One of the many problems of falling in love with Yixing was that after Lu Had had made sure the he really was in love with her, and not just a fleeting attraction born from a heat-huddled brain zeroing in on Yixing under the sun one afternoon, it became such a difficulty to actually look her in the eye. Which was ridiculous, really, considering they'd been friends--best friends, even--since forever (re: almost 4 years now) and Lu Han had never looked at her from across any room and suddenly want to kiss her.

Yixing stood outside of his door, hair tied up in a messy bun, grinning at him with the ignorance of someone who didn't know what she was doing to a person in love with her. "Hi!" she greeted. She was practically glowing with happiness--so oblivious.

It took most of Lu Han's willpower not to automatically reach out and hell, he didn't know--hold her in his arms? Because it was probably illegal to look at someone like that, to smile that bright without knowing the consequences, and say mundane greetings and expect Lu Han to actually act normal in return, as if he wasn't in love with his best friend, as if everything is--

"Ah, noona!" interrupted Sehun's voice from inside. Yixing turned to face the newcomer, a sweet smile ready. She pushed her way in as usual--only now when her upper arm connected with Lu Han's chest it left a warm print over his chest that wouldn't disappear until later--and pinched Sehun's cheeks. "Ah, wait, it hurts!"

Yixing giggled, patting Sehun's reddened cheeks fondly.

"Y-ya!" Lu Han coughed out awkwardly. Yixing looked back. Sehun gave him an infuriatingly cocky smile, but smoothed it out into an innocent one when Yixing turned to him again.

"And here I thought you weren't planning on talking," Yixing sighed. She went over to the Xbox and fiddled with the choices in Just Dance. They were playing today, and usually Lu Han's competitive side kicked in during one of the battles for a higher score, but right now he just watched, entranced, as Yixing stood up and started stretching. When she stretched, her shirt rode up a little to reveal a flash of distracting pale skin.

Lu Han cleared his throat. "Ahem," Sehun joined Yixing and together they flexed their muscles, getting ready for the game. Lu Han stood where he was by the door. "A-hem."

Yixing glanced back at him to give a confused stare. "What's wrong with you these days?"

"Yeah, hyung, what's wrong?" Sehun joined in, grinning. He wiggled his eyebrows just to annoy him further, that bastard.

"Nothing, I just--ahem." Lu Han said pathetically, moving to join them in front of the sensor. He made sure to step as far away from Yixing as possible, but of course Sehun had to push him back, making him almost lose his balance. He continued through gritted teeth, "My throat hurts, a little,"

There came a soft punch to his arm, and when he turned to look, Yixing was looking at him, proud and mocking, and said, "Doesn't mean I'd let you off the hook, though," Lu Han was staring again, unable to stop himself. "I'm gonna beat your , Lu Han,"

Lu Han gulped. Suddenly overwhelmed by his competitiveness, he reached out to flick Yixing's forehead, snorting out a laugh. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever,"

They didn't play as much as they tried to shove each other around. It was a playful, fun game. Very normal, like Lu Han wasn't in love with his best friend, like he felt nothing whenever Yixing's arm brushed against his, like the butterflies that came alive inside him were a natural occurence. Sehun picked a song for four in his turn, grinning knowingly, and minutes later Lu Han found himself on his knees, imitating the person on the screen, hand held out for Yixing's hand.

Yixing, giggling so hard her eyes turned into tiny, adorable crescents, held out her hand and Lu Han took it, bowed his head to plant a chaste kiss on top of it. He was mirroring the person on tv. He pulled back almost immediately, his nerves going haywire with the contact, making his head go fuzzy and his chest constrict.

But Yixing pulled him up--so oblivious, she was so oblivious--and they danced again, as partners, laughing together at the ridiculousness of the song, at Sehun who had no one to dance with, at the mistakes they couldn't help but make. Lu Han went along with the normalcy, basking in the feeling of temporary bliss just by being with Yixing, having her by his side. But really, all he wanted was to dance with Yixing, alone and without Sehun, and watch the red bloom on Yixing's cheeks as he leans down and place his lips on her dainty hand.
 

(ღ˘⌣˘ღ)

"So I heard," Chanmi started casually, as casually as someone who was asking about the weather would be, while Lu Han leaned over the table to get a tissue, "About your real feelings for Yixing-unnie,"

Lu Han proceeded to choke on air, pounding his chest, Kyungseol from across them giggling at the sight. Minseok offered him another tissue once he'd recovered. Lu Han glared at him, suspicious, eyebrows furrowed so low his premature wrinkles probably appeared.

Minseok raised up two hands in surrender, but he was smiling. "Don't look at me, Lu Han, I didn't say anything!"

Kyungseol tried to get Lu Han's attention. "Oppa, it's true. We got the news from Sehun,"

Lu Han groaned and hit his forehead against the tabletop. It smelled faintly dirty, but otherwise tolerable, so Lu Han really couldn't care much. He gritted his teeth, snapping a, "That jerk, I am going to kill him when I get home,"

"But he's Yixing's favorite," Minseok reminded him gently.

"I don't care,"

Chanmi gave a satisfied laugh. "So it's true!" she said cheerfully, sounding if the news amused her so much. When Lu Han straightened back, Chanmi leaned forward to pierce him with her bright, interested eyes. "So, have you told her yet?"

Lu Han ignored the question. "Who else knows?"

Kyungseol replied helpfully, deft hands working over her phone as she texted, "Well, I heard Jonghee also knows so...like most of us already?"

Lu Han face-palmed so hard his cheeks stung at the contact. When he removed them his whole face was red--from the sting or mortification, he didn't know. Maybe both. "I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Him."

"Don't worry, oppa! My lips are sealed!" Chanmi told him eagerly, head nodding so hard her curls started to cover her face. She cut her hair recently, so now it barely reached her shoulders. She wore a t-shirt so loose that made her look twice as lanky as she really was. Lu Han still found her pretty, though, with her long lashes and reddened cheeks and fair skin.

Kyungseol lifted her cup of coffee with a dainty hand, her eyes trained on her phone. Kyungseol...had a nice body; her curves were to die for, and she had a generous rack. Her body composition rivaled that of Yixing's; they were similar on more days than one, but Yixing was slimmer, taller, while Kyungseol was softer, more compact. Kyungseol had tiny shoulders and a pretty face and wide eyes that made her look innocent and amazed about everything most of the time. But Lu Han knew just how cold Kyungseol could be, if she wanted to. He'd witnessed her shift in attitude once annoyed to the point of seething silence. Annoy her and her eyes could freeze a hot spring.

Chanmi and Kyungseol: one a tall ray of sunshine, the other a delicate snowflake. Polar opposites, but they managed to be best of friends.

"--that is, if I were a boy," Chanmi was saying, "I'd totally bang Yixing-unnie. Her body is amazing! Plus, she's sweet and caring--a perfect girlfriend,"

Lu Han, who had been busy calming his nerves by drinking his ice cold frappe, choked once again. "Excuse me?" he asked, incredulous, because wow that was straightforward and totally unexpected.

Chanmi noticed his outrageous reaction and burst out laughing. "That doesn't mean I will, though!" she said, grinning wide, "Don't worry, I'm straight,"

A flinch. Lu Han stole a glance to Kyungseol, who was still busy with her phone. For a moment she looked like she was contemplating, torn between wanting to say something and keeping quiet, but the moment passed as soon as it came and she was typing once again as if nothing even happened.

"Plus, I still have my eyes on Kris-oppa,"

Chanmi's long time admiration for Kris was not new. It was like Sehun's crush on Yixing: innocent, harmless, and sadly, hopeless. Chanmi knew this, because Kris had already rejected her feelings twice, but Kris was a nice man and had always been so sweet about it, so Chanmi never really accepted the rejection and still continued making love gazes at him when he was around.

His fault, really. Kris couldn't outright reject a girl even if he wanted to, even if he didn't like her. Kris was too nice, irritatingly nice. Lu Han knew this. Lu Han knew all of this. How could he not? Especially when Yixing talked about him all the time, before. Talked about his sweet gestures and romantic advances and shocking shyness when it came to women. His surprises, his unexpected gentleness amidst his hard features.

His way of showing his love for her as well.

Lu Han shook his head, removing any traces of the past in his brain; it was not the time to reminisce, expecially not about that.

While Lu Han humored Chanmi for awhile, teasing her about Kris and how boring he was ("He's not boring!" she said, genuinely affronted), Minseok turned to Kyungseol and asked, "How's Baekhyun?"

Kyungseol put down her phone to sip at her coffee once again. "We broke up," she said, without missing a beat.

"Again?" Lu Han couldn't help but ask with disbelief.

Minseok shot him a look, siently reminding him of how he should react, but Kyungseol merely shrugged. "It's okay, oppa,"

After that Kyungseol clammed up. They took it a sign to not talk about it anymore. Everybody knew of Baekhyun and Kyungseol's on-and-off relationship. Just last month they broke up thrice, so it wasn't really a shock by now. They usually always went back together a few days after the break up, anyway. It was normal in its own way. Strange, but Lu Han had no choice but to digest it all in; relationships don't really work out nice and smoothly like in those mangas Sehun deny reading. Sometimes relationships take a turn for the worse, and then they're back on track. Sometimes they end up on a smooth road, sometimes they get lost and is never found.

After awhile, with their cups empty and Lu Han and Minseok's sweat had dried up after the soccer practice they had before going into the cafe where they bumped into Chanmi and Kyungseol, silence and calm settled around the four of them. Minseok gazed out the window, Chanmi fixed her fixed her shirt fixed her hair fixed her everything, Kyungseol kept texting, and Lu Han sat, feeling his muscles deflate, relaxing.

The silence didn't stay for long, though. Without warning, Kyungseol gasped and stood up to stand beside Lu Han, her phone shoved into his face. "Look, oppa!"

Lu Han saw a lot yellow, at first. But then he realized that that yellow belonged to a familiar face with perpetually sleepy eyes and a tiny dimple on one cheek. It was Yixing, but her hair was yellow and her fringe was cut shorter so that it didn't hide an eye anymore.

Lu Han's first thought was 'What the hell' then 'Holy ' then 'That is such an ugly color'. Minseok and Chanmi crowded around them so they could see.

"Her hair's yellow?"

"Aww man I wanted to dye my hair, too,"

Numb all over, Lu Han just continued to stare. There was nothing else he could do these days but stare. Because staring didn't account for anything, didn't need any explanation if not found out.

For a moment it got harder to breathe. Oh god, it was such a horrible hue.

But why was he still so attracted?

(ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
 

"Tao, pay attention, please," was what Lu Han heard the moment he stepped inside the dining room.

Kris and Yutao sat across each other on the table, books and notebooks scattered around them in the form of a schoolwork wreckage. Looking exaperated, Kris dropped the paper he was holding to give a wave.

"Oppa, hi!" Yutao greeted in accented Korean, her dark hair in a low ponytail. She looked the complete opposite of Kris: too eager, ready to have fun.

"I hope you're not giving Kris trouble, hm?" Lu Han asked her fondly.

"She is," Kris sighed, running a tired hand through his bleached hair.

Yutao fluttered her eyelashes cutely. "But I'm not," she said with a pout. It wasn't convincing, but the aegyo worked. Almost instantly, Kris's frown slipped off, replaced by a tired, defeated smile.

Lu Han laughed, and Kris said, "Sehun's upstairs. Do you want me to call him?"

"Oh, I'm not here for him." Lu Han replied. Before he could manage to switch tactics, to just run away because the look Kris was giving him was too much for him to bear, he continued with, "I need to talk to you about something,"

Kris nodded in understanding, looking slightly confused at the sudden need for a talk. He turned to Yutao and said, "Play with Sehun first, Lu Han and I need to talk."

"Okay!" she said happily, and then she was gone.

"What is it?" Kris implored curiously, but not suspicious--a good sign.

"It's about..." Lu Han started, trailed off, paused. Kris waited, ever the most patient among them. "It's about Yixing,"

And as soon as it left his mouth, the air shifted to form an almost tangible wall of heavy tension. When was the last time Yixing's name was mentioned between them, just among the two of them? It felt like ages ago, when in reality it had only been almost half a year, or probably more.

For a while Kris didn't speak. He silently arranged Yutao's things as Lu Han waited, fidgety, eyes down to avoid Kris's.

Eventually, Kris spoke up, "Ah, so you've finally realised you liked her?" When Lu Han looked up at the sound, he was smirking, but not unkindly. It was sad how the pretend amusement didn't reach his eyes, although Lu Han was sure he meant it in a good way, not mocking. Lu Han wanted to--wanted to tell him to stop trying to be okay about this. To stop pretending he'd moved on completely.

But there was no backing out now. "Yeah," Lu Han admitted softly, and then repeated in a louder voice, "Yeah, I am."

"I'm happy for you, then,"

"Thanks," Lu Han took a deep breath, exhaled, and then, "Is it okay?"

It showed, Kris's hesitation. He paused in whatever he was doing, and almost immediately the tension increased tenfold, making it almost suffocating. Lu Han honestly didn't want to do this confrontation, heck he shouldn't even be doing this, Kris and Yixing broke up more than half a year ago already, that was it. End of story. Lu Han didn't know if Yixing still had any lingering feelings for Kris, but he was sure about Kris. Kris who was really good at hiding his emotions didn't manage to hide his secret longing gazes when Yixing was around.

From upstairs he heard the cheerful voices of Yutao and Sehun, and all Lu Han wanted was to slink away from Kris's hard, but otherwise not mean, stare, and just hide in Sehun's closet or something.  

He was brought back to the situation when Kris gave a sigh. Kris looked like he wanted to say no, but he managed a weak, "Of course," Lu Han didn't relax yet, though. "What we had...it's all in the past now. It was nice, but people need to move on," He didn't say I need to, as well, and yet Lu Han heard it as if Kris had yelled it to his face.

A pause. "You're a great friend," Kris continued slowly, choosing his words, looking as if he was trying them out in his head. "You two would make a cute couple,"

Lu Han flinched at the words. He remembered saying the exact same thing to Kris and Yixing, more to annoy them than anything, and right then he felt betrayed, a little. Felt mocked and played with, Kris using his own words against him.

But Kris was smiling that same gentle smile. He had meant it, probably wanted to lighten up the mood--and kind of failed. Lu Han felt both like crying and laughing at the his lame attempt. A smile tugged at his lips without him realizing, and he grinned, showed Kris he was happy.

Kris grinned back, all gummy and silly and blindingly genuine. How hard, Lu Han thought, was it for him to smile like that? And, as if sensing his thoughts, Kris approached him to put a large hand on his head. "Hey, stop overthinking things."

Lu Han frowned up at him, then took Kris's hand from his head. "Ya," he warned, punching Kris on the arm playfully, "Who do you think is older?"

And then, much softer, with his head against Kris's shoulder, "Thanks, man,"

Kris proceeded to wrap an awkward arm around his shoulders. "Take care of her, okay,"

"I will."