'Kai and Baekhyun?'

Kai stood up and brought his project to the front, ticking his and Baekhyun's name of the the list. Mr Kim smiled at him warmly. 

'Thank you, Kai-ssi'

So the teachers still use honorifics when addressing Kai. That is something.

Your mind trailed back to a lesson you had had a few weeks ago.

 

*Flashback*

'Eun Mi! Sit down this instance!'

'Waeyo, sunsengim? You can't make me!'

'Chae. Eun. Mi. Down... Right now!'

'You should use honorifics when you address me, Lee Sunsengnim'

You looked up to see your poor new Geography teacher trying to beat down the brat Eun Mi. You had made a bet with Jenny that it would be less than an hour before he flipped out.  

'Teachers don't address students with honorifics because we are the elders! Now sit down!' he roared.

 

Yep, Lee Sunsengnim has most definitely cracked. 

**

 

 

'Daehyun and Haneul? Can I have your project?'

Baekhyun poked you. 

'Haneul? Go give it in! Why are you just sitting here like a wet fish?'

You kicked your bag and it slid backwards, hitting Baekhyun's toes. 

'Ow!'

Daehyun shot a look at you and got up to give in the project. He also ticked off his and your names and came back to be seated. 

'Well that's finally done. Want to go get an ice cream once school ends?'

'Don't you have a party to organise?'

'Oh the people won't get to my house until about 6ish so I have time'

You considered it. 

No, I want to spend time with my family. The 12 boys who call themselves my brothers.

'Mianhae, Daehyun-ah but I'm going to just go back to my dorm. Since doing this project I've barely been able to spend time with the guys'

'Ah, araso. I'll see you tonight though?'

'Definitely, I wouldn't miss it for the world'

 

***

 

'Luhan! Luuuuuuhaaaaaaaan!'

Luhan came running out of his bedroom at the sound of you calling him. She wants to speak to me?! Once you saw him, you pounced like a tigeress. Not everyone had arrived back at the dorm yet, it was only you, Kai, Baekhyun and Luhan.

'Luhan! Luhan! I have really good news!'

'Oh really? What is it?'

'Tonight...'

'Yeah?'

'There...'

'Yeah?'

'Will...'

'Please just say it! It's killing me over here having to listen to you teasing him like this!' yelled Lay, smirking at the front door. 

'Lay! How were your lessons?'

'Yeah pretty good'

'That's good. Did you enjoy-'

Luhan frowned. Excuse me. You were talking to me, Haneul. He coughed to catch your attention. 

'Oh right... Sorry, Luhan. Basically Daehyun told me that there's a karaoke tonight!'

'I see... Why did you want to tell me that?'

'You sing! You should sing at the karaoke tonight!'

Luhan stiffened and Lay turned to you. 

'Luhan doesn't sing, Haneul... Not anymore anyway'

'What? But he does...'

Lay hung his jacket up inside the cupboard and walked over to Luhan. He patted him on his shoulder. 

'Maybe now's the time to tell her'

 

Luhan nodded and Lay went into his bedroom to leave you in privacy. You gulped. , what did I do? Seeing you bite your lip nervously, Luhan smiled reassuringly and cupped your cheeks. 

'Don't worry. You're not in trouble or anything. I just need to tell you my story.'

'Your story?'

'Yes. You've heard Chanyeol's and Xiu Min's and Lay's' Well... Half of Lay's anyway.

You sat down on the couch and brought your knees up to your chin. Luhan sat cross legged with a pillow on his lap. You covered your legs with your duvet and waited for Luhan to tell you why he had ended up in the dorm. The first thing he did was take out his wallet and showed you a photo. 

'See this? That's me in China when I was little. I always liked singing'

You nodded.

'I came to Korea wanting to be a singer, you know. I studied a bit of Korean so I'd be able to get by and my parents supported me to come here.'

You gazed at him, fully concentrating on what he was saying.

'When I arrived, I didn't know anyone so I asked for a job in a restaurant. I chose one that had karaoke nights every Friday but I never had the courage to do them because my Korean wasn't that great. After a couple of months, I was living at the restaurant still trying to get noticed by big companies and I decided that if I sang at the karaoke night and did well, I'd be able to showcase my talents, right?'

'Right. I get it. So did you sing then?'

'Oh yeah, I sang. I chose a nice song that I knew and it was all in Korean. My pronounciation was fine but I was booed off because my voice cracked at a high note. I hadn't practiced enough for it'

You were shocked. How could someone boo Luhan off when he has such an angelic voice?!

'I couldn't take the torment from my colleagues so I quit and found a job and a home at an older mens jazz club. The atmosphere was a lot nicer as they drank coffee or shandy, not vodka shots. I used to sing every week there and I thought I'd be discovered soon and I was...'

'You were?!'

'Yeah... By Park Sunsengnim'

Lay came out of his bedroom, changed into the clothes he was wearing for the party and sat down on the floor beside the couch. 

'It's true. Park Sunsengnim found Luhan in that dingy old jazz band club he was living in.'

'So he just asked you to come to this school?'

'N-Not exactly... He actually wanted to refer me to an entertainment company'

Lay nodded. 

'Park Sunsengnim went every night to the jazz club after he finished teaching to check on Luhan. He grew really attached to you, I think'

Luhan gave a shy, modest smile. Park Sunsengnim really is the life saver of these guys, isn't he?

'Wait... Why are you here then? Why aren't you some idol singer?' you asked

Lay chuckled and Luhan looked embarassed. 

'You know my temper?...'

'Oh yes. All too well.'

'I got booed one night at the jazz club. It had been about a year after getting booed at my first restaurant but I was so angry I lashed out'

'So Park Sunsengnim said Luhan should join this school and get away from it all'

You nodded slowly, taking it in. 

'And you were okay with giving up your dream?'

Luhan shrugged. 

'The dream died when I was first booed off stage. I vowed never to sing again but when I saw Park Sunsengnim come specifically to see me at the club, I couldn't let him down. He's like an adoptive father to me now. He gave me a house and brothers and now even a sister' Or something more than a sister... 'I was one of the first to come here. I was the first to meet Kris at the airport'

'I also met Kris at the airport. We were both coming over from China and got talking on the plane journey' said Lay, smiling as he remembered the events. 

'It's funny how we all ended up here, isn't it? I knew Sehun a long time before I met Park Sunsengnim though. I used to see him at the karaoke all the time.'

You slowly processed all the information Lay and Luhan were throwing on you.

'So who was here when you came to the dorm?'

'My first day was Xiu Min's first day too. We became good friends because we were living together'

'Ah, I see'

'It's funny, Haneul-ah. Some of us semi knew each other even before we officially moved in together'

'Yeah, it was Kris and Luhan who asked me to move in with them, you know' 

You exhaled deeply. Luhan chuckled and put his arm around you. 

'Confused?'

'Very'

'All you need to know from this is that I don't sing in public anymore and I never will again'

'He'll only sing if you're extremely special'

'Exactly'

Sing if you're special?... I suppose I must be special to him then... As a little sister... I'm glad he sees me as part of his family and not someone who just came and took advantage of their kindness. 

 

'So... no karaoke tonight?'

'Definitely no karaoke tonight'

 

 

 

---

OTL I fell asleep whilst typing this up... So here it is... a few hours late. Mianhae. I'm off to type up the next chapter ^^ I wasn't too sure what to have as Luhan's background story but I came up with this a few days ago before I went to sleep. If it doesn't really make sense, don't worry. Everyone's background stories pretty much link together so I'll be revealing the rest soon. It's on the top of my priorities to do :D