It's almost midnight when Yixing goes to the cinema to watch The Conjuring.

Everyone says the movie is scary (Joonmyun ended up fainting before it ended, much to Sehun's dismay), and truth be told, Yixing isn't actually a huge fan of horror movies either. In fact, he's terrified of them. Ever since the sick bastard--Jongin--forced him to watch Ju-On years ago, he was used not to sleep at night (he felt like someone was watching him from afar, and he suspected it could either be the little boy or his creepy mother from the movie). Yixing eventually slept during classes, which was why the teachers hated his guts back then.

Yixing shakily eats his popcorn as he blankly stares at the wall. He thinks of going home, but the teasing face of Yifan--his annoying cousin who he wants to murder so bad--pops out into his mind. He cancels the plan.

Yixing lets out a low growl. Why did he agree on this dare in the first place? Dear God, may he end this torture ASAP.

Yixing glances at his watch and bites back another depressed scream. Thirty more minutes to go. Okay. Everything will be okay, he reassures himself, trying not to vomit before the goddamn movie even starts. It's not like the ghost would come out of the screen, wouldn't it? Haha, no. That only happened in The Ring, and even that was fiction.

(Yet Yixing can't help but shiver as he remembers exactly how the ghost looks like in the movie.)

That's it.

He's going home. Kris. the dare. 

"Yixing?"

Said man nearly falls off his chair but thankfully the stranger immediately grabs his wrist. It feels strangely warm and Yixing looks up to meet a pair of big, brown eyes staring at him in surprise. 

What the . He almost gapes at the familiar handsome guy before him.

Time seems to stop for a moment before Yixing pulls his hand away.

"Oh, hi," he says quietly. Yixing feels like an idiot. "Long time no see."

"I'm surprised you'd remember me," the man smiles at him the same smile that used to melt Yixing down. Not that he no longer gets affected by it. "What are you doing here?"

There's absolutely no way Yixing can forget Park Chanyeol. "I do, Chanyeol. I'm going to watch The Conjuring," Yixing waves the ticket at the man as a prove (or more like he's trying to show off because 'look, I'm about to watch this alone at midnight, aren't I amazing?'), "What about you?"

"Very nice," Chanyeol actually looks amused. "Same here, actually."

"Where's your seat?"

"D-5? Yours?"

Yixing stares at his own ticket. Kris was the one buying it for him the other day. "D-4," he reads it out loud, oblivious to the amazement that's written all over Chanyeol's face. "What?"

A realization hits him then.

What in the mothering Boys Before Flowers universe is this kind of coincidence?

"Oh, wow?" Yixing finally says.

Chanyeol chuckles, slowly slipping into a seat next to him. "I can't believe this is happening. We haven't been meeting each other for what? Five years? Last time I saw you was when we graduated high school."

"Or the day we broke up," Yixing blurts out. He quickly regrets what he said, though.

Fantastic, Chanyeol must think he's a Grade-A  now for bringing up their painful past easily like that.

"Yeah," Chanyeol's voice is so soft that Yixing almost can't hear anything, "I know."

They go quiet before Yixing starts again, trying to avoid awkward silence, "How are you?" he casually asks, "Where do you work?"

"Great," Chanyeol says almost immediately, "Everything's great. I work at my dad's company."

"That... that's good. I'm taking medicine so I still have three to four years to finish my studies."

Before Chanyeol could say something, the man gapes at his watch. "Yixing, the movie will start soon. Let’s go.”

Yixing is too focused on panicking like a madman on the inside that he doesn’t realize Chanyeol is holding his hand.

Oh, no. God, I'm not ready. Save me.

-

Yixing regrets wasting his money on this.

He watches as a little girl starts banging her head to the wardrobe and her sister carefully guides her back to the bed, muttering something like, "you can sleep with me tonight". It makes Yixing wonder if sleepwalking exists in real life because no one around him has gone through it, including himself. His thoughts, however, are interrupted by the very loud sound coming from the speakers.

There's a ghost above the wardrobe, and she looks awful.

Yixing screams, while the whole studio gasps, some even yelling louder than Yixing.

Except for Chanyeol.

"Calm down," he whispers as he munches the popcorn in his mouth calmly, as if the bloody screams that come out of the girls' mouth and the ghost (plus the violent music) don't affect him a bit, "You're over-reacting."

"Am not," Yixing thinks of how satisfying it is to slam Chanyeol with a frying pan. "You are."

Chanyeol turns to look at him and smirks. "I didn't even scream."

"Shut up."

Or I'll kiss you.

Wait, no. Yixing would rather be watching this movie a million times than kissing his ex boyfriend from high school. What the hell is wrong with him?!

“Geez, when will it end? It's been hours.”

Yixing sarcastically mutters as he buries his face into his hands. The movie is reaching the part where there are two exorcists trying to get the spirit off some woman's body. Yixing doesn’t even bother remembering her name.

He hears a scream but Yixing doesn't dare to look up because--no matter how stupid this sounds--what if he's greeted by another creepy-looking ghost glaring at the camera? That's not funny.

Definitely not.

He looks over to Chanyeol, and surprisingly enough, the guy still has a poker face on.

"You're something," Yixing finds himself saying, "I hate you."

Chanyeol doesn't glance at him back but he cracks a smile. "Love you, too.”

If Yixing’s heart skips a bit by that, he pretends it doesn't affect him at all.

-

Yixing walks out of the cinema in a daze that he doesn't notice a certain someone is following him from behind. It's when Chanyeol taps his shoulder that he snaps back into reality.

"It wasn't that scary," Chanyeol coolly says, eyes aimlessly wandering to the sky, "Well. Maybe the part where the girl saw--"

"Stop," Yixing interrupts him in a shaky voice, "I've had enough. You know what's actually scary?"

"What?"

"It's based on real events," Yixing throws his hands in the air, "I swear to God, I don't want any ghost crawling out of my wardrobe--"

"Yixing," Chanyeol gives him a 'please' look, "Don't be dramatic."

"I'm not," Yixing denies stubbornly. Chanyeol shrugs, so he continues, "Whatever. It's 1:38 in the morning. I have to go. Yifan’s been waiting for me, see you."

Before he could go, though, Chanyeol makes sure to grab his arm.

"See you?” his ex repeats, “Does that mean... we can see each other again in the future?"

Yixing pauses for a moment. "Um... sure," he answers, losing confidence all of a sudden. Yixing gazes up at Chanyeol unsurely. “If you want?”

Chanyeol breaks into a smile and Yixing can't help but smile back. Of course, the male's teeth don't change at all. They're still as white and clean as before. That’s... adorable. Damn it.

"Can... Can I have your KaTalk?" Chanyeol asks, holding his phone out to Yixing.

Yixing raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"KaTalk?" Chanyeol repeats, but Yixing just stares at him in puzzlement, "Kakaotalk? Okay then, if you don't have one. Then, um... Kik?"

"Um," there’s hesitation, "Oh. I get what you mean."

"What?"

"Sorry, man," Yixing says, "I don't have a phone that supports those. Too complicated. I use Nokia," he pulls out the old phone to wave it at Chanyeol, "I do have Whatsapp, though."

"O...kay," Chanyeol looks amused, again, and Yixing wonders why, "What's your number?"

"I'll type it down."

As Chanyeol walks Yixing to the car (where Yifan is already glowering at them through the front mirror), he says, "Would you like to have dinner with me next Saturday?"

Yixing stares at him, trying not to look damn excited. "Sure.”

Chanyeol's face brightens. "I'll... pick you up! Just text me your address, all right?”

"I will."

Yifan, weirdly, opens the door for him. "Get the hell in. I'm tired. I want to go home and sleep all day."

Yixing rolls his eyes but does as his cousin said, anyway. "See you on Saturday," he flashes a smile at Chanyeol one last time before closing his eyes and letting the deep slumber take over him.

He misses the wink Kris gives Chanyeol before they drive off.

(And, apparently, Chanyeol winks back.)