“My name is Minseok.”

Luhan whipped his head around when he heard the voice. His eyes widened when he saw the round cheeked student again. He was about to enter his classroom so he was awkwardly staring at the student with the door half open, a foot in the air. It took him several more seconds to register what the student, Minseok, told him.

“Oh... Oh! My name is Luhan...”

The two awkwardly shook hands (or maybe that was one sided? Luhan felt very awkward but Minseok had this calm smile so Luhan couldn’t tell). They didn't say anything for a long moment before Minseok spoke up again.

“It's nice to meet you! I guess I'll see you around?”

Luhan nodded before he watched Minseok walk off to the classroom a few doors down. He stood there for a long moment before he was snapped back to reality when the teacher tapped his shoulder with a smile and told him to enter the classroom. Luhan felt embarrassed, bowed, and hurried in to take his seat.

~*~

“So you eat lunch out here, huh?”

Luhan whipped his head up to see the Minseok kid again. He was caught in yet another awkward position, him being halfway biting into a piece of fried shrimp and holding his chopsticks loosely in midair. He didn't know if he should keep eating or spit everything out to answer.

Thankfully, the student laughed and just sat down next to him, pulling out his own boxed lunch. Luhan glanced at him curiously. Luhan wasn't eating with his usual friend group because they wanted to go hang out with another group of girls. He didn't understand why but he politely refused and left to go eat in the courtyard. He figured his friends were going to about it later but that was fine. Luhan finished munching on his food before he answered the question.

“Nah, I usually eat in the classroom with my friends but they wanted to go flirt with some girls so I came out here to eat by myself today.”

Minseok nodded, eating a small steam bun. Luhan glanced over at Minseok's boxed lunch and then at Minseok. The steam buns and Minseok's face really look similar....

“Baozi.”

Minseok turned to him with a little questionable stare. Luhan suddenly realized he said it out loud and started blushing in embarrassment.

“Y-You look like... A steam bun...”

Minseok blinked a few times before he laughed loudly, making a few students glance in their direction. “My mom calls me that sometimes too so it's okay.”

Luhan nodded and stopped talking. He had gotten so used to just blurting random things to fill up silence with Sehun. He stopped trying to start any conversations and just sat there, quickly stuffing his face with rice. Minseok didn't attempt to start any either so he also just sat there and ate his lunch. It was when they both finished their food with a few minutes before the bell would ring when Luhan dared to say anything else.

“So... Your name is Minseok...”

“That is my name.”

Luhan blushed a little when he realized how dumb that actually sounded out loud. He cleared his throat and glanced away. “That's a Korean name...”

Minseok smiled. “It is.”

Luhan stared at the other student. He's not sure what else to say. Thankfully, Minseok took over.

“My family moved to China because my father's position got pushed over here.” Minseok stated, smiling.

“Oh.” Luhan cringed at how lame his voice sounded. “That's understandable.” There was a brief pause before Luhan continued. “Do you miss home?”

Minseok hummed. “I do. I miss my old house and my friends over there... But China is pretty great too.” He grinned, his cheeks puffing up a little when he did. “I mean, I think I can get used to the scenery here, I practically already did. It's really nice. And there are nice people to meet and make new friends! Like you!”

The other boy seemed startled. “Me...?”

“Yeah! You!” Minseok nodded enthusiastically. “I talked to a few people here already but since my Chinese isn't that good and you seem to be pretty good with Korean, I'm able to actually talk to you!”

Luhan didn't even notice that he switched between Korean and Mandarin. He smiled at the other. For some reason, he felt at ease when he talked to Minseok. He felt... Relaxed. He liked that.

Luhan really liked that.

~*~

“Why are you in a hurry?”

Luhan whipped his head around for the third time that day. He wasn't at all surprised when he saw Minseok, since that kid  was the cause of all  of his whiplash. Minseok was jogging up to him as he was making his way out of the school. Luhan sighed.

“I'm heading over to pick up my cousin.” Luhan answered, already turning away and sped walked out of the building. Minseok was quick to catch up and matched his speed next to him.

“Oh? Do you do this every day? You always seem to be in a rush.”

Luhan raised a brow. “Do you watch me after school every day?”

Minseok laughed. “I'm not a stalker or anything, don't worry. I just noticed for the past few days. You were in a rush the other day when you bumped into me.”

“You remembered?” Luhan's eyes widened.

“Of course! I mean, it wasn't too long ago.” Minseok nodded and continued to follow his classmate. “Do you mind if I come along?”

Luhan bit his lip, thought of all the negatives that could bring if Minseok joined, but ultimately shook his head in the end. “I guess you can come along...” Luhan never actually invited anyone with him and he wasn't sure how Sehun would react if he brought someone with him.

The silence was awkward. Luhan didn't really know Minseok and vice versa so he didn’t really know what to say to fill up the empty space.

“So, you live with your cousin?”

Luhan almost jumped when he suddenly heard Minseok's voice. He turned his head a little. “Uh, well, more like he lives with me.” He mumbled.

“Oh?”

“He moved from Korea.” Luhan sighed.

He was glad when Minseok didn't push further, only hummed in response. In the end, Minseok and Luhan exchanged some more information with each other. He found out that Minseok loves the smell of coffee, has a soft spot for all things small and cute, enjoys eating, and loves to sing his stress away.

“You must be a good singer.” Luhan commented.

Minseok laughed and shook his head. “Nah. You know how people do something they enjoy but they aren't actually good at it? Well, that's me. Though, I think I'm pretty good at making coffee.”

Luhan looked up, a bit surprised. “Aren't you in middle school?”

Minseok laughed again. “I don't drink it! But I want to be a barista when I grow up!”

“A barista?”

“Yeah!” Luhan noticed the shine in Minseok's eyes. “I have a passion for coffee. I made my father coffee a few times when he was too busy to and my mom couldn't make it for him and he really liked it. He told me that I would be a great barista one day.” Minseok grinned. “I think I would love drinking coffee. My father told me that it's not good to drink coffee at a young age but if I really wanted to, I can start in high school.”

Luhan blinked a few times but he nodded a little. “That... Makes sense…? I guess..?”

They chatted for a little while longer until Sehun's school was in sight. Luhan jogged up to the front entrance and sighed in relief that there were a few more parents still there to pick their child. Luhan greeted the teacher that was holding Sehun's hand.

“Thank you so much for looking after him.”

The teacher laughed. “There's no need to thank me every time, Luhan.”

He only smiled again and took Sehun's hand, who quickly latched himself onto his cousin.

“Ah, Sehunnie. I brought...” Luhan glanced up at Minseok to find that the space behind him was empty. Luhan was surprised and turned his head from side to side to try and find the other but he was nowhere to be found. “Oh…”

He glanced down and saw a little worried expression on the younger's face. Luhan smiled a little before he ruffled Sehun's hair.

“I had a friend for you to meet but I guess he ran off already.” Luhan explained.

Sehun nodded his head once to say he understood. The older just grinned and took Sehun's hand in his before setting off.

“Let’s head home.”

First off, let me apologize for taking forever to update! :( I lost my USB twice and my laptop died on me (not to mention school started piling work on me way too fast...) I'm pretty glad I already had this chapter written so I could just quickly edit and update asap! I'm not sure when the next update will be so I apologize for the delays in advance! Also, please excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes! I rushed through the editing process yet again hahaha. Thank you so much for everyone who subscribed, commented, and upvoted! And to everyone who is still sticking with this story! You guys are the greatest! Til the next update! ; u ;