Days passed, and it seems like the whole school finally got over the “Sehun and Luhan are friends” issue. Luhan became more comfortable and at ease with their arrangement right now. Although from time to time (who was he kidding? Most of the time) he would still blush a lot and stutter whenever he would have his little moments with Sehun. It didn’t take for Luhan to realize that he was drowning. He’s got it bad, and the more he spent time with Sehun, the more he realizes that fact. This kept Luhan up most nights, and whenever he thought about it, he could not help but spazz around on his bed. His pillows and plushies are the ones taking the hit most days.

It was one of those nights when Luhan can’t sleep. He kept staring at his clock as the seconds turn to minutes and as the minutes turn into hours. When the clock midnight, Luhan sat up and decided to go downstairs to drink some milk.

Now, this isn’t the first time for him to go downstairs in the middle of the night with the lights all turned off. Luhan is not really afraid of the dark. He proceeded to the kitchen, got himself a glass and went to the refrigerator to get milk.

He opened the fridge, and was just reaching out for the bottle of milk when he heard a door creaking ever so slightly. Luhan froze on the spot and his eyes widened. He heard slow footsteps approaching him. And his only conclusion: GHOST.

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.

I’m going to be killed by a ghost!

Goodbye Dad, Mom… Joonmyun hyung, even if you used my new shampoo…

Goodbye, Chanyeol, Tao… I’m gonna miss you guys…

Goodbye Sehun… The love of my life…

Goodbye to our future house beside the sea…

Goodbye to breakfast in bed and three kids…

Luhan was fully aware of the figure approaching him as quietly as possible. He was scared to death, and was just about to scream when a hand suddenly covered his mouth, drowning all the sounds that’s about to come out of it.

“Shh! Luhan!” Sehun said in a hurried whisper. “Relax! It’s just me!”

“S-Sehun?” Luhan said against the other’s hand, and Sehun finally let him go. “Sehun? What are you doing here?”

“I.. I think we should go back now.” Luhan looked around anxiously as he walked after Sehun at the deserted street.

Sehun stopped on his tracks and looked worriedly at Luhan. “I told you, you shouldn’t have followed me. We’re still not that far away from the house. You could still go back if you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared!” Luhan said defiantly. “And I’m not gonna leave you alone. There might be robbers or murderers around here…”

“Luhan…” Sehun said with a smile. “I’m okay on my own. I’ve been doing this a for quite some time now. It’s perfectly safe…”

“And what exactly are you doing?” Luhan asked with his eyebrow raised.

“It’s a secret…” Sehun replied. “But I can show it to you if you want…”

Luhan thought about it for a few moments before finally making up his mind. “Damn it… Let’s just go.”

Sehun smiled triumphantly as the two of them started on their way once again. Luhan still felt scared. Sure, the streets are lined with streetlamps, however, Luhan was already jumping into thoughts of being mobbed and murdered. He felt a chill down his spine as he tried to push these thoughts out of his mind. Sehun must have noticed Luhan’s predicament, because he suddenly offered his hand.

“Here,” Sehun said as he reached out the other’s hand. “Hold onto me so that you’ll be less scared.”

Luhan didn’t say anything as he held onto Sehun’s hand; he was busy wishing to the heaven that the light of the lamps are not bright enough so that the blush on his face won’t be that obvious.. He wasn’t sure if why, just why his hand did chose this time to be this sweaty. Sehun should’ve given him some heads up; he could’ve wiped his hand on his pajamas or something. This is so embarrassing.

“We’re here…” Sehun looked over to Luhan.

Luhan looked around as the two of them stands over a familiar vast field not far from their house. Despite the almost pitch black surroundings, and the sound of crickets, he did not feel afraid anymore.

“What are we doing here?” Luhan asked in confusion, but Sehun held a finger to signal him to stay quiet.

Sehun stood in front of Luhan with a small smile playing on his face. “Just wait a bit. They’ll be coming out soon.” He said in a low whisper.

Luhan’s expression of bewilderment turned into a wondrous surprise as numerous fireflies started lighting up the whole field, surrounding the two of them. There are no words to describe how beautiful everything is right now. That’s what Luhan was thinking right now. He could not believe despite practically living in the same area all his life, he hadn’t discover anything like this.

“I discovered this the first night I arrived at your house.” Sehun explained. “They’re pretty aren’t they?”

“Yeah…” Luhan said in awe as he looked back at Sehun. He loved how Sehun looks so precious illuminated only by the light of the fireflies.

In his mind, he wondered how he could still fall in love with this boy in front of him again and again and Luhan knows he’s in way far too deep to get out.

“Damn it!” Tao entered the classroom throwing his chef’s hat angrily. “Now it’s gonna rain? Could this day get any worse?”

“What’s up?” Luhan asked as he watched Chanyeol and Tao went inside the room after their club activity. “Did anything happen?”

Tao sat in his seat angrily with his arms crossed, obviously refusing to answer. Luhan looked up to Chanyeol instead for an explanation.

Chanyeol sighed as he took a seat as well. “Well you see our club moderator, Mrs. Lee, took a maternity leave…”

“Yeah, I’ve heard about that.” Luhan nodded. “So?”

His friend removed his chef’s hat from his head. “Today, her substitute came, and well… he kind of…” Chanyeol struggled for a word. “He doesn’t favor Tao a bit…”

Tao snapped his head from his position. “A bit?! A BIT?!”

Chanyeol raised his hands in resignation. “Okay! Okay… Maybe a lot?”

“Luhan,” Tao said dramatically from his seat. “He said my cupcake wasn’t fluffy enough! As if!! If I know he’s just playing favorites!”

“Favorites?” Luhan raised his eyebrows.

Chanyeol shook his head. “Well, you see, the new moderator kind of scolded the whole club except for Minseok. He praised Minseok…”

Tao scoffed. “A LOT! How does he even know our cupcakes aren’t good enough when he’s all over that Minseok the whole time?! If you ask me, it’s the first signs of ual harassment.”

“Dude, what the hell?” Chanyeol exclaimed. “You need to calm down.”

Tao clicked his tongue. “Why should I? You can insult me, my personality, my looks, my wushu skills… But you cannot insult my baking abilities! Especially NOT my cupcakes!”

“Anyway, that’s not all.” Chanyeol continued, ignoring Tao’s statements.

“That’s not all?” Luhan asked.

“Well, Tao here had a sudden outburst.” Chanyeol explained. “And one thing led to another, and next week, he and Minseok would have a cook—off or more appropriately a ‘bake-off’.”

“What?!” Luhan exclaimed.

“They’ll see…” Tao said threateningly to nobody in particular. “They’ll see how my baking’s better than that shorty. I’ll prove to everyone that the only thing fluffy about that guy is his cheeks.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes as he leaned back on his chair. “Anyway, that’s what happened today. It’s kind of a nice to see that I’m the one acting normal for a change.”

“It really is.” Luhan chuckled.

Tao stood up from his seat. “I’m gonna get ready for the battle now. I’m going home. Chanyeol, come with me.”

“Why do I have to come with you?!” Chanyeol complained.

Tao was already pulling Chanyeol from his seat with a terrifyingly determined look on his face. “Because you’re my neighbor, and I forgot my umbrella.”

Chanyeol could only look helplessly at Luhan as he was being dragged by Tao outside the classroom. He had only barely put his backpack when Tao bid Luhan a quick goodbye.

Luhan shook his head in amusement as he watched his two friends left the classroom. A loud sound of thunder caused him to look at the window. It’s really raining pretty hard outside. However, Luhan smiled as he watched the raindrops fall against the glass. He is very fond of the rain… It always brings him a very precious memory…

“Luhan?” A voice called him from the doorway. “Are you in here?”

Luhan turned to the direction of the voice. “Yup, you ready to go home?”

“Uh, well…” Sehun smiled embarrassedly. “I was just gonna tell you to go home first…”

“Why?” Luhan asked.

“I forgot to bring an umbrella this morning.” Sehun answered. “I think I’ll just wait for the rain to stop before going home.”

“You can share with me!” Luhan volunteered determinedly.

“I don’t know…” Sehun scratched the back of his neck. “We might not fit, you know?”

“It’s okay!” Luhan insisted. “I don’t think the rain’s gonna stop soon though. It’s better if we just go home right away.”

Sehun looked uncertain before finally complying to Luhan’s suggestion.

Sehun is right. As the two of them walked at under the strong rain under an umbrella that barely fit the two of them, half of their bodies are soaking wet. Nevertheless, Luhan felt happy, because it reminded him of the first time he met Sehun years ago, the same day he fell in love with him…

“Oh my God! My babies!” Luhan’s mom exclaimed when the two of them arrived on their doorsteps. “Come inside you two! You’re both soaking wet!”

His mom scrambled around the house as she fussed around the two teenagers. She didn’t settle down until she is sure that Luhan and Sehun are fuzzy warm in their pajamas

Later that night. While Luhan is doing his math homework, he heard some soft knockings on his door. He was pleasantly surprised when he saw Sehun standing outside his room carrying two mugs in his hands.

“Here,” Sehun handed him a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows (Luhan’s favorite). “I wanted to thank you for sharing your umbrella with me earlier, and your mom told me that this is your favorite… so… I hope you like it. See? I put tiny marshmallows in it.”

“Thanks,” Luhan said with a smile as he took a sip of the hot beverage. “It tastes good.”

 “Really?” Sehun said as he wiped his forehead. “Oh God, I’m glad you like it. I thought I put the wrong measurements earlier.”

Luhan snorted. “The chocolate powder was ready made.”

“Yeah, well…” Sehun smiled awkwardly as he took a sip from his own cup. The water must be too hot for Sehun, because he sputtered a bit. “Whoops, too hot. My tongue hurts!”

“Are you alright?” Luhan gasped as he tried to help Sehun. “Here, I’ll blow it for you!”

“No, it’s okay!” Sehun tried to say. “I can do it myself!”

“No, let me help you!” Luhan insisted. “It’s gonna hurt again if you don’t blow at it first.”

“What the hell are you two doing?” A voice was heard from the end of the hallway. The two of them turned to see Joonmyun looking slightly harassed.

“Hyung, Sehun burnt his tongue when he drank the hot chocolate.” Luhan explained.

“Oh, I see…” Joonmyun’s eyebrows raised in understanding. “I thought you’re doing something else by the noise you’re making… Well then… Guess I’ll go to sleep then…” He winked at the two of them as he went back inside his room.

“What the hell is he talking about?” Luhan murmured quietly.

Sehun’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment, then all of a sudden his mouth formed into an ‘o’. “Did we really sound like that?”

“Like what?” Luhan asked, still not getting any of it.

Sehun snorted. “I can’t believe you’re this innocent, Luhan.”

“What do you mean?” Luhan asked in frustration.

“Nothing…” Sehun said as he drank the hot chocolate. “You’re really nice, Luhan. Stay like that. Good night!”

As it turned out, despite living with Sehun for quite some time now, Luhan learned that he still did not know every side that Sehun has. Of course he knows it wasn’t something that he could just find out by stalking Sehun’s social media accounts.

It happened one afternoon after one of Luhan’s soccer practices. He had just come out of the soccer club’s locker room when he “chanced” to see the baseball field. It stopped him on his tracks when he saw Sehun being scolded by the baseball coach. Luhan watches the scenario unfold from the sidelines. He could not hear what they were saying, but he can see the guarded expression on Sehun’s visage. He watched how Sehun threw his baseball glove when he sat on the bench while the team continued with their practice. Luhan stayed, watching as well, watching when the whole baseball team went back to their locker room, watching how Sehun was left behind, and watching Sehun ran laps for his punishment.

It was around sunset, and Luhan is certain that there are only a few people who are still at the school. However, Luhan waited as he watched Sehun ran his forty-seventh lap… Forty-eighth… Forty-nine… By the time that Sehun is halfway through his fiftieth lap, his knees started to buckle and he fell down face first to the ground. Luhan ran to his side as the other stayed unmoving in his defeated position.

“Sehun?!” Luhan kneeled down and tried sitting Sehun up to check if he fainted. “Sehun?! Come on!”

Luhan was relieved when he saw Sehun was still conscious when he settled him down. Sehun’s expression was blank and his gaze was far, which made Luhan worried once again.

“Sehun?” Luhan asked as he tried to stand up. “I think you’re overworked today. I’ll call for help.”

“No,” Sehun murmured as he held on to Luhan’s wrist tightly, like his life depended on it. “I’m fine. Let’s just… Let’s just sit here…”

Luhan hesitated at first, but gave up when he saw Sehun’s determined expression. The latter’s face was covered in dirt and sweat, but Luhan saw something else: sadness. The two of them sat in silence. Somehow, even though Luhan has a lot of questions to ask, he felt that this is not the right moment for it.

“Luhan, can I borrow your shoulder again?” Sehun asked all of a sudden.

There was a lump lodged on Luhan’s throat that won’t come down, so Luhan had no other choice but to just nod.

He felt as Sehun’s warmth draws close to him when he leaned his head on his shoulder.

“I got a call from Dad and Mom today,” Sehun started to say while Luhan just listened. “They told me that they won’t be able to go to our graduation, which really , you know? I mean when they left me here, they promised that they’d at least attend it… But now, I don’t know anymore. I know I shouldn’t be feeling so down like this, because they’re both working so hard, because for me… To provide for me… For my sake… But it’s just sad, you know? When that day comes, I always thought that when I stand on stage holding my diploma, I’d see their faces right in the middle of the crowd, looking proudly at me. I just really, really miss them. I miss them so much…”

Luhan felt his heart clenched as he heard Sehun sniffed silently. He wants to make everything better. He wants to stop the tears from falling from Sehun’s eyes. He wants to comfort him. He wants to reach out to Sehun to try, just try, to at least make the pain go away.

And so that’s what he did.

Luhan dislodged Sehun’s head from his shoulder. He held Sehun at arm’s length. Somehow, looking at the Sehun’s tear stained face brought turmoil to his feelings. He hates seeing the other like this. Luhan took his time, slowly and surely, he wrapped an arm around Sehun’s neck, while the other made gentle at the other’s back. Sehun held onto him with intensity, holding Luhan in his place clutching his already wrinkled clothes, but he could care less. Sehun nuzzled into Luhan’s neck as he cried silently. The tears falling continuously into Luhan’s skin, yet somehow at that moment they seemed irrelevant.

Luhan knows at that moment, in this deserted baseball field the only thing that mattered is Sehun.

Lalala~ Chapter Six!!! :))