The sky was the same shade of misty blue as the day time had stopped for Han Lu, the same sticky summer air adhering his collar to his neck, the same concrete burning the bottoms of his bare feet as they slapped across it in frenzied disbelief. Sharp intakes of humid air and the same boy hunched over in front of the same, white house, just as things had been years before.

The past five years, the house had just served as a glimmer of the past, planted firmly in it’s concrete base as a small reminder of what

he once had. Of the person Luhan had spent most of his life with, and of the person who had left this very house empty and still.

How old was he when he last saw him? When Luhan let him “borrow” his favorite cd under the promise he’d come back to return it some day? When his best friend had stood in front of the class and announced his leave to the gap toothed audience? When he had planted a small, and blindly innocent kiss on him behind the schoolyard fence because he hadn't known how to properly say goodbye? Luhan gave the contents of the boxes perched outside of the house a quick once over while he caught his breath. His house was only down the street from here, but he had practically flown at the sight of cars parked in the drive.

“Yeah,” Luhan barely wheezed out, “Yeah. He’s home.” And with that, shaky legs led him up the three cement steps without hesitation, and shaky hands rang the doorbell with a tune all too familiar, and everything around Luhan set itself in motion when the door finally gave to his requests. Time resumed again.

A pair of almond eyes peeked out from around the door frame and locked onto his. There was a sharp, startled intake of breath, and the door swung open on it's hinges. 

"Lu-ge?"

"Yo," he raised a hand in greeting, plastering a casual smile on his face, "I'm Luhan. Welcome to the neighborhood." 

A small bundle of hair and skinny limbs and tears threatening to fall had found their way into Luhan’s arms, carrying a faint familiar scent of cinnamon and soap and emitting laughter that was no less than a symphony. “Luhan!” Kim Min-Seok had attached himself to him, knobby arms linked around his neck and shoulders heaving. “, dude, okay, I'm happy too but you're definitely gonna strangle me at this point.” Luhan teased, his own arms linked around the other's waist. Minseok beamed up at Luhan with a cheeky smile and sharp eyes. “I'm sorry it's just, well- I mean! I can't belive you're really here! You're still here! I can't even believe I'm here with you!” He grabbed Luhan’s wrist and gently pulled him into the house, letting the screen door slam behind them.

They spent a fair amount of time unpacking Minseok’s boxes together, quickly warming up to the familiarity of each other despite the years that had separated them. Minseok had lived here all his life up until the past few years, where the house had sat unoccupied and waiting. His father’s work abruptedly relocated them, leaving Luhan friendless and with a sinking feeling whenever he walked past where Minseok once lived.

“Hey, come check this out Luhan!” Minseok chirped, huddled over a floorboard in the corner of the room. “Think it’s still there?” Luhan grinned at him. “One way to find out,” He moved his slender fingers over the edges of the old wood and gave a firm yank. The board lifted easily, revealing stacks on stacks of sloppily folded paper. Giggling, they took turns reading the old notes they had passed to each other in middle school, laughing and grabbing onto the other’s shirt in fits of laughter. Teases were thrown around, ending with Luhan’s finger up Minseok’s nose and Minseok tickling under his ribcage. They fell asleep on the hardwood floor of Minseok’s bedroom, crumpled up against each other and snoring without any concerns.

    Luhan woke up and immediately slammed his head against the wall. “Oh my god, what time is it?!” he shrieked. Minseok rubbed an eye with one hand and checked his phone with the other. “11:26”, he yawned at him.

“Oh man I am so dead!!!!” Luhan launched himself onto his feet and scrambled to the door, but turned back and fell to his knees in front of Minseok. He grabbed both of his friend’s hands and looked deep into his eyes. “Minseok…. will you please come to Starbucks and order about 11 lattes from me so I don’t get fired. Please.”

The smaller boy laughed and patted his pants’ pocket to make sure his wallet was on him. Glancing up, he giggled again and nodded. Luhan picked him up and ran out the door, the smaller boy laughing and asking why he was being carried. “Because you don’t run as fast as I do!” Luhan said, bumping open the front door with his hip and jumping the three concrete steps down.  

-x-

    Minseok had only been home for a week or so before it was time for school to start again. The two boys walked together, talking about how nervous they were and how they couldn’t wait to see what classes they would have. Minseok was huddled over a juicebox and sipping from it time to time in between sentences. He looks kind of like a chipmunk, Luhan thought to himself. He absentmindedly linked his arm with his. “Who’s in our class?” “Huh?” “The other students, are they nice?” “Oh,” Luhan replied softly. “I guess. I don’t really know anyone that well.” He looked down at his shoelaces and tried to ignore the gaping hole that was forming in his stomach. “Really? Ah, well you were always pretty quiet! I can’t wait to meet your friends!” Minseok grinned up at him cheekily and Luhan twisted his neck toward the road as soon as he felt the heat rush to his cheeks.

Friends. Luhan knew some people, but “friends” wasn’t exactly the term he would use to describe them. “There’s this one guy I can introduce you to I guess. He’s not half bad, kind of an . But a likeable , you know?? Are there even likeable s??” Minseok’s mouth made a tiny “o” shape and he tugged at the sleeve of Luhan’s blazer. “Oooo, I’m excited! Are there any cute girls in our class???” Luhan racked his memories of high school for girls. He could remember some voices: no faces, no names. “Probably?” Luhan responded, glancing down at Minseok to see if that was an acceptable answer. To his relief, the boy was already fixated on the building a few hundred meters in front of them.

    The school building was as tall, dull and gloomy as it had ever been, but Minseok was gazing at it like it was the 8th wonder of the world. “Woah!!! So cool!!! I’ve been thinking about the day I would finally go here since I was really little, Luhan!! We finally made it here together, huh! Although it’s our first and last year of high school together-” Minseok turned and took both of Luhan’s hands in his. “- let’s make it the best year we’ve ever had!” Gazing down at Minseok’s smiling face, Luhan cracked and did something he hadn’t done in years- made a promise.

“We will. I swear.” They stood there, holding hands and staring at each other smiling, for just a bit longer than they should’ve.

    Luhan watched as people naturally flocked to Minseok. He was charming, a natural born people person. Observing him from across the courtyard, he kind of smiled to himself. Of course everyone would love him, he’s Minseok. Luhan, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Minseok could not, under any circumstances, find out what exactly he was known for around here.

It was lunch time, and he was sitting on a bench when Minseok returned to his side. “Everyone’s so friendly! I like it here so much, how is your day going?” Luhan just ruffled the smaller boy’s hair and grabbed two boba teas out of his bag, handing one to Minseok.

    “Hey.” Both of them looked up at two boys who had practically appeared out of thin air in front of them. Luhan scoffed a little. “What, were you summoned here by the boba?” “Yes.” One of the boys had his hand in the back pocket of the other’s pants, and used his free hand to snatch the boba tea away from Luhan and take a sip. Luhan rolled his eyes and gestured at the duo while reaching for his tea back.

“Minseok, these are my friends I guess.” The shorter one offered up his hand. “Oh Sehun” he said. Minseok glanced at his hand, and then back up at him. The guy had offered up his left hand, leaving his right hand remaining in the other’s back pocket. He stared at Minseok with an expression that firmly stated he was not going to remove his other hand from the it was groping, and he could either take or leave the handshake. He hesitantly reached up and shook it.

“Kim Min-Seok!” “Cool.” The taller of the two excitedly leaned forward and grabbed Minseok’s hand with both of his, shaking furiously. “I’m Huang Zi Tao, it’s so nice to meet you!!!!” Luhan glanced over as the two of them excitedly shook hands and made small talk.

“Are you guys out now?”

“Luhan, I’m groping his in public.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yeah.”

It only took a few minutes for Minseok to make quick friends with both of them, with Tao and Sehun excusing themselves after a bit to probably go make out in private. Sehun leaned into Luhan’s ear and whispered something, before cheekily waving goodbye at the pair. His last words rang through Luhan’s head over and over.

“He’s going to find out sometime, you know.”