Instead of taking me to the orphanage, Kris took me to a mansion. I didn't say anything- I couldn't say anything. It wasn't like I was awestruck or anything, but the storm... the falling... I didn't know what was going on and I didn't know what I could do.

Kris had lifted me out of the van easily and brought me into the mansion, slamming the door open and running into the living room. I was placed down on the sofa and Kris stood back with his hands on his hips. I couldn't tell if he was angry or relieved to have me there. I could only focus on the sound of his footsteps as he paced and the distant rumbling of thunder. I flinched each time as I heard it, because I knew that lightning had to be nearby. Kris watched as I flinched; he watched my every movement as if I were going to jump at him and attack.

"Kris, where did you-" I looked up as Suho entered the room, confused and surprised as he saw me sitting there with Kris near me.

"Myung Ji? Luhan, Xiumin, Baekhyun, Lay!"

As soon as they were called, the other four boys had ran into the living room. Upon seeing me, they had grown still and looked between Suho and Kris repeatedly. Kris quickly told them what happened from when I had fallen off the building. He didn't know why I fell off the building but said he had been close enough to catch me as I fell.

"Are you... afraid of lightning?" Luhan asked, watching as I flinched at the sight of lightning flashing through the window.

"It... reminds me of when I was young." That was all I could say about it. The six of them glanced at each other but otherwise remained silent.

"Do you hear that? The rain is getting stronger." As Suho looked out of the window, the rain did get stronger, blocking out the sight of the lightning in the sky. I breathed out a sigh of relief my quick heartbeat slowing down as I watched the rain.

"Are you hungry? We can cook something up quickly." I looked up at Lay as he spoke and slowly remembered why it was that I had been avoiding looking at him. The dull pain that I had been feeling after I fell was now gone, as was the tremor in my body.

"How do you do that?" He was taken aback. In fact, they all were. Lay's eyes widened and he visibly gulped as he turned to the others. I didn't see their reactions, because my eyes were wandering the space around me.

Strange scrolls hung on the walls and strange symbols of things like whirlwinds and hourglasses were scattered around the room. What did all of it mean, and what did it have to do with the twelve EXO boys? I noticed there were barely any pictures of them or their parents in the space, only symbols and antique decorations.

"Xiumin and Baekhyun will show you around the house and we'll make you some lunch." Suho offered with a forced smile on his lips. I pretended not to notice that he had gone tensed. What was that reaction, though? Why were the others nodding at his words as if they'd never heard a better statement anywhere in their lives?

That's what we ended up doing. Kris had gone into the kitchen without a word, and moments later I heard the crashing of glass. Lay had been quick to run in after that and Suho trailed after him with a sigh. Luhan remained with Xiumin and Baekhyun and slowly trailed after us as Xiumin led us up the stairs.

"The roof is pretty cool but we're not taking you outside until the storm clears up." Xiumin muttered, and I couldn't help but give his back a grateful glance. He brought us up several flights of spiraling stairs.

I had been scared at first, because falling down those stairs seemed to be painful, but Luhan was right behind me. Baekhyun was behind Luhan, though he had been quiet the entire time since I had come over with Kris. Why was I being so obedient, anyway? They ruined my life, didn't they? They were the reason why everyone suddenly hated me. They were the reason why I had stopped being invisible. They were even the reason I had fallen off the roof. I had no reason to be so obedient. As thoughts drifted around in my mind, Xiumin showed me the various rooms. They were filthy rich, but I hadn't expected them to have so many rooms full of games and books and expensive furniture.

"Where are your parents?" I asked them as we stalked past another room full of expensive things. They claimed it was Tao's room, and I wasn't surprised. He had often come to school wearing expensive shoes and accessories.

"They sent us here." Luhan muttered, but when I looked back at him, he was looking off at one of the doors to someone's room.

"Said we needed to grow up, or something."

Grow up with all this stuff? What, were they really just spoiling these boys rotten? It seemed like it. Although I knew I shouldn't spend so much time with the EXO boys, I was glad for the distraction they provided me from the lightning I had seen. There was no way I would be able to go home until the storm finished. Why Kris had brought me here was beyond me, but it was better than the orphanage where lightning was the only thing I could hear during the storms.

"What room is that?" At the far end of the hall there was a pair of double doors. There was some weird tingling feeling filling my body as we neared it, and I felt intimidated yet curious about the mysterious room.

"An altar for the twelve gods." Xiumin answered, though he refused to ellaborate any further. I would have said something to stop them and allow me to go into the room, but they had gone down another flight of stairs so quickly that I had to run to catch up to them.

"No one goes in there." Baekhyun added on, and as we strolled by the numerous doors and climbed down various staircases, I wondered why that was. Why didn't anyone go into a room that was an altar to gods? What gods were they even dedicating the altar to?

By the time we got back to the ground floor and the dining room, my mind was spinning with information about EXO I didn't particularly want. After so many years avoiding them and keeping to myself, I suddenly knew them like I was part of their family. Why did they choose me to get close to all of a sudden?

"How was the tour?" We had gone straight to a large and lavish dining room, where the remaining boys had sat around a dining table that had far too many chairs and placemats for twelve boys.

The boys that had guided me remained quiet, though Xiumin had gestured at the table with a forced smile on his lips. I returned the expression and sat down, wondering why it was that I had agreed to be in the mansion in the first place. The lot of them were silent as I joined them. There was a bowl of bibimbap in front of me, though I wasn't sure of how they were able to make it, since I definitely didn't know how to make anything like it. It smelled wonderful, however, and had brought back the apetite I had lost earlier.

While I sat there staring at my food and waited for them to stop watching my every move, the front door opened and the other six boys walked in, drenched and laughing at something I had no clue about.

"The elders are home!" Sehun's voice called in excitement, and he was quick to run into the dining room. Like the others that ran closely from behind, he froze as soon as he saw me sitting there with the others.

Suddenly, the atmosphere became thick with tension. I didn't understand why, but when I looked up I saw Suho's eyes narrowed at a visibly shaken Chen. My eyes roamed over their faces. Chanyeol didn't seem to be interested that I was there and took an empty seat around the table, with his phone in his hand. D.O. was in the same boat, taking the seat farthest from the group and fidgeting in his chair. The others filled in and took the empty seats, all but Tao.

"Sit, Tao." Kris's voice had a commanding tone in his voice, but Tao remained standing and flashed the elder a strained grin.

"Sure, hyung. I'm just waiting for our guest."

Guest? Was he talking about me? I had already started to pick at the bibimbap using the chopsticks I had been given. I raised an eyebrow at him, but his attention wasn't on me. He had turned back to the door he had come from, though he was standing nervously.

"Hey boys! What's she doing here?" Jimin had strolled into the dining room like she owned it, and as I stared at her, I felt the anger in my body grow.

Okay, so maybe I could understand what had made Tao so nervous.