Sunbae-hoobae dinners are a tradition to those who debuted in SM Entertainment.

For the hoobaes, it is a good way for them to learn and get advice from the sunbaes. For the sunbaes, it’s a contest among themselves on who can make the most memorable dinner - which leads to some very interesting ones.

Nobody can forget the "leaders dinner" with Onew, Kris, and Leeteuk, where a stumbling Onew and Leeteuk brings home a bawling Kris (turns out Yifan is a cryer when drunk off his ).

Nobody could also live down Suho's dinner with Kyuhyun, Changmin, and Minho where Suho returns back to their hotel after their US tour, red as a tomato with Kyuhyun and Changmin patting his back going "You're a man now, Joonmyeon-ah!", dollar bills still sticking out of his pocket.

Or the time that Baekhyun and Taeyeon went out for dinner that is promptly ruined when Chanyeol and Tiffany burst into the restaurant together, making that dinner for two into a dinner of four.

But Luhan doesn't have any of these experiences because Luhan has never been invited to a sunbae hoobae dinner - until today when his Yunho sunbae asks him directly.

"Luhan? Are you free tonight?  I wanted to treat you and Lay out for dinner," Yunho had asked when he casually bumps into Luhan and Yixing in the SM building.

Luhan stands frozen in his spot but nods his head.

'This is it, Luhan' he thinks to himself. 'You'll finally get a chance to impress your favorite sunbae!'

It isn’t until Yunho leaves the room with a cheerful wave towards Luhan (which he reciprocates pathetically) that Luhan utters the first sentences he says since Yunho walked into the practice room. “I have a date with Yunho sunbae.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“For the last time, it’s not a date,” Jongdae says, rolling his eyes as he watches Luhan shooting daggers at Yixing who is currently trying to smooth out his navy blue cardigan in front of the full body mirror out in their living room. Luhan’s arms are crossed and a cute pout makes its way to his lips as he watches his best friend from the couch. “Yixing has as much right as you have to go have dinner with Yunho hyung.” Jongdae concludes and walks away, muttering about "hopeless people being thirsty for that d."

“It’s easy for him to say. He's not the one in love with Yunho sunbae,” Luhan grumbles.

“It’s not love, hyung, it’s infatuation,” Sehun says wearily, as if this is a conversation that he’s had with Luhan multiple times - which it has. He plops down on the couch next to Luhan and opens the TV, flipping through the channels randomly.

“It’s REAL, Sehun. What I have with Yunho sunbae is real,” he says.

“Luhan ge, what you have is a crush. You’ve only met Yunho sunbae twice,” Tao says, making a beeline from the kitchen all the way to Sehun’s lap.

“Tao, if that isn’t love then I do not know what it is,” Luhan challenges. “Show me then.”

Tao sets the popcorn bowl on the table and tosses the remote control from Sehun’s grasp to the couch. He turns around and connects his lips to Sehun in a heated kiss.

“ARRRGGHHH!!” Luhan exclaims, jumping away from the couch, stumbling a little as he tries to regain is balance. “ALRIGHT! I GET IT! JUST STOP EACH OTHER’S FACES IN FRONT OF ME!”

Yixing, hearing the commotion, turns around to find Luhan shielding his eyes as Tao and Sehun lock lips. Yixing laughs, grabs the nearest throw pillow and throws it at the back of Tao’s head.

However, this doesn’t stop the two and once Sehun lets out a particular deep moan, Yixing and Luhan feels the need to suddenly evacuate the living room.

They walk, Yixing’s arm around Luhan’s waist as they go to their duizhang's room and was greeted by the image of Kris clad in a fluffy white robe, lying on his bed with a face mask, Ace by his side.

"I'm not sure what's more traumatizing...what's out there or what's in here," Yixing whispers in Luhan's ear and Luhan giggles, almost forgetting that he is a bit upset with his best friend.

And once the thought of dinner with Yunho sunbae enters his mind again, he whimpers.

"Listen. Would you like me to not go, ge?" Yixing asks Luhan. "I really don't have to."

Luhan just sighs because once he thinks about it, having Yixing there would help calm his nerves down.

"No. I want you to be there" he says snuggling into Yixing as Yixings grip on his waist tightens.

"Ugh the PDA!" Kris complains looking at the two of them from his side of the room. "You're both disgusting"

Yixing wordlessly takes out his phone from his pocket and take a  picture of Kris with it - white robe, mask, and all. Kris barely misses hooking his hand to Yixing's shirt before he trips over Tao's stuffed animals.  Yixing and Luhan guffaws as they leave the room together.

"They're all over each other and they're not even dating" Kris muses to himself. "ZHANG YIXING YOU BETTER DELETE THAT PICTURE OR I WILL END YOUR LIFE! " he yells out but the two are already out of earshot.

*~*~*~*~

Yunho picks them up an hour later and Luhan is definitely more relaxed as he and Yixing walk down to the entrance of their dorm lobby. Yixing has his phone out and the two of them share a laugh as they take a look at Kris' picture from an hour ago.

"Wahhh you both should have informed me me that there was a dress code" Yunho comments playfully, looking at Yixing and Luhan's matching skinny jeans, converses, cardigans, and tshirts. To make it worse, their matching MCM backpacks were placed on each of their shoulders.

"S-s-sunbae it's not what you think!" Luhan stutters and glares at Yixing when Yunho has his back turned. Yixing, sensing Luhan’s discomfort at their outfit, pauses in his step, takes off the cardigan, and places it in his backpack. He shivers once the cold air seeps through his skin.

"Yixing, are you sure you want to take off your cardigan? It's awfully cold out here today," Yunho says, puzzled by Yixing. Instead Yixing smiles, shaking his head.

"Aniyo, sunbae! I feel warm for some reason," he says, his dimples showing as he smiles.

Yunho nods his head. "If thats what you’d prefer, then ok. I mean, the restaurant is not that far from here. Yahh...you guys are lucky you guys live in a dorm close to where all the good food are."

The restaurant Yunho takes them to is a small but cozy Italian restaurant only two blocks away from their dorm. Yunho seems to be a regular there because they didn't even have a chance to greet the ahjumma before they were being ushered to a more secluded area of the restaurant. Yixing and Luhan immediately sit next to each other as Yunho takes his place across from them. The little old lady fawns over them and yips continually about how much she misses Changmin, the boy with the bottomless pit for a stomach.

With Yunho's promise of taking Changmin in the restaurant in the near future to visit, the ahjumma leaves them to take a look at the menu.

"Order whatever you want, boys, it's on hyung tonight," Yunho says, grinning at the two.

"Hyung I'm going to hold you to that and order the most expensive dish," Yixing exclaims, his eyes lighting up as he scans the menu.

"Thats the spirit, Xing!” Yunho laughs.

Luhan hides his face behind his menu, jealousy bubbling inside him at the fact that his best friend can get along with their Yunho sunbae so much better than he can.

"Hyung, is the ca-pur-ini good?" Yixing stumbles through the Italian word translated into Korean. He glances up to Yunho, his innocent, blank stare in full blast causing Yunho to ruffle his hair.

"Aigoo youre so cute, Yixing!"

Yixing pouts because his question remains unanswered.

"Stop acting like a ditz," Luhan mutters to him discreetly.

Yixing recoils a bit, masking the hurt look on his face with gentle smile.

It wasn't long before the ahjumma is back at their tables and takes their orders.

While waiting, the three of them slips into a comfortable conversation.

The subjects of their conversation are easygoing - from how was practice today to what do they miss from home- and Luhan finally feels comfortable, giving himself a pat on the back whenever Yunho laughs at his stories and jokes.

Their food arrives shortly after and a quick glance at Luhan’s plate makes Yixing regret not getting the same thing. He picks at the side of Luhans plate closest to him. The lack of subtlety in his action (or maybe it was just because Luhan knows him that well) causes Luhan to smack his hand away.

"Yahhhhhhhhhhh! you know how much I hate it when people touch my food!" Luhan whines.

Yixing just grins at him, triumphant that he was able to get at least two bites in.

"But Luhan ge, it tastes really good!"

"Yours looks good too!" Luhan protests, dabbing his fork in Yixing’s pasta dish.

"Luhan ge, no!!!" Yixing exclaims. "You know I hate it when people touch my food too!" He complains as Luhan gently smacks his side of the head.  

"Then quit doing the same to me."

"Dont want to!" Yixing smiles and Luhan grabs his head, putting him in a tight headlock against his chest.

"I’m keeping you in there until I get the ahjumma to get me another plate so we can split our dishes together."

Yixing’s arms are flapping wildly, struggling to get out of Luhan’s tight, manly hold against him as luhan calmly asks the little old lady for two more plates for them.

Yunho just watches the whole exchange amused by their antics. He laughs as soon as Luhan and Yixing finally has their dishes split, occasionally still bickering about why someone’s portion is bigger than the other.

"Im glad I decided to take the two of you out. I was just supposed to ask Yixing out by himself but I figured having Luhan by his side would make it comfortable."

Yunho’s straightforward comment makes both the boys freeze in their spot.

This particular confession is like a slap to the face for Luhan.

So this dinner was exclusively meant for Yixing only.

Yunho didn't want to have dinner with just him alone.

All this time he thought Yunho wanted to spend quality time with him but, no, it turns out he was the third wheel in this relationship.

Luhan could feel Yixing’s right hand underneath the table slowly making its way to his own but he shoves it away. Yixing freezes for a moment before taking his hand back.

The two of them just continues to smile at the oblivious Yunho, who continues to ramble on.

"Besides, I don’t want Luhan to feel jealous and think I’m taking out his boyfriend out on a date or anything-”

Yixing and Luhan both choke on their pasta.

"Hyung I think you have it all wrong-" Yixing begins.

"We're not dating" Luhan exclaims.

Yunho nods understandingly.

"So you guys are in denial!" He exclaims. "It's okay. Jaejoong and I were like that when we first began. You guys will realize soon that you're perfect for each other."

"Aniyo, hyung, Luhan's a great guy but -" Yixing starts again.

"Hyung, I could never be with someone like Yixing!" Luhan exclaims.

"Is it because you're into girls?" Yunho asks, almost enjoying the fact that Luhan is getting riled up over this.

Luhan quickly shakes his head and before he knows it, he blurts out, “I don’t like Yixing and I don’t think I ever will. He’s annoying. He’s stupid. He’s awkward as hell. I don’t even know how he manages to make friends because he’s such a loner! He’s probably going to end up alone for the rest of his life - “

He abruptly stops, realizing what he just said.

Luhan looks up to find Yunho and Yixing both staring at him in shock. Uncomfortable silence hangs in the air as Luhan tries to find a way to take back his words.

“Well….Luhan hyung, I think you made your point clear,” Yixing says after a while, and gives a laugh, changing the subject quickly. “So Yunho hyung, how are things going with your comeback?”

The rest of their dinner goes by without a hitch - with Yixing and Yunho laughing and joking around while Luhan fiddles with his pasta quietly. He’s lost his appetite long ago and at this point, he is just ready to go home, get his green tea, and just settle in for the night with Yixing.

He sighs deeply, causing Yunho and Yixing to look over at him.

“Yunho hyung, I think Luhan ge is getting tired. I think it’s best we go soon. We still have schedules tomorrow,” Yixing suggests to Yunho meekly. Yunho nods his head and gets their check.

The walk to their dorm is a close one so they decide to split from Yunho outside the restaurant, thanking their sunbae for a wonderful dinner.

As soon as they start heading towards the direction of their dorm, that's when Luhan starts to notice that something isn't right.

Yixing won’t look him in the eye and is walking at least 5 feet away from him.

Most of all, Yixing was silent the whole way through.

*~*~*~*

As soon as they reach their shared bedroom, Yixing wordlessly picks up his pajamas and makes a beeline for the bathroom. Luhan, on the other hand, flops on his bed.

He’s known Yixing for so many years and not once have they fought to the point that Yixing would just ignore him like he’s doing now.

So he waits until Yixing is out of the bathroom and drags him wordlessly back to the room. He motions for Yixing to sit on his own bed as Luhan makes way on his own.

Luhan doesn’t know how to approach the situation so he just blurts out the first thing that comes to his mind in a joking manner.

“Yahhh, stop overreacting, stupid,” he says, laughing sarcastically. “Are you seriously being that overdramatic over what I said at dinner?”

He expects Yixing to throw a punch (as he usually would when Luhan teases him) but Yixing remains as stoic as ever.

For the first time that night, Luhan looks at his best friend - really takes a look at him - and what he finds is someone who is dejected, hurt, and betrayed.

“You called me a loner,” Yixing whispers, his head hung low, eyes glued to the ground, as he grips the edges of his bed. “You called me a loner when you know that out of all the things people could say about me, it’s the one that hurts me the most. Because that word reminds me of those days before we debuted when I moved here to Korea by myself. I had no friends to depend on, no family to go home to…”

He looks up to meet Luhan’s eyes and Luhan gasps softly as he watches tears roll down Yixing’s cheeks.

“...and when I met you I thought that everything was going to be okay - that you are that one person that I can lean on. But after tonight, I now know that this isn’t the case. I now know that you find me annoying and that you practically hate me. And I’m really sorry for clinging to your side like I’ve done all this years, Luhan ge. But I just thought that you enjoyed my company as much as I enjoyed yours. But I was wrong and I’m sorry.”

Luhan wants nothing more than to go over to Yixing’s bed and envelop the younger man in a hug and tell him that he is is crazy and that everything he is saying right now is wrong. However, he sits frozen in his spot, watching his best friend’s sobs wracking his tiny body.

“I promise you, ge, that starting tomorrow I will leave you alone, just as how you wanted. Good night, Luhan ge,” he says. With nothing more to say, Yixing slips into his blanket, and faces away from Luhan.

*~*~

Sleep does not come easy that night for Luhan. Hours after their conversation, all he could picture when he closes his eyes is the look of hurt on Yixing's face. The occasional tiny sniffling coming from Yixing’s side of the room doesn’t help either and only means that Yixing is still very much awake and still very much crying.

‘You really screwed up this time, Luhan,' he tells himself.