Cheese sticks

Description: Luhan is a jealous mofo!

AN: Requested by unicorn1991. I kinda got carried away in my attempt to give a good progression to this story, and so i ended up writing almost 6K words. One of the reasons why this is so late. The other reason was just that life caught up to me, and I didn't have time to do anything. I still made this my priority, and so here you have it. I hope you like it. If you don't...well, kkaebsong! 

Luhan, a university student, would like to say he was satisfied with his life. But he would be lying! He wasn't satisfied, not even close. Instead he was harbouring murderous thoughts towards a few people.

Baekhyun, you little turd, you better keep your hands off of him. Luhan's thoughts seemed to have no power since Baekhyun continued sitting in Yixing's lap. That is where he should be, not Baekhyun. Ok maybe it wasn't Baekhyun's fault that Yixing pulled him into his lap and was asking about his grandma's house. Maybe he really didn't deserve the death glare Luhan had set on him, making him gulp nervously, but Luhan was claimed by the green monster.

Jealousy is an ugly trait, and Luhan was the ugliest of them all.

It wasn't his fault, and whose fault it was, was such a sweet person that Luhan couldn't bring himself to blame the other.

It all started when Luhan took his first music composition class for his performing arts specialist. He had walked into the class with very limited knowledge about music theory and composition, when he saw Yixing for the first time, playing away at his guitar. The first thought that came to Luhan's head was; Ah, Chinese! Just like me. Being another Chinese student in a Korean school, Luhan understood the need for community and help. He had struggled with blending in when he had moved. This guy was obviously new here and could use some guidance.

Luhan had easily become friends with Yixing, but after a few classes, he had found out that composing songs wasn't really his forte. And so, he dropped out of that class. He gave Yixing his number and said goodbye, but neither of them contacted the other.

They didn't meet again until next semester when Luhan found out that Yixing was in his dance class. Since he already knew Yixing, Luhan found it natural to spend more time with him, and overtime, their friend circle grew from being just Luhan and Yixing to include 10 more people.

Fast forward another year, and here you have the same Yixing, whose habits, quirks, likes, dislikes had all been memorized by Luhan. He was the same quiet stream flowing in Luhan's life: peaceful and beautiful. But Luhan, Luhan had changed. His calm waters had become turbulent, waiting to flood over banks, named Baekhyun or anyone else who dared to get too close to Yixing. And it was all Yixing's fault. Had he not gripped over Luhan's heart so tightly, the other wouldn't be suffering in silence right now.

But Luhan couldn't say anything because Yixing, dear sweet Yixing, was clueless as ever.

Luhan stuffed his mouth with M&M's, for their group's get together, munching on them loudly and angrily.

"Hyung, are you listening to me or not?"

Luhan's attention was brought back when Kyungsoo, his friend from vocal class, whined at him for not listening to his 15, ok maybe just 5 minute long rant about annoying flatmates, i.e. Baekhyun and Sehun. Baekhyun was pretty darn annoying, Luhan had to admit. His annoying was on Yixing's lap, and his annoying tongue was wagging words at Yixing...

"Seriously hyung. If you want to keep ignoring me then go talk to them. I don't want to waste my time on you."

"Sit on my lap"

"What?" Kyungsoo half didn't believe the words coming out of Luhan's mouth. Did he really just ask him to sit on his lap? "Hyung, could you get any more obvious?"

Luhan pouted as he looked at Kyungsoo with his kitten eyes, "Apparently not obvious enough," he answered with a huff.

"Then ing talk to him. Don't drag me into this situation", Kyungsoo tried to get up, to move to some far away corner of the room, but Luhan grabbed his hand and whined for Kyungsoo to listen to him. It worked because Kyungsoo sat on his lap after a small huff, and Luhan smiled like a happy child, oblivious to the two pair of eyes now regarding them silently. Luhan whispered a thank you in Kyungsoo's ear and said something that made the younger laugh. They sat there laughing quietly when Luhan looked across form him, and shut up at once, at the same time as his heart jumped.

Baekhyun and Lay seemed like predators, staring at him and Kyungsoo, who was still laughing, oblivious to the stare. 

"Kyungsoo! Did I tell you about how Sehun invited his girlfriends over the other day and they had a party in your room?" Baekhyun said getting up from Yixing's lap and pulling Kyungsoo with him to the kitchen to get something to drink. Kyungsoo, angry at Sehun's antics, didn't even care that he left Luhan sitting there alone, with Yixing.

Luhan stared after the two males with eyes of a lamb about to be sacrificed. Yixing smiled softly, like he always does, "What were you guys talking about?"

"Huh?"

"You guys were laughing so much. I just wanted to know what the joke was."

Luhan realized that his plan worked, though not the same way as he had expected it to. He had wanted Yixing to be jealous, but the latter didn't seem phased, just mildly curious. However, it didn't matter when Baekhyun was off of Yixing's lap, and he had the other's attention all to himself. Let the wooing begin.

Luhan moved right beside Yixing and they were now laughing at each other's silly jokes. "And so I told him tha-"

Yixing was cut off mid sentence when Chanyeol, yet another member of their friend group, called over to Luhan, "Hyung, we are low on food. Wanna come buy more?"

Luhan was about to refuse, not wanting to stay away form Yixing, but when the man himself agreed to go along, he agreed too. Though, he didn't expect Kyungsoo, his buddy who was supposed to have his back, stab it like the er he is. Did he really need Yixing to help him with setup and stuff? So what if Baekhyun was a disaster that only Yixing could contain? Kyungsoo could have been creative or something; Luhan texted him that. 

Well, Luhan got roped into going to get more food with Chanyeol and Junmyeon. They bought pizzas, take out burgers, and salads. They were pretty well stocked and were planning on going back when Luhan remembered something last minute.

"Let's buy cheese sticks!" Luhan said it of nowhere.

The other two agreed, and that's how they ended up in Yixing's favourite sweet potato cheese stick shop. What? Luhan wasn't lying when he said he knew all about Yixing. 

"Let's buy 4." Of course Chanyeol would feel the need to be in charge of everything.

"Let's get 8." Luhan argued back.

Chanyeol shook his head, "Nah, let's get 4."

Luhan fumed silently. His Yixing would get what he likes. Calming himself, he said once again, "Yixing obviously likes them. Let's get 8!"

Chanyeol finally agreed and the three went back to Junmyeon's apartment, where the get together was happening.

Minseok was the one who opened the door for them and helped take all the food materials inside. They arranged the snacks on the coffee table and took the meals to the kitchen island. The whole pack gathered around the coffee table like hungry wolves. 

Luhan smiled when he saw Yixing's eager eyes trained on the cheese sticks. He silently handed Yixing one, but Chanyeol noticed and in his loud annoying voice he took all the credit. "We know you like cheese sticks, so we bought 8 instead of 4. 

Yixing giggled happily as he patted chanyeol on the back. Luhan didn't realise that he was glaring until minseok whiskered in his ear, " the poor boy is going to combust if you keep glaring like that. "

Luhan huffed, "good, them maybe he will stay away."

Minseok just chuckled as he walked away to the maknaes who had managed to break one of Junmyeon's expensive vases already... They had stepped into the house not even five minutes ago.

Luhan gritted his teeth as he watched chanyeol excitedly talk to Yixing about their new composition project. Luhan felt a tiny bit jealous. It could have been him before Yixing right now if he hadn't dropped the course. Jongdae, kai and Sehun also joined their conversation and Luhan felt so left out.

"Is Lulu feeling left out?" Minseok cooed at him as he pinched his cheek, "why doesn't Lulu just confess already instead of pouting like this on the side lines."

Luhan vehemently denied, though he knew that  minseok, being one of his closest friends, could tell that he was lying.

"Luhan-" Minseok began, more seriously this time, but Luhan cut him off.

"I can't do it Minseok. For some reason, everytime I am near him, I can't function properly." 

"That's not true. I see you guys joking around all the time."

"It's... It's different."

"How so?" Kyungsoo popped up out of nowhere making the two boys jump.

"Kyungsoo? Why are you trying to sandwich between us?" Minseok asked with an amused laugh.

The boy in question scowled, "Baekhyun is getting on my nerves again. I swear I am going to kill him one of these days."

"Then what are you waiting for? Go kill him. At least that way you wouldn't hog my Yixing time, you er." Luhan said, pushing Kyungsoo away from them.

Kyungsoo clung to Luhan like a koala in retaliation, "please don't send me over there Luhan, I even sat in your lap. Don't we share a special bond? Why must you put me in harm's way like this?" He wailed.

Minseok laughed and enveloped the other two in a big hug. "It's okay Kyungsoo, I will save you."

"Kyungsoo needs to be saved?" Baekhyun asked, popping out of nowhere, just like the boy in question, getting too close to Kyungsoo, "I can help you with that. What are flatmates for after all?" Saying so, he dragged a protesting Kyungsoo away from the hug leaving Luhan in minseok's arms. 

"Anyways," minseok continued their original conversation, "how is it different?"

Luhan rested his head on minseok's shoulder, "I can joke and stuff, but I can't talk about love or any similar subject. It's embarrassing."

Minseok patted his back, trying not to laugh, "there there. I'll help you out. Hyung will act as your wingman."

Luhan visibly glowed at that, "really? Thank you thank you thank you! I love you minnie!"

Minseok slapped his cheek lightly, "yeah, whatever. Lemme go stop Kyungsoo before he chokes Baekhyun to death."

Luhan watched minseok walk away with a smile. He should be okay with minseok's help, right? He turned back to the group of people surrounding Yixing when his eyes met the other's, giving his heart a jump. The other had an unreadable expression on his face, but before Luhan could think much about it, he had turned back to chanyeol, and Kris had demanded his own attention in a conversation.

--x--

"So, lu-ge, are you ready?" Minseok asked slinging an arm around Luhan's neck. The two were walking towards their shared lecture, the day after the get together, and Minseok was ready to mentor Luhan in the arts of wooing Yixing. "So, first step in getting someone to notice you is being nice to them."

"I'm nice to him!" Luhan stomped his feet. 

Minseok shrugged, "be nicer then. I am not gonna modify my plans for you."

"Wait, " Luhan scoffed, "wasn't the whole point of this me? Shouldn't I get better service then?"

Minseok rolled his eyes, "the service is free so don't expect quality."

"You are so mean," Luhan made a sad face, though it didn't work because all it got him was a small flick on the forehead. "Alright alright. I'll be extra nice."

Minseok patted him on the back, "that's my boy!"

---x---

Luhan, walking to their dance performance class saw Yixing walk towards the class with kai. Time to put the first step into action! He rushed forward and opened the door for him. How was he supposed to know that kai was in the line of damage? And that he can be stronger when he is excited about seeing Yixing. 

"He looked at me so weirdly," Luhan cried for the billionth time in the past hour. Kris awkwardly patted his head wondering how he ended up here. He just wanted to get minseok's help with an assignment, not be stuck in the other's room for... 1.5 hrs. Minseok secretly had plugged his ears as he sat there with sunglasses on. Kris was 99.99% sure that the bastard was napping. 

"Is kai alright though?" Kris asked when Luhan finally stopped to breathe.

"Huh? Yeeeaaahhh..sure." 

"You don't sound sure. Do you even know?"

Luhan scowled, "Of course I am sure. Yixing was doting on him. Do you think he likes him?"

"Yixing? No, he just thinks of kai as his best dongsang. Plus you know kai is aual. He's said it enough times to all his fans."

Luhan frantically waved his arms around, "yeah, but he didn't say he was aromantic. What if he feels for Yixing? Why else would he cling to him then? Why aren't you saying anything minseok?"

Kris patted his head again, "Luhan, he doesn't cling to Yixing. He has personal space issues. They don't even hang together all the time either. And minseok is just quiet because he needs coffee."

Luhan scrambled up off of the floor and rushed to the kitchenette, "k, I'll make some for the three of us."

Kris let out a sigh of relief before turning a glare towards the sleeping elder. He kicked him off the bed. Minseok sat up sputtering, rubbing his , sunglasses askew. 

"Wha-?"

"You prick! You took advantage of me. I am leaving and you handle him. I don't have time for this. Also, you owe me for the 1.5hrs of my life that I lost because of your advice gone wrong." Kris said as he aggressively swung his bag on his shoulder.

Minseok rubbed his sleepy face. "It was good advice. Luhan was the defective element."

"Whatever" Kris slammed the door as he left causing Luhan to peek into the room again to see what was up.

"Where did Kris go?" He asked minseok, and if he was wondering why the other boy was on the floor, he didn't show.

Minseok grinned sheepishly, "He had something come up. Heh heh.."

Luhan frowned, "he should have said goodbye at least. I made coffee for him too. Oh well, more for the two of us." A moment later, he walked in with two mugs of steaming coffee. Minseok smiled gratefully as he took one of the mugs from Luhan.

"So, I thought about it. I am gonna say that you should stick to your previous level of niceness if an increased level is hazardous to others. You can't forget about the existence of others just coz you are being nice to Yixing." Luhan gave a noncommittal shrug earning a judging look from minseok. "Okay, here is what you should do now. Show him that your sense of humour is similar to his. Like you guys click, know what I mean?"

Luhan have a thoughtful nod, "but didn't everyone think that we have similar sense of humour?"

"Yeah, but does he know? Show him! This is the second step. Now go out there and woo him." Minseok pushed Luhan out the door and added, "don't this step up", before slamming the door in his face.

Luhan made a face as he thought of what he could do to show something that is so obvious. Maybe laugh more at Yixing's jokes than he did before... Yeah, that should work. Flipping out his phone, he texted the male, 'where are you right now? Are you free?"

He waited two minutes before receiving a reply, 'With Jongdae at That XX coffee shop.'

Before he could stop himself he accidentally wrote, 'why are you with jongdae?' He almost dropped his phone when he realised his mistake. He quickly tried to do damage control, "I mean is it OK for me to join you guys?'

When he didn't get a reply from Yixing at once, Luhan freaked out. He dialed minseok's number.

" hello? "

As soon as minseok picked up the phone call, Luhan started whining, "minseok, I ed up. I accidentally asked Yixing why he was with jongdae."

"Just wait a sec Luhan. I was talking to Junmyeon. Let me get him on a conference with us."

Luhan hummed and waited for more than a second for minseok to come back on with Junmyeon. 

"Hello?" Junmyeon sounded confused.

"Hi Junmyeon, you are now on conference with me and Luhan. We can continue taking here." Minseok spoke.

"Continue? What do you mean?-" Junmyeon said but minseok cut him off.

"First let's listen to Luhan's problem. Then we will discuss business."

Before Junmyeon could make any protesting sounds, Luhan started whining, "I accidentally asked Yixing why he was with jongdae. I texted back an excuse for the question but Yixing isn't responding."

Junmyeon didn't really know what was going on but he tried his best to console Luhan, "maybe he just hasn't looked at his message yet. He might be busy with jongdae!"

"BUSY WITH JONGDAE?" Luhan screeched into the phone and Junmyeon, through blurry tear filled vision wrote down in his planner a reminder to visit an ear doctor. Hopefully he won't go deaf in one ear. "I KNEW IT! HE LIKES JONGDAE DOESN'T HE?"

Junmyeon learnt that day that when talking to Luhan on phone, he should use the speakers instead of putting it up against his ear. "No, he didn't like jongdae."

"You just said that he likes jongdae's company. He prefers jongdae over me. This is just an unrequited crush. I think I need to call the ambulance coz I'm pretty sure I am dying of heart break." Luhan wailed into the phone.

Junmyeon spluttered, "I- I never said that! He definitely doesn't like jongdae over you. We ask know that. You know how forgetful Yixing is. He probably just hasn't checked his texts yet."

"But if he doesn't like jongdae then why is he with him?" Luhan countered.

Junmyeon checked his watch; five minutes of his life that he will never get back. Sighing, he tried to reason with Luhan, "Luhan, Yixing is allowed to have other friends than you. It is not right for you to try to isolate someone and monopolize them just coz you like them. If you like him so much then confess!"

Luhan hummed, "okay, I will try not to be jealous. But I can't confess, not yet anyways. I'm following minseok's steps to woo Yixing. I can't make a move prematurely, isn't that right minseok?.... Minseok?"

Minseok's bored voice floated through the phone, "yeah, that's right! Sorry, had something in my mouth."

 He was saved from having to explain further when Luhan exclaimed, "OH! HE TEXTED BACK! He says that he forgot to look at his phone. I knew my little xing xing was just forgetful. He invited me to join him and jongdae." Luhan giggled.

"You go get him! Don't let us keep you." Minseok said. Luhan disconnected from the conference, leaving the other two males behind. 

Junmyeon growled after a moment of silence. "You walked away from the phone, didn't you? You er! You called me into this conference so that I deal with him in your stead. You owe m-"

"Hello? Hello? You are breaking up Junmyeon. I can't hear what you are saying." Minseok starred shouting into the phone.

Junmyeon resisted the urge to face palm, "that excuse is so last century. No one even uses it anymore." It fell on deaf ears since minseok had already disconnected the call. Junmyeon sighed before searching up the number of a nearby otolaryngologist.

---x---

Luhan was speed walking to the coffee shop when he received a call. Looking at his caller ID, he saw it was Kyungsoo. He had half a mind to decline the call, but thinking that he should be a good friend, he answered it, not bothering to keep the irritation out of his voice. Kyungsoo's panicked voice filtered through the speakers, "Hyung! Baekhyun is being weird and clingy again. I don't know what he wants but he keeps annoying me and not letting me do anything. Help me!!"

Luhan sighed, "Kyungsoo, I am on a very important mission right now to save my damsel in distress from a dirty old dinosaur. I can't help you out right now."

"Dino-? Hyung, please! I think I am going to go crazy the next time Baekhyun accidentally slaps my , or does something more annoying...."

Luhan shrugged at his phone, feeling slightly bad, but his priorities were set, "Sorry Soo! You're on your own. Figure out how to deal with him yourself, get creative!" Ending the call as he walked into the shop, Luhan skipped his way over to Yixing, and cheerfully greeted him. Yixing turned his sweet smile on Luhan making his heart beat faster. Only he could have such an effect on him. Luhan was busy admiring his love interest's teeth when he was rudely interrupted by the third wheel.

"A hello to you too Luhan, " jongdae poked said guy.

Luhan turned a saccharine smile at him, "Hey! Watchu up to?"

Yixing shrugged, "jongdae wanted coffee, even though it is steaming hot outside. It seems like he thinks that if he raises his temperature above the temperature outside, it will help him cool down by relative heat transfer."

Luhan guffawed, hitting jongdae in the process, hard.

Jongdae tried protecting himself from Luhan, "OW OW OW! LUHAN YOU SPEND TOO MUCH TIME WITH JONGIN! It wasn't even that funny!" 

Luhan hit him one last time, even harder, still laughing, "what are you talking about? It was very funny."

Jongdae scowled, "no, the delivery was horrible. Whenever you two are together, your jokes just turn super lame."

Luhan turned his nose up, "You are just jealous that Yixing and I have similar sense of humour. Am I right Xing?" Luhan faltered when he turned towards the other because of the look he was giving him. He had no idea what the look meant, but it sent a shiver down his body. He let out his breath, that he didn't know he was holding when Yixing smiled again.

"You're right! Jongdae doesn't quite appreciate the art of good humour." Yixing smirked slowly and Luhan guffawed again, using the opportunity to land a few more hits on jongdae. This continued, with Luhan laughing at pretty much anything Yixing said or did. It was working well in the beginning, but he was starting to notice how the other's smile was decreasing in brightness. In retrospect, it might have appeared slightly creepy. Jongdae was also starting to look done with Luhan. This was a crisis and so Luhan excused himself to the washroom and frantically texted minseok. 'It was working but now they look at me like I am creepy every time I laugh. Help!'

Minseok rolled his eyes when he read the message. 'You overdid it again didn't you? Seriously Luhan, when will you learn? OK, let's move onto next step. Act cool, slightly aloof. Don't appear desperate.'

Luhan frowned! This didn't make any sense. Why would he act aloof after acting nice and laughing at all the jokes? So he asked minseok that.

The reply was, 'so that Yixing has to think about you more. He will wonder why you aren't paying him as much attention anymore. You will occupy his mind. Knowing you, this might actually make a big difference.'

'You sure this will work?'

'Of course'

Luhan took a deep breath in as he walked out of the washroom. Okay, Luhan is cool, Luhan is manly. He can do this. Acting aloof; piece of cake. He walked to the table and Yixing beamed at him- maybe not a piece of cake after all.

"Hey Lulu, listen to this one - how did the cow jump over the moon?" Luhan chose not to indulge Yixing, not that it deterred the other, " because it had had too much coffee." Both Yixing and Jongdae guffawed at the stupid joke, like little kids, and Luhan had to fight to keep the corners of his mouth in check. Yixing did have a very sweet laugh.

Luhan sat down examining his nails, " very funny Yixing "

Yixing's face fell making Luhan's heart lurch. He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he put on a small smile, white teeth, just about peeking from between the lips. "It wasn't really funny, was it? Jongdae said you would find this funny, so I thought why not."

Luhan forgot for a second that he had to put up an indifferent front and smiled reassuringly at Yixing, "well, jongdae is known for his bad sense of humour." He remembered his mission and quickly dropped the smile to a straight face, making for an awkward transition. 

Jongdae, who had been watching the two with amusement piped in, "I know it's easy to forget, but I'm right here. You mind not badmouthing my, very awesome, humour? I only wanted to see what your reaction would be since you were acting so weirdly. I thought that either your sense of humour was out of whack, which seems to not be the whole problem, or you are sporting a crush on our Xing Xing." Jongdae finished with a grand sweep out his arm in Yixing's direction, and Luhan panicked.

"What crush? Which crush? Why would I wanna crush Yixing. I'm not violent by nature. I'm a very kind guy who is super cool, super manly, and super aloof. How dare you accuse me of such horror." Standing up from his chair in the most dramatic way possible, Luhan pointed an accusatory finger at jongdae, poking him in between the eyes, "You are my enemy now! Better watch your back coz I'm coming for it."

Jongdae just looked at Luhan with a mix of confusion and interest as the later excused himself and stormed out of the coffee shop.

Luhan texted Minseok a crying emoticon and asked him to come pick him up because he was too emotionally devastated to even walk. Sending him the location of a nearby public space, he went and sat at the foot of the fountain located there.

---x---

Jongdae turned to Yixing once Luhan was out of sight and asked, "So why didn't you stop him? This was a golden opportunity that I gave yoOW!!"

Yixing hit jongdae's head, "why did you do that? You know how he is! Do you think it would have taken this long if he was comfortable with talking about his feelings to me? You scared him off. But seriously, he's been acting weird... Too weird even by his standards.... I wonder...

--x--

"Lu-ge"

Luhan looked up from his phone to see Tao walking up to him. "Where's minseok? I asked him to come."

Tao held out an ice cream bar to Luhan, "Gege said that he was busy and asked me to safely take you to him because he was worried about you. He also said that I should get you some ice cream to make it better."

Luhan smiled, "Min knows what I need. Thanks Tao," before he launched into a very whiny rant about stupid jongdae, cute Yixing,  ruined afternoon, Yixing's smile, spinal cord injuries, and something about aloof manliness. Tao internally cursed minseok as he tried his best to help Luhan with his problems. 

"Why do you find it so hard to confess? Yixing is nice. He won't hurt you..." 

Luhan sniffed, "I know! That's not what I'm worried about, at least that's not everything. I don't know if I wanna do this. Would me asking him out change things? What if he isn't into me? Am I willing to risk what we have now for a chance that he might like me back? On top of that I don't even think I am right for him. He is such a kind person, but I am ugly. I get jealous too easily and a lot of times I think of doing things to get others away from him. It's bad how possessive I feel, and I'm trying to change it but it doesn't work. He is an angel I am not worthy of."

Tao slung an arm around the elder's shoulder. "You know, I agree that Yixing is very kind and you get jealous way too easily-"

Luhan stopped him mid sentence with a groan, "you won't stop about that day will you?"

Two grinned, "nope. You complained to my girlfriend that I was trying to sleep with Yixing."

"I WAS DRUNK! AND HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW SHE WAS YOUR GIRLFRIEND? YOU NEVER INTRODUCED US BEFORE!" Luhan exclaimed.

"Doesn't matter. Do you know how long it took me to get her to talk to me again? So don't even try to get out of this. I will forever remind you of that incident. Anyways, you get jealous way too easily, and yes, you need to work on it. But that doesn't mean that you are any less a person. Why do you think I still hang out with you? Because you are nice, fun and a good friend. One bad habit didn't make your worth go down. I'm not saying that you don't need to improve yourself, but don't let it hold you back. I'm sure Yixing will also think the same way."

Luhan smiled to himself as he thought over what Tao said to him. Maybe Yixing wouldn't mind being with him. Now that he thinks about it, he and Yixing always have such a good time together. Maybe, just maybe Yixing could love him back. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Tao started leading him into a building. "Tao, why are we going to Kyungsoo's place?"

"Minseok ge is here."

They climbed their way up to Kyungsoo's shared apartment. Luhan put on his most kittenish pout so that he could whine to minseok too, but he stopped when he walked in to see Yixing sitting there beside minseok, on the same sofa, a hand on the elder's shoulder. Luhan frowned, expression going from a kitten to an angry lion. Minseok the betrayer was sitting there whispering something to his Yixing. Why was Yixing's hand on his shoulder? Luhan strode up to them and brushed Yixing's hand off of minseok's shoulder. Both minseok and Yixing stared at Luhan, but the latter only locked eyes with Yixing, eyes unreadable. 

Sehun walked into the living room and scrunched up his nose, "this room smells of ."

Luhan spluttered and Tao stepped in like a true friend, "let's go buy snacks for the group Sehun. What would you like minseok? Yixing?"

"Cheese sticks! Yixing will like cheese sticks!" Luhan said when no one else spoke. He turned to the man for confirmation. 

Yixing smiled, "am I that predictable?"

Luhan shook his head, "No, I just happen to know that you crave cheese sticks around this time of the day." Yixing's expression looked like he knew some secret of Luhan's, watching the later gulp and turn away. 

Minseok chipped in, "I don't want anything, thanks!"

"What about you Luhan?" Tao asked.

"Luhan likes bread, banana flavoured bread," Yixing was the one to answer making Luhan blink in surprise.

He chooses not to ask about this, but opting for, "what's are you doing here Yixing?"

Yixing took a moment to answer, not breaking eye contact even for a second, "Do you love minseok?" Luhan refused vehemently. "What about Kyungsoo?" Luhan shook his head again.

"What about you? Do you like Baekhyun?"

"Not in that way."

"What any Jongdae or Kai?

" no I don't Luhan. I've had eyes only for one person since last year. It's just that he doesn't seem to notice. "

Luhan felt sadness and anger bubbling in his stomach. So Yixing did like someone. He didn't have a chance after all. His mouth twitched downwards as he attempted to keep a straight face, and not break down right there. "So, who is the lucky guy?"

Yixing's eyes bore into Luhan, "it's someone who knows me quite well, yet manages to miss all the hints I drop."

Luhan looked outside the window, finding it hard to look at Yixing without crying, "must be stupid."

"No not stupid," Yixing stood right in front of Luhan, "just too busy trying round about routes and being shy. Don't you think you have kept me waiting long enough Luhan? When are you going to confess?"

"Wha-?" Luhan splutters as a stray tear drop escapes his eye. It takes a moment for him to grasp the situation. He was the guy Yixing was talking about. He was the one who missed hints Yixing dropped for him. He was the one Yixing liked! The guy he was jealous of and hating on just moments ago was himself. Luhan just stood there, brain short circuiting from feelings overload. 

Yixing looked at the deer in headlights look on Luhan and chuckled, "you are hurting my feelings Luhan. This is the moment when you confess your eternal love for me, not stare at me like I am about to run you over with a freight truck."

"You have really weird analogies Yixing," Minseok piped up from his spot on the sofa. The two had forgotten that he was still there.

Luhan pointed an accusatory finger at him, "you stay quiet, you dip. I know that you've been passing me on to others."

Minseok motioned to zip his mouth and he slumped back on the sofa, doing whatever he was doing on his phone before.

Turning to Yixing, Luhan blushed, "so....um...wow. This was unexpected. Wow! Um... If you would be kind enough to go out with me, I would be much obliged."

Minseok snorted earning himself a middle finger from both the males.

Yixing smiled his eye smile that sent Luhan's heart beating at the rate of a humming bird's wing flapping. "That is an interesting way to ask me out but I'll be glad to oblige you."

Luhan pumped his hand in the air screaming a YES! but calmed down when Yixing pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "You're stupid lulu, " he whispered fondly and Luhan melted right into his arms.

Kyungsoo walked into the room at that moment and looked at the two males in surprise. Yixing noticed him and glared, pulling Luhan closer to himself.

Kyungsoo shrugged, "so you two are finally together?"

Luhan turned around to see Kyungsoo standing there and Baekhyun walking out right behind him, looking a bit ruffled, "whoa, you guys were home?"

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, "well yes, seeing how it is our home you are in right now."

Luhan stared at Baekhyun who shyly kissed Kyungsoo's cheek and walked into the kitchen, "but I didn't even hear Baekhyun. How did you manage to tame him?"

Kyungsoo smirked as he saw Baekhyun disappear, a slight limp to his gait, noticeable if one was looking, "I got creative!"

Miss me? It's been a long time! I pushed the taohun back since this was a request. wanted to deliver on it! so, maybe it will be next. stay tuned!

on another note, i feel like i have grown as a writer and it can be seen across my chapters. still not good, but i think i can call myself slinking around the average line. maybe someday i'll be able to write like one of those writers who have you hanging off of their every word. I hope I will have your support and guidance and critique until i get there.

Also, thank you to PeasentOTP for editing this monster chapter in one go. I know you are super busy. We all appreciate your help.

Other stories: The Personal Assistant,   bad kids,   best of best* exo fic recommendations,   Baeksoo oneshot* collection,   you found me!,   Snow white,   The God of laziness,    Exobend, Pet boy, Baeksoo reference list

Awesome people: Tina08,  PeasentOTP