Okay #1: WHOA. I am in such a shock that I just might cry. So many subscribers for this?! ;_______; You all have made me one happy child. :) I sincerely want to thank each and every one of you for making me feel amazing. :) 

I'm pretty sure this will be a super long chapter. =.= :D SO I SPLIT IT . XDDDDD  

I'm going to introduce Sulay more in this one and Baekyeol in the next color theme. :)  Xiuchen will finally interact in the second half, maybe alittle?

Maybe alot?

Woohyun, anyone ?

Bye now ;)

Lay was a tease, whether he knew it or not. Xiumin had come to know this fact very well over the course of one month of soccer camp, and up until this day, that has not changed. The smaller male shook his head as he dumped his English book and composition notebook into his overflowing backpack, trying hard not to watch Lay openly flirt with a girl he obviously didn't want. Want to know why? Easy. Lay was a Unicorn, and by Unicorn, Xiumin means gay. He's not gay in the openly 'yes, I'm gay, who cares,' type of way, he's gay in the 'pay attention and you'll notice me checking out your ' sort of way, in which Xiumin knew the tall goalie had done to him and many others when he thinks they’re not paying attention and while he's in his 'day-dreaming face' phase. The small boy swung his bag over his shoulder, an old habit that had yet to die, and tapped his foot while he waited on Lay to stop showing his dimple and playing footsie with the girl to sitting in the desk just in front of him. The Chinese male leaned forward and whispered something in the girl's ear, causing her entire face to erupt and her hands to cover her face in embarrassment. When he was done torturing her poor soul, Lay stood from his desk and stretched his arms, his teasing ways never ending, before stooping down and taking his bag. 

"You ready Min?" Xiumin hummed in reply and the pair left the classroom together, leaving the helpless girl to watch as Lay left. Xiumin decided to ask Lay why he liked playing around so much when he had someone waiting on him. He had someone waiting day and night to return the feelings Xiumin was sure Lay had, and Lay was either too scared or ignorant to admit it to himself or anyone else. They walked down the hallway, students pounding on their lockers or murmuring their combination as they turned the dial on their locks, and exited through the main doorway. Lay flashed his glorious smile at anyone he came across, and little by little, Xiumin felt his patience reach its end.

"Lay I don't get you at all. One minute you’re gushing like a cheerleader over this guy you want to be with, you date him, and the moment he says he loves you, you break up with him. Do you even know what you want?" Lay’s smile faltered, his dimple coming to an end and his cheeks dropping to their normal position. His eyebrows furrowed as he thought about how to answer Xiumin without saying ' you.'

"I lost interest," Lay spoke through gritted teeth, his grip on his backpack tightening as his legs picked up pace, “and I don't think it's any of you freaking business." Xiumin puffed up his cheeks before replying, not even batting an eye towards how angry his best friend sounded. He was only getting mad because Xiumin was speaking the absolute truth. He had no idea what he wanted. 

"Bull, and you know it. You haven't been the same Unicorn since you broke up with Su-"

"Don't say his name," Lay quickly interjected, "I don't want to talk about him." Xiumin walked ahead and turned back, cutting Lay off from walking ahead any further. Soccer practice wouldn't start for another 10 minutes, so there was plenty of time to spare and talk about the obvious problem.

"Look, you need to talk about this before you flirt with the wrong person and they try to your . No one wants Lay, do you!?" Lay fought the urge to laugh at the exasperated look on Xiumin's face, and failed. He broke out into a deep, rich chuckle, his insides clenching from how much laughter exploded from him. His eyes closed, forming crescents. When he had finally finished his laughing fit, he opened his eyes, only to quickly turn and pull Xiumin with him by the wrist.

"The hell!"

"Let’s just go the other way, okay? I don't want to go that way." Xiumin raised a brow and spoke as he looked back.

"Why- Oh." Suho stood in the direction they were originally heading in, his head turned in their direction, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was watching them walk away, with the most pitiful face Xiumin had ever seen before. And that's a lot. He's seen Luhan's face every time after Sehun decided to go back to his dorm, Kai's face the day Kyungsoo started to ignore him (Kai wouldn't eat or sleep so he resembled a zombie, that was pretty ugly), he saw Chanyeol's face the first time Baekhyun flat out rejected him (Chanyeol cried for 2 hours while eating all of KaiMinHan's ice-cream and forcing the roommates to watch Titanic), and he'd seen Tao's face when Kris let it be known that he was graduating early (the look on Tao's face that day broke Xiumin's heart into pieces.) Suho's sad eyes beat them all, and that was not a good thing at all. Xiumin knew him from how much Lay used to talk about him (like a cheerleader) and Suho was the sweetest, most romantic person there was. 

"Don't look!" Xiumin turned forward and allowed himself to be led back around the main building.

"Real smooth Lay. Seriously, that was a really ty move you just pulled. What if he was waiting for you?" Lay shook his head and continued walking, but he held onto Xiumin's wrist, secretly finding the will power not to cry through their touching skin.

"I don't c-care." Xiumin didn't like the breaking in Lay's voice, and stopped them from walking any further again. He took a good look at Lay's face, and there it was, another one to add on the growing list of sad faces. Lay's eyes were watering terribly, making his orbs appear glassy, and his lips were trembling. He looked like a child who lost his mother in a super market. 

"You do." 

"H-How can I?" Lay had entered a relationship with Suho with the pretense that he wouldn't take it seriously. He had always wanted to date Suho, or at least go on a date with Student Council President, who wouldn't? So with these lacking thoughts in mind, Lay accepted Suho's confession and that spelled his downfall, and did he fall hard. Lay didn't expect the onslaught of feelings that built up in his chest when he was with Suho, in his arms, when they shared kisses he never knew he would want so much more. Lay dated, a lot, and he had been with so many different types of people, but none of them were like Suho, or Joonmyeon (only Lay was allowed to call him that, especially when they were alone.) Because of the sudden realization that he just might love care about Suho more than he wanted, Lay panicked. Being so intoxicated by someone else's very breathing scared him so ing much. Then that night happened, where Lay almost gave up his ity on a silver platter, and just before the act could take place, Suho said it.

"I love you Yixing."

Lay bolted, leaving behind the warm bed he had gotten used to and a broken heart. 

"If you k-knew what I did to him, you w-wouldn't even want to look at me Min. I'm a bad person. I d-don't know what I want and I hurt him in the process." Xiumin watched with a prickling sensation messing with his eyes as Lay closed his eyes, tears slipping from under his pretty lids.

"L-Lay, stop. You’re going to make me c-cry."

"I'm s-sorry. I can’t h-help it." And that's how they walked to soccer practice, both practically crying their eyes out and finding it hard to breath. Just before entering the gym, Xiumin wiped away his tears and Lay let go of his hand to wipe away his own.

"You ready to go inside?" Xiumin cleared his throat and nodded his head. Together they entered, and the screaming began. The entire soccer team had gathered, a sea of party hats and a lit cake held up by Kris and Tao.

~

"TO THE NEW CAPTAIN!" Practice turned into a party instead, and soon the student body that stayed after school joined in. Xiumin had been playing around with Lay when a flash blinded him. He blinked rapidly, the spots clearing from his vision to show Chanyeol, member of the three stooges, stood grinning with a camera in hand and Baekhyun by his side, trying so hard to cover up his wide smile with a stoic expression.

"That one is definitely going on the paper," He playfully called, wiggling his eyebrows and turning his camera towards another interesting teammate. Baekhyun followed closely, like a kitten wanting attention, and Xiumin laughed as Chanyeol forgot his boyfriend and found enjoyment in taking unexpected pictures.

"What does Baekhyun even see in that psycho?"

"I'm not sure, but it must be something good by how hard he's trying to get attention." Lay agreed, and went off to go pester their teammate Seyong, a left fielder, who was busy chatting up a sophomore named Chaejin. Xiumin stood still and looked around, only to do a double take as he saw Tao crying his eyes out and Kris trying his best to calm the little Panda down.

"Why are you crying?" Kris was honestly dreading this day the most because of this specific reason, it was a marker, letting him know he had a few days left before flying off to China, and then America for half a year. Tao buried his head in Kris' chest, breathing in his scent and clinging to him as if his life depended on it. He didn't want to cry, he really didn't, but he couldn't stop. He was in love, his first after a dozen failed attempts, and Tao didn't want to give that up, not to China, not to America, not to anyone.

"D-Dhuizang," Tao cried, his voice muffled by the material of Kris' soccer jersey. Kris honestly was Tao's leader, wherever he went, Tao followed and in vice versa, but now what? 

"Tao, please. Look at me." Tao refused. If he looked up into those dark, enticing orbs, he might just cry harder.

"Look at me," Kris tried again, and sighed when Tao wouldn't budge. He opted for running a hand through Tao's raven locks in a soothing motion, pulling his boyfriend closer and rocking them back and forth gently to no music. He didn't need any with the song playing in his heart, a song made by Tao, for Tao. 

"I know you don't want me to go, but I have to, and I don't want to leave remembering you crying. I want to remember your smiles, your laugh, and the way you’re always by my side. I want to keep all of our good memories in my heart and this is not one of them. You should know that I would never leave and just forget about you. I'll make us work no matter where I am." Tao finally looked up at his Kris, and smiled, his lips enveloped in a kiss moistened by his tears. Tao wasn't sure how he was going to manage without Kris, but he would try anything for his Dhuizang.

'Practice' ended around 4:50, with a picture of Kris and Xiumin being taken at the last second. While Xiumin cleaned up, Lay, Tao, and Kris stayed and help, but with the way they were watching him, something was up.

"Okay, let's go Lay, see you later Taoris." Instead of the usual, Tao and Kris slink off somewhere to have while he and Lay leave, the couple and the Unicorn grinned evilly before pulling Xiumin out of the gym and leading him to Kris' car.

"Oh no," Xiumin cried, trying to break free as he was forced into the backseat, "I knew Kai and Sehun were lying."

"What did they tell you?" Tao asked, laughing at how mortified Xiumin looked.

"They asked me if I wanted to play basketball after school, not get kidnapped by My Little Pony, Dragon Tales, and a Mulan!" The three rolled their eyes and Kris started up his car.

"We're just going to drop you off at your house and you’re going to take a bath and find something fancy to wear, okay? Don't ask any questions, just do it or we'll have Kai take a shower with you again."

"HE TOLD YOU! 

"Chen, why did you talk to him?" Kyungsoo sounded beyond upset and Chen felt a pain encase his heart. He didn't mean to make Kyungsoo angry by talking to Kai; he was trying his best to help.

"I-I just want you to be happy." Chen told himself not to cry, and felt better when he didn't. Everything just hurt, his eyes his hands, his chest. Kyungsoo turned away and missed the devastation in Chen's eyes. 

"How can I be mad at you?" Kyungsoo sighed and ruffled his hair in frustration. He felt guilty now, for being angry at Chen when the sweet boy had only talked to Kai on his behalf, because he was being a coward and avoiding his not-boyfriend. In reality, Kyungsoo missed Kai, more than anyone could suspect, after all, Kyungsoo was in love with the idiot and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. 

"I'm sorry," Kyungsoo apologized wholeheartedly, giving Chen a hug of remorse, “forgive me?" Chen already had, but he wanted to try something.

"I'll f-forgive you if you come with me and t-talk to Kai." Kyungsoo his teeth and playfully scowled Chen.

"Already, he's getting to you, but I'll go, okay?"

"Okay," Chen shook his arms happily and felt like dancing, and Kyungsoo noticed the difference.

"You seem happy today. Anything happen today?" Chen continued his rendition of 'dancing' and looked at Kyungsoo.

"No, but I've decided I'm going to talk to X-Xiumin today. I won't run a-away again." Chen's stuttered determination made Kyungsoo smile. It reminded him a lot of . . . Kai.

"Good. Now go get ready and I'll make you look y!" Chen laughed and went on his way, stopping by his room to pull a slip of egg shell white paper from his back pocket. 

Dear Xiumin,

I'm sorry for running away when you saw me. I'm sure you knew it was me since I left that periwinkle note by accident (I know, not very romantic, right?) but I want you to know that I am scared of you, I'm scared that your expectations will be so high and that when we really meet for the first time, I'm nothing that you want, but I've decided if that is the case, that I won’t give up until your mine. I can be very stubborn, and you'll just have to get used to it.

Congratulations on becoming Soccer captain, you deserve it and I know you'll be amazing. (You're amazing at everything) I'm here, at this celebration for you, and if you’re reading this, I want you to find me. 

I'll be waiting.

He placed the sheet on his desk and removed his glasses before going to the bathroom, practically skipping all the way there. 

Being in love felt amazing.

Xiumin couldn't escape because Lay and a well-dressed Luhan prevented him from getting within 10 feet of the door.

"Stop fighting with us and go take a shower, we need to leave by 7," Luhan snapped, pushing Xiumin away from the door and towards the bathroom, "And be sure to fix your hair too, the way you usually do it." Chen really likes it that way.

"Fine, fine. Whatever." Xiumin stalked into the bathroom and locked the door, stripping quickly and walking over to the bathtub. He turned the tap and waited for the water to turn warm before stepping inside, the intense stream raining down on him. Xiumin wondered what exactly was taking place in the mind of his friends, and why he didn't just say no to Kai and Sehun in the beginning. Of course they would use the excuse of going to go 'play basketball' when the reality was so much more sinister. They could've meant anything. 'Playing basketball' could've been a code word for robbing a bank or something!

"I am so hopeless," Xiumin muttered, his fingers working away at his hair and lathering the wet brown locks with peach&mango smelling shampoo. He closed his eyes as he washed his hair, and began to hum because he didn't like the silence. Soon enough, the humming wasn't enough and Xiumin started singing. He had only heard the song once, the parts he had picked up from his voice. 

"I think the only way this can be considered the greatest day ever . . . is if I meet him." Xiumin busily washed his hair and finished his shower, turning the tap and forcing the water to come to a stop. With his green towel snugly around his waist and another lying on top of his damp hair, Xiumin opened the door to the bathroom and peeked out before quickly walking to his room. He slowly dried off his body and tossed the towel on his bed, pulling on the first pair of boxers his hands touched, which happened to be green and white. Shuffling over clothes strewn across the floor towards the closet, Xiumin pondered over what to wear. Where did Kai and Sehun plan for him to have to dress up in the first place? Nevertheless, Xiumin opened his closet and pulled down his favorite white/silver affect skinny jeans, the material literally sticking to his body and showing off his toned thighs and calf muscles. He was usually never big-headed over his looks, but Xiumin had to admit the jeans made him look exceptionally hot. He slipped the jeans on, more like shimmied, and patted his plush stomach while figuring out what shirt to wear. He was in a mood to wear white since his favorite jeans dominated coloring, and went with a perfectly white V-neck that hugged his tummy and matched well with his pants. 

"Might as well wear a white jacket. I feel like snow," Xiumin muttered as he stared his appearance down in the mirror. His cheeks were plump and pale as ever and his smooth forehead could be seen due to his spiked up bangs. He slapped his cheeks to give them more color before leaving the bathroom and bumping into the devil Kai. His best friend/enemy was dressed in virtually all black, his pants the stretchy kind that Xiumin really wanted to steal, and a black tank-top like shirt that had small silver shards dangling horizontally from top to bottom. To top it off, he wore a white coat with the collar upturned and his hair slicked back, greasy as ever, but Xiumin would also admit in a purely platonic way that Kyungsoo needed to hurry up and get Kai back because that boy was  on legs.

"Yeah, I know I look good, but you need to finish getting ready so we can go to the par-"

"BASKETBALL COURT!" Sehun screamed as a cover from down the hallway. Xiumin nodded his head while squinting his eyes at Kai.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"I was hoping?" Xiumin resisted the urge to punch Kai in the stomach and opted for punching his arm.

"Tell me where we're going Kai, or else I swear they'll never find your body!" Kai backed away, raising his hands in defeat and thinking of a comeback.

"I'm too beautiful to die Min. You of all people should know that from when we showered toge-"

"YOU SNUCK INTO THE BATHROOM! I DID NOT INVITE YOU! AND STOP TELLING PEOPLE YOU DID OTHERWISE! IT'S WEIRD!" Kai smirked and shrugged his shoulders. He turned away and waved off Xiumin's screaming as nothing. Since he was taller, he thought Xiumin just looked like a cute child throwing a tantrum over spilled milk.

"They find it rather interesting how the soap ran down my body and you washed my back." Xiumin nearly fainted from the massive head trauma coming from Kai's mouth opening and decided he wouldn't humor his roommate any longer. Finding his favorite white leather peacoat, Xiumin slipped on his white boots that stopped just above his calf by the door and crossed his arms. Lay and Luhan had also gotten dressed, Lay sporting hot pink skinny jeans, a black shirt and a golden jacket and Luhan also dressing in an all-white white suite, the shoes practically blending in, much to Xiumin's relief. Sehun wore the complete opposite, tight black jeans that hung low on his waist, a black shirt with the sleeves cut off and an odd pattern that spelled 'EXO' off to the left side, and he held a black leather jacket in one arm. 

"Everybody ready," Kai smirked at Xiumin before opening the door into the increasingly darkening sky, the horizon just below the trees in a purple and pink hue that blended together well. Xiumin had a feeling as they all piled into Kai's very gay (to Xiumin) van that he knew exactly where they were going and if they were in fact going to that place, Kai was going to pay.

Part 2.5