New Orleans, LA

When they make their way into a New Orleans hotel, the lobby is bustling and the staff seems frazzled.

“Maybe it’s for the crawfish festival,” Yixing wonders, and Lu Han punches him in the shoulder.

“What crawfish festival?” he asks, rolling his eyes at Yixing. “Seriously, I think you’re just making things up now. Why would they have a festival for tiny lobsters, huh?”

Tao appears behind them making an annoyed noise. “Guys, come on, let’s get some rooms and get on with it. I’m not feeling well and I want to sleep.” He turns around to face Kris, who’s typing furiously on his phone, paying the other three no attention at all.

“Kris,” Tao says. “Kris!”

“What?” Kris asks, looking up. He looks around briefly and when there seems to be no emergency, he goes back to his phone.

“Probably texting Joonmyeon,” Lu Han offers. “Personally I am cringing at the thought of being committed to one person.”

“We know,” Tao and Yixing say at the same time, and Tao and Lu Han both look at Yixing because Yixing has never said anything about Lu Han’s habits before. Yixing looks confused, though, so they both drop it and Tao makes his way to the concierge.

“Yes sir, can I help you?” the concierge asks, looking slightly flustered at all the people in the lobby.

“We’d like to book four single rooms for two nights, please,” Tao says, and the concierge nods, looking down at the computer to book the rooms. She quickly looks up again with a grimace.

“I’m sorry, we’re almost completely booked because of the crawfish festival,” she says politely, and Lu Han turns to Yixing, surprised, but Yixing isn’t paying attention at all. “But we do have two single rooms with full beds and one single room with a king-sized bed, so you could have two people in the one room and the other two rooms with one person each, if that suits you.”

“We could go to another hotel,” Kris suggests, looking up from his phone, but Tao shakes his head vehemently.

“We can make do,” he says. “Nose game for who gets the double beds.” Kris and Tao are quick to put their fingers on their noses, and Lu Han misses it by a split second. Yixing, on the other hand, has still not noticed that any sort of game has started.

Lu Han sighs but doesn’t protest, turning to Yixing. “You and I can share a bed, right? It’s not a problem. It’s like sleepovers when we were in elementary school.”

“We’re sharing a bed?” Yixing asks, looking confused.

“Yeah, Xing, you and I have to share a king bed because the hotel doesn’t have four single rooms,” Lu Han explains as Tao hands the concierge his credit card. “It’s not a problem right?”

“No,” Yixing replies slowly.

“Good,” Tao snaps, “because I’m ing exhausted and I’m sure as hell not going to sleep with either of you.”

“And I have a boyfriend now,” Kris adds.

“Yeah,” Lu Han rolls his eyes. “Come on, let’s put our stuff in our rooms so that we can go party.”

And a few hours later, they do go partying. Lu Han is in his element, buzzed by two mint juleps and a heavy beat.

“Clubbing is the same everywhere,” Tao complains, sipping at a New Orleans Hurricane. “I don’t understand why he likes this so much.”

Kris chuckles. “Come on, Taozi, live a little. Go find a nice girl to dance with. There are plenty of hot girls here and I’m sure you could take your pick of them.”

Tao scoffs. “I’m not interested in a one night stand,” he says, and he looks at Kris pointedly.

“Joonmyeon was not a one night stand,” he replies. Yixing looks up from his Appletini (which Lu Han had made fun of endlessly) and sighs loudly. “He wasn’t!” Kris persists, but Yixing just looks confused.

“Who isn’t what?” he asks, and Tao turns to him.

“Do you approve of Lu Han doing this?” he demands. “Kris thinks Lu Han is fine. You don’t think he’s fine, do you?”

“Fine?” Yixing asks, and Tao’s eyes flick to Yixing’s bright green drink before he makes eye contact again.

“Are you drunk?” he wonders.

“No,” Yixing replies, and he doesn’t sound drunk at all. Tao’s expression softens.

“Are you feeling okay?” Tao asks, and Yixing nods. Tao smiles and turns back to Kris.

“I’m pretty sure Yixing thinks Lu Han is fine. So I will agree with you for now.”

Tao gets up and wanders onto the dance floor, where a tall redhead smiles at him. She seems Tao’s type, so Kris thinks Tao is going to be happy. Meanwhile, Lu Han has a tiny brunette with curly hair grinding against him, and he seems extremely into it. He figures “to each his own” and doesn’t think about it further.

Yixing’s martini glass is empty.

A busty blonde girl sidles up to Kris and Yixing watches her ask him to buy her a drink. He smiles and tells her that he’s taken, and she looks a little put-off before retreating.

“I’m tired,” Yixing finally says, turning away from the view of the dance floor. “Do you mind if I go back to the hotel?” Kris looks at him for a moment.

“No, of course not. I’ll let Lu Han and Taozi know you’ve gone. Are you going to be ok?”

“Yeah,” Yixing responds. He’ll be fine.

Back at the hotel, he can’t fall asleep. He keeps thinking of the blaring music and the bright green concoction and the way that girl had been gyrating her hips against Lu Han’s. He thinks about Tao’s dissatisfaction with hookups and Kris’s smile when he’d told the girl he was taken. He thinks about how on Earth he’s going to find his passion.

Kris texts him at twelve-thirty saying he’s back in his room, and Yixing gets a text from Tao at one saying the same thing.

Lu Han doesn’t come back that night, and Yixing vaguely thinks that a king-sized bed really is too big for one person as he drifts off to a fitful sleep.

[A/N]: don't even ask if Joonmyeon and Kris are going to break up. (Hint: they're not.)