Author's Note: Hi, everyone! It's been a loooong time. Been so busy with school, but I'm finally free (for the next 2 weeks at least ;A;) I hope to get some writing done, starting with Countdown because holy lord I need to update that fic of mine. And yes, this one, too! I'd like to forget for a moment about The Beach Just something light and fluffy! 

Happy reading and thank you for the comments, the subscriptions and the patronage!

Merry Christmas!

P.S. I love Lu Han's new hair color ;3; 

First Year! scenario up ahead!

Normally, your roommate was just dumb. The kind of dumb which was a bit of silliness, a bit of charm, a bit of naivety mixed and perfectly blended; it was what you called Lu Han Dumb. But today was one of those days when he was being extremely and utterly dumb, as if what little charm and naivety had been replaced by a cup of idiocy and one pinch too many of that silliness. Gone was the adorable deer caught in the head lights that had softened even the hardest of hearts (which you would never admit and even if you had to, you would begrudgingly do so and not without a fight) with his big eyes and alabaster cheeks and his tousled hair that seemed too fluffy for his heart-shaped face.

Today was one of those days when Lu Han Dumb was not manifested into a deer worth dying for; it was one of those days when Lu Han Dumb became Lu Han Dumber and Dumber and manifested into the kind of deer you just want to run over and then roast for dinner.

Extremely and utterly dumb.

"Lu Han, you can't be serious," you drawl, hoping that the skepticism in your voice could knock some sense into him.

Lu Han pouts at your disbelief, crosses his arms and turns away from you and towards Kris. "I am," he asserts and after shooting Kris a look to emphasize how certain he was of his decision, asserts himself a second time. "I really am." But unlike your roommate, you weren't dumb, and you could read him like an open book, even if he weren't facing you. You could detect the slightest of quivers in that voice of his. You weren't so easily fooled, especially when your roommate was horrible at hiding his feelings.

"But, Ge," Kris chuckles, "You're not into these," Kris tucks a bunch of his mocha_[1] hair behind his ear and points to one of the black studs attached to his  lobe,"Remember? Recall that just before the start of the school year, when the four of us agreed to have our ears pierced, you practically fainted when the needle was about to touch your ear. We had to halt the operation."

Lu Han’s face turns sour as Kris’ lips curl into a devilishly smug smirk. Your roommate shakes his head, and then his hands, and finally Kris’ shoulders. “No, no, stahp it, Kreeeeaassssee!” he whines. “And besides, in the end, you,” he points an aggressively accusing finger on Kris broad chest, “Were the only who had his ear pierced. Suho and Baozi backed out, too, you know.” Lu Han lets go of Kris (who looked like he had been hit by a tsunami; despite his feminine looks, Lu Han knew how to pack a punch) and finally faces you. “I am going to get this piercing, and I will not let you stop.”

You roll your eyes. “You’re being stupid, you know that,” you bluntly state. “I think this is unnecessary.”

Lu Han purses his lips and crosses his arms and shoots you a look that clearly says how much he didn’t need your harsh words. “Well, I think your opinion on this matter is unnecessary.”

“Noona’s just worried about you, Ge,” Kris said, putting a hand on the elder’s shoulder.

Lu Han swats Kris’ hand away, mumbling a barely audible “Don’t call her that.” You wondered what was wrong with Kris calling you Noona (you were older, after all), especially since he rarely did so (something about using your name against Lu Han because it was just so powerful—you didn’t really understand), but wondered no further when your roommate stood up and started heading for the door.

“Don’t try to stop me!” he barks, but it’s a funny sight, really, as Lu Han takes small steps towards the exit, arms stiff against his sides and hands quivering. He freezes midway and simply stands there, staring at the door in fright; a bead of cold sweat runs down his ghostly face.

“We don’t need to,” you say, deeming the atmosphere right for a snarky comment. Kris flashes you a gummy smile, urging you to do something about Lu Han’s predicament. You respond with puckered lips and eyes that say ‘why me.’ But you knew you had no choice. Sighing, you place your hands on your knees and push yourself up, taking all the time in the world to saunter over your frozen roommate. “So,” you peek at him, “Want me to come with?”

The most beautiful shade of pink blooms onto Lu Han’s cheeks as he fiddles with his fingers. He nods shyly, feeling pathetic at how cowardly he was being. “Yes,” he admits, hand reaching out to take hold of the hem of shirt (you realized that he liked to do this when he was being needy). “Please come with me,” he almost begs, eyes still cast downwards to the floor. He bit his lip, refusing to show any more fear. Lu Han, as you have come to realize after living with him for the past few months, was the kind of guy who always seeked opportunities to prove his manliness. He preferred manly over cute, and hated looking weak. But you thought it stupid, because Lu Han was practically the epitome of cute and fluffy and deer caught in the headlights.

“This kid—“

“I am NOT a kid!”

“The way you’re being, yes you are, Ge.”

“Thanks for the support, Kris.”

“No problem.”

“Okay, now that we’re all settled,” you gingerly take Lu Han’s fingers off your shirt and poke his cheek with his own index finger, “Come on, you, let’s get that stupid piercing of yours.” You walk forward and are about to open the door when you realize that Lu Han is still there on his spot, looking at you with big, round and beady eyes.

“You’re not going to stop me anymore?”

You resist the urge to roll your eyes. “I’ve realized that doing so is pointless seeing as you are more stubborn than I am. I might as well just go with you and see how well you’ll fare in this stupid ambition of yours.” But you could not resist the urge to spit out caustic sentences.

“Thanks for the support,” he repeats with that same sulking tone.

You sigh because you didn’t mean for your words to be that cruel. You were an automatic snarky-comment-producing machine. “Listen, Lu Han: frankly, I don’t think you’ll push through with this after hearing what Kris said. And look at you, you’re shaking for god’s sake. But okay, because you’re so insistent, fine, neither Kris nor I will stop you any longer.” You sigh again. “I don’t want to do this; I really, really don’t want to go with you if that will give you courage to finish what you set out to do. But at the same time, I want to be a supportive friend. I don’t want you saying that I’m being nosy and cutting your freedom, so even though I don’t think this is a good idea, fine, I’ll go with you and even lend you a hand—literally, if the pain becomes too much. See, I'm willing to lend a hand. That's something I don't do on a daily, not even a weekly or monthly or yearly basis.”

“Now say you’re sorry, Noona,” Kris speaks from behind Lu Han, shooting you a thumbs-up.

“Ugh, no…Ugh, fine,” you give in after Kris’ face turns stern. “I’m sorry for being mean; you should know by now that I can’t help the mean words that shoot out of my mouth. I’d rather be frank than be plastic. Anyway, please don’t go thinking that I’m doing this to mock you should you not push through with it. Whether you finish it or not, I’ll be there, okay? We can go get ice cream afterwards, or something.” You scratch the back of your head; there was still an air of awkwardness that lingered above you and your roommate despite months of being together. And then there was also your own social awkwardness; you still couldn’t break out of your thick, little shell.

“That’s all I really need to hear,” Lu Han cheerfully says, beaming at you. His smile is so bright, you swore you could have been blinded. He stood tall now, having found no more reason to be afraid. He stretched his arms and shook his fingers to get rid of their stiffness. “Let’s go then!” he cheered, walking past you and out the door.

“That Lu Han,” you mutter, biting back the tiny smile that tried to fight its way onto your lips. You briefly wave at Kris before turning around and chasing after your roommate.

“You’re so hot and cold,” you tell him when you reach his side.

“I’m what?”

“Hot and cold: you know, when you change moods so quickly it’s not even funny.”

Lu Han raises his eyebrow. “Is that your attempt at being funny?”

“It’s my attempt at not being anything,” you bluntly state. Your thoughts suddenly drift to his manly complex. “You know, there’s really no need for you to prove your—“ you whip your head back to find him looking back at you, completely frozen yet again. “What now?”

“It’s not too much of a bother to go with me?” he pouts.

You stare at him for a few seconds before chuckling. “You’re asking me that now? Of course it isn’t. In fact,” you bring your fingers up to your right ear and trace the upper shell. Your lobe had two piercings in them already and you’ve been thinking about getting a new one on the bony cartilage. They said it was going to hurt, but pain was sort of like an old friend to you, so you were nowhere near afraid. “I think I may get one myself,” you point to the upper half of your ear. “Right here seems interesting.”

Lu Han flinches. “Won’t that hurt?”

You avert your gaze from him; you knew that if you answered truthfully, he would just go running back to the dorm. Despite your early objection to his plan, you at least wanted him to reach the piercing salon before backing out. Sure it would be a waste of time, energy and money if he did end up with nothing, but there was something about Lu Han’s persistence that made you root for him. “Not really,” you lie perfectly, “But if I were you, start with your earlobe. It’s what would look best.”

“Hmm, okay then,” he smiles as a familiar pink colors his face. He runs to you. “Maybe we could share a pair of earrings…?” he mumbles, his voice barely audible.

But your hearing was sharp, and his words did not escape you. “Sure.”

Lu Han pauses for the umpteenth time that day and looks at you in disbelief. “Seriously? I didn’t think you’d be the type to—“

“What shape do you want?”

“—Snowflakes!” he answers automatically, returning to his happy self.

“Snowflakes?”

“Yes, snowflakes.” 

[1] For everyone's reference, Kris' Freshman hair is his predebut/History-era hair a.k.a. the best hair Kris ever donned. Also, jsyk, Lu Han's hair is predebut (i.e. What is Love) not History. I really like the burgundy color on him and find that dark colors suit him the best :3