Previously on Project X...

 "Jun -san?!" 

Your friend- the patisserie- shocked you with a visit during the night...

"I couldn't stay stuck there forever! And what are you doing?! Hiding behind a couch like that! You scared the life out of me! i knocked on the door so many times because i thought i forgot my keys and you didn't open the door!"

And you find out something interesting from Sehun...

"It's...Luhan-hyungs birthday today...I only just remembered this morning" 

But something shocking is yet to come...

"EH?!" "J-Jun-san! What did you do?! I mean how did you!?"

"It's still counting down"

"I've got it...I've got a plan..." 

 

You told EXO-K your plan on your way to school- however not talking much about it in detail. You only told them what they should do- making them confused and curious as ever. You kept the bomb in your bag until the time came that you'd finished school along with everyone else. By then there was only a couple of minutes left on the bomb. You took a deep breathe, making your way home by yourself. Nobody was around, which could only give you a more anxious feeling than ever. You were almost at Latte cafe until a voice stopped you.

"The body guards aren't with you?" You heard Luhans voice and lifted your head towards the flat roof of the building. He looked down at you, daringly leaning his crossed arms against the railings.  

"You almost sound disappointed" You replied, not sure if he could even hear you until he chuckled. 

"No, no, with or without- i doesn't really effect me" He said, throwing his body over the railings to your surprise when he came to a soft landing. You almost forgot he was a telekinesis specialist, but even so- you'd think it'd take a lot of courage to throw yourself off a 7 story building so carelessly and land straight on your feet, especially when the building was still under construction. He stood up straight, his hands in his pockets as he gazed at you. "I presume you've made your resolve?" He assumed, lifting his eyebrow with a smug smile. "Or is it that you've given up?...i told you didn't i? You should have done nothing, it would have saved your life"

You gave a sigh before replying. "Can i ask you a question Luhan?" 

"..." He didn't reply, however you took it as a go for it. 

"Why...do you want to kill me?" 

Again, he paused. But this time you waited until he replied. "What?" he finally urged with a scoff.

"You gave me a bomb, right? Which, you know, kinda implies in a sense that you want me dead" you lifted your eyebrows. "But if you really thought that I'm the only person who can save you then why would you want to kill me?"

"..." He went quiet, but you couldn't make out his facial expression. You couldn't sense confusion...or suspicion...or anything at that. But his silence was enough of an answer for you.

"As i thought...you don't accept it do you?" you said with a soft voice. "You said you'd opened your eyes and accepted fate but in reality you want to run away from it, don't you?" 

Luhan suddenly burst into laughter, as if you'd amused him with a punch line. "And what makes you think that-" 

"I just figured...If you were to kill me or any of the others...or if i were to just die due to unfortunate circumstances, then the fate wouldn't be true. No one would need to believe it anymore. In a way, you wouldn't be hunted, you'd be free to do what you like" Although it was a sensitive topic to talk about, it was surprising how comfortable and casual you were to talk about it. Which only confused him more. The fact that you were saying this...without a single shiver in your voice. That fact that you were glaring at him whilst saying it so confidently. Were you really that sure of yourself? "That made sense to me at first. To give me a bomb and kill me to makes sure fate was false. But another thing came to mind...why not just do it without the wait?" 

"..." 

"You had your chance to kill me at one point right? You got me and Sehun alone with you at school. As powerful as Sehun might be, you'd have no trouble killing me in one shot, right? Use your telekinesis with a knife and I'd be a goner" You crossed your arms and shrugged your shoulders, fully admitting how weak you were in comparison to the lot of them. Luhan's eyebrows furrowed. 

"Nice evaluation, but sorry to say I'm not so stupid as you think I'd be. Killing you with a knife in your own school would only make people suspicious" 

"But your a model, right? Despite that you've been in my school before, i guess that no one could recognize you anyway. And you also broke all of the security cameras. If someone found me dead with a knife in my back- the probability of someone finding out that it was the famous model Luhan who should've been busy with schedules is pretty slim. And if you'd used telekinesis, there would be no finger prints on the knife or murder weapon. If you'd kept your distance then there wouldn't be a single drop of blood on you. And also, you'd have no problem framing the others. So why didn't you?"

"There's no fun in that now is there? Maybe i wanted to mess with the others a bit? D.O must have had a hard time trying to use his head instead of his fists" 

"Maybe you did. Maybe you didn't..." You shrugged your shoulders again, innocently tilting your head as you did so. "Funny for you to mention D.O you know...i thought you weren't the same person as you were from before- but it seems like you still remember him pretty well" 

"I only figured as much since he attempted to throw a punch at me the other day"

"Which reminds me. You said you're telekinesis was over 1000 units higher than there's right? which i can only guess is quite a lot. So when you attacked D.O, why didn't you throw him harder?" 

"..." This time you could tell he was getting a little surprised. His eyes started to narrow at you as he waited for you to continue. 

"True that it hurt him, but only for a few hours. If you really wanted to cause damage then why not throw him harder?"

"What makes you think that i didn't throw him hard enough?" 

"The construction glass" You answered, turning your eyes towards a similar set of glass sheets that had been placed there next to the construction site right beside you. "You only made a crack on the glass. I'm pretty sure with how powerful you claimed to be, smashing the whole stack would have been as easy as breaking a toothpick-"

Luhan suddenly pulled something out of his jacket and only when you heard the click did you realize that it was a similar gun that EXO-K used. You didn't even have time to notice it aimed towards you when 6 bodies suddenly appeared in front of you in Kai's teleportation smoke. Luhan gave a smug smile, seeing their scowls and frowning faces. "So the bodyguards finally makes their appearance" He said, still aiming a silver gun in your direction. 

"He still owns a gun" Suho said in recognition. 

"I bet he stole it from his fugitive days the little-"

"Get inside guys" you ordered sternly, interrupting D.O when the others turned to you in surprise. Even Luhan knitted his eyebrows in suspicion.

"But Ji-Eun-ah..." Chanyeol wanted to argue however was taken over by Kai.

"He's dangerous, this guy's got weapons with him" Kai informed with a strict voice. "He could kill-" 

"He won't kill me" 

"..." Silence. Everyone turned around to glare at you in puzzlement. You lightly pushed Kai and Sehun aside who were blocking you away from the gun's range. "He won't kill me" You repeated, staring at Luhan who'd secretly been gritting on his teeth. He's not stupid. All of you knew that. But unlike them, you had it all figured out. You could guess what he was going to do next. Luhan kept his cool, refusing to show any emotion whatsoever, however unknowingly glanced towards Sehun and back. Right then he cocked the gun and triggered it, the gun letting out a high pitched yet quiet noise as the cold bullet grazed your cheek. You winced at the pain as the cut started to bleed. The boys had their eyes widened, their hearts jolted as they watched the blood drip down from your cheek. 

"Ji-Eun!" Sehun called out your name, startled by the large cut. 

"That's tears it!" D.O yelled, infuriated as he sprinted up to Luhan.

"D.O no! Wait!" You tried to stop him but suddenly the ground below Luhan's feet rose and startled by it, Luhan immediately jumped off the rock however, not even settled on ground yet, was able to dodge a blaze a fire aimed at him. "Yeol!" You yelled at Chanyeol after realizing that he'd joined in with D.O and had dashed off to battle. How dare you hurt my Ji-Eun- that jerk! He thought to himself. But Kai ran off after them. "Kai not you as-" You hadn't even finished scolding Kai yet and Baekhyun already followed him. "Baekhyun!"

"Aish! These kids" Suho complained to himself, scratching his head before dashing off to help them. 

"Suho!" You yelled, but you couldn't run after them to stop them. You knew they wouldn't listen, and even if you were to go, you'd probably get caught in their battle zone. But one person stayed beside you. Sehun. The young magnae who didn't know what to do. The boy who's head was clouded. Which side was he on? Is he supposed to join EXO-K and battle with Luhan? Was he supposed to do what you were doing and try to stop them? The both of you just watched as the 5 against 1 battle started. You were amazed and shocked at the speed and capabilities of them but could barely keep up with everyone. However you noticed Luhan was struggling. He threw away the gun and could only dodge EXO-K's attacks and counteract them, he hadn't probably used an attack on them yet. But only a few minutes into the battle and clothes were already torn and cuts were starting to bleed. You saw Luhan had counteracted Chanyeols attack onto Kai and he'd been badly burnt on the arm. You jolted after seeing him hurt, but Sehun made sure to keep you away from the battle area. Baekhyun was also doing his best to use some sort of light shield to help the other members. But now everyone started to lag. Good thing no one was around- otherwise you wouldn't know how to cover this one up.

"Sehun!" Luhan suddenly yelled, startling the two of you. He settled on the ground with his two feet, trying to keep his balance as the others were occupied with helping out each other get up on their feet."What are you going to do then?!" He started panting.

"...Hyung" Sehun urged, confused and dumbfounded as he watched Luhan struggle to even stand. 

"What are you doing?! I'm the bad guy! Do what the others are doing and fight!" He continued to yell at him, purposely broadening his arms out. You looked at Sehun hopefully as he thought to himself. 

"...No..."

"What?" 

"No. I'm not fighting! Not with you!" He yelled at him. The others turned to him, surprised. 

"Sehun-ah..." Baekhyun mumbled his name in sympathy, panting as he sat on the floor besides Chanyeol who was worn out the same as him. Luhan gritted his teeth again, as well as tightly clenching his fists. 

"You idiot" He cursed under his breath when suddenly D.O goes in for a surprise attack, having Luhan dodge it and the battle resuming. You couldn't watch anymore. 

"Guys! Enough already!" You strode closer to them. "Stop before one of you really does get-" 

D.O attacked him once again when Luhan dodged, the heavy rocks passing him and hitting the construction building, causing the heavy metals rods and framing to fall from above. And you were right below it to everyones shock- even Luhans. "Ji-Eun!" Suho cried to you as you lifted your head to see the metal framing falling above you from a distance. You knew you could run, but the word only brought up a previous thought. Don't run. Ji-Hoon's voice popped up in your head again, and although it could end your life, you subconsciously didn't move.

"What is she doing?!" Kai grunted frustrated at his confusion as his teleportation failed him.

"Ji-Eun-ah!" Sehun yelled out your name again as he ran to you, but he wouldn't make it in time. You closed your eyes shut, ready for the pain of heavy metal framing and rods to break your bones...but nothing. You felt nothing but the cold breeze hit your face and the small shooting pain from your cheek that continued to bleed. Your eyes lifted slowly and you lifted your head to notice the floating metal just above your head. Telekinesis. Familiar with the power, everyone instantly turned to Luhan. He had his hands out in front of him, his face blank and shocked, as if he had no clue what he was doing. 

"Luhan...you..." Chanyeol said in surprise and thankfulness. But judging by his facial expressions, you all knew he did it subconsciously. He didn't know how to cover himself up now. You'll be surprised. Ji-Hoon's words popped up in your head again. They all are...you agreed with him in your head. Luhan bit his lip before throwing the metal above and back where it was. After that no one spoke. No one even moved. They stood there looking at him in wonder and confusion. 

"You helped her" D.O stated to Luhan in surprise. Luhan didn't look at anyone, just the ground as he panted for breathe. 

"That...doesn't make any sense" Chanyeol added, confused. 

"I told you, he won't kill me...or any of us" You said, walking up to them calmly. Everyone turned to you diligently as you took out the Rubiks cube in your backpack and showed everyone. It was scrambled again. it wasn't solved like Junpei had left it. '00:00:07' Seven seconds. Luhan watched along with the others, but he knew what was going to happen and avoided everyones gazes. Five. "As you said Luhan..." .Four. Three. "'Doing nothing would save my life'" Two. One. 

 

.Beep.'00:00:00'

 

.Beep.'--:--:--'

 

Just like that, the timer went off...and nothing. No explosion. You could hear the sighs of relief from the others as they flopped on the floor, completely worn out and exhausted.

"That's my resolve, Luhan" You shone Luhan a friendly smile. The Rubik's cube confidently gripped into your hand. "You're not a bad guy...you had no intentions on killing us in the first place" 

"..." No one spoke as they were expecting you to say more. 

"I thought back to what you said to me... 'Doing nothing would save your life- you didn't listen'. I thought you meant that if i hadn't agreed to the deal then it would've saved my life- but you meant it literally...so I did nothing. And the bomb didn't go off, mostly because there was no bomb to start of with"

"When did you...?" Sehun looked dumbfounded as he pointed at the cube. You figured they'd be surprised and tried explaining a little more.

"I found out when Junpei actually solved the cube but it didn't stop the timer. Your original plan wasn't to test me...and it wasn't to kill any of us either, right?" You said to him, still sounding friendly as he gazed at you with his dark eyes. "Like D.O said before" 

"...Me?" D.O pointed at himself, eyebrows risen. You nodded at him.

"Luhan knew that we wouldn't dare touch it until last minute and even then we wouldn't be able to think of anything. We'd have to go to our last resort which would be to drop the bomb off somewhere out of range. Afterwards, he'd say he wasn't happy with the resolve and refuse to give the Aphrodyt back, which would lead to me forcing you guys back to your dimension." You said knowingly before glancing at Sehun who was still standing there in a daze. You stepped closer to Luhan and smiled again, slightly lifting up the cube to show him. "They'd be safer that way...wouldn't they?" 

Luhan gazed at you, utterly speechless. The softness of your eyes...the warmth of your smile, it was foreign to him...he couldn't understand it. And the deep cut on your cheek...even then, you were so confident in him, so confident and sure that he wouldn't kill you. He clenched his fists together again, his fingernails about to dig into his skin when he rapidly turned away and dashed off.

"Hyung!" Sehun called to stop him, but he was gone, not wanting to face any of them at that point. You sighed, looking back at EXO-K. 

"Remember what i said?" You reminded them with a smile. And it only seemed like now that they understand where you were going with the plan. 

 

By now it was dark. Stars came out in the sky as you ran around town trying to look for him. He couldn't have gone far. He didn't look too injured, but he was tired- no doubt. It started to get colder and colder the longer you looked, but you finally found him, sat on one of the high fences in the streets in a daze. You crept up behind him. "Tired huh?" You said as you bravely sat beside him. He didn't seem surprised that you were there. You sighed, hugging yourself warm in the cold. "You did well...for five against one" You complimented with a little laugh. Luhan sighed along with you and reached into his jacket to hand you the purple crystal.

"Here...i guess this is your prize since you won" He scoffed in slight disbelief. But his voice was soft. It was completely a different tone as you've heard him talk. You blinked at the stone before taking it in your hands and turning to him to check for his reaction. But he just glared out into the view, not at all affected by the cold weather. "I must say you really are a new one...i shouldn't have underestimated you" He complimented, ruffling his hair and smiling at the sky. 

"Did you...really have to become the bag guy?" You asked him, curious. 

"It said so in the prophecy...one of us had to join the others...And I didn't want Sehun to-..." He didn't finish the sentence, but it was enough for you to understand and soften at his kindness. You placed the Aphrodyt carefully inside your pocket, determined to remember where you put it this time.

"Well! Sitting around here won't get us anywhere!" You got yourself back up onto ground, suddenly full of energy as you brushed the dust off your school skirt. "Want to come over for a bit? The cafe's closed for a bit and i don't need to work today"

Luhan was startled by you suggested. "What?" He urged. You nodded with wide eyes. "You heard me, come on, get up!" You yanked his arm to get him to stand and started pushing him towards the way home. 

"Whoa! Wait a second! What-" 

"Come on~ Chop chop!" You continued to shove him, forcing him to walk until the front door of the cafe. You opened the door, having to shove him inside the dark room yourself.

"I don't think that-"

Click! The lights suddenly switched on and suddenly EXO-K jumped out in front of him blowing party whistles. Luhan jolted, surprised to see the members in mini party hats and multicolored whistles in their mouths..well some more enthusiastic than others. "SURPRISE!~" You all yelled at him and started laughing. Luhan stood there, speechless yet again. "I know it's not much but it's what you get with short notice" Suho said walking up to Luhan and putting a party hat on his head. "Happy Birthday Luhan-ah..." He said with a warm tone.  

"Suho..." Luhan looked at him, touched yet confused by his gesture.

"We even got you cake!" Chanyeol beamed, showing him the small vanilla frosted cake decorated with fruits. "It might be small, but it's still cake!" He sung enthusiastically, obviously feeling re-energized from that battle. 

"You shouldn't run off you know, if i couldn't find you then all of this would have gone to waste" You shook your head at Luhan as you glanced at the cake, presenting it with help from Chanyeol and Kai doing jazz hands beside it. 

"..." Luhan still looked dazed, as if he'd landed into another planet. 

"You alright there?" Baekhyun asked, patting him on the back. Luhan suddenly scoffed, this time actually amused. "Yeah it's just...even i forgot today was my birthday...and it took you guys to remind me" He said in disbelief. And the members turned to each other guiltily, laughing and chuckling awkwardly. 

"Actually, we forgot as well" Kai admitted. "Sorry man" 

"It was Sehun who remembered" D.O said. 

"...Sehun?" Luhan said his name, realizing he hadn't seen him here yet when you spotted him in the corner and forcefully pulled him over to the gathering. The two blinked at each other for a second, unsure of what to say. 

"Luhan" You called him. "You don't need to be the bag guy anymore...remember?" You reminded him and it seemed as though a mask from his face had fallen or faded away when he started laughing- this time it was an innocent and sweet laugh. "I can't remember...the last time we had a proper conversation" 

"..." Sehun didn't say anything, even when you nudged him, he stood there looking at him as if waiting for Luhan to say more.

"...I haven't been a very good brother-"

"Tell me honestly hyung" Sehun interrupted sternly. "...Why did you leave...?" He asked. Luhan struggled to search for words. 

"I just...felt like i-" He was about to answer when you cleared your throat purposely to get his attention. You knew the right answer, and the beginning of that wasn't the one you wanted to hear. You gave him a knowing look, as if telling him that you wanted him to tell the truth. Luhan sighed, fully admitting defeat. "One of us had to be with the others...Trust me, they're bad news, and i didn't want you to have to-" He didn't have to finish. Sehun suddenly flung his arms out and hugged him tight. Luhans eyes widened. 

"i missed you hyung" He cried on his shoulder, tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke. Luhan heard and smiled, his eyes doing the same as the tears refused to fall down his cheek. He hugged Sehun back. "You idiot" he laughed softly. 

 

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A/N: Finally! The first arc is finally completed!~ It's a long chapter- i know. But thank you to all who are subscribing and commenting- i really do appreciate it. Remember to keep commenting- i'd love to here your thoughts ;)