1;  

[who are you?]

It all started the day - or rather night - Kim Minseok decided to join a party, for the first time in ages.

The party was in the villa of one of his friends, which was huge. And Minseok, or Xiumin between friends, knew that he didn't fit in the second he entered the house. Stepping inside, he felt the same emotion of discomfort just below his ribcage he always had when he came here, like even his body knew he didn't belong. The house was both modern and classic at the same time, with minimalistic interior that made it look really expensive. Big paintings hung on the walls, but except those everything was beige or white. It was the kind of sterile look where you didn't know if you were allowed to touch anything or not - just in case you accidently destroyed a $30,000 vase.

From where he stood Minseok could hear music and talking for the second floor, and he guessed that was where things were happening. Everyone on the first floor, which were about twenty people, were wearing either short dresses or shorts or the newest fashion from someplace he didn't know. He noticed Joonmyeon, his friend in charge of the party, standing together with a couple of other people, all looking like they came from a fashion show. Minseok had known there would be pretty much no one he knew here when he decided to join, but all these people seemed to be on a whole another level than himself. They were probably discussing which continent to go to next weekend, or what kind of cruise ship their parents bought for them this year.

Joonmyeon saw Minseok shortly afterwards as the glanced at his surroundings, not really knowing where he should look or what he should do. Quickly exusing himself from the others he turned around, and walked over to his mildly confused friend. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and a hoodie without arms, and Minseok wondered if he looked out of place with only a knitted sweater and jeans. As he stole another glance at the other people here, that was fairly obvious. A light brown-haired boy in the corner however, was wearing something more like Minseok, which kind of relieved him. At least he wasn't the only one with normal clothes around here. But then again, those clothes might have been the newest fashion from Paris, he just didn't know it because of how normal and middle-class he was in comparison to all these people. He couldn't really say the feeling of discomfort shrunk as time passed.

When Joonmyeon came over to Minseok he hugged him, which left the latter baffled. He'd gotten hugs before of course, and he should have seen it coming, but he could never really get the hang of it and it always turned out weird.

"Xiumin!" Joonmyeon grinned. Minseok smiled awkwardly back.

"Hi, Suho," he said, and wondered how long he had to stay before he could go home. Not that he hated Joonmyeon, or Suho, which was his nickname. They were really good friends. Minseok just wasn't the most outgoing person in the world and didn’t like big crowds. Sitting home with a pizza and a good movie was more of his thing, although he secretly cursed himself for being such an introverted idiot. It was Joonmyeon that had taken the initiative when they became friends, not surprising. It wasn't an understatement to say that he was one of Minseok’s only close relations.

To be honest, Minseok was fairly sure even Joonmyeon would give up on him when he didn't make a move to do anything, but he just smiled and out his hands on Minseok’s shoulders. He seemed to be in a festive mood, tapping his left foot against the floor in an uneven rhythm.

"I wasn't really sure if you'd come!" he exclaimed happily. That said, Minseok hadn't really expected himself to come either. He didn't know anyone here. But he thought it might be a good chance to widen his horizons friend-wise, so he had decided to leave the sanctuary of his apartment and come over.

Minseok shrugged and smiled at Joonmyeon. "Well, here I am," he said. Joonmyeon grinned even wider than he was already doing and nodded, leaving to greet the other guests as they came. And Minseok was left to himself, once again. He hadn't expected Joonmyeon to stay with him the whole evening - that would be foolish -, but he still felt kind of sad as the only connection he had to this place walked away. What was he supposed to do now? Looking around, Minseok wondered where he should go. He'd been here before, but with so many people everything seemed different. He sighed, and started to climb the stairs. He might as well go up to the second floor, where things were happening.

The first thing that hit Minseok, was how many people there were. It wasn't just twenty or thirty which he had stupidly expected would come - no, - there were at least a hundred just here. He already knew that Joonmyeon was popular, but this almost crossed the line to ridiculous. How could one possibly know all these humans? Everyone were standing so close together that they could hardly move, and the music was way to loud for Minseok's liking. He sighed and scanned the crowd for the DJ. It wasn’t hard to find him, really. He stood on a platform in the corner, and Minseok knew who it was at the first glance. It was one of his other friends, Chanyeol. He was wearing a snapback, and nodded to the rhythm as he held the left part of his headphones to his ear on the stage. Chanyeol was maybe playing the music too loud, but he was good at what he did.

As Minseok pushed himself through the crowd he realized there was no reason to try to start a conversation with anybody, as loud as the music was. In the end he decided to go out on the big balcony instead, snapping up a cup of soda from a waiter on his way. He was a bit of a lightweight and decided it was better to not stumble home drunk in the middle of the night. It was so hot he could barely breathe inside, and the weather was so nice that it was just as okay being outside anways.

The balcony was his favourite place in Joonmyeons house. It had a beautiful view as the house was lying in the outskirts of Seoul, overlooking the city. You could see all the lights that lit up the sky at night, making it impossible to see the stars. You couldn't hear Seoul though, with fit Minseok just fine. The city was nice to watch, but a pain to hear. He was alone at the balcony for quite a while. It was obvious that everything was happening inside, but he felt suffocated in there. He just couldn't do it. He had come here at least. That should be more than enough for now.

He sighed for himself. What had been his intention with accepting the party in the first place? Widening his horizons. The way he was acting now wasn't exactly the way to do it. Minseok knew he wouldn't be able to find new friends this way. He couldn't wait for them to approach, like Joonmyeon had. Chanyeol and his best friend Baekhyun were also the result of Joonmyeon. Had Minseok even tried to get to know anyone on his own, by mingling? It seemed absurd, just going to talk to people one didn't already know.

He shook his head, and leant on the railing. He could see a couple of expensive cars in the private, open garage under him, and he wondered what happened to this place when the cars stood inside in the winter. Did they just leave the place empty? As of now perfectly trimmed trees leant over the garage, being put in such a way that it looked like it was supposed to be there, like it naturally had come to be. If not Minseok had been there when they moved the old trees from wherever they had been before and to the house, that was. Realizing just what he was thinking, he sighed and tried to clear his thoughts. They were already wandering, and he was thinking about trees. 'Way to go Minseok,' he thought. 'Sure you'll accomplish your goal this way'.

He hummed a sad melody as he played with a couple of snowflakes, which danced beautifully around his fingers. It did not make sense, as it was in the middle of the summer and there was no way any snow would find its way through the hot and humid air. It was unnatural.

'This is why. This is why I'm a shut in and don't have any relations to people except Joonmyeon,' Minseok thought for himself. A genetic mutation, he'd been told it was. Only about one in a five hundred thousand had it. Fourteen thousand in this whole world. The mutation gave the bearer some kind of power, and Minseok had frost. Freeze and unfreeze things. Wow, cool. One would think that these bearers would be considered superheroes, but they were treated more like monsters. He'd rather not have his powers at all. That was why Minseok didn't have any friends. He was afraid they'd know his secret, and leave. He wasn't yet ready to deal with that. The only one in the whole world that knew about his condition was Joonmyeon, who luckily didn't tell. Minseok reminded himself to send his friend a thank you-card or something on his next birthday.

Minseok cursed himself silently for being so caught up in himself. Why couldn't he just go out there and get some acquaintances, at least?! But that was like telling a depressed person to be happy, after all. He sighed. What good with come out of these sappy thoughts? Leaning his arm on the railing, he looked out over Seoul. Nothing good would come out of it, so he'd be better off at least trying to do something with his problem.

Minseok shook his head to focus, and looked up at the sky he knew would show him nothing. But just then, he thought he saw something - or someone - in the upper left corner of his eye. He quickly turned his head around, terrified. What if someone had seen him?! If someone told the officials, he would be put in labratories to be tested. And Minseok absolutely despised needles.

And just, for a split second, he thought he could see something on the small veranda on the third floor. He blinked, just to be sure, but all he could see was the empty balcony. Great, now he was hallucinating as well. He knew no one was supposed to be up there anyway. It was the balcony to Joonmyuns private room, there was no way he had left it open.

Minseok shook the cup of soda slightly, hanging over the railing. He wondered if he should try to find Joonmyeon again, but on the other side there was no guarantee that he'd find him in the sea of humans inside. He argued with himself over going inside or staying on the balcony, but before he could jump to a conclusion, someone stepped out from the crowded room and joined him in the silence. Minseok expected the person to go to the other side as it was fairly big after all. Therefore, he was a little bit taken aback when the person came over to him.

The person, who held his own cup of soda in his hand, leant on the railing next to Minseok.

"Bored?" he asked. Minseok looked surprised at him. The boy, who seemed to be around his age, was actually starting a conversation.

Minseok nodded. "It's suffocating in there," he answered casually, looking at approacher. He was really pretty, Minseok noticed. He had a boyish face, with doe-eyes and a petite mouth. He was slightly taller than Minseok, but his build was much slimmer. His hair was light brown, and he wore a sweater kind of like Minseok's own. It was knitted and very casual looking. For some reason, he looked kind of familiar. But that couldn't be, could it? It didn't make sense, as Minseok usually remembered the faces of people. Being the wallflower he was, that was one of the talents he had picked up along the way. But shortly summed up, the boy was beautiful, that wad for sure. His features fit him so well, unlike Minseok's own. He was strong, but his chubby cheeks ruined everything and people often mistook him for being a teenager. He'd passed being a teenager years ago already.

Minseok blinked, realizing how he had stared. Suddenly he felt really rude. A long time ago, Joonmyun and Chanyeol had asked if Minseok was gay, because he just never fell in love, and didn't seem to notice girls at all. At that time, knowing he was straight, he'd said, "Give me the right guy, and who know what'll happen." He'd said it just to shock, and hadn't meant it at all. But was this different? He didn't really study people's faces like that, not to mention defining them as ugly or pretty... No. It wasn't. This person was just a conversation-partner, hopefully an acquaintance.

But, as the boy stared out over Seoul, Minseok couldn't shake off the feeling that he'd seen the boy before.

"Hey, have I seen you somewhere?" he blurted before he could stop himself. 'Great Minseok. Good job, keep up making a fool out of yourself,'

The boy sent him a crooked smile. "You might have. I saw you at least, when you came in and greeted Joonmyeon. Xiumin, was it?"

Minseok shook his head, and remembered when Joonmyeon had hugged him at the entrance. The boy in the corner, so that's where he'd seen the boy before!

"That's just a nickname. I'm really named Minseok." he replied. He wondered how the boy could remember what Joonmyeon had called him, and how he had heard them in all that noise. Maybe he just had extremely good hearing.

The boy tilted his head slightly, curious. "And here I thought you were Chinese. How do you get Xiumin from Minseok?" he asked.

To be honest, Minseok had thought about that himself. Joonmyeon had just called him that one day, and it had stuck to him ever since. "It just became like that, I guess," he answered and looked out over Seoul. This boy was pretty interesting, he caught himself thinking.

The boy smiled and held out his hand. "Luhan, by the way."

Minseok nodded and accepted it. "Minseok. But I guess you knew that already." he half-smiled, still a little bit unsure. But somehow, he felt comfortable in the boy - no, Luhan's - company. That was at least a first.

Luhan shrugged. "Nice to get the formal introduction anyways," he said, as much to himself as to Minseok. Minseok nodded, andmade a sound of agreement.

And the conversation dropped dead. He wondered what he should bring up, to keep the talk going. He couldn't find anything natural to say, and just as he was going to say something incredibly stupid like "what's your favourite food" or something, Luhan sighed.

"You must think I'm pretty weird, or what," he mumbled. He obviously wasn't used to these kind of approaches, either, because he looked quite... if not nervous, uncomfortable, awkward. At least they had that in common.

Minseok looked at him. "Huh?" he said, like he couldn't quite understand what Luhan had said. He hadn't been thinking of that at all, so he couldn't understand where he got it from.

Luhan rested his head on the back of his hand. "You know, I just came up to you like this." he held his glass with two fingers, looking uninterested at it.

Minseok shrugged and turned his head forward again, fixing his gaze at an empty spot in the air in front of him. The wind blew silently, and made the trees rustle. He tried to focus, but couldn't quite clear his vision. "Not at all," he replied. "I think it's quite nice, actually."

Luhan laughed. "I wasn't going to tell you, but to be honest, I looked for you."

Minseok turned his head towards him, surprised. "Why would you want to look for me?" he asked. Minseok didn't stick out. He was plain, normal. He did not have any traits that made girls notice him. He wasn't rich like Joonmyeon, cool like Chanyeol or funny like Baekhyun. If anything, he was awkward and silent. Not really the center of the party, the one people flocked around.

The corners of Luhan's mouth turned upwards. "You were interesting. You looked different from the others," he said.

Minseok posed to be offended. "You're saying I'm that ugly?" he asked, pretending to be hurt. Luhan laughed at his acting, tapping his fingers on the railing for a second before letting them fall silent.

"Yeah, right." he smiled. "Nah, I don't really know. You just seemed like a sane, collected and interesting person I guess. The people inside make me crazy - they're so superficial. I don't care what Yves Saint Laurent released last week." He sighed and sipped his drink like he had to endure it daily, before pulling something out of pocket. A small, silver hip-flask. Minseok cocked his head slightly. Luhan was a person to drink? He mentally shrugged as the other boy poured a little bit of transparent liquid in his soda. It wasn't his problem if Luhan drank anyway. They were over the legal drinking age - and just because Minseok kept away from it, it didn't mean he was bothered by others choices.

If Minseok had tried to freeze the liquid by using his powers he would've realized just what it was, and not what he thought it was, but that thought did not exactly run through his head at that point.

"Thanks, that's a first," he answered Luhan. Collected and interesting? hat was something he hadn't heard before. On the inside, Minseok felt like a mess. And dull. Extremely dull.

Luhan smirked at Minseok and nipped his drink. "Really? That's weird. Maybe the people that don't think so got something in their eye when they looked at you." he grinned.

Minseok laughed. "Yeah, I bet the god of dust blew something in everyone's eyes but yours as I walked by," he rolled his eyes at the ridiculous analyzation.

And so they joked back and forth, and found out about each other’s interests. They had pretty much in common, from their taste in music to that they both liked football. But But most of all, Minseok liked Luhan. He was easy to talk to.

"Why would you think that exactly I was interesting, by the way?" Minseok wondered, looking at Luhan. Their conversation had once again dropped dead, and Minseok had wondered about it for a while as well. It seemed like a good time to bring it up, as he didn't know when he would get the chance again. Luhan seemed reluctant about answering, and after a few couple of seconds he muttered a "because therefore,”

This just made Minseok more curious and he cocked his head slightly, but didn't bother the other boy about it. If Luhan didn't want to answer, that was his own problem.

Minseok had been looking at Luhan as he slowly sipped his soda and whatever-was-in-that-flask, but averted his eyes from him and turned his head to look at Seoul like he every so often did, instead. Luhan started to look uncomfortable, and Minseok decided to keep quiet until he found something else to talk about.

But after about a minute of silence, Luhan sighed and his eyes softened. "Do you really want to know?" he asked, talking on outbreath.

Minseok wondered if he should say no, to be polite. But he had the feeling that Luhan wouldn't appreciate it if he lied.

So he nodded.

And Luhan smiled half-heartedly. "Promise not to back off, or laugh?" he asked.

Minseok’s eyebrows crept together. "Why would I?"

Luhan leant his head on the railing, which hid his face. "Yomiwfbnk," he mumbled.

Minseok leant nearer Luhan to hear. "I'm sorry?" he asked. There was no way could've heard that, even if the music Chanyeol was blaring inside was gone.

Luhan turned his face to Minseok. "Your mind is blank. I can see everyone else’s minds but yours is blank, like a white paper."

Minseok stared at him. "What?"

He wasn't quite sure what to think. Had Luhan just insulted him? Was Minseok really that stupid?

Luhan obviously realized what he had said, because he quickly stood up. "Not that way! I mean, literally, your mind is blank. I can't see it. You're calming. It's -" he talked on in-and-outbreath, and didn't stop until Minseok put a finger on his mouth, on impulse.

"One thing at a time. What do you mean, you can't see my mind?" he sounded calmer that he actually was, because inside he felt really confused.

"Telepathy. I'm ... Telepathic." Luhan mumbled, obviously uncomfortable.

And Minseok just stared at him.

"You're going to freak out now, aren't you?" Luhan whispered, no voice accompanying his breath. "Call me a monster and run away?"

But Minseok didn't do that. He didn't do anything, in fact. What was the chance to meet another bearer? There was about one in every five hundred thousand. What were the odds? It shouldn't be possible. There should be no way bearers that lived normal lives concealed should be able to meet. It wasn't scientifically possible. He shook his head, trying to process everything. Luhan. Telepathy. But for some reason, he couldn't quite get it.

So after a while of awkward silence, he asked, "then, why are you telling me this?" while trying to keep his voice from wavering. Luhan, who had tried to keep his calm but obviously looked concerned, half-smiled. To be honest, Minseok thought he looked kind of tired.

"Because I saw your snow-trick,” he said.

And Minseok’s world stopped and spun backwards, to the time he'd played with snowflakes. He thought he'd seen someone at the balcony over him.

"You... But... How..." he stammered. Luhan shrugged and poured more of the transparent liquid into his soda. He stayed quiet, because even if Luhan couldn't see his mind, they both already knew how.

"Have I ever told you I have a really low tolerance for alcohol?" Luhan asked out of the blue, and they both looked at each other. Minseok looked for traces of joking in his voice, but his eyes were dead serious. He stood there stunned for a few seconds, and then laughed because of the absurdness. Someone knew his secret. Someone else than Joonmyeon, someone that drank alcohol-soda even though they had a really low tolerance. It was absurd, and completely messed up.

Luhan his face into his arms, facing the railing so he hid his face. "I must seem like a complete idiot," he mumbled, with no confidence at all. Dropping in the speed of light, his mood swung like a pendulum.

Minseok looked at his wristwatch. He'd been out here with Luhan for almost three hours, which was longer than he had ever thought he would be here.

"Luhan..." Minseok said, trying to swiftly make a safe path to talk to him.

Luhan sadly turned his head just enough for Minseok to see his right eye, but didn't say anything.

"You're not an idiot, okay? I may have been a little confused at some points in our conversations, but... I really like talking to you. You're fun." To be honest, Minseok didn't really know what he was saying. The words just poured out of his mouth. But for some reason, they made sense, and they actually explained what Minseok wanted to say. They usually didn't.

Luhan raised his head. "Promise?" he asked. Minseok nodded. "Promise."

The corner of Luhan's moth tugged slightly upwards, and Minseok felt a small stab in the heart. He wondered why.

Then Luhan brought forward his hip flask again, just to realize it was empty.

"I think you've had enough anyway, Mr. Low tolerance," Minseok smiled. The breeze blew cold in the other so humid summer air, and it felt cool on his face.

Luhan laughed, and the heavy atmosphere was gone.

After half an hour, Minseok could see that the alcohol started to have effects on Luhan. He began to sway, and his words became more and more unclear. He wondered why Luhan would drink so much, when he knew he couldn't take it. Eventually, Luhan had to lean on Minseok not to fall over.

He looked into Minseok's eyes. "You knooow..." he said, stretching the last word.

Minseok raised his eyebrows. "Yes?" he asked. Luhan looked seriously upon him, his brown eyes slowly drifting away. He never completed his sentence.

Minseok had predicted most things. Luhan would throw up, he would faint, anything. But what actually happened, he had not expected in a million years.

Luhan pecked him on the lips. It wasn't a kiss, only a peck. But still, Minseok felt a million things at once. Happy. Weird. Messed up. It was a completely new feeling, and something Minseok had never experienced before. Was he falling for Luhan? Probably. Maybe he was knee-deep already, without realizing it. He sighed. Why now? Why Luhan? Luhan probably didn't even like him back, this was only the alcohol's fault.

Minseok grabbed Luhans shoulders to keep him at an arm lengths distance, and smiled half-heartedly. "Hey Luhan, why don't we get you into bed?" he asked. Luhan nodded, tired. He'd most likely forgotten that he pecked him already.

And Minseok decided it was for the best that he forgot about it as well. Maybe, if he went home, he'd never meet Luhan again and just forget about this. A part of him wanted it because of all the confused feelings inside him, but another part of him wanted to get to know Luhan even more. It made Minseok want to grip his hair and scream in frustration.

But he didn't. Instead, he sat down on his knees, and let Luhan climb on his back, so that he was carrying him.

"I'm sleepy," Luhan mumbled into the side of Minseok's neck, as he leant his head on his shoulder. His breath was hot on his skin, tickling as they became smaller, yet were prominent. Minseok didn't answer, but smiled and pushed his way through the dancing crowd. The air was hot and humid, and usually Minseok would have felt suffocated. Now however, he was only focused on the half-asleep Luhan, breathing steadily into his neck.

As Minseok made his way through the crowd, he saw Joonmyeon talking with Chanyeol. They were speaking fast and serious with rapid hand gestures, and didn't seem to notice Minseok at all. Maybe that was for the best. Who knows what would happen if they saw him carrying an unknown boy? It would be quite the ruckus, and was there something Minseok didn't want it was ruckus. He smiled for himself as Chanyeol switched to another song with heavy bass and fast beats, and rushed silently out of the room.

Minseok knew exactly where to put Luhan. Joonmyeon had a lot of rooms in his house, and beside his private room there was a guest-room that was almost never used. It had its own bathroom, so if Luhan felt like throwing up he had somewhere to go to. Minseok felt Luhan grow heavy on his back as he climbed the stairs to the third floor, and he walked faster. The sleepy boy's grip on him slowly grew weaker and weaker, and Minseok was afraid that he might loose him in the end. In one hand Luhan still held his glass of soda, but before Minseok realized it, Luhan lost it and everything in it spilled out over the stairs. He sighed, but kept walking. Someone else could clean this mess up, he was way too tired.

'Just a little bit more now,' he thought for himself as he walked the last meters to the guestroom, and opened the door with one arm. He had to bend over so Luhan didn't fall off, and continued to carry him that way before dumping him on the bed. It was big covered in white sheets, and matched the rest of the room. It was dark, but Minseok could still see the light colours that matched each other in the faint light from the hallway.

"See there," Minseok mumbled and sat down by the bed. He could feel his shoulders grow lighter by the second. "You can sleep now, Luhan,"

Luhan opened an eye halfway. He looked dead-tired.

"You know Xiumin, I want us to go skiing sometime. Like, in Europe. In Switzerland or Norway or China."

Minseok couldn't help but laugh. Luhan was really out of it, calling him Xiumin.

He smiled and put a blanket over him. "You're talking nonsense now, Luhan. China is in Asia, remember?" he said and put a pillow under the sleepy boy's head.

Luhans only response was a long "hmmm," and Minseok stood up and was about to walk out the door, before he turned around.

"I wish I could see you around," he whispered, completely sure that Luhan was too far away to catch what he said. And he really wished for that. But he hadn't asked for Luhans number, nor did he know where he lived. Maybe it was best to keep him a distant memory. Luhan made him feel weird, and confused, in a good way. But even if it was in a good way, it still meant confused. And Minseok couldn't stand being just that. He wanted answers. And he was too afraid to ask Luhan for those.

Minseok was just about to go out the door to Joonmyeon's house, heading home. His daily quota of human interaction was filled way over the top already, and he had probably had enough for more than a week now. Now he could go home an binge-watch Boys over Flowers again. Yeah, that sounded likea good idea.

On the way out he snapped up a glass of water from a waiter, spontaneously. He wasn't even thirsty, but freezing and unfreezing things calmed him for some reason. It was past twelve already, and he had never expected to stay this long. He moved his fingers swiftly over the cup as he froze it in different formations, humming a melody he had heard on the radio the previous day.

But then, he heard someone dash down the stairs. He wondered if he should warn the person that the stairs were very slippery after Luhan spilled his soda, but as he was about to turn around he changed his mind. It wasn't his problem anymore. He honestly only wanted to get home, go to bed and pretend it had all been a weird dream.

Just as he predicted, in the bottom of the stairs, someone fell. Minseok wondered for a second if he should go and check on the person, but decided against it. No one would want his help anyway.

He was just about to close the front door behind him, when the someone that fell in the stairs, shouted "XIUMIN!". Joonmyeon? Chanyeol? They were the only people that called him that, but it was neither of them. The voice sounded just like... He turned around.

"Luhan!" Minseok exclaimed, as the boy stormed towards him. "Luhan, why aren't you in b-" but Luhan stopped his sentence. Not with his hands. Or with other words. No, Luhan stopped them in the most effective way. With his lips. Minseok was unable to move the first couple of seconds, as Luhan held around him. He knew was supposed to react, or think rationally, at least. But all he could think of was the other boy's lips on his. He felt a warmth form in his chest, and then move to the back of his neck, his ears. He felt his fingertips tingle, washing away the constant numbness. Then, after a few seconds of perplexity, he accepted the kiss, and returned it. An uncontrolled happiness made his heart beat extremely fast, but then he realized Luhan was drunk. He wouldn't remember any of this tomorrow. Minseok shook his head, and drew away, ending the kiss. He didn't want this. He wanted Luhan, but not the drunk Luhan. He wanted the clean, sober, Luhan to love him.

Luhan looked confused at him.

"Why did you do that?" he asked. If Minseok’s mind had been any more organized in the moment, he would've realized that Luhan was neither swaying, nor did he mess up the words when he spoke. And that his eyes weren't drifting away at all. But Minseok was too out of it to realize any of that at all.

"I don't want this," he sighed. "Luhan, you're messing me up. I want you, and your drunken state obviously knows that. But, I don't want your drunken state. Come on now, I need you to go to bed before you do something even more stupid." he talked in a low, soothing voice, and took a small sip of the cup of water in his right hand. He slipped his arm under Luhans, and started to half-carry him up to Joonmyeon's room again. However, Luhan stopped him. He released Minseok’s grip on him, and grabbed his shoulders just like Minseok had done on the balcony. Then he locked eyes with him, looking deeply into them. "Minseok," he whispered.

But Minseok looked away. "Luhan," he mumbled. "You won't remember it tomorrow. Please don't." he sighed, almost crushed by the pressure. Why did he do this to him?

Then, Luhan fished something out from his pocket. It was smal and silver, and way too well-known.The little hip flask! Was he going to drink even more?

"Luhan, please. You're drunk enough, and there isn't even anything in that thing anymore." he tried to reason with him. But Luhan wouldn't listen, and forced Minseok to look him in the eyes again.

"Do I look drunk?" he asked. And then Minseok started to notice all these little things, one by one. Luhans perfect pronunciation. The way he walked. His eyes, which showed Minseok that he was actually there.

Minseok shook his head slowly, becoming confused. How did Luhan become sober so fast?

The other boy smirked in a well-known manner. "Does my breath smell like alcohol?" he whispered. Minseok shook his head again, slightly embarrassed. It smelled fresh mint if anything, which was weird in itself as it should be been tainted by alcohol.

"Try to freeze this," Luhan said and nodded towards the little hip flask. There were surely some drops left in the flask, but why did he need to freeze them? Minseok was about to refuse and ask why, but Luhans eyes became even more serious than they already were, and he just nodded and did as he was told. He soon realized there was something wrong. The freezing point... It was different from alcohol. It was like...

"Water?" he guessed, and Luhan nodded.

Minseok shook his head, completely at sea. "But then, why were you... How did you become... Wait. You never were?" He couldn't even complete one sentence. Everything was spinning. Did this mean he had just confessed to Luhan? And why was Luhan kissing him?

Luhan half-smiled. "I guess so," he said, with only half the confidence he had before. Minseok didn't feel angry, which he probably should’ve been. He didn't even feel betrayed, or empty. Just...  Concerned. Confused.

"But, why?" he asked.

Luhan shrugged. "Confidence-boost? I didn't really have the courage to do anything before. You were awesome, and I just couldn't afford to not do anything. Is this what you call... Love at first sight? Insterested at first saight, at least. Then the like slash love part came afterwards, or something like that. So, I figured that if I drank, or at least pretended to drink, I'd feel more confident. I'm... I'm sorry, Minseok."

Minseok knew he should've felt angry. But he didn't. All he could think about was what Luhan had said. 'Love at first sight.' Had it really been like that? If it wasn't like that for Minseok, it had at least been love in the first ten minutes, if that was a thing.

So, after a minute of silence, with only the muted sound of the music inside as company, Minseok smiled. "What's your number?" he asked.

Luhans eyes widened, and Minseok grinned. Luhan was stunned, and he was the one to make him like that. Minseok could get used to that. 

As Luhan quickly wrote his number on a small piece of paper he found in his pocket, Minseok looked up at the sky and wondered if there was something supernatural about this. He had never been so lucky in all his life.

Luhan gave Minseok the paper, and smiled. It was an honest smile, which suited Luhan the best.

And then, after Minseok had put the paper in his pocket, they just stood there, watching each other. It wasn't awkward. It was more like, they didn't dare look away, as if the other person could suddenly disappear.

After something that seemed like an eternity, Minseok broke the silence. He took a sip of water, and smiled. "Well, are you just going to stand there?"

Luhan closed the distance between him and Minseok in two steps, and their foreheads touched. Luhan put his hand on the back of Minseok’s head, and he felt shivers go down his spine.

"Do you promise," Luhan whispered, looking seriously into Minseok's eyes. "To call me as soon as you get home?"

Minseok couldn't do anything but nod, feeling the hot breath of the other boy on his lips. His confidence just melted with Luhan so close. Ten centimeters. That was the distance between their lips. Then, even that distance was gone. They sealed their promise with a kiss. It wasn't a peck, like the first time. Neither was it like the second time, when it felt fake. No, this time it was different. It was passionate, and both Luhan and Minseok poured all of their feelings into it. And so, Minseok opened his mouth just enough to slip something into Luhans. Then he let go of Luhan, smiled, bit his lip, and ran into the black night.

And Luhan was left stunned outside the front door, looking after the beautiful boy that disappeared into the dark. He smiled for himself, with a melting ice cube in his mouth, as the only thing left after the boy, except a faint tingling in his chest.

Not did he take the ice cube out of his mouth, and not did he see the inscription on it. Promise.