It didn't take long for Luhan to make it back home.  The first thing the doe-eyed boy noticed was Xiumin's missing car.  He slid out of his own vehicle and circled around the spot of thinly layered snow where the other boy's car had just been, not even 10 minutes ago.  Luhan frowned, trying to think of a reason as to why Xiumin would leave the house. 

The bag Luhan had slid onto his arm, rustled as his rattling keys found their way into the doorknob.  Luhan unlocked the front door, finding himself in a dim, empty house.  He slipped off his shoes and shuffled into the kitchen, setting down his marshmallows on the counter.  The two red mugs he had set out much earlier caught his eye.  He sighed and trudged dejectedly towards them.  

With a regretful pang in his heart, he dipped a finger in the hot chocolate.  It was cold.  Luhan wilted in his spot like a dying flower, his finger sinking in the drink.  It wasn't until the cellphone in his pocket began to ring, did he compose himself.  He slipped his finger out of the mug, it clean, then placed the phone to his ear.  

"Hello?"

"Hey, uh, I probably won't be home for an hour or so.  Sehun asked me to help him out with something.  I'm really sorry, Luge,"  Luhan could almost imagine the pout on Xiumin's face, something he tended to do when he was telling Luhan something that didn't appeal to him.  

"An hour?" Luhan asked bewildered.  "What is Sehun making you do?"  Luhan felt a sudden urge to punch the younger guy in the stomach.  Ah, Sehun, always taking my Umin away from me! Luhan scowled, sending the cold chocolate down the drain and washing out the mugs in the sink.

"You know how dumb he is-OW!"  there was a static on the other end of the line, some rustling, and finally Xiumin was talking again. "Anyway, I'll try to finish sooner. Bye," there was a pause and a sigh. "Love you, Luge,"  Xiumin whispered.  Luhan snickered and said goodbye to Xiumin, professing his love as well. 

Luhan sighed, staring down at the two red mugs.  He scrunched his lips together and shot the mugs a dirty look. "Better make some more hot chocolate," he mumbled to himself. "And Xiumin never told me what he was doing!" he yelled a little louder, palming his forehead. 

***

45 minutes later, Luhan had changed into more comfortable clothes and was sprawled on the sofa.  The hot chocolate had not been made yet, Luhan had decided to wait until the one hour mark to make that, having been already disappointed once.  In one arm, he cradled a bag of marshmallows, slowly stuffing them into his mouth as he stared off at the wall.  Many things were running through his mind, one of the main things was his plot against Sehun for taking his precious, little Xiumin away.  Luhan had already set his plan in action by sending Sehun angry emojis.  You'll see you dumb little kid. 

He began to think of the red color of the mugs, how they glistened when washed, how they reminded him of happy, cozy days when him and Xiumin had stayed home together.  The red color reminded him of a set of red candles he kept stashed away in his closet.  Luhan thought about taking them out, but his position on the sofa was just too comfortable.  But then again, he'd be surprising Xiumin once he got home and that had been his main goal this whole time, right?

With a grumble, Luhan forced himself to roll off of the sofa and onto the ground.  He half crawled, half slid down the hallway to his room and to the closet.  His arms rummaged through the back corners until he found a dusty black box.  Inside the red candles lay next to each other, in perfect condition.  Luhan thought about the long trek back to the living room. He groaned in frusturation.  

I realize this may not be the most appropriate time to be posting something like this, but I thought that if anyone needed a distraction from what is going on at the moment, I could provide that for you. 

Even if we may not be able to help the boys, we can help each other out.  Please stay strong friends.

-wowsuga