Chapter Six

“Sehun! I’m back, and I brought a guest!” Luhan shouted as they made their way around the RV. When they made it around, she saw camping chairs set up around a burning fire. She noticed that within one of the chairs sat the boy with the knitted hat. She quickly remembered his name to be Sehun.

He immediately sat up at the sight of her, “What happened to her?” He growled towards Luhan. He made his way over to them. In a matter of seconds, she found herself taken within Sehun’s arm and carried towards a chair. He gently put her down and bent down onto the ground. He took her injured foot in his hand and carefully examined it.

“Get the first aid kit.” Sehun directed Luhan. Luhan immediately snapped out of his frozen state and ran inside the RV.  Sehun turned his attention back to her. “I’m Sehun.” He murmured.

“Ileana.” She replied.

“’And how did you manage to do this, Ileana?” He asked, carefully dusting off traces of caked mud and dirt from her foot.

“I stepped on a pointed rock.” She promptly supplied.

“Do you not watch where you walk?” He scolded lightly, “Especially when you’re barefoot in this terrain.”

“Well, I was thinking of more important things rather than watching where I was going.” She frowned back at him.

“There should be nothing more important than watching where you’re going.” She shot him a confused look and was surprised to see a hint of a smirk on his face.

“I’m back!” Luhan rushed over and sat down, placing the kit in between Sehun and himself.

“Good, now can you get some water and a wash cloth?” Sehun’s question was more a demand. Luhan replied with a small glare.

“Why don’t you get it?” He shot back. But, with one look from Sehun, Luhan quickly stood up and rushed away, muttering words under his breath as he did.

Nothing was said between the two as they waited for Luhan’s return. She didn’t exactly know what to say to her newly acquainted companion. Luckily for her, her stomach decided to break the ice with some loud grumbles. She quickly covered her stomach, clearly feeling a little embarrassed. Sehun looked down at her stomach and back into her eyes with an eyebrow raised.

“When was the last time you ate?” He asked. She looked away and thought for a moment.

“Um, well. Before I went to bed last night? I haven’t eaten anything since I woke up here, which was maybe 4 hours ago?” 

“Okay! Here is the wash cloth and the water you ordered, master.” Luhan came out of the RV again, with a bucket in one hand and a cloth in the other. He placed it down on the other side of Sehun and went to sit down.

“Wait, do you have leftovers from dinner?” Sehun asked. Luhan pursed his eyebrows together and then turned towards her.

“We do, are you hungry?” He asked her. Once again, her stomach heard the call and grumbled loudly . She tried to hide her reddening cheeks.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” He smiled lightly, “I’ll be right back. I hope you like stew!” Luhan said as he walked away and entered the RV for the third time. She chuckled lightly. She jumped a little when she felt something cold touch her foot. She quickly looked down and saw the Sehun was cleaning her foot.

“I-I can do that!” She stuttered out in shock and attempted to take the cloth out of his hand. He pulled back, and with a sharp gaze, pushed her shoulder so she rested against the back of the chair.

“Just relax. It looks like you could use a break.” His voice came out in a surprisingly light tone.

“Thanks.” She murmured out, “It’s just sort of weird…having someone else wash your feet.” He nodded, as he continued to wash away the dirt and grass that coated her feet.  He stopped momentarily, which caught her attention. He turned his gaze hesitantly to her. “What is it?” She asked.

“Could you lift your pant leg a little? I want to clean a little further up.” Sehun said. She quickly nodded and lifted the bottom of her pants so it rested just below her knee.  When he rubbed the cloth up her leg, she couldn’t help but get a little flustered.

“What happened there?” He asked, pointing to the side of her calf. She looked to her calf and saw her scar.

“Oh, I had a small accident when I was little.” She replied, “I was running through a forest with my brother and wasn’t looking where I was going. When I slipped and fell, a stick managed to scratch my leg pretty deep.” She smiled lightly, remembering the fond memory. That’s when she realized that she hadn’t even thought of her family at all since she got on EXO.

“Oh my god, my family.” She muttered, “They must be so worried, they have no idea where I am. How am I supposed to contact them? What if they call the authorities? What if they think I’m dea-“ A hand came and covered . She looked down and saw Sehun looking at her with soft eyes.

“Calm down.” He firmly said. “Don’t think about it right now.” And he removed his hand slowly from , which was left hanging.

“B-But, they’re my family!” She exclaimed, “And…and oh my god, why did this happen?” She shoved her face into her hands.

“Ileana…”

“…”

“Ileana, look at me.”  She peeked through the cracks of her fingers and saw that Sehun was giving her a look of exasperation.

“Stop that.” He commanded, taking her hands from her face. “Listen, I understand the thought of your family is tough. But, there’s nothing you can do about it. So forget it and move on.” She stared at him in shock.

“How can you say those things? Don’t you have a family?” She tried hard to keep her voice steady.

“No.” He replied, “I don’t have a family. But understand this Ileana, there’s no use frustrating yourself over something you can’t change it. So, don’t think about it right now.”

“And Chef Luhan is back!” Luhan slammed the RV door open, which made both Ileana and Sehun turn around toward him. Luhan quickly rushed around the chairs and sat down. He brought with him a large canister, which steamed when he opened the lid. “Mm, smells good doesn’t it? I swear, I make the best stew on this side of EXO. Right, Sehun?”

“I’ve tried better…” Sehun muttered, while continuing to clean her foot.

“LIES.” Luhan poked Sehun in the head, which in return made him grunt and glare at Luhan. Luhan only snickered back. “Anyways, try some. But be careful it’s hot. I just warmed it inside.” He flashed her a quick smile before pouring some stew into the lid and handing it to her. She took a sip, careful not to burn herself. She was pleasantly surprised by the taste.

“And…” Luhan prompted, “How is it?” She quickly smiled and nodded.

“It tastes great, thank you Luhan.”

“You’re welcome, I’m glad you like it.” Luhan replied. He sat up and decided to plop himself down on one of the chairs next to her.

She thought hard about what Sehun had said, and realized that he might be right. She can’t change the fact that she can’t contact her family, so why worry about it? It was a cruel realization that she didn’t want to accept. But right now, she did have other things to worry about.  She continued to sip on the delicious stew and focused her eyes onto the fire.

“Ack.” She squeaked out when she felt a sting on her foot. She saw the Sehun had applied some sort of ointment to the bottom of her foot.

“Sorry, I guess I should have warned you beforehand.” He murmured, still focusing on applying the ointment.

“It’s okay. I should be thanking you for treating me anyways.” She replied back, not wanting to look at his face. Sehun started to carefully wrap a bandage around her foot. When he was done, he lightly patted her foot.  She looked down onto her feet and saw that they were quite clean, though they were marred with some small scratches here and there. Her injured foot was wrapped up professionally and she couldn’t help but be thankful.

“Thanks Sehun.” She said, offering him a small smile. He stood up and gave her a nod. He then faced Luhan.

“I checked the recordings today and there was a spike when that,” He flickered his gaze to her, “-that thing happened earlier. But after that, everything went back to normal.” Luhan nodded with understanding.

“Okay. Luckily for us, it seems the answer to these flares has come to us.” Luhan nodded towards her. “So, Ileana, want to tell us a little about yourself and how you got to be in Sector L?”

She bit her lip, unsure of what to say. “Well, I um, sort of woke up here.”

“Woke up? In Sector L?” Luhan asked, “And you don’t remember how you got there?” She nodded.

“I was in my bed last night and then, I woke up on the ground, in a field.” She furthered explained.

“And what? You found the road and followed it?” Sehun cut in. She shook her head.

“No, there’s more to it. I walked around and eventually met D.O and Suho, I suppose you know them…” They both nodded.

“Everyone back in the City was wondering where they went off to. Who would of thought they were in Sector L..” Luhan muttered, “Anyways, what happened when you met them?”

“Um, they gave me an envelope and told me I had a mission to complete.” She thought a little harder, “Actually, they mentioned something about a guy, they said he was going to like me. Do you know who they were talking about?” She asked. They only shook their heads with a look of confusion.

“Do you know what the mission is?” Sehun asked.

“Kind of. They led me to a barn, where I opened the envelope. And it was what caused the vision thing. After it stopped, another boy came and found me in the barn. He told me he was a messenger and that his task was to give me a book. Wait…” She widened her eyes, “Oh my god, I forgot the book in the barn.”  She stood up and pursed her eyebrow with confusion. There was something in her hoodie front pocket. She reached inside of it and pulled out the book, which had the envelope and its paper placed in it.

“But…” She opened the book within her hand, “I swore I forgot it at the barn. I didn’t have it when I was walking.” She looked between Luhan and Sehun who looked completely unfazed. “Uh, do you not find it strange?”

“Not really, that book probably has a tracking spell on it. It’s only natural for it to appear when you need it.” Luhan explained, “So, what’s so special about the book this guy gave you?”

“Oh, well. Inside it, there were instructions, they weren’t really clear though. After talking to Chanyeol about it, it seems it’s telling me to stop a war from happening between Sector K and M.” 

“Are you serious?” Sehun asked, looking completely shocked. “But, the treaty-“

“Sehun, you know no one’s happy with the treaty.” Luhan cut him off, “It’s only a matter of time before something happened. It just looks like that time is coming closer than expected.” Sehun looked away bitterly.

“And how do you plan on going about stopping this war?” Luhan continued to question her.

“I don’t know. It didn’t tell me. All they told me was that it’ll come naturally.” She replied.  “I didn’t really know what to do after that. Chanyeol suggested that I should go to the City, you know, go to where the action is.  I obviously didn’t have anything else better to do, so I agreed. He then led me to the road and we separated.”

“You mean he just left you by youself?” Sehun cut in with a slight edge. She blinked up at him in surprise.

“Uh, yeah. He said he had people that were tracking him in the City and it wouldn’t be safe for me to stick with him. So he told me to follow the highway and I’d eventually find my way to the City.”

“Well, he should have walked you a little of the ways at least.” He continued, “You’re a girl, alone in Sector L, who knows what could have happened.” She frowned, not really like his attitude at that moment.

“Sehun, it’s not a big deal. Chanyeol wanted to stay with me but I told him to go. Can I get back to my explanation?” She shot him a sharp stare, daring him to counter her. He looked slightly ticked off and turned his head away from her. “As I was saying, I walked down the highway for a while before I saw Luhan in the distance. I remembered him from the vision and decided to try my luck and approach him. And well, you guys know the rest.” There was a small silence as everyone processed the information.

“So, the plan of action is for you to get to the City…did you have any idea what to do after that?” Sehun asked.

“No,” She sighed, “I honestly have no idea. All I know is I’m supposed to stop a war. I don’t know why it has to be me and how I even got here.” She felt a small itch on the inside of her elbow. Her memory struck her.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to mention when the vision stopped, I got this weird tattoo.” She pulled up her sleeve and nearly jumped back in shock, “Oh my god, you’ve got to be kidding me…” She rubbed at her skin.

“What is it?” Luhan asked, pulling out of his seat a little, attempting to see the tattoo.

“It changed…again!” She stopped rubbing in a huff, “It was a seed at first, then a sprout and last time I checked, it was a more matured sprout. Now it looks like a small sapling.”  She faced her arm to the fire, so they could see it.  They looked it over in a curious manner.

“That’s a little strange…” Luhan commented. She nodded in agreement. “Although I don’t know what the tattoo signifies, I’m pretty sure Sehun and I can give you a ride to the City. Right, Sehun?” Sehun hesitantly nodded.

“I just…can’t believe another war might happen.” Sehun muttered, rubbing his hands over his face. “The last one was just so horrendous. I don’t think EXO can take another one.”

“EXO definitely can’t handle another one, Sehun.” Luhan added. “Listen, Ileana. I think we might be able to help you. We have some reliable contacts that can give us some answers, like who might be fronting the war and stuff like that. In the meantime, I’m sure Sehun wouldn’t mind some extra help around his shop.”

“Shop?” She asked. Sehun nodded.

“Besides working in the lab, I owe an oddity shop. I live in the section upstairs. I suppose you could stay with me until we figure out a course of action to stop this war.” Sehun gritted his teeth nearing the end of his comment.

Ileana processed the offer in her head. It was apparent to her that this mission of hers was taking form. It was becoming a reality. She couldn’t run away at this point. She had to gather her bearings and work hard to finish this mission. Fear and confusion aside, she just knew she had to do it. A lot of people would suffer if she walked away. She was put on this planet for a reason and she decided at that moment that she was going to try her hardest to fulfil it.

“Okay. Let’s do that.” Her voice rang out clear into the waiting silence. Luhan and Sehun gave her a firm nod.

“Good. We leave tomorrow. Let’s go get some rest.” Luhan stood up and stretched. “We have a couch inside that you can sleep on if you want.” She nodded and gave him a smile.

“That’s wonderful, thank you.” She replied. She was thankful she didn’t have to sleep on the ground at least. A couch waiting for her inside sounded heavenly.

“Well, I’m heading inside to sleep. You guys should probably do the same.”Luhan waved to both of them, “Good night.” And he walked inside the RV. She turned her sight onto Sehun, who was putting out the fire with the water used to wash her feet.

“Sehun.” She whispered. He froze and turned towards her, “Did…you lose your parents in the war?” When his shoulders visibly deflated, she felt immediate regret. Did she not know how to control her curiousity? “Sorry, forget it. It’s none of my bus-“

“They did. They volunteered their services to the government, only to be slaughtered.” Sehun folded one of the chairs in a harsh manner. “They were supposed to stay in the labs and be safe. But then both sides started to raid each other and no one was safe anymore. I answered the door one day and I was told that they were killed in cross fire. They gave me a lump sum of money, as if it’d take away the pain of their loss and told me they served their Sector well. What complete and utter bull.” He threw the folded chair onto the ground in a fit of anger.  She jumped in shock, she slowly stood up and walk towards him cautiously.

“Have you ever lost someone?” He asked with gleaming eyes.

“I…I haven’t.” She stuttered.

“It’s a terrible feeling. Like someone stole a part of you. I don’t wish anyone to feel what I did. So, you better bring yourself together and do this right.” A tear escaped his eye and she quickly approached him and wiped it away.

“Sehun,” She whispered, “I will do everything in my power to stop this. I promise.” She took her hand away from his face and began to wrap her arms around him in a light hug. She gently squeezed him before letting go and stepping away. She then slapped him arm, jokingly. “Now, I’ll help you pack up and then we’ll get some sleep. Sound good?” Sehun nodded his head and turned his back to her, picking up the chair he threw.

So, they packed up the remaining chairs and the tables which had some interesting diagrams about the sun and the moon lying across it. They found themselves finish their work quickly and Ileana entered the RV before Sehun. She quickly saw the couch and made her way over to it. She saw that Luhan had put out a blanket and pillow for her. She smiled, silently thanking him. She unwrapped the blanket and laid herself down onto the pillow

“Good night.” She whispered and slowly fell asleep. 

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Hey there :) Man, I keep updating faster than I expected. But there is a reason for this quick update. I woke up yesterday with a migraine, then when I stood up from bed, I had to ran to the bathroom and byebye my dinner went. I had a high fever and all that jazz. So, I had to cancel my plans, which were to see an expensive concert with friends Tuesday night. Ugh, I feel better now. It was like, a one day flu thing. I was not impressed with my body. 
Anyways, enough about me. Oh my goodness, I got a new batch of subbies with the last update. And the comments I've been getting...I don't know what to say. I think EXO-M understands me a little:

(Courtesy of YEAHEXOMARCOS.tumblr.com)
Yes, I did write my ending note to match this macro...there's nothing wrong with that. 
Anywoot, EX-O, EX-O to each and everyone of you. 
Giveaway of the day: *Throws Sehun Knit Hats* I like hats. Especially ones wore by Sehun. 
Kay, buhbye now.