Lu Han found himself in the secluded corner of a park after walking away from EXO’s apartments. The green foliage hid him away from the rest of the park, giving him the space to breathe and rest without having to worry about any fans or writers looking for some good gossip. 

               When the light-haired boy sat down at one of the benches, he buried his face in his hands, the tears he’d been holding back fell freely down his face, dripping onto the dry ground.

               Living like this was painful. Living in secret and nonetheless, living while hiding the heartbreaking truth. To be truly honest, the boy had had thoughts of suicide before, but thinking back on his parents had stopped him. His father may have been extremely angered in his son’s decision to become a singer–he had said he would disown him–but if he had taken his life, wouldn’t the news of that hurt his father even more? He was his only son. And his mother. That sweet and caring mother who had supported him all the way. All her hard work would have gone to waste. He couldn’t do that to her. No. He wouldn’t do that to her. 

               “Lu Han? Is that you?” a girl’s voice broke him out of his thoughts and he wiped his eyes before trailing up from the pair of black converse to see who it was.

              The girl who stood in front of him had straight, black hair that barely passed her shoulder blades. Her slate gray, almond-shaped eyes stared at him curiously with her head tilted slightly to her left. She was wearing a pair of black jeans with a black “Bleach” anime, graphic t-shirt. The shirt was hidden behind a green, ped sweatshirt. One strap of the girl’s green and black backpack hung off of her right shoulder, her right hand on the strap to keep it in place. 

              “Oh, it is you!” a small smile graced the girl’s lips. “It’s been so long, sunbae!”

              Lu Han furrowed his eyebrows, for some reason, he couldn’t remember who she was, although she did look familiar. 

              Seeing this, the girl frowned. “You forgot me didn’t you, Han? Even after I told you not to when you got famous?” She rolled her eyes, shifting her backpack up higher on her shoulder as she spoke. “It’s me, Haruka. I was in the class below you.”

               When she said her name, Lu Han’s eyes widened in realization. She had changed since the two of them had last seen each other in 2011. Haruka had gone to Lu Han’s debut concert in Korea, but after telling him congratulations and how proud she was of her friend, he hadn’t seen her since.

               Before, when Lu Han was still studying with her at Seoul Institute of the Arts, Haruka’s hair had been shorter, not even reaching her shoulders. Her hair had red streaks before as well, unlike now with her hair a solid, ivory black.

               “Of course not! How could I forget you?” Lu Han shook his head. He slid over so that Haruka would have some space to sit with him on the small, wooden bench. “How have you been?”

              Haruka continued to stand, ignoring his question. “Aren’t you cold?” 

               It wasn’t until she asked that Lu Han actually felt cold. He realized that he had draped his sweatshirt on the back of the bench instead of wearing it earlier. His bare arms were actually close to freezing at the moment and he had been too lost in his thoughts to realize this.

               “How about we catch up over some coffee?” she smiled, holding her hand out to him. He stared at her outstretched hand as he argued with his conscience.

But what about Yang? 

What about her?

I...

Don’t be stupid, Lu Han. Go with Ruka!

But I–

You need to get your mind off of her.

               Lu Han felt stupid at the moment, arguing with himself. Though when he shook his head, Haruka continued to wait for his answer, her hand still held out and her smile still gracing the corner of her lips. After a few moments, he took her hand.

               “That sounds nice."

~~~

               “So who’s the one on this shirt?”

               Haruka leaned back in the booth, pulling her black shirt to straighten the picture out and looking down to see which character she’d put on today. The character had white hair and icy, teal eyes. “Oh, this one? This is Toshiro,” she relaxed back into her chair. “On the back is Hyourinmaru, his zanpakuto.”

               “You do know I don’t understand half of what you’re saying?” Lu Han chuckled, pulling his cup of coffee closer to him. “So this Jushiro’s your favorite?”

              “No! Jushiro’s the 13th Division Captain! He has white hair too, but his hair is longer and he has green eyes. Well in the anime he has brown eyes, but Kubo gave him green eyes. Anyway, this is Hitsugaya Toshiro, not Ukitake Jushiro!” Haruka continued to argue her point while Lu Han couldn’t help but laugh. “This isn’t funny!”

              “It kind of is, Ruka,” he shook his head, using the nickname he had given her a while back. “I just forgot about how big of a Bleach fan you are.”

              Lu Han took a sip of his cappuccino, before setting it on the table. He brushed his hand through his hair while Haruka took a sip of her own sweet drink. “It’s really not that funny, Han! I don’t see how you find my knowledge of Bleach so darn funny!” she shook her head before taking another sip. 

               “Okay, okay. When did this Toshiro,” Lu Han made sure to put emphasis on the name to make sure he got it correct. He didn’t continue until she nodded her head, “become your favorite? I thought it was Minato Kazemaki?”

              “Han!” she yelled. It was a good thing that no one was inside the coffee shop at the moment, or else she would have attracted much unwanted attention to the singer. “That’s in Naruto! A different anime! And it’s not Kazemaki, it’s Namikaze Minato! The Fourth Hokage!” 

              Haruka’s knowledge on the two biggest anime/manga series definitely surprised Lu Han, but it was always to the point that he couldn’t help but laugh. 

              “You know I don’t watch anime,” when she gave him a glare he placed his hands up in a bit of a surrender, “nor do I read manga. You can’t expect me not to get these wrong. Maybe I’d join in your ‘knowledgable’ ways, but I don’t even have the time anymore.”

              “Han, you are impossible,” the raven-haired girl rolled her eyes. “I’ve said these things so many times, how can you not remember?”

              Lu Han shook his head again, this time he took notice of the phone that vibrated on the table. It was his. He made a move to pick up the phone, but when he saw the caller ID, he turned his head away with a scowl.

              “Are you not going to get that? Wouldn’t it be much better than listening to my scoldings?” Haruka joked. It wasn’t until she calmed down a bit that she noticed his lack of response to her joke. Usually he would have made a sarcastic comeback, but he said nothing. “Lu Han? Is something wrong?”

               “No. Nothing,” his voice had suddenly turned cold, and the Japanese girl couldn’t help but be a bit curious. The vibrating stopped and the notification in Chinese flashed across the screen, Haruka could read enough Chinese to know that the notification said: Missed call from Li Jia Heng (Dui Zhang). 

               “Did you get in a fight with Kris?” she asked, sounding worried. Her playful, jokingly scolding attitude when she talked about Bleach and Naruto with him was long gone and in it’s place was a sisterly, genuinely worried tone. 

              “I wouldn’t call it a fight...” Lu Han turned his head away from his friend. He pulled his hands away from his coffee cup and placed them in his lap, under the table.

              “Then...” Haruka took a deep breath before continuing cautiously, as if testing the water of a bath. “How is Yang?”

              Just as she had expected, Lu Han stiffened.

So what Yi Xing said was true...

              “She’s completely fine–”

              “You know, you’re a terrible liar, Han,” Haruka’s eyes became stone cold as she spoke. “Something happened between the three of you...”

              “Nothing happened, Haruka,” he snapped. The Japanese girl flinched at his harsh tone. “Why are you so nosy? Sometimes, I think you’re too nosy for your own good! Why don’t you just leave this alone and scold me about Kushiro, or Jushiro or whatever his name is!”

               Haruka had always hated being yelled at. She had a somewhat of a short temper also. She may always seem calm, cool and level-headed, but it’s not always that way. Underneath her laid-back demeanor was a hot-tempered, little teenager.

               She slammed her fist on the wooden table.

               “You know what, Lu Han. You push people away too easily! You don’t know how to lean on other people’s shoulders! All you’ve ever done is lend your shoulder to someone else! You should learn how to rely on others! You don’t need to shoulder a burden alone! Don’t you know that you have friends?! You may act tough, but I know you’re not feeling so Xi Lu Han! What is wrong with relying on people?! Why can’t you just open up?! I was just trying to help, but all you did was push me away with all your might,” she was standing now.  Haruka hit the table with both of her hands. “Maybe next time, I won’t care. I’ll leave you alone next time. I might be the last person to care about this for you! It’s probably because you didn’t rely on Yang enough! That’s probably why she left you!”

               She left him sitting at the table alone. Her words gave him a caustic bite and they bit him hard. Their venom spread throughout his body and he could feel those words stinging his heart. 

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, 

but words will never hurt me”?

 Who ever said that was totally wrong...

...words are the worst kind of pain anyone can ever give.

              It took Lu Han a few moments to realize what he had done. He had just pushed away the last person he could lean back on. He was almost sure the others would never want to care for him again, seeing how complicated he had made things.

              “Ruka! Wait! He called after her before she slammed the door of the coffee shop. He groaned in frustration, picking up her backpack and running out after her after apologizing to the old lady who ran the small shop.

              The streets were empty all except for the long-haired girl walking off. Haruka was already several meters away from the shop by the time Lu Han had gotten outside. He called her name, but she refused to stop for him. Lu Han ended up jogging just as water began to drizzle lightly on them. The Chinese boy couldn’t help but feel a horrible, intangible feeling, as if something bad were to happen. Just like that night.

              Yang’s scenario flashed across his mind and that gave Lu Han enough energy to run over and grab Haruka’s arm before she stepped into the street. 

              He had saved her. However, this time there was no speeding cab. There was no injury. There was no Kris, arriving before him this time.

              “Ruka, I’m...I’m sorry. I,” Lu Han took a breath before continuing. “I was just... I had come out to get away from everything and...when he called I just got angry. You....you know I can’t control myself well...when...when I get angry...”

              Haruka refused to turn and look him in the eye, but her posture relaxed a bit from it’s stiffness from when Lu Han first grabbed her arm. The rain began to pour before she spoke again:

              “I’m...I’m sorry, Han...” it had always been difficult for her to admit her wrongs and say sorry, but this time she felt that it was necessary if she wanted to keep her friendship with Lu Han. “I didn’t mean those things either... You know how I am when I get angry...”

              Before she could continue, Lu Han pulled her into a brotherly embrace and she began to cry. All those years of loneliness had finally gotten to her, she finally realized how much she actually missed her friend when he left. Her only friend. 

              He knew this was going to happen, and he knew Haruka’s habits and how she would react to things. The 21-year-old girl was softer than she looked or seemed. She was fragile, and not to mention, an emotional wreck after her last boyfriend broke her heart and trampled all over those broken pieces. 

              While Haruka sobbed into Lu Han’s shoulder, the taller boy ran his fingers through her short hair, whispering small ‘It’s okay’s to her as she cried. Neither of the two hot-tempered young adults noticed the girl watching them on the other side of the vacant street. The girl standing there was out of earshot, so it was impossible to hear what the two had talked about before they embraced. Something about the two of them made that girl clench her fist.

                Minutes passed of her watching Lu Han and Haruka in their familial embrace, and the girl’s phone began to vibrate with an incoming call. She slowly pulled it out of her pocket, shifting the umbrella she held so that she could look at who the caller was. Upon seeing the name, she immediately answered the call.

               “Hey, where are you?” the voice on the other end asked tiredly.

               “I’m heading back now,” the girl answered softly.

               “Yang Yang, where are you? I’ll come find you,” the voice said in a gentle tone. Xiao Yang felt a bit uncomfortable when he addressed her as ‘Yang Yang.’ That nickname had once belonged to her brother and only him, but now this man used it so freely and her loving brother rarely used it.

               “I’m fine, Kris. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” without hearing Kris’ reply, Yang ended the call and slipped the phone back in her pocket. She spared the pair one last glance before she turned around and headed back to EXO-M’s dorm. Her heart felt an unusual pang of jealousy and Yang began to question herself a bit. Lu Han was only her best friend, so why did she feel this way?

~~~

              Lu Han stepped into the water, the hot droplets from the shower head cascaded down on his pale skin. He closed his eyes, savoring the warmth and the relieving pleasure of the warm, pounding water on his back. His mind began to wander:

               From thinking about his past memories with Yang to the present painful scenes of putting up with Kris and her together. However, when he thought even deeper into things, he realized that he had many people backing him up. There was Yang’s brother, Yi Xing, and his approval of their relationship was probably the most important since their parents were not always there to see the two of them. There was shy Chen Chen, who backed Lu Han up, feeling that Kris’ actions weren’t exactly very “nice”. And Tao; Tao was once Kris’ best friend, but once Kris had Yang in his arms, the young rapper felt left out and disowned as a friend. There was also the two maknaes of EXO K, Kai and Sehun; the two of them seemed to be on Lu Han’s side as well. Last, but most definitely not least, was Haruka. 21-year-old, Koizumi Haruka. She was one year younger than him, but she was also much more mature than she probably wanted to be. She could rival Yang’s best friend status now, and maybe a bit before too.

              A knock came from the door.

              “Yeah?” Lu Han called out, from inside.

              “I have some of my Kaito’s clothes you can borrow,” Haruka said, her voice muffled by the wooden door.

               “Just leave it next to the sink!” 

               Haruka slowly opened the door, and Lu Han peeked through the shower curtain to see her small arm reach in and gently place her brother’s clothing on the table. He watched how quickly her hand shot back out when she had made sure the things wouldn’t fall and he couldn’t help but laugh. She’s as shy as always... he thought.

               After another 10 minutes in the shower, Lu Han reluctantly stepped out of the shower and got dressed in the t-shirt and shorts that Haruka had given him. When he walked out, he found Haruka sitting on the couch, holding a hot mug of tea as she watched the TV in front of her. Haruka turned her head to him when she heard the door open. 

               “Han, you’re finally out!” she laughed before turning back to the anime episode on the TV. “You’re cup is on the coffee table here. Come and watch Bleach with me.”

               Lu Han chuckled, walking over to his friend and settling himself on the couch beside her. When he got closer, he found her wrapped up in a dark green blanket, her feet tucked into her body. Haruka handed Lu Han one end of the blanket when he sat down and he happily accepted it. He took his steaming mug off of the table and was blowing on it to get it to cool down a bit when he felt a hand running through his hair.

                “It’s messy,” Haruka made a face when he turned to her. She gave him another one of her special smiles, “I had to fix it.”

               The Chinese singer shook his head, “you are the same as always, Ruka. The same as always...”

              And it was because of that, that Lu Han felt comfortable and reassured. Some things had changed drastically, but it was nice to know that Haruka was still the same and treated him as she always had.

To all my readers:

I am so sorry for missing last week’s update! My aunt from HK came by to visit so I couldn’t find the time to post this chapter up. I hope this longer chapter makes up for my disappearance!

@wulinefan Yay!! It makes me happy that you’re enjoying this so! It really does make my day when I see your comments~ ^_^