Chapter Three
What is LoveA/N:
I'm so sorry I haven't updated in like, 4 months.
But my focus was mainly on "The Story of Us" (if you haven't checked it out yet, link is ---> here). And my focus will continue to be on "The Story of Us," until it is finished and then I will focus on this story. So if I don't update in like, three more months, that's probably why.
Thanks to you guys for sticking with me!
Love ya!
-Elaina
Chapter Three
This unconditional emotion"
“Yes sir, I understand,” Sehun said into his phone, “f(X) will be present,” he promised.
“DUDE!” Kai burst into his office and skidded to a stop when Sehun shot him a murderous glare as he covered up the mouthpiece of his phone.
“I apologize, sir, that was one of the interns,” Sehun apologized. Kai’s mouth dropped open.
Intern?! What the , Sehun? Intern? He mouthed furiously at Sehun. Sehun rolled his eyes.
“Yes, I agree, that was out of line. I will make sure it will not happen again,” Sehun tried to apologize to the conceited client who was going off about how he can’t control his interns.
“SEHUN!” Chanyeol ran in like an excited puppy and promptly managed to trip over his feet.
Sehun groaned internally and tried desperately not to kill the two idiots. “I’m sorry sir, I promise you, that will not happen again,” he said weakly. “The interns will be fired shortly.” He sank his head into his desk as the man started ranting. “I’ll have you know that that kind of behavior is not tolerated here at OH Entertainment…. Very rude, yes I agree…. I’m truly sorry… Now let’s get back to the business at hand, shall we?” Sehun sighed. After finally convincing the man to keep f(X) in the program for the SuperStar Concert, he hung up and glared at Chanyeol and Kai, who were sitting meekly on the couches. “You two,” he growled, “I’m going to murder the two of you and throw your bodies into the Han River,” he said vehemently. “Just exactly what,” Sehun glared at them again, “Was so ing important that you just couldn’t knock?”
Kai had the decency to look ashamed, “We were excited,” he mumbled.
If glares can kill, Kai and Chanyeol should be long dead by now as Sehun hissed, “For what?”
“Uhm…For your…ahem….lessons,” Chanyeol coughed.
Sehun looked at the two of them, unamused, “Lessons,” He repeated.
“You know…Lessons…to get you…into a relationship,” Kai said nervously.
Sehun blanched. “What?” he snarled.
“Oh no, we’ve unleashed an angry Sehun,” Chanyeol mumbled. They all knew Sehun had quite a temper. Kai swiftly smacked him on the head. Chanyeol retaliated by punching Kai in the gut.
Sehun stared at the two of them and promptly decided he needed new friends. “Get out,” he sighed, “I have work to do.”
They instantly stopped squabbling, “But Sehun! Your lessons!” Kai said in a pleading tone.
“I don’t have time for this,” Sehun snapped.
“But Sehoooon!” Kai whined, “You’re going to be old and lonely and I’ll be obligated to feel sorry for you.”
“No one asked for your sympathy.”
Kai gasped in fake horror, “My sympathy isn’t easily given, you know. You should be grateful that I even offered to feel sorry for you.”
“Again, no one asked,” Sehun flopped down wearily on the couch.
“It seems I need to take matters into my own hands,” Kai announced.
“Whatever,” Sehun mumbled, almost sleepily.
Kai smiled. “Sehun, where’s your phone?”
“On the desk, why?”
Chanyeol’s and Kai’s eyes met and they shared a smirk.
“No reason,” Kai said vaguely, grabbing the phone off the desk. Chanyeol hopped onto the desk to join him. There were a few moments of silence and Sehun closed his eyes.
Then Kai snickered. And that alone was enough to make Sehun suspicious.
“What are you doing?” Sehun marched over to the pair who were cackling over Sehun’s phone. “Give me that,” he held out a hand for his phone, but Kai pulled it out of reach. “Kai,” Sehun was getting irritated. He lunged for his phone. Then his face paled when he saw what Kai had done. “You texted Luhan? As in my business partner? That Luhan? The Luhan who looks like an angel?” The last part was not meant to come out, so Sehun just shut his mouth before it can spew out more things. His cheeks reddened.
“Well, I’m pretty sure there’s only one ‘Luhan’ in your contacts list,” Kai nodded proudly, “But yup. You’re welcome.”
“What the am I supposed to do with this?” Sehun screeched, panicking. He waved his phone frantically as if shaking it would magically the message from Luhan’s phone.
His text read: Hey, do you want to meet up for a drink?
Kai shrugged casually, “Wait for his response?”
Sehun spluttered incoherently, “We’re business partners. I can’t just call him up out of the blue asking to have a drink with him!”
“Well if you need a reason to call him up for a drink, you guys can discuss the business deal,” Chanyeol piped up.
“I can’t just talk to him about the business deal!” Sehun yelped, “That’s stupid.”
“Wow Sehun,” Chanyeol commented, “Seems like you have got it bad.”
“Got…what...bad?” Kai and Chanyeol shared grins. “What?” Sehun asked flatly.
“This is very good,” Kai said encouragingly, “Makes our jobs so much easier.”
“You’re still not telling me what’s going on!” Sehun burst out in frustration.
“Don’t worry, Sehun,” Kai patted Sehun’s shoulder, “You’ll know soon.” He hopped off Sehun’s desk and headed towards the door. Chanyeol followed him. Sehun’s phone suddenly vibrated in his hands.
“Wait!” Sehun yelled. “What do I do with this?” He held up his vibrating phone where it read: “New Message from: Luhan.”
“Text him back?” Kai said, as if that was obvious.
“What do I say?” Sehun panicked.
“Well what did he say?” Chanyeol wondered.
“I don’t know! You idiots were the ones who texted him in the first place!”
Kai sighed dramatically, “Give me that,” he gestured for Sehun’s phone.
“No! You’ve done enough damage already. You should’ve never texted him,” Sehun argued.
Kai rolled his eyes, “I’m trying to save your embarrassing, loveless . I’ll fix this, so give me your phone.” Grudgingly, Sehun handed over his phone.
Kai opened up Luhan’s message and grinned. “He said he would love to,” Kai said triumphantly, “And you’re picking the location.”
Sehun’s mouth fell open. “We did it!” Chanyeol cheered. “We got Sehunnie a date!”
“What do I reply?” Sehun asked, looking terrified.
“Done,” Kai announced, looking awfully smug.
“What did you say?” Sehun asked frantically.
“7:30. The Sky Lounge. Dinner,” Kai said proudly. “With Luhan.” He added.
“But…But…” Sehun was stuttering, “You just said a drink!”
Kai shrugged carelessly, “Well, dinner, Sehunnie, it’s just a little longer than having some drinks. Nothing’s going to happen,” he eyed him with a mischievous look, “Unless you want something to happen…?”
“But…It’s the Sky Lounge,” Sehun said desperately. “Don’t…pairs of people go there?”
“You mean couples?” Chanyeol piped in, amused.
“What’s the problem with the Sky Lounge?” Kai asked, “They serve good food.”
“You need a reservation,” Sehun argued pitifully.
Kai simply pulled out his own phone and punched in some numbers. “Hello? Is this the Sky Lounge? Yes, I would like to make a reservation for two people tonight…You’re full? Oh I’m sorry, how rude of me. I forgot to mention the name. This reservation is for Mr. Oh….Yes, Mr. Oh Sehun of OH Entertainment, the very one. So I trust that there will be a table waiting for him tonight at 7:30? … Very well, make sure to get a good view. Thank you.” Kai hung up. “You were saying?” He smirked at Sehun. Sehun opened his mouth. And then closed it. “So,” Kai handed Sehun back his phone, “You’ll go to dinner with Luhan tonight at the Sky Lounge,” he said, satisfied.
Sehun spluttered in a very undignified way when his phone vibrated again in his hand. He opened up the newest message from Luhan.
Luhan: “Sounds great! See you then! ^_^”
“I can’t go,” Sehun announced. Kai looked scandalized. “I think I’m going to be sick,” Sehun continued, “My heart is beating extremely fast and I think it’s hard to breathe and my stomach feels like it’s going to throw up everything and oh my god I need to sit down.” He rambled. Chanyeol and Kai glanced at each other and promptly burst into laughter. “Guys,” Sehun said faintly, “Guys…This is not funny. Isn’t this how heart attacks begin?”
“The…Idiot!” Chanyeol choked out, slapping his knee.
“What?” Sehun asked, bewildered.
Kai clapped Sehun on the shoulder, “You’ll see, dear maknae,” he said, still shaking with laughter. “Come on, Chanyeol!”
Luhan was in the middle of a meeting when his phone went off. Smiling sheepishly, he fished his phone out of his pocket. His brow furrowed when he saw there was a new message from Sehun. His investor coughed politely, so Luhan handed his phone to Yixing, who promptly left the room. “Sorry about that,” Luhan said breezily, “Alright, let’s finish this up.” They dove back into business affairs and Sehun’s text erased itself from Luhan’s mind.
Yixing unlocked Luhan’s phone and read Sehun’s message.
Sehun: “Hey, do you want to meet up for a drink?”
Yixing thought back earlier in the week when he and Luhan had met with the CEO of OH Entertainment. He remembered seeing Oh Sehun as someone who is highly extremely passionate about his work. Then he remembered how flustered Luhan was after the meeting. Yixing had spent all week trying to figure out the reason behind Luhan’s blushing. He had come up with one explanation: someone had finally caught the interest of Luhan. The question was who? His mouth slowly turned upward into a sly grin. Could it be that this Sehun will be the one to turn away Luhan’s thoughts on love? Couldn’t hurt, Yixing thought to himself as he typed in a reply. After all, he was merely looking out for Luhan. The guy needs some love anyway.
Luhan: “I would love to! Where do you suggest?”
Sehun replied immediately and Yixing fought down the urge to cheer. It’s a date, he laughed to himself. I got Luhan a date.
Luhan finally finished up his meeting and walked out of the board room feeling exhausted, but pleased. He had managed to clinch another deal for Lu Productions and that should get them more investors. He walked into his office, yawning. He was ready to leave work early.
“Hey,” Yixing greeted from the couch. Luhan nodded at him. “You have another meeting tonight,” Yixing told him.
Luhan groaned, “What? I don’t remember one.”
“Well, not really a meeting,” Yixing corrected himself. “It’s a dinner.” There was a strange glint in Yixing’s eyes, but Luhan merely brushed it aside.
“With who?” Luhan slumped down in his chair, rubbing his eyes wearily.
Yixing appraised him, and hesitated before answering. “Oh Sehun.”
At the sound of the name, Luhan instantly jumped up. “What?”
Yixing fought hard to keep the grin off his face, “You know, your business partner? Head of OH Entertainment? That Oh Sehun?”
“I know who Sehun is, Yixing!” Luhan shot out, almost impatiently.
Yixing raised an eyebrow, “So he’s just ‘Sehun’ now?”
“He…He told me…to call him that,” Luhan said, flustered.
“Well,” Yixing stood up, “You’re having dinner with him at the Sky Lounge. 7:30.Wear something nicer than your average suit; it's a five-star restaurant after all,” he said dismissively and stopped before the door, “Oh and Luhan,” he smirked at Luhan’s face, “Be sure to have fun,” and with that, he closed the door on Luhan’s splutters.
“I don’t know what to wear!” Sehun wailed. “What kind of restaurant is the Sky Lounge anyway? What is their dress code?”
Kai watched, amused, as Sehun let out a string of curses from inside his closet. “Wow, he’s actually freaking out,” Chanyeol observed gleefully.
“Of course I’m freaking out! Why wouldn’t I be freaking out?” Sehun shouted.
Kai busted out laughing. “Why would you be freaking out?” He retorted, “It’s a dinner, after all.”
“URGH!” Sehun gave a cry of frustration.
Chanyeol finally took pity on him and ventured inside the closet to help him. Kai smirked to himself and waited patiently as he listened to Sehun’s grumblings. Five minutes later, a proud-looking Chanyeol stepped out and presented a very disgruntled, but well put-together Sehun. “What do you think?” Chanyeol beamed happily.
Kai appraised Sehun, “It works,” he decided and checked his phone. “Now let’s get going,” he tugged Sehun out of his apartment with Chanyeol following closely behind.
“You guys are coming along too?” Sehun yelped as he tried to free his arm from Kai’s grasp. Kai merely shoved Sehun into a waiting car and he and Chanyeol clambered in. The car started driving.
Kai rolled his eyes, “Well duh,” he said, as if that was obvious. “We have to make sure you actually go and not chicken out on us, don’t we?”
“We’re just dropping you off at the restaurant,” Chanyeol corrected Kai. He punched Kai’s side lightly, “Don’t scare Sehunnie more, he’s frightened enough already.” Sehun made some sort of a choked noise. He couldn’t decide which was worse. The fact that he was meeting Luhan for a dinner or the fact that Kai and Chanyeol were dropping him off like parents dropping off their kid for a date or something. Date. Sehun froze.
“Oh my god,” Sehun croaked. “This is a date?”
Chanyeol and Kai exchanged looks. “Well-” Kai began, but Chanyeol shook his head violently and shot him a glare.
“Or course not,” Chanyeol inputted soothingly. “This is just a dinner with an associate. It’s just like any business dinner.”
“Yeah,” Kai fought hard to keep the ear-splitting grin from appearing on his face, “We just want you to be more sociable. Get some friends.”
“I socialize!” Sehun retorted, “I have friends!”
“That’s not us,” Chanyeol said firmly, “This is your chance to broaden your horizon, Sehun. Get out more. Do something that’s not work-related.”
“If this is just a business dinner, then why am I shaking and feeling like I'm about to throw up?” Sehun asked faintly as the car pulled in front of the Intercontinental Seoul COEX hotel. He looked up at the twinkling lights of the luxurious hotel and suddenly felt queasy. His heart, for some reason, was hammering a frantic beat against his ribcage.
Kai smirked, “Why don’t you find out the answer for yourself?” And with that, he gave Sehun a little push out of the car. “The restaurant’s on the thirtieth floor! Tell us all about your night afterwards!” He called cheerfully as the car pulled away, leaving Sehun on the curb. His knees suddenly felt like they couldn’t support his weight anymore. Maybe he should go home and rest his legs since they’re obviously sore…from sitting all day at the office. Sehun nodded to himself, yes, that was why. But he frowned. Then what was the reason behind his racing heart?
“Sir?” A concierge approached him slowly. “Can I help you?”
“Um,” Sehun forced out. He tried to say he was looking for the Sky Lounge. What came out of his mouth was “IneedtogototheSkyLoungebecauseIhaveadinnerwithLuhan.” He mentally hit himself. He had not meant to say that. Out loud.
The concierge eyed him as if he was crazy, “Sir,” he began, “Could you please repeat that? More slowly this time?”
“The Sky Lounge,” Sehun garbled out.
“Ah,” the concierge looked relieved and he nodded. “If you would just follow me, sir, it’s this way.” He opened the doors of the hotel for Sehun and Sehun passed unsteadily past them. The concierge led him into an elevator and Sehun tried to calm the queasiness in his stomach but to no avail. The higher they went, the more twisted Sehun’s nerves became.
It was going to be an interesting night.
Luhan eyed the illuminated white entrance of the restaurant and glanced at his watch. 7:15. It wasn’t that he was excited to meet with Sehun. There was just less traffic than expected. But the lack of traffic didn’t explain the giddiness that Luhan had been feeling or why his stomach felt like there was some sort of animal trying to claw its way out. What’s wrong with me? Luhan shook himself. I’m probably just overworked, he told himself, Overworked and exhausted. He made a mental note to rest later.
But when the hostess led him away to Sehun’s table, his heart started beating a little faster.
And Luhan didn’t have an explanation for that.
Sehun was on the verge of panicking. Okay, maybe he was past the verge of panicking. He was panicking. Period.
And then Luhan arrived.
“Um hi!” Sehun greeted him quickly. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered why his heart was suddenly trying to throw itself against his ribs.
Luhan’s lips quirked up in a small smile, “Hello,” he said.
“I thought we could just meet up to have a nice dinner, since you know, since we’re business partners and all and also I read somewhere that it’s always a good idea to be friends with who you work with so I think building our friendship is a good way to go.” Sehun rambled. He immediately wanted to sew his mouth shut. Clearly his brain-to-mouth filter was not working.
Luhan laughed and Sehun decided right away that he liked the sound of it. “Okay,” Luhan agreed readily. He leaned forward, “Where to start, friend-to-be?”
“Um,” Sehun his lips nervously, “We could…talk about ourselves?” He suggested. He mentally hit himself, that was so lame.
But Luhan nodded enthusiastically. “Ok, I’ll start,” he volunteered. “I love solving Rubik’s cubes, playing soccer, and I actually prefer Seoul to Beijing.”
“Wow,” Sehun was thoroughly impressed, “You can solve Rubik’s cubes? The best I can do is one side.”
Luhan laughed, “I didn’t have many toys as a child,” he admitted, “So Rubik’s cubes were the best things to me. What about you?”
“Huh?” Sehun jumped a little.
“I told you about myself already. What about you?” Luhan asked.
“Oh I…” This was the reason why Sehun doesn’t socialize that much. “I’m not really that exciting.” He mentally facepalmed, “I mean, ever since I started my company, I haven’t really had any time to myself,” he tried again. Luhan looked sympathetic. “But I…um I dance with Kai, my vice president, sometimes,” he offered up.
Luhan smiled, “That’s exciting. You can't be really be the CEO of an entertainment company if you don't have a few talents yourself,” he pointed out. “So you dance to relax…? Or…?”
“Kai and I opened a small dance studio,” Sehun blurted out. “Kai teaches little kids dance on the weekends and I drop by at times to teach, dance, whatever I feel like. It's a little different than just training idols. Gives me a bit of room to breathe.” Why did I just say that?
“You must be quite good then,” Luhan said, smiling gently.
“Oh…I…I guess,” Sehun shrugged nonchalantly.
Over fancy Italian pasta and expensive wines, the two chatted as easily as if they’ve known each other for years. Sehun liked the way when Luhan laughed, his eyes would crinkle into little crescents and his laugh would make Sehun feel warm all over. Conversation flowed easily between the two of them, which was a surprise to Sehun. He always had a hard time getting close with strangers, and usually when he first starts talking to people, he would be awkward and fumbling around for words. It wasn’t that way with Luhan. With Luhan, Sehun felt comfortable. As comfortable as he would be around Kai or Chanyeol. Throughout the entire dinner, Sehun couldn’t stop smiling. And he was pretty sure he smiled more in one dinner with Luhan than he’s ever smiled in ten years. Being around Luhan made him feel warm. Comfortable. Happy.
By the time Luhan got to his Seoul apartment, it was nearly midnight. Even though he had been planning to get some rest, he didn’t mind. Dinner with Sehun was one of the refreshing things he had been through in a long time. He liked talking to Sehun, that much he knew. Luhan didn’t usually like to get super close with his business associates as people in the business world tend to be power-hungry backstabbers. But with Sehun, it was different. Sehun was passionate with his company, Luhan could see that, but within Sehun, he possessed a certain type of innocence that Luhan has never seen, if not rarely, in the business world. With a start, Luhan realized he was starting to associate Sehun with the type of familiarity that he normally reserved for Yixing. I’ve laughed more than I had in a long time, Luhan mused as he got ready for bed. He had laughed until his stomach hurt. Being with Sehun made him feel…what was that word? Happy. Happiness was something that Luhan rarely experienced. Though he always appeared as the charming, cheerful CEO, and sure, he felt proud when someone decided to invest in his company, but true happiness-the kind that made Luhan’s heart swell and his smile so wide that it felt like it was splitting his cheeks-that kind, Luhan rarely felt. Sehun was one of the few people who Luhan truly felt comfortable around. Comfortable and happy. It should scare him. It should scare him, but it doesn’t.
The two of them had talked about everything. About what kinds of food and drinks they liked. About what they did to relax. About future dreams and aspirations. About anything and everything they could think of. They had talked until a waiter came to tell them politely that the restaurant was about to close. Luhan grinned widely as he thought of Sehun’s bright smile.
“I really enjoyed tonight,” Sehun had confessed shyly when they were about to part ways.
“Me too,” Luhan had admitted. And oddly enough, he really had. This had been the first ever business dinner (if he could call that) where Luhan hadn’t wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
“We should hang out with each other more. Outside of work and all,” Sehun had suggested. He had immediately colored up, which had made Luhan laugh.
“Sure, of course,” Luhan had agreed readily. “We’re friends, after all.”
Friendship. That was a strange concept. Other than Yixing, Luhan haven’t really called anyone else his friend. Well, anyone except for Yixing or Tao, but Tao was a different story. Tao was his brother, not necessarily by blood, but he was pretty damn close to. Tao held a special place in Luhan’s place. After meeting Tao at the orphanage when his father had died and learning that all of Tao’s family had passed away in a tragic fire, Luhan had taken it upon himself to be Tao’s friend. His protector. His big brother. His family. Yes, Tao was a completely different story. Tao was family.
Sehun. Sehun was a friend.
Huh, Luhan mused to himself, friends. Who would ever thought of that?
Don’t mess this up, a small voice advised him, bringing to light of all his so-called friendships that had fallen apart.
Luhan remembered how quickly and how well the two of them had gotten along, he didn’t think he could mess it up. No. Luhan was determined not to mess this up.
Smiling to himself, Luhan started to turn in for the night, Sehun’s shy smile on his mind as he drifted off to sleep.
A/N (again):
I know I tagged this as angst and right now it's all fluffy and cuteness and rainbows and stuff. I wanted to develop Hunhan's relationship first. So heads up: there will be angst, angst, and more angst. And it's coming. Not soon. But it is coming. Just warning ya. ^_~
Question: what would you guys like to see/happen next? I'm open to ideas!
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Thanks guys! ^_^
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