It was nearly 3 hours past since they started the hike and the sun was at its peak. With a slightly weighted backpack which was filled with packed lunch and a bottled drink, Lyorin continued the walk under the scorching heat. Thankfully for her good stamina, she wasn’t much of a pain to the group. Even though the boys tried to slow down the pace, she refused to let her weak side take control and manage to keep up with them. However, another person appeared to be having a hard time which eventually made the hike a slow one; a very slow one.

“Aish, we shouldn’t have asked her along,” Tao complained to Chen as they trudged their way forward.

“I know right. She’s slowing down everyone and we already planned to reach the top of the hill by noon, so that we can have lunch there. Now, look at the time. It’s already half past noon, yet we still have about 5km away.” Chen replied with a rather pissed tone.

Lyorin overheard their conversation but didn’t want to get involved. She knew they were referring to Sori who apparently had been complaining and fretting throughout the entire journey. It was true that she was slowing down the group, but Lyorin understood her predicament considering she was never a sporty person. It must be tough for her to keep up. Lyorin was glad the guys were accommodating to her even though most of them were already slightly irritated. The leaders were doing an excellent job making sure the guys spirits were still up.

As they made their way slowly, Lyorin looked around at the tall trees covering the sunlight. She turned her head to the right and left, and realised something. Something about the surrounding was familiar. She looked up only to see leaves and branches blocking the sun.

Seek the SUN; for it shines as the brightest STAR.

She recalled the message written from the piece of paper. What was dad trying to convey? She realised that the scene she was witnessing was exactly the one she dreamt last night. Mental images of her dad, the tall trees, the piece of paper and the unknown surrounding she dreamt began to cloud her mind as she tried hard to overcome the pain; the pain of seeing her dad’s back as he walked away. She held on to her head which was hurting as she tried to dispel the painful images. Unknowingly, she started to sway back and forth, with her vision starting to blur. She was already exhausted from the hike and it didn’t help that her head was hurting.

Noticing something was amiss with Lyorin, D.O walked over to her. Just as he was approaching her, Lyorin was about to stumble forward. He rushed just in time to catch her from falling. “Lyorin!” Effortlessly, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her up. “Are you alright?” The rest of the boys gathered around them. D.O lightly tapped her cheek.

Lyorin squinted open her eyes and cleared . Instantly, Suho took out his bottle and passed it to her. “Drink this.” D.O settled Lyorin on the ground, not letting go off her until she was stable. Sehun conjured up his power and provided wind to cool her down. She gulped the drink and exhaled loudly. “Are you okay? You should have informed us when you’re tired. Don’t push yourself too hard.” Suho said softly, while her back to ease the tiredness.

“Thanks Sehun for the wind. I’m okay. It’s just..never mind. I’m sorry if I worried you guys,” Lyorin muttered weakly.

“Silly, don’t apologise.” Luhan playfully knocked her head with his knuckle. “Kris, let’s stop and have lunch here?” Luhan requested, which was unanimously agreed by the rest.

“Okay, let’s take a rest here. Lyorin and Sori, drink more water. It’s quite humid.” Kris reminded them before settling down and taking out his packed lunch. Everyone was given a lunch box prepared by Mrs Lee. They started digging their lunch boxes and finishing up the food prepared.

While Lyorin was downing her last piece of kimbap, Kai teleported right beside her. Surprisingly, she didn’t jump in surprise at his sudden appearance, probably because she had gotten used to it. She looked over at him who seemed to have a worried look plastered across his face. “You sure, you’re okay?” He asked in his deep voice. Unable to talk, Lyorin gave him a thumb up instead since she still had food in . He didn’t buy her words so he asked more specifically, “Why did you fall out of a sudden?” This time he asked her something more than a yes or no reply.

After chewing the last bit of kimbap and swallowing it, Lyorin finally replied, “I don’t know. I felt slightly tired. Kai, there is nothing to worry about.” Lyorin assured him. Kai was tired of Lyorin’s attitude of taking everything in stride. He definitely could sense something was bothering her but whenever anyone asked, she would flatly answer that she was okay. However, he decided not to push her further. In fact, why did he even bother asking her?

Meanwhile, Sori was watching them from far. She was cursing under her breathe as she watched Kai talking to Lyorin. Even though it was just casual talking, it still irked her especially when she recalled the incident in the morning. Kai had always given his full attention to her before Lyorin entered their lives. But now, he didn’t even look at her in the eyes anymore. Ultimately, she was jealous of Lyorin. She hated how Lyorin was their STAR and not her. Everyone seemed to be doting on Lyorin more than herself.

Amidst the lunch break, Sori walked over to Sehun. “Sehun, I need some wind.” She demanded. Sehun was playing around with Luhan, Xiumin and Tao, when Sori approached him and asked him to use his power.        He looked at her with an annoyed face. “What? I’m feeling hot. Hurry!” She ordered, not caring at all.

Sehun turned his back but Sori pushed him roughly causing him to trip slightly but not strong enough to make him fall to the ground. He finally turned angry and yelled, “Urgh! What’s wrong with you?! I’m not using my power!”

The atmosphere became tense when Sori attacked Sehun by pushing him even harder than before. She had enough already. She was tired from the stupid hike, then Kai ignored her the entire time and now Sehun was being a pain. In addition, everyone else was giving Lyorin all their attention instead of her.

Kris who noticed the little fight, went up to Sori and pulled her back. “Sori, don’t do this, please.” He pleaded for her to stop hitting Sehun who was trying to control his anger by closing his eyes. If Sori was a guy, Sehun would have punched him in the face. “Sehun, give her some wind.” He ordered but Sehun refused to budge.

Sori struggled and broke free from Kris’s grip. “FINE! You guys are jerks especially you, Sehun. Ever since you found your precious little STAR, everything revolves around her!”

“No, everything changed when you started to become who you are right now,” Tao interrupted.

“SHUT UP! What a dumb excuse. The biasness is apparent. All of you changed, even you, Kai.” Sori turned her head towards Kai. “What is so special about her?! She’s a jinxed! Everything about her is a curse, can’t you see it?! Even her parents disowned her!”

Chanyeol stomped towards Sori and warned, “You better stop all these.” He took her hand and led her away but Sori pushed him off.

“I’m not done! Do you want to know how your father is like?!” Sori fixed her eyes on Lyorin. Lyorin stared back. She didn’t retaliate because Sori was telling the truth. Her life was nothing but a curse. “He’s a ing coward! He’s a coward leaving his trash and expecting us to take care!” Just when she thought she could handle her words, Lyorin’s blood started to boil. She was used to having others insulting her, but to insult her parents, that meant serious business. “You should have just died like your pathetic mother!”

Notwithstanding any longer, Lyorin boldly walked towards Sori and confronted, “What the hell is your problem?! You can insult me all you want, but don’t you dare talk bad about my parents.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she shouted her words. For the first time, she was crying in front of the boys. “Yes, I’m jinxed and cursed. My life is pathetic with people hunting me down. Yes, I’m such a nuisance to your beloved EXO boys. But look, do you think I enjoy all these? Sori, I will trade places with you if I can.” Lyorin fixed her eyes on Sori only, disregarding the stares she was receiving from the boys. “You can speak ill of me but not of my parents. Just don’t,” and with that Lyorin ran away from the group. Luhan tried to stop her, but when he saw the tears in her eyes for the first time, his heart sank and reluctantly let her go.

The attention was back to Sori when Lyorin abruptly left. Kai walked over to her with his face full of anger. “How dare you insult her parents?!” He yelled while gripping his hand on her arm.

“Kai, it hurts.” Sori pleaded as she felt the pain of the tight grip around her arm.

“I’m warning you, if you speak to her in that manner again, don’t ever think of seeing me ever?! Do you understand?!”

“K-Kai, it hurts.” Sori turned pale. Unknowingly, Kai was using too much strength on Sori. Even though it was just a normal grip, but Kai possessed immense physical strength, same for the rest of EXO. She was in pain but Kai ignored her cry and stared right at her.

“I’ve had enough of your nonsense. You..” Kai stopped.

Unable to bear the pain, Sori collapsed to the ground. The rest of the boys stopped Kai and tried to calm him down. Kai watched Sori dropped without any tinge of remorse. He could no longer care how much of a beast he had turned.

“Kai!” Suho pulled him away while Lay went over to Sori to check on her. “Look what you’ve done!” Suho lectured. He knew Kai didn’t mean to hurt Sori. “CONTROL YOURSELF!” Suho reminded. He was disappointed in Kai for hurting Sori, even if it was unintentional.

“I’m going to look for her.” Kai moved away from the crowd and disappeared.

“Aish, this guy! Luhan, Sehun and Tao; the three of you, go and search for Lyorin as well and bring her back. See you back in the house.” Kris ordered. He then turned towards Lay who was still examining Sori, “Lay, how is she?”

“She’s fine, just a shock.” Lay responded.

To be continued...