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            School picked up quickly and before Lu Han knew it, it was already the second week of September.   He let out a sigh after realizing that he has been in Korea for 2 months already.  He looked up at the blue sky above him.

            Life really does move on, whether or not you want it to, thought Lu Han.  He quickly dialed his dad’s number.  He hasn’t talked to his dad ever since the call on the first night he came to Korea.

            “Hello?” asked Uncle Ching.

            “Dad, it’s me.” replied Lu Han.

            “Son!  How are you?”  The sound of excitement was hinted in his voice.

            Lu Han smiled.  “I’m doing fine.  Just adjusting slowly.”

            “That sounds good.  How is your Korean?”

            “It’s good.  Mia has been a great help after all.”

            “I told you that the Chung family is useful.” laughed Uncle Ching.  Then, he became silent.  “I miss you, Lu Han.”

            “I miss you too, Dad.” he said.  “You sound tired…  Are you working late again?”

            “Unfortunately, I am.” replied Uncle Ching.  “It’s hard being in the house with you gone.”

            “Dad, you should relax.  Who cares if I’m gone?” shrugged Lu Han.  “Go have some fun with your friends or something.”

            Uncle Ching laughed.  “I feel like a single mother who has built her entire life around her child.” he said.  “After your mother died, I decided to be there for you as much as I could even with all the traveling.  Children grow up fast and before I knew it, you were a teenager and, now, you’re an adult.”

            “Dad…” said Lu Han.  He didn’t know what else to say to his father’s heartfelt words.

            “I can’t wait to see you when you’re back.” said Uncle Ching.

            Lu Han smiled.  “Why don’t we play mahjong with Butler Lue and  Maid Bai when I come back?” he asked.

            “Let’s go watch some Chinese Opera with them as well.” added Uncle Ching.

            “Sure.” laughed Lu Han.

            He knew that his dad was still at work, so he didn’t want to be bothersome and ended the call.   Lu Han smiled as he stretched his arms, reaching up to the sky.  He continued to eye it, in content.  If he could, he would watch the sky the whole day, simply out of fascination.

            Even though we’re not under the same sky any more, I want you to know that you will never be forgotten Hua, thought Lu Han.  I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there, at your side…

            Lu Han stood up from the bench and took his backpack.  He went into the library to do some homework.  He quickly pulled out his binder, wanting to become distracted.    He usually doesn’t dwell on that part of the past and doesn’t like to because it usually makes him sad about what had happened.  Regardless, Lu Han felt like he needed to put the feelings of guilt to rest, considering the fact that he had left China in a rush.

            “Lu Han?” asked an unfamiliar voice.

            He quickly looked up at the person.  Lu Han was surprised to see the person.  Choi Sooyoung smiled and gave him a small bow.  She quickly introduced herself and he did the same.  All the sudden, she asked a question that Lu Han didn’t understand a bit too loud.

            People sitting at tables around him looked up at the two after she asked him the question.  Although Lu Han didn’t understand what she asked, he didn’t want to be rude to others by asking her to repeat her question.  All he knew was that it was a yes or no question.

            Lu Han just nodded his head and replied, “Yes.”

            People around the tables started to whisper among themselves and Lu Han looked around, confused.  Han Sooyoung let out a giggle and he turned to face her again.  She smiled and gave him her number.

            “Call me later then.” she said, handing him a piece of paper she had ripped out of her notebook. 

            At least he understood that.

**************************

            I started to cough on my rice and I turned to face Lu Han.  I swore to myself that this baby face was trying to kill me or something.  I rolled my eyes and turned away.

            “Mia!” he said, as he placed his hands on shoulders.  Lu Han quickly turned me towards him again.  He had more strength than I had imagined.

            “I’m not going to do it!” I said, as I shrugged his hands off of me.

            I was eating when Lu Han came home, a bit in distress.  It was lunch time and we were planning on eating at home today because there was a lot of leftover dinner.  Aunt Lai wasn’t home since she was touring BYU with Mom and Dad.

            “I didn’t know that I agreed to go on a date with Choi Sooyoung.” sighed Lu Han, as he slumped in the seat next to me.

            “Why didn’t you just say no?” I asked, eating some more.

            “I didn’t know what she was saying and we were at the library so I didn’t want her to repeat it because I didn’t want to bother other people.” he replied and closed his eyes.

            According to the forum, Choi Sooyoung had asked him to go on a date with her at the library.  There was even a video on it and I could tell that Lu Han was completely confused because I knew that he couldn’t understand her. 

            Sooyoung, Lu Han, and I are both freshmen and born on the same year…  So, it was only natural for her to use informal Korean with him.  Unfortunately, Lu Han was uninterested in learning informal Korean when I suggested that was time for him to learn.

            I stared at him.  I’ve never seen him like that before.  He was frustrated, but he wasn’t being a big baby about it.  I was surprised that Lu Han was taking this like an adult.  He wasn’t whiny or blaming me like he usually would. 

            “Informal Korean isn’t that hard…  Besides, couldn’t you just ask Sooyoung to use formal Korean?” I asked, not understanding why he was being complicated.  “This is why-”

            “I understand that this was my fault because I didn’t want to learn informal Korean…” said Lu Han.  He shrugged.  “It is what it is…  I don’t want to tell Sooyoung to use formal Korean when she has already decided to use informal Korean with me.  Besides, don’t you like free food?  I’ll be paying for everything!”

            I flashed him a look and shook my head.  “Mia!” said Lu Han, with a whiny voice.

            “That’s the lamest excuse you could possibly come up with?” I asked, knowing what he was up to.  I placed my chopsticks down and stopped eating.  “You’re not going to ask Sooyoung to speak to you with formal Korean and you want me to be your translator just because you really didn’t want to go on this date.”

            Lu Han just stared at me and nodded his head, being truthful.  “I want you to come along so then I wouldn’t feel obligated to make this feel like a real date.” he said.

            “What do you mean?” I asked.

            “Oh, you know!” he started and stared at me.  “Or, not know.  Flowers, dinner…  And, then a kiss.”

            “A kiss?” I asked, confused.  “Is that even necessary?  Where?”

            “Cheeks, lips, forehead…  I don’t know.  Wherever she wants it.” shrugged Lu Han.  “Knowing how pretty Sooyoung is and the type of girl she is, I’m pretty sure the end of the first date gets pretty heated.”

            A shiver was sent down my spine.  It would have been great if Lu Han got into some trouble, like getting Sooyoung pregnant or something, and get sent back home.  But, it would make my family look bad because we are his host family.  Besides, I felt bad for him.  He got himself into this mess and was following through on what he said.

            “I really don’t want to sleep with her.” said Lu Han, shaking his head.  “Or, date her at all.  And, I want you to be there so it will feel more like a group of friends going out instead.”

            I let out a sigh.  Lu Han is going to have to owe me a favor, I thought.

            “Fine.” I said, as I started eating again.  “I’ll go.”

            A smile spread across Lu Han’s face and I could see a ton of weight lifted off his shoulders.  “Really?” he asked.

            I nodded my head.  Before I knew it, Lu Han pulled me into a relatively tight hug.  “Thank you.” he said, into my ear.

            “Wow!” suddenly said a voice, startling Lu Han and I.

            We quickly pushed each other way from the embrace and looked up at Aunt Lai.    She was smiling like a mad woman.  She was leaning on the doorway of the kitchen.  Aunt Lai walked up to the table and placed her hands on her hips.

            “I don’t think I really believe you two when you guys told me that you guys weren’t together.” she said.

            I gave her a look as I felt myself blush.  “We are not together.” I said, as calmly as possible.

            Aunt Lai raised her eyebrows, not believing.  She glanced over at Lu Han and he was baffled.  He couldn’t say anything for some reason and I gave him shove on the shoulder to get some sense into him.

            “Does your parents know?” asked Aunt Lai.

            “About?” I asked, confused.

            “Your relationship with each other.” she replied, as if we were in a relationship.

            “We’re not together!” I said, as I could hear Lu Han chime in.

            Aunt Lai just laughed.  “You guys are way too cute.” she said, as she leaned over the table and pinched our cheeks and then headed upstairs.

            I quickly turned to Lu Han and sent a punch to his chest.  “What the hell?” I asked.

            “She scared me!” breathed Lu Han, a bit shaken.

            I laughed at how he looked like a scared little boy.  I ruffled his hair.  “You look like a lollipop!” I commented.

            Lu Han got mad at me and pulled my hand off of his head.  His pouty face made him look even more like a little kid.

Author’s Note:

            Hope you all had a great read!  :D

            It seems like Lu Han keeps on getting them into some kind of trouble…  Hmm…  Stop being a troublemaker, Lu Han!

LOVE,

loveFORyunho