“Your aim is getting better, Luhan.” Yuzhe said, ruffling his little brother’s hair. At age 17, Luhan had already surpassed the other archery students at Beijing Archery Academy. He was able to shoot a bull’s-eye almost every time, if not always.

 

“Thank you, Gege.” Luhan said cutely. Although the other students made fun of his feminine looks, no one dared say anything but praise about his archery skills. “How’s the martial arts coming?” he asked, while carefully de-stringing his bow and placing it back in its case.

 

“It’s fine.” Yuzhe said, rubbing his wrists. “The students there are quite talented.” Luhan put his arrows back into its case and slung it over his shoulder. “How come you won’t let me try marital arts?” he asked for the millionth time, following his brother to his car. “I bet I’d be pretty good at it.” Luhan punched the air.

 

Yuzhe smiled. “Your skills lie in archery, Luhan.” Luhan pouted, quickening his pace to match his brother’s. “Is it because I’m too skinny?” It was true, Luhan liked to run and play soccer when he wasn’t practicing archery. That gave him his thin legs and body. Although he had very strong muscles, they didn’t show, unlike Yuzhe’s prominent and manly muscles.

 

Yuzhe laughed. “I don’t want that pretty face to be ruined by a punch.” The older male ruffled his brother’s hair, before turning around to open the car door. Luhan plopped himself in the backseat. “Gege! I’m not a girl!” he protested, much to the amusement of his older sibling.

 

“How about I teach you how to shoot a gun then?” Yuzhe said. This was not a part of their usual conversation. Luhan’s eyes widened. “Really?” He was surprised by his brother’s sudden offer. “Can I?”

 

Yuzhe started the car and pulled away from the Academy. “It might be good to let you learn something new. You must be bored of archery.” Luhan shook his head. “I’ll never be bored of archery.” Then Luhan perked up again. “I wanna try!”

 

His brother smiled and glanced at Luhan in the rearview mirror. “I’ll take you to the shooting range on Saturday.”

 

Luhan grinned. “Okay!”

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Ding dong.

 

“I’ll get it!” Luhan said, running for the door. His brother was lounging on the couch, tired from a day of training. Luhan opened the door and saw a tall man with lean muscles and two burly looking men behind him. “N-Ni Hao…” Luhan said, taking a small step back.

 

“May I speak to Yuzhe?” the man said. Luhan gulped, not sure what to do. “I-I’ll go get him…” Luhan stuttered.

 

“There’s no need.” Luhan relaxed immediately upon hearing his brother’s voice. Yuzhe had been watching Luhan and the door for some time now. He knew this was going to happen.

 

“I refuse whatever you are trying to offer me. I want to live my life and career quietly.” Yuzhe said firmly, his voice determined and confident. Luhan felt much better with his brother by his side.

 

The man scoffed and smirked. “We don’t want you. We want him.” The man pointed to Luhan, who’s large eyes widened even more. “M-Me?” The man scoffed again. “Don’t look like a deer in the headlights. Come with us.” The man walked towards Luhan.

 

Yuzhe immediately stepped between Luhan and the man. “I will not let Luhan go with you either. Please leave us alone.” Yuzhe did not break eye contact with the man once, which clearly pissed him off.

 

“We don’t take orders from children like you.” The man said, glaring at Yuzhe. “We’ll be back.” The man turned around and snapped his fingers, causing the two bodyguards to follow him.

 

Yuzhe sighed and closed the door, suddenly looking a lot older. “Gege, what was that?” Luhan said, walking back to the living room. His brother sat on the couch and rubbed his temples. “I knew this was going to happen.”

 

Luhan was starting to get worried. “What is?” Yuzhe looked at Luhan, his eyes sparkling with fear, something Luhan hadn’t seen in his brother for a long time. Yuzhe took Luhan’s hand. “They are bad people. They want us because we have talents in fighting. Promise me that no matter what, you will not go with those people. And if the day comes that I can’t be with you anymore, promise me that you will not follow in my footsteps.”

 

Luhan blinked in confusion. “W-What do you mean? Gege, I----”

 

“Promise me.” Yuzhe cut him off, squeezing his little brother’s hand.

 

Luhan felt like crying, but he knew he had to be strong. He squeezed back with as much determination as he could, and nodded. “I promise.”

 

Yuzhe smiled tiredly and ruffled Luhan’s hair. “Good boy.”

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

It was a warm Saturday afternoon, where most students would be outside playing sports or inside catching up on homework.

 

Instead, Luhan was at the shooting range, testing his skills with handguns. He liked them better than rifles, since they were easier to carry and required more skill to aim precisely.

 

Luhan spun the gun around his fingers, loaded the gun and fired, just like in those action movies. Then quickly, he loaded again and fired some more. When his rounds were finished, he took the paper down and smiled. They were all in the center, with only a few straying into the second ring from the inside.

 

Suddenly, his phone buzzed. He took it out and flipped it open, revealing a text message from Yuzhe. Can you come home by yourself today? I have some business to take care of.  Luhan texted an ‘okay’ back to him and packed up his handguns and bullet cases.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Gege, I’m home!” Luhan yelled, after opening the door. He kicked his shoes off and walked to the living room, where he assumed his brother would be. Instead, there was a neatly folded note on the table. Luhan frowned and opened the note.

 

Luhan,

 

I’m doing this for your safety.

 

I don’t want anything to happen to you, so please, don’t come look for me. By the time you find me, I will probably be dead. Don’t do anything irrational, and live happily, okay? That’s all I want from you, seeing as I won’t be there to watch you gain your first Olympic medal. (haha)

 

Please, don’t come look for me. Please. If anything were to happen to you, then me leaving would have been in vain. Take care of yourself, and grow up, have children, but don’t ever forget that I’ll always be watching over you. You are the most important thing in the world to me. Don’t ever forget that.

 

I love you, Luhan.

 

Yuzhe

 

Tears streamed down Luhan’s face as he read the note. He fell to his knees, bawling his eyes out. He felt as if the world had just crumbled underneath him, and there was nothing left to lean on. His heart had just been crushed to pieces, and Luhan felt as if he was suffocating.

 

Images of Yuzhe flashed through Luhan’s mind. There was the time when Luhan won his first trophy at the Junior Archery Competition, and the proud look his brother wore. Luhan also remembered cheering his brother on as he fought against others in the Amateur Taekwondo Games.

 

Luhan took a deep breath and wiped his tears away. He carefully folded Yuzhe’s note and put it in his backpack, smoothing out all the creases. Then he gathered some money, a few pieces of clothing, and all his guns and bullets.

 

As Luhan passed Yuzhe’s room, he looked at it for one last time. He remembered how he was so scared of lightning when he was small he would climb into Yuzhe’s bed at night. Tears began to well up in his eyes. He clenched his fists, fighting the urge to just curl up on Yuzhe’s bed and never leave.

 

Luhan set his jaw and made his final decision. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep your promise, Gege.” Luhan whispered.

 

On that day, Luhan left his house, knowing he would never return to his old life ever again.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

A/N: So yeah morbid first chapter OTL Sehun will appear later, don't worry :3 Thanks for checking this story out, and subscribe if you like :D Don't forget to leave a comment, and just so you know, I almost always reply :) AFF has made it much easier to reply now XD

Thanks for reading!! :D