final story for this compilation fic, please enjoy KaiLu as "my" bestfriend

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Part 1: Twin Souls

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Soft light peeked through the white curtains from my window. Morning came in greet, forced me to flutter my eyes opened and blinked to see the familiar bedroom in baby blue.

“Dee!”

My mother called. I tried not to groan in response. I always had this similarity with zombie, either from the darkened area around my (always) sleepy eyes, or my lazy or from the incoherent grunts you could always heard everytime people wanted something from me.

I always remember what followed in my awakening. Mom ranted about me growing old each day and responsible I’ve had to take as a full grown adult. Usually I pretend to not hear her, cause I knew no matter what I say, she won’t stop pestering me to go outside my shell and find a 'real' man to be my eternal friend.

Speaking of friend, as I washed up and brush my teeth, faces of the past appeared to my conscious and my movement stopped. I looked into my own eyes, seeing the memory of my school time.

I had the weirdest High School. During my freshman era, there are so many rules for almost everything, including the bedding arrangement. Our teacher said 15 is the dangerous age where teenagers solved mostly their problems with hormones. That’s why, before the curiosity kills, we’re being forced to lived together in assigned living quarter, one room per class. It’s crazy because my bunk was placed beneath a boy named Kim Kai and across a bishounen (pretty boy) named Luhan. Only God knows how many girls bribed me to move from there, but I don’t want to. I wanted to be friend with them too cause they’re so handsome and gorgeous.

At the first day, as I sit on my bed, Luhan smiled at me and said it’s a pity that boys and girls had to share room together. Boys are smelly, he said, although it fumed my face cause I don’t think I’m much less smelly than him. He was so pale and flawless, like he was made of marble statue. Unlike me. I’m short, dark, and alive.

‘Hmph…’

As we began talked about ourselves, knowing our previous school and talked why we’re stumble in this place, the bed upside me shifted and when we looked up, Kai stared back at us while smirking. I don’t know how a smirk look alike, until now, and my heart was just thumping so hard because of a smirk. This boy, the charisma just too much. When I took a glance at Luhan, I think he must be agree with me too cause his eyes didn’t even blink and his mouth opened slightly, like he was drowning in trance.

I had a crazy thing about this whole staring contest in between Kai…Lu… wait, why I combined their name? And why it sounded so nice to hear? Kai…Lu… Kai..Lu…

‘KaiLu…?’

I don’t know why I felt disappointed when their eye contact broke because of my low whisper. Luhan began smiling shyly, asking what is the meaning of my word and I could feel Kai watched us silently as I smiled along with Luhan, didn’t have intention to explain cause I don’t have any reason for that. I just changed the topic, wishing that at least this place had separated bathroom for girls and boys.

‘Why, shorty?’ Kai snorted in tease, and in a moment I know he’s a jerk. ‘Do you keep something hideous inside your skirt?’

‘Hey.’ before I even retorted with a joke (cause I know jerky people didn’t mean harm. They only loved to tease weaklings and I’m no weakling) Luhan called him softly yet firmly, ‘that’s rude thing to say to a girl.’

Again, the intense moment a while ago was back, and I was trapped in the middle of it with rushing heartbeat, having wrong desire to witness more of this kind of atmosphere in between them. I don’t have intention to interfere, only found myself looking in between two invisible forces tried to clash each other defense. It felt like a war building in this side of room, but with more .

‘Hey…’ Finally Kai broke the silence. ‘My name isn’t ‘Hey.’ and I really wanted to laugh, giddily, cause his grunt just sounded so cute and demanding, while Luhan answering him by pouting the pink lips.

‘I know your name.’ Luhan glowered, ‘I was just kindly reminding you, you’re not home anymore, Puppy, so respect others as your equal.’

Just when I had this dramatic imagination of two boys having quarrel in the first day of our dorm life, I heard Kai laughed breathlessly, ‘bwahahaha this is so fun.’ In a flash, Kai jumped down from his bed and tapped Luhan on the shoulder, ‘so if I’m a Puppy and this one…’ he pointed at me without even looking, ‘was Shorty, then you should be called Pretty.’

‘What?!’ Luhan hissed.

‘What do you think, Shorty?’ Kai asked my opinion and I can only nodded cause Luhan indeed the prettiest person in this room… no possibly the entire school… no… in the universe.

‘Then it’s decided.’ Kai snickered at Luhan mischievously, ‘nice to see you, Pretty.’

That’s the beginning of our friendship.

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“Why are you so long?”

I startled from my thought, when I heard Luhan voice outside my bathroom. I stared at the door with puzzled face. Wondering why Luhan was here and then I just remember this is my wedding day and Luhan was my Man of Honor.

“Sorry, I’m spacing out.” I walked out and couldn’t help but smile cause he was smiling so gentle at me and it was contagious. Even after ten years passed, Luhan still looked so pure and innocent with his flawless skin and beautiful face. He’s indeed pretty no matter how he hated it.

“Are you nervous?” He asked while accompanying me to the dressing room. Of course I’m nervous! I’ve never married before!  I really wanted to rub that fact in his face, but every time I saw his eyes and found out that his eyes still as glassy and empty, I didn’t dare to say something hurtful, or even mentioning the source of his pain.

Luhan loved Kai.

Not like how I treasured both of them as my friends. His love was dangerously stirring him crazy. He blamed it to Kai’s smiles, whispers, and touches which he thought it’s unfair cause Kai never molested me. It’s obvious because I’m a girl. Kai had ert mind about girl’s things but it stayed on his mouth. However, when it came to Luhan, Kai believed both of them won’t lose anything if they were hugging tighty, or if those plumpy lips pressed to his ears, or if Kai cuddled him and kissed him affectionally.

It’s cruel because Luhan felt lost in love with Kai.

‘I can’t stand it anymore!’

When I was taking a nap under my blanket, I overheard Luhan frustrated growl followed by steps climbing the stairs to Kai’s bed above me. I opened my eyes and holding my cerulean blue blanket under my nose while sensing the crack sound of people shifting. Oh, I’m turning sensitive because I heard Kai’s nasty grunts and Luhan’s cute mewls and my face started to heat as I carefully looked around, wondering if there are other witnesses of this strange sounds. Nope. No one around. What a great timing!

‘Ah!’

I flinched, then bit my lips over hearing the moan. God, what’s happen? I asked myself in panic, held an urge to step out from my cocoon to see what the heck they were doing. But I’m afraid they already gave me clues, from the dirty noises they’d made and the local earthquake which made me shivered both in bliss and horror. This is so insane, whatever they did. But it also burning me with strange excitement, I decided to slip down to the floor to stop myself from taking advantage of their love making. But I indeed feel sinfully happy, couldn’t even cover a wide grin on my face cause then, Luhan slowly climbed down, face flustered and lips beaten and swollen and he wore Kai’s pants as he limped his way to bed.

‘Don’t ask.’ He sighed, warning me from digging information. Truthfully, I would like to know details, cause I’m also a teenager and I’m unstable and but I kept my mouth shut about tonight and about the relationship in between them, cause they really deserved each other since the first day their eyes met.

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“Hey, Shorty…”

As we arrived at The Beach, the restaurant where my wedding ceremony will be placed, Luhan left me in the bride’s room to run check on everything once again. He disgraced the title of Man of Honor, but he really did his job helping my wedding plan despite his busy life as bank manager. So I stood in front of tall mirror and practice my vow and scrunched my eyebrows cause my face only looked as stiff as frozen zombie now.

But the infamous husky whisper called me and I turned abruptly to see Kai stood by the open door, giving me his damned coy smile while saying, “I know it’s bad luck to see my bride so please forgive me…”

“Bull.” I laughed at him, “I think you won’t come, Kai.” cause he became a super model and the closest thing I could see him was on TV.

“I won’t miss crashing your wedding.” He smiled at me, and it clenched my heart cause it’s not the same smug smile I saw from him in our first year, because he was fast to be mature and so his smile could easily turned from childish to caring, and when he had Luhan tucked safely inside his embrace, his smile turned loving and protective, cause I knew the treasured Luhan as much as Luhan craved for his attention and love.

Kai loved Luhan.

Sadly, the world disagreed with them.

Two years and seven months ‘KaiLu’ was together. I counted it.

We’re in our graduating day, talking about our future. I’m taking designer path, while Kai and Luhan took Bussiness major in the same university. I joked if they would run to Church to get married first, because they were talking to move together in an apartment close to our campus. Luhan strongly objected with blush covering his beautiful face, while Kai winked at me and said,

‘Sssh… tonight I’m gonna propose this Pretty. Don’t ruin it!’

I simply hoped Kai really proposed to Luhan, but what I saw next, Luhan stumbled over my house in the middle of night and cried. I froze on my feet, slowly feeling numb cause he had this family dinner with Kai and his parents and when they announced their wish to live together as couple, he was thrown out from his family, forbidden to come back until he was ‘sane’ enough to.

‘Where is Kai? What he says about this?’ I was worry not for the cruel treatment from his family, it’s because he showed up alone when he supposed to suffer together with Kai.

‘He dumped me.’ It’s hard to function correctly when I saw everything and I knew for Luhan, Kai was his center of life. Easily, Kai seduced Luhan with kindness and made Luhan fell hard, too hard, he couldn’t come back to what he was in the first place. At this time I realized my teachers were right. Teen’s age was the critical moments where we shaped ourselves to be what we wanted to be as adult. Now after he was infected with blind love during his growth process, when the love ditched him, Luhan had a big hole of nothingness in his heart and I’m truly pity him.

But I decided to be outsider in his relationship with Kai. So I could only act as outsider, by consoling him to go home, where he could gather the pieces of scattered life again and fill the blanks with something better, probably someone better.

Of course, he believed he wouldn’t move on. He couldn’t.

‘Did Luhan hate me?’

In the morning, Kai came to my house and asked the first thing. Ignoring the itch in my palm to give him a hit on his super-duper gorgeous face, I took a deep breath and told him everything I know. It’s hard to say it again and reminded myself again at how vulnerable Luhan turned be. Kai already planted his love in Luhan and to have the whole tree being uproot all of sudden, surely it would turn anyone’s crazy.

‘I told him, we need to break up for a while, so his family could chill down until they’re ready. But he kept crying and kept refusing to know my reason, so I drove him here, maybe you could stop him from mourning over someone like me.’ Kai explained, even though deep in my heart I didn’t want to hear his excuse. I’m in Luhan side, from the beginning. But we’re not 15 anymore, there’s no place to be selfish.

‘Don’t you love him?’ I asked Kai for the first time. It’s obvious though, to see it from their daily interaction. I’ve even didn’t care anymore with the ‘local earthquake’ they’ve made on the bunk bed.

But he smiled sadly, and I’m afraid this is the only thing I would see from now on, ‘Love ain’t enough.’ He admitted, ‘we’re young and reckless. We still need family and we can’t just choose lover against our parents.’

‘So that’s it? you let him go?’

‘If destiny kind enough to make our path crossed again, we’ll meet and we’ll fall in love again.’

I strongly disagree with him. I don’t trust destiny since they’re only old hags knitting people’s future with their sick prophecies. Sometimes they created mischief, when the world became too perfect and boring. So while Kai believed in fate and Luhan became a broken doll because of love, I promised myself, one day, I’ll steal destiny job and arranged their meeting.

And that’s today, on my wedding day.

“Thank you for coming.” I said to Kai, “I really wanted you to be my Groom’s Best Man…”

“Wow…” Kai furrowed his eyebrows in amusement, “are you sure? Will you be okay if I screw the Maid of Honor later? This special job usually ended with some different positions in bed…”

“Whatever…” I laughed at him, really cant stand to keep secret about Luhan and couldn’t wait to witness their love moments again, after they both tried hard to alienate themselves from each other life. I don’t know if they could back as lovey dovey as they were in high school, but I doubt they moved on, with Luhan kept turning down every candidates for arranged marriage, and Kai who preferred to have dogs rather than girlfriend.

“Oh, I give you honeymoon gift.” Kai bought in a fancy gift box with silvery blue ribbon on it, “come on, open it.”

When I opened it with thumping heart, secretly hoped he didn’t give me something as weird as or toys, I couldn’t help but squealed happily to see kittens, he said they’re mix between Chartreux and Turkish Angora so one kitten had white fur while the other had grayish blue ones, “I heard you can learn to be mother by nurturing kittens.”

“I think I’m becoming mother already…” I whined while kissing the babies in awe.

“Eyy, don’t say that. Your Groom will think I did something to you.”

“Don’t be stupid!” I felt the nervousness gone slowly as I could find back expression in me. So this is how it felt to be alive. Luhan and me, no matter how we tried to cheer each other, Kai still needed to fill the place in our circle of friendship. He was wanted to make us believed beautiful life was still existed and he was the example of a dream came true because no matter how hurt it was, he managed to laugh it off and even doing so far by spreading happiness towards people around him.

“I will call them Kai and Lu. KaiLu.” I said to Kai and for a moment, I could see his expression hardened. But I don’t care. I already planned to drop the bomb to both of them today and no matter what happened, good or bad, I will make sure they bumped into each other and falling in love once again.

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Luhan

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It’s the time to walk my friend to the aisle. She looked so happy to be surrounded by her favorite flower, Jasmine, from the handmade hair clip spread along her curled long hair to the pure white flower bouquet in her hand. I positioned the line of little niece and nephew in front of us and instructed each of them to spread the jasmine’s petals on the red carpet before us. It’s a tough job. I tried to keep the girl from eating the petals and kept the boy from scatching his crotch. Lil man, your bird can't go anywhere so stop holding it!

“Are you ready?” I gave her my arm to hold onto as she approached me, smile was all over her face. She answered it with a happy squeal, I almost think she lost a chip in her brain due to nervousness and turned her into giggling balls. That would be bad with the marriage rituals if she forgot her vow.

“Oh, Luhan…” she whispered breathlessly when we reached the gate made of white branches and leaves, “Please don’t hate me…”

I wanted to ask why, but as the MC announced our arrival, I don’t have time to worry about her cause when I stepped onto the red carpet, my eyes immediately found Kai.

Instantly, my world turned into black and white.

I saw Kai and I could make sure he saw me, cause his eyes widened and his face paled, as if we’re both just survived from a nasty car accident with only invisible scars cut our flesh opened. I know there’s no time to check on him, but my eyes wildly trailed down his jaw, his lips, his gulping gesture and his tall and build figure before our gaze burned everything in between us, until the world around became the swirl of blur.

Relax, it used to happen during our high school time, so I won’t just lose my honor to Dee to her Groom now. In auto-pilot, I managed to lead her without tripping and still never lose eye contact with Kai who happened to be the Best Man. . I understand now. Dee set this up. She set us up in the most emotional place and moment just so we don’t have time to avert our gaze or worse, running away.

. Why I had to refer Kai and me as ‘us’? We’re not dating anymore, after he dumped me seven years ago. Until this very moment, I’m still angry with him, but it partially because he left me overseas even before I let him explain everything. I’m also blamed my stupid, ignorant self for that, though.

He raised eyebrows at me, and I could easily understand he asked ‘what the are we doing here…’ and I blinked at him, widening my eyes as if I said, ‘Dunno. She’s at fault.’ I pointed at the bride with my pupil. Something warm began filling me when Kai gave me a small smirk, and I can’t believe I was flustered in red cause I knew his gesture too well to translate it as, ‘you look nice…’

I hold an urge to roll my eyes and scoffed. I did it anyway, and he chuckled without sound.

‘ you, Kai…’

‘Yeah, I love you too, Pretty…’

My throat was dry at the memory. He used to say it, every time he chuckled. Now I gave him a wary glance, before I focused on the ceremony, refused to feel again the rush of love in my vein. I’m already moving on with my life. I’m not ready to have him messing with my life again. Not in this life time.

“Hey…”

But, as I tried to sneak from the wedding feast, Kai grabbed my wrist and magically we both found a very stuffy corner in this Reception Hall, behind the thick curtain and barely fit for both of us. It only need a second to wipe away the hesitation and doubt in between us. As soon as our body pressed to each other, Kai lips found mine and we kissed like teenagers. With his palm clenched my bowtie and my hands messed with his black jet hair, our mouth glued by the saliva, let the tongues danced our heart out, healing the pain from longing and recalled the memory of our first night, second night, all the night when we were busy holding each other into the bliss.

“Hey…” I breathed into his open mouth, “Puppy…”

He laughed and my seven years effort to crawl back into a happy, normal life, crashed all over as I found myself still pathetically in love with him, still wanting us to have our forever ever after.

“I’m a big dog now,” Kai always found a way to joke but I would never complaint cause for the first time after years, I stopped feeling guilty when I laugh, “you should call me Alpha from now on…”

“Your wish.” Since he gave me back my life, I rewarded him with my infamous pout.

“Fine,” Kai raised both his fingers to caress and pinched my cheeks playfully, “You can do well with Princess.”

“I’m not!”

“You are!”

“Attention!” We both startled when we heard our friend’s voice sounding through the room, “I can’t find the Best Man and my Man of Honor! Everyone please checked under the table or behind the curtains, in case they decided to hook up despite giving us a respectable toast!” I really wanted to kill her for using Kai and me as her joking material. This is too much! I knew she did so much effort for us today, but still… I’m so mad and ashamed I think my brain is gonna melted!

“Come on.” Kai held my hand, guided us to slip out of the corner and encouraged me to smile (instead stuffing Dee’s smug face with her wedding cake) as people cheered for us. It’s unbelievable how a wedding party could change the participants. Maybe because this is a special day for my friend, so no one wanted to be a by judging gay moment in between Kai and me.

“How was it?”

When I took a seat next to Dee, I gave her a grudging look, but since she ignored it and kept smiling widely at me, I couldn’t help but giving her my thankful whisper,

“You’re so dead, my friend…”

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Tbc

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How was it?^^