"You should date Luhan" Baekhyun spoke up. Ai looked at him with a wry expression. "And you should try Strassen's multiplication for matrices instead of the normal n-cubed method" she retaliated. This was the ICPC for god sake. They were lucky to have made it to the second round of the prestigious coding competition and here Baekhyun was, concentrating on her non existent love life. "I did. I'm waiting for the next question to be released" Baekhyun said sticking his tongue out at her. Ai glared. The fifteen minute wait between questions had given Baekhyun way too much time to let his focus drift. "Yeah yeah whatever. Now let me focus before my quick sort algo becomes spaghetti sort" Ai said, nipping any discussion in the bud.

"But think about it. Luhan is handsome, plays football, models for the photography club, and you find him manly. You're like the only person on campus who finds him manly. All the other girls and guys think he is pretty" Baekhyun reasoned. "If he is all that great why don't you date him?" Ai asked crossly. Her code kept failing test case 8. She frowned. Of course! How could she have been so dumb! Quick sort wasn't a stable sort!! She should have gone with merge sort! Stupid Baekhyun and his stupid logic making her forget stable sorting. 

"I have Taeyeon. You should really ask Luhan out" Baekhyun insisted. "The only thing I am going to really do right now is recode the sorting in this program. And if you dont want me to mess up your pretty face then you better code too Byun Baekhyun!"

Ai can feel Chanyeol's eyes on her and Luhan. She does not like where his thoughts are leading to. So she was a little tired after staying up all night with Baekhyun to code for the competition and may have accidentally slept on Luhan's shoulder instead of the table like she was aiming for. Or Luhan may have poked her awake and asked her to change positions. Either ways, Ai was now hyper aware of two things. Luhan's lithe muscles which made sleeping on his shoulder very uncomfortable and that Chanyeol who had definitely been influenced by Baekhyun was thinking what no one should.

"I have practice in fifteen" Luhan said with a sigh. "Be gone then" Ai said, getting off his shoulder. "You're up?" Luhan asked, blinking. "Not really but you shouldn't miss practice" she shrugged. "Also" she added, taking off his jacket. "You should keep it" Luhan told her. "I am not the one who catches colds easily" Ai reminded him. Luhan frowned but put it back on. He left and Ai watched him go before turning to Chanyeol.

"No" she said sharply as soon as he opened his mouth. "Lin is right then. You are in denial" Chanyeol said smugly. "No I'm not. there is nothing to be in denial of" Ai said defensively. "You are the only person to be in denial about denial. Also" he said in the same tone she did, "date him already"

"You are all wrong" Ai said when Lin smiled knowingly at her while she got ready for the football game. "All I am saying is that when a girl puts in so much effort to look good, it's because she likes the guy" Lin shrugged. "I can look good for myself" Ai pointed out. "Have done so for the past twenty years and will do so for the next forty atleast." "That is a downright pathetic excuse. Just admit that you want to look good for Luhan" Lin argued. Ai pouted at Lin who would have none of it. 

"Since me getting ready is bugging you anyways, do you think I should wear my hair up or down?" Ai asked, changing the topic. "Leave it loose, Luhan likes girls with long hair" Lin said with a grin. Ai resisted the urge to throw her hair brush at Lin. "Let it go already!" Ai protested, jumping for emphasis. Lin started to sing Let It Go but stopped when she saw Ai's miserable face. "Do you want me to sing the parody instead?" she offered. Ai shook her head and rested it against the wall next to the mirror. 

"Ok. Say that, hypothetically, you don't like Luhan. What if he likes you and asks you out?" Lin asked Ai. Her brain immediately conjured up the image of Luhan putting his jacket around her and them going out for hot cocoa. She blushed and thanked heavens that she wasn't facing Lin. "Well he doesn't. And if he does than I am going to cross the bridge when we come to it" Ai said firmly as she turned around. "Typical. Hot girl breaks the pretty boy's heart" Lin said with a dramatic sigh. Ai shook her head and pulled Lin off her bed. They were going to be late if they didn't leave now.

"He isn't pretty he is manly. Also it's time to go" Ai told Lin. "Of course you would think that way" Lin replied, letting herself be dragged along. Actually walking was too much effort. Ai sighed and pulled Lin along. this would be the best she would get for now.

This is way too much like some drama or anime or manga Ai thinks bitterly. The teams are evenly matched and the first half goes in a lot of struggle to get the ball to stay on one side resulting in everyone being frustrated. But the second half becomes more exciting when Luhan scores (Ai cheers too loud but she will never admit it) prompting the other team to become aggressive instead of defensive. After a spectacular save and another shining goal by the team captain Minho, the team safely hauls another victory and the cheers erupt when the final bell sounds.

Ai is surprised when Chanyeol leads her to the front during the break between, wanting to ask Dara (one of the cheer leaders) out for the after-party. She does not need to see her friend be a stammering mushy mess so she focuses on the team huddled around the coach. When they break apart, Luhan catches her eye and she does a mini cheer. He smiles worriedly but keeps his spirits up for her. He needs to win for sure now that she is watching. Everyone on the team instantly knows the reason for Luhan's sudden aggressiveness and the unexpected goal. So when the match ends, Minseok his best friend and team mate does not hesitate before pushing him towards Ai who had decided to stay with the cheerleaders.

Propelled by the adrenaline (and a really strong Minseok), Luhan stumbles forward and embraces Ai. She really should be repelled by the sweaty footballer but Ai does not mind being hugged. In fact she likes the feeling of his sturdy arms around her and the way he holds her. Like he needs her and won't ever let her fall. To her horror, she realises that she is falling. Or maybe she has fallen but realized it much much later. Won't Lin, Baekhyun and Chanyeol have a field day now.

Ai hugs him back. She knows she is going to over think this. And over thinking will ruin everything. So for now she will leave thinking for tomorrow. Luhan's arm never leaves her waist as he drags her along everywhere. And when he leaves to get changed out of his uniform, Ai misses his touch.

Ai has been thinking. She has considered various reasons for this "condition" or attraction to Luhan. He is handsome and she likes spending time with him but this is way too much. This does not mean she wants to marry him and have his babies because they will be the cutest things in the world. This also does not mean that she wants to hold his hand as they walk down a bridge over the river with him telling her stories about his football matches or asking about her day even though he doesn't really understand what she studies or does for a job. This most definitely does not mean she is considering buying the red muffler she has been eyeing in the winter apparel store because red is a good colour on him that brings out his eyes and his lovely soft brown hair that she wants to run her hands through.

She ends up buying the muffler anyways because he tends to catch colds easily and could use one. He really should take better care of his health. This however does not mean that she is more than willing to make soup and porridge or any other food and look after him when he is sick because he should always be healthy and happy and never fall sick.

When Ai hands over the wrapped up muffler to Luhan, claiming that it is an early Christmas present and his smile lights up everything in the world, she realizes that maybe she means some of the above.

"You're here" Ai says surprised. Luhan is supposed to be in Beijing, not back in Seoul. Ai is back at Baekhyun's place for the third round of ICPC. This time the round goes for twenty four hours. They've been alternating between coding and sleeping and Ai thinks she is dreaming Luhan up. "Yeah" he says lazily, unwrapping his muffler. It's the one she gave him for Christmas, she notes and her insides feel warm. "I came back early because my major project guide called me back" he tells her. "Yeah they tend to do that" she agrees. It's the same tragic story of every final year student. The major project guides were sadists. Luckily in a month, they would be done with them.

"It's really cold outside" Luhan said, putting his bags away. "Yeah. I was practically shivering on my way here" Ai agreed. "Coding again?" Luhan asked. "Yeah. But I have just one more program left. In an hour we'll be done" Ai told him. "Where is Baek?" Luhan asked. "Asleep. I didn't want to wake him up. Do you want some coffee?" she asked him. He nodded. Ai prepared some for him and herself and left him to finish the last program. There was no point since they were eighth on the leader board and only the top three teams would make it through to the finals. But she didn't want to give up without trying.

She submitted the final code and closed her laptop. Exhaustion overcame the coffee rush and she yawned, rubbing her eyes. It was six in the morning. she had time to go back to her dorm and sleep. As she stood up, she noticed Luhan standing, leaning against the door to his room. "Are you done?" he asked. "Yeah. Will you tell Baekhyun I didn't wanna wake him and that I left around six?" she asked him. "You're leaving?" he asked standing up properly. "Yeah..." Ai trailed off.

"But you're sleepy! You can sleep here if you like" he told her. "It's okay Luhan, I should probably go back" she said. "I'm not about to let you go back looking like you'll walk into a pole" he snorted. "I won't walk into a pole!" Ai said defensively. It had been one time! Luhan rolled his eyes and took her hand, leading Ai to his room. The blush on her face deepened as he tucked her in and snuggled in next to her. "What are you doing?" she asked him. "Making sure you sleep. Now go to sleep" he told her. Ai pouted but Luhan did it better and she was forced to reconsider. She closed her eyes, vowing to sleep only for half an hour before getting up and going back. 

She stayed awake for what felt like ten minutes. By the eleventh, his arms wrapped around her and she settled into him comfortably. His perfume was soothing, she noted by the seventeenth as she flitted between sleep and consciousness. By the twenty-fifth Luhan had dozed off too, travel-weary and holding her securely. Ai felt awkward at first but the feeling grew on her.

Why wasn't she dating him already? she asked herself as she fell into deep sleep.

A/N - Because the handsome china man is too hard to write for T_T