A few days later, Luhan found himself stepping back into 'Extracts.' By that time it had become just another part of Luhan's daily routine. He brought his friend Xiumin along too. The shop was unusually busy that day, so Kyungsoo had his hands full with the other clientele. Since Kyungsoo was busy serving other customers, Luhan asked Xiumin to go find them a table as he ordered their coffee before joining him shortly afterwards.

Xiumin grinned at him suddenly, and Luhan raised his eyebrow in question as he drank his coffee. "Xiumin?"

"I want to be a barista someday." Xiumin blurted out, taking Luhan by surprise.

"Really?" Luhan cocked his head to the side as he examined his best friend's features. "Well, you actually kinda look one."

"I do?" Xiumin's face lit up like a lightbulb.

"Yeah, sure." Luhan shrugged. "I think you'd be perfect for a job here, then." Luhan pressed.

Xiumin sighed a little. "Maybe. I'll have to think on it. Besides, this shop is way better than the other one down the street. I don't even know why everyone goes there."

Just as Luhan was about to reply, his phone went off. In return, he answered it without hesitation, seeing it was Kai. "Hello?"

"Hey babe! You're coming to my basketball game tonight, right?" Kai's voice was laced with hope.

Immediately Luhan straightened, the biggest smile coming onto his face -- which made Xiumin do the same. He wanted to say yes desperately, but instead excused himself. "I can't. I have to study for a big exam tomorrow... I'm sorry." He pouted.

There was a long pause before Kai sighed into the phone. "Oh... okay... I'll text you later, then?"

It broke his heart to hear Kai sound so disappointed, but Luhan tried his best to stay serious.

"Okay... I'm sorry."

"No, don't be... I understand. You need to do good on the test, so... Good luck and study hard, okay?"

The other line went dead. Luhan's heart twitched. He really didn't like hearing Kai sound like that. But after a moment of thought, Luhan smiled when he imagined the cute little shocked look that would be on his boyfriend's face after the game that night.

When Luhan lifted his gaze to meet Xiumin's, his friend's expression was molded between confusion and surprise.

"We have an exam tomorrow?!"

"No." Luhan giggled before leaning in closer over the table toward his friend to tell him the truth. "Today is our four month anniversary, and I wanna surprise him."

Xiumin brightened, sipping at his coffee. "Oh, Luhan! That's so sweet. You have to promise to tell me later how he reacts, okay?"

"Hm, alright. But only because we're so close." Luhan snickered at his friend.

--

Later that following afternoon when Luhan is home alone, he recieved another call from Sehun. "Sehun?"

"Are you going to Kai's game tonight?"

This made Luhan chew at his lower lip for a few moments before replying with a cautious, "Yeah..."

"Do you want to come with me?"

Luhan stopped mid-step in his living room, a tiny grin forming on his lips. "Sure." Then he bursted out, "I actually plan on going out to get him something."

"Oh, what for?" Sehun seemed curious, and Luhan gave the answer to him.

"Today's our four month anniversary, so I wanna surprise him with something."

Luhan bit his lip before asking, "Um... do you want to join me? You can help me pick something out since you probably know Kai better than I do."

"Uh, yeah sure. I'll tag along."

Luhan nodded slowly before hanging up on Sehun with a short, "See you then."

--

"Do you think this one looks okay?"

"I guess."

"No, be honest with me. Would it look good on him?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You said that about the last 20 I picked out!"

"That's because I think they're all fine."

"Just fine? As in not good enough?"

"Um, no..."

"The only reason I dragged you along was because I thought you could help me pick something nice out for Kai, and you haven't helped at all!"

"Well sorry. It's just that all these look the same."

"They do not!! God, you don't know anything."

Luhan frustratedly threw the necklace back into the glass case, and Sehun rolled his eyes in annoyance. Sehun wasn't expecting that shopping with Luhan would be so complicated. Sehun rubbed at his temples as Luhan moved on to another corner of the store to look at rings. 

Why is he freaking out over their, what, four month anniversary? Sehun thought to himself, shaking his head. It's not like it means anything...

Sehun wandered over to the different necklace styles hanging from the wall. He had never been much of a big shopper when it came to buying things for other people, and he especially wasn't a big fan of staying in one single store for hours. He had told Luhan before that Kai liked silver jewelry so Luhan was now trying to find anything silver. Which only narrowed his choices down to about 90% of the store.

Sehun sighed in boredom as he stared blankly at the necklace racks. He almost regretted agreeing to tag along with Luhan. If he had known it would take this long then maybe he would have reconsidered...

Why did he even say yes in the first place? It's not like Luhan and him were friends now. So what if they spent an hour or so singing karaoke together? So what if Sehun had to give the guy a ride home from a club where said man had gotten wasted at? That all meant nothing. So then why had Sehun felt the need to say yes?

I'm just here for Kai... Sehun told himself. That's the only reason.

Just then, Luhan ran over to Sehun practically jumping for joy.

"Sehun!" Luhan smiled a wide, ecstatic smile and placed a warm hand on Sehun's shoulder. "I found the perfect gift."

Sehun's face reddened a bit as he felt the warmth of Luhan's gentle touch, but his sight was soon focused on the two silver couple rings that Luhan was holding between his fingers. The design was simple yet fitting for Kai in Sehun's opinion.

Sehun nodded curtly. "I guess those are fine. They're kind of plain though compared to the other ones you picked out before."

"Yeah, I know." Luhan smiled. "That's why I'm getting them engraved."

Sehun's eyes widened. "Engraved?"

"Yep!" Luhan beamed.

Wow that's serious, Sehun thought.

"What's the engraving gonna be?"

"I don't know yet. I'm still thinking about it." Luhan tapped his chin in deep thought. "I was thinking 'I Promise'."

"Promise what?" Sehun asked, confused.

Luhan shrugged. "Promise everything of course. That we'll always be there for each other, that we'll always be together, that we'll always love each other, and stuff like that. What else?"

Sehun's eyes widened as big as saucers. "I don't think that's a good idea..."

"...W-What?" Luhan looked at Sehun with a sudden look of sadness in his eyes. His big, brown puppy eyes melted Sehun's heart. Sehun gulped. He really didn't want to tell Luhan anything that would make him feel even more dejected than he already was.

"I-I mean... It's just... Don't you feel like that's a little too soon? After all, it's only your fourth month dating. That's a little too serious if you ask me."

Luhan's eyes narrowed. "Who said I was asking you?"

"I didn't mean-"

"Look, you don't know anything about me and Kai's relationship. We really really like each other. In fact, we're in love. But that's not something you would know so don't act like you know our relationship more than we do. Got it, Sehun?"

Luhan pivoted on his heel and stomped away towards the store clerk to get the couple rings engraved.

Sehun groaned in frustration, shaking his head at Luhan's defensive, useless reaction.

Luhan must really like Kai.

A stunning love bracelet with a necklace key suddenly caught Sehun's eye. Eyeing the amusing trinket, he read the description written below the display:

"Love Bracelet: Unlike traditional bracelets, which are either wide enough to slip them over the hand onto the wrist or can readily be opened in order to put them on, the 'love bracelet' is designed to be opened only using a special key that is supplied with every bracelet. The key is also available in the form of a necklace, allowing the bracelet to be 'locked' onto one person while the 'key' is kept around the neck as a symbol for their commitment to their relationship."

Why hadn't Sehun seen this before? This seemed like the perfect gift for a lover. And all of sudden, Sehun wanted it. He wanted it for himself and his own lover. Sighing, Sehun stuck his hands in his pockets and made his way over to the counter since he remembered that he had nobody.

-

-

The two men walked out of the mall in awkward silence, both slightly uncomfortable from Luhan's own defensive outburst. Sehun felt kind of bad for being the one who had triggered the normally calm Luhan into a pissed off mess. It seemed like Luhan had now calmed back down to his usual self, but the both of them were still a bit tense.

On the way back to the car, Sehun stopped in his tracks and looked up at a bubble tea shop. Luhan stopped walking too once he noticed Sehun wasn't following. Following his gaze, Luhan looked up at the bubble tea shop sign: 'Boba Express'. Luhan inwardly laughed at Sehun's childish behavior; he was like a kid standing in front of a candy store just staring in at all the goodies the shop beheld.

"Do you want some?" Luhan asked with a chuckle.

Sehun snapped out of his daze and nodded towards Luhan with a straight face. Luhan smiled and took Sehun's hand before stepping into the shop.

"What kind do you want?" Luhan asked.

"Chocolate." Sehun responded quickly.

"Gotcha."

After ordering and paying for their tea, the two took a seat at a table by the window. They sipped their bubble tea for the first few minutes in silence. Luhan was the first to break it.

"I'm sorry." Luhan said softly.

Sehun raised his head. "For what?"

"You know... For yelling at you before." Luhan lowered his head. "I shouldn't have done that. I know you were just trying to help."

Sehun sipped his tea for a while longer before answering.

"Don't sweat it. It wasn't a big deal anyway." His answer was terse and blunt, so Luhan took this as a drop it and drank his tea in silence once again. 

In an attempt to break the awkwardness, Luhan tried to make conversation.

"So you must really like bubble tea, huh?"

Sehun blushed a little but ensured to keep it hidden to hold his pride.

"Um... Yeah."

"I can tell." Luhan laughed lightly. "You were staring at this place like you just found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow."

Sehun blushed even more in embarrassment.

Luhan chuckled when he saw Sehun blushing and trying to hide it. It was quite a cute sight to see, Luhan had to admit. But Luhan pretended not to notice. For Sehun's sake.

"You didn't tell Kai, right?" Luhan asked, suddenly remembering that all this was a surprise.

"Tell him about your gift?" Sehun asked.

"That and me not coming to his game."

"Wait, you're not going?"

"Of course I am. But Kai doesn't know that. Unless you told him."

Sehun shook his head. "I didn't."

"Okay good." Luhan smiled at Sehun.

They drank their tea in a more comfortable silence.

"Sehun," Luhan began, making Sehun look up at Luhan with sudden curiosity. "I think we got off on the wrong foot..."

Sehun listened.

"I know you're Kai's best friend and you can be pretty protective over him sometimes, and I understand that, but-"

"I'm not protective over Kai." Sehun blurted out.

Luhan blinked. "You sure act like it though."

"Well, I'm not." Sehun said. "I just want to make sure he makes the right decisions. And that he knows what he's doing."

Luhan nodded. "I completely understand."

Sehun snickered before mumbling, "You really don't..."

"Anyways," Luhan started again. "I just want to know if there's any possible chance of us being friends."

There was a long pause. Luhan suddenly felt anxious for Sehun's answer. Why did he feel so eager for a yes?

Finally, Sehun sighed a long sigh and said, "I guess we could try."

-

-

A/N: ;_; all luhan wanted was to make kai happy with his gift yo.. ...yo....

(co-A/N): Hope you all liked this chapter!! ^-^ I know it's a bit longer than usual, but you guys didn't mind, right? :) Are you guys starting to tell our writing styles? 2nd half was written by me for a change~