It’s bizarre, but Lu Han really wishes Minseok would avoid him as he had done in the beginning.

Mostly because ever since his mind first came up with the crazy idea of wanting to kiss Minseok, he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it. He wants to spend every second with Minseok, and if it somehow also involved kissing, he wouldn’t mind. Having all these dangerous thoughts make him question if he has enough self-restraint not to jump on Minseok whenever the other flashes him one of his cute smiles.

Which is why he tries to subtly distance himself, to cool himself off. To give his feelings a timeout so that he can start acting like a sane ghost around Minseok again.

But the more he tries to create distance between them, the more clingy Minseok becomes. Instead of enjoying his ghost-free time, Minseok is always near him these days. Literally so. Usually it’s him who sits closer than necessary to Minseok, not quite touching him but almost so. But these days Minseok acts like he’s never heard of the concept of personal space and always has his thighs or arms brushing against him. Which would be great except it makes Lu Han’s mouth dry and ghost powers go wild.

It is hard to explain to Minseok that he didn’t mean to send that water bottle flying across the floor. Nor did he mean to turn up the volume to the highest setting during the singing class. He never meant to make the microphone slip out of Chanyeol’s hand, but at that very moment Minseok had yawned, stretching his arms so that his shirt rode up, revealing the soft tummy underneath. The next thing Lu Han knew, Chanyeol’s mic had wrestled its way out of the rapper trainee’s grip.

When Minseok sends a knowing, cold look towards him (most likely thinking he had purposely wanted to prank Chanyeol), he can only offer a small smile in return, trying not to look as guilty as he feels.

“What are you doing?” Minseok questions him once they have returned to the dorm and everyone else has gone out to eat something. “Are you having fun, creating havoc?”

“I swear, I didn’t do any of that intentionally!” Lu Han defends himself.

“Then why?” Minseok pushes on, starting to corner him. 

What can he possibly say? It’s your cute smile that makes my powers send bottles flying. No . You’re my only friend, but lately I can’t stop thinking about kissing you. Definitely not.

“Maybe I’m getting a little frustrated because it’s starting to seem like I'll never debut…” Lu Han mutters the first excuse he comes up with. He doesn’t think about his words too much, because if he had he would have never said them. 

After hearing his excuse, Minseok’s face falls. “I’m sorry…” He mumbles. “I know I haven’t been able to figure out how to debut you yet.”

Lu Han feels like a monster, and not because he’s a ghost.

“No, no, no, no!” He rapidly shakes his head. “Not your fault! In fact! You should stop worrying about me debuting altogether! I don’t know why I even asked for that, when you’re obviously busy enough trying to debut yourself. Besides…it’s not like it’s possible to debut ghosts anyway. Sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Don’t apologize,” Minseok tells him, lifting his gaze. He reaches for Lu Han’s hand, attempting to grab it, but only catching air as his hand goes through the ghost. Minseok winces slightly, and looks frustrated, letting his hand just hover near Lu Han’s. “I want to make you debut. And I will make you debut. I just… I don't know how yet. But I will figure it out. So, don’t you worry, Luhan.”

Ah, Lu Han thinks, here it is again; the feeling of wanting to kiss Minseok rushing over him. Why does he have to be so sweet? Why is he always being so helpful when Lu Han fully knows he’s nothing but a big pain in his . He’s too much for him to handle. His gentle smile and encouraging words are too much. The promise he makes, the one they both know he can’t possibly keep, is way too much. Lu Han feels a rush of emotions fill him and a second later he accidentally sends a nearby pile of Chinese textbooks flying around. Minseok jumps a little because of a sudden ruckus.

“,” Lu Han curses. “Sorry!”

Then he lets himself sink through the floor despite Minseok’s objections.

He can’t let things continue like this. He can’t let his emotions get the better of him. What if the next time he accidentally sends a table or a chair flying towards Minseok, and hurts him in the process? He would have to burn his own bones afterwards.

The only solution he comes up with is to keep avoiding Minseok. He deserves a break from his ghostly antics anyway. Lu Han’s been bothering him way too much lately, and it couldn’t have been easy for Minseok. To focus on debuting while wasting his precious time trying to make Lu Han debut too.

The next two weeks Lu Han knowingly avoids Minseok. He still keeps an eye on him, but only after making sure Minseok doesn’t notice a sudden extra head peeking from the floor. The familiar loneliness starts to wrap its limbs around him when he goes back to talking to no one and spending time alone. But it’s still better than sending stuff flying and giving Minseok grey hair. Lu Han notices Minseok keeps glancing around, as if searching for him, but he doesn’t dare to show himself. Minseok needs to concentrate on debuting, and not on him.

He had naively thought that by avoiding Minseok, his feelings would surely go away. Only, too bad, the results are completely the opposite. The more distance Lu Han puts between him and Minseok, the more he keeps thinking about the other. He laments on how much he wants to talk to Minseok, how much he wants to make him laugh, or watch football with him. Worst of all, he still keeps thinking about how much he wants to kiss Minseok. Maybe that’s actually the way to find his peace, and not by debuting. 

For a moment Lu Han considers it, proposing that wild idea to Minseok. That he can find peace by kissing him. 

He can already imagine a metal spoon going through his head, or Minseok’s tiny fists hitting him while he blushes furiously and accuses him of being a ert again. Lu Han groans when he realises he wants that so badly too. He misses Minseok getting angry at him, or groaning at the stupid things he does.

Deep in his thoughts, he forgets to keep an eye out for his surroundings. Only when familiar round cheeks fill his vision, does Lu Han realise Minseok is sitting in front of him. There’s about a million questions in Minseok’s eyes, probably all having to do something with Lu Han suddenly disappearing. But it’s not just that. There’s something else in his gaze too, something he hasn’t seen before. He’s about to ask what has happened, but Minseok beats him to it.

“I’m debuting, Luhan. With the new boy group they are creating. I did it.”

Lu Han wishes he had never avoided Minseok for these two weeks. Not when it seemed their time together was finally running out.