The rest of the week went by without much trouble. Hyoseong came by Saturday to check up on Hongbin. She even treated him to lunch, but had to leave half-way through because she got called to the hospital. He feels odd not being able to tag along with her, so that’s how he finds himself skipping rocks at the park. The crisp fall air was settling and giving way to the winter chill that was soon to approach. Everything in the college town became quiet and peaceful, at least for the moment.

    Hongbin grabbed another smooth stone and flicked across the pond. Three skips and it sunk with a loud plunk. Another rock followed his, with four skips, before sinking as well. Hongbin raises a brow and turns to the owner of the second rock. 

    “Luhan.”

    “Hongbin.”

    They stare at each other for a moment, before Hongbin turns away with a cough. “What are you doing here?”

    “It’s a public park, Hongbin.” Luhan chuckles and tosses another rock, four more skips. Hongbin was never able to get four, only three.

    “Yeah, but there’s plenty of other areas to skip rocks. Why here?”

    “I’m hurt. I want to skip them here, with you. I thought we could be friends.” The older boy fakes a pout and Hongbin has to look away because it’s so cute and convincing that he almost feels guilty.

    “Whatever.” Hongbin skips another rock. One, two, three—kerplunk! He huffs and tosses another one only to get the same results. Luhan notices his frustration and tosses another rock, getting five this time. He laughs as Hongbin gets three again.

    “Having trouble there?”

    Hongbin only huffs and shoves his hands in his pocket. Luhan grabs his hand and puts a smooth stone into his. “Want some help?” Hongbin doesn’t respond, but allows the older boy to maneuver his hand to flick the stone. This time the rock sails and jumps across the water four times.

    “See, you can get it. Just flick your hand like this.” Luhan demonstrates again and Hongbin takes up another smooth rock, flicking it just as Luhan did. One, two, three, four—kerplunk! A small smile is made visible on the handsome boys face, just barely revealing two perfect dimples.

    “Great!” Luhan smiles and pats the boy on the back. Hongbin lets him, but shies away after and the pretty boy takes note of that. “Do you want to go get some coffee? It’s gotten kind of cool out here.”

    Hongbin nods.

~

    As they sip on their coffee, Luhan tells him about his major and some interesting facts about psychology. Like how animals can be trained to do certain things based on how they’re rewarded and the action can change based on how often they’re rewarded—or something like that anyways. Hongbin finds it kind of easy to zone out while the older boy is talking, not that psychology is boring. The older boy is just so…cute? Pretty? He’s just so unconsciously adorable—at least it appears to be unconscious. The boy will crinkle his nose when he talks about something he dislikes or get really excited and talk so fast that he trips up on his words. Hongbin can’t really focus on the theories of psychology that the boy spouts off, because he’s simply too interested in Luhan himself. He sees the boy has stopped talking and is looking at him, probably for a response. 

    “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

    “Geez, if I was that boring just say so.” He pouts again and Hongbin thinks it’s unfair for someone to be that cute.

    “It’s not like that. I just kind of spaced out. This week’s been crazy.” Luhan just laughs. 

    “I’m just picking on you. You’re so easy to tease.” Hongbin sips his coffee. “So what are you majoring in?”

    “Ah, I’m studying biology and engineering to get in to medical school.” 

    “So you’re going to be a doctor, huh? How neat, we’re almost in the same career field.” Luhan laughs. “Did you know that doctors have the highest suicide rate out of all professions? It’s easier for them to go through with it too, because they can get access to the right drugs.”

    Hongbin sputters, coughing up the coffee he was drinking. “Why would you tell somebody that? That’s very reassuring.” The older boy hands him a napkin which he uses to wipe his mouth. 

    “Just stating facts. It’s a dangerous job, you never know who you’ll have to treat.” Hongbin only rolls his eyes. 

    “I’ve already interned at a hospital, the only dangerous thing I encountered was cranky old man who only walked about as fast as a snail. He sure could throw though…” Hongbin mumbles the last part and unconsciously rubs the spot on his head where Mr. Han had thrown a glass at him. He’d gone in to check up on him as usual, but Mr. Han didn’t like anybody. Everyone always gets warned to duck before they enter his room, because he throws anything he can find nearby: coffee cups, TV remotes, food trays. Hongbin had the pleasure of being hit in the head with the cane he used to get around with. He’d needed stitches that time.

    He begins to wander what the old man had done that made him switch. He’d been hit with everything, but he could usually control himself because Mr. Han couldn’t help it. He’s an old, old man who’d seen to many wars. He wasn’t all there and it wasn’t his fault that he acts the way he does.

    Snap. Snap. Snap.

    “Hm?” Hongbin focuses back to the pretty boy who was now snapping in his face. He pushes the hand away. “Cut it out.”

    “Sorry, but I had to make sure you were still here. That old man you talked about must have hit you pretty hard. You space out too easily.” Luhan laughs and Hongbin joins, although half-heartedly. I wonder how long he’ll stay once he finds out I’m crazy. He’s bound to find out, being a psych student and all. I guess I’ll just enjoy it while it lasts.

    The two part ways for the evening, agreeing to meet up on Tuesday before they have class. Luhan waves cheerfully as Hongbin heads back to his apartment for the night, intending on sleeping in all day tomorrow.

~

    So a nice coffee date-ish thing with Luhan and Hongbin. Kind of boring, but it gives some background on his time in the hospital and you get more interaction between the two. More people will make an appearance, because Hongbin is not a loner and does in fact have friends. They’ll probably show up in the next chapter or so.