft, hesitant explorations of each other, then had come the burning passion that seemed unquenchable and never ending but now it was the calm and quite delights in rediscovering each other every day.
Kris is making a soft sound of approval and almost lifting Lu Han off his feet when he has to break the kiss with a yelp. They both look down to see Chen snaking around their feet to wrap around Lu Han’s ankles all the while giving Kris death glares. Lu Han is mine, he seems to say. Lu Han laughs as Kris groans and bends to inspect his leg for any damage, that stupid cat, after all this time, still so possessive!
He bends down to start off where he stopped again but is interrupted again by an ‘ooooooooh’. Sehun is watching them with bright, interested eyes and a grinning face.
Luhan sticks out his tongue at Sehun who copies it right back and goes away to play with his toys again. Kris just shakes his head at the both of them and wonders who is really 3 years old here.
It turns out that Sehun interrupted them at the right moment anyway because seconds later they hear the front door slam and Chanyeol waltzes right into the house unannounced. Luhan throws up a wad of balled up tissue at him in greeting. Chanyeol grins at them and bends to ruffle Sehun’s hair, about which Sehun looks distinctly displeased.
“A yo, wassup, Baby Hun?”
Sehun looks up at him with a blank expression and then points at the couple standing near the kitchen counter dispassionately. “They were kithing.” Luhan splutters and Kris chokes on the coffee he had just picked up.
“Kith-” Chanyeol frowns and then it dawns on him. “Oh ho ho! So public displays of affection? And in front of a child too? Shame on you guys!”
“Shut up. Don’t let me remind you how you and Dara go right at it in front of the kids.” Lu Han shouts back.
Chanyeol just laughs, totally unbothered by the knowledge of how Lu Han can make his life hell for him if he wanted to since he was the one who introduced Dara to Chanyeol in the first place.
“Sehun-ah. Sehuna-ah, remember the poem Chanyeol-hyung taught you last week?” Sehun stops banging a toy car on the floor to give Chanyeol an appraising look. “Hyung will give you a present if you remember.” Chanyeol fiddles with his bad and Sehun’s eyes show a glint of interest. “Come on Sehunnieee…I know you remember it.”
Sehun stares a little more and goes back to playing with his toy car. Kris laughs at Chanyeol's embarrassment at being ignored but he really shouldn’t have done that because it just makes Chanyeol even more determined to make Sehun talk. Sehun pointedly ignores him through being cuddled and pampered and cooed at as the rest of their friends arrive too in groups of twos and threes.
They are all lying in haphazard piles around the living room, full with a heavy lunch and giddy with exchanging presents, when Sehun suddenly speaks up from his perch on Jongin’s lap. One second he is patting Jongin’s face and the next Chanyeol is waving a huge slab of chocolate in his face and then the whole room falls silent as Sehun pipes up with his slight lisp and high-pitched voice.
“Daddy and daddy up in a gay tree…Kay-Aye-Eth-Eth-Aye-Enne-Gee!” a shocked silence followed these words as Sehun happily claims his chocolate from Chanyeol before the whole room burst into loud laughter. Kris, red as a tomato in the face, wanted to curl up into a ball and just die but Lu Han on the other hand was slowly rising from his seat in boiling hot rage.
“CHANYEOOOOOL! What have you taught my baby, you uneducated little cactus!” he screamed as he grabbed the closest thing to him and threw it at Chanyeol's head. The rest of their stay consisted of Chanyeol hiding out in the bathroom, scared, as Lu Han threw things at the door and made painful death threats and the rest of them, enjoying this display immensely, helped him terrify Chanyeol.
It’s past 1 in the morning when Kris walks the last of their friends out to their car. Yixing’s daughter, MeiMei clings to him sleepily as helps Yixing strap her to the baby car seat. It’s cold outside and his breath puffs out in white clouds as he closes the door behind him and walks back into the living room. What he sees there makes his feet stop and his heart stutter a little. Chen and Floofy are batting a piece of ribbon at each other while Sehun and Lu Han are playing underneath the Christmas tree.
Kris thinks that he has never seen anything so beautiful in his life. Luhan's hair, dyed blonde recently, shines like a halo around his face in the light shinning down on him from the Christmas tree lights and it clashes brilliantly with the soft brown of Sehun’s hair as he lifts him up in the air and blows kisses at him. Sehun throws his head back and giggles, absolutely delighted, eyes curved in pleasure. He looks up and sees Kris and immediately stretches out a hand towards Kris, as if calling him to join them.
Luhan looks up at him and smiles, wide and serene, and something lodges itself in Kris’ throat. Something that makes him think of old letters and falling in love, of tiring days at work and warm beds, of fights over petty things and making up over tubs of ice cream because every minute apart feels wrong, something that feels warm and bright and yellow, despite the cold winter weathers,something that feels like everything he could ever ask for and more.
Sehun jumps into his arm when he kneels next to them and he smiles as Lu Han wraps a piece of ribbon around and around his neck laughing and life goes on.
PAIRING : KRISHAN
RATING : PG/ PG-13
WORD COUNT : 24K
A white curtain flutters in the chilly morning air and a stray ray of sunlight in shades of yellow sneaks in through the gap in to the room. It falls on a pile of clothes thrown over a chair and a table with a haphazard pile of papers, books and sticky notes and moves to spread over a wall almost completely covered with Polaroid pictures pasted on it without any rhyme or rhythm or pattern. The ray of bright light stealthily creeps over two lumps of figures occupying the bed, splatters over some abandoned socks on the ground before halting against the door of the room which is decorated with a colourful crayon drawing of three stick-figure people with heads too big for their bodies.
There is a small whining noise before something scratches against the door of the room. One of the sleeping figures on the bed grumbles at this noise and flops over in the bed, throwing an arm over his eyes to hide from the sunlight. A minute passes followed by another series of whines and scratches which are steadily ignored by the two gently snoring figures until the owner of the said whines and scratches decide to take matters into his own hands.
There is a couple of ‘thump’s before the door creaks open slightly, allowing the sneaky ray of sunlight to escape into the rest of the house. A pug-nosed white dog pads into the room, as if he owns it - he is not so small anymore, the passing years have done nothing but made him fatter and heavier and more spoilt. He wiggles his butt a few times, takes aim and jumps on to the bed - to somewhere right between the legs of one sleeping figure, probably squishing some very precious and sensitive body parts in the process, and the said figure gives a startled gasp of pain, complaining ‘Flooooofy! Dammit!’ The other however just snorts and curls further into the man now frowning while trying to ignore the dog who is walking all over his stomach.
A few peaceful minutes pass and the three settle back into a half slumber. Sadly, this peace doesn’t last for all too long.
A small banging noise is coming from the room next to theirs. One sleeping figure grumbles again but ignores it. The banging noise gets louder and then there’s a soft ‘flump’. This doesn’t bode well. He pokes at the blonde figure next to him with his toes, who just curls into him even more and pretends not to feel it. He pokes harder.
There is a high pitched giggle and another thump followed by the sound of something tearing.
“Han.”
“No.”
“Haaaan.” He whines.
“He is your kid.” Comes the mumbled reply.
“He is your kid too!” Kris grumbles back.
“Not at 6’ something in the morning.”
Kris huffs at this answer. He is about to kick a bit harder when Luhan suddenly runs a small hand across his chest and shifts his head slightly to place soft, warm lips right below Kris’ ear. All annoyance disappears and Kris melts right into the touch. Luhan runs a light finger up his bicep and the curve of his shoulder and places another kiss on his jaw line. Then another and another until stops inches away from meeting his lips. Kris moves instinctively in his direction but Luhan curls back into himself and moves away.
Kris groans. “Fine. Fine. I will check on him.”
Luhan grins into duvet, smug and satisfied.
Kris vents his frustration by pushing Floofy off the bed as he stumbles to the half open door that separates their two rooms and peeps in.
He had been their Christmas miracle. A tiny one year old left in the care of the child services centre that Chanyeol’s sister worked at. Parents gone in a flash, a few seconds of misjudgments on the slippery ice in the busy streets of Seoul one December and a toddler left barely hurt but orphaned. Kris had been there, passing by to give Chanyeol, Yura and Minseok their Christmas presents a little early- when he had seen the infant being brought in. Fluffy hair, eyes curved into half-moons and a giggle was all it took - it had been love at first sight.
It had been 2 years after Kris gave up his life in front of the cameras, 2 years since he had ended his contract with SM entertainment and moved away from the busy streets of Seoul to a quite neighborhood outside the city - the same neighborhood he had run into barefoot one December nearly 8 years ago. Two years of just being Kris, Luhan's Kris - and as much as he loved that it was just the 2 of them he could not bear to leave the little child behind.
So he had carried the energetic toddler home and sat underneath the Christmas tree until Luhan got back home late from work that day. It was the 24th, the night before Christmas. Luhan had taken one look at them, blinking confusedly, before disappearing into the bathroom. Kris had nearly bitten his nails off in anxiety waiting for Luhan to come back. He had come back with water dripping down his face, and pinching his arm.
“Oh. So I really did see you there with a baby. I was so tired I thought I was hallucinating.”
The baby had wriggled in Kris’ arms and continued to play with the roll of ribbon in his hands, not knowing that his future was being decided right there in front of him.
“Uh..no, you really did see us.”
Luhan had stood there, blinking at him for a few minutes. “Well? An explanation would be nice?” it had been 8 years with Kris now and Luhan was still so lost sometimes. Kris was an impulse buyer, and sometimes would come home with the most ridiculous and unnecessary things just this past 2 years they had been officially living together and Luhan would get annoyed, frustrated and sometimes even angry but it would last no more than five minutes. The things Kris bought mostly ended up getting thrown away or piled into cardboard boxes and put away and that would be it. But here he was all of a sudden, with a baby in his arms. They had never talked about children, never thought about it like most couples do and this was a baby, another results of Kris’ impulses but not something that could be thrown away or wrapped up in a box in the garage.
“Just-you know-chanyeol-I was there- and yura was…well the Christmas presents, you know- so then I saw, really, Luhan I couldn’t bare to I mean look at him-so then I-”
Luhan rubbed tiredly at him temples and held up his hand to stop Kris’ explanation. Or rant. Or gibberish, whatever. For an experienced idol with years of training to speak perfectly in front of cameras Kris could be remarkably incoherent and disjointed sometimes. Yixing used to say it was better to listen to a toddler trying to explain the Marlow’s hierarchy of needs than listen Kris explain how to put on a tshirt.
Luhan had come to kneel in front of the toddler, watching him twisting a red ribbon in his little at fists apprehensively. Once the baby felt Luhan's gaze on him he had dropped the ribbon and turned such a steady gaze on him that Luhan started to feel mildly uncomfortable under the thorough scrutiny. Kris had grown increasingly uneasy about the baby’s stare until he had surprised them both; springing out of Kris’ arms suddenly into Luhan's shocked arms. Luhan had fumbled, unsure and stunned, but had managed to wrap his arms around the small baby and hold him to his chest tightly. Kris had watched Luhan's eyes grow wide and terrified when the baby nuzzled happily into his neck seeming to have deemed Luhan worthy of affection after his lengthy examination.
Kris had watched it all play out in Luhan's shinning, expressive eyes. He had been stunned and scared but there had been questions, doubts, hesitance but the minute the baby had gurgled into Luhan's cheek flooding his senses with that unique baby smell Luhan had smiled and smiled and smiled and smiled at Kris over the baby’s small head and they had never looked back after that moment, never regretted their little Christmas miracle.
Right now though, Kris wishes their Christmas miracle was a little less resourceful and crafty. The railing that is supposed to keep the baby safely on the bed lies on the floor and there are pieces of paper flying across the room. Chen is sitting nearby, his tail swishing back and forth and his head swinging as he aims to jump at a piece of ribbon.
As Kris stares helplessly at the scene in front of him and curses the people who designed the baby bed warm hands encircle his body and Luhan's head peeps from around his back. His hair is mussed from sleep and his voice is scratchy as he giggles “So Sehunnie got to the Christmas present stash.”
“Told you. Told you that we should hide it somewhere else.”
Sehun looks up, startled at the voices and his mouth drops open in comical surprise. Then his whole face scrunches up as he tries not to look too guilty.
“Uh-ooh.” He squeals as he hides a teddy bear behind his back as if this will stop them from seeing the destruction he has done to the room - wrapping paper torn apart, ribbons flying around and toys scatters across the floor.
Lu Han laughs as he unwraps himself from around Kris and goes to kneel in front of Sehun. Sehun gurgles and crawls towards him happily because even at his young age he knows Lu Han is a sucker for his eye smiles. Lu Han picks him and in unison they pout at Kris. ‘Is daddy mad? Is daddy mad ‘cause Sehunnie got his presents early?’ he coos and Sehun giggles and mimics Lu Han saying “Daddy don’ be mad. Sehunie good boy.”
Kris tries to hide his smile but fails at it badly. His life was really hard now that not only Lu Han but also Sehun had realized that he was a big ol’ softie.
His contract with SM had ended when he was thirty and Kris had refused to renew it despite the company’s persuasions. He had been with Lu Han for 7 years by then but he was tired of the cameras, the screams, of not being able to hold Lu Han’s hand and walk in peace. He had given up his fancy Seoul apartment and moved to Lu Han’s house, after getting a job at a nearby Elementary school as an English teacher.
Some would take this as the time all artists go public with their hidden relationships, where the public and the fandom is thrown into a frenzy with the breaking news of the artists having been in secret relationships all these years while denying it. It is sort of a parting shot to the industry, a public declaration of love for someone that is not the ‘fan’, someone that they can finally call their own. But Kris never saw the need for it -and Luhan understood. He had had enough of press conferences, enough people following him around, enough people knowing his life inside out. Now he wanted nothing but the quite peace that every day with Luhan brought for him. Well it was never really all peaceful - Luhan was sometimes a devil child, all innocent smiles with sharp edges. The public had figured out of course, it was hard to hide for long what with the striking image they caught walking through the streets of Hongdae together eating their way through food stalls. The fangirls had been frantic, some heartbroken, some ecstatic, some hateful - but all of that had been so fleeting that neither of them cared. By the time they had found baby Sehun a year later people had long forgotten that Kris once stood on stage, caught up in their own lives and new fancy boy bands.
Yixing was baby Sehun’s godfather but Kyungsoo and EXO-K’s Sehun had fought over the godfather rights too. Kyungsoo claiming that he deserves it for all the things Kris had put him through during his idol days and Sehun of EXO had claimed the title because the baby shared his name. So Kris had offered Kyungsoo the godmother title which he had gotten beaten for and told Sehun to get lost which he had gotten beaten for some more.
Right now the house is quiet, Sehun playing with his new toys and Lu Han puttering around the kitchen but soon it will be full of Chanyeol, Yura, baby Xiumin, Sehun, Jongin, Jongin’s girlfriend, Kyungsoo, Yixing, Yixing’s wife and daughter and everybody else and it would be too noisy to even think.
Luhan is wearing nothing but one of his oversized sweaters which hangs off his shoulder and almost brushes his knees. Kris likes to complain about Luhan forever stealing his clothes when he had plenty of his own but Luhan knows how much he secretly loves it when Luhan prances around Kris’ clothes hanging off his small frame awkwardly. Kris comes out of the bathroom toweling his wet hair and Lu Han grins at him purposefully tugging at his sweater. Kris sticks his tongue out as he goes to poke at him.
“Again! Luhaaan…” he whines. “I’m never going to be able to save clothes from you am I?”
“Nope.never.”Lu Han answers smugly. Kris laughs as he steps closer and wraps his hands around Lu Han’s waist. Lu Han pushes back his face as he leans up to kiss him, and Kris thinks it is amazing that 10 years after that first kiss under snowflakes he is still feels dazed when kissing Lu Han. In the beginning it had been soft, hesitant explorations of each other, then had come the burning passion that seemed unquenchable and never ending but now it was the calm and quite delights in rediscovering each other every day.
Kris is making a soft sound of approval and almost lifting Lu Han off his feet when he has to break the kiss with a yelp. They both look down to see Chen snaking around their feet to wrap around Lu Han’s ankles all the while giving Kris death glares. Lu Han is mine, he seems to say. Lu Han laughs as Kris groans and bends to inspect his leg for any damage, that stupid cat, after all this time, still so possessive!
He bends down to start off where he stopped again but is interrupted again by an ‘ooooooooh’. Sehun is watching them with bright, interested eyes and a grinning face.
Luhan sticks out his tongue at Sehun who copies it right back and goes away to play with his toys again. Kris just shakes his head at the both of them and wonders who is really 3 years old here.
It turns out that Sehun interrupted them at the right moment anyway because seconds later they hear the front door slam and Chanyeol waltzes right into the house unannounced. Luhan throws up a wad of balled up tissue at him in greeting. Chanyeol grins at them and bends to ruffle Sehun’s hair, about which Sehun looks distinctly displeased.
“A yo, wassup, Baby Hun?”
Sehun looks up at him with a blank expression and then points at the couple standing near the kitchen counter dispassionately. “They were kithing.” Luhan splutters and Kris chokes on the coffee he had just picked up.
“Kith-” Chanyeol frowns and then it dawns on him. “Oh ho ho! So public displays of affection? And in front of a child too? Shame on you guys!”
“Shut up. Don’t let me remind you how you and Dara go right at it in front of the kids.” Lu Han shouts back.
Chanyeol just laughs, totally unbothered by the knowledge of how Lu Han can make his life hell for him if he wanted to since he was the one who introduced Dara to Chanyeol in the first place.
“Sehun-ah. Sehuna-ah, remember the poem Chanyeol-hyung taught you last week?” Sehun stops banging a toy car on the floor to give Chanyeol an appraising look. “Hyung will give you a present if you remember.” Chanyeol fiddles with his bad and Sehun’s eyes show a glint of interest. “Come on Sehunnieee…I know you remember it.”
Sehun stares a little more and goes back to playing with his toy car. Kris laughs at Chanyeol's embarrassment at being ignored but he really shouldn’t have done that because it just makes Chanyeol even more determined to make Sehun talk. Sehun pointedly ignores him through being cuddled and pampered and cooed at as the rest of their friends arrive too in groups of twos and threes.
They are all lying in haphazard piles around the living room, full with a heavy lunch and giddy with exchanging presents, when Sehun suddenly speaks up from his perch on Jongin’s lap. One second he is patting Jongin’s face and the next Chanyeol is waving a huge slab of chocolate in his face and then the whole room falls silent as Sehun pipes up with his slight lisp and high-pitched voice.
“Daddy and daddy up in a gay tree…Kay-Aye-Eth-Eth-Aye-Enne-Gee!” a shocked silence followed these words as Sehun happily claims his chocolate from Chanyeol before the whole room burst into loud laughter. Kris, red as a tomato in the face, wanted to curl up into a ball and just die but Lu Han on the other hand was slowly rising from his seat in boiling hot rage.
“CHANYEOOOOOL! What have you taught my baby, you uneducated little cactus!” he screamed as he grabbed the closest thing to him and threw it at Chanyeol's head. The rest of their stay consisted of Chanyeol hiding out in the bathroom, scared, as Lu Han threw things at the door and made painful death threats and the rest of them, enjoying this display immensely, helped him terrify Chanyeol.
It’s past 1 in the morning when Kris walks the last of their friends out to their car. Yixing’s daughter, MeiMei clings to him sleepily as helps Yixing strap her to the baby car seat. It’s cold outside and his breath puffs out in white clouds as he closes the door behind him and walks back into the living room. What he sees there makes his feet stop and his heart stutter a little. Chen and Floofy are batting a piece of ribbon at each other while Sehun and Lu Han are playing underneath the Christmas tree.
Kris thinks that he has never seen anything so beautiful in his life. Luhan's hair, dyed blonde recently, shines like a halo around his face in the light shinning down on him from the Christmas tree lights and it clashes brilliantly with the soft brown of Sehun’s hair as he lifts him up in the air and blows kisses at him. Sehun throws his head back and giggles, absolutely delighted, eyes curved in pleasure. He looks up and sees Kris and immediately stretches out a hand towards Kris, as if calling him to join them.
Luhan looks up at him and smiles, wide and serene, and something lodges itself in Kris’ throat. Something that makes him think of old letters and falling in love, of tiring days at work and warm beds, of fights over petty things and making up over tubs of ice cream because every minute apart feels wrong, something that feels warm and bright and yellow, despite the cold winter weathers,something that feels like everything he could ever ask for and more.
Sehun jumps into his arm when he kneels next to them and he smiles as Lu Han wraps a piece of ribbon around and around his neck laughing and life goes on.