L U H A N ' S  P O V

As soon as she leaves, Sehun and Kris come in. "What's going on? Why aren't you outside in the lobby with us?" Sehun asks immediately.

“And what was that girl doing with you? Wasn’t she one of the one’s who were on the stage?” Kris adds.

I sigh, knowing it’s time to tell them the truth. Selena, my sister, coming to the concert changed everything. Maybe, if she wasn’t a fan, maybe, if we didn’t perform in California...

“She’s my sister,” I tell them, cutting to the chase. As they both instantly start to ask questions, I raise my hand and decide to tell them the story from the beginning.

“When my - well, our - parents gave birth to me, they had to leave me with my father’s aunt and uncle. I’m still not really sure why, but it was important. My aunt told me that she remembers them telling me how much they loved me and that they would come back for me as soon as they could.” I pause, trying to remember my parents. A few fuzzy memories come up to mind, but I push them back, knowing I have to tell Kris and Sehun the whole story.

“So, I guess they came here, to California, and either they had another child right away, or my mom was already pregnant. Anyway, she gave birth to Selena, which is the girl that just left the room.”

“Your sister, basically,” Kris says.

I nod and continue the story. “Anyway, they stayed here and raised her, but... three years ago they died in a car accident. My mother’s sister, who lives here, sent us a letter about it... and also told us about Selena for the first time.” Sehun looks like he is about to interrupt, so I raise my hand again so I can finish. “I thought they had left me, and forgot about me. But when I found out I had a sister... I knew that I had to find her, wherever she was. So, I put a lot of time into trying to find out where she was. It was really good luck that she came to the concert.. so we could meet for the first time.”

Sehun instantly comes over and gives me a hug. I hug him back as I hear Kris speak up. “Listen, Luhan, we have to tell the rest of the guys.” I look up at him and the expression on his face is sorrow. I slowly nod at him to go and he exits the room.

Sehun breaks the embrace and looks at me. “Why didn’t you tell us before?” he asks, suddenly serious.

“I-I don’t know,” I say. And honestly, I don’t. Was it because I didn’t want to be pitied on? Did I want to be the only one with no parents? It was horrible lying to them about why my parents didn’t show up to our showcase. But it would be as equally horrible, or even worse, if I had told them the truth back then. At least with Selena around, things would be a lot easier to explain.

I sigh, and sit down in front of my mirror. Sehun comes up behind me and puts his hand on my shoulder. I bury my face in my hands, and we stay like that quietly, until we hear the door open again.

I lift my face up to see Kris come back in the room, his face ashen. Sehun asks the question that pops up in my mind. “What? Did they not take it well?” I glance in the mirror to see that he’s crossed his arms, in a defending position. I smile a little.

“No, they took it fine,” Kris replies. I look at him. “It’s just, after I told each of them what happened, I looked around for your sister, Luhan. But, I couldn’t find her. She must have left. Her, and her friends.”

 

S E L E N A ‘ S P O V

“Wait, what?” Christina asks, confused.

“I-I, we need to go,” I tell them.

“But we just got here!” Jia complains.

“We need to go. Now,” I repeat, firmer. I start to walk down the hallway in a fast pace, trying not to let my emotions take over me in front of everyone. I hear sounds of shoes, which let me know that Jia, Shen and Chris and following me. Encouraged by this, I push open the doors to where the concert was held. The lights are on at full blast, and people are cleaning up.

As the guards say, “Miss, you can’t exit this way.” and try to grab me, I start to sprint up the aisle, doing anything to get away from this place. I barely hear the struggle behind me which must mean that the guards are trying to stop the rest of them from following me. Once I get to the outside of the concert venue, and have run down the path we came down for quite a while, I stop running to sit down and catch my breath.

It makes sense, but makes no sense at the same time. Jia always insisted that Luhan had a similar appearance. And us looking alike would make sense if we were related. But why didn’t my parents tell me this? Why did they act like I was their first and only child? I knew I had relatives in Asia, but not that I had a brother.

Why didn’t my aunt tell me at least? Maybe my parents were waiting for the right time, but at least knowing I had someone to mourn with would have brightened my horizon a lot. I hear faint shouts and running, so I look up to see Jia and them still running towards me. I stand up, and wave at them.

I see Jia yell something, and they all start to run faster. As they near me, I see that Shen has a bloody nose. Probably has to do with the scuffle I heard with the guards earlier.

They finally catch up with me, and stop to catch their breaths as well. Jia straightens up and asks me, “What was that Selena?”

I turn away, ashamed, and murmur, “I don’t know.”

I sense that Jia is about to say something else, but Chris interrupts her. “Let’s just go home, give her some space.”

☯ ☯ ☯

 

“Did she leave today?” I hear Shen asking outside my door.

“No,” Jia replies with a sigh. “Well, not when I was here.”

“She came outside earlier to get some food and use the bathroom,” Chris says.

It’s been about a month since the concert and I discovered that Luhan was actually my brother. We came back to my house, and instantly I barricaded myself into my room. Jia, Chris and even Shen spent about an hour banging on my door, shouting at me to open the door until I screamed at them to stop, and then I broke down crying. Eventually, I fell asleep. The next morning I woke up and found all of them sleeping in the living room on the floor or sofa. I scurried off to the kitchen to get some food and then went back to my room. Now, all I do is leave to go the bathroom or the kitchen.

Honestly, I feel so betrayed by everyone in my family. My parents, for not telling me about my brother, my aunt, for not telling me when they died, even my brother himself, who obviously knew about me but didn’t bother to come look for me. I try to find a way to excuse what they did, but no matter how hard I try, it always points back to them not telling me, purely because they didn’t want to.

The murmurs coming from my friends outside of my door suddenly explode. “Well, I don’t care! My best friend is locking herself up and it obviously has to do with Luhan!” Jia yells.

“What do you want us to do?” Chris asks, her voice loud. “Call Luhan and have him explain what the hell is going on? Because we don’t know, and it looks like Selena doesn’t either!”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting!” Jia shouts.

“Hold up,” I hear Shen say. “I’ll try to get ahold of him. It won’t be easy, but it’s the best chance we got.”

After the first week of trapping myself in my room, Jia started to talk to me through the door. I didn’t reply, but she kept on talking anyway. Once, she told me that EXO made a decision to continue performing in North America, doing their first tour outside of Asia. It must still be going on if Shen thinks he can contact Luhan. I honestly don’t doubt that Shen can find him, and that’s the bad thing. If I did doubt him, then I would be able to keep my feelings inside, not have someone else spill it out for me.

A couple of hours pass by, and I hear Shen say something again. “Luckily, Luhan’s near by. He says he is coming as soon as possible.” Jia and Chris start to talk again, and I let out a little groan.

Now, there’s nothing I can do. I will have my feelings be ripped out along with my heart, because I love my parents still, but they betrayed me. I keep thinking this over and over until I finally fall asleep.

☯ ☯ ☯

When I wake up again, I hear voices by my door. I crawl out of my bed, and go to my door, pressing my ear against to hear the voices clearly.

“Is that him?” someone hisses. Jia.

“Must be,” I think Chris replies.

“I’ll go check,” a male voice says. Obviously Shen.

I hear Shen’s footsteps getting quieter and quieter, and my heart is pounding. Luhan is here to tell them everything. Everything, even things I don’t know. I stay quiet and still, knowing I need to listen to this. A couple minutes later I hear footsteps coming closer, but it sounds louder, meaning it’s probably two people.

“Hi,” a voice says. Luhan.

“Hi,” Chris replies, and it sounds like she’s smiling.

“Look, we aren’t here for a whole meet-and-greet thing, okay?” Jia says with annoyance in her voice. I can’t help but smile. Oh, Jia.

“Yeah, I know. You wanted to know about Selena?” Luhan asks.

There’s no response, so I assume Jia nods.

“Well, she’s my sister,” I hear Luhan tell them.

Sounds of assumption confirmed come from Jia and Chris. “Why didn’t we know this before?” Jia asks, not to anyone in particular.

“I don’t think Selena even knew we were related. When she found out... she looked shocked,” Luhan replies.

“How could she not know her own brother?” Chris asks, with a bit of disbelief in her voice.

“I don’t think our parents told her. When our parents gave birth to me, they left me with my dad’s aunt and uncle, for some important reason. I really don’t know why,” Luhan says, with a bit of venom in his voice at the last part.

“My aunt says she remembers them saying they loved me - a lot. And that they would come back for me as soon as they could. But I felt hurt after years passed and I was brought up by my aunt and uncle. It seemed like they would never come,” he continues. “Three years ago, when they died in the car accident, I got a letter from my other aunt that said how they died, and that I had a younger sister.”

I hear gasps coming from the girls, and I have to hold in one myself. He didn’t know about me until he was seventeen?

Jia asks the question on my mind. “So, you didn’t even know about Selena yourself?”

“Until I got the letter of course. When I found out about her, I knew that I needed to find out where she was. So, I eventually found out she was living in California, and when the decision was made to come to California for the performance, I knew I would find her, even if she hadn’t shown up with you guys,” Luhan finishes.

Some of the hate I had building up for Luhan disappears. He did try to find me, and he was trying his hardest. He cared for me, and he was trying to show it. I choke back a sob.

“Is she in there?” Luhan asks, and I imagine him gesturing to the door of my room.

“Yeah,” Jia says. I hear her pounding on the door, and she says, “Selena, get out of there! Luhan’s here to see you.”

I stand up and look at my reflection before I unlock my door and see my brother. I look strong, not anything like a girl who has been locked in a room for a month, crying her eyes out. Hesitating, I open my door and find all of them looking at me. Jia makes a strange, almost crying sound and traps me in a hug. I instantly give her one back, and I know that during this hard month she, and the others, have always been with me. When we separate, I give Chris and Shen their own hugs. Finally, I look into my brother’s eyes, and I almost start crying again.

Awkwardly, I stumble forward and give my brother a hug. It feels strange, especially since I know he’s famous. As we are locked in our embrace, I hear Jia say, “Maybe you two should go hang out... catch up on things.” I turn around to look at her, and then back at Luhan. He smiles a little and nods in agreement.

“Alright,” I mutter, and the both of us turn to leave, getting ready to erase the lies and uncover the truth.