“EXO? But I thought... And it's been a-... a hundred years.” Lu Han could only mutter. Everything he had known and was told since birth is somehow slowly dissipating into just what may seem like a fairy tale now as he gawks back at the group who is still staring at him.

     Lu Han couldn’t put it all together in that instant. Everything he had known about this world now is all jumbled up information, messy with confusion.

“Son, I promise you that you are not dreaming to begin with, and this is the real EXO.” Lu Han looked at the members once more and then back at his Uncle. He has no other way to disprove anything but to merely wait for the explanation. 

“How about we proceed to the dining room so we can all celebrate appropriately with delicious food and exquisite wine first. Then after that... Then we can talk. Because in all actuality, we do need to talk.” Henry’s face turned serious and Lu Han knew he only had to wait.

“Congratulations on your acceptance to the academy, Lu Han. I am Kim Junmyeon and these are my comrades” the man began to introduce himself. He was the first person that met him when he first arrived.

“But please call me Suho. I am the co-leader of EXO just like Wu Yifan over there. Call him Kris.  Starting from the corner is Byun Baekyun, then Park Chanyeol, Zhang Yixing or Lay in short, Kim Jongdae but you can call him Chen, Kim Minseok, who likes to be called by his Chinese name, Xiumin, but Lu Han back then called him Baozi.” Suho whispered the last bit leaning towards to the boy. There was a sudden upturn in his facial expression but it had disappeared as fast as it had appeared. Lu Han chuckled a bit and was surprised at the leader's light joke that was so unexpected especially from a leader that of EXO. 

“The baby that cried in your shoulder is Huang Zitao or Tao, Do Kyungsoo over there is also called D.O. and finally the one hiding behind Chanyeol is Kim Jongin or Kai. Lu Han, we are EXO.” The man started to introduce everyone asking Lu Han to call them by their respective nicknames justifying the fact that they consider him as precious as their late friend Lu Han. But as much as Lu Han tried, there were still the lingering ‘sir’ and the salutes and standing astute that he just couldn't shake off. He was just fresh out of graduation and it's still ingrained into his brain to maintain his military upbringing. Tao, Chanyeol and Baekhyun only laughed at the strict gesture the younger male made; saluting and standing erect for every introduction.

“Lu Han, please ease up a bit. We are all friends here. If you can’t fathom that idea, think of us as your long lost Uncles.” The statement made Lu Han relax a bit and it earned him a couple of smiles from the others. Kai on the other hand scoffed at the idea which earned him a deathly glare from the leader. Lu Han didn't notice any of it, however, because he was still getting over the initial shock that they, EXO, were still alive, not a day older than those of the pictures and videos he had seen growing up.

“Man, he’s as bashful and curious as when Sehun brought our Lu Han to meet us." The eldest started to chuckles. "I will never forget the day Sehun trudged into this very hall demanding we meet his-” Xiumin started but Kris cleared his throat and nudged the other.

     He looked at Kris and he understood right away, it was all too sudden still. He quickly stopped and changed the subject.  Lu Han had just furrowed his brow and continued to watch the exchange of the two.

“But that’s a story for another time, eh? Uhm... C’mon let’s eat. I’m hungry.” Kris turns around and was followed by the rest of the group.

     But it had all been too particular for the younger boy to hear an intimate story as such about his all time hero and his great-great-grandfaher. He perused the last thing he heard about their hero Oh Sehun and he looked up at the statue just outside of the dining room. 

"Man, he’s as bashful and curious as when Sehun brought our Lu Han to meet us."  The words rang repeatedly in his head.

“So, you were the one.” Lu Han could only smile at the mere thought of his great-great-grandfather’s first love. He’s read this story many times before in his great-great-grandfather's diary. It just never occurred to Lu Han that it was his hero Oh Sehun that filled the pages of the diary.

2012 Jan 28

"Dear useless journal,

     I've finally met him. He's a brat of all things. Walks around with his chin so high, it can reach the sky and boast all the glory.  He walks around with his face always stern and serious almost as if nothing ever amuses him. He found me in my secret spot today at the top of the hill. As always I fell asleep with my head resting on the platform. It's just so beautiful there. It always leaves me breathless as I scan the horizon. I feel like I can see the world up there, you know? And what do you know, I did. I met him, the person that would be my world from now on.

     His friend Kai, I think his name was, thought I was dead and kept poking my side with a stick until I jumped and scared the wits out of him making him lose his footing and fall on his rear. It made the boy of my dreams laugh. I've seen him a hundred times by the laboratory by the foot of the hill and not once have I seen him smile let a long laugh. And here he was clutching his stomach cracking up at the sight of his frightened, hell, mortified friend, and I can only mesmerize at the sheer beauty of the sound of his voice and the eyes that seemed to hide yet brighten my everyday from the memory. That eye smile, I will never forget. He slowly walked up to me, journal, instead of helping his poor friend off the floor. He reached out to shake my hand and said 'Thank you for making me laugh.' I giggle as I write this because although he left right after, he left a lasting impression on me. I can only hope that I've done the same to him."

“I don’t understand. If EXO were all special beings from ‘another land’ and you all have the ability to stay this age forever, immortality at your palms, what happened to my great-great-grandfather?” Lu Han started as they lounged in the study waiting for their tea and coffee to be served. The small talks and laughter that was dispersed through out the room halted as the question lingered in the room with no one wanting to answer.

     To be honest, Lu Han had been waiting patiently during dinner to ask these question. Instead of minding the delicious food that was served for him, he found himself listing all that he needed to ask the group, hence leading him to lose his appetite. It was a bit irritating that the group had been a bit immature and childish with their jokes and pranks towards each other. This is not what he had expected of the Mighty Eleven who have saved the world once. They were more like a group of teenagers or young adults that never grew up, overcoming time, never growing old. He furrowed his brow at the sight of Kai and Chanyeol flinging peas at each other while Baekhyun and Tao snickered about some irrelevant things. They were laughing amongst themselves as they all enjoyed the food on the table. It only irritated Lu Han more when he saw Suho and Kris, the supposed leaders crack-up at every stupid insult that both Chanyeol and Kai were spitting at each other.

“I know there’s another reason why I’m here. You all can’t be simply celebrating my entrance into the academy. Don’t make a fool out of me. I am smarter than you think.” He hissed at everyone as he stood with his fist balled digging into his sides irritation emphasized with every word in annoyance.

“Fine, Lu Han. You have waited long enough. You’re right. There is another reason you are here and it's not just because of your entrance to the academy. We wanted you to at least have this last bit of innocence before you learned about it all. Because there is no turning back after hearing it. You're here because...” Kris started to say and he stood up to sit on the arm rest of one of the sofas in front of Lu Han. He then held Lu Han's shoulder and squeezed it a bit for further comfort. 

“We need your help. We need you to help us bring the black pearl back”

“The black pearl?” Lu Han cocked his head. A fairy tale of sorts to him once and the leader of EXO speaks of it as if fairies were real. This was not what he was asking yet. It stops his thoughts and now...

“I think we are getting ahead of ourselves.” Suho began once again. He turned to Chen, the resident scientist and expert in the matter and encouraged the other to start telling the story. 

“Maybe we should start with your part, Chen.”

“Fine” Chen could only sigh to himself as he found it tedious to repeat himself over and over but he is pretty excited to talk science once again to someone who had not so much a clue since it’s been a long time since he had said anything about the matter.

“Well, we can’t really start the story without telling you about the hundred year war. North Korea then which is now the infamous Freedom Republic wanted some attention from its neighboring countries. They wanted to be recognized as one of the elites in the world, but they were snobbed and criticized for their chosen way of living. Instead, the North Koreans teamed with another country to develop the world’s strongest nuclear bomb that was the size of a micro chip.” Chen gestured with his skinny fingers and made a small gesture, supposedly a square, with his index and thumb.

“The scientists then figured that the massive explosion can cause the world to implode in itself and may cause the creation of a temporary black hole that can everything that is in our known galaxy. But by then, it was too late. The leader of the party then swindled the scientists that helped them develop such a chip and finally killed everyone to eliminate the few who knew about their plan.”

     Lu Han’s eyes grew weary at the statements. He remembered bits and pieces of the story from school but the next thing he heard were sheer speculations and fairy tales that he once heard but never thought would ever happened.

“Well that’s when we came from EXO planet. We were contacted by the United Galactic Administration here on earth asking for our help and so we were sent here immediately through a vortex, each with a different skill to help and figure out a solution. We all, as you may not know, each have special gifts that were kept in secret including our ‘immortality’ as you human have called it.” He chuckled at the word ‘immortality’  

Ah hence the secrecy. Lu Han thought to himself.

“Anyways, the eleven of us worked night and day researching a plan of action but nothing came up until one day...” Chen was cut off and it was time for Kai to speak.

“Sehun and I...” His serene voice was uplifted at the sheer memory of his best friend. Right away, Lu Han knew the relationship between the two as Kai spoke about Sehun with much fervor. 

“We wandered off the trail from our laboratory one day and found this very spot. The platform used for Sehun’s statue, that is the exact platform, the exact place we found your great-great-grandfather, Lu Han, for the first time. He looked exactly like you now, same hair color and even the same stature. He was beautiful and both Sehun and I... well I knew right then and there things will never be the same because, that was when Sehun first laid eyes on Lu Han and it was also the first time he fell in love with the human. He was laying his head on-”

     Lu Han finally interrupted. “Wait. What? Human?”

“Yes, you’re father was human. Initially, Sehun tried his hardest to stay away from you, I mean Lu Han. But our Lu Han seemed to be taken by our youngest that he chased him around making it harder for the younger to get rid of his feelings that he was working so hard to fight against. But I have to give it to your great-great-grandfather’s persistence and brains. He literally followed Sehun around earning him the favor even our friendship as well. He was also the one who found the solution to our ‘world destruction’ problem.” Kai stopped and lowered his head a bit in the mere thought of his old friends. He looked out the window and smiled to himself.  

“They were brilliant individuals, those two. They were perfect for each other.” Kai said to himself as he lowered his gaze on the window sill and grazed his fingers on the wooden frame.

     Chen looked at Kai and realized that the boy may have had enough reminiscing so he started to talk again. 

“Well our Lu Han then figured that we could use the same vortex that we used to come to earth back then. He figured instead of traveling to EXO Planet, the ‘black pearl’ as we called the traveler, would then travel the vortex and leave the bomb there. Well as you’ve learned from out history that the vortex was created to link both of our worlds. It is where time and space is overwritten and Lu Han figured that if the bomb was placed there, there would never be an explosion or a galactic destruction since it wouldn’t activate because it’ll be in a stand still. However, he figured that there should be someone to go with the chip in the vortex to prevent it from traveling to the other side of the portal and destroying that other side which may end up defeating the purpose to begin with it. So your brave great-great-grandfather offered himself as sacrifice.”

“But Lu Han chickened out on the last minute.” Kai spat his anger through his teeth. With his jaw clenched and his fist balled to his side he glared at Lu Han who was taken aback. The silence in the room after Kai had started again echoed in Lu Han’s chest and a sudden pang hit him on the spot.  As if the whole room agreed or shared the same thought, but Lu Han will never know. All he knew was that he earned himself a sudden glare with all heads turning his way. No words were spoken, yet he felt like the pause had more meaning than it led on.

Kai started again this time lowering his voice relaxing after taking a deep breath. Solemn and maybe even defeated, he almost whispered it, probably not wanting to speak of it again.

“Knowing how Sehun felt for him, he took advantage and asked our youngest the ultimate sacrifice. He asked the other to take his place. He couldn’t bare be stuck in a standstill, lonely and lost in the vortex by himself so he asked Sehun to take his place and now, Sehun's probably still up there holding onto that stupid chip.” Kai ended the story with sarcastic scoff that left a bitter taste against everyone’s liking.

“That’s not how it went! Close but not exactly.” Lu Han raised his voice in protest earning him puzzled looks and he ignored it and proceeded. 

“My great-great-grandfather would've never done that to Sehun. He loved him. He said so himself.”  Just as he defended his great-great-grandfather's feat as he can only remember from the endless beauty of each word written describing the love and passion of the two in the worn out pages of the journal containing smeared ink that was left behind maybe after the writer shed a tear or two. He knew that he had said more than what he was supposed to and he immediately retracted and covered his mouth. 

“What I mean to say is my grandparents told me a different story for bed about the prince and the human who fell in love. It went more like that than your stupid unrequited love turned array. I mean..." He tried to say but the pairs of eyes that are now boring into his head couldn't have been dissuaded. They all knew he knew more than what he led on.

A/N: Hello readers. Sci-fi original here. Gosh i really dream about the craziest and weirdest things. Well I hope you guys enjoy it. Thank you for reading. Enjoy the fic.