"What about you?" You ask him.

"Huh?" He looks up suddenly. You notice that when he's surprised, his eyes grow a little wider. It's cute. He sits up a little straighter too.

"What happened to you after you left?"

He sits back in his chair and he doesn't meet your eyes. His eyes look around the room at various objects before he finally clears his throat and then he looks at you. "See, uh. That's what I want to tell you about."

You look at him curiously, unsure of how to prepare yourself. Good news? Bad news? You start to wonder what could've possibly happened. "Tell me." You urge him to continue.

"Well...I've been scouted."

Now you're the one to say "Huh?" You shake your head. "What do you mean 'scouted'?"

"I've been casted. Into a company. I'm...well, I'm going to be a singer." His eyes look up at you behind his long lashes. They lighten up a little when he says this and a small smile plays on his lips.

The article from before pops up into your mind. "NEW SOLO ARTIST TO DEBUT SOON". In this moment, it's a bit hard for you think straight. The name of the company pops into your head.

You turn yourself slightly towards the left so that you can face him on the park bench. The sun is going down and the sky is all sorts of colors. It's enchanting and beautiful, the pinks, blues, and reds. The air smells clean and the city around you is covered in lights.

"What company?" You ask him. You feel a little excited now too.

He tells you the exact same company name that had sailed through your mind a second before.

"Oh...my...Oh my god, Luhan! I'm so excited for you!" Feeling overwhelmed, you hug him excitedly. He blinks a few times, eyes wide, having not expected you to do that. Then he smiles and hugs you back. He starts laughing.

"Haha! I'm really excited too." You can almost hear his smile. His voice sounds warm and dreamy. You start thinking about it. Luhan singing at concerts, at fansigns, talk shows, tv shows, radio. Luhan letting people hear his voice.

Some part of your thoughts clicked. You remember that conversation with Kai. You know what he wants to do now.

You pull out of the hug first. He opens his mouth to say something, then closes it. He flips his hair out of his eyes; it's a little long, but it reminds you of manga hair. It looks nice. "But...the company. It's...it's in Korea."

You look up. "Oh? Oh...." What had you been thinking? You had been hoping that he'd be able to stay here. But no, even that wouldn't be possible.

"Let's...not think about that now, okay?" He gives you a cheery smile, to brighten the atmosphere, which has suddenly become dark. He lightly kisses your forehead, which makes you feel childish, and smiles. "Let's go home."

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The next morning, Luhan's not in his room. You stand under the doorway, looking at the empty bed, the covers still strewn about and the unpacked bag in the corner. Then you check the bathroom. his toothbrush is gone, but his hairbrush is still there (yes, he'd brought his own hair brush). You slowly turn around and walk into the kitchen to find your mother cooking. She looks over at you and smiles. "Good morning." Still as cheery as ever.

"Morning... Um...where's Luhan?"

"Oh!" She turns to you suddenly, with a slightly surprised expression with, what looks to be a slight bit of pity. As if oh you don't know? "You'll never believe it! He said it was about work!" She laughs. "He'll be away for a few days, but don't worry, he's coming back." She shakes her head slowly, still smiling. "Ah~ he already has work."

You nod and try to smile back. In the back if your mind, you're wondering why he didn't tell you beforehand or leave some sort of note. You try to shrug it off as you sit down at the table for breakfast.

To be honest, you've been thinking that the past few days have been a little...fast. All of a sudden, your childhood friend from almost a decade ago is back, and the two of you mutually love each other. What had happened? It's a little crazy, and frustrating at the same time. You're not sure what to make of it and it seems a bit far-fetched.

But you don't regret it.

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To be honest, you aren't really good at taking naps. You love sleeping, like most teenagers, but naps in the middle of the afternoon felt rather unnatural. But today, you take one anyway.

Except that you're abruptly awoken by the sound of a loud buzzing noise by your bedside.

You look over, feeling a little groggy, but nonetheless open your eyes slowly to see what it is. It's your phone. You rub your eyes a few times to see who's calling, but to no avail. You answer it anyway. "Hello?"

"Hey! It's me."

You sit up, suddenly feeling very, very awake. "Luhan? Where are you!?"

"Haha! Don't worry, I'm just at the company for...uh, reasons. Hey, do you remember what you used to do when we were little?"

When we were little? Well of course. You remember most everything. But what a strange question to ask at a time like this. And what could he possibly be talking about? You've done plenty of things.

"Um, which one are you talking about?"

He laughs. You feel suddenly relieved, like hearing his voice and hearing that he's okay makes everything better. "When we were really, really little, we used to have sleepovers and you'd sing me to sleep."

Oh yeah! You vaguely remember that. He was almost nine and you were five and he was extremely childish, like now. He couldn't sleep that well, always struggling, so you sang to him a kids' song and he had laughed, but had fallen asleep anyway. "Uh, yeah, why?"

"I don't know. I just thought your voice back then used to sound really pretty. Do you remember what song it was?"

Why are you asking all this? Is what you wanted to ask. But instead you say "yeah" and sing the short song. He chuckles after you're done.

"It still sounds good..." You hear a voice in the background. "I have to go now, I'm sorry. I'll be back soon, okay?"

"O..okay. I'll talk to you later."

You say your goodbyes and you hang up. 

You decide to keep sleeping, even though your clock says it's dinner time. You'd have to explain to your mother later. When you're just about to fall asleep again, your phone rings. You groan, knowing that it can't possibly be Luhan again, but wondering who it could be. You look at the screen. It wasn't a call; it was a text.

"Help me with my math homework. -Kai"