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Deer Luhan,

Have I ever mentioned that Sehun gives the best hugs ever?

Leigh

We were on a sleeper train, which helped matters to some extent because of the compartments.  Kris had used Luhan’s money to get me a ticket so I could board the train, which required some fancy footwork at the station so that the manager wouldn’t see me (he was fortunately very tired and pissed off about the whole schedule-moving affair, which probably helped a lot), but the only spare compartments had been in different carriages, and as predicted before, no way was Luhan – or any of the others, actually – prepared to let me out of EXO’s sight for so much as a single second.

Chen kindly gave up his bed to sleep head-to-toe with Baekhyun so that I could share with Luhan and Sehun, each compartment having three beds, and Suho warned all of us very firmly that we were going to have to make sure our compartments stayed locked throughout the night so the manager couldn’t wander in and wonder what had happened with the sleeping arrangements and why Luhan’s brother had decided to tag along.  The compartments were small and pretty claustrophobic, though not as claustrophic as the dorm had seemed when I was in there on my own.  However, we weren’t going to fit more than five people in there comfortably to talk, so we all decided to call it an early night and separated into our sleeping groups.

The first thing Sehun did was lock the door and cross to open the window.  Luhan went “exploring”, as much as you could explore in a tiny three-by-two-and-a-half metre cabin.  There was a triple bunk on one side and a luggage rack above seats and a table on the other.

“Oh, look,” said Luhan, pulling open a door beside the seats.  “Shower, anybody?”  He pointed to the sink.

Sehun looked around from where he was leaning out of the window.  “Had one back in the dorm.  And I’m waiting until we get to the hotel.”

Luhan smirked and turned to me.  “What about you, Leigh?”

“ert,” Sehun grumbled at him before I could reply.

Luhan’s smirk only grew.  “She might actually want to wash, you know, Sehun.”

The maknae threw him a scandalised glare.  “In a room with two guys and no privacy?”

It was cramped enough for me to be able to wave my hands in both their faces without needing to move.  “Guys, I’m right here, you know.”

Luhan pushed my hand away.  “So, what do we do for nineteen hours while we’re stuck in here together?”

“We can speak in English to annoy you,” Sehun offered, gesturing to himself and me.  “I’m basically fluent now, you know.  Leigh says my accent is to die for.”

“I said your accent will make the fangirls die of feels.  Slight difference.”  His accent was totally to die for.

Sehun just grinned at me. I nearly fainted.

“Also,” I said, turning back to Luhan, “I’d quite like to be able to sleep for at least eight of these nineteen hours, preferably more.”

We’d boarded the train shortly before seven-thirty, and round about half past eight, a lady came knocking on our door with dinner trays.  Sehun and Luhan spent some time flicking noodles at each other’s faces while I gobbled down my food and proceeded to start on theirs without them noticing.  Both of them just laughed when they saw I’d moved everything onto my tray, but they did very firmly reclaim their food and sit on the top bunk to eat it so I couldn’t steal it again.

The next two hours were passed in mindless chatter, which cut off once when the manager knocked on the door and we had to pretend Chen had already gone to sleep and he couldn’t come in in case he woke him up.  Gradually, the topic became more serious, and Luhan eventually turned around and asked me if I’d rung my mother to explain I was going to be coming home later than expected.

I shook my head.  “I didn’t actually ring her last time because I wasn’t totally sure I’d actually be going home on Saturday.  I had no idea if you were going to meet the deadline.”

Sehun snickered and Luhan whacked him across the back of the head.

“Well, we can deal with that when we’re ensconced in the hotel, then.  We’ll probably have internet access, so we can look up flights easily and all that.”

“You’d better be sending her business class after what you’ve put her through,” Sehun said in an unusually serious tone.

I squirmed uncomfortably.  “Honestly, I’m fine travelling econ—”

Sehun shoved his hand over my mouth to shut me up.  “End of discussion.  We should sort out beds.”

“Shotgun bottom bunk,” Luhan said immediately, eyeing the two above.  “Everything else looks dangerous.”

Sehun and I both bit back laughs.

“I’ll take the middle,” I decided.

What happened next was a lot of awkward manouevering around each other to brush teeth, go to the toilet just down the corridor (where we bumped into all the other members doing exactly the same thing) and getting changed.

When I returned from the toilet in pyjamas, it was to discover that Sehun had found curtains that could be pulled halfway across each bed to block out light coming in through the window if you slept with your feet towards the door.  Both boys were topless and wrestling playfully behind the curtain on Luhan’s bed.

“,” I commented tonelessly as I combed through my hair with my fingers.  “Do either of you have a hairbrush?”

The pair of them sat up.

“You shouldn’t be wearing your chest compressor at night,” they both pointed out simultaneously, Luhan slyly trying to slip Sehun into a headlock.  Sehun wriggled out of it.

“D.O. said,” he added, swinging his legs off the bed and approaching me.  “You should take it off.”

He’d reached out for my top before I’d totally registered his words.

“And I’m the ert?” demanded Luhan, incensed.  Sehun froze with his hands gripping the hem of my pyjama top, and his face went the colour of a sunset.  His mouth dropped open and he gaped at me for a couple of seconds before ducking his head away.  I was unable to resist reaching out and pinching his cheek.  He swatted my hand away.

“Don’t,” he mumbled, finally letting go and stumbling back.  He took a deep breath and added, “Sorry,” looking everywhere except at me.

“Cute,” simpered Luhan.  I threw my shoe at him.  It missed.  “I didn’t realise you two were this… ah… intimate.”

I threw my other shoe at him, and this time, it caught him on the nose.  He chucked it back.

“Ow!  Leigh, that hurts!”

My shoe glanced off my shoulder, but the pain was worth it for the little snicke