Chapter Sixteen

School Days

You shoved the red and gold striped tie against Luhan’s chest, “Did you leave that in there on purpose?” You accused, narrowing your eyes at him in suspicion. “My dad knows that only the boys wear ties at this school!”

The two of you were currently huddled close together behind the school’s cafeteria, an area that was usually secluded in the mornings, speaking in only rushed whispers, looking extremely suspicious. 

You had only just narrowly escaped your father’s wrath with the quick little lie you told about spilling your coffee on a male classmate of yours so you kindly offered to wash it at home and return it tomorrow. I’m still shocked he fell for it.

“I didn’t leave it there on purpose.” Luhan chuckled at you in your ‘stealth mode’, watching you as you looked around nervously. “Why are you so paranoid?” He asked with his voice filled with humour, not letting you answer as he leaned in with a smirk, “Afraid someone will find out about the dirty things you did with me last night?”

You hit his arm while rolling your eyes. “There’s nothing dirty about sleeping next someone, I just don’t want people to get the wrong idea…And hey!” You snapped your fingers as you remembered something. “Why were you ?!” Your voice was a little bit too loud as several curious heads turned to face you and Luhan.

Luhan laughed and leaned back against the walls with his hands behind his head, “It’s comfortable like that.” He stated simply, “You should try it sometime.”

You rolled your eyes, opening your mouth to give a snarky retort but ultimately closed it when someone spoke over you.

“I can agree with that, Luhan.” Chen said, emerging from the side of the cafeteria with Lay and Sehun at his side, “ is comfortable, especially if it’s with someone as cute as Saerom.” He leaned around Luhan to give you a wink.

Your cheeks tinted pink with embarrassment as your eyes met with Lay, ignoring Chen, you gave him a small smile which slowly faded once you saw the anger he held in his eyes. You followed his gaze to find that he was glaring at Luhan, who was oblivious to the whole thing.

Luhan sniggered and slung an arm around your shoulder, “Oh, yeah,” He agreed, “Being with Saerom is the best.”

“Ugh,” You slapped his arm away from your shoulder and rolled your eyes, immune to his erted slander, “Being around you fully clothed is bad enough.” You muttered, “I’m going to class. See you all at lunch.” You waved to them all and gave Lay another smile.

Luhan frowned at how easily you disregarded his comment and caught that little smile you were giving Lay. He looked at Lay and was surprised to see that his friend was glaring at him, “What’s up with you?”

Lay narrowed his eyes, “I could say the same for you.”

Chen looked from Lay to Luhan, feeling confused at the sudden tense atmosphere the two had created. He nudged Sehun’s side, “We should go?” He asked, unsure. Sehun sighed and nodded, leading Chen away to where they had class next, “See you guys later.” He muttered.

Luhan scoffed, not paying attention to Chen or Sehun, his was too focused on Lay, offended by his sudden anger, “Alright, what’s up your ?”

With a clenched fist Lay walked up to Luhan to get right up in his face, “What’s going on between you and Saerom?”

Luhan raised an eyebrow, “Seriously? You’re still mad?”

Suddenly, Lay grabbed Luhan by the collar of his white school shirt, “You knew I liked her before you asked her out to that stupid dance!” He hissed, “What was the talk about you being with her?” Lay swallowed as his hands shook nervously around Luhan’s shirt, “Did you…Did you sleep with her?” He asked quietly.

Luhan was surprised by Lay’s outburst and knew not to take it lightly. Lay was a kind and gentle person who barely even raised his voice. He sighed and removed Lay’s grip from his shirt. This is stupid. “I slept next to her, nothing happened and I wasn’t .” Luhan rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, “I have no special feelings for her.”

Lay sighed in what could only be described as relief, “Don’t mess this up for me.” He looked up to Luhan with determination and seriousness in his eyes, traits which he usually lacked, “I’m not going to lose her to you.”

Luhan narrowed his eyes in the slightest, angry with what he said but he didn’t exactly know why. “I’m not losing her if I didn’t have her in the first place, she doesn't mean anything to me.” He heaved a sigh and took a glance at his wrist watch, not giving Lay the time to reply. “I’m going to go to class, talk to you later. Oh and,” Luhan stopped in his tracks, “Drop the bad boy act. It doesn’t suit you.”

Saerom – In English class

Your mouth hung open in shock as Mina was at the front of the class giving her speech on cultural differences in crisp, fluent English. You tapped Eunhee, who was sitting next to you, and jabbed a pencil towards Mina’s direction, “Since when could she speak English?” you asked, dumfounded.

Eunhee looked up from her sports magazine, “Oh, she grew up in Australia.” She stated with a matter-of-fact tone.

Your eyes widened, “And she speaks mandarin, too?!”

Eunhee shrugged dismissively, turning back to her magazine, “Her best friend was Chinese and taught her.” She trailed off with a frown, “I think. Something like that.”

“Ehh~” You sighed in envy a