Lu Han x OC (Anabelle/Ana)

She was biting her lip as she eyed the small child in front of her. She stretched her hand out, with one eye closed, and tried to measure the length of the boy with her pencil.

She didn’t really work on pencil sketches. Her specialty was on graphic art on her lovely laptop. But her advisor at school suggested that she try other forms of art.

She didn’t hate it, per say, but she definitely preferred digital art.

“Ana looks funny!” the boy in front of her giggled.

She sighed and dropped her hand in defeat. She smiled at the boy as he stared at her with a toothy grin. “Call me Miss Ana, Mister Wonjoo,” referring to the daycare’s rule of calling the teachers Mister or Miss.

The boy giggled again, jumping up and down. “Mister Wonjoo! Mister Wonjoo! Imma a mister! Meeester Wonjoo!”

She frowned. “And stay still! I can’t draw you if you keep wiggling around. You wanted to be my model right?”

He frowned. “I don’t wanna be if I can’t move!” he moaned. “Draw me jumping!”

She laughed. “Just a few minutes ago you wanted me to draw you beating up a T-rex!”

“Do that too!” he shouted, waving his toy dinosaur around.

“Draw me too, Miss Ana!” a little girl shouted, tugging on her sweater, her black piggy tails swaying with her. “Can you make me into a Power Ranger?”

“Draw Kimi too!” another girl exclaimed. “Draw Kimi with a prince! Like in a fairytale!” Her brown eyes shimmered with excitement and glee.

Ana grinned and patted Kimi’s head. “Hold on now. Wonjoo is first. Then I’ll draw Sunhi. And then Kimi. There’s a list! See.” She proudly pulled a small notepad with names scribbled on it. She glanced at it. “But it looks like Lu Shang is first.”

She turned to look at the boy who was hiding behind the other male teacher, Kyungsoo, as they walked in the playroom.

“You’re going to draw me?” he asked in a small voice.

“That’s right. Come over here,” Ana said with a smile.

Lu Shang looked away, still holding on the apron.

Kyungsoo looked at Ana and shrugged. “He tripped over the steps on the door when a cat jumped out of the bushes. He’s pretty scared right now. Maybe later?”

Ana frowned, but shook her head.

She gasped and put her hand to her forehead in a dramatic flourish. “Oh no! What shall I ever do?”

Lu Shang looked worriedly at the female teacher, but Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Oh my,” he played along in a monotone voice. “It looks like Miss Ana has a problem. Whatever shall we do? Lu Shang, why don’t’ you help her out?”

Ana shot a glare to Kyungsoo who snorted in return.

Lu Shang pulled himself off Kyungsoo and hesitantly walked over to Ana.

“What’s wrong, Miss Ana?”

“My sketchpad is sad that I won’t draw on him. Do you hear that? He’s crying. Boo hoo.”

Lu Shang looked up worriedly. “Mr. Sketpad is sad?” he asked, mispronouncing sketchpad.

Ana nodded sadly, pouting slightly.

“I don’t want him to be sad!” he exclaimed.

“Then if I draw you on him, I think he’ll be happy. Do you want me to draw you?”

Lu Shang fiddled with his fingers before nodding slightly.

“Oh!” Ana exclaimed. “Look, he’s happy now!” She picked up the pad with her hands and see-sawed it back forth as if the notepad was swaying from side to side.

Lu Shang gave him a brilliant and sweet smile that blew Ana away. She couldn’t help but give the little boy a huge hug. “Awww. You’re so cute!”

Lu Shang giggled, trying his best to give the teacher a hug too.

“Awww! I want a hug too, Miss Ana!” Wonjoo shouted from the side.

“Kimi too!”

“I would like one too!”

Kyungsoo clapped his hands. “Alright, everyone. How about some snacks?”

“Snacks!” the three children screamed, dropping everything in their hands and clambering all over Kyungsoo.

“What are going to have for snacks, Mister Kyungsoo?”

“Fruit cups and pudding.”

“Pudding!” they cheered.

“What about fruit cups?” Kyungsoo suggested. “They’re healthier and…”

“Pudding!” they interrupted, not listening to the teacher at all.

Ana watched them leave the room with a grin. She looked down from where she was sitting to notice that Lu Shang didn’t leave with them.

“Aren’t you going to have snacks, Lu Shang?”

The little boy shook his head. “I want to stay with Miss Ana.”

Ana squealed internally, restraining herself before she gave him another bear hug.

“Why thank you, Lu Shang.” She paused for a second before reaching into her pocket. “Do you like chocolate?” she asked.

The little boy’s eyes lit up, and he nodded.

“Keep it a secret from Mister Kyungsoo,” she whispered as if it was a huge secret and gave him a wink.

Lu Shang nodded happily, excited to be in on a secret.

She broke off a small piece for him and another one for herself.

Her secret stash of chocolate was one of the things that kept her going when she felt tired.

The second thing was coffee.

And third thing was the kids themselves.

They were a small daycare only taking four to six a time. It wasn’t as if they were a horrible daycare, in fact, many of the parents raved about them.

It was only that it was a small facility and that they were tucked into a small corner. Most of the parents were teachers from the nearby high school. They dropped them off at the daycare before heading off to school. Some of the students left their younger siblings or cousins there as well.

Ana looked down at Lu Shang who was busily munching on the chocolate.

Lu Shang was one of the newer students. His mother was one of the foreign language teachers at the high school. She was a pretty lady but always looked frazzled.  It was always quite a scene whenever she dropped off or picked up Lu Shang.

Ana was the second teacher who worked part-time whenever she didn't have school. Kyungsoo was the original full time employee who took care of the kids the whole day.

He was slightly sarcastic and always rolling his eyes, but Ana knew he loved children with all his heart.

She did too, and when her neighbor, who also happened to be Kyungsoo, offered the job, she took it with no hesitation.

Ana noticed Lu Shang’s sticky fingers and grabbed some wet wipes nearby and started to clean his fingers.

“Look at you! All sticky and gooey! We better clean you all up!”

He shrieked when the cold wipes touched his skin and giggled. “Cold!” he shouted.

“Yep! They’re cold! But they make you clean.” She smiled and ruffled his hair as she stood up to throw away the used wipes.

She walked back to find Lu Shang immersed in a crayon drawing and decided that this was the best time to draw him.

She settled back into her seat and picked up her pencil. “Lu Shang?”

“Yes, Miss Ana?” he asked without looking up.

“What would you like me draw?”

Lu Shang paused in thought before excitedly exclaiming, “Big Brother!”

Ana grinned, not surprised. The little boy would talk about his older brother a lot. “Ummm. Lu Shang, I’m sorry to say, but I don’t know what your brother looks like.”

He grinned. “Big Brother is super handsome! And cool looking!”

Ana chuckled, as she had heard those same words from his mouth before. “He sounds lovely, but I can’t draw him with those details.”

Lu Shang gave her crestfallen look that broke her heart into a million pieces.

She scooted over from where she was sitting to be right next to him.

“Hey, Lu Shang. Since you know your brother so much better than me, why don’t you draw him?”

Lu Shang frowned. “But I’m not that good.”

“Who said that? Plus, if you give it to your brother as a gift, I’m sure he would very happy!”

The boy shook his head. “Big Brother isn’t at home. He went to a big school to study something hard. He’s gone for a long time.”

Ana hugged him. “Oh, Lu Shang. Then you can give it to him a present when he comes home. I’m sure he told you that he’ll be coming home?”

Lu Shang titled his head and nodded. “Yeah! He told me that he’ll be home as soon as he can! Ok! I’ll draw him a picture!”

Ana smiled and scooted back to where she was sitting before. “So, anything else you want me to draw?” she asked.

But the little boy was so immersed in his picture that he didn’t answer.

“What about a cat?” she teased.

“No cats!” he shook his head furiously.

“Dogs?”

He made small noises with his mouth as he thought. “Ok. Dogs are nice.”

She grinned and started to sketch the outline of Lu Shang.

After what seemed like hours, Ana finally finished her pencil drawing of Lu Shang playing with puppies. She was proud of it despite the few mistakes she made here and there.

She looked down at Lu Shang who was still concentrating hard at his drawing. The rest of the children had come back into the playroom after eating their snacks.

Some of the tried to play with Lu Shang, but after realizing that he had no intent on doing so, they left him alone.

Ana glanced at the clock the read that it was time for the parents to come and pick up their kids.

And as if right on cue, the door opened and a handsome man popped his head in.

He looked around until his eyes met Kimi’s.

She shrieked as she jumped straight into his arms, a wide smile on both of their faces.

“Oh, my precious Kimi. Did you have fun today?” he asked her.

The little girl nodded her head furiously. “So much fun Papa! Kimi played princess with Mister Kyungsoo.”

The man’s face darkened a little as he slightly glared at the daycare teacher. He looked back at his daughter as they snuggled. “I thought I was your prince, Kimi.”

She giggled. “Don’t worry, Papa! You’re still my number one!”

They laughed together as he set Kimi down.

Ana walked over holding Kimi’s pink backpack and grinned at them both. “Seriously, Mister Jonghyun. You spoil Kimi too much.”

The man rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Kimi is worth it.”

Kyungsoo snorted and waved them off. “Get home safely.”

The two waved good-bye at the two daycare teachers just as two more people came up to the door.

One, with her blonde hair, waved hello to the teachers and walked inside. The other, her long brown hair gently flowing in the wind, stopped by to talk them.

“How was Wonjoo today?” she asked them.

“Hyper as always, Miss Krystal,” Ana grinned.

She sighed. “I don’t know where the boy gets all his energy from. Even I can’t keep up with my little cousin.”

She chuckled and walked inside. The two daycare teacher followed.

“Auntie Amber!” Sunhi cried as she saw her.

The blonde woman grinned as the little girl ran up to her. She ruffled her hair and asked, “How’s it going, sport?”

“I played superheroes with Wonjoo! He was a hero, and I was a villain. Then we switched. It was fun.”

Amber grinned. “Sounds fun. I’m sure you gave him a good beating?”

Sunji smiled innocently and nodded.

She ruffled the little girl’s head again and put out her hand.

They then did a complicated series of handshakes and hand movements that went in a blur.

They both grinned and held hands.

“Thanks again, you guys!” Amber shouted to the teachers.

Ana smiled, and Kyungsoo shook his head. “It was our pleasure,” he said as they watched them walk out.

“Hi, Krystal!” Wonjoo chirped as he skipped towards his older cousin.

“Hey, kiddo. Ready to go?” she asked.

He nodded and grabbed her hand. “Can we get ice cream on the way home?” he asked.

She frowned. “I don’t know. Won’t you ruin your appetite for dinner?”

The little boy pouted and gave his best puppy dog eyes. “Pwease?”

Krystal looked down at him and sighed in defeat. “Fine, but it’ll be our little secret. You can’t tell your mom and dad.”

Wonjoo cheered and pulled her hand. “Hurry! Hurry!”

She gave the teachers an awkward smile as she staggered after the little boy.

Ana sighed as the long day began to catch up to her. Kyungsoo mimicked her motions and stretched.

“I’m going to clean up the kitchen. You watch Lu Shang?”

Ana nodded, her eyes ending on the boy who was still focused on his drawing.

She walked over and sat down next to him.

“How’s it going?” she asked.

The little boy looked up with bright eyes. “I’m almost done! Do you think Big Brother will like it?”

Ana looked at his drawing which, despite its crude lines, depicted two people smiling and holding hands. It was actually pretty good.

She pointed to the taller one. “Is this your brother?” And then pointed to the smaller one. “And that’s you?”

He nodded as he held the paper in front of him.

Ana smiled and patted his head. “I’m sure he’ll love it.”

He grinned up at her which made almost made Ana swoon over his cuteness.

She glanced at the clock and frowned.

“Your mom is later than usual. I wonder what happened.”

Lu Shang looked at Ana with big eyes. “Is that bad?”

She looked back at him and gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

He nodded, trusting the teacher completely.

While they waited for Lu Shang’s mother to come pick him up, they took turns drawing. Ana would draw something and then Lu Shang would. They continued like that for awhile.

That is until a loud knock and crash distracted them from their drawing.

They both looked towards the door where the noise originated.

And there lying face down in front of the door was a young man.

Ana blinked a few times at the scene, unable to comprehend what just happened.

Her senses snapped back as she stood up and rushed over.

“Are you alright?” she worriedly exclaimed.

She slowly helped the stranger up while he groaned and rubbed his head, his hand covering most of his face.

“Ow. Yeah, I think I’m okay,” he slowly said, wincing at the movements of his head.

Ana frowned and yelled into the kitchen. “Hey, Kyungsoo! Can you grab me some ice?”

“Why?” he shouted back.

“Just do it!”

“Alright, alright. And what was the crash back then?”

“Just get me some ice.”

Her co-worker grumbled in the distance as she focused her attention back to the male.

He was still rubbing his head, mumbling to himself.

She was taken aback at how handsome the stranger when she clearly saw his face, and she started to feel her cheeks flush at the sight.

She shook her head and clapped her hands over her cheeks with a loud smack much to the surprise of the stranger.

“Here, sit over here while my friend gets you some ice.”

He mumbled a thank you and followed her.

Lu Shang had been watching curiously at the scene. But all he could see was the back of the male and Miss Ana talking to him.

When he finally saw the male’s face, his stoop up suddenly, his mouth agape.

Ana saw the odd expression on the little boy and curiously asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Big Brother!” he shrieked as he ran towards him, launching a hug around his legs.

The older male smiled as he dropped down to his knees and gave him a warm hug.

“Hey, Lu Shang. It’s so good to see you.”

Lu Shang pulled away from the hug to nod excitedly.

Ana looked at the two in surprise. “This is the infamous brother of yours, Lu Shang?”

Lu Shang nodded again, unable to keep his smile off his face.

His brother looked at his younger brother and then up at Ana. “Infamous?” he echoed in confusion.

Ana grinned. “Lu Shang talks about you a lot.  A lot,” she emphasized.

The young man grinned at her sheepishly. “Does he?”

He looked down at his little brother and picked him up with ease. “You’ve been talking a lot about me? Hopefully good things?”

“Only good things. From Lu Shang’s description of you, he made you sound like the perfect person. Kind, handsome just to name a few,” Ana answered instead.

The man raised a curious eyebrow and smiled slyly. “Did he now? I hope that the real me doesn’t disappoint?”

Ana stared at him in surprise, taken aback by the sudden question. “Well,” she fumbled, “I only just met you, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”

He grinned. “But surely with the handsome part, you can tell me if it’s fitting or not.”

She bit her lip, avoiding his gaze. “I suppose.”

He gave her a teasing look. “Well? I’m waiting.”

Ana scoffed. “You can’t expect me to just blatantly tell you.”

He shrugged. “I am.”

She crossed her arms in defiance. “That’s not fair. I’ll tell you only if you tell me if you think I’m pretty or not.” Ana was sure that the male would back down and this whole mess would end.

He grinned, giving her a brilliant smile. “Only if you tell me your name first.”

“That has nothing to do with it!”

“To me it does.”

Ana was a bit flabbergasted and intrigued at the same time. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of winning, well, this argument. And the fact that she did find him attractive.

“It’s Anabelle. Ana for short, if you want,” a bored voice interrupted.

Both of them turned to see Kyungsoo apathetically sitting in a chair a few feet away from them. He was unceremoniously holding a gel ice pack.

“K-Kyungsoo!” Ana squeaked out in surprise. “How long have you been there?”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Long enough to hear you flirting for too long.”

He lifted up the ice pack. “You still need this? Cause if you don’t, I much rather put it back in the freezer. My fingers a bit numb.”

The other male smiled abashedly. “I’ll take it. Thanks.”

After exchanging the ice pack from hand to hand, Kyungsoo stood up and peered closer at the stranger.

“So, who are you anyways? I’ve never seen you here before.”

The male smiled. “I doubt you would. I’m on break from college and am visiting home.” He stuck out his hand, shaking both teachers’ hands. “The name’s Lu Han. I wanted to surprise Lu Shang and asked our mother if I could pick him up from daycare instead.”He looked down at his brother who was sticking rather close to him and smiled. “I say it was worth it.”

Ana had to smile at the scene. She always found sibling love endearing.

“Let’s go home!” Lu Shang shouted, hands already around his older brother.

“Yeah, it’s getting late. Mom’s probably wondering where we are,” Lu Han answered back, handing the ice pack back to Kyungsoo.

They all walked to the door and right as he passed her, Lu Han whispered into her, “And by the way, I do find you pretty.”

Ana blushed and clapped her hand over her ear as he subtly winked at her.

They watched them leave while Ana was still in a dazed stupor. She was knocked out of it when she heard Kyungsoo groan as he stretched. “Better clean up now. I want to go home and eat.”

He glanced back at Ana and snorted. “Man, you really got it bad.”

She whipped her head and glared at him. “I do not!” she protested fervently.

“Yeah, yeah,” her coworker muttered as he walked back into the other room. “That’s what they all say.”

The next day, Ana tried to keep the same chipper mood like always, but today was a bit more difficult than normal. Mostly because a certain person kept invading her thoughts.

It was hard for her to focus when the dark-haired male kept giving her those teasing looks.

“Garh!” she spat out, waving the image out of her mind.

“No, I’m the dinosaur!” Wonjoo shouted, a green T-rex in his hand. “You’re building towers, remember?” he pouted.

Ana looked at Wonjoo who she was supposed to be playing with. “I know. I’m sorry, Wonjoo. I was a bit distracted. “

The little boy pouted a little more before shrugging. “It’s ok. Sometimes when I have to go pee-pee, I get uh…”

“Distracted?” she finished for him.

“Yeah!”

“I don’t need to go to the bathroom, Wonjoo. I’m not distracted because of that.”

He looked at her with mild confusion but shrugged it off. He continued to make dinosaur noises and knocking over the blocks. He stopped when he realized that the older girl was not doing anything.

“Miss Ana!”

She looked at the little boy again and gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry, sorry. Here,” she paused as she looked around the room.

“Sunhi! Why don’t you play with Wonjoo?”

The girl looked up from her toys and at the other two. She considered it for a while and then walked over.

“Ok. But I want to play superhero.”

Wonjoo frowned. “Can I still use my dinosaur?”

Sunhi grinned. “Yeah, you can be the bad guy who knocks stuff over, and I can be the superhero who tries to stop you.”

After making sure they were settled, Ana got up and walked over the kid’s table where Lu Shang, Kimi, Kyungsoo were sitting.

“Can you take over for me over there?” she asked Kyungsoo. “I need to do something that won’t require extra brain work.”

Kyungsoo looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. “Why? You’re always the more energetic one out of the two of us.”

“Please?” she begged softly.

“Is this because of what happened yesterday?”

“No!” she blurted out.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and smirked. Before he got up, he whispered something into Lu Shang’s ear.

And before he left, he gave Ana a look that she would made her want to punch him in embarrassment.

She sighed and sat down. “What are you guys drawing?”

Kimi held up her paper. “Kimi is drawing a pink castle and there’s going to be a pink horse and a pink princess and a pink dragon. And then a prince on a white horse is going to save the princess!”

“Why isn’t the horse pink too?”

“Because only prince’s ride white horses!” she exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“What about you Lu Shang?”

He looked up at her and then back down at his paper. “I’m drawing Miss Ana.”

“Me?” she asked in surprise. “Why me?”

“Because Miss Ana drew me. Big Brother said it was the nice thing to do.”

Ana remembered when she had finished her drawing of him, she had stuck it in backpack before he left. What she didn’t know is that apparently Lu Han saw it too. She wondered if he liked it.

“Why does Miss Ana want to know more about Big Brother?”

She snapped out of her thoughts to look at the boy once more in surprise. “Who said anything about that?” she squeaked.

He blinked at her. “Mister Kyungsoo said that you wanted to know more about him?”

Ana spun her head around to glare at Kyungsoo.

And if he knew that she was staring at him, he looked up from where he was and turned to look at her. He caught her gaze and winked at her as well, giving her a cheeky grin as well. As if he knew that would anger her more.

She could read his lips as he mouthed out, “You’re welcome.”

Ana made sure to put “Murder Kyungsoo” on her mental today’s to-do-list.

She looked back at Lu Shang who was looking expectantly at her.

“Ok,” she sighed in defeat. “Tell me about your brother.”

He excitedly nodded as he told her all about him. Not only did he go over how handsome, cool, awesome, and nice he was in great detail, Ana found out that Lu Han was studying something to do with movies and even acted out in a few commercials. Her mind couldn’t help but think that it was expected since he was so handsome.

But even though, he spent the rest of the time talking about his brother, Lu Shang never went into great depths about him.

Ana wasn’t sure if it was because Lu Shang was too young or if he simply didn’t understand. But nevertheless, Ana had to admit that it was sort of nice to hear about Lu Han. Even if she didn’t want to admit it.

And even as the other kids were getting picked up and taken home, Lu Shang the last one again, she didn’t want to admit that she was waiting to see him again.

And when Lu Han finally appeared, shouting, “Lu Shang,” she didn’t want to admit that she subconsciously straightened out her clothes and brushed her hair behind her ear.

But of course, Kyungsoo saw everything.

“You’re staring.”

She blushed and hissed back, “And? You’re doing the same!”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “No, I’m watching. You’re staring. At Lu Han.”

He sighed. “Just admit it. You find him attractive. You want to know him better. Just ask him out on a date. It’ll be better in the long run.”

She shook her head. “No! I just met the guy. How embarrassing would it be to be all like, ‘Oh, hey. I find you cute. Want to go on a date with me?’ Heck no!”

He shrugged. “What’s the matter with that? What’s the worst that can happen?” Kyungsoo quieted down, deep in thought until he gave Ana a devilish grin.

“What with that look? I don’t like it.”

“I bet you won’t be able to ask him out on a date. Or at least he’ll ask you first.”

“What? Why would I bet on something like that?”

 “We’ll bet on cleaning both the playroom and the kitchen for a month.”

“A month?” she shrieked as quietly as possible. “Are you crazy?”

Kyungsoo smirked. “The question is, are you crazy? Crazy enough to ask him on a date?”

Honestly, Ana was hooked on the aspect on not cleaning for a month. She didn’t think it was too hard. Asking Lu Han on a date first? Ha. Easy enough. She hoped.

“You got a month.”

She looked at Kyungsoo dead-on and stuck out her hand. “Deal.”

He smirked and shook her hand.

“So. Is this secret meeting about something I need to know?”

Kyungsoo and Ana both leaned back to see Lu Han slightly smiling at them.

“No! No. It’s nothing of importance,” Ana blabbered.

“Really? Cause I thought I heard my name? Although I couldn’t hear very well. I might as well be imagining things.”

“You’re imagining things!” Ana blurted out in a rush.

Lu Han raised an eyebrow. “Am I?”

Ana then shot a look at Kyungsoo, trying to telepathically tell him that this was all his fault and he better fix it.

Apparently he caught it because he stood up and smiled serenely. “Lu Han, come with me. I need to show you something.”

The other male looked utterly confused, but obliged politely. “Ok?”

Ana watched as Kyungsoo led Lu Han to the other room as she let a deep sigh of relief.

 When they finally came back, they were both laughing cheerfully.

“I look forward to it,” Kyungsoo grinned.

“As well as I,” Lu Han replied with a laugh.

Ana waited until they left to turn to Kyungsoo and ask, “What was that all about?”

He looked back at her with a smirk. “Why? You jealous?”

“No!” she protested weakly. “Just curious.”

“Don’t worry about. It’s nothing important. Just two guys chatting it up. What else?”

Ana let the question go, but couldn’t help but still feel suspicious.

“So I hear you’ve been in commercials before?”

Lu Han looked away from Lu Shang and Kyungsoo who were busy cleaning god-knows-what to next to him and laughed. “Have you been Internet stalking me?”

Ana blushed and shook her head quickly. “No! But I have to admit, I was tempted to. No, Lu Shang told me. And he told me that you study, well, something to do with movies.”

Lu Han laughed again. “Movie production. Lu Shang didn’t understand what that was so to make it easy on him, I told him it had to do with movies.”

“You like it?”

“What? Being in commercials? Or studying movie production?”

“Both?”

“They’re both fun,” he chuckled. “But I think I like movie production better. Having your vision come to life seems to me so much rewarding. But that’s just me.” He looked at Ana. “What about you? I know you work part-time, but what are you studying?”

“Graphic design,” she answered sheepishly.

“Really?” Lu Han replied in surprise. “I thought for sure you would say child development or something like that.”

She laughed. “I love kids, but I love art more. It’s sort of what you said. Having this idea in your head and being able to produce it for others to see is the greatest feeling ever. It’s hard because you sometimes you can’t produce whatever’s in your head, but when you do…”

Lu Han nodded. “Yeah, I understand.”

They stood there in comfortable silence until Ana cleared . “So yeah, if you ever free –”

“Big Brother, we’re done!”

Ana bit back her tongue as she watched Lu Han walk over. “Is that so? Then you ready to go home?”

Lu Shang nodded as they walked towards the door.

“See you tomorrow, Miss Ana! And Mister Kyungsoo!” the little boy shouted.

“Yes,” Lu Han smiled. “See you tomorrow, Miss Ana.” And if it was an afterthought, he added, “Mister Kyungsoo.”

“See,” Kyungsoo told Ana once they left. “Did you see that? What do you have to lose?”

Ana frowned. “I thought you weren’t supposed to be on my side?”

“Sure, but it’s absolutely excruciating to see you two like this.”

Ana merely deepened her frown.

“So, when do you go back to school?”

Lu Han thought about it for a few seconds. “Hmm,” he hummed, “I should be going back by next month. Winter break only lasts for about a month.”

Ana quietly took the information in. “Have you gone out and done anything fun? I’ve always seen you drop off and pick up your brother.”

Lu Han smiled wistfully. “Actually, no. Most of my friends went back to their homes.” He paused and glanced at Ana. “Why do you ask? Are you offering?”

“No!” she immediately said and regretted soon after. That would have been the perfect set-up.

She thought that he looked a bit disappointed at her response, but it may have been her because he smiled back at her, looking unaffected. “That’s too bad. Maybe I’ll just go around town with Lu Shang. He does keep asking if we could do something fun.”

Ana only sighed internally and gave him a regretful smile.

“I can’t believe I’m going to win this bet so easily.”

Ana glared at Kyungsoo.

“It has been a month yet.”

He gave her an exasperated look. “It will be in a week. I can’t believe you still haven’t gotten the nerve to ask him. I swear Lu Han’s has been giving you so many chances that he’s practically asking you on the date.”

“You don’t know that!” she argued.

He rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like, “Yeah, I do.”

“Plus,” he added, “He’s going back to school soon. Disregarding the bet, you won’t get to see him as often, anymore. Do you want that?”

Ana looked down at her feet and quietly murmured, “Not really.”

Which was true. After seeing Lu Han almost every day, she had gotten to like him more and more. Sure, he was an attractive man, but she honestly liked his personality and sense of humor.

“Then what’s holding you back?” he exclaimed.

“It’s not as easy as you think!” she grumbled back.

“Whatever,” Kyungsoo muttered back while rolling his eyes. “I look forward to one month of no cleaning.”

“It hasn’t been a month yet!”

He shot her a look that could only mean that he didn’t believe her.

Not one bit.

“Why do you look so down, Lu Shang?”

The little boy listlessly drew scribbles on his paper. “Big Brother told me that today was the last day he was coming to pick me up.”

“What?” Ana asked in surprise, breaking the lead on her pencil from the sudden pressure in the process. “I thought he doesn’t leave to school until a few more days?”

Lu Shang nodded sadly. “Yeah, but he’s going to be busy preparing so Mom’s going to pick me up from now on.”

“And you’re sad because you won’t get to see him anymore.”

He nodded his head in confirmation.

Ana sat there thoughtfully. That would mean today would be the last day she would see Lu Han. It was now or never.

And even as she said that, her heart started to pound with nervousness.

“Miss Ana too?”

“Hmm?” she intoned as she looked at the little boy.

“You’ll miss Big Brother too, right?”

She blinked at him with his pure big eyes staring back at her.

And with that, she smiled softly at him and whispered, “Yeah, I will.”

“I’m giving you one last chance,” Kyungsoo murmured under his breath as he walked past Ana. Next to him was Lu Shang whom he was leading to the kitchen. “Be glad that I’m so freaking nice. Where would you find such a kind person as me?”

She glared at him and sighed. “Yes, I am honored, Your Greatness. I thank you for this opportunity.”

He snorted as he led Lu Shang away.

Ana looked over where Lu Han was waiting patiently for his brother to return.

She took a deep breath and glanced at him again.

This time Lu Han looked over, and Ana immediately looked away. She cursed in her head at her reaction and looked back up.

Lu Han was looking curiously at her, and she took that as a cue to walk over.

“So, I heard it’s your last time coming by.”

He smiled softly at her. “Yeah, it is. I’ll miss it.”

“Picking up your brother?” she asked.

“Mmm. Yeah. That was actually quite nice. But I was more thinking of missing seeing your face,” he said with a wink.

Ana blushed and cleared then after.

“Are you going to be busy these few days?”

Lu Han looked like he was deep in thought as he nodded slowly. “I should be. I have to start cleaning up and think about what I want to bring back.”

“Oh,” she replied softly.

“But I don’t think I’ll be bust every day,” he continued. “I mean, I’m sure I can make time for anything. Or someone.”

“Is that so?” she answered quietly.

“Right, so if someone ever wanted to ask me out on a date, I would more than be happy to oblige.”

Ana stared at him while he looked expectantly back.

She just had to say a few words.

One sentence.

He was practically asking her out on a date.

But as she continued to look at him, she felt her heart rise to causing her to become incapable of speaking.

Only a few words were able to come through.

“Would, uh, you…”

She swallowed and tried again.

“You and me…”

“Yes?” he encouraged her with a smile.

She groaned and closed her eyes. “Never mind,” she moaned, waving her hand. “Just, never mind.”

Lu Han looked appalled and stopped her. “Hey, you can’t just do that. I’ve been waiting for a month for this, and you leave me hanging? That’s considered rude, you know.”

She gave him a look that encompassed an apologetic expression mixed with embarrassment and regret.  

 He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

Ana was crestfallen at those words, beating herself over and over in her head.

But Lu Han wasn’t done.

“Ana, will you go on a date with me?”

He groaned. “There, I said it,” he griped.

“Wait, what?” she replied in confusion. “Uh, I mean, of course I will! But what do you mean –”

“Hallelujah, something finally happened!”   

They looked over where both Kyungsoo and Lu Shang were peeking over at them.

Kyungsoo stepped out first, followed by Lu Shang.

He patted Ana on the back. “Congrats, you now have a date with the guy you’ve been mooning over for the past month, and you get to clean for me for the next month.”

Ana gaped at him, her eyes following him as he made his way over to Lu Han.

“And you, my good sir.” He stuck his hand out. “Pay up, pretty boy.”

Lu Han clicked his tongue and forked over some money to Kyungsoo.

Ana started to cough. “Hold up. You bet with Lu Han too?” she cried out.

She looked at Lu Han, who looked away with awkwardness. She then turned to Kyungsoo who was grinning from ear to ear as he pocketed the money. He caught her look and shrugged. “What? Being love matcher doesn’t come cheap.”

“What did you guys bet on exactly?” she asked.

“Basically the same thing I bet with you,” Kyungsoo answered. “I knew he was interested in you, but I betted with him that you wouldn’t be able to ask him out on a date in a month. And he was positive, absolutely positive, that he would able to get you to ask him out.”

Kyungsoo put out his arms in a boasting manner. “But guess who won both bets? That’s right, yours truly. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to bask in my glory somewhere else. I expect this room to be clean by the time I get back.”

He left them as Lu Shang spoke up in the midst of everything.

“Does this mean Big Brother likes Miss Ana?” he piped up.

Lu Han looked down and smiled. “It does. And it also means that if all goes well –”

“She’ll become Big Sister?” he interrupted.

Lu Han chuckled. “Well, I wouldn’t go too far so fast.” He looked at Ana. “First, we’ll need to go on that date.”

She groaned and shook her head. “I’m mortified. So mortified that Kyungsoo set us both up completely.”

“But at least the outcome is good,” he cheekily answered back.

“Wait!” Lu Shang shouted out.

They looked down at him.

“What’s up, little man?” Lu Han asked.

“I don’t like it,” the little boy confessed grumpily.

“You don’t?” he replied back in confusion. He smiled as he thought his little brother didn't like the fact that he wouldn't be with him more often than he liked. “Listen, Lu Shang, I’ll still always be your big brother. I'll always be there for you.”

He shook his head and frowned. “That’s not it! I wanted to marry Miss Ana.”

“What?” they both said at the same time.

Lu Han looked at Ana, and she looked at him. Both of them mirrored each other’s expression of confusion.

Lu Han started to laugh. “Well, I guess we’ll see, Little Brother.”

“I may love you a lot, Big Brother, but I like Miss Ana more!” Lu Shang exclaimed proudly.

"Wow, I'm hurt," Lu Han said back.

And Ana couldn’t help but to laugh as she watched the scene.

A/N: So I tried to incorporate your likings into the story, and it pretty much came out to be a very children scene setting. Nevertheless, I hoped you like it.

I also hope I captured the kids’ personality well. I only have so much experience with them. Haha.

But please tell me if anything is wrong, and I’ll do my best to accommodate.

I always love reading your comments on my other story, so thanks for being such an avid reader!