Of Fake Smiles and Broken Hearts

thirty five

"If you're looking for him, he's not here." Yixing whispers to his ear as he walks past him, hand moving over to the smaller male's shoulder to give him a reassuring pat.

"I'm not." He answers before plopping down on an empty seat beside him, looking straight ahead and controlling himself not to turn his head to various different directions with wild, searching eyes. Yixing promptly laughs at him with a kind-hearted smile as per usual. "It wouldn't be possible, too. So, I'm really not."

"It's okay to admit it, Kyungsoo." He replies with his hands neatly placed on top of his thighs. He makes sure to sit straight as well and Kyungsoo wonders if he'd always been like this—like an overly energetic child elated to learn during the first day of school.

"Also, it is possible for him to get here. Ever wonder about airplanes?" He laughs at his snarky remark as he shakes his head. He looks around the room and smiles like it was his first time in years. There was an unusual glint in the corners of his eyes although it's barely there. His foot impatiently taps on the floors of Luhan's two-story Victorian house that he inherited from his ancestors. It was fancy with its turrets, eyebrow windows and steep roof pitches that often reflected for Luhan to be a boring, old man by the neighborhood when he first moved in about a few months later. Yixing looks excited—eyes unfocused as he looks at the amount of drinks meticulously placed over the tabletop by a drunken Minseok who is still currently trying to arrange the bottles by height. Yixing looks at him and grins. "Are you, by any chance, informed that this is going to be somewhat of a reunion dinner party?"

"That's what I thought until I entered the vicinity. Apparently, it seems like I wasn't the only one clueless about this event being a high school party where everyone is supposed to make terrible mistakes."

"You're already sassing me and you're not even drunk yet." Yixing replies. "But you make a good point. This extremely looks like one of those parties. Strike out the lack of teenage girls swarming over you, of course."

"Oh, so you were that kind of student." The redhead replies. "I always pegged you for a good guy better off staying at home reading books, but I guess not. You were quite the playboy, after all."

Yixing laughs. "I wouldn't call it that way, but I guess so. What kind of student are you in high school? I'm thinking that you're some kind of party connoisseur judging by your impressive social skills. I admit that I'm quite jealous, though. I'm terrible at holding proper conversations during the past."

Kyungsoo rakes his fingers through his crimson hair and shrugs. "I wish I was."

"Lies." He replies with a wide grin. "Anyway, are you here because you thought that he'll be here?"

"I told you already. I'm not here because of him."