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“Here, why don’t we make you some dinner then?” Luhan suggested, scrambling to his feet. Sehun shifted to a sitting position before extending an expectant hand, which his boyfriend took. He suppressed the little grunt that straggled to escape as he pulled the other boy to his feet. “So what did you have for lunch?”

“Ramyeon with odeng on top,” Sehun replied meekly, a small blush rising to his cheeks.

“Perhaps I should make you lunch as well as breakfast and dinner,” Luhan joked. “Unless you promise me that you won’t eat junk food for lunch every day,” he chided gently.

“I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I could just order healthier stuff,” Sehun replied with a sheepish look.

“Do you promise to eat healthier? If you don’t, I’ll worry about your health,” Luhan sighed.

“I promise.”

“Even if you don’t, I’ll be keeping an eye on you when you start attending classes again.”

“So does that mean you’re secretly giving me permission to eat as much junk food as I want for lunch until I go back to classes?” he asked with a devious grin.

“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” Luhan huffed. By his tone, Sehun guessed that he was puffing out his cheeks cutely. The younger boy chuckled. “What’s so funny?”

“You’re making the face aren’t you? The one where you puff your cheeks right? The really adorable one?”

“N-no! I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he denied in vain.

“You’re a rubbish liar,” Sehun laughed.  “But that’s one of the reasons why I love you,” he added.

“You’re so terrible Sehun,” Luhan protested.

“Yes, but I’m adorable so you can’t stay mad at me,” Sehun replied flatly. “Buing-buing.” Luhan laughed.

“Your aegyo is terrible, but you really are cute,” Luhan conceded. “But you really should watch your diet. Your girlish figure won’t last forever,” he teased.

“You’re the one with the girlish figure!” Sehun teased back.

“And I maintain it by eating properly! If you continue eating the way you are, you’re going to get f-a-t fat.”

“You’re so mean,” Sehun whined good-humouredly.

“I’m also making you dinner.”

“God, you’re right. I’m sorry,” Sehun replied as seriously as he possibly could. “Just please don’t make me eat rabbit food. I’ll shrivel up and die if I only eat salads.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to starve you. And even if I fix you a salad, you know it won’t be excessively bland.”

--

“It’s really strange, not being able to see at all,” Sehun announced out of nowhere as he sat at the counter, resting his chin on his hands. “Everything around me is black, but at the same time, I can still feel and hear things. It’s almost like I can see without sight.”

“I heard that if you lose one of your senses, your body will try to make up for it by enhancing or focusing energy on the others.”

“That’s actually pretty cool if you think about it, that you can basically get sight back through different means. Admittedly, there is a slight difference between what I can ‘see’ now and what I could see back when I could use my eyes. It’s more like I’m remembering what everything looks like and picturing it in my head instead of actually seeing,” Sehun mused.

“What are you going to do about school?” Luhan asked seemingly out of the blue.

“What about it?”

“Going back.”

“I’ll go back when the new semester starts probably. I’ll graduate a semester later than everyone else but that’s fine. This is all for the fun of it after all,” Sehun replied matter-of-factly. “Don’t make that face at me,” Sehun complained, predicting Luhan’s pout. “You know it’s true. I’m not the one inheriting the business, I just get a cut of it and that’s it, a stipend for the rest of my life or something. If I ever wanted to get into the company, I could, but I don’t really want to so I’m not going to worry about it.”

“Sometimes I wish that you would take life more seriously than this,” Luhan sighed. “I mean, sure it’s great to enjoy it, but at the same time...” he trailed off.

“I do take my life seriously,” Sehun replied. “I just have the luxury to do whatever I want to with my life, not bound by anything in particular.” He paused. “I guess some part of me will be glad when I return to school. It will probably be only for the performance classes but I’ll enjoy that at least.”

Luhan pursed his lips before sighing jokingly, “The luxury of the privileged.”

“You can thank Joonie for that one,” Sehun replied not without a tinge of acid in his tone.

“He’s trying,” Luhan tried, in vain.

“It’s not like I care any longer. I’m over it,” Sehun grumbled, wanting to change the subject from his distant guardian.

“I’ll just leave this topic be then, shall I?” Luhan asked rhetorically.

“I would much appreciate it,” the younger replied flatly. He could tell that the older wanted to say something but decided against it. Sehun knew that he should apologise but this was a touchy subject and Luhan knew it. The older couldn’t have predicted that Sehun would react so aversely but Sehun felts no need to apologise, regardless. Instead, he decided to change the subject, and rather forcefully at that. “How are classes going?”

“Huh?” Luhan was stunned that Sehun was actually changing the subject instead of simply letting the conversation drop into an uneasy silence like usual he usually did when the topic of Joonmyun took a turn for the worst. “Classes are fine I suppose. There is a lot of homework from my entomology class but that aside, the performance class is still fun and easy.”

“I miss that class,” Sehun sighed. “Do you think I could just come to classes then? It’s not like I need to be able to see to dance, right?”

“Perhaps alone, but not in a group,” Luhan pointed our. “But you can always come to the studio after classes, when it’s not in use.”  After the monotonous and rhythmic sound of chopping, Sehun heard the sound of oil being added to a sizzling pan.

“What are you making tonight?”

“Just some quick stir fry with plenty of vegetables,” he replied simply.

“I can live with that,” Sehun replied in slight resignation.

--

“Where’s Jongin?” Sehun asked as casually as he could despite the fact that the question had been burning at the back of his mind since he had been discharged from the hospital. This surprised Luhan so much that he dropped his chopsticks on the table. “You said I couldn’t speak to him the other day. What exactly happened to him?” Sehun insisted.

“Something happened in the accident that you two were in,” Luhan began slowly.

“I got that one thanks,” Sehun retorted dryly. “Specifically what happened?”

“The car that collided with the one you two were driving came from the left,” Luhan began again. “Jongin got the brunt of the force from the oncoming car.” All colour drained for the younger boy’s already pale face. “There was severe head trauma and a l-lot of bl-blood.” Luhan tried to continue, to no avail.

Luhan could still see the boy in intensive care through the viewing window, covered in black, blue, and red as the doctors attempted to fix as many of the internal injuries as they could. Although his face was covered in blood, it was from a single injury to his head, a place just above the temple. The huge gash on his forehead alone required sixteen stitches, but the real problem was his broken ribs, which had splintered off and punctured his other internal organs, including a lung and causing it to collapse. There was also serious damage to his kidney and spleen, which had ruptured from the puncture.

Tears were dripping down his face by now and Sehun could hear the sobs that accompanied the crying. The taller boy pushed his chair back and felt his way around the table to his boyfriend. Long, thin arms s themselves around fragile shoulders, shaking from the rust of disparaging emotions. Sehun attempted to calm the other in a comforting embrace.  So this was why Yixing had sounded so subdued, bridging on distraught, that day at the hospital. Sehun was afraid to hear the diagnosis for his best friend.

A/N: I realise right now that there is a lot of chaos and uproar within the EXO-L community pertaining to Luhan but this story will continue with Luhan as one of the main protagonists. I am sorry if this offends you. I crafted the story around these characters and find that changing them now would be cumbersome at best. I still love all of the original 12 and will continue to do so. I hope that everyone can continue to support them as well, even after EXO has disbanded for one reason or another. Pardon if this sounds rude.