“Hyung~!” Chanyeol waved at me as he bobbed up and down in the middle of the hallways. How embarrassing can this guy get? I shook my head as I walked towards him – his face etched with an even bigger grin than usual. But I knew what he was smiling about…

The moment I stepped right in front of him, he bellowed at me with a loud cheer saying, “Congratulations on passing all of your exams, hyung~!”

That’s right. I – Wu Yifan – have aced the last set of exams of my school life. In a few more days I will be graduating my 4th year of college.

I flinched as he kept bobbing up and down on his feet. I think I may have lost some cells in my ear in the process of listening to him but it was worth it. Anything for this giraffe.

“Thank you, Chanyeol.” I smiled warmly at him and he nodded in response.

“We should go celebrate~!” He suggested, grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of the building to our usual spot. I glanced around and eyed the people that were looking at us. I’m pretty sure they’ve been becoming accustomed to seeing the two of us together. We’re already quite stand-outs individually with our heights.

“Slow down, Chanyeol…” I called out to him but my voice faded as we arrived at the usual spot. Before long, there was a small smile gracing my lips as I looked down at his wrist. He was wearing the watch I gave him. Chanyeol must have sensed the silence because he turned around.

“What? What’s wrong, hyung?”

I smiled at him, “You’re wearing it.”

“It?” He tilted his head.

I pointed a finger at the wristwatch and he lifted his arm to look at it as if he didn’t realize that he was wearing it. He gasped and blushed immediately, quickly hiding his wrist as if I hadn’t seen the accessory yet.

“Don’t be embarrassed. It makes me happy to see you wearing it.” I hummed.

He pouted. “W-Well… I-I guess…” He glanced to the side, as if he was going to say something.

“What?” I asked. He flinched.

“H-How about my scarf?” He asked softly. “D-Did you… like it?”

“Of course, Chanyeol.” I answered immediately that I thought he was going to hyperventilate on me. “It’s right here with me, if you’re wondering.”

“Y-You brought it with you?!” He gasped.

“Of course.” I smiled. “It’s early January. It’s still cold.” I said, moving my arm to move to my bag to get it but Chanyeol immediately grabbed my hand preventing me from doing so.

“W-Wait!” He panicked.

“What’s wrong?”

He blushed, “I-I just feel embarrassed… seeing it again.” He weakly mumbled and I tried to fight back the urge to just kiss the living daylights out of this giraffe. Instead, I settled for a chuckle.

“Why would you be embarrassed?”

“Anyone would feel embarrassed seeing something that they’d made again…” Chanyeol mumbled.

I could only chuckle at the idea as we made our way out of the school gates. “But then my neck will feel cold, Chanyeol.” I looked up with wonder on my face before turning to face him again, “Unless you’d want to wrap your arms around my neck instead.”

“What!” Chanyeol spat before immediately shrinking beside me as we walked on the sidewalk. “J-Just take the scarf out then!”

I smiled and took it out of my bag. Chanyeol was eyeing me still as I wrapped it around my neck. My eyes glanced towards him and I emphasized a relieved sigh. Chanyeol made a noise and when I looked at him, he was beet red all the way to the ears.

“What’s wrong, Chanyeol?”

“I… I didn’t think you’d feel so relaxed with it.”

“Because you made it.” And I took his hand and intertwined our fingers together. I didn’t care who was looking anymore. I just wanted to hold him.

Chanyeol flinched and looked at me. He looked panicked for a moment but when he saw me smiling back at him, he seemed to have understood the message and flashed his typical grin.

We arrived at a ramen shop. Chanyeol had always wanted to go to one. After being seated down and having our orders taken, Chanyeol smiled to himself wider than ever before as he held his bag tighter to his chest.

I tilted my head to the side, “What’s up?”

“Nothing~” He hummed. “I just can’t believe this year is going to end soon~ Then there’ll be summer vacation~”

Summer vacation.“Would you like to go somewhere with me then?”

He blinked and looked taken aback by my sudden invitation. He blushed and looked down on our table. “Uh… Uh…But…. Really?! W-Wouldn’t you be looking for a job…?”

“I just graduated and survived those demonic exams. I think a short break before looking for work sounds nice. Wouldn’t you agree, Chanyeol?” I placed my chin on one palm and leaned forward, waiting for his reply.

His ears were red again but before he could say anything, the waiter carried our orders and placed it down before us. His eyes twinkled at the sight of his ramen.

“Ramen~!” He cheered and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s with you? It’s not the first time you’ve eaten ramen, you know.”

“Shut up, hyung.” He grumbled as he broke his chopsticks and began slurping down the noodles. “Mm~ It’s so good~”

“…” I smiled as I ate mine as well. I definitely does taste good – probably more so since I’m enjoying with Chanyeol. My eyes travelled to his bag that was still on his lap. “Chanyeol, why don’t you place your bag down? Isn’t it uncomfortable?”

He tensed and looked down at it as well. He shook his head and smiled, “Don’t worry about it, hyung. It’s not that heavy.”

“…” Suspicious. “Are you hiding something again?”

“E-Eh~” He whined. “Why are you always like that? I-I’m not hiding anything.”

“Oh…” I raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. “Are you sure? You know what I can do to you if you keep hiding things from me, you know.”

“I’m not!” Chanyeol pouted. “I just wanted to put my bag here. Th-That’s all!”

“Stuttering doesn’t help, Chanyeol.” I teased, smiling wider. “C’mon. Out with it.”

“Hmmm…” He grumbled under his breath, hugging his bag now that I was eyeing it like I was going to take it any minute now. But before I could, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Tsk. There goes my chance at it.

I reached for my phone and checked who it was that was calling – my father. Ugh. I eyed Chanyeol once and got to see him sigh in relief since he was out of the hook for now. I smirked, “Don’t think this is over yet, Park Chanyeol.”

He made a face as I flipped the phone and answered the call, “Yes?”

“Yifan, how’re the results?”

Wow. He’s so alert today. “Well… I guess you could say I passed them.”

“That’s great.” My dad said, “Since you’ve ended the school year with such flying colors, looks like our trip to China will have an even more celebratory feel to it, right?”

What? Oh. . Right.

“Wait, dad…” My eyes glanced back to Chaneyol who was slurping down noodles. But he caught on quickly. He looked back up at me and blinked back, wondering why I was looking at him. Shoot. “About that trip…”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened and he slowly placed his chopsticks down, pursing his lips together as he chewed on the noodles silently.

“What? It’s going to be set right after your graduation. We’re going to leave as soon as possible because you’re going to have to readjust over there again for work, remember? The photography studio I was talking about has been buzzing about your arrival.”

My dad’s cheerful voice prevented me from interrupting so I decided to leave the restaurant and talk this outside. I slipped out of the table and Chanyeol’s eyes followed me. Please don’t look at me, Chanyeol. Not right now.

I got out of the restaurant and when I was standing by the door, just not directly behind it so that other people could come and go, I continued my conversation with my father.

“Dad, listen.” I started. “I don’t think I can go to China with you and mom.”

“….” My father seemed to have been taking his time allowing the words to sink in. “What?”

I pursed my lips and prepared for the worst, “I just... I don’t think I can do it – leaving for China for the studio.”

“What are you talking about, Yifan? Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted?”

“Well… yeah… but…” I sighed, running a hand through my hair in mild panic and annoyance. How am I going to explain this? “It’s just that there’s been something that’s holding me back here. I don’t really want to leave.”

“What are you saying?” My father asked, voice slightly impatient. I can’t blame him. He’s been looking forward to going back to China and for me to finally fulfil my dreams. He’s worked hard and long for this moment. “What’s holding you back…? Is it a girl?”

Well. He’s not a girl. “No, dad.”

“Then what?” My father sighed. “Yifan, you’ve been nagging me about photography and all of that ever since you were little. Hasn’t this been your dream since then? To finally work in a professional studio?”

“That’s true but… I’d like to do it on my own terms.”

“…” I could just imagine my father looking at me with disappointment in his eyes. “I’m already giving you a push.”

“… I’m sorry, dad.”

“…. Can’t you at least tell me what’s holding you back?”

“….” All I could do was sigh.

“Are you worried about Chanyeol-ah?”

The name made me flinch and tense up. Holy crap. Can he read my mind? Or did I accidentally say it out loud without realizing it. “H-Huh?”

“If you’re worried about Chanyeol-ah, that’s understandable.” My father added. “You two have always been together since your grade school days. It’s understandable that, being the older one between the two of you, that you would feel that sense of responsibility to watch over him. But, Yifan, both of you are already in your 2