It was 3:18 pm on a Thursday in the middle of September when Luhan got the call. He was walking back to the dorm from the small corner bakery a few blocks away, the one with the strawberry tarts Zitao absolutely adored, and the air was a little chilly. He remembered having to pull his coat around his body tighter, unprepared for the coming winter that was surely just around the corner, and how his breath puffed out in front of him in winding tendrils. He remembered being happy too, but couldn't recall the reason why.

Luhan remembered all of this in crystal-clear clarity, but couldn't for the life of him remember what happened after the phone call.

He knew it involved dropping the box of sweets, as he noticed later on that they never made it back with him. He knew he probably fell somewhere along the way, if the bleeding scrape on his knee was any indication. He knew he'd started crying around that time, but the tear tracks could have been from anytime after that point. And he knew he ran, because he was able to make it to the hospital within 15 minutes.

It was 3:18 pm on a Thursday in the middle of September that Oh Sehun was officially pronounced-

Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Slow down. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Luhan joined SM Entertainment around the same time Sehun did in 2008. Sehun found it funny how the other trainees said they looked alike, even though Luhan's hair was much longer and the older boy was shorter. Luhan had to remind Sehun to call him “hyung” as the younger always forgot, but eventually gave in and just let the boy address him like a friend would.

That was essentially how their relationship began; they were quick lovers, dating a month after meeting each other for the first time. No one thought they'd last (not the deep-voiced Chanyeol, not the amazing dancer Jongin, not the angel-faced Joonmyun, not the lanky giant Wufan; none of them), and Sehun and Luhan were happy to prove them wrong by lasting long through the years. It wasn't until their 6^th anniversary in 2014 that problems began to arise, but now is not the time to tell that part of the story.

One of Luhan's very first memories of Sehun was when the younger was telling him about his love of tea.

“I love it all, Hannie! Don't you like tea?” he asked, sitting crosslegged on his bed as he watched Luhan mess with a Rubik's cube while leaning against the side of the bed.

“Yeah...I mean it's ok and all. Nothing to write home about or anything,” Luhan shrugged, staring at the orange square and trying to remember the correct algorithm to get it to the other side without messing up the green side too bad.

“Are you kidding? It's just so great!” Sehun exclaimed.

“Why do you like it so much?” Luhan questioned, tilting his head back onto the bed so he could look at the younger.

“I don't know...it's just always made me feel calm, I guess,” Sehun smiled. “My favorite kind is bubble tea, have I told you that before?”

“I don't think so...” Luhan mumbled absentmindedly. “Is it good?”

“Have you never had bubble tea before?”

“Not really sure...what's it like?” Luhan asked, glancing over at Sehun's thunderstruck expression.

This led to Sehun dragging Luhan down to his favorite shop and forcing him to try some.

“Here, drink this,” he commanded, ing the drink into Luhan's hands. The older glanced at the drink suspiciously.

“It's pink...” he muttered softly, carefully taking a sip.

“It's strawberry, Hannie. You like strawberries.”

Luhan eventually gave in, admitting the drink was good. “It just didn't seem like a tea, is all,” he later told Sehun. “It was practically a smoothie.”

“Whatever, you still liked it!” Sehun insisted.

Luhan's memory got a little foggy after that statement, vaguely remembering saying something back that made Sehun respond with sticking his tongue out, but the memory soon disappeared after that.

Luhan's clearest memory of Sehun was their first kiss.

He was well aware that it was probably the most cliché aspect of their relationship, something straight out of a TV drama. It was under a tree a couple blocks down from Sehun's high school, during a rainstorm. Seriously.

Luhan had decided to pick the younger up from school one day (casually glaring at anyone that thought he was supposed to be in middle school) and was stuck in the middle of a downpour before the school actually let out. They ran, laughing, only to take refuge under a tree, where Luhan was met with a pair of soft pink lips against his own and a blushing Sehun coughing awkwardly.

Luhan could remember everything from those few minutes- the way Sehun's hair had been getting a little too long and hung in his eyes as he tried to hide his blushing cheeks in his hands. How the air felt damp and cool, the sky a dull, lifeless gray hanging above their heads. How the younger boy's school uniform had one sleeve rolled up, while the other was rolled down (and he never figured out why). The way the rain sounded when it plopped on the leaves of the tree and hit the pavement of the sidewalk. How Sehun's eyes crinkled at the corners when Luhan kissed him back.

Everything.

And even though it was cliché, even though it was predictably boring, it was their first moment together as one. Luhan loved it for that.

Sehun's roommate at the time, Jongin, pretended to gag at the absolute cringe-worthiness of the story. Luhan flicked the dancer's forehead in retaliation.

Their relationship was almost painfully immaculate, the level of pure banality was nearly ethereal. They took walks in the park, holding hands and playing stupid “I Spy” games (“I spy...something sweet.” “Your smile?” “Oh, shut up, you're so cheesy!”), giggling about little kids playing on the swingset and waving to older couples feeding bread to birds. Sometimes they'd have a picnic, which usually consisted of Sehun dragging Luhan to grab some bubble tea, Luhan buying some ice cream from the vendor down the street along the way, and finally sitting on a blanket, linking pinky fingers and enjoying each other's company.

Sometimes they'd climb the trees surrounding the outskirts of the park, sitting high up in the branches where it was ok to kiss in public, because nobody could see them through the leaves. If they were having a particularly calm day, they'd lay on the grass side-by-side and watch the clouds go by.

This didn't necessarily mean that the only place they went was the park, of course; it just happened to be their favorite place. There were days they'd laze around the dorms, days they'd wander the city life of Seoul, days they went places like Namsan Tower or the 63 Building because Luhan had only seen them in dramas.

Luhan remembered the day he tried to teach Sehun how to solve a Rubik's cube.

“No, you turn that left, not right,” he had instructed, pointing at the yellow square stuck somewhere in a mess of blue and red. “I told you how to read the algorithms, come on~” he had groaned teasingly.

“It's hard, hyung! How'd you learn how to do this? I can never figure out this part,” Sehun exaggeratedly tossed the cube onto the bed, laying his head on Luhan's shoulder.

“Here, look,” Luhan grabbed the cube again, placing it in Sehun's hands and showed him step-by-step how to move the piece to it's original spot. “And once you get the 2 faces done, you can go onto the sides. There's an easy way to get that corner piece in the right spot, you just have to do this,” he had murmured, moving Sehun's fingers accordingly.

“You're so smart, hyung. I would never be able to figure this out by myself,” Sehun smiled at the older boy. Luhan smiled back.

“Years of practice is all, Hunnie. Look, you're almost done! Think you can finish it by yourself?” he had asked, watching as Sehun studied the cube carefully, before nodding cautiously.

“I think so...don't you just do that one thing you showed me earlier? That one that went like...” he paused, examining the cube again before moving it hesitantly. “What was it...right right up front back-inverted right right front-inverted back up right right or something?”

“Yeah, how'd you remember that?” Luhan asked excitedly. “I thought you'd forget that one since it was the last one!”

“I don't know, I think it's because you stopped letting me kiss you 3 algorithms previous to that. I actually heard the last few,” Sehun joked, flipping the last row into place. “Ta-dah! I did it hyung!”

“Congratulations,” Luhan laughed, pulling Sehun in for a kiss.

The rest of the memory was faded, curling around the edges like an old newspaper, the image in his head just as blurry and out of focus as that time he had tried on Jongdae's glasses. It was a treasured memory nonetheless, holding Sehun's joy and his own pride.

The night before EXO separated was the first time they slept together. It was awkward and messy and inexperienced, but it was enough to tide them over for the few weeks they were apart. If possible, it brought the two even closer together. They were in love and it was blatantly obvious to everyone around them.

The time they spent apart for separate promotions were even survivable. The last few stragglers of their teammates that didn't think they'd last once they weren't together, finally realized how truly in love they were. Their love seemed to stay festered deep inside them, so that when they were apart, they fed off the excess love from when they were together. At least, that's how Chanyeol liked to describe it.

EXO soon became famous. In the few years they'd been around, they'd won all the rookie awards and many that followed after, spread into Japan, and were working on an another comeback when our story arrives in the near-present.

It was a regular day of practice; dance, sing/rap, dance some more, lunch, record, sing/rap again, dance another hour, go back to the dorms. Luhan didn't mind all the repetitiveness of their days, as being talented in both dancing and singing helped him greatly.

Sehun struggled more than him, his lisp causing him to be on the brute end of many scoldings from their vocal teachers. The fact that he only saw Luhan at the combined dance practice before lunch made it worse, but the older was always there for him.

“Teacher got mad at me again,” he sighed, laying his head in Luhan's lap. Luhan automatically started playing with his hair, caressing his scalp soothingly.

“What was it about today?” he asked softly.

“I was struggling keeping up with Chanyeol hyung because I couldn't see the words properly,” he mumbled, closing his eyes and leaning into Luhan's ministrations.

“You couldn't see the words? Maybe you should get your eyes checked Hunnie, you might need to get glasses like Jongdae or Wufan,” he said, pressing his fingers onto Sehun's temples lightly.

“I think I'm still just half-asleep, don't worry about it. You're to blame for that,” he teased, poking Luhan's thigh, “you kept me awake until 1 in the morning with that tongue-”

“Shut up!” Luhan shushed, slapping a hand over Sehun's mouth as the younger started laughing. “The rest of the band probably doesn't want to know about how we spend our nights together,” he muttered, sticking the aforementioned tongue out at Sehun.

“I was just kidding Hannie,” Sehun's reply was muffled by the hand still covering his mouth as he continued to chuckle. “Don't worry about me, I'll be fine,” he added, once Luhan removed his hand.

Yet even though he believed him, Luhan still worried when he saw the younger unable to focus properly during their dance rehearsal later on and ended up missing several steps. It was only worrying since it was a dance he'd been learning for a year-end competition for the past 2 months and could probably do it in his sleep.

Luhan confronted Sehun about it on the way back to the dorms. “Are you sure you don't need to get your eyes checked? You messed up the dance a little earlier...I've never seen you mess up that dance,” he murmured hesitantly. Sehun laughed.

“I'm sure, hyungie! I'm just having an off day is all, I am running on only 4 hours of sleep, you know,” he replied, rolling his eye jokingly and smiling sweetly.

“If you're sure...” Luhan mumbled nervously.

“I am! Don't worry about it, Hannie,” he answered, kissing the older boy's cheek.

That was around the time that Sehun started to lose sight of their dreams. Quite literally and quite scarily. It was the little things at first; not being able to see the clock across the room or misreading a street sign. Mistaking someone for someone else at a glance or not looking someone directly in the eyes when he addressed them. They were all passed off as simple mistakes; he was just too tired lately, too stressed, too overworked. Everyone believed him.

Luhan realized too late he shouldn't have let it go that easy.

He finally began taking notice on one of their walks through the park. It had been a while since they'd been able to enjoy the freedom of their old trainee day walks, but a day with no schedules let them enjoy it all the same. Luhan gripped Sehun's fingers tightly in his own, rambling about this and that.

“-so then Jongdae tried some of it, and I thought he was going to choke with how fast he spit it out when Zitao told him it was dog brai- hey, look at that!” he interrupted himself, pointing at the small pond that was located at the center of the park. “There's a baby duckling,” he cooed softly, staring at the cute little bird.

“Hmm?” Sehun asked, turning towards the pond and squinting slightly. Luhan glanced over at Sehun and sighed.

"You...can't see it...can you?" Luhan asked slowly, staring at Sehun.

The younger bit his lip and squinted harder before sighing and slumping forward. "No," he answered softly, turning to glance at Luhan, his eyes taking a second too long to focus.

"When did it start?" Luhan felt awkward asking, as if it were a taboo topic, something that shouldn't be brought up no matter the circumstances.

The younger shrugged, sitting down on the grass and bringing his knees to his chest. "A couple weeks. A month. I'm not sure exactly."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Luhan asked harshly, a sudden burst of anger appearing when he saw Sehun hunched over in defeat. "There's surgeries to fix these things! This could've been stopped a while ago!"

"I didn't want anyone to worry..." Sehun mumbled, staring off into space. "What would you have done if you were in my spot, hyung?"

"I-..." Luhan paused, thinking over the question. To tell someone would make them worry, Sehun was right about that. He sighed. "Well...you could've at least told me! I'm your boyfriend!"

"You're the last person I want to worry! And do you know how badly I wanted to tell you? It was killing me not being able to tell you I won't be able to see your face in a few months," Sehun clenched his jaw, tears swimming in his eyes. "Hannie...this...I-I just...there's no option for surgery."

Luhan felt his blood run cold. "W-what do you mean?"

"It's hereditary...my grandpa had it too. It started developing when he was a teenager, and nobody could figure out what the problem was. It wasn't cataracts, it wasn't glaucoma, it wasn't anything. He just...lost his sight,” he finished in a whisper. “I went to the doctor 2 weeks ago, and they told me the same thing,” he groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"You don't mean..." Luhan trailed off, not wanting to finish.

"I'm going to be blind soon hyung, and there's nothing we can do about it," Sehun muttered, taking a deep breath.

“There's got to be something! Your grandpa, that was probably decades ago, right? There's more options now, Sehun! We can figure something out, just please don't give up!” Luhan nearly shouted, attracting attention from some passerbys. Sehun glanced around.

“Here isn't the place to argue about this, Hannie...let's head back,” he mumbled, grabbing Luhan's hand.

The walk back to the dorm was silent besides Luhan's occasional sniffle as he held back tears. It didn't help that Luhan had to nearly lead Sehun back, along the streets they'd walked hundreds of times before, and he wondered why it took him so long to notice this wasn't the first time.

“I don't want to lose you,” was the first thing Luhan announced when they got back to the empty -K dorm, everyone visiting family or hanging out with friends. “There's got to be something Sehun, anything! I can't lose you,” he choked out, the tears finally falling.

“I'm not dying, hyung! Going blind does not equate death! I'll still be here-”

“No, you won't! Don't you get it? If you can't see...you'll be kicked out of EXO, Hunnie,” Luhan whimpered, covering his mouth with his palm. Sehun sighed and looked towards the window. Luhan tried to push the thoughts away about what Sehun could possibly see out of that window.

“I know,” Sehun murmured slowly, nodding his head slightly. “But there's nothing we can do about it. I'll still be here, hyung.”

“But EXO is your dream! How can you just give it up like this, Sehun?!” Luhan demanded.

“Because I have no choice! Do you think I want to go blind? Hannie, I'll never be able to see you again, and that reason right there is more crushing to me than being kicked out of this band!” Sehun groaned in frustration, throwing his hands in the air.

Luhan was about to retort when a door down the hall opened and an uneasy looking Jongin took a step out. “Is...everything...ok?” he asked nervously, eyes darting between the two. “I heard yelling...” he glanced at Sehun a little too long before his eyes strayed to Luhan, raising his eyebrow in the process. Luhan gulped, trying to wipe away the tear tracks on his cheeks.

“Everything's fine, hyung,” Sehun answered lowly, leaving Luhan in the living room as he stormed to his room. The room was silent for a minute as Jongin stared sadly at Luhan who was on the verge of tears again.

“Hyung-” he started.

“Just leave it Jonginnie,” Luhan waved him off and left the dorm, eyes swimming with tears.

Sehun's condition, unsurprisingly, deteriorated gradually over the following weeks. What had started as misreading signs became not being able to see the signs at all. What had started as messing up a little every once in a while in dance practice evolved into Sehun sitting out and getting replaced in formations. The members had started announcing their names whenever he was around, as he couldn't see them well enough anymore. He was removed from their comeback due to an “injury” and wasn't allowed to promote. Fans became worried, the members were forced to lie through their teeth, sunbaes fretted over his condition, and Sehun was getting sick of all the pitied looks he knew he was getting, even though he couldn't see them.

“Hyung, I'm getting tired of this,” Sehun said one afternoon when Luhan visited the dorm. “Everyone's treating me like I'm disabled. I don't want this,” he sighed, laying his head on Luhan's lap. Luhan remained silent, but continued to play with Sehun's hair like normal. “What is it hyung? Why aren't you saying anything?”

“Hunnie...” he whispered sadly and Sehun felt his heart sink. “I heard the managers talking this afternoon...I-I...” Sehun felt Luhan's tears fall on his forehead when the older boy leaned over. “they were talking about how much longer you'd be able to stay.”

“How long?” Sehun asked softly. The tears hitting his face seemed to increase at that question, and Sehun wondered if Luhan even knew where his tears were landing.

“A m-month at most. Hunnie...they're kicking y-you out of the dorm next w-week,” Luhan stammered, his tears flowing freely down his cheeks.

“O-oh. Wow. Already? R-really?” Sehun asked weakly. Luhan responded with a nod, a choked whine in the back of his throat growing as he fell back onto the bed, sobbing. “It'll be ok hyung, don't cry...I'll be fine, it's not a big deal...” he said unconvincingly.

“Y-yes it is Hunnie,” Luhan complained. “This is becoming r-real now, and I just c-can't stand it! I don't want you t-to l-leave, Hunnie...”

“Hyung...I'll always be with you,” Sehun answered, sitting up from Luhan's lap. He wished he could see Luhan's face instead of a blur of colors. “I love you and that'll never change. We can make it through this.”

“I'm just so s-scared for y-you! Why y-you? It's not f-fair!”

Sehun shrugged halfheartedly. “Genes,” he mumbled. “Look, let's just try and forget about it until they kick me out. Let's just enjoy these last few weeks while we can, and then we'll figure out what needs to be done from there,” he reasoned, pulling Luhan up and cupping his face. “We'll be ok, hyung,” Sehun whispered, making sure to maintain eye contact (and hoping it was working).

“I'll always l-love y-you, you k-know? I j-just don't want t-to see you s-suffer,” Luhan murmured, clutching tightly onto Sehun's neck.

“I think you're suffering more than me right now Hannie,” Sehun joked lightly, pressing his lips to Luhan's before the older could retort.

Their relationship after that point seemed to take a sharp turn towards the “too cute I just might die it's so adorable oh my god” level. They were always out and about, Sehun eventually wearing sunglasses when his eyes got too sensitive and always carrying some bubble tea, because Luhan had started buying it no matter where they went.

“I just like to treat you,” Luhan would always answer, with either a strawberry or a mango flavored one in his hand, sipping merrily through the giant straw.

Luhan had been walking by himself one afternoon, headed back to the dorm after a long day and anxiously awaiting to see Sehun. He smiled as he remembered the younger boy's words from the day before, some cheesy Chinese song lyrics Minseok had taught him beforehand. He had been smiling happily as he nearly robotically repeated the syllables and Luhan couldn't help but chuckle.

He was on his way back from the bakery, pulling his jacket closer around himself when he felt his pocket vibrate. “Jongin” the screen read.

“Yes, Jonginnie?” he answered.

“Hyung. Hospital. Now. Sehun can't see anythi-”

Luhan had hung up and was running in the direction of the hospital closest to the dorm before Jongin could even finish.

Some time later (he had lost track along the way), he was face to face with Sehun who's eyes seemed to be searching around frantically for something they couldn't see.

“Hyung,” he cried. “I can't see you anymore.”

It was 3:18 pm on a Thursday in the middle of September that Oh Sehun was officially pronounced blind.

Ummm...what? Yeah, I know. The ending is atrocious, but this fic couldnt' be saved >.< It started out really good in my opinion, but then...died. Oh well, life goes on...hope somebody enjoys it? :) Thanks for everything, you guys really make my day!! LOVE YOOOOU~! Kaisoo + new chap of ABC should hopefully be up tomorrow, but nothing's set in stone...so yeah. That's all ^^;; Thanks again everybody~ :D