You leaned against the white wall, patiently waiting for Lu Han to come out of his dressing room. Earlier that night, Lu Han and his Shakespeare org (because you didn’t even bother knowing what the org name was) had performed their semi-play, semi-reader’s theatre of Romeo and Juliet with a Twist in the small auditorium of the Music Department. Due to it being an almost private affair, the audience barely reached a hundred, and consisted mostly of either close friends or family members of the org members.

Lu Han’s fangirls didn’t know that he was into Shakespeare, and you were thankful because if they did, they would have flooded the tiny hall.

Much to Lu Han’s dismay, you had told the rest of EXO about his willingness to expand his horizon and take on the role of Juliet. All twelve of you came to watch, of course.

All throughout the performance, you had to stop yourself from laughing too loud; it’s not because the thespians were horrible (although they weren’t), and it wasn’t because Romeo and Juliet was just naturally a funny story to you—it’s because Lu Han looked so damn funny. Even though it was a reader’s theatre, all of them wore costumes; Lu Han, being Juliet, wore a dress and even a wig. He saw the way you were covering your mouth, and the way your shoulders trembled in amusement, and you just knew that he wanted to throw his manuscript out the window and tackle you to the ground. EXO were also trying to stifle their laughter, but they did better in doing so than you did.

Despite the urge to guffaw, you had to hand it to Lu Han: he did really well, especially since his role did not conform to his gender. His voice, as always, sounded beautiful—heavenly, even—like he was some sort of magnificent angel God bestowed upon you to be your guardian, disguised as your roommate.

And his outfit.

LOL.

But seriously, Lu Ha looked amazing in that dress. And he was just so pretty, like a deer—with his big eyes, his small face, and his dainty features. Furthermore, the wig accentuated the shape of his face, and it just completed the Renaissance look.

You had to do a double-take before you realized that it was just your roommate you were staring up at.

Because you kind of thought you were in the presence of a goddess.

The play was a success, and after the curtain call, Lu Han and the rest of his org retreated to the small backstage of the hall. You bid farewell to EXO, insisting that you’d be the one to fetch your roommate once his business was over.

And as you stood against the wall, a bouquet of peach blossoms in your hands, you wondered why the hell there were dressing rooms behind the tiny hall in the first place.

It was a very small auditorium, and you had to ask yourself why the hell it needed a backstage.

The meeting/dressing room door finally swung open, and out came the boys and girls of the organization, patting each other’s backs, laughing, smiling, and saying goodbye to one another. Some of them noticed you—probably because of the pink bouquet you held—and grinned, uttering what you could vaguely hear as, “Lu Han’s lucky.” Not wanting to bother yourself with any of them, plus, the company of others just made you feel queasy, you stared hard on the floor.

“Were you waiting for me?”

You looked up to see Lu Han standing in the doorway with no one behind him. You smiled.

“Of course I was. And here!” you handed him the bouquet, and he received it with a bewildered expression. “A little congratulatory gift for our LuLu who has successfully crossed the borders of man and woman!” you , lightly punching his arm. A frown immediately graced his face upon hearing his dreaded nickname, and he grumbled a barely audible “Thanks.”

“Don’t be like that, man!" you scolded him. "I got you your favorite flowers! And no wonder you like them so much; they smell awesome!”

Lu Han pouted, but took a whiff of the flowers nonetheless, taking a moment to appreciate the scent and the effort you exerted to buy them for him. You don’t know that the only reason he had an affinity for this particular species was because it was indicative of your own fragrance.

A splash of pink washed across his cheeks,  as he remembered that day he slept on your bed, when he first noticed how pleasant your aroma was.

“Dude?” you waved your hand in front of him. Lu Han blinked, his eyes bloodshot after realizing that he had dazed off in front of you. “For a minute there, I thought you were off to lala-land with your eyes opened."

The ruddiness of his face did not disappear, and the confused expression still lingered as he stuttered, “I…No…That’s because…These flowers just smell really good.”

You sighed, relieved and happy. “I’m glad you like them, because you would not believe the trouble I went through to get spring flowers on the verge of summer!” you said, face turning serious in a blink of an eye. “Ah, but I’m not guilt-tripping you or anything!” you followed up, assuring him that the trouble was necessary and worth it. That put a smile on his beautiful face.

“Now come,” you took a few steps towards the exit, signaling for him to follow you, “I’m treating you to dinner tonight.”

Lu Han reverted to his perplexed, clueless countenance. “What?”

“Because you did so well tonight, Lu Han! It deserves a celebration!” you smirked, twirling your index fingers up in the air. “Just tell me what and where you’d like to eat, and I’ll treat you! Don’t be shy, okay? I’ll splurge just for tonight.”

You had always been a thrifty person. Growing up in a quaint village and a frugal family, you learned to discern and buy only what was necessary. The girls in your high school were lavish spenders who adorned themselves with jewelry and signature bags, and invested a lot on cosmetics and make-up. While most of the boys were simple-minded, there were still some who liked to spend a little more than needed, buying gadgets and accessories for their future cars. You, on the other hand, were just grateful for what you had, and requested no further from your parents who sponsored your very existence. Even in the presence of EXO, most of whom were big spenders as well (take Tao, for example), you remained loyal to your parsimony, and always lectured them on the importance of being economical, especially in an era where the global market was prone to fluctuations.

Therefore, you splurging sounded wrong to Lu Han, and he could not believe that you gave up your frugality for his sake.

“Seriously?”

You nodded. “I'm not kidding, man.” You said no more, and strode forward. Lu Han stood there for a few more seconds, still trying to comprehend the situation. However, once he accepted the fact that you were being so generous tonight, he lifted his feet and caught up to you.

“Are the others waiting outside?” he asked, finally noticing that EXO was not with you.

You shook your head, and looked back at him over your shoulder, a smile on your face. “Nope. It’s just you and me tonight, Lu Han.”

Lu Han swore his heart was about to burst thanks to the amount of bliss that just suddenly bombarded him. 

Author's Note:

Hello, everyone~

Haha, I am doing this to escape the obligations of having to read 50 pages for my class tomorrow :)) jk. 

Anyway, I would just like to point out that this is the continution of Hey, Juliet! I also decided to change the time frame from the original, last few months of Third Year, to the last few weeks of the first term of their Fourth Year. This approximately happens before summer vacation, when they meet Taemin and SHINee. :-)

Also, if you are interested to know what the layout of their room looks like: here! Now, I know that dorms usually have big showers for the borders, but I want to be fancy, okay. :)) It's just a small bathroom, anyway (the layout is not to scale XD) 

Again, thank you so much for reading, subscribing and commenting! To the new subscribers, I'm glad you guys are enjoying so far!

If you have time, please do drop a comment or two! Silent readers are okay, but I would like to hear from you guys every now and then!

Till next time!