They got in the car and Jinah fastened her seatbelt a little too eagerly, openly revealing her excitement for the day. Luhan grinned in silence as he started the engine and tossed the backpack at the back.

          “What’s that?” Jinah asked.

          “You’ll see,” he said.

          “What’s the movie about? ‘Power’?” Jinah asked, reading off of the ticket.

          “It came out today,” Luhan said, “and it’ll probably be banned tomorrow.”

          Jinah frowned. “Why?”

          “You’ll see.”

          A thousand thoughts ran through her head. Was it ist? Was it gory? Was it a really bad movie? Was it propaganda? Was it really bad horror? Jinah’s head burned with questions, but she knew asking was futile. There was no way Luhan was going to just tell her. In her own silence, she crossed her arms with a deep exhale, turning the stereo on. Some trending pop music played as she looked out the window. She completely forgot about his silence in the van last night.

          Mid-drive, Luhan glanced over and caught a glimpse of her reflection. Her smile had crept back, and he couldn’t help but mirror it. His heart beat with force against his chest. This can’t be a bad thing, Luhan thought to himself. Not when it feels this good.

          Today, Luhan was going to focus on himself and think with his feelings. Yesterday, Luhan ignored his conversation with Sehun from the night before. It didn’t feel good. Today, he was going to confront how he felt with himself. Why did he keep wanting to do things for her? Why does he feel strange and act different? Was he just having fun with her? Was he just being nice to Jinah because he initially had seen similarities between her and Haneul? As if that could make up for—

          Stop, Luhan thought as he turned the corner. Good thoughts only for today. His thoughts had battled each other for a very long time. He remembered the sleepless nights, just trying to figure himself out. He remembered the gang’s gazes shifting at his unusual behaviour. He remembered the tension he caused, the uproar, and the changes. At some point, Luhan had to admit to himself that for once, it wasn’t the gang making a big deal out of something small. Instead, he really was acting a big deal different.

          Today was going to be a good day. He was excited. He was going to figure out where he stands with Jinah. And he was going to tell Sehun, honest and proud.

          Jinah noticed Luhan was driving away from the theaters. Ahead, she only saw empty, desert-like lands. She looked at him, but his expression was not of someone who was lost. He knew exactly where he was going. And though she didn’t doubt it, she couldn’t help but ask: “Where are we going?”

          “To watch a movie,” he said.

          “Yeah, but where—”

          Luhan hit the brakes, and the car came to an abrupt stop. Jinah waited, but nothing happened. Utterly confused, she tried to speak again.

          “Wha—”

          With a thumping noise, squeaking followed as the ground split to reveal a downward hill. The metal hill that opened suddenly contrasted harshly against the orange, dusty grounds that was around it. He began driving down the hill into darkness, and the car’s lights were the only thing that reassured Jinah that she wasn’t just being driven into a mouth of a monster.

          “Don’t worry,” he said, as if sensing her fear. “I’ve never been here before.”

          “Huh?”

          With an amused smirk, Luhan drove straight ahead.

          Then finally, Jinah could see light ahead—more than one! Upon driving in further, she could see that it was people waving lightsticks.

          “Get the bag,” Luhan said.

          Jinah reached to the back for it and zipped it open. Inside it were masks and snacks. She looked back at him, confused.

          “Masks first,” he said. “Snacks later.”

          “Right…” she said. “Why—”

          “Later. Can you hand me my mask please? And the tickets, also.”

          Jinah scrambled for the black masks and handed him one along with the two tickets. She put on hers right after. Upon a closer look, Jinah could see that the people waving lightsticks were also wearing masks, but it wasn’t just masks; they had a cop hat with rectangular sunglasses, nearly blocking their whole face.

          They came up to the people standing by an enormous metallic gateway: two dark doors with large bolts. One of them knocked against Luhan’s window, who rolled it down about a third of the way.

          “Tickets?” said a rough, male voice.

          Luhan slipped the tickets through the window.

          “Beverage?” the man asked.

          “Big blues,” Luhan replied.

          “No music allowed.”

          “Yes, and no bananas. I’m allergic.”

          …what? Jinah thought to herself.

          The man stood back up and nodded to the others. Then Jinah saw two people disappear, and soon after, the big doors opened.

          “Exit 4 today,” the man said.

          Luhan took that as his cue to roll up his windows, and slowly drove forward. There was another door.

          “What the hell was that?” Jinah said.

          “Don’t worry about it,” Luhan said.

          “Why are we wearing masks? Is this a cult? Or illegal?” Jinah asked. “Where are we, even? Are we really watching a movie?”

          Luhan just let Jinah get her questions out of her system as he came to a gentle stop, waiting for the doors to open. They started to creak.

          “The guy asked for beverage, and you said—what, big blues or something? And you’re not allergic to bananas, why’d you say that? Seriously, what is going o—” Jinah interrupted herself with a gasp.

          Up ahead was still dark, but there were several lines on the ground that glowed in the dark. There was an incredibly large projection even further ahead, and most of the light came from its still white background. As Luhan drove on, she could see that these lines served as parking spots. And some of them were already filled up. However, it didn’t take long for Luhan to find an empty spot. When he did, he shut off the car as the engine quieted with a low hum.

          Jinah turned to Luhan, finally finding her voice. It definitely was not Luhan’s first time here. “Explain.”

          “It’s my secret place, sorta thing,” Luhan said. “Except—Sehun, Baekhyun, and Kai know too.”

          “Wait—just you four?”

          “Yup.”

          “Not the whole gang?”

          Luhan shrugged casually. “I like to keep some things to myself.”

          Jinah waited for him to continue, and partly felt annoyed he was giving short replies without really expanding on anything. “Where is this place? What do we do here? Do we just stay in the car? And what was that weird exchange? You’re not allergic to bananas! And why are we wearing masks?”

          “This is a movie theater,” Luhan said. “And we don’t get out of the car.”

          “Then why are we wearing masks?”

          “In case the police come.”

          “So this is illegal!” Jinah cried.

          “Anything underground is probably illegal, Jinah. You should know this by now,” Luhan said with a playful smile. He wasn’t even trying to hide his anticipation. “You’ll like the movie, though. Oh, look—” the projected screen turned black with a loud booming noise, and Luhan rolled down both windows just a bit to let the sound through “—movie’s starting.”

365 LETTERS: A LOVE CLASSIC

Jinah’s jaw dropped open. This was a classic romance movie from the 2010s. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She turned to Luhan, who had gotten the snacks from the bag and handed her one. Jinah took it as she turned her attention back to screen. She had secretly read reviews and summaries in old journals (Miss Kim turned a blind eye to this) but was never allowed to watch it. And she was finally watching it.

          “Excited?”

          “Yes,” Jinah said, eyes glued to the projected screen, which had started to play the film. All other questions vanished instantly, and joy filled inside her instead.

           He clicked a button behind the steering wheel, and the armrest between them started to move towards the just-opened compartment.

           Startled, Jinah jumped in her seat, watching the armrest disappear into the compartment, which closed. Wide-eyed, she looked at Luhan. He lood completely and utterly satisfied with himself from being capable of constantly surprising her today.

           Without warning, their two car seats started to move in together, until they were right next to each other. They then leaned back slightly—it was just right to comfortably watch the screen ahead, but not fall asleep.

           “That was cool,” Jinah said.

           “I know,” he said, opening a bag of snacks. He gave it to Jinah and took hers from her hands, and then opened it.

           Jinah smiled at him, genuinely. Warmth spread across her whole body comfortably and happily.

           He responded with a playful wink. He extended his arm around her shoulder and let it rest on the other side, letting out a sound that was between a groan and a sigh; a subtly obvious noise. Any other cheeky physical action would have earned him a scowl and a comment of discontent, and maybe a punch. However, this was—

           “A classic, movie-date 2010 romance move,” Jinah said, excited. “How’d you know?!”

           Luhan shrugged nonchalantly. “I did my research.”

           As the credits ended, so did the music. The chirping of the birds announced the commencement of the film, so Jinah immediately faced forward. And although Luhan’s eyes lingered a little longer, he eventually turned to the projected screen as well. Just before the character’s first words, Jinah made one last say:

           “Thank you,” she whispered earnestly.

           Luhan grinned, pressing his fingers down on her shoulders lightly in response. He couldn’t care less about what the movie was about, but he was excited to watch it. And now that he wasn’t trying so hard to block out his feelings or make a joke out of them, he was enjoying himself. All other thoughts of doubt, fear, and confusion temporarily vanished.

          He felt good.

-----------------------------------------

A/N:

A little late, but Happy New Year everyone! ❤ I truly hope everyone is in good health (very, VERY jealous of New Zealand as a covid-free nation.. but also congratulations!)

< Will post another update!! >

Status check: 4236 subscribers, 1781 comments, 124215 views, 583 upvotes. 

The numbers blow me away all the time. I know I shouldn't focus on the numbers but truly, I never thought I would get this kind of support when I first published this in Korea during 2013 summer. It means a lot to know that people take the time to read my stories :')

Side note: who do you guys stan now? Are any of you guys 2D simps (iykyk)? LOL let me know!

Much love, as always ❤

-deardeerhan