It was early afternoon. You looked up at the grey sky: dark clouds conquered the city's skyline, masking over the tall buildings.

You closed your sketch book, put it inside your back pack and zipped it up.

A small panda keychain dangled on the black bag, and you stared at it for a few minutes.

His voice echoed in your mind:-

Pretend this is me, and if you keep it, it’ll seem like I'm always with you.

You snickered, 'Liar.'

Where were you when I needed you the most?

You sighed heavily; your warm breath came in contact with the cool air forming mist. You suddenly tore off the keychain and dumped it into the bag before zipping it up again. You packed away and got up from the bench. Slowing strolling on the pathway, you began making your way home.

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Raindrops started to fall as soon as you stepped into your house.

Once the door slammed shut, your cat came to you and purred at your feet.

You patted its head, 'Aigoo do you miss me~? Or are you just hungry?' You chuckled and left the backpack on the floor.

You went to the kitchen and poured out some food in the bowl for your cat. She quickly dug in as she heard the sound of her favourite nibbles.

~~~I'm so curious yeah~~~

Your phone rang just as you were pouring yourself a glass of water. You dashed to the living room and answered the call.

'Yeoboseyo?'

'Hey what's up?'

It's your best friend in the entire world.

'I just got back home... You?'

'I'm bored to death!! That's why I'm calling you~'

You chuckled, 'what do you want Yixing oppa?'

'I want to go out and have fun!'

'But it's raining! I don’t want to get wet…'

He whined like a little boy, 'We can stay indoor; like going to the movies, eat and shop...'

You sighed, giving up arguing with the stubborn boy, 'All right I'll go with you.'

He cheered through the phone, 'Yay!! I'll pick you up in 10 minutes~ See you!'

You giggled at your childish yet adorable friend and hung up.

He never failed to brighten up my dull mood.

10 minutes later, the door bell rang.

As you opened the door, Lay stood there looking dashing as usual, along with a red wool scarf and his beige MCM backpack.

He beamed foolishly at you, ‘Annyeong pabo~ Ready to go?’

You grabbed your back pack and replied, ‘Yes!’ You returned a smile and went out with him.

‘Lay where are we going?’ You asked him as you two reached the pavement.

He opened the umbrella and thought for a moment, ‘Umm do you want to go to the movies?’

You nodded, ‘Yes! Let’s go~’

As you were walking down the road, the winter air brushed your face and sent a shiver down your spine. You folded your arms in front of your chest and you embraced yourself to stay warm. Noticing this, Lay handed you the umbrella, ‘Hold it for a sec.’

You took over the umbrella, ‘Okay.’

Then Lay unwrapped his scarf and circled it around your neck.

‘But you would be freezing! I don’t want you to catch a cold~’ You protested as you resisted his help.

‘Listen, you are more important, okay? I’m warm enough like this.’ He got hold of the umbrella once again and gave you a nod.

You smiled at him and were going to thank him, before he said,

‘Besides you are weaker than me.’

You pouted and snapped at him, ‘Yah! No I’m not!’

He smirked and pulled you along, ‘Come on let’s stop standing in the middle of the road and get going~’

You snuggled in the softness of Lay’s scarf, inhaling his scent that warmed you from your heart. You bit your lip to hide your smile as you followed him.

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As you two walked out of the cinema, you commented, ‘Wow that movie is just, amazing. I love how the whole plot was just so mysterious and at the end, bam! - It’s all crystal clear. Plus the actors were just fantastic.’

Lay chuckled, ‘Yea and I hope they have a sequel soon because I don’t want to be kept hanging for so long! This was definitely one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.’

You giggled, ‘Yes! We have to watch the sequel together, okay? Wait I won’t let you choose, I’ll just force you to go with me~’

He laughed and swung his arm around your shoulder.

At that moment you blushed and felt butterflies in your stomach. You quickly pretended nothing happened so Lay would not notice.

Ever since you two have become best friends 8 years ago, you always have this unexplainable feeling towards him.

That feeling still exists, even until now.

Lay turned his head to face you, ‘Want to go to the game arcade?’

‘Yes!’ You squealed at the thought and quickly made your way to the arcade.

Lay hurriedly followed you at the back, ‘Yah slow down! Why are you so excited?’

“Remember how we used to come here every week and played for hours until our parents scolded us? Good times…. Well I haven’t been to the game arcade since a year ago when university started…’ You pouted at him as you stood for a second, looking for direction. You found you way and entered.

‘Yixing what do you want to play?’ You asked as you two were walking around the arcade.

‘We should go on that.’ He said and pointed at a car racing machine.

You smirked, ‘I’m totally going to win. Are you sure you are going to challenge me with that?’

He sniggered, ‘How do you know I haven’t improved since last time?’

You remarked, ‘Because you were never good at it and never will be. Admit it, you at this game.’

‘We’ll see.’

~~~

‘Congratulations! You have won the Championship!’

The bold yellow words appeared on your screen as you raised your arms and cheered.

‘Beat you.’ You gave him a mehrong and simpered.

Lay just laughed it off and stood up, ‘I bet you won’t be able to beat me in the next one.’

‘Where are we going?’ You quickly gathered your stuff and chased after him.

You caught up with him and you stood in front of the huge machine with your mouth opened wide.

Lay placed a finger under your chine and pushed up your jaw to close your mouth.

He smiled at you, ‘So?’

‘Seriously, you are expecting me to get on this when I know the chance of winning is zero?!’

He jumped on the dancing machine and looked back at you, ‘why not?’

‘I’m not getting on.’

‘Yes you are.’

‘No I’m not. I won’t ge-‘

He reached out his hands and pulled one of your flailing arms. You stumbled onto the dancing platform and he selected the song.

‘I hate you Lay.’

‘I love you too~’ He playfully joked and hit [Start].

‘This is so hard!’ You struggled to keep up at first because of the rhythm and upbeat music.

‘Relax and you’ll get the hang of it.’ Lay leisurely replied as he did the moves without difficulty.

You tried to follow the moves but they were too complicated. You stepped your right foot and then your left and kicked your right and raised your left and suddenly you nearly tripped yourself.

Lay swiftly got hold of your arm and looked sternly at you, ‘are you okay? Maybe we can stop if you want…’

‘No it’s fine! I can’t be beaten by a game! Even if I can’t beat you, I have to beat this game!’ You stood up straight and took a deep breath. You focused hard on the pattern and started to move along. You began to slowly be able to follow the steps and soon you were dancing smoothly without a hitch.

‘Congratulations players! You are the best dancers in this party! Well done!’

You grinned satisfactorily and turned to high five Lay.

You panted as you praised the sweating boy next to you, ‘Not bad dancing machine.’

‘Not bad for an amateur dancer.’ He replied as he nodded towards you.

Both of you didn’t say anything for a while as you were trying to catch your breath.

Once you did, you looked at Lay again, ‘Let’s go and play some less tiring games.’

He chortled and nodded a few times, ‘Yes no more dancing or jumping.’

You two went around the game arcade and played with all different games and machines for another hour. Just like old times, you enjoyed spending time with Lay in the arcade, competing and allying with him in various games. It was just like how it used to be.

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‘Yixing oppa I’m hungry~’ You pulled his sleeve as your other hand covered your rumbling stomach.

‘Then what do you want to eat?’ Lay looked around the mall and searched for restaurants, ‘There are Korean, Japanese, Italian, French-‘

You knew what was on his mind, ‘Let’s just go and eat our favourite spicy fried pork~’ It has been his favourite food even since he tried it a few years ago with you.

He looked delighted, ‘That’s why you’re my best friend.’

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You lightly patted your stomach, ‘Aigo I’m so full right now…’ You sighed heavily, ‘I’m going to get fat!’

Lay chuckled, ‘Trust me despite consuming that huge amount of food, you never get fat~’

You smiled, ‘Hopefully.’

He turned to you, ‘Want to go for a walk?’

You nodded and both of you started to walk down the street.

The street was not too crowded; families and couples were wandering around the place. It was filled with small shops and boutiques, occasionally food stalls could be seen set between booths that were selling accessories.

You plopped into a bench aside the road and patted to the spot next to you.

‘I thought you wanted to go for a walk?’

You nuzzled against Lay’s scarf that was around your neck, ‘I’m tired and lazy.’

‘You’ll get fat.’

You pouted at him, ‘You just said I won’t!’

He ruffled your hair affectionately, ‘Pabo I’m just kidding.’

Your cheeks flushed red and you quickly hid your face in the scarf.

It’s all these little things that made your heart skipped a beat.

Stop doing that Yixing, or I’ll fall hard for you.

Seeing your pink cheeks, Lay smiled at the charming and adorable face that you have.

Not knowing he had already noticed your red face, you quickly changed the topic, ‘Oppa, why did you bring this big back pack?’

He placed his MCM bag onto his lap, ‘To carry all these,’ He ped his bag and opened it wide to show you the contents: his MP3 player, his phone, wallet and a pair of gloves. ‘I can’t live without these~’

‘And why did you bring such a gigantic bag?’ He pointed at yours as he close his and put it aside. He reached to grab your bag, ‘Let’s see what’s inside.’

He ped the bag and noticed the big sketch book right away, ‘I remember how you used to draw wherever you were and how they always turn out to be brilliant and amazing~ Any masterpiece lately?’

You giggled at his flattering words, ‘I just drew one this morning~’

‘Oh really? Let’s se-‘ As he pulled out the book, a small keychain dropped out of the bag.

You leaned down to pick it up, but you were not as fast as Lay.

He grabbed it off the floor and held it up in front of his face. He stared at the panda for a few seconds before turning to you.

‘Why do you still have this with you?’ He asked with a straight face; he dropped his bright smile the second he spotted that panda.

You stuttered nervously, ‘I-I uh I wanted to-‘

He started to raise his voice ‘After what that bastard did to you and you still carry his freaking keychain?’

‘Calm down, people are looking at us…’

And indeed pedestrians were sending you a few looks as they passed by, looking at you two to find out what was happening.

Lay seethed with anger at the thought of Tao. His gaze darted away from you and looked out to the traffic. You glanced at him and saw fury in his eyes. He never acts like this until every time you mention your ex. You turned away from him and looked down at the gray pavement.

‘Oppa.’

No answer. Tears were starting to form in your eyes.

‘Lay.’

Still no answer. You swallowed hard.

‘Yixing…’ You were on the verge of bursting into tears and a drop rolled down you cheeks.

That was when you felt a strong arm wrapped around your shoulder and pulled you close to the body.

Because of the comfort he had given you, you immediately broke down and cried in front of him. You did not care about Lay seeing you like this; he had been through almost everything with you. He had seen you being happy, hyper, laughing your head off and even moments like this. He was always there for you despite happiness or anguish.

Scenes of your relationship with Tao, your ex flashed in your head: The first time that you have met him in a shop, your first date in a theme park, your first kiss with him under the sunset next to Han River, your first birthday that you have spent with him, your first breakup on a rainy day.

You allowed the heavy rainclouds in your mind let loose their raging nature. Tears drew two wet trails on your cheeks and dripped down on Lay’s scarf as you sobbed in pain.

Lay suddenly whispered into your ear, ‘He didn’t deserve someone like you.’

You stopped breathing for a second.

Did he just say that?

He tightened his arm around you and continued, ‘And he was an idiot to let you go.’

You gradually seized your crying and turned to look at him. Your faces were just an inch away from each others. You swallowed hard as you gazed into his eyes, which were looking at you ever so tenderly. He closed the distance and planted a light kiss on your lips. He pulled back just enough for your noses to touch.

‘Don’t ever cry for that guy again, okay? He’s not worth your tears…’ he cupped your damped cheeks whilst wiping off your tears with his thumb.

You bit your bottom lip and nodded. You could still feel the warmth of his lips against yours and you melted under his touch. You felt so secure inside his embrace and the warmth that you have been longing for.

You gave him an assuring smile, ‘Actually I was going to throw it away earlier but I have obviously forgotten about it.’

Lay returned a smile and asked, ‘Do you want me to throw it away?’

You slowly nodded, ‘Sorry panda.’

He chuckled at your silly apology towards the fluffy keychain, ‘Bye bye~’ and tossed it into the rubbish bin nearby the bench.

You giggled as he sat beside you again. You questioned curiously, ‘To be honest why did you ask me out today?’

Lay replied, ‘I know on rainy days you’ll be reminded of him. I want to make you happy and forget that guy.’

You blushed at his thoughtful mind and meekly smiled, ‘Thanks Lay. Thank you so much.’ You cuddled closer to Lay as he wrapped both arms around you, softly your back.

You uttered against his shoulder, ‘Oh and Lay,’

‘Hmm?’ He pulled back and looked at you questioningly.

You mumbled, ‘Your scarf is now drenched with my tears…’

He laughed, ‘It’s okay. I was planning to give it to you anyways. I know how you love it, especially if it’s from me~’

You burst out laughing while Lay just simply blushed and pouted embarrassingly. Once you have caught your breath, you looked at Lay lovingly with your gentle eyes.

He reached out to brush away the hair in your face and tucked them behind your ear. He gently your reddened cheeks and whispered, ‘I love you _____. I promise that I will always be with you and I will never do what that guy did to you.’

You gazed into his eyes once again and smiled, ‘I love you too.’

[a/n: Please comment~ ^^]