“And you didn’t think it was important to report?”

Luhan let out a soft sigh and pulled Baekhyun by his elbow. Ever since their leader showed up, everyone seemed to be walking on thin ice. He’s never showed his face ever since he decided that the union should disperse. Everyone thought that he was a coward and was planning to bring him down with evidence that would prove him to be an unworthy leader. 

But when he came back, their voices instantly disappeared. And it wasn’t because they were afraid of his presence, it was more likely due to the fact of the preparations he’s made.

“Kai, it’s not Baekhyun’s fault.”

“Then tell me whose fault it is.”

Baekhyun whimpered in fear. Kai wasn’t shouting nor was his voice loud, but it was low and scary. His voice reverberated against the walls of the quiet room. Baekhyun never thought that it would be possible to hear a button drop in a room with this many men. 

The grip he had on Luhan’s shirt tightened as he unintentionally made eye contact with the man sitting at the end of the room. 

He never liked Kai. He was too unpredictable and Baekhyun didn’t know when it would be the right time to talk to him. Despite being in the organisation for more than 5 years in, the petite man would always prefer to avoid Kai. Well, it wasn’t that difficult, considering that the man never makes appearance officially. Still, he was always around whenever he wanted to meet up with Luhan; whether or not it was regarding updates concerning the union. 

And because Luhan was always the one who needed to sit in for him whenever things went wrong, Baekhyun dislike for the man grew each time he watched as Luhan gets humiliated in front of the whole team.

“Kai, by the time he found out it was already too late—”

“Too late?” Kai ran his fingers through his own locks and heaved a chuckle laced with menace. He got off his chair and move towards the front of his desk, resting his weight against it as he crossed his arms. “I specifically told you to disperse. Do you think it was for fun?”

Luhan gave Baekhyun a side-eye before looking at the rest of their members. The numbers have drastically depleted. And while Luhan initially didn’t favour the idea of dispersing, he only understood the reason why after bumping into Sehun a few years back.

“Kris was on the move already and we had no choice but to—”

Before the man could finish his sentence, Kai’s intense glare managed to shut him up as he moved away from his table.

“I didn’t say we should do anything to him.” Kai said, his voice still light as if they were having a normal conversation. “My grandfather and his parents have their own history, I never mentioned that we had to continue where they left off.”

Baekhyun watched as everyone gave short glances to one another.

“We can’t just sit around idly all day Kai!” One of them refuted, “We all know they’re coming after our heads, Kris has already—”

Baekhyun gasped in horror when he saw a bat swung against the man’s head. His fear-filled eyes turned to Luhan who made the blow. 

“—you!”

“If you never decided to regroup and form a faux hideout in the first place, Kris wouldn’t have been able to find us.” Luhan spat, throwing the bat away. 

“Kai had everything under control the moment he made the decision to scatter us, it would’ve been more difficult to locate us individually rather than as a whole.” Luhan grabbed the wounded man by his collar and forced him to meet his eyes. “The reason we’re losing numbers, is because you decided to take matters into your own hands.”

Baekhyun’s eyes averted from Luhan to Kai. The latter held no expression on his face when Luhan pushed the injured man back onto the ground. Another reason he hated Kai was this; he never was transparent about the rationale behind his decisions. How was his union supposed to know the real reason as to why he told them to disperse?

“So… what now…” Baekhyun meekly asked. He can’t help but think it was his fault as well. Reporting and updating was his role and yet, because he thought Kai made a wrong decision, Baekhyun never thought to report about a few members of the team reforming secretly.

Kai cracked a smirk on his lips, “I don’t know Baekhyun.” He pushed himself off the table and strode closer to the quivering man. “You deliberately kept this from me, so why don’t you tell me what I should do.”

Baekhyun trembled when Kai whispered so closely to his ear. His eyes were on Luhan but the latter couldn’t do anything either. Luhan has reminded him countless times to not hide anything; especially if things could get messier.

He felt Kai’s strong hand grip his arm, making him wince inwardly when he felt Kai’s breath along his neck.

“I’m—”

“Kai.” 

The man instantly released his grip when his cousin called out his name. Of course, he didn’t mean to do anything to the older but he too was at a loss as to what he should do next. His union knew that he got married to Kris’s sister, but none of them dared to ask the reason as to why; they mainly brushed it off as him wanting to get closer to their enemy.

“I heard he got rid of one of his people, Jessica, was it?” Luhan added, going back to Baekhyun’s side. “I don’t think she’s one of us. So why did Kris—”

“It’s to convince his sister of course, that we’re still running after Kris and his union.” Kai sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “Jessica was just a scapegoat. Kris wanted Sehun to believe that someone dear to her was a traitor.”

Luhan went silent for a while before starting again, “But why would Jessica give up her own life and allowed herself to be labelled as a traitor?”

“She has a sister, Luhan.” Kai broke it down for his cousin and massaged his temples. “Sehun’s trust and loyalty are the most important assets Kris needs by his side; she’s the greatest right hand man he’s got.”

Luhan looked to the rest of their men. The ones remaining were mostly those who agreed for a permanent truce. Kai’s probably conflicted already. He wants to remove Kris but that would mean Sehun would get hurt. His love for her was genuine and Kai already knew who Sehun was even before they were friends. 

Back in university, Kai only planned to befriend her long enough to discuss a ceasefire. He realised that Sehun didn’t hold on to the past because she barely had any memories of her parents. Unlike her brother, Sehun could accept that what has been done cannot be undone; which was mainly the reason why she never saw reasoning for avenging her parents. 

But after what happened with Jessica, it was impossible to say that Sehun would remain still. Though chances were slim, Kris could still push a few more buttons to make sure that Sehun would continue down the road of revenge with him.

Kai knew that Kris was aware of his identity even before Sehun introduced them to each other. Kris, who was never transparent with his sister, was always keeping up with Kai’s whereabouts by using his sister’s relationship. But because Kai never came back to meet the organisation, all hopes of ambushing Sangria earlier, were lost.

Kai wasn’t surprised when Kris unhesitantly allowed his sister to get married to him. While Sehun is still an arm’s reach, he knew that Kris would exhaust every moment to use her as much as he still can.

At the end of the day, the one at the losing end would always be Sehun.

Kai’s forehead wrinkled as he thought about other options he could take. He never intended to hide his identity from Sehun but there was never an incident where he could openly discuss about who he was. Sehun must be living in hell since the Jessica episode. She probably has so much to say but had to suppress them in order to hide her true self.

“We don’t have much of a choice anymore,” Kai grumbled. “We’ll have to meet Kris soon, once we have everyone healed and cured.”

He walked to the desk and heaved a sigh, “The outcome of our final showdown will lead to only two options,” He looked to his men and showed no expression as he said his last words, “It’s either I expel the whole union or we join them.”

A surge of protests came crashing like waves on beaches as Kai dismissed them all and left the room. 

Right, it was always supposed to be like this. He had nothing left to gain from this organisation his grandfather left him. 

The union was never something he should’ve agreed to take over.

∞

A week has passed since the incident and Sehun has yet to meet up with Kris. She did call him back however, but she doubted her brother would leave her alone for too long. She had work to attend to and after a week of staying at home, her leave was finally over. 

The honeymoon was a total failure and she couldn’t believe Kris ruined it for her. Her heart still aches whenever she thought of her friend who’s now gone. Even if she betrayed her, Kris should’ve at least consulted Sehun before taking her life.

All kinds of thoughts swam through her mind as she got ready for work, but only one thing did not click. Chanyeol claimed that Krystal was still on the run— but it wouldn’t have made sense to only catch Jessica and not her sister. The two were inseparable.

And Krystal, being a devoted sibling herself, would’ve never left her sister to die alone. 

Sehun on her bottom lip in worry— something was not right. But, what?

There was only one person who knew the whole story, someone who knew the truth. And if she still was alive, Sehun needed to find her. And fast.

“Sehun?”

The bedroom door flew open and revealed Kai in his suit. A soft smile crept up Sehun’s lips. Kai never asked about the cause of Jessica’s death ever again since that night nor did he ask what Kris wanted from her. And she was grateful for the littlest things that he took in consideration. 

Her husband landed a soft peck onto her forehead and took her by her waist. “I’ll drive you to the uni today alright?” He insisted, connecting their foreheads together for a short moment. “I’ll fetch you once you’re done too.”

Sehun shook her head when he gave the second suggestion, “I won’t be at the uni for long. I only have two classes in the morning. Besides, being an associate lecturer means I can leave once my classes are done.” She told, correcting his tie while she was at it. “I’ll cook us dinner, okay!”

Kai pouted his lips in displeasure but nonetheless gave a skeptical nod, “I’d still be able to go to work after eating your— ow!”

Sehun jabbed a finger onto Kai’s side as soon as he came up with the joke.

“I’m kidding I’m kidding!” He giggled, seizing her wrists before pulling her in for a kiss. “I’ll eat anything you give me Sehun.”

Sehun heaved a breath when he pulled away, letting a playful smile linger on her lips. “Even poison?”

Kai let out a short chuckle, bringing her in for another embrace. “Yeah, even poison.”

Sehun’s smile dropped when she heard what he whispered. Kai was probably joking too but, why does it feel like he wasn’t…

“Okay, we should get going.” Kai chimed as he broke the hug, “I’m gonna be late and Suho is not gonna be happy.”

Sehun let out a laugh as she watched Kai scurry in search of his car keys. Sehun doesn’t remember when was the last time she felt so full. 

Her heart— of course. 

She wanted this to last forever. The feeling of being loved and being able to love. Meeting Kai was probably one of the greatest things that has ever happened in her life. A simper left her lips as she thought about the day Kai would find out who she really was.

As much as she hated betrayal, wasn’t what she was doing to Kai something similar? Wouldn’t he feel betrayed if he were to know?

“Sehun! Could you bring my phone along too!”

The woman shook the thoughts away. She can think about it later. They just got married and Kris wasn’t going to start anything funny anyway. He’s occupied with wanting to track every member of Sangria down. There was no way he’d find the time to stick his nose into her marriage. 

∞

“So, can anyone tell me what Mr. Reed has been teaching you while I was away?”

Being a psychology professor wasn’t really what Sehun aspired to be but it was a job that was handed to her. Back in school, she volunteered to be a student tutor where only those who were selected, get to sit in tutorial sessions with other students who were weaker in certain subjects. 

Sehun’s psychology knowledge wasn’t all that bad and when she graduated, her lecturer came up to her and asked if she could spend some time to sit in for their professor who was on maternity. She thought she wouldn’t be asked to stay when said professor returned but it turned out that the woman couldn’t balance her time having triplets at home. Sehun became her underling during her notice period for a whole month before taking over her place fully in the following lectures.

“Classic conditioning?” One of her students answered.

“Classical, yes that’s right.” Sehun corrected, “A brief explanation?”

“Producing a learned response through a neutral stimulus.” Another answered.

Sehun nodded at his response, “Yes that’s right. How about an example, can any of you remember the example Mr Reed gave—” she pointed to a girl in blue who had her hand raised, and beamed. “Yes you, please share.” 

“Um, the situation needs to include an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus. An example would be giving food to a dog, the unconditioned stimulus would be its food, and the neutral stimulus would be a bell.” She started. 

“If we ring the bell, the dog would not have a straight response since there is no significance in the action. But when we ring the bell and provide food for it, the dog will come for the food.” The girl continued. “So, if we keep ringing the bell and offering food to it at the same time, the next time we ring the bell, the dog would automatically understand that its food has been served.”

Sehun gave another nod in agreement and crossed her arms, “Well, what if I take away their food?” She asked, “Would the dog still come after a few rings of the bell?”

The students in the room shook their heads.

“Okay, then what about you. What are you attending classes for?”

Her students look at one another and drew frowns on their faces.

“To learn and study…”

“Um, to ace our exams?”

“Get a degree…?”

Sehun let out a small chuckle at their responses, “Well, okay. Fair enough.” She paced in front of the class slowly and rubbed her chin, “But what if you don’t ace your exams. Are you still going to study?”

“Of course, we study to ace our exams and we can’t stop unless we do.”

A bright look lit onto Sehun’s face, “Really! Okay!”

She heard a few ‘oh-no’ and ‘don’t tell me…’ fill the room and laughed heartily. 

“Aw, my students know me so well!” She flicked open her presentation slides and went to the page with a single title on it.

— PSYCHOTIC PSYCHOLOGIST —

“The due date for this assignment will be exactly in a month’s time.” She informed with a light tone in her voice. Her students never liked her topics but she wasn’t a strict marker. Sehun understood how difficult her topics were, but it was nice to see her future psychologists share the way they think. 

“It’s simple— just write about how you would think with a mind of a psychotic psychologist. It doesn’t have to be 1,500 words, doesn’t have to be a full length essay.” She wore a smile and folded her arms, “It can be any form of genre.”

The students couldn’t deny how much they disliked the topics she gave but they loved how she granted them the freedom to just— write. Once, a student of hers handed in a blank paper and received an A for it.

The question was to express an emotional risk.

She clapped her hands and proceeded to continue with her lecture. Something told her that the next batch of assignment she collects would be an exciting batch to grade.

***

a/n: hi guys, here’s another semi-long chapter! Please note that anything mentioned in this fic is quite essential in the following chapters so as to not confuse yourself! See you in the next one, and thank you for still reading <3 xoxo