October 10th, 07:38

 

“Crap! Jongin, wake up! We’re late for our morning class. Oh, !” Sehun stumbled, accidentally stepping on Jongin’s limbs that sprawled messily on the floor on his way to the bathroom. He pulled the thick blanket wrapping around the unconcious tan male away, causing him to growl either from the pain on both of his innocent legs or from the irritation cause Sehun had snatched his comfort.

 

“Arrgh. What time is it?” Jongin protested with his heavy, hoarse voice. Unfortunately, Sehun had got inside the shower, not hearing his question.

 

He had now sat in a middle of ocean of blankets, eyes shut tightly and forhead furrowed. Arms fell on his thighs lifelessly. He almost let his body fall to the fluffy cloth again only to snap back to life when he heard a very deep voice said something that chased his sleep away.

 

“Seven forty now, Jongin. If you get your lazy up now and make yourself ready in five minutes maybe I’ll still be here and you can get in to my car...”

 

Jongin didn’t need to listen to the end of the speech cause it was clear enough for him, and he couldn’t think of anything else but to rush for his life. He ran to his room, grabbed his towel, and without thinking barged into the bathroom, making Sehun scream in a not-so-manly, shocked manner and scold him cause what if he was ?

 

Chanyeol, the owner of the deep voice laughed his heart out, feeling amused by the the morning scene that he bet would turn to be a routine. He then took the abandoned blankets from his living room floor, folded them neatly, and put them back to the youngers room, together with the pillows and a Crong plushy.

 

Luhan came out of his room with a messy hair. His white T-shirt was crinckled, hanging ungraciously on his thin body.

 

“What was that?” He asked confusedly with his still sleepy voice, walking his way to the kitchen to get some water. He opened the fridge, observed the contents, and took a box of orange juice instead.

 

“Today is Jongin and Sehun’s first day in university, right?” Yixing chuckled from the dining table. “And they just made trouble for themselves by waking up late. It’s like... twenty minutes before the first lecture? God, they never learned anything from schools..” he continued biting and munching on his toast.

 

Luhan gulped his juice, feeling refreshed when the cold liquid crossed down his throat. He took a seat accross from Yixing.

 

“Ah. I saw this coming. They were still up playing video game when I woke up for the toilet at  around three. Kids..” he combed his front hair a bit.

 

 

“Woah.. hyung, you sound like a father.” Chanyeol amusedly commented at the fact that Luhan just said kids despite the fact that their age difference was only around three or four years apart. He was just walking back from Jongin and Sehun’s room to join his two older friends who were also his band and house mates.

 

“I just hope I won’t have such obnoxious sons like those two…” Luhan shuddered, raising his eyebrows while shaking his head. Chanyeol grinned, while Yixing nodded as if agreeing to what the other just said. The three sat together, enjoying their share of humble breakfast, a consequence that comes with the fact that nobody in the house can make a decent meal let alone cooking in the morning with very limited time.

 

“Ah, Luhan. I almost forget to tell you something.” Yixing voice sounded happy.

 

“What’s that? A good news, I guess...?” Luhan asked while spreading chocolate jam on his bread.

 

“Well, the boys did cheer happily when I told them.” Yixing paused, glancing at Chanyeol sitting beside Luhan with a smile plastered on his face.

 

“So, my friend is going to open a cafe not too far from our university, and he wants us to be one of the bands to perform regularly there. What do you say?”

 

Luhan stopped what he was doing. There was silence, and Yixing was nervous. Even Chanyeol had lifted his head to look at his hyung, waiting for his response.

 

“Perform. Regularly?” Luhan finally spoke. He looked stunned though, head tilted a little to scrutinize Yixing’s face.

 

“Yeah. Like twice or three times a week. On a small...”

 

“That’s... cool!” Luhan's whisper cut Yixing’s next information. “Wait, you’re serious, right?” squinted eyes directed him.

 

“Of course!”

 

He widened his eyes at his friend, then he beamed. Yixing couldn’t help but smiled back wider, happy that all his band mates seemed to agree to take the opportunity.

 

“That’s cool, Yixing!” Luhan screamed excitedly. Both hands were fisted on the table.“This is... awesome! I have been wanting us to perform in front of people you know, and this offer is coming, it’s just...” Luhan faltered. Mouth agape, searching for the best word. He looked at Chanyeol who was looking back at him with anticipation.

 

“I can’t exlpain what I feel...” Luhan gave up. He looked blank for a second, but his smile came back right after.The other two laughed at him.

 

“I know right. I was really happy too when he offered us this chance.”

 

“God, finally. That’s... a very nice thing!” Luhan looked like he just saw a picture of a brighter future.

 

“It really is.” Yixing chuckled at his friend’s overwhelmed state.“Anyway, where did you go after your soccer practice yesterday? You could have watched Sehun and Jongin’s crazy little celebration upon hearing the news you know. They were screaming like some crazed fangirls about to meet their idols.” Yixing asked as he proceeded to the sink to wash the dishes.

 

“Oh..” Luhan halted. “I... was visiting a friend.” He answered, then took a bite of his toast again.

 

“A friend, indeed…” Chanyeol who didn’t say anything a while ago lowly and offhandedly snickered, a knowing look on his face. However, neither he nor Yixing noticed the gloom that crept on the tlatter’s formerly happy face.

 

***

 

Luhan pulled his parachute jacket closer around his body. It was six in the afternoon, and he was walking home from a soccer match he just had with his soccer buddies. It was a longer route back home, but he always went that way nonetheless. Because there was someone he always wanted to meet, or see at least.

 

Luhan walked leisurely on the quiet street, enjoying the sereneness that autumn gave. Some brown and yellow leaves scattered on the asphalt, cracking a crispy sound under the boy's shoes. After fifteen minutes, he stopped in front of a high stone fence of a big house. He was not going to come in to that house. He just stood there at the outside, throwing his gaze to the other house accross instead.

 

The house was not very big. It had a nice small garden and a low wooden fence. In front of the house, Luhan could see a girl sitting on the floor, head bent low.

 

Luhan never meant to be a stalker, but seeing this pale-skinned girl was a habit he couldn’t help to build and the one he couldn’t seem to stop since more than a year ago. He wouldn’t approach though. He just stood there, watching.

 

Today, he saw her writing, or drawing, on the tiles. Some strands of her hair fell, covering her face. She seemed to be very absorbed in what she was doing that Luhan thought she would never look up. He never lost his patience though. Neither did he ever feel disappointed. He just kept standing there, waiting.

 

After several minutes that Luhan never counted, the girl finally lifted her head. Luhan’s breath stopped. He saw her. He saw the face he always came there for. And just like every other day, his heart fell, both in love and pain. She didn’t smile. For the hundredths time he came there, she didn’t smile. For the hundreths time he came there, his hope crashed.

 

Where is it gone?

 

***

 

The hand of clock was ticking, and at that time, Jongin and Sehun had finished dressing up and walked out from their shared room with confident smile on their faces. Chanyeol and Yixing looked at them understandingly. The change of atmosphere pulled Luhan back from his reverie. He looked at Yixing, and promptly followed the boy’s fixed gaze.

 

“So, what did you make for your handsome dongsaengs on their first day in university, hyungs?” Jongin asked a little too confidently, making the older three scoff in disbelief.

 

Both of the youngest approached. But eyes suddenly turned wide when they saw the neat, almost empty table.

 

Luhan, who was sitting beside Sehun patted the back of the lanky boy.

 

“Hyuung...” Sehun was about to whine in protest when Chanyeol got up from his seat.

 

“Luhan and Yixing hyungs, I might come home late today cuz dad wants me to meet him. So, see guys again in the evening..?” The dark brown haired male raised his right hand at his friends, playing with the key of his car around his index finger afterward. He then casually walked to the front door, ignoring his other two younger friends’ crying faces, leaving them with no choice but to grab two slices of bread to fill their empty stomach.

 

Jongin and Sehun rushed their steps behind Chanyeol, grumbling almost inaudibly about something like heartless hyung and do I even bring money to buy anything. A second later, Chanyeol’s car whizzed out, leaving the gerage. Yixing laughed heartily while Luhan gulped down his remaining orange juice with a troubled heart.

 

***

 

11.13

 

It was later that day when Luhan found himself exited from a plaza, hands sunk in his night blue jacket pocket. The sky was equally dark at every direction, and the wind blew rather strongly. He had just submitted his application letter to a magazine publisher located on the 3^rd floor of the office complex. As a fresh graduate from journalism major, it had always been his dream to work as an editor. He really hoped people there would see him as a potential person, and that they would give him a chance to do some interview.

 

Droplets of rain started to fall when Luhan was walking on the sidewalk. Some of the tiny beads reached him and quickly disappeared into the fabric of his jacket. He kept his head low to avoid the water, hastening his steps while praying that it wouldn’t pour until he reaches a cozy place for him to take a shelter.

 

It was a good thing that Luhan spotted a café. He sprinted there, opened the door, and went to the empty line in front of the cashier. He looked at the list menu and decided to order for a cup of latte and a cinnamon roll. Looking around to enjoy the nice interior, he caught some waitress looking at him while whispering with each other, shy smile on their faces. Luhan immediately ducked his head, never enjoying such attention. He was glad when his order came. He paid for the drink and pastry and went to the farthest corner.

 

It was pouring rather heavily at the moment Luhan put his tray on the square wooden table and rest his body on the chair. He took the first sip of his coffee. Water streaming down the glass wall on his right blurred out the view to the outside of café, much to his boredom. He checked his phone for any notification, but he put it back when he found none.

 

There were not many customers in the cafe, Luhan noticed. There was a man, looking like a business man, sitting near the cashier, doing something with his tablet. There was a couple, still wearing their school uniform, talking and sometimes giggling. There was also a mom with her little daughter sitting accross each near two tables from where he was.

 

Luhan paid his attention to the adorable girl. She seemed like not older than five years old. She was eating her cake happily while talking with her mother animatedly, too cute in Luhan’s eyes. When some crumbs and cream was left on her lips and cheeks, her mother wiped them off with a napkin, and the girl grinned. And Luhan’s dazed. She smiled...

 

***

 

Luhan was on his way to Chanyeol’s house. Last week, after the celebration of their university’s 50th anniversary, on which they got a very great response for their acoustic performance, this good friend of his had asked him and Yixing a surprising offer.

 

Why don’t you guys moving in with me? the tall boy spoke. Luhan and Yixing could only look at each other, blinking at the question, as if their friend had just asked them in Kenyan.

 

I live alone you know, it feels so empty sometimes, a childish sad face appeared on his face. He never knew that had given the two goose bumps instead of feeling of empathy. But...

 

Moreover, you won’t need to pay for rent, just like that, and finally, the Chinese transferees are allured.

 

Now, there he was. On a very bright summer day, with a weighty bag on his back, Luhan was walking and looking around the foreign neighborhood. In his hand was a crumpled piece of paper, damp from his sweaty palm. He was alone because Yixing had decided to spend his holiday with his family back in China. He remembered the horror that he felt when he imagined he would have to move to The Kind-Hearted Creeper’s house alone. Yes, they had been good friends, but who could guarantee his safety during his stay? They were not that close afterall. Yixing assured him that it’s just his paranoia, that Chanyeol was just a nice kid, and he was genuine. No, he wouldn’t tiptoe to your room while you’re sleeping. That, is what Yixing was not really sure himself, but he didn’t voice it out. In the end, somehow Yixing’s assurance seemed to calm Luhan’s nerve. He just needed to survive until the end of summer break, right? Then Yixing would come back and save him… No. They would just live together there and prove that they had been giving Chanyeol a terrible preconception. Maybe they would have to apologize too.

 

Luhan kept walking the empty, elevating street. After some houses, he would look at the ugly sheet again and again, trying to match the number written on it and the ones carved on the fences. He looked frustrated. Where in the hell is this giant’s house?

 

He took a stop at a shady area under a big tree, breathless. He bent his body down and rested his arm on his knees. That’s it. He’d call him. He got up, and while resting his body on a wall, he took out his phone from his pocket, punching on the buttons to find Chanyeol’s number.

 

“Ya, Chanyeol. Where the hell is your house? Did you write your address right? I have been walking around this block and I can’t find your damn house, now fetch me!” Luhan blurted out at the second Chanyeol picked up the line.

 

He was sweeping the beads of sweat on his forhead when he heard a creak from accross where he was standing. He averted his gaze and saw the fence of the house was opened. He was about to stride there, thinking that it was apparently Chanyeol’s house and he was coming out for him, but he was wrong. Instead of a gigantic height, he saw a shorter figure jogged to a mailbox and took the contents.

 

A girl. She stood there under the raging sun, fumbling with letters and postcards in her hands. Luhan looked closelyat her, taking note on how the length of her black hair stopped just slightly past her shoulder and how her forhead furrowed but then a smile slowly formed on her lips when she seemed to find what she was looking for. He swore that he also noticed the dilating eyes albeit just for a second.  He was recording the picture before his eyes and recorded it in his brain, about how the girl’s smile spread wider on her face and cheery giggling come out of as she jumped a little and kept the letters closer to her chest. And just like a very short film, she rushed again into her house. Cut.

 

Luhan was petrified.

 

He was too far out of the world to hear his friend calling his name.

 

“Ya, Chanyeol..” He finally spoke quietly to the receiver. “Where is your house? I think I’m lost.”

 

***

 

Luhan blinked his eyes when he came back to his senses. The little girl was waving her hand at him, as if greeting a friend, eyes narrowed from the smile. His eyes widened in surprise, but he immediately waved back at her, smiling just as wide.

 

Luhan felt like his whole body was energized. His heart beat fast and steadily in excitement. It was as if he just woke up from a long slumber and now he realized he had always been wanting to do something. He wouldn’t wait anymore. He would certainly make it.

 

The whole world smile, so why don’t you?

 

---

 

Word count: 2879

Does this chapter confuse you, guys? I hope not...

But if it does, I'll try to make make it clearer in the next chapter yang entah kapan akan dipost suka-suka saya. Dor!