Lu Han could barely feel his feet once lunch came around. Immediately after settling down at a nearby food chain, he laid his head on the table, flushed cheeks pressed against the cold surface. He was exhausted and almost to his limit. A game is scheduled in a few days, which meant more gruelling training every day nearing it. Lu Han just wanted reprieve.

"Is Lu Han-oppa okay?"

Minseok gave a chuckle, rubbing Lu Han's back. "Don't worry, he's just tired,"

"I feel like dying," Lu Han mumbled, half-sobbing.

There came two distinct giggles and a chair scraping against the floor. When he lifted his head, his chin still on the table, Chanmi and Kyungseol were sitting across them. "Hey,"

In reply, Chanmi grinned, Kyungseol smiled softly.

They were flushed red from the heat and their hair looked wet in their buns. A brief glance at what they were wearing told Lu Han what they were doing before they got there.

"Gone to the beach?" Lu Han asked. The images of the clear sky, the gentle waves, and the amount of food in display flooded his mind in an instant. He almost whimpered at the thought of going to the beach and just playing around, no worrying about a nearing football match.

"Yup!" Chanmi replied, and then, frowning, "But those stupid college boys kept catcalling her so she got mad,"

"You should go with us next time, then," Minseok offered, looking as if he was worried for Kyungseol.

"Yeah, and I'll scare them away," Lu Han added in with a smug grin. He really meant it, though, which was why when Chanmi merely laughed at him, he pouted, offended.

Kyungseol giggled. "Um, sure, oppa," which Lu Han didn't need help in translating into: lol oppa let me see u try.

They decided to eat a nearby park instead. Kyungseol had prepared tons of food for the beach, but with them leaving earlier than expected, they didn't have the time to finish them all. To his surprise, Chanmi wasn't exaggerating when she'd said "tons of food." Indeed, there were tons: hamburgers, pasta, a bag of sliced bread, some fruits, tons of chips, and a lot of sodas.

Amazed, Minseok said, "How long were you planning on staying at the beach again?"

Kyugnseol blushed, suddenly embarrassed. "We were supposed to bring Jonghee as well, but something came up so she wasn't able to go,"

"We invited Yixing-unni, too, but she couldn't go with us because of practive," Chanmi said.

"That's okay," Lu Han assured them, already reaching out to grab his first burger, "more food for us,"

The next half hour was spent eating, Lu Han wolfing down anything his hand was able to reach. Minseok ate little because of his diet, so Lu Han little by little snuck food to his plate, making sure he wasn't caught. Chanmi kept pointing out food she'd prepared herself, and Kyungseol made sure Chanmi wasn't making too much of a mess.

At one point Lu Han watched as Chanmi said, "You have something--" as Kyungseol rubbed her cheek. She barely missed the sauce on the corner of her lips. A few more tries yielded an exasperated Chanmi. "Let me," she finally said, reaching out to wipe the offending sauch with a thumb. She then proceeded to it clean.

Lu Han choked, surprised.

Kyungseol blushed a deep red.

"Easy there, tiger," Minseok said, hitting Lu Han's back. "Nobody's trying to steal your food,"

"That's disgusting," Kyungseol was saying, all flustered and wide eyed, as Chanmi grinned cheekily at her. "Don't do that ever again,"

"But you let me do anything to you," Chanmi replied with a disarming pout.

Kyungseol's frown deepened, cheeks still red. "Chanmi, we were kids,"

"I could kiss you on the cheek right now," Chami threatened, puckering her lips, "Cwam hewe littol Kyungseow, let Chanmi kiss you,"

Lu Han watched, both amazed and confused, as Chanmi took Kyungseol's cheeks between her hands to give her a sloppy kiss on the skin between her eyes. Kyungseol pushed her violently at the contact. Chanmi fell back on the grass, hair a stark red spread out on the grass, laughing so hard her eyes teared up.

"What the hell, Chanmi--"

"Is this normal behavior?" Minseok whispered as Kyungseol reprimanded Chanmi with a red face.

"What," Lu Han turned to him, puckering up his lips as well, "Does Minseokkie also want a wittle kwiss?"

When Lu Han tried moving forward, Minseok shoved a burger in his mouth. "Hell no."
 

(ღ˘⌣˘ღ)

The door to the Wu residence was open, so Lu Han strode in as if he also lived there, yelling out, "Sehun, give me back my Assassin's Creed, you little sh--"

He was met with Baekhyun in the dining room, helping himself to some pizza. He grinned, giving him a friendly peace sign. "If you're looking for Sehun, he's upstairs,"

"Uh, thanks?" Lu Han replied. When Baekhyun reached out a plate to offer some, Lu Han shook his head, declining politely. Baekhyun merely waved a dismissive hand.

Sehun was watching something on his phone when Lu Han barged into his room.

"Hyung, what--"

"What is he doing here?" Lu Han asked, voice soft as to not be heard downstairs.

"Who, Baekhyun-hyung?" Sehun asked as casual as ever. A sound of something heavy falling into water came from his phone, and he laughed, obnoxious and loud.

Lu Han took his phone away, receiving an indignant, "Hey!"

"You didn't answer my question, Sehun,"

Sehun gave an exasperated sigh. "They're planning on going somewhere, I think? I don't really know,"

"And since when were Kris and Baekhyun close?" Because it was hard to believe, really. Prior to this, they never hung out together. At least, alone. Baekhyun usually hung out with Kyungseol and the girls, with them being childhood friends and all. While Kris--Kris had been the awkward new kid, bringing along an also awkward younger brother. Afterwards, Kris met Yixing, then met Lu Han. The three of them were always together, ever since. Except when Kris went with his other friends (Baekhyun not included), which was very rare.

So. Baekhyun and Kris? When did that happen?

"I don't know," came the flippant reply. Lu Han must've looked really conflicted at the moment because Sehun gave in, saying, "Ever since the party they've been hanging out. Remember when Kris-hyung didn't come home? He was at Baekhyun-hyung's house--"

"He was where?!"

"Ssh!" Sehun said in panic, pulling Lu Han by the arm to the bed. They toppled over, losing their balance, and became a mess of tangled limbs. Sehun continued cautiously, "Don't tell Yixing-noona, by the way. Kris-hyung told him he was at a college friend's house,"

Why would Kris lie to Yixing, though? Something smelled fishy about all of this, and although Lu Han really couldn't care about Kris's relationship with other people, this thing with Baekhyun was getting him excited. He needed to know what was up with them.

"Ya, Kris! What's taking you so long?" came Baekhyun's yell at the foot of the stairs. The sound of feet nearing them came next, and both Lu Han and Sehun scrambled to sit in a way that suggested they weren't gossiping just minutes ago. They managed to look like normal kids hanging out by the time Baekhyun had reached the room.

"Is your brother normally this slow?"

Sehun nodded gravely. "He needs time to pick his clothes, bla bla, something about being fashionable,"

Lu Han agreed.

"Don't listen to him," Kris said, suddenly appearing next to Baekhyun, "Oh, Lu Han, what are you doing here?"

"Playing with Sehun," Lu Han answered honestly. As if to prove his point, he latched a secure arm around Sehun's neck and pulled him closer. "Right, Sehunnie?"

"Riiiight," Kris drawled, unconvinced. Baekhyun was grinning, his canines white against his lips. "You should stop hanging out with kids four years younger than you,"

Sehun scoffed and opened his mouth to retort, but Lu Han beat him to it, "Yep, I know,"

Baekhyun barked out a good natured laugh. Kris jumped at the sudden sound, looking down at his companion.

"We'll be going, then!" Baekhyun announced happily. And then, to Lu Han, "Say hi to Yixing-noona for me!"

"I'll be back by dinner," Kris told Sehun specifically. Sehun saluted in response.

Then they were gone. Only until they were sure the front door had closed did Lu Han almost yell, "What the was that?" It wasn't entirely about the whole Kris and Baekhyun thing, it was also about what Baekhyun said last.

"That's strange, I could almost hear Yixing-noona's "language!!"" Sehun giggled a little, because it was true. Even Lu Han heard it in his head.

It was getting a little late by the time he got out of the Wu's house. Kris wasn't back until dinner, contrary to what he said. So Lu Han heated up some of the food in the fridge to feed Sehun. They were done washing the dishes by the time Kris got home. He apologised, looking guilty, but Sehun didn't mind at all. "It's okay, ge," he said sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

Kris ruffled his hair affectionately. "I'm sorry, really. Go to sleep now,"

Lu Han left after teasing Kris, calling him such a soft older brother. Kris, flustered, just ushered him out of the door with a curt "Good night,"

He should ask Jonghee about this whole Kris and Baekhyun thing.

(ღ˘⌣˘ღ)


A week passed by with no communication with Yixing. She was probably busy with dance practice the same way Lu Han was busy with soccer. They met with Jonghee once. Lu Han had asked "Have you gotten into Joonmyun's pants yet?" more as a joke than a direct question, but Jonghee had just smiled, all felinely and coy, and said, "Who knows?" They played a casual game of basketball with Kris and Baekhyun on a Wednesday afternoon (and although Lu Han was still drawing a blank as to how Kris and Baekhyun had gotten close enough to play basketball, he must admit that Baekhyun was an ok kid). They saw Kyungseol and Chanmi, but on different days. It was strange; those two were inseparable. Kyungseol was often dragged into whatever Chanmi wanted to do, indulging her friend's needs like an omnipresent babysitter, but he saw her that lonely afternoon, drinking tea at a cafe. Alone. That was the first time Lu Han realised how out of place it was, to see Kyugnseol alone, Chanmi nowhere in sight.

When asked, she'd just said, "We're okay, oppa," But when Lu Han asked Chanmi, who at hiding the truth, she flustered, before finally, "I might've done something wrong,"

Lu Han wasn't so much intrigued than he was concerned. They were best friends, after all. So, after he was sure that Kyungseol and Chanmi weren't on speaking terms as of late, he'd decided on asking Yixing about it.

Yixing, who was still red from practice, wearing nothing but a flimsy shirt and sweatpants too big for her. Her hair was black again. So naturally, he'd say something about it first, but the look on Yixing's face told of something grave, so he'd forced down a choked compliment to say, "What happened?"

Instead of answering, Yixing asked back, "What are you doing here?"

There was exhaustion in her voice, Lu Han could hear it as loud as a nearby speaker pulsing party bass.

"Sorry, you must be tired," Lu Han's voice was heavy as he talked. "I'll just tell you next time. I was just going home, anyway,"

When Yixing, biting her lower lip, didn't look as if she was about to stop him, Lu Han turned to leave. There was a unexpected pull on his arm. Lu Han looked back to see Yixing retracting her hand, hesitating. "What..."

"Can we talk?" Yixing asked softly, eyes trained on the floor. And then, louder, "I have something to tell you,"

Lu Han had always found that rejecting Yixing was never an answer.

"Sure."

(ღ˘⌣˘ღ)