Luhan's POV

"It wasn't really love!" I regretted the words the moment they left my mouth. Chen's cheeks were flaming now and his eyes were watery. "I'm sorry," I said, backing up as if I had discovered that I was a monster.

Chen took a deep breath. "Luhan," he said, "even though we were kids, I still loved you with all my heart. No, it wasn't a romantic love, but we didn't know the difference between a friendly love and romance. To say that our love, our friendship, wasn't real...well, why am I here right now?" He paused, although I was sure he didn't want an answer. "Is it because we aren't friends? Luhan," Chen stood up. "Call it stupid, corny, whatever you want. But I still love you. Not romantically, but as my best friend."

Now he his cheeks were even redder with embarrassment, and I was trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry," I managed. I remembered that day in kindergarten. Everyone was playing tag and such, but Chen and I sat on the swings together.

~Flashback~

"Luhan," he had said. "I don't know if I should say this..."

"What is it?" a younger, happier version of me said.

The tiny Chen got off the swing and stood in front of me, small fists balled up at his sides. "I-I like you. Like, I like like you."

I pictured the surprised look on my face; Chen's eyes were squeezed shut, his lips tight. "You love me?" I asked.

"Yes." He grabbed my hand. "I want you to be my boyfriend."

And that's how that started.

~End of Flashback~

I smiled slightly. "I love you, too." We both stood there.

", this is awkward," Chen said. I agreed and we both laughed.

"Glad we got this under control."

"What do you want to do now?" Chen spread himself out on the couch, leaving barely any room for me.

"Dude, you are literally taking up all of the room. This is my couch." I used my foot to try and push him over to one side.

Chen moved about an inch, if he moved at all. "I doubt you paid for this, so it's technically your parent's couch." When he saw my pretend frown he groaned obnoxiously loud and got up. "Fine," whined, elongating the "i". He then sat on an armchair near the couch. His arms and legs hung over the edge.

Suddenly, my stomach made a weird noise. It wasn't hunger...it was something else. Chen sat up, and my stomach seemed to groan again. "What the hell did you eat?" he asked.

I felt embarrassed. "Um, kinda expired ramen and leftover chicken..."

Chen rolled his eyes. "I would have made food for you. I'm working on my grilling skills."

"It was for Eun Mi." Another growl escaped. We thought about the fact that Eun Mi ate some, too, and started to laugh evilly. "She ate so much!" I snorted.

It was a pity that our fun only lasted a few seconds, because I had to run to the bathroom. I'll save you the details. From outside the door, Chen said, "I'm gonna just go home now, since it's getting a little late. I don't want anyone to worry. You, ah, just stay in there. See you tomorrow!" With that, he left.

Chen's POV

I left Luhan's house around 6, a little after his digestion problems began. It was typical for Luhan to make something unhealthy then suffer from it later, but to feed it to his girlfriend, too, was a new low for him.

I walked home quickly to avoid any dangers that might face a 16 year old boy walking alone after most of the stores in the area had closed. I got home to find my mom sitting at the table. I greeted her, then ran up the stairs to my room. Instantly, I checked my phone. No calls. I frowned and put it down. I wasn't sure he would really call, but I wanted to believe he would. The rest of the afternoon was spent checking my phone and feeling disappointed.

The next morning, I woke up to a buzzing sound. I groaned and turned off my phone. Then I remembered: Xiumin might have called!

I quickly sat up and opened my phone's recent call list. The words Unknown Caller were written in red at the top. Praying that he hadn't gone away or gotten offended, I hit the contact and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello, this is Cho's Air Conditioners, how may we help you?"

I sat confused for a second. "Xiumin?" I asked. Embarrassed, I hung up and flopped back on the bed. It was no use. Xiumin had clearly said that he didn't want a friend. He had only asked for the number to be nice. It had probably washed off during the night and he wouldn't even care.

Suddenly, a voice from the kitchen called, "Chen, we have no more bread!"

I made an effort to groan loud enough for my mom to hear. "Can't you eat something else?"

"Of course I can, but I want bread for later! The bakery has fresh bread now. It'll be stale if we wait any longer." When she heard no response, she added, "You won't be eating anything if you don't get it now."

I crinkled my nose and pulled on a pair of pants. "What am I? A servant?" I mumbled, earning a yell from my mom, who obviously heard. Grabbing a random shirt and sneakers, I walked downstairs and out the door without a word to anyone.

"It's always me," I grumbled. "It's never anyone else." The whole way to the bakery, I complained, and the whole way back, I grumbled some more. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have gotten so annoyed. As a matter of fact, I would have been happy to go for a walk to the bakery. That meant that I could get a donut or some other pastry without my mother telling me not to. But that day, I was annoyed. I was annoyed that I hadn't gotten a call yet.

Maybe annoyed wasn't the right word. It was more like a crestfallen feeling.

When I arrived back at home, I put the bread on the table and walked back to my room to check my email. One particular message caught my eye. It was a message from the high school. I normally wouldn't want to read a message like that, as it would remind me that our few months of break time was slowly coming to an end, but this one had the word "party" in it. Even if it was a school party, any party was good for me. I quickly picked up my phone and sent a message to Luhan about the party.

To: Luhan 
hey r u going to that back to school party???

From: Luhan
idk man. u should come over tho.......bored af

Smiling, I turned off my computer and prepared myself to go to Luhan's house. His parents were probably on a business trip, again, as they were secretaries for an important company. I felt bad for Luhan, but it meant that I would be able to go to his house more often.

For the second time in an hour, I left the house. Once I got to Luhan's tall apartment building, I repeated the familiar routine. A man in the lobby said, "Welcome to the 15th Street complex. How may I help you?" I answered that I was there to see a friend, and he let me in. Then, when I got to room number 508, I pressed the buzzer again and introduced myself so Luhan would know that it was safe to open the door. Not that he wouldn't let in whoever came knocking, being the senses person he was.

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