I was already in senior high school when the most unexpected made a grand entry into my not-so-ordinary life. At least, it was not how I expected it to come.

I was only 17 when I made it big in the fashion industry. After my debut runway show in Paris, commercial offers never stopped coming my way. I was in magazines, billboards, and websites. My name was almost everywhere. I was already an international model.

Until one day, I told my mom and my manager that I was tired of it. My mom asked me if I wanted to fly back to China with her. Of course, I said yes.

And guess what?

I spent my last year in high school in China. I was a transfer student, and I was expecting I would be treated like an ordinary student. But I was utterly wrong. Everyone recognized me as the model of Luis Vuitton, Chanel, Burberry, Calvin Klein, etc. And right on the first day, the school coach appointed me as the school’s basketball captain. I was shocked. Like, Hey!

Apparently, they found out about my glorious middle school days in Canada. I was the basketball captain; I led the team to championship.

I was not just their typical oh-so-good-looking-guy. I was not just a varsity with unparalleled athleticism. I was also a superior academic achiever, earning the top spot after every examination. Imagine those hundreds of students on the list that followed after my name and whom I beat so easily. Add into the recipe my talent in rapping and dancing. All those haters—I did have haters too, you know—just died of envy. Surely, my heavenly glory was intoxicating for them.

I was famous. I was loved. I was fabulous. I could do just almost any thing. Everyone adored me. Everyone noticed me. They thought I was perfect, too good to be true—err, exist rather. I was the Star.

I had everything. I was rich, I was smart, I was athletic. I was completely happy. Until a friend asked me, “I know you’re really busy with your stuff but when do you plan on getting a girlfriend?”

That made me wonder. I wasn’t exactly thinking about having a romance with anyone before. I just didn’t need it, so most likely I didn’t want it either. I was that kind of person.

Until one afternoon. When a game was coming up and our shooting guard just got himself injured. Of course, I panicked. He was a valuable player to us. He was my partner. Combine us together and our team would be as good as formidable, or better yet, invincible.

So this short guy just walked in on us during our practice. I gazed at him curiously. He was wearing the same jersey shirt. Brown hair. Oh, dimples. Surely, he wasn’t a member of our team. I went to Coach to ask him who the guy was and he said, “He’s going to be our shooting guard.”

“What?!” I asked, unable to hide that disbelief in my voice. Everyone stopped on their tracks, turned towards our direction, and tried to listen in on the conversation—which I already suspected would turn out to be a heated argument between Coach and me. Needless to say, I could feel that annoying look from Mr. Newcomer.

“He’s a good one,” Coach goes on to say as he writes just whatever—tallies and other useful details, of course—on his table chart. “I’ve seen him shoot, and trust me when I tell you he can shoot.”

“But, Coach, he isn’t even a varsity! He’s a—“ I scrutinize Dimple Guy as I look at him up and down, never leaving out a single detail. He’s a junior whom I’ve always seen around having lunch on his own. He’s unsociable, friendless, a nerd, and most of all a tech-savvy geek! I’m not having someone lanky, weak, and absent-minded-looking boy into my team. I wouldn’t let someone ruin our reputation and lose our ticket to the national championship. The game would never depend on how he plays! Whatever the cost, it can’t be him!

“Yixing!” Coach called. I would’ve expected him to walk towards me with his head hung low, chin tucked. But he seemed to have matched my domineering aura. He approached us confidently, chin held high, chest out.

“Yes, the geek’s ruling the court finally, no?” I said, not even attempting to conceal the sarcasm in my voice and that look of disgust on my face. Even Coach couldn't wipe it off my handsome features, I was sure.

“Wufan! Watch your mouth,” Coach reprimands me, shooting me a glare.

But I didn’t care. “I told you, Coach. This is not going to work!”

“Why don’t you test me then?” Yixing said suddenly.

I heard everyone in the team gasp in surprise and… I looked at each of them, examining their expressions, and...The hell, they all looked so excited. I, Wu Yifan, was being challenged into a game of my forte! I let out an exasperated sigh and said, “Fine. A five minute game, I suppose.”

Lanky Boy smirked at me and walked towards the center of the court. Coach just put down his board and cracked his knuckles, “Wufan, don’t underestimate people. He is something.”

“Whatever you say, Coach,” I groaned and walked towards the center as well.

Coach held the ball. Geekie and I both had our knees bent, ready for the jump ball anytime.

“Just don’t cry after I turned you into a laughing stock, kiddo,” I mumbled.

“If you could,” Annoying Guy said, giving me another annoying smirk. How dare he!

“Well, I have to commend you for being courageous,” I said nonchalantly. I honestly thought it would be the last of our conversation before the game, but he really went on to say something that made my heart skip tumultuously.

“You’re gonna congratulate me afterwards, by the way.”

This. Boy. Ticks. Me. Off.

And the whistle blew.

Being the taller one, it was unquestionable that I had the upper hand. I ran across the court and made a slam dunk. The way Nerd Guy ran after me, trying to be offensive and defensive at the same time—seriously, what gameplay was this?—was just hilarious. It was my court. To challenge me when I was in my territory was definitely a wrong and foolish move. In one minute, I already had a ten-point lead. Against? He had no score.

See? He was all talk. Where was the shooting skill he was supposed to have that Coach kept on bragging about earlier?

I stole a glance at Coach, but after seeing him undisturbed and unworried, I started to worry. I was expecting him to look a bit disappointed.

I dribbled the ball faster and with much more strength. I still had four minutes. I can’t let him take an opportunity. I was so busy building up strategies and tactics that before I realized it, the ball was no longer in my hand. It shook me a little. How did he manage to steal the ball from me? Since when had he reached the other court? I watched Lanky Guy do a magnificent layup.

“What, just gonna stand there and let me score?” he shouted from the other side.

Okay, I’m officially going to call him Mr. Annoying here.

Then, the tables turned. He was on the offense and I had to resort to defense. My mind started to wrack in nervousness when I realized how complicated, mastered, and efficient his footwork was. Not long after, he made three consecutive three-point shots. He had a point lead ahead of me. Speed, ball handling, footwork, shooting skills in different range. My overall evaluation of Mr. Annoying? Hard as it was for me to admit but he was way better than our original shooting guard.

“Thirty seconds left!” Coach shouted.

While Mr. Annoying may be fast, I was taller. My strides were longer; I was faster. I stole the ball from him and made shots.

The whistle blew again. It was game over.

15-14.

I walked towards Mr. Annoying and extended a hand out to him. He smirked at me, saying, “Nice game.”

Nice? That was it?

“You’re not taking my hand?” I asked curiously. Honestly, I would feel offended if he didn’t. I was an international celebrity and there I was, extending it out to him like some stupid guy from another stupid planet when all the other girls out there would’ve stupidly died for it, waiting eagerly for him to shake my hand. And thankfully, he did. But once he did, I pulled my hand out instantly, shocked.

What was that? Suddenly, I was submerged in an electrical state. I felt wobbly and my heart was pounding inside my chest like crazy. I looked at him. He, too, looked surprised, petrified. Eyes bawled out like an owl, his hand still stretched out before him. Everything about him seemed to have frozen in time. I wondered if he felt it too. I wanted to ask but couldn’t bear to. He started to open his mouth, as if about to say something but thought better of it. Instead, he smirked.

“So am I in?” Mr. Annoying asked.

I was about to give him my answer, but Coach beat me to it. “Of course, you are! I never doubted your skills for one microsecond.”

Mr. Annoying chuckled. Whoa, I never thought he could smile like that, his dimples peeking out beautifully. I felt my cheeks run hot. Wait, was I flushing? I turned my back towards them to hide my undoubtedly tomato-colored face. What was I being embarrassed for? I won the game—even though I almost lost.

Well, whatever.

That night, I couldn’t stop thinking about Mr. Annoying. Damn, I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about him. And every time a memory of him—be it in the hallways, in the cafeteria, in the library, just wherever!—popped up in my head, I would feel those weird butterflies swimming in my tummy. The weirder part is that I’d feel happy and I’d smile like a lunatic. It wasn’t me.

So, a few days after that, I couldn’t really remember how things played out, but we were like the best buddies! We had lunch together. We played basketball every afternoon. I would even wait for him and watch him practice during his dance classes. I even listened to him play the piano every time we had nothing to do in school. And we started going home together ever since we found out we lived on the same block! What a coincidence!

And the days after that, we’d crash into each other’s house just to play video games, watch movies and eat popcorn together, and study and do homework together even though we totally had different subjects. And what I couldn’t believe was for like five times, I went to his house and slept in his room, only I had to sleep on the floor. He wouldn’t let me sleep beside him on his bed.

We were talking about personal stuffs one night when he suddenly said, “We’ve been this close and yet you’ve never called me by my name.”

I gulped. Say his name? I only called him nicknames. Harsh ones, to be truthful. I didn’t intend to be rude to him, but just as I got closer and closer to him, I felt myself drawn closer and closer towards him. He was like the opposite pole of a magnet that the more I came closer, the more I found it difficult to resist. I had maintained my distance though. I made sure not to be touchy with him. Bromance with him would be dangerous. I was afraid my body would get out of control and I couldn’t imagine what would happen next if it did. So I resorted—which I believe would be considered a practical, emotional protective mechanism—I turned out to play the role of a bully who was a good friend. Pretty ironic, huh?

I gulped again. With tremendous effort, I stuttered, “Z-Z-Zhang Y-Yixiiiiing~”

Yixing chuckled. “What is wrong with you, Kris?”

I sighed. How could he say my name easily? Why can’t I do the same to his? The more I thought about it, the more it frustrated me.

“Lay,” he suddenly said. “Just call me Lay. Maybe it would be easier for you.”

“L-Lay?”

“It feels good to hear that from you.”

I frowned at the long silence that followed.

“Hey, Lay, you still up?”

“Hmmm…”

His voice sounded muffled so I sat up straight only to see that he had covered himself in layers of blankets.

“You wanna sleep?” I asked.

“Can’t really sleep.”

“Wanna tell you a story?”

“No?”

“Why not? I’m a good story-teller.”

“No, you . I’m sleeping.”

“Good night, then?”

“Good night, Wufan!”

Wufan? He never called me Wufan before. Suddenly, I felt my heart hammering against my rib cage again. If my heart leapt, I swore I wouldn’t be able to catch it because Lay would definitely pick it up for me. I wasn’t just sure that if he did… Would he return it to me? Or, would he rather keep it for himself?

I sighed at the thought. I closed my eyes. And hoped for a better tomorrow.

But, we had to be drifted apart again when one day I was offered to be part of this EXO group the lady from S.M. Entertainment kept on babbling about. Without thinking, I gladly took the offer! Everything since then became busy days for me. I had basketball. I had my academics. I had been training to debut as an artist. But there was one thing I actually I missed out on. I never got to spend that much time with Yixing anymore. Things only got worse when I entered the entertainment industry again, where spotlight was on me all the time and there was nothing I could do to evade the blinding rays.

I became so active in EXO, being their fabulous Duizhang, that I started to neglect my studies and Lay. Not that I was completely failing in my academics. I was just always absent and I realized I missed school so much. I missed my ordinary life. I missed Zhang Yixing.

I was so stupid! Why did I ever go back to this life anyway?

Maybe because I just really couldn’t stay away from this kind of life? That deep inside I was also yearning for this? I liked the other members. They were like family to me, and our bond was even getting stronger. And the fans. Their honest support and love for us were just so heart-warmingly moving and overwhelming. Those were just the things that kept me together even though I was so stressed out by these huge responsibilities I've taken into my hands.

If only Lay were beside me, maybe I wouldn’t feel this way.

I just needed to see him.

One night, I sneaked out of the dorm past our curfew and went to Lay’s apartment. I expected him to be asleep already since it was already midnight but maybe luck was on my side.

I pressed on the doorbell and was greeted instantly by a surprised and sleepy Yixing.

“What are you doing here?” he hissed.

I hugged him tight. It was like instinct. I didn’t have to think of what to do. My arms just found him and I had his face pressed against my chest. Only that he pushed himself away from me, as he looked up to me in full confusion.

“Just let me in? I really want to talk to you,” I told him.

Lay nodded and let me in. I walked into his bedroom and sat at the foot of his bed. I patted my hand on the space beside me to motion him to sit with me but he declined.

“I prefer to stand here and face you right now,” he said. "I haven't really seen you in a while, you know."

“I missed you,” I blurted out. I hung my head low. Even I didn’t know what I was saying then.

“Just so you know, graduation’s just a month away,” Lay reminded me.

He sounded angry to me. And I could only understand. I exchanged our friendship for popularity. An unforgivable thing. “I know…”

“Look, I know you’ve been really busy. Go back and take a rest.”

I looked at him desperately. Was he seriously sending me away with those hurtful words?

“Lay, I understand you’re mad at me for—“

“I’m not mad at you. It’s just… I believe everything’s turned awkward now.”

“Awkward? How exactly?” I unintentionally raised my voice and I knew I had to shut up but I just couldn’t. “Lay, why are you doing this to me?”

“Because I thought we were really friends,” he replied.

“That’s ridiculous! If you really were a friend, you would be happy for me!”

Shoot! I shouldn’t have said those words! Expectedly, Yixing got really mad at me. He looked so pissed off that veins were already bulging out on his forehead, his cheeks all red, and tears welling up in his eyes. I braced myself for a shout, for an outburst. A heated argument was on its way, and I regretted so much that I had to start it all.

“I am happy for you! But I’m not happy for myself. Because I thought you were a great friend. Imagine how I became all alone again, branded a social climber and a loner after you left me for your—“ Lay lifted his arms up in the air, waving them in exasperation. “—Is this your dream?—Just right after you left me! Urgh! I was only myself when I was with you. I was only happy when I was with you. Why?! YOU WANNA ING KNOW WHY, WU YIFAN?!”

Those words made a steel out of me. Wherever the conversation was leading to, I definitely had no idea. I was too stunned to even have an idea. So when Lay dropped the bomb, I just did the most unbelievable thing in the world.

“Because I actually fell in love with you…” Lay whispered as I watched him crouch helplessly on the ground, hands covering his face. I saw him heave and sob and I only sat there like a stupid brat who couldn't even comfort his friend when he was not feeling good.

“I…I…um, I’m leaving.”

I my heels, left him in a heap of mess and misery, and there I was, walking on the streets in a cold, starless winter night. My mind was blank, my body dysfunctional.

After the confession, I never contacted him again. I avoided him. I would sometimes steal a glance at him whenever I got the chance to attend school but when he caught me watching him, I’d stupidly avert my gaze and ignore him again.

Damn. This friendship was sure over.

I didn’t know if we could still fix it. Go back to how we were.

Time passed by rather quickly and it was time for my graduation. And I didn’t expect him to be there. I was nervous. My hands were sweating and my knees were buckling. I felt like wanting to flee but at the same time wanting to stay. To say sorry to him, to mend things back again, to feel right again. Honestly, all those times when we were apart, everything just felt so wrong.

Right after the ceremony, girls crowded around me, giving me flowers and letters and send-off gifts, sending me well wishes, kissing me on the cheeks, taking pictures with me. When I got the chance to break free from them, I walked up to him—the only one person I really wanted to talk to but can’t.

We stood across each other, one foot away to be exact, drowning in each other’s gaze. Neither of us wanted to speak, or maybe didn’t know how to speak, as if we just ran out of our vocabulary or just simply forgot how to speak.

“I shouldn’t have come,” Lay suddenly said, turning away finally.

And being the stupid me, I grabbed him by the arm. “Please stop acting this way.”

“Does it make you uncomfortable?” he asked. I knew just how hurt he was. I saw it in his eyes.

“Y-Yes,” I replied.

He smiled wanly at me, and said, “I’m sorry, Wufan. I’ll never appear before you again.”

He retracted his arm and I did nothing to stop him as he walked away from me. I was too nervous, too stupid, stupider than the most imbecile person in man's history, to even tell him ‘Give me some time.’ Or, I was just too stupid to realize that I also felt the same way about him. That things didn't have to end this way.

I just never imagined that it would be the last I heard from him again.

[A/N:]

Annyeong~ I'm back. With another Kray fic.

How do you like it? Was it short? Should I end it like this, or you want more?

Kkkk~

I know. I'm an evil Kray fic author because I kept on writing angst stories.

But, I love you anyway, and please forgive me if I keep on breaking your hearts. 3

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