“We’re going shopping,” Luhan declared, foregoing the customary, “Good morning.” “You know, for Minseok’s birthday today?” he said, as Yixing continued blinking at him.

No, Yixing didn’t, and he was too tired to really care. He tried to close the door on Luhan, but the other stuck his head in the room long enough to say, “We’re leaving in thirty minutes!”

Jongdae woke up a minute too late to throw a pillow.  It hit Yixing in the head, and he turned around to see a half-asleep Jongdae. He glared at him and threw the pillow back at Jongdae. It was all Jongdae’s fault, anyway, for staying up so late into the night and forcing Yixing to stay up with him. Jongdae only hugged the pillow and burrowed deeper into his blankets.

“Are you getting up?” Jongdae muffled. His voice was muffled, and only the tip of his head and messed up hair were visible.

“Yeah.” Yixing walked to his own bed and quickly made the blankets.

By the time Yixing made his way downstairs, Luhan was already sitting on the couch, swinging his legs like a little kid. The moment Yixing stepped into the living room, he jumped up, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Here.” He stuffed a large orange into Yixing’s hand before grabbing his free hand and leading him towards the front door. “Yifan’s probably already outside.”

Yixing followed Luhan at a slightly slower pace. He hadn't forgotten Luhan’s tendency to seek spontaneous adventures, something that often got into trouble when they were kids, but he had hoped that it had mellowed out with age. Clearly, it hadn't; it was just suppressed. Spontaneity was okay, and it made Luhan fun to be around, but being dragged on a shopping trip so early in the morning was not okay. There was no one else awake, and it was barely six in the morning—on a weekend, no less.

Luhan led Yixing to the front of the school, were there was a fancy silver car parked. “Are we allowed to leave?” he asked, as they walked out of the school gates. Usually, they were closed, but for whatever reason, they were completely open. Usually, if students wanted to leave campus, they needed to get papers signed to weeks before. And Yixing definitely hadn't gotten anything signed.

Luhan patted his back and opened the back door to the car, practically shoving Yixing inside. “Don’t worry.” He got into the passenger seat and leaned over to the driver’s seat, where Yifan was already seated. “Take us to the shopping mall, please,” he said, speaking formal Korean with a sarcastic upwards tilt in his voice.

Yifan didn’t answer as he began driving, and Luhan reached over to turn on the radio, humming to himself as a random song came on. Yixing looked out the window, watching the scenery outside. He’d never gotten to take a look at the place around their school, since he spent all of his days so far within the school gates.

But there wasn’t much to look at, since it was a small town and it was so early that no one was around. Yixing stifled a yawn with the back of his hand and wished that he was in the comfort of his bed instead of in a car.

“You tired?” Yifan asked, catching his eye from the rearview mirror. Unlike Luhan, he usually spoke to Yixing (or to anyone) in Korean, his words somewhat slow but still pleasant to the ear.

Yixing looked at him hesitantly for a moment, still not having completely forgotten what had happened nearly a week ago. A corner of Yifan’s mouth was quirked up in the tiniest of smiles, and there never was any harm in small talk, so he replied, “Kind of. I was sleeping when Luhan dragged me awake.”

Luhan’s laugh was loud, carrying over the music on the radio. “Both of you guys could sleep the whole morning away. We have to get cake and decorations and a present each for Minseok’s birthday party. Let’s get vanilla cake—oh, and candles, too.”

“Do you guys do this often?” Yixing asked, pressing his cheek against the cool glass of the car’s window.

“Yeah, we try to have a birthday party for all of the students in Exo, unless if your birthday’s during a break or holiday.”

“It’s not,” Yixing said.

Luhan turned around so that Yixing could see him roll his eyes. “I know.”

Yixing kicked the back of Luhan’s seat.

They spent a long time just choosing the cake—or, more accurately, it was Luhan that pored over the details in the menu they’re given, while Yifan and Yixing sat at a table, waiting for him to choose one. Luhan made a huge deal out of getting the right cake and having the fresh fruit and the chocolate shavings on the top of the cake arranged just so.

Yixing peeled his orange and ate it slowly, although it wasn’t quite enough to make him full.

Yifan sighed, putting his phone down on the table as he looked over at Luhan. “He always spends so long making decisions, especially when we’re out for something like this.”

“Do you guys usually go?” Yixing asked, playing with the orange peels.

“Yeah.” Yifan shrugged. “I have the car and the money, and he has the energy. Sometimes, it might take until the whole afternoon until we’re finished.”

Eventually, Luhan sorted the details out and arranged for the cake to be delivered to the school. Yifan paid for the cake and they walked out of the bakery, but that wasn’t nearly the end of the shopping trip.

The candles were fairly simple, and decorations didn’t consist of much more than a sign that said, Happy Birthday, Kim Minseok!

But the presents weren’t quite as easy to choose from.

“Get that one,” Luhan had more or less ordered Yixing, when he’d pulled them into a small store.

It was a snow globe with a logo imprinted on the front and dancing penguins inside. Yixing couldn’t understand why a single snow globe would cost so much, but it was pretty large and a decent present, so he ended up paying for it.

“Come on, just choose something,” Yixing said, poking Luhan’s arm when he led them into yet another store. He wasn’t unused to shopping, but his legs were already starting to hurt from walking alone.

“Let’s go to the food court,” Yifan said. He had already chosen a gift for Minseok, and it was already wrapped. “Meet us there when you’re finished, okay?” he called to Luhan.

Luhan just waved at them, barely glancing back as he continued walking down the aisles.

Yixing was really hungry, and he quickly ate the bowl of noodles that he’d ordered. Yifan just watched him, drinking from his cup of coffee with the straw that he’d used to stir the sugar and milk. Those straws were small, and Yixing couldn’t see how he managed to get anything with them.

“What?” he asked, when he caught Yifan staring at him again.

Yifan just shook his head, but he put his coffee cup down. “I wasn’t kidding about the offer, you know.”

Yixing paused, his chopsticks freezing in motion. He knew at once what offer Yifan was referring to. “I said no.” He put his chopsticks down on the table with a little more force than necessary. “Please don’t ask again.”

“Hey!” Luhan dispelled the tense air around them as he came running into the food court, waving a box excitedly. “I found a present.”

Yixing glanced down at the box, which contained a watch. “It looks nice.”

Luhan smiled brightly. “It does! Come on, let’s go back. Keep this all a secret,” he added, and walked away quickly, seeming completely ignorant of the tension between Yixing and Yifan.

When they were in the car, Yifan caught Yixing’s eye in the rearview mirror again. He seemed ready to say something, but Yixing just looked away.