By Chance

It sure felt good being away from the dormitories for once.

Stepping onto familiar Chinese grounds, Luhan scanned around, eyes not landing on anything for too long until he found the person he had been looking for hiding the half of his face behind the restaurant menu. At first, Luhan thought maybe it was only him being cute and scared of being left alone in a crowd, but the fact that he was exchanging gazes from the hard cover, which appeared upside down in his grasp, to the front counter clarified his need to investigate. As Luhan closed the gap separating them, the waft of dim sims teased his nose mercilessly, occasional chatter filling the room. Taking the seat in front of Baekhyun and barely gaining his attention, Luhan raised his voice in an attempt to beat another wave of clamour, clearly startling the younger one.

"What are you looking at?"

"Goddess..." When he realised what he had said, his puffy, red eyes shifted from their focus and reeled back to the reality in front of him. "I mean.. Goodness! The Chinese delicacy on this menu looks yum ay!?"

"Okay, I don't know how much bacon you've been sneaking back at the hotel to have forgotten this, but if you haven't realised yet we have been eating Chinese food for the last two weeks!"

That was when Luhan, the older of the two, realised Baekhyun's shy fleeting glances at the waitress behind the receptionist counter. Her black hair rested in a neat bundle above her pale, angular face, an expensive looking golden pin protruding through it, which Luhan supposed was what would help hold it together. She was wearing one of those traditional Chinese silk dresses they saw in the markets earlier (and what Luhan always saw his cousins wearing in photographs), decorated via embroidery of vines and butterflies. Speaking of butterflies, the way she batted her eyelids reminded him of the wings of one in mid-flight. Elegant. Graceful. Alive. Even when she was yelling something in her heavily distinctive dialect did her maple syrup voice sound like a singing siren in the summer mornings. Luhan could see why his dongsaeng was attracted to her, but, for some reason, he just couldn't quite shake off an unsettling feeling about the whole scenario...

"I don't want take away," Baekhyun pleaded, hoping his hyung would not just order another drive-through meal. "Let's eat here, inside, hyung!"

"Okay, fine... go bag a spot while I park the car."

"YAAAAAY~"

'Just what do I do with this kid...'

But Baekhyun was little and cute anyway, very much like Luhan himself, he thought, so he'd do a just as well job at bribing the waitresses to give them the best seats. It was a Saturday afternoon after all, and all that meant for Luhan from experience was crowded streets and angry customers--

Luhan was snapped out of his daze when she arrived to the edge of the table, eyes overflowing with kindness and a nostalgic sort of aura. Wait, no, it couldn't be. Could it? Was it her? No-- That was when he remembered. That distinctive grin, that confident look, the way she bit her lip as she was about to speak, and the way her eyes blinked and shone gentle lasers out of them like fragile light beacons navigating through a forest of mist. How could he ever forget...

Her attention darted between the two handsome gentlemen, but she turned to Baekhyun first, the same courteous smile still on her face and pen to notepad.

"Is there anything you would like?"

'How 'bout I take you for a drive in my hyung's car, then we can go see a movie and have dinner together some time, hey?' Baekhyun thought, only to open his mouth dry and reluctant to speak in Chinese. He still hadn't perfected the language, and there was no way in hell he was going to embarrass himself in front of the girl of his dreams. Luhan was made uncontrollably nervous with the addition of his dongsaeng's hesitation; he knew he had to order for Baekhyun again. But at least he was sensible enough to do the opposite, glad his mind hadn't run any wilder than that. Yet.

"He'll just get a bubble milk tea, thanks." The caffeine they put in that thing in this shop was apparently spectacular, so Luhan ordered one as well. That would be enough to keep him driving them back to their hotel in the city without falling asleep at the wheel. Maintaining his composure, he continued to speak in his native language carefully. "I'll order the same."

She gave him a suspicious glance, and Luhan hoped she hadn't recognised him on the spot.

She didn't.

"Oh, and we'll also like a...." Luhan proceeded, snapping his fingers as a thought came to him, and ordered something else in fluent Chinese that Baekhyun didn't understand. For some reason, that made him feel jealous. She smiled at him, obviously impressed by his skill despite their Korean backing. Then, he realised he was just being unreasonable and refrained from kicking his hyung from under the table.

Tsk. Show off.

When he finished, she bowed and collected the menus off their table, feeling she was going to see or hear something ugly if she had left the two males alone any later. It wasn't until she returned to the kitchen that Luhan noticed his dongsaeng sulking into his seat, and asked, "You interested in her?"

Baekhyun almost choked on oxygen at the abruptness of the question.

"Hyung, shhhhh! She might hear us! Besides, you're no less!"

Luhan couldn't find the right words for an explanation, because he was sort of right...

Baekhyun looked around nervously, relieved, for a minute, to find that nobody had been eavesdropping. "But... was I really that... obvious..."

"Try looking into a mirror."

Baekhyun flushed as red as the pulsing traffic light--Luhan thought--that kept the cars out of the narrow market zone down the road.

"But don't you think she's pretty!?" Baekhyun whispered, squealing, almost.

"Yeah, she is..." Luhan admitted, but he was the only one who knew that his relationship with this girl was not as simple as his statement. He refused to let Baekhyun know. He promised to take care of him, and surely that covered more than just feeding him...

"She probably likes you more than me, though."

As much as Luhan found her beautiful, he had no intentions of getting close to her--not again--in the way his dongsaeng probably wanted to. Perhaps she had been the only reason Baekhyun was willing to make morning trips down town with Luhan every day. The idea of them passing this store just so he could catch a glimpse of her serving customers by the door was enough to leave a smile on his face to last the night.

Luhan was determined. What were best friends for if they couldn't even fulfill a wish as innocent as this?

"Not if you let me help she won't."

Baekhyun's ears perked up in an instant. "Really? You're willing!? No way! How? Teach me your ways, hyung!"

But before Luhan could spill his secret, the dishes were served, wheeled in by a chef from the kitchen. The colours bursted in front of them in perfect presentation, the food still steaming hot and delivered onto their plates right from the cooking pan. For a store so outwardly ordinary the meals sure were appetising.

"Hm, eat first, talk later. I'm starving~!"

Luhan grabbed a mouthful and Baekhyun was left no choice but to follow suit. Baekhyun was so indulged in trying to get the waitress' attention earlier that he didn't realise how hungry he had been. For the next half an hour both were stuffing themselves full, chilling to cold milk tea, Baekhyun not his lips until his hunger and thirst were suppressed. It didn't sound practical to an outsider, but having to wake up early every morning and go for a run around the vicinity despite being on holiday from their studio was hard work. Soon, the both of them were so drowned in glory that the conversation was long forgotten.

"I'll pay, you go wait in the car outside or something first."

Baekhyun pouted, but complied anyway. Waiting for Luhan to walk him to the entrance, he gave one last nod to the waitress at the counter, thanking her, which she returned yet again, and expected, that once he had left China back to Korea with his hyung, he'd never be able to see someone as perfect and as close to his dream girl ever again...

Luhan, being the loving hyung he was, however, decided to finally step in and secure his dongsaeng's fantasy.

It was the first time in years he called her name.

"Seohyun-ssi."

Instead of seeing the waitress they'd been accompanied by all afternoon, the same, vibrant young girl from his hometown in China and his college days in America suddenly flashed before his eyes. She had to squint her eyes before being able to reach a confirmation.

"Who-- wait... Lu... han?"

He gave her a knowing smile, and her jaw almost dropped.

"Luhan! So it really was you! I thought I was just being dellusional, seeing you back here in China! What are you doing back here!?"

Good thing news hadn't reached her about him becoming an entertainer in Korea instead of returning to America to study; she was always so eager on seeing him making it big, to see him working for some huge, wealthy company in the middle of some wonderland, or become a doctor, pilot even, maybe, which was all quite ironic, really, given her spot behind the counter in some run down dim sim business in the midst of all this traffic and dust.

In time, he'd tell her, perhaps when he becomes successful and famous--but for now, Baekhyun's happiness lied in his hands.

"You see that kid I was with? I met him in... America. Just thought I'd take him out and give him a chance to experience life, that's all," he chuckled, suddenly reminiscent about when he and Baekhyun first met in training to become artists with the rest of the members. Although it really was Korea they'd come to known each other, the lie would have to do for now... Baekhyun could just learn English later, right? It was also that same year that Luhan left Seohyun. Annoying and whiny as he could be sometimes, without that kid, Luhan would not have been able to pull it through. Now that they've debuted, he felt everything was unreal--leaving her, his family, hometown, for a dream he didn't even know if he could achieve.

Her following comment surprised him.

"Man, you've changed so much... When we were young, you used to follow me around everywhere like a puppy! Now you have one following your tail," she said, taking a second off her work to gesture to Baekhyun who was pondering into the sky outside, and whose back was visible through the transparent glass entrance.

Luhan tried to stifle a laugh. "You think?"

But she kept her head down and stayed silent, finalising the payment. After he made his transaction, they sat by the counter and he found himself wanting to spend more and more time catching up with his friend, who he hadn't seen in so long. Minutes passed, but not for a second was his beloved dongsaeng, who had by now fallen asleep waiting for Luhan in the car, forgotten. He made sure to mention Baekhyun as much as he could, whenever he could.

"Actually... I have a favour to ask."

If there was something in the world she knew how to read quicker than receipt documents and restaurant bills, it was his heart.

As though she had been waiting for him to ask this whole time, she said, "I know. He's... cute. You've gotten better, Luhan. You know my tastes."

Luhan wiggled his eyebrows. Much to his surprise, his job was going to be done more effortlessly than previously expected--

"So, if my favour was to ask to trade in your number for his... you wouldn't mind?" Yes, after all these years, Luhan still kept her number. He could never bring himself to delete it, even though he had stopped crushing on her since graduation.

 --and Seohyun beamed.

So maybe this wasn't such a bad decision, officially introducing Seohyun to Baekhyun.

So maybe Luhan would be able take care of Baekhyun better than he thought he initially could, after all.

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a/n: suddenly thought of this idea in bed this morning LOL. the Seohyun in this story is in no way indicative of the member of snsd, but if you find it easier to think of it that way, then nothing's stopping you heheh.