Six

The Fourth Time

The invitation arrived early one morning through mail. The mail landed on the kitchen table just as Sehun sat down with a mug of hot chocolate and a bowl of cereal. It was the company’s annual Christmas party to celebrate the end of a great year. Sehun attended the first Christmas party with EXO. This would be his second, and Sehun had a sinking feeling that he would be going stag.

The bathroom door opened, a small fog of steam spilling out with a wet headed Luhan. “Shower’s free,” he told him. “Not sure if I left you any hot water though.”

“That’s okay. I didn’t save you any breakfast,” he replied cheekily, leaving his half-eaten bowl  of cereal on the table. Luhan took the chair he had vacated and lifted the spoon to his mouth; a small trickle of milk escaping the corner of his lips.

He picked up the invitation, reading it over. “We going?” he asked, waving the notice in the air.

Sehun shrugged and placed his mug in the sink. “Think we have a choice?” he wondered.

“It is sort of in our honor. After all, Suho said we are SM’s biggest success so far, and this is a celebration of Christmas.”

“Guess we’re going then,” he concluded.

The bathroom door was almost closed when Sehun decided to announce something. “So it’s a date then, hyung?”

“Not on your life,” he called back.

The next week, Sehun and Luhan stood outside of the SM Building. The party was being held in the spacious atrium. Slowly, they made their way inside taking in the soft blues and whites and golds of the decorations. The atrium was crowded as they made their way through, looking for familiar faces. The first one Sehun spotted was Baekhyun.

“Look, its Baekhyun,” Luhan observed as he followed Sehun’s gaze. He looked towards the direction Sehun’s eyes went, landing on his fellow member whose right hand were holding Chanyeol’s.

“I didn’t expect them to be together,” he stated as Luhan smirked at the couple. “That was a little too fast.”

“Planning on something tonight?” he inquired.

Sehun shrugged before smirking. “Maybe.”

“he disappeared into the crowd, leaving Luhan alone when Lay sidled up beside him. The brunettes remained quiet as Luhan tried to find Sehun amongst the gaggle of guests.

“He’s planning something, isn’t he?” Lay asked, noticing the less than thrilled expression on Luhan’s face.

“Probably,” Luhan replied, avoiding his roommate’s attempts at eye contact. He didn’t need to look at Lay to know he was smirking devilishly at him. “Don’t say it.”

“You like him.”

“That’s the thing you aren’t supposed to say.” Luhan grabbed a cupcake as a waiter passed by. He are the entire cake in one bite, making his cheeks look enormous. Lay laughed as Luhan tried to swallow the cupcake. After being able to swallow the cupcake, Luhan coughed before replying.

“I do like him. We’re friends. That’s all.”

Lay shook his head. “I didn’t mean it like that. You’ve fallen for a guy.”

“I think he’s still hung up on that girl he met last week,” Luhan muttered. He set the empty cupcake wrapper and walked away. Lay sighed and saw eight familiar faces before making his way up to them and whispering a plan.

It was hours before Luhan’s and Sehun’s paths crossed again. Both cheeks were flushed and the glass on Luhan’s hand continued to tilt more and more as he walked closer to Sehun. “Hi Sehunnie,” he greeted, his words slurring as a trickle of champagne spilled from his glass onto the carpet. He paid no attention as he threw his arms around Sehun’s neck. Sehun unwounded his hyung’s arms and took the glass out of his hand. “Dance with me?” Luhan’s arms tightened around Sehun’s neck as he began to sway along with the orchestra.

“I think it’s time to go home,” he said quietly. A pout pulled down the sides of Luhan’s mouth before he opened it to protest. “You smell like a bar right now. We’re going home.” He took hold of the hyung’s hand and began to walk towards the exit.

Jerking his arm out of the maknae’s grip, Luhan stomped his foot. “You are not the boss of me. I’m older and I can stay if I want to, and I want to.” His eyes became glassy, whether from the champagne or because he was on the verge of tears. Sehun relented and stepped closer to him, pulling him in for a hug. “It wasn’t supposed to be this hard.”

“What’s wasn’t?” Luhan murmured.

“Seeing her with him,” he told Luhan, his voice muffled as he placed his head between the crook of his hyung’s neck. Sehun then looked up and looked deeply into Luhan’s eyes. “I don’t love her. Not anymore. I can’t remember when it was that I last loved her.”

His hand traced a smooth line up and down Luhan’s neck. “Let’s go home.” Luhan nodded and allowed Sehun to lead him away from the party to their dorm around the block. They arrived together, arms around one another, in the middle of the living. Slowly, they drew apart. “Need some help getting to bed?”

“No,” he replied. He began walking towards his bed, stumbling occasionally over his feet. Sehun moved up behind him and placed an arm around his shoulders.

“Come on, I’m going the same way anyhow.” He offered Sehun a grateful smile and moved again. Sehun carefully placed Luhan on the bed and tucked him in. Sehun crouched down beside Luhan’s bed and gave his hyung a peck on the cheek and forehead. Luhan’s eyes slowly began to close and Sehun could only hear mumbles.

“Sehunnie, was this a date?” he mumbled before a yawn escaped his lips.

Sehun stood up and sighed. He wanted to say yes but knowing that Luhan was drunk, he wouldn’t dare say yes. He placed his right hand on Luhan’s forehead and felt his hand burn. Luhan looked pale and red, obviously a fever. “No, Luhan, it wasn’t. I’ll go get some medicine.”

Luhan watched as Sehun left the room. Before returning to sleep, he saw Lay already inside the bedroom. Lay knelt beside Luhan and bit his lip.

“I’m sorry, Luhan. We should’ve never done what we did.”

Luhan quickly bit his tongue, not wanting to shout at Lay. Lay was his friend and he was only doing his best to fix his relationship with Sehun. No, he couldn’t be angry with Lay.

“It’s okay. I understand why you guys did it. Thank you, Lay. For trying.” Luhan then drifted to sleep before Lay could respond.

Lay sighed and saw Sehun bringing a glass of water and two orange pills.

“He’s asleep?”

“Yes.” Sehun placed the glass and pills on Luhan’s bedside and stretched his arms. Lay felt uncomfortable. His plan wasn’t supposed to end like this. Sehun was supposed to say yes when Luhan asked him if it was a date.

“Lay?”

“Hmm?”

“You didn’t have to get into that much trouble just to try to fix our relationship, you know.”

“I know.”

“Well, thank you. It helped both of us a lot. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

Lay smiled as Sehun rubbed Luhan’s head before retreating to his bed and falling to sleep. He guessed his plan worked after all. Not because of what the two said to him, but because of the kiss Sehun secretly gave Luhan before moving to his bed.