Ding. Luhan looked down at his phone.

Yifan: How about this guy sitting on my left? Is he your type?

Luhan narrowed his eyes and glared across the subway at his best friend.

Luhan: No. He's not my type. Now stop it.

Yifan put a small pout on his lips as he read the text.

Yifan: But you didn't even look at him yet...

Luhan: Yeah, cuz I don't need to. He's not my type!

Yifan: Come on, just one look. Can't hurt.

Luhan sighed and rolled his eyes. Across from him, next to Yifan, sat a large bundle of clothes. Luhan could barely see purple headphones peeking out from beneath the fur-rimmed hood and the tip of the guy's nose. He was probably dozing off, lulled to sleep by the swaying of the subway.

Luhan: There, I looked. He's still not my type.

Yifan: Ok fine...

Yifan: Are you sure?

Yifan glanced at the man next to him.

Yifan: Wait, you can't even see him under the hood.

Luhan: Exactly.

Yifan: What's that supposed to mean?

Yifan: You know what? I'll just wake him up for you.

Luhan: No!

The text went unseen as Yifan dropped his phone in his lap and promptly elbowed the guy beside him. The young man slowly sat up, pushed the hood back, and slid his headphones around his neck.

Luhan couldn't help but stare as the young man opened his mouth and said something with an adorably confused look on his face. Wait. No. What? He wasn't ready for this.

"Yeah, I was just making sure you didn't miss your stop," Yifan was saying to the young man.

He looked up in a panic, scanning the digital display for the next stop. "Nope, I'm good." He relaxed and stood up. "I'm actually getting off at this stop. Thank you so much for waking me."

As he maneuvered through the sudden inflow of passengers to get out of the train, Luhan stared on with wide eyes. The young man was almost through the door when Yifan noticed Luhan's reaction and called out after him. The young man turned around.

Yifan strode over and stuck his hand out. "What's your name?"

The young man took his hand and shook it. "Yixing. Zhang Yixing."

"Wu Yifan. Nice to meet you."

Zhang Yixing left, and Yifan went back only to see that his seat had been taken. Shrugging, he went to stand in front of Luhan. He winked, and said with a smirk, "Got his name?"

Luhan sighed. "Yeah, but what use is it? There's no way I'm going to be able to find him. I can hardly go around asking people where he is."

"No, you can't," Yifan agreed, for once. He paused. "But he's got to have a social media."

"Yifan," Luhan warned.

Yifan raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"No," Luhan stated with a tone of finality.

"Of course not."

It wasn't even an hour after they separated that Luhan received a text from Yifan.

Yifan: Guess what?

Yifan: Turns out Zhang Yixing goes to our university. Dance major, loves singing, he's actually pretty popular.

Luhan: ...

Yifan: Sound too good to be true?

Luhan: Yifan, I told you not to.

Yifan: I'm not apologizing man, you need it.

Yifan: Btw he loves that panda cafe downtown, according to his bio he goes there everyday.

Luhan: Yifan...

Yifan: I'm waiting for a thank you.

Luhan: I'm not saying anything right now.

Yifan: That's ok, late is better than never.

With that, Luhan put down his phone.

---

Luhan sat at the table in the corner of the panda cafe. His phone buzzed with another text from his best friend. Did Yifan ever stop harassing him? Nope.

Yifan: What's up Lulu?

Luhan: Nothing Fanfan. Just having some hot chocolate.

Yifan: You went to that cafe, didn't you?

Luhan: Huh? What cafe?

Yifan: That cafe. The one Zhang Yixing goes to.

Luhan: I have no idea what you're talking about.

Yifan: ...I'll let you go just this once. Good luck ge.

Luhan: Thanks. For the luck. Not anything else.

Yifan: Sure, no problem at all.

Luhan could see the smirk on Yifan's face as he read the text. He rewrapped his scarf around his neck and made himself more comfortable in his seat. It wasn't like he'd been sitting there since morning when the cafe opened, eyes glued to the door. He hadn't been at the same table for the past few weeks from morning to noon, when he had to leave to his classes. He most definitely hadn't ordered so many hot chocolates that he'd gotten strange looks from the waiters who would now just hand him a ready-made hot drink when he came in at 7:00 AM sharp.

He blamed Yifan for what happened next.

His phone vibrated in his hand and Luhan glanced down to see what Yifan texted.

Yifan: So any luck so far?

The bell chimed, signaling that someone had just entered the cafe. Luhan typed away at his phone, attention momentarily distracted. As he tapped out a reply, a conversation reached his ears.

"The usual?"

"Yes please, thank you, Zitao."

"Alright, we're a bit crowded today, but you can have a seat over there if that young man doesn't mind."

Luhan realized they were talking about him. That seat right across from him? Yes he minded. That was the seat he would eventually be saving for-

Oh.

Zhang Yixing.

The same young man from the subway stood before him, wearing a thick jacket and black beanie. The same pair of purple headphones hugged his neck. He smiled and Luhan's mind went blank when a deep dimple manifested itself in his cheek.

"Is that okay with you? Can I sit here?" Yixing asked, pointing at the seat in front of him.

Luhan stared back with large eyes.

Yixing laughed. "I'll take that as a yes," he said, and sat down.

Luhan busied himself by finishing his reply to Yifan.

Luhan: Yeah, he just came in. There weren't any seats left, so he sat at my table.

Yifan: Why the hell are you texting me then? Talk to him!

He put his phone down and looked across the table to find Yixing staring straight at him.

"Hi, I'm Zhang Yixing," he said, sticking a hand out over the table.

Luhan took it. "Luhan. Hello."

Yixing's handshake was warm and firm. As Yixing's long fingers wrapped around his, Luhan could feel the warmth of his palms, despite the cold. He looked up to Yixing's face. His lips were slightly curled up at the ends to form a small smile, an expression that seemed to always be on his face. Luhan unconsciously formed a small smile of his own.

"So, Luhan... How's it going?"

Luhan answered honestly. "I couldn't be more stressed right now. Final exams are coming up and it's too cold to play soccer."

Yixing nodded. "It's pretty crazy right now, isn't it? I used to dance to relax, all the time, and now I've started coming here a lot. This cafe's great."

"Yeah, I've noticed," said Luhan, thinking about the past few weeks he had spent at the cafe.

"Really? Do you come here often? I come here every day, and I haven't seen you before," Yixing said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Before he could reply, the waiter, Zitao, arrived with a steaming cup of tea. "For Yixing! And yes, he does come here often. In fact, he's been here everyday to noon for the past month. Can't help but wonder if he's, maybe, looking for something." He paused. "Or someone." Zitao winked at Luhan and left.

Yixing wore the same expression on his face he had on the subway when he'd just woken up. Luhan ducked his head down and tried to will away the flush in his cheeks. A few seconds later, when he looked up, Yixing was smiling.

"Zitao," Yixing muttered, and rolled his eyes. "Always trying to set me up."

"Oh." Luhan felt a bit disappointed. "Does he do this all the time?"

"Yeah," Yixing said with a half smile. "It hasn't worked though, yet." Was he implying something? Maybe... No. No, of course not.

Just then, Luhan's phone vibrated. He took one look at the screen and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. It was a text from Yifan. Luhan didn't bother opening it, he knew what it would say.

"Are you going to reply?"

"No," Luhan laughed. "It seems our friends have similar intentions. That was my friend Yifan, always sticking his tall nose into my love life."

Yixing flashed him a grin. "I can definitely relate with that." He took a sip of his tea but forgot that it was still rather hot and burned his tongue. He set the cup down a bit too hard and the steaming liquid sloshed over the cup. "Shoot. Ah, that hurt."

Luhan reacted without thinking. He dropped a napkin into the puddle on their table to soak up the spilled tea and grabbed Yixing's hands, feeling the skin to see if he had been scalded. Before he could stop himself, he lifted one of Yixing's hands to his face and kissed it.

"You don't... you don't have to do that, you know."

All too fast, Luhan realized what he had done and dropped his hold on Yixing's hands.

Yixing was smiling. "Although that was nice." Was that a hint of pink in his cheeks? Was he blushing?

"Sorry," Luhan stammered. "It was just a... natural response." Smooth as ever.

Yixing laughed. "I like you, Luhan."

Luhan swore at that moment his heart skipped a beat. Instinctively, he responded, "I-"

A phone rang. Yixing made an apologetic face towards Luhan as he picked up the call. "Hey Jongin. No, I don't have a watch. What? It's already 9? Shoot. Yeah, I'll be there in a second. Okay, bye." He hung up and turned to Luhan. "I'm really sorry, I have to go."

Luhan nodded. "It's fine, I completely understand."

"Bye!" Yixing grabbed his tea.

"Bye!"

"See you tomorrow!" And Yixing ran out of the panda cafe.

As Luhan sipped his cooled hot chocolate, he mentally banged his head on the table.

Wait. Did he say he'd be back tomorrow?