Cinq
The Sparliest of Gifts
HunHan: Halfway There
This is a continuation of the previous Sekai one-shot.
“Sehunnie~” The said boy’s eyes fluttered open and he turned to his side only to be met with a smiling Luhan, his childlike innocence emanating nausea in the pit of Sehun’s stomach. He groaned.
“Who’s making breakfast?” Luhan questioned, obviously not noticing the disinterest in Sehun’s eyes. “I would, but…” Luhan blushed, but all Sehun could do at that was roll his eyes. “…but my hips, they’re kinda sore, so…”
“Whatever.” Sehun got up from the bed, and noted, to his annoyance, that he was . Don’t ask why he hadn’t noticed it before, he just hadn’t.
“You have a nice .” Luhan grinned. Sehun felt like punching the stupid smile off the boy’s face, but he decided against it. Why be bothered by someone he was never going to meet again?
“Sehun.” Luhan called out, once Sehun was fully dressed and ready to leave. “Are we…dating now?”
The boy just walked out, answering not with a yes, yet not with a no.
“Ugh…” Sehun grumbled, adding the blueberries to the pancake mix he had prepared earlier. He had no idea why he was doing this. His original plan was to leave Luhan in the night, when the boy was sleeping after their session. Yet, for some reason, here he was, making breakfast for the guy.
Sehun’s iPhone rang, snapping the boy back to reality. He picked it up and saw that he had received a message from Kai. The pounding in his heart, he decided to ignore, and proceeded with checking the text.
Hey, Sehun. You left pretty early last night…is everything fine?
Sehun smiled. Kai would always throw around insensitive comments when around him, but he knew inside that the boy cared for him deeply.
Perhaps not in the way Sehun intended, but he’d force himself to be happy with whatever he could get.
Yeah, Sehun typed back, fumbling with the keys on his phone. I was pretty tired last night, so I left early. Sehun didn’t want to tell Kai the truth, about he was with Luhan.
Don’t lie to me, you ing . I knew you were with Luhan, Kyungsoo saw you both leave together. ;)
So much for not telling Kai.
Wait, it’s not like it matters. It won’t affect Kai in anyway….we’re just friends.
Sehun set the phone down, ignoring the texts Kai sent him, the boy inquiring as to whom had topped. He was just about to reach for the bowl of pancake mix, when he saw Luhan enter the kitchen. Luhan was shirtless, and the only that he wore were a pair of jeans that seemed to hug his legs on all the right parts.
“Aww…” Luhan gushed. “You made us pancakes!” Sehun gritted his teeth at the laugh that escaped the boy’s throat. He didn’t want to find it lovely….it was annoying. Luhan was annoying. This whole darn situation was annoying.
“How can you be so comfortable with someone you just met?” Sehun questioned, a bit irritated at the possibility of Luhan acting like this around other people too. He hoped the latter wasn’t, the world was full of wolves trying to pounce on fresh prey every time they sighted it.
And Luhan…he was the freshest, and most vulnerable of them all.
“We’ve ed, I don’t think it’d be right to address to each other as strangers anymore.” Luhan said, dipping a finger into the mix and it off, rather ily, as if he was trying to seduce Sehun.
“You know what,” Sehun grabbed his mobile from the nearby table and slid it into his pocket. “I have to go now.” Luhan opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Sehun was already out the door.
“Goddamit, Sehun, eat a bit more.” Kai said, shoving the plate toward his best friend. “You’ve gotten so thin lately.”
Whose fault do you think that is? I’ve been so busy…trying to get over a certain someone.
“Luhan’s not going to love you anymore if you turn into a bag of old bones.” Kai teased, before swallowing up a piece of his own lunch. He swooned. “Ah, Sehun…you gotta try this. My Kyungsoo makes the best kimchi spaghetti.”
“No thanks.” Sehun didn’t want to eat anything Kyungsoo made for Kai. “And FYI, I’m not dating Luhan.”
“Really?” Kai said, eyes widening in surprise. “But Kyungsoo told me that all Luhan does is talk about you.”
That stupid son of a…
“Just one date.” Kai begged. “With me and Kyungsoo…so you can see if you like Luhan or not.”
“…..”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“So, when is the actual marriage? Have you guys decided that yet?” Luhan asked, trying to get rid of the awkward atmosphere in the restaurant. Sehun had not said anything. He was still irritated at Kai for dragging him here.
“Well, both mine and Kai’s schedules are a bit tight this month.” Kyungsoo admitted tiredly.
“Yea. Kyungsoo has this big order toward the end of the month he has to fill and my students…we’re gonna have to practice extra hard for the competition next week.” Kai said. He took Kyungsoo’s hand and smiled. “But still, we’ll figure it out together.”
Sehun felt like punching something. Watching this was a nightmare…yet he couldn’t help but admit that Kyungsoo had done a good job…breaking Kai off from his player ways.
“And what about you, Sehunnie?” Luhan asked, looking to the boy in front of him. Sehun’s stomach blanched at the nickname and he felt his ravioli sloshing around in his stomach, but he knew that Luhan wasn’t the only reason for it. He really didn’t want to sit there discussing Kai and Kyungsoo’s marriage.“What are your plans for the future?”
“I’m studying to get my degree. I plan on becoming a lawyer.” Sehun replied monotonously. He didn’t really care for the profession, just needed something to do with his life.
“Oh, that’s cool.” Luhan said, but everybody could see that the boy didn’t mean it. What was interesting about studying law? “I’m currently teaching at the same school Kai’s a dance instructor at…English, to junior high students. I have great respect for the language.” Sehun mumbled in response. He didn’t really care. He was kinda sick of it, to be honest. All the small talk and desperate attempts of the three to try to get him to enjoy this date were getting on his nerves.
“You know….” Luhan began another topic, but stopped suddenly. His smile had faltered and he seemed to be staring at something in the distance. Sehun turned and saw that a family had entered the restaurant…pretty normal, but then why was Luhan acting this way? He saw the boy lean toward Kyungsoo and whisper something in his ear. Kyungsoo looked at the family and Sehun saw his jaw drop too. Luhan turned to Kai and Sehun.
“I’m sorry, I’ll be right back.” He hastily excused himself and ran off to the restroom. Kai looked a bit confused as to what exactly was happening, and so did Sehun.
“Sehun…can I talk to Kai…alone?” Sehun nodded and got up from the table, not exactly sure what to do. Should he exit the place or go after Luhan?
Finally deciding on the latter, he made his way to the men’s restroom.
“Luhan?” Sehun called out, poking his head into the restroom. He found Luhan near one of the sinks, splashing his face with cold water again and again. He had been doing it so intently that his shirt was now half-drenched.
He looked like a mad man.
Sehun walked to the sink and shut it off. He looked at Luhan and stared at the boy, demanding an explanation.
“What?” Sehun was surprised…this was the first time Luhan had used a rude tone with him.
“What the just happened out there?”
“I’m just going to exit by the back door of the restaurant, please inform Kyungsoo and Kai and apologize to them for my rudeness.” Luhan bowed, ignoring Sehun’s question. He was about to exit the restroom when Sehun caught hold of his arm.
“That does not answer my question. Who was that family? Why did you run here on seeing them?”
“It’s a long story.” Sehun saw a scared look in Luhan’s eyes, and frankly, he didn’t like it. Huffing, Sehun rested his back on the washroom wall and looked at Luhan.
“We got time. Tell me what happened.”
“Luhan used to teach at Genie High before he transferred to Seoul Academy.” Kyungsoo looked over at his boyfriend. “It was an all boys school, unlike the Academy. He used to teach English back there too, but to the seniors.” Kai nodded at Kyungsoo, trying to figure out where this conversation was going.
“That boy,” Kyungsoo discreetly pointed to a person who had walked in with the family. He looked not a day over nineteen. “He used to be one of Luhan’s favorite students. His name is ZiTao…if I remember correctly. He always used to ask the best questions in class, always completed his assignments on time and did well on tests.”
“So?” Kai looked at Kyungsoo, confused. “Sounds like a pretty normal teacher’s pet to me.”
“Let me finish. Now, Tao, Luhan thought that he was just like him. He thought that Tao too had the same zeal for English. But Tao had a different reason for being so interested.”
“What do you mean?”
“Tao…” Kyungsoo looked gravely at Kai, darkness clouding his face. “Was in love with Luhan.”
“He confessed to me during his third year.” Luhan said, his head bent down. “After three years, he told me that he had finally mustered enough courage to ask me out.”
“Then…what?” Sehun breathed, as if he was afraid to ask. Luhan seemed to be tearing up now, but the older tried to hide it.
“I told him that I couldn’t. He was a student, but that was not the only reason. I didn’t even see him in that way…I never would. I didn’t love him.” Luhan paused, then looked at Sehun, his eyes glistening with the water that struggled to fall out. “I turned him down, Sehun. I turned him down…and that was probably the biggest mistake of my life, but I don’t regret it. I would’ve hurt him more had I said yes.”
“Tao was furious.” Kyungsoo continued. “He screamed at poor Luhan for leading him on…but he didn’t even bother to think about how Luhan felt. Here the boy was, thinking he had met someone who had the same passion as him. True love my …Tao was just attracted to Luhan’s looks.”
“That’s it?” Kai asked. “But why did Luhan act like that in front of them? It’s not his fault.”
“It’s not. But Tao…he was so angry that he…he did something that Luhan would never have expected. He told his parents that Luhan had ually harassed him.”
“What?!” Kai almost fell of his seat. “That little-“
“Luhan was kicked out of the school. They didn’t even bother searching for evidence or even listening to his side of the story. He was depressed for weeks. He didn’t complain…he wasn’t even angry. Just broken.” Kyungsoo looked like he was on the verge of tears and Kai knew that it was because Kyungsoo cared deeply for Luhan. The older was like a brother to Kyungsoo. “When he went to collect his things from the school, one of Tao’s friends…Suho, I think, punched Luhan. Nobody standing there said anything as my Luhan’s nose bled…not even the teachers.”
“I finally urged him to search for another job. The Academy was ready to hire him…I think the principal knew that Luhan wasn’t guilty of anything. He was ready too, to give Luhan a job teaching the seniors since he knew that Luhan had all the necessary qualifications…but Luhan turned it down. He would only teach the juniors.”
“That...” Kai was speechless. He had never known…that a person who could smile so big had gone through such a big ordeal in his life.
“Hard to imagine, huh? Seeing how Luhan is all the time?” Kyungsoo said, as if reading Kai’s mind.
“Let’s go.” Kai said, getting up from his seat. “I have lost all appetite looking at that bastard Tao’s face. I’ll text Sehun to out Luhan through the back gate.”
“Are you alright?” The words slipped out of Sehun’s mouth, concern clearly showing. He didn’t know why he cared so much…but he did.
He hated seeing people cry, especially if they were downright sobbing just like Luhan.
“I-I’ll be fine.” Luhan tore off a tissue from the dispenser nearby. He dabbed it at his eyes and smiled weakly at Sehun. “Let’s go, Sehunnie.”
Sehun was uncertain. He didn’t want Luhan to face Tao, but they couldn’t stand forever in the bathroom Sehun took Luhan’s hand, ready to lead him out the restaurant, when a figure entered the room, humming.
He stopped when he saw Luhan.
“Lu-“ The figure began. Luhan tensed.
“Tao…” Sehun looked at the figure as he heard the words slip out from Luhan’s mouth. This was Tao?
And without a second thought, Sehun brought his fist into contact with Tao’s. As the boy crumpled to the linoleum floor in pain, Sehun took Luhan’s hand and the duo ran out the restaurant, ignoring the looks thrown at them.
“You didn’t have to do that.” Luhan said, once the two were quite far away from the restaurant. “But….thanks.”
“I’m sorry.” Sehun apologized. “For being a to you earlier. I guess I was kinda mad at you.”
“Why?”
“I thought that you were someone who had never gone through a hardship in your life before. I hated seeing your smile…it was teasing me, because I thought that I could never be happy again. But I was being the stupid one here.”
“Sehun, what are you saying exactly?”
“Everybody goes through hardships.” Sehun tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear. “I was the only one not brave enough to mask it.”
“Hardship…?”
Sehun looked at Luhan, and under the moonlight, he knew that this boy was someone he could trust.
“My best friend…I love him. I’ve always loved him.”
Luhan was taken aback. Sehun was really telling him all this?
“I was angry that Kyungsoo took him away from me. It wasn’t fair, that I had been the one with Kai for so long and yet some dude just comes and swipes him away. But what happened to you…my problem is nothing compared to yours.”
“Unrequited love…is probably the hardest thing to deal with. And Sehun, you need to stop beating yourself up. You’re still friends with Kai, even after this whole thing. You could’ve chosen to deal with this situation the same way Tao had, but you didn’t. You remained with Kai as your best friend and I think that even I wouldn’t ever be capable of that.”
Sehun shook his head. He wasn’t as noble as Luhan thought him to be.
“If I was Kai…” Luhan wrapped his hands around Sehun’s torso. “…I would’ve chosen you.”
“Lu…”
“I know…you still love Kai.” Luhan broke the hug and looked at Sehun. “It’s alright. I’ll leave you alone, Sehun. Thanks for everything.” Luhan forced a smile at Sehun and with a last glance, turned his back and strolled away slowly, letting the tears fall. As Sehun watched the boy go, his heart felt heavy. His body…it seemed to be moving by itself and soon he found Luhan looking at him. His eyes went down to see that he caught hold of the older’s arm, preventing the boy from moving further.
“I still love Kai.” Sehun mumbled. “But I can’t let you go….Why do you think that is?”
“Sehun. It’s OK. Don’t worry about me.”
“I’m not letting you walk out of my life so easily. You walked in at your own free will...at your own risk.”
“Please, don’t do this.” Luhan pleaded. “I might misinterpret.” Sehun wrapped the boy in his arms.
“Take responsibility.”
“For what?”
“Take responsibility for making me like you. You can’t leave, Luhan. Not till I start loving you. “ Sehun paused. “Or are your feelings that half assed?”
“They’re not.” Luhan deepened the hug. “Get ready then, Oh Sehun. You’re going to fall for me soon enough.” Sehun laughed and ruffled Luhan’s hair.
“I’ll be waiting.”
This was alright.
One step at a time.
I heal you…you heal me.
And that's the last one. OMG I'M SO SORRY SPARLIE I KNOW THIS IS ING LATE BUT OMO I'M SO SORRY at least it's long right?
Happy (Very, Very, Very,) Late Birthday! >.<
I am a .
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