It was the first day of their promotional activities in China. Today, they had 3 interviews and a 5 hour training period for their concert in 3 days. Xiumin should have been excited but all he could think about were the events that had occurred last night, especially that almost kiss thing.

He had never even thought about Luhan in a romantic way. He didn’t really know what to do about it. Should he pretend it had never happened? Should he talk to Luhan about it? But even if they did talk, what would he say? Xiumin shook his head. There was no point in fretting about so much, he told himself.

He showered and got ready, trying to forget the scene from last night but it was no used. It played over and over again in his head. Luhan closing his eyes, leaning in. Xiumin had felt disappointed when Chen had interrupted them. But why? Why did he feel disappointed? What did that mean?

Xiumin sighed as he looked in the mirror. It was going to be a long day.

~

Xiumin walked downstairs and was met with the sight of Lay, Chen and Tao sitting on the table. Toast and glasses of milk had been prepared and set on the table where everyone normally sat. Tao was taking a selfie on his phone, as usual. Chen was singing as he buttered his toast. Lay was drinking milk when he saw Xiumin. “Good morning!” He chirped happily. Xiumin smiled. “Good morning.” He replied taking his seat.

“Where’s Kris and Luhan?” He asked, trying to sound nonchalant. “Kris-ge is shouting at him about yesterday.” Tao said, putting his phone away. Xiumin bit his lip feeling pity for Luhan. Suddenly, stomping sounds were heard as Luhan and Kris came downstairs. Xiumin froze, suddenly realizing that if they followed their normal seating plan, Luhan would be sitting next to Xiumin.

Oh god, what should he do? He couldn’t face Luhan, not yet. It was too late, however, and Luhan flopped down next to him. Xiumin could smell his cologne, an intoxicating scent that Xiumin remembered gifting him on their first Christmas as EXO.

He ate, eyes never lifting from the table. Maybe if he didn’t look, nothing would happen. “Hyung, you must have a terrible hangover.” Chen said. “No , captain obvious.” Luhan replied, his head in his hands. “Yah, seriously, don’t swear.” Tao protested. He didn’t like cuss words.

“Well, it’s your fault. It’s stupid to drink before the comeback.” Lay said, ignoring Tao. Luhan moaned. “I know, but please, save the lecture. I already got it from Kris.” Luhan said. His voice seemed normal, although it was a bit huskier than normal.

“You should thank me and Xiumin, you know, we brought you back.” Lay retorted. “You did?” Luhan asked, confusion in his voice. “Wait, you don’t remember?” Xiumin asked, curiosity forcing him to turn. He immediately regretted it. Luhan and Xiumin made eye contact and Xiumin’s heart beat faster. “No, why? Did something happen?” Luhan asked, the expression on his face both apprehensive and anticipative.

Xiumin flushed. He hadn’t even considered the possibility of Luhan not remembering last night. Of course, he realized, Luhan was drunk. Of course he wouldn’t remember the.. incident. He had been drunk, so drunk that he now had a hangover, so drunk that he didn’t remember last night. The almost kiss, it must have just been something that happened in the moment. Luhan probably didn’t even know who he was looking at.

Yes, that’s it. Xiumin felt at ease. “No, nothing happened.” He said, firmly and confidently. Nothing happened. It had just been a mistake. Yes, now he was at ease. No more confusion. They were simply best friends, nothing more, nothing less.

~

It took all of Luhan’s willpower to keep his face composed once he heard Xiumin’s reply. He hadn’t forgotten. Of course he hadn’t. How could he forget it? It had been the scariest and yet, the most exhilarating moment in his life. They had been so close to, you know, kissing.

It was only when he had awoken that he realized what he had done and what a bid idiot he was. He had practically forced himself on Xiumin! The boy’s face had been so shocked but Luhan couldn’t get his eyes of those cherry red lips. He had leaned in, expecting Xiumin to retreat back immediately. But the shorter boy, he had leaned in as well. Dud that mean that Xiumin liked him as well? Luhan had been hopeful, that maybe, just maybe, Xiiumin did.

But he wanted to know for sure. He decided, then, that if Xiumin liked him, he would want to talk about it. After all, that’s what Luhan would have done, if facing a similar situation. So, he had pretended that he didn’t remember what had happened last night. His heart had beaten so fast when Xiumin had stared at him that he was afraid that Xiumin might hear it.

Now, his heart ached. A slow, agonizing pain that had been stimulated by 3 harsh words. It was decided. Xiumin had made his choice. He didn’t like Luhan. Luhan had known that, from the start, he really had. But there had always been that tiny hope, that just maybe, maybe, Xiumin liked him as well. That hope had been crushed, so quickly that Luhan didn’t know what to say.

“Oh, okay then.” He let out, putting a smile on his face. He knew it was stiff and probably more of a rictus than a smile, but he kept it there throughout breakfast. Once they finished, they did stone, paper, scissors and Luhan and Lay, losing, were forced to wash the dishes.

They were silent as they washed the dishes. Lay washed the dishes, Luhan dried them. Luhan could think of nothing but the 3 words. No, nothing happened. Nothing. He called it nothing. Their almost kiss, he had called it nothing. He felt tears at the corner of his eye and he sniffed, trying to them back in. But it didn’t work that way and soon Luhan had tears coming from his eyes. Lay sighed. He turned off the tap. “Alright, what happened last night?” He asked, concern in his voice.

Luhan looked at Lay in surprise. “H-How did you know that s-something happened?” He said, the tears making it hard for him to speak properly. “You’re not that great of an actor.” Lay smiled faintly putting an arm around Luhan and bringing him closer for a hug. “Now tell me, what happened?” He asked softly before pushing him back gently and putting his hands on Luhan’s shoulders. Luhan gulped nervously. He didn’t know how Lay would react. But then again, who could he trust if not Lay? “We, we almost kissed.” Luhan admitted. “What, you kissed!?” Lay asked loudly, his voice and expression shocked.

At any other time, his face would have made Luhan laugh but not now. “Shhh! Almost! Chen interrupted us before we could.” Luhan quickly reassured. Lay nodded. “I see why you both were so awkward now. Anyway, talk to him about it. It’s best to let it out rather than bottle it up.” Lay said, patting Luhan’s shoulder. “There’s no point.” Luhan said shutting his eyes. His tears had now stopped. “Why not?” Lay asked.

“The reason why I pretended not to know, I, I wanted to give him the choice. If he truly liked me, he would have wanted to talk about it. But he doesn’t. He referred to it as ‘nothing’.” Luhan said, his voice shaky. “That’s ridiculous! Xiumin hyung could have done that just because he didn’t want to say it out loud or because he didn’t want you to feel awkward!” Lay insisted. Luhan shook his head. “No, you should have seen his expression. It was clear. He doesn’t like me.” Luhan sighed.

“So, you’re going to give up.” Lay stated; an incredulous tone occupying his voice. “What else can I do?” Luhan asked, his voice resigned. “Chase after him! That’s what!” Lay said as if it was obvious. “No, I don’t want to. I wouldn’t be able to handle the heartbreak if he found out and rejected me. Just those three words he said this morning nearly killed me, I don’t know how I kept a straight face. It was horrible.” Tears came to Luhan’s eyes as he thought about it.

“So you’re going to leave him?” Lay accused. Luhan’s eyes turned hard. He stood straight up and stared Lay in the eye angrily. “I’m not going to leave him. He’s still my best friend. If that’s all he wants me to be, then that’s what I’ll be. The most important thing is his happiness. So, I’ll settle for the friend zone and I’ll be the best ing friend there was.” He said angrily.  

Lay’s eyes softened. “Lu-“ Luhan interrupted him. “And, I will never, I repeat never leave him. You got that?” He elucidated. Lay nodded. “Oh, Luhan. What about you happiness?” Lay asked him softly. Luhan shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

Lay laughed bitterly. “Bull.” He said. The cussword coming from Lay was as foreign as aliens on earth. Lay was nothing, if not polite and he never used cuss words. “Stop acting like a hero. This is life. If you want something, go after it. Or else, it’ll be taken away from you.” Lay spoke before leaving the room.

Luhan stared after the younger boy. He then noticed the remaining dishes. “You motherer.” He swore. He was going to have to do the dishes alone.

~

Lay approached him later on. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have swore.” The younger boy apologized. Luhan shook his head. “There’s nothing to apologize for. You’ve been a great friend.” He told Lay.

“That’s true.” Lay nodded. Luhan laughed. “Cocky much?” Lay shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, I didn’t even mention anything about you admitting that you like Minseok or your homouality to anyone right?” He said nonchalantly. Luhan stopped. That was true. “How do you feel, um, you know, about the homouality thing?” Luhan asked nervously. “I always knew you were gay. You were way too pretty to be straight.” Lay teased. Luhan slapped his arm. “Shut up. I’m manlier than you will ever be.” He boasted.

Lay laughed. “But, you know, truthfully, I don’t mind it. And I don’t think any of the other members would mind either, if they knew. I think some of them know already.” He said seriously. “They do, who?” Luhan asked surprised. “I know that Baekhyun was suspicious and if Baekhyun knows, Chanyeol knows. It’s kind of obvious, you cling to Minseok hyung all the time.” Lay recalled. Luhan flushed. “I don’t cling to him.” He protested.

“Yeah, whatever you say. On a more serious note though, you need to fix things between yourself and Minseok hyung.” Lay said. “There’s nothing wrong.” Luhan replied. “You’ve been avoiding him and he is hurt and confused. What do you mean there’s nothing wrong?” Lay retorted bluntly. Luhan felt guilty all over again. “I should go talk to him, huh?” Luhan asked uncertainly. “Yes. You should.” Lay replied. “I should go now, right?” Luhan repeated, feeling anxious at the thought of talking to the short boy.

“Aya, just go.” Lay pushed Luhan.

~

Xiumin was just packing a day bag when Luhan came in. “Hey.” Luhan said awkwardly waving. “Hey.” Xiumin nodded at him, before returning to his bag. “Look, I wanted to apologize.” Luhan said. “What are you talking about? There’s nothing to apologize for.” Xiumin replied stiffly. Luhan winced.

Xiumin walked over to the wardrobe and shut the door but it got stuck, again. “Aish.” He muttered trying to open it, but it remained firmly in place. He smelled Luhan’s scent before actually seeing the boy. He jumped in fright. “Let me try.” Luhan suggested. He pushed at the door for a while. Xiumin stood back and regarded him with crosses arms and a raised eyebrow. “Looks like it really is stuck.” Luhan said after some time. He was panting a bit.

Xiumin just shook his head. “You’re just not as strong as you think.” Xiumin mocked. Luhan blushed. “I guess I deserve that.” He sighed. Xiumin felt bad looking at the boy’s saturnine expression. “Let’s try together, huh?” He suggested cautiously. Luhan shot his head up. “Yeah! Sure!” He said eagerly. They both placed their hands on the door and pushed at it. It immediately began to move. “Whoa! Keep on going!” Xiumin encouraged. Luhan grinned. It suddenly got unstuck, popping into place. Xiumin and Luhan both fell on the floor from leaning to heavily on the door.

They fell right next to each other. Xiumin groaned. “Ugh.” He saw Luhan get up into a sitting position and did the same. They looked at each other, then at the door. And burst out laughing.

Everyone knew about Xiumin and Luhan’s laughs. The two boys could begin laughing, anywhere, at any time. Neither of them knew why they laughed, they just did. “What’s so funny?” Xiumin asked as he grabbed his stomach as he laughed. “I, don’t, know.” Luhan gasped out between his laughs. And they laughed, for a minute or an hour, they both didn’t know, it just came to an end.

Luhan looked at Xiumin seriously. “I am sorry. Really, I’ll do anything to make it up to you-“ Xiumin stopped Luhan’s rambling by putting a hand over the boy’s mouth. “Shut up. It’s okay, I forgive you.” He said to the boy. Luhan’s face had become red. He gestured towards the hand that Xiumin had placed over the younger boys’ mouth. Xiumin quickly removed it. “Sorry.”

“You forgive me? That easily?” Luhan asked incredulously. Xiumin shrugged. “Yeah, it’s okay. Though, I do want to know why you avoided me.” He wondered out loud. Luhan cringed at the word ‘avoid’. “It’s hard to explain. It’s just been a very confusing week for me. But I’m fine now.” He reassured. “That didn’t really tell me anything.” Xiumin retorted. Luhan laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I was just being an idiot.” He said, smiling. Xiumin smiled back. “You being an idiot is definitely something I understand.” He said innocently. “Ya!” Luhan smacked Xiumin’s arm lightly. Xiumin laughed.

“Friends then?” Luhan asked nervously. Xiuimin shook his head. Luhan’s face fell, his head going down. Xiumin lifted it back up and stared into the younger boy’s eyes. “Best friends.” He whispered. The smile that Luhan gave him was so bright, it could have lit the room up. Yet, why did Xiumin feel as if he had done something wrong?

Why did he regret those words?

~~~

you guys

i was like halfway through this chapter 

and my computer shut down

and being an idiot

i didn't save it

i had to do it again

fml man

i kind of rushed through it the second time

so it

sorry 

all of my chapters seem to be rushed these days

ugh school

anyway, thanks for the subs and comments, it's veryyy appreciated!

BYE!