On Sunday, the day of their date, Luhan finds himself awake before Minseok. There are no disasters calling for their attention, no worries to hide away from, there is nothing to halt the day’s plan. There is guilt. A hint of it lies dormant beneath Luhan’s surface, threatening to erupt if Luhan doesn’t distract himself from it. The guilt is there in response to the secrets he’s keeping, and how he’s putting off helping Minseok for a day of selfish indulgence. It’s there, but it doesn’t keep him away from his plans. The desire to ignore it and make up for the things he’s hiding motivates him. Rather than just a date, he wants to spend the day reminding Minseok just how much he’s infatuated with him. This is their last date and Luhan wants to make it special because despite whatever path he may choose he knows that things will soon change.

He hears his bedroom door open while facing the espresso machine he’d bought years ago but hardly ever used.

“Are you cooking,” Minseok asks, his voice heavy with sleep. Luhan chances a quick glance back and watches as the Imperfect yawns deeply, eyes scrunching close and mouth opening wide.

He grins and turns back to his task before him. “Sit down,” he commands. The excitement within Luhan is hard for him to control, and with him not taking his pills his emotions were under even less control. He does his best to control it, needing to keep his hand steady to perfect the job at hand. He doesn’t want to mess up and force down a third failed drink. “Also, don’t touch the dish cover.”

Minseok makes a noise of question, but Luhan hears the sound of a chair scraping against the kitchen floor, and doesn’t think much of it. It’s his first time cooking for someone other than himself. All the people he would typically cook for had their own professional chefs, or in Kyungsoo’s case preferred to cook for themselves. As for former lovers, they would have never appreciated the effort. Luhan knows Minseok will and thoughts of Minseok’s reaction as tries the food Luhan makes is a prime cause of his excitement. His first attempts at the meal on the table hadn’t been the greatest. Some had come out undercooked, while others were burnt and misshapen. The well done and misshapen ones had tasted well despite their unfortunate disfigurements.

“Done,” he proclaims to the room even though it’s only the two of them. He turns around and walks over to the table, coffee mug held firmly with both hands. He places the drink down gently beside the hidden dish. He then pulls up the dish cover with an almost dramatic flourish. Luhan keeps his eyes trained on Minseok watching his reaction as he reveals the hidden strawberry pancakes and the latte with the lopsided heart he’d just drawn using steamed milk.

Minseok stares at first, eyes shifting from the purple mug to the plate of pancakes before him. “You made me breakfast,” Minseok asks him, surprise overtaking his voice. It’s not breakfast in bed, Luhan thought that would be too cliché to do, the pancakes aren’t heart shaped either. There aren’t any flowers on the table, or really anything besides the latte with the heart that makes the breakfast seem romantic, and yet Minseok looks at it in honest wonder.

“I’ve made you breakfast,” Luhan agrees, sitting down and handing Minseok a knife and fork. “It’s not much, and I’m sure you’ve had better, but... it’s something I wanted to do. At least once.”

“Why,” Minseok asks, his eyes are focused on the pancakes, his hands shaking a bit as he clumsily attempts to cut the pancake into smaller pieces. “I’ve never had pancakes before. It tastes great.”

Luhan grins, unable to stop the smile even if he wanted to. “Why,” he repeats, “because you’ve made me breakfast. You almost always make breakfast even though I can't eat what you want to eat. Because, you've never had pancakes before and I've adored them since I've first tried them, and because I want today to be something to remember forever.”

Minseok responds to that by lifting his fork with another messily cut piece of pancake for Luhan. Luhan looks from the pancake to Minseok’s eyes and leans forward taking the bite offered to him. It’s silent for a brief moment as Minseok indulges in his breakfast.

“Thank you,” Minseok says at last. His eyes are focused on the mug in his hands, but his lips are tugged into a smile.

****

They leave late in the day, taking a taxi to the destination Luhan has in mind. Minseok doesn’t complain or question him even after Luhan gives a whispered location to the driver. Minseok simply holds Luhan’s hand and watches the passing scenery through the car’s window as they head towards their destination.

“Are we going to school,” Minseok asks, teasingly as they stand in front of Caelum’s National University. His eyes roam from the black iron gates to the tall buildings in the distance.

“Yes,” Luhan says. Minseok turns towards him eyes narrowed and lips pressed down into a small frown of doubt. Luhan grins. “There are a few interesting classes that we can visit before dinner. I figured it could be fun.”

He tugs at Minseok’s hand leading him up the path towards the school. Minseok follows, eyes taking in the sights of the campus. The lawn is a brilliant green that stays that way throughout the seasons, and from their path up the gravel road, there are four visible buildings.

“You’ve done this before,” Minseok says, it isn’t a question but Luhan still struggles to explain himself.

“I used to...” he begins only to trail off, unsure of how to explain the way he’d pretend to be a student on days where he was overwhelmed by his home life. Pretending to be a student had been therapeutic. “This place was a nice distraction in my past when I wanted to run away but was too scared to do so.”

“The security,” Minseok asks him. There’s a hint of concern in his voice but he doesn’t stop walking with Luhan.

“It’s only ever extreme for the controversial classes where forbidden things are discussed. I have a pass for basic entrance that I might have borrowed from Kyungsoo and never gave back.”

****

“Pick a class,” Luhan demands as they stand inside of the main building. Minseok is leaning against the wall of the building, using Luhan’s phone to read through the classes offered. Every now and then a person walks pass the pair of them, eyes lingering on Luhan’s back with obvious interest.

“I never expected Caelum’s National University to have courses on visual art.”

“It’s mainly filled with elites,” Luhan explains. “The ones that spent most of their lives being tutored and still decided to get a degree. Most of them already have predestined jobs, so Uni is just a time for them to play around.”

Minseok hums at that and lifts his gaze to Luhan’s. “I can’t decide between the painting class and filmmaking one.”

Luhan leans forward till his forehead is touching Minseok’s as he tries to view the phone upside down. “Let’s go with painting,” he suggests. “The other is too close to the other thing I have planned for today.” He looks up to meet Minseok’s curious gaze and grins. “Or, we can take a creative writing or poetry class.”

“You’re a poet,” Minseok asks with a tilt of his head.

“No,” Luhan replies, and he’s still close to Minseok. “But with my muse in front of me, I’m sure I could think of something.”

Minseok pushes him away, rolling his eyes at the comment. “You’re too much Luhan,” he says scoffing. “Let’s just take the painting class.”

Painting isn’t something Luhan was born to do. His mini easel depiction of the sun setting over the river is better off left for individual interpretation in his opinion. The professor had taken one look at him earlier and as she now stands observing the drying portrait, Luhan watches her in mild amusement as she stumbles over her words to praise his horrid attempt.

Luhan almost feels insulted at her blatant lying especially when she brings up Van Gogh, but Minseok is beside him trying his best to stifle his laughter, so Luhan continues to allow her to talk herself in circles.

Minseok isn’t much of an artist himself, but he’s better than Luhan. The colors blend well and his sun actually looks like a sun. They leave their easels behind; the professor tells the class they can continue with their days and retrieve them once they’re dry.

Dinner is next on Luhan’s list, but unlike the other things he’s planned, he doesn’t have a restaurant in mind. Minseok doesn’t mind, he allows Luhan to drag him through the streets of District Four in search of the perfect restaurant. The one they do settle on is pub styled.  The chairs are all tall and wooden just like the tables, the lights of the restaurants bathe the room in a reddish tint, and their drinks are served in tall bar glasses. The restaurant boasts of having the best-fried foods in all of Caelum, and from the number of patrons there, that claim seems to hold some truth.

“So, where next, Van Gogh,” Minseok teases as they stand outside of the restaurant. The sun has long since set and with it, the warmth of day has left. There is a frosty chill to the night air that has the pair of them huddled close together.

Luhan glares at the nickname as he loops his arms around Minseok’s waist. They’d brought along their jackets in anticipation of the temperature drop, but Luhan still uses the cold is an excuse to hold Minseok. “Do you want to see a movie?”

“A movie,” Minseok repeats. “I thought we were going for unconventional.”

Luhan pulls closer to Minseok, resting his head on Minseok’s shoulder. “We’re in District Four, Minnie, home of the unconventional and risk-taking Uni students. You’d have to be pretty determined to find something conventional to do here.” Minseok pinches him at the nickname, and Luhan bites his lip to keep from laughing out loud.

“Fine,” Minseok says, “I trust your date planning abilities. Lead the way.”

The movie theater Luhan has in mind is underground, and more than just a little bit illegal. On the outside it looks normal, there’s a sign advertising a bar and billiards hall, but nothing about a theater. The main level is empty when they arrive, so Luhan leads Minseok towards a door marked stairwell. There are two doors in the stairwell and stairs that only go up. One door is an exit, the other is a locked door marked utilities.

Luhan heads over to that door, punching a six-digit code into the keypad, and opening it. He gestures for Minseok to step through first. Minseok does as requested and looks at the boilers and generators in the room. “Is this,” Minseok begins, looking back towards Luhan.

“Yes,” Luhan replies, lifting a finger up to his lips and playfully winking. “It’s a secret.” The stairs that lead to the theater are rusted, they shake and squeal with each step the pair take, threatening to collapse underneath their weight. At the bottom of the stairs is a double door and once they go through it, Luhan watches as Minseok’s eyes widen in surprise.

The walls of the theater’s lobby are an off-white, with tall ivory pillars reaching from floor to ceiling. The carpet underneath their feet is red with brown patterns etched into it, and above their head is a painting of a woman with long flowing hair lounging on a chaise, rosy-cheeked babies surrounding her.

The theater’s design and the films offered are the only things dated about the place. There is one auditorium designed for dates. The seats there are a plush leather and have enough space for two. That’s the auditorium Minseok and Luhan chooses. The pair of them pressed close together as soon as they sit. The freshly laundered blanket supplied to each loveseat allows them to take their jackets off and pretend that they’re watching a movie in the comfort of their home.

Luhan looks towards Minseok and is struck by the thought that despite all his talk of avoiding the conventional Minseok might not have ever been to a movie theater before. As he watches Minseok look around them, taking in as much as he can, there’s a part of him that wishes that he would have chosen to go to a proper theater where Minseok could actually understand the movie presented to them.

****

Two hours later, Luhan watches as Minseok sits down on the grass beside the river, yawning loudly as he stares out across the water. “This is weird,” he says, grabbing the can of instant coffee Luhan passes to him.

Luhan looks across the river, he can see the outline of tall trees in the distance. If he squints he can pretend to see Minseok’s house glowing behind them.

“We can go somewhere else,” Luhan suggests, not yet sitting.

“I don’t want to,” Minseok says in reply. He looks to Luhan and pats the space beside him. Once Luhan sits, Minseok goes back to staring at the land opposite the river. “This was fun.”

“I should have taken you to a proper theater,” Luhan says. “You probably would have enjoyed it more if you understood it.” It’s his only regret. He knows Minseok wanted to do something different, didn’t want a normal date, but that didn’t mean Luhan couldn’t regret that part. It was thrilling, sneaking into the theater and showing Minseok something hidden and unknown, but he still couldn’t help but think about how nice it would have been to be surrounded by couples, couples that didn’t have to hide and lie and could go on dates without worry that their lover might be identified and taken away.

“I enjoyed it well enough,” Minseok says, resting his hand on Luhan’s knee. “There were subtitles.” Luhan doesn't point out that those subtitles were most likely inaccurate, the language within the film had been dead for years. Minseok is probably well aware of it.

“I like this,” Minseok clarifies, lifting his hand and gesturing vaguely. “I never knew District Four had so much to offer, and being with you, here, was fun.”

Luhan hesitates, he tells himself not to imagine Minseok in District Four, not to imagine walking along the river with him on bright days, and drinking in college pubs at night. He’s not supposed to imagine spending rainy days in a cozy one-bedroom apartment cuddled together underneath warm blankets. There’s no use imagining them as a normal couple when they never will be. He still finds himself asking the one thing he knows he shouldn’t.

“If you could, would you live here?”

“District Four,” Minseok asks, he turns his head away from the river as if assessing the neighborhood behind him. Luhan doesn’t know if it’s his own desires clouding his senses that make Minseok sound almost wistful as he continues on. “I never thought about it.”

“President Kim is looking to find you a home here in District Four,” Luhan says, and to disguise his own wistfulness he continues on. “You’ll be gone before he actually does. It’s good, however, it means you’re still safe.”

They fall into an uneasy silence, Luhan doesn’t know what Minseok will do with this information, and he’s still trying to remember why convincing Minseok to live in District Four won’t turn them normal.

“President Kim hinted at giving me the gene before,” Minseok mutters. Luhan’s eyebrows raise at that and he turns towards Minseok in surprise. He wants to ask if he thought about taking it, but then his rational side takes a hold of him again. President Kim has never been one for charity, and although he did say he liked Minseok, Luhan knows that he wouldn’t do something as big as that out of the goodness of his heart. It makes him wonder just what Minseok would have to give him in return.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Luhan says, back to his senses and back to reality.

The distant chatter of the people around them and the hum of city life fill the silence for them. Luhan reaches a hand out, sliding it through the blades of grass to rest on Minseok’s hand. Minseok turns his palm up and their fingers slip together easily settling into the gaps of their hands.

When Luhan turns towards the other, Minseok is staring in return, his head tilted in question.

“What’s on your mind,” Minseok asks him, gaze intense as if he can read Luhan’s thoughts.

Luhan falters, his fingers twitch at the question as if threatening to pull away on their own accord. Minseok’s grip strengthens. “Why don’t you want me to go with you,” Luhan asks their interlocked hands. Minseok’s grip slackens but neither of them let go.

When he looks up he’s met with the trained blankness of Minseok’s face, and eyes that are shining with determination. Luhan assumes he’s been preparing himself for such a question since he had first avoided it that day.

“It’s not that I don’t want you to, it’s just that I don’t think you should,” Minseok states quietly. “It will be hard and dangerous out there. You’ll need to give up your friends and everything you’ve ever known. You’d have to undo the prejudices you’ve learned and although I know you can, I’ve seen you do it, I think you’re safest here in the city.”

He stops and turns away from Luhan, his lips pressing down into a frown. “Mostly I don’t want to be the reason you leave. I don’t like the idea of you giving things up for me, you’re already putting yourself in too much danger just being with me.”

Luhan thinks the last reason is unfair, Minseok’s in more danger being with him than Luhan will ever be, and Minseok has given up more for Luhan than Luhan will ever be able to do the same. Luhan knows that if he gets on his knees in this moment and pleas for Minseok to take the gene and the District Four apartment, he’d at least humor the idea. Luhan doesn’t voice any of that, they’re still on a date and he doesn’t want it remembered for all the wrong reasons, so instead, he nods his understanding.

“I think I want to stay. I- I’ve learned some new information recently, a lot of new information to be honest, and I think it would be best for me to stay. I think my staying here will allow me to finally follow in the right man’s footsteps. I can help the right side by staying.”

He releases the breath he was holding and grins at Minseok. “I want to create a place you can safely return to and be able to buy a pair of glasses to aid your vision.”

Minseok’s look of serious contemplation turns into one of playful offense. He releases Luhan’s hand to slap his knee as he tries to hide his laughter with a mock glare. “My vision is not that bad,” he says in protest.

“I thought you didn’t want to walk through the park that day because you were afraid of invisible monsters not because you were afraid of falling over some branch you couldn't see. I felt very manly and chivalrous that day."

Luhan pouts to show his annoyance and Minseok laughs hard.

“You can still feel manly if you want,” Minseok says, eyes glowing with amusement and lips stretched into a bright smile. “I didn’t fall that day thanks to you chivalrously holding my hand.”

Minseok returns to holding his hand, and presses close into Luhan’s side. “Luhan,” he calls out, voice still edged with delight as he rests his head on Luhan’s shoulder. Luhan turns his head, and Minseok swiftly presses his lips against Luhan’s. It’s different from the chaste press of lips that they’ve indulged themselves in over the last few days. This kiss reminds Luhan of their very first kiss at the homecoming party he’d thrown for Yixing and Junmyeon. Minseok’s lips are cold from the night’s chill but they press against Luhan’s with just the right amount of pressure, molding against his lips and drawing him in. It's confident and Luhan finds himself relaxing into it, letting all his doubts and hesitations he wasn't aware of slip from his shoulders.

Luhan’s fingers reach, tangling in the short strands of Minseok’s hair kissing him back with all he can. It’s far from the last kiss they’ll ever have, and Luhan has never been a romantic but this is the kiss he wants seared into his memory. To him, this kiss is a reminder that they were able to overcome a plethora of obstacles and a promise that they will do the same in the future. They may not be normal, but they will be okay even if they might end up separated in the future. 

⇒This chapter isn't my favorite at the moment. I really want to tweak it some more but I'm a bit tired of looking at it and I didn't want to keep an update away from you all any longer. This chapter has also been split in half since both parts ended up being pretty long and covering different subjects. The next part/chapter will officially be the second to last chapter and that might mean that the actual last chapter may end up being pretty long since I don't want to split that.

I'm not good with cute or fluff and I still ended up cutting out a bit of this chapter because it somehow got pretty long.