Neither of them spoke to each other as they traversed the empty hallways back at their dormitory. The tension was present in the air, and both of them are on the edge. It was like waiting for a time bomb to tick off, but the silence lingered on, leaving them totally uneasy and discomfited. A lot of things happened back at the field, and although a talk was desperately needed to clear any misunderstanding, neither of them was brave enough to grace such justice to the other.

Soon, both of them reached Luhan’s floor.

“I-I guess this is me.” Luhan was the first to speak since they came back, but refused to look at Xiumin. He clearly knows he’s not ready yet to stare back at his cousin who just confessed and took his first kiss just a few moments ago. His mind’s still buzzing with everything, and he just wants to fall back to the comfort zone of his bed, far from all the worries that seemed to enjoy plaguing his little heart. Yet he wanted to give Xiumin the hint that everything will be okay…that they’re okay…

Xiumin stopped on his tracks and turned back to his cousin.

“Lu”

He saw Luhan tensed up at the mention of his name, making his heart break all the more than it has. Xiumin sighed deeply. Perhaps he pushed it too far tonight. His confession might’ve taken a toll on the other, and despite the beauty that graces Luhan, the discomfort could be clearly traced from his features.

“I won’t do it again. I’m sorry…” He took one last longing look towards Luhan who still finds the floor tiles interesting, never lifting his head to meet his eyes.

It’s over…

“Good night Lu.” Xiumin turned back and started heading for the staircase.

After a few steps, he felt a soft tug from the fringe of his midnight blue vest, making his heart skip a beat. Pearls of tears are already forming at the corners of his eyes, so he decided not to look back. He can’t let Luhan see him any weaker than he already was.

It took a handful torture of unspoken minutes, before one of them spoke.

“We’ll be o-okay… right?”

Words…simple words uttered under a trembling breath that seemed to have the complete power to bring back the life to Xiumin. This was enough…to know that everything will be alright despite what happened. That he’d still have Luhan. Perhaps not as his, but still, it was more than anything he could’ve asked for. A soft smile crept back to his lips as his hand found purchase to Luhan’s, giving it a soft squeeze.

I still have you…

“We will. I promise.”

Once again Luhan found himself in deep thoughts as he made his way along the empty corridor heading to his dorm room. He could barely make out any noise coming from their neighbour rooms which was totally reasonable since it was already nearing 11 in the evening. Tomorrow will be the last day of school for that week, and lucky enough for him, he only has one class which was scheduled late in the afternoon. He could oversleep without worrying about missing his first and last class. He slowed down his footsteps as he basked under the eerie silence of the hallway.

I love you…

He still can’t let go of the image of Xiumin as he said those words. He never thought that Xiumin felt that way towards him. He loves him like a brother…perhaps a bit more…but every time he considers such a thing, his mind flows back to a certain person named Sehun. Xiumin is important, and so is Sehun, and he doesn’t have to compare the two to prove it. Xiumin and Sehun are different and yet the same at some point. While the former could calm his heart every time, read him like an open book, and effortlessly understand him without him even saying anything, the latter was the only one who could mess up his thoughts, make him smile goofily, make him worry, and make his heart do somersaults and skip beats.  Making him choose between the two is like forcing him to give up either food or water.

But I still have to choose in the end.

And Luhan knows.

Luhan stopped in front of their door. The same label of Han – Oh greeted him as always. He carefully touched the intricately inscribed letters on the silver plate, tracing every character with his pale fingers. The younger must be in deep sleep by now, so he has to be very subtle in entering their room.

Sehun…

It will always be Sehun…

Just when he was to step inside, his foot accidentally hit something on the floor. It was a sealed box. He knelt down to carefully look at it when his peripheral vision caught up the rest of the boxes on his left side. Apparently, they were neatly arranged in short towers standing adjacent to the dorm room next to theirs, which, Luhan knew, was definitely empty.

“I guess we’re having a new neighbour.”

Sighing, he went back inside and allowed everything he’s thinking to get fully drowned by his deep sleep.

Crash.

Luhan woke up to the harsh sound of glass breaking as it met the hard surface of their room’s concrete floor. He tossed his sheets out of his way and hurried over to where the alarming noise came from.

“Sehun? What was t- Ouch!”

“Luhan!”

By the next second, Luhan’s on the floor, loosing his balance as he felt a piercing pain on his left foot. He failed to notice the glass shard that fell near his bedroom door, and because he has the habit of walking barefoot while in their room, the shard came in direct contact, now making his foot drench in stains of blood and unwanted curses in the air.

“Luhan? Are you alright?!” the younger asked worriedly. He was too busy of picking up the shards that he didn’t notice Luhan wake up and walk out from his bedroom. Inwardly slapping himself for letting his hyung get hurt for not being on time with warning him to wear slippers, Sehun scooped the wounded boy into his arms and carefully carried him back to his bed.

“Does it hurt?” he asked as he squatted in front of the elder while slowly lifting his damaged foot. He could see blood gradually trickling down from what looks like a deep cut under Luhan’s left big toe. Something’s glistening in his view, making him gulp with dreadfulness. The accused shard was still buried within the wound, but luckily didn’t go all the way into the older boy’s flesh.

“I need to pull out the shard. This’ll hurt.” He warned the other. He glanced up to see Luhan alarmingly paled at his words. He took the elder’s hands and settled them on his shoulder blades. “Squeeze if it hurts.”

Luhan could only nod as tears tarnished his hardly awake eyes. He just recovered from his fever and now this.

How much more lucky could this day be?

He squeezed his eye shut, bracing his trembling body for