Chapter Two
The Prince Next DoorA/N: Right, procrastination is definitely one of my worst talents. Still, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!
Chapter 2
Luhan yawned, his eyelids slowly opening to take in the room surrounding him. As his gaze focussed on a red wall replacing his usual blue, he realised he was not at home. Remembering the situation he was in due to events that'd occured last night, he sat up from his spot on the floor, stretching his arms. Glancing downwards, he caught sight of a crinkled shirt sprawled out near his feet.
Tentatively picking the cloth up, sure to shake off the dust clinging onto it while doing so, Luhan smiled in relief when he saw his familiar school logo resting on the left side of it. Holding the matching trousers in his other hand, he stood up, getting ready to change.
Sliding his shirt off his lean body, he stopped halfway, hearing the door clink open.
“Wake up Lu-” Their cute voice was cut short by an awkward cough that followed it, and a short giggle. Turning around swiftly, Luhan’s cheeks flushed red as he saw Xiumin in the doorway, smiling lopsidedly.
“Ah!” Fumbling to get the shirt over his head, Luhan turned around, hiding from his best friend.
“Oh, sorry Lu-ge, I didn’t know you were already up…” Trailing off, Xiumin ran a hand through his styled hair, looking down at his feet awkwardly. “Anyway, there are around twenty minutes until we should leave for school, so I’ll be in the kitchen with breakfast!” Nodding as he heard the door close, Luhan sighed, making his way to the bathroom.
All he could remember from the night before was the awkward encounter he’d had with the tall blonde boy, and stumbling through the streets while laughing like a mad man until he’d arrived at Xiumin’s doorstep. Hopefully his friend’s parents hadn’t been too disapproving when they’d opened the door to his unwelcomed presence.
Glancing at the bathroom mirror, Luhan tried to pat down his unusually messy hair, and once he’d achieved the task took a moment to bask in the glory that was his tired looking self. The only thing differentiating him from a pile of trash was the fact he’d brushed his teeth using Xiumin’s spare toothbrush.
Looking at the time, he realised there were only five minutes until he would have to leave with Xiumin for school, otherwise the two would be late. Stumbling out of the small room, he rushed down the stairs to the kitchen.
The gorgeous smell of pancakes wafted up his nose, immediately calming him. Almost gliding towards where the plates were Luhan picked one up and placed three golden works of art onto it, smiling at Xiumin’s mother thankfully while doing so.
Sitting down next to Xiumin at the table, Luhan started to tuck into his delicious plate of food. Coughing awkwardly, Xiumin’s mother looked up from her own plate, her eyes resting on the boy. Luhan could feel her gaze and slowed down his eating, looking up with an apologetic expression.
“I’m sorry for yesterday; I didn’t mean to intrude…” She gasped in reply, shaking her head swiftly. A kind smile appeared on her features.
“Oh no, it’s fine, honestly. My husband and I understand your situation completely and if you ever feel like you have nowhere to go we will happily let you stay here, Luhan. A friend of our son’s is a friend of ours.” Luhan smiled gratefully, thankful that both of Xiumin’s parents had accepted into their house without even asking for an explanation. The last thing he wanted to do was think about what he’d left in his house. Averting his eyes back to his plate, negative thoughts clouded his mind, making his gaze drop lower with every passing second.
As if Xiumin could feel the tension, he stood up, glancing at the clock. “Well, Lu-ge, we better leave now if you don’t want to be late!” Nodding quickly, Luhan stood up and bowed, picking up his plate to place in the sink on his way towards the door.
Luhan was thankful for the fact that it was a Wednesday, because that meant all of his books were at school, stashed in his locker, and all he was lacking were a few stationary pieces the teachers would have no problem providing him with. Luhan was normally a star student, so most of his teachers would pardon his tardiness, or at least that was what the boy hoped.
Looking up at Xiumin, who was waiting at the door, Luhan walked towards him, feeling comfort run through him from the soft smile his friend was giving him. His heart skipped a beat, but he ignored it, and begun walking to school, side by side with the older boy.
He’d be lying if he said his heart had never skipped a beat in the presence of Xiumin before.
Sehun trudged into class, dropping his bag to the floor as he slumped into his seat. Feeling his eyes flutter shut, he reprimanded himself for almost getting no sleep. As his head grew heavier, he felt a finger poke his back, startling him. Turning around, Sehun was faced with a tan boy smiling brightly at him.
“Hi, I’m Kim Jongin, but you can call me Kai. You’re the new guy, Oh Sehun, right?” Nodding awkwardly, Sehun found himself surprised at the boy’s forwardness. Normally people would leave him be, to wallow in his self-existence, or even marginalise him and call him a loner. No one had ever willingly asked to be friends with him, so the boy had no idea how to act in a situation like this.
He didn’t really know if having friends was a good thing, but decided to go along with the boy, since his smile was quite inviting. “Nice to meet you, if you want you can sit with my friends and I at lunch.” Sehun didn’t know whether or not to nod, since he had also been asked the same from the tall boy last night.
However, it did come to his attention that not once had he seen the boy at school, so Sehun decided to accept Kai’s request. “Yeah, that’d be nice,” he said in a low voice, looking at how the boy’s face changed from uneasiness to relief, a laugh escaping his mouth.
He couldn’t help but remember the boy from yesterday’s laugh, and how beautiful it had been. In contrast to Kai’s low chortles, it’d been light and airy, and Sehun felt like he could’ve been floating while listening to it.
“Alright, cool!” His laughs had long since disappeared into the space surrounding the two, filling the cold air with warmth. “You know, most people thought you looked kinda rude, but you’re a cool guy.” Sehun wasn’t surprised by Kai’s statement, as his cold eyes and defined jawline did give him quite an intimidating look, but instead felt a small spark of happiness at the indirect compliment he’d received.
“Um, y-you too, I guess” Sehun said, his voice coming out unusually squeaky, much to his dismay. Kai once again laughed at this, his hand resting on Sehun’s shoulder in a gesture of friendship. As the two exchanged a weird act of bonding, the door swung open, and the loud shouts around the room came to an abrupt halt.
Sehun’s eyes darted towards the door, expecting the homeroom teacher to walk in. Instead, a small boy with large eyes walked in, and whispers erupted around the classroom. Every single pair of eyes in the class were trained on the boy, watching his every move.
Silently, the boy walked towards a seat at the far end of the classroom, near the window. Confusion etched itself into Sehun’s expression as his eyes followed the small figure, which now sat hunched over in a chair.
“That’s Kyungsoo.” Kai’s voice almost shocked Sehun, and as he spun around to look at the boy he took note of how his face had contorted into one filled with pity. “He never speaks in class, and is kind of weird. Most people try to stay away from him because someone started a rumour that his family is satanic, because of what happened last summe- anyway, don’t believe that.” Sehun now sat shocked, unable to understand why someone would say such a horrible thing about the sweet looking boy.
Looking back at the boy whose hair framed his eyes as he fumbled through his pencil case, Sehun was sure the boy couldn’t hurt a fly. Suddenly, large eyes locked with his, then fluttered towards Kai, who was perched next to Sehun. Sehun was sure he saw a mix of emotions such as hurt and anger pass through the boys’ eyes before he looked down once again.
Not knowing how to react, Sehun was thankful when the door opened for the second time and their homeroom teacher walked in, hushing the rowdy students.
“Lu-ge, what are you looking at?” Blinking twice, Luhan came back to reality; his eyes locked with Xiumin’s, who was far too close to the poor boy. Stuttering in the most unattractive of ways, Luhan looked away, sure to move his face away from Xiumin’s before unwelcomed thoughts would cloud his mind.
“Ah, sorry, I must’ve zoned out…” Luhan was almost sure he’d seen Xiumin’s face drop, but the boy was laughing a second after, so he brushed it away as a trick of the light.
Slapping Luhan’s arm affectionately, Xiumin giggled, shaking his head. “Gosh Lu-ge, you scared me, your eyes were so wide, you looked like a deer caught in headlights. I was sure they were going to pop out of your skull!” Blushing, Luhan looked back down to his food, using his fork to move it around his plate aimlessly.
Catching sight of the boy’s actions, Xiumin sighed, gently placing his hand over the boy’s dainty fingers. Shocked, Luhan looked up, a red flush travelling across his cheeks.
Although he felt the boy’s eyes on him, Xiumin continued to look down at the fork entwined in Luhan’s hold. Slowly his own fingers rested on top of Luhan’s, and Xiumin could feel a blush forming on his face. Almost shaking his head immediately, he focused on getting the fork out of Luhan’s grasp.
Feeling the fork being pulled away from his limp hand, Luhan’s fingers turned cold. Xiumin used the utensil to pick up some of the food, holding the fork near the other’s mouth, which opened in shock.
Before he could protest, the older boy emptied the food contents that had been resting on the fork into Luhan’s mouth, smiling in victory. Blushing deeply, Luhan couldn’t seem to understand what had just happened, but savoured every single second of it.
A half-asleep Yixing’s eyes were fully opened as he stared in shock at the pair. “Woah, Xiumin,” he said, not knowing whether to laugh at Luhan’s shocked expression or to sigh in frustration at the blatant ignorance the pair had towards the other’s feelings.
“W-What else could I do?! I’m his hyung; I have to make sure my little brother is always eating!” Luhan’s face dropped at those words. ‘Little brother’. So that was all he’d ever be to Xiumin.
Yixing also caught the youngers face fall, and almost wanted to chuckle at how stupid the two of them were. Rolling his eyes, he leaned back in his chair, sleep welcoming him with open arms.
“Wow, it never fails to surprise me how easily he falls asleep.” Xiumin laughed awkwardly, hoping to break the tension in the air. He looked towards Luhan, who was forking slow mouthfuls of his lunch into his mouth, the usual sparkle in his eyes missing.
“Luhan, are you okay?” Looking up, the boy was confused by how worried his friend had sounded.
“Yeah, I mean, why wouldn’t I be?” Luhan felt panic grow in his mind. Had Xiumin caught onto why Luhan was sad? Was he going to reject him? A shiver ran down his spine, the boy not even wanting to imagine the possibility.
“Well, I mean you’ve been kind of quiet… Does it have something to do with the reason as to why you came to my house yesterday?” Luhan blinked twice, before shaking his head slowly. A new kind of sadness set in on the boy, a slow, crushing feeling. His whole body seemed to deflate into his chair as he dwelled on what had happened in his house last night.
Xiumin almost immediately saw his mistake, but the words had already left his mouth by then. Not knowing what to do, Xiumin extended his hand, letting it hover over Luhan’s shoulder, but slowly brought it back to him, deciding to give the boy space.
“Lu-ge, I’m sorr-” Standing up swiftly, Luhan shot a painful smile in the boy’s direction, cutting him off mid-sentence.
“I’ll be back in a second,” he stated, rushing towards the canteen’s exit before the tears started to escape his eyes. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him as he frantically stumbled towards the exit, hushed chatter he was sure was about him erupting all around the room. He didn’t care though. He needed to find the closest bathroom. His eyes stayed fixated on his scruffy shoes which moved to the quick pace of Luhan’s small footsteps.
Since his whole attention wasn’t focussed on the hallway in front of him, he couldn’t possibly have seen the blonde hair that was coming towards him with every pace. Feeling his shoulder smack into a large object of some sort, he looked up, the pain travelling down his arm.
Sehun stood in shock as Kai stopped in mid-sentence, not knowing how to react. “Um, sorry! I didn’t see you there!” He stuttered out, his arms going to help the small boy steady himself. Glistening eyes locked with his, small tears trailing down the boy’s face. Somewhere in Sehun’s mind, an image of the boy from he’d crashed into last night appeared. It was him.
“Luhan hyung, are you okay?” Kai said suddenly, holding a hand out towards the boy, who turned to glare at it.
“Watch where you’re going,” his small voice barked out, and just like that, he’d turned around and walked away. Yet, his features still lingered in Sehun’s mind.
The dim lights on that street had not done the boy’s face Justus, Sehun decided. He was simply angelic, with not one flaw to his perfect face. Sehun was surprised by how the boy had looked so beautiful even while crying.
Turning around to Kai’s surprised expression, he blurted out the first question that came to mind, not caring about how creepy he may have sounded. “Who is he?”
Kai blinked, before he smiled and shook his head disapprovingly at the blonde. “God, don’t even try. That’s Luhan, also known as the school’s ‘prince’; he’s a senior, and way out of your league. He despises almost everybody apart from his friends, Yixing and Xiumin. You have no chance.” Nodding slowly, Sehun’s mind repeated the two syllables over and over until he was sure he’d never forget them.
Luhan. What a pretty name.
A/N: I hope you didn't assume that Luhan would only have feelings for Sehun in this story! But, don't fret, this fanfiction is still mainly Hunhan, and Xiuhan is prevalent to add to Luhan's character and personality more than to factor as a competitor for the main romantic couple in this story. I know that at this point Kyungsoo's personality and backstory may seem quite farfetched, but don't worry, it fits in well with the overall plot and hopefully won't appear to be random. Thank you for reading, please leave comments if you want me to continue with this fanfiction!
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