First Arc: Fraternity or...Sorority?

Act I: The Lee Family

Scene Two

Lay had already been walking uphill for three hours, excluding another two hours when he got lost in the woods and made unknown detours (or, if there were really any) as he got chased down by guard dogs. Blessed finally with mercy, Lay couldn’t help but exclaim in delight when he found a very huge house erected in the middle of nowhere.

It had to be that house, right? The place where he would live now? But, it was not just a house; it was a huge mansion. Casting aside all the wonders he had, Lay carefully trudged up the grand marble stairway, heaving in difficulty as he lifted his heavy luggage upon each step. To his amusement, there was no doorbell. A bronze knocker the shape of a lion’s head hung on both doors, the heavy ring dangling from its widely opened mouth. Lay hesitantly lifted the ring and let it fall once against the door.

Just a second had passed before the door swung open, and Lay was greeted by a silver-haired boy who looked no more than twenty, a rifle in his hands which was pointed directly at Lay’s chest where his heart beat erratically underneath. Lay threw his hand up to cover his mouth in an attempt to stifle a screamed—he screamed on top of his lungs anyway.

When Lay found his voice to speak properly, it came out as a squeak set to the highest octave that could have broken glasses nearby. He did not think of speaking in Korean at all. His mother tongue commandeered all his brain cells. “YOU'VE GOT A RIFLE?!”

The aggressor frowned in confusion. “Jamkkaman yo! Intruder?”

Then, another voice came booming from inside the house. “Sehun, that! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT THING!!!”

When the owner of the said voice appeared beside the silver-haired boy named Sehun, Lay had his feet ready to break into a run. But, the air of childishness this shorter guy gave off around him made Lay feel calmer. He had ruffled jet-black hair, a small pair of eyes that looked more enhanced after a good application of eyeliner, and a pair of fine hands with slim fingers.

Sehun turned towards him and said flatly with a painful poker face, his eyes set sternly. “Protecting us from burglars, Baek-hyung.”

“BURGLARS??!! Where? Where?” Surprisingly enough, a towering creature appeared behind the two men. His black hair was more ruffled, beads of water trickling down the strands and lumping onto the towel wrapped around his neck. He had a sharp nose and slanted eyes that emphasized the dark and huge bags beneath them. Lay also noticed the several piercings he had. The other boy twinkled in excitement as he gave Lay a flash of smile.

“Oh, please, Tao! This guy is no burglar! Look at him. Awww~ He looks so kyeopta.” Another popper, Lay thought. His Apollo hairstyle, his constant gleaming of his pearlescent teeth, and his height left an impression on Lay, and he wondered how much more of the eccentricities he would be able to encounter in the next few seconds.

Unable to understand the boys in their hurried Korean, Lay tried to speak in English, hoping they knew enough to be able to last a conversation with him. “Um, excuse me but—“

“Ooh!!!” Apollo exclaimed. Yes, Lay was going to call him Apollo for the meantime. “He speaks English!” Apollo drummed his fingers against his temples and asked, “Roll like a buffalo?”

“W-What?”

The boy with the towel cleared his throat and said, “I are Huang Zitao. Who you is?”

“Hey, hey, what did you just ask?” Apollo excitedly asked him, tapping the dark-haired boy’s shoulder as he did so.

To which Tao replied, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly (He might as well have circumnavigated them around his orbits, Lay mused himself), “I asked him who he is. Duh!”

“Um… I'm Lay. And I believe—“

And yet another popper! “Hi! I'm Luhan. Come in, come in,” Luhan motioned Lay into the house, then faced the other four, his voice calm but deadly. “You four, you shouldn't be rude to our guest.”

“GUEST?! He's obviously a burglar!” Sehun retaliated.

“Right, Sehun,” Luhan spoke. Then, he threw the other boy a fiery look that turned him into stone rather than setting him on fire. “Just shut the f*** up!”

Sehun looked shock then blindly stormed upstairs, his hands wrapped around his rifle as if it held his dear life. Luhan saw the tears streaking down his face but decided not to care. Well, he did start to care after hearing the door from his room being slammed shut with a pitiful crashing sound, as if it had been blown off its hinges.

 “The Blizzard King attacks,” Baekhyun mumbled to himself but loud enough for all of them to hear.

“Luhan.” It was Apollo who spoke. “You shouldn't be so erse towards him.”

“He's acting like a baby. And trust me, he looks so cute. He'll be rewarded with a bubble tea. Kkkk~”

Baekhyun sighed exasperatedly and threw his hands up in the air. “I don't really understand the two of you.”

Luhan led the rest of them into the kitchen where another boy stood behind the counter, patiently rolling the dough. He didn’t even stop what he was doing when he looked up to give Lay his warm welcome, utilizing his proficient English communication skills. “Hello, I'm Kyungsoo. You are?”

Surprise! Lay told himself.

“Oh! You're that guy outside!”

Turning around to face the guy who just spoke, Lay exclaimed, “Ah!”

Apollo knitted his brows together and asked, “You've seen each other?”

“Yes!” It was only Kai who replied to his question.

“And you didn't offer him a ride?” Kyungsoo switched back to Korean and spoke in a tone that indicated he was reprimanding the tan-skinned boy in an elderly way. “Good behavior, great Kkamjong!” Chuckling, Kyungsoo looked at the others and said jokingly, “All hail to the Great Kkamjong!”

Great Kkamjong slammed his hand against the edge of the counter, only to retrieve his hand back as it glowed red at the impact. He kept wincing at the pain but settled for a seductive glare and an angry pout. “But I didn't know!”

“Uh-uh! That's not gonna work on me, Kkamjong,” Kyungsoo said, waving his finger in a gentle 'no' while clicking his tongue.

Great Kkamjong snorted and asked Lay, “So who are you?”

Lay pointed to himself innocently; after all, he only caught the word ‘who’. “My name is Zhang Yixing but you can call me Lay.”

“You're Chinese?” Luhan delightfully squealed in Chinese. He never really understood Lay’s English but understanding Kkamjong’s question and hearing Zhang Yixing, he knew it had to be his name.

“Who's Chinese?” Tao asked in Chinese, too, clearly bewildered. Everyone ignored him, though.

“Yeah, I'm Chinese but I spent half of my life in New York,” Lay told them.

“I'm Chinese too!” Luhan happily informed Lay, taking his hand in both of his and caressing them mildly. "Welcome into our home!"

Finally getting onto the right track of conversation, Tao added, “And so am I!”

“Oh, and so is he.” Luhan pointed to another blond-haired guy cramped onto a stool at the corner of the room, a book in his hand. “Duizhang! Come over here!”

“I'm still busy over here, can't you see?”

It was Kyungsoo’s turn to make fun of Duizhang. Speaking again in English, he said, “Too bad I just bought a bag of strawberries and it seems like the prince won't be able to have one tonight. Want to taste them, Lay?

“I heard that!” Duizhang yelled in English, standing up to his full height. Lay’s jaw almost dropped to the floor. “So what's the deal?” Duizhang asked, scratching the back of his head with a cool grin plastered on his face as he timidly stared at Lay.

Another guy entered the huge kitchen room, acknowledged everyone’s presence, turned to Lay, and then said, “I think I know who you are. Can anyone drag Xiumin and Chen out of their rooms? We're up for an emergency meeting.”

[A/N]: Hello~ I'm back again. I know the descriptions are somewhat confusing in some parts (i.e. when Kyungsoo speaks English and then to Korean). Feel free to ask me anything if there's something you don't understand. Now, Lay has seen nine of his step-brothers. Hehehe~ Oh, by the way, I know I said this has to have a limit of 800-1000 words per chapter, but I actually wrote more than that. Anyway, do you care how long or short a chapter is? Before I leave for the day, I would like to thank you again for taking some time in reading this. Thank you, and see you again in the next chapter!