TWO YEARS LATER

 

It’s been a month since Lu Han’s official EXO debut. It may have taken Minseok’s friend two years to get back in shape, to get strong enough for the merciless dance practices and difficult choreographies, but he’s finally done it. He might have missed a couple of comebacks (although looking back at the styling of Wolf, Minseok thinks that was for the best. There’s no telling what the stylist would have made him wear), but he’s made his debut just in time for their next mini album — Overdose. 

 

Ah. Overdose...

 

“Whoever came up with that choreography must have had something loose in their head,” Minseok mumbles when they are walking back to their dorms. “Trying to balance myself on top of those hands…it’s just too difficult!”

 

Beside him Lu Han keeps nodding at everything he says. Despite the complex choreography he hasn’t really complained. Not like him. Actually, Lu Han seems pretty happy about everything. He hopes it’s not because he gets to have his hands on his , trying to balance him.

 

“But you look cute with pink hair at least,” Lu Han chimes in, tussling his light hair with his hand. 

 

He clearly enjoys seeing the way his ears redden before his hand gets slapped away. “You’ve already told me that plenty of times!” He mumbles and Lu Han just chuckles. He knows it’s no use saying anything, because he keeps telling him that until the end of their promotions. Lu Han and his constant stream of compliments...

 

“You should say I look good too, Baozi!” Lu Han whines and slings his arm around him.

 

He can feel himself blushing some more but doesn’t try to struggle out of the grip. He knows it’s also useless. When Lu Han had been a ghost he was able to shake him off, but now the other’s grip has more strength and he finds it easier just to give up and let him wrap his arms around him whenever he wants. Which means all the time.

 

“You know you look good, why should I keep telling you that! It just inflates your ego even more!” He whines. Ever since Lu Han got rid of that outdated haircut of his, he’s been looking even more handsome. Not that he’ll ever admit that to his face.

 

Lu Han grins, hugging him from the side. “But I like hearing you telling me I look good~”

 

Someone gags next to them. It’s Kyungsoo. He looks at the duo with a judging expression on his face. “Please, keep the PDA to a minimum.” Next to him Chanyeol and Jongdae nod, keeping their distance.

 

Right, everyone can see and hear them now. It’s not the first time he’s forgotten about that and Lu Han’s even worse. He says a lot of stupid stuff because he’s so used to no one but him hearing him. He thinks sometimes Lu Han keeps forgetting the others exist in general. 

 

“Yeah,” Baekhyun pipes up behind them. “Flirt when you’re alone!”

 

He takes Baekhyun’s neck into a tight grip, squeezing the smirk out of his face. “We weren’t flirting, you brat!”

 

Baekhyun whines all the way back to their dorms, but he doesn’t loose his grip on him. Lu Han’s been taking longer steps to get away from them quicker. Probably, because he knows he’ll be the next victim of his death grip if he loiters around much longer. 

 

At least Lu Han finally having a physical body makes it easier for Minseok to punish him. Not that he acts irritating on purpose, but…sometimes he’s just too much. Apparently, after having watched EXO on TV for two years, he’s come to a conclusion that Minseok doesn’t get enough recognition. Which is bizarre. He’s very happy with the amount of attention and screen time he’s been getting. Their group is huge, and with Lu Han joining it’s even bigger now. It’s understandable that not everyone can be the focus all the time.

 

But is Lu Han content with this? No. Somehow, now that he’s officially joined the group, he finds a pair of hands pushing him forward with every chance they get. Maybe it’s because that as a ghost he got a bit of a habit pushing him towards the spotlight when no one could see it, but even after becoming visible to everyone, he still keeps doing it. Or when he needs to demonstrate something, he always tries to pull him along with him and share the spotlight. And just like when he was a ghost, he whispers correct answers into his ears or translates things for him whenever they are over in China to promote. 

 

Of course Minseok appreciates all this, even if he pretends to glare at Lu Han when the attention is once again shifted from him. He understands how his mind works well enough, and he knows he’s doing all this because he feels he needs to repay him somehow. Even though he didn’t do that much in the end. It wasn’t thanks to him that Lu Han debuted. He didn’t even find anything useful during his Naver searches and more often than not he acted annoyed around Lu Han. Really, there’s nothing to repay, but does he believe him when he tells him that? Of course not.

 

So, in the end, he has accepted his fate. He lets Lu Han make a fuss about him, pull him into the spotlight and just endlessly talk about him in the interviews. Sure, his ears get a little red, forced to just sit there while the other spits out compliment after compliment about him, but he supposes things could be worse. Lu Han could actually be dead, and then he would just sit there, wondering if it was all real, or a hallucination made by his tired mind.

 

He’s skilled at ignoring the suggestive looks the other members give them too. Because of their history together, he and Lu Han have a habit of falling into their own world more than often and ignoring everyone else. He knows it’s weird for him to treat Lu Han like his long lost best friend, when to everyone else it seems like they got super close out of nowhere. But he lets them misunderstand everything rather than start explaining that Lu Han had been wandering in the hallways spying on everyone for years and he was the only one who could see him. Only Yixing doesn’t look bothered at all, understanding the bond between them. 

 

These days it seems that Lu Han actually likes Yixing quite a bit, despite always complaining about him when he had been a ghost. Perhaps it’s because the other man doesn’t touch him quite that often anymore (not that there’s any place for him to touch, since Lu Han’s hands are all over him all the time). But, whatever the reason is, Lu Han seems to tolerate Yixing much better these days.

 

Surprisingly it’s him who finds Yixing less pleasant when he suggests Minseok and Lu Han should be the ones doing the fan service part for their first concert.

 

“Why us?! I refuse!” He rejects the idea right away despite the staff members easily agreeing with Yixing. 

 

Lu Han doesn’t say anything, staying silent beside him, but he doesn’t miss the small smile on his face. Of course that bastard would like the idea. The highlight of the stage is the two members who are supposed to act like mannequins while Gee blasts all around them. The other members push them together, closer and closer…until they kiss. 

 

Of course they won’t actually kiss. They’ll just act like they do. Stand very close to each other and hold heart shaped pillows between them. That’s the idea. The idea that he hates. Not because it’s not fun, but because he has to do it with Lu Han. He knows the smirks and the grins around them will grow even wider. The stage was probably created by the same choreographer who let Lu Han lay his hands on his during Overdose. They really have something against him, don’t they?

 

“Of course it should be you two,” Junmyeon says, not caring about the glares he receives from him. “You’re the most comfortable with each other.”

 

“Wha…” He starts to object, with a reddening face. “We’re not that comfortable! I mean… It’s just a fake kiss, any of you can do it! It doesn’t have to be me and Luhan!”

 

“But all ten of us decided it should be you two,” Junmyeon says, looking like he’s trying his hardest to stifle the smirk on his face. 

 

His voice isn’t stern, but he recognizes the I’m-the-leader-and-this-is-final tone when he hears one and shuts up. But not without sending a murderous look at Lu Han first.

 

“It’s because you spend too much time with me and always demand we share a hotel room…” He murmurs a few days laters, when they are promoting in China as a full group. It’s past midnight and they have finally returned to their rooms, ready to fall asleep. There are two beds in the room, but he doesn’t think Lu Han’s ever used the other bed when he has shared a room with him. He tried to get him to use it at first, but now he’s given up, letting Lu Han snuggle with him under the same blankets. 

 

And it’s not like he minds it that much.

 

Wasn’t this all he wanted when he had still thought Lu Han was dead? To be able to touch him for real and be around him until he’s grey and old. He minds all the fussing and the touching a lot less when they are alone, but when there are others around… He has tried keeping his cool around them and not to blush, but it’s hard. It’s hard when everyone is smirking and giving them suggestive looks, always asking how come they grew so close in such a short time. He gets annoyed, because they have a completely wrong idea about their relationship and there’s really nothing he can say to change it without sounding like a lunatic. And Lu Han being all handsy, always giving him compliments and generally acting like he is the greatest thing on earth after Man U doesn’t really help the situation either.

 

Minseok pauses his thoughts, pulling the blankets up to cover them both. Lu Han really should stop complimenting him all the time...

 

“What is?” Lu Han says drowsily, wrapping his arm around him.

 

“That we have to do that stage together,” he answers him, averting his eyes. A fake kissing stage with Lu Han… Just thinking about it makes him nervous. And afraid. Afraid that everyone who sees the stage will read something more into their relationship than there is.

 

Except even he isn’t sure how to define their relationship anymore. Lately he’s been thinking whether all Lu Han’s touches and compliments are just gratitude. Does he stare at him all the time just because he is his closest friend? A part of him wants to know, but a bigger part of him is too afraid to ask. Maybe it’s really nothing. Maybe he’s just imagining all this, just like he imagined the kiss in the supply closet two years ago.

 

Maybe I should just stop thinking about it and make everything so complicated in my head! He lectures himself silently.

 

Lu Han looks at him with an expression that screams hurt. “You hate the idea of us doing the stage together that much?”

 

It makes him frown. “I didn’t mean I hate it but... “

 

“But?” Lu Han questions. 

 

He is starting to regret bringing up this conversation. Especially when they are alone and sharing a bed. If they are gonna talk about their feelings they should do it in a less dangerous place.

 

“But if we do it, the other guys will never cease to tease us!” He groans and turns onto his back, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. “I’m sick of it…” 

 

“I’m sorry, Baozi…” Lu Han apologizes after a moment of silence. “I know I’m a bit too much, but I can’t help but wanting to be around you all the time, or touch you all the time. The other guys don’t know how much you mean to me or what you’ve done for me.” He says, reaching for his hand with his own and squeezing it. 

 

His ears bloom red when he turns to look at Lu Han again.

 

“They tease us exactly because you keep saying stuff like that out loud! Like how much I mean to you and…everything.”

 

“But I’m just being honest?” Lu Han says innocently and Minseok groans again, sitting up. 

 

“Whatever. Let’s just get it over with. It’s just a fake kiss anyway,” he says, looking defeated. Maybe that’s just how Lu Han is. Overly grateful. He should just get used to it, and not feel like the electric shocks are back whenever Lu Han touches him. 

 

Without him noticing it, Lu Han shifts closer to him, looking at him with a serious but mildly curious expression on his face.

 

“Baozi… Have you ever been kissed before?”

 

The blush Minseok has been fighting on and off during this whole conversation is back on his face, in full force too. “W-wha-,” he begins. Why did Lu Han ask him that out of nowhere?! Why does he want to know!? Of course he hasn’t… Ah, actually he’s not sure he hasn’t been. Because there was that time. In the supply closet. 

 

Great, now his face burns even more. It’s all Lu Han’s fault. He doesn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed. Well, he’s about to change that. He doesn’t want to be the only one with red cheeks.

 

“Why don’t you tell me that…” He mumbles. 

 

Lu Han his head to the side. “Huh? How should I know? That’s why I asked.”

 

Feeling already embarrassed enough to die, he still pushes on. “Did you really feel weak in that supply closet, or… did you kiss me? See, if I’ve been kissed before or not is not something I can answer. Only you know the answer.”

 

It takes a moment for Lu Han to digest his words, but when he does, the results are exactly what he hoped for. The blush starts spreading from his neck, going over his face, until it covers Lu Han’s whole face, reaching to the tip of his ears.

 

“I...I…” he keeps mumbling, eyes looking everywhere else but at him. 

 

It’s usually himself who gets flustered, red-faced and fumbling over his words thanks to Lu Han's antics, so seeing him like this feels almost victorious. The other seems to be trying to get out proper words but is failing miserably. He’s starting to think perhaps it really had been something else and not Lu Han feeling weak and falling through him. The realization of it makes his heart beat faster.

 

Eventually Lu Han gets a grip of himself and nods, looking all serious. “I did. Kiss you I mean.” Then he shifts closer to caress his cheek with a weak smile on his face. “Because you’re special to me, Baozi…”

 

Minseok’ eyes widen at Lu Han’s touch but he doesn’t move away from it. 

 

So it hadn’t been an accident. Lu Han really had meant to kiss him. Had kissed him. He isn’t sure what he thinks about that. When Lu Han was still a ghost, thinking about whether his touches meant more or not was useless. Even if they had been something more it wouldn’t have changed anything — Lu Han was still dead.

 

Or he had been. Now that he’s breathing and alive in front of him… Now that he can feel his hand slowly slide alongside his jaw…it changes things. Lu Han’s gaze at him is unsure as he moves his hand to tug his freshly dyed pink hair gently. He doesn’t dare to move. He doesn’t even threaten to hit Lu Han with spoons if he doesn’t let go of his hair this instant (their inside joke these days). He just watches him with his lips parted slightly, thinking.

 

Lu Han’s annoying. More than often his smile looks weird rather than cute. He’s all over him all the time. He says stupid things that rile him up. Lu Han always makes sure he has everything he needs. He’s always the first one to crack a joke when he’s feeling moody. He makes him feel good about things he’s most insecure about. Whenever he feels too exhausted, Lu Han’s always there to wrap his arm around him, pull him closer and whispering soothing things into his ear.

 

That’s why he finds himself staying still when Lu Han inches closer to him. He’s moving just slowly enough that if he feels uncomfortable, if he feels like he wants to run away, he can. Lu Han’s always almost stupidly considerate with him. And he’s right. Part of him wants to run away, because this is something new, something terrifying. But it’s also something that makes his heart flutter in his chest and his hands sweat slightly. It’s something the bigger part of him wants to try. 

 

“Maybe,” Lu Han murmurs, his nose almost brushing against Minseok’s cheek. “We should practice… You know, for that special stage.”

 

This is really happening, he thinks, closing his eyes. He grips the hem of Lu Han’s shirt between his fingers. Either to prevent Lu Han or himself escaping. He’s not sure which. He feels warm breath against his face and can only hope he’s already closed his eyes too. He doesn’t want Lu Han to see how red his face is.

 

Squeezing the shirt in his hand, he feels the first press of Lu Han’s lips against his.

 

The touch is gentle, just a brush of lips. Almost as if Lu Han is afraid to be bolder. For now, he is happy about it, because even only this much makes his head spin. His whole body is shaking and the other must feel it when his hands move to hold him by his shoulders. When Lu Han finally presses his lips more firmly against his mouth, Minseok almost forgets to breathe. Instead, he lets himself melt against the other. Lu Han still kisses him carefully, but he doesn’t feel hesitant anymore. Perhaps him moving his mouth against him has made his worries of rejection disappear. With each passing second, he feels less nervous himself, even as daring as to open his mouth slightly against Lu Han’s. He hears a gasp when he nibbles on Lu Han’s lower lip. He doesn’t know where his boldness comes from when normally he refuses to even take part in the dirty conversations the other guys like to have. Questioning if he’s even doing anything correctly, he soothes the nibbling marks with his tongue. It’s only when Lu Han lets out a some sort of lewd moan that the both of them spring apart, eyes snapping open.

 

Lu Han looks surprised and red-faced, probably ashamed that such a noise could come out of his mouth. He’s pretty sure his own face mirrors the embarrassed expression. He wishes they could go back to kissing, because it had been a lot nicer than having this heavy, awkward air sit between them.

 

“So,” Lu Han eventually coughs, after having avoided his gaze long enough. “G-good practice.”

 

He nods, noticing the tiny marks on Lu Han’s shiny lips and getting more embarrassed in the process. “Yeah. Even though we were supposed to practice how…not to kiss,” he mumbles. If only he had some spoons now. He could throw them at Lu Han and be done with his awkwardness.

 

Lu Han laughs weakly, his hand sneaking towards his own. He only notices it when he feels something warm covering his hand. Gaze filled with questions, he lifts his head to look Lu Han in the eye. 

 

“But I like to practice this more,” Lu Han murmurs. He lifts his hands to cup his cheek and he finds himself leaning into the touch. “What about you, Baozi? Do you…like this more too?”

 

He’s afraid he’ll say something really embarrassing if he opens his mouth now. Something about how he prefers practising this over everything else. Or how he wishes Lu Han will stop talking and kiss him again. Or how he looks pretty cute with a red face and an unsure expression on his face, waiting for his answer. 

 

None of those are things he can say out loud though. At least not right now. So, instead of replying, he just gives Lu Han a tiny nod. That should be enough. Lu Han sighs in relief and flashes him a grin. He can barely stop himself from rolling his eyes, because how dare he look so hot when they are both supposed to be embarrassed! But eventually, he can’t contain his smile either and soon they are both chuckling and giggling, embarrassment long forgotten. 

 

At least until Lu Han’s had enough of laughing and leans in to kiss him again. His laughter dies in his throat when Lu Han wraps his arms around him and pushes him against the sheets.

 

Three hours later when they finally separate, mostly because it’s almost 4 am and they need at least a little sleep to be able to function during the following day, he lays next to Lu Han. They are holding hands, but at this point it’s not anything new. They’ve been holding hands regularly since Lu Han woke up from his coma. Only this time, he feels happy and giggly about it, instead of worrying about the teasing comments or smirks he’ll receive from the others. 

 

There’s one thing he worries about though. Mostly, because at times…Lu Han can be very spontaneous. 

 

“Hey,” he mumbles before either of them falls asleep. Lu Han hums as a sign that he’s listening, so he continues. “When we’re doing that stage…the Gee stage. I swear if you kiss me for real during it, I will stick my spoons so deep in your even Baekhyun won’t be able to reach them with his long and slender fingers.”

 

As expected, next to him Lu Han chuckles. “Scary… My Baozi’s always so scary.”

 

He squints his eyes. “If you don’t want me to be scary then you better behave yourself!”

 

Lu Han nods, wrapping his arm around him and pulling his head against his chest. “I promise. I’ll behave.” 

 

It’s good enough for him for now. Later he has to threaten Lu Han a little more, so he won’t run to the other guys the next available moment and boast all about how they made out (and if anyone dares to say “finally” then Minseok and his spoons are ready). But that is something he’ll do once he wakes up. Because right now snuggling against Lu Han’s warm body and closing his eyes, succumbing to sleep sounds so much better.

 

Usually Minseok dreams of many things. Cool choregraphies. Daesangs. Mocha bread. Huge concerts. Comebacks.

 

But tonight he will only dream of Lu Han.

 

FIN.