promises 
;

 

 

Luhan flopped around on the bed like a dying whale, every now and then opening his mouth to declare the state of his boredom.

 

"I'm bored," Luhan mumbled for yet another time, voice muffled by the fluffy pillow in which he was speaking in. Minseok turned to look at him and a wry grin crept up his lips.

 

"Want to do something fun?" Minseok elbowed Luhan in the ribs, smiling cheekily. His manner was so mischievous that it piqued Luhan's curiosity and he scrambled to sit up and listen—he couldn't wait to know what new and crazy ideas Minseok would pull out this time.

 

"Sure!" 

 

"We should go crash their dorms!" Minseok announced with a clap of his hands. 

 

"Whose?" Luhan's ears perked up at the suggestion of possible mischief. He was never one to miss out on having fun, especially if it involved pranks and the like. 

 

"My friends'—Wufan, Zitao and Yixing's."

 

"They sleep in the same room?" Luhan's eyes widened. How could luck have it that the three best friends were in the same room? In retrospect, Luhan thought it was pretty lucky that he got the same room as Minseok, because without him, how could he have possibly survived a week and a half in the squalid conditions that was Autumn Vale Orphanage?

 

"Yep, they wouldn't have known each other if it wasn't for that fact in the first place. Anyway, let's go!" He grinned mischievously, dragging Luhan out of their dorm.

 

"Where do they live?" asked Luhan, trying to ignore the blush creeping up his cheeks at their proximity.

 

"Just at the end of the aisle, not very far," replied Minseok, already running at a remarkable speed towards the said room.

 

"What do you reckon they'll be doing?" Luhan asked, as they neared the trio's room.

 

"Hm. Zitao will probably be sticking to Wufan and Yixing will be staring off into space again," Minseok hazarded a guess. "Perfect time to catch them off guard."

 

They hadn't walked down the corridor for long before Minseok spoke out of the blue. "Shh, you're too loud. They'll hear us," he murmured. Luhan merely furrowed his brows in confusion.

 

"Your shoes. They're dragging on the wooden floor," clarified Minseok. 

 

Luhan stopped dragging his feet and instead started walking comically with his feet lifted up at least to knee level each time. Minseok couldn't help it; he burst out laughing, and Luhan had to cover his mouth with his hands to muffle the noise. They reached the room at the very far end of the hall after much trepidation. Minseok lifted a finger to his lips, signalling Luhan to be quiet.

 

"As quiet as a mouse?" Luhan whispered.

 

"No," Minseok whispered back. "Even quieter. As quiet as a... dead mouse." He nodded in satisfaction at the apt simile, and Luhan couldn't help but chuckle a little. Minseok was just too cute.

 

"Ready?" Minseok mouthed, hand hovering above the doorknob. 

 

Luhan nodded in affirmation and Minseok counted to three on his fingers, before pushing the door open and running in with Luhan straight in tow. To their utmost surprise (and dismay), the room was empty without a soul to be seen. 

 

"Eh? Where can they possibly be?" Luhan wondered aloud, but his question was answered immediately when in a flash, Wufan, Yixing and Zitao emerged from behind the filthy grey curtains. 

 

"Ah!" Minseok yelped as Wufan and Zitao piled himself on top of him. Luhan didn't have time to react before Yixing tackled him onto the ground. 

 

"Ha! We got you!" Zitao yelled with glee, getting up and untanglin his limbs from Minseok's.

 

"Be gentler, would you?" Minseok grumbled, rubbing his sore . 

 

"How the hell did you know we were coming?" Luhan complained, half in amazement and half in complaint.

 

"We heard you guys a mile away. You were so loud."

 

"No we weren't!" Minseok and Luhan yelled in unison.

 

"Yes you were. Especially Luhan," Wufan gave away. Minseok shot a mock death glare at him, who laughed nervously in response. He was pretty sure he didn't even make any noise. Wufan probably just had superhuman hearing. 

 

"Hey, so you wanna go anywhere today?" Yixing asked with a tilt of his head.

 

"It's the time of the month again!" Zitao shouted, eyes crinkling into slits. "The carnival is here!"

 

"Ooh! The carnival! The carnival!" The other three shouted in glee, leaving Luhan tilting his head with a confused look.

 

"I don't mean to sound dumb but... what's a carnival?" Luhan asked. The other four turned to look at him like he had grown a second head.

 

"Are you serious? How can you not know what the carnival is?" asked Wufan.

 

"From where I came from, there weren't any carnivals,” Luhan said sadly. 

 

"Gosh, what kind of godforsaken place did you come from?" Zitao exclaimed. Yixing was shaking his head sadly and Wufan looked sorry for the young prince. 

 

"I... I really want to go..." Luhan pouted, face downcast. A carnival sounded exciting, but he wasn't very sure if the others would be willing to bring him there or not. 

 

Minseok's grin widened to show a set of teeth. "Come on then! We'll take you there!" 

 

-

 

The town was bright and cheery, festive air omnipresent, lamps lighting up every single corner of the place. A few peddlars were shouting from the sides of the street, as they took advantage of the carnival to peddle their goods. A lot more children were out, each with shining grins and bright faces. Luhan decided that he loved the town during this period of the month even more.

 

"What's this?" Luhan asked, pointing at a roadside peddlar who was selling something yellow and beady on a pushcart. He had never seen anything of the sort in the palace before. "It looks weird." 

 

"It's steamed corn. They're really delicious," Minseok explained, now expertly guiding Luhan through the mass of people to reach the pushcart. Zitao, Wufan and Yixing were nowhere to be seen, probably off exploring on their own. Minseok didn't really care about them, after all, they could always meet back at the orphanage afterwards. 

 

"One steamed corn, please," Minseok said, and the peddlar nodded briskly before handing him a stick in one swift motion as his other hand reached out to grab Minseok's money. 

 

Luhan observed it closely before taking a bite. His eyes widened. "They're really yummy! I can't believe I had been missing out on so much." Minseok smiled as he watched Luhan munch happily on the corn, his hands awkwardly sticking into his pockets.

 

"By the way, why didn't you buy a stick for yourself?" Luhan asked through a mouthful of corn. 

 

Minseok shrugged. "I didn't have enough. It's okay, I've eaten too much of this anyway."

 

Luhan stopped mid-chew, eyes scanning Minseok up and down. His face got all serious and Minseok suddenly felt panicky all of a sudden—why was he reacting this way? Did he say something wrong by accident?

 

"Here, have mine then," Luhan gallantly offered the rest of his half-finished corn. Minseok chuckled a bit, pushing Luhan's hand away. 

 

"It's fine, I told you. I don't want it."

 

Luhan bit his lip. He stubbornly shoved the stick of corn inside his hand. "Eat," he commanded.

 

"What?"

 

"If you're not eating, then I'm not eating either," Luhan emphasised. "Just eat it."

 

Minseok eyed Luhan up and down, as if he couldn't decide whether he was being serious or it was just a prank. After a few seconds he quirked an eyebrow and just obediently ate the corn. Luhan's grin widened when he saw that Minseok had finished it. 

 

They strolled from one area to another, each place with interesting things to discover and explore. Luhan was busy taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of the carnival. Sadly, he would never get the chance to visit one ever again.

 

"Hey, what's that?" Something colourful caught Luhan's attention. It was a clown performing circus acrobatics. Feeling the urge and curiosity to see him perform, Luhan wriggled out of Minseok's grasp and snuck away, lithe body darting in between the crowd.

 

"Xiao Lu! Xiao Lu!" Minseok shouted but to no avail. Luhan had long disappeared amidst the throng of people. Minseok frantically strained his neck, trying to catch a glimpse of Luhan—but he was nowhere to be seen. He inwardly groaned—this was not the first time that the overenthusiastic Luhan had caused trouble for Minseok. Now that he had disappeared, Minseok could not help but worry for the safety of his companion. Luhan was a newbie in the area and had no idea how crazy the crowds could get, as far as Minseok knew. What if something happened to him? The more he thought, the heavier the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Crap, he thought, please don't let anything happen to Xiao Lu.

 

"Xiao Lu! Xiao Lu! Where are you?" He called out across the throng of people. Some of them gave him weird stares, but he didn't care. His first priority was to find Luhan.  He ran towards the centre of the carnival, where the crowd was particularly thick, gathered around a ridiculous-looking clown with a fake nose the size of an orange. He was throwing some juggling clubs in the air while somersaulting, which earnt loud cheers and whoops from the audience. 

 

"Xiao Lu!" Minseok shouted at the top of his lungs. A few of the crowd turned their heads, but that was it. No Luhan. Minseok bit his lip and wriggled into the crowd, ducking underneath the tall people and edging past the shorter ones. The moment he saw Luhan amongst the crowd, his neck stretched so as to get a better view of the clown, Minseok quickly squeezed past the hordes of people and patted Luhan hard on the back.

 

"Wha—?" Luhan turned back, face blur with confusion. His eyes lit up when he registered that it was Minseok.  

 

"Oh hey! There you are! I was just looking for you, where have you been?" He didn't seem worried at all, in contrast to Minseok who almost wanted to give Luhan a heavy beating the moment he found him, for almost giving him a heart attack. He had been worried beyond belief. And now Luhan dared to look at him in that innocent manner? 

 

Like you weren't the one who ran away in the first place, thought Minseok.

 

"I couldn't find you, it made me so worried! Didn't you know? I almost had a heart attack and died on the spot." Minseok started berating Luhan from head to toe for running away without telling him. Guiltily, Luhan lowered his head. He knew he was wrong to have done that.

 

"I'm sorry, I was just too overexcited," Luhan mumbled. His apology, however, was drowned out completely by Minseok's scolding and the noisy crowd. In effect, it was useless. Minseok didn't cease the scolding and in fact started nagging him about loads of other things. 

 

Suddenly, Luhan couldn't take it anymore. Minseok's pissed face, still scolding him relentlessly. The noise. The crowd which was pressing in on him. The stupid clown who was juggling ten pins and didn't even drop any.  couldn't Minseok understand? He escaped from the palace to find freedom, but now Minseok was controlling him just as tightly as the palace did. Would it kill for him to be away from Minseok for a little while? Sure, he should have told him beforehand, but it definitely did not warrant such a big reaction. Minseok was scolding him like he had committed a huge sin.

 

"Minseok!" Luhan yelled, loud enough for a couple of people to hear it over the noise and turn out, looking on curiously. Minseok stopped in mid-sentence, too shocked to say anything. "Stop it. Just, stop everything. I've had enough of this for today." And with that, he ran away without a further look back.

 

-

 

Luhan was an expert at hiding, but Minseok was an even bigger expert at seeking. After some trouble he'd managed to make out the top of Luhan's head amidst a crowd of people who were interestedly observing a fortune teller.

 

"What do you think you're doing, Xiao Lu? Stop giving me heart attacks!" Minseok jogged up to Luhan and placed a hand on his shoulder, but the latter just shook him off.

 

"Xiao Lu, listen to me," Minseok pleaded, but Luhan refused to spare him even a glance. Undaunted, Minseok continued. "I'm sorry, I know I was a bit too harsh when scolding you. But you have to understand, I was worried, okay? If something happened to you, I'd never forgive myself. Ever."

 

He softened his tone. "You're the first person that has made me this worried. Heck,"  he rubbed his hands through his hair, frustrated that there were so many words dancing around in his mind, but he was unable to string them into coherent sentences. Luhan just looked on, with large, unblinking eyes, too shocked to process what was happening. "I—I think I'm in love with you."

 

Luhan blinked. Once. Twice. His system went into overdrive and his brain whirred and clicked furiously. Could it be possible—did Minseok actually just confess to him? He sneaked a peak at Minseok, who was scratching his head embarrassedly. 

 

Damn it, thought Luhan. He decided to throw caution to the wind and enveloped Minseok into a bone-crushing hug, so tight that Minseok could barely even breathe. 

 

"I'm... dying... of suffocation..." Minseok rasped out, and Luhan loosened his grip, but still clinging on tightly to him.

 

"I feel like the luckiest person in the world right now," Luhan mumbled into Minseok's shirt, voice barely audible, but this time, Minseok heard it all the same.

 

"Then you'll feel even luckier after this." And Minseok pressed his lips to Luhan's, kissing him in a gentle, soothing manner. It wasn't urgent or needy, it felt like just the right speed for two people who had waited too long for the right time. 

 

-

 

"The stars, Xiao Lu. Aren't they pretty?" The gentle voice of Minseok made Luhan open his eyes, shifting a little in the comfortable nook of Minseok's shoulder. Somehow, it was just the right position, and Luhan's head fit snugly in Minseok's shoulder like two pieces of a puzzle.

 

"Yeah, they really are. Wow, I've never seen them like this," Luhan responded, hands moving to play with Minseok's fingers. Minseok let him, sinking a little deeper into Luhan's intoxicating warmth. 

 

"Eh? What do you mean?"

 

"From where I came from, the stars were still the same, but watching them only reminded me of the freedom I could never have. But here, with you..." Luhan paused, "it just feels right, somehow."

 

Minseok adjusted in order to allow Luhan to snuggle closer to him. "You... you won't leave me, right?" He suddenly asked, sounding just the tiniest bit scared. Luhan started, hands digging into the grass, and Minseok tried to find an explanation for the sudden question. 

 

"I mean, you just barged into my life that day... and now, I can't imagine living a single moment without you by my side. But I can't help but worry that one day, you'll just leave, like how you appeared." 

 

Luhan felt a pang inside his ribcage. Minseok couldn't have known, yet he predicted what would happen with uncanny accuracy. Days with Minseok passed so quickly, Luhan barely even realised it was already the third last day. He stole a look at Minseok, who was still earnestly waiting for an answer, and his heart broke a little. How could he ever bear to leave him? 

 

Kim Minseok, who saved him from the bully Sangjae on their first day, who taught him soccer on the second, who made mud pies with him on the third... And whom he kissed on the thirteenth.

 

But there was no other way out. He had too many responsibilities to bear and he couldn't just ditch them like this. As much as he rarely showed it, Luhan still deeply loved and cared for his parents too.

 

Luhan smiled but a hint of sadness coloured his features. He squeezed Minseok's hand tightly, as if that would prevent anything from separating them. He hoped that their time together would be prolonged by just a little bit more, just enough so that neither would have any regrets. 

 

"No," he lied, but his heart ached each time he said a word, "no, I'll never leave you." 

 

I'd spend an eternity and beyond with you, if I could.

 

"Good," Minseok leaned back, satisfied with the anwer. But Luhan was not.

 

From then on, the inevitable never stopped haunting him. Judging by the looks of it, Sehun was doing extraordinarily well in the palace, and so far nobody had figured anything out yet. Luhan reasoned that nobody would for the next few days. That meant that from now on, he was going to treasure every second they spent together, and he wasn't going to leave Minseok at all. He was going to stay by his side, for as long as he possibly could. 

Love you guys and your awesome comments seriously every single one of them makes my day <3 

Btw this is a Donghae I drew for my friend LeLeMain13's birthday. (Go check her out! x3)