Luhan stood perfectly still by the edging of his rooftop, shielded by the darkness of the night as he watched Sehun walk away.  He strategically buried any hint of suspicion he felt inching its way up and kept himself calm and cool-minded.  Being suspicious of people was a habit Luhan badly needed to break, it was bad enough earlier when he refused to let Sehun see his phone.  Innocent until proven guilty, that was how the phrase went.  Sure, Sehun’s behavior seemed a little shady, but Luhan was determined to investigate a bit before making assumptions.

                Honestly, he hadn’t purposefully followed the guy.  It just so happened that when Luhan had turned to walk home, Sehun was going the same way.  The sight of the blond man walking towards Luhan’s part of the neighborhood had immediately rung alarm bells in Luhan’s brain, since Luhan had assumed that Sehun drove from the city and the parking area was the opposite direction. 

                So, he had done what anyone would have done in that situation, he secretly trailed Sehun the whole way.  Sticking close to the buildings and staying in the shadows.  There weren’t many streetlights on the road, and some of the ones they did have were broken, so it was ridiculously easy.  I should get someone to fix those, Luhan thought to himself, that way he’d at least have somewhat of a challenge.  When he saw Sehun go up the stairs of the building next to his, he ran to his building and ignored the stairs for fear of getting caught.  He opted to go to the back of the building and use his strength to scale the wall, landing with barely a sound and staying low as he inched toward the side facing the building that Sehun had gone to.  He crouched near the knee height wall surrounding the rooftop, his eyes peeking over to watch Sehun. 

The said male was currently unlocking his door and sporting a ridiculous smile.  Luhan watched as he disappeared into the rooftop room, and the window lit up.  Luhan could see a part of Sehun’s silhouette through the small window, but not enough to know what he was doing.  However, Luhan had a feeling there was more to see, so he stayed put.  A few moments later the light turned off and Sehun came out, locked the door and jumped down the stairs.  Luhan stood up slowly with a determination to figure out what the hell just happened.

He pulled a small key from his pocket and went into his kitchen where there was a drawer that he had installed a lock on.  Unlike his knives that he cherished, this drawer was full of supplies he was ashamed of, things he should’ve gotten rid of but for some reason didn’t.  He opened it and grabbed the ring of lock picking tools before slamming it shut again.  Luhan felt a bit guilty at the thought of invading Sehun’s privacy, but he knew that he couldn’t be around Sehun comfortably until he figured out the truth.  And Sehun was the one that wanted to be friends, so really this was for his benefit.  Luhan nodded, pleased with his justification. 

Picking the lock was simple, his skilled hands moving quickly and performing techniques they had studied and practiced countless times.  Luhan pushed the door slightly and entered the dark room, he flipped the light switch that was located in the place as his own and watched the room illuminate instantly.  His mouth dropped open, he definitely had not been expecting the sight that welcomed him.  The small apartment room that was supposed to be for living had been completely transformed into a small art studio.  Sehun must be an artist.  Luhan noted, slightly awestruck at the beautiful art pinned on the wall and stacked nearly everywhere.  Luhan knew how to appreciate artistic talent, he used to be creative himself, just in a different and more morbid way. 

He let his hands wander over the drawings, tracing the intricate lines.  In the corner there was a stack of what looked to be completed paintings leaning on the wall.  Luhan knelt down and flipped through the canvases, noticing that several of them were paintings of the same people.  One was a cute guy, with dimples and a friendly smile, and the other was a woman.  She was beautiful and Luhan studied her face carefully, noticing how the thin shape and delicate bone structure practically mirrored Sehun’s, maybe his older sister? 

Luhan placed the canvases back and stood up, shocked to see a face that was very familiar to him.  It was his own.  Pinned to the wall was a pencil sketch of him, obviously drawn earlier when he was sitting in the festival.  Luhan should’ve been angry that Sehun had secretly drawn him, but he wasn’t.  He was actually kind of flattered that the younger man found him a good subject to draw.  He was, however, angry at how he looked in the drawing.  He clenched his fists and scowled at the face in the picture, the eyes that revealed too much.  Pathetic, lonely, weak, that’s how he looked and he was furious at himself for letting those emotions that he always tried so hard to hide show enough for Sehun to draw them.  He wanted to destroy it, to tear it off the wall, stab it with his knife, put it in a fire and watch all of the feelings burn away.  Unfortunately, he couldn’t.  That would make Sehun suspicious, and for some reason that Luhan couldn’t describe, he didn’t want Sehun to be suspicious and leave him alone.  So, he willed himself to turn away from the drawing and leave the place. 

As he sat in bed that night, running his fingertips soothingly over his cool blade, his mind was full of questions.  Why did Sehun have his studio here instead of in the city?  Does Sehun think he’s weird after seeing him look like that?  Should he feel guilty for snooping?  But mostly, when will he get to see Sehun again?

~

“Surprise!”  Sehun shouted, jumping in front of his mom and holding out the chocolates.  She accepted the box warily and looked at him with suspicion.

“Who are you and what have you done with my son?” 

“Umma!”  Sehun whined, and his mom rolled her eyes at the sight of her 20 year old son whining.  “Is it so weird for me to get you a present?”

“Yes.  I know you love me, darling, but you never get me anything.”  She smiled warmly and walked into the kitchen with Sehun trailing after her. 

“Fine, you’re right.”  Sehun sighed.  “A friend of mine bought them and told me to give them to you.” 

“Really?”  She looked up from the bags that Sehun had left on the counter for her last night.  “Did he buy any for his own mother?”  She asked casually as she took the food out of the bags.

“Um, no.”  Sehun replied.

“Do you know why?” 

“No, I don’t know much about him yet.”  Sehun admitted with a hint of sadness, he wanted to know more about Luhan.  Unfortunately, he doubted he ever would with how guarded and hostile the older guy was.  “Maybe she doesn’t live here, he is Chinese.”

“Another Chinese friend?”  His mom laughed.  “Are you sure you don’t want me to buy you some Mandarin study books?”  Sehun just shrugged.  “Well, tell your friend that I said thank you, and he’s welcome to visit anytime.” 

“Of course.”  Sehun grinned. 

“Ya!  Oh Sehun, you’re noona wants to talk to you.”  Sehun turned to the sound of his dad’s voice and saw him holding the phone out to him.  He ran to grab it and his dad just laughed at him, ruffling his hair as he left the room with the phone clutched tightly in his hand. 

“Hi, noona!”  Sehun called into the speaker, closing his bedroom door and leaning against it. 

“Sehun!  How are you?”  His sister’s voice rung out, slightly muffled by the sounds of voices speaking loudly in Japanese. 

                Sehun smiled at the familiar voice that filled his ear.  His sister was, to put it into simple words, his best friend.  Although he still liked Lay, his actual best friend, a bit more.  Sehun knew it’s not common for brothers and sisters to get along so well.  However, after a traumatizing incident when they were young, Sehun had learned that he needed to protect her and be kind instead having stupid fights like normal siblings. 

                Therefore, when she had made the decision to study abroad in Japan, he had been disappointed.  As much as he wanted to watch over her, he also relied on her more than he would like to admit.  She was a huge support beam for his dreams regarding art.  Every time she called home Sehun would talk to her for hours, telling her everything that happened in his life and hearing her stories, as well as racking up the phone bills with the long international call.  She would question him about his art and his plans for the future, and although it made him nervous he was glad his sister would pester him to think about it. 

                That’s what they talked about today too, he told her all about Luhan, the strange man he was becoming friends with.  Sehun wasn’t particularly a secretive person, he had told Lay about Luhan as well.  The only parts he left out was the knife incident and the strange vibes he got from the guy sometimes.  He didn’t want them to think Luhan was weird, or tell Sehun to stay away from him.  After he had finished and exchanged farewells with his sister, Sehun hung up regretfully. 

                As he was putting the phone back in its place on the wall, he saw his mom and dad eating the chocolates and laughing in the kitchen.  As he watched them he immediately thought about Luhan, even though he had seen the older male just yesterday, he already found himself missing him.  There was something undeniably alluring about the strange man and Sehun couldn’t help but want to see him, watch him, talk to him, and even draw him again.  He pulled out his phone and found the number saved as Luhan Hyung.

To: Luhan Hyung

From: Sehun

What’s up, hyung? ^^

                Sehun waited impatiently for an answer.  Pacing around his house and clutching his phone in his hand.  He panicked, questioning every aspect of the text.  Would Luhan think it was weird?  Was the message too random?  Should he have just said hi?  Would Luhan even want to talk to him? 

                Finally, the phone vibrated and the questions and pacing ceased.  Sehun stared down at his phone in wonder.  Luhan really answered.  He quickly swiped the screen and clicked the message open in anticipation. 

To: Sehun

From: Luhan Hyung

Nothing.

                Well…that wasn’t quite what Sehun expected.  He tried to decipher it, thinking about all the possible meanings behind that word.  Was it Luhan’s way of telling him to off, or was it that Luhan was literally doing nothing?  Sehun sighed dramatically and dragged his hand down his face.  He decided to give up on making conversation and instead just ask what he wanted.  If Luhan was going to be blunt, so could he.

To: Luhan Hyung

From: Sehun

Are you busy next Friday? 

                After a few texts back and forth of Luhan being suspicious and saying things like “Why do you want to hang out with me?”  “Why did you ask me what’s up?”  “Why Friday?” Sehun finally managed to get the older guy to agree to hang out with him on Friday.  Of course there were a few conditions, Sehun apparently couldn’t pick Luhan up from wherever he lived, Luhan insisted on meeting at the library and Sehun just agreed without giving it much thought.

                He had no plans or ideas as to what they would do on Friday, but he was excited nonetheless.  Each interaction with Luhan was more entertaining the last, and he couldn’t wait to see what this one had in store for him.  

a/n: As always I'm sorry it's late, I was busy with getting ready for Christmas and finishing my college term, but it's here now and I'm free from school so I'll update faster!^.^ Thank you to all the new subscribers it really means a lot to me<3