“You know, you didn’t have to dress up so much for me,” Luhan said lightly in greetiing, and Sehun would most definitely deny the flush covering his face then.

            “This is just what my normal outfits are like,” he shot back, flustered.

That wasn’t true at all—his normal outfits were generally a mish-mosh of jeans, hoodies, and sunglasses, in all different shades of black. He was used to just wearing the outfits that either his mom or Tao bought for him, but once the two of them decided it was time for him to ‘grow up and shop for himself,’ he’d taken solace in the unassuming black pieces. No extra care needed, never showed the stains from his two day old spicy ribs—they were perfect.

            Today, however, he’d taken just a small step out of his comfort zone into an outfit that he surprisingly didn’t need Tao to pick out for him. Well, that wasn’t entirely true: he’d still gone with his best friend’s suggestion to wear his bootcut plaid slacks, which were tight at his waist to show off his and cropped a couple of centimeters above his ankle. Add on a white dress shirt topped with a dark grey sweater, black and white leather slip-ons, and a couple silver bracelets, and he had his outfit. He wasn’t super overdressed, just well dressed… he hoped.

            “I mean, considering how the last time I saw you, your looked like it was about to burst open from your sweatpants and your tank kept giving nip-slips, I’d say this is an improvement.”  Luhan was grinning with one eyebrow raised now, and yep, Sehun was full on blushing now.       

            “In my defense,” he started as they made their way into the restaurant. “I didn’t actually know I was going to that ‘Dash’ thing. Tao just dragged me there as a ‘surprise,’ in his words.”

            “Fair enough,” Luhan conceded, smiling at the staff who showed them to their seats. “You guys seem pretty close, huh? You mentioned him in your texts, too.”

            “What, me and Tao?” Luhan nodded, and he shrugged. “I guess. He transferred to my school when we were like, 12, and I haven’t been able to get rid of him since. My parents like him too—God knows why—so I’m just kinda stuck with him.” He skimmed the menu handed to them as he continued to talk. “How’d you meet Kris hyung?”         

            “We lived in the same apartment complex when I first moved to Seoul. We used to place basketball together, and kept in contact even after I moved out. What’s formaggio?”

            “Pretty sure it just means cheese.”

            “They should really write little descriptions under all the mains’ names.”

            Sehun grunted in agreement, but they both went silent after that. Awkwardly fiddling with his thumbs, he tried to pay closer attention to the menu, trying to decide what to order. But his mind was immediately distracted with concerns. Was he supposed to say something? What would they even talk about? They didn’t have a game or a time limit this time to drive them to speak, but what if they couldn’t come up with anything to talk about because of that? What if—

            “I’m ready to order, you?” Luhan broke the silence as she set her menu down.

            “U-uh, yeah, I do.” He didn’t, but that didn’t matter because Luhan had already rung the calling button for the table and the waiter was there in seconds, notebook in hand and smile plastered on.

            “…And for you, Sir?” the waiter was addressing him now, and oh , he didn’t realize Luhan already finished ordering. Quickly, he just blabbered off the first thing he saw on the menu, visible deflating as soon as the employee was gone.

            “You alright there?” Luhan asked, brows furrowed a bit in concern. Sehun nodded, probably a bit too frantically, since her worry only seemed to grow.

            “Yeah, just, uh, caught off guard,” he said lamely, trying to think of something to change the topic. “So, what do you—”

            “Excuse me, Sir,” the waiter was back once again, and Sehun snapped his head up only to see that it wasn’t him that was being addressed, but Luhan. “I’m terribly sorry, but the peach iced tea your ordered seems to have run out. Would another flavor be acceptable, or would you like to order a different drink?”

            “Just water is fine, thanks,” Luhan replied with a charming smile and nod as the waiter left. “Anyway, what were you about to say?”

            “Uhm,” Sehun said dumbly, still stuck on the previous interaction. “No, n…nothing.”

            “What’s wrong?” Luhan asked. “You look freaked out.”

            “Oh, nah, it’s just,” he paused, “that waiter, he just called you Sir, should we correct him?” Luhan tilted his head, a light smirk lifting onto her face.

            “What are you on abo—oh.” She cut herself off, and Sehun swore he saw her gulp a little bit for speaking up again. “Uh, it’s all good, I’m used to it.”

            “You are?” Sehun asked, incredulous as Luhan just shrugged.

            “Yeah, it’s normal. You know, my hair’s short, my voice is a little deeper than others, so I look more boyish, I guess.”

            “Really?”

            “You seem shocked.”

            “Ah, uh, I dunno, I was just wondering how people could make that mistake. You’re so pretty.”

            “Oh.” That was all Luhan said, and did Sehun mess up? He had no clue, but somehow, he felt he did. On one hand, a small, but definitely happy flush was crossing her face and her lips were curled up ever-so-slightly into a sweet smile. But there was something about the look in her eyes that was so reaching, so distant. Her eyebrows were scrunched together, as though she wanted to say something, but just couldn’t.

            “Thanks, I guess,” she finally said. “Though, I’ll say, most people don’t start singing my praises until the second date.”

            “Wha—I wasn’t—I mean, I didn’t mean to, uh… ugh, just forget it,” Sehun stammered, finally giving up and looking away in a flustered huff as the waiter returned with their drinks. Luhan was having the time of her life, it seemed, embarrassing the hell outta him, and Sehun tried to ignore how her laugh sounded like tinkling sound of wind chimes on a spring day.

            Tried to, being the keep phrase.

            “You’re too easy to rile up, Sehun-ah,” Luhan said as she decided to finally stop laughing at his suffering.

            “Well I think you’re just a bully,” he grumbled.

            “Oh c’mon, would a bully take you out on a date like this?” That caught his attention.

            “So…so, this is a date?” he asked, his voice small as he barely managed to keep eye contact with Luhan, who looked more confused than anything else.

            “What else could it be?” Sehun shrugged weakly. “I mean, we literally met at a speed dating event.”

            “I dunno, I mean, didn’t they say that it wasn’t technically a matchmaking thing? For all I know you’re just looking for another basketball partner for when Kris hyung is too busy.”

            “Oh God no,” Luhan said. “No offense, Sehun-ah, but you look like you’d be at basketball. You’re way lanky, and something tells me that you’d probably fall over yourself before we even started.”

            “Hey! I’m awesome at basketball!” Luhan rolled her eyes at the protest. “Besides, isn’t basketball all about being tall, anyway?”

            “Yeah, see, like that’s exactly how I know you’d be awful at it. No, it’s not all about height, you idiot.”

            “Well, excuuuuse me, not everyone is a sports master like apparently you are.” Luhan shrugged.

            “I mean, I’m not gonna refuse the praise,” she shot back with a grin.

            “Frickin tomboy,” he muttered under his breath, and Luhan scoffed.

            “Who even says tomboy anymore? That’s so like, five years ago.” 

            “You’ve literally only been in Korea for five years!”

            It was arguing, but it was playful and Sehun couldn’t stop the smile coming up to his lips, the bubbling amusement in his eyes. Somehow, talking to Luhan was just so comfortable like this—exchanging banter and screwing around with each other. It wasn’t anything like before, where he was stuttering and stumbling just to get out a few measly words. Somehow, it felt like they’d crossed some sort of barrier, and that the conversation could just flow from here on out.

            And that’s exactly what happened. They continued talking for hours and hours, through dinner, through the after-dinner drinks they went out to get, up until the moment they reached Luhan’s house. They both lived quite close to the Italian place and the neighboring bar they’d visited afterwards, but Sehun had insisted on walking Luhan home. Maybe it was a bit too traditional, but they were both well on their way to getting completely faced, and he didn’t want to risk anything happening.

            “You’re really something, you know that,” Luhan commented exasperatedly as they reached her door. “I’m older than you, what makes you think I can’t take care of myself?”

            “It’s not that!” he argued, his words more than a little slurred. “Just…just wanted to make sure you got home safe.”

            “That’s what texts are for, genius,” Luhan shot back, but she still ruffled his hair fondly before reaching into her pockets to get her keys. “’Sides, I’m more worried about you right now. You should’ve told me your tolerance was , I would’ve stopped you at the fifth shot.”

            “’M not drunk!” Yes, he was, but that wasn’t the point here. “And texts are too late, y’know? Like, I gotta be ‘round to per…pr…protect you—yeah, protect you and .”

            “You keep telling yourself that, Captain Inebriated. I’m sure you’ll fight off a great lamppost for me.”

            “’m serious!” Sehun puffed his cheeks out in annoyance. “Guys are creeps, and noona’s too pretty, it’s dangerous!”

            Luhan sighed before turning to unlock her door, a smile on her face, but Sehun froze as he realized that look from before was back. That distant, almost sad look in her eyes that made him feel like he ed up to Mars and back. The look that made him want to apologize without even knowing why, even with his slow, intoxicated brain. He didn’t have a chance to, however, because suddenly, Luhan was speaking and leaning in.

            “Thanks for tonight, Sehun-ah,” she said, her voice barely a whisper as she stood on her tip-toes to speak by his ear. She leaned back with a sweet smile before pressing her lips to his right cheek delicately. “I had a lot of fun.”

            “M-me… me too,” he stuttered out, unable to stop himself from bringing his hand up to cup his cheek.

            “Text me when you get home, okay?”

            “O…okay.”

            “Good night, Sehun-ah.”

            “G’night, noona.”

            Luhan’s apartment door closed behind her back, but Sehun still stood there, speechless, cheeks warm.

----

            After the first date—Sehun’s heart still fluttered at the word—things somehow became so much more confusing, but it seemed that was just a trend with Luhan.

            They went out more often, as much as they could with Luhan’s work schedule and Sehun’s school schedule. Weekends were practically reserved for them and whatever stupid date ideas they could come up with. Once it be watching whatever movie that was playing in the theaters that had one star on Rotten Tomatoes. Another time, they actually played basketball together to see if Sehun was actually at it (he was, but it wasn’t like he’d admit that any time soon). Hell, they’d even gone clubbing, despite all of their best judgement.

            Yet, despite how they kept meeting more and more, Sehun felt like nothing was progressing with their relationship. He couldn’t even call it a relationship—every time he tried to mention anything about them becoming official, Luhan would either evade the topic, or completely shut it down. It’d been two months of this back and forth, this push and pull, where it seemed pretty clear that she liked him well enough. Even then, she didn’t seem willing to go anywhere with it, and it was driving Sehun crazy.

            Though, at the moment, Sehun was going crazy in more ways than one.

            From a more… physical perspective, his relationship with Luhan was far different than any of his previous ones. While he wasn’t one to jump into after the first date, he certainly didn’t expect things with Luhan to be so chaste. It wasn’t even about not having —there was no feeling-up of each other’s bodies, no make out sessions, not even a single kiss on the lips! The most he’d gotten were a couple of cheek and forehead kisses within the past two months, and if he tried to initiate anything, he’d be rejected instantly.

            It was far more confusing than that, though, because at the end of the day, Luhan still seemed to want to go further. He’d at first assumed she was more of a traditional, romantic type of person, who wanted to save those things for much later. But he soon learned she didn’t seem to have a romantic bone in her body, much to his chagrin, seeing as she shot down all of his semi-romantic or “cliché” date ideas immediately.

            More than that, she certainly had no trouble teasing him.

            He thought back to that night they went clubbing. Of course, while the alcohol hadn’t helped, it had felt like the entire night was just one big trial testing the limits of his self-control. Luhan was all winks and tongue flicks and body rolls, but as soon as any contact happened, she was gone, like a wisp of wind. One second, she’d be asking him if they could do body shots, the next, she’d be grinding against him on the dance floor, and the next, she’d be flicking his forehead and telling him not to get ahead of himself.

            Luhan certainly had to be special to make him feel like a hormonal teenager again.

            Stumbling into his apartment, he tried to pay attention to what Luhan was saying, but the words were all fuzzy in his mind. They hadn’t even intended to drink tonight—it was a Sunday—but the soju stand they’d found on the way back from the restaurant was too tempting. Now here he was, scrambling to get back to his home while also keeping mind that oh god Luhan was in his apartment. He reminded himself that the only reason she was here was become some drunk broke a bottle and never cleaned it up, and Sehun was a clumsy person. Luhan, being Luhan, insisted on taking care of his wounds immediately, leading them back to his place.

            He really was trying to get his head out of the gutter, but it was hard.

…Pun maybe a little intended.

            “Where’s your medical stuff?” Luhan asked as she practically stomped her way into the apartment.

            “Bathroom,” Sehun said as he led her there, clenching onto his hand.

They’d make makeshift bandages out of the stall-handler’s kerchief, but glass hurt like a and people like Sehun were not made for this. Once they reached the bathroom, he slowly sat down on a stool and set his hand down on the countertop, removing the cloth and turning the sink on, rinsing off the dried blood and trying not to hiss at the sting.         

            “First aid kit?” Luhan asked as she stepped in, and Sehun nodded towards to a side cabinet.

            “Tweezers should be there too, in the top shelf.” Of course, those were the tweezers he usually used for his eyebrows, but he figured they could handle the sacrifice right now. Luhan had grabbed the items and was by his side in record time, immediately pulling his hand out of the water as he turned the tap off. After drying his hand with a paper towel, she started scouring through his first aid kid.

            “You really need to watch your surroundings more,” Luhan scolded, and Sehun rolled his eyes as he heard the same line for what felt like the hundredth time that night. “I’m serious, Oh Sehun. I mean, you literally got a bump on your head from running into a pole during our basketball game. And what about the time you nearly sprained your ankle when you tripped on vodka? And—”

            “Yes, Mom,” he droned, hissing as a cotton pad loaded with antiseptic hit his hand.

            “C’mon, don’t be like that.” She paused to grab the tweezers. “I don’t wanna sound like a nag, and you know that, but you’re lucky the cuts aren’t deep. I have no ing clue where the nearest hospital would be if you needed stitches.”

            “For not wanting to sou—ah.” Luhan muttered a small apology as she pulled out a particularly stubborn piece of glass from his hand. There wasn’t much loose glass at the scene, but a couple of relatively large fragments had ended up in his hand. On one hand, it was painful as hell, but at least they were easy to take out. Once all the glass was out, he continued, “For not wanting to sound like a nag, you’re nagging a lot now.”

            “And whose fault is that?” The antiseptic was back, and Sehun sighed in relief as the pain slowly faded and numbness took its place. “You worry the outta me sometimes, you know that?”

            “Why?” The question was out before he could stop it, and Luhan froze, confused.

            “Why?” she parroted, and Sehun looked away, unable to bear the eye contact.

            “Why do you worry about me?” he clarified.

            “Wha—I—ho—of course I worry about you, you’re… you’re important to me.”

            “It sure doesn’t seem like it.”

            “Sehun what are you—” Luhan tried to speak, but Sehun’s emotional floodgates had opened, and there was no turning back now.

            “I mean, you barely treat me like anything other than a friend, sometimes even less than that, but then you make jokes about love potions and flirt with me at bars and call me even though I’m not a minor and, most of all, you refuse to even think of being anything with me. I mean, what’s up with that? You’ll go on dates with me and you’ll actually call them dates but you won’t actually think about dating me and being together and—”

            “Is this really the time to be talking about this right now?” No, no it wasn’t.

            “Yes, it is,” Sehun snapped. “It is because I’m confused as hell right now noona and I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I know you don’t ‘do the relationship’ thing, whatever the that means, but you can’t kiss me on the cheek and buy teddy bears for me while also getting upset whenever I mention going any farther—it’s not fair.”

            “Sehun…” Luhan’s voice was soft now, even as her hands worked diligently to wrap up his injuries.

            “I don’t wanna just go do stupid things and get drunk and text randomly. I wanna hold your hand and kiss you on the lips and call you my girlfriend and go on a Ferris Wheel with you and watch fireworks with you and celebrate Valentine’s with you and just be something with you. I don’t even care if we can’t make out or or whatever, but what’s so wrong with that?”

            “…Nothing,” Luhan finally said as he finished the bandages on Sehun’s hand, and he snapped his head up only to see that she was the one now looking away. “There’s nothing wrong with that, and…I understand how you feel. That kind of stuff, I wanna do it with you too, no matter how dumb and cliché it all looks sometimes. It’s just—oh no, Sehun, Sehunnie, why are you crying?”

            Why was he what?

            “’m not,” he said, bringing his uninjured hand up to his eyes immediately, only to be shocked by the wetness he felt on them. “Just… something in my ey—hmph!”

            His excuse was immediately muffed as his face was suddenly being smothered by Luhan’s chest and abdomen, and it took him a couple seconds to realize that they were hugging. Like full-on hugging, not the weird half-side-hugs that Luhan was usually so partial to. Her face was buried in his hair, and after a bit, he found himself relaxing in the embrace.

            “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you this upset, it’s just…”

            “Just what?” Sehun pressed as he pulled his face back so he could speak clearly.

            “I… I can’t tell you. Not yet. I don’t even know how to tell you. It’s just, it’s really complicated, and if I tell you, you might end up hating me, or at least thinking of me differently. I don’t want that, but I don’t want to be lying to you, or keeping a secret from you, but I just don’t kno—”

            “Noona,” Sehun interrupted, pulling back completely and staring at the other dead in the eye. Luhan was tense, but didn’t look away even as Sehun’s arms slowly wrapped around her and pulled her closer. “If I tried to hug you like this now, would you like it?”

            “…Yes,” Luhan answered, embarrassed but pleased as the grip became tighter.

            “If I tried to kiss you, would you like it?”

            “Y…yes.”

            “If…” he trailed off, slowly standing up before continuing. “If I tried to go even farther than that…” He paused, not sure if he wanted to elaborate. “Would, would you like it?”

            “Of course I ing would, you brat.”

            The sudden snarl caught Sehun off guard, but not nearly as much as the hand grabbing at his collar and yanking him downwards did. He caught himself on the counter with his uninjured hand, but he didn’t have time to question anything because suddenly, lips were slamming against his and oh god Luhan was kissing him.

            He couldn’t stop himself from into the kiss, bring his arms back to Luhan’s waist once he had adjusted his footing and stabilized himself. He could hardly believe that the same person who would smack him away if his hands came too close before was kissing him so fervently now. She was practically forcing her way into Sehun’s mouth, biting and at his lips until they went slack enough to sneak her tongue inside. It should’ve been sloppy and messy, but somehow Luhan made it ing perfect and God maybe this was worth the wait.

            “Where the ’s your bedroom?” Luhan hissed as she pulled away, and no, Sehun wasn’t staring at the trail of spit that was linking their lips together.

            “Uh, d-down the hallway, , here,” he stammered as he grabbed Luhan’s hand and pulled her along with him as he walked to his room. Never in his life had he ever been so glad that he didn’t have a roommate at this new place.

            A couple of awkward stumbles later, they were practically falling onto Sehun’s bed, and he couldn’t help but gulp at the sight in front of him. They’d ended up in one of the most compromising positions he could think of, with Luhan practically straddling him as he laid down, upper body held up by his elbows. Luhan had leaned back immediately, yanking off her demi-jacket without an inch of hesitation in her moves.

            “Noona…” he called out weakly, dizzy with both want and confusion. This was too fast, wasn’t it? Sure, before it’d gone too slow, but were they about the make a mistake, what if they regretted this later? What if this ruined everything they had going for them now? What if—

            “Stop thinking and strip,” Luhan snapped, but her expression softened as she saw the worry in Sehun’s eyes. Leaning in, she pressed a small kiss to the area in between Sehun’s eyebrows before pressing their foreheads together. “Don’t worry so much, okay? Let’s just have a good time.”

            “…Okay.” Sehun’s own voice was barely above a whisper, but a smile was slowly creeping onto his face as he brought his hands up to his shirt.

            “Oh, and Sehun?” A few more kisses were pressed into his temple, and Sehun was on cloud nine.

            “Yeah?”

            “Drop the noona. Call me Luhan.”    

---

because what would a slice of life story be without mixed signals and hasty decisions
also this may be turning into a four shot but i swear im tryna keep it as short as possible haha