FIFTEEN : MISAPPREHENSION

The auction began with the announcement from the Zhangs’ gallery’s trusted manager. The 5 young adults were free to roam on their own. Yixing’s parents left right after they welcomed Luhan who came with a bouquet of yellow poppy combined with tiger lilies and his mega-Watt charming smile that even made Nana blush secretly. Nana nodded at his choice of flora; it meant to wish them well and smiled when her gaze met his. Mr. and Mrs. Zhang then were captured by some businessman as Yixing’s mother left her son with a loud smack on the cheek.

Luhan presented another flower he kept hidden behind him and held it out to Nana. A single calla lily was wrapped carefully and Nana received it with a lowered head and she felt her cheeks sprinkled with dusty pink. “Thank you,” she said as he just nodded and then greeted his long-time friends in a far different manner compared to how he greeted her. They were fooling around with each other as Yixing led them to the ‘Rising Artists’ section where several of Nana’s paintings were displayed. “Here we are! Right, this is the few artists whom paint for their passion in arts section,” Yixing explained.

“It’s dedicated to the newcomers, those who want to lay low, stuff like that. See this butterfly fingerprint?” Yixing asked as he indicated one of Nana’s flower paintings, “these few paintings were made by the girl who is standing among us.” Tao’s cat-like eyes widened cutely as the three looked at them. Even Luhan was surprised; the girl has raw talent, no wonder her eyes sparkled when we talked about arts. And of course, she's that girl on the 3^rd floor! As Nana explained her theory to Kris and Tao who were listening like a bunch of school kids, Luhan excused himself as he took out his mobile and called for his butler.

The auction was a success as all the paintings offered were sold and Mrs. Zhang was very happy with that year’s profit. Surprisingly, even Nana's flower paintings were all sold out to some exotic Japanese buyer, but no one said anything about it. “Oh, we’re so going to travel around to distribute the funds we’ve collected, right, darling?” Yixing’s mother said to her husband over dinner as the 4 youngsters were seated around with the Zhangs. Yixing’s mother is a lovely lady but Nana couldn’t help the fact that she was very insistent when it comes to the Zhangs future.

Especially how Nana should look after herself in order to produce wonderful genetics. Luhan chocked himself over a glass of water and apologized with a cough. If Luhan was an actor, Nana would give him one of those Oscar or Grammy Awards. Despite the coughing he was sputtering, his cheerful and quirky mask remained intact to his beautiful feature. Secretly, Nana reached her hand out and placed a palm close to Luhan’s knee and he jerked a little before calming himself once again with a smile as he munch on the piece of salad he stuffed into his mouth. “Are you free this weekend, dear? What about your guardian?” She asked enthusiastically.

“Xing Mama, Nana has a step-mother and step-brother but does not keep in touch with them, and would never want to,” Luhan replied. "I see! Sorry, about that, love. But, the process would be easier and could be done in a hush-hush. Let’s meet up again this weekend, lunch time. Oh and you boys should come as well, seeing as you’re here and this is a blessing which we should all celebrate,” his mother ranted on, “and maybe we should call up the other boys as well, Xing? That’d be nice.” “No…” “Yes, that’d be nice, Xing Mama. I’m free this weekend,” Luhan piped up before Yixing could object to his mother’s idea and by that time, there was no compromise as Luhan squeezed Nana’s hand gently.

♦

“So tell me again how things are going to work between the two of you if you actually agreed to go to Yixing’s and Nana’s, I don’t know, pre-engagement lunch? Are you crazy, Luhan ge?!” Tao asked as Luhan, Kris and Tao were in Luhan’s Turbo among the other 4 cars that were heading to the same direction. Traffic was leisure that Saturday afternoon and Luhan thanked whatever God there is out there listening to him to be able to stick close to Yixing and Nana who were together in a car, alone. “Chill, Taozi. When there are half a dozen of EXO, there would always be a solution, no?” Luhan said as he stepped on the accelerator.

“That’s true, but, I don’t know. You know how Yixing’s Mama is like at times. Right, Kris gege?” Tao asked as he slung an arm over the passenger seat to hug Kris’s neck. “Yeah, Luhan. You know how Mrs. Zhang is. I just hope you have the right plan in time,” Kris agreed and he pouted at the two who were not being his fans at that moment. “Tch! You two,” he mumbled and drove on in silent. You could almost hear the “Almost paradise ~” tune when 9 hot males climbed out of the row of luxurious international brand cars. Beat that, Geum Jan Di. Nana smirked as she remembered one of the K-Dramas she watched.

Nana smirked to herself as her attention caught Luhan’s and he smiled at her confidently before they all stepped into the hotel for their lunch. Heads turned as the waiter greeted them and showed them their way to the reserved Zhangs’ table. Yixing’s parents were already waiting as they were seated and served. Over appetizers, Nana was introduced to the rest of the EXO circle; Jongin and Sehun. The other three were away in another country and Nana would have loved it if she could meet all of them. They’re all like the brothers she wish she had, save for Luhan whom is on a different level than the others.

The lunch went well since there were like a dozen of people there and everyone had a say in everything. Nana got to know Luhan’s past even though they were just bits and pieces of them. Nana also shared a little about herself although Luhan already heard about most of them. The huge lunch was settled by Yixing’s parents and they all bowed to the pair of husband and wife as a sign of gratitude. They all headed for the public park which was a walking distance. Once they reached there, Yixing’s mother pulled Yixing’s and Nana’s hands as she brought them close together.

With a triumphed smile, she said, “alright. We’re all going somewhere else while you guys have fun on your date. I need to catch up with some handsome boys. Run along, lovebirds,” she shouted and pushed them away from the large group. Nana was looking directly at Yixing’s mother and tried her hardest to ignore Luhan’s gaze which she thought was enough to make her knees go weak. The elder lady’s wide smile never faded and there the large group stood, waiting for them to move on. Yixing turned and gently pulled Nana closer to him while whispering, “walk slowly, they’ll go before we even know it.”

Nana complied and heard the cheerfulness in Yixing’s mother’s voice dropping as she shooed the rest of the boys and her husband towards another direction. Discreetly, Luhan told Sehun to cover up for him before he dashed off; heading in Yixing’s and Nana’s direction. As Nana walked on with cluelessness,  Yixing peeked behind to see Luhan following them; peering at times while hiding behind large trees that were shading park-goers. Yixing giggled to himself as he looked back at Nana who was still admiring the surrounding and not even looking back at him.

He would never want to be in their way. But then, while he had the opportunity to torture Luhan, why not make that happen, eh? He inched closer to Nana and held her shoulder. The girl looked innocently at him as she just smiled and kept on pointing out at things and talking about having outdoor painting sessions. “Yeah, good idea, Nana. Hey, do you want to get ice cream?” Yixing asked he tilted his head towards the ice cream parlor to their left. With a small nod from Nana, they headed off for the direction of the parlor which had SNSD’s Flower Power played to the max.

Nana decided for mint with chocolate chips while Yixing just told the girl to get similar ones. Once he had their ice cream cones, he handed one out for Nana and that exact moment, a boy was going on top speed on his bicycle. Zooming past them, Yixing released the cone as he pressed Nana closer towards him; his sole purpose to save the girl. But, hey, it was a stepping stone to his ‘evil’ plan and he looked down on her flushed face. “Yixing oppa, don’t do this. Luhan won’t be too happy if he knows,” Nana said with a determined voice. At the corner of his eyes, Yixing already noticed Luhan’s discomfort and really tried to conceal his laughter.

“Nana,” he whispered close to her ears, “this is me, trying to be evil by letting Luhan’s mind play tricks on him as he watch us from over there,” and when he said that, his grip tightened on the girl’s hands. “Don’t turn, or he’ll notice us notice him. Just play it cool. It’s the least you could do for breaking my heart,” Yixing added as he showed her his pity face and Nana just followed his game. She hoped that it wouldn’t cost any of them anything. Yixing pushed her off of him gently and set a little space between them. With extra care and time – probably enough for Luhan to come and rescue his damsel in distress – he leaned his head towards hers.

Fuming was the most lenient word one could use if they were to look at Luhan at that moment. Holding her shoulder; 40%, purchasing similar ice cream flavours; 55%, pulling Nana close to him to save her; 75%, whispering intimately into her ears; 90%, and now, you’re gonna kiss her?! Luhan acted before he could think things through. Pushing himself off behind the tree he was hiding not-so-ceremoniously obvious to Yixing, his steps quickened towards the two figures he had his eyes on since the whole group were separated. Lunging forward at Yixing’s puckered up lips plus closed eyes stance, he grabbed Nana’s hand and shielded her behind him.

Replacing Nana’s position, Luhan closed his eyes and waited for the impact of lips against lips. “Luhan, you’re such a love drunk deer,” he heard Yixing whispered against his lips and opened his eyes. The brown irises popped open wider when he actually saw Yixing’s feature up close as their lips crashed for like 0.1 seconds. Even Nana couldn’t conceal her laughter as she looked at a very surprised Luhan cursing under his breath while spitting out for good measures and a very jolly Yixing who was slapping his stomach for the lack of air.

But what came after that was not what everyone expected as an almost inhuman shriek echoed around the park and everyone, literally, everyone stopped in their track. “ZHANG YIXING!”

Updated, again! I swear, mid-term breaks are the best, yeah, well, can't compete with a full semester break, but it ensures adequate time to storm up an update. Yixing's mother is just being persistant to see grandkids in this fic, please forgive her eagerness. Kekeke >.< And remember Xander appeared for a while in the previous chapters? Well, he'll come back, for sure. Just you guys wait for it. Thanks for reading :)

Updated; November 5
Edited; Feb 19