"Jun! It's been years!" Minghao's mother exclaimed, hugging Jun excitedly. "Look at you, you look so mature and attractive now."

"Ah, not really," Jun replied humbly, and Minghao scoffed, remembering the numerous times Jun had called himself handsome. Liar.

"How have you been, Jun?" Minghao's father spoke up, smiling warmly at Jun. He pushed his wife out of the way to hug Jun.

"Hey!" Minghao's mother whined.

"What? I want to hug my future son-in-law too," Minghao's father retorted.

"Dad!" Minghao blushed.

"I've been fine, Uncle. How about you?" Jun said. He grinned. "I see that you and Auntie are still as playful as ever."

"You mean childish?" Minghao commented, wincing when his mother hit his head. "Mom! That hurt!"

"So, Jun, how was the train ride? It was eleven hours long, right? Are you tired?" Minghao's mom asked as she, Minghao's dad, and Jun walked towards the car, leaving Minghao behind. Minghao stared after them with a betrayed look.

"Jun, do you still like mapo tofu? I was planning on making that for dinner tonight," Minghao's dad told Jun.

"I can't believe my own mother just ignored me," Minghao mumbled. "Hey, wait for me!"

♢✧♢✧♢

"Shoi-ming!" Jun exclaimed loudly.

"Junhui!" Shoi-ming shouted as he ran towards Minghao's boyfriend. Jun held his arms out invitingly, and caught the other man as he leaped towards him. He spun Shoi-ming around a few times energetically before setting him on the ground and hugging him.

"I've missed you so much!" Shoi-ming said dramatically, fake-sobbing into Jun's shoulder.

"I missed you too," Jun replied as he patted Shoi-ming's back comfortably.

"Those idiots," Ai sighed, walking up to Minghao. "Anyone would think that they're the real couple."

"When did they become so close?"  Minghao questioned, and Ai turned to look at him in surprise.

"You didn't know? They've been talking to each other practically every day," Ai told Minghao.

"Really?!" Minghao exclaimed. Ai frowned.

"I thought you knew," Ai responded. "I swear, I'm pretty sure that Jun sent some pictures of you to us..."

"Pictures of me?!" Minghao shrieked, and Ai nodded as she looked through her phone.

"Ah, see? He sent this to both of us," Ai said, holding up a picture on her phone for Minghao to see. Minghao took the phone from her and blushed as he looked at the picture.

"That creep. Who takes selfies with people while they're sleeping?" Minghao grumbled as he handed Ai's phone back to her.

"Why? I think it's cute. Just look at your faces," Ai teased. "Aw, Minghao, you look so adorable when you're asleep."

"Adorable? What are you talking about?" Shoi-ming interrupted. "Minghao looks scary when he's sleeping."

"Scary? I do?" Minghao asked.

"Whenever the two of us used to have sleepovers, Minghao's face would always have this, like, hardened look on his face. It was scary." Shoi-ming shuddered.

"Oh, I think I know what you're talking about. That tense look, right?" Jun piped up. "He still does that sometimes. He usually just looks cute like in that picture though."

"The scary look must come from his gangster days," Shoi-ming sighed.

"Huh? Gangster days?" Jun repeated. Minghao tilted his head to the side before his eyes widened in realization.

"Don't you dare," Minghao threatened, and Shoi-ming grinned.

"After you left, Minghao was really lonely and upset, and unfortunately, he ended up turning to a life of crime," Shoi-ming explained.

"He didn't," Jun responded disbelievingly. He paused. "Did he?"

"He did," Shoi-ming replied, holding up his phone. "And I have the pictures to prove it."

"Don't do it, Zhang Shoi-ming," Minghao warned, but it was too late. He winced as Jun burst out in laughter.

"They aren't that funny," Minghao huffed.

"Hey, send these to me," Jun said once he had finally stopped laughing.

"Zhang Shoi-ming, if you send him those pictures, you're dead—"

"I got them! Thanks, man!" Jun beamed.

"Inner peace," Minghao muttered to himself quietly. "Inner peace."

"Oh my God, his sunglasses! And he has the Myspace angle and everything! Wow, my boyfriend is the coolest, huh?" Jun laughed, and Minghao's eyes darkened.

"Zhang Shoi-ming!"

A/N: it's been a while...just like the last time i updated...sorry guys i rly was busy D: but i'm sure you don't wanna hear my reasons why. anyways i hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter! i rewrote it so many times bc i wasn't satisfied and i'm still a bit iffy about it but i think it's okay enough to publish so yeah. please tell me what you thought of it!

linked song is "벌데 (b-day)" by ikon bc it's great and the lyrics are great like hanbin is an actual lyrical genius i love him sm :) the linked pic is one i found of hao when he was younger bc we all love predebut minghao pics. i'll link some more of my fav pics of thug8 below! also props to anyone who knows where the "inner peace" thing came from (best drama tbh).

anyways as always thank you guys so much for supporting this story and being so understanding towards me! it means so much to me. ily guys! again please tell me what you thought of this chapter and i'll try to be back on schedule with all my stories beginning on sunday! have a great rest of your day! bye! thank y'all again! <3