♥

Sehun looked at his watch for the umpteenth time that day to make sure he wasn’t late in getting to ‘Maldo’ for the “date” he had with Luhan. It was half an hour before their planned meet, but Sehun had been waiting anxiously in front of the store for fifteen minutes. He started thinking about how the day was going to go and began smiling to himself and quietly laughing at the ground.

“Sehun!” yelled someone from across the street and Sehun looked up from his daydreaming to see a frantically waving Luhan, who smiled after getting his attention. Luhan looked to his right and left and ran lightly across the street towards Sehun.

“Did you wait long? I’m sorry. I thought I left early but I guess I didn’t since you’re here already,” Luhan said with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

“Oh no. I just got here too. Don’t worry about it,” Sehun lied, not wanting to show how eager he actually was. He gave a soft smile to Luhan, hoping that his lie was convincing.

Luhan smiled back and asked if the pain from before had finally dissipated. Sehun said that there was only little pain and the bruise was healing just fine, making Luhan feel relieved that it wasn’t a serious injury.

Sehun was impressed at how good Luhan looked outside of his school uniform and complimented him on his clothes and appearance, making Luhan blush and feel good after spending a longer time in the morning in choosing what to wear and fixing his hair. Luhan complimented Sehun as well, saying that he looked cute with the beanie he was wearing to which Sehun smiled and patted his beanie playfully.

They started walking towards ‘Maldo’ and went up to the cashier. Luhan asked for some bubble tea before turning to Sehun to see what he wanted. Sehun asked for the same drink as Luhan as he never had bubble tea before.

“You’ve never had this before?” Luhan asked in disbelief, not convinced that someone has never had bubble tea in their life.

“Nope,” Sehun said while critically analyzing his drink like a kid with a new toy.

“I find that so weird,” Luhan stated, taking a sip of his drink while walking side by side with Sehun towards the nearby shopping mall. He stared at Sehun, who was still shaking his drink and staring at it rather than drinking it. Luhan looked at Sehun with eyes nudging him to drink up, and Sehun finally took a big sip of his bubble tea. Sehun was surprised with the tastiness of it and Luhan felt proud for introducing something delicious to Sehun. 

Sehun

The mall was not far, but the quiet walk on the way, disregarding the bustling streets, was hard for Sehun to bear as he was contemplating whether or not to take Luhan’s hand into his. He kept peeping to the empty space between his fingers and Luhan’s, petrified over the thought of being rejected by such a wonderful person if he were to try bridging the gap between them, even over something as small as holding hands.

“Is everything okay?” Luhan asked, snapping Sehun back to meet his eyes and captivating Sehun with that doe-like gaze of his.

“Everything’s fine,” Sehun said and smiled before turning his gaze back to the pavement in front of him.

Sehun kept contemplating over holding hands with Luhan, and by the time he reached a decision, they were already at the entrance of the mall causing Sehun to sigh and feel disappointed but perked up as he still had the rest of the day with Luhan to look forward to. Luhan wanted to go to a toy store to buy a present as his cousin’s birthday was coming soon, so they decided to head towards the store on the first floor that sold quirky toys and dolls. Luhan and Sehun entered the store and Luhan was instantly engrossed in all the cute toys that were on display. Sehun smiled to himself after seeing such an interesting side to Luhan who loved toys, and thought of how cute Luhan would act if he were to buy him a toy.

After a few minutes of looking around, Luhan took an interest in a classic Rubik’s Cube and began twisting and turning it to match the colors, totally engrossed in figuring out the little puzzle, oblivious to Sehun who was watching him.

“You should buy it,” Sehun said, finally getting Luhan’s attention.

“Maybe some other time,” Luhan said and put the Rubik’s cube down, “I’m gonna go pay for this and we can go have some fun at the arcade.”

Luhan walked off to the cashier and got in line to pay for a little toy car he bought while Sehun looked and played around with the Rubik’s Cube Luhan was playing with before. Sehun got interrupted by one of the store workers who asked if he wanted to buy the Rubik’s Cube. Sehun chirped up at the idea of giving it to Luhan who seemed to like the little puzzle toy and asked the worker if he could just pay for it right then and there as he wanted it to be a surprise for Luhan. The store worker understood and accepted the cash Sehun gave, allowing Sehun to hide the toy in his backpack.

Luhan came back to where Sehun was standing and took his hand and told him that they should go to the arcade to have some fun

Luhan

‘Okay. I can do this. Just act like it’s a natural thing to do,’ Luhan thought as he walked over to Sehun who was looking at the shelf with the different types of Rubik’s Cubes. As he got closer, he took a deep breath and slipped his hand into Sehun’s catching his attention immediately.

“Let’s go to the arcade now. I want to play some shooting games,” Luhan said, as confident and natural as he could even with the sudden rise in his heart rate.

Sehun stared at his hand for a while before replying, “Uh, sure. Let’s go,” and tightened his hold on Luhan’s hand, making Luhan’s face get hotter from just a little contact with Sehun.

They took their time in walking to the arcade, not saying a word but Luhan felt both nervous and ecstatic over the fact that he was holding hands with Sehun. He wished the arcade was a little further just so he could feel Sehun’s warm hand for a while longer. 

They reached the arcade, forcing them to awkwardly let go of each other’s hands when Sehun went to get some arcade tokens, making Luhan feel embarrassed and he stared at the floor to cool down from the heat rushing to his face until Sehun came back.  They made their way to one of the shooting game machines where Sehun and Luhan had a competition to see who was the better shot. Sehun won by a landslide, making Luhan sulk as he enjoys playing games more than Sehun but still ended up losing. Sehun laughed at Luhan’s childishness and they had a rematch of which Sehun won again.

“Ahh, I can’t win against you. How are you so good at this? You play here everyday, don’t you?” Luhan teased, of which Sehun laughed at.

“Do you… want me to show you how it’s done?” Sehun asked with a cheeky smile, and he made his way behind Luhan, positioning himself to direct Luhan’s movements.

Luhan suddenly felt tense from how close Sehun was to his back and became incredibly aware of everything Sehun was doing. Sehun’s arms wrapped around Luhan’s body with his arms and hands showing Luhan how to line up the arcade gun to the target on the screen and the strategy Sehun used to accumulate so many points in the game. Sehun’s body was pressed extra close to Luhan’s back, which was more intense than Luhan could handle and he ended up quickly turning around to face the boy who was doing this to him.

Sehun

The sound from the game machines in the arcade were incredibly loud with electronic beeping noises and music, but all Sehun heard was the loud and steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

“Yah… You… really know how to make someone embarrassed,” Luhan said slowly, looking straight into Sehun’s eyes showing Sehun how big and beautiful Luhan’s eyes and face was.

Sehun was speechless as all he could do was stay still and look at those big brown eyes anticipating the inevitable. Luhan tip-toed to meet Sehun’s face, steadying himself by resting his hands on Sehun’s broad shoulders. Luhan inched closer to Sehun’s face, closing his eyes before gently placing his lips on Sehun’s. Sehun’s eyes were wide open as he couldn’t believe this was happening, and he lost all the strength in his arms causing him to drop the arcade gun he was holding.

Luhan

Luhan pulled away from Sehun reluctantly and opened his eyes, feeling incredibly satisfied with himself for being so bold, but was surprised to see a wide-eyed Sehun who had a confused look on his face. Luhan became tense thinking he read the atmosphere wrong and thought of someway to salvage the situation he was in.

Luhan laughed and said, “Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away with… everything,” and felt a sudden lump in his throat, thinking that maybe Sehun didn’t think about the same things he did.

“I… didn’t mean to do stuff you didn’t like and you know… I just… I mean… I just thought that this was—“ Luhan started saying before being cut off by a sudden hug from Sehun.

“I liked it. I really liked it. Don’t say you didn’t mean it cause… I really liked it,” Sehun said, causing Luhan to feel his chest tighten and reciprocated Sehun’s hug by wrapping his own arms around Sehun, silently confirming their feelings for one another. 

“I think you should let go now,” Luhan said, wary of all the stares he and Sehun were getting from patrons of the arcade.

“Oh, sorry,” Sehun said, abruptly separating from Luhan, feeling a little embarrassed from getting carried away with hugging him.

Sehun cleared his throat and shyly asked Luhan if he wanted to go anywhere else. Luhan said that they should get something to eat as he was hungry but was to shy to make eye contact with Sehun when he said it as his mind kept replaying the kiss and the hug they shared making his insides all full and giddy. Sehun agreed and awkwardly walked besides Luhan to a nearby restaurant where they had ate their food with a conversation that consisted of shy smiles and secret stares. Luhan ate a little slower than Sehun, allowing Sehun to use that time to give the Rubik’s Cube he bought earlier to Luhan, hoping that it would loosen up the tense atmosphere he and Luhan had. Sehun took the toy out of his backpack and placed it in front of Luhan who looked at it in surprise.

“Oh, you bought it?” Luhan asked.

“Yeah. You seemed to like it a lot just then in the store so, I thought I should get it for you to commemorate today’s… uh… outing,” Sehun said, fumbling over his words.

Luhan was surprised at Sehun’s gesture and cleared his throat before thanking Sehun for the gift. Although Sehun had hoped the situation would change, it remained unchanged and quiet causing much stress to Sehun. They paid the restaurant bill and decided to go elsewhere.

As they had run out of money to spend, Luhan and Sehun decided to walk to the nearby park to relax and wind down from the hectic shopping mall crowd. As they strolled past trees and flowers, Sehun wondered how he could make the air between him and Luhan less awkward. Time passed by and they came to a secluded area of the park where Sehun finally thought of how to start off his apology.

“I—“ both Luhan and Sehun started, and they both laughed, asking each other to go ahead, finally settling down on Sehun starting first.

“I’m sorry if my reaction to… you know… was a little off. I was just a little surprised and my senses sort of… died, I guess,” Sehun said, feeling stupid for giving such a reason to someone who laid out his feelings the way Luhan did in the arcade.

“It’s okay. I was too blunt and in a rush. I should’ve just… waited a while longer,” Luhan said, looking at Sehun and smiling softly to show he understood Sehun’s feelings.

Sehun thought about Luhan’s words before saying, “a while longer? So, you were planning to kiss me today?”

To this, Luhan was surprised at Sehun’s cheeky remark and shifted his gaze away to hide the embarrassment on his face. He started walking a little quicker before Sehun grabbed his left hand and pulled him back.

“Don’t walk so fast. I’m not completely healed,” Sehun said looking straight down to Luhan who was still avoiding Sehun’s eyes.

“Hey, look at me,” Sehun pleaded, but Luhan was too embarrassed after being called out on the kiss he initiated before. Sehun smirked to himself and put the tips of his fingers on Luhan’s chin and gently shifted his face to meet his.

“If I kiss you, will you run away?” Sehun asked, and smirked before leaning in and kissing Luhan gently, catching him off guard at first but started kissing Sehun back in that little part of the park hidden away by the trees and flowers, who were the witnesses to the start of their time together. 

♥