Luhan was jealous, to say the least.

                Sure, he was happy that Kris and Tao were together again, and he was happy that they were happy, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but envy them.

                Kris and Tao’s breakup had been messy. The path to their reunification had been messy. Yet there they were, glowing with contentedness while Luhan was left to watch and covet what they had.

                Luhan and Sehun’s breakup hadn’t been messy at all. It had been extremely amicable. They’d both agreed that they were probably just better off being friends and they’d gone their separate ways. They’d stayed friends, but what had been frequent phone calls soon became occasional emails or Kakao messages over the years.

                He’d been single ever since. Of course, he’d had a few one night stands here and there, but never anything substantial. Lay often joked with him that it was the longest dry spell anyone of Luhan’s attractiveness had ever been through, and Luhan always laughed it off even though he wished it wasn’t true.

                But to be honest, seeing Tao and Kris reunited did make him wonder.

                What was Sehun doing these days? Was he happy? Was he single? Maybe he was married, and Luhan would have no idea. He’d found out about Kyungsoo and Kai’s marriage a year after it had happened.

                He knew there was a simple way to get the answers to his questions, so he finally picked up his phone and opened up Kakao.

                Clicking on Sehun’s name, the last message they’d exchanged had been over a year prior.  “Merry Christmas” was all it read.

                Luhan wasted no time in composing a new message.

                “Sehun-ah~,” it began, “how are you? It’s been a long time.” He debated whether or not he should add a cutesy emoticon, but thought better of it when he remembered that he was twenty-nine years old and the message was already loaded with enough aegyo for someone his age.

                He put his phone back down on his desk and he picked up a pen, doodling absentmindedly. Suddenly, to Luhan’s surprise, he heard the message tone only seconds later. He grabbed his phone and he hoped his eyes didn’t light up too much when Sehun’s name appeared on the screen.

                “Luhan!” it read, and Luhan could see that Sehun was typing once again. “It’s been way too long. I heard about Lay’s and Victoria’s wedding.” Another message popped up. “And I heard that Tao and Kris are back together. How?” he continued.

                Luhan could have explained the whole thing over Kakao message, but it would take a lot of effort. And he really wanted to hear Sehun’s voice again. It had been years since they’d last spoken.

                “Can I call you and tell you?” he replied instead, and all he received back was an emoticon of a cute bunny nodding. Luhan chuckled. Perhaps twenty-nine year olds weren’t allowed to use cutesy emoticons, but apparently they were fair game for twenty-five year olds.  He rifled through his phone contacts, finally pressing Sehun’s name.

                “Hello?” came Sehun’s voice. It was much deeper than Luhan remembered.

                “Hi, Sehunnie,” Luhan said. “So, do you want to hear the story?”

                “Of course,” Sehun said, “but first, how are you? It’s been such a long time since I’ve heard your voice.”

                Luhan’s heart jumped, which he knew was a bad sign, but at the same time, he was kind of pleased.

                “I’m alright,” Luhan replied. He didn’t want to make it sound like he was doing great without Sehun—because even though he was, he still wanted Sehun back, too. “You know, busy with work, helping out with Laytoria’s wedding.”

                “Same with me,” Sehun replied. “Well, minus the wedding part.” Luhan chuckled. “So,” Sehun continued, “tell me this story.”

                “Well,” Luhan began, “Taozi is a physical therapist. Kris dislocated his shoulder. And then they started hanging out, ‘catching up,’ and it wasn’t long until they were…well, Tao had a boyfriend at the time…”

                “Really?” Sehun exclaimed.

                “Yeah,” Luhan said. “Tao went to Kris’s house and Kris kissed him or something. And then Tao told Kris that he had a boyfriend and they kind of fell apart for a while. Tao broke up with his boyfriend during that time. I don’t know how Kris and Tao made up, but a few weeks later, they’d definitely slept together and they were back together. Yup.”

                “Sounds…really complicated. Makes Tao sound kind of awful. How did his boyfriend take all of this?”

                “Well, badly at first, apparently,” Luhan said, “but we saw him last weekend on the arm of someone who obviously really loves him and who he loves, so it’s all good, I think.”

                “Exciting,” Sehun said, and Luhan could hear his smile.

                “Um, so, another thing,” Luhan said, feeling his heart rate increase. The idea had just popped in his head, and even though he knew it was crazy…

                “What is it?” Sehun asked.

                “I’m coming to Seoul,” Luhan said.

                “Really?” Sehun asked. “When? How come?”

                “Um…next week?” Luhan said, more asking himself than anyone else. “And…it’s for…work.”

                “What do you do again?” Sehun asked.

                “I’m in…uh, business,” Luhan replied. It was true, he was in business. He and his friend Henry ran a bar together, but Luhan didn’t feel inclined to let Sehun into that little bit of knowledge. Sehun let out a knowing sigh.

                “Business trips,” he said. “I know how those are. Anyway, do you think you’d have time to come see me while you’re here? We could catch up—although, not in the way Tao and Kris did,” he laughed nervously.

                “Of course I’ll come see you!” Luhan replied a little too quickly. “I’d love—like—to.”

                “Or,” Sehun said, “maybe I could pick you up at the airport. What flight are you going to be on?”

                “Uh…” Luhan stalled. He fiddled with a pen sitting on his desk and finally dropped it, opening his computer. “I’m not sure. I’ll check and let you know. But that…that would be really nice.”

                “Great,” Sehun said. “It’ll be nice to see you again. So I’ll see you next week, Lu. Bye!” Luhan’s heart leapt once again when he heard Sehun say his old nickname. He really was being absurd, but at the same time, he really, really missed Sehun.

                As soon as the call disconnected, Luhan hurried to find himself a plane ticket to Seoul.

                The next day before work, he broke the news to Henry.

                “You’re going where?” Henry demanded, setting down a martini glass with a clatter.

                “It was an impulse, Henry,” Luhan sighed. “I called him and his voice, oh my lord; you don’t even know how heavenly it was to hear it again.”

                “But you’re going to Seoul. To reconnect with a guy who you broke up with six years ago.” Henry sighed, pulling a shot glass from the sink and drying it with the towel he’d been holding. “Lulu, I know Kris and Tao seem like a fairy tale, but break ups are meant to be a time when you move on. They reunited by accident. Maybe they were meant to be. Yuan fen or something. I don’t know. But what I do know is that you shouldn’t drop everything for someone you haven’t seen in ages.”

                “I might have a chance with Sehun, Henry. You know I’ve been single this entire time. And he’s always been in my mind.” Henry scoffed and handed Luhan a sponge, motioning for him to wipe down the bar, which Luhan did grudgingly.

                “You’re making it sound like you never stopped thinking about him, which I know isn’t true. You were really into that Feixiang guy for a while.”

                “Until I realized that it was him who smelled like and not me,” Luhan snapped back. “And anyway, I was never into him like I was into Sehun.”

                “Please,” Henry said. “Luhan. If nothing else, I need you here to help me run the bar.”

                “Get Kris. He just passed his bar exam,” Luhan hissed, and Henry coughed loudly.

                “That was a horrible joke,” Henry choked. “I didn’t know this whole ordeal affected so many brain cells.”

                Luhan collapsed over the bar dramatically.

                “You’re so mean to me,” he said in theatrical melancholy. “Why can’t you just let me do my crazy things and cheer me on?”

                “Because,” Henry smiled, “as you say, they’re crazy. And I am watching out for you.”

                “Real good friend you are,” Luhan huffed, throwing the sponge at Henry, who dodged it easily.

                “So, have I convinced you to stay?” Henry asked, seemingly assured.

                “No,” Luhan replied, and Henry’s eyes widened.

                “Luhan—”

                “I’m going to go, and I swear to God I will at least kiss him while I’m there. In fact, I’ll make a bet. If I manage to kiss him in the week I’m there, you have to pay my rent and utilities for a month.”

                “Tall order. I’ll skew the odds in my favor and we’ll stipulate that he has to reciprocate in order for that to happen. And if you don’t manage to kiss him, or if you do but he doesn’t reciprocate, you have to pay my rent and utilities for a month. And don’t lie to me, because you wouldn’t take advantage of an old friend and business partner’s trust, right?”

                “Fine. Deal, then,” Luhan replied. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

                “Deal. I’ll secretly be rooting for you.”

                “You just said you didn’t like the idea,” Luhan complained, and Henry smiled.

                “I don’t like the idea of you leaving me to take care of the bar all by myself. I adore the idea of you breaking the world’s longest dry spell and finally getting laid properly.”

                “What kind of friend are you?” Luhan muttered, and Henry patted Luhan’s back.

                “The best kind,” he replied.