The next day, like every day, Luhan came back to the river. He was sat down on the river’s edge throwing stones in from the small pile he had collected.

‘This is ridiculous now!’ Luhan called out. He threw another stone into the river with a frustrated plop.

‘Why don’t you just come out?’ He knew the stranger was nearby and wondered if he could hear the annoyance in his voice. Luhan heard a rustle from behind and looking round, saw him step out from behind a tree. He could see him very clearly; he had a slender shape and was short with a dark head of messy hair. Every feature about him was sharp except for his distinctly round face. Luhan looked straight into his large dark-brown eyes and they looked straight back into his. For some reason, despite not knowing this person at all, Luhan felt completely comfortable in his presence.

‘What is your name?’ Luhan asked, darting his eyes towards the space next to him, inviting the stranger to sit with him. The man came out from behind the tree, walked cautiously up to Luhan and sat down beside him.

‘Xiumin. What's yours?' he replied.

‘Luhan,' he paused, 'Why do you hide from me?’

‘I don’t know,’ Xiumin replied, ‘I guess I just don’t see many people here and didn’t really know how to talk to you.’

‘So, you thought you would just hide from me and follow me around all day?’ Luhan looked at him and huffed in his annoyance.

Xiumin looked back innocently and then at his hands, he replied, ‘I’m sorry, you just fascinated me.’

Luhan could sense his upset and reassured him, ‘No, don’t worry it’s okay. You are here now.’ They sat in silence for a while before Luhan suggested, ‘We should skip stones.’

Skipping stones was fun although Xiumin was not very good at it. After trying to teach him, Luhan sat on a rock by the bank and watched him try very hard to not do very well. Xiumin’s little tongue stuck out of his round face with concentration and he threw another stone carefully, only to watch it plop into the water like the others. Luhan burst into fits of laughter and Xiumin scowled at him, ‘It’s not funny! I am trying really hard!’

Luhan stopped laughing and looked up at him with glistening eyes, ‘I was not laughing at you skipping stones. I think you will get better with practice.’

‘Oh,’ Xiumin said, his frown disappearing, ‘What were you laughing at then?’

‘Your face.’

‘Hey! That’s just worse!’ Xiumin’s scowl returned.

‘No, no – I like it! It is round and it sort of reminds me of a Baozi,’ Luhan smiled, ‘that is what made me laugh.’

‘Oh thanks,’ Xiumin scoffed, ‘I am a steamed bun.’

‘Yes, but a cute steamed bun.’

Xiumin beamed at him with his reddening cheeks and attempted to skip another stone.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

From then on Luhan spent every second he could with Xiumin and soon not a day had gone by that they hadn’t spent together. Although it had barely been a week since they had properly met, both Xiumin and Luhan felt as if they had known each other all their lives. Xiumin had inherited his parent’s farmland after they died and he lived alone in a house on a field just outside of the forest. There he farmed and cared for animals, making a living out of the produce he made.

‘So, you’re a farmer?’ Luhan questioned Xiumin after discussing where he lived and what he did for a living. They were sat on a very low branch in the pine tree and Xiumin was swinging his legs gently back and forth, scuffing his feet slightly, along the ground.

‘No,’ Xiumin replied frowning at the floor, ‘Not a farmer, a, um…’

‘A farmer.’ Luhan poked him gently in the ribs to .

‘No!’ Xiumin protested, ‘Not a farmer!’

Luhan could sense that his teases were beginning to annoy him and laughed at how easily he could get a rise out of him. He continued to tease, and poking him again, he said, ‘A little angry farmer Baozi.’

Xiumin shoved Luhan off of the branch and he landed with a soft thump on the floor.

Luhan wasn’t hurt at all but he began to moan all the same and turned his back on Xiumin, ‘Ouch, Baozi! What…’ but before he could finish Xiumin landed behind him on the floor and threw his arms around Luhan’s neck, ‘don’t worry, little deer,’ he whispered, ‘I will hug you better.’

‘If this is your attempt at an apology,’ Luhan pretended to huff, ‘It’s not working.’ He thought he was quite lucky that he had his back to Xiumin as his cheeks had flared a scarlet red and the smile on his face was so huge that he wondered why it hadn’t burst off of his face yet.

Xiumin ignored his comment and only responded by hugging him harder.

‘Okay, okay!’ Luhan said, shrugging him off, ‘yeah, I forgive you and stuff.’ He turned around to see a reflection of himself on Xiumin’s face that was bright red and bore a huge smile.

‘And stuff?’ Xiumin asked.

‘Yeah, and stuff.’

‘I knew you couldn’t stay mad at a steamed bun for long.’

‘Oh, so you are going to admit you are a bun now?’ Luhan looked into Xiumin’s eyes with his glistening own.

‘Yes.’ Xiumin thought about it for a second then said, ‘But I am only a Baozi when I am your Baozi.’

Neither of their smiles or blushes could have gotten any bigger or any redder anyway but if they could have, they would have done.