Ten
Soft Edges
“What’s that grin for, Mr. I’m-Home-Early-From-My-Date?” Fei asked, sauntering into the shop holding a mug of tea. “What, did you kiss him?” she asked jokingly.
“Yup,” Luhan said smugly. Fei choked on the mouthful of tea she’d just taken.
“What?”
“It was amazing,” Luhan said. Fei looked shocked.
“Who are you and what have you done with Luhan?” she demanded. “Luhan, did you really kiss him? You kissed Minseok. Really?”
Luhan kept nodding.
“Oh my god,” she said. “Oh my god. Wait, tell me all about it!” she gushed. “Come upstairs and tell me everything! I want to hear it all! Luhan, are you finally admitting that you like him? It really took just one date?”
“What?”
“You hated him this morning and now…”
“Oh my god,” Luhan said, finally realizing what he was saying. “Oh my god.”
“Oh, so you’re realizing it now!” Fei laughed. “Don’t even try to deny it anymore, Luhan, you’re in too deep. So now that you and Minseok are undeniable, please tell me about the date. Tell me everything. Sit down. You want some tea? Milk? Sugar?”
“Uh…” Luhan said, settling in the chair as his heart pumped with adrenaline. So he really did like Minseok. “Both milk and sugar.”
“Good, I’ll make it. Now, tell me everything. Did you go to the café?” she asked, attending to the kettle.
“Yeah,” Luhan nodded. “We went. It was nice.”
“What did you two get?” she quizzed him, turning on the burner.
“I got a café au lait and he got a cappuccino,” Luhan told her. Fei squealed. She came and sat down next to him, propping her head on her hands and looking at him with bright eyes.
“And when he got foam on his lips, is that when you kissed him?” she gushed, but Luhan shook his head.
“I kissed him when I dropped him off at the shop.”
“Aw, Luhan, that’s the cutest!” Fei cried. “What did he say?”
“What?” Luhan asked.
“What did he say after you kissed him?”
“Well…I told him I’d call him and then I kind of ran away,” Luhan said. Fei gaped, slamming her hands on the table.
“You ran away?” she demanded. “Luhan, you can’t do that! He’s probably confused right now! He probably has no clue how you feel, maybe he thinks you thought the kiss was awful, maybe he thinks you hate him, maybe—”
“I told him I’d call him! And I was the one to start the kiss!” Luhan protested. “He can’t be confused.”
“Did you even look at his face after you forced a kiss on him?” Fei demanded.
“Oh, now it’s me forcing a kiss on him? It’s despicable now instead of being cute?” Luhan snapped back, and Fei just shook her head.
“Okay, Luhan, I get that you were nervous,” she admitted. “And I’m guessing you’ve never done anything like this before. But you can’t just kiss him like that. You have to wait for the right moment.”
“And how do I know what the right moment is?” Luhan moaned, slouching down in his chair. Fei smiled understandingly at him as she stood, picking up the kettle and pouring the water into the teapot.
“You’re so cute,” she laughed. “You’ll know the feeling. It’ll be quiet, maybe during a pause in conversation. You’ll look over at him, and he’ll suddenly look extra beautiful. He’ll notice that you’re staring, and he won’t say anything, but he’ll just look back at you. And then, slowly, slowly, you lean in and kiss him. Slowly at first. Just make sure it’s gentle and romantic.”
“That sounds like crap,” Luhan pouted. “I don’t think anything happens like that in real life. And if it did, I would know, because he did look extra beautiful at that point and I don’t even know why because I thought I didn’t like him and I thought he was just a bun-face but he just looked so amazing and I hate myself for falling so hard and—”
“Shh,” Fei shushed him with a smile, patting his face. Luhan realized how hot his cheeks were. “That’s great. It really is. You’re softening.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked bitterly. Fei smiled, pouring the tea into both of their mugs.
“Your personality is so sharp, but seeing you vulnerable like this is refreshing. Don’t you get tired of being prickly all the time?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
“Doesn’t it feel good to let go of that façade?”
“It’s not a façade,” Luhan said. “But it feels good to forget about it.” He didn’t want to say it, but it was so hard to be mean to Minseok.
“So,” she said, smiling at him again with eager eyes. “Do you love him?”
“What?” Luhan spluttered. “Isn’t it a little early for that question?”
“It’s never too early for love,” Fei chuckled.
“No,” Luhan replied. “I don’t love him.”
“But—”
“I like him…a lot,” Luhan said in barely more than a whisper, his cheeks flaming once again. Letting his emotions run wild was new to him. Fei squealed anyway.
“You are the cutest! The cutest the cutest the cutest!” she cried. “I cannot get over how cute you are. So you’re going to call him tomorrow?”
“I guess,” Luhan shrugged. Fei gripped his shoulders.
“You have to!” she cried.
“He has to what?” Hangeng asked, ambling into the kitchen. “Oh, is the water still hot?” He pointed to the kettle, and Fei nodded, waving him off.
“Geng, Luhan is in love,” she informed him.
“I am not!” Luhan fumed, but he knew his argument wouldn’t be very convincing if his cheeks were as red as they surely were.
“Okay, he’s in very deep ‘like,’” she compromised. Hangeng looked at them like they were crazy.
“Are you two second graders?” he laughed. “Does Luhan like-like someone?”
“Oh, be quiet,” Luhan muttered, looking determinedly at his tea.
“It’s so cute; I’ve never seen him like this,” Fei explained to Hangeng, and Luhan just sat there watching his reflection in his tea. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been so embarrassed.
“So, who is she?” Hangeng asked, and Luhan looked up, glancing at Fei with anxiety. What would Hangeng think?
“Well, actually, Geng, it’s a he,” she clarified, and Hangeng’s eyebrows lifted.
“I see. It’s the boy you were talking about yesterday, right?” he asked Luhan. Fei rounded on Luhan.
“You talked about him with Geng?” she asked.
“No! I—I mean, yeah, it’s him, but I didn’t have an extensive conversation about him or anything…”
“Well, if he can get you this out of character, he must really be something,” Hangeng smiled. Luhan smiled back, happy for some reason that he’d gotten Hangeng’s approval.
But approval for what?
“Wait, no, this is wrong,” Luhan said, standing up. “I’m not like this. He brainwashed me somehow! This isn’t me!”
Fei stood up as well, gripping Luhan’s arms.
“Calm down. So what if it’s not you? Don’t you think it’s better?” she asked.
“Fei,” Hangeng interrupted, “he’s just having a little bit of an identity crisis. It’s all new to him.”
“It’s not—it’s not…” Luhan protested, but he didn’t know what else to say. He sat down again, covering his face with his hands. “Damn it. I like him way more than I should and it’s scaring me.”
“Luhan—” Fei began, but Hangeng interrupted her again.
“Just let him sort himself out,” he advised. “He’ll do the right thing. Don’t you trust him?”
“I…okay, fine,” Fei sighed. “But Luhan, however you sort out your feelings, please remember to call Minseok tomorrow, because you promised you would.”
“My mouth is probably going to say something without my permission again,” Luhan muttered. Hangeng smiled at him.
“If your mouth is saying things, maybe you should listen to it,” he said. “Anyway, I’m going to start on some things for tomorrow, so if you two want to help me, you can, or you can go to bed.”
“I’ll help you,” Fei said, standing up and graciously giving Luhan some space to think. “Going to sleep, Luhan?”
“I’ll go to bed,” he said, “but I’m not sure I’ll be sleeping much.”
Fei shrugged and followed Hangeng out of the room as Luhan got up, putting his mug in the sink and retreating to his bedroom.
How had the tables turned? How did his feelings do a complete 180 in just an afternoon? And why had it felt so amazing to touch his lips to Minseok’s?
As if his brain had decided to spite him (Luhan thought bitterly that his whole body was going to go rogue at some point), all he could imagine was Minseok’s face. That smile that lit up an entire room, those rosy, chubby cheeks rising.
“I can’t believe this,” Luhan sighed, plopping face down on his bed. “I can’t think about anything but him.”
He didn’t get a wink of sleep that night.
In the morning, Luhan was minding the shop, nodding off every few seconds because he was so tired.
Fei walked in, and Luhan didn’t even notice her.
“Luhan,” she said. “Luhan.”
“What?” Luhan asked groggily.
“You can’t sleep on the job,” she said, but she had a sympathetic tone. “Did you have trouble sleeping last night?”
“Yeah,” Luhan admitted. “But now I can’t seem to stay awake.”
“Here,” she said, setting a large box of dumplings in front of him. “Wrap these to keep yourself awake. They need to be finished by noon.”
“Okay,” Luhan sighed. Fei smiled, waving as she went back into the back room of the shop. Luhan didn’t think that packing the buns would keep him awake at all, but he decided to try because at least it would get his mind off of things.
He closed his eyes, visualizing the dumplings wrapping themselves, and that familiar feeling came back to him. It was still difficult, but it seemed slightly easier than normal. He could feel them floating, settling into their packaging and the wrapping surrounding the buns on its own. It took a lot of focus, but Luhan felt he was more successful than usual.
“Whoa,” he heard a voice say, and he opened his eyes, all telekinetic movement ceasing. Minseok was standing there, eyes wide. “Those dumplings were floating!”
“No they weren’t,” Luhan denied. “They weren’t.”
“I saw them with my own eyes!” Minseok cried. “They were definitely floating. Luhan…are you one of those gifted kids?”
“What gifted kids?” he asked, trying unconvincingly to feign ignorance. Minseok frowned.
“You’re not a very good liar,” he said. “So…telekinesis?” Minseok looked intrigued.
“Yeah,” Luhan sighed, having been caught, “but don’t ask me to help you with your watchmaking, because I can’t do such delicate work.”
“Really?” Minseok asked, not fully believing it.
“It’s true. I can only move big things, and I’m not very good at getting them exactly where I want to go.”
“Can you lift me?” Minseok asked.
“What?” Luhan coughed.
“Can you lift me?” Minseok repeated. He looked eager, and his bright eyes made Luhan want to appease him so much.
“I’ve never tried to move a human,” Luhan said, and he really hadn’t. It had never occurred to him, and even if it had, he wouldn’t have moved anyone because his focus at the orphanage was a million times worse.
“Why don’t you try?” Minseok asked. “Try lifting me!”
“I feel like it would be really unstable…you could fall, or float upside down and hit your head, or—”
“Thanks for being concerned, but I really want to try. Please?” Minseok asked. “It would be so cool if it worked, right?”
“I don’t know…”
“Oh, come on, I came to get some buns and to see you and this is how I get rewarded?” Minseok laughed teasingly. “I bet you could do it if you tried.”
“Okay, fine,” Luhan huffed. “But if you get hurt, remember that you asked for it.”
“I will,” Minseok smiled. Minseok’s grin was emblazoned on the backs of Luhan’s eyelids as he closed his eyes and concentrated.
And suddenly, he felt the lifting sensation. And it felt light as a feather.
“It’s working!” Minseok cried excitedly, but Luhan was too scared to open his eyes for fear that he would drop Minseok. “Wait, Luhan, Luhan—”
All of a sudden Luhan felt himself toppling over, Minseok on top of him. He opened his eyes, and Minseok was smiling with those bright eyes.
But even better was that lifting Minseok had been the easiest thing he’d ever done using his gift. He smiled, and he may have even teared up a little bit, because he had never done anything like that.
He didn’t even care that Minseok was on top of him; he just grabbed him and held him tight.
“Luhan?” Minseok asked, and Luhan couldn’t blame him for wondering what was going on, since if the same situation had happened two days before, they would not be embracing.
But Luhan didn’t want to let go of him. He was warm, and soft, and Luhan felt his heart swelling with overwhelming happiness.
“It’s you, isn’t it?” Luhan breathed, still gripping Minseok.
“What’s me?” Minseok asked. And this time, Luhan didn’t close his eyes as he lifted Minseok off of him, settling him on the counter. Minseok looked amazed and confused that he was floating again. Luhan stood and moved towards Minseok, standing in between his legs and wrapping his arms around his waist. He stared into Minseok’s eyes, and Minseok looked away, blushing. But Luhan just leaned in so their faces were barely apart.
“When I’m around you or when I’m thinking about you, I have focus. I can use my gift properly and I didn’t realize it was because of you but it is!” Luhan said excitedly.
“How do you know it’s me?” Minseok asked, looking curious.
“Because to control your gift, you have to be happy. And I’m happy around you.”
“Are you messing with me?” Minseok asked, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly. “This isn’t the you I’m used to.”
“Can I tell you something?” Luhan asked.
“You’ve told me an awful lot so far,” Minseok said with a shy smile. Luhan grinned, because Minseok was just so cute. “But go ahead.”
“I was trying to be mean to you. I was trying to defend myself. I didn’t want to like you. I’ve never liked anyone before, to be honest. I thought I did but I knew I didn’t after I’d met you. I was trying to deny that I liked you. But it was so hard. It was so hard. So I’m really sorry that I was so resistant all the time, but if you’ll accept the soft-edged Luhan instead of the sharp one, I’d be really happy.”
“I must be dreaming,” Minseok laughed nervously, closing his eyes. “Pinch me.”
Luhan kissed him instead, and he finally understood what Fei meant by the right moment, because that was it. He pressed his lips to Minseok’s firmly, only moving very slightly, and they stayed like that for a long time.
“I really must be dreaming,” Minseok murmured as Luhan kissed him again. Kissing Minseok was addictive, and it felt so right. So much more right than anything else in his entire life had.
A/N: I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, mostly because I feel like everything is moving too fast...OH WELL. I'm fairly sure this chapter is so disgustingly gooey and overly cutesy that you could definitely have a heart attack after reading it. Or you'll throw up rainbows. Either way, FLUFF GALORE.
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