Chapter 13

Wu Fan had decided to take Sehun out for bubble tea, since the boy had spent almost a whole month indoors, studying for his final exams.

“How was it? How was it? How was it?” The maknae exclaimed with energy surprising even for an eighteen-year-old and the blonde made a mental note to stop the boy from taking any more of those vitamin pills that he chucked down his throat like tic tacs.

“How was what?” The older guy asked, forcing Sehun to sit straight on his seat.

“The Korean-Chinese summit meeting, of course!” The Canadian could not but chuckle a bit at that.

“It went great.” He admitted smiling.

“I’m so jealous! I can’t believe I missed it because of finals.” Sehun bit the end of his straw angrily.

“Did you do well in your exams?” Kris changed the subject quickly.

“Better than I thought. I even passed History with a good grade, thanks to Luhan-sshi.” The boy smiled dreamily.

“By the way, was he in the summit meeting too?” He inquired suddenly anxious and the blonde confirmed that he was.

“Aish! I’m so jealous! I wanted to meet him so much!” Sehun announced for the tenth time in the past hour that he was jealous and Wu Fan was starting to regret meeting up with the boy in the first place.

“But I told you he is very ugly.” It was rather low of him to lie like that to his friend.

However, Kris had his own theory, according to which, a relationship between an innocent and inexperienced highschool student and a Casanova with killer looks and commitment issues was not ideal. It was just a theory of course, but the Canadian was a little too sure of his smarts to doubt it.

“And I told Duizhang-hyung, it is better this way. If he was both smart and good-looking, I wouldn’t be able to even look at him without blushing. But now, maybe there’s a chance-” The boy was about to describe his dream romance with none other than Playboy Luhan, so naturally, Wu Fan had to interrupt him.

 “Yah, Oh Sehun, lately, you’ve become really shameless in front of your hyung.” The older guy shook his head in a disapproving manner.

“Did you like my old, grumpy self better?” Sehun raised an eyebrow teasingly as he finished his bubble tea.

“I guess not…” The blonde had to agree that the maknae’s behavior had improved a lot during the past two months. He was more confident, too; yet that fact, combined with the boy’s innate naivety, often made his hyung worry.

Why did he have to be around so many childish and innocent people, Kris wondered. First Chanyeol and now Sehun…

Did he draw them in, like light attracts the moths?

Or was he the moth after all? Attracted by the light...

Even if that was the case, couldn’t they simply let him burn and be done with it?

But the problem was Park Chanyeol, of course.

If Chanyeol was made of fire and warmth, then he should just burn him up and end the story, instead of torturing him slowly with his bright smiles and teary eyes.

Wu Fan had just gotten a little side-tracked by his own thoughts when he noticed Sehun staring intently at something. From the big window, next to them, he was looking out at the street as a dark blue, expensive motorbike just stopped outside the café.

“Woah.” The eighteen-year-old boy breathed out, when the biker got off and started walking inside the place they were occupying.

For a second there, Kris realized that silhouette with the blue and green helmet looked vaguely familiar.

A second later, the biker took off his helmet and the Canadian’s suspicions were confirmed.

“Wu Fan!” Luhan waved at him from the door, not caring that all eyes were on him, including Sehun’s.

The Canadian cringed. His friend sure had perfect timing, he noted sarcastically.

“Hey…” It was as unenthusiastic as a greeting could be, but Luhan didn’t seem to care, or even notice, for that matter.

“Hello there.” The baby-faced Chinese guy threw a hand right in front of the maknae’s face, startling him even more.

Sehun blushed a crimson color that went all the way down his neck and he bit his lower lip in embarrassment.

Then, slowly, he stood up to meet the cute newcomer with the blondish hair and the perfect features. They shook hands and, to Kris, it looked as if the young boy had just gotten electrocuted.

“Se-Sehun… I’m Sehun.” He choked out. “O-Oh Sehun.”

The blonde sighed. It was painful to watch the maknae all lovesick and dazzled by Luhan, while Luhan just stood there happy and unaffected.

“Nice to meet you, Oh Sehun.” The Chinese guy grinned at the boy. “Finally we see each other.” He took a chair from a nearby table and sat close to the highschooler.

“Finally?” As expected, Sehun caught on that.

“Well, after talking so many times over the phone…” Luhan explained completely unsuspecting of his friend’s little plan.

Honestly, Kris didn’t expect his lie to last long. He could protect Sehun only this much.

“Wait a second…” The boy’s eyes narrowed as he looked from Kris to Luhan and then back at Kris.

“This is Luhan-sshi?!” He asked, his mouth falling open.

“Ah, yes. That’s me.” A still oblivious Luhan nodded happily.

“What? But Duizhang- hyung said he’s got big teeth and a face like a mouse’s. And… and he’s short and only washes once a month…” Sehun seemed half-way between confused and furious.

“Well…” Kris felt the need to excuse his behavior which was, no doubt, rather stupid, despite being backed up by the best of reasons.

“Wu Fan said that?” The Chinese guy pointed at his friend rudely, in Wu Fan’s opinion. “Hahaha…” Then he just cracked up, holding his stomach and laughing incessantly.

“Hyung! How could you lie this way?!” Sehun pouted.

“Don’t be too mad at him Sehun-ah.” Luhan patted the boy’s back and trying not to laugh so loudly anymore.

“Our Wu Fan must have been worried I would seduce you or something like that.” The blonde’s foreign friend smirked meaningfully at him.

“Don’t even joke about it.” Kris bit back.

“Sorry, sorry…” Playboy Luhan gave them a breathtaking eye smile.

“So, Sehun-ah, how did the exams go?” He asked.

“I did well!” The highschooler lightened up, forgetting about the blonde’s deception in a minute. “I even passed History… Thanks to you.”

“You did it all on your own… Why would it be thanks to me?” Wu Fan rolled his eyes at the exchange of compliments.

His friends seemed perfectly comfortable with each other. Shy Sehun had gotten over his previous stuttering, only to point out how incredible his Chinese tutor was. As for Luhan, for a playboy who had dated as much as all his friends put together, he sure appeared pretty excited about a highschool boy.

 “Luhan-hyung what do you do in your free time?” Sehun looked ready to cry from happiness, as the pretty guy frowned cutely and put a finger on his lips thoughtfully.

“Hm… I watch dramas,” Luhan counted with his fingers. “I go to clubs, I buy clothes with Zitao and I play football with Minnie.” He recited.

“Zitao is your friend, right?” Sehun asked. “I remember, Duizhang-hyung mentioning him. But…” He stammered.

“Yes?” The Chinese guy encouraged.

“Who is Minnie? Is-is it… I mean are you… with Minnie… No. That came out wrong...” The maknae messed his hair and pouted like the kid that he was.

“Minnie is Xiumin. He’s one of our friends and the only one who likes football as much as Luhan does. Don’t think too much about it.” Wu Fan thought it was appropriate to save the boy from his own lovesick mind.

“Oh! Now I get it. You got worried because you thought Minnie and I were dating!” Luhan gave a wide-eyed look of surprise and clapped his hands triumphantly, probably excited about his sudden epiphany.

Sehun, on the other side, seemed ready to melt away or evaporate into thin air, or, anyway, go through all the phase transitions, as long as he could be saved from the shame.

“Aigoo, you’re such a cute boy!” When the blonde decided to interfere, Luhan was already pinching the maknae’s cheeks, squealing ‘aigoo’s like a middle-aged woman in the local market.

“Yah! That’s enough.” The Canadian pushed his childhood friend back to his seat and gave him a good glare.

“Ok. Repeat after me,” Kris cleared his voice ceremoniously. “Oh Sehun is a minor.” He said pointedly and forced Luhan to memorize it, for good measure.

“Oh Mi Ja?” The Chinese guy chuckled and repeated it under his breath a couple of times. (A/N: ‘Oh Sehun is a minor’ is ‘Oh Sehun Mi seong neun Ja’ in Korean)

“So does that mean I can’t even touch him? Because he’s Oh Mi Ja..?” Luhan asked in his deceptively innocent voice. Despite Sehun’s frantic ‘no’s the Canadian insisted that was the case.

“You can’t even look at him from up close. Because he’s Oh Mi Ja.” He continued menacingly.

“Ok, ok…” His baby-faced friend nodded in an exasperated manner. “I got it.”

“We got it, Duizhang-hyung, so now… can’t you, like…” Sehun searched for the right words.

“Did you say you were busy?” Luhan filled in for the maknae.

Busy? Kris didn’t remember ever saying that.

Then, as he looked up at his two friends staring meaningfully at him, he got the message.

“Are you sending me away?” He narrowed his eyes.

“It’s not that we’re sending you away…” Luhan started.

“But in case you felt the need to go…” Sehun put in.

“We wouldn’t really stop you.” The cute, older guy sent a Cheshire smile his way, while the maknae blinked innocently at him again and again.

Wu Fan cringed. He had never seen two people whose characters were as incompatible as Sehun and Luhan’s.

At the same time, he had never witnessed two people being so in sync with each other. It felt a bit as if they were pushed together by an invisible matchmaker who had been planning this ‘blind date’ for a while now.

 They had that air of inevitable circling around them; a kind of rope, tying them together.

And the blonde could not possibly stand in the middle anymore and prevent it.

He frowned. For a realist, Kris sure showed much faith to his intuition lately.

But that was a minor side-effect of being in love with Park Chanyeol and despite his guilt and denial, Wu Fan could never consider a feeling that Chanyeol created inside of him bad.

“Fine.” He sighed in the end. “I just remembered I have an important business. Or something like that…”

He pushed his chair back and walked out slowly.

But the blonde was barely out in the street when Luhan run after him and called his name.

Wu Fan looked at him curiously. “What is it?”

“I just wanted to make sure you’re not mad or anything.” His friend asked hesitantly.

“What? Because of your childish plan to stay alone with Sehun?” The blonde chuckled.

“Don’t worry, I’m not that delicate.” He assured and they both laughed.

“I won’t do anything indecent with Oh Mi Ja. You know that, right?” Luhan suddenly turned serious.

Wu Fan gave his friend a scrutinizing look.

Yes, he knew Luhan wasn’t going to seduce the eighteen year old boy, he said in a friendly and slightly teasing voice.

“Not because you’re too ethical to date a highschooler,” He smirked at the cute guy’s frown.

“You won’t do it because, you’ve felt it.” Felt what, Luhan wondered.

“You felt that soft, refreshing wind that makes things float inside your head. Sehun’s wind…” Kris didn’t know which was more embarrassing, Luhan’s alarmed expression, that didn’t make his blushing face any less obvious, or his own realization that he sounded exactly like a certain crazy guy with curly hair.

“Oh Mi Ja’s wind in my head… That sounds…” Luhan paused. “It sounds funny, yet strangely accurate.” He nodded, as if trying to confirm his idea.

Wu Fan patted his confused friend’s back. Who’d have thought that before he could ever seduce Sehun, the younger boy would be seducing Luhan?

He turned to leave once again and no one stopped him this time.

Luhan walked back in, where his Oh Mi Ja was waiting for him with a brand new glass of bubble tea.

The Canadian, on the other hand, took the bus home.

It was eight in the evening but it was almost empty and he felt just a little depressed, as he watched it cross the streets slowly, limping at every stop in its way, only to open the doors and have no one come in or out.

Suddenly, he thought this bus resembled his old self a bit; going around empty with no one coming towards him.

Only, Kris had closed the doors long ago.

Promised himself, in a fit of anger, that he wasn’t some kind of idiot that would go around the place, trying to help others who didn’t even want to be near him.

Honestly, he had believed it would be okay to keep the doors shut and let no one in. He was too sure of his own powers and too hurt by others to see clearly.

And that was when it went all wrong.

Now, he was stopped, indefinitely, in front of the same stop and there was one person, one curly-haired, perfect boy who, for some crazy reason –because Chanyeol’s reasons were always crazy- wanted to get on the bus.

The blonde wanted to let him in. The more he saw the boy struggle in front of his doors, the more he was tempted. But this bus was not worth taking. It only led to a dead-end.  So Kris knew he shouldn’t open those doors for Park Chanyeol, no matter how much the guy begged.

Wu Fan, suddenly, saw a hand waving in front of his face.

“Young man! Hello? Can you hear me?” It was the bus driver. The bus had reached its final destination and if the young man wanted another ride, he’d have to pay again, he explained in a voice that showed he clearly thought Kris was mentally ill.

“No, thank you. I’ll just walk.” Thinking of all these nonsense, the Canadian had missed his stop.

There was a good chance he was, in fact, mental, he told himself as he walked home.

“Who compares themselves to a bus, anyway?” He grimaced at his overactive imagination.

He felt ridiculous for being so emotional. All those feelings made him say and think strange and unnecessary things. Like when he told Luhan that Sehun had a ‘wind’ or when he got depressed over an empty bus.

Upon arriving, almost an hour later, back home, Kris knew he needed a distraction. Something to make him stop thinking about closed doors, empty buses and their curious connection to his own messed up life.

His first idea was to study, but soon he turned that down. He had spent too much time studying with Park Chanyeol.

So much, that, whenever he opened his books, the only thing he noticed was Chaneyol’s hurried scribbles and the little stars next to the important points and the colorful post-it notes; ‘This part is super, extra hard’, said one or ‘To-do: Steal Beakhyunnie’s notes for this part’. And even some random ones, like ‘I’m bored, wanna talk? - No. –Come on, Duizhang… –No. And stop putting post-it papers on my book!’.

His ‘Advanced Economics’ textbook was full of Park Chanyeol. Just like his mind was.

Therefore he couldn’t study.

He had already read all the novels he owned and he was still banned from the library, so it was impossible to borrow some new ones. Buying new books was out of the question, of course, since he had no money of his own and he absolutely hated using Park Sukjin -Hwejangnim’s money.

In the end Kris just lied on his bed, staring at the white ceiling which was the only thing in this entire room that didn’t remind him of Park Chanyeol. And it was a relief, because the blonde wanted to forget.

It had been almost four months now, since he met the crazy Korean guy. And during that time he had forgotten how it felt to sleep peacefully.

This dorm, the scholarship, the money that sounded so tempting at first, were suffocating him now. His hands itched to throw them all away, to break free and just… do whatever he wanted.

At the same time, though, he knew it was pointless. Even if he dropped out and told the President he was quitting, what would be the point? He had already done too much.

Too much to regret and too much that couldn’t be forgiven.

Suddenly a faint knock came from the door. Then a louder one.

The third one wasn’t even a knock. To the Canadian, it sounded like someone just chucked something very heavy on his door.

Was this an invasion?

There could be two explanations to the fact that someone always interrupted Wu Fan’s thoughts. Either there were too many people who wanted to barge into his life, or he simply got lost in his own thoughts a little too often.

He stood up alarmed, pretty sure by then that someone was trying to bring his door down.

“Who’s there?” He tried to peek out from the peep hole but everything was black.

Instead of an answer, the stranger outside his dorm bumped on the door again with what Kris guessed to be a battering ram of sorts.

“Look, I’ll open the door, but you must promise not to kill me.” The blonde cautiously unlocked and turned the handle.

The door flew open in front of him and a tall bundle of clothes and limbs stumbled in and promptly fell in his arms.

The first thing Kris noticed was the smell of sweat. After that, it was the blood stains and the deep breaths.

Then, he took it all in. Like a blow in back of the head, his breath hitched and his hands that were still holding the other person went cold and numb.

Cause in his arms there was Park Chanyeol, hurt and disheveled, with his clothes ripped at places and blood trickling down his face. The boy could no longer stand on his feet and his eyes were swollen and lifeless. Kris would have thought he was dead, if it wasn’t for his violent trembling.

“Chanyeol-ah!” He called his name, softly holding him up and then putting him on the bed.

“Chanyeol-ah! Look at me.” The blonde repeated, his voice vibrating with emotion.

Obeying his command the boy raised his eyes. He tried to smile and flinched at the pain it caused him. His hand that was trembling searched for Wu Fan’s wrist and his long fingers wrapped around it with surprising strength.

“Finally, it’s Duizhang.” Chanyeol coughed a little.

“I’m sorry.” He added then, surprising the blonde even more – if that was possible.

“I promised not to meet you, but I ended up coming here after all.” Chanyeol sighed and his grip on Wu Fan’s wrist relaxed. 

A/N: Kind of a cliffhanger... Sorry about that. Not at all sorry.   X_x 

Anyways, what do you think about it?

I promise from this chapter on Kris and Chanyeol are upping their game. 

You can expect fluff. :D

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I'm so needy sometimes...