Malibu, CA

They are on I-15, enroute to LA when Yixing gets the call. He is on his back in the back seat of Kris' Cayenne, head in Lu Han's lap when his phone rings. He sits up so fast that he almost smashes into Lu Han's nose.

"Hello?" he answers with mild trepidation.

"Is this Mr. Zhang Yixing?" a brisk female voice asks.

"Yes," he replies, closing his eyes. It's the dance company. This is it.

There is a pregnant pause, which feels like the longest few seconds of Yixing's life.

"On behalf of EXO entertainment, I would like to congratulate you on your successful audition. I welcome you as one of the four new members chosen to join the company through this audition cycle. I will be sending an email with some information to the address you provided with your registration. I see that you are from New York, Mr. Zhang. Are you back? Or still in Las Vegas?"

Yixing looks up to find three pairs of eyes on him. Even Kris, who is driving, has his eyes on Yixing in the rearview mirror.

"I'm actually headed to Los Angeles, ma'am," he answers, voice breaking.

At that, the woman cheers up. "Perfect," she says. "We would like you to come into our company to look over a contract in three days time. The information will all be in that email. Any questions?"

Yixing only has one. "Ma'am, I auditioned with a friend, and I was wondering if - Kim Jongin?"

The woman sighs. "I'm not supposed to divulge this information, but I suspect you'll be getting a call from your friend in about five minutes anyway. Please just let me break the good news to him first."

Good news? That must mean -

"Thank you so much," Yixing gushes.

When he hangs up the phone, three pairs of eyes are still watching him expectantly.

"I made it!" Yixing exclaims, reaching forward to high-five Tao.

Kris lets out a bated breath. "I'm so proud of you, Yixing. Dancing has always been your dream and I'm glad you're doing this."

"Congratulations," Lu Han adds, looking away. Outside, there is only desert and blue, cloudless sky.

Something with his tone is very, very wrong.

"Han?"

"So you're going to stay in LA and leave me in New York? Now? Right after we - "

Yixing does not need him to finish his sentence.

The rest of the drive is silent so Kris turns on the radio to make things less awkward. The station plays music that none of them likes, but no one speaks up. Yixing is just glad that Lu Han still has his hands in his hair. That must be a good sign. Although he is not sure how Lu Han feels, he knows that he, for one, does not want to let whatever they have between them go so soon.

"Where are we staying?" Kris asks as they start seeing signs for Los Angeles up ahead.

Lu Han makes to get up and Yixing begrudging sits up. "Did you forget that we bought a place in Carbon Beach last summer?" he says, reaching for the GPS. "Parents spent 4.5 million on a beach house to use a month per year because mom was tired of the Hamptons. Anyway, no one is there now."

"Isn't that in Malibu?" Kris asks. "What about LA?"

"We can go back later," Tao decides. "I want to go to the beach."

After pressing the "Go" button, Lu Han leans back in his seat. Yixing wants to put his head back down on Lu Han's lap, but something about Lu Han's stiff body position tells him that he shouldn't.

The beach house that the Lu's had bought was a monstrosity with 100 feet of beach access.

"Yo this is pretty sweet," Kris whistles as they move through the dining room that looks out at the water through thick glass. Tao has already thrown his shirt aside, focused solely on the sand and the ocean.

As Yixing makes to follow, Lu Han pulls him back by the hand. He stays silent as the other two head out onto the beach, looking down at his feet as the glass door closes with a soft click. Yixing can feel his heart beating heavily against his chest in dread. Is this going to be the part where Lu Han turns away?

"I can transfer after a semester," Lu Han says finally. "I don't even like NYU that much anyway, and the UC schools have good business programs as well. If I'm at Berkeley, we can at least see each other on weekends and UCLA has a decent business school too."

"You'd do that for me?" Yixing breathes, catching Lu Han's chin between his fingers and forcing him to look up.

"I love you," Lu Han says, voice full of confidence. "I want us to be together, Yixing."

For once, Lu Han's eyes are unguarded as he nods and Yixing reads him like an open book, full of hope, anticipation, and want.

Yixing's breath catches in his throat. "Okay," he says, getting lost in Lu Han's eyes.

Together, they join Tao and Kris on the beach, hand in hand. The future has never looked so bright.

[A/N]: /barfs/

Well, we're done. Annie's moving into college for the first time today (my baby ;___;) and Exie's going back to college on Sunday. We hope you liked our summery story~