Prologue

:: PROLOGUE ::
❝Discovery❞

The room was silent, or considered silent enough as little children busily colored in their artworks as best as they could. Giggles and occasional whispers were heard as their teacher, a man who appeared too young for his age, watched over them. He smiled and complimented each of their work when prompted to, either kneeling or bending down to have a better look.

"A blue Santa?" the teacher chuckled as the child he knelt next to flashed a cheeky grin, "Why blue? Is blue your favorite color, Hyerin?"

The little girl, Hyerin, nodded with a bright cheerful smile on her face, her short pigtails bouncing with each bob of her head. "Maybe Santa could wear blue this year!" she chirped happily then continued to color the picture of the Christmas figure in as best as she could, trying to not color out of the line.

Chuckling to himself, the man stood up and continued his rounds.

He was Luhan, a man in his late 20s with a job as a preschool teacher in Seoul, South Korea. He had milk chocolate hair a bit tousled into a good-looking kind of mess, quite the pointy nose, dark eyes, and a smooth complexion. He was thin and on the lanky side, but he could throw a punch or two if it was necessary.

Originally from China, Luhan now lived in Seoul due to an exchange-program-turned-scholarship in his university where he was then quickly offered a job at the same school he taught at for experience during his degree. Although the culture was definitely different, Luhan mastered the language and he enjoyed his time in Seoul. He especially loved teaching the children.

It was also in Seoul where he met the love of his life.

Checking his watch, Luhan called for the children's attention for a brief moment to announce that they had five minutes left until they had to hand-in their work before being let out for recess. The children hurriedly but carefully tried to finish their artwork, each one of them eager to win the coloring contest. After all, the prize was a large bag filled to the brim with sweets and every kid would want that!

At the same school though a different but equally colorful classroom, a little chubby-cheeked boy sat on his chair, trying with all his might to be attentive in class, just like his papa told him to. Unfortunately, today felt different to him and he didn't really feel like paying attention.

His eyes started to wander about the room. As he was seated at the far back of the classroom, not any of his peers noticed him glancing anywhere else but their teacher.

The boy noticed the class' pet goldfish in its little fish bowl, which was on the windowsill. Since he was seated in arm's reach to the said window, the little boy stretched his arms out to pick up the fish bowl with his little hands. As he touched each side of the bowl, the surface of the water in the bowl slowly transitioned to a thin surface of ice, completely caging in the swimming creature.

"Whoa..." the boy was awed by what just happened. Did he do that? This never happened before.

"Xiumin? Are you listening?" the sweet voice of his teacher questioned and all heads turned towards him. The called boy tried to hide behind the fish bowl, peering half of his head up in embarrassment.

"Sorry, miss Lee," he murmured and put the fish bowl down on his desk, lowering his head guiltily. His teacher smiled a little, knowing that Xiumin was always attentive, and let the little incident slide. Maybe today was one of those rare days.

"Welcome! What can I get you today?" a short dark-haired man behind the counter greeted with a wide smile, his big doe eyes looking up to his customer. He quickly tapped in the customer's order, stashing the payment away into the cash register, and handing in the receipt before tending to the next customer.

This was how Do Kyungsoo's life went every day: he worked at a quaint cafe in the middle of the city of Seoul, tending to customers, new and frequent. Since the cafe was perched in between office buildings, there were a fair amount of customers every day, especially during break hours.

His boss was a nice middle-aged woman, who didn't mind if Kyungsoo sneaked a few bites of the marshmallows reserved for hot chocolate, nor if he accidentally left the "open" sign flipped on before he closed up for the day. She understood that people made mistakes every now and then, and Kyungsoo was her most trusted employee, as he had been around the shop for longer than any one of Kyungsoo's fellow co-workers.

Kyungsoo also found friends in his co-workers; there was Jonghyun, also a short man, but not short enough for Kyungsoo, who's got quite the bulky arms with such a height. Jonghyun manned the kitchen alongside their boss, as he was amazing at baking appetizing baked goods to be sold. There was also Kibum, who preferred to be called Key for some odd reason. Key was an inch taller than Jonghyun, had blond-dyed hair, and he had an interesting personality to him. Unlike Jonghyun, Key worked behind the counter like Kyungsoo.

Key and Jonghyun joked and often bickered to each other, which Kyungsoo found amusing. Even if they constantly fought, everyone knew it was nothing too personal, and they were still the best of friends despite all of it.

Kyungsoo enjoyed his quiet life. He had spent most of his childhood cooped up for tests, but he had freedom now and he relished in it.

"Yah, Soo, what are you daydreaming about now? Hurry up and pass this over to that customer over there, would'ya?" Key pinched one of Kyungsoo's cheeks, passing over a tray of hot, steaming coffee and a delicious-looking bagel into his hands. Blinking his eyes, Kyungsoo sheepishly smiled without a verbal response and walked off the counter to deliver the goods, missing the playful roll of Key's eyes as the blond went to preparing another cup of coffee for a different customer.

"Here's your coffee and bagel, sir. Enjoy," Kyungsoo smiled as he placed the order down onto the table in front of the customer. The customer smiled back in return, thanking Kyungsoo before the short man left the table to tend to other things in the cafe.

He noticed a different set of customers stand up off their table and leave, animatedly chatting to each other as they walked out of the cafe. Kyungsoo sauntered over to the table to clean up, fishing out a small table cloth from his apron's pocket out of sheer habit to be able wipe the table clean.

Ahjusshi!

Kyungsoo froze mid-wipe, his eyes widening at the sudden sound that rang in his ears for a split second. It sounded distant but close at the same time.

Ahjusshi! Help me!

Flashes of images, all of which he couldn't catch fast enough, clouded his vision alongside the distant call for help. Each scene flashed before his eyes in split-seconds and Kyungsoo's mind wasn't able to register fast enough on what he's seeing.

"Am I hearing things or is that a real call for help?" Kyungsoo wondered though he couldn't really tell because it sounded close, as if whoever was yelling for help was right next to him. Kyungsoo looked around the cafe. There was no one in close proximity, and everyone around him was calm.

More images flashed and overtook his sight, staying long enough for Kyungsoo to make out figures holding back a small child before the image disappeared again. Kyungsoo couldn't make out faces, as the picture was too dark to tell. However, deep down, he knew that he saw two tall figures gripping onto a child, dragging the child as he reached out for... Him.

The image all but vanished just as it appeared before Kyungsoo's eyes.

"What was that?" Kyungsoo murmured aloud, but nobody answered.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hello!

Thank you for choosing to read Pursuit! I hope the prologue intrigued you even just a little ^^

I think I forgot to mention that this is my first ever EXO fanfic... As well as the fact that I won't be updating daily/weekly, as this fic is in constant editing and re-editing and proofreading stage. I will, however, make sure to keep to updating and actually complete this!

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Prologue

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