--

LuHan decides that taking SeHun on trips around Beijing, his hometown is fun.

He’s never had a single person tour around with him, it’s always been families; either new or old, newlyweds, giggling schoolgirls--never just a single man.

And LuHan really enjoys that.

He enjoys the way SeHun pays more attention to him, and he finds that this is a flaw, but he decides that he can let himself enjoy whatever in these two weeks.

This is the first time as well when LuHan actually views his time as a tour guide as also a vacation. He’s repeated the same words again and again for different places, but for once, he is having fun telling someone about the history of the city where he grew up.

Days fly past, and each day LuHan brings SeHun something and somewhere new, and SeHun enjoys all of it, but he decides that spending time with LuHan is what he enjoys more.

But both of them won’t admit their feelings out in the open.

--

The second day, LuHan brings SeHun to The Great Wall, and SeHun first shrugs off LuHan’s warnings about the length, but SeHun only makes a dirty joke out of it, but when they finally go up the platform to the base of the wall, SeHun frowns.

LuHan laughs.

By the time they hit a break off, SeHun is gasping for air and LuHan is breathing fine, so they both go up a little fortress ignoring SeHun’s complaints of “how steep the stairs are” and pushes him up the short flight of stairs, and they stare out at the number of people trekking up the long path, at the trees rustling in the faint breezes, and SeHun can see the history of China flickering in LuHan’s dark orbs. It’s so intriguing that SeHun has to look away, staring out at the old rocks that make up the Great Wall.

LuHan tells him of the history, and SeHun has learned about this in school before, but he listens to LuHan speak anyways.

--

The last day of the first week, LuHan takes SeHun to the Forbidden Palace. Ever since SeHun has been saying that climbing the Great Wall was no big feat, LuHan has been taking him climbing around Beijing like Lingshan, and SeHun is feeling whipped, so LuHan surprises him and wakes him up at ten the next morning, waving his wands around.

“No hiking, motha a!” he says, as SeHun rubs his back, sore, and laughs.

LuHan laughs when he takes him around, and shushes the younger one when he cracks jokes about the Chinese Revolution with a, “You know SeHun, you can get arrested for saying things like that, even if you’re speaking in Korean.” and that shut the younger up pretty fast.

He takes the younger around the large parks and fountain, and buys him the cheap popsicles the vendors that taste like nothing other than sugar and water. LuHan laughs when SeHun whines about his sore tooth because those popsicles are really hard and not soft.

LuHan takes SeHun to go eat all the time, and they can both guarantee that is their favorite part of the day. LuHan takes SeHun to go eat peking duck and smelly tofu, which SeHun scrunches his nose at. LuHan takes SeHun to bubble tea shops claiming that he’s never had bubble tea so good since, “bubble tea was invented in China”, he brags over and over. SeHun wants to go with original flavors but LuHan shakes his head in disapproval and brings him authentic bubble tea with jello and fruit bases.

LuHan takes SeHun along the busy streets of Beijing, along Wangfujing, to all of the Hutong he can find, which are alleyways in between buildings that thrive with culture and foods. LuHan makes sure that SeHun tries all of the flavors of ice cream in all of the carts along the big cities. LuHan doesn’t tell SeHun the flavor of the green popsicle, and the younger buys it, not knowing that he flavor is pea, and LuHan laughs at him. Their adventures along the city streets continue, and LuHan grumbles everytime SeHun asks him to bargain for new items in the busy shops.

Shops in ChIna are all booths filled with artificial and fake items that make SeHun laugh stacked on top of each other. When he finds out that LuHan knows how to bargain, he makes him do it all the time, because the incredible act terrifies him, and watching LuHan scream in rapid Chinese actually makes his day. Every time LuHan walks out of a booth with the item SeHun wants, he grumbles, “I don’t even have the money to buy this for you,” and after their seventh day together, SeHun proposes a, “You should just move in with me, hyung.” and that makes the both of them laugh. They do eventually, but LuHan lies to SeHun that he’s gotten a thousand back from the hotel owners. LuHan is actually rooming for free because the travel agency he works for is in partnership with the hotel, so because he works there, he is rooming for free.

So they move in together, and for once SeHun doesn't complain that it’s too crowded with all of LuHan’s stuff in there. LuHan gasps when he realizes that SeHun’s room is larger than his old one. SeHun doesn't say anything about the other picture until he sees that LuHan hadn't put it up yet, so he tells LuHan not to forget the last one and immediately regrets it when he catches a glimpse of the older’s face.

SeHun spends most of his time in the little living room he has to give LuHan space. He hears a phone ring, and LuHan answers, and when LuHan speaks, it sounds strained and forced. LuHan hangs up after a few minutes and all SeHun can hear is silence.

That night LuHan takes SeHun to a place to eat dinner at the edge of Beijing, along a small river. The view is gorgeous, and SeHun watches the city lights flicker yellows and blues into LuHan’s eyes as they eat dinner together.

SeHun watches LuHan laugh and smile, but he can tell that he’s still not feeling up to it.

SeHun begins and his words make LuHan wince.

“Who is in the picture, and why does he affect you?”

LuHan looks over.

“Not now, SeHun.”

“LuHa--”

“Please,” the older begs, and SeHun remains silent for the rest of their dinner.

-

When they both return to the hotel, LuHan sighs and collapses on SeHun’s bed, and beckons him over to sit with him.

SeHun walks over and watches LuHan’s fingers glow a soft yellow as he moves them towards the light switch near their bed.

LuHan doesn’t meet SeHun’s eyes when he speaks.

“A long time ago, before the Great Wall was built, the Qin Dynasty had trouble warding off northern attackers. So, the emperor; Emperor Qin Shi Huang called up all of the men in the country to go work his fantastic plan. This Wall that would block off the attackers, from Mongolia, other Asian countries. The letter comes to the house of a little family, and the wife believes that this is a good idea and sends the husband off.”

LuHan pauses, his white hair shifting into pale blues and greys every time he moves.

“All of these men that go do not bring much, maybe only a few spare clothes, valued possessions, but there is still no means of communication between these men and their families; it’s too hard to send letters home. So about a year and a half later, the wife has saved up enough money to go visit her husband. The bitter winter is slowly walking in, and he has prepared a few blankets for him to use in case he gets cold. When she finally arrives at the place where the Great Wall is being built, she begins to look for her husband there. She looks and looks, until she stumbles across some workers pounding bricks into the wall. ‘Pretty Miss, you should not be here. It is dangerous. Do you need something?’ One asks, exhausted. The wife responds and nods her head. ‘Yes, I am looking for my husband. Maybe you know him?’ So the wife tells the workers about her husband and his name. The workers look at each other grimly. ‘Miss, I am very sorry, but your husband died over the summer from dehydration and exhaustion. Most of us here die from that. I am very sorry for your loss.’ Yet, the stubborn wife does not believe the workers, and walks along the completed Wall, calling his name and looking for him. Only when she has treked over half of the path she begins to worry. Then, she begins to cry for him. Her tears moved the earth, causing the Great Wall to break off. Everywhere she went, she cried, breaking off the ends of the Wall to break off.”

LuHan pauses.

“And that is how Chinese people believe that the random breaks all along the Great Wall were formed. By her tears.”

A pregnant silence is formed between the two males, and SeHun finally speaks up.

“Um. What did she do with the blankets?”

LuHan lets out a dry laugh.

“Oh SeHun, is that all you picked up from the story?”

SeHun shakes his head.

“Okay, sorry. But what does that have to do with you?”

LuHan reaches over and grabs the picture frame delicately, as if it would shatter in his hands, although SeHun can tell he’s tried ripping up the photo before.

Ironic.

“That is very similar to the story of me and Yixing.”

LuHan strains on the last word.

“Yixing.” SeHun dumbly repeats. “Yixing.”

LuHan nods, and SeHun turns off the lights. SeHun holds LuHan’s hands and whispers.

“Tell me your story.”

LuHan does.

--

LuHan meets Zhang Yixing on the summer of his senior year, and the other’s sophomore. They meet at a football game, because Yixing’s brother plays on the team, and because LuHan’s friends believe that he’s too introverted.

‘Can I sit here?’ asks the younger one, and LuHan nods.

They end up talking instead of watching the game, and LuHan goes home with a kiss planted on his cheek and Yixing’s number in his phone.

They don’t see each other very much, but online, the two talk whenever the both of them are on, and LuHan slowly falls for the boy with straight black hair and piercing dimples, ignoring his friend’s remarks about him falling for someone two years younger.

The two slowly drift apart when LuHan leaves for college, but the both of them wait on each other, holding back from new relationships.

At least LuHan had, LuHan tells SeHun. SeHun scoffs.

By the time Yixing had graduated high school, LuHan bumps into Yixing one morning on campus and both are pleasantly surprised and immediately begin dating.

They have a beautiful relationship for two years, and then LuHan has to graduate college. Yixing does not mind, and tells the older that he will wait for him still.

The two meet up again after Yixing graduates, and their relationship blossoms yet again. When Yixing tells LuHan about his offer in Korea, LuHan tells Yixing to accept, and he sends Yixing off with a promise that, ‘our long-distance relationship had worked before, why not this time?’.

About a year later, when they only rarely communicate, LuHan goes to go surprise Yixing in Korea, but when he goes to his apartment, he catches Yixing with another man.

Yixing tells him that he’s known this man since highschool and had a minor interest in him, and decided to go after him after they ran into each other in Korea.

LuHan is still confused though, because he had thought that they were still in a stable relationship, and that a few hundred miles away had never stopped them.

Yet a few thousand had?

LuHan, hurting, tells Yixing that he understands, so he cancels his two week long vacation trip and heads back to China early.

By the time LuHan finishes his stories, SeHun is fuming and is ready to rip up the photo for LuHan.

“Hyung, are you serious? He basically cheated on you. How can you be so mopey and so unready to kick his ?”

LuHan curls into a ball and looks SeHun in the eyes, and inside of the those two swirling orbs, SeHun believes he understands.

So the two of them sleep together, side by side, as the city lights of Beijing fade away above them.

--