It was a Saturday afternoon, and Baekhyun assisted Lu Han in going to the Chunnyeon auditorium, where they will have their first practice for the preliminary performance.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Baekhyun asked.

Lu Han smiled, “Yeah, I’m sure Kai and Sehun are already inside. I won’t stumble on my way, I memorized the steps inside the auditorium already.”

With that, Baekhyun waved his goodbye to his blind friend, giving their group privacy on their practice. Besides, he will also meet with his group mates in the mall and went his way.

Lu Han heard Sehun call his name when he entered the auditorium, and followed his deep and hoarse voice. He realized that his group mates are on the top of the stage, and he had to take the stairs to get there. But he need not to, for Kai went down and assisted him up. Lu Han was thankful that even though Baekhyun was not there, someone was feeling to help him. The skin contact never fails to make Lu Han shrink, even if he had already felt Kai’s touch several times, in this same auditorium during the Mugunghwa Soiree and the ballet dance class of Lee seonsaengnim. However, Lu Han doesn’t want to feel delusional. Kai is just helping a disabled. There’s nothing special…

Sehun groaned, “This will be hard!”

Kai snapped, “Why do you say so?”

Sehun looked at Lu Han and pointed a finger at him. “Climbing up the stairs needs assistance. How can we make him dance without us helping him? You know we’re required to have individual parts in the performance. Every dancer knows that.”

“But I’m not a dancer,” Lu Han said softly, “, so I don’t need an individual part.”

Kai responded touching the small of Lu Han’s back, which made the latter almost jump upon the sudden contact, “You’re a dancer. You just haven’t discovered it yet.”

Lu Han remembered Kai’s words on his first ballet dance class. This made his doubts disappear.

“Don’t be foolish! He’s not a dancer. He’s better behind the piano.” Lu Han can hear the irritation behind Sehun’s voice.

Kai grew impatient and went straight up to Sehun, held him by the collars of his school uniform, knuckles almost white as he fists his right hand.

“Go ahead. Punch me.” Sehun provoked.

Lu Han haven’t realized the heat of the situation, until he shouted “Stop!”, which made the rival dancers sojourn their starting brawl, voice echoing inside the auditorium.

With tears starting to well up in his eyes, Lu Han exclaimed, “Fine. You don’t have to fight. I’ll just quit Lee seonsaengnim’s class.”

Lu Han turned his back and started to walk away, until he felt Kai grasp him by the elbow.

“Stay.” He commanded.

With that one word, Lu Han had felt something odd within Kai’s grip on his limb. It’s as if Kai really needed him to stay…by his side… but Lu Han shrugged all of this. This is not the time for such thoughts, it’s his Chunnyeon dream that’s at stake.

Sehun chuckled, “You are really foolish, blind-ie. A student in the Special Arts Class cannot drop a subject, whether he intended to take it or he just took it as an offer. There’s no turning back now.”

Sehun’s words which are supposed to discourage the blind student lit up a flame of determination and new-born passion inside Lu Han’s heart instead. Wiping the tears before they even fall, he faced Kai and Sehun.

“Okay. I understand. Let’s start.”

Lu Han realized that he should really expect the unexpected in his new school, everything from the surroundings and events, the vexatious professors, and the varied students of Chunnyeon.

Lu Han was now seated in a circle together with Kai and Sehun on the floorings of the stage, their discussion about the dance starting.

“It will be really hard.” Sehun had said for the second time around.

Kai’s voice sounded serious, “But we need to do this.”

Sehun nodded, “I’ll just try to talk to Lee seonsaengnim if we can let Lu Han just play the piano while the two of us dance.”

Kai snickered this time, “Look who’s being foolish. This isn’t an instruments class. This is a dance class.” He looked at Lu Han, hoping that he’ll get the right response “You will dance, right?”

Lu Han, with a little pint of doubt and hesitation, managed to nod eagerly, earning a smile from Kai.

Sehun sighed, “Okay fine. He will dance. Whatever.”

“But I think it’s a good idea that I play the piano before I dance. I get Sehun’s point. If ever I’ll fail doing the right steps, I can at least get extra points for playing the piano. Lee seonsaengnim appreciated my Mugunghwa Soiree, so maybe…he’ll reconsider.” Lu Han explained.

“Exactly.” Sehun agreed, a mischievous smile painting his lips. Kai just shook his head, but he also thought that somehow, Lu Han has a point. In that way, if it’s possible for Sunghwan to make reconsideration, Lu Han’s Chunnyeon dream will not crash into pieces.

They proceeded to planning for the concept and having a concrete flow of the dance. They managed to come upon three different pas de deux: Kai and Sehun, Sehun and Lu Han, and Kai and Lu Han. In that way, it’s a default that they won’t have any solo performances, and it will not be hard for Lu Han since he will be assisted by both Kai and Lu Han throughout the performance.

Kai had a question in mind, “A pas de deux is usually done by a female and a male performer, and since we don’t have any girl in our group, we can’t just follow the patterns of pas de deux of Black Swan and Giselle, right?”

“That’s right. But I made some research in our library, and found this book.” Sehun answered, shocking Lu Han since a while ago, the two of them almost ended up punching one another, but here they are now, working together. They are such professionals.

Sehun passed the book to Kai. Kai’s eyes widened upon reading the title of the book. The Legends and Myths of South Korea.

“Where did you get this book?” Kai probed, his eyes not leaving the title of the book.

Sehun answered, his tone serious, “I just passed by it on the shelves of the library. I thought that it will be better to have our own culture presented on our ballet performance, instead of just adapting foreign concepts. You know, our school has a knack for cultural preservation. Lee seonsaengnim will highly appreciate our efforts if we’ll do that.”

Lu Han was amazed at how clever Sehun can be. He may be a brat and an arrogant person sometimes, but he really has the wits.

“Can I touch the book?” Lu Han asked.

Sehun intended to tease Lu Han for asking for the book, he can’t read that. But they’re discussing serious matters now; he’ll preserve the mockery for later.

Kai willingly gave the book to Lu Han.

Lu Han was surprised at the heaviness of the book in his hands, feeling the dusty and almost-tearing yellowish and brownish pages of the old tome. “Wow! This one’s thick. Have you read all of it?”

Sehun snickered once again, “Who would have time for that? But one article interested me. It’s about a millennium-age legend. I think it’s better if we have that as our theme, since there are only three characters.

Something was telling and tugging at Kai that ne needs not to listen to the legend that Sehun will be narrating, for he himself knew it ever since he was still a child.

“What is it called?” a curious and attentive Lu Han asked.

“The legend of the Hunt.”

It was the first time that Lu Han had heard of the legend of the Hunt. They never tackled that legend back in the orphanage, whenever the volunteers would teach those South Korean myths and legends.

Kai’s wavering voice spoke just after Sehun introduced the title of the legend that they’ll be using in their performance, “I need to go.”

With that, Kai stormed out of the auditorium after picking his things up, leaving Lu Han with Sehun on the stage.

“What’s with him?” Sehun asked, following Kai with his gaze.

Lu Han reasoned out, “Maybe EXO will have a dance practice.”

“You’re probably right. That’s why I never want to join their group.” Sehun said.

Lu Han doesn’t have any idea on what to do, now that he’s left with no one but Sehun. He fidgeted in his seat, and Sehun noticed Lu Han’s uneasiness, which he found endearing.

“Hey, wanna go to the cafeteria? I’ll buy you bubble tea.” Sehun proposed.

Lu Han was incredulous at the sudden change of the bratty Sehun to the one who’s asking him out for a bubble tea break. With uncertainty, he said “Sure.”

In between sips of their bubble tea, which Lu Han had never drank before, he learned that Sehun is really not that obnoxious. Yes, he may be arrogant at times, but Lu Han knows that he’s kind-hearted; he’s just wearing a façade, a mask for everyone to see. For what reason, Lu Han cannot discern yet. He found himself enjoying Sehun’s voice and lisp, especially his stories about the different professors and students of their school. Lu Han seemed to lighten up in Sehun’s company, and Sehun too in Lu Han’s. They cannot be the best of friends now, they just met in a class and a group meeting, the latter even belittling the blind student often; but Lu Han was happy to have proven Baekhyun and Kyungsoo wrong about this competitive dancer.

“What was that legend that you were talking about a while ago? You never got the chance to explain as Kai stormed out.” Lu Han asked.

Sehun, after sipping his favourite drink, answered. “As what I said a while ago, it was a millennium-age legend. It started from the Western people, but got adapted here in Korea.”

“What is it about?” Lu Han asked, attentively listening to Sehun.

His group mate continued, “The Hunt is about a mythical creature called the ‘deer of the dawn’. Legends say that this deer holds something that is the key to immortality, being sought by both humans and monsters.”

A bedazzled Lu Han asked, “Are there monsters in South Korean culture? I only know the nine-tailed fox gumiho, but that’s basically not a monster…”

“Yes, there are. A lot, actually.” Sehun answered.

Lu Han terrifyingly asked, “Are they real?”

Sehun was silent for a while, which made the blind student’s eyes widen in trepidation. “Don’t tell me they’re real.”

Sehun laughed that he almost falls on his chair, earning looks from the other students inside the cafeteria. “No. They aren’t real, silly. Who believes in such urban legends?”

Lu Han’s thoughts was brought back to the nightmare that always haunt him in his sleep, but as soon as the image of the blood covered canines of a monster flashed his mid, he went back to listening to Sehun’s narration.

“But who may know, they might be real…”

Sehun’s last words were left hanging, a dead air surrounding the two as they sat quietly and sipped their drinks.

“Anyways, going back, the Hunt is a millennium-aged legend. The deer was actually a mystery for many. Don’t you know that there’s actually a sanctuary for deer in the provinces, and the owner based his business on the legend, believing that maybe the deer of the dawn is one of his deers.”

Lu Han can’t help it but to utter an oh. “But what is that something that the deer has, which is the key to immortality?”

Sehun shrugged, “I don’t know, too. Actually, there’s a riddle in the book pertaining to the Hunt. Wait, let me read them to you.”

Sehun reached for the book inside his bag and flipped to that particular age-stricken page, and read the riddle as if reciting some spell.

"Hidden in the woods is the deer of the dawn.

Nothing but a prey, or a wolf's last pawn.

Innocent and meek, tough no one can ever tame,

Its heart holds the key, for the eternal life that you aim.

Guided by the moon, shaded by its mark,

The promise of immortality, in its blood is embarked.

Bounded by darkness, the deer is bound to fall,

The last hope of the wolf, the survival of them all.”

As Lu Han was listening to Sehun’s reading, he can’t help it but feel something odd. After hearing those words, Lu Han can’t identify if his eyes are seeing in the depths of a dark abyss or sighting in the splendour of a shining light. It was his second time to experience this, and the first was when he shook the hands of Kris back when they first met. Lu Han also felt a heavy burden welling up inside his chest, and swirling his insides as well. It’s as if he got enchanted and imprisoned by the riddle, which was eerie for it was his first time to feel this disturbed.

“Hey, you alright?” Sehun asked, touching Lu Han’s forehead, checking for his temperature.

Lu Han shook his head, “No. I’m alright. Maybe I’m just tired.”

“You look like you’re falling out. Hey, don’t believe all the monsters; they aren’t real, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Sehun reassured, followed by a soft yet worried laugh.

Sehun was comforted when Lu Han laughed back.

“I think that’s all for today. You seem tired. You should get some rest.” Sehun advised.

Lu Han nodded and picked up his trash and his things all at once. Sehun, being worried and all, assisted the blind student towards his dorm room.

“Thanks for the bubble tea treat!” Lu Han tried to sound cheerful but failed.

Sehun knew that he really was grateful, both for the bubble tea and the stories, and said welcome.

But before Lu Han turned the door knob open, he asked Sehun about something in their pas de deux for The Hunt.

“What are the three characters in the legend by the way? And who will portray them? I know you already had plans.”

Sehun was silent for a while, but answered straightforwardly nonetheless.

“I will play the personification of the moon. Kai will play the wolf….”

Without even hearing Sehun’s entire statement, Lu Han knew it.

He will be the deer of the dawn.