That afternoon, the group was sitting at the lobby of their company building. Well, it wasn’t exactly a lobby because it was just a couple of chairs and a sofa meant for visitors to use when waiting.

Yixing was resting his head on the sofa while wearing his earphones. Sehun and Luhan were browsing through a brochure of a restaurant. Chen and Chanyeol were watching the people that walk by them, occasionally commenting on their clothes or their personality based on what they wore.

“So guys, Sehun and I were wondering…” Luhan randomly said, getting the attention of the others.

“If you don’t have anything to do today, we’re planning to go to this new Japanese restaurant tonight,” Sehun said as he showed the brochure he was holding.

“New restaurant?” Chanyeol asked, eyes still wandering among the strangers walking.

“Yeah! It’s near the studio where we had our photo shoot last week. I saw the sign when we were leaving and thought that we should give it a try!”

“Sehun originally wanted to just go with me, but then I said that it was quite a while since we last ate together so…” Luhan added.

“Sure! I love trying new places!”

“Great! What about you, Chen-hyung?”

“Will you guys pay?”

“No,” Luhan answered quickly.

“Then why did you invite?” Chen asked with a smile.

“Oh cmon! Don’t you miss eating dinner together?”

“I see you guys everyday! It’s not like we live in different cities…”

“Now that’s just mean. I can’t believe I’m best friends with you.”

“Haha! Just kidding; I’ll go.”

“HURRAY!” Sehun exclaimed. “The place looks nice! And the brochure said that they have this moving serving thing where you just grab the moving plates!”

“What about you, Yixing?” Luhan asked as he tapped Yixing’s shoulder.

“Huh?” Yixing replied as he sat up properly and removed one earphone.

“Restaurant. New. Eat with us,” he explained briefly.

“Later? Now?”

“Yeah. You and Yifan can just come with us instead of eating separately. For a change.”

“You know I told him that I’m avoiding spending money…”

“Pfft. It’s just once; it won’t hurt.”

“I don’t know…” Yixing hesitated. He did want to go because it had been quite a while since they ate together; things had been quite hectic because of the campaign the company is promoting. It’ll be a good moment to relax.

“Excuse me…” someone said as he approached the group, catching the attention of the group.

“Why do you sound so scared?” Chanyeol asked, noting the soft tone of the voice.

“Oh no! It’s not that…”

“Suho!” Yixing greeted happily as he stood up and approached the other.

“Hi!” Suho greeted back. “I was just on my way out and saw you and…”

“Suho?” Luhan asked loudly.

“Oh right,” Yixing said. “Guys, this is Suho. He’s a new model here. I took his evaluation shoot this morning and he told me that it’ll be nice if he made friends here so I told him that -“

“GREAT! A NEW FRIEND!” Sehun shouted happily as he stood and reached out his hand.

“My name is Sehun. You’re probably my hyung…” he said. “So before anything else, let me just make it clear that the person over there, he’s mine okay? Meaning, hands off.”

“Oh… oh? I would never… I won’t, I mean…” Suho was flustered by how blunt and open Sehun was.

“You don’t have to threaten him…” Luhan commented. “Hi, I’m Luhan, the oldest person here,” he greeted with a smile.

“This one is Chanyeol and the other one is Chen,” Yixing said with which the two responded by greeting politely. “You probably know Sehun and Chanyeol since you’re all models…”

“I’ve seen a few pictures of them in the company’s magazines…”

“We look handsome, right?” Chanyeol asked.

Meanwhile, a tall pretty woman approached the receptionist.

“Hi, I’m looking for Yifan…” she said.

“May I ask what it is for, maam?” the receptionist asked politely.

“We were supposed to meet here…”

“Oh? Then let me try to reach him. Please wait a while.”

“Great! Thank you.”

The woman was indeed beautiful. She had long straight hair and smooth white skin. And even though she was just wearing a plain white shirt and fitted jeans, she looked amazing. She has bright smile and eyes; a model, definitely, in all aspects.

“I’m sorry maam,” the receptionist said. “No one is answering the phone. And I can’t really assure you that Mr. Yifan is in because models are usually out for a shoot…”

“Oh, is that so? Then, do you mind if I just wait a while just to see if he shows up?”

“I can’t guarantee that he’ll show up though…”

“That’s okay! I’ll just wait for a while.”

“Well then you can sit over there, maam. If someone calls from their office, I’ll inform you immediately.”

“That’ll be great, thank you!”

“Oh, so you’re older than all of us… except for Luhan-hyung that is,” Chanyeol noted.

“It doesn’t really look like it; Chen-hyung looks waaay older,” Sehun said, earning a punch on the shoulder from Chen.

“I… try my best to take care of my skin, that’s all…” Suho replied.

“So, ‘Suho-hyung’ it is!” Chanyeol announced.

“And to think he called me ‘sir’ this morning…” Yixing added.

“Oh no, you’re all way too much of a senior in this company, I couldn’t -“

“Pfft. We’re friends now so we have to call you ‘hyung’,” Sehun added.

“Isn’t it kind of too soon??” Suho was hesitant. He did enter the building this morning with everyone being a complete stranger and being a lot more experienced in the field.

“It’s fine. We’ll all feel awkward if you call us all ‘sirs’,” Yixing said with a smile.

“OH! THERE’S YIFAN-HYUNG!” Chanyeol shouted. “And oohhh, hot girl over there.”

“Isn’t that…?” Sehun said as they all looked towards the direction Chanyeol pointed at.

Yifan was standing in front of a chair where the beautiful woman sat. The two seemed to be happily talking as the girl was smiling brightly. People who were passing by can’t help but take a second look at the couple because they looked so perfect together. Both were attractive, both looked like they had a good personality, and both looked like they really care about each other. Definitely, a relationship any person would be envious of.

“Isn’t that his girlfriend?” Luhan asked Yixing, with which the other just responded with a nod.

“I didn’t know he had a girlfriend…” Suho said softly.

“Oh, you know Yifan?” Yixing asked.

“Of course! I want to be as famous as him some day…”

“Haha! He isn’t THAT famous yet…”

“Still… and he even has a great girl. I’m envious.”

“A great girl?”

“Yeah. Don’t they look great together?” Suho asked Yixing.

Yixing knew what the answer was, of course. Yixing was well aware how other people view Yifan and his girlfriend. He also knew that those two go well with one another; how the girl can control Yifan’s attitude, how Yifan knows everything about the girl, how the girl takes good care of Yifan - Yixing knew them all.

“Yeah. They do…” Yixing responded softly with a smile. “It’s the kind of relationship that you would want to never end…” he added.

“I know! Haha! I bet everyone is envious…”

Yixing didn’t respond further. “You have no idea…” he thought. Now, after weeks of playing along with his feelings, he was more than just envious. How he wanted to be that beautiful girl. How he wanted to be the person standing beside Yifan, smiling happily. How he wanted to be the person that Yifan knows everything about. How he wanted other people to be happy when they see him and Yifan together. No one could possibly understand how much… But Yixing kept it in. He knew this situation existed. He knew that he was just really supposed to be “crushing harmlessly”. He knew he was still a friend. And he knew that he promised himself that he would be okay with that. So he just let out a deep sigh and decided to place both his earphones back on.

However, before Yixing could do that, Luhan tapped his shoulder.

“Hey, c’mon. Let’s go eat now, I’ll treat you…” he said softly. The sudden change in Yixing’s facial expression cannot escape Luhan. “Let’s eat good food, okay?”

Yixing was thankful. It was a simple gesture. Without saying much and without asking questions.

And so, after Luhan said that it would be impossible to pull Yifan with them, the group decided to just go and eat by themselves. They also invited Suho to come with them since if he’s going to be their friend, might as well start now.

Chanyeol and Sehun led the group, followed by Luhan and Chen who were talking about how much they hate the girl now. Yixing and Suho were behind, with Suho asking if anything is wrong because Yixing seemed a bit down suddenly.

“Hey guys! Wait! Yixing!” Yifan called,

“Oh, hyung, you were here?” Chanyeol asked in full sarcasm. He even laughed at his own joke.

But Yifan ignored him and focused on Yixing. “Hey Xing, listen; I’m sorry but I don’t think… I can, today… Thursday… but.” Yifan had trouble explaining.

“I think we already got that, Yifan,” Chen snorted a bit.

“Really? It’s just, it’s an important thing… and…”

“It’s okay!” Yixing smiled. “It’s probably a special thing because she even went to fetch you here…” he said without looking at Yifan. Yixing was staring at the floor directly behind Yifan.

“Are you sure? I’m really sorry…”

“Yeah. It’s not a problem. It’s not like we HAVE to spend every Thursday together.”

“I guess so?? Still… I feel sorry about this…” Yifan did sound sincere.

“Nonsense. She’s your girlfriend; she goes first,” the younger said before biting his tongue inside his mouth.

“Okay, thanks… I guess?”

“Mmm.” Yixing nodded with a small smile.

Yifan walked away slowly and approached his girlfriend, while Yixing was eventually pulled away by Chen.

The group’s dinner was great. Everything they ordered turned out to be a delicious dish, and they ordered a lot. Well, “they” except for Yixing. He only had a plate of noodles and a few sushis from Luhan and Chen’s plates.

Yixing wasn’t going to lie to himself; seeing Yifan together with his girlfriend hit him. The moment hit him hard because the situation was entirely different, for him at least - despite his promise to himself, despite the days of declaring that everything will be fine, and despite the claims that what he feels isn’t really that strong. Yixing didn’t like how much a mere thirty-second glimpse of reality affected him. Still, it was reality, and Yixing knew that he was just someone pointlessly attempting to grab a bit of that reality.

Still, with heavy feelings aside, he was thankful for his friends. At least this dinner was an attempt to distract him. He liked how Chen and Luhan looked at him considerately. He was also thankful of Suho because all the conversations were about him. Chanyeol, Chen, and Sehun kept interviewing him about his life. They said it was part of the initiation stage of becoming their friend. At least no one is talking about Yifan. That is all what Yixing needed for now.

When they finished eating and left the restaurant, everyone said their goodbyes. Sehun and Luhan went together, Chanyeol and Suho walked together because they lived in the same area. Yixing was with Chen because they were going the same direction.

The walk home was mainly quiet aside from the time when Chen hummed a song softly.

“Hyung…” Chen called.

“Mmm?”

“Are you… are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You can’t fool me, hyung,” the younger responded as he raised an eyebrow.

“Is that so…?” Yixing laughed a bit.

“How is it?” Chen asked sincerely.

“It’s different from before…. Definitely.”

“But you should’ve known about the girl before…”

“I know. It’s just… I didn’t expect… it, them…”

Exhaling after hearing Yixing lose his words, Chen just decided to drop the topic. “I’m sorry… we shouldn’t have talked about it now.”

“No, it’s fine… I’m just…”

“Hyung, you know people say that it’s best to eat good food when you’re sad.” The younger said before handing the takeout food he got from the restaurant. “Here. You didn’t exactly eat a lot earlier.”

“But it’s yours!” Yixing protested.

“I’ve had it with sushi. I don’t think I can eat another one for a year…” he replied before forcing the paper bag to Yixing’s hand and waving goodbye. “My apartment is this way…. See you tomorrow, hyung!”

“I’m not really sad… I’m not supposed to be sad… I don’t have the right to be…”

These were all that circled Yixing’s mind as he went home that night. He wanted to convince himself that it’s time to stop his foolishness.

It was a series of questions and pushed convictions until he opened the door of their apartment…

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A/N: I hope this chapter ended up being written okay… -.-
                I wonder what will happen in the apartment…