the first week of college went by in a flash. lu han didn't even feel it happening, let alone have any remembrance as to how he ended up in a fair, the week after, signing up for various organisations he wasn't actually interested in. he felt lost and was almost going to go insane--the only reason as to why he'd even bother to transfer schools, though he admittedly wasn't fully content with the community college he was attending the year prior, was because his boyfriend had coaxed him into applying for a scholarship after listening to him whining nonstop because his math teacher was second-rate and he wanted more for himself and that he deserved a better education. it wasn't such a bad school, lu han was just a prat of a student that refused to be contented with what he had. so there he was, a lost math major in the middle of a swarm of bodies, feeling more out of place than usual.

it wasn't until someone tapped on his shoulder that he snapped back into reality, realising he's been standing still in the middle of the fair (he didn't know what else to call it) grounds, blocking other peoples' way. that was such a freshman thing to do. he mentally stabbed himself for it, but his attention was grabbed once more by the boy in front of him, all cheery-eyed and wide-smiled, asking him if he was alright.

"oh!" he exclaimed, finally processing his question and smiling back, feeling awfully rude and awfully like a freshman--which he wasn't, mind you, he's over that phase and he'd rather not relive it. "i'm fine. spaced out for a second 'cause of all the people. kinda freaked me out, y'know?" he nodded, biting his lip (a nervous tic his boyfriend had pointed out one day, which thanks to him, he's now hyperaware of).

"oh that's good. and now that we know you're good, wanna join my org?"

of course. he should've seen it coming, really, with the sign he's holding saying 'join xing-a-lings! you won't regret it!' he didn't even know what in god's good earth that organisation was about, and despite the neatly written sign, he's thought of about ten reasons as to why he'd regret joining. no thanks, i'd rather not, he thinks, but it comes out as, "sure! what's it about?" which he belatedly regretted asking, because now that meant he was interested, implied that he was open to joining, and what's more, made the other break into this five minute speech about how wonderful his apparently unaccredited organisation was. it wasn't even an organisation, as he's come to figure out, but more of a fan club for this music major that plays with his band at this café two blocks from campus.

as the boy finishes his speech, he grabs his hand, quickly dragging him to their booth and hands him a pen. "so, what do you say?" i say no thanks, i have no time for this, but you have a wonderful smile and i'm sure you'd be able to drag others in with it, but it comes out as "sure, why not?" and he curses under his breath, mostly to himself, as he signs his name and student number.

"we formally welcome you to xing-a-lings!" another boy says, just as handsome, just as smiley. why are they part of a fanclub when they look like they need one of their own? completely disregarding the lack of girls in the supposed organisation, lu han merely shrugs and makes his way to his next class--the class he's late for, as he's just come to realise. before running off though, he's given a pamphlet and is told to meet them this friday for a welcoming party for all the new members, leaving him to think if that music major really was that popular.

---------

it's wednesday by the time he's realised he's gotten tons of emails asking to confirm his attendance to various organisation's orientation seminars he doesn't remember signing up for. it's 8 pm when his boyfriend comes home--another reason why he agreed (or rather, desparately tried to) transfer to this university--and he's greeted with a bucket of kfc and an i'm home kiss to his cheek. 

due to their clashing schedules, they only ever see each other at home, and lu han's fine with that. but even if he says he's fine with that, the idea of being everyone's relationship goals as they roamed around campus holding hands and had make-out sessions in the bathroom while having coffee dates every day was something he had looked forward to when he received his acceptance letter. add his boyfriend having a part-time job that required his boyfriend to be out most nights to that fact and you have a barely-holding-it-in lu han all pouty lipped in the middle of the week.

"what's wrong?" he asks, kissing his boyfriend's pouty lips before moving to set the table.

"everything."

"care to elaborate?"

lu han groaned. "i apparently joined a lot of organisations and i have no idea how to manage my time. i don't think we even had organisations at my previous uni."

"orgs are fun! you get to meet a lot of great people, you know." a pause. "oh. right." he forgot the one thing lu han openly claims to be: a misanthrope. how they ever got together, despite him being a social butterfly, was still a question floating about in their friends' minds. "so what did you join?"

he let his head rest on the table, careful not to disturb his boyfriend's table setting, as he started counting, needing to use both hands as he listed the ones he joined--or at least remembered. "then i joined this math org--" "of course." "--shut up. and this one called xing-a-lings."

the mention of that particular org made his boyfriend smile, moving to kiss the back of his head before nudging him to sit up straight, setting the plate of chicken in front of him. "you're so cute and supportive."

unsure of what he meant, he simply shrugged and made grabby hands at the thigh part, securing it and deciding to enjoy his meal rather than mope around because of his now flooded inbox.

---------

fast forward to friday and he's mushed between girls and boys that don't seem to understand the concept of personal space. they're drinking and dancing and everything seems to be just another college party, until they put on a song everyone starts singing along to and time just freezes. he knows that voice, the voice that lulls him to sleep, tells him everything is okay, warms him and pulls him to safety even when all things seems lost. he'll never forget that voice, the voice that greets him good morning, accompanied by a lovely dimple and a soft kiss to his cheek (and if he's in a good mood, his forehead, lips, neck, and such and such).

he lets out a breathy 'no', barely making a sound as he got up and looked for the guy who made him sign up in the first place. albeit he was at fault for tuning him out (at least he knew what the org was.....ish) he still wanted to make sure if he was right. maybe, just maybe, it's someone who just so happens to have the same loving, soft voice as this particular person he knew and loved, so he made his way trying to find the cheery-eyed, wide-smiled boy once more.

that took him about an hour or so to do, since to his surprise, a lot of people came and it looked like this fa--org was bigger than he initially thought. "hey!" he shouted, the music changing once more to edm, setting the mood as the event organisers brought out two more coolers full of beers they passed out. "hey to you too!" the boy shouted back, "you're that one guy i recruited! how'd you like it here so far?" lu han was quite surprised he was remembered, brow raising as he moved to grab his arm. it was his turn to drag him somewhere this time, and that somewhere happened to be the bathroom.

peace and quiet enveloped them once they got in, the boy still smiling, though now, his head was tilted and his brows were slightly furrowed. "so what's up?"

"you remember me?" that's not the point, but he highly doubted he was the only one that was recruited by this boy, whose cheekbones were so high and defined lu han was sure he'd cut his finger if he dared touch it.

"'course i do! you're the only math major here. which is surprising, considering how cute you are." he grinned, taking a swig at his beer as he moved to sit on the sink, feet dangling as he eyed him. "so what's up? is this your way of saying you're bored and want to make-out?"

you're not the one i want to make-out with, he thinks, smiling as he moves to sit beside him. "nope. but i just wanted to ask, what was the name of the music major everyone's raving about again? i absolutely fell in love with his voice when you guys played one of his songs and embarrassingly enough, i forgot his name."

"oh!" he chuckles, taking another swig before proposing a toast. "don't worry about it. everyone here fell in love with his voice, and admittedly he's hella cute too. his name's zhang yixing. gonna stalk him now?"

it all made sense now. the happiness in his boyfriend's voice when he mentioned the org, and how he was called cute and supportive. oh god, he thought, i just joined my boyfriend's fanclub.

---------

after a tiring night of trying to explain to the cheeky-eyed, wide-smiled boy--whose name is jongdae, apparently--that zhang yixing was his boyfriend, only to be called a delusional fan after just listening to his voice once, he ended up drinking more than he's used to and he had to call for a taxi home, leaving his precious le baron on campus. 

a drowsy yixing welcomed him home, insisting he bathe since he smelled of beer and vomit and helping him do so, blowdrying his hair as he took note that it's 4 am and his first class is at 7.30. panic stricken, he moves to jump in bed and get as much sleep as possible, hoarding the covers and quickly falling asleep (the talk of him being delusional and the idea of no one believing he could score such a guy just because he's a math major tired him out the most).

it was a quarter to 11 when he woke up, tripping over the covers as he shouted for yixing, angry he wasn't woken up. "babe," he started, moving to calm him down by pulling him to an embrace. "it's a saturday. you didn't sign up for a saturday class this semester. calm down."

ah, there it is. the soothing voice of an angel that has the power to immediately calm him down and assure him that everything will be okay, that he's okay and that the world wasn't falling to pieces.

"i love you." he sighed, reciprocating the hug.

"i love you too. breakfast?"

"yes please. menu?"

"freshly steamed rice and smoked salmon."

"this is brunch, isn't it."

"good morning to you too."

---------

he's completely forgotten about the little incident of being called delusional until yixing reminded him he'll be away for a week, his band having gigs all over the place, excited because he'll be travelling and it'll help with their expenses. it killed him inside, how useless he was being. he's told yixing he'll get a job too, but yixing knew how heavy his workload is and refused to let him apply for anything. his exact words: "you'll die in a week if you get a job. leave it to me, my classes are pretty chill and i get to pick my hours. it's no big deal, really, i just don't want you to die before our wedding, ok?"

ignoring the fact that he completely skipped out on their graduation and engagement, and the fact that he still has to say yes (he knows he will), lu han merely signed in defeat. "a week. a week. what'll i do for a week? see now this, this i'm sure will kill me." honest to god, he wasn't usually this clingy. it was just that he hadn't made much friends and the only ones he's talked to are his fellow xing-a-ling orgmates that seem to think he's out of his mind.

"i'll repay you back in full when i come back," he started, inching closer, his usually angelic smile making lu han's heart want to jump out of his mouth. "i promise." he adds, sealing their lips together, pulling lu han under him on the sofa, their plans of watching legally blonde completely forgotten as yixing started tracing constellations on his body, mapping the world with his lips and creating universes with his sweet whispers against his skin.

---------

it's only been two days since yixing left, and he's already ready to pull his hair out. his, and jongdae's. mostly jongdae's. the incident at the welcoming party had become the talk of the neighbourhood, or at least their little part of the university campus. he's never been so happy that their campus was divided. all the art majors in one part, all the social sciences in another, while all the business oriented ones scattered in the biggest part of their campus.

usually, he's pretty salty about the whole separation of campuses, since it makes it harder to see yixing, but now he's never been more thankful for it. "honestly, it's just so cute! i mean, lu han's pretty, but the zhang yixing? your boyfriend? god, it's so cute."

"another joke and you," he points, glaring at jongdae as they walked towards one of the university cafeterias, "won't be as cute."

"okay but really, you heard one song and instantly fell in love. how can we resist. this is gold." jongin adds, the other boy who had helped him register for this god-forsaken org. he's the one out of his mind when they're the ones with stalker friends and fansites for his boyfriend? whatever.

"could you two just drop it?" he huffs, grabbing his order of tea and banana cake as he walks towards their usual table. at least now he has people to call friends, even if it's all relative, since if he was being honest, he wanted nothing to do with these two. "it's not like i'm the only weirdo you know."

---------

the day before yixing came back lu han was in a good mood, ecstatic to see his boyfriend once more. he's gone shopping for once, his saved up his allowance from his parents granting him the opportunity to cook for yixing this time around. at least with his scholarship, they're able to send a little bit more every month. finally, a weekend to themselves, with the thought of yixing "paying him back in full" being the only thing keeping him going the past week.

he's keeping it simple, rice and pork chops. he couldn't possibly screw that up now, could he? looking up the simplest recipe online, he made sure he got everything before he trudged back to his--their apartment. but today, of all the days, he felt his heart sink. something was off, and he knew it. looking around, he noticed a bunch of girls, cameras out and pointed at him, with one having the audacity to wave at him before they went back to playing with their phones. what they were up to he found out minutes after arriving home.

he'd become the university clown in less than a day, the rumours of him spreading how his boyfriend was zhang yixing spreading across campuses and the fact that yixing wasn't even in town to verify or refute it made it all the more laughable. his pictures had spread all over twitter, with comments such as 'he's cute! too bad he's taken.' with five or six laughing emojis after it. there were hundreds more, some of which were: 'at least zhang yixing has taste', 'he could do better, though!', 'what happened to that one girl he was photographed with last month?' 

the last one had made him want to throw his phone out the window, deciding his homemade meal was to be postponed until after things blew over.

---------

yixing, admittedly, was expecting a warm welcome in the form of peppered kisses as he stepped into their apartment, but seeing as the lights were out and lu han wasn't even at home, he huffed, slouched back and all, to their bedroom and opted to nap instead. shedding his shoes and jacket, he immediately flopped on their bed and decided he was far too tired to change. he had showered before he left their last venue, and he was exhausted, their little gigfest going around campuses and performing at other local cafés had been an experience but all he wanted now was to snuggle up beside his boyfriend (share a little kiss or two) and sleep.

he was almost asleep when lu han came home, stomping as he made his way to bed, obviously a little more than tipsy. "welcome home," he greeted, smiling his trademark smile, brandishing one of his most powerful weapons: his dimple.

"whatever." lu han hissed, waving his hand dismissively as he made a beeline for the bathroom, locking himself in as he washed himself and leaving a stunned yixing at his wake.

"i'm home." yixing tries again, smilng as lu han gets out of the bathroom, hands outstreched for either a hug or his towel so that he'd dry his hair for him. but he got neither, lu han completely ignoring him as he gestured for him to scooch over, mumbling a good night before he settled in the bed. oh no, he thought, he was not having any of that attitude today.

"what happened?" his voice was soft, testing the waters as he moved closer, enveloping his boyfriend in a loose hug.

"nothing." he started, swatting his hand away. "don't. i'm tired and i just want to sleep."

"what happened?" he tried again, his voice lower, brows furrowed. he had rarely used this tone on lu han, his i-don't-want-to-get-into-a-fight-but-honestly-what-the-hell voice making lu han shuffle under the covers.

"nothing." he replied again, sighing as he moved closer to his boyfriend, a gesture of defeat on his part. he had just come home, after all, and they haven't seen each other for a week. of course he was tired too, and giving him the attitude now wasn't going to help anyone. "i just heard a rumour about you and got pissed."

"rumour?" his tone was back to normal, soft and warm, his arm wrapping around him once more, the embrace tighter than the last.

"just about you and a girl last month. i don't know. whatever. no big deal."

a sigh escaped his boyfriend's lips, which was followed by a soft giggle. "silly duck." he replied, nuzzling against the crook of lu han's neck. "if you've heard about that from the club, that was my sister. remember her?"

"of course i do. she adores me."

"that she does." he hums, hearing the smile in lu han's voice. "anyway, she spent the weekend with me last month, something about a job transfer she was trying to refuse because the benifits just weren't the same." he explains, pitch higher as he tried to immitate his sister's voice. 

"you better be telling the truth."

"i have no reason to lie."

"welcome home."

"i'm home."

and the both of them fall asleep, yixing's head still nuzzled at the crook of lu han's neck, lu han enveloped in his embrace as their breaths evened out and became one.

---------

yixing was greeted by the smell of barbecue coming from the kitchen, grabbing the phone he'd left in his jeans pocket and realising it was a quarter past 12. "lu han?" tone lower than usual, the morning brought out all the jagged edges in his voice, realising he had just woken up to a full meal made by his boyfriend--the same boyfriend that had once burned water (how that happened, he couldn't figure out, but the pot they had to throw out because of it spoke for itself) and had been banned from his house's kitchen since he learned how to walk--had made him brunch.

"pork chops and fluffy, freshly made rice."

"is it edible?"

"i checked." he replied, huffing as he set their waters down.

"i love you."

"i love you too."

never, not once, did he reply with an i know or a me too, having been taught the weight of words at a young age. and when they'd met, he had taught lu han the same. so there they were, two years later, grinning to each other like crazy as they ate their semi-burnt pork chops in comfortable silence.

they were watching ms. congeniality, shoulder to shoulder, before lu han nudged him. "so," he started, moving to rest his head on yixing's shoulder, "your payback."

he couldn't help but grin at that lovely reminder, though of course he himself didn't forget. "in full." he replied, kissing the daylights out of lu han as he carried the other to their bedroom, the movie once again completely forgotten.

---------

his waist was aching the next day, a part of him giddy because it's been a while since they've delved into such endeavours but also a part of him beating himself up, because he should've known better than to have rabid with yixing on a sunday. anyone who says yixing is an angel whose only mission is to personally save every abused animal on the planet and kiss them better doesn't know how dirty his mind could be, and how his angelic voice that could open up the heavens could be used to open the gates of hell, too. 

unfortunately for lu han, he had to see jongdae first thing in the morning. it had been their ritual this past week, to meet at the university cafeteria and have brunch with the rest of the fanclub--yes, won't deny what they are now, and what he's a part of, either. he had completely forgotten about the incident on twitter, and only got reminded when upon his arrival, almost everyone took their phones out to take a photo.

"quite popular, aren't you?" jongin chuckled, running up beside him with a doughnut in hand as he slapped his bottom. a hiss came out of his mouth as his aching waist due to the night before had been bothering him the whole morning.

"get frisky with your boyfriend last night?" it was jongdae's turn to annoy the hell out of him, a sigh escaping his lips as he all but slammed his meal on the table. thankfully, that meal had only consisted of a green tea frappe and a ratatouille sandwich from starbucks. he looked back with a grin, before sitting down and proceeding to open his sandwich.

"as a matter of fact," he started, "yes, we did."

a fit of giggles exploded around him, the two joining in the medley of voices as he opted to ignore them and refused to let go of his post- glow because of their little antics. it wasn't until their collective giggles turned to gasps did lu han bother to look up from his sandwich.

"what're we all laughing about?" a voice chimed in, soft and warm, taking the seat beside his (like a normal person, not like his two friends who opted to sit on the table, instead) and he could feel the warmth radiating off of him. "oh, it's not funny anymore?" he asked, tone gentle and innocent, though lu han knew it was the opposite. "what was funny in the first place? hey, tell me!"

"nothing!" a girl exclaimed, the lot of them far too stunned to let out a peep.

"oh," he huffed, "alright then. so babe," turning to lu han, he had smiled his trademark smile (only with a hint of mischief, he noticed) and wrapped an arm around his waist. "how're you holding up?"

"what're you talking about?"

"it's just that i thought your waist'd be hurting. you know....." he was about to gesture something obsene, lu han was sure of it, so he opted to grab his hands and laced them together.

"i'm fine."

"dinner?"

"pizza's good. but also lambchops. maybe a side salad, if you're up to it."

"i'm up to it, you're not. what're you trying to pull here, lu han?"

"what, i can't be healthy?"

"you can be anything but."

the crowd was forgotten as he was pulled into a soft kiss, before yixing was moving to leave, of course taking a sip from his frappe before then. "i'll see you at home. just wanted to drop by to check if you're okay. i have class, so see you!" leaving him with another kiss, he smiled at the crowd, still apparently existing, and left. 

the embarrassment that accompanied public displays of affection obviously didn't faze yixing in the slightest, but as he left, lu han had started to melt into his seat, unsure of how to face the crowd (though spouting an i told you so was ideal, his more mature self had told him off). 

"so." jongdae started, clearing his throat as he got off from the table and moved to sit beside lu han. "he a god in bed?"

"no words." he replied, before a swarm of questions had flown out of everyone's mouths.

---------

[ text : ♡ my number one ♡ ] you found out?

[ text : ♡ lu babe ♡ ] couldn't believe i didn't hear about it sooner.

[ text : ♡ my number one ♡ ] don't worry about it. thank you.

[ text : ♡ lu babe ♡ ] do you even KNOW how angry i was.

[ text : ♡ my number one ♡ ]  i know. thank you. i love you.

[ text : ♡ lu babe ♡ ] i love you too. tell me again if anything like this ever happens, ok?

[ text : ♡ my number one ♡ ] will do.

lu han's smiling to himself, having an internal debate as to whether or not he should change his boyfriend's contact name on his phone. he opted not to, since yixing changes it every other month anyway, a soft chuckle escaping his lips as he wonders what his contact name would be next month.

i have the best boyfriend in the world, he thinks, starting another debate and wondering whether or not he should run to be the president of xing-a-ling, since admittedly, yixing's contact details this month was on point. he was, and will forever be, his number one.