Chapter Four

A Day in Heat

Sun rising high above the treetops, the afternoon air thickened. The air oozed with a sticky, uncomfortable wetness. All of Luhan’s old rags dripped with sweat and humidity. Sehun had never felt anything like it. Sure, he had servants fanning him with leaves and providing him shade, but he was positive he would had noticed something this horrendous. However, Luhan would have begged to differ saying this was a ‘mid-June norm.’ All morning long, they laid about the grass beneath the cherry tree, staring at its wilting blossoms.

“When will this heat end?” Sehun groaned.

“When you’re back at the castle,” Luhan snickered, turning away from Sehun. The only thing he wanted to do was take a nap. Naps solve everything.

He pouted. “Don’t ignore me! I have needs too,” Sehun whined, poking Luhan’s sides until the older was facing him again with his droopy eyes.

“Fine, fine. Let’s take a bath then,” Luhan suggested, sitting up so he leaned against the tree bark.

“A bath?” Sehun gulped. “You mean, like, together?” Luhan titled his head

“Of course I mean together. What else would I mean?” Luhan asked. Sehun began to shake his head rapidly.

“Nothing! It’s something to beat the heat. Let’s do it!” Sehun blurted out, but Luhan paid no mind to his behavior.

Sehun waited outside while Luhan ran back into the house to retrieve a whistle on a string. He tossed it around his neck. As the headed over to the little shed a few meters from their house, Sehun played with fingers. He had never bathed with anyone, excluding the multitude of servants that he forced to clean him. Even so, Sehun was sure a commoner bath was nothing of that to a prince. Almost too often did Sehun wonder how Luhan survived living this life. Ergo, Sehun, after that incident with Jongin (and Tao’s subtle nagging them to get along), had adapted to the Wu’s lifestyle easily and the turmoil between him and Luhan dissipated almost entirely. Meanwhile, Luhan skipped along unaware of his housemate and friend’s mental debate. His eyes glowed with eagerness at the thought of avoiding the unbearable heat.

When they arrived at the beat-up, faded wooded shed, Luhan kicked the door open. A swarm of dust particles blew right into their faces. Sehun sneezed before shooting a threatening glare at Luhan. He merely shrugged and continued inside. To say the interior was worse would be an understatement; mangled, cut up, and scratched wood and tools entangled in thick, tattered rope filled the shed and it had a musky smell as if no one had opened it in years.

“And… where exactly is the bathtub?” Sehun asked, running his fingers through his hair. The only chance Sehun had to wash himself was by the tube of water when Luhan summoned him to help with his garden.

“Outside,” Luhan replied, trudging through the anomaly of sharp objects and junk.

“Then what are we doing in here?” Sehun whimpered in annoyance.

“Tube,” Luhan responded. Biting his lip, Sehun resisted the growing urge to complain. As Luhan continued his search with a peculiarly determined expression, Sehun counted the seconds by tapping of his foot. Eventually, he heard the much-anticipated “Aha!” and he pumped his fist into the air.

“About time. When was the last time you took a bath?” Sehun teased, sarcasm laced around his words. As he paused for a moment, Luhan at the whistle draped around his neck by a string.

“I’d say… Maybe early spring, late winter,” Luhan carried on outside of the shed. Bright eyed, Sehun trailed along.

Frankly, Sehun didn’t think that their bath would be this far away. They’ve been walking for a least half an hour and all Sehun’s seen is trees. Dragging the tube on the ground, Luhan led him down a trail hidden by the aspen trees. They snuck in between two trees leaning on each other that camouflaged a dirt path spotted with bits of grass haphazardly. Further up, Sehun heard Luhan gulp as they came across a family of deer. One mother and two fawns grazing right in front of their path.

“Hey look, bambi! It’s you!” Sehun muttered with a laugh, earning an elbow in the stomach from Luhan.

“Don’t distur-“Luhan was cut off by Sehun dashing towards the creatures at full speed. The animals squealed out and sprinting off the trail. Scorning, Luhan jogged up to him.

“Don’t do that again, you nub,” Luhan warned, getting right into Sehun’s face. Blushing madly, Sehun stammered out an apology.

Yes, Sehun was rather ignorant to his ways of life. Just the thought of Sehun spending a day in town completely alone made Luhan chuckle. He was wide-eyed, gazing at everything around him. When confronted with things he didn’t know about, his normally poker face glowed with excitement. From there, Luhan led Sehun, who had sweat visibly streaming down his face, along until they reached rocky ground. Coming to a stop, a grin spread across Luhan’s face. In front of them was an empty indent in the ground.

“Why are you smiling? We’re at a hole,” Sehun deadpanned, narrowing his eyes.

“We’re here!” Luhan squealed, jumping toward the hole with his tube. He blew the whistle and soon enough water began to spill out into the indent.  

“I am not bathing in a dirty hole in the ground, Luhan!” Sehun screeched, but quickly shut up when Luhan began to remove his shirt. Lunging at him, Sehun grasped the cloth. “What are you doing?”

“Taking a bath. What else?” Luhan remarked, raising his eyebrow.

“T-there thisn’t anyway water!” Sehun stuttered out, “Yeah! Why strip when you have no water?” He laughed awkwardly.

“It’s hot outside, Sehun,” Luhan teased, “Though… I guess if I strip, it’ll get hotter. So, I’ll hold off just for you.”

“You are actually the world’s dumbest,” Sehun joked, pushing Luhan too hard. The older began to fall back into the pit. Lassoing his long arms around Luhan, Sehun yanked him back up Still holding Luhan in his arms, Sehun giggled, “whoops.”

“I bet you really wish I was now, huh?” Luhan pestered. His face flushed and he almost instantly let go of Luhan. 

“I think I actually hate you,” Sehun retorted.

“Hmm, keep telling yourself that,” Luhan hummed, fiddling with the tube.

Eventually, the water filled the indent to the brim and Luhan blew his whistle once more. All of the water once rushing through the tube gradually stopped. After a few droplets plunged into the water, Luhan threw the tube. As Sehun did too, he avoided looking at the older (“out of respect,” he had thought). He began to remove all of his clothing at once. Being the first to jump in the water, Luhan wanted to make the biggest splash he could. In turn, he ended up dowsing Sehun in the cold water. Not that Sehun minded. He merely laughed and hopped in after him.

After a while of silence, Luhan itched with curiosity. “So, do people clean you at the castle?”

“What kind of question is that?” Sehun scratched the nape of his neck.

Luhan frowned, “a reasonable one. Now speak boy, come on.”

“Yes, of course I do. Believe it or not, but they fan me with giant leaves too,” Sehun snickered.

“Psh. The rich are weak,” Luhan chortled, throwing his head back as he laughed.

“We are not! One day you’ll see how capable we are,” Sehun protested.

“You know what they say; they can run a kingdom, but they can’t run themselves,” Luhan leaned back onto the walls of the pit and sighed. “In the winter, I go to another area to bath. Farther back is a spring—a hot one. When it’s cold outside, I like to go there and soak in the warmth. It’s rather comforting actually.”

“You should take me with you sometime. You know, after I go home,” Sehun smiled as Luhan felt an abnormal blush creep onto his face. He nodded.

“I might. If you still want to by then,” Luhan chuckled.

An hour later, once they began to feel wrinkled, Luhan insisted that the pair get out. Although Sehun had protested, Luhan’s doe eyes staring into his own pleadingly were enough to change his mind. Luhan mentally thanked himself for acquiring such a skill. Even more so that it worked on the mighty Prince Sehun, who was known by all of the land to be the master of deception, jests, and rebellion. Around town they say, once he dies, that the kingdom will dedicate his shrine to mischief.  

“I’m hot, Luhan,” Sehun wailed as they lazed about their room.

“Where are your manners? I’m your elder, you punk,” Luhan tantalized, poking the younger’s cheek.

Sehun shook his head. “I hold a higher status than you. I have no such obligations,” Sehun explained, sticking his nose in the air.

“Well then, I guess I’ll just refer to you as thy royal, right? Or maybe I’ll call you your majesty! No, no! My grand prince,” Luhan rambled on. Sehun could hardly hold back a smile. One of his favorite things about Luhan—of which he would never admit—was how he always addressed him on the same level as he was. To Luhan, Sehun wasn’t royalty.

“I detest you,” Sehun scoffed, holding back a smile.

“And I loathe you,” Luhan replied with a grin.

“Luhannie, open the window,” Sehun ordered, covering his face with a damp rag.

"No. Do it yourself, your highness,” Luhan responded, pulling out his notebook.

Groaning, Sehun did as he was told. He popped open the window and allowed the slight breeze to sweep in. All was serene until Sehun’s screech echoed through the room.

“What’s wrong!?” Luhan asked, shooting up out of his bed.

“A wasp,” Sehun stammered, scooting back into the corner of the room. Luhan’s eyes widened. Jumping up from his bed, Luhan made a dash for the door, grabbing Sehun along the way.

“We’re out!” Luhan shouted, still yanking Sehun with him. “I have no time for those bastards!”

Thank you so much for subcribing and commenting every week! 

I really appreciate every single one of you 

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