FOURTEEN : MEET THE ZHANGS

And so, rumours started mushrooming and words were passed from one grapevine to another. News of the university’s golden boy caught by Nana even reached the ears of the lecturers. Well, Shim Nana became the talk of the faculty, heck, the whole university as she not only famed through acing the Hapkido club’s President – oops, almost – but now people were directing her as ‘Luhan’s girl’. Not-so-subtle whispers were tossed around her and Nana could only lower her head in embarrassment as she blush a furious crimson across her spectacled feature.

“Hey, look, there’s the engineering geek who got Luhan,” a voice whispered. I am not an engineering geek. “Yeah, heard she sold herself to the devil and got Luhan mysteriously,” another replied. The Devil? Seriously?! “OMG, seriously? What the hell! I should have done the Ouija board game with you last week!” Another chimed in. Oh, God, I am getting out of here. People should really mind their own business. Nana and Luhan weren’t even an item and here these people are spouting poppycock about them. I guess you guys don’t have a life, as if I do. Oh, wait, I do! The painting I’m supposed to pass to Yixing oppa!

But seriously, let’s step out of Nana’s mind for a second. If you were an outsider, and to witness their interactions, even you would end up gossiping about them and the enormous amount of fluff they were emitting. Luhan’s gentlemanly gestures made Nana blush as he treated her with such care and love?! Well, he was bound to do so, considering the fact that he video-called his EXO friends; even Yixing was called, and asked them about tackling a girl. Kyungsoo’s eyes widened as if they weren’t already large enough to pop out.  

The call woke Tao and Kris up from their after-party with Tao cursing and Kris slapping a hand over his mouth to stop the profanities coming out of the younger, while Chanyeol and Baekhyun were hooting non-stop added with extra teasing in everything Luhan was trying to say. Suho was in the midst of studying this large a*s Anatomy book as Jongin and Sehun were joking around with one another until it ended with them both wrestling and Sehun’s laptop crashed off the bed. What Luhan actually needed was Nana’s trust and his lunatic bunch of friends was not really helping. Wait! Wooing her? Whatever for, Luhan?! She is already head over heels for you.

Unconsciously, Nana had drawn the picture of a deer surrounded by a field of sunflowers. It was the first time ever Nana associated her painting with something else other than flowers and her own shadows. Yixing smiled as he approached Nana and her semi-finished painting. “Xiao Lu,” Yixing mentioned, “that’s Luhan’s nickname and you actually drew a picture of a deer.” Nana blushed as she realized what she had been thinking. She could mentally and physically slap herself. “That’s very cute of you. If only it was me instead of Luhan,” he sighed, “you would be drawing a unicorn by now,” he ended it with a dimpled smile.

Nana looked up and smiled back at him, “oppa, I thought that you of all people would know how I feel about him.” “Yes, Nana, of course I do. I guess I’m a little late after all,” he shrugged. The hidden disappointment was visible even if Yixing tried hard to mask it off with a small smile. “Anyway, how could I forget?! So forgetful of me. You have never been to my family’s gallery right, Nana?” Yixing asked as Nana shook her head in reply. “Oh well, my parents are organizing our annual gallery auction for a fundraiser. Mother would love it if you could come,” Yixing told her.

“Oh, that would be nice. I could look around for other paintings. I’ve always wanted to go to a gallery, but never had the chance to do so. When would it be?” Nana asked as her excitement took control of her shyness. “Well, it’s around this weekend, Sunday afternoon. Will you be free by then?” Yixing asked as Nana recalled her daily planner. “I’m free! I can’t wait to see your family’s gallery. Thanks for inviting me, Yixing oppa,” Nana said as she beamed at her senior. Walking away from her as he re-focused his attention on other members, Yixing thought about how much Luhan changed Nana. 

♦

Sunday afternoon rolled in as Nana skipped out of her hostel building towards the car park where Yixing was waiting. With a cheerful hello! Nana was seated at the passenger seat as the car cruised its way down the unfamiliar roads of the Seoul streets. Nana and Yixing were sharing a light conversation as the drive came to an end and they stopped in front of a posh driveway of probably the Zhangs gallery-slash-mansion. Cars were parked around the lush greenery of the grass surrounding the mansion and most of them were international brands like Yixing’s.

When she closed the car door with a solid thud, Yixing was welcomed by a tall maybe Chinese or Korean or, oh Nana didn’t know, accompanied by an almost equally tall, cat look-alike boy by his side who was hanging onto Yixing like his dear life depended on him. “Gege! Hǎojiǔ bùjiàn!” The jet black-haired boy yelled as Yixing replied with a dimpled smile and a kiss on his neck. “That tickles,” the boy giggled as they let go of each other. “Yo, man, what’s up, Xing?” The tallest among them said as they shared a handshake. Yixing then face-palmed himself as he gestured towards Nana.

“Guys, meet Shim Nana. Nana, the tall blonde one is Kris Wu and this whiny baby over here is Huang Zi Tao,” he introduced them as Nana looked up to meet their eyes. “Nana? Where have I heard that name before? Ge, have you?” Tao said aloud after smiling at the older girl. “Oh, and Kris was born in Canada; speaks Korean, Chinese and English. Don’t get confused of the b!tch-face. It appears a lot when he’s at the public and Tao is his whiny baby panda,” Yixing added with his dimpled smile at her and that surely explained a lot with their arms clinging around each other’s waists.

“Oh, yeah, now I remember! Remember how Lu ge called last week in the middle of the morning, when hfe unf Kwifs!” A large hand slipped up to cover his mouth as Kris grinned at Nana and muttered, “I think we should let you in and enjoy the guide. Sorry to bother you. Excuse us,” and then they were gone. Nana tried to get an explanation from Yixing, but he was already talking as he gestured a hand towards the entrance of the Zhangs gallery. “Those are the few of mine and Luhan’s friends, they came all the way from…” "Canada,” Nana finished his sentence as Yixing nodded his head and laughed at her spontaneity.

“Exactly, so you’ve heard of the EXO tales, I’m guessing,” Yixing asked as Nana recited their names like it was her personal prayer, “yup. Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Minseok, Tao, Kris, Suho, Jongdae, Sehun, Jongin, Kyungsoo, you and Luhan.” Yixing clapped as she finished naming them with such precision and Nana smiled that lopsided yet cute smile of hers. “Welcome to EXO then,” he said with open arms and Nana giggled at his action. Suddenly, as Nana looked around to see the amazing paintings the gallery offered, Yixing was attacked by a beautiful lady in a bear hug.

“Xing Xing, my love!” The lady cooed as he lifted her off the ground and they spun a few round. “Oh, my, my, you’ve grown so strong, my baby,” the lady shouted as Nana watched their interaction in surprise. “Dear, please, spare our son some embarrassment,” a calm voice spoke up from behind Nana as she side-stepped to let the man through. “Excuse my wife’s reaction. It’s been 3 weeks since we last met our son. My wife tends to be a little domineering when it comes to her son,” the man explained as he pointed towards Yixing who was still in his mother’s embrace.

“It’s alright, Father. I miss Mother just as equally,” Yixing replied with his dimpled smile and Nana swore his mother literally fangirl-ed herself over her own child. After a moment of extra affection – added with a little hint of jealousy on Nana’s side – Yixing’s mother let go of him and settled on normal Earth ground again. “Mother, Father, meet my college mate and the ‘Butterfly’ painter; Shim Nana. Nana, these are my parents,” Yixing introduced the 3 of them and without a single notification, Mrs. Zhang launched herself on Nana and started spewing praises at the half-suffocating girl.

“Mother, Mother, calm yourself. You could be so overwhelming at times,” Yixing said with a laugh and tried to pry his own mother off of Nana with the aid of his father. “It’s okay, Yixing oppa. I’ve always wondered what it’s like to have a loving mother. You’re very nice and friendly, Mrs. Zhang,” Nana said with a hint of sadness although she tried to hide it. Hearing her sentence, Mrs. Zhang’s eyes widened, “oh, my poor child, I will give you all the love that you need. You’re so pretty and cute, and you’re the Nana?! Plus, call me Yixing Mama, please? My son would never be casual with me.”

Nana nodded and she decided that she like the lady already for her eccentric character although she didn’t know why the lady had pointed her out as ‘the Nana’. The group of 4 had moved on, with Yixing guiding them and pointing out to Nana several of Zhangs priced collections which would be auctioned for a fundraiser. Heading up the stairs, Nana noticed that there were more people focused on the second floor compared to the one below. As her eyes roamed around, she caught sight of a large painting which glowed softly under the focus of the limelight and made the painting to be as if it was glimmering.

But it wasn’t the light focus, the sparkle or the amount of people surrounding the painting that caught her sight; it was the painting itself. There it stood, with the picture of Nana who was visualized into wonders of colour while smiling down as the girl in the painting herself was painting on a…flower. Now that Nana remembered it, that was the first time she met Yixing and she looked at him. Without missing a beat, his mother told Nana, “that’s a painting by Yixing baby of you, dear. I was thinking of auctioning it, but Xing wanted to keep it, says it’s important. Now, I know why.”

Nana didn’t like where this conversation was going. “Mother, let’s move on. Nana, your paintings are over the other side,” Yixing urged them to move as his father calmly held his son’s shoulder. “No, Xing. Mama has been waiting too long for this. Nana,” she said with a serious voice this time, “you are a wonderful girl from what I’ve heard from Yixing. He seems to be fond of you, you’re also one of the very few girls he lets you call him ‘Yixing’. So, when are our families going to meet to arrange your marriage?” Time as if stood still for Yixing, Nana, Tao, Kris; who just arrived, and especially Luhan who arrived at that exact moment.

Uh-oh. What just happened? Just as things were going well between Nana and Luhan. Maybe, things would take a turn, who knows, right? Alright, done updating. Hope you guys liked it. Plus, added a little TaoRis there cause I like them so much. Mwahaha X)

Updated; November 2
Edited; Feb 19