Day Two

cross-country - Hội An, Vietnam

"Are you feeling any better?"

Luhan's face hovered briefly in his peripheral vision before leaning back against the seat, waiting for Minseok's response. There was a dull ache at the nape of his neck but aside from that, the three bottles of water he had been sipping on for the past two hours seemed to be doing him good.

The van had been stopped for the past twenty minutes and everyone was outside, milling around it and taking pictures of the rice paddies and water buffalo that were visual from across the road. A small part of Minseok wanted to be out there with them, acting like a normal tourist, but he just didn't have the heart or the energy to move from his comfortable spot across the seat.

He nodded in a positive manner before Luhan started asking more questions and was confused to see a wave of relief wash over Luhan's features, quietly dissipating the worried edge that the boy had had in his eyes all morning. It unnerved him to know that Luhan was worried for him, in a way that he shouldn't be. They hadn't known each other for long and their friendship was rocky and ever-changing at best.

They were only going to be in Vietnam for the rest of the week or so he heard. He hoped it wouldn't be too long; the climate of the place was seriously kicking his .

"Talk to me about what happened with this Seohyun chick?" Minseok questioned, turning his body on the seat to face Luhan, pushing the backpack to prop up against the side of the van.

"There isn't much to tell," Luhan replied, tossing his cell phone gently between his hands. Minseok knew that he had been staring at the device for the past half hour, hoping that it would vibrate with a new text message. It upset him that the man was so dependant on someone else in his life.

"She said she was leaving and going through with the things she always wanted to accomplish in her life and that she hoped I wasn't upset and she would always love me."

"It sounds like a bunch of bull to me." Luhan's eyes shot up to glare intensely at Minseok. "Hey, don't start defending her! She left you."

A soft sigh escaped the man's lips before he dropped his eyes back down to his lap.

"I was going to ask her to marry me when I got back from this trip. I came on it to buy a ring actually. She always liked the antique-y sort of stuff and I figured that passing through one of these countries, I'd find a really pretty one."

Minseok frowned. He had seen a lot of divorce cases in the early part of his career; he knew about deadbeat, abusive husbands and back-stabbing, vindictive wives. Luhan was better off not marrying at all. Only heartache could come from giving someone your entirety and hoping they would take good care of it.

"So… are you going home? Now that there's not much of a point of staying on this trip?"

For reasons beyond him, Minseok hoped the answer to this was no. Luhan wasn't Zitao, that much was certain, but there was just something about him that you couldn't help but be drawn to.

"Free trip through Asia, are you kidding me? I would kill on a normal basis just to come along for one of these. And it is fun, don't get me wrong. Do you want me to leave or something?"

Their eyes caught for a undeterminable charged moment and Minseok felt the palms of his hands prickle in a strange sort of heat. Luhan's eyes were so straight-forward and piercing that it hurt.

"No, no. Of course not. You staying or going has nothing to do with me. Though if you bring any more rats into the picture, I might just buy your plane ticket back home myself."

Murky like mud Luhan's doe eyes crinkled at the edges and a barking laugh escaped his throat. A bright, contagious smile took up residence on his face and suddenly everything about him seemed to glow and leak happiness, washing over everyone else and seeping into their pores.

It was then that Minseok knew why Luhan was so damn interesting. It was his personality; drawing everyone to him likes flies to sugar water. Even if he was having a bad day, like now, there were still the moments that he cast that seemed to pull you in and absorb you until you had no choice but to float along with whatever emotion that was running its course.

Everyone else was beginning to load back up on the bus and Luhan was still grinning and Minseok could feel a smile pull at his own lips. Sulli came bouncing back towards them, her long hair swishing around her elbows.

"Luhan, I got some really good shots. Do you wanna look over them with me?" she questioned, out of breath. Luhan nodded and scooted farther over to his side, signaling the girl to sit in between him and Minseok.

The scent of Lovely invaded Minseok's senses as she pressed in between them, holding her camera in front of her. Her skinny ankles crossed over one another and Minseok noticed the little ringlets that clung to her forehead, damp with perspiration.

She reminded him of the Greek goddess Artemis he had read up on for a mythology course he took in college. Pure as snow but a charming wild side underneath it all; the ultimate temptress. It took everything he had not to scoot closer to the beauty but her exclamations over the pictures she had and Luhan's slow, steady gaze made him settle for just peering over her shoulder.

Most of the shots were blurry or unfocused but there were a couple that made Minseok think that she might have something if she pursued photography.

"I took this one of you by accident Minseok, but I really like how it came out. What do you think?" Sulli explained, holding the camera towards Minseok so he could see.

She must have taken it that morning when they were walking back from breakfast. And even though it wasn't centered whatsoever and Minseok detected what looked like the edge of Sulli's green flip flop, he had to admit the way the light was cast, it wasn't too bad of him. In fact, it was really good.

It seemed Luhan noticed it too, because a sharp intake of breath was heard and Sulli and Minseok both looked over at the same time at him. Luhan quickly pasted on a quick smile, grinning sheepishly.

"That's… that's a really nice one of you Minseok. Sulli, you know, you're really good at this."

Sulli blushed from the praise and started flipping back through the pictures. Minseok narrowed his eyes and shot the boy a questioning glance; he changed the subject too fast. Not that Minseok cared really.

"So gang, how about we stop for some lunch?" Chien exclaimed from the front of the bus, weaving in and out of pedestrians in the road.

There was a static murmur that spoke volumes that everybody on board was definitely down with that. Minseok, himself, was hungry but after his brief stint with the sun, he wasn't too sure if he'd be able to keep down any food.