The Art of Getting to Know You [part 3/4]

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PART 2

Yixing should’ve known better than to sit with Luhan and Minseok during lunch. This had been proven to be a bad idea since the two got together. And even worse now that Minseok had asked Luhan to be his date for the prom.

Luhan was teasing Minseok by pretending to feed him his fries, only to pull it away before Minseok could eat it. Yixing rolled his eyes, feeling victimized by their display of affection.

It was supposed to be Yixing and Luhan’s weekly catch up session that they started to enforce when their respective activities prevent them from hanging out with each other as they used to. And yet, here they were, with Minseok who had all of Luhan’s attention without even trying or meaning to.

“I should go,” Yixing said with a sigh and didn’t even bother to give an excuse about why or where he should go to.

“Oh, hei!” Minseok touched his wrist to stop Yixing from getting up. He offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your lunch.”

And Yixing was about to say that it was okay and he was going to talk with Luhan some other time. And Minseok would’ve said that no, he was the one who should leave and let the two best friends talk. But then Luhan spoke.

“Zhang Yixing, sit down. Finish your lunch.”

And sometimes (most of the time, actually) when Luhan spoke, Yixing couldn’t say no to it, because the cute, pretty Luhan was replaced by the intimidating, manly persona that Luhan insisted was actually his real personality.

“So, what’s happening in your life lately?” Luhan asked casually once Yixing settled back on his seat, as if he didn’t just “bully” Yixing to do just that.

“By lately, you mean the last three days?” Yixing asked back, poutily, just to prove he wasn’t completely happy to submit to Luhan’s order. “We just met each other last weekend, remember? We totally don’t have to meet each other today.”

“Shut up and just answer the question.”

Yixing turned to Minseok and tried to look exasperated by how bossy Luhan was, which caused the older to chuckle. “Yeah, I already know what I get myself into, Yixing.”

“Well, then…” Yixing shrugged in return. “And nothing really happen lately.” He prodded at his half eaten lunch. “Oh, maybe except for when the girls in my class cornered me this morning.”

Luhan frowned. “Because?” It didn’t seem to be a good incident and it was weird for Luhan to hear, because people didn’t usually do mean things to Yixing. The boy was too nice and adorable for anyone to want to treat him poorly.

“I don’t know. They just came to me and start telling me like, ‘hey, Yixing, it’s not like we’re asking your permission or anything, but we’re just letting you know that we’re gonna ask your boyfriend to be our prom date.’ And of course they meant Kris. And of course it was just formality because I doubt they don’t already did that anyway.” At this point, Luhan thought Yixing looked terribly annoyed. “And when I told them that we’re not actually together, they stared at me from head to toe like they couldn’t believe what I just said and looked at me like I’m… the lowest creature they’ve ever seen or something.”

“They think you’re fuck buddies,” Luhan informed helpfully.

“What!” Yixing tossed the fork he’d been playing with at the lunch table in surprise. “Me and Kris?! Fuck buddies?! How come that escalates that quickly?”

“Well, the way you said that,” Minseok tried to give the younger boy a different perspective. And he really tried to explain it gently, but Yixing was obviously fuming on his seat. “But you know, I think, it’s mostly because of Kris’ reputation of having casual partners every now and again that make them interpret your words that way,” Minseok said in his attempt to save the situation.

Yixing had his arms crossed against his chest and he scowled harder. “Great. Now see if anyone wants to ask me to go to prom with them.”

“Why wouldn’t anyone want to ask you to go to prom with them?”

“Speak of the devil,” Luhan muttered with amusement just as Kris sat next to Yixing to deliver his daily pudding.

“Because they think I sleep with you,” Yixing blanched, horrified.

And what even more horrifying for Yixing was how Kris’ raised eyebrow, how his surprised had a hint of mirth. As if he thought it was funny.

“It’ll pass, Xing. It will always pass.” He patted Yixing’s back as if to assure him. “They’ll forget about it in two weeks top.”

“Yeah, because after this weekend they’ll talk about you with whomever you take to the prom,” Luhan supplied helpfully.

“Anyway,” Kris said with a roll of his eyes, “it’s such bullshit that no one asks you to be their date. And just because you’re rumored to sleep with me.” Kris was brilliantly oblivious to the color that tinted Yixing’s pale cheeks. “I mean, you really want me to believe you don’t have your own crazy fans with your dancing and music thing.”

“He did get quite a few people asking him to be their date,” Luhan mused. “You did, don’t you?” he directed the question to Yixing. “But he refused them all.”

“Why?” Kris asked, one of his eyebrows arched.

Meanwhile, on his seat, Yixing glared positively menacing at Luhan, who pointedly ignored him. Yixing thought Luhan should know that such things were never supposed to be talked about, especially around Kris. Yixing might have not told Luhan the reason why Yixing was uncomfortable to talk about it, and no, Luhan also couldn’t read minds, but still!

But instead Luhan repeated the question. “Yeah, why Yixing?”

Yixing couldn’t even tell if his innocent look was genuine or not.

“It’s just…” Yixing stabbed at his pudding in irritation. Just because he was in the committee didn’t mean he was actually looking forward for the event. And until now he had no reason to be excited about it. “I don’t want to go with someone I don’t like, okay.”

“What the hell. You’re not getting married with them, Xing, it’s just prom,” Luhan stated incredulously, before he stopped himself and then added in his attempt to save himself, “I mean, unless you have a real boyfriend or girlfriend, of course.” Luhan took a shy glance at Minseok, embarrassed over his blunder, and was relieved when Minseok only smiled back with amusement at him.

“I’d told Luhan to go as your friendly prom date if he hasn’t agreed to go with me.” Minseok offered an apologetic smile.

“Please, Minseok.” Kris rolled his eyes. “Seeing how the two of you send the whole student body into having mass diabetes, don’t expect us to believe that, okay.”

“Ah!” Suddenly Luhan perked up as if a light bulb in his head just turned on. “Why don’t you just tell him to go with you?” He pointed at Kris as he suggested the idea to Yixing. “He has to do anything you ask, right?”

“Hmm,” Kris tilted his head from side to side, considering. “I’m cool with that,” he shrugged nonchalantly.

“No, thanks,” Yixing answered curtly, still stabbing at his pudding.

“What? Are you saying that you don’t like me?” Kris sounded both mildly offended and in disbelieve because of the statement and there was a silent, unspoken ‘but everyone likes me’. Yixing would like to point out he looked full of himself and it was not a good look. But Kris was lucky, because Yixing was not in the mood of talking or pointing things out to people, so instead he just stared sullenly at Kris. “Oh come on, Xing. You’ve been keeping me around long enough, you must like on some level. As a friend.”

Yixing sighed exasperatedly and threw his hands as if giving up before he started gathering his stuff and stood up. “Just go with one of your groupies that actually ask you to be their date, okay,” he said coldly, “And let’s just drop it.”

Yixing left the rest of the boys at the table staring at him, surprised by his reaction, as he stomped his way out of the lunch hall.

“Okay,” Kris finally broke the silence at their table, “what’s wrong with him?” he asked the two older boys, hoping that Luhan, who presumably knew Yixing better, would understand what just happened. And when Luhan instead only shrugged and looked just as baffled, Kris took it as his cue to get to the bottom of it.
xxx

He did really try to understand why Yixing was so against the idea of going to the prom. He tried to pry an answer from Yixing during their drive home (“It’s not because my fans threaten you not to go with me, right?” This time Yixing did point out that he could be so vain sometimes.) Then the next morning, he even came up with all the possible reason himself (“Since you join the committee, I guess you don’t hate the prom itself. Are you afraid you’re going to get bored there? Because I’m not going to let you get bored. We’ll dance, and there will be some bands and performances that you can watch. You like that, right?” Yixing kept staring pointedly at the passenger window. “Or is it because you’re afraid someone will spike the punch and you’ll get drunk? Me and Luhan will be there. We’ll take care of you--“

“Wufan, just stop it, okay?”)

He couldn’t find Yixing anywhere either during lunch. So Kris was still carrying the usual pudding in his backpack when he went to the studio where he knows Yixing had his dance practice with Jongin and the rest of the club.

Kris found Kyunsoo sitting in front of the studio, studying pages of sheet music. He smiled at Kris when he noticed the older boy was sitting next to him.

“Also waiting for your boyfriend?” Kyungsoo teased.

“Fuck buddy.” Kris corrected. “According to Luhan anyway.”

“Oh, poor Yixing hyung. Your fans must hate and envy him right now.”

Kris sighed. “Yeah, I probably should do something about it before they do anything bad to him.”

“Hmm.” Kyungsoo nodded in agreement. “So how is it? Working with him?”

“Well, he’s…” Scatterbrain, moody, bossy when he was being moody. His dimple was distracting. And so did his chest, kittens, puppies, compositions and lyrics. And his tank tops were practically not clothes. They basically got much work done when they were away than when they were around each other, for reasons stated before. But knew better than to embarrassed himself, Kris instead said, “He’s fine. He understands what I want and we work well together.”

“I can see that,” Kyungsoo gave a smile that Kris wasn’t sure what the meaning of. And Kyungsoo seemed to sense it, because then he elaborated, “When Yixing hyung helps us practice for our performance,” And of course he meant his, Jongdae and Baekhyun’ vocal performance, “there were few times that we had to work our schedule around you hanging out in his house.”

“I try to help him with his school works,” Kris said, sounding defensive even for his own ears.

“Well, yeah.” Now Kyungsoo was giving him a knowing, “I don’t get a lot of my work done either whenever Jongin’s around,” he said since he still repeatedly caught Yixing trying to finish his home works last minute before class.

“Yeah, but that’s only understandable sine he’s your boyfriend.” Kris looked at Kyungsoo pointedly.

“Exactly,” Kyungsoo stared back at him just as assured.

Just as Kyungsoo finished his sentence, Jongin burst out of the studio with excited grin on his face. A mixture of post-dancing practice and anticipation to see Kyungsoo, Kris supposed.

Kyungsoo stood up so Jongin could pull him closer and gave him a quick, chaste kiss, before he noticed Kris still sitting on the floor. He seemed surprise that Kris was there.

“Are you waiting for Yixing hyung?” Jongin asked. But the answer was obvious, so he continued, “He didn’t join us today. He said Luhan hyung needs his help to pick his tux for prom or something. But he mentioned that he’d text you to let you know.”

Kris groaned. He rummaged his backpack, looking for his cellphone that he hadn’t get the chance to check since before his last class. It was history, and his teacher always dismissed the class much later after the bell, and by then Kris was already late for basketball practice.

Luhan’s having prom night crisis. Don’t wait for me, he read the message.

“Great,” Kris muttered. And as if to prove his annoyance, he took out the pudding he’d been saving for Yixing and ate it right from the cup.

“It’s not totally his fault that you missed his text, you know,” Kyungsoo offered his opinion after he watched Kris devouring the yellow pudding as if it was the poor pudding’s fault.

“It’s not about that,” Kris managed to say after swallowing the food in his mouth. “I think he’s avoiding me.”

“Wow. You don’t go home together once and he’s avoiding you. I don’t know you’re this clingy, Hyung,” teased Jongin.

Kris glared at him but didn’t say anything to refute the statement. “I think he’s annoyed at me,” he said instead.

“Because?” Kyungsoo asked with his eyebrow raised.

“It’s just that…” He sighed, feeling frustrated already. “Yesterday, Luhan told me that Yixing doesn’t have anyone to go to the prom with and Luhan suggested that we go together. I told Yixing I’m fine with going with him as friends. But he doesn’t want to go with me. And I keep asking him why. And just…” He ended the sentence with another sigh. “I should’ve stopped asking when he told me to.”

“Well, it’s pretty lame to go to the prom with your friends, don’t you think?” Jongin said, “Like, what kind of a loser even do that?”

“Jongin,” Kyungsoo sternly warned his boyfriend.

“No, seriously. I’d rather not go if it’s not with you,” he said earnestly.

“Well that’s sweet, but it’s still not okay to judge people, okay.”

Jongin muttered an apology and admitted that Kyungsoo was right. And Kris knew they were about to be disgustingly cute right in front of his eyes. So he stood up and stopped them.

“So, what you’re saying is, I should ask him to be my… what? Date?”

While Jongin nodded his head eagerly, “Yeah. With grand gesture and all. ‘Cause Yixing hyung is a romantic, you know.”

Kyungsoo on the other hand, asked him, “But do you want him to be your date?”

“Or do you actually need yet another person for you to choose, when you already have a lot,” Jongin pointed out.

Kris shrugged. “At least I know him well enough,” compared to half of the other people that asked him to be their date, Kris would like to add.

“Oh? Is it a factor? I thought their face is the only thing that matters,” Jongin said, followed by another warning elbow to his side by Kyungsoo.

“Well,” Kris picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, “it’s a good thing I like his face then.”

xxx

Kris already had his car parked in front of Yixing’s house the next morning when the younger boy stepped out through the front door. And usually it was Yixing who had to wait for him to come and pick him up since Kris had trouble with waking up, everyday. So that was saying something.

“Hey, Kris greeted Yixing the second he climbed into his car.

“Hey,” Yixing replied but didn’t look at Kris.

“It’s for you.” This time, Yixing finally turned to face Kris, a confused frown on his forehead. “That.” Kris pointed at a bottle of milk tea from Yixing’s favorite brand sitting on the cup holder. But instead of explaining the whole thing, Yixing’s frown only turned deeper. “I didn’t see you during lunch yesterday. And I’ve eaten the pudding I bought for you. So, I have that instead.”

Kris couldn’t see the small smile Yixing had on his face, but there was a dimple on his cheek.

“Thanks. You don’t have to,” Yixing told him as he reached for the bottle.

“Shut up. Of course I have to.”

“No, it’s okay to miss-,” Yixing didn’t finish his sentence because when he had the bottle in his hand he felt a piece of paper stuck on the other side where he couldn’t see. And when he turned it, there was a small post-it note with Kris’ messy handwriting on it.

Would you be my prom date?

Kris watched from the corner of his eye how Yixing instantly covered his lips with his hand, although the wrinkles around his eyes and the dimple that grew more noticeable couldn’t hide the fact that he was grinning.

“This is so cheesy,” Yixing finally uncovered his mouth and said.

“No, it’s not. It’s cute,” Kris retorted defensively, despite the identical grin on his face. And if he had to be honest, yes, he also found it a bit cheesy, but still he thought was appropriate for the occasion.

“You’re the one who made this and you called it cute. Of course. What else should I expect from Kris Wu.”

Kris elbowed the younger boy, but he let the tease pass.

“So… what do you say?” He tried to get a better look at Yixing’s face. It was really hard to know what he was thinking when all he could see was one side of his face.

“It’s… um… Are you even sure you want to go with me?” Yixing asked. The hesitancy was thick in his voice.

“Yeah, sure. I don’t see why we not.” Kris shrugged easily. “Jongin and Kyungsoo told me it’s lame to go to prom with friend. So, I guess that means I have to make you my date, right?”

“Jongin and Kyungsoo told you it’s lame to go to prom with friend?”

“Yeah. I met them yesterday when I thought you were in your dance practice with Jongin.” He turned his car into the school ground and found his usual parking space was still empty. “I told them you’re sulky about this whole prom night business. And Jongin basically told me that we should go as a date.”

Kris noticed how Yixing went quiet after, but Yixing went quiet all the time. Stopped in mid-sentence as a whole different subject came into his mind. What Kris missed, however, was how Yixing’s body went rigid and how white Yixing’s knuckles were when he fisted his hands on his thighs.

Only once he parked his car on the school ground did he finally get the chance to pay full attention to Yixing. And by then, it was too late. He realized he just made a mistake that he didn’t even know what.

“Wufan,” Yixing started, the bottle of milk tea was placed back to the cup holder. “You have half of the student body waiting your answer to their invitation to be their date. Why don’t you just take care of that, okay?”

“Yixing-.”

“And just, please, stop asking me.”

Kris did try to stop him and would’ve tried to chase Yixing when he ran away right after he climbed out of Wufan’s car. But he had learned from experience that if Yixing didn’t want to be found, then he wouldn’t be found. And Kris had also learned to accept that.

It still sucked tho.
xxx

Luhan, had since long considered himself as one of the residents in Yixing’s house, barged into Yixing’s room and disrupted Yixing’s previously quiet Saturday afternoon.

“I’m not going to the prom!” he declared dramatically.

“W-what?” Yixing stuttered out of his shock. His guitar almost slipped to the floor as he jerked to sit up on his bed. He decided it’d be best to just put it away before another Luhan induced near accident occur. “What are you even talking about? The prom is tonight, Luhan.”

“I know! And that’s why I’m not going!”

“Why are you not going?”

“Just…” Luhan groaned in frustration to take a seat on the foot of Yixing’s bed. “My hair!”

“What’s wrong with it?” Yixing eyed his best friend’ hair, and failed to see if anything was out of the ordinary.

“It’s part in the middle! I’m not Nick Carter and this is not 1997!”

Yixing couldn’t even hide his snort laughter. “You’re the one who want that cut and have been styling it that way since last weekend, stupid.”

“You’re stupid! Why don’t you tell me this is wrong!” Luhan stood up so he could examine himself in front of the only mirror in Yixing’s room, which was small and dirty. “How can you even use this thing?”

“I don’t really use that thing. And you know that already,” Yixing stated matter-of-factly.

“Obviously.” Luhan rolled his eyes. “Since I’m not even sure you ever comb your hair, judging by the rebellious tuft on the back of your head.”

“Please don’t bring my hair into your yet another prom night crisis.” This was actually the third or fourth of such crisis, and by this time Yixing wasn’t even fazed anymore.

And Luhan had stopped bother to pretend that it wasn’t one. “It’s just…” He sighed helplessly, his shoulders sagged. “Minseok must be look gorgeous tonight and I have this,” he pointed at his head. “Moses could probably walk across this. And my suit is half an inch too short, remember?”

“Oh for godsake, Luhan.” Yixing finally decided that he had to get up and talk some sense into his best friend. “Listen,” he said when they were face to face. He hold Luhan by his arms so he would focus his attention on Yixing and what he was about to say. “There’s nothing wrong with your hair…” He paused. “Okay, maybe it’s slightly wrong.” Luhan whimpered. “But it’s not that appalling and your face can save any tragic look, so don’t even worry about that.” Luhan didn’t seem too sure about that, so Yixing kept charging with his so-called pep talk. “Your suit was perfect. You had it tailored. It’s altered exactly into your measurement. It’s fine. And so does your shoes. And even if it wasn’t I’m sure Minseok hyung wouldn’t even care about that. You’ve slobbered all over his shoulder during soccer camp when they put you together as roommates and only gave you one bed, remember?” Now Luhan was on the verge of crying. “Oh god, Luhan. I’m sure you understand what I’m talking about and you’re just being stubborn right now.”

“What if I cancel to go with Minseok and we just go together instead?”

“Now you’re being ridiculous.”

Luhan slumped even lower. “It’s worth to try.”

“Even if it was a good idea, I can’t, okay.”

Luhan watched Yixing walked back to pick up his guitar and sat on his bed. “You have another open mic tonight?” Yixing nodded. “Oh.” Luhan took a seat next to Yixing, after forcing the younger boy to scoot the side so he could get some space. “Sorry. I didn’t even know about that,” he told Yixing apologetically.

“Don’t even worry about that,” Yixing said with a soft chuckle. “I have this every other Saturday. Your prom night with Minseok hyung however…”

“Oh god!” Luhan groaned. “Don’t remind me about that.”

“You’ll have to remember it yourself anyway, since you have to go home and get ready now if you don’t want to be late,”

“I feel like it’d be better if you’re there with me.”

“Well I can’t, Luhan. I have other stuff to do also.”

“What other stuff?”

“It’s not important. And now you’re just stalling,” Yixing told him pointedly.

Luhan clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. “Tell me anyway.”

Yixing looked hesitant. He strummed strings of melodies before he finally answered Luhan.

“Just… Kyungsoo sent me the approved articles for the magazine, so I have to work on the layout. Just a quick work actually, but I have to do it anyway,” he said quietly, deliberately mentioned another name that was not supposed to work directly with him.

Luhan hummed, digesting the information. “And how is it going with Kris lately?” Yixing couldn’t help but to roll his eyes.

Of course Luhan would ask. Of course Luhan, despite his own prom night crisis, would notice that Yixing had been hiding at the library (of all places. Yixing didn’t even like books) during lunch and going home alone and earlier than usual.

“He’s fine,” Yixing finally answered, sounding a bit annoyed. “I guess, anyway.”

“Haven’t seen him around lately.” Yixing hummed his noncommittal respond. “Does he still ask you to go to the prom with-.”

“No, he’s finally stopped a few days ago. Can we drop this subject?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I’d feel better if you’re around.” Luhan knew Yixing wanted to tell him to stop being so ridiculous, so he cut him before he could even open his mouth. “Yes, it sounds stupid but I feel like the urge to vomit won’t be as strong if I know you’re there.”

“That is stupid, Lu. It’s just prom night, no big deal. It’s not like you’re going to marry Minseok hyung tonight.”

“Just…” Luhan draped himself around Yixing before he continued, “Please come. With Kris maybe.”

Yixing sighed, exasperated. “I can’t come with him, okay.”

“Why not? It’s just prom night, no big deal.” Luhan used Yixing’s words against him, which only earned him a scowl from the other boy. “Look. I don’t understand why you can’t just go with him for fun. I mean, I know half the school are talking about like you two are boyfriends or fuck buddies or whatever. And I know you don’t want the attention. But, you know, screw them. You’re friends with Kris. And there’s no rule that say friends can’t go together to prom. So…”

“Luhan.” Yixing released himself from Luhan’s hold and slumped down until he laid flat on his back. “That’s the problem.” He covered his eyes with the back of his hands. “Maybe, I kind of, don’t want to just go with him as friend.”
xxx

Kris arrived at the party fashionably late, although sadly, this time it wasn’t because he planned to do so. He couldn’t believe he was still having last minute panic with his wardrobe for the night when he’d done preparing it months before. Or well, maybe he should’ve known better than to succumb to false satisfied feeling about his wardrobe being perfect months before the actual prom night.

But ultimately Kris did reach his high school gym where the party was held. Alone. And he’d been convincing himself that it was fine. He could always snatch someone else’s date if he wanted to dance. And even if he couldn’t, prom for him was never really about his date anyway.

Okay, that was not totally true, since he had a sense of pride whenever he had someone pretty in his arm to show around. But eventually he’d get bored, because they all were just that, pretty, with nothing to talk with each other or interesting story to tell or anything in common really. And then he’d ended up hang out with the guys from his basketball team. So, going solo tonight was totally not a big deal.

“This party sucks,” he said, not even 30 minutes after he arrived, as he slumped on an empty chair next to a frazzled Junmyeon.

The shorter stopped whatever he was doing with his phone (probably trying to make sure that the next bad would actually be on stage next) and turned to look at his friend. And Junmyeon would probably send the nastiest glare his polite self could muster if it was someone else. But this was Kris, and they went to school together since kindergarten. And they might not be what people called best friends, but they knew each other so well that it was pointless to be mad at Kris’ occasional tactless comments.

“Well, thanks for your opinion, Kris,” he mumbled, his eyes trained back to his phone, “It’s not like I’m the head of the prom night committee and have been trying to make sure that everything runs smoothly or anything, right?” Kris grunted in return, half to apologize and half to say ‘well you know I didn’t actually mean it’. “Why are you sitting here with me anyway? Why don’t you dance with your date?” Junmyeon hadn’t been keeping track with Kris’ romantic relationship these past few weeks, but he wasn’t be surprised if he had one of the Jung sisters or someone equally attractive and popular as his date.

“Well it’s rather hard to do if he’s not here, isn’t it?” Kris answered sullenly.

“Do what?” Junmyeon asked distractedly (the band was still half an hour away from their school goddammit!). But then he stilled himself from typing another passive aggressive text to the member in charge and once again turned to face Kris. “Who’s not here?”

“My date.”

“Your date is not here?” And before Kris could complain about his seemingly unusually slow thinking process, he continued. “If he’s not here then how come he becomes your date?” Kris let out a long suffering breath as a respond.

It was always like that between them. Junmyeon talked and asked a lot and Kris acted bored or irritated, but they never got into actual fight, so everything was good and rinse and repeat.

“He’s my date because I asked him to be.” Kris explained it like Junmyeon was five.

“And his answer was?” Jumyeon, in return, asked like Kris was three.

“Well Yixing said no. But it was already so close with the date, so I couldn’t ask anyone else.”

“Are you being modest? Because if you decided to start acting like that I have to consciously tell myself to get use to it, okay.” Kris punched his arm half-heartedly. “I mean, seriously. You can ask anyone five minutes before this prom actually started and they’d say yes and what are you talking about Yixing said no?” He finally caught on the first thing Kris mentioned earlier. “Why did you even ask Yixing?” Junmyeon was baffled.

“Why wouldn’t I ask Yixing?” Kris asked back, equally baffled.

“Not that I, or even you, usually care about this when it comes to your dates, but we both know Yixing was not the type of person you usually make a move on. So, let’s do this. Name five things you even know about him.” He showed all his five fingers on one hand and was sure he wouldn’t even need to put three of it down to count the things Kris knew about Yixing.

“He had amazingly defined pale chest and nice dimples,” Kris told him defiantly. And Junmyeon rolled his eyes, because of course Kris knew about it. “Don’t cheat, that’s two,” Kris protested when Junmyeon only put one finger down. So Junmyeon rolled his eyes again and put two down.

“Anything else?” he challenged. “Something that doesn’t involve his physical qualities preferably.”

“He writes songs. He dances. He draws, well doodles actually,” Kris corrected himself. He probably didn’t realize that the corner of his lips was quirked slightly upward. “That’s five by the way.”

“That falls under the category of ‘Yixing is artsy’. So that’s one. And you only need to spend five minutes with him to know about it, so that’s not even a really good one.” But Junmyeon had already put three fingers down, so he was not so sure anymore.

“He’s behind in almost all of his classes. And it’s not because he doesn’t have the brain, but he just doesn’t really care about grades. He thinks he just needs to graduate so he could go to music school. And his parents are, probably, too encouraging. They would instead ask how’s his progress with that one song that he’s stuck with. So that doesn’t help.”

Junmyeon put another finger down without a fight. He didn’t even know about that. Not even remotely. And they had been working on a lot of projects together. Now, he was instead not going to be surprised if Kris could make him put another, or even more, finger down.

But Kris took a long time to tell him another fact about Yixing. He had his arms crossed on his chest and hi face scrunched up. His thinking face as Junmyeon called it.

“Yixing is…” Kris finally said, “all soft smile and couldn’t say no to people most of the time. And he could also be incredibly slow sometimes that I just couldn’t help but to worry that someone would take an advantage of him. But he also could be very, very stubborn. Just like how he always distracts me from trying to help him with his school works because he just doesn’t want to study. Or when he didn’t let me sleep because he was stuck with one part of a song. And it’s not like talking with me on the phone will help him to finish it or anything.” Except it sort of did. And now Kris was smiling. He didn’t, couldn’t, keep it down even if he wanted to. “Or like when I told him I’m not going to let a wet, stray dog inside my car. Then he just bolted out to pick up the dog and decided that it’s okay to walk home. And it was raining hard that afternoon.”

“You’ll kill me if I bring a wet, stray dog into your car,” Junmyeon stated, amused.

“I definitely will.” Kris glared at him with a mock threat.

Kris wouldn’t kill Junmyeon, they both knew that. He’d just torture him for the rest of his life, more that he already did.

“So, that’s five.” Kris pointed at Junmyeon’s fingers whose owner actually didn’t even remember anymore that he should keep count. “Can I ask him to be my date now?”

“I think you should try harder,” Junmyeon told Kris with supportive smile. He was amused by this unexpected development. But at the same time, he didn’t want to unintentionally stop Kris from seeing Yixing just because he felt teased.

“You think so?” Kris was trying not to smile back at his short friend but it was hard really, when he suddenly had feelings bubbling inside him.

“Yeah. Just go, okay.” Junmyeon pretended to be annoyed. “I have a prom night to save.”

“Well I have to save mine too,” Kris said as he standing up to leave the gym.

“Hei, Kris!” The taller boy stopped in his track and turned to face Junmyeon with raised eyebrow. “Good luck!”

The smile that bloomed on Kris’ face was something that Junmyeon was sure had only seen on very few occasions in all 18 years that had known each other.

PART 4