“Alright we’ll be in the stands cheering you on” Luhan’s mother said as the car stopped in front of the school.

“I’ll try to make you guys proud” Luhan said as he grabbed his soccer bag and stepped out of the car.

“You always do son” his father said with a smile. Luhan returned the smile before giving a little wave and turning away from the car. In a light jog, Luhan ran towards the soccer field and the locker room to change.

Once he reached the locker room, he took a deep breath to start and slow down his breathing. After three deep breaths, he entered the empty locker room and made his way over to his locker. He slowly and meticulously changed from his street clothes to his uniform. He pulled each sock all the way up to his knees and tied his laces in a triple knot on both sides and couldn’t help but smile at a memory that surfaced because of his actions.

~Flashback~

“Luhan” the second grade version of Xiumin answered the door with a large smile on his chubby checks said as he tore open his front door, “I’m so glad that you could come over and play with me today, I’m really excited” Xiumin said smiling wider, still as he moved out of the door way and allowed Luhan and his mother into his house. Luhan shyly returned the other’s smile still surprised that after a week of being in his new class, the other confident boy still insisted on having him over

“Well Luhan is very excited to come over here and play as well Xiumin” Luhan’s mother said with a smile and Luhan felt a pat on his back from her urging him to speak to the other.

“T..t..thank you for i..in…inviting me” Luhan stuttered out as he looked down and busied himself with untying his shoes.

“You must be Luhan’s mother” Xiumin’s mother said offering her hand as she walked into the room, “you must be doing something right raising such a special boy, my son couldn’t stop talking about yours and begging me to have him over ever since they met” Xiumin’s mother said causing both woman to chuckle a little. The words caught Luhan by surprise, why would Xiumin be talking about me this much, I’m not that exciting, Luhan thinks as he looks over to see Xiumin smiling over at him.

“Well I could say the same to you, Luhan can’t stop talking about your Xiumin. I think you might have a superhero as a son the way my Lu talks about him” Luhan’s mother says before both ladies laugh some more. Luhan can feel the strong blush cover his face and reach the tops of his ears as he thinks about what Xiumin must think about him after hearing everything his mother has just said.

“Xiumin why don’t you take your guest to your room and you two boys can have some fun while I finish talking to Luhan’s mom” Xiumin’s mother says. Luhan waits for Xiumin to say that he no longer wants Luhan there, but is surprised to feel a small hand curl around his own and when he looks up he sees Xiumin smiling beside him.

“Come on Luhan I have so many things to show you” Xiumin says before tugging on Luhan’s hand and he has no choice but to follow the other, only turning back and giving his mom a small wave as an afterthought.

After climbing the stairs, Xiumin opened a door before turning to Luhan, “my mom made me clean my room and my closet so that you wouldn’t be grossed out.  So don’t worry, everything is clean” Xiumin said with a smile before pulling Luhan into the room. Luhan couldn’t help but laugh at the idea that Xiumin thought he would be grossed out if Xiumin’s room were dirty.

“Wow” Luhan said softly as he looked around the others room in awe at all the posters and pictures hanging around the room.

“I have some legos, tinkertoys..” Xiumin said dropping Luhan’s hand and running over to throw open his closet doors. Luhan however was sidetracked by the window and the view it held of Xiumin’s backyard. He carefully stepped towards the window and first took note of the pretty pink flowers along the edge of the house then he noticed the two soccer goals set up on opposite sides of the yard.

“You even have goals” Luhan asked aloud in shock.

“Yeah, do you want to go outside and play a game first, we can come back up here afterwards” Xiumin offered.

“Yes” Luhan said full of excitement until a realization dawned on him, “give me one minute” he asked Xiumin before turning around and running down the stairs. “Mom” he yelled as he came back to the first floor of Xiumin’s house hoping that his mother was still there.

“Luhan dear, what’s wrong” Luhan’s mother asked. Luhan only had a small second to take in her worried expression.

“I left my cleats in the car” Luhan said causing both ladies to start laughing.

“I was just about to leave, do you want to walk me out and we can get your cleats dear” his mother asked after she stopped laughing. Luhan nodded his head and slipped his regular shoes back on before following his mother to the car. “Alright” she said with a smile handing Luhan the bag with his cleats and a pair of shorts inside, “have fun, call me if you need to come home at any time” she said before leaning down and kissing the top of Luhan’s head. “Have fun” she called as she pulled away and down the street. Luhan waved and then went back inside the front door of Xiumin’s house.

“I thought you left” Xiumin said rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

“No” Luhan assures quickly holding up the bag in his hand, “I forgot my soccer stuff in my car” he says feeling a blush start to bloom over his forgetfulness.

“I’m going to go change into some shorts and grab my cleats out of my closet, do you want to meet in the backyard” Xiumin asked with a smile. “You can use the bathroom down here to change into shorts if you have them or do you need a pair” Xiumin asked halfway up the stairs.

“I brought a pair” Luhan said turning and spotting the bathroom Xiumin had mentioned previously. Once inside he pulled his jeans off and slipped on a pair of soccer shorts. After folding his jeans he put them inside his bag and walked out of the bathroom.

“He’s waiting for you” Xiumin’s mother said with a smile when Luhan walked into the kitchen. He smiled and started to blush as he walked over to the sliding glass door and pulled the screen aside to walk into Xiumin’s backyard.

“Wow are those your cleats” Xiumin asked pointing to the shoes in Luhan’s hand.

“Yeah” he says shyly looking down at the hot pink cleats in his hand, the ones his mom had said were perfect for him, especially because it made him easier to find out on the field.

“They’re really cool” Xiumin assured taking the bag Luhan still held out of his hand.  “I’ll set this down over here, so you can grab it before we go back in” Xiumin assured setting his Luhan’s bag down on a patio chair. “Are you ready to play” Xiumin asked.

“Give me a second” Luhan said before sitting down and pulling his cleats on. He tied each foot and then made to stand up only to find Xiumin hovering over him.

“Can I do something really quick” Xiumin asked and Luhan could only nod his head in consent. Luhan watched as Xiumin took up his shoe laces and tightened the knots by tripling the knot.

“Why..” Luhan started to ask before Xiumin cut him off.

“It started because I used to trip over my laces a lot” Xiumin says laughing a little before putting his hand out and offering it towards Luhan to help pull him to his feet. “And now it’s for luck” he said with a smile. Luhan watched the smile spread across the other’s face.

“Does it work” Luhan questioned the other.

“I think so” Xiumin said before grabbing the ball, “ready” he asked and Luhan nodded his head yes.

~End of Flashback~

Luhan was pulled out of his thoughts by a vibration inside his locker. He looked inside and pulled his phone out of his pant pocket to find a text from Sehun he opened it up quickly.

Hello beautiful! Are you ready for today’s match? –yGoalie

Luhan stared down at the picture of Sehun and felt butterflies spread in his stomach. He lifted his phone up and brought it close so that only his face appeared on the screen. He lifted his hand and posed for his picture.

The other team is going DOWN!!! –ManlyMan

Luhan noticed the battery life of his phone and decided to power it down. After stashing it back in his locker, Luhan looked down at his cleats again. I wonder why I keep thinking about him so much, Luhan thought to himself as he lent down and untied his laces. “May have been his lucky charm but it’s not mine” he whispered aloud as he retied his cleats in a simple double knot.

He spent the next thirty minutes stretching out his legs and back before the first couple of his teammates started to stream into the locker room. Luhan waited patiently and then flashed a smile Sehun’s way when he noticed the other walk into the room. He felt the butterflies in his stomach stir and bat their wings like crazy when Sehun returned his smile.

“Alright ladies, gather around” the couch yelled as Luhan was walking towards Sehun’s locker. Stopping mid step Luhan turned to the couch. “Today’s game is going to test our team strength and ability to play well” the couch said as he paced the floor. Luhan jumped a little in his spot when he felt a hand on the smaller part of his back, but relaxed when he made out the familiar outline of Sehun in his peripheral vision.

“I know that you are going to be amazing out their today, just try not to do to