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Tonight, Yixing was dressed in a red collared shirt with a black jacket overtop and a black tie. It only took Luhan forty five minutes of digging through Yixing’s closet to find the right thing, even though he knew it like the back of his hand.

“Is it really necessary for you to spend this much time on things like this?” Yixing asked as Luhan straightened his tie.

“Absolutely! You should always look your best and optimise your chances of finding a cute boy.” Yixing rolled his eyes. It was their third day in a row going back to the History club and he’d already caught the attention of two guys. Knowing his luck, he’d probably have another throwing himself at him soon enough.

--

“Hey there,” Yixing said casually as he took a seat at the bar and Luhan came to sit down next to him. Chen was nowhere to be found and Yixing wasn’t sure whether he was relieved or disappointed.

“Oh. Hi,” Jongin replied when he looked up.

“You two need a formal date. Honestly! You’re just so cute together I can hardly stand it,” Luhan said in his usual Luhan way.

“Thank you mother, I’ll keep that in mind,” Yixing replied.

“So Jongin, what nights are you free to go dancing or go on a date or go do whatever the two of you would go do?”

“I’m free Tuesday nights…”

“Perfect. You and Yixing should go on a date Tuesday.”

“Uh, sure, if it’s okay with you,” Jongin blushed as he looked at Yixing.

“That would be fine with me,” Yixing replied smiling.

Suddenly, the red-haired singer sat down in the seat next to Yixing, huffing angrily.

“I’ll have the usual, Jongin.” He puffed out his cheeks in annoyance.

“Relationship problems again?” Jongin asked, sliding the singer his drink.

“You have no idea. He can be so y sometimes! Honestly,” he complained.

“You two make and break up more often than I go shopping for groceries,” Jongin replied lightly. “Are you on or off at the moment?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We’re off and I think it might be for good this time. Honestly. He’s absolutely insufferable!”

“That’s what you said last week,” Jongin sighed.

“Wednesday you loved him, now you hate him, that’s just how your relationship is, although I’m not exactly sure that in itself makes for a healthy relationship.”

“I’m going to end it for good this time. It’s giving me worry lines,” he said, lightly tracing invisible lines across his face with long thin fingers.

“You’re just imagining things. Your skin is immaculate as ever.”

“At this rate, I will have worry lines, and then what will I do? I’ll have to wear, foundation,” he said with disgust.

“Whatever you say…” The singer was already wearing gobs of eyeliner, although it still looked surprisingly good. He turned to Yixing and Luhan, noticing that they had been observing the entire exchange quietly.

“Why hello there. Don’t you just look like a doll?” the redhead directed at Yixing, who blushed. “My name is Baekhyun, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“My name is Yixing, and this is my friend Luhan,” he replied awkwardly. Baekhyun paused for a minute, looking like he was thinking.

“Southern China,” he finally said.

“What?” The statement came completely out of the blue and Yixing wasn’t sure whether it was a question or a statement.

“You’re from southern China, or maybe your parents are. Am I right?”

“Uh… Yeah… How did you know that? How did you know I was from China?”

“Your accent. It’s cute but you can totally tell.”

“You can tell,” Jongin replied to Baekhyun. “Not all of us here are linguistics majors.”

“Whatever. It’s not that difficult to tell to be perfectly honest. And you, Luhan, you’re from Beijing right?”

“Yeah. How’d you know? Do I have an accent?”

“You just told me. I guessed that you were from Beijing because when you are from China it’s usually Beijing, not the south. You and Yixing seem really close so either you’re Chinese too or you two are a thing,” Baekhyun said casually. “Oh and no, you don’t have an accent.” Luhan turned red.

“We’re not a thing, we’re just childhood friends,” Yixing replied.

“And here I thought you were being serious about my accent,” Luhan joked, ignoring the comment about them being together. “That would have been impressive, although being able to deduce that I was from Beijing is impressive in itself.

“Baek might be good, but he isn’t that good. He bluffs often,” Jongin added.

“And yet, people still believe me,” Baekhyun mused.

:Is my accent really that heavy?” Yixing looked a little concerned.

“It’s not heavy. It’s noticeable if you’re paying attention, but other than that, it’s light and you’d barely notice. I think it’s cute.”

“You would only notice if you were a linguistics major,” Jongin put in again.

“C-cute? I don’t think anyone’s ever called my accent cute, mostly just difficult to understand.”

“Yeah. It’s cute and it goes nicely with the dimples.”

“Are you sure you want to be flirting right now? What if Chanyeol comes crawling back to you or visa versa?”

“Then he can my… Sorry. I need to watch my language don’t I?” He responded to the shocked faces of the two boys sitting next to him. “Chanyeol can just get over himself because I did.”

“Jeez Baek. That’s harsh even for you,” Jongin commented.

“Like I said before,” Baekhyun stated flatly, “I’m done with him.”

“That, and I’m pretty sure he already was,” Jongin added as a snarky afterthought. Yixing and Luhan snickered. Baekhyun merely rolled his eyes.

“We don’t need to talk about this anymore,” Baekhyun replied in exasperation. “Let’s talk about things that don’t relate to Yeol,” he continued.

“What are you doing singing here?” Yixing asked.

“I need a way to cover the remainder of my tuition. Scholarships only pay for so much. And it’s the most tolerable job. I wouldn’t want to do something like waiting on tables or that sort,” he said, pulling a face.

“That and can you really see him being able to do that? He’s too scrawny and I’m pretty sure that he would get the orders wrong all the time. And he also, he hates to get his hands dirty in any sort of way,” Jongin added.

“You’re being annoying again Jongin. Do you really have to say all of that stuff too?”

“I kind of do, yes,” he replied. Jongin seemed to be coming out of his stoic personality as he became more comfortable with Yixing and as he talked to old friends. Yixing giggled as he watched the exchange.

“What?” they asked in unison.

“Nothing,” he replied, smiling. Jongin turned a little red.

“Oh dear. Is my little Jongin in love?”

“N-no, well I mean…” Jongin trailed off, not looking at anyone.

“And Jongdae too, right? I thought I saw him harassing you the other night. He’ll be a hard one to shake. Once he has his sights set on someone, he’ll be going all out to win your heart certainly. Should I even try?” Baekhyun asked jokingly.

“Um… I don’t know…” Yixing said uncertain as to whether Baekhyun was serious or how serious he was.

“Don’t hurt yourself dear,” Baekhyun replied with a little giggle. He dropped a couple bills on the bar. “Sorry lovelies, but I have a paper to write now. It’s a good fifty pages and due tomorrow.”

“How many pages do you have right now?” Yixing asked politely.

“Twenty-five,” he replied before blowing a quick kiss and turning and leaving.

“He’s an interesting one to say the least,” Jongin said. Yixing just looked and felt even more confused than before, wondering just what Luhan had gotten him into by bringing him there.