*chapter twenty one;

Saturdays. Those were the days Luhan and Soah spent with each other. They went out to the café to eat ice cream, got some cake, watched movies, strolled through the mall or just sat beside each other on a bench and talked for a very long time. Saturdays were the days reserved to just spend time with each other. Five Saturday’s weren’t enough. In fact.. countless of Saturday’s wouldn’t have been enough for them to say goodbye. Both didn’t want to speak about it, none of them mentioned it, but it was always in the back of their minds. Sometimes, they tried to push the thought aside, just enjoying the presence of each other, but remembering that they wouldn’t be by each other’s sides in a few weeks made the meetings even worse. Sadness was in the air and soon, no one wanted to hide it anymore.

“Will you call me as often as you can?” Soah asked on the last Saturday before their farewell dinner. They were sitting on the grass next to the Han River, a sweet little place full of green. A few other people also were there, mostly kids to take a bath in the burning summer sun, seeking for relaxation.

“Every day when it’s possible," Luhan responded.

“And Emails?”

“Of course, I will send you a picture of Tian every day!” he teased and she laughed.

“Hey...” His voice suddenly sounded serious. “What about your exams? Yesterday was the last one. You did well, didn’t you?”

Soah puckered her lips and shrugged. “I hope so.”

“Hope breeds eternal misery. Believe it. You studied so hard! I didn’t see you suffer for so long without any results. You did well. I’m sure about that.” He laid his hands on hers and smiled as if he wanted to make all her doubts go away.

And Soah wanted to believe him. She really did. And she wanted to believe herself too, because she knew there was no way she would get a D again. But as always... it was in the teacher’s hands and that scared her the most. She hadn't suffered for so long to get bad grades again. He had promised her and people always had to keep their promises if the other one did things in return, right? And even if not, no matter how impossible it was, Soah had a backup plan. It was stuck deep in her mind, because she would use it if there would truly be no other possibilities anymore. It would hurt Luhan, her friends, her parents and herself probably the most. She would be separated from Luhan longer than his trip to Beijing and she knew if it would really come down to this backup plan, she needed to make decisions and no matter which one she would made... everyone would be hurt in the end.

“Everything alright?” Luhan asked worriedly as she didn’t say anything for a very long time.

“Everything’s alright.”

“Next time," he began, his eyes smiling brightly, “I will take you with me.”

“To Beijing?”

“Yes. Then you will get to know my parents, my other grandparents, my cousins... yeah, the whole family and Tian.”

Soah laughed. “You’re really obsessed with that cat, aren’t you?”

“Maybe. But don’t be jealous, you’ll always be the most important girl in my life," Luhan grinned.

“I’m glad.”

“So, would you like to come with me next time?”

“I would love to," she answered softly.

***

It was the second last day of school before summer vacation was about to start and also probably the hottest day of the year. The students were sitting in the classes fanning themselves, although the air conditioners were switched on. No one could be in the sun for more than five minutes without feeling weak and some pupils had even already fainted. Classes would end after half the day, which was really appreciated. On Saturday, it would be Luhan’s farewell dinner and on Sunday he would depart. Soah still had a lot of things to prepare for her first time with him. For example...

“Protection," Jinhie said. “You need protection.”

“I know...”

“So, do you think Luhan has some... or...?”

“I don’t know, Jinhie, I don’t look through his nightstand or anything.”

“But boys always have some. Usually in their nightstands. So you don’t need to take care of this.”

“Not every boy," Yohee added. “Are we sure that Luhan didn’t have any girlfriends before?”

“Uhm... His grandmother said he's been loving me for five years..?” This was not Soah’s topic. Absolutely not. When she had slept with Taehyun, he was the one who took care of the protection. Sure, it was very dumb of her to let the guy do this, but he was so much older and so much more experienced... she had been sure he would do it right. Luhan on the other hand...