"Did you forget your umbrella?" The other male asked as Xiumin turned to face him, the other's Korean holding a slight accent, he was momentarily distracted.

 

"Oh! Uhm... yes, unfortunately." Xiumin responded as he bowed his head slightly in embarrassment, causing the other to let out a soft laugh.

 

"I can share with you, if you want. I'm pretty sure we're headed the same way, after all."

 

"We are?" Xiumin asked, his mind latching onto the back end of what the other had said.

 

"Yup! I just moved into the house next door to yours at the beginning of last year, and we're in the same class." The other male replied, pausing for a moment he let out another of those soft laughs, "Now that I think about it, you're always in your own little world. I'm Luhan, by the way." The male introduced himself to Xiumin as he held out a hand.

 

Xiumin stared at the hand as he processed all of the information the other had given him before finally taking the outstretched hand in a quick hand shake, "Right, sorry about that, I'm Minseok- or as you may know me from Mandarin class, Xiumin."

 

"How are you doing in our Mandarin class, by the way? As far as I can tell we're the only two from our year taking it." Luhan deferred the topic in an attempt to carry on a decent conversation with his neighbor.

 

"I'm doing okay, I guess." Xiumin admitted bashfully as he glanced toward the seemingly never-ending rainfall.

 

"If you want, we can study together- I mean, I grew up in Beijing." As the offer left his lips, Luhan's eyes widened in surprise, that had not been his intention. He wanted to be friends with his neighbor, not offer to basically tutor him- if anyone from their class heard him at this moment, he was sure he would have made at least one class' worth of enemies.

 

Xiumin on the other hand, raised a brow at the offer, "Just study together, right? We aren't talking like you tutor me from "Yī" to "Nǐ hǎo" right?"

 

Luhan smiled at the reaction and gave a quick nod, "If you want, we can study together today, I can just send my mother a text."

 

"That would be nice." Xiumin responded, still a bit guarded as his mind ce again to the pouring rain, "By the way, can I still take you up on that offer of sharing an umbrella?"

 

"Definitely!" Came the excited reply from Luhan as he adjusted his messenger book bag to his other side and held the umbrella between them as they stepped out from under the awning together.

 

 

Their second meeting was less stereotypical, and more casual. Their second meeting was bright and early the next day as Xiumin left his house to walk to school. Luhan had left his house just moments prior, and stopped when he saw the other making his way to the sidewalk, "Xiumin!" Luhan called out as he closed the distance between them, smiling brightly, "Did you see the weather report?"

 

"Yup, bright and sunny." Xiumin replied easily as he slipped his hands into his pockets, feeling fairly relaxed around his neighbor and classmate after their initial meeting yesterday.

 

"Mmhmm! Hey, how did the rest of that homework come along for you yesterday? Was any of it too difficult?"

 

"No, it was fairly simple after you had answered the questions I did have. I just can't believe I was that oblivious to what I was writing." He smiled at the other, letting out a laugh.

 

Luhan laughed along with Xiumin as they fell into a complacent silence as they finished their walk to school. Once inside the school building though, they both went about their usual routines. Although they had almost the same exact schedule- with the exception of after school activities- they never once spoke to each other until the end of the day when they met up at Xiumin's house to study again. It was a silent agreement, but one that they both liked as they made their way back to Xiumin's house at the end of the day, once more in a comfortable silence.

 

The following days were all much the same, just with different assignments. Neither one of them paid much mind to the fact that they had allowed the other into their lives before and after school. It was almost like they simply ignored it, the fact that overnight they had wiggled their way into the other's life. Their classmates were oblivious to it at first as well, until they started walking from one class to the next together. If one stopped to talk to someone- the other would wait patiently until the conversation was finished and then they would continue down the hallway together. It was about two months after their first meeting when someone finally said something to Luhan- cornered him in the cafeteria about it to be more precise.

 

"Since when did you start talking to Minseok?" Kai asked, while Sehun and Lay stood just a few feet behind him, curiosity written all over Sehun's face while Lay simply remained still.

 

Luhan gave a slight shrug as he attempted to walk past Kai, only to be stopped by an arm that was held out. Sighing, Luhan looked up at Kai, "I don't know, why does it matter?" He mused.

 

"No one ever talks to Minseok! The closest to a friend he's ever had was when that Jongdae kid from his Mandarin class sat at the same table because he didn't feel like sitting next to Kris and Tao!" Kai pointed out fervently.

 

Rolling his eyes, Luhan took a step back so that he could look at the younger directly in the eyes, "Listen, Kai, I really don't care who associated with Xiumin before, but as far as I'm concerned- I can talk with him all I want, alright?" Luhan pushed past Kai with that, only pausing to glance at Lay, "By the way, You'll lose out to Kyungsoo if you don't make your feelings known soon." He murmured just loud enough so that only Lay could hear him, causing the other to blush before Luhan walked away, smiling happily at Xiumin as he joined him for lunch.

 

Two weeks after that incident, Luhan realized that he was growing to like Xiumin in a way that wasn't "just friends" and didn't know what to do about those feelings. Unexpectedly, it was Lay he spoke with about love first. Lay had pulled him off to the side to ask about how he knew about his feelings for Kai, and Luhan humored the other. The conversation had started out fairly normal, Luhan giving Lay encouragement, when somehow it turned and Lay was waiting for Luhan to humor him with answers of his own.

 

"I-I... I don't know, I think it's just a crush." Luhan attempted to get Lay off of his case once again.

 

"Really? Just a crush?" Lay quietly responded, an eyebrow slightly raised in disbelief, "What if I told you I had a sneaking suspicion that Chen was starting develop feelings for your cute little Baozi?"

 

Luhan's expression darkened as he looked at Lay, "Don't joke about that."

 

"I'm not. The way he looks at you and Xiumin wreaks of jealousy."

 

"Th-that's not possible..."

 

"It's not? Maybe it's because I'm on the outside here, Luhan, but he used to ditch Wufan and Zitao all the time to sit with Xiumin- even if they did remain quiet- but ever since you started eating with him..." Lay trailed off, watching Luhan's facial expression change as the meaning of Lay's words registered.

 

"Yixing... what do I do? What if it's not a crush? What if Chen does like him? I-I don't... wh-who would Xiumin choose?" Luhan asked, his voice shaking. He didn't realize he had become so accustomed to having Xiumin around him, nor was he exactly conscious of the fact that his 'crush' had already lasted long enough that it had developed into something a little more than a crush.

 

"That, I can't help you with, but can I give you your own words back? Make your feelings known before you lose him." Lay offered a small smile to the other

 

"Jongdae does like me." Luhan and Lay both gasped and turned around to face Xiumin who had just come around the corner to reveal himself, "However, I don't like him back."

 

"Xi-Xiumin..." Luhan mumbled the other's name out, his mind suddenly feeling paralyzed as he stared wide-eyed at his friend.

 

"Lay, do you mind if I speak with Luhan alone?" Xiumin asked politely, smiling softly at the other male.

 

Smiling nervously, Lay gave a quick nod, "Sure thing, bye Luhan, Minseok, see you both later!" Lay shouted as he ran past both of them out of the secluded corner.

 

As soon as they were left alone, Xiumin let out a shaky breath, "Luhan, you seriously don't get it, do you?"

 

"Don't get it...?" Luhan repeated back, utter confusion evident in his eyes.

 

"Just tell me one thing, tell me that what you're feeling is more than a crush." Xiumin spoke quietly, yet Luhan heard him loud and clear.

 

Luhan's blush spread quick and deepened in color by the second as he hesitantly met Xiumin's gaze, "I-I... Y-you heard everything?" He whispered back to Xiumin, who simply nodded, "I d-don't know, I'm not sure..." Luhan fumbled out as he nervously twisted his fingers together unconsciously.

 

Swallowing his own nervousness, Xiumin held his bottom lip between his teeth as Luhan finished speaking. Taking just a few seconds to keep his own nervousness in check, Xiumin finally spoke, "Promise you won't hate me if I try something?" He asked, his gaze flicking to Luhan's lips almost imperceptibly as it found Luhan's eyes once again.

 

"I promise." That simple two word whisper was all that Xiumin needed to build his courage enough to lean forward and connect their lips. It was just a few seconds at best, but at the end of those few seconds, Xiumin slowly pulled away from Luhan. Xiumin felt exuberant that he had done something that he never thought he would have the courage to do, but at the same time he felt terrified that he may have just pushed someone who he actually cared about away.

 

Silence reigned between them once again to the point that it had reminded Luhan of their second meeting, a meeting that had occurred just two months prior. It caused a gentle smile to light up Luhan's flushed with pink face, and just a few seconds later, Luhan opened his mouth to speak, "Maybe I should have listened to Lay and used my own advice."

 

"H-huh?" It was Xiumin's turn to be completely dumbfounded at the other's words.

 

"I do like you Xiumin, and yes, it's more than a crush." Luhan murmured before leaning forward and pressing a quick peck to the other's cheek, "So when will our first date be?" He asked giving Xiumin an unabashed wink.

 

A blush gracing his face that would rival Luhan's from just a few minutes prior, Xiumin fumbled for words before finally speaking, "Our first official date can be right now, let's go to that cafe you keep talking about." Xiumin managed to get out as his hand naturally entwined with Luhan's. Their first date was just two months after their first meeting, it was simple and it had an awkward moment or two, but neither would change it for anything in the world.