A/N : Credits to rollingalien @ deviantart.com for the digital art of Luhan. Thank you! :D

CHAPTER 9 : Heavenly Being

LUHAN’S POV

When I woke up the next morning, I was feeling much better, except the part where the porridge that Mina made still lingered in my mouth. I was amazed by how she could make it taste so bad, like she put a bag of salt on it or something. I wanted to tell her to make another one, but when I saw her worried face as I took my first bite, I decided not to be too cruel. I mean, she is after all, my fan.

“Get up Luhan, we’re leaving soon.” Chen shouted by the door. And when I got out, their luggages were all already gathered near the doorstep. I took my time though, like I always do, and got myself a cup of coffee in the kitchen. In a flash, Lay’s palm was resting on my forehead.

“Your fever’s gone.”

“I drank medicine.” I said as I handed him a cup of coffee.

“So, did Mina come over yesterday?” he asked with a devilish smile.

“I told you I wanted to be alone.”

“Don’t be like that.” He pleaded, “When Mina heard you were sick, she went postal like someone just died.”

I rolled my eyes and changed the subject entirely, “So what time’s our flight?”

“Ours is in two hours. But you’re on a different flight.”

“WHAT? WHY? WHEN?” I set aside my coffee, spilling it in haste.

“Calm down. You’ll be leaving today too but in the afternoon. Apparently, there was some sort of problem with the airline. But, you’ll be with someone so don’t worry.”

I breathed in relief, at least I’d have an EXO member with me.

Or so I thought. “You’ll be with Mina. She’ll be staying here with you till your flight,” Lay added.

“Just great. I’ll be with someone who can’t even tell what’s left from right.” I said sarcastically.

“Cut her some slack Lu,’kay?” Lay patted my back.

The only thing I’m going to cut - is her salary, if she keeps on making a mess.

About an hour after, I led my co-members to the doorstep. They all talked to me like a child who will easily get lost, reminding me to keep my cellphone at all times, to go straight home from the airport, etc. When they swung the door open, Mina appeared like on cue. She bid goodbye to them too and told them that she will take care of me. Yeah right, she can’t even take care of herself.

As soon as we were left alone, I headed back to my room. I took a shower and started packing up my stuff. She then knocked and asked if I needed any help. She blushed when I opened the door, being that I was only wearing my pants. Like I said, she is a fan.

“Pack everything up, make sure I don’t forget anything.” I ordered while putting on a shirt.

I watched her gently fold my clothes onto the suitcase then search every drawer, nook and cranny for things that I might leave out.  She paused for a while before finally closing the suitcase. She dragged it out of the room, then settled on the sofa. I looked at my watch and realized there were still 8 hours left before our flight. Since I haven’t toured Jeju yet, I came up with an idea. I took a cap and a jacket for my disguise.

“We’re going out.” I blatantly said.

When we got to the ground floor, I took a travel leaflet from the receptionist and asked her to prepare a car for us. Mina had been following me silently, though it was obvious she was wondering where we were going. But before she could muster up the courage to ask me, the limo arrived, and we set off on our way. I told the driver to bring us to this lava tube called Manjanggul Cave.

It was a pretty long trip and although Mina and I sat beside each other in the backseat, we didn’t really exchange words. The distance between us made it obvious that there was some form of hostility that existed (or at least in my part.) Besides, as soon as the engine started, we had both plugged on our earphones.

After about an hour, we finally reached our destination. As expected, there were about a hundred of people all hoping to get a tour of the cave. When we got to the entrance, I saw Mina stop upon seeing the darkness of the cave, fear present in her eyes.

“I’ll stay here.” It almost sounded like a plead.

“No, you won’t.” I defiantly stated.

Of course she had no choice but to follow me inside. As soon as we stepped further into the high-ceiling cave, the temperature immediately changed. It was that kind of cold that made you sweat at the same time. It was also very very dark, and although there were light displays,even the path where you walk won’t be exactly visible.

“Why are we alone?” Mina’s voice shivered, “I thought we were going in groups?”

“I bought the whole place out.” I said.

“You what?” she raised her voice, making it echo all over the place. I noticed that her own voice had scared her, it almost made me laugh. Actually, I secretly paid the staff earlier to book one entire tour. It was quite expensive, considering I had to pay for about 100 tickets, but I wasn’t plan on falling in line. And hell, I wasn’t planning on going in the cave with those strangers.

We continued walking slowly since the terrain was a bit uneven and there were puddles of water all around. I felt Mina move closer behind me, obviously scared out of her wits. I, on the other hand, admired the rock formations and the flow lines along the walls.

“How long is this cave?” she asked.

“1 km.”

“Can we go back now?”

“You can,” I mocked, “I’ll stay here.”

I saw her roll her eyes before keeping silent. We had been walking for about twenty minutes, and It was pretty tiring, especially since the temperature continually drops as you go deeper into the cave. I had started clutching my jacket closer to my body because I was never good with the cold, I always get sick easily.

Mina, who looked like she wanted to run away the moment we step foot on the cave, got even more scared when we reached a hanging bridge. She got too close behind me that she was almost pushing me forward. I felt her grab the hem of my shirt in fear.

“Stop pulling my shirt.” I said, pissed off.

But she didn’t budge. After a while, I realized she didn’t hear a word I said, she was too busy looking everywhere, looking behind her, then to her left and to her right, to make sure that there was no scary creature lurking in the dark. When a cold droplet of water hit her face, she almost jumped in surprise. I chuckled at her stupidity.

After a few minutes though, she had started trembling in cold and probably in fear. At least I had a jacket, but she was just wearing a meager shirt that barely kept her warm. I felt partly responsible for it, so I sighed and took my jacket off.

“Here,” I handed the jacket to her, “Wear it before you freeze to death.”

Her brown eyes looked up to me in shock, “I’m fine. You wear it, you’re not good with cold anyways.”

How did she know, I wondered. As if she read my thoughts, she explained, worry visible in her eyes, “You always ask for your jacket though it’s not that cold, and you get sick easily too.”

“Just wear it, I’m wearing a sweater inside.” I insisted.

“I’m fine, keep it.”

“Wear it.” I ordered sternly.

“No, you wear it.” She refused.

“I won’t get sick, and If I do, I’ll be fine.” For some reason, anger crossed her eyes like I had said something wrong.

“You don’t know that, you might not be fine.” She snapped.

I kept silent and wore the jacket again. Mostly because I had never seen her irritated. No matter how many times I embarrass her or scold her, she always had that sorry look in her face. But today, it felt like I crossed the line, to her it was like getting sick meant something close to life and death. It made me wonder why she thought of it that way.

After an hour, we finished touring the cave. And once we were out, I looked over at Mina who looked incredibly pale. I realized both of us haven’t eaten anything yet so we went to a restaurant near by and had lunch. Of course, we didn’t say anything to each other, except me ordering her to pass me this, pass me that, etc.

After eating, I decided to visit this other tourist site near the cave, the Gimnyeong maze park.

“Wow, it’s beautiful.” She said.

We stood for a while on the observatory deck where we were able to see the top-view of the entire maze shaped like Jeju Island. It was breath-taking, like it was something taken from Harry Potter. Mina who was overly excited, went to the entrance immediately and got both of us tickets.

“If you’re having a hard time finding the exit, you can call out for help.” The personnel informed us.

Mina ran to the starting point, cheering like a kid in an amusement park. When we got in, her smile had reached her ears, she had been completely enamored by the place that she probably forgot that I was behind her. At one point, I tied my rubber shoes and when I looked up, she was nowhere to be found.

I continued walking around, taking my time. I plugged my earphones since a part of me was already bored. Imagine just looking at nothing but walls covered with grass. To be honest, I found the Manjanggul cave much more exciting. After a few minutes, I was able to easily make my way to the exit. I looked at my watch and realized it was already time for us to go if we wanted to reach the airport in time. I searched for Mina in the sea of people but she was not there. I took my phone to call her, but I realized I had ran out of battery.

I rubbed my face in annoyance and went back inside the maze to look for her. After roaming around the maze for quite a while, I realized Mina was definitely lost somewhere. That is just so her.  I decided to call out, in case she was near by, but to no avail. Desperate to reach the airport in time, I went to the observatory deck to see if I could find her. Then I saw a lean figure sitting right in the middle of the maze, gripping her knees tightly.

I headed to the spot hurriedly, and when I saw her, she was sobbing like a kid.

“Ya. Stop acting like a kid.” I said. She looked up to me, and a mixture of relief and happiness washed over her face.

She quickly stood up, and rubbed her eyes, wiping her tears away. “I tried to call you, but I couldn’t reach you.” She said pathetically.

I turned my back and headed to the exit but before I could take one step forward, she pulled the hem of my shirt. I glanced at her, and she had her head down like she was going to say something embarrassing.

“Is it okay…” she hesitated, “if you don’t leave me like that again?” I was caught off guard by her words. She continued, “I don’t know anyone else here but you.”

“Then stop acting so stupid, and stick to me at all times.” I snarled.

To my surprise, hot color rose to her cheeks and she smiled. I realized the weight of what I had just said and quickly walked away, afraid that things might get awkward.

MINA’S POV

When we reached the airport, I was still thinking about what Luhan had said. I don’t know why but he, though his words are always mean, always had a way of making me high. I didn’t even realize that I had been grinning the entire time.

“You look like an idiot smiling to yourself.” He said. And I quickly kept a straight face.

I listened to music, as I always do, to avoid the awkwardness. We had seated on the waiting area and after a few minutes, Luhan had already dozed off. There were some fans lingering around us, and it made me wonder how he could sleep peacefully when everyone’s eyes are on him. For some reason, while I looked at him, flashes of what happened last night came running to me.

*flashback*

I fought back the tears that wanted to fall. I looked up the ceiling and heaved a sigh. Woo Jin patiently waited for me to be okay. It had been two years but the pain of it all remained like a stain. After a few minutes, I was able to find the words again.

“So you see Woo Jin, when you ask me if I like Luhan, how could I possibly answer?”

“I’m confused…” he looked down, “if he was the reason why you couldn’t see your father for the last time, then why are you here?”

“Because I don’t see it that way. I came here wanting to convince myself that Luhan was worth all that.”

“So, you’re not mad at him?”

I let out a bitter laugh, “How could I possibly get mad at somebody who only exists in my head? To me, Luhan is like a heavenly being that I can’t touch or hold.”

With that enigmatic answer, our conversation ended.

*end of flashback*

Truth is, even I am confused of what Luhan was to me. Though I definitely don’t blame him for not being able to see my dad for the last time, a part of me hurt every time I look at him. I suddenly realized that I was a worse bipolar than Luhan. One minute, I’m a die-hard fan, next I’m a drama queen. At least Luhan was upfront about his identities unlike me whose battle is all kept a secret inside.

As if I wasn’t confused enough, I went over to him when I noticed him shiver a bit in cold. I took the jacket he had swung on his shoulder, and carefully covered him with it. It totally slipped my mind that there were people taking pictures of Luhan so everything I did was literally documented and immortalized.