"Minseok-hyung! Where have you been? You didn't come to any of your afternoon classes yesterday and I had to-" A fist was now grabbing Jongdae by the collar, effectively shutting the rambling boy up. 

"Damn it Jongdae! You couldn't have freaking told me about Luhan and his crush on me now could you?!" 

Jongdae grabbed the hand which was holding his collar, gently tugging it away and then letting it go. "I'm not following at all hyung! What the heck are you talking about?" 

Minseok slumped against the nearest wall, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Sorry Jongdae, it's not your fault. I'm the idiot here, and now the biggest jerk of the year too. God dammit..." 

Jongdae didn't like seeing his friend like this, it was too unnatural. Minseok was always a very positive person, aside from his harsh jokes and sometimes grumpy mood when he was hungry (another reason for Jongdae to always carry around cookies in his bag). This Minseok, was a Minseok he didn't know. 

Patting his friend on the shoulder, Jongdae leaned his own head against Minseok's. "Well, let's go to the rooftop and then you tell me everything, okay?" 

"So, to conclude. All of this is my fault because I was a to you in middle-school, making that stupid bet with your buddies on the soccer-team. Is that it?" 

The pair was currently sitting on the school's rooftop, a relaxing silence surrounding them since everyone else were in class and well... they were not. 

"I'm not saying it's your fault Jongdae. It's true that you were a to me back then and I had my heart broken for months, but I should've gotten over that by now. I had no right to accuse Luhan of doing the same thing, I didn't even have any evidence. The poor guy was being beaten until he threw up by the entire team and I just... thought he was faking when he was really suffering." Minseok felt more awful the more he spoke. Bit by bit he realized how much he must've hurt Luhan's feelings. 

Jongdae sighed and patted his hyung on the shoulder. "Don't blame yourself too much hyung, there's nothing you can do about it anymore. It's all in the past. What you should focus on, on the other hand, is how to apologize to Luhan. Do you have any ideas?" Jongdae sipped on his carton of juice as he smiled at Minseok, who was having a mental break-down at the moment. 

Minseok sighed heavily, staring down at his own hands. "That's another part of the problem Jongdae. I've been thinking and thinking about what to do to make him forgive me, but I can't seem to come up with anything at all. Nothing pops up in my mind. And to top it all off, I don't know what to do about Luhan's confession..." 

Jongdae almost choked on his juice, staring wide-eyes at his hyung who was now looking at him in a 'what the s wrong with you' manner. He couldn't believe his ears. 

"So you mean that you- that you're actually considering his confession?  Or are you just thinking about it because you pity him? I don't think he'll be any happier having you to himself if t's out of pity, I'm just saying." 

"It's not out of pity, I just..." Minseok sighed once again. "I just felt close to him from the first time we met you know? I'm not going to go as far as calling it love at first sight, but I mean, I care about him enough to go up against my frien- teammates just to keep him safe. I can't return the same amount of affection as he's given me just yet but, there is definitely something there, you know what I'm saying?" He looked up at Jongdae, unsure if his own words had even made any sense at all. Apparently they had because Jongdae was smiling from ear to ear, a smile which almost looked like a smirk. 

"I figured that you must care for him a lot in order to actually do something so... suicidal. If it weren't for the fact that you're their captain, those guys would have probably forgot all about your friendship and beaten the out of you. You never come out of your shell to do things like that, not even for me." Jongdae laughed a bit shallowly. 

Minseok felt kind of guilty when Jongdae said that. It's not like he could ever forget how Jongdae had been teased an bullied for a while after he had actually stood up for Minseok when they were younger, protecting him from bullies. And Minseok still felt guilty to this day for not protecting his protector back. Not once had he returned the favour. 

Then, after a couple of months, the bullying stopped completely as the bullies got bored with their old victims. Another couple of months later, they graduated and begun high-school. Minseok became quite popular by joining the soccer-team, and Jongdae was a handsome flower-boy of his own kind, charming everybody he met.  

And as that happened, Jongdae didn't need a protector anymore. Gone where the bullies, gone where the fear, and as glad as Minseok was that it was all finally over, he still regretted that he had  never gotten the chance to repay Jongdae for his kindness. 

And to be reminded about it hurt, it really did. 

"Jongdae I-I'm sorry. I know you've told me so many times to stop saying it but I'm still sorry. I should've been there for you just like you were there for me. If anybody was a in middle school, it was me. Sorry buddy, I really am." Minseok looked down at his own shoes, tapping his feet restlessly against the ground. Jongdae just laughed. 

"Like you just said yourself, I've told you so many times to stop apologizing already! What's done is done, and it's not like I'm hurting anymore, right? Now, what you should really focus on is how to win Luhan back."  

Minseok smiled at his friend a bit sadly, but then brought his thoughts back to Luhan, pondering over what he should do. He was almost about to rip his hair out when Jongdae suddenly smacked his head. Minseok flinched. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?" 

Jongdae smirked wider than the cat from Alice in wonderland, and it almost scared Minseok a bit. "That's for being an idiot. Is it really that hard to figure it out?" When Minseok nodded his head, Jongdae smacked him again, causing Minseok to pout and rub his poor head. "Just apologize to him, and show that you're sincere! I know that's what you tried to do before, but remember that he was fuming back then. He wouldn't have listened to anything you had to say, believe me. Now he's had some time to cool off, so believe me, if you want him to forgive you and give you another chance, this is as good a chance as you're going to get." 

Minseok nodded silently to himself. Jongdae's words actually made sense for once. "Wow Jongdae, with all that love expertise of yours I'm surprised you haven't gotten yourself a girlfriend or boyfriend yet." 

Jongdae snickered and flipped his bangs dramatically. "That's just because nobody has proven themselves fabulous enough for me just yet. But believe me hyung, the day I find the other half of my fabulousness, we'll concur this school. You just wait and see." 

They both laughed and Minseok wondered once again how he had managed to score such a great friend. 

Minseok's heart was beating so hard he thought it was going to burst out of his chest, and he was sure he had never been so nervous in his entire life. Standing behind a shower curtain in the locker room, he was waiting nervously for Jongdae to bring Luhan, just as they had planned beforehand. The rest would be up to Minseok. 

The door to the locker rom suddenly opened and Minseok could hear Jongdae's loud chattering, followed by the bang of a door shutting and the click of the lock falling into place. This was it. 

Minseok took a deep breath as he listened to Luhan desperately trying to open the door, and then he slowly began speaking. "Luhan." 

The banging on the door stopped abruptly and the shuffling of shoes could be heard, coming closer to where Minseok was hiding. He felt himself beginning to panic. "No, don't come any closer, please. Just, will you please Luhan listen to me okay? You can do what ever you want afterwards, you can call me a jerk in front of the entire school, curse me to the high heavens and I'll never bother you again if that's what you want, but please just listen to me for now okay?" 

He could hear his own shuddering breath as the steps coming towards him stopped, and then everything was silent. He had almost given up on getting a reply when Luhan decided to speak up. "Okay. I'll listen. But why won't you come out and face me? Are you really that much of a coward?" 

Luhan's words hurt, but Minseok knew that they were true. Still, he couldn't bear to see Luhan's face as it probably looked right now, filled with anger and disgust towards him. He was sure that if he saw it, he would never be able to say the words he wanted to say so badly. "I'm sorry Luhan. Yes, I'm a  cowards because I can't bear to see the look that I put on your face.  Once I've said what I have to say I'll face you, but for now, I'll remain a coward and just stay here." 

"Have it your way then. Now speak, class will begin in 15 minutes or so. I don't want to be late because of all of this." Luhan spoke and Minseok could hear the venom in his voice, and it hurt more than any punches the other could've laid on him. Collecting himself one final time, he trashed the speech he had prepared in his head, and let his heart speak for him. 

"I'm so sorry Luhan.  I know that you probably don't believe me right now, but I really am. I had absolutely no right to say the awful things I said to you, and I'm do sorry that I hurt you. I'm sorry that I didn't take your confession seriously, and I'm sorry that I probably ruined what ever feelings you had for me." 

Taking a deep breath, Minseok leaned against the wet shower wall and peeked at Luhan's dark silhouette from behind the shower curtain. "When I was in middle-school, Jongdae was a little towards me. And one day he got all of the guys in the soccer-team together to play a prank on me. You see, I had a crush on one of the guys from that team, one of my friends, and Jongdae knew that. He also knew that the guy I liked was as straight as a stick, so he made a bet with my friends on the soccer team how long it would take for that guy to make me fall seriously in love with him. It only took him a week to make me fall head over heels for him, and when I told him my feelings he laughed in my face and told everybody on the team and in my class. Guess who was bullied about it for months and got his heart broken as a bonus?" 

Minseok felt his voice crack slightly as he told Luhan about the painful memories of his past, remembering every insult and punch he had received during those past years. "Then middle-school ended and my period of torture was over. I got the respect I had never had once I started high-school, and I never wanted to go back to the person I was before. So when you told me about your crush on me it seemed to good to be real. I immediately suspected Jongdae, old habits die hard after all, and then I got mad at you because I seriously thought that you wanted to trick me and hurt my feelings. And I do regret it Luhan, weather you want to believe it or not I really do. And I'm so sorry that I ruined our chance together. Because I do like you Luhan. I can't yet return the affection you've showed me so far but I really want to give us a chance. And this is probably the most stupid tiem ever and the worst timing to confess something like this, but if you're going to walk out of my life forever then I don't want to have any regrets. I don't want to regret never trying to give us a chance Luhan." 

It was a silent as in a grave in the locker room, so silent that Minseok could hear his own breathing. And there was another sound too, the sound of sniffles and silent sobs. And it took Minseok all but two minutes to realize that they were not his own. "Luhan?" 

"Just... Just please come out of there Minseok? You said you would face me when you were done so please. Keep your promise." Luhan's voice was wavering and Minseok wondered if it was with good or bad tears. Still, he had no time to wonder as he slowly pulled the curtain back, drying away a few stray tears of his won and he looked over at Luhan.  

Luhan had tears streaming down his cheeks, but a small smile was evident on his face, offering Minseok the slightest feeling of hope. Luhan laughed with tears in his voice and blinked at Minseok, who could only stand where he stood in confusion. "So this was your plan all along? Confessing sweetly like this and telling me a tear-jerker to make me feel like the bad guy here?" 

Minseok was about to protest when Luhan shook his head, the small smile still hanging tightly onto his lips. "I'm kidding you idiot. I'm still mad at you for saying the things you did, but I can see your side of it all too. And I'm sorry that I didn't give you a chance to explain sooner. It would've made it all easier for the both of us." 

Minseok chucked despite his inner turmoil. "Yeah, I can't exactly disagree with that." 

They both giggled at their stupidity and luhan slowly began taking hesitant steps towards Minseok, until a trembling hand was placed on Minseok's shoulder. "So... you really meant what you said earlier? About not wanting to regret never trying to give us both a chance? " Minseok nodded dumbly and Luhan smiled brightly, causing Minseok to smile back just as happily. "Well then what are you waiting for? I'm not going to wait for you any longer you know? A year is more than enough for me." 

Seeing that as his ultimate approval, Minseok leaned forward and captured Luhan's lips in a sweet kiss, smiling into it when he felt Luhan's lips begin to move against his own with just as much eagerness. Maybe a little bit to much eagerness as it caused Minseok to lose his footing for a moment, leading to them both stumbling backwards into the shower and against the tap, water sprinkling down on them like heave rain. They broke the kiss and Luhan squealed loudly at the cold temperature, shuffling closer to Minseok to protect himself against the cold streams of water. 

Minseok laughed loudly and Luhan soon joined him, as they both kissed under the cold sprinkles and felt the final pieces fall into place. 

A/N: Finished at last! 

I'm so incredibly sorry that this update came so many months later than intended! I've been putting this off for so long, but when I finally wrote it, it barely took me any time at all (-_____-) I've basically been fearing the time writing the second part would consume, for nothing! 

But seriously, I hope you guys still enjoyed it! ^^ Please do check out my other stories if you haven't, all of them are xiuhan. Please be aware that even though some of them aren't finished and  haven't been updated for a long time, I haven't abandoned any of them! Happy reading! 

Bye Bye! Hopefully I'll see you guys soon on some of my other stories! (^   ^)/