'cause the best part is falling

Wu Fan has always been in Korean, no matter how other trainees get amazed, or jealous, that he can speak Korean along with Chinese and English. He’s been taking a couple of Korean language classes on top of the tutoring that the company gives them because there are still a lot of words and phrases, not to mention sentences, that he can’t understand. He thinks it’s during these times that his stoic expression becomes useful. Still he feels that it’s not enough.

That’s why when he asks Song Qian, a Chinese trainee, who’s already about to debut, to give him additional lessons, he feels proud of himself because he’s taken yet another step to improve his speaking skills and, therefore, another step to improving himself as a Kpop idol.

His friends don’t think of this as the case, though.

“Dude,” Lu Han laughs when he tells them. “Dude.”

“What?” Wu Fan asks, truly confused as Yixing snickers in amusement beside him. “What?”

“You really asked Qian to tutor you?” Lu Han questions, giggling.

“Yes,” Wu Fan answers.

“And she said yes?” Yixing presses.

“Yes,” Wu Fan repeats, patience starting to wear thin. He still remembers how Song Qian had looked up at him from her stretching, her lashes fluttering to her cheeks as she blinked a couple of times, probably to cover her surprise. Then there was her slow smile when she finally agreed. It’s her smiles that he never fails to remember.

Lu Han whistles as he puts an arm around Wu Fan’s shoulders, struggling slightly with the height difference. “Well, well, never thought I’d say this, but good for you,” he pats his shoulder proudly.

“What are you talking about?” Wu Fan stares at him, bewildered.

“Please, Wu Fan,” Yixing gives him a knowing look. “We’d like to think we know you better than anyone else here, so don’t play dumb with us.”

“This is another one of your moves,” Lu Han giggles once more when Wu Fan shoots him a withering glare. “Well, if it isn’t, if it’s really for the interest of learning more Korean, why didn’t you ask me instead? I took Korean language as a course for university, you know.”

Wu Fan opens his mouth to retaliate, then closes it again. He’s pretty sure that the way his face is heating up would translate to him being very red, which is then an indication that he has indeed been caught.

It’s not that he’s using his lack of Korean as an excuse to spend time with Qian, it’s just that he does need help and he thinks he’d have more motivation to learn it better when a pretty face with an absolutely winning smile and magical laughter and incredibly sweet personality is the one teaching him. Unlike someone who… well, someone like Lu Han, who’s pretty much of an most of the time.

“So when’s the date?” Lu Han teases.

“It’s not a date,” Wu Fan snaps, pushing Lu Han off him.

“When is the date?” Lu Han repeats, eyebrows raised.

Wu Fan sighs in defeat. “Friday.”

Maybe if he pretends that it’s a date, it will actually result to one. But first, he’ll have to strangle Lu Han.



-



When Wu Fan picks Song Qian up at their dorm so that they could go to the coffee shop where they’ll be having their tutoring session, he rings their doorbell and, almost immediately, the door flies open. His eyes widen when Amber steps out, along with Soojung, both their arms crossed over their chests. It’s obvious that they have their suspicions about him, and probably his intentions, although Soojung’s eyes are narrower than Amber’s are.

“What do you think you’re doing asking Qian out?” Soojung asks him in perfect English that Wu Fan has to blink a couple of times before processing her words, because no one really speaks in English among the trainees.

“I’m not—“ Wu Fan tries to explain, but Amber cuts him off.

“Kevin, I’m warning you,” Amber threatens him and Wu Fan actually shudders because Amber only ever calls him Kevin when there’s a legitimate dismemberment threat involved. Just like that time he shared with her, in the strictest of confidences, that he thought Yuri was pretty. He never really did hear the end of that from her.

He tries to go for the innocent route. “It’s just tutoring,” he tells them innocuously.

“Right, because I asked Jongin to tutor me solely for that purpose as well,” Soojung snaps. After a beat, her eyes widen as Wu Fan looks at her in shock, Amber with amusement.

“Go back inside, Soojung,” Amber pats her head and pushes her back in the dorm, ignoring just how red her dongsaeng’s face is.

When Soojung is safely back in the dorm, the door shut behind her, Amber bursts into laughter. She leans back on the door, hands on , because Soojung getting upset over something or someone always backfires on her. Wu Fan quirks his mouth before laughing along with her.

“Hey,” Amber says, suddenly serious again, “You better not be planning anything stupid.”

“I don’t know what you’re—“ Wu Fan starts to defend himself, but Amber shuts him up with a look. “It’s just… I just want to talk to her.”

“Getting to know her better,” Amber finishes for him with an eye-roll. She pushes herself off the wall. “Fine, do that,” she finally agrees. “Just so you know, she’s really good friends with Kyuhyun.”

Wu Fan’s brows furrow. “I’m not sure exactly how that’s a threat,” he finally says.

Amber manages not to laugh at how ridiculous her supposed-threat had sounded. She shrugs. “Well, he is bandmates with Yongwoon. Oh and she’s friends with Changmin, too, and you know how much that guy enjoys getting a punch or two out there if it means taking care of his friends,” she elaborates.

Wu Fan visibly swallows and Amber smiles, clearly satisfied that finally her threat is heard loud and clear.

When Song Qian comes out, Amber gives her the sweetest smile.

“What’s that about?” she curiously asks.

Wu Fan chuckles nervously. “I don’t know,” he lies.



-



Their tutoring sessions go well. They stay in coffee shops since they still have that luxury of being able to go out and be seen with the opposite , although it’s been getting harder and harder to get a hold of Qian since their rehearsals keep on running into the early mornings, even until late afternoons. Qian teaches him all about greetings, how hello is always the best way to get a girl’s attention and how saying goodbye isn’t always appreciated because not a lot of people like partings. She tells him things like how the supermarket is one of her favorite places to go to because it’s fun cooking for people and buying ingredients is a part of cooking. She then goes on to share that she enjoys riding the subway and that she doesn’t know how to ride a bicycle.

Wu Fan does some sharing of his own, telling her that the expectations of being an idol suffocate him at times, how he really can’t complain because there are trainees like Junmyeon and Jongin, who’ve been going at this far longer than he has. He tells him about their practices and how he, almost always, falls flat on his face when they dance. This usually gets Qian laughing so he smiles at his misery because it always feels better when he shares it with her.

Sometimes, their afternoon sessions tide over in the evenings and they walk by the Han river, Qian covered up more often now that she’s starting to get recognized as their debut date nears. She always gets this faraway look in her eyes when she expresses how lonely it is to be so far away from family. It’s something that Wu Fan knows all too well, so he puts an arm around her and holds her close. In times like these, Qian would always cuddle closer to him, sighing contentedly.

Their conversations vary from the mundane to the heart-warming and wrenching things, like break-ups and family fights and friendships. But no matter what they talk about, it always surprises Wu Fan how easy it is to converse with Qian in Korean—no, how easy it is to converse with her.

The days tide over into weeks and this time, when they do meet up, it’s not always for Korean language lessons anymore. It’s usually just for coffee or for a hang out or just to talk. Wu Fan finds he doesn’t mind what reason they use, all he knows is that he wants to be around her as much as he can.

“You’re debuting soon,” Wu Fan tells her over a cup of tea. His smile is wide because she’s going to get to do what they all dream of and he is proud of her because he thinks she’s incredibly talented.

“Next week,” Qian nods, taking a nervous deep breath.

Wu Fan reaches across the table and takes her hand in his. Qian’s eyes move from their clasped hands to his face genial face.

“You’re going to be great,” and it almost sounds like a promise, which is something he can’t do because there are no guarantees. But he can’t bring himself to take it back because he just believes that it is true.

“We’re not going to be able to see each other like this anymore,” she tells him in almost a whisper.

“I’d like to think that I can manage to speak in Korean properly now,” he says, a proud beam of his face.

She suddenly bursts out laughing that Wu Fan stares at her startlingly, dropping her hand. It’s always a beautiful sight when she laughs, but he still hasn’t gotten past the thought that it was okay to be laughed at. He frowns.

“What?” he questions.

“Do you seriously think I believed you when you asked me to tutor you in Korean?” she says, still giggling.

He frowns even further. “If I remember correctly, you agreed and—“

“Because I wanted to go out with you, too!” she cuts him off. There’s still laughter in her eyes. Although, now, she’s more subdued, her lower lip in between her teeth.

Wu Fan may have asked Qian to tutor him in the hopes of getting to know her better, which he thinks has been a rather successful endeavor seeing how close they’d become. But never did he think that it would ever result to something like Qian returning, even the tiniest bit, of feelings towards him.

“Well then,” he says, not really sure what he can say. There’s a big smile on his face, one that he’s sure wouldn’t be wiped away for a while and one that would get him teased endlessly and mercilessly.

“You don’t have to be so smug about it,” she makes a face at him and throws a packet of sugar on his face.

“I think I’ve earned it,” he insists, even having the gall to wink at her. “An incredibly beautiful girl just confessed to me that she’s always found me attractive. There’s no way I’m not going to be smug about that.”

“It’s going to be hard, Wu Fan,” she continues. There’s worry lurking behind her eyes so he reaches up and smoothes them over.

“It’s going to be fine,” he assures her. “We’re going to be fine. One day, we’re going to stand on that stage, side-by-side, and maybe we’ll even get to hold hands.”

“Yeah right,” she scoffs. But she laughs because she is debuting, which is exciting. Plus, she’s happy that Wu Fan will go through this with her.

Wu Fan laughs with her, and he thinks that nothing could be better than this.



-



Wu Fan clears his throat for what feels like the nth time. He fiddles with the collar of his shirt and the lapels of his coat, checking his cuffs and ensuring that his pants are still neatly pressed. Then he repeats the process all over again.

Junmyeon sighs exasperatedly as he watches the whole routine for the 5th time. He grabs Wu Fan’s hands and stares at him. “It’s just a press conference,” he reminds him firmly. Wu Fan merely scoffs. “We’re barely even going to get to say anything because we’re the rookies and rookies never really get to talk much.” He groans when Wu Fan shifts nervously in his stance. “Stop being so fidgety,” he demands.

“I’m nervous,” Wu Fan argues. “Leave me alone.”

“If I leave you alone, you’re going to end up fixing your clothes until it’s all worn out,” Junmyeon retorts. “And stop touching your hair, it’s getting unraveled.”

Wu Fan’s hands freeze on their way up. He clenches his fists as he puts them back down.

“Everything okay here?”

Junmyeon looks up and sighs with relief. “Oh good, it’s you,” he smiles winningly at Song Qian. “Maybe you can knock some calmness into him. I’ll go and find Taeyeon.” He pats Wu Fan on the back and leaves them alone.

Song Qian is giving Wu Fan a look, and it takes about exactly five seconds before Wu Fan confesses.

“I had to tell someone,” Wu Fan pleads. “And Junmyeon seemed like the type who’d understand all about secret idol relationships because he’s been around long enough to witness it.”

Qian giggles as she reaches up to fix his collar. “You kept on fixing your shirt and now it’s all creased,” is all she merely says before she places her hands on his shoulders. “You’re going to be fine. You’re good at these things, you know, talking to people and showing your love for your members and sunbaes,” she elaborates when he raises his eyebrows. “Besides, Junmyeon is right, rookies don’t really get to talk much in these things. I should know.”

He takes a deep breath and nods. If anything, he trusts Qian. If she says he’ll do well, then he will do well.

“I’ll see you out there,” she tells him, flashing him one of those smiles she reserves especially for him.

Later, at the end of the press conference, Wu Fan as Kris and Song Qian as Victoria stand beside each other, both smiling as the camera flashes blind them. He has this urge to take her hand in his because this is what they’d talked about, standing in the limelight together. Still, he knows it’s not the right time.

But, much, much later, when the concert is done and they’re all waving their goodbyes to the fans, Wu Fan does take Song Qian’s hand in his. She flashes him a surprised look and then her eyes widen in recognition. She grins at him as she squeezes his hand and he grins back.

And, together, they take a bow.