It felt like hours to me, the moment right after Luhan had told me those nine words. It was as if I was living in some surreal magical land where no harm could ever come to me. But even though it felt like hours, the reality was that it was only seconds. Seconds in which I could feel his nervous breath on my ear before he drew his head back and looked at me. Looked at me with a question in his eyes.

He seemed so hesitant, nervous. As if his confidence from a few seconds ago just vanished once he’d spoken the words.

“ I didn’t-“ Luhan said, looking horrified at what he just said “I wasn’t going to tell you that, I- Please don’t leave me.” He suddenly looked close to tears, probably expecting the words to scare me away.

“Oh, Luhan.” I said and kissed him passionately, my lips holding his longingly. “You have nothing to be apologetic about, nothing to be scared about. You never have to feel like that around me.”

“But, we said we would only be friends and-“

“Shh.” I hushed him, holding my whole hand in front of his mouth to make him stop blabbering unimportant nonsense.

“Luhan,” I began, him looked at me with curious eyes “What I feel for you is something I’ve never felt for anyone before. You make me laugh, you make me feel not alone. You are nothing like anyone else I know. You make everyone you smile at fall in love with you instantly, you can basically charm the whole world if you’d like.”

Luhan pulled my hand away gently from his mouth, and I saw a careful smile grow on his lips.

“A minute ago, when you told me that you might be in love with me, I felt like the luckiest guy on earth. Because even though you can make everyone fall in love with you, you can’t fall in love with everyone. And if you’ve really fallen in love with me, it’s like I’ve won the lottery.” My words were pouring out of my mouth uncontrollably and I had no way of stopping them. Not that I really wanted to since they made Luhan happy.

“You’ve made me the richest person on earth.” I whispered “Because nothing is more valuable to me than your love. And I would like to give just as much back to you.”

“What do you mean?” Luhan asked, blushing vigorously.

“I can’t deny my growing feelings for you, Luhan.” I confessed “The realization is pretty new but the feelings have been there for a while now. And I don’t care that you’re a guy and that you have a weird brother or that your family would hate our relationship. Because I’ve fallen in love with you too and if you’d have me, I couldn’t be happier.”

Luhan looked at me, stunned and before I knew it, tears were rolling down his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, kissing the tears away, cupping his face in my hands.

“I-“ Luhan said, then took a pause and began again “That was the sweetest thing anyone’s ever told me.”



We ate lunch together after that, both of us thinking it too late for us to eat breakfast. We managed to cook together, both of us doing way too much touching and kissing for being in a kitchen. But we didn’t care.

I guessed both of us were in a bit of shock, firstly from our night together and then from the mornings revelations. I still couldn’t get it in to my mind that the two of us felt the same about each other, and that we both knew this fact.

“So, now that it’s all out there,”  I said as we sat down and eat together “that we like each other and all, what does that make us?”

“Umh…” Luhan said, looking thoughtful and a bit nervous “I- I don’t know.” I smiled, loving how adorable Luhan looked when he were nervous.

“Then,” I said “I have another question to ask.”

“Go ahead.” Luhan said, looking at me with anticipation.

“Luhan,” I said “Do you want to be my boyfriend?” Luhan blushed like crazy at the mentioning of changing our status.

“For real this time.” I added, remembering all too well that I had already asked Luhan this same question, only that time we had much less history together and it had been totally fake.

“I-“ Luhan said, smiling even though he looked flustered “I would love to.”



It wasn’t until noon that I picked up my phone, having totally forgotten all about it since the night before. I were shocked by the numbers of text messages and missed calls I had flashing at my screen and for a second, I was certain that someone must’ve died or something. But then I saw that it was no other than Tao who had been trying to contact me ever since two in the morning the previous night. He had in total called me fifteen times, the latest one only fifteen minutes ago.

The text were even more in number and even though they were many, they still struck me with the exact same message, even though the words may be different from text to text. I NEED YOU TO CALL ME was the base meaning I could get from the text and I remembered that I had told Tao to contact me after he’d talked to Mire, which he obviously had. But I had been preoccupied with other… stuff.

I suddenly felt a twinge of bad conscience since I had been living on cloud nine while Tao had been left to rot in despair and confusion all by himself… or, well, besides Mire.

“Call him.” Luhan said, having seen my troubled expression and figured out from just that what I was having a dilemma over. “I’m sure he’ll forgive you for not picking up the phone.”

“Probably.” I sighed and quickly pushed the call button to get a hold of him. The signal rang for three tones before he picked up, sounding distraught at just the simple ‘hello’.

“What happened?” I asked “I’m sorry I haven’t picked up my phone but I have good reasons. But you first, tell me everything.” Tao was quiet for some time before answering.

“So you two did it, then?” he asked and I was shocked by his assumption.

“No!” I exclaimed, not because it was such a strange statement or something like that, because it wasn’t, but because I wanted to hear about his troubles and not having him being all over my life for once.

“Tell me what happened with Mire. Did you talk to her? And what did she say?”

“Yes, I talked to her.” Tao sighed.

“And?” I prodded, wanting him to tell me not only that but to give me the whole story.

“And I definitely need to forget all about her.” Tao said, his voice trembling.

“Okay, I’m coming over.” I said, certain that this needed to be talked about face to face.

“No!” Tao exclaimed “You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Well…” Tao said, sounding uncertain “let’s just say I’m not a pretty sight right now.”

“Tao, I don’t care about how you look, I just want to be there for you, okay?” I was met with silence on the other side of the line and I wondered if Tao had hung up on me, but then I heard him sigh.

“I can come to your place in fifteen minutes.” Tao said “I just don’t want to be at home right now.”

“That’s fine, too.” I said “but I’m not at home but I can go there if that’s the case.”

“Were are you then?”

“At Luhan’s…” I said and Tao let out a small triumphant laugh.

“So you spent the night there, then?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Then you must’ve done it!” Tao said convincingly and I couldn’t understand how quickly he could change subject like that. In one moment, he was sad about his own life and in the next, he was excited about mine.

“No, we didn’t. I told you already.” Luhan looked at me with curious eyes, wondering what we were talking about.

“Okay, but then you almost did it.” Tao said and I felt myself go a little red.

“I’ll see you in fifteen minutes.” I said.

“Oh my god, you have to-“ I hung up on him, not wanting to hear whatever comment he was about to make.

“How is he?” Luhan asked and I shrugged my shoulders.

“I have to go and see him.” I said “I’m pretty worried about him and I don’t feel like talking to him over the phone exclusively.”

“That’s fine.” Luhan said “I understand your concern.” I got an idea and wondered if it would be strange of me to ask Luhan such a thing but I decided to at least give him the option of choosing himself.

“Do you want to come with?” I asked “I don’t think Tao would mind since he already know that you know about his worries.”

“oh, no.” Luhan said “I feel like an intruder, even though the two of you may not feel the same. I think you’ll have to have this moment alone with him.”

“But you-“

“I insist.” Luhan smiled and I couldn’t argue against that.

“Okay, then.” I said and together, we walked in to the hallway together, him leading me to his door.

“Should I pick you up tomorrow?” I asked and suddenly, it felt like nothing had changed between us, like we were just our usual selves. Even though much had changed between us during the last twenty-four hours, it still felt as comfortable and homely as usual being with Luhan. I loved that about us.

“Sure.” Luhan smiled, then he reached up to me and kissed my lips lightly “I’ll see you tomorrow boyfriend.”

My heart skipped a beat as he said the word, me not having heard him calling me that before. I couldn’t help but smile.

“And I’ll see you too, boyfriend.” I said, just wanting to try out the word. Luhan smiled back at me.

I kissed him one last time before exciting his apartment and then waved goodbye to him as he closed his door.



Once at home, I found that my parents had left to visit my aunt and had left a note to me, telling me that they would be home so that we could eat dinner together. Tao hadn’t arrived yet but I only had to wait for three more minutes and then I heard the doorbell ring.

Once I saw Tao’s face, I knew I had done the right thing in insisting on out meeting. Even though he had sounded pretty okay over the phone, his whole body radiated heartbreak . He had dark circles under his eyes and I could see how the eyes themselves were shot with red, either from sleep deprivation or tears, maybe both.

He wore loose clothes, the kind of clothes he never would dare walk outside in otherwise and on top of that, he looked almost like The Hunchback in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, all bent over from exhaustion.

I acted on my instincts and instantly drew him in to a hug, thinking that he needed one of those. He gratefully hugged me back and I could hear him sigh loudly at the touch.

We didn’t say a word and instead, I only led him inside and made both of us a cup of tea. It wasn’t until we both were seated in the sofa in the living room with our cups in our hands that he spoke. 

“I must look pathetic.” He muttered.

“Kind of.” I said but we both knew I said it only to make him laugh. I wasn’t completely unsuccessful because his mouth quirked up in a small smile.

“What did you guys say?”

“Well…” Tao said and sighed before he threw himself in to the story “I asked her what this all meant, why she decided to sleep with me this close to her wedding and what would happen next. And she just kind of looked at me and then burst in to tears.”

“Tears?” I asked “Why?”

“That’s what I asked.” Tao said “and then she just burst and told me all about why she was getting married and how she’d only done what she did to me because she’d needed some real connection before marrying a man that had told her he didn’t love her.”

“So why is she getting married then if neither of them love the other?” I asked.

“Because she’s pregnant.” Tao said, his voice breaking at the last words.

“Pregnant!?” I exclaimed “Since when?”

“She’s two months in.” Tao said “And it’s his kid, her fiancés. Their parents insisted on them getting married if she wanted to keep it, and since she does, she have no other choice.”

“And she told you this after you had ?” I asked to which Tao nodded.

“I feel like a total jackass.” Tao said “What if I’ve broken up a future family because of my stupidity?”

“If that’s the case, it’s not your fault.” I said “She was as much in on it as you, wasn’t she?” He nodded “and she didn’t tell you about her being pregnant! God, Mire being pregnant? I still can’t believe it.”

“I know.” Tao said, sighing. One thing still didn’t click with me, though.

“But if she slept with you because she wanted a connection before entering a loveless marriage, then how does she justify your one night stand as ‘a connection’?”

“She told me that she knew I loved her.” Tao said “apparently, she’s been aware of it for a long time and s-she told me that she w-wanted to have with someone who loved her, i-if just once.” His voice wavered as he spoke and I could understand why.

“So she used you.” I said, putting it out there. Tao was quiet for a while, not wanting to think of the one he loved as someone who used people.

“Yeah.” He admitted in the end and I saw a lone tear running down his face. I let my thumb catch it.

“One thing’s for sure, we’re not going to that wedding.” I said “I won’t let her hurt you anymore.”

“I think you’re right about that.” Tao said “Besides, it would be way too strange if I came there. What if she tells her fiancé what she’s done with me and he sees me there? Wouldn’t that be ed up?”

“It would.” I said “ Mire and her fiancé. They’re both s.”

“You don’t even know the guy!” Tao exclaimed though I saw a small smile on his face. He didn’t tell me off for insulting Mire though, himself probably being just as angry with her, even though he loved her.

“Well, if a guy makes a random girl pregnant and then refuses to love her when they marry doesn’t that make him an ?”

“Yeah, you have a point.” Tao said. “It’s just all so messy right now. My life feels like it’s been turned upside down and my head is filled with clutter.”

“Then it’s a great time for a complete cleansing.” I said “To throw everything with the name Mire on it out from your head.”

“I think that sounds like an excellent idea.” Tao agreed and I could see a light ignite in his eyes at the idea. He took a deep breath and when he let it out, it felt like Mire went away with it.



Tao stayed for dinner, to my parent’s joy. He seemed like nothing special had happened when they were around, hiding his true feelings away. After dinner though, I told my parents that I was taking Haru out for a walk. Outside the house, Tao’s sadness returned and I decided to walk with him home, telling him that I needed to give Haru a good walk when I really just wanted to make sure he came home fine and didn’t do anything stupid along the way.

But even though he seemed sad, he still seemed hopeful for things to get better. And since Tao was Tao, he could completely overlook his own sadness if it meant that he would get some juicy story out of me.

“So, tell me,” Tao said as we began walking to his house, Haru happily walking in front of us as she sniffed for a place to pee. “what happened at Luhan’s house?”

“Do you really want to know that?” I asked to which Tao nodded enthusiastically “Even if it involves some super cute and loving moments?”

“Especially if it involves that!” Tao exclaimed, becoming more and more curious. I hesitated before saying anything, not because I didn’t want Tao to know but because I didn’t want him to feel worse about his own life when he heard how fantastic my own was. But then I remembered that my happiness would probably only distract him from his own misery. I had done it before, whenever Tao was sad. He always wanted me to tell him something good, to make him remember that there were great things happening in the world.

“The short story is that we’re not only friends anymore.” I said  to which Tao gasped “We became boyfriends today.”

“Oh my god, Yixing that’s huge!” Tao said “and here you’ve been listening to my misery when you could’ve been with your boyfriend.” He purred the last word out as if he didn’t want the word to end too quickly.

“I know.” I smiled “but what kind of a friend would I be if I completely ignored you in one of your darker moments?”

“True.” Tao said “But if that was the short story, then what’s the long one?”

So I told him it all. It wasn’t like I described every detail or something like that but I figured Tao could fill in the blanks all by himself and get the full picture.

“Oh, man.” Tao said when I’d finished “that’s beautiful.”

“Not many guys would describe that as beautiful.” I said and laughed, but I couldn’t agree more.

“Are you kidding?” Tao said “Love is the most beautiful thing in the world and even though I still find it a little shocking that you’ve found love in a guy, I still couldn’t be happier for you!”

“Thanks.” I said, smiling “I guess you’re next.”

“It will be a dazzling day when I finally finds someone who’ll love me as much as I love them.”

“Yes, it will.”




A/N

"What's this? Another update? But it's only been a day since the last one!? Wow, you're such an amazing person author-nim for updating so quickly!" (This is how I'm hoping you all are reacting!)

Haha, but really, i'm impressed with myself for pulling this off! (It probably won't happen again, but anyway! XD) Now I'll enter another five days of work so don't expect me to update again for a few days!!

I'll see you guys later, bye~! <3
(Let's celebrate the new boyfriend-ship of layhan, right? Woho!)