play me up.

 

 

 

 

The day of the competition had finally come. Now it was time for Lu Han to destroy the other team. He would show them how well Chanyeol had taught him. There was only room for one club and this would be obviously Lu Han's. It was their fault for forming a group earlier without telling Lu Han anything. But this was not the point because they would disband anyway. Smirking at the wardrobe in their room, Lu Han took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest. He still didn't forget his plan to sabotage the other team and well his team had already done it for him.

 

 

 

He had ordered Kai, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to steal all the things from the other club. Bags, paper and instruments (excluding the piano of course). Why? Since Lu Han didn't know who the leader was, he had to take everything. Then he ordered them to hide the things in the wardrobe of their room. Lu Han wouldn't allow them to step into their room, if they ever planned to come and demand their things back. They would get it back. Lu Han wasn't that heartless.

 

 

 

Just...after the competition.

 

 

 

 

Lu Han didn't tell Sehun about it because he would turn it into a life lesson. Chanyeol also wasn't aware of the disrupting. He was just scary and Lu Han didn't want to tell him to steal. He was not very good with words, generally, a fault that Sehun enjoyed pointing out from time to time. He was impulsive, and often said the first thing that popped into his head without thinking about it. This was a very important moment too and he had to be careful about angering Chanyeol. For the past days he got angrier whenever they practiced though he came to every meeting.

 

 

 

Like right now. He was playing a game as Baekhyun tried to have a conversation with him. It was a bit difficult bearing in mind that he wasn't listening at all to Baekhyun's talking and just pushed the button on his device. Of course one would get angry to be ignored like that but Baekhyun wasn't, it was like he wasn't aware of that.

 

 

 

"Hey you guys! Did you put everything in there?!" Lu Han asked loudly so that everyone raised their heads and gave a short nod.

 

 

 

"Everything! Bags, notes, papers and instruments!" Kai couldn't keep his mouth closed and proudly declared what he had done. Kyungsoo was sitting next to the show off and simply nodded his head, agreeing with him. They were told to get the stuff from all the members because they still weren't sure who the leader was. Lu Han thought that he could use his peculiar friendship with Lay to get some information but all Lay did was smile and shrug his shoulders. 

 

 

 

He was definitely pretending to not know a thing.

 

 

 

Well he could continue because Lu Han didn't need his information. Chanyeol who didn't know about the plan also raised his head in confusion. He really didn't know what was meant. Baekhyun had seen the confused look on his face and assumed that it would be a good idea to tell him what they had done. Moving once more closer to him, he made a gesture to listen. Chanyeol didn't know if he should listen at all but didn't want to be clueless forever.

 

 

 

"We stole all the valuable things from the other group. So they won't have an instrument to play and we win." There was something like determination flickering in Baekhyun's eyes who seemed more fired up then Lu Han was. Mainly because he loved it to win. And that at anything. He didn't care about what it was but he just had to win. Or at least his team. Maybe it was a complex or maybe he just wanted a reason to look down on other people. Precisely the other group. There could only be one music club and this would be their team.

 

 

 

As Baekhyun was waiting for Chanyeol to say something, another voice came from the door.

 

 

 

 

Sehun was frowing as his hand was resting on the handle, "That's unethical."

 

 

 

 

"Whatever at least we win! And for your information the majority wins. So it up." Kai hissed since he didn't like that someone was trying to say that this plan was no good. It was Lu Han's so it had to work. Why did Sehun always had to make everything else down only because he didn't like it? Hearing that Sehun had finally come, Lu Han blinked while his eyes wandered over to Sehun in a sluggish, dreamy way. He thought that the other wouldn't come and leave him alone. Sehun obviously noticed the staring and looked back at him, seemingly confused about the situation.

 

 

 

 

It didn't take much that Lu Han could see him trying to figure out what was going on, trying to remember. Then his eyes focused sharply, understanding why Lu Han was so protectively standing in front of the wardrobe. Their eyes met once again and Lu Han instantly pushed himself against the wardrobe so Sehun wouldn't be able to open it. If he would see the stolen items then he would immediately return them because he didn't like it to play unfairly unlike Lu Han. Sehun knew how it felt to be blackmailed and tricked so he didn't want anyone else to feel like that too.

 

 

 

 

Even if it had to be the enemy.

 

 

 

 

"Sunshine move."

 

 

 

 

Shaking frantically his head, Lu Han straightaway called for reinforcement:

 

 

 

"Kai help me!"

 

 

Now Kai was standing next to Lu Han, his back also pressed against the opening. He wouldn't upset Lu Han and do everything he would tell him to do. Sehun's eyebrows rose with surprise and didn't hesitate to walk over to push both of them away. An uncomfortable pang of worry touched him for a moment, but he ignored it when he verbally told his boyfriend to move himself. The older boy responded with shaking his head, saying that he would never go. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun looked at each other mentally asking themselves how old they were. They were acting like children.

 

 

 

"Listen. If you are confident in your own skills then you don't have to worry about others." Sehun attempted to approach the situation like this and slowly came closer to Lu Han who once again shook his head. It had nothing to do with that. Lu Han was confident in his own skills- he thought that he was the best guitar player on the planet but he wanted to be sure. Only when the other team didn't have any instruments then victory was guaranteed.

 

 

 

"Come on Sehun, I know I will win but I need to be sure." His puppy eyes didn't work because Sehun fought against the urge to forcefully pull him away.

 

 

 

Baekhyun stood up and could only approve of this, "I totally agree! Don't you want us to win Sehun?!" He sarcastically asked and couldn't believe that Sehun wanted to play fair. They didn't have a reason to be fair. In fact they didn't have the time to even think of letting the other group win. Chanyeol looked at him for a moment, thinking of telling him to mind his own business. He was tired, and he was dizzy, and—truth be told—he really did not feel like listening. Regardless of this, though, the words came plummeting out of his mouth before he could stop them:

 

 

 

"The results only matter. Don't you think they would have done the same to us?" Keeping his eyes on his game, Chanyeol asked this and instantly shocked everyone in the room. Park Chanyeol was defending Lu Han? Seriously? Wasn't he the one who avoided talking to Lu Han? So why would he side with him? Lu Han in particular was affected by this- astounded that Chanyeol would even think of doing this. He blushed and covered his mouth in amazement.

 

 

Finally, his guitar teacher acknowledged him. He thought that this would never happen knowing that Chanyeol didn't give any hints of liking his lazy student. Sehun also was momentarily shocked and didn't know how to answer that. What Chanyeol had said was true. The other group seemed pretty shallow considering that Kris and his friends took part in it. So what if they planned the same thing? One couldn't be certain and had to be careful. There was also the possibility that they thought that Lu Han's group wasn't a threat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so Chanyeol had gotten the last word.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-x-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Throughout the morning Lu Han wasn't very nervous about performing. He was in a good mood because now that they had sabotaged their rivals there was nothing to worry over. Lu Han was fine- if anything he wanted to know how Sehun was doing as he was recently ill. That was what he was doing. Lu Han stretched his arm out to sheepishly brush Sehun's fringe back from his face. It was covering a part of his sight.

 

 

Once again the elder stretched a little, then turned in his seat and reached upward, pressing his hand on Sehun's cool forehead. There was nothing wrong with it. Confused about this behaviour Sehun sighed and let him, by now knew his boyfriend's overly caring personality. He was apparently bothered about this but not about his own performance. Lu Han frowned and put his hand to his own forehead, comparing the temperatures. It was perfectly fine but the older boy simply couldn't accept this.

 

 

 

Only when Sehun lowered the hand on his forehead, Lu Han blushed and stopped. Embarrassed, he couldn't wait anymore for the other to say something...so he did it, "You feel okay?"

 

 

 

Actually Lu Han wanted to wait for a moment before saying this. He did seem caring and made use of everyone being out so that he and Sehun were alone in the room. Even so he didn't know why those words came so unexpectedly from his mouth. He did want to know if Sehun was just pretending to be fine. And since he had kissed Sehun, Lu Han wanted to know if he was at risk of being ill as well. Despite having this disapproving face expression, Sehun was happy that Lu Han cared for him like that.

 

 

But saying it out loud sounded obviously childish. Lu Han on the other hand groaned inwardly and wished that he could retract the words. Lu Han just looked back at him blankly, and then shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. He was, because he had too many things in his mind. For now, he had to come up with an answer that didn't sound too fake. Even if he would say the truth Lu Han would be suspicious and think that he was being lied to. Well it wasn't Sehun's fault for sounding natural bored.

 

 

 

"I'm fine. Really I'm not lying." It again came out so disinterested that Lu Han raised his eyebrows. Sehun sighed because his boyfriend was mistrustful as ever. Firmly Sehun ghosted his hand forward and ran his thumb along the side of the other's face. He didn't know when exactly but it had turned into a habit for him to caress Lu Han's cheek.

 

 

It was soft and sometimes he couldn't resist but pull the skin. Lu Han turned his head away from him quickly, embarrassed. Of course it hadn't been long since they started dating so everything was new for him. Sehun drew his hand back inelegantly and dropped his arm to his side. Lu Han sat on the table while Sehun decided to seat like any other person on a chair, in front of Lu Han.

 

 

 

For a long, expansion of time, the two just looked at one another. Lu Han waited for Sehun to lecture him again about the sabotaging. He waited for Sehun to persuade him or at least ask him to give the things back. But none of that ever came. Given that Sehun was silent and poked Lu Han's stomach, the elder looked at him as if guessing that he wanted to say something. Nothing came. It appeared to be unreal but maybe Sehun had accepted that Lu Han wouldn't return the belongings so he stopped asking. Though would that really happen? It was Oh Sehun.

 

 

 

After a few more beats of that awkward silence, Sehun stopped poking and rather tapped his fingers on the surface of the table. His movements were slow and thoughtful, swiftly filling the room with the clicking sounds of the fingers meeting the wood. It was perhaps just a way to not fall into boredom but Lu Han was sure that Sehun did it on purpose to annoy him.

 

 

 

"There is something here..." Shattering the silence Sehun pointed at something like a crumble on Lu Han's lap. Blinking Lu Han looked down and acknowledged it by responded that he had eaten cookies with Baekhyun. As someone who couldn't stand seeing remaining of food like that, Sehun frowned and leaned down to grasp it between his index finger and thumb. The timing couldn't be any more perfect since Sehun for some reason slipped on air (nothing) and landed with his face on Lu Han's lap. Then someone had the nerve to enter and it had to be none other than him.

 

 

 

 

Kris Wu.

 

 

 

"I didn't know that you guys were that far." He stated the obvious and didn't wait long for a reaction.

 

 

 

 

Sehun for some reason didn't raise his head.

 

 

 

"What?! No! Whatever you are thinking is wrong!" Lu Han tried to explain quickly, his cheeks going a little pink.

 

 

 

Kris looked at him for a second and acted as if he had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, "What do you want me to believe? Everyone says that when they are getting caught so don't try to explain yourself."

 

 

Lu Han flushed an even more remarkable shade of red and felt the smallest pang of annoyance in his chest. It was really just a misunderstanding but Kris wouldn't believe him. Sehun only wanted to get something off his lap but even if Lu Han would say that Kris wouldn't listen. Then Lu Han had to look like an idiot- a erted one on top of that while Sehun thought that it was smarter not to do anything. And maybe because Lu Han's lap was cosy. Well it was Kris' fault for interpreting the situation wrongly.

 

 

 

 

"N-No no! Kris you are stupid! Let me explain!" Lu Han shrieked, hastily jumping off the table but managed it to land on his face. Before he could say something Sehun instantly helped him by keeping a supportive hold on him to make sure that he didn't fall over entirely. Lu Han's eyelids fluttered and he whined, courageously trying to fight off the redness on his face. It couldn't get any worse. Actually it could because Sehun's quick thinking was proof enough.

 

 

 

"L-Listen! You cannot tell anyone about Sehun and I!" Sharply pointing at the intruder Lu Han demanded this and didn't want to hear anything but a 'yes'. With some effort, Lu Han raised his head and glared at Kris unfocusedly. With help he could stand on his unsteady feet but didn't lower his finger. The last thing he wanted was to bring Sehun into an uncomfortable position. He liked it to keep everything private so why would he want others to know about that. Lu Han knew and respected that. This was the reason why he kept their relationship a secret. There was also Kai who would jump off a bridge after knowing that.

 

 

 

"A-And also...! Sehun wouldn't like it..." He spoke the words without looking at them, his eyes downcast and focused lamely on his shoes.  He couldn't know that Sehun had glanced over at him, smiling humorously at the red tint that had suddenly appeared on Lu Han's cheeks. Although he didn't see Sehun he was still blushing and acting so shy. Kris couldn't tell if he was happy for him or creeped out.

 

 

 

"I won't tell anyone...If you give us our things back."

 

 

 

 

"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!"

 

 

 

"Just do it." Sehun nudged him with a bothered face expression. It was true that he didn't want anyone to know about him and Lu Han. Disappointed that Sehun wasn't on his side, Lu Han half-whined and put both of his hands on his face. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He wanted to keep everything there until the competition would be over. Only then he would let everything out. But if Sehun insisted to give everything back then Lu Han couldn't say anything against it. He could sulk though which he did. He sighed and said that it was stored in the wardrobe.

 

 

 

Glancing at it, Kris smirked and waved Lu Han and Sehun goodbye.

 

 

 

 

"I'll pick it up later. And just for the record. Our leader will sing."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sehun and Lu Han looked at each other.

 

 

 

 

"Do you think I will lose?! What if I will?!" In a blink of an eye Lu Han held his head with a panicked expression. Now that they had nothing to guarantee a win. And Sehun had to do something to calm the other down. Slowly, he reached over and softly cupped the side of Lu Han's shirt to pull him back. Lu Han tripped backwards and was being held close. Sehun leaned forwards to rest his cheek on the top of Lu Han's head, inhaling his own particular scent.

 

 

Upon this move Lu Han stiffened slightly at Sehun's unexpected touch, but did not pull away. After a moment the overwhelmed boy had calmed down, resting his head against Sehun's chest and even attempting so far as to wrap one cautious arm around his waist, pulling himself even closer.

 

 

 

"Don't give me high hopes. We are doomed." Lu Han muttered miserably, his voice stifled by Sehun's shirt. "I get off tune....I'm too quiet and can barely play. What if I lose?"

 

 

 

"You ask too many questions." Sehun answered, his voice also strained. He lightly smiled, his face still pressed against the boy's brown hair. He was relieved that Lu Han didn't comment about this action and had only accepted it. Yes Sehun was doing a lot of things that wasn't like him at all.

 

 

They stayed in that weird half-hug for several minutes, each of them greatly holding back excitement. At one pointed Sehun allowed himself to glance down at Lu Han since he was oddly quiet. He saw that Lu Han was composed and radiated with calmness and also fondness. His face was beaming....warmly? Was that an appropriate term to describe it?

 

 

Well what could he expect that was after all his sunshine. Sehun smiled at him, a little embarrassed by this wordplay and his own display of affection. He did so many things that he would have never considered doing these things before meeting Lu Han. Regardless of that it was a nice feeling and it seemed like Lu Han liked it anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

("You ready sunshine?")

 

 

("Yep! I'll shine brightly on stage!")

 

 

("Ew stop this. Don't say that. It's cheesy.")

 

 

("Your sunshine on a cold day~!")

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-x-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lu Han had always thought that he wasn't one of those people to just change his idea and have a total different mind-set but it was happening. He couldn't help it because his biggest mistake was to have underestimated his enemy. He really shouldn't have done that because this guy called Chen was a better- much much better singer than Lu Han would ever be. That wasn't an exaggeration since he owned the stage by singing this boring yet awesome ballad. Everyone, all the students were clapping along and cheering whenever they had the chance.

 

 

 

 

And Lu Han?

 

 

 

 

With trembling legs he was hiding behind the curtains, waiting with his friends for his turn. He eyes closed briefly. His heart was pounding so speedily against his chest that it was actually hurting. He wasn't sure if it was from being from singing in front of a crowd or the fact that he was going to lose. It had to be the latter because he actually didn't care about the students watching him. Him winning was the only important factor. Well technically the students had to like his performance since they would decide through voting who the winner would be.

 

 

 

"Don't worry. You'll go out there and destroy this Chen!" Baekhyun raised both of his fists and wanted to make Lu Han feel a bit better. He also had seen how nervous Lu Han was and couldn't see him like this anymore. He didn't deserve it. He had his bad points like any other person but other than that, Lu Han was a great person and therefore deserved it to win. Lu Han sighed and dropped his glance down to the guitar he was holding against the floor.

 

 

 

"He's right. Chen is not that good. " Kyungsoo agreed, turning mid-stride to shoot Kai an accusing glare because he was watching Chen's performance in amazement. Wasn't he Lu Han's number one stalker? So why was he paying attention to something other than him? Instead of cheering his crush on he was holding the curtain aside to stare at Chen. Kyungsoo couldn't have that and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform to steer him back where he belonged to. It wasn't time for him to be like that. Not when Lu Han was sure to run away.

 

 

 

"You'll do great! You are more talented in your pinkie than Chen!" Too excited to put it into words, Kai shook Lu Han's shoulders since he was temporarily siding with the enemy.

 

 

 

"Stop lying to me!" Lu Han cried and in return shook Kai's shoulders. That was a horrible time to make those jokes. Lu Han may have been talented but more than Chen? This guy could easily become a singer. His voice was so much more mature than expected- it was smooth strong and clear. He sounded like an actual professional vocalist though they were supposed to be the same age.

 

 

But why did Lu Han seem like an amateur compared to him? He was probably one but the impression was just visually strong. Lu Han's eyes widened as the thought struck him, but then he shook his head. He was just imagining things, surely. He heard cheering again from the audience and for once Lu Han wished that Sehun would be mean and tell them to shut up. Speaking of Sehun he didn't say much for the whole time. He was silently standing in the background, minding his own business.

 

 

The funny thing was that Sehun was his boyfriend and like any other lover should have comforted him. Too bad that Lu Han was glad that he was giving him space to breathe. He was too stressed to hear 'everything will be fine'. And Sehun knew that. That was why he was silent and let Lu Han handle it himself. Even if he was pretty bad at that. Lu Han didn't say anything, but stayed calm, visibly locked in an aching haze of sadness that left his face completely empty. He knew that staying focused was his only comfort for now, even though he knew that he had only one chance to win.

 

 

"Don't cry it will be fine!"

 

 

 

"No it won't!" Not checking whom he was disagreeing with, Lu Han shook his head as his voice was breaking with the abrupt, incomprehensible threat of upcoming tears. He covered his face with one hand and his shoulders tensed in preparation of a sniff, but he managed to stop himself with a shivering breath. He let it out slowly and trailed it with another, clearly trying to stay calm.

 

 

 

Raising his head, he glared at whoever dared to make him look stupid.

 

 

 

It was Lay with his usual understanding smile who walked in. There were no other members present so they probably thought that Chen didn't need any support since he would win anyway. Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and Kai who were seeing him for the first time were surprised.  Did he have any relations to them? "What are you trying to say..." Lu Han managed to whisper after a long, long pause, sounding like he had debated with himself to blurt that out. He was still part of his rival group.

 

 

 

Lay heaved a great, heavy sigh and looked at them as if they were insufferably stupid. "I'm saying that you still can win. You just have to be better than Chen." He probably would have continued his rant for another several seconds, but instead he decided to stop right there. They could figure the rest out for themselves. It wasn't so difficult to understand his words. Then thing was that if he could believe and trust them. He couldn't risk it to get fooled, it happened too many times. Looking confused as ever Kai waved Lay off after he left. 

 

 

"He's weird. Don't believe him. Of course I know that you will win but I think he's no good." Not so quietly, Kai whispered that to him and could only assure that the other came to brainwash them. There was no other reason to have come. Who would come to his rival and help them out with a few words? Nobody so why would he do it?

 

 

 

Just when Lu Han was about to answer that Lay was his friend, the cheering and clapping became louder from the other side of the curtain. This could only mean that he was done. Therefore it was Lu Han's turn to go out there. His heart stopped when everyone was staring at him. That meant it had to be true. Lu Han looked confused and tired, probably not entirely awake yet. Awake from his daydreaming. This was what he did when he was anxious and couldn't focus. He winced lightly as the sound of the voices against the headache that had been pulsing in his temples.

 

 

 

Shouldn't he just give up?

 

 

 

 

"It's your turn! Don't worry you'll be good!" Kyungsoo stepped forwards and pushed Lu Han towards the curtains so that he would move himself. He wouldn't have done it on his own. Baekhyun as well gave him a shove because he doubted that the other would ever do it on his own. Before someone would dare to push him again, Lu Han turned around and pressed the guitar against his chest. He looked so pathetic that it wasn't funny. For the first time, his eyes met Chanyeol's so keep froze not really knowing what else to do. He raised one hand and slowly waved his fingers at him in hesitant greeting.

 

 

After a short pause, Chanyeol lifted his own hand and dazedly returned the feeling. But then he stopped- confused that he returned that. He wasn't the only one who was confused at his actions. Lu Han's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the hand, suddenly realizing that—for the first time— he was getting perceptible support from Chanyeol. It was not that Chanyeol never supported him. He just never showed it. Lu Han knew that Chanyeol was secretly rooting for him but that he was making it obvious like this was out of the ordinary.

 

 

"Chanyeol did you just wish him good luck?" The first one to openly say something about that was Baekhyun who curiously asked this question. Could it really be? "But I thought that you liked me." He dug deeper and came closer to the taller while having a mischievous smile. Chanyeol didn't know how he precisely should react so he simply looked away and didn't bother to answer. He wouldn't need to because they would twist it anyway, no matter what he said.

 

 

 

"Maybe he likes both of you." Kyungsoo suggested while Kai yelled a loud 'no he can't' to signify his disapproval.

 

 

 

 

Lu Han's name was called so that they all stopped talking.

 

 

 

 

"Okay go out there and show how awesome you are!"

 

 

"You can do it Lu!"

 

 

"I Kim Jongin love you! That's all you need!"

 

 

 

 

Making a disgusted face Lu Han turned his head to left were Sehun was who smiled at him. He didn't need to say more as anything else would probably just make him nervous. Lu Han made a quick kissy face when nobody was looking and then turned back around before he could become red. His name was called for the second time. Lu Han straightened after a moment, with such an expression of dejection on his face. He didn't have choice. Running away something that he would do. His heart would sink in with pity towards the other members

 

His sweaty hands were clutching the neck of guitar, breathing hard and trembling as he tried to overcome his emotions. It was almost too ridiculous. Maybe even funny but still ridiculous. Why should he have to fight for his own club? Couldn't be there just two? What did it matter?

 

 

In spite of how many times he joked about winning it was also disturbing and a little irritating that he had to be in this position.

 

 

Lu Han didn't want to go there and totally fail. He surely didn't get enough practice and it didn't matter how good he was. Practice was practice and if he didn't get enough then he was sure to lose.

 

 

Without looking back, he pushed the curtain aside after lifting his guitar up. The first thing he noticed were those hundreds of eyes staring at him. After seeing something like Chen they are probably waiting for him to mess up badly. This gave Lu Han another reason to continue. In order to prove them wrong he had blown them away with his performance. The second thing he noticed was the microphone tripod and the chair. Without wasting thoughts he made his way to the chair and sat down. Then he positioned the guitar on his lap, reminding himself to also give out an introduction.

 

 

He raised his head, caught all those people obviously watching him, and quickly looked away again, his expression disturbed. It was almost touchable how much he didn't want to be there. He had not relaxed for one waking moment since he had found out that Kris knew about the stolen items. His jaw was clenched and his shoulders were always tensed, as if just waiting for someone to yell at him. He shakily grabbed the microphone and placed it in front of his lips so he could start talking:

 

 

 

 

"Hello. I'm a third year Lu Han and I'll be awesome."

 

 

 

 

Others could think that he shouldn't be so overly confident but Lu Han thought that this was fine. The audience also shared this mind-set and cheered after he introduced himself. From now on it was time to not do any mistakes. Lu Han gave his guitar a blank, uncertain stare, and then turned around over his shoulder to look at Sehun who was watching from the side lines.

 

 

Actually Sehun had been watching them for some time, his pain-fogged eyes observing the interaction with mild interest. Lu Han raised his eyebrows at him, silently asking him a hundred questions. Sehun blinked as if understanding this all and replied with a small, reassuring smile and a similarly small nod.

 

 

 

 

Lu Han turned back with a smile and started gliding his fingers over the strings. First once, then twice and then he picked up the speed and began to sing the first verse. His voice soft- too soft and easily to break but that didn't bother him much. He just continued as if it was barely brushing him. Exactly like Chanyeol and Sehun had advised he tried to not make the guitar stand out and sound louder than his own signing. He wasn't afraid of getting off tune. Instead he kept his eyes focused, hearing his voice harmonizing the chorus with the sound of the guitar, before repeating again the chorus. His voice was loud and oddly stable than usually before the guitar took over.

 

 

 

His voice sang in a sweet and harmonious way, moving through the song like it took no effort, which it almost certainly didn't. It only seemed like it but Lu Han did his best to hold the notes and not miss a single chord while playing. His high note was weak and unsupported but who cares he just carried on like Chanyeol said when making a mistake.

 

 

 

There was a silence for a moment until the crowd of students broke out into a round of applause.

 

 

 

A tiny, warm drop traveled slowly down from the corner of his eye where it softly met his guitar. In spite of the fear he was feeling, how terrified he must have been, finding already ways to have improved his singing...he was relieved. To not be guaranteed to win and sing with his mediocre voice in front of the whole school had weighed on his chest since they had arrived the hall.

 

 

It was feeling so definitively heavy that he could narrowly breathe—let alone leave his thoughts indiscreet for even a second, fearing another assault of cowardice. Now though this crushing weight on him had been lifted as soon as he had strummed for the last time. When his fingers met the string and thus let the sound reverberated throughout the hall was the moment he could finally breathe. He was done. Finally. This was the reason why he was shedding tears. He was happy to be finally done.

 

 

 

It had nothing to do with his choice of song- Lu Han would never sing a sad song that would be too cliché. He was the person for happy and upbeat songs though this wasn't really shown as he was desperately wiping is tears off his face. What really bothered him was that he didn't even have the time to talk to his friends. He couldn't move and had to stay in his place while Chen has required to also be on stage. Because now the audience would decide who would be better. Who deserved it to have an own club and who....didn't. Lu Han swallowed, trying to soothe the aching stickiness in the back of his throat.

 

 

 

When he and Chen had eye contact- the latter smiled at him.

 

 

 

 

Was that a 'the win is mine' smile or a 'good luck' smile?

 

 

 

 

Lu Han looked aside, he wanted now the results. He didn't want silence. He longed for words, noise, and any kind of message. The silence was bearing down and made it difficult to breathe for him. Lu Han sighed; he didn't want to say anything. He darted his eyes down, his lashes downcast against the blankness of his face. He could just hold it in, all those feeling. He didn't know what to think. The students had two signing sticks in their hand. One was red and one was blue. Lu Han had the red one and so if he wanted to win he had to see a sea of red than blue.

 

 

 

 

The teacher urged now the students to decide.

 

 

After hearing that, Lu Han couldn't take his eyes away from the audience. He was seeing red. Actual red. He absorbed that for a moment. He tore his gaze from one student to the next; unable to witness this, tears that were gathering themselves from his lower lids. There were people who liked what they have heard. Was that possible really? He looked down at them in shocked silence, unsure of what to say. His eyes were desperate and confused, looking at the signs as if they had all the answers, as if they could explain why someone would hold them up.

 

 

 

The majority was blue though.

 

 

 

 

Up until this moment.

 

 

 

 

 

There was a cracking and rustling sound coming from the speakers probably from the head teacher’s room. Why would he make an announcement? Didn't he know what was going on there? Actually what surprised everyone, teachers and students was that the voice did not belong to the head teacher. It sounded too young too boyish which he could have been only one person. Lu Han's eyes were wide- the same voice who declared his love everyday with cheesy presents and stupid hearts.

 

 

 

 

Kim Jongin.

 

 

 

 

If you vote for Lu Han then I will go on a date with every girl who voted for him!

 

 

 

 

Silence.

 

 

 

 

At first it was just one new red sign of a girl who was blushing though didn't dare to take it down. Then slowly another girl in the back changed her blue sign to the red one, proudly holding it up. Krystal of course held her red one up for the whole time- actually even two since she secretly stole another stick. Two girls turned into four then eight and so forth. Lu Han wasn't surprised about this change of attitude but that Kai would voluntarily get himself into trouble for doing this to him. He may be stupid and dumb but Lu Han knew that one could count on him.

 

 

 

 

Chen with a smile held also a red sign up which surprised Lu Han...since when could they vote?

 

 

 

 

The teacher instantly also gave him two sticks to vote.

 

 

 

 

Lu Han also decided to vote.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He held up a blue one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The winner is..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-x-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a hot sunny day and Lu Han was already running. It wasn't really his fault when the teacher always decides to hunt after him for only not wearing his uniform correctly. He was partly wearing his beloved tracksuit and didn't think of dropping it so the teacher could wait an eternity. He passed a few students at the lockers who waved at him so that Lu Han obviously replied with a smile and waved back. The next stop was the library where he speeded up as the teacher called once again for his name. Of course Lu Han would stop at the library; he had something to do there. Something very important that couldn't wait.

 

 

 

 

He pushed the door open and loudly toppled in as Sehun looked up from his book- visibly annoyed:

 

 

 

 

"Be quiet this is a library. And not a place for you to play. Stop getting in trouble too."

 

 

 

Showing him a sheepish smile Lu Han approached him and leaned over the desk, pretending to read the book. Sehun rolled his eyes put his finger under Lu Han's chin. If he wasn't going to move, then Sehun would do it. And as he inched a little forward, he was surprised to find Lu Han's lips he was searching to capture on his lips first. With time he got used to Lu Han's impudence and had to put up with it.

 

 

 

Too soon, Lu Han found it difficult to breathe, and unwillingly he pulled away, panting slightly, a smile reaching his face. He moved down to kiss him again as he somewhat raised his hand and rested it on Sehun's cheek. He was so warm and knew that he was blushing, but then so was Sehun even if he refused to admit it. Lu Han couldn't care less and carried on kissing him, knowing that they had this effect on each other.

 

 

 

Suddenly the steps got louder so Lu Han pulled away and directly crawled underneath Sehun's legs.

 

 

 

 

A teacher came in and turned his head to both sides:

 

 

 

 

"Did you see a student, a bit shorter than you come in? He's wearing a tracksuit jacket around his waist which is not part of his uniform. Violating school uniform rules...he is in a lot of trouble."

 

 

 

 

 

Sehun showed him the most disinterested face and pointed out of the library.

 

 

 

 

"He went that way."

 

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Technically Play Me Up is done but do read the next chapter when it's up. It's important for the sequel.

 

 

I hope you liked this! Sorry for typos!

 

 

It's for now open who won!

 

bomi xoxo