Luhan's POV

I stood at the counter of the shop staring at the menu. The shop was deserted, not a single person could be seen. I knocked on the counter top waiting for Zhang-ge to come out from behind the back room.

Was no one here? It wasn't like Zhang-ge to leave the shop unattended.

I glanced at the back room hoping to see a familiar face, preferably Ling's.

I frowned and looked down again. I had come to China to talk to Ling, I wanted her to explain things to me as I couldn't help but feel as though I was the reason why she left Korea.

Of course she wouldn't want to see you, you didn't hear her out before.

I frowned and ran a hand through my hair. This did not mean that I took her side, I still couldn't believe that she would do something so cruel to Borin and certainly not her absurd story. Borin, hurting herself to frame Ling was next to impossible.

It's just that, I wanted to see Ling, see how she was doing, maybe get an apology so all of this can just blow over and we can go back to the way it was before.

"Hello?" I called out trying to empty out my mind.

It took a while, but eventually, Ling peaked her head from behind the door of the back room.

"Can I help you?" Her voice was barely a whisper and I had to strain my ear to hear her.

"Americano please," I said, trying my best to suppress the loud beating of my heart. No matter what Ling had done to Boin, I had come to realize that I could not deny my feelings for her. Love is strange.

Ling walked over slowly trying to hide her face with her bangs and failing miserably. She worked quickly and passed me an Americano from behind the counter, not once meeting my eyes.

I sipped my drink in silence as she stood there looking at her fingers. I put down my drink and prepared myself to start off the conversation.

How are you? What have you been doing? Have you been eating well?

"What are you doing here?" She said firmly and met my eyes.

My mind blanked out and I realized that I did not have a legit ament reason for being in China other than to see her. I looked down at my drink and said nothing. I felt pathetic for being there, I didn't side with her and yet, I loved her.

"I hear you're dating Borin," She said, her tone softened slightly.

Right, I was. I said nothing and didn't look at her.

"How is she?"

"Why don't you go and see for yourself?" I bellowed at her, letting my anger get the best of me. I watched as her brows arched upwards and she hugged herself protectively, taking a step backward.

Guilt hit me hard in the chest and I held out my hand apologetically at her. I didn't mean to yell at her. "Sorry."

She shook her head and looked away. "You still don't believe me." Her voice was a whisper now, and I felt further away from her than I have ever felt before.

"Ling, listen," I tried to reach out to her, to tell her it was okay that she did those things and that all she needed to do was apologize.

"No, you listen," She glared at me on the verge of tears. "I, didn't do it. I would never do something like that, why won't you believe me? I thought you of all people-"

She stopped abruptly and her eyes widened at the door. She wiped her eyes and cleaned her face frantically trying to erase all signs of her tears.

"So Luhan, you look great!" She forced her voice into her normal cheerful tone just as the entrance to the shop jingled open.

I turned just as Xiumin walked through the entrance of the shop, his forehead was dripping with sweat and his eyes were glaring daggers at me.

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Xiumin's POV

Yes, I ran to the shop as fast as I could, yes, people recognized me along the way, and yes, there are probably pictures of me running down the street all over the internet now but I couldn't have cared less. Luhan was with Ling and that's all that mattered. The two of them together would mean that feelings would start to develop and I-

I'm not confident that I could beat Luhan to Ling's heart.

I swung open the door to the shop and locked my eyes on Luhan. He looked at me in surprise with his mouth hanging slightly open.

I stormed over to him and slapped my hand down on the counter. Ling let out a small squeal of surprise from behind the counter.

"What are you doing here," I asked him. "Go back to Korea where Borin is."

"Minseok, it's alright," Ling tried to reassure me but I had no intentions of letting Luhan get closer to her.

"Stay away from Ling," I muttered between my teeth and pushed him away. I watched him stumble slightly to get his footing.

"I'm just here to see how she's doing," He said straightening his shirt.

I narrowed my eyes at him in disgust. "You have no right to do that."

From the corners of my eyes, I watched as Ling closed the blinds and closed the shop. She looked at us worriedly from the entrance but said nothing.

Luhan pushed back his bangs and nodded. "I realize that I don't have the right to do that, but I want to give her a chance to explai-"

"EXPLAIN?" I was fuming now, almost on the verge of losing it. "WHAT MORE DOES SHE HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO YOU? IT'S BEEN ALMOST A MONTH AND SHE'S TOLD YOU EVERYTHING, YOU'RE THE ONE THAT'S NOT LETTING IT INTO THAT THICK SKULL OF YOURS."

I paused, expecting him to retaliate in some way but when he didn't, I continued.

"Luhan, I'm really disappointed in you," I said calming myself down. "After knowing Ling, how could you even think for a split second that she would do something like that?"

"Then who was it?" He bellowed back annoyed. "You honestly think that Borin, yeah, remember Borin? Don't you remember how gentle she was back then? How is someone like that willing to hurt herself just to frame someone else?"

"People change Luhan," I snapped at him angrily. "You of all people should know that."

"Yeah, I do," He looked away and stuffed his hands in his pocket. "People change just like you did."

I glared at him, he was really starting to piss me off.

How have I never realized how stupid he was? What was he really doing back here in China? Did he really think, after everything he's done to Ling, he would still have a normal relationship with her?

I scoffed and looked at Ling. She looked at Luhan worriedly and fiddled with her fingers.

"Of course, she would be worried about him," I muttered under my breath and suddenly felt extremely agitated. Not knowing what to do with the anger and jealousy I had for Luhan, I threw a punch at the nearby wall. I held back a groan of pain, letting the pain of my knuckles distract me from the agonizing pain in my heart.

-----
Luhan's POV

I stepped forward as his fist collided with the wall with a crack. My eyes widened with concern, Xiumin was my friend after all. His fist-

"MINSEOK!" She screamed and ran to his side in an instant. She held his hand and examined it closely. With a sigh of relief, she wrapped her arms around him.

"Ling," My voice wavered into a silent whisper as my heart thumped loudly in my chest. What was she doing in his arms, since when were the two of them this close?

Xiumin held Ling closer, tangling his fingers in her long brown hair. He pressed his lips to her head and closed his eyes breathing deeply trying to calm himself.

No, I took a step back and supported myself on the counter, my eyes wouldn't look away from the way they held one another. They can't be-

Had Minseok and Ling become more than just friends?

Notes

//Author's Note:
Well isn't Luhan slow to pick up things... He is devastated at the sight he sees before him, Ling in the arms of another man. Is it possible that he is coming to his senses now about the incident with Borin?

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Thanks for continuous reading!
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