Luhan resisted the urge to glance at her. Again.

The way his head kept turning in her direction, he'd have a sprain soon. It wasn't his fault though – she had a really nice profile. He was wondering what he should say next when suddenly, out of nowhere, it started to rain.

And by rain he meant get-out-of-it-or-get-soaked-in-seconds shower. Beside him, Mei yelped at the sudden torrent; he grabbed her hand and made a run for it, looking for someplace suitable to wait it out.

There had been clouds, yes, but not enough to generate this deluge. Suho? But why?

She tugged on his hand and he turned. She pointed at the greenhouse they were passing – well covered, warm and dry, it was the perfect shelter. They ran inside, soaked despite their short run.

He let go of her hand reluctantly when they got inside and took off his jacket, wondering what to do with it.

'Hang it here.' He turned at Mei's voice and stopped.

Her damp top was hugging her curves in all the right places and her long hair stuck to her neck, the dewy wetness on her body making her look extremely y. Suddenly a breath short, Luhan walked beside her to hang his jacket on the numerous pots that hung there.

'See, it works perfectly.' She beamed, looking up at him with her big, beautiful eyes.

'Yes,' he smiled unconsciously, 'it does.'

'Man, was that rain sudden or what?' She headed to the door to look out at the steady torrent. 'It came out of nowhere.'

'There were clouds…' Luhan stood beside her. 'But you're right, it was sudden.'

'Guess we're stuck here, huh?'

'Guess we are.' He tried to gather his wayward thoughts. 'What to do?'

She plopped on the floor, leaning back. 'We'll wait, of course. See, I told you, you didn't have to walk with me. Now you're stuck here.'

'I don’t mind.' He replied, sitting down beside her.

She gave him a sly glance. 'Careful – I might take it the wrong way.'

Is she flirting with me? He raised a brow at her implication. 'What makes you think it's wrong?'

'So it's right to think that you want me to read your lines?

He blinked. Okay, that's not what I expected. 'Lines?'

'Yes, palm lines.' She raised her small hand, tapping the palm. 'I'm quite the accomplished palmist. People are always cornering me to read theirs.'

Luhan found himself curious. He hadn’t known that. 'Palmist? So you can tell…'

'The past, future, who's your soul mate and stuff…' she looked serious but Luhan felt like he was being conned.

'Can you read mine?' He asked skeptically, offering his hand.

She smiled confidently. 'Is it raining?'

………………………..

Fifteen minutes later, they were both collapsed on the floor, laughing.

She'd looked so serious as she bent over his hand and started tracing the lines on his palm; he let her because he liked the contact.

Then, she started spouting nonsense – like how his soul mate had a crooked nose. He disagreed, of course, because Mei's nose was perfectly straight. Then she went on to tell him about the number of marriages he'd have – three – which caused another disruption; the number of children exceeding two dozen – things finally escalated to utter nonsense.

'I don't believe that crap.' Luhan gasped, trying to control his laughter.

'Wait, there's more.' Laughing right along, Mei continued poring over his hand. 'Your future career is a zookeeper who keeps animals in the house and his children in the cage so they can learn cultural differences.'

'Where do you even come up with that stuff?' He asked again, doubling over.

'It's written in the lines.' She tapped his palm sagely.

'Where?' He asked, suppressing another laugh.

'See this…' she traced a line on his index finger, 'It's a Z – meaning zookeeper.'

They were so busy having fun, neither of them noticed it had stopped raining. She traced the line that curved on the upper part of his palm, starting from the pinkie and curving into the middle finger. 'Look at that – you have the perfect soul mate curve.'

'Soul mate curve?' He grinned, ready for another round of randomness.

'Yup,' she nodded. 'According to the Hand Theory of Mei the Wise, the people whose soul mate curves match are meant to be.'

'Oh really?' He leaned a little closer. 'What does this hand-theory say about you and me?' He wiggled his eyebrows.

'Let's see.' She shifted so that she was beside him, shoulders touching. She placed her dainty right hand next to his left, palms up.

He was too busy appreciating her profile and proximity to pay much attention to their hands. But her soft 'Oh' made him look down.

Their lines aligned perfectly.

.......................

Bonus Story: EXO Journal: A Voyage through the Galaxy

Scene 8: In which Tao is there only for the cake

Dear diary

This is so boring. I can't wait for class to be over already - I don't get it, if the professor isn't going to lecture and there is no classroom activity, why do we have to stay in here until the bell rings? Why...

The bell rings, signalling the end of class and nearly everyone rushes towards the door, eager to get away. Tao leans back, putting his pen down and watches the crowd and there is no need of words to convey what he's feeling towards this display of impatience. He packs his stuff, taking his time.Getting up with casual grace, he hefts his own bag over his shoulder and is about to march out of the class like its his personal ramp when someone grabs his arm, halting him.

His initial intention is to whirl around and just heave the person away - his fear of ghosts sneaking up on him has made him particularly sensitive but as his eyes fail to catch the person immediately, he glances lower and spots the culprit.

Luna: Hey!

Tao (annoyed she's stopped him just to say hi): Hey.

Luna: So... um, me and my friends are having a sort of party in a couple of minutes. Wanna come along?

Tao (perks up at the mention of party): What sort of party? 

Luna: Just a small birthday bash thingie... we wanted to surprise her!

Tao (excited): I love parties! 

Luna takes in this rather unusual display of interest - unusual because in class, Tao is very serious and sort of aloof with his class mates. The only time anyone has seen him laugh is when he's with his friends, Sehun and Kai. She rather likes this. 

Luna; That's great! We'll...

Tao (interrupts her): There's food, right?

Luna (a bit peeved): Duh.

Tao (not the least bit caring about her tone): And cake?

Luna (frowning a little): It wouldn't be a bash without it!

Tao (punches her shoulder in excitement): You're the best!

Luna (rubbing her shoulder): OW!

Tao skips away excitedly, then rushes back at her and asks if he can make a trip to the restrooms and gives her a thumbs up before rushing off again. Shaking her head, Luna goes back inside the class and picks up her stuff, party things she's brought and the gift for her friend.

Meanwhile, Tao is in the restrooms making sure his hair looks perfect and that he looks good enough for pictures. Testing it, he takes out his cellphone and takes a couple of selfies, posing properly. The pictures turn out great so he decides he'll upload them later and heads back towards the class, in time to see Luna coming out, loaded with various things. 

At first, he simply walks beside her, feeling really excited especially since he's seen the balloons but then, she asks him to help her carry things and he complies. When they reach the designated spot, all the girls spot working to stare at them. Luna smiles and grabs Tao's free hand.

Luna (introducing him): This is Tao... the guy I told you about.

Friends whistle and giggle a little, then slide beside her, unabashedly ogling at him as he puts the stuff down, bending over rather spectacularly. A few girls pretend to swoon behind his back but he straightens and they busy in arranging everything. Luna tells Tao to help her blow up the balloons, so he gets busy with that and is so dedicated to the work that even the subtle - and no so subtle - questions about his and Luna's relationship don't register. After a while, everything is set up and everyone just gives up any pretense of working simply to ogle at him. 

Just when he's getting tired of working on the balloons alone - even Luna is just staring at him - the birthday girl arrives and everyone gets up to greet her and give her birthday bumps and throw up party poppers, blast a few balloons and then, start giving her gifts. The girl exclaims over everything she gets and is very very long winded, even breaking down and crying. 

Meanwhile, Tao is fidgeting impatiently in his seat, eager to get the party started. Which, in his book, only happens when you cut the cake and attack the food. Sadly, the girls still look like they'll be talking, so he nudges Luna's hand. Luna, who's been engaged with her friend all this time, glances over her shoulder and exclaims. Dragging the birthday girl by her hand, she brings her in front of Tao and smiles proudly. 

Luna: Victoria, meet Tao. Tao, Victoria!

Victoria (smiles graciously): Thank you for everything you've done! This party means so much to me...

Tao looks at the girl, wondering why she's still blabbing about the party and thanking everyone. All he did was blow up balloons and tells her as much. 

Victoria: You didn't have to and yet, you did. Luna is so lucky to have you...

Tao (unable to take it any longer): Look that's all very nice and everything and I'm sure this means a lot to you but seriously, I'm only here for the cake!

There is a shocked silence at his announcement as Luna's mouth gapes open and Victoria casts her a rather meaningful look. Nodding, she smiles graciously again. 

Victoria: But of course! We shouldn't keep anyone waiting - to the cake!

Tao (whoops with joy): To the cake!!!

Luna is left alone, still in shock, as the rest of her friends gather around the cake and Tao takes the place right next to Victoria as she cuts the cake. He's the one who sings 'Happy birthday to you' the loudest, then goes on to spread the cream on her cheeks and then run around, trying to avoid the same fate. A friend slips a camera in her hand and smiles sweetly, 'Make sure to capture the moments!

.........................

A/N

Poor Luna

And Luhan

And my sister...

And everyone who's reading this

I'm sorry /(-_-)\

I swear there's romance <3