~~~~~~

“-then he said what?” Baekhyun screamed, and nearly knocked over the french fries he was eating.

“Baek, please, just chill” Luhan whispered, feeling his face turn red. Luhan, was going over the conversation in his head over and over again.

But why now? Why all of a sudden? Luhan was happy, but he didn’t understand why Sehun was all of a sudden interested in him.

Is it because of my new style? Did he not like me when I was fluffy and “cute.” Or is he doing this because of a bet. Or did he miss me so much over the summer that-

“I’m so glad he’s actually showing feelings for you!” Baekhyun interrupted Luhan’s thoughts, “although, I did hear a rumor from Chanyeollie” Baekhyun adds.

“Indulge me” Luhan sarcastically muttered,

“Sehun had a falling out with his parents over the summer” Baekhyun began, “so, now he’s living in his own apartment, and stuff like that”

“so like us, minus the falling out part with our parents” Luhan stated.

“duh Luhan, unlike Sehun’s crazy parents who basically pushed him out of the house, our parents wanted us to get used to living alone so we don’t die when we go the University” Baekhyun replied with a serious tone.

“what did he have a falling out with his parents about?” Luhan couldn’t resist but ask,

“I’m not sure, but….” Baekhyun trailed off,

“tell meeeee” Luhan whined

“okay fine” Baekhyun looked around to make sure no one was listening

“hurry up!” Luhan exclaimed

“he told his parents he liked boys”  

Luhan choked on his water, and started coughing. Baekhyun, startled by the noise Luhan made (well that’s what Luhan thought), jumped back a little.

“did he really do that?” Luhan asked through coughs, Baekhyun still didn’t say anything,

“-did he really do what?” a voice behind asked. Luhan stopped mid-cough, slowly turned around, and found himself face to face with Oh-fricking-Sehun.

Why is he always around when I’m making a fool of myself?

~~~~~

After holding his breath for a few seconds, Luhan went back to coughing.

“you okay hyung?” Luhan heard Sehun say, and he felt a hand touch his back lightly. Luhan nodded, but kept coughing.

“he just choked on his water” Baekhyun had recovered and was now stuffing some fries into his mouth. Luhan felt his face burn up, when Sehun kneeled down and looked at Luhan

“you want me to get you some more water? That might help”

“I’m” cough “alright” cough

“you are not okay” Sehun jumped back up, and grabbed Luhan, “but I know exactly what’s going to fix that. “

With that, Sehun dragged a coughing (and bright red) Luhan out of the cafeteria, leaving Baekhyun (who was now a giggling mess) behind.

-

“where are you taking me?” Luhan gasped, as Sehun lead him out of the school (flashing the school security guard their off campus passes),

“you’ll see” Sehun said

take a right

take a left

now go straight ahead

“welcome to my personalized heaven” Sehun said pointing at a little shop

“Bubbly?” was all Luhan could get out (he was out of breath, while Sehun was breathing normally)

“yes, Lulu- I mean Luhan” Sehun begin, “it’s bubble tea!” Luhan didn't know whether to be horrified or mad or happy that this boy just dragged him out of a lunch room and to a fricking bubble tea shop.

“well then, let’s go in, we have 30 more minutes of lunch” Luhan said, and Sehun’s lips twitched into a small smile.

-

As they opened the small glass door, a small wind chime sends out a beautiful symphony of clinks which echoed in the empty store. A middle aged lady, walks out quickly, and welcomes them.

“Good afternoon Ms. Kim” Sehun said as he bowed to the lady,

“Ah, Sehun- welcome back!” the lady replies, “no need for the bowing, you make me feel like I’m the queen or something”

“okay Ms. Kim” Sehun replied with a smile, but he still did another tiny bow,

“who is this quiet boy?” Ms. Kim adds with a smile,

“Oh this is Luhan” Sehun introduces, Luhan (being the polite little boy he is) bowed at Ms. Kim,

“oh come on boys, what did I say about the bowing” Ms. Kim teases,

“you like them?” Sehun said, “Queen Kim” he teases as he does another bow

“oh, stop it, you’ll make an old lady like me blush” Ms. Kim laughed,

“now, what do you boys want? it’s on the house today”

(5 minutes later)

Luhan and Sehun (awkwardly) sat infront of eachother in the small pink booth, their knees touching at times, making both the boys cringe. Luhan sipped on his strawberry bubble tea and tried not to blush, while Sehun stared at Luhan.

“I- uh” both of the boys say at once,

“you first” they say again while they made eye contact. Luhan, being the shy one, looked away quickly, a red blush spreading across his face. Sehun felt his lips twitch as he watched Luhan’s face turn a beautiful shade of pink.

His face matches the color of his bubble tea

“well” Sehun cleared his throat “you’re probably wondering ‘why is he talking to me, didn’t he like ignore me all of last year?’” Sehun tried to do an impression of Luhan’s high pitched voice, but he just ended up sounding like a child.

“Sehun, I do not sound like that!” Luhan protested as he turned a darker shade of pink

“ok ok” Sehun said, “but I know you’ve been wondering”

Now Luhan stayed quiet

“well, over the summer I’ve had time to think” Sehun begin for real this time, the smile on his face melted away, and Luhan found himself looking at a sad Sehun. “My parents whom I’ve grown to love, decided to terminate that love after I told them that I liked men.” Sehun looked up at the ceiling and clenched his jaw, “for 18 goddamn years they told me that love had no boundaries, and that they would support whatever decision I chose to make.” Sehun’s voice shook a little, “yet, when I made my decision, they kicked me out”

Sehun looked at Luhan, and this time Luhan didn’t look away.

“So, I started to think” Sehun continued, “I started to think about the people who really mattered in my life- the people who love me for who and what I am-” Sehun clenched his jaw again

“Sehun, you don’t have to-” Luhan whispered softly

“no Luhan, you deserve an explanation” Sehun protested. Luhan nodded as he reached across and took Sehun’s hand.
“you kept popping into my head” Sehun finally blurted out after a few minutes of silence, “I remember you telling me that I looked good in the new yellow jacket that I bought, I remembered you helping me pick up my papers after they spilled out of my locker. Hell, I even remember that little plushie thing and the beautiful note you stuffed in my locker when you though I wasn’t looking.” Sehun laughed a little,

“you were so nice to me, and kind. But me? I was just-” Sehun couldn’t finish his sentence,

“Sehunnie, it’s ok” Luhan gave Sehun’s hand a little squeeze,

“I tried to contact you during school, I tried to say I’m sorry, I tried so many times to tell you how I felt. But I was afraid, I was afraid of the response” Sehun struggled on, “I have been a jerk, and I’m sorry” Sehun looked down at the table.  

Luhan, who was already blown away about how much Sehun had said, was struggling to respond “Sehunnie, look at me” Luhan said and tugged on Sehun’s hand, Sehun looked up.

“Okay, huh, how do I respond to this” Sehun’s faces drained of color, but Luhan gave Sehun a smile to reassure the younger that he was just joking.

“Sehunnie, it’s ok now. It’s ok because I understand what you went through. I understand why you kept pushing me away, I understand that it was because you were afraid. It’s ok. It’s not your fault” Luhan gave Sehun’s hand another squeeze. Sehun finally looked up, and this time it was his turn to blush.

A few minutes passed and the 2 boys were silent.

Finally,

Luhan took a deep breath, and considered his next words.

Sehun blinked a couple times and thought of the words he wanted to say all summer

“how about we try again?”