"Be careful, okay?" reminded Lucas again for the nth times as they strolled toward her booked-taxi. "Call me once you get home!" he added again, pulling the door for her, suppressing a sudden urge to ask her to stay. 

"Ok. Ok. Stop nagging..." She turned around and motioned him to lean closer. He inclined his brows in confusion but did it anyway. 

"Why—" his words died down on his throat when a soft peck landed on his cheek. He stared agape at her for a couple of seconds, surprised by the sudden affectionate gesture.

"Bye Xuxi, have fun training!" she mused, peeking from the small window, waving her hand as the taxi glided away toward the exit gate, looking pleased with herself.

Lucas chuckled and waved back at her. "So ing adorable..." he mumbled under his breath, throwing a last glance at the empty driveway, touching his cheek with a content sigh, feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

L: What was that for?

He typed as he jogged back toward the lobby, grinning to himself.

Y: Lucky charm ;)

Damn. He missed her already!

L: Getting bold, are we? 

Y: ( ꈍᴗꈍ)

Lucas snickered at her last reply and almost walked into a dark-haired man with prominence eyebrows, no other than Coach Lee. His grin vanished within seconds. 

"I don't see you at breakfast..." Said the old man, as they stepped into the elevator together.

"Err...I woke up early and starving, so..." He lied, trying to conceal his shock.

"Then what are you doing in the lobby?"

"Oh...I just went for a walk..." The latter glanced at him for a moment, probably studying his expression. He put his best poker-face. 

"I see..." He nodded, looking thoughtful.

After several moments of silence, the elevator stopped on his floor. Lucas excused himself before the guy could ask him another question. Phew! That was close!

"Yah! Where have you been all night?" Mark asked as soon as he emerged from the door of their shared-suite.

"Huh? Oh, something comes up..." he replied in a casual tone and hopped onto the bed.

The latter snorted. "Something or someone??" Mark asked again, eyeing him with great interest. Lucas smirked at his roommate before going back to his phone screen, scrolling through his conversation with Yuqi.

Mark got up from his bed and crawled next to him. "You've got a girlfriend?" he tried to peek onto his phone screen.  

Lucas gave him a non-committal shrug, signaling him to drop the subject the moment Jisung, one of their teammates walked out of their bathroom. The younger greeted him and left the room.

He glanced at Mark. "What is he doing here? Did you lure him in?"

He snickered when Mark gave him a disgusted look. "Jaemin picking on him again, so he took refuge and shower here..." explained Mark.

"He should stop teasing the boy..." Lucas commented as Mark yawned widely in his face.

"Well, the perk of being the youngest in the team..."

"Thank God, I'm not the youngest..."

"Yeah!" Mark seconded him. "Anyway, who's the girl?"

"What girl?" 

"Oh come on man! The girl you spent the night with..." he wriggled his eyebrows.

"No way in hell I'm telling you..." Lucas grimaced. 

"Hmm...I wonder what's Coach Lee doing right now?" Mark muttered, reaching out for his phone with a mischievous glint in his eyes. 

"You won't..."

He grinned and dialed the Coach's number. Lucas grabbed the phone from him and ended the call. "Yuqi. Song Yuqi. Happy now??" he glared at the brown-haired guy in front of him. 

Mark cackled in delight. "I know it. I saw you being lovey-dovey with her in the lobby yesterday..." 

"You did?" he stared in horror at him. 

"Do not despair, brother. Your secret rendezvous is safe with me and Hendery..." Mark laughed again. He scowled at him. "So are you guys like...official now?" he again.

He grinned at the latter and put on his crimson-red jersey, ignoring his question in purpose. Mark scowled and gave up.

***

"You make that yourself? Are you sure?" asked Lucas when she bragged about the cute custom mug she made on her seventh-day working on the ceramic workshop where mom sent her to receive her punishment for leaving home without notice a week ago. Though it didn't feel like a punishment at all. She was having so much fun working at the shop. 

"Yup. Cute right?" 

Lucas rolled to his side and mused, "Where's mine?" 

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