Come On Make Me Feel Alive [2/3]
<< PART ONE
Mountainville, GA
Tao puts in a call to their friends back in the City as they drive away from Atlanta. It is three bajillion degrees outside, but the inside of the luxury car is at a steady sixty-five.
“You’re all still alive?” Chen asks, voice earsplittingly loud over the speakers.
“Hey, fuck you too,” Lu Han calls back from the back seat.
There is laughter in the background from Xiumin and a second later, his voice appears. “Where are you guys now?”
Kris’ eyes flit to the GPS on his dashboard for a quick second. “Georgia,” he replies shortly. “We’re on route 85.”
“Where to?”
“I have relatives who own a peach orchard not too far from here. We’re going to spend a few days on their farm,” Tao replies.
“Wait, did you say farm?” Lu Han’s arms wrap themselves around Tao’s neck and start to tighten. “Did. You. Just. Say. Farm?”
Tao flails and smacks Kris in the face, causing the car to swerve dangerously into the next lane.
“Pipe down, Marilyn,” Kris growls, getting the Cayenne back under control. “I don’t want to die today.”
Yixing takes it as his cue to drag his pouting best friend back into his seat.
Tao’s family own a peach orchard, a farm, and a bed & breakfast. They arrive a little later than previously planned, and go straight up to the front desk.
“Huang Zitao, is that you?” The girl behind the counter, no more than five years younger than the rest of them, latches onto Tao’s neck in a bear hug. Her hair was short, bleached to a light platinum blonde.
Tao bats her away, introducing her as Amber, one of his bratty little cousins.
“Little?” she scoffs, rolling her eyes. “I’m not little anymore.” She eyes the other three quickly, before deciding that Yixing was indeed her favorite. “Let’s go, dimple-boy,” she says, patting him on the shoulder. “I’ll show you to your rooms.”
Everyone but Lu Han decides to go out to the orchard the next day. Tao and Kris are excited about picking peaches, and Yixing is excited about eating the peaches. Lu Han, on the other hand, flat out refuses.
“How very manly of you,” Amber scoffs as she prepares to leave with the other three.
Lu Han just glares and slinks into the kitchen.
By day two, Lu Han is too bored to stay by himself at the bed & breakfast. With a whole lot of complaining, he slathers on three layers of sunscreen and ventures out with the others. He and Amber tease each other the whole time, but he survives, to his own surprise.
“I think you tanned,” Amber says, poking Lu Han on the shoulder.
Lu Han lets out a shriek of horror as the others all start laughing.
“I was just kidding,” Amber chortles, ducking under Tao’s arm as Lu Han reaches out to strangle her.
That night, they make peach cobbler and eat it with ice cream out on the upper balcony. The setting sun leaves a hazy, orange glow over the horizon, and Lu Han turns comment on the sight. The phrase is caught in his throat, however, when he sees that Yixing is already looking at him, eyes twinkling.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Lu Han says.
Yixing doesn’t look away. “Yeah,” he replies softly. “Beautiful.”
New Orleans, LA
When they make their way into a New Orleans hotel, the lobby is bustling and the staff seems frazzled.
“Maybe it’s for the crawfish festival,” Yixing wonders, and Lu Han punches him in the shoulder.
“What crawfish festival?” he asks, rolling his eyes at Yixing. “Seriously, I think you’re just making things up now. Why would they have a festival for tiny lobsters, huh?”
Tao appears behind them making an annoyed noise. “Guys, come on, let’s get some rooms and get on with it. I’m not feeling well and I want to sleep.” He turns around to face Kris, who’s typing furiously on his phone, paying the other three no attention at all.
“Kris,” Tao says. “Kris!”
“What?” Kris asks, looking up. He looks around briefly and when there seems to be no emergency, he goes back to his phone.
“Probably texting Joonmyeon,” Lu Han offers. “Personally I am cringing at the thought of being committed to one person.”
“We know,” Tao and Yixing say at the same time, and Tao and Lu Han both look at Yixing because Yixing has never said anything about Lu Han’s habits before. Yixing looks confused, though, so they both drop it and Tao makes his way to the concierge.
“Yes sir, can I help you?” the concierge asks, looking slightly flustered at all the people in the lobby.
“We’d like to book four single rooms for two nights, please,” Tao says, and the concierge nods, looking down at the computer to book the rooms. She quickly looks up again with a grimace.
“I’m sorry, we’re almost completely booked because of the crawfish festival,” she says politely, and Lu Han turns to Yixing, surprised, but Yixing isn’t paying attention at all. “But we do have two single rooms with full beds and one single room with a king-sized bed, so you could have two people in the one room and the other two rooms with one person each, if that suits you.”
“We could go to another hotel,” Kris suggests, looking up from his phone, but Tao shakes his head vehemently.
“We can make do,” he says. “Nose game for who gets the double beds.” Kris and Tao are quick to put their fingers on their noses, and Lu Han misses it by a split second. Yixing, on the other hand, has still not noticed that any sort of game has started.
Lu Han sighs but doesn’t protest, turning to Yixing. “You and I can share a bed, right? It’s not a problem. It’s like sleepovers when we were in elementary school.”
“We’re sharing a bed?” Yixing asks, looking confused.
“Yeah, Xing, you and I have to share a king bed because the hotel doesn’t have four single rooms,” Lu Han explains as Tao hands the concierge his credit card. “It’s not a problem right?”
“No,” Yixing replies slowly.
“Good,” Tao snaps, “because I’m fucking exhausted and I’m sure as hell not going to sleep with either of you.”
“And I have a boyfriend now,” Kris adds.
“Yeah,” Lu Han rolls his eyes. “Come on, let’s put our stuff in our rooms so that we can go party.”
And a few hours later, they do go partying. Lu Han is in his element, buzzed by two mint juleps and a heavy beat.
“Clubbing is the same everywhere,” Tao complains, sipping at a New Orleans Hurricane. “I don’t understand why he likes this so much.”
Kris chuckles. “Come on, Taozi, live a little. Go find a nice girl to dance with. There are plenty of hot girls here and I’m sure you could take your pick of them.”
Tao scoffs. “I’m not interested in a one night stand,” he says, and he looks at Kris pointedly.
“Joonmyeon was not a one night stand,” he replies. Yixing looks up from his Appletini (which Lu Han had made fun of endlessly) and sighs loudly. “He wasn’t!” Kris persists, but Yixing just looks confused.
“Who isn’t what?” he asks, and Tao turns to him.
“Do you approve of Lu Han doing this?” he demands. “Kris thinks Lu Han is fine. You don’t think he’s fine, do you?”
“Fine?” Yixing asks, and Tao’s eyes flick to Yixing’s bright green drink before he makes eye contact again.
“Are you drunk?” he wonders.
“No,” Yixing replies, and he doesn’t sound drunk at all. Tao’s expression softens.
“Are you feeling okay?” Tao asks, and Yixing nods. Tao smiles and turns back to Kris.
“I’m pretty sure Yixing thinks Lu Han is fine. So I will agree with you for now.”
Tao gets up and wanders onto the dance floor, where a tall redhead smiles at him. She seems Tao’s type, so Kris thinks Tao is going to be happy. Meanwhile, Lu Han has a tiny brunette with curly hair grinding against him, and he seems extremely into it. He figures “to each his own” and doesn’t think about it further.
Yixing’s martini glass is empty.
A busty blonde girl sidles up to Kris and Yixing watches her ask him to buy her a drink. He smiles and tells her that he’s taken, and she looks a little put-off before retreating.
“I’m tired,” Yixing finally says, turning away from the view of the dance floor. “Do you mind if I go back to the hotel?” Kris looks at him for a moment.
“No, of course not. I’ll let Lu Han and Taozi know you’ve gone. Are you going to be ok?”
“Yeah,” Yixing responds. He’ll be fine.
Back at the hotel, he can’t fall asleep. He keeps thinking of the blaring music and the bright green concoction and the way that girl had been gyrating her hips against Lu Han’s. He thinks about Tao’s dissatisfaction with hookups and Kris’s smile when he’d told the girl he was taken. He thinks about how on Earth he’s going to find his passion.
Kris texts him at twelve-thirty saying he’s back in his room, and Yixing gets a text from Tao at one saying the same thing.
Lu Han doesn’t come back that night, and Yixing vaguely thinks that a king-sized bed really is too big for one person as he drifts off to a fitful sleep.
Millersburg, MS
They are somewhere in Mississippi, on Route 55 north, when they run out of gas.
“Where the hell are we?” Tao asks, looking around.
“I think I saw a sign for some state park about three miles back,” Kris replies.
“Three miles?” Lu Han pales. “I am not walking three miles anywhere.”
“Let me check if I have any service,” Tao mumbles pulling out his phone. A moment later, he sighs. “Nope.”
“Oh no,” Lu Han groans. “It’s going to be like what Chen predicted; we’re going to get murdered by serial killers or eaten by cannibals, only in the middle of Mississippi instead of Wisconsin.”
Tao gives Lu Han a judging look. “We need altitude,” he says, turning to Kris. “I’m going to get on the top of your car and see if I can get signal up there.”
“Hell no,” Kris shoots back, “no one is getting on the roof of my new Cayenne.”
Lu Han groans again. “We’re going to die out here, aren’t we? Yixing, I’m too young to die. Yixingggg, are you listening to me?”
Tao gives Kris another pointed look. “If you don’t let me, we have to listen to that for god knows how long.”
“Yixingggg. Hey, Zhang Yixing. Wake up and listen to meeeeee.”
“Go,” Kris decides, closing his eyes. “Hurry up and call for help.”
Forty minutes later, an AAA truck appears on the horizon and Lu Han finally shuts up. Yixing somehow manages to peacefully sleep through it all.
Memphis, TN
Lu Han finds his favorite brunette to date in Memphis. They have arrived just in time for lunch, and stop at a popular restaurant. A small brunet is on stage, singing to jazz music with a soft, angelic voice.
“Look at those lips,” Lu Han whistles under his breath. “I want some of that tonight.”
Tao just blinks at him.
Yixing, on the other hand, is focused on the dancers instead of the vocalist. “Remember when I used to dance?” he asks suddenly, rounding on Kris.
“Sure,” Kris replies, glancing away from his phone. “Why did you stop anyway?”
“Mama Zhang made Xingxing go to Engineering school,” Lu Han explains. “She threw this really big bitch fit about it.” In his opinion, Mrs. Zhang is kind of a big bitch in general, but he decides not to tell that to Yixing.
At that moment, the song ends, and the vocalist bows, about to leave to stage. Lu Han’s eyes light up and follow the boy like a wolf stalking its prey. “I’ll be right back,” he mutters, slipping off his stool.
Lu Han approaches the singer at the bar with a confident smile. “You have a lovely voice,” he says with an outrageous wink. “Hi, my name is Lu Han.”
The boy blinks at him with big eyes and takes the hand Lu Han offers. “Hi there,” he replies. “My name is Do Kyungsoo; you must be from the North.”
For a moment, Lu Han swoons because omg a sexy southern accent.
“New York,” Lu Han confirms without hesitation. “Well, Mr. Do, would you like to show me around?”
Kris decides somewhere between his third and fourth servings of barbecued ribs that he was having the best barbecue in the world. “I’m going to bring Joonmyeon here,” he says through a half-chewed mouthful of food.
With a disgusted expression on his face, Tao shoves Kris away. “Don’t speak with your mouth full,” he commands, half heartedly. He expects Yixing to speak up about Kris’ manners, or lack of, but to his surprise, Yixing stays silent, eyes fixed on the plate in front of him.
“Something wrong, Yixing?” Kris asks, finally swallowing.
Yixing shrugs. “How did you know that you like Joonmyeon?” he asks.
Kris is surprised by the seriousness of the question and pauses for a moment. “My heart speeds up whenever I just think of him,” he finally answers. “I can’t explain it; I just know.”
“Oh,” Yixing replies, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. “Oh.”
Kansas City, MO
“I think I’ve found my calling,” Kris declares, his mouth and hands covered in barbecue sauce.
“What?” Lu Han asks, “eating baby back ribs?”
“Yes,” Kris replies, taking another bite of meat. “The ones in Memphis were good, but the sauce on these is orgasmic, I swear to God.” Tao nods vigorously.
“I think it’s my calling too,” Tao says, and everyone is shocked to see just how messy he is. Tao’s never been a messy person but somehow he’s even got the sweet barbecue sauce on his forehead. Lu Han guffaws, nudging Yixing. Yixing looks up, having been lost in thought as was typical of the last few days.
“Tao!” Yixing cries. “You have sauce on your forehead!” Tao crosses his eyes as he attempts to look up at the sauce, and Kris sighs, reaching for a paper towel and wiping off Tao’s forehead.
Lu Han pouts at Yixing. “How’s my face?” he asks.
Yixing looks back down at his plate. “Fine,” he says. Luhan looks up at Kris, who shrugs.
“I think your face sucks,” Tao sniggers, and Lu Han threatens to wipe his hands off on Tao’s sleeve. Everything is almost normal, Lu Han thinks, but he’s not sure he likes how pensieve Yixing is being these days. He misses his best friend.
Greentown, KS
“Kris, it says we have six miles of gas left,” Tao says, eyeing the fuel gauge suspiciously.
“It’s fine,” Kris says, “I’m sure there’s a gas station coming up.”
There isn’t, and they run out of gas as they coast along the highway’s shoulder.
“How the fuck did this happen again?” Lu Han laments, kicking the driver’s seat in frustration. Kris slumps down in his chair, too annoyed to even reprimand Lu Han.
“I’ll call AAA,” Yixing offers. “At least this time we have signal.”
“Are we in the Wizard of Oz?” Tao asks suddenly, and Lu Han guffaws loudly.
“Well, we are still in Kansas so probably not,” Lu Han says, and Kris shakes his head.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” he says, and Lu Han and Yixing follow his gaze to where a girl wearing a blue checkered dress is holding a little brown dog.
“Dorothy?” Yixing wonders. “Wait...does that mean -”
“You’re the Scarecrow!” Lu Han laughs maniacally. “Yixing would definitely be the Scarecrow, right? Taotao, you’re the Cowardly Lion and Kris, you can be the Tin Man.”
“Fuck you,” Kris says. “You’re the Tin Man, oh heartless one.”
“You’re Glinda, then,” Lu Han chuckles.
“Fuck no,” Kris snaps, and Tao motions to Yixing to call AAA while the other two fight.
“Yeah?” Lu Han challenges. “Let’s ask Dorothy, then.” They turn to look out the window, but to their surprise, ‘Dorothy’ is nowhere in sight.
“W-where’d she go?” Kris asks, and they look every which way but the girl has completely vanished. “She’s gone!”
“Maybe it was our imagination,” Yixing suggests, the phone to his ear.
“There’s no way,” Tao says quietly. It’s going to be an interesting story to tell when they get back.
Denver, CO
“I don’t want to go camping,” Lu Han complains noisily. “It’s going to be gross and we’re not going to be able to sleep right and -”
“Lu Han, would you be quiet already?” Tao interrupts. “Yixing wants to go, right, Xing?”
Yixing looks over from the window absentmindedly. “Hm? Yeah,” he replies distractedly. “Yes.”
Tao sighs loudly, rolling his eyes. They’re driving up a mountain or a hill of some sort - it must be a mountain - right outside of Denver.
“It’s got to be around here somewhere,” Kris muses, looking around for a cabin.
“Is that it?” Tao asks, pointing far in front of them. Kris makes a eureka! sort of noise and drives up to it. As they pull into the dirt patch that is a bad excuse for a parking lot, a very scary tall man comes out of the cabin and bounds up to their car. Lu Han practically jumps into Yixing’s lap, spewing all sorts of nonsense about serial killers, and he even cries out for Kris not to roll down the window. Kris ignores him and the man leans into the car.
“Hi!” he cries, “I’m Chanyeol! I’m going to help you guys set up camp! You must be Kris and Yixing and Tao and Lu Han! I have your reservations for tonight! Camping is great!”
“Weed is legal in Colorado, isn’t it?” Lu Han asks in a whisper, and Yixing nods. Lu Han makes a distraught noise and Yixing just laughs at him.
“You’re down to rent two tents - is that right?” Chanyeol asks. Kris nods. “I’ll be around as well. The entire camp has dinner at five, otherwise you’re free to do what you want!” He smiles at them, and to all of their surprises, Lu Han is not ogling the handsome brunette camp director.
When Chanyeol leaves, Tao calls him out on it. “Lu Han, he’s got brown hair. What’s the deal?”
“He’s hardly petite,” Lu Han scoffs. “Besides, I don’t want to hook up with a crazy drug-addict camper, thank you very much. Anyway...I don’t know. He’s definitely not my type.”
“Yixing, what do you think?” Kris asks, and Yixing looks up.
“Nah,” he laughs. “I have a very specific type.”
Kris clears his throat and they all jump out of the car. Chanyeol’s grinning at them, holding two duffel bags.
“I have your tents!” he cries.
Tao smiles, turning to Kris. “I call sharing a tent with you,” he says pleasantly, eyeing Yixing. Yixing has been less excited about everything since New Orleans and Tao doesn’t want to be around him anymore.
“Fine, Xing and I will share,” Lu Han scoffs, and Yixing doesn’t respond. “But I refuse to sleep until we’re passed out drunk.”
They get drunk, alright. Chanyeol has joined them with a few beers of his own and they’re all chatting amicably.
Lu Han and Chanyeol are about equally drunk, and the other three are slightly more sober by the time the fire starts to die out. Kris puts more logs on the fire, expecting to relax, when Lu Han pulls out a brilliant idea.
“Hey,” he says slyly, “how about we play truth or dare or strip?”
Chanyeol jumps up excitedly. “Yeah, yeah!” he cries. The others reluctantly agree (Kris is hardest to convince, but it’s easy to convince Tao, who says he has no secrets).
“Wait, what is this game,” Yixing asks cautiously, though his words are starting to slur.
“Well,” Lu Han says in a falsely esoteric voice, “truth or dare or strip is a wonderful mix of spin-the-bottle, truth or dare, and stripping. One person spins the bottle, and whoever it lands on gets asked ‘truth or dare?’ They can choose either truth or dare, but if they receive their question or dare and refuse to answer or do it, they have to remove one article of clothing.” He grins as he finishes, and Yixing nods slowly.
“Fair enough,” Kris sighs. “Who’s gonna spin first? Because I sure as hell am not going to.”
“I’ll do it,” Lu Han cries, taking a swig of his beer. He spins the bottle and it lands on Tao. Tao bites his lip as Lu Han gives him a creepy grin. “Truth or dare, Taozi?”
“Dare,” Tao says proudly, but he looks nervous. He gulps down almost half a bottle of beer as Lu Han thinks up a dare for him.
“Okay, Tao, I dare you to call Sehun and tell him that you’re in love with him,” Lu Han grins. Kris rolls his eyes but Tao just pulls out his phone, dialing Sehun’s number. “Put it on speaker,” Lu Han says. Tao does as he’s told. They listen to the phone ring a few times, and then Sehun picks up.
“Hello?” comes Sehun’s voice, yelling over a crowd. “Tao?”
“Sehun,” Tao says loudly, trying to outdo the music playing in the background. “Sehun, I love you!”
“What?” Sehun cries. “I can’t hear you.”
“I said I’m in love with you!” Tao yells, and Lu Han is laughing maniacally. Chanyeol, too, is giggling, but it’s mostly because he’s had too much beer and not because he knows what’s going on.
“Thanks, Tao,” Sehun says, “but I have this weird feeling you’re playing some dumb game like truth or dare and Lu Han put you up to this. Also I was about to get this hot girl’s number so fuck you.”
“Fuck you too,” Tao replies sweetly. “Get laid, Sehunnie! Bye!” He hangs up and smiles smugly at Lu Han. “He knows you too well,” he laughs. Lu Han pouts as he drinks more beer - they’ve each had at least a whole bottle each by now, except for Yixing, who’s still working on bottle number one.
“Well, I guess you’re next, Tao,” Chanyeol says. Chanyeol is still very giggly, and he keeps eyeing Lu Han hungrily. Yixing is glad he’s sitting between them, because he’s sure they’d be making out at any moment if he wasn’t there to be their barrier. He’s glad Tao is straight and Kris is committed, because he has a feeling if that wasn’t the case, this has the potential to end badly
Tao spins, and much to Yixing’s dismay, it lands right in front of him. “Truth or dare?” Tao asks, and Lu Han smirks. Tao narrows his eyes at his friend but turns back to Yixing as Yixing answers.
“Truth,” he says, and Tao spits out a question immediately.
“Do you like anyone right now?” he asks, and Yixing doesn’t miss Tao quickly glancing around the circle to gauge for reactions. Yixing, too, looks. Kris looks bored and uninterested, and Chanyeol is still watching Lu Han. Lu Han has at least stopped laughing but he’s drawing circles in the dirt, and Yixing’s heart falls just a little.
“Yes,” he replies quietly, and Tao grins.
“Xing, go, it’s your turn,” Lu Han says, and he sounds irritable. Yixing frowns.
Forty minutes later, they’re all in various states of undress. Yixing only had removed his socks - Lu Han had dared him to remove an article of clothing, and Yixing protested that he’d have to no matter what, which was apparently exactly Lu Han’s intention - but Kris is unfortunately left with just his boxers.
It’s Tao’s turn to spin the bottle, and this time, it lands on Kris. Kris gets up.
“I have to pee,” he says, and he wobbles a little. Chanyeol jumps up and attempts to steady him, but suddenly they’re both wobbling very dangerously. Yixing finally stands and holds them both, directing Chanyeol to his seat and Kris to his. Nobody will be falling into the fire today.
“Truth or dare?” Tao asks.
“Truth,” he sighs. Tao scoots over next to Lu Han and Lu Han whispers in his ear. Lu Han laughs wildly, and Tao starts to laugh too.
“Yes!” Tao cackles. “Kris Wu...have you ever had phone sex with Joonmyeon?”
Kris looks up at him, blushing scarlet. “Pass,” he says immediately. “I pass.”
“You do realize this means you have to take off your boxers, right?” Chanyeol laughs. “You’ll be completely naked.”
Kris curses, biting his lip. “Fine,” he says. “Fine.”
“So? Have you ever had phone sex with Joonmyeon? You have to tell the truth,” Tao says.
Kris sighs loudly, and he frowns. He mulls over his words for a while as the others wait for him to answer. “Well...I wouldn’t call it phone sex,” he says finally. “It’s more like...like...”
“Going over your fetishes and secret desires with him? In graphic detail? Which sometimes ends with your hand in your pants?” Lu Han cackles evilly.
“We can hear your moaning sometimes,” Tao adds, and Chanyeol’s laughing like crazy at that point.
“Fuck you all,” Kris mutters.
“Nah, we’ll leave you Joonmyeon for that,” Lu Han giggles.
“I hope it lands on you, Lu Han,” Kris says bitingly, picking up the bottle, “because you are going to regret this.”
It does end up landing on Lu Han, who asks for a truth. “What’s the most people you’ve ever slept with in one twenty-four hour period?” Chanyeol asks him. Lu Han smiles, looking up as he counts them mentally.
“Well, there’s that one time I had a threesome early in the evening, and then I did a girl, and then a guy, and then another threesome later in the night so I guess that makes...six?” He grins at Chanyeol with a wink, and Chanyeol sits up a little straighter, smiling drunkenly.
They’re all very drunk, excepting Yixing, and Kris still is slightly sane but more bitter now that he has admitted his secret.
So when Lu Han spins the bottle and it lands on Yixing, Yixing is dreading it.
“Ask for a dare, Xing,” Lu Han chuckles, prompting his best friend.
“Okay...” he sighs. “Dare, then.”
“I dare you to make out with Chanyeol,” he laughs, and Kris and Tao suddenly quiet down.
“Come on, Lu Han,” Kris says in a warning tone. “Don’t make him do that.” Yixing is thankful for his friend.
But Lu Han pouts. “Aw, it’s just harmless fun, right Chanyeol? You don’t mind, right?”
“Nope!” Chanyeol grins. Lu Han turns to Yixing.
“Do the dare,” he says, and Yixing doesn’t want to disappoint Lu Han. He doesn’t want to make his friend frown.
So he scoots towards Chanyeol, who looks eager, and he kisses him slowly at first. Chanyeol’s mouth tastes like beer and he’s far too slobbery, but even so, Yixing closes his eyes and imagines that it’s someone else kissing him.
PART THREE >>