Luhan steps out of his own bedroom (the one they all used last night because Sehun refused for his room to be used like his life depended on it) and heads to the kitchen. The dishes are still there, he walks back to the living room and the bust up vacuum cleaner is still by the doorway with the rug in it. Sehun has obviously not come out of his bedroom since this noon. And it's 6 in the evening.

Luhan breathes in and out as he gathers all his courage to knock on Sehun's door, "Sehunah, are you asleep? You should come out. I'm gonna prepare dinner."

No answer.

He knocks again and finally he hears him, "I'm not hungry, hyung."

"Okay..."

Luhan walks away and just reheats their leftover from lunch. He knows it was wrong of him to reject Sehun like that when his bestfriend didn't even have a proper confession but if he didn't speak earlier, it will bug them both. Sehun's right, at least it's over and done with.

He could have done it better though. Sehun did say he's been in love with Luhan all his life and the older sure is wise enough to know the difference of that with what he felt (feels?) for Kris. Too bad his confidence betrayed him and now this. Awkwardness and avoidance with and from each other.

"We're bestfriends. We can and will work things out..." He whispers under his breath as he eats his dinner.

-----

Luhan doesn't remember how he fell asleep last night but he wakes up from the sound of morning news on TV and a tuft of hair obstructing his view. "You're up early."

Sehun takes a sip of his coffee from where he's seated on the floor, Luhan still lying on the couch. "Yeah, I'm picking up Lay-hyung at the airport. He'll be here in two hours."

"Look, Sehunah... I..."

"Don't."

"But..."

"Just don't, okay? This is what you want, right? We're bestfriends, nothing's changed. And to do that, we'll have to do what we have to do: pretend that yesterday didn't happen."

"Sehunah..."

Sehun stands up and looks down on Luhan, "Don't make it harder for the both of us than it already is for me. Just... Don't. There's really nothing more to talk about this whole thing, alright?"

Luhan is rendered speechless as Sehun goes to the kitchen to take his cup to the sink and then to the bathroom to take a shower. The older just stays on the couch, still lying as he thinks of what Sehun's told him.

'Maybe he's right. This is over and maybe we can be less awkward if I start acting like this isn't a huge deal. He's fine with it, I should be too.'

He gets up from the couch and just proceeds to have his breakfast. Not less than 25 minutes later, Sehun comes out with a gym bag slung on his shoulder. Luhan panics and runs after him, "Where are you going?! Are you leaving me again!?"

"I said I'm picking up Lay-hyung at the airport."

"With a gym bag?!"

Sehun sighs, "Look, Kai's downstairs in his car and we're picking up Lay then we'll head to the dance studio in campus. I'll be home late. Don't wait up." The younger walks out of the room, Luhan sighs in relief.

-----

"ing Lay-hyung and his ing early flight and ing early monstrous dance practice." Kai grumbles as he's driving him and Sehun on their way to the airport.

Sehun smirks at Kai, "You just cursed and respected Lay-hyung at the same time."

" off. It's 8 in the morning." Kai really is never a morning person.

Sehun then ignores Kai and munches on his potato chips, he checks on his phone then puts it back in his pocket, "Oh. I want to tell you something."

"I will cut you if you tell me that his flight's delayed until the afternoon." Kai threatens him after he noticed that Sehun had checked his phone seconds earlier.

"Nah, he's not delayed."

Kai stops on the red light and dips his hand on the potato chips bag, "Then what is it?"

"Can you keep it a secret? Even from Kyungsoo? Please?"

Kai shakes his head, "I can't promise you that. I swear to god, I can't keep anything from him."

Sehun sighs, "Okay. Just you and Kyungsoo, and I will make sure of that."

"Alright. Spill it." Kai turns to the streetlights and it's still red. Sehun sighs next to him, "I got rejected."

"You finally had the balls to confess!?"

"Nope." Sehun munches on the chips as if he just didn't tell his friend his rejection, "he heard us that night."

"And then?"

"He told me he heard us while we were having lunch yesterday, then he apologized and said he never saw me romantically. He also made me promise that we're still bestfriends. For some reason, it hurts, but it doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would."

"Wow. Tough." Kai starts the engine when the light turns green, "But that's the thing about unrequited love, Sehun. Especially the kind of love that you have."

Sehun raises an eyebrow, "What about it?"

"You're used to hiding it from him and you're used to the pain that he caused you before. And now that he knows, he can't hurt you more than he already did when he rejected you."

"And how can he not?"

"Because he's gonna be too afraid to hurt you consciously, especially Luhan-hyung. He can't live without you, but he can't love you back. He needs you to survive so he's gonna hold on to you and make sure he doesn't hurt you anymore."

"Where do you learn all these stuff about love? Who are you and what did you do to Kai? Because eww."

"It's me, the awesome Kim Jongin, ! But you have to admit, I make sense." Kai smirks, Sehun just mumbles a soft 'yes' in response. "And too much Honey and Clover, by the way. Kyungsoo made me watch that anime with him."

"I thought so." Sehun crumples the empty bag of chips and puts it in his gym bag's pocket to throw later. He rummages the inside of his bag for a bar of chocolate. Kai eyes him judgingly, "I know how you're coping, Sehun."

"What?" He asks with a chocolate bar jammed in his mouth. Kai smirks, "Did you cry?"

"No. Fell asleep."

"You went to sleep. You're eating your feelings too. You're doing this so you won't have to deal with your broken heart."

Sehun rolls his eyes at Kai, "What the ing ever. Keep driving."

-----

They arrive 15 minutes late from Lay's supposed time of arrival and the Chinese dancer is already calling Sehun nonstop (he knew Kai's driving). Lay is still calling his phone even if they're already face to face with each other.

"Just to mess up with you, Sehun." Lay smiles then gives the youngest a hug, Kai joins them then they take Lay's bags at the back of the car.

"Hey, can we drop by my apartment first? It's just a block away from the university." Lay asks from the backseat, Kai nods and Sehun doesn't give a . "Yo, Sehun. Are we winning the bet? How are you and Luhan?"

The two boys in front just looks at each other, Kai shrugs and Sehun looks at Lay. "Same old, same old. I don't say anything, he knows nothing."

"How is that idiot oblivious?" Lay tsks, then just drops the subject. He talks about how he found out about the dance competition and how this could be the gateway to their dance careers. But this is Lay and they can't stay on one subject for less than 10 minutes before they're changing it again.

"Oh! How's Tao and Kris? That boy cried the whole flight to China! Four days with his parents and he's already convincing them that he needs to come back here."

"T-they're okay. Fine and dandy." Kai responds, Lay eyes him suspisciously. "Did something happen? They didn't break up or anything?"

"As if Kris-hyung would ever allow a break up, hyung!" Kai laughs nervously and is relieved when Lay agrees with him. "I'm so tired." Lay lies on the backseat, puts on his headphones and goes to sleep. Kai glares at Sehun when he finds their maknae adjusting the passenger seat, "You try going to sleep too and I will strangle you."

"Hyuuuung, I'm tired and brokenhearted."

"You only call me hyung when you're trying to be cute and get what you want. Stay awake. It's only an hour..." Then he remembers they're already in the middle of morning rush traffic, "TWO hour drive."

"Hmn. Nope!" Sehun adjusts on his seat so he can take a nap better, he pretends to sleep when Kai smirks. "I'm telling everyone what happened yesterday."

Sehun shoots up on his seat and glares at Kai, "You wouldn't!"

"What have I got to lose?"

"Your stash. When I cleaned your room, lo and behold your treasure - I found it."

Kai tsks, "Lame. doesn't interest me anymore."

"I'm pretty sure Kyungsoo - hyung wouldn't be so keen on the idea that his boyfriend jerked off on those stuff."

"I can just hide it somewhere!"

Sehun laughs maniacally, "Who said it's back where I found it?"

"You moved it?!"

Sehun shrugs, "Blackmail purposes. You tell the others my situation, I lose face but they'll comfort me. I tell Kyungsoo, you'll lose face and a very adorable and innocent boyfriend."

Kai gives in, "I hope you choke in your own spit while you sleep."

"Drive safely, hyung." Sehun gives him his knowing grin before trying to get some sleep.

-----

"You can take rest, Kai. Sehun and I can go ahead first." Lay tells the tanned boy when they arrived to the studio after dropping by the Chinese' apartment to drop off some of his luggage.

"Nevermind. I wanna be part of this too." Kai protests and Sehun laughs.

An hour later while in the middle of their practice, Lay's phone rings, Joonmyun's number flashing onscreen, "What do gramps want now?" He presses the green button, "Yes, richboy?"

"Tomorrow, we're enrolling for the next sem, right? Pack your bags, we're heading to the beach tomorrow night for the weekend. We'll be back in the city by Monday morning. Are you with anyone?"

"Kai and Sehun. We're dancing."

"Great. Pass the phone to Kai."

"Yo, richboy the 2nd. Phone." Lay throws his phone and Kai catches it perfectly, "What?"

"Bring your car tomorrow. After enrolment we're heading to our beach house."

"BUT I DON'T WANNA DRIVE!"

"Stop whining. Kris and I talked earlier too. He's bringing his car and so will I. You're the only other person in our group who has a car, unless we try to fit 6 people in one."

"But, hyung..."

"I'll make sure you and Kyungsoo get a private room in our beach house."

"Let's do this."

"There are 6 rooms anyway. See you all tomorrow!"

"You troll." Kai ends the call and throws the phone back to Lay. They continue their dance practice until then.

It's about 6 in the evening when they finally called it a day, "Well, at least we're able to come up with something." Lay starts as the the three of them are sprawled on the wooden floor. Kai jumps up then walks to his bag, "I've got dinner at Kyungsoo's place. You two can take care of yourselves! Good night!" He rushes out, and they aren't able to tease anymore about driving them home.

"Dinner?" Lay asks, Sehun nods.

-----

They're in the middle of dinner when Sehun finally checks his phone. "Woah..."

"What?" Lay asks as he chews his dumpling, Sehun looks up, "I have like, 15 messages and 5 missed calls from Luhan-hyung."

"Yeah? Should it be surprising? You're bestfriends."

"Nah. It shouldn't." Sehun smiles then just replies to the text and puts his phone back to his pocket. "How was China?"

Lay starts talking and Sehun gets comfortable with him, his own pain getting pushed to the back of his mind and heart. He finds Lay endearing though you really have to keep up with his stories and in less than an hour, Sehun learns about his vacation - here, there, circling around China then back again.

It's around 9 PM when they decide to call it a night, "I'll see you tomorrow, Lay-hyung." The younger tells him when they're out the door of the restaurant.

"Yeah! Let's get the same dance classes."

"Of course." Sehun briefly hugs Lay then walks away to his apartment's direction. When Sehun arrives, Luhan stands from his seat on the couch. "I cooked dinner, let's eat?"

"I told you not to wait up. I'm sorry, Lay-hyung and I already had dinner."

"I... I see. I'll just... Okay." Luhan walks to the kitchen and starts packing the food then store it to the refrigerator. "Oh, hyung?" Sehun calls out from the living room.

"Yes?"

"Did Joonmyun-hyung call you?"

"About tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Yeah. I packed my bags already."

"Great. I'm gonna shower then sleep. Good night."

"...good night."

-----

Luhan and Sehun walk together to the campus the next day, the older is fidgety since Sehun is too normal that it seems that it's the doe-eyed boy who's more affected when it's him who did the rejection and wants the normalcy between them retained.

"Hyung!" Sehun calls out and runs towards Lay, leaving Luhan behind him. "Hey, Sehunah!"

'Sehunah? I'm the only one who calls him Sehunah!' Luhan screams internally but walks to the other two as well, "Hi, Lay. Welcome back."

"Hi, hyung. It feels awesome to be back."

"YO!"

The three of them turns to find Jongdae and Minseok running up to them. "Hey, Luhan!" The chubby-cheeked boy greets his classmate and Luhan smiles. "Where did you two go? It's like the both of you vanished so suddenly."

Jongdae wraps his arm around Luhan's, "Went back home and I worked in our farm. Minseok-hyung went with me. He looks chubbier, doesn't he?"

"Hey!" Minseok protests but Luhan agrees, "You look healthier, Minseok."

"And you look so stressed. Did something happen?"

Luhan laughs nervously, Sehun just smiles awkwardly. "Shall we just all go inside?"

When the five of them arrive at the administration office, the rest of their friends are already there. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are chatting with Tao and Kris, Kai and Kyungsoo are talking with Joonmyun. Jongdae runs and tackles Joonmyun, Lay and Minseok follows in tackling their other friends down.

"You'll be fine. I'm here." Sehun whispers to Luhan as the two of them walk to where the others are.

'You haven't been with me completely...'

Tao and Kris looks at Luhan, Baekhyun and Chanyeol laughs awkwardly as the couple is currently in between them. "Uh, hey!" Chanyeol breaks the awkward silence as he greets Luhan, the older just smiles. "Well, shall we get ourselves enrolled? Let's meet up at our usual cafe when we're done!" Joonmyun announces and the others just nod. Kris takes Tao's hand with his and they walk away, Sehun and Lay, along with Kai and Kyungsoo follow the couple. "I'll see you later, Luhan. Freshmen stuff." Sehun calls out, Luhan just shrugs. He stays with Minseok and they take some classes together as well. "It's my last half of senior year, hyung! How about you?" Minseok asks when they're choosing their classes, Luhan shrugs, "I don't even know how many units I still need to graduate anymore."

"Why did you jump from major to major anyway?"

"I wanted to wait for Sehunah. I felt like he won't survive without me."

"But he's getting by fine."

'Too fine.'

"And by the looks of it and with the situation we had to witness before about you and Kris, it was you who needed him more."

"You think so?"

"We know so." Minseok confirms as he writes down the last class he chose in his notebook.

Luhan bites his lower lip as realization hits him that he's a cruel bestfriend. A selfish and stupid bastard who unconsciously hurt his bestfriend, and he broke Sehun's heart without even thinking about what the younger is feeling and just went on and rejected him all because he was jumpy and couldn't take the pressure even just for a day.

"Are you okay?" Minseok nudges him, Luhan just nods. "I'm just... Contemplating what classes to take. I don't know if I want to take some with Sehunah."

"... Did he confess to you or something?" The chubby-cheeked boy asks as the both of them walks to the cashier after Luhan just randomly takes dancing classes he will need that won't clash with his time schedule.

Luhan's eyes widen, "WHAT?"

Minseok laughs, "Relax. Just teasing. We've been teasing that boy since forever to just man up and confess to you."

"What do you mean?"

"He looks at you like he's in love all the time. You're too oblivious sometimes, Luhan. Then again, Sehun always denied our accusations so maybe he just looks like that. But, to be fair, he just looks pissed and bored when he looks at us."

Their conversation is cut short when it's Minseok's turn to pay. Luhan does the same after. They both check their phones, looks like most are done with their enrolment too.

"Let's head to the cafe." Minseok tells Luhan and they walk on. The older almost wants to hit Lay in the face when he finds him and Sehun laughing together in one booth apart from their other friends. Kai and Kyungsoo are with them, looks like they're talking about some kind of dance competition as from what Luhan can overhear.

"Is everyone here?" Joonmyun stands and starts headcounting, "Right. Everyone's here. So, three of us brought our cars, and we're 12. To be fair, 4 people in each car so... Who' joining who?"

"We're okay here already!" Luhan looks at Sehun who's making circle hand gestures, meaning he, Lay, Kai and Kyungsoo are in one group. Luhan would have protested that Sehun stays with him when another voice erupts, "I want Kyungsoo with me!" Tao whines, "he doesn't ask about my personal life!"

"You mean yours and Kris' life?" Baekhyun teases, Kris just wants to bury himself (and maybe Tao too) alive in embarrassment. "I just need someone who can switch driving. I hate long drives." The basketball captain tells the group, hoping that someone can drive too.

"No problem then! I can drive." Chanyeol nods his head, Tao and Kris sighs heavily. Baekhyun grins at the couple. "You're stuck with us, Tao, Kris-hyung. Besides, it's not like you can steal Kyungsoo away from Kai."

"Great, so me, Minseok, Jongdae and Luhan-hyung in one car. Shall we go? It's a 6-hour drive from here."

"Can I at least grab something to eat?" Luhan asks, too upset to even care about the carpool assignment. "Alright. Order your takeouts, we'll meet some of you outside."

Luhan goes to the counter, he sees Sehun stand up and walk out of the cafe with his group. "That bastard..." He mumbles, not even sure if it's directed to Sehun or Lay.

"Who's the bastard?" Jongdae asks, eyeing some of their friends who are walking out already. "Huh? Uh, no one. Just... Thinking out loud."

"Kris? Tao? Are you still hung up on Kris?"

Luhan's eyebrows scrunch together as he looks at Jongdae, surprisingly, he doesn't give 2 cents about Kris. He just wants to pry Sehun away from Lay. "I'm done with Kris." Luhan tells Jongdae, and it's almost a confession and assurance to himself that he is indeed unaffected when it comes to the basketball captain (though he still needs to talk to him and Tao).

Their conversation ends when Tao walks back inside, Kris behind him, "Hyung."

"Okay, uh. Jongdae out." Jongdae runs out, leaving Luhan alone in the presence of the two. "Can I talk to you? I want this over with before we even all go to the beach. They already know, they're willing to wait for a bit." Tao is already pulling Luhan to the booth they emptied earlier, Kris stays in line to buy food for takeout.

Meanwhile, outside, the others are just in the parking lot watching as the two sits by the glass wall, "Who cries first?" Baekhyun asks, suddenly 5000 won is raised in the air, "Betting on Luhan-hyung!" Chanyeol's voice booms - Jongdae, Minseok, Lay and Baekhyun hands him their own 5000 won and then stares at the other 4, "5000 won out, losers." Minseok tells them, Kyungsoo, Sehun, Joonmyun and Kai has no choice but to bet on Tao (they don't even know how they got into the bet either).

"What if Kris cries?" Lay asks and everyone just bursts into uncontrollable laughter.

-----

"Tao... I..."

"Hyung... I've heard from Kris and Chanyeol about your visits. Is it true?"

"Yes."

"I don't want to ask anymore, but, is it to get closer to him?"

"It was."

Kris arrives and sits next to Tao, "No, Kris. You go outside. Bring those in the car. Just me and hyung."

"Fine. And hyung, if Tao is okay with you then we're okay." Kris tells Luhan before walking out. He's greeted by Chanyeol once he's in the parking lot, "5000 won for your boy Tao, Kris."

"What's going on?"

"We're betting who'll cry first. To be fair, 25000 won each, and their group is 5000 won short so you go and cheer for Tao to cry first."

"That's absurd." Kris protests but still taking 5000 won from his wallet.

Back inside Tao shifts on his seat, bites his lower lip before speaking again, "And about that morning..."

"Tao, it's a misunderstanding."

"...is it really?"

"Yes. I wasn't able to kiss him, Tao."

Tao looks confused for a moment, "Wasn't able to?"

Luhan hangs his head low, "I wanted to. I was really attracted to him, Tao. You're perfectly aware of that."

Tao bites his lower lip, "Did you want us to break up?"

"I wasn't sure. I wasn't thinking that time. I just wanted to kiss him and that's that. Maybe try and hide it if he doesn't wake up. But, you were there maybe for good timing too. I don't know. But..." Luhan looks up to meet Tao's gaze, "I was centimeters away from him but no kiss happened. Promise."

"Hyung..."

"What...?"

"You keep saying 'was'... Do you still love him?"

Luhan shrugs, "I don't think so. I'm not sure if I was really in love with him before or it was just pure physical attraction that I thought was something deeper."

"... You confessed to him."

Luhan nods slowly, "Yes. Pathetically, I did. I thought if I told him I liked him for a long time, he wouldn't be too mad about what happened. I'm sorry, Tao. I wasn't able to apologize directly to you. And Kris. I need to apologize to him again."

"I just have one more question, though..."

"What is it?"

"Do you... Still hate me? For being with Kris?"

"I never hated you Tao," a tear falls from Luhan's right eye (it doesn't escape Baekhyun who was near the glass wall when he turns to his friends, he starts collecting from Kris' group while Kyungsoo walks back defeated), "I was mad. I was angry, but I never hated you."

"I missed you, hyung."

"Am I forgiven?"

Tao nods, "And don't cry anymore. Smile, you look better smiling."

"Tao... Did you hate me too?" Luhan asks as he wipes away the tears in his eyes.

"I was scared of you." Tao smiles and stands, Luhan does the same and hugs him, "Let's go, hyung. They're waiting."

They walk outside to find half rejoicing and the other half looks like they've just been beaten down by the others. "What happened?" Tao asks, Kai marches to the youngest, "WHY DIDN'T YOU CRY FIRST!?"

"HEY!" Kris shouts at Kai and the younger walks back to Kyungsoo's side.

"What's going on?" Luhan inquires, he looks at Sehun who's part of the losers (as the both of them observed) but his bestfriend just mouths, 'you cried'. "Thanks to you, Luhan-hyung, we're 25000 won richer! Well, let's buy some food at the convenience store and let's leave them alone!" Chanyeol slings his arm over Luhan and whisks him away from the parking lot, "But I want my bubble tea!" The older boy whines, Baekhyun grins at him, "We'll get you that too, be back in 15 minutes, losers!" The winning team with Luhan disappears from the parking lot.

"Just a silly bet, babe. Sorry. We're 5000 won poorer for our trip though." Kris pulls Tao closer to him, "How did we lose though?" the younger asks to no one in particular.

"They bet Luhan-hyung would cry first, and the rest of us," Joonmyun glides his hand to everyone left at the parking lot, "were forced to bet on you."

"You make it sound like it's a bad idea to bet on Tao-er." Kris hugs Tao from behind and leans against his car's hood. "You know, all the assigned drivers are here, let's just all leave them." Kai puts his arm around Kyungsoo who hits his chest, "Don't be mean. It was a bet and they won it."

"We didn't get a choice! I would've bet on Luhan-hyung, too!" Sehun whines, "It's an obvious win. He's in too much emotional turmoil already."

Sehun's phone rings a few minutes later, "Hyung?"

'Anything you want? I could probably get something from the win. Not bubble tea though. Too obvious.'

"I want canned coffee. Cold, please?"

'Okay. See you in a bit.'

They're still waiting in the parking lot, Kris and Tao are talking, Kai is just dancing to the music coming from his car's stereo and teaching Kyungsoo some moves as well. Sehun is playing on his phone and Joonmyun is resting inside his car.

A few minutes later, the other 6 arrives with shopping bags in their hands. Luhan walks over to Sehun, "I didn't know if you're hungry or whatever but I bought you something." The older hands him a sandwich and a bag of potato chips, "Do you want more?"

Before Sehun can answer, Lay walks over to them, "You didn't tell me if you wanted mocha or vanilla so I got you both."

"Thanks, hyung!" Sehun beams at Lay then looks at Luhan, "And thank you, too. You didn't have to get me anything though."

"But Lay can?"

"What?" Sehun asks back, "How did he get into this?"

"You're getting too attached to him..." Luhan responds in almost a whisper, "Can you repeat that, hyung? I didn't get that."

"Sehunah! Let's go!" Lay calls out from the backseat of Kai's car, "I'll see you later." Sehun tells Luhan before running to take the seat next to Lay inside Kai's vehicle.

"I'm the only one who can call you Sehunah!" Luhan whines in hushed tones as he watches Lay and Sehun dancing with their arms and laughing together. He almost wants to walk over there and drag Sehun out so he can stay with him and he'll trade Jongdae to them but Minseok is suddenly pulling him and pushing him inside Joonmyun's car.

"In all fairness to everyone," Jongdae starts as he watches everyone in their assigned cars, "everyone's a winner. Especially you, Joonmyun-hyung. All cars got bet winners inside and everyone still gets extra snacks for the trip."

"Very profound of you, Jongdae." Minseok ruffles the younger's hair, Joonmyun just laughs it off and starts his car.

"This will be a very long ride..." Luhan whispers against the window when all three cars leave the parking lot.

-------------------------------

Author's Notes: They're almost at the beach, and honestly, it will end there. so yeah, maybe in a few chapters i will close this story soon.

AND HELLO TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS <3