Zhang Yixing counted the money in his wallet for the nth time, making sure he had enough to pay for himself and Luhan, who he owed ice cream to for losing a bet.  Normall, Yixing was very frugal with his money; all the members knew this, so when he actually accepted the terms of Luhan’s bet (“Loser has to buy the winner whatever he wants!”), all the members were surprised (especially Yixing himself).  The bet itself wasn’t anything particularly special; they had to copy each other’s dance moves perfectly and add a step of their own each time.  Both Lay and Luhan were good at dancing, so the members thought it would be interesting to raise the stakes (hence Luhan’s condition).  Once the music started, the two dancers put their dancing skills to the test.  The game raged on for over an hour, neither of the boys willing to give in even though they were panting hard and pouring sweat.  As tired as they were, they still managed to replicate one another’s dances perfectly, until Yixing made a small mistake.  While he watched Luhan complete the routine, he spaced out momentarily, thinking it was okay to do so since Luhan was still in the beginning stages of the dance.  He became so focused on creating his next move that he missed the one Luhan added to the already complicated choreography.  Not one to admit defeat so easily, Yixing confidently danced correctly…until he hit the part he missed.  He improvised pretty well, but from the confident smirk Luhan gave him, it was obvious that he lost.  However, that didn’t stop him from acting indifferent about the whole matter.

“Well…looks like I won the bet.  Are you ready to hear my demand yet, or should I let reality sink in first?” Luhan teased, a devious smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“I’ll let you know later.”

Lay walked out of the practice room before the members could comment.

He wasn’t angry at Luhan or humiliated because he lost to him, he was disappointed at himself for losing focus during a pivotal moment in the competition.  If that was a serious competition, and not one against a friend, he would have been severely embarrassed.

“Good thing Luhan ge isn’t one to rub his victory in the loser’s face constantly…”

Yixing made his way back to EXO-M’s dorm and into his room, which he shared with Xiumin.  Since everyone was still at the company, he had a little time to prepare himself to face Luhan and the other members after his defeat.  The first thing he did was search for his wallet (he forgot where he put it the night before and hadn’t had time to find it since they had to be at the practice room early the next morning).  He found it buried under the clothes he wore the day before.  He opened it and checked to see if anything was missing before he pulled out all the bills he had tucked away.  There were two man won and a few other smaller bills; plenty to use when he had to buy whatever Luhan wanted.  Yixing just hoped it wasn’t very expensive.

“Yes…but Luhan ge, I’m not made of mo-”

Luhan interrupted Yixing.

“Of course I know that, silly.  Did you think I was going to ask you for an iPod or a MacBook?”

“No, of course not, but still…”

Luhan rolled his eyes playfully at the younger boy.

“There’s only one thing I want from you.”

“What is it?”

“Ice cream!”

The simple nature of the older boy’s request caught Yixing off guard.  He was expecting something a little more extravagant…and expensive.  He gave his ge a quizzical stare.

“Ice…cream?  You want…ice cream?  That’s it?”

Luhan laughed at the expression on his didi’s face.

“Yes, that’s it, I promise.  Unless you want to buy me something more expensive…?”
 

“No!  No, the ice cream is fine.  I can do that.  When do you want to go?”

“Hmm…how about tomorrow after practice?  It’s supposed to be hot, and what better way to cool down then to eat ice cream with one of my precious little brothers?” Luhan smiled, putting an arm around Lay’s shoulder and pinching his cheek lovingly.

Yixing pulled away, embarrassed.

“Ge…please.  You’re not that much older than me…”

Luhan laughed again.

“Awww…is little Xing Xing embarrassed by his gege?  I sowwy~~”

The younger boy couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at the older boy’s attempt at aegyo.  Even though he said he couldn’t be cute, Luhan was cute all the time.

“Okay, well, tomorrow after practice then?”

“Right!”

After practice the next day, Yixing and Luhan made their way to the ice parlor downtown, near the park.  According to the older boy, this ice cream parlor had “every flavor you can imagine!” all the while being affordable (which was the most important factor to Lay; he didn’t care much for ice cream, so he didn’t really care what flavors there were…or how many there were).  Luhan, on the other hand, was genuinely excited.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been here!  I’m so glad I have the opportunity to go before we head back to China!” he beamed up at Yixing, dragging him along by the sleeve like the ice cream parlor would grow feet and run away if they didn’t make it there fast enough.

“Yah…slow down.  We’re almost there; there’s no rush.”

Luhan stopped and turned around, a pout on his face.

“Xing Xing, aren’t you excited like I am?  Just a little bit?”

He gave Yixing the puppy dog eyes to go along with his pout.

Damn this boy and his cuteness…

“Uh…yes, of course, it just isn’t showing on my face,” the younger blushed and turned his face away from the older boy’s, embarrassed.

“Well then hurry up!  We don’t have all day!”

Luhan continued to drag the younger all the way down the street and pushed him through the door of the ice cream parlor and up to the counter.  The employees greeted the two before turning back to the help the other customers at the counter.

“Wow…you weren’t kidding about the ‘every flavor’ thing.”

The parlor was a long, narrow rectangular room.  The choices of ice cream ran from one wall to the next…and they were color-coordinated too.  Yixing gaped at the sheer amount of ice cream this seemingly ‘small’ establishment held.

“I don’t even know where to begin…”

“That’s okay!  Follow me!”

Luhan, who was clearly an expert at navigating the many flavors, dragged Yixing further down the counter towards the pink section of flavors.  He searched the names for a specific one before waving one of the employees over.

“What can I get for you, sir?”

“Two scoops of strawberry, please.”

“Right away.  And for you?” the employee asked Yixing, waiting for his flavor choice.

“It’s his first time in here, so he hasn’t quite decided.  We’ll come back once he has.”

The employee politely bowed her head and walked off to help another customer while Yixing browsed the flavors.  The store had everything from mint chocolate chip to tofu-flavored ice cream; it was overwhelming until the pair made it to the red section of flavors.

“Wait…did I just see Red Velvet Cake?”

Yixing took a step back and re-read the bottom label.  His eyes hadn’t deceived him; Red Velvet Cake was indeed one of the flavors, and oddly enough, he was excited that they even had that as an available choice.

“Red Velvet Cake?  Really?” Luhan raised his eyebrow in surprise.

Yixing blushed a little.

“And what’s wrong with Red Velvet Cake?” he asked defensively.

Luhan laughed and patted his arm soothingly.

“Nothing, I just never knew that’s what you liked.”

“Well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Touché.”

The two boys ordered their ice cream and went to sit in the park since it was still a nice day.  When they sat down on the bench, Yixing finally took a tentative taste of his ice cream.  He was pleasantly surprised.  The ice cream tasted almost exactly like the cake flavor it was modeled after.

“Luhan ge…this almost tastes like the real thing.”

“Let me taste.”

Without waiting for the younger boy’s permission, Luhan took a of Yixing’s ice cream cone.  He contemplated the accuracy of the flavor before giving his opinion to the now stunned younger member.

“You’re right.  The only thing that would make it taste even better would be cream cheese frosting.”

Yixing continued to stare wide-eyed at the older boy, unable to comprehend what just happened with his ice cream.

“Yixing…your ice cream is starting to melt.  You better eat it before it starts to drip down your hand.”

Shaking his head to snap out of his momentary daze, the younger looked for the ice cream breach that Luhan pointed out.  After hastily it away, he turned his attention back to his gege.

“…Are you enjoying your ice cream?”

The older boy beamed at him.

“Of course!  It tastes amazing!  Do you want to try some?”

He held his cone to the younger boy’s lips, patiently waiting for him to take a .

Lay eyed the pink cone in front of his face and looked back to Luhan.  It was no secret that he wasn’t really close to any of the members of EXO yet (he was trying), so it really surprised him at how willing they were to treat him like a brother they had lived with their whole lives instead of an almost-stranger who had been with them for only a few years.

“It’s going to melt everywhere if you keep staring at it like that.”

Instead of waiting for the younger boy to make the first move, Luhan pressed the cone to his lips and pulled it back to his own to off any drips that threatened to stain his hands.  Yixing stared at Luhan, shocked at his actions, but he liked the pink cream off his lips anyway, turning his eyes down to study his own ice cream cone.

What has gotten into Luhan ge?  I knew he was playful, but this…this just goes beyond anything I thought he was capable of.

The younger boy was baffled.  He was acting like they were a couple…not brothers.  His heartbeat was erratic, and he couldn’t stop blushing.  He had no idea what was happening to him.

“Yixing…you missed some of the ice cream.  Let me get it for you.”

The answer to his confused state became quite apparent.  Luhan leaned in and pressed his lips to the corner of Lay’s mouth and pulled away, a mischievous glint in his eyes and a sly smile on his face.  The younger boy could feel his heart slowly stop, his breath catching in his throat.

“Ge…wh-what was that?”

Luhan just continued to smile, returning his attention to his neglected frozen treat.

“I…I never knew you were like this…”

“There are a lot of things you don’t about me, Zhang Yixing,” he replied, using the same line the younger had used on him earlier as he deposited his trash into the garbage can.

“…Touché.”

He decided not to dwell on the situation, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to figure out the enigmatic man that was Luhan, no matter how hard he tried.  With the lingering taste of strawberry ice cream on his lips, Yixing caught up to the older boy and followed him back to the dorms.  He had so many questions, but he knew he wouldn’t get an answer any time soon.

I’ll just bribe him with ice cream.
 

Author's Note:  Here you are, MikoRei!  I hope you liked it :) and I hope everyone else enjoyed it too! <3