“Come on, Luhan, the game is about to start!” you called from the living room. The football match would be starting any second now, and you were growing more and more excited.

“Just a second, ______!” Luhan was in the kitchen, preparing some popcorn, since he knew how you loved to eat popcorn when you watched football. Once the bag was done popping in the microwave, he pulled it over and dashed to the living room. “I’m here,” he said and plopped down beside you, placing the popcorn on the table.

“Right as the game began,” you said and rested your head against his shoulder as he threw his arm around you and held you close.

Though Luhan didn’t completely understand how football worked, he still watched it with you whenever it came on. Growing up with many male family members, you picked up a lot from them. And football was one of those things.

“TOUCHDOWN!!!” you shouted and threw your arms up in the air. “YES!!” you fist pumped the air once and then sat back down on the couch as if nothing happened.

Luhan stared at you, not knowing what to think of that. Instead, he just smiled a little but remained quiet.

“Are you freaking serious?” you said at one point during the game. “What kind of a throw was that? Luhan, didn’t you think that throw was ridiculous? Goodness, freaking players and their dumb throws.” You crossed your arms and held an angry gaze at the TV.

Luhan nodded slowly, pretending like he knew what you were talking about. “Yeah…” He reached out for handful of popcorn and stuffed it in his mouth. “Totally ridiculous.”

“I know right!” You shook your head and continued to watch the game. “Tackle, tackle him!” you shouted.

Luhan was surprised that you were so into the violent aspect of the as much as the actually game part. It made him question his manliness just a bit.

When the players tackled the quarterback, you jumped up once more and cheered. It was like you were happy to finally get some action into the game.

You looked down at Luhan and waved your hands. “Come on, Luhan, cheer with me. Didn’t you just see that?” You pointed at the TV screen.

Luhan tried to make sense of what just happened, but he couldn’t. All he did was take another handful of popcorn and stuff it in his mouth.

 

———————

 

“Let’s watch this,” you suggested and pulled out a DVD from one of the shelves in the store.

Luhan looked over your shoulder and saw the distinctively gory DVD you were holding up. “Baby, that’s a horror movie,” he said.

“I know, I’m aware. I want to see it.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little too scary? That picture on the front seems like enough to scare anyone.”

You scoffed. “Not me.” You held it by your side and continued down the aisle. “I’ve seen some previews, and they’re really not that scary. But still, I want to see it. My friends said it was pretty good.”

“A-Are you sure?” Luhan followed you down the aisle hesitantly. Deep down inside, he wasn’t feeling to good about that movie you had in your hands. The cover scared the crap out of him and he was surprised that you didn’t even flinch at all after watching the previews.

You stopped in front of another section of horror movies and nodded. “Positive,” you replied. “Hey, you think we could get two horror movies in one night?” You reached out for the DVD you were eyeing. “Or maybe we could have a horror movie marathon all night. How does that sound?”

Not too good, Luhan thought to himself. “If that’s what you want.”

You grinned and held the second DVD at your side right before you walked further down the aisle to find more movies. Luhan drew a breath and hoped you would abandon those horror movies before you get to checkout and pick some sort of girly movie instead.

 

—————-

 

After you and Luhan finished picking out the movies for the night (5 horror movies requested by you, and 1 comedy chosen by Luhan), you walked down the street side by side.

It was a bit chilly out, but Luhan hadn’t thought about grabbing a jacket earlier. All he wore now was a long sleeved shirt, because he assumed he could easily resist the cold weather.

“Luhan,” you said. “Do you want my jacket?”

Luhan widened his eyes. That was something only guys are supposed to do in the relationship. “No,” he said kindly but firmly. “I’m fine, baby.”

“You sure? I don’t need it, it’s not too cold for me.”

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m not cold anyway, I’m a man.”

Since you knew Luhan’s manliness was something he took pride in, you just left the conversation at that. But still, you didn’t like seeing Luhan shiver like that, so you closed the gap between the two of you and threw your arm around him.

“______,” Luhan said. “What are you doing?”

“Keeping you warm.”

Luhan didn’t want to just push you away, but he also didn’t want to walk down the street like that making it look like you were the one protecting him when it should’ve been the other way around. Instead, Luhan threw his arm around you as well to make it equal.

You could tell that Luhan was getting a little weird lately with his behavior, but you never questioned it too much.

As you walked down the street, you began to pay close attention to the cars passing by, since you also had a keen interest in cars. You gasped when you saw one speeding down the road. “Lamborghini Murciélago!” you exclaimed. “Man, is that one beautiful sports car. Don’t you think?”
Luhan knew nothing about cars. He didn’t even understand how you could tell that car apart from others with a specific name. “Lamborghini Merci-what?” he said.

“Lamborghini Murciélago,” you repeated. “Introduced as a coupé in 2001 and first made available in North America for the 2002 model year. Designed by Luc Donckerwolke and absolutely gorgeous.”

Luhan blinked and stopped in his tracks. “Okay,” he said. “This needs to stop.”

You frowned. “What needs to stop?”

Luhan scratched his head. “I don’t feel manly when I’m around you at all, _____,” he said. “I feel like I’m the girl in the relationship and it’s not right.”

You never realized that this was happening the entire time and bothering Luhan. “Really?” You stepped forward. “Have I been bothering you this whole time?”

He shook his head and grabbed your hands. “Please don’t think that you’re bothering me,” he mumbled. “I just feel like my manliness drops every time you comment or do something that I’m supposed to technically do.”

“Luhan.” You threw your arms around him and gave him a big hug. “You’re really manly in my eyes already,” you mumbled. “Whether you believe it or not, you’re really manly. I just grew up in a male dominant family, and I was influenced that way. I’m sorry if I’m kinda getting too extreme with it though, I’ll tone it down a bit.”

Luhan smiled and pecked your lips. “I love you the way you are,” he said. “But it would help if I knew half the stuff you were talking about.”

“I could always teach you. Football 101 and Car 101 could be the first two things on the list.”

“Ah, this doesn’t seem right at all, but I’m going to agree to it anyway.” He hugged you tightly. “Just pretend to be a little girly sometimes, please baby? Just so I could feel more manly?”

You chuckled and shook your head. “We’ll see, Luhan.”