Chapter 2:

“So, who died and made you king?” the teacher asked loudly, injecting the needed emotions into the line. He wanted the class to learn to properly place their emotions into words, and words into emotions so that they would be able to communicate properly. “Yoona?”

“None,” she replied firmly. “For I cannot be a king.”

“Well said,” her teacher replied with a consenting tone. “You are all coming along splendidly! Soon, we will be able to go onto real plays and musicals, no more of this nonsensical bickering that you and I do. Remember, class, acting needs action and reaction in order to flow smoothly. No matter how amazing one is, if the other cannot follow through, your audience is left in limbo. That is all for today, you are dismissed!”

The members of the class all began to file out of the room, scurrying off to their next classes.

Why did I even take that class? Yoona thought to herself. It wasn't required of them, neither was it one of her passions! True, it was fun, and it was useful, but she thought she could've learned those things when she got to work. After all, acting was the art of reacting.

~°~

"I got accepted," Baekhyun muttered, staring at the piece of paper in his hands. Their teacher had handed him an envelope at the beginning of their break, just as they left class.

Two other heads peeked from behind him, trying to see what it was all about. By now, the teacher that handed him the envelope was back, and stood in front of them with a proud smile on his face.

"Congratulations, Baekhyun," he told the younger boy, tapping him on the shoulder before slipping away once more.

"Accepted...to the tournament?" Chanyeol tentatively asked.

"Yeah," Baekhyun replied numbly.

"Cool," Jongdae and Chanyeol responded simultaneously. They had growing smiles on their faces.

"So, what's the amazing news that everyone was dragged here?" Minseok asked curiously.

Their group of friends were dragged to Kai's house that night, thankfully it was a Friday, and they were in the living room while his mother and Yoona prepare dinner while waiting for their father.

"Baekhyun passed the auditions," Kyungsoo stated.

"Auditions? For the martial arts competition?" Suho asked.

"Yeah," they replied.

"So, you're going to China?" Kai asked, bringing in a plate of sliced apples that his mother had asked him to share with his friends. Heads snapped up. Some had confused faces, others shocked, while Baekhyun kept his head down.

"What are you saying?" Jongdae asked.

"Wasn't that part of the terms? The competitions themselves are to take place in Beijing," Kai shrugged, munching on an apple as he placed the plate before the others. "I'm not saying Baekhyun's going anywhere permanently; I'm just saying that he has to do that if he wants to compete. Right, Baekhyun?"

"Yeah," Baekhyun agreed. "But the thing is, guys, if I go there, I might get a scholarship to study there. As in legitimately study there as a student-athlete. For college."

"Great! Isn't that what you've always wanted? To study in that prestigious university for martial artists?" Suho asked brightly.

"Yeah, but then that means I have to leave you guys behind..."

"Yah, don't mind that. Just 'cause you're over there doesn't mean you're not our friend anymore. It just means you'd learn to speak Chinese and how to better kick bully-," Sehun grinned.

“He’s right, you know,” Minseok agreed, smiling as he always did, reflecting the innocence of their friendship.

“You can do it, Byun Baekhyun!” Kai suddenly hollered, and the others followed suit.

“You guys are always so noisy, you know that?” Yoona asked, popping out of the kitchen. The boys looked sheepish, especially the elder ones—Minseok and Suho. “Anyway, Dad called and he’s almost here. Eat those apples and get ready for dinner!”

The boys scrambled to do as they were told, and just as Baekhyun was about to stand up, Yoona said, “Congratulations on getting in the competition, Baekhyun. You deserved it.”

“Thanks,” he replied sheepishly. “But I don’t think I could’ve done it without help.”

“Of course not. No one would, and you’re lucky to have friends like them,” she mused. “Now come on, we just have to wait for my Dad, but dinner’s ready. No point in letting warm food go cold.”

He agreed with a smile and scampered off to follow his friends.

~°~

Yoona found herself by the river once more that night. She recalled that she’d done nothing stressful that day, so she concluded that this place was not but a manifestation of the relaxation that her body craved, but it was something far more real than that. Not an illusion, but a dream, and by far, dreams are more concrete.

“I’m glad to see you here again, Ms. Yoona,” she heard Lu Han’s voice say from behind her.

She turned around, and surely, he was there, standing before her. His hair was as before, but his clothes were different. They were pristine still, but not as elegant as the ones he had been wearing the last time she saw him.

“I’m not entirely sure how I’m back, but it’s nice to see you again as well,” she replied, giving him a curt nod.

He bowed slightly and smiled a gentle, beautiful smile. “A question that I cannot answer, I’m afraid, but something I’m thankful for, nonetheless. I apologize if Kris barged in on such a peaceful meeting last time, but there simply were things that needed my attention.”

“Kris was more than kind,” she replied. She found it odd that she was mimicking his way of speaking—flowery and eloquent—than speaking as she normally did, but she was grateful that she sounded decent.

“That’s good,” he mused, taking a seat beside her on the rock. He was far enough from her to give her enough personal space, but he was close enough for her to properly hear him even if he spoke quietly. “Do you find it beautiful?”

“Excuse me?”

“Do you find this place beautiful?” he asked, keeping his gaze on the scenery before him. He had a faint smile on his face.

“It’s beautiful,” she replied reflexively.

“I’m glad you like it. I can only come here when I can, but you’re free to come here whenever you want, whenever you get the chance to, Ms. Yoona,” he explained.

“Thank you. May I ask you something?” she asked shyly.

“Please, go ahead.”

“Why do you keep calling me Ms. Yoona?”

“That is your name, is it not? Or have I been mistaken and you are someone else?” he asked.

His words confirmed the fact that he was not a deity, he was simply someone who happened to know who she was, and how she got there.

“Yes, I am. I’m Im Yoona,” she replied. “But why do you insist on adding the title ‘Ms.’? I doubt that our ages are that far apart, if they are.”

"I'm not insisting on anything," he said. "I'm simply doing it because I find that a lot more people are more comfortable when you don't jump into calling them by their first names. Why, do you prefer it any other way?"

"I'd prefer it if you could just call me Yoona," she admitted.

"Alright, then, Yoona," he said. Despite the lack of honorific, however, he still sounded very courteous. It was like the honorific was never dropped, it just faded into the background.

"What can I call you, then?" she asked.

"Me? Lu Han, of course. There's no other name that I have. Just Lu Han. And no honorifics, either. After all, why would friends do that?"

"We're friends?" she asked, caught off guard by the question.

"Well, aren't we going to be?" he asked. "I have a feeling we're going to meet more often. I know the way here, just like someone would know the way home, but I doubt you do. And I have no ability to get you here. Just myself, and perhaps if needed, Kris."

"You two seem to have a good relationship," she mused.

"Kris is my best friend, at least one of them, and I trust him with my life. So, it's just natural that I would allow my friend into my sanctuary," he replied.

"Ah! I'm sorry... Did I intrude?" she asked.

"I don't mind. As far as I see, you're not here to bother me; you're here to be my friend."

"Lu Han...?" she asked after a moment of silence.

He'd closed his eyes and hummed a reply.

"How do you know who I am?"

"The river told me."

"The river...?"

"Don't get me wrong, this river does not speak. It's like other rivers, but it gives me wisdom and strength to do what I must. The river is connected to the home of the One that told me you'd be here, who told me your name. But aside from that, I don't know anything more."

"And you don't mind?" she asked. "That I am here, I mean."

"Why should I? The One who told me that you would be sent here has always given me strength and life and refuge, the One who gave me this place of stillness. If it is a favor, if it is a command, or if it is something simply asked of me to lend a hand, then I would do it, and do it whole heartedly. It's always good to have more friends. They are the ones that can assure you of goodness and kindness even when the rest of the world has crumbled."

Yoona pondered his words as she listened to the river's gentle flow. Oddly, though she never was a nature lover, she loved it here.

"Yoona?" Lu Han called, breaking the silence.

"Yes?"

"It is almost day in the waking world, you must go lest you wish to miss out on important things," he said simply.

"How do you know that there are important things for the day?"

"I do not, but every single day we wake up, there is always something important. We may never know how or why, but there is. It may not be significant, but it's the small things that make a difference to our lives and other people's lives."

"I see. But... I don't know how to get out of here."

"Good morning, Yoona. I will see you again soon," he said, out of the blue. As if it were a spell, she started to feel sleepy, and when she opened her eyes again, she was in her room.

She wondered if she was being hypnotized, and her dreams were fabricated, after all, why would Lu Han always say 'Good morning, Yoona. I will see you again soon,' if there was no reason behind it? And why, after those words, though sometimes they varied a little, she would wake up and find herself in her room once more? But then, the question would be why was she being hypnotized in the first place. There was simply no reason. She was fine, she wasn't sick physically or otherwise. And, because she simply wasn't very social, therefore she had few friends and even fewer enemies because she blended so well into the background, she knew of no reason why someone would try to do so simply to extract revenge.

There was a faint knock on her door, and she could hear her brother's voice calling her from outside.

"I'll be right there," she replied.

It seemed he was content with her answer, and her voice showed no oddities, for he left soon after saying, "Okay. Well, hurry up. Breakfast is ready."

Quickly, she went and got ready. She took a shower and arranged her hair as she felt like for the day. She pulled her hair up in a ponytail but left her fringe hanging down, which she thought she'd pin up later, but for now, she felt like that was a good change. She was wearing a blue shirt with different heads of baby Donald Duck making different expressions that she got from Disneyland, and jeans. She didn't know why she felt like she was going to go out, but because of Lu Han's words, she felt like she had to go out today.

She ran down to the living room where her parents and her brother were. It was their routine--Yoona would help her Mom with dinner while Kai would help her with breakfast. Lunch...well, that was quite undetermined. Five days of the week, they didn't have lunch together because of both work and school. On the Saturdays, they could go out or they could stay in, something that they all had to think of every time, if they had nothing planned beforehand, and Sundays were always days together. Sundays, definitely, were days that they never missed, but even then, who made lunch was a question. Either the siblings would do it together, or their parents would do it together, or they'd do it all together or none of them would do it, and they'd go for take outs or go out for lunch. It was always a surprise.

Today, today was a Saturday. Today, the sibling would go out, just for the heck of it, as suggested by Kai when she got down, so that their parents could have the day together.

They agreed that they'd be out for the day, all four of them, but in two separate directions. Though he was the one who suggested it, Kai had no idea where he and Yoona were going. They simply were outside, enjoying the sun before it got too hot, wandering aimlessly. The park would be full of kids playing, so staying there, at their age, at that time, was not the best idea. Kids would be screaming and running all over the place.

"What do you want to do?" Kai lazily asked, as though the sun had begun to melt his brain.

They sat on a bench near the park, under the shade of a tree so they could discuss where they wanted to go. Definitely, it was not in the library, for Kai wanted his sister to not study for a bit, just for a day. She studied too much, and that was his personal conviction. It was good for him, too, however, because he went to work on his schoolwork on Friday nights immediately after he got home, so he could drag his sister wherever on Saturdays. If he was going to be the only way his sister was going to be able to interact with the world, then so be it.

"Dance academy," Yoona blurted.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Didn't you always want to go to a dance academy?" she asked. "Isn't it a good time to do so?"

"Sis, with the guys, I don't need to go to a dance academy. We already dance too much," he said, and it was true. They studied in a prestigious school, and the school was lenient to allow students to form clubs, though they were monitored and watched over by a teacher who would be their adviser. And, because they liked to dance, they formed a dance club.

"Well, I'd like to see your dancing," she said.

"We're performing at the school's talent competition," he said. "Foundation day. Be there?"

"Sure," she replied. "I have to be. My brother's going to make or break his career with this."

"As if. I may love dancing, but I doubt it's going to be my career. I'd rather be...an ambassador?" he thought.

"You don't seem sure," Yoona mused.

"I'm not sure yet, but so far, I think that's what I wanna be. I might ask Baekhyun a couple of things when he comes back from the competition."

"That's good, but you don't have to be so rash, you know. You still have four years of high school to think that through."

"Sis, I don't think I'd have the time to think of it anymore," he said. "There are a lot of things to do in school, aside from classes and schoolwork, you know. I have the dance club and the Math club and the newspaper club."

"That's your fault for choosing to join so many clubs! But so far, how were they?"

"They're all fun. Except maybe Math club, sometimes it's mind-boggling, but the way our adviser prepares us for competitions is fun. By the way, did you ever join the calligraphy club or the art club?"

"Yeah, I tried, at one point. Why?"

"Are they fun?"

"Define 'fun'."

"That's your job, you're a nerd."

"So are you, Math club president."

"That was in elementary."

"I'm pretty sure elections simply haven't come."

Kai scoffed, but could not answer. What Yoona said was right; elections haven't come around for the Math club nor the newspaper club, though there was a senior that everyone was already voting for in the newspaper club. The Math club, on the other hand is far more complicated a problem...

"So, now what?" Kai asked, trying to divert the attention from his extra-curricular activities to something else.

In the end, they decided to go to the mall. There, they saw Minseok and Suho, two of the older members of their group of friends who were roughly the same age as Yoona. The boys were busy, Suho was helping Minseok conduct a survey for school.

"Okay," Kai commented simply.

"Since you guys are here, why not answer?" Suho offered. "It'll help us get two more survey forms filled, you know. I can't ask you to help us out distributing this. I know I didn't really want to."

They erupted in a fit of laughter which died down quickly. Suho was a nice kid; he was always willing to lend a hand to others, especially those around him, as long as he could do it. And handing out survey forms was definitely something anyone could do.

The siblings answered the surveys. Suho thanked them and quickly sent them off lest Minseok even think of asking them to help out.

Instead of spending the rest of the day in the mall, as Suho had convinced them, they went looking round street markets. A bracelet had caught Kai's eye. It was a simple silver chain with a thin sliver of silver at the middle, with the words love•hope•trust engraved on it. He found the message endearing and wanted to buy one for each of them--himself, Yoona, and their parents.

"Come on, Yoona, don't you think it's nice?" he asked.

"Kai, why do you want it so badly?" she asked. It was not that she was thinking that there was something wrong with Kai's brain, it was that she didn't really think they needed it.

"Come on, Sis. It's really nice and we can all wear it together! Wouldn't that be nice?" he asked.

Yoona found it adorable that though her brother was thirteen, he always found a way to think of all of them whenever he could. The kid had issues with sentimentality every now and then. He had once really bawled his eyes out because one of the origami pieces that she'd made for him got snagged into the pile of paper to be burnt with the other offerings. He stopped crying soon, though, because he suddenly felt that even if he was never going to see that one origami ever again, those to whom the offering was directed to would be able to enjoy its delicate beauty.

"Alright," she agreed.

"Thanks," he replied before scurrying off to buy them. He came back a moment later and clasped one around his left wrist. Then, he took Yoona's hand and clasped one around hers as well. "There."

"Thank you, Kai."

"You're welcome," he replied with a beaming smile.

A/N: As promised, chapter two. Btw, Baekhyun's going to take up a bigger role than would be expected of a minor character, so don't be shocked when there are times that the story seems to focus on him, 'kay? :)