Emotion

His head is up on the clouds and anyone who is in a mile radius can see that—for the first time since the school year started—he is in a great mood.

The shift from his mood of wanting to kill anyone who dares to come across him to wishing them a great day is definitely frightening for two reasons:

One, because never had he wished anyone a great day. So with him doing so, one can't help but think that they would be dead the next day.

Two, because this is LU HAN we're talking about. And Lu Han is never kind. He could feed you to the sharks and would feel no remorse about it. He is a lot of things, but never kind and bubbly.

And so the sight of him grinning—on the border of being creepy—while trudging the halls of their prestigious snobbish school, can highly be associated as one of those signs that the world is ending. Everyone visibly cowers, some even takes their rosaries out of their pockets and say a lengthy prayer, while Lu Han passes them by and whistles a tune no one had ever heard off. (Later that day, a rumor that he finally summoned the devil circulates and puts everyone in a panicked state.)

Contrary to their ever imaginative mind, there is a legit and more acceptable reason to why he's suddenly the most carefree person.

And that reason is in the form of a hundred and seventy six centimeters of oblivious and cow-loving transfer student from two months before.

Slamming the double doors of the Voodoo Club open, Lu Han exclaims Irene's real name and immediately occupies his seat which is the chair that is in front of the black marbled table. The swivel chair—which Irene mostly occupies if he's not in the mood to play mafia—is turned away from him but Lu Han didn't think of it much and proceeds to tell the improvement that transpired last night.

"We kissed." he says, his voice giddy and not masking the happiness that he's feeling. ", I don't know how it happened, okay wait, I do. But details are irrelevant at this point. Can you believe it?! We ing kissed! Well, it was more of a peck, but hah! I finally beat Chanyeol and Jimin can't even come close to my level because of it! I'm ing back at the top of the food chain!" Lu Han ends with a huge triumphant grin.

With his grin still intact, the swivel chair turns around.

Only, the one sitting on it is not the person he is expecting. Or someone he recognize for that matter.

The long hair and barely reaching the eyebrow fringes is familiar, but the slanted eyes—which reminds him so much of a fox—round cheeks and thin lips are nowhere in his memory. Lu Han's jaw slacken when he is greeted by a face he had never seen before. Given that there's no way in hell he will remember each and every person in this school (that ability is reserved for Yixing alone thanks to his father's DNA), Lu Han argues that he can't miss anyone who had entered the Voodoo Club before (after all, he owns it from the moment he bought it from Irene and keeping score of the staffs and those who enters it are the basics in the world of business administering).

(And the Voodoo Club is definitely his business.)

The girl on the other hand doesn't seem to be faze by Lu Han's presence or the fact that he's looking at her like he'd just seen a ghost. Grinning wide, she recites an oh so familiar line:

"Welcome to the Voodoo Club! What may I help you with?" She says her lines with an enthusiasm that not even Bae "Irene" Joohyun could pull off.

Just when he is about to open his mouth—closing them when she recited her line—he is then cut off by the same girl. "Ah, do you want some tea? Coffee perhaps? We have a variety. They are all imported from different countries and you don't have to worry about the quality because I can assure you that they are the best among the rest." And she ends like some salesman who's coaxing Lu Han to buy his product.

What in world?

Shaking his head, Lu Han glares at the girl and slams his fist on the table. "First of all, who the are you and why are you in my property? Second of all, where the is Joohyun?" he says through gritted teeth. But instead of shivering and cowering—aka the initial response when you're faced with the eldest of the Lus—the girl simply does this oh-so-familiar blinking and smiles.

"Oh, gracious me. Please pardon my rudeness," she giggles through the back of her hand before stretching them out to Lu Han. "My name is Kang Seulgi and I am Miss Irene's apprentice: the one who is going to inherent the club once she graduates," she grins. "And as for where she is, Miss Wendy came earlier to tell her that—I quote—Eunbi is finally going to confront that who stole her man and she's going to do it in the fountain area. End quote. And then Miss Irene told me to stay behind before she ran out of the room."

Lu Han doesn't shake her hand. He never does unless he really have to. But Seulgi, whose aura is starting to make him uncomfortable due to how it is so similar with a certain someone, didn't mind his action and simply retracts her hand with her smile intact.

He shakes off the feeling and tries to digest the information she gave as much as he could. "So basically what you're saying is Joohyun is out there gossiping and you're here as her replacement?" he recites the things he understood so far. When Seulgi exclaims a "yup!", Lu Han leans back on his seat and spit a "un-ing-believable" under his breath.

Then he voices out the next thing that had been bothering him. Not so much but still it sort of bothers him.

"Why do you talk like you're a Disney princess? What is this? Is this a part of your training?" he questions while he rubs his temples. Bae Joohyun. You can always relay on her to be nowhere when you need her the most. Who the is Eunbi anyway? And how is she more important than Lu Han and his quest to happy ever after?

"My apologies." she starts. "I am actually related to the royal family which is why I speak this way. While it is true that the royal family is nowhere relevant after the monarch system is abolished, my grandmother saw through it to raise me like a proper royal blood that I am. She died though," she sighs and wipes a nonexistent tear in her eyes with a handkerchief she produced from the sleeve of her uniform. "but as her granddaughter, it is my duty to continue behaving in the way that she would have wanted!" then she pumps her fist into the air with a firm determination written on her face.

A Korean monarch.

A freaking Korean monarch in this day and age.

He swears this didn't just tell him that she's a descendant of the Emperor Sunjong.

But then again, when he thinks about it, XSAB is a home to many rich kids—not as rich as him but still—so she could be telling the truth. Which is irrelevant because what good would it do with his current situation? Leaning back, Lu Han groans and massages his neck. He really needs to tell Irene the current progress and get her opinion on what to do next! They can't just skip the second base and go straight to homerun, can they?

(Lu Han can say that he likes the idea but there's something in him that's telling him that Irene is not going to approve it.)

Somewhere at the back of his mind a tiny Lu Han suddenly suggests that maybe Seulgi could help him? After all, if she's really telling the truth about being Irene's apprentice that means that she's also good at advising, right?

Peeking at the girl from his lashes, he scrutinizes her.

She's pretty, alright. Too bubbly for his liking. Maybe crazier than Irene but for the girl to choose her as her next in line, there must be a good reason for it. Right? Deciding to test the waters, Lu Han leans forward and squints his eyes at Seulgi who in turn merely blinks and smile.

"Do you know who I am?" he starts with one eyebrow raised.

"Yes. You're Sir Lu Han, one of the four Alphas and the current owner of the Voodoo Club. Miss Irene told me about you." She says and her cheeks bunches up as she smiles wider.

Lu Han ignores how similar it is with Minseok's, and nods. "What else did she told you about me?" he questions once again and at the same time testing Irene if she really could shut her trap about those who comes to her for advice. When Seulgi tilts her head—index finger tapping on her chin—then shakes it, Lu Han is relieved.

"Nothing more." She admits.

"Good," The boy says and mentally sends a virtual pat to Irene for not disappointing him. "So..." clearing his throat, he gives the girl a look. "Why did Irene choose you?"

"Cause I asked her to." Is the response that he got.

"Cause you asked her to?" Lu Han parrots which is rewarded by a frantic nod of the head from the girl.

"Yes! I really admire what Miss Irene is doing and my uncle told me that I should join a club but I am bad at sports and some things," Seulgi explains. "So! I choose to be in the Voodoo Club instead." then grins.

"That's it? You have no talent or ability whatsoever that made her choose you?" he asks incredulously. He and that girl needs to have a major talk especially about choosing the next person to inherent your business. (Then again, Irene is an Art major so she probably couldn't care less.)

Seulgi appears to be thinking his questions through before perking up. "I do have one talent!" she says then pushes her chair back and goes under the table. Lu Han is mildly freaked out by her actions and is about to look down and see what she's up to. But the girl beats him to it and peeks her head from the table, before she then again occupies her seat. "I can read your fortune!" She exclaims and waves a set of what appears to be a deck of Tarot cards.

Okay, what?

"You can what?"

"Read your fortune." She repeats; not even bothered by how Lu Han is looking at her like she's crazy. Spreading the cards before him, Seulgi retracts her hands and places it on her lap. "If you have any questions to ask, the cards will provide you answers! Well according to the internet anyway, that's where I learned to read them." The way she giggles is no where near trustworthy and she could be an escape from a mental asylum for all he knows.

Then again this is actually the first time that someone from the Voodoo Club is actually presenting something that is somewhat Voodo-ish. Quite a breath of fresh air from the other members who only knows how to drink tea and giggle at people's misery.

Deciding that since he's in good mood, he should humor the girl, he leans back on his seat and asks her what he should do. Smiling, Seulgi tells him to asks something that he always want to.

Lu Han taps his fingers on the table for a couple of moments before he looks up and gives a the card a look. "Okay," he says. "Here's the question: nowadays, I find myself having way too many rivals—especially in the romance department and it's annoying me to bits! So, my question is, how can I annihilate all of my enemies?"

Seulgi simply nods before she asks Lu Han to take one card to hand her, and whatever that card maybe is the answer to his question. Doing just that-he randomly picks a card and hands it to girl.

He isn't really expecting much from it. For all he knows Seulgi could be a con artist and Tarot reading is all a bull in the first place. (Says the one who relied on zodiac compatibility test a couple of weeks ago.)

Then Seulgi mutters a "huh." and her head to the side. The boy questions as "what is it?" and the girl then flips the card showing a cauldron.

"The cards says you should cook them."

Byun Baekhyun—as much as how he hates to admit it—is getting tired of all the bar hopping that he'd been doing.

He never thought he'd grow tired of it in all honesty. To Baekhyun who would even do? Partying, swaying your body to the rhythm, getting free drinks from dudes he managed to convince that they'll get a piece of him but then he's gone before they could touch him, everything about bar hopping is as exciting as how those cheap flicks from Hollywood puts it to be. It gives you a sense of freedom and it's liberating in every sense.

But alas.

He did which is why he is currently cooped in his apartment binge watching all the Music videos of the only girl he'd smash: Taeyeon.

Munching on a slice of pizza, Baekhyun contemplates on making his homeworks—something that he really should do because he'd been gone from school for quite some time—but then after reading a couple of pages from the Lord of the Flies (a book he's supposed to make a report on) he quickly concludes that Ralph is an and he's not about to put up with his bull.

He could always text Hani—his ever loyal companion and new best friend because you Do Kyungsoo!—and ask her to hang out but after seeing her Instagram story, he knows it's not about to happen. Apparently, the girl is on a date with a handsome college boy blind enough to hit on her when they were on a bar, leaving Baekhyun feeling bitter ("How could she shag a man when I can't?!").

Throwing his phone on the opposite side of the couch, he huffs and lays down. Before him, Taeyeon's 11:11 is playing and he's about to drift into a imagery of a nonexistent breakup when, in the midst of his air-conditioning and Taeyeon's soulful singing, it is disrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Peeking his head from behind the couch, Baekhyun wonders who could it be.

The boy reluctantly stands up from the couch (not forgetting on taking his phone) and makes his way to his monitor. He presses the button but is strangely greeted by an empty hallway. Frowning, Baekhyun contemplates on opening the door or not. This kind of setup reminds him of horror movies wherein if he opens the door, he's going to be stabbed to death!

He shudders at the thought.

He's far too young and pretty to ing die now.

But then again, he remembers that this building is known for it's tight security and Baekhyun scrunches his nose before he decides that, yeah, there's noway in hell that a serial killer could get inside this building.

(Well, unless if said killer is also a tenant then that's a different story. But let's not get to that.)

Opening his door, the boy steps out of his unit and looks around. He sees no living being in the hallway and then wonders if some bored thirteen years olds are playing with him. Just the idea alone is turning his mood sour and Baekhyun is intent on making a complaint downstairs when he sees it. The boy does a sudden halt just as he register the blue box sitting just beside his door. his lips, Baekhyun crouches down to inspect the box.

A white bow is cutely placed on top of the lid and Baekhyun is kind of uneasy with the lack of recipient. But when he finally takes the lid off, he finds the uneasiness quickly disappearing as he his greeted with a sight of a cute beagle stuff toy. It is wearing a track suit with the initials BH embroidered on it. Taking it from the box, Baekhyun brings it closer to his face and finally realizes that it's one of those that is packed with an audio recorder and plays when you presses it chest. Doing just that, an unfamiliar song plays and is being sung by an equally unfamiliar voice.

"As if I was reborn as a child who doesn't know anything," the verse starts. "I was afraid it was a dream so I closed my eyes and opened them again, only to find myself standing before you like I've desperately prayed for." Baekhyun flips the stuff toy to check for any card or clue that would show who it's from but alas, there's none.

"I want to walk side by side with you, just once. Just once." flipping the toy back just so it faces him once more and Baekhyun sits in front of his door, this time, finally listening to the unknown song.

"Yeah, I ride the soft wind into your world. I went by your side; you brightly asked me where I came from? I told you it was a secret. If we could just walk together like this; wherever we go, it will be heaven."

It's incomplete. At least Baekhyun thinks that it is incomplete. The song ends with a fade after chorus but he finds himself pressing the chest of the toy just so it would play again. With a soft smile on his lips, the boy listens to the song more intently this time. He finds himself liking it despite of its incompleteness and how the voice of the singer is a little raspy. He once again roams his eyes in the hallway in hope to see if whoever it was that left it in his door is still around. But like how it was earlier, there's no one but him.

Shrugging, he diverts his attention back to the toy and continues to smile. A smile which is devoid of any pretense or is only produced by the alcohol in his system. It is a genuine smile, something that he hasn't been able to do for awhile and as he catches himself doing so, the smile becomes softer. He runs a thumb on the toy's soft texture and as a silent thanks, he pulls it closer to his face before resting his forehead on the toy's head.

If only will the boy look up that moment, he'll get a glimpse of the person who is behind the blue box beside his door.

Hiding in the corner, a boy—whose fiery red hair is hidden behind a cap—peeks his head from his spot and softly smiles at the scene. The fear of his gift getting rejected is disappearing into the thin air as he takes in the smile he is rewarded with. While it isn't exactly directed to him, just the idea alone that his composition and little gift are the ones behind it is enough to fill his heart with warmth.

Taking the beautiful sight one last time, the boy finally turns around and leaves; a satisfied smile etched on his lips.

Just as the music fades once more for the third time, Baekhyun's phone rings.

Seeing Jongdae's name flash on his screen prompts Baekhyun to put the stuff toy down and answer the call. The last time he'd seen the boy was when they went on a newly opened bar and got wasted. Sure they still exchanges messages regularly—the boy is still in his delusion that he and Yixing are going out—but seeing each other is nearly impossible because apparently, the Club activities are still on the run without him around and Joonmyun always see through it that they goes straight home. Simply knowing that is enough to put a bitter taste in his mouth.

"'Sup," he greets as he gathers the box and the toy.

Jongdae's voice holds a frantic tone in it and the older of the two can't help but frown. "I need your help." he says just as Baekhyun finishes locking his door.

"Help on what? Did you got your stuck on a door or something?" he tries to joke but unlike how he usually do, Jongdae doesn't laugh.

"I need you to come to the EX'ACT café in about twenty minutes, can you do that? I can't explain everything on the phone." Jongdae's tone is pleading and as Baekhyun places the toy on the couch, he can't help but get more confused.

"What's going on?" he asks.

"Baek—just. Please, you're the only one that I can think of who can help me. Please, we'll be waiting."

"We? Who's—hey!" pulling the phone away from his ear, Baekhyun huffs in annoyance upon realizing that the other hang up on him. Sighing deeply, he checks the time on his wall clock and decides the he probably should get moving. It may come as a shock—although he don't know why—but Jongdae never fails to arrive on time. With that in mind, he turns the television off and goes to his room; the stuff toy from earlier is securely tuck in his arms.

He's already ten minutes late by the time he parks his car in front of the café and a minute more just as he steps inside the building.

The EX'ACT café is more or less a part of the chain of coffee shops that is under their schools' name. It's situated only half a kilometer from the school buildings and is not exactly the place that Baekhyun could say that he likes. For starters, coffee shops are so cliche and the EX'ACT café's interior doesn't have that much distinguishing traits and is more or less a replica of Starbucks, just like any other coffee shops he'd been to. Second of all, this particular shop is mostly filled with Betas. In fact, with the amount of Betas frequenting it, there is already this unspoken agreement that it is now exclusively for Betas and Alphas alone.

Which is why the moment he takes a step inside, every other occupant of the room halts from whatever it is that they're doing. It is almost eerie when nearly a dozen set of eyes look at him and nobody speaks a word.

Sometimes, Baekhyun finds it a little creepy how these Betas can easily tell apart an Omega from them. But then again, maybe it has something to do with Baekhyun's reputation that's they can easily distinguish him from the crowd. Either way, he don't really care.

He's still confused to why Jongdae choose this place in the first place, and instead of reciprocating the daunting look a few girls are giving him, he takes his phone out of his pockets. But before he could ring the other boy, a very familiar figure approaches him and the cold expression on his face hardens.

"I..." Chanyeol starts and visibly flinches with the look he's receiving. He isn't wearing his uniform-much like Baekhyun, and in its stead is a dark jeans and gray v-neck shirt. Baekhyun is starting to put two and two together (how Jongdae's always so adamant that he give Chanyeol a chance) and if it's really what it is that he's thinking, the shorter boy swears Jongdae's going to get some. And almost as if he can read his thoughts, the tall boy is quick to raise his hands in defence. "I'm here to bring you to Jongdae. He's waiting for you on the second floor." he informs, much to Baekhyun's relief.

The shorter boy mutters a "good" before he walks by Chanyeol to make his way to the stairs leading to the upper portion of the building. Chanyeol catches up to him quickly and choose to walk a few steps behind the boy. It is uncomfortable on them both but Jongdae specifically told the taller to not let anyone bother his friend until he takes a steps on the stairs.

Baekhyun is half-expecting Chanyeol to say something (he always does) but when they finally arrives at the bottom of the stairs and the latter doesn't say a word, he has this sort of weird emotion bubbling in his gut. Baekhyun bites his lower lip and it takes all of his pride to not look behind his shoulder where he knows the boy is still standing.

He blames it on the fact that he hasn't seen him in weeks and is simply feeling uncomfortable from being subjected to his pretentious stary eyed stares again. So instead, he continues to move forward until he reaches the top and doesn't look back.

This is the first time he's ever set foot on the second floor of the café so he isn't really expecting anything. Maybe an exact replica of what's in the ground floor as it's always like that, right? Needless to say he is caught off guard when finally half of his body emerges from the stairs.

Baekhyun's mouth hangs low as he takes in the floor to ceilings bookshelves that are painted in white fitted in the walls on the right corner of the room, the equally humongous television planted on the wall on the left corner, the green sofa in front of it, the white carpeted floor, and most importantly the chandelier that is hanging by the ceiling.

The boy—in no doubt—more than surprised to see a living quarters above that snobbish café.

"Close your mouth before a fly nest in it." He nearly jumps when from his left comes a very familiar voice. Baekhyun whirs his head to the source of the sound and sees Jongdae leaning on the protruding metal railing. The boy is grinning at him and Baekhyun is about to open his mouth when he's once again caught off guard.

"Hi there." A new face comes into view—flashes him a single dimpled smile—and Baekhyun swears his eyes are bulging out of its sockets at this point.

"Y-you're... You're," he stutters, finger shakily pointing at the boy beside Jongdae. To which said Jongdae simply laughs at.

"I told you I wasn't joking." He says and as if to prove his point, Jongdae leans forward to place a chaste kiss on the dimpled boy's mouth. Baekhyun's knees finally gives in at the gesture and he choose to sit on the top of the stairs. "there's a more comfortable seat here but it's your choice if you want to sit there." Is what Jongdae says before he shrugs and makes his way to the green sofa Baekhyun saw earlier.

"What..." he gulps. "first of all, what is this place?" he questions as he forces himself to stand and makes his way to where the duo are sitting.

"My temporary home for a while," Jongdae says and the way his shoulder seems to deflate doesn't escapes his friend's eyes. "but to be more specific, this is Yixing's quarters. He sleeps here when he finds himself unable to go home due to exhaustion. The Chem lab is at the back of this café, unless you still don't know." Frowning, Baekhyun occupies the bean bag in front of the sofa and gives his friend and the other boy a look.

He understand what Jongdae is implying of course. Yixing bought this area to turn into a sleeping quarter, that's kind of easy to understand. What he don't understand is his first statement.

"What do you mean by temporary home?" he starts. "what's going on exactly and what do you need my help for?"

Sighing, Jongdae rests his head on Yixing's shoulder—a frustrated frown is on his face. Yixing is the one who answers Baekhyun. "Joonmyun found out about us and now he wants them to transfer schools." he says.

"He keeps on insisting that this is a problem, it's so frustrating. I don't know what to do anymore." Jongdae grumbles before properly sitting to face Baekhyun. "Baek, you need to tell him that this is not a problem. He keeps on using what you've told us during our first day. He won't even listen to me, he won't even believe that Yixing is not a bad person!" he exclaims.

"They're true though. What I've told you, I mean. They were base on experience." Baekhyun retorts.

"As you can see, not all of them are." the boy sighs before looking at Baekhyun in exhaustion. "His stress is getting the best of him and I don't want us to fight, I really don't. But if he continues to be so close minded with this situation, I'm scared that I might say something bad... That's why Baek, please come to the Lu's mansion with me... And convince my brother that it's not necessary to move out."

A mess.

A complete and utter mess, that is what this entire ordeal is.

It is going to go down wherever you may look and Baekhyun then quickly realizes that even with his presence, there's nothing that he could really do. He didn't even had enough time to marble the architectural wonder that is the Lu's mansion, when everything quickly went downhill.

Apparently, Jongdae already texted Joonmyun ahead of time and by the time the three of them arrives, his brothers plus Zitao are all waiting in the living room. Joonmyun is quick to show his uneasiness with the sight of Yixing but shifts his attention back to his brother. When Joonmyun informs that he already contacted Heechul, it is like a freaking dam broke and all of Jongdae's pent up frustration is let lose.

"So that's it? I really don't have any say to this?" The youngest of the Kims says.

"Dae, this is for our own good! Why can't you see that?" Joonmyun tries again get his message across but is only rewarded by a scoff from his brother.

"Says who? See that's what your problem is. You are so quick to decide what's good and best for other people but you don't think of what they would feel!" Jongdae seethes. "You think that you can just look at them and think, 'ah yes, this is what you should be doing!' but , no! You obsess too much on the lives of everyone around and that's just ing annoying!"

Zitao's gasp is coupled down by Baekhyun's. Yixing is trying to calm Jongdae at this point and the younger know he really should, especially when Joonmyun looks genuinely hurt by his words. But Jongdae feels that there is a need for this and so, despite how his heart is protesting, he continues.

"It's ing annoying when all you do is run your mouth with the pretense that what you only want is for the best because we all know that it is not! You ing want the world to be the way that you want it to just so you can make them feel, how you feel! You're just exacting your revenge because you hates the fact of how you were raised! Hates the fact that you can't be so carefree like Minseok! Hates the fact that Dad is relaying on you too much! Hates the fact that you had to mature at an early age and—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a palm comes in contact with his cheek.

Everyone within the vicinity freezes as they watch the scene unfolds.

"That's enough." A cold voice cuts through the atmosphere and Jongdae shakily raises his eyes from the floor and comes in contact with Minseok's cold ones. Behind him, Joonmyun is visibly stopping himself from crying and the sight breaks Jongdae's heart to countless pieces. His lower lip quivers and as Minseok continues to stand there, suddenly all so intimidating, he know he ed up.

"You should go to your room and clear your head. After that, we'll talk." Minseok then adds, this time, his tone and expression is a lot softer. With tears now freely falling from his eyes, Jongdae nods but instead of going to his room like how he's instructed to, he goes straight to the front door with Yixing in tow.

"I'm sorry," he quietly whispers before he runs out of the mansion.

It is then that a man riding a motorcycle finally arrives and enters the Lu's manor. Yet upon noticing the distressed look of his nephews—with one crying—he scratches his head and looks behind his shoulder before asking:

"What did I missed?"