“So who has dish-duty tonight?” D.O. called out. The second he had found the kitchen inside the new house, he had dominated it.

“If it was just Exo-K, it would be Baekhyun, but since he’s not here, it would be Kai,” Chanyeol answered. “Thank goodness I never have dish-duty,” he added under his breath. Since he wasn’t allowed in the kitchen, he was in charge of the vacuuming at the Exo-K hideout.

Kai glanced at Xiumin. “Who has dish-duty in Exo-M?” he asked in a disinterested tone.

“Um, we don’t have dishes,” Xiumin mumbled. “I just go buy sandwiches for the gang.”

“I’m sick of sandwiches all the time. I think D.O.’s the most important person in your gang,” Chen laughed. He had been the one who constantly praised D.O.’s meatloaf during dinnertime.

Areum leaped up. “I’ll wash dishes!” she exclaimed cheerfully.

“I’ll help,” Chen offered. Chanyeol glanced at the boy with astonishment. He was strangely the calmest Exo-M member about the collaboration, save Lay, the person who was always calm.

Areum washed the dishes while Chen dried them beside her. “When did you find out that your brother was the leader of a gang?” he asked, curiousity getting better of him.

“A week or so ago,” Areum replied.

Chen looked surprised. “Really?” He paused to place the clean pan in a cabinet. “You must’ve been shocked.”

The girl pressed her lips together. “Err, kind of. But I trust in Oppa; he’s a good person. I’m always… afraid that he’ll get hurt, but… And now with the problem about Beast…” A tear slid down her cheek.

The boy quickly took the plate she was holding from her hands before it could slip. With his other hand, he wiped her tear off her face. ‘So she’s also worried to death about the situation,’ he thought. ‘And she keeps it all under her cheerful mask…’ He wondered if that was the time to put a comforting arm around the girl’s shoulders.

Taking the plate back, Areum ran tap water on it. Just as Chen took the clean plate from her, Lay entered the kitchen.

“Water.” The mellow boy seemed to be talking to himself. He opened the refrigerator door.

Areum glanced at him. “You better watch out, Hyung. D.O. Hyung’s known to show no mercy to people who enter his domain.”

“Hyung?” Lay seemed almost as surprised as Chanyeol had been when he first heard the word. However, only his eyes betrayed his emotion.

“Hyung?” Chen repeated after him, just as flabbergasted.

As Areum was washing in the bathroom (there were thankfully two in the house, although even two bathrooms weren’t enough for thirteen people), D.O. voiced out the question of the evening. “If Joonmyeon Hyung doesn’t come tonight, who’s going to sit next to Areum as she goes to sleep?”

“I will,” Chanyeol immediately said. He glanced at D.O. “Don’t worry; I won’t spend the whole night up again,” he quickly added.

“By the way,” Kai cut in, “when Areum was with Exo-M, did she even sleep?”

Lay calmly raised his hand. “I held her hand as she slept on the first night. She didn’t have too many nightmares.”

Kai gaped at him. “You held her hand?” Chanyeol bit his lip. He hadn’t told anyone other than D.O. that he had also held Areum’s hand that night when Joonmyeon wasn’t home.

Nodding, Lay added, “We heard of her nightmares overlapping from the orphanage and the attack planned by Beast. Did you know that Kris Hyung is also from that orphanage?”

“So is Joonmyeon Hyung,” Chanyeol said. “What a coincidence.”

“He was sent there after his mom was killed by Beast. He narrowly escaped and made Exo-M in order to get revenge,” Lay continued.

“You don’t have to tell Exo-K every little thing about Kris,” Xiumin muttered.

“Joonmyeon Hyung also escaped the orphanage – with Areum, of course – and made Exo-K because he wanted to find the people responsible for his parents’ deaths,” Chanyeol revealed. He tilted his head. “I didn’t know our leaders had so much in common.”

“Why did Beast kill his mom?” D.O. asked.

This time, Chen spoke. “Apparently, his mom was an office worker of a company that was connected with Beast’s illegal drug deliveries behind the scenes. Unfortunately, she found out and then…” His voice faded.

D.O. nearly leaped up from his chair. “That’s what happened to Joonmyeon Hyung’s parents!” he shouted.

“Shh!” Kai hissed, pointing to the bathroom Areum was in.

Chanyeol frowned. “We never knew who was behind the illegal business Hyung’s parents found about before they were killed. We’ll have to ask Joonmyeon Hyung when he gets back.”

“We’ll need as many people as possible. Beast is a powerful gang; their warehouse isn’t a tiny building full of drugs. We’re talking about two floors here.” Kris furrowed his brow. “Leave one Exo-K and one Exo-M member with Areum at the new hideout. The rest can join us.”

“No one should know of this,” Joonmyeon added in an undertone. “Not even our usual gang buddies. If this leaks out, Beast might be prepared, or worse, attack the new hide-out while we’re gone.”

Baekhyun nodded furiously. “I’ll contact Chanyeol,” he declared.

Joonmyeon momentarily closed his eyes. “I hope she’ll be alright,” he whispered to himself. “I won’t be able to be next to her this time too.”

How is the story so far? Comment! ^.^