A/N: This might be long...

It was a beautiful day.

Sehun was so close to him as they strolled back home. They were both quiet at first until the taller man decided to start the conversation. He started saying ‘thank you’ again, and it made Luhan laugh at the latter’s endless gratefulness.

Sehun’s face reddened as he listened to the smaller boy whose laugh echoed beautifully in his ears. He couldn’t deny that he was attracted to the class president, whether he likes it or not.

Eventually, the pain in Luhan’s chest ceased. Laughing with Sehun made him feel better.

Talking with Sehun was something beyond impossible, but now the taller man made it possible.

Sehun made it possible for him to forget the pain…

Even if it was just for a moment…

During dinner with his mother and Hani, he suddenly felt discomfort in his stomach as if something is pressing his insides violently. He had only taken one bite of chicken but his stomach was already acting all weird and painful. “Excuse me,” Luhan excused himself from the table, his voice was raspy as he tried to hide the stabbing pain in his stomach.  “I’ll just go to the restroom." He went there fast, took some pain relievers and then decided to go sleep so he wouldn't have to bear with the pain wide awake.

Mrs. Xi noticed her son wasn’t feeling well so after washing the dishes, she went up straight to Luhan’s room; only to find him sound asleep on his bed. She mumbled sweetly by the door, “Goodnight sweetie.” Seconds after that, she turned off the light in his room and went to bed as well.

At 1 A.M.

Luhan suddenly jerked awake, panting and sweating as the shooting pain extended into his chest. His heartbeat raced harshly, he almost screamed in pain as he felt the throbbing getting stronger and stronger. “M-mom,” he called rather faintly despite the burning sensation running up into his throat. He panicked and twisted his body to the side, skimming his shaky hand over the bedside table for his medicines that he left on top of it before sleeping but to his dismay, he dropped them all to the floor.

It hurts. It hurts.

Luhan let out a piercing cry as he forced himself to get up. He wiped the sweat off his face with the back of his palm and forced himself to stand on his feet even though his entire body was shaking like a leaf. Regrettably, he fell hard on his knees and spewed onto the floor.

The door opened almost immediately after that and Luhan looked up in the hopes of seeing his mother. 

It wasn't his mother though but his little sister. She stood there, frozen on the spot. She was the last person he wanted to see him in that state. Hani, who was now looking at him wide-eyed and mouth agape with torment. 

He never wanted to hurt her by showing his miserable state, but it couldn't be helped. He thought he was alright because he took his medicines regularly and avoided sports even if he wanted to play at least once or twice, but he was so wrong. The pain was ultimately unbearable that he couldn't hold back the tears from coursing down his cheeks anymore. "C-call mom." He croaked, closing his eyes as he heaved with harsh and ragged breathing. 

“Big brother! Please, you said we’ll run away from here! Big brother, we have to go now! What’s happening to you?” The little girl begged as she watched the elder wheezing and falling to the ground.

“Big brother!” Hani was calling him, begging him to stay awake. He needed to protect his little sister but why did he felt so weak and incapable of even standing up on his feet? Where was his father at the time he needed him the most?

The flames was spreading fast everywhere and flickered on the walls of their house, earning another scream from the little girl who was now in tears as she held her older brother protectively and so close to her chest. “Help! Somebody help!” As she shifted her gaze to her brother who was now on the verge of losing consciousness, Hani’s salty tears flooded across her cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” Luhan pleaded, pulling away from her grasp. “Go.”

“I’m not going without you! I’m not leaving you behind! You have to come with me!” Hani insisted, clinging on to her brother’s limp body. That’s when she thought she completely lost him.

So she called out for him again.

Over and over…and over again.

Until she couldn’t hear her own voice anymore.

The following day…

Sehun got up early to check the front yard of Luhan’s house. There was a hint of disappointment on his face when he found no sign of the smaller boy. Usually he’d spot him early in the morning cleaning up their front yard while the taller man would secretly take a peek.  

Sehun decided to wait for a few more minutes until his aunt knocked on his door, telling him to take a shower or he’ll be late for community service.

“I’ll see you at school later okay?” Ms. Oh cooed behind the door. Sehun waited for her to leave before going to the bathroom.

After taking a bath and changing into his school uniform, Sehun rushed downstairs to catch up with Luhan. 

It was 7:15 A.M.

Luhan usually starts walking to school at that certain time but how come he was not around? Sehun had a notion that Luhan probably went to school already while he was still in the shower. He let out a sigh as he persuaded himself that the smaller boy went off without him and started walking by himself.

The whole day was tedious, he agreed. It must have been because Luhan was absent from school for whatever reason he has and- God knows why. Sehun had no idea. He should have knocked on the smaller boy's door to check if he's okay instead of speculating without evidence and going straight to school.

Luckily, the other students stopped bothering him as he cleaned the field with them and Mr. Zhang; who made sure he was as close as he can to the dark-haired boy so he could watch and protect him from the judging mouths of his other 'nothing-better-to-do' students.

Sehun wasn't even bothered by his teacher's constant orders to clean here and there. He did as he was ordered but his mind was elsewhere. Luhan was still running around in his thoughts. 

As if on cue, Mr. Zhang told him about Luhan's absence. "Luhan's mother called this morning." Sehun's eyes widened. "Said Lu can't go to school because he's sick. He won't be able to join the community service but I'm pretty sure he'll be in the retreat on Monday."

"He's sick?" Sehun felt a twinge in his chest. "How is he?"

"I see that you've developed friendship with Lu, I'm glad about that." Mr. Zhang smiled and patted the latter's shoulder. "Well, he's running a bad fever so his mom wanted him to rest over the weekend."

"It's my fault." Sehun admitted in a muffled voice. 

Mr. Zhang blinked his eyes and smiled once again. "Of course it's not. Don't worry too much. I heard Luhan still play video games even when he's feeling sick." He chuckled. "Now, now. Let's go back to cleaning, shall we?"

Sehun looked at him before nodding his head and doing his job - faster than a few minutes ago. Mr. Zhang noticed how eager he looked as if he wanted to finish everything as soon as possible and go home - or maybe, he wanted to see Luhan. Yeah, that's most probably why he became Flash in an instant.

Before heading back home after class, Sehun went to buy a basket of fruits in the market first. As he squeezed the basket against his chest securely, he ran to his way home in a hurry. He wanted to give it to him as a sign of his thoughtfulness. For the first time after six months, he wasn't thinking about anything else or Baekhyun. 

Luhan was the only one in his mind. 

Is he going to be okay? 

Is someone taking care of him?

Did his mother skip work to watch over him?

How about his father? Or Hani? Are they there for him?

Is he eating well?

Is he sleeping? 

Those were some of the questions he contemplated about before planning on invading the class president's house. 

Shortly he found himself standing in front of Luhan's house. With a deep breath, he sauntered towards the front door and pushed the doorbell.

He stood there for what felt like ten minutes or more. He ring the doorbell for the tenth time as he called out Luhan's name for the first time. "Luhan? Are you there?" But still, no one opened the door for him. 

Disappointed, he placed the basket of fruits on the ground at the front door just like what Luhan did with the cakes he baked for him. 

He assumed Luhan must have been so tired to even reach the doorknob. That must be why. There was no way Luhan would be mad at him anyway. He already apologized last night and Luhan even laughed at him. Unless the petite boy is literally occupied in playing video games with a loud volume; that would be a reasonable excuse he wasn't able to open the door because he didn't hear the doorbell.

Sehun turned his back hesitatingly. What if Luhan's fever is actually high and he's all alone without anyone taking care of him? It was- however- useless to worry when no one wants to open the door for him. 

He sighed and strode back to his house across the street. 

 The next day was another long day of torture for him.

Community service with Mr. Zhang was fine, but it could have been better if Luhan was there.

It was sunny and humid, which made cleaning more torturous and hell. Raking the leaves was such an easy job for Sehun, but the fact that the sun was aiming at him was simply terrible. For a while, he squatted in the middle of the elementary school field just a few blocks away from his own school. He just wanted to take a rest. It had been two straight hours and he haven't even taken at least a ten-minute break. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Zhang and five other students including Kai were also on the same field with him. Once the others noticed him taking a break, they didn't hesitate on taking theirs too. Mr. Zhang tried not to laugh as he observed the teens whistling in vain and trying so hard to pay no heed of the teacher's shooting glare which was very unsuccessful of them.

Sehun started hallucinating once he blinked his eyes in exasperation. Standing across him was Baekhyun, smiling like an angel as he turned around to face the taller twin. 

Baekhyun barely shows himself to him... If he did, he would either be just watching him from a distant or... Kill (which he only witnessed once).

Killing was never a good idea but so far he only confirmed one death that Baekhyun obviously caused. Eunjoo's suicide. It was probably because Baekhyun knew she was lying to his twin about grieving over her older brother. If Sehun didn't hear that from her friends, he would never have understood why Baekhyun protected him from her.

Kangta, one of the guys who hammered him down, also died with the heart ripped out from his chest. Just thinking about it makes Sehun feel discomfort in his stomach, although he hadn't really seen the bloody scene. But it was clear to everyone that it was murder, and Baekhyun has no power to do that when he's dead and a ghost and unable to touch anything alive...right?

No.

Of course not.

He's crazy if he believes Baekhyun has nothing to do with it. He's crazy if he believes he's protecting him the right way. 

No matter how many times he denies it, the signs were very clear to him. If Baekhyun provoked Eunjoo to kill herself, then there's no doubt he could do something more terrible than that. If five of his oppressors disappeared while the other one was declared dead on the same day after they kicked and screamed at him, then there's no doubt the demon inside his dead twin triggered. After all... He called for his help.

He called for 'Baekhyun'.

And he clearly saw him that day, anger visible on his gloomy face.

Until Luhan came to help him up like an angel in disguise.

Luhan... Where could he be right now?

I want to see him so badly.

Sunday was no different than Saturday. He had to do more work and stuff. Mei even attempted on talking to him about Luhan, but Sehun wasn't ready to speak to anyone else but the class president. In the end, Mei approached Mr. Zhang instead, who also seemed like he had no idea whether Luhan was still sick or just resting. 

After a tiring day, Sehun left something in a gift box at the front door of Luhan's house before going home, still constantly checking by the window for any sign of the smaller boy's presence.

Just in case he comes out of that house.

Just in case...

So he waited and waited. 

He must be crazy. 

It seemed like he was waiting for something that is unlikely to happen.

It seemed like...thinking about the smaller boy was something beyond his control. 

Luhan was far so different from the others, he thought. 

He wanted to know more about him and most importantly, he wanted him by his side. He needed him.

 He wanted to see him so much.

The longing was killing him.

He hadn't seen Luhan for three days. 

Monday came rather slowly but once it did, Sehun only wished it would stay like that forever.

"I followed you on Instagram, aren't you gonna follow me back?" Someone cooed beside him, but his mind was still preoccupied with something else as if he was searching for someone outside the bus. Everyone was getting ready for the class retreat. Some of them were excited while the others were already eager to go home.

Sehun became one of his 99% classmates 'dying to go home' but it plummeted quickly. Once he heard his phone ringing relentlessly into his ears, he pulled it out from his pocket and noticed that he had multiple notifications from his Instagram account. Actually, he hadn't updated his Instagram for a long long time. Not even the phone itself.

Sehun opened the notification and found tagged snapshots of him. The snapshots showed how he was looking out the window. He narrowed his eyes at the person's weird username before jerking his head to the person sitting beside him.

"Hi Sehun," it was Luhan, smiling at him. Oh how he missed that smile. Sehun softened right away the moment he realized Luhan was sitting beside him. "Follow me back!" Luhan snapped immediately.

Sehun still had his mouth opened, he was practically drooling. Thanks to Luhan's reflexes, he managed to wipe away the spit with a hanky while shutting the latter's mouth closed.

Sehun was just too happy to finally see the smaller boy after three days. Luhan noticed the awe in Sehun's eyes. It was either Sehun missed him so much or maybe the taller man was just as surprised as he was that he's still alive. "Miss me?" He paused before asking.

"Class President..." Sehun mumbled. "I heard you were sick."

"I'm all better now!" Luhan replied with a grin. "And thank you for your gift, Sehun. I finished them all in one go!" 

Sehun blushed and looked away, refusing to admit it was his gift. 

"You don't have to say it was from you." Luhan said with a genuine expression. "Unless...it wasn't from you? Uhh so embarrassing. Maybe it was from Mei or Kai! Ah, it was probably Kai." He rubbed his head and leaned back to his seat. "Sorry I thought it was from you. I should thank them then..."

"I-it was from me." Sehun admitted, utterly flustered once he felt the heat rushed to his face. 

Luhan widened his eyes in astonishment as he shifted his gaze to the taller man.

"Only because you gave me cake," Sehun added quickly. "I- I just wanted to pay you back."

"Thank you anyway," Luhan said, averting his gaze from the latter. He looked at Mr. Zhang standing beside the bus driver while checking the attendance.

It took a few minutes for Mr. Zhang to figure out where Luhan was sitting but once he did, he quickly approached the boy. “You feeling better, Luhan?” He asked while handing the black point pen and the attendance to the latter, motioning for him to sign next to his name.

Luhan nodded and signed the paper. “I’m fine now. Thank you for asking,” he said.

“I’m glad you’re okay. Your mom asked me to watch out for you, so no-"

“But I'm fine.” Luhan repeated and gave him back the attendance sheet. “You really don’t have to, Mr. Zhang."

"I want to.” Mr. Zhang corrected, taking the attendance sheet from the latter.  “Or else your mother will dump me. Anyway, I have decided that you will be sharing a tent with Sehun, the quiet man sitting beside you and Do Kyungsoo. He was from your club before, wasn’t he? You three will get along for sure." He finished before looking at Sehun. "You already signed right?"

"Yeah," Sehun gave him a quick nod.

"Great! Now everyone's here, off we go! Chop chop!" He declared, clapping his hands for everyone to hear. "No texting, no calling! Pray, pray and pray! We must have a safe trip guys!"

"Is he your stepfather?" Sehun asked all of a sudden. Luhan chuckled while shaking his head. 

"No. Not yet, I guess." He said without looking at Sehun. The taller man fixed his gaze on the latter though. He was curious about him. He thought maybe by looking at him for a long time, he would be able to read his mind and find out more about him. But he didn't. All he found was the radiance beauty showing on the latter's face. "Hopefully soon." Luhan added. "Are you excited for the retreat, Sehun? I'm sure it's gonna be fun! We'll make it every night a night to remember! Do you like hiking? Hunting for food? What do you like about school retreats?" 

Sehun couldn't answer. He became muddled and Luhan must have noticed it because he stopped asking questions. Sehun was looking out the window, unable to think properly on how to respond. Was he excited? He didn't understand himself. One moment he was so happy to see the latter, and then the next thing he knows... he's suddenly scared to go on with the retreat.

It must have been an hour but Sehun didn't realize the time until he felt a head leaning on his shoulder. He looked over to his shoulder and found that the smaller boy had dozed off.

Sehun wished he was able to say what he really felt when Luhan asked him. Yes, he was thrilled because of the latter's presence, however he knew something was also making him nervous. He didn't know why or what.

He didn't even know what was waiting ahead of him.

Ahead of them.

But maybe, joining the class retreat wasn't so bad after all.

They went hiking the moment they arrived at the gate. Luhan was assigned to lead everyone to the campsite with the map on his hand. Both Mr. Zhang and Mr. Lee didn't help as it was a challenge for everyone. All they did was boss them around and grab so