The beat of the music pulsed through my veins with every step I took. A pop here, a turn there, and slide over there. The synchronized stomps on the floor vibrated throughout the room. My muscles resonated with pain that didn’t seem to reach to my head. Another step through the floor sent chills down my spine. It just felt so good to be alive in this moment. And sharing this was even better. I glanced at my friends through the large mirror stuck on the wall. Their eyes told me they felt it too. Kai gave me a smirk; his smile gleamed through his dark skin, making his teeth impossible to miss. I couldn’t resist; I grinned in response. And I back up over here before that note comes. Then spin down there and wait for the end. The music faded as I made my last turn, leaving everyone at a standstill.

Chen, our dance instructor, killed the silence with his applause. “Okay everyone, good work.” All the performers got off the floor and applauded themselves as well.

“Now I want every single one of you to go home, get a good night’s sleep, eat a big breakfast, and meet me in the auditorium at exactly 12 pm. Remember, these talent scouts from those successful entertainment companies come to our annual showcase, so we all need to do our best. But from what i’ve seen today, I think they’d have to sign up all of you.” Everyone cheered and applauded a bit more. Kai even gave Chen a tightening hug, making the air from our dance instructor’s lungs escape quickly.

As the class began exiting the practice room, Chen grabbed my shoulders. Kai noticed that I wasn’t by his side, so he turned around to face me, hesitating leave the room. I waved my hand and mouthed Just wait for me outside. He nodded and left.

“Yixing, I just want to tell you something before the showcase tomorrow. I was going to wait until before your solo performance, but I feel like I should tell you sooner so that you’re more mentally prepared.” Chen said. My eyebrows arched worriedly.

He noticed the change in my facial expression. “Oh, no, don’t worry. It’s actually pretty good news, in fact its great! The talent scouts from CAT Entertainment have been keeping an eye on you since last year’s showcase, and they told me they were considering of taking you in as a trainee! However, they’re going to use this year’s showcase as your...umm, what’s the word I’m looking for...evaluation to get you enrolled in their programs.”

It only took a moment for it to hit me. “OH- OH JEEZ- THIS- THIS IS JUST- OH MY GOD THIS IS FANTASTIC. FINALLY! WAHHH! THANK YOU SO MUCH, CHEN!” I smiled and hugged him as much as Kai did.

“Ok, now please get off me before I develop some sort of phobia. Just remember to have fun tomorrow, alright? Go on, Kai’s probably getting worried about you.”

“Alright, thank you, Chen! See you tomorrow!” I ran out of the practice room. I found Kai and the others standing down the hall, waiting for me.

“Whoa there, sunshine. Why so bright all of a sudden? Well, more than usual, at least.” Kai asked, once i caught up with everyone. We began walking towards the school gates.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” I smirked.

“No, there’s definitely something. Your face is glowing more than it’s usual happiness. Something good must have happened, right?” We stepped outside the building.

“Hmm...fine, I’ll tell you after the showcase.” The school gates are a few feet away.

“But Yixing, that’s too long-”

“Hey guys look, isn’t that Luhan?” One of my friends whispered.

And sure enough, right in front of SM University’s gates, was Luhan- the most popular music idol since his debut 7 months ago.

“Whoa, it IS Luhan.” Kai blurted out.

Suddenly, all the students out by the gate turned their heads towards Luhan’s face. Luhan looked around, a little taken back by all the stares he was getting. The students began to whisper amongst themselves.

Is it really him? Wow, I can’t believe he’s here! Look at him, he’s so adorable! What is he doing here?

He set his eyes firmly on the ground and walked into the campus, as if he was following a set of tracks. Luhan slowly inched his way towards the direction of my friends and I. We all began to fidget.

“Is he going to come up to us?!” My friend whispered.

Luhan lifted his eyes up off the ground. His gaze went directly to mine. He looked a little nervous and a bit scared; kind of like an abandoned puppy stuck in a box on the streets. How cute. My body moved towards him without hesitation, his gaze luring me in.

Kai tried to grab my wrist. “Hey Yixing, where are you go-”

“Excuse me, if you’re looking for someone, maybe I can be of help.” I said as I walked past my friends. I gave him a smile to appear more friendly. But actually, I was in a total mental breakdown.

Oh my god, Yixing. What do you think you’re doing? You can’t just walk up to any famous person you see and pretend you’re like a flight attendant! Don’t get so confident now that CAT Entertainment is taking you in as a trainee. You can’t just go and do this! What are you thinking?

He stared at me for a second, probably shocked that such an ordinary person like me decided to come and talk to him. He grinned for second, but quickly changed to an expression of bewilderment. Then he glanced at my left hand and suddenly grabbed it.

“THIS—AROUND YOUR FINGER—DO YOU—HOW—” He began to shout.

“Ah, perhaps you were looking for me? Hello, my name is Yixing. It’s a pleasure to meet you. You are the famous Luhan, am I correct?” I was too nervous to even let him finish his sentence. I smiled and shook his hand while his face morphed into a surprised expression. I panicked even more.

God, Yixing, you are so dumb! Do you know why he’s shocked? Because he’s actually shaking hands with such an ordinary person like you! You traumatized him! Look! He can’t even move or speak!

High pitched screams moving towards the school snapped Luhan out of his daze and back into reality.

“They’re coming back.” Luhan whispered. He tightened his grip on my hand and pulled me through the school gates.

“Hey! Come back here, big shot! Where are you taking Yixing?!” Kai’s yells faded as we ran our way down the street, towards the shopping district.

“Um excuse me, but do you know where you’re going? And why are we running away?” I asked Luhan.

“Of course I know where i’m going, I grew up here! And we’re running because of THEM!” He gestured behind us.

I only took a short glance, but I probably already knew before I even asked him what we were running from. A dark cloud of Luhan’s fangirls advanced towards us. Its like we’re being chased by death.

Luhan held onto my hand as we passed by the clothing stores. He tried turning at every corner he could possibly find, but the screams still followed close behind. As we turned into the next corner, Luhan turned again, kicking a glass door, into one of the clothing stores. He hurriedly pulled me to the back of the store, behind a rack of clothes. The screams whizzed by the store and continued down the street. He let out a long sigh. He looked at me and noticed that my hand was still in his. He quickly let go and stepped back a bit. Heat rushed to my face, most likely turning my face red.

“Come on, lets find something to cover up my face. And then we can talk.” He walked towards the accessories and searched through the hats and scarves, trying to hide his face away from my eyes. However, I noticed that his ears were as red as my face.

~     ~     ~

We strolled down in the park nearby, walking beside each other while drinking our bubble tea. I got green tea, Luhan got taro. Luckily, no one recognized Luhan’s face behind his red scarf, brown beanie, and black wayfarer glasses.

“Sorry for dragging you away from your friends, Yixing. I was just caught up in the moment. I usually adore my fans, but sometimes they can be REALLY scary.” Luhan said. His sad puppy eyes rotated towards the ground as he took a sip of his bubble tea.

“Oh, no it’s fine, really! I don’t mind! Besides, i’ve been craving bubble tea for a while now. Thank you for paying!” I fumbled.

“It’s the least I can do to make it up to you, so you don’t really have to thank me.” He took another sip from his drink, this time he smiled.

Aww, he’s so cute. Wait. Yixing. What did you just say? Did you just say ‘cute’? Luhan? Really? I mean, sure, he IS popular because of his baby face. But that’s the thing. ‘HE’. ‘CUTE’. I don’t think those two words should be coming from another guy.

“By the way, do you know why I came up to you, Yixing?” Luhan asked.

“Not really, no.” I replied. I was actually hoping he was going to take me in as CAT Entertainment’s new trainee, but it would be a bit embarrassing if I asked him and he wasn’t going to.

“It’s because of that.” He pointed to my left hand.

“My hand?”

“No, your left pinky. Can’t you see it?”

“See what?”

“The boy is talking about the red string that connects both of your fates.”

Luhan and I looked up to see an old woman sitting down on a bench to our left. She wore a purple robe with gold accents. Her neck was decorated with many necklaces displaying strange symbols. Her skin looked like a page from an old book. And her eyes reflected the wisdom within her years.

“You can see it too?!” Luhan said to the old woman.

“Why, of course, young man. Little Miss Juni here sees just about everything in this world and in other worlds as well.” She replied.

“So, you sort of have omnivision?” I asked.

“Well, aren’t you the smart one? Yes that is what I have been gifted with. The ability to perceive EVERYTHING. The past, the future, your blue briefs- which look very suitable on you- and that red string on both of your left pinkies.”

“Juni, can you tell me more about this red string? Why is it there? Why can I see it? Why can’t Yixing see it? What do you mean it connects our fates?” Luhan spurred out.

“Whoa, hold up there, chipmunk. First of all, it’s MISS Juni. Respect your elders. Second, one question at a time, boy. An old person like Miss Juni can only have one thought in my mind at a time.”

“I apologize, MISS Juni. Can you please tell me what this red string is for?” Luhan gently asked. I silently stood by him as the two conversed.

“The red string symbolizes the connection between you and the person you are destined to be with for the rest of your life.” Juni replied.

Luhan stumbled on her words. “Hmm...‘ Destined to be with for the rest of your life’... WAIT. DOES THAT MEAN THAT YIXING AND I ARE GOING TO GET MAR-” Luhan’s phone rang, disrupting him from finishing his sentence.

He pulled it out of his pants’ pocket, glanced at the caller ID, and quickly answered it. “O-Oh hey there, K-Kris, I haven’t seen you a-all day! Hehe....Yes. No. I know. No. Yes.” I could overhear a deep, loud voice booming through the phone’s speaker.

Miss Juni looked at me and said, “Young man, you should teach your friend here some manners. Yelling at little old Miss Juni here. Almost gave me a heart attack! And now look at him! Talking on the phone as if we were never here in the first place.”

“Yeah, ok. Tell Xiumin its the park a few blocks away from the university. Yeah, that one. Ok. See you in a few.” Luhan put his phone back into his pocket and grabbed my hand once again. It must be a natural reflex by now.

“Excuse me, Miss Juni, we have to leave now. Thank you for this conversation, I hope we can get the chance to resume this later.” Luhan said as we walked out of the park.

“Oh, don’t worry, we will! I can see it!” She chuckled as we exited the park.

Luhan led me down the street where a black van was waiting for us at the curb. The doors opened and a tall young man with dyed blonde hair emerged with his long arms extending out to Luhan.

“Come on, hurry up! The light’s about to turn green!” He yelled. It was the same deep voice talking through Luhan’s phone.

He grabbed Luhan’s arm and helped him into the van. Then, Luhan turned to me and helped me into the van. Once we were all inside, the tall man slammed the doors shut. The driver, with cheeks that looked like buns, immediately drove down the road. Then the tall man twisted his head to Luhan.

“Where the hell were you?! Why didn’t you call me?! Do you know how worried I was?! Who’s this guy?!” His gaze looked like he was ready to murder Luhan right then and there.

“Calm down, Kris. Don’t get your s in a knot. Seriously, you’re starting to sound like a housewife.” Luhan responded.

“Ok, fair enough. But seriously, at least call me. I know I’m just your manager, but you’re like a little brother to me and I feel like I have to look after you.” Kris stated.

“Whoa there, did someone start taking birth control pills?” Luhan teased.

“Shut the hell up! … So, who’s he?” Kris gestured towards me.

“Him? This is Yixing. I met him today and I sort of dragged him into this mess. We should take him home.”

“No, sorry, but it’s almost night fall, it's too late now. We’ll just have to take him home tomorrow. Yixing, are you fine with sharing a hotel room with Luhan?” Kris asked me.

“O-Oh, t-thank you if it’s not too much trouble.” I stammered.

~     ~     ~

“Thank you for lending me your clothes, Luhan.” I said.

“It’s fine, I was the one who was giving you trouble today so I should at least be polite to you as much as I can.” His voice vibrated through the sheets.

How did it turn out like this?! In one second, I’m about to sleep on the floor. In the next second, I’m sharing a bed with Luhan! Ugh. He wouldn’t let me sleep on the floor, so he tells me to sleep on the bed. But he paid for the whole room, so of course I have to offer the bed to him! And then he argued about giving  me so many problems today. And then I suggested that we should share the bed! AND HE AGREED! WAHHH! Luhan really is giving me problems today! I don’t think I can get enough sleep for tomorrow’s showcase!

“By the way, can you tell me where you live? Then I can tell Xiumin where to drop you off and he can take you as soon as you’re ready to leave.”

“He can just take me to SM University, thank you.”

“Are you sure? It’s not much trouble to go and take you home. Everyone has a few days off before I have another appointment in my schedule.”

“Thank you, but actually I really need to be in the auditorium before noon.”

“Really? Why?”

“Well, the university is having it’s annual showcase tomorrow, and I have a few performances. You know, some of the talent scouts from your agency is coming. My dance instructor, Chen, told me they were thinking of signing me up.”

“Wow, that’s great! Hey, maybe then you can come and help me out in some of my concerts before you debut. If I can, I’ll go and see your performance tomorrow.”

“O-Oh really? Thank you, that would be an honor!”

“Well then, you should sleep and get plenty of rest for tomorrow! Good night and do your best!” Luhan said.

“Thank you! Good night!” I replied.

Somehow, sleeping in a bed together with Luhan didn’t seem and scary and nerve-wrecking as it did a few minutes ago. In fact, I think listening to the sound of his breathe actually helped me get a good sleep that night.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OMG YOU GUYS. I DID IT! I ACTUALLY DID IT! I UPDATED.

AFTER ALL THESE MONTHS OF YOUR SUFFERING, I PRESENT TO YOU A NEW CHAPTER.

I LITERALLY JUST WROTE ALL OF THIS WITHIN A FEW HOURS.

I AM SO SORRY FOR KEEPING YOU GUYS WAITING FOR THIS LONG.

HONESTLY, I WANTED TO UPDATE THIS EVERY MONTH.

BUT I HAD SO MUCH STUFF TO STUDY.

BUT NOW THAT SCHOOL IS BASICALLY OVER, I CAN START WRITING AGAIN~!

I'm probably gonna write as much as I can over the summer so I can just have a bunch of chapters to upload just in case anything like this happens again.

For these past few months, the only thing I've really written was the outline of the plots of each chapter coming up. So I basically have 5 chapters all waiting to be written up already.

SO LOOK FORWARD TO MORE UPDATES, MY LOVELIES~!