Lu Han didn’t know how it happened. And Lu Han kind of wanted to smack himself for letting it happen. The red liquid that trickled down your arm was not a sight for sore eyes in even the slightest manner. It was disgusting, but even more than that was the huge gash, at least five inches in length, that marked your well-toned forearm. Lu Han cringed at how your skin opened and exposed whatever was underneath its surface.

The acids in his stomach started to churn, and he could feel the content of tonight’s dinner literally make its way up his esophagus. Lu Han swallowed whatever concoction was about to burst out of his mouth; its sour, pungent flavor stuck to the sides of his teeth and his gums. The taste was awful raised to the nth degree, so he ran to the tiny water dispenser in the small white room, and quickly downed a cup of wonderfully bland water to get rid of the sharpness that stung his taste buds.

He looked at your impassive face.

Were you a robot or were you just plain heartless? Surely that wound on your arm was excruciating, but you showed no signs of discomfort nor agony. It was as if the nurse was dabbing water and not antiseptic.

Lu Han felt annoyed.

Your emotionlessness was proof that you did not regret what you did.

“You’re so stupid!” he screamed, “How can you be so stupid?!” His cheeks flared, and he pulled at his brown, silky hair strands. He glared at you, burning holes into your head. You met his angry eyes with your stony gaze.

The poor nurse nearly jumped out of her seat thanks to your roommate’s sudden outburst. Feeling the tension between you and Lu Han, she hastened her pace and quickly bandaged your deep laceration. Once she was done, she gathered the paraphernalia on a silver tray, stood up, bowed to the both of you, and stormed out of the room.

You and Lu Han continued your staring contest, neither of you willing to give up and look away. You chuckled inwardly; this was the first time Lu Han has ever been so defiant to you.

Was your LuLu learning to rebel now?

“Lu Han,” you called out, “Calm down.”

He scoffed. “Calm down?! Are you ing kidding me, woman?! How can I when I…” He clenched his jaws together, unable to accept what he was about to say. He dropped down onto the spot beside you on the white bed now tainted with blotches of your blood.

“You’re so stupid,” he mumbled, looking at his lap. “But I am, too, because I let it happen.”

“Shall we go get dessert?” you suggested as you and Lu Han exited the quaint tea house.

Unlike the drive, dinner was blithe and casual, and the two of you endlessly talked about school work, EXO, the play, and just about everything else. During your happy feast, however, you felt people’s eyes on the both of you, and you just knew that the other patrons were wondering if it was dinner between two friends or a date between two men. You disregarded all of them, and continued stuffing your mouth with dimsum.

So, now, after having that amazing Chinese cuisine, you invited him for dessert.

“Aren’t you full yet?” he asked, eyeing your stomach.

You ate five out of the eight dumplings, finished his share of fried rice when he couldn’t, consumed majority of the pecking duck, and drank at least three glasses of iced oolong tea.

And Lu Han thought he was the tired one.

As if reading his thoughts, you defended yourself, “Listen, I ran back and forth, and drove back and forth to get those flowers for you. You’re not the only one who’s exhausted.”

“And besides,” you crossed your arms, “We always get dessert.”

He couldn’t deny that one. Everyone in EXO had a sweet tooth, and no matter how full they were, there would always be room for dessert.

“All right, let’s go. But I’m paying this time, all right?”

You lightly punched his arm. “How about no? I promised to treat you, so this part's included." 

“You’re such a boy.”

You glare at him. “This will be the last time I do this," you curse at him, narrowing your eyes.

He laughed. “I was just kidding, so I hope you take back your words. This is the first time you’ve ever treated me to an expensive dinner; I wish this isn’t the last.”

“Okay, because you begged so earnestly, I’ll be forgiving. But the next time won’t be a fancy restaurant, all right?”

“What? But the tea house doesn’t even fall under that category!” he whined.

You shook your head. “No, Lu Han. I gave you the chance to eat wherever you wanted, but you just up and threw that away when you decided to go here. You’ve lost such a wonderful opportunity.” You give him a self-satisfied smirk. Lu Han was so easy to manipulate.

“You ,” he pouted.

You roll your eyes and shake your head, a small smile tickling your lips. “I certainly do not. Now, come on, let’s go get my car.”

The first time you came to the tea house, the two of you took the train, in which the station was only a few blocks away, so parking had been the least of your worries. This time around, however, it was different. Because the tea house was not-so strategically placed in between houses, there was no space to park in, thus, you had left your car in an empty lot at least ten minutes away by foot.

It was already 10:30 pm, and the night sky had turned an ominous shade of blue. You could hardly see any stars—at least, from where the two of you stood. There were no lamps to light the street; the only sources of illumination were the few houses that still had their lights on.

You really didn’t know how you discovered the tea house in your first year because this part of Seoul was just so isolated.

You and Lu Han were the only beings who stepped out into the chilly night. The dim lights from some houses barely did anything to help you navigate your way through the dark streets.

It had already been five minutes into the walk, and at least a kilometer away from the tea house and the residences when you suddenly spoke up.

It was too quiet for your liking, especially in the pitch-black alley you just entered.

“Tell me again why you thought about going to that tea house?”

“…Because it was special?” he answered feebly.

“You do realize that in all four times that we’ve been there, the sun was shining bright, don’t you?”

“…Shut up. Just admit that you’re scared.”

“Haha, Lu Han, very funny. You know I don’t—“

The two of you stopped in your tracks.

In the dark of the night, you could clearly see the way his crooked grin twisted into something menacing, malicious. The hooded man was tall, about Kai’s height, and his unpleasant scent of what seemed to be spoiled eggs combined with other spoiled food wafted through the narrow alley. He held a small, but sharp knife. Behind the hooded figure were two more with grins just like his.

You felt like barfing.

You thought that this was a very cliché situation to be in.

Oh, well, you’ll just kick their asses.

Easy as pie, right?

Right, you convinced yourself.

“What luck do we have, boys?” he said, taking a step towards Lu Han. “I’m feeling quite tonight, and I have found the perfect person to satisfy me.” He reached a hand out to touch Lu Han’s chin, but you forcefully shoved it away, blocking Lu Han’s entire body with your left arm.

Damn it, why was your roommate so damn attractive? It’s bad enough that he has hordes of fangirls, but seriously, even men were chasing him?

“Don’t. ing. Touch. Him,” you growled, your deep voice turning even lower, more dangerous.

The man looked taken aback, but he quickly masked it with his spiteful smirk. “Aw, come on. Don’t be such a jealous boyfriend. I’m willing to pay you any amount just to get my hands on that cute Bambi of yours.”

What a loser.

Did he think that he could buy and do your roommate just like that?

Your eyes twitched, and you felt anger well up deep inside of you.

“Hey, I am not—“

You pushed Lu Han out of the alley, and dashed towards the three men.

“Don’t get in the way, Lu Han!” you shouted, effectively blocking the men from going anywhere near your roommate.

Thinking fast, you aimed for all of their pressure points, and punched and kicked them with full force.

You were not going to give them a chance to even scream .

~

Ten minutes and a deep slash on your arm later, the three were sprawled on the filthy ground. You picked up the knife which you had successfully disarmed from the leader, and cut a piece of cloth from the man’s jacket. You flinched, seeing your own blood on the silver surface. You wrapped the fabric around the blade, and kept the knife in your pocket for proper disposal later on.

“Hey,” you called, stomping on the leader’s chest. He choked at the impact. “You picked the wrong couple to meddle with. I have a ing black belt in Taekwondo, did you really think you had a chance?”

The man was about to speak up, but you gave another stomp, crushing his ribs. “And just so you know, I’m not his boyfriend. I’m a ing girl, idiots.”

~

Outside, meanwhile, Lu Han felt scared.

Not because of the men who were about to assault him.

Not because of the stillness of the eerie night.

But because of you.

He’s never seen you roughhouse before. He knew that you were a fighter, and that you did, every now and then, get involved in a messy brawl, but he has never seen you do it. He's never seen you fight in an alleyway or have you arm gashed like that. You were a brave woman, that he knew. But  the sight of you getting hurt and risking your life for him scared him to death. What if things didn't end the way they did? What if the casualties were more fatal than a simple cut on the arm? 

What if he lost you?

He felt so careless and helpless and utterly useless.

And angry, because he just let you take on three men, while he stood there, horrified as he watched you punch, get punched, kick, and get kicked.

And when he saw the crimson gore that poured from your disgusting wound, he gripped onto your wrist and rushed out the other end of the alley, trampling on the erts without so much as a .

“I’m driving you to a clinic, and no buts, all right!” he scolded you because he knew you were going to insist on driving even with that cut on you.

“Lu Han, I—“

“Shut up! Just shut up, and do what’s best for you!” he commanded, tightening his clasp on you.

Maybe it was the blood that oozed from your lesion, but ironically, you felt pleasantly warm.

~

“You’re so stupid,” he repeated. “You’re so ing stupid. Did you really think that you could get out that fight without even a little bit of damage?” And then Lu Han stood up and started to raise his voice, “You’re so stupid! I could protect myself! I could, you very well know that! Were you trying to be a hero, pushing me out of the way and all? You’re so stupid! Stop being so chivalrous, because you don’t have to be!”

You blinked, and emotions finally started to resurface in your eyes. You gazed up at Lu Han with a determined look on your face. “I know that. I know that I don’t have to be. I don’t forget that you’re a guy, Lu Han, and that you can protect yourself. I know how manly you can be, how manly you really are. I know all of that. But can you blame me for wanting to protect you? Is it so wrong of me to fight for someone I treasure?”

Despite all the vexation, a shade of light pink dusted Lu Han’s cheeks.

Did you just confess to him?

No, that last sentence could mean a lot of things.

Knowing you, “someone I treasure” could very well refer to any member of EXO, but the fact remained that, even if he shared the privilege with eleven others, he was special to you.

Your gentle, soothing voice brought him back to reality.

“I…I was really determined to make this night work out, you know. You worked so hard for that play of yours, and I just wanted to give you a gift for doing so well. And it’s not just because of that; it’s a thank you present for being such an awesome roommate all these years.”

Dumbfounded, Lu Han simply stood there, his arms limp on his sides.

“And besides,” you looked to the side, rubbing your cheek with an index finger, “I really think you’re pretty, Lu Han. I would do anything to make sure that you’re safe and scratch-free.” You turned to him, staring directly at his eyes. “You’re worth protecting, methinks.” You showed him a toothy grin, and assured him that the physical pain you felt was worth it, as long as it guaranteed that he’d be unharmed.

Lu Han’s lips quivered, touched at how sweet you were being.

“You’re such a boy,” he muttered, sitting back down.

His head fell onto your shoulder, and he shut his eyes. The events of tonight, plus the initial exhaustion he got from the play, finally came crashing down on him, and Lu Han found himself falling into the temptation of a deep slumber as he snuggly leaned against you.

“You’re so stupid, you’re such a boy. And you’d kill me for being this close, but I don’t care. I’m tired. You say I’m worth protecting, right? I feel secure when I’m with you, so let me sleep like this,” he mumbled, before finally giving in to the Sandman.

You stiffened at the contact, and Lu Han probably didn’t know what he was saying. Nonetheless, hearing all of that from your shy roommate made you smile, and you relaxed your shoulders. Your head plopped down on top of his, and you would have thought it was a funny sight (because Lu Han was taller than you) if it weren’t for the weariness you felt.

And just like your roommate, you surrendered to the Sandman’s enticing invitation of sleep.

Summer finally arrived the next morning. 

Author's Note:

Hello, guys!

I'm sorry for giving such a late update. Huhuhu, I was super busy yesterday. I left the house in the morning and came back only in the evening, at around dinner time. So exhausted #deadz

In other news, here is a fluffy chapter for everyone. But...haha, things are about to get messy, because it's Summer (but already know that :)) ). So, yes, this chapter/arc is actually a prequel to The Beach. :-) Well, kind of, because The Beach happens at around late summer, and this arc is around at the start of summer. 

Also, *spazz* I got recommended in MusicChibi's I'd Like to Buy a Beta. To the person who suggested my fic, THANK YOU SO MUCH 8D I haven't asked the mods who it was, but huhuhu, THANK YOU SO MUCH. Of course, I would also like to THANK EVERYONE, my readers and subscribers and commentors, for supporting this fic. 

I LOVE ALL OF YOU!

Remember to comment! :-)

Till next time!

P.S. I just updated Countdown! Be sure to check out the latest chapter and leave some comments! :-)