“What makes you happy?” The hoarse voice is the first thing that wakes Luhan up early the following morning. Seeing as that the sun hasn’t risen yet but the figure beside him already did, he lets out a light chuckle.

He then turns to his side, leaning a little bit against the chest of the former. “You,” He mumbles, answer slightly muffled.

However, the other man laughs sadly. “You’re such a liar, you know that?”

“I’m not lying.” Luhan speaks so slow, it’s almost unheard.

Silence drapes over the room like a huge, thick blanket that's too much warm it suffocates both males.

The latter pats his head softly. “Go back to sleep, Lulu.”

The next thing they know, the quietness is already drowned by Luhan’s heart wrenching sobs.

        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh Sehun hates waiting, simple as that.

Tapping his foot impatiently, he swears under his breath as he watches the fourth group of students step out the campus of Seoul Arts Academy. He bites his lips, loosening his tie a little before removing his yellow blazer to lessen the hotness that the summer air is bringing. It’s been fifteen minutes since he dashed out of class and towards the school gate to meet his friends but it seems as if the heavens was testing him extra hard for today because added to the fact that his day wasn’t going that well, he now also had to wait for his companions.

He glances at his wrist watch, cursing once again as he continues to stand awkwardly by the school’s entrance.

“Old douche!” A group of boys finally hollers grabbing Sehun’s attention. He runs toward them immediately, punching one of his friends' arms.

“What took you all so long you asses!?”

“We had to help Ms. Cho carry the books to the library. Geez, twenty minutes hasn’t even passed!”

Sehun scoffs. “I don’t care! It still doesn’t change the fact that I practically stood there like an idiot earlier just because I had to wait for all of you!”

“Okay, okay it’s our fault already, happy? Now stop going all ‘ mode’ on us and let’s eat ddeokbokki!” One of Sehun’s friends exclaims, pulling him by his hand. Sehun shakes his head, a small smile forming at the corner of his lips.

            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hypocrite

That’s exactly the first word that comes into Luhan’s mind as his senses is deluded with the resounding sound of a suspension letter being slapped into his face for the second time that year.

He stares at the dean with repulse and tries to hide how utterly pissed he is with the unfair treatment that they’re giving him the luxury of having. So as much as his rational mind allows him to, he gives a stiff bow to the raging man in front of him and leaves the school office in a span of a few seconds.

In all honesty, Luhan was never the type to start fights. However, he had been getting much of the blues in medium amounts ever since he transferred as a foreign student in their university and right now was one of those cases were a certain bully tried to kick his . Then the next thing he knew was that he’s being granted a suspension simply because he decided to defend himself.

So although filled with much reluctance, he steps out of university grounds with his back pack in his hold. Walking, he does his best to remain compose at the judging gazes thrown onto him and when he’s finally out of the place which he claims to be synonymous to hell, he exhales heavily and hails a cab, leading him towards the run down and forgotten streets of Seoul.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ten months.

Luhan remembers. Ten months since he came from China and migrated to Korea. Living in a small apartment unit, the young man breathes in the scent of decades old paint peeling off the wall of a poorly maintained home.

He drops his belonging in the living room and falls face first on the huge black couch that remains to be the only representation of luxury in his haven. Groaning in annoyance due to the day’s unfortunate events, he messes up his hair and mopes a little before gaining the strength to finally get up and grab his back pack again.

For awhile he stays rooted on his spot while he stares at the only picture frame hanging in his living room. The happy face of his parents and a cheerful thirteen year-old Luhan stares back at him, he sadly smiles, waving off the tears that were about to fall as he finally walks toward his door.

“I guess my part time job would be earlier than usual.” He mumbles, locking the door with a heavy sigh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Sehun, will you stop eating for awhile?” One of his friends says after bumping his elbow slightly. Feeling annoyed, Sehun stares at him for a minute before chewing on his food once again.

“Sehun come on stop eating first, that guy over there had been staring at you since earlier!” His friend tells him in a hush tone, bumping the dark-haired male by his elbow again as he gives his attention at last. Unbelieving, Sehun turns to stare at the stranger his friend is pointing before choking on what he was about to swallow since the man on the other side of the restaurant was indeed looking at him.

Sehun frowns. “Is there anything on my face?”

“Nothing that we know of.”

“Then what is it-”

However Sehun isn’t able to actually end his sentence because before he’s actually aware of it, the man on the other side of the restaurant was already in front of him sporting a not so friendly aura and a serious face. Deep inside, Sehun feels the bubbling panic rise like bile within his throat and the moment the stranger tries to take something from his back pocket he makes a run for it, freaking the hell out of his friends and the customers inside the restaurant.

He swears for the nth time on that unlucky day as he takes a glimpse behind him and sees the unknown lad still chasing after him even though he already sent out obvious signs that he didn’t want anything to do with him. Sehun bumps into random people, one of them even giving out flyers, which makes him gulp while saying a loud apology as he passes through the fuming lad who was busy picking up the pieces of paper that Sehun had managed to remove from his grasp.

About to run out of breath, Sehun takes a sharp turn in one of the streets corner making him go ape when he realizes that it’s a dead end.

“I’m doomed.” He breathes in, face palming himself.

Meanwhile the stranger finally stops also, standing a few feet away from the shaking teen. “Whoa calm down right there.” He tells Sehun, wiping the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. “I don’t know where you got the adrenaline to run that fast but I didn’t know I look that scary for you to freak out when I came near. Ok I might have look like a creep when I was looking but I swear my intentions are good!”

“Wh..wh..what do you want from me?” Sehun manages to speak, trying to remain compose.

“Here,” The weird man says, holding a white and pink card in front of Sehun. “Do you know SM Entertainment? Well, I’m one of those who scout for the company and I really think you fit to be an idol so I’m recruiting you as one although we need to get your parents to sign you up first.”

Dumbfounded, Sehun stares at the man then points at himself. “Me? An idol?”

“You have a future, trust me.” The man tries to convince him, smiling. “So, will you take the card?”

“Uhm..” Sehun hesitates for a minute before carefully grasping the rectangular material. “I think I’ll give it a try.”

The man grins, tapping him at the shoulders. “Good. Call me when your parents agree so we could talk about the contract and all, my number’s just placed there.”

“Oh..okay. I will.” Sehun scratches his head, still looking a little flushed.

The scout nods eventually and starts to walk away leaving Sehun’s mind tangled in a web of confusion and disbelief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s four in the afternoon when Luhan finally arrives at his part time job. He opens the door to the ice cream shop, the chimes of the bell by the door attracting his co-workers attention as he enters the place with a smile on his face.

“Hey Luhan!” Sora, their supervisor and one of his friends greets him upon his entrance and he bows, only to have her stare at him again with a puzzled expression. “Wait, what Luhan? Why are you here? You’re actually an hour early for your shift!”

“Uhm..” Luhan starts, rubbing his nape awkwardly.

Sora raises a brow, pursing her lips slightly. “Let me guess, it’s something about your university right?”

“Kind of,” The distressed male admits. “They gave me another suspension letter just because I defended myself from a group of good for nothing douche bags.”

“How long will you be suspended?”

“Only one day.”

“Well, at least it’s not that long. How about those who bullied you, did they get punished?”

Luhan smiled a bit at the thought of that. “Yep, they receive suspension for a week.”

“Serves them right.” Sora finally laughs easing the atmosphere. “Oh well, now go along and change into your uniform.”

“Do I have to stay by the counter?”

“Not really. Since you came early, may you help with the distribution of flyers for our event on Saturday?”

“Sure!” Luhan chides. “Just give me a minute and I’ll be back.”

After changing into his work clothes, Luhan finally goes out of the shop with a stack of papers in his hand. He puts on the brightest expression he could, trying his best to be as appealing as he could to the passer-bys. He keeps his friendly aura, watching people come and go and giving them flyers before he notices a certain commotion that was about to head his way. His eyes catches a certain uniform, one that he had come to know so well since Seoul Arts Academy had always been one of his dream schools when he was still in senior high.

Soon, Luhan gets distracted at the flashbacks of what was once his goals and he fails to notice that the student he was looking at earlier would already bump into him. He snaps back to reality as soon as both of their shoulders clash and the pieces of paper in his hand had already flown with the wind. His eyes widen at the realization before he grits his teeth in sheer annoyance while picking the remains of what was left from the flyers, the student shouts his apology a few steps away from him and just when Luhan was ready to sermon him, he notices that the lad had finally disappear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week after that day, Luhan’s life seems to have returned to normal after some time. He’s back in studying at the uni, still trying to get the hang of things by continuing to be friendly with his batch mates. The bullying had been reduced to just teasing after he had proven himself two times to be strong enough to defend his own as he continues to adopt to the new environment, feeling better than the usual times.

He finishes work early on that certain afternoon, running in exhilaration towards the building that started it all.

Having been gifted with the passion in performing, Luhan’s real motive in moving to South Korea was to become a trainee then eventually an idol. He didn’t know why but there was always this gut feeling within him that made him feel that he was destined to perform in front of a million and more audience. So the moment he was presented with the opportunity and was scouted, he took it with no hesitations although his parents didn’t support him and reluctantly signed the contract. Still, he went on, leaving the luxurious life he had in China for the sake of proving his worth not only to his parents but to his self also.

Climbing about three sets of stairs, Luhan fortunately arrives in time before their instructor does. Resting, he takes the spot that Yixing, his Chinese best friend, had saved for him.

“What’s up?” Luhan questions as soon as he gets to sit down.

“Nothing,” Yixing simply shrugs, “I just heard they were going to introduce a new trainee today.”

“Really!?” Luhan exclaims then sighs as he best friend confirms it with a nod. Another one added to the competition. Luhan thinks though he’s really not that worried since he’s been used to the competitive atmosphere that lingered within almost every trainee. Knowing this clearly, he understood quite well why most of trainees acted aloof with one another though he decided to be friendly and act like one of the few mature ones.

Alarming everyone, their six foot tall dance instructor soon enters the practice room with a shorter and leaner guy in tow. They all stare at him, some even looking like they’re going to pounce on the poor lad any second.

Luhan and Yixing as a few of the trainees who are smart enough to act civil, opts to remain quiet unlike the other gossiping males and females in the room. Luhan keeps his eyes on the new comer, studying him and noticing something familiar even though he could rarely point out what.

Their mentor orders them to keep quiet then and with a pleasant smile, he taps the shoulder of the awkward looking boy wearing a gray hoodie and black sweat pants.

He speaks. “Listen up everyone, I don’t know if you’ve seen this guy before but he is an ulzzang. His name is Oh Sehun, sixteen years of age from Seoul Arts Academy and starting today he will be a trainee under SM Entertainment.”

At that moment, the usual silence welcomes Sehun’s arrival. He’s led towards the group of trainees after a few minutes of briefing and from a distance Luhan meets his eyes, locking gazes with him and not realizing that they both had just open up the road to a fate they never expected.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It doesn’t take long for both Luhan and Sehun to click.

Although astounded to realize that Sehun was the cause why his flyers flew out on that certain day, Luhan admired the persistence of the younger male as he tried his best to make up to him by actually treating him to a generous lunch. Unable to stay mad at the latter due to his efforts, he remembered almost being teary eyed when Sehun chose a well known Chinese restaurant for them to eat, even inviting Yixing to tag along as he was worried that Luhan might feel awkward and all.

Fortunately, Luhan really appreciated what he did and befriended him with no hesitations. The older of the two also learned eventually why Sehun actually went berserk on that day and he laughed it off, surprisingly admitting that it was his fault too that he stood like an idiot on the way when he actually saw what was already about to come.

“So you mean you became dazed just because you saw my uniform?” Sehun asks Luhan, chuckling a bit while they take a break at the practice room.

Luhan nods shyly. “Yeah that was the reason. It was like I just went on the daydream zone and started reminiscing my past.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you were such an idiot.”

“Stop calling me an idiot! I’m your hyung!”

“Huh,” Sehun scoffs bringing his tongue out, “Says the one who actually looks like a child and a girl at the same time.”

Without warning, Luhan grabs Sehun’s head and locks it in his arms after the latter had finished his sentence. Yixing watches them by the side, finding it entertaining and shaking his head at the same time as he uncaps his water bottle to drink before watching the two males bicker like children once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The time for monthly evaluations comes weeks after and Luhan helps Sehun to get used to them. They practice diligently, spending hours and hours of hard work and sweat just to perfect a certain movement or choreography. Sehun slowly gains a few new friends of his own including Luhan and soon it’s no longer just the three of them with Yixing but five or six of them in the group.

It starts at lunch one day, when Sehun brings one of the famous trainees in their dance class at their shared table with Luhan and Yixing. Immediately, the two Chinese males smile at the recognition of the charismatic bronze skinned male and he sits, with Sehun practically shoving him beside Yixing.

“Annyeong!” Yixing smiles, dimples and all. “You’re Kim Jongin, right?”

“Y..ye..yes.” Jongin stutters

Sehun chuckles, “Relax Jongin, they’re not going to eat you.”

“By the way I’m Luhan,” The doe eyed boy interjects, “I came from China and I’m older than you so you can call me hyung.”

“And I’m Zhang Yixing, also from China and your hyung too. Anyway, I saw how good you are during training sessions and I would love to practice with you like one on one.”

Feeling flattered, Jongin eases a bit and grins. “Really..erm, uh, really hyung?”

“Yes, definitely. So what, let’s practice together after this?”

“What about Luhan hyung and Sehun?”

Luhan pipes in. “Never mind us, Sehun would practically pull me to buy his precious bubble tea later so go ahead, we’ll just catch up with the both of you.”

“Wow what a way to embarrass me.” Sehun groans, pouting towards Luhan.

“Is it a deal then?” Yixing chooses to ignore the two males and continues on to ask Jongin, chewing on his ddeokbokki.

Jongin nods, looking giddy. “Deal hyung.”

Not long after that meeting, Jongin becomes a regular presence at their lunch table. They share stories, with Sehun often recalling the memory of how pissed Jongin was when they first met because he had to teach Sehun a very easy choreography for almost two hours and a half.

Luhan soon becomes the next one to bring a friend of his and he introduces a man named Do Kyungsoo who Sehun describes to be a human owl due to his white-rich eyes. Luhan scolds him for saying that but Kyungsoo surprisingly shrugs it off, while Yixing grins and Jongin remains mum. After a short moment of silence, they all start interacting with the exception of Jongin who looks like he’s very afraid of the way the owl-eyed male stares at him.

Sehun eventually notices this and he throws out signs to Luhan who immediately understands him. The older male then whispers something in Kyungsoo’s ear while Yixing and the other two young lads continue eating.

“Ahem,” Kyungsoo starts, earning the attention of the other three guys. “Luhan here told me to sing something for you guys, err, okay, never mind I’ll just sing.”

Jongin stares at him, quite having the urge to laugh but prevents himself from doing so, meanwhile Sehun just gives Luhan a thumbs up. A few seconds after and Kyungsoo starts singing leaving Yixing, Sehun and Jongin all jaw slacked at his voice.

“Wow.” Jongin speaks first as soon as Kyungsoo finishes and Yixing agrees after. “Wow hyung you’re really good, honestly.” Jongin compliments the older male again earning him a smile from the former.

Sehun and Luhan smiles at each other, problem solved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why is your face always so blank?” Luhan questions Sehun one day, their feet dangling off at the corners of SM building’s rooftop like two carefree males, wondering what the horizon could offer to them as they watched the sun set.

“Blank?” Sehun mimics the former’s last word almost as if he had found it funny.

Unexpectedly, the doe-eyed man jabs his finger softly against some of Sehun’s facial features and gives him the look of pure wonder. “Yeah, blank, like the only expression you could make is that of a bored one.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“But I don’t.” Sehun defends himself, tone sounding offended and confused.

Luhan reels in to the satisfaction of seeing the younger male’s face scrunched up in a way so sadly humorous that he takes his phone from his pocket and snaps a picture of him. “There,” he says, as soon as the shutter goes off, “Do you see that look? You should try distorting your face more.”

“And look exactly like you?” Sehun huffs, “I am so not going to.”

“You’re just afraid you’re going to look bad while I don’t.”

“Did you even try seeing yourself once in mirror while you laugh? I got creeps the first time I saw that grin of yours. I thought I was going to die.”

“Die due to my beauty?”

“No. Die because you look like a ing murderer.” Sehun points out, also raising his brow after. “And I’m telling you, you should delete that photo of me in your phone.”

Luhan mocks the face of someone affronted and pouts at the dark haired teen. “You order me to do that after insulting and cussing at me in one sentence? I’m hurt Oh Sehun, just what do you think of me?”

“A devil.” The younger male deadpans and silence ensues. He turns to look at his companion, whose mouth had already formed a thin line, forehead creasing with a few lines and jaw slightly tense. Taking a few steps back from the edge of the roof, he tries to make a run for it the moment he starts to see the invisible formation of steam coming out from Luhan’s nostrils and ears which causes him to chuckle and lose focus for awhile as he imagined it.

Too bad for him, he didn’t notice the older boy creeping just by his side before he gets tackled into the cold ground where Luhan starts tickling him, forcing the eruption of laughter plus pleads to bubble up his throat. Seeming to enjoy the torture he puts the younger male in, the doe-eyed boy continues to poke his fingers against Sehun’s ribs, his maniacal chuckles morphing into dares of “Who did you say was the devil?” “I’m going to choke you hyung-” “Try me Oh Sehun.”

And somewhere in between the messy forms of tangled limbs and naivety, the sounds of tinkling laughter with drops of fondness slowly gets lost in the midst of the bustling city below and the ticking time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Training just gets harder as they reach the end of the year. Rumors within the trainee building spreads like wildfire and it’s not really long before Sehun and Luhan, together with their other friends hears the word about the company’s plan on releasing a new boy group.

Competition grows thick in the atmosphere and before anyone noticed it, the year was up and so was the verdict.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s that one particular Saturday morning when Sehun in all normality was minutes late again for practice that he notices the different atmosphere in the building. He stares, noticing a group of trainees bundled up in the middle of the hallway and the scene was definitely a sight to behold since it rarely even happened. With curiosity building up through him, he walks towards them, the soles of his rubber shoes padding softly against the tiled white floors.

A few steps before reaching the other trainees though, a bouncing Jongin, a ing giddy and jumping KIM JONGIN, pulls a mortified and puzzled Sehun by his wrist and into another direction which he notices is the biggest training room in the entire building.

“Jongin,” Sehun calls his friend, looking at him with a terrified expression “Are you in drugs today?”

“NO!”

“Then wh-”

Barely able to finish his question, Sehun is then pushed inside the room where he sees ten other male trainees who all swoops their head towards his direction and scrutinizes him. He feels himself shrink under their gazes but then he catches sight of Luhan then Yixing and Kyungsoo among the group and suddenly his confidence is back so he tries to muster a smile, slowly bending his upper body and bowing to the others who didn’t know him yet.

“Annyeohangsaeyo, Oh Sehun imnida.”

“Oh Sehun?”

“He,” Another voice suddenly pipes in and a man who’s about the age of forty grabs all their attention as he enters the room, “will be the group’s maknae.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“M1 and M2 sound so lame.”

“Hey, at least we’re debuting.”

“Still,”

“Gosh, you’re really cute Sehunnie.”

“Ugh,” Sehun makes a face. “That’s just disgusting.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The public soon grows curious as the company starts dropping hints about their group. Pressure builds up and so does everyone’s expectation when their teasers are release one by one, featuring mostly Jongin whose later given the stage name which is Kai.

They practice the group dynamics knowing how hard it is to enter the industry with an impact especially because they are a 12 member group. Kim Joonmyeon who will be known as Suho to the public is appointed as the leader although he isn’t really the oldest among them.

Different labels are pinned also onto them, the vocal line which is formed by Kim Jongdae otherwise known as Chen, Kyungsoo who will be called D.O., Luhan who’s still Luhan plus one of the latest trainees whose name is Byun Baekhyun or simply Baekhyun. Then there are the rappers who go by the names Park Chanyeol, Huang Zitao and Wu Yifan who all hover above the members like skyscrapers with their baffling heights. And the dance line consists of Jongin, Yixing, Sehun and Minseok.

Photo shoots are also scheduled, choreographies are rehearsed and dozens of songs are recorded. Publicity for each member is increased as every card is layout into the open, dates are finally set and titles are change for one last time.

With the belief of finally making their dreams come true, the figures of twelve boys stand amidst the crowd of flashing bright lights and fame, sweating like crazy but huge smiles never leaving their faces as they shout out to the audience the slogan created for them to stand out among others, ‘We are one. We are EXO!’

From here on they know; the story just gets better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s past twelve midnight when Sehun arrives at their new dorm after four hours of torturous practice. He exhales heavily, opening the door to their place with his sweat soaked shirt still clinging in a sticky manner against his skin and concludes that idol life is not that much different from being a trainee.

Although he had to admit that being an idol has its perks, the amount of effort they have to put in the things they do, considering that they’re already a public figure, is doubled. And as much as Sehun is thankful of what he has now, he’s still not that used to the criticisms thrown towards his way which is why he strives harder, no matter how tiring it gets at times.

“Milk?”

It’s Luhan’s voice that pushes Sehun out of his quiet stupor. He stops on his tracks, staring with a surprised look on his face at the older male smiling stupidly at him by the kitchen counter.

“Why are you still up?”

“Why are you home so late?”

“Don’t answer my question with a question Xiao Lu.”

“Milk?”

Sehun groans at the former’s antics and he receives a chuckle in return. Eventually, he finds himself being pulled towards the kitchen counter where a warm cup of milk is being pushed in his hand.

He takes a small sip before speaking. “Your flight’s early later, why are you still up?”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Stress?”

A simple hum is what Sehun gets as a response. He shifts in his place, silently watching Luhan as he sips from his own mug of coffee, the familiar comfort of silence taking over the both of them. They remain at ease with each other’s presence, simply filling empty lapses with their even breathing and their fingers occasionally tapping in lost rhythm against the marbled counter top.

Luhan breaks the cycle. “Go to sleep, manager says we should all be awake before our flight later. After all, it’s Exo-K and Exo-M starting today.”

“I’ll just take a shower.” Sehun notices his voice is a few octaves lower when he answers as if there was a bitter aftertaste stinging within his throat when he heard Luhan’s words.

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

And just before Sehun leaves his place beside the older male, Luhan instinctively grabs his wrist which causes his attention to immediately snap at the latter. Luhan then allows his grasp to loosen, almost as if he’s also shock of what he did and decides to curl his fingers at the hem of his shirt.

Sehun stares at him for a second too long before he starts heading to the bathroom and although Luhan’s voice is just barely a whisper within the distance, Sehun is able to catch the words that leaves the doe eyed male’s lips.

He then tucks himself into bed that night, finding it amusing how Luhan’s “I’ll miss you” still lingers in his mind and how much he wishes that he did hear it right after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Stop.” Jongin hisses from his place inside the van when Sehun accidentally jabs his elbow against his ribs. He frowns, reprimanding the brunette who had been incessantly wriggling since the moment they settled inside the vehicle.

“What’s wrong with you!?”

Sehun fidgets. “Nothing’s wrong with me Jongin!” He exclaims, surprised on how he actually sounded so defensive.

“Yeah right princess.” Jongin scoffs, being extra snarky that day since he failed to get a decent sleep courtesy of Sehun once again, and his ungodly hour of video chat with Luhan.

“If it calms you down, Luhan hyung isn’t really going anywhere.” Baekhyun supplies unhelpfully, glancing at them through the mirror by the passenger seat much to the maknae’s exasperation, earning him a snort from Jongin who whacks him in the head.

Chanyeol whistles. “It’s only been a few months, I’m sure your Lulu is still pretty as ever. Besides, I’ve watched their recent interview in China and damn, Yixing hyung’s a bomb in the variety scene.”

“Noted.” Sehun says, trying to hide the blush in his face with a mask of indifference.

“Stop bullying the poor maknae,” Kyungsoo speaks out of nowhere while Jongin cuddles into his side, trying to regain the lost amount of sleep he had. “Besides, Luhan wouldn’t really be delighted if he found out you were bullying his favorite dongsaeng.”

“Hyung!” The brunette face palms himself even more as Baekhyun and Chanyeol just continues chortling in their seats therefore successfully waking up Junmyeon who had been asleep during the ride.

“Kids, what are you doing again?” He questions them all before being responded with two stupid grins, one in the border of overly creepy and a simple whisper of ‘it’s Princess Sehun’ from Jongin before the bronze skinned male finally falls asleep on their way to the airport.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How’s China hyung?”

“Same, same, what about..wait, you just called me hyung.”

“Uh, yes, I did.”

“You.. hyung, not Lulu, not Xiao Lu. Wow Sehunnie you’ve grown.”

“You’re over reacting.”

“I miss you.”

Sehun flushes immediately, “Miss you too.”

“The usual then?”

“Yes of course.”

“Then bubble tea it is.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s in the middle of preparing for their comeback and first full album that Sehun notices how his world had somehow shift a little into an odd angle, literally and metaphorically in a sense. The front of the company building is filled with a crowd of fans once again, eagerly waiting for them as they come out from their practice room.

“Not this again.”

He hears their manager mutter beside him before they step outside of their safety zone and squish themselves in the middle of their frantic admirers who takes the opportunity to raise their cameras which either ends up shove against their faces or their upper body parts. Exhaling, he feels himself being pulled by an unfamiliar touch so he immediately shakes his wrist so that it could loosen but it doesn’t, unfortunately, and Jongin luckily turns back just in time to pull him with a strength he always knew the latter had.

The shrieking doesn’t die down though, even though they’ve already entered their vans and Sehun tries to keep his hearing sense intact as he clambers for the back seat of the van where Luhan is already seated.

“Somebody almost got you there, are you okay?”

“Yep, Jongin came in time to save me.”

“Good,” Luhan mumbles, massaging his temples slowly. “May I?”

“Feel free to do so.” Sehun feebly gestures before he sees the older male lean closer to him, head nuzzled comfortably against the junction in between his neck and shoulder.

“You should eat more, you’re thinner than ever.”

“I could say the same thing about you hyung.”

Luhan huffs in response knowing that the now rainbow haired male was trying to win over him with his wittiness once again. He gives up the conversation all in all, choosing to just scoot closer to relish the warmth that the younger male’s body was producing.

Soon enough, the vehicle starts moving much to their relief. Sehun slowly eases into his position beside Luhan before noticing the unusual paleness in the man’s face. Feeling a little alarmed, he raises his palm against the other’s forehead then retracts it with a frown.

Sighing, he says “You’re sick.”

“Uh no.”

“Stop denying the obvious.”

“Shut up, I’m being sarcastic. Let me rest.”

Sehun rolls his eyes as the blond male ends up sneezing at the end of his sentence. Unconsciously, he finds himself slipping his arms around the latter to keep him warmer and Yixing who’s seated beside them smiles fondly at his deed before turning back to gaze outside the van’s window.

He stares, eyes studying the features of Luhan’s face, starting from the man’s long eyelashes trailing down to his nose, then on the scar at the lower edge of his mouth and onto his sinful pink and tempting lips. A beat makes its way against the empty space in his ribcage and suddenly it nurses a fast rhythm, something different from the usual boring pace of his heart which makes Sehun squirm a little on his place.

“Stop moving hunnie.”

Padam. Padam. Sehun hears an odd buzzing in his ears at the sound of Luhan’s voice and soon the man’s scent becomes stronger against the younger male’s senses. There’s a dawning realization screaming at the back of his head but he suppresses it with nonchalance opting instead to bring out his phone and fiddle with its applications.

Humming innocently, a shock makes its way through him when he feels their van suddenly swerve dangerously before it manages to go back on its tracks at the road.

“What was that?!” Sehun hears Luhan speak, voice obviously quivering with fear.

Junmyeon responds with a much calmer tone. “The sasaengs were following us again and one of their rides managed to bump ours by a little.”

“Oh god.” Luhan whispers, closing his eyes.

Sehun’s hand suddenly eases against Luhan’s own. “It’s fine hyung, no one’s hurt. It’s fine.” He tries to sooth the older male who seems to be the most surprised among them as he was about to fall asleep earlier. Continuing to coo him, Sehun tightens his hold on the other male’s hand as he runs his thumb over its creases.

And maybe in a sense all of them were really fine, even him but only in a physical way because considering all the butterflies rampaging inside his stomach with him beside Luhan, he’s sure as hell nothing near alright.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With time comes acceptance.

Their comeback becomes a blast as their album tops charts all over Korea and other countries where they promote. More activities are being added to their schedule considering that they are combined as one for their album’s promotion and tiring airport flights becomes another part of their routine.

Fan services are definitely encouraged by their manager too and Sehun finds himself doing it the most with Luhan since it was a concept given to them ever since their debut. He clings onto him, staying by his side as he slowly allows his feelings to unravel for the older idol.

With the cameras flashing around them as usual, he finds his spot beside Luhan, igniting ear-splitting screams just by simply wrapping his arms around the other man’s waist. The smiles on their faces remain as they head for their own places behind the table for the fan signing event where he and the doe eyed boy ends up seating beside each other once again.

The line of fans waiting for their signatures is long like a huge anaconda sprawled lazily on the venue. Keeping his smile intact, Sehun ignores the numbness of his hand as he continues to sign on the different materials placed in front of him, the other members doing exactly the same as him while some of them even strikes up short conversations which certainly leaves the fans either crying in glee or smiling like it’s the end of the world.

“Name?” He asks for the nth time that day, lips still stretched into a smile.

“Um oppa…”

“Your name is oppa?”

“Uh no!” The girl exclaims, suddenly flushed. “I actually kind of, eh, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it? Go ahead.”

The girl fidgets a little, cheeks burning with a slight hue of crimson red. “Is Hunhan real oppa?”

Sehun chokes a bit as he downs the last sip of his third bubble tea that day. A little taken a back, he tries to calm his rapidly beating heart before he shows a heart stopping smile to the fan. “Of course it is.” He chides confidently, earning him a stupid grin from the teen and a slight kick below the table from Luhan who has been listening all along.

“So, your name?”

“Min Juyeon oppa.”

“Juyeon, okay, I’m done signing! Thank you for coming!”

“Neh oppa! Saranghae! Hunhan fighting!”

Sehun finds himself giggling at the girl’s words before turning to Luhan whose expression was as amused as the other members who heard the fan.

“I can’t believe you just confirmed our nonexistent romantic relationship to a fan.”

“We could make it real if you want Xiao Lu.” Sehun says before laughing as Luhan pinches him in the waist beneath the table knowing that his words weren’t just as joke because this time, he really meant it, he wanted Luhan to be his lover.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you think there’s a chance?” Luhan questions Sehun one day as they sit together on their dorm’s rooftop after a hectic day.

Sehun tilts his head inquiringly at Luhan’s direction after hearing the man’s voice. “Chance? For what?”

“The fans’ belief to happen, like me and you, the whole Hunhan fiasco you know.”

“Do you want it happening hyung?” Sehun asks in a serious tone, thinking that if the direction of the conversation went into the proper way then he’d finally have a chance to confess.

Luhan chuckles, “It’s impossible Hunnie. I mean we’re both straight and you’re already like a younger brother to me.”

“Oh.”

“How about you, do you think it could happen?”

“I was hoping it would.” Sehun states distractedly, eyes already staring at the vast polluted sky that was laid out above them. The surroundings remain quiet after he had spoken, save for the occasional sound of vehicles passing by below the building.

“Hoping?” Luhan’s voice is skeptical yet Sehun cannot find enough courage to converse directly with him as he was already too vulnerable at the moment. He fights the tempting urge to suddenly throw up before pressing his nails against his palms to ease his nervousness.

“Yeah,” He tries to speak with indifference. “I always thought we look good together, chemistry and all.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you now.”

“Would you believe if I said I like you?”

“Sehun what are you saying? You’re joking, right?”

“I’m not.”

“Face me Sehun, I know you’re just making fun of me.”

“Would this count as making fun of you then?”

And without another word, Sehun grabs Luhan by the waist as their body collides together. Almost hesitantly, he places his lips against the older male in an attempt to prove his point. He prods for entrance, Luhan’s upper lip while gently biting on his lower one and like a miracle, the latter gives in to his actions.

Surprise, Sehun kisses Luhan for a few more seconds before pulling away.

“Hyung, I…oh gosh. , what did I just do?”

“You do like me huh.” Luhan mumbles in a trance, lips still slightly swollen due to Sehun’s deed.

“You said you were straight.” The younger lad pointedly accuses, burning holes on Luhan’s head with his glare.

“You initiated the kiss!” Luhan says in defense.

“You could have pushed me away.”

“Maybe I did like it then, maybe I’m not so straight after all.”

“Maybe? I just confessed to you and now you practically say you’re not even sure with your uality.”

“I want to try though.”

“What?” Sehun squeaks, barely able to contain his emotions.

“You like me right? Maybe I could try liking you too more than a close friend.”

“Try.” Sehun mimics, chuckling with sadness at the pathetic exchange his having with the man he adores so much at the moment.

But Luhan’s eyes remain alit in the midst of the dark slowly engulfing him. “Do you want to give us a chance Sehun?”

“I hope you do fall for me then.” The younger of the two only manages to reply with a short sentence, knowing that he was already defeated before anything could even start.

After all, Luhan liking Sehun in the same intensity as he did with the former is as painfully unknown like Luhan’s voice unsurely echoing in the younger male’s head, repeatedly saying maybe.

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 A/N: Decided to split it into two. The second part will be posted later. :)) If you like it please do share me your feedbacks or subscribe! Kamsa!!