Right after Luhan bids goodbye to his stepbrother, he strolls over to the living room and passes out on the couch. His blood alcohol content is very high.

When he wakes up hours later and successfully throws up everything that he has ever eaten ever, Luhan is hit with a horrible headache and the cold realization of what he's done.

"Oh I just sold my stepbrother."

"No, Luhan, I am not going to return Kyungsoo."

"Why the hell not?!"

"For starters, I paid you the equivalent of a million American dollars in won for him. Also I'm lonely living by myself. Besides," Yifan continues, rolling his eyes, "have you already forgotten that you suggested this idea in the first place?"

Crouched outside Yifan's office door, Kyungsoo slaps a hand over his mouth to prevent a gasp and a few choice words from slipping out. His own stepbrother willingly offered him up for sale!

"Okay, look," Luhan says, voice desperate, "I was faced when you showed up. All I wanted was a ! But no, you just had to look at Kyungsoo's picture and fall for him-"

"Who the hell carries a picture of their stepbrother in their wallet anyway!"

"Excuse me, you do not question my love for Kyungie."

"I can question anything I want to because I technically own ‘Kyungie.’”

“Well. Well! Well you!”

No other words are exchanged and Kyungsoo guesses that Luhan hung up. He hears a sigh and footsteps approaching the door, so Kyungsoo scrambles to his feet and makes a run for his room.

The next few days are uneventful. Kyungsoo eats silent breakfasts with Yifan, who leaves for work at nine. Kyungsoo is then driven to and from university by a snarky chauffeur named Jongdae, and when he gets home, Kyungsoo spends all of his time studying for that awful Business class he’s failing.

About a week after Kyungsoo arrives in Yifan’s house, the great man himself knocks on Kyungsoo’s door.

“Yeah?” Kyungsoo asks, frowning at the sheet in front of him.

“What’re you up to?”

“Uh,” Kyungsoo says.

Yifan looks down at the paper and his curious expression clears. “Oh, this is money-making. If you’re having trouble, I could help-”

Kyungsoo flings himself into Yifan’s arms, almost sobbing in relief. “Please. I’m failing this class and I need a savior please please please help me.”

Yifan’s lips lift into that dumb smile and he launches into a long and winding explanation on how companies work, and taxes, and effective trade secrets, and so many other useful tidbits of information that Kyungsoo is able to fill in his blank piece of paper with figures and facts. Yifan’s slightly accented Korean and free way of talking keeps Kyungsoo listening for over an hour.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo says, beginning to understand his Business class a lot more. “I think I can pull my grade up now.”

“No problem,” Yifan replies, cheeks turning pink. “Dinner?”

Yifan ends up nearly burning the kitchen down and Kyungsoo hasn’t shouted this much since he found out Luhan sold him. But, as he sends the businessman dirty looks while scrubbing a blackened counter, he figures this isn’t so bad.

“Do Kyungsoo! See me.”

As the other students file out of the lecture hall, Kyungsoo hesitantly makes his way over to the professor. “Er, yes?”

The old man beams at him. “Your exam results were amazing! You’ve gone from receiving Ds to As! I don’t know what’s bringing about this miraculous recovery, but keep it up. You just might be able to pass.”

Elated, Kyungsoo bows in thanks and rushes out of the hall, eager to get home and notify Yifan of this success.

Except-

“Kyungie!”

Luhan waves at him excitedly, motioning for him to come over. Kyungsoo narrows his eyes and continues his search for Jongdae.

“Kyungie! How was school?” Ugh, Luhan is right next to him.

“ off, hyung.”

Luhan gasps. “That’s not proper language to use with me!”

“Yeah well, you sold me,” Kyungsoo pouts.

His stepbrother’s shoulders sag. “Yeah, okay, I messed up big time, I know. I was drunk and Yifan saw your picture and I don’t know what happened exactly but somehow I sold you to him and yeah.”

At Kyungsoo’s silence, Luhan asks, “Is it really bad living with him?”

Kyungsoo snorts. “No, I’m just. I’m adjusting.” He side-eyes Luhan. “But it’s still weird. And I still hate you.”

“I know,” Luhan says brightly. “I’m the worst hyung ever! But hey, I’ll buy you a mini refrigerator if it’ll make you feel better!”

“Go buy yourself a new stepbrother.”

Luhan fake sobs into Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “You’re so mean to me- hey, who’s that?”

Kyungsoo follows his gaze to Jongdae, who’s beckoning for Kyungsoo to get in the limo.

“Oh, that’s Yifan’s chauffeur,” Kyungsoo says breezily, “and my ride. See you never, hyung.”

“No! Wait! You have to give me that guy’s address!”

“Why the hell would you need Jongdae’s address?”

“So I can mail a mini refrigerator to him! Maybe he’s into rich guys. Who own mini refrigerators.”

“Luhan, he works for Wu Yifan. If there is any rich guy Jongdae would have to fall for, it would be Yifan.”

“.”

“Yeah. Now I really gotta go-”

“But still, text me his address.”

Kyungsoo sighs and shoos his stepbrother away (honestly Luhan is the most embarrassing human being to ever walk this earth), getting into the limo.

“Hey, Jongdae hyung?”

“What.”

“What’s your address?”

Jongdae squints at him in the rearview mirror. “What.”

Yifan is apparently staying late at the company today (imagine the CEO working overtime for the hours he missed spending them with someone he bought- Yifan is never going to tell Kyungsoo that) so Kyungsoo postpones his good news for later. He’s cooking dinner for himself when a call comes from Jongdae.

“A delivery truck stopped in front of my apartment and said a mini refrigerator came for me? And I don’t even know the person who sent it.”

“What was the name?”

“It was signed ‘Luhan’ in gigantic letters on the top of the box, and I thought that sounded like your stepbrother’s name, so-”

Kyungsoo cackles.

Once Jongdae gets over the knowledge of Kyungsoo’s stepbrother being interested in him enough to send a mini refrigerator to his doorstep, he’s pretty cool about it.

“What does he look like?” Jongdae questions, spearing another apple slice. He invited himself over to Yifan’s (and Kyungsoo’s too, probably) mansion to get any information he can about Luhan.

“Um,” Kyungsoo says. He’s cutting apples and trying to figure out how to describe his stepbrother without using the word creepy. “I’ve heard he’s pretty? He has big eyes and long eyelashes and he has brown hair. And. Yeah."

Jongdae hums appreciatively. “Nice,” he mumbles around the apple in his mouth. “Tell me about his personality.”

Kyungsoo places the six new apple slices on the plate and sets down the knife. “He’s a genuine guy. Luhan doesn’t lie and when he does, he apologizes right away. And he’s nice, too, if you don’t count the fact that he sold me,” he adds dryly. “Luhan is really enthusiastic and loud about, well, everything. He hates when people say he looks like a girl and to be honest he’s more manly than I am.”

“Sounds like a good guy,” Jongdae comments. “You two seem close.”

Kyungsoo shrugs. “We are. My mom met his dad a couple years after my real dad left and they liked each other right away. Luhan was fourteen and still in China studying when they were married. He didn’t like the thought of his dad loving anyone other than his own mother, I guess. But I met him eventually and he decided to live in Korea with the rest of us.”

Jongdae frowns and tilts his head. “I thought you said you live alone with him?”

“Yeah, I do. Our parents died in a car accident when I was halfway through my last year of high school.” Kyungsoo swallows, the memories he’d managed to suppress starting to surface and turn into tears. Jongdae rubs his back. Already, in a span of six days, they’ve become more than just chauffeur and university student. “Luhan was… twenty? Yeah, twenty, so he got the house and we both stayed. We’ve been living alone for years now.”

“Wow,” Jongdae says, chuckling. “You guys are strong.”

“Are we?” Kyungsoo muses. “I don’t know. Luhan and I just stuck together and that’s how we got through everything. But then he sold me,” he says, expression souring. “What a .”

They laugh, and Jongdae peppers Kyungsoo with more questions about Luhan, and the tears dry.

Outside of the kitchen door, Yifan slowly makes his way to the living room and slumps onto a leather couch.

“So that is your past, Do Kyungsoo,” he whispers to himself. “I’m going to take care of you.”

Luhan is waiting for Kyungsoo outside of the university’s gates again.

“So what did Kim Jongdae say!”

“Jesus, Luhan, you’re going to burst my eardrum,” Kyungsoo grumbles.

“Sorry,” his stepbrother says, wilting a little. “What did Kim Jongdae think of my gift?”

“He appreciates it. And he thought the frog impression you did at the age of twenty was incredible.”

Luhan frowns. “I’m sure he didn’t know me when I was twenty, he must be mistaken-” Luhan’s eyes widen and he points at Kyungsoo, nearly poking the younger’s eye out. “You!” he shrieks. “You showed him that video! I thought you said you deleted it!”

“It was too valuable to delete,” Kyungsoo snickers. “Jongdae thought your frog impression was very funny.”

“I had a major hair crisis when I was twenty,” Luhan moans, “now he’ll never want to go out with me.”

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “Maybe. You’d be surprised. I mean, I would. Why would anyone want to date you?”

“SHUT UP.”

surprise surprise kyungsoo can be a little too