As weeks pass, Luhan still doesn’t get any work. It had gotten to a point where Kyungsoo was sending in his portfolio to people as if he was a rookie model and not already a household name. Despite all the work Kyungsoo puts in, despite all the phone calls he makes, Luhan is never booked, and whenever they ask for a reason behind it, they’re only met with silent and stumbled nonsensical words.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Luhan not getting work is the power of a greater, more powerful force, and despite the fact that Luhan plays the idiot model stereotype well, he knows who’s behind it. It is his punishment for defying President Kim, and even though it is nothing compared to previous punishments, Luhan understands the implications wholeheartedly.

In the meantime, as the weather reaches warm cooling temperatures during the day, but remains cold and icy during the night, Luhan finds himself growing even closer to Minseok. He's not sure if there was one particular thing that caused the shift between them, but he's sure that whatever caused it came from his visiting Minseok's house.

The shift in their friendship is how Luhan finds himself sitting in the park across from Minseok's house on an old rusted bench, with the glow of his phone lighting the small region. As soon as Minseok is ready, they'll be heading to the subway station and riding into District Three to get to the club of Luhan's choice. Compromise is what Minseok said, he was all about compromise and often times Luhan found it cute, but today was not one of those times.

He hears the sound of light foot falls in the silent air and turns to face a puzzled Minseok with a burgundy scarf wrapped around his face. Despite the changing weather, Minseok was still wearing most of his winter gear, from the various types of hats, to his large scarfs that covered most of his face, and thick knit gloves and mittens. Occasionally, like tonight, he’d forgo his heavy parka and wear a lighter jacket.

"What are you doing out here," Minseok asks, gloved fingers hiding in the warmth of his coat pockets. "Why didn't you just come inside?"

"I don't know," Luhan says, standing and shrugging. "Your parents are nice and I'm not. I didn't think I could look them in the eyes knowing their just as nice son might cover tomorrow's tabloids with me."

Minseok is quiet, but Luhan’s sure he’s probably frowning beneath the scarf.  “I’m not that nice,” he mutters, stepping forward and undoing the scarf.

"What are you doing," Luhan asks, just as Minseok steps closer to him. Minseok doesn’t respond at first and just pulls him closer, wrapping the thick cloth around Luhan’s face until only his eyes are peaking through. Minseok’s fingers brush the tips of his ears, before he pulls away, and his frown only deepens.

"You might not get sick, but being a Perfect doesn't stop you from freezing to death, or at least getting frostbite."

"What about you," Luhan asks, narrowing his eyes, for someone who supposedly isn’t nice, giving his scarf up seemed like a pretty big contradiction.

"I wasn't sitting out here for 15 minutes like an idiot" Minseok replies. "I'll live. We should get going though, or else we'll miss the train." Luhan agrees and watches as Minseok starts out of the park.

"Where are you going," Luhan questions after Minseok. "Wouldn’t it be faster to go through the park?" He watches as Minseok turns back to him, eyes straying pass Luhan to stare into the depths of the dark park surrounded by large sprawling trees. With the scarf off his face Luhan not only sees the way his eyebrows crease in apprehension but also how his teeth come out to chew nervously on his bottom lip.

"It's dark," Minseok says simply, eyes shifting over to meet Luhan’s.

"I know," Luhan replies trying to keep the amusement from his voice. "We can use our phones to light the path if you want." Minseok shuffles over to him, the hesitance easing away.

"I'm not afraid," Minseok tells him. "The paths are really uneven. It'll be hard to walk through them in the dark."

"I know," Luhan replies a faint smile on his lips. "You can hold my hand if you want."  He outstretches his hand, and watches as Minseok lips quirk as he stares down at his hand.

"Fine," Minseok says grabbing his hand and staring at Luhan in amusement. "Wouldn't want you getting hurt."

Walking through the largest park in District Eight cuts their time in half compared to walking around it. It's dark at the very beginning, but as the pair get closer and closer to the end Luhan begins to notice how the street lamps begin to dimly light their path.

****

Luhan would openly admit that he had a few preconceived notions on how the subway stations, and the trains would look like. Despite having been underground to basement clubs, bars, and other upscale establishments, he'd imagined, the subway station to be a dark molding place, with leaking pipes and ceilings. The subway was deemed a rather unsafe place, and that's what Luhan's mind conjured up as unsafe. In his imagination, despite the small number of Imperfects still alive and still living in the city, there were groups of them, sneering and hostile at having an intruder in their midst. There had been nothing to rid him of those images, until Minseok decided to drag him down to take a look for himself.

The walls are white, not a pristine white, but it does glow under the overhead fluorescent lights. The floor glows as well as if it was waxed recently. There are no leaking pipes, no ceilings made of dirt and gravel and verging on giving way. If there is mold, Luhan doesn't see it. It's near empty. There are a good four people with them, two young women sit together on a bench talking in hushed whispers. Not too far away from them stands an older man leaning against what appears to be a map, and near the edge of the platform stands a teenaged boy.

"We should only have to take one train into District Three," Minseok says after quickly checking the time. "What do you think?"

"It's looks better than expected," Luhan admits, eyes sweeping the area once more.

"Only the Red Light, and Factory Districts have small badly maintained subway stations," Minseok replies.

The actual train is just as nice as the station, despite the fact that all the seats face each other and if it's crowded you might end up beside a stranger, it's spacious. There are more people inside the train, and a few of them stare openly at him, but Luhan is able to sit beside Minseok, and feel unbothered by the people around him. His reasons to dislike Minseok taking the subway have nearly all died.

"It wasn’t terrible was it," Minseok asks once they hit the streets of District Three.

"It wasn't terrible," Luhan confirms nodding his head, as he leads Minseok to their destination. "I still don't think it's completely safe." Minseok doesn’t respond, instead he smiles, and quickens his pace to keep in step with Luhan.

The pair meet both Yixing and Junmyeon, the moment they get inside the club. The two men already have a table lined with shots in their hold, and the moment they lay eyes on Minseok and Luhan they begin greeting them. Junmyeon, like always, is a bit more subdue. He simply smiles and waves his greetings. Yixing, however, stands to welcome them, hugging both men in his excitement.

It had only been Junmyeon and Yixing who Luhan had invited out in the beginning. His favorite club was in District Three, and hadn’t been in existence the last time the pair were in the city, so it felt like Luhan’s duty, to introduce the two to the place. They loved a good nightclub, and Luhan knew all the best ones.

It was Luhan’s idea to invite the two members of Caelum’s National Security, but it had been Yixing’s idea to invite Minseok.

From the moment Yixing had given him the suggestion, Luhan had been bubbling with excitement at the prospect. It reminded him of when he'd invited Minseok to his party. The anticipation was there again to see Minseok outside of a formal setting, where it was okay to drink, and have more than just a restrained fun. Like many, Minseok was conscious of how he conducted himself in public, but Luhan was determined to break that mask underneath the glow of the club's black lights.

After the greetings Luhan pulls Minseok down into a seat in front of two of the shot glasses. He lifts both and passes one to the secretary. Minseok silently accepts it and stares down at the unknown clear liquid, swishing it about. Luhan can’t help but wonder what’s going through Minseok’s head at the moment. Maybe he’s curious about what he’s seconds away from ingesting, or maybe he's already regretting his agreeing to join.

A quick glance from Minseok proves both of Luhan’s assumptions wrong. Minseok is grinning in delight as he lifts the drink to his lips and downs it in one shot, the look of glee not breaking once as the bitter liquid swims across his taste buds, and trails a burning path down his throat.

It's the shining confidence and amusement that has Luhan realizing that despite Minseok's reserved nature, he's probably as good of a drinker as Junmyeon or at least thinks himself to be. With one last glance at Minseok, Luhan chugs his first shot of the night, with all the same ease, but less of the confidence. His plan to get Minseok out of his comfort zone, seems to have already taken a twist.

After a few more drinks, Luhan’s plans begins unraveling just as he suspected would happen. Minseok maybe reserve during the day, but at night in between the masses of dancing bodies Minseok is a bit more liberated, and a lot more fun. Luhan finds that Minseok didn't mind taking off his professional mask, and what he sees behind it excites Luhan more than the alcohol and deep bass of the music.

Minseok doesn't become a different person at night and under the influence of over-priced alcohol. He's still the same Kim Minseok that works as a secretary, and lives in District Eight. He just appears more at ease, happier and carefree as he's dragged to the dance floor, and given drink after drink. Luhan finds himself intrigued by this new side of Minseok, because despite his still quiet nature, there's an openness, a friendliness, to him that makes it seem as if he had let his wall down for the night. Luhan had been attempting to tear that wall down for a while, and over the course of time, he'd gotten closer to Minseok, but he had never felt as close to Minseok as he did at the very moment. To Luhan it felt as if Minseok was finally beginning to trust him.

****

As the night progresses, the group of four eventually separate. Junmyeon and Yixing both leave first, and rather it’s to go to a different club or to return home Luhan doesn’t know. After Luhan and Minseok finish their last round of drinks, the pair leave the club and hail a taxi to District Two.

The moment they enter Luhan's bedroom, Minseok sits down on the edge of Luhan's bed, he’s staring into nothingness, lips tugged down into a small barely there frown. Luhan follows after him, forgetting to turn the lights on as his concern peaks.

"Are you okay," Luhan asks softly. "You were quieter than normal on the ride here." Luhan can understand why Minseok might be uncomfortable. The last time he had been at Luhan's home hadn't ended as nicely as it could have, but Luhan had volunteered to pay his fare home, promising that Minseok could buy him lunch on Tuesday as repayment.

“I talked to Yixing,” Minseok tells him. Luhan tries his best not to scowl because he knows that no matter how drunk Yixing may get he would never reveal any of Luhan’s darkest secrets, and anything he may have told Minseok was probably said to help Luhan.

“What did he say,” Luhan asks. Minseok is silent and when he takes too long to answer Luhan leans in closer his eyes searching the secretary's in the dark. "What did Yixing say to you," Luhan asks again rephrasing his question.

Minseok still refuses to answer, but he reaches out, fingers caressing Luhan's cheek, eyes straying to his lips as if he's planning to kiss Luhan. Luhan is silent, but his heart is beating harshly in his chest. It feels as if he's just run from one side of the city to another, but even his breathing, faster than usual, is quiet in the dark. When Minseok looks up his eyes are shining with so many different emotions it paralyzes him. He leans in closer, eyes asking all the questions he couldn't voice.

It's Luhan that initiates the kiss, leaning into that short distance that separated them and pressing his lips gently against Minseok's, hesitating for a swift second before kissing him with more confidence and reassurance, hands reaching to cup Minseok's face. His heart jumps when Minseok kisses him back, hands wrapped firmly around Luhan's thin wrists, but not enough to hurt.

The emotions that runs through Luhan makes him want to push closer and pull away all at once. It's overwhelming, and as they draw away to gather air into burning lungs, and calm themselves down, Luhan comes to a bleak conclusion. Minseok thinks they won't last as friends or lovers because they come from two different worlds, but Luhan knows that they won't have a chance of lasting if they want different things.

“We can’t be friends,” Minseok says, as if he’d read Luhan’s thoughts. Luhan is silent for a moment, wondering if Minseok is asking a question, or simply stating his own thoughts.

“We can’t,” he says a second later. “At least not when we’re this way. My feelings for you are different than my past lovers. I can’t kiss you today and pretend like I don’t like you tomorrow. We either be strictly friends or…” he trails off, not sure how to continue. Or what? They become lovers or strangers?

In the beginning Luhan had been worried about putting Minseok in a position where he’d have to choose between friend or lover, afraid that the choice would draw Minseok away from him, but now Luhan realizes this was a choice Minseok would have always had to make, and just maybe it would be better to choose now before Luhan fell any deeper.

“You’ll regret it,” Minseok tells him, and a small bitter smile graces his lips as he refuses to meet Luhan’s eyes. “Being with me,” Minseok begins, but pauses in his speech finally looking up to meet Luhan’s eyes. He’s not smiling anymore, nor is he frowning. “You’ll regret that.”

The rational side of Luhan has been telling himself the same thing since he laid eyes on Minseok. They were so vastly different that the cynic in him figured nothing good would come out of being interested in the secretary, despite their differences being the main thing that drew him to Minseok.

"No I won't," Luhan replies. He'll never regret being true to himself, it's when he does the opposite that the ugly skin-crawling feeling of regret surfaces. Minseok will never be a regret even if he shatters Luhan into a million little pieces in his wake.

Minseok kisses him then, fingers pressing softly into the skin of Luhan’s neck as he guides him into their second kiss of the night. Luhan kisses back just as quickly moving closer and holding on to the hem of Minseok’s shirt, in the back of his mind he realizes that this kiss could be the one that leads into many, many more, or it could be their very last one.

Either way, Luhan takes the time to imprint every last second of the kiss into his brain, from the feeling of Minseok’s lips against his own and the burning sensation of Minseok’s hand against his throat. Rather it’s the kiss that leads to a million more, or the final one, Luhan wants to remember it.

"What does that mean," Luhan asks once they pull away. He’s determined yet almost fearful of what can happen in the next few minutes. "What do you want Minseok? Honestly."

The expression that crosses Minseok's face doesn't look the least bit happy. It's grim and serious, and Luhan can't help but think that maybe he should have had a few more shots, if he was going to have this conversation.

"I want you," Minseok replies.

"How," Luhan asks, eyebrows furrowing, as he stares into Minseok's eyes, waiting and worried. “How do you want me?”

Minseok looks up to meet his eyes, and a hand comes out to grip Luhan's. "In all the ways I’m not supposed to."

According to AFF it took more or less a year and 17 chapters for them to finally make some progress. The last line is kind of cliche but I love it and it was the only thing that managed to stay the same in the bedroom scene I kept rewriting this past week.

Also the next update might not be out for a while, this chapter was exhausting to write and I need a break. Next chapter I'm thinking of trying my hand at a tiny bit of fluff!