The roar of the crowd was both unbearable and exhilirating. Luhan's stomach was turning, the sandwhich he had eaten threatening to come out. This was the day. The day that they had practiced for every day for the last three months. The day which they had sweated, cried and bled over. The day of their comeback. Luhan had aniticipated this day for ages, but now that it was here, he felt nervous. 

What if the fans didn't like it? What if it wasn't successful? What if he made a mistake? Luhan worried over these things as he paced back stage. He had been the first to get dolled up and now had nothing to do but fret. He had done all of his vocal exercises, gone through the dance moves at least 15 times. He was the only one amongst a chaotic backstage, with people rushing around, yelling at each other, things being thrown around then picked up by people searching for something. 

Luhan jumped around a bit, shaking his muscles loose. He felt an arm tap his shoulder. He turned to see Kris. "Hey." He said, his face glamourously made up. Luhan smiled. "I'm so scared." He said in Mandarin, laughing nervously. Kris patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, you're going to do great." he reassured him. Kris was strange and could seem distant at times but there was no doubt that he was a great leader. 

"Thanks." He smiled at the taller boy. Kris nodded back. They stood there for some time, their silence comfortable and quiet, admist the commotion. "We have a lot of fans, huh?" Kris said breaking the silence. Luhan nodded. "I still haven't really wrapped my head around that." He admitted a bit sheepishly. "I don't think any of the members have, not completely." 

Luhan nodded in agreement and they slipped back into the silence. "Hey guys." Suho said as he emerged from the room. His hair had been gelled up and revealed more of his face. "Hey." Luhan said. Kris nodded. "What up?" 

"I need to talk to you privately for a moment, Kris. Just some pre-comeback stuff." Suho said. Kris rolled his eyes. "Is it more tips on how to be a good role model? Because, frankly, I'm not interested in them." He said bluntly. Suho gasped. "Don't tell Luhan! He'll think we're bad leaders!" Suho said smacking Kris's arm. Luhan pushed away the urge to laugh. "Don't worry, I won't say anything." He said, winking. Suho instantly cheered up. "Thanks Lu-ge!" He said cheerfully, patting Luhan's arm.

Luhan's smile fell. Lu-ge. Why did it feel so wrong to hear Suho call him that? "Don't call me that." He snapped. Suho withdrew his hand quickly in shock. Luhan instantly felt guilty afer seeing the boy's look of hurt. "I'm sorry. It's just, pre-stage nerves, you know.." He trailed off. Suho nodded then his eyes widened before he proudly straightened his back and recited: "As long as you believe in yourself and us, your members, nothing will happen." 

Luhan couldn't help but smile at the eagerness of his dongsaeng. "Thanks." He said. They continued their conversation and Kris joined in. They were soon discussing their favourite songs, the noise being blocked out. 

Soon, the members began to appear from the dressing room. D.O., Chanyeol, Chen, Lay, Baekhyun and Tao were soon occupying the hall. Chanyeol and Baekhyun were playing piggy in the middle with Chen in the middle when Sehun stepped out. Everyone immediately began to laugh. They still hadn't gotten used to seeing the boy in all his rainbow-haired glory. "Shut up." Sehun grumbled. "It looks so pretty!" Baekhyun cooed, tickly Sehun's chin. Sehun slapped the hand away. "Hyungs are mean." He pouted. 

Maybe it was the nervousness he felt or pity for the boy, Luhan will never know. But, in that moment, by instinct, he wrapped an arm around Sehun's shoulder. "Don't worry, you look fine Sehunnie." He reassured the younger boy. Sehun gave him a beaming smile. "Thanks hyung." He said a bit shyly. 

Kai entered into the hall as well and was ridiculed by the members for his silly braids. Kai simply rolled his eyes, too focused on practicing the dance moves to care about the members' poking fun at him. 

Xiumin was the last one to enter. Luhan immediately walked to the boy. "You look great." He whispered into the shorter boy's ear. And it was true. Xiumin's hair had been made into a quiff, which suited him very well. It showed his entire face and what a face it was. His eyes sparkled, large and cute. They had been prefectly outlined with eyeliner, just emphasising the size and prettiness of Xiumin's eyes. His cheeks weren't as round as they had been in their last comeback, they were now slimmer, bringing attention to the boy's perfect cheekbones. Luhan couldn't help but miss the chubby cheeks that Xiumin had boasted in the MAMA era though. He had looked so cute. Xiumin's lips were a cherry red, full and large. So soft-looking. Had they always been so pretty? Luhan didn't know. 

However, it should be noted that one of Luhan's favourite features of Xiumin was the boy's eyebrows. Aristocratic and defined, they displayed the boy's emotions clearly. Luhan had come to adore these eyebrows. Xiumin didn't look great, he looked amazing. He looked breathtaking. He was going to break all of the fangirls' poor hearts. Luhan told the boy so. 

Xiumin snorted before letting out an embarrassed laugh. "Yeah, yeah; says the pretty boy." Luhan frowned. "Don't call me pretty!" He insisted. "Pretty just like a girl." Xiumin retorted playfully. "Baozi!" Luhan said poking Xiumin's cheek. Xiumin laughed, carefree and pleasant. Luhan felt more at ease then. Xiumin had a way of doing that to him. Luhan had been a nervous wreck just minutes ago, thinking of the upcoming performance. But, in mere seconds, Xiumin had calmed the boy down, just like he always did, just like Luhan hoped he would always do. 

~

"Okay, let's go!" Suho said. Everyone came into a circle, putting their hands together. "EXO, Let's love!" They yelled in unison. "Let's do well. Let's do well. Fighting." He heard Sehun mutter to himself, like he had made a habit of doing before every performance. No one was quite sure who the boy was talking to. No one cared. 

Luhan's grabbed Xiumin's hand, feeling nervous again, as they lined up to go onto the stage. He gulped. This was it. "Hey, Luhan, look at me." He heard Xiumin's soft concerned voice. He turned around. Xiumin was looking at him, with a comforting smile on his face. "You fine?" He asked Luhan. Luhan nodded his head before shaking his head. He nodded again before shaking it once more. Xiumin grabbed his head and cupped his cheeks to stop him from moving his head. He stared into Luhan's eyes. "It's going to be fine. We're going to be fine. You're going to be fine." He said slowly and calmly. Luhan felt his heartbeat calm down immediately. Xiumin dropped his hands and Luhan felt strange. Strangely... empty. He shook his head. He could think about that later.

Now, he had a crowd to please. This time, it was Xiumin who grabbed Luhan's hand. Not for nerves but as a habit. And as they both climbed up the stairs and onto the stage, Luhan grasped the hand tightly, the hand of his loving and caring.. friend. 

As they stood on the stage, Luhan was met with a wonderous stage, Hundreds of thousands of fans were present carrying lightsticks and banners, it was so colourful. But, instead of being spellbound by the fans, he found himself staring at Xiumin instead. The boy had an unrestrained grin on his face. He was staring at the fans, waving his hands as a greeting. Luhan seemed to notice the boy for the first time. The complete Xiumin. He's really beautiful, Luhan thought. He had always known that. But why was this fact being repeated in his head, why did Xiumin seem so much more angelic? 

Xiumin turned to Luhan and gazed into the younger boy's eyes, confused by his friend's intense gaze. Luhan gasped quietly before dropping his gaze to the floor. Xiumin simply shrugged before turning to the fans in front of them. Luhan turned as well and unconsciously, they both reached for each other's hand, interwining their fingers.

Luhan didn't know it at the time, but the gasp that he had taken, the quiet and bashful gasp, was the beginning of his love to Xiumin. It signalled the beginning of the beautiful and tragic story of the love between the two boys. 

But, this fact wouldn't be acknowledged until much later on. For now, the innocent and oblivious boys smiled at the fans's devotion to them, each singing and dancing their heart out. As their hands brushed against each other, or they met each others eye, they would smile, a private smile that was reserved only for each other. As the concert ended and they stood in a line, these boys with their members, shouting "We are one." They had succeeded, the concert had been perfect. Everything had gone right. Xiumin smiled at Luhan and Luhan smiled back. 

And here we will leave these ignorant boys, smiling at each other, oblivious to the future, oblivious to their love for each other. 

~~~

Wahhh, I was feeling a bit sentimental. School does that to you *cries* 

Anyway, sorry the update is late. I had loads of homework..
It was much cheesier, I know, but hopefully, it's okay. 

I'm much too tired to go over it so just bear with the grammatical errors. Thanks!

Comments and subrisciptions are much appreciated!

Bye!