Luhan stared at the clock upon the wall of the bubble tea shop, his patience running thin. It was almost eleven o’clock, and he was supposed to meet Sehun at 10. Never before was Sehun late. The bell of the entrance rang and Luhan looked up, half expecting another random stranger to enter, but to his relief it was Sehun.

He looked dishevelled, his hair all over his place and the buttons of his shirt done up wrongly. His eyes were half-lidded, as if he’d just been woken up.

“Sorry. Slept in.” Sehun mumbled when he took a seat opposite Luhan.

“Why did you sleep late?” Luhan asked, slightly worried but otherwise tempted to laugh at how sleepy the other looked. Sehun slumped down on the table, resting his head on his arms with his face turned sideways. Luhan reached out and played with Sehun’s soft, blond hair. These subtle actions were something they always did, and got used to, but never questioned.

“I forgot that I had practise college exams next week.” He muttered. “Stayed up until 3:30. Sorry.”

“Why did you talk to me then?” Luhan demanded to know, guilt etched all over his heart. They had spoken until around 12:30 last night until Luhan had said he needed to sleep for today. He stopped playing with Sehun’s hair temporarily. At that, Sehun looked up.

“Oh. Well, I didn’t realise that it was exam week until I went to sleep…” He looked sideways, avoiding Luhan’s gaze. Immediately Luhan could tell he was lying.

“We can talk whenever you want, but you know your studies are more important.” Sehun rested his head down again and refused to reply.

“It’s just practise exams.” He spoke after a while. “Father wants me to do well, to keep up his reputation.” He let out a sigh, and Luhan could tell that while doing that relaxed him a bit, the burden on his shoulders forced down by his father was still there.

“You … didn’t have to come,” Luhan said softly, spoiling him again by touching his hair. Sehun relaxed more under Luhan’s touch.

“I want to.” Although the reply made Luhan smile, he was still troubled and concerned. Concerned that if Sehun didn’t do well, his future would be hard on him.

“I’ll order our bubble tea. You rest here.” Luhan decided and got up to line up.

When he came back, Sehun was sleeping peacefully. Luhan shook his head and smiled, sitting down and slowly drinking his tea while watching Sehun sleep. Luhan knew he needed to wake the younger up before his tea went warm, but having to watch Sehun rush here made him feel guilty, so he decided to wait at least 10 minutes. Besides, he quite liked the way Sehun’s lips would twitch every once in a while…

Luhan let out a small chuckle. Sehun even his lips when he slept! Smiling almost evilly, Luhan took out his phone and began videotaping. Even then, he found himself lost in wonder as he watched the way Sehun’s body would heave up and down whenever he breathed. When Sehun stirred, it brought Luhan back to reality.

“Here, I got you bubble tea.” Luhan whispered, nudging Sehun gently. Sehun didn’t move for a while, then suddenly opened his eyes.

“Thanks,” He mumbled and sipped his tea. His face scrunched up almost straight away at how warm the tea had turned out to be.

“How long did I sleep? Why did you not wake me up?” He complained and mock glared at his bubble tea. Luhan laughed.

“Because I was too busy watching you sleep.” It slipped out before Luhan realised it, and he couldn’t take it back anymore. Sehun, shocked, stared at Luhan while Luhan pretended to be very interested in the colour of his milk tea. This is it, Luhan thought to himself as he fervently sipped his milk. This is the time when people conf – What? Luhan stared at his tea, confused and embarrassed because he could feel Sehun’s gaze on him. Confess what?

“I videotaped you sleeping.” He blurted out, his face getting hotter as he wondered why he just confessed that. And the second those words came out, the moment was over.

“What?” Sehun gaped in horror and stood up, wide awake, and started to reach for Luhan’s phone. While he was slightly relieved, Luhan still felt as if he’d said that wrong thing, because his heart was still beating wildly, not satisfied even as he moved his phone out of the way. What was it exactly that was not satisfying him?

Sehun gave up after a while with a huff, finished his tea and then stood up to go to the washroom to wash his face. Luhan had recovered by then, and noticed something a little off in Sehun’s appearance.

“Wait.” He called and left his seat just as Sehun came over to him. His hands reached up and began to fix Sehun’s shirt.

“You buttoned it wrongly,” The shorter man explained, his eyes concentrating hard on the buttons. Sehun gulped and looked away, a pink hue adorning his cheeks. Several times he glanced down, his heart skipping a beat whenever he saw those long eyelashes flutter as Luhan blinked, watched those lips move in and out of shape in concentration. Then Sehun saw it. The phone that protruded from Luhan’s cloak. Sneakily he wound his arm until his fingers touched the phone, then he silently wrapped his fingers around it and picked it up before dropping it in his pocket casually.

“Done.” Luhan smiled triumphantly just as Sehun could feel the phone’s weight in his cloak. Luhan’s smile really was cute. Sehun, grinning madly, left to wash his face then came back and sat himself down comfortably.

“Can you at least show me the video on your phone?” Sehun asked innocently, his hand the case of the phone. “You can even hold the phone if you like. I won’t touch it.”

“… … All right.” Luhan began to pat his pockets, and Sehun almost laughed when he saw Luhan’s big eyes widen even more in shock. In a split second Luhan was up, patting his jeans and his cloak and looking at his seat.

“Have you seen my –“ Luhan’s expression of fear morphed immediately into realisation the moment he saw Sehun – those wide eyes drooped as quickly as the corners of his mouth, and, with the unsurprised and even I’m-so-done-with-you expression, he held his hand out.

“Give it.” The sudden change in Luhan only made Sehun laugh harder, and the younger man began to clap in glee. Luhan went around and stuffed his hands into Sehun’s cloak pockets, but Sehun was fast enough to grab the phone out of the way. He stood and put his hand high up in the air, Luhan’s phone plain for everyone to see. Luhan’s immediate reaction was to jump up, frustrated that Sehun was taller and had longer arms. Sehun didn’t see Luhan jumping the highest he could and before he knew it, a warm hand had clasped itself tightly around the phone and around Sehun’s own.

For a moment they stared at each other, eyes wide, breaths even. They were so close together, faces inches from each other. Time seemed to slow down for them, and it seemed as if they were losing themselves in each other’s eyes. The time was over as soon as it came. The shock of it all made Sehun lose his grip as he let Luhan grab hold of the phone. They both sat down, this time next to each other instead of opposite, Sehun stunned into silence and Luhan slightly triumphant but also flustered.

"Didn't think I'd jump so high, eh?" Luhan teased after recovering, and usually he would put his arm around Sehun, but after what happened he was too embarrassed to. Sehun was relieved that Luhan had spoken because he didn't think he'd recover from that at all.

"Didn't think you'd be that short, eh?" Sehun replied playfully, laughing into his hand as Luhan sent 'threatening' glares toward his way.

Luhan crossed his arms and huffed, and Sehun laughed even harder at how Luhan's expression only made him look more like a child. Sehun voiced out his thoughts, and while that made Luhan stop puffing out his cheeks, it didn't quench his annoyance and frustration. He didn't choose to be born looking like a young girl!

"Lulu gotta call me hyung now," Sehun spoke between fits of laughter, his eyes curved like mocking crescents. “…or oppa?”

At that, Luhan couldn't take it anymore, his feelings torn between annoyance, anger but also at adoration and joy at seeing Sehun smile. Because of his confused and muddled feelings, Luhan decided to ignore Sehun until the younger apologised. Instead, he noticed at how relaxed Sehun had been - even though he was more tired - these days. There was nothing of the stiffness that rested upon Sehun's shoulders the first day they met, as if he was forced to walk with books on his head.

Finally, after what seemed like AGES, Sehun calmed down, though still having that annoying but sinfully sweet smile upon his face. Luhan had an idea of sweet revenge. They were sitting nearby the window, and Luhan was nearer. With the tiniest hint of a smile playing along his lips, he pretended that something interesting caught his eye and he hurriedly twisted his head toward the window.

"WHAT'S THAT?" He gasped loudly, the arm closer to the window pointing out, index finger pressed upon the glass. Sehun stopped his taunting immediately and quieted.

"WHAT?" The tone of Sehun's voice surprised and dripping with curiosity. Luhan let out a small smirk as Sehun's nosy eyes widened as he leaned in closer. His temporary victory was shortlived, though, and his smirk dissipated the moment he felt something warm rest on top of his hand.

"What?" Sehun asked, seemingly not have noticed that he had accidentally placed his hand on top of Luhan's. The older boy could concentrate at nothing but the contact, his heart quickening again.

"It's nothing," He replied quietly, all previous attempts of laughing at Sehun's gullible personality gone. Sehun took note of Luhan's suddenly quiet disposition, and then he noticed the contact he made with the smaller hand underneath his.

Luhan's mind was whirling, a part of him screaming to pull away but the other part just soothingly trying to convince him to let things flow. Finally, the shyer part of him won over, and he began to pull away.

The small action, the subtlest act of hesitation was what had changed their entire outcome. Before he could completely remove his hand from under Sehun's, Sehun tightened his grip. Luhan, surprised, looked up alarmingly, wondering if this was a joke. His heart, running a few hundred miles an hour was what made him feel aware, alive. Sehun was staring hard at the table, expression neutral if not for the obvious pink tint on his cheeks. Out of instinct, Luhan began to pull away again, but this time Sehun held tighter.

"I like this," He confessed quietly, still refusing to look at Luhan. Luhan could tell that, although Sehun had made a bold move, he was waiting for Luhan's reaction. He had put his heart on the line, waiting to be accepted or thrown on the floor. For a while Luhan was speechless, his mind blank because he didn't know what to say, what to do, what to think. All he knew was that the annoyingly fast beating of his heart was bringing out a warm joy from within him, and the warmth he felt from the contact of their hands soothed him. The loud noise of the shop had muted until Luhan could hear no one and see no one but Sehun and himself. He gave Sehun's hand a small squeeze and Sehun, alarmed, turned towards him. Their eyes met, Sehun's full of disbelief and Luhan's full of reassurance, and Luhan smiled.

"Me too," Luhan replied. It was enough for Sehun and Sehun reacted with a shy smile back. Their grip didn't loosen and neither did it tighten, and for the rest of their free time they sat there, hearing no one, seeing no one but themselves in their little table in the corner of the shop; acknowledged no one in the shop. Wordless gestures, silent conversations and feeling the beating of their hearts sync in unison, because right then, nothing else mattered but them.

A:N: Once again, thank you all for commenting and subscribing! ^^ I really, really appreciate it. I hope you keep looking forward to the upcoming chapters and a Happy Valentine's Day to you ♥♥

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