“Where are you from?” Minseok asked genuinely curious, eyeing the taller boy from head to toe.

Lu Han jumped in immediately, “Busan,” He glanced up at Shixun, hoping he would just accept it as the truth, before turning his attention back to Minseok, “He’s from Busan.”

“Busan?” Yixing said with surprise shining in his eyes, “Wow, that’s far away. How is it-”

“I’ll let it slip this time, since you had to do something important, but Lu Han, don’t let this happen again,” Minseok sighed, “Not having picked up the curtains is one thing. Not having picked up any of our calls is a whole other thing. Yixing was so close to calling the police.”

Lu Han felt the guilt creep up again, but he managed to smile a little, “Yes, it won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Alright, we- We’ll take our leave then, since we need to go back to the hostel again. Make sure to pick up the curtains today and then come straight to the hostel, okay?” Minseok said before glancing up at Shixun, “And if he has nothing to do, he can come too. We can have dinner together.”

Happiness sparkled in Lu Han’s eyes at this, “That would be great!”

Minseok smiled a little, “Okay, see you later. Come on, Yixing, let’s go.”

Yixing smiled at the both of them before letting Minseok hold his hand, pulling him away. Lu Han let his eyes fall on their intertwined fingers for a little too long for his own good, but he quickly shook away the thought before closing the door and turning to look at Shixun.

“Let’s continue eating, okay?” Lu Han said with a smile.

Shixun eyed him for a moment before nodding, “Okay.”

They ate their food in silence. Time suddenly went too fast and before Lu Han knew it, all the food was gone and only empty dishes lay on the table. Lu Han stood up at the sight, ready to go wash the dishes, when Shixun stood up abruptly.

Lu Han could not help but laugh a little, “Why are standing up all of a sudden?”

Shixun scratched the back of his head, “I don’t really know what to do…”

This caused Lu Han to break out into a full smile, “I know what you need to do,” He pointed to Shixun’s clothes, “Time to put on some new clothes.”

“I…” Shixun glanced around all of sudden, “Clothes…?”

Lu Han chuckled before walking up to his small closet, searching for some clothes that the tall male might fit. He did not have lots of choice even for himself, so it was a mission near impossible to find something that the other would fit. In the end, he settled with his hostel employee t-shirt that was too big for him and some trousers that the other might fit. He decided to swallow down his own humiliation and grab some underwear too. They were both men, so nothing to be such an embarrassed teenage girl about.

“Here you go,” Lu Han said as he handed the other the pile of clothes.

Shixun smiled gratefully, “Thank you.” And then went off to the bathroom.

Lu Han decided to quickly wash the dishes while Shixun was busy changing his clothes, so they could leave as early as possible. It was a bright day today too, so Lu Han was hoping he could find the opportunity to do some selling again. Days like these were rare and he had to take full opportunity of it.

It was only when he was done and busy taking off his gloves that he turned around, seeing Shixun sitting on the kitchen chair, playing aimlessly with something in his hand. When Lu Han walked up a little closer, he realized it was something like a coin.

“What’s that?” Lu Han asked as he took a seat opposite of Shixun.

Shixun glanced up, shoulders shrugging, “I don’t know either. I found it in a pocket inside my shirt while I was changing clothes. It… It felt peaceful, holding onto it…” He said before giving it another spin, watching intently how the coin turned around on the table.

Lu Han watched it before something struck it. He quickly took it and held it in his hand, eyes examining the object intently. His eyes widened a little as he thought of something.

“Could this be real gold?” Lu Han said in shock before putting his teeth on it, trying it out, eyes widening as he looked at it again, “It could really be…”

Shixun eyed him confusedly, not really knowing what he wanted to say. However, his hand did slowly go to the coin in Lu Han’s hand, taking it back, “Don’t put it in your mouth…”

Lu Han looked at Shixun’s serious expression, and decided to let the matter be. Of course he had thought about selling it if it turned out to be real gold, but seeing how this was the last thing that Shixun had, aside from the ring that was still wrapper around Lu Han’s finger, he decided to throw those thoughts away. He watched Shixun spin the coin another time, and another, wondering how anyone could be so fascinated with just a coin.

That reminded him that Lu Han still had the ring on his finger, which belonged to Shixun.

“Hey Shixun,” Lu Han said hesitantly, his hand slowly reaching over the kitchen table and into Shixun’s eye sight, “do you remember this ring?”

Shixun looked up from the coin, his fingers wrapped gently around the coin as if to protect it from ever getting lost, eyebrows slowly knitting together, “Should I?”

“It’s… It’s yours, I just played around with it and it got stuck, but maybe you would recognize it…” Lu Han said, knowing he must have sound stupid and dumb for trying on a ring that was not his, but he thought that maybe this ring would trigger something, anything, “Maybe for a special someone?”

Shixun simply shook his head, “I don’t remember.” He looked at the ring as if it was something he saw for the first time, “I really don’t.”

Thoughts popped up in Lu Han’s mind as he watched Shixun, whose attention as once again on the spinning coin, the ring completely ignored. Was Shixun supposed to be proposing to someone? What kind of person was Shixun, exactly? Did he have someone waiting for him at home? He kept wondering what kind of person mister filthy rich was before he turned into Shixun, Lu Han’s cousin that owns nothing but a coin and a ring and a dirty outfit.

But nothing seemed to give him any clues. 

  
»

Kyungsoo looked down at his cell phone with hopeless desperation, the uneasiness pounding in his mind like a hammer. He was scared, he was frightened, and he really just wanted to close his eyes just to open them and realize that this was all a dream. He could not afford to lose Sehun, could not afford to be left behind. However, Sehun was not the kind of person to never call back, to be so irresponsible, to leave him waiting for hours without coming back. Most importantly, Sehun was not the kind of person to make his beloved mother so insanely worried.

“Auntie, please don’t be so worried,” Kyungsoo heard Chanyeol comforting Sehun’s mother, “I’m sure Sehun’s phone just ran out of batteries. Maybe he had something urgent to do. He’ll be back before you know it.”

Auntie shook her head before burying her face in her tender hands, “Sehun would never be so irresponsible. S-Something must’ve happened. He would never do this to me...”

Kyungsoo bit his lip, letting those words sink in. He was frightened to death at the thought of something bad having happened to Sehun. He was right beside him just a day ago, had smiled at him so charmingly while telling him he had a surprise for him. He had sounded so well when Kyungsoo had called him, not even the slightest hint that would tell Kyungsoo Sehun would disappear all of sudden. If this was part of the surprise, Kyungsoo wished Sehun would just stop it because this was not funny. A tear threatened to fall as his fingers clenched around the cell phone. This really was not funny.

“Mother, let’s just wait a little bit longer,” Kyungsoo said as he slipped the phone back in his pocket, walking over to the worried mother before putting an arm around her shoulders, “he’ll be okay. It’s Sehun we’re talking about. He’ll definitely be okay.”

Sehun’s mother looked up to meet his eyes, the intense hope swimming in his eyes, “Let’s hope so, Kyungsoo,” She leaned her head against his shoulder, “let’s hope so.”

Kyungsoo could only meet Chanyeol’s eyes, who shared his desperation.

»

The drive to Zitao’s shop was deadly uncomfortable, the reason being the memories gnawing at Lu Han’s consciousness as he threw occasional glances at Shixun, who looked out of the window with mesmerized eyes. He looked innocent, and maybe that was what memory loss did to a person. It made one start afresh, as if seeing the world for the first time. It was a whole other story for Lu Han, though, who had to deal with the scenes of yesterday, an unconscious mister filthy rich lying on the ground. It was a horrible memory that probably would not leave him any time soon. He snapped his eyes shut for a brief second, wishing for the images to leave him alone, before he opened his eyes again to concentrate on the road.

“We’re here,” Lu Han said softly after the car came to a stop.

Shixun looked around, as if trying to memorize this place and the surrounding.

“Come on,” Lu Han said as he closed the door and locked the car, “let’s get inside.”

Zitao’s shop was a peculiar one. It was not really definable with one word. It sold too many different things to really categorize it in one word. It did not even have a shop name printed anywhere, just brightly colored walls and door that never seemed that inviting in Lu Han’s opinion. However, the products were cheap enough and that was what counted. He opened the door, an obnoxious high bell sound ringing through the shop and Lu Han could only wish for Zitao to one day get rid of it.

“Lu Han!” Zitao screamed in excitement, “You’re finally here!”

Lu Han smiled politely, “Hello, Zitao. I’m here for the curtains.”

“Ah, yes, yes, I already have them ready for you,” He said before going to the storage room in the back, popping out moments later with two large boxes, “Here you go. I’ve another box, let me get it,” Then his eyes finally landed on Shixun, who was looking around innocently, “Who’s he?”

“Ah,” Lu Han said as his eyes flickered to Shixun for a short moment, hands already reaching for one of the boxes, “just my cousin, Shixun.”

“Cousin?” Zitao said while blinking his eyes, “What’s he doing here with you? Did he come to visit you?”

“Yeah, h-he… He’s from Busan, never been here before, so I told him to come and spend some time here in Incheon.”

“I see! Well, hopefully he’ll enjoy it here! He should go visit Seoul, since it’s so much closer to go there from here!” Zitao suggested excitedly while getting the last box, “Seoul is a nice place to go play.”

Lu Han’s smile stiffened a little, “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll… I’ll bring him there if I get the chance.”

“Alright, here you go! I assume he’ll help you with bringing them to your car?” Zitao said with a pat on the boxes.

Lu Han nodded his head before calling Shixun, “Shixun, can you come here and help me?”

Shixun glanced at him before nodding his head and walking over, “Sure, what do I do?”

“Help me bring those to my car, will you?” He said before taking one himself, already moving to the door, “Zitao, could you help me open the door?”

“Sure thing, sure thing,” Zitao said before hastily making his way to the door, “Here you go.”

Lu Han gave him a thankful smile before walking off to his car, struggling with getting his car keys to unlock his car. His phone rang all of a sudden, causing him to quickly put down his box to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Lu Han? Are you in for some quick money earning?” His friend Jongdae asked through the phone, skipping all useless beginning sentences of a usual phone conversation.

Lu Han’s smile brightened at this, “Always! What did you find this time?”

“My friend just bought lots of Chanel and Louis Vuitton replica bags, and he’s in need of people to sell them. He just asks for 10% of the profit, the rest is ours to keep. I already promised him, you in?”

“I’m in!” Lu Han said immediately, “When does he want to sell them?”

“Great! As soon as possible! I’ll provide the necessary details later then,” Jongdae said before some noises filled the background, “Hey, I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Sure,” Lu Han said joyfully, “remember to call me when you know more!”

 “I will!” Jongdae yelled into the phone before hanging up.

“Lu Han,” Shixun’s voice reached his ears, bursting his happy bubble, “Where do I put the boxes?” He said while pointing to the boxes lying on the ground.

Lu Han, realizing that he had not unlocked the car yet, quickly made his way to the boxes, “Let me unlock the car and we can put the boxes behind.”

“Okay,” Shixun simply said.

“Hey, Shixun,” Lu Han said without looking at the other, still catching the other’s full attention, “do you know how to entertain difficult fair ladies who lack some serious love and attention of the opposite ?” The slightly smaller male asked while glancing down at his watch.

“Uh, why?” Shixun asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“It’s May 29^th, which means we’ll get a particularly picky visitor at the hostel,” Lu Han threw him an examining look, eyes slowly brightening, “and maybe you’re what she’s been waiting for all this time.”

»

“Are you really sure you can do this to your cousin?” Yixing asked as he stood behind the counter, eyes filled with concern while watching the scene in front of him.

Lu Han watched Shixun standing awkwardly in front of Jung Soojung, the cold city girl who never seems to be satisfied with their services. Not only that, but she also had a tongue of a poisonous snake. Lu Han had been scared of her since her first visit to the hostel, frightened to death that one day she will burst into flames and change into a dark creature that would swallow him up mercilessly. Maybe not that exaggerative, but Lu Han was indeed really anxious whenever the ice princess was around.

“Let’s give Shixun a try,” Lu Han said as he leaned comfortable against the counter, “I mean, I really think she lacks some affection of the opposite .”

“Which we can’t provide,” Yixing said with a stern expression.

Lu Han laughed at this, “Come on, Yixing, I didn’t mean it like that. She just needs a different kind of attention. Shixun has the looks to handle these kinds of visitors.”

“Are you sure you want to do this to your cousin? He’s family right? And Jung Soojung looks like she wants to kill people,” Yixing said, still concerned.

A loud crash caught both of their attention, all eyes directed to Jung Soojung, the beautiful princess who was so hard to entertain and satisfy, who had just thrown her cup of coffee on the hard ground, causing the white cup to break into pieces and dark liquid to splatter all over the ground. The pain of the cup went right through Lu Han’s heart, because a broken cup meant a new cup, which he indirectly had to pay for since Minseok would cut it from their salaries.

“I told you, I don’t want any coffee,” Soojung said coldly.

Shixun smiled politely, seemingly not affected by the situation, “I’m sorry to have bothered you. I just thought that you would’ve appreciated a cup of coffee on such a wonderful day.”

“Don’t act as if you know what’s good for me,” She replied harshly.

“Of course not, but the most beautiful stories start with a cup of coffee, am I not right?” Shixun said smoothly, the words coming out of his mouth so easily and effortlessly, “Nothing can compare to the smile of the first meeting accompanied with the smell of a freshly made cup of coffee.”

Soojung’s eyes flickered in surprise, “H-How…” She forcefully closed her book, voice surprisingly lacking its usual cold tone, “How did you…”

“The book you’re holding, it’s from Kaito Akira, who wrote about the passionate love created by a cup of coffee,” Shixun crouched down so he was closer to the broken pieces lying on the ground, “the kind of love that would be so beautiful to have but so difficult to obtain.”

“You…” Her eyes fluttered a few times before something akin to a soft smile slowly made its way on her face, “You’re quite the intelligent one to know of his books.”

“Oh, that…” Shixun scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment, “You’re flattering me. But I’m sorry to have disturbed you when you were waiting for someone else.”

“Finally I found someone who understands,” Soojung said before looking outside the window, an expression of pure longing gracing her features, “finally someone who understands my feelings.”

“Then, would there be anything else you need?” Shixun asked politely, already busy with picking up the larger pieces that were lying on the ground.

Soojung glanced at him, and then to the ground, before a small smile appeared, “No, thank you, but I apologize for the broken cup. I’ll pay for it.”

“Lu Han,” Yixing said as he nudged the other, “your cousin… Your cousin is a real genius. When I went up to her one time, asking her whether she needed anything, she threw me countless comments on what kind of bad service I was providing, disturbing her on the worst moments. However, your cousin has her under control in less than ten sentences.” Yixing nodded his head in admiration, “So that’s what a handsome face is good for, huh?”

Lu Han was genuinely surprised at how good Shixun had this under control, so easily and effortlessly as if he was raised speaking in such a charismatic and charming manner. But then he remembered the expensive watch once wrapped around his wrist and the brand clothes and all of a sudden he was not so surprised any more. Those who had some money would certainly know how to carry themselves with class.

“Yeah,” Lu Han simply replied, just happy that he did not have to pay for the broken cup.

“We should ask him to help us out here,” Yixing said before his face fell, “Minseok says business isn’t going well these days.”

This caught Lu Han’s attention, “Why, I thought Minseok had the finances under control. Did something happen again?”

Yixing sighed, “We’re getting less and less visitors. Minseok fears the worst, especially since we still have some debts. The cook has been complaining about the low payment and we must admit, most of the rooms are empty most of the time.”

“I… I see…”

Lu Han said, the uneasiness growing again. He wished he had known about the bad looking situation earlier, because maybe he could have helped more then. Maybe not in terms of money, but in some other way that could help them overcome this obstacle. Minseok and Yixing were important people in his life, and he did not want their passion to fall apart and slip out of their fingers.

“It’s okay,” Yixing said while wearing a tired smile, “we’ll face this head on and get out of it as winners. Minseok and I won’t give up.” He patted Lu Han’s shoulder, “And since you’re here, I’m sure we can only win.”

Lu Han’s hands turned into fists, gaze turned downwards, “Good days will come.”