Lu Han paid no heed to the wondering eyes that stared at him as he pushed past the shoppers, and sprinted to the nearest comfort room. His sneakers made squeaky noises as they shuffled against the floor, the loud sound garnering even more attention. Everything was a blur as Lu Han ran: the quizzical faces, the neon lights that emanated from the stores, and the colorful paper bags all blended into bright orbs of light that dazed him even more, made his heart race faster, and caused adrenaline to surge through his veins.

As soon as Lu Han entered the washroom, he checked each stall, and when he was sure that he was alone, rushed to the door and locked it.

He wobbled toward the sinks, and the faucet, letting the water run for who-knows-how long.

The beating of his heart deafened him, and his fingers quivered uncontrollably.

You don't know how cute you are.

Lu Han gathered water in his small palms, and splashed it onto his face, hoping that maybe the cold liquid would knock some sense into him and calm him down.

He stared at his own reflection, and saw the redness of his cheeks and his disheveled hair.

He looked like a mess--he felt like one, too.  

His mind was going haywire, like everything he knew, he thought he knew, he forgot, he wanted to forget, was inserted into a gigantic shredder, and all the strips--the remnants--were thrown away into a bottomless abyss, never to be retrieved and never to be pieced back.

He washed his face again, but the cold wasn't doing anything, and he is numb towards its impact. He still felt hot, and Lu Han didn't know if it was due to the humiliation or the smile that his roommate had shown before the accident. But his trembling knees, his pounding heart, and the goose bumps that crept up his thin arms told him that it was the latter.

He's never seen that smile before.

Have you smiled like that only to them?

When she was with the twelve, she laughed, she frowned, she glared, she smiled.

But not like that.

And in the times that she spent with him and his friends, her eyes shined with happiness.

But not like that.

Lu Han doesn't know if he should be ecstatic or not.

Because it bothers me to know that you've shown that smile to them millions of times, whereas we've seen it only once.

Lu Han doesn't know if he should smile or not.

Because I ended up looking like a fool in front of you--again.

Lu Han bites his lip, thinking that maybe he should just give up.

I'm hopeless.

But the image of her smiling face resurfaces, and his entire body grows even hotter, and there is a fluttering feeling in his stomach. And Lu Han doesn't just see her smiling face anymore--every look she's ever given him flashes through his memory: her condescending look when she's angry, agape when she's bemused or disgusted, her frown when she's disappointed, and her infamous poker face when she deadpans at him or when she plays cards.

And Lu Han realizes that he just can't surrender the honor of seeing all of those.

Lu Han washes his face for the third time, and lightly slaps himself.  

You're too much.

"So I will be more." 

Author's Note:

Hello, everyone! 

Because it's the last day of my vacation, I wanted to give you a little present~ I'll be going back to school tomorrow, so, huhuhu, no updates till the weekend. 

T.T

All good things come to an end, unfortunately. 

Anyway, I know the last line is kind of confusing, so let me take this opportunity to explain. Simply speaking, Lu Han wants to "catch up" to the protagonist so that he could make her feel the way she makes him feel. :-)

In other news, I've posted Chapter 2 of Countdown. Be sure to check it out and comment if you can! 

Thank you so much for reading, subscribing and commenting! Please do voice out your thoughts, because I just love reading your comments!

Till next time!