Stay With Me [an EXO's ChanYeol Fanfic]

Chapter 20 - Thank You

"Of course he is!" JunMyeon laughed and recalled their childhood, "I remember when he was young, we went swimming once, there was a pretty girl at the pool..."

"Hey don't talk about that again!" ChanYeol tried to stop his brother from bringing up his embarrassing story.

"Hey why didn't I know about this?" YooRa was excited, "Tell us! Tell us, JunMyeon!"

"None of your business, little girl!" ChanYeol grabbed her neck.

They cheered JunMyeon to continue with the story. JunMyeon smiled, "ChanYeol was shy and tried to hide. Then more girls came over and ChanYeol ran away. Then..."

"Alright you're twisting the story!" ChanYeol complained and fought back, "You started the fight, and your swimming pants loosen up..."

"Whoa!" They all gave a guffaw. YooRa jumped up and wanted to know more. The two brothers laughed and argued back and forth on the correct version of the story. YooRa's over-excitement became annoying, so suddenly the two of them worked together and grabbed YooRa and tickled her, like how they used to bully her all the times when they were young. She screamed and struggled. Little MinHo joined and helped YooRa out to get rid of the guys. GaHye and YeJin just laughed on the side. They were having a lot of fun.

The noise attracted Mr. and Mrs. Park. They walked downstairs and saw their children playing around like little kids. They smiled at each other and enjoyed such warm family bonding moment.

After a while, they steadily stopped the silly fights and disbursed for a while. Little MinHo went to bother YooRa at her room to look at her photos taken in Japan. ChanYeol checked out the food on the table and wanted to steal some. JunMyeon slapped his hand and threatened, "I'll go tell mum."

It was a common threat JunMyeon used when they were little. ChanYeol stuck out his tongue, "I am not scared of her anymore."

"I bet you are scared of your wife more." JunMyeon whispered.

"I bet you are scared of your wife." ChanYeol whispered. The two laughed and grabbed each other's shoulder. Their relationship did resume by a lot today. Thanks to GaHye's thoughtful arrangement.

They fiddled with the food happily and giggled. At this time, there was a cell phone rang. YeJin peeked at the cupboard top and tapped ChanYeol, "I think it's your phone."

"Oh thanks." ChanYeol looked at the caller ID. He quickly grabbed it and paced to a quiet corner at the living room. He lowered his voice, "JiEun."

"Just want to see what time you're coming." She said.

"Hm..." ChanYeol looked at the clock, "Later. We're eating soon. The party should be over in a couple hours." The corner of his eyes caught his mother giving him a glance from far.

"What time?" JiEun was desperate.

"JiEun, since when do you become so pushy?" ChanYeol was annoyed, "I said I'll come later, but not sure about the time. Maybe around 8pm, ok?"

JiEun comforted him, "Please don't get mad. It's your birthday. Alright, I will wait for you. No rush. Talk later, ChanYeol." JiEun put down the phone.

ChanYeol walked back to the dining room and passed by Mrs. Park. She mumbled lightly, "It's family day, ChanYeol. I expect to see everyone here, staying here for the whole time, together. I don't want any disruptions by anyone who doesn't belong here. You know what I mean."

"Yes mum. I understand." ChanYeol sneaked away.

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On the other side, JiEun had been in the kitchen for the last couple of hours. She checked the recipe again and again to make sure all the steps were correct. "Why am I doing this for you?" She titled her head at the batter, and then glowed a sweet smile. She carefully squeezed the cream and put on all the decorating fruits and chocolate bits, and lightly carried the finished product to the oven. Seeing that the cake settled, and began to turn golden light brown, a satisfactory and charming expression shined on her face.