Journey 21

Jinri set her cup of black coffee on the table with shaking hands. She's a little calmer now, but she still can't grasp the reality that instantly dawned on her that night.

Her apartment stood alive on her neighborhood in the midst of midnight darkness. All lights were , everyone inside the room were awake and Bambi was growling angrily on Luhan and Chanyeol. 

Jinri glanced from the barking zu then to the handsome aliens in front of her.

"I... I guess you - your kind - were naturally hated by dogs." she commented, still staring at Bambi.
"And we naturally hated them too. Dogs are our Earth enemies." Luhan joked. "Why'd you keep it here Jinri? I'm surprised Prince Yeol had survived living with a foul creature like that."

Jinri frowned at Luhan.

"Bambi is a gift from my boyfriend. Of course I'll keep her."

Chanyeol leaned on the fridge and studied Luhan. From what he learned earlier, this man was destined to protect him from the Exo-Ms, the exiled rebels of their planet. He also learned that he was the prince of that said planet - Exo - if he can remember it correctly, and that their species are called 'exotic'. Lastly, he learned that despite of Luhan's innocent and young face, this man in front of him was four years older than him. A man. Just like what everyone in Earth calls.

"How come your 23 and I'm only 19?" he complained.
"Exotics don't have a planned calendar years of aging unlike Earth humans, my prince. They - just like Jinri - age every 365 days, but our age can't be controlled by those numbers because we age indefinitely. In my case, I skipped 3 years after I was born."
"Wow, that was a big leap." Jinri said.
"Yes." Luhan smiled. "But would you believe me if I say that Prince Yeol was born before me?"
"That's insane."
"Everything's possible in Exo, and it was the truth." he laughed. "Prince Yeol stayed on being a six-month old baby for at least 25 years in Exo's timeline."

Jinri dropped her jaw after hearing Luhan's information. Surprises, surprises. It keeps on feeding her that night.

She turned to look at an equally-shocked Chanyeol and asked.

"And how old are you supposed to be right now?" she demanded on him, earning a confused shrug from Chanyeol.
"You wouldn't want to know." Luhan smirked. "If you convert Exo's time in Earth time then you wouldn't believe the range of years we live in contrast to you humans."

Jinri leaned on her couch and closed her eyes for a moment.

"You were telling us about these so-called EMs?"
"Yes." Luhan placed his own cup on the coffee table and looked sadly on Chanyeol. "After Prince Yeol was transported in Earth, the EMs had invaded us totally. They captured King Iyo and Queen Yal and forced them to speak on the whereabouts of the prince - as if Our Highness will tell anything."
"I'm confused." Jinri interrupted. "You told us that King Iyo transported Chanyeol here, right? Then he has powers. If so, then why didn't he just used his powers to defeat these exiles?"
"Because power can be outnumbered by rage Jinri. The EMs are beyond hatred on Exo-Ks."
"Don't you have powers too? Chanyeol has."

Luhan shook his head and smiled.

"I do not have royal blood within me and neither were the rest of exotics. In other words, only the son of the King can obtain powers. Besides, I don't even know who my parents are." he said sadly.
"Why?" Jinri asked.
"They abandoned me." Luhan's smile must have been bittersweet in Jinri's opinion. His eyes were pained, but a soft smile crept on his lips. She guessed he learned this kind of reaction over time. It was a pity for her.
"I'm sorry." she said softly.
"It's okay. Anyways, King Iyo has his last act of protection for Prince Yeol. He selected a few kids left in EXO-K - me included - and sent us to different parts of the Earth. Each of us has our own message, I believe, and that's why I am here. To protect our prince."
"Message?" Chanyeol asked. "Like emails?"
"Yes, like emails Prince Yeol. But in a different way."

Luhan pulled his shirt down and showed his glowing cyan tattoo below his throat. 

"When an exotic is born, it is traditional for adults to send their sons or daughters a message that they will carry to fulfill on the right time. In order to send the message, they have to touch this spot -" Luhan pointed on the middle of his tattoo "- and when an exotic turns 21 for boys or 18 for girls, they will received their message in time."

Chanyeol traced his glowing tattoo and frowned on Luhan.

"So that's why I don't have any message received yet, isn't? Because I am not yet 21."
"Yes my prince."
"But Luhan." Chanyeol said. Luhan inclined his head inquiringly, prompting his prince to continue speaking.
"You haven't told us what happened to my parents."

Chanyeol's indifferent tone made Jinri look at him. She saw that his face was blank, but she can feel that he was holding it in. He was masking his own anxiety from the worst things that he can think of.

Luhan averted his eyes from Chanyeol and bowed his head, as if confirming what Chanyeol had already guessed.

"I'm sorry my prince... but... they were killed by the EMs."

Jinri gasped and clasped a hand over . She looked pitily at Chanyeol. Who would have thought that this man who continuously annoyed her has experienced such a cruel life at an early age?

Chanyeol's expression stayed emotionless. All he did after Luhan's answer was giving him a curt nod, then excusing himself for the rest of the night.

* * *

"This Luhan is interesting Jinri. You know what? I think I'll scout him in our club." Kyungsoo commented after he listened to Jinri's narration. "Maybe I should also treat him with my special ginseng tea for saving your neck last night."

Jinri chuckled amusedly. "If you are talking about that ginseng tea you made Chanyeol drink last week which made him lock himself for hours inside the restroom, then I suggest you should have second thoughts my friend."
"Hey! I've improved my ingredients!"
"And how long will you torture your next victim this time?"
"Hey guys." Amber sank on the chair next to Jinri and started wolfing down Jinri's spaghetti. "How's your sem break?"

It was the first time that Kyungsoo and Jinri met Amber since semester break. Her carefree attitude towards Kyungsoo startled both him and Jinri, making them stare at Amber with baffled looks. It was like she hadn't confessed on Kyungsoo at all.

Amber stopped eating the pasta and stared at the open-mouthed Kyungsoo. She smiled on him and said,

"Oh come on! Not because I confessed to you it means we should stop being friends, right?" she asked casually.

Jinri sighed in relief and hid the smile on her face. She was glad how Amber took the matter on her own hands and by the looks of it, so was Kyungsoo.

"Sure. Like anything will change with us." And he and Amber bomb-fisted each other.

Shortly after lunch, Kyungsoo excused himself to the girls saying that he has to arrange things in their club. Jinri doesn't have to guts to ask Victoria how does her relationship with Kyungsoo was going, but she hoped the Kyungsoo will make the first move to make their situation comfortable again, just like Amber.

"You are the toughest girl I know Amber." Jinri said in admiration. "You have the heart to confess to your boy, and you also have the courage to face him again like nothing happened. If I were in your position, I wouldn't have done that myself."
"Don't patronize me, silly. The truth is, while Kyungsoo was here, my heart was really pounding loudly. But I promised myself that I will keep my cool around him because the worst thing that can happen was him staying away from me. And it would be my fault why our friendship will be scratched."
"How about Luna?"
"Ah," Amber's smile widened. "We've been enjoying our semester break together. Would you believe that? Actually it was Luna who first approached me and talked things through. At the end of the day I realized that I will never leave my friendship with Luna just for a guy, and so was my friendship with Kyungsoo just because I'm in love with him."
"Very well said." Jinri said, then she and Amber high-fived each other.

* * *

"Um, excuse me. This is Astronomy 1-A, right?" Jinri asked a random student exiting the auditorium.
"Yes." the boy replied.
"Do you know Park Chanyeol?"
"He's that giant kid, right?"
"Yes, that's him. Did he attend class today?"
"I don't think so." the latter responded and continued walking away.

Jinri's shoulders fell. Ever since Luhan told them that the king and queen were murdered, Chanyeol left the apartment for the rest of the night. Now he also skipped class, and perhaps his breakfast and lunch as well. 

*It's okay Jinri. Just give him space. He needs it.*

"Why are you looking so glum?" Luhan pouted out of nowhere.
"Oh jeez - ! Luhan!"
"Jinri!" And he embraced her in the middle of the crowd.
"What... what are you doing here..?"
"School. Duh."
"But -"

Luhan cast an impatent wave on her and dragged her towards anywhere. 

"I'm not yet familiar in this school... you'll show me around, right?"
"I don't understand. Why are you in school?"
"To fulfill my duty." he replied, sparks flowing out of his dazzling eyes.

Just like Chanyeol, Luhan was the type of guy that will make girls and boys turn their heads around. Jinri guessed that it was a natural thing for aliens to be undeniably handsome in their own ways. Lucky exotics.

"Umm... this is the hall of fame. This is for the athlete famers... the student council famers... and the nerdy famers." Jinri introduced each human-sized bulletin to Luhan. She stopped to linger at the top list which showed Kyungsoo's face and his trophies, then to the picture and trophies of Joonmyeon next to him.

"This is Kyungsoo, SMA's top student. He's my best friend. And this is Joonmyeon, my boyfriend."
"Wow. You have a knack for intelligent men, eh Jinri?"
"You must be Luhan!!" Kyungsoo shouted from afar. He ran from the other side of the corridor towards Jinri and Luhan, his eyes glistening with excitement. "My name is Do Kyungsoo, very pleased to see you!"

Luhan studied Kyungsoo's odd taste of clothes and chuckled.

"It's nice to meet you too Kyungsoo." Luhan said, shaking hands with him.
"We should have a bottle of milk shake together! My treat!" Kyungsoo said, wrapping an arm around his shouder and pulling her away from Jinri.
"Don't mind me here, go on. Just leave." Jinri said sarcastically after the two boys left her without a second glance. "Boys."

She turned around to search Chanyeol again but stopped, catching her breath. She was staring eye to eye with Jongin, with the usual distance from her and from the students around him. Her lips quivered as she remembered his deathly glare last night. Questions were entering her mind and begging her for answers. She needs answers.

Gathering all the courage she can muster, Jinri walked towards the man she was silently accusing as her attempted murderer. Jongin followed her with his eyes, never moving even though he knew that Jinri was marching towards him.

"We need to talk." Jinri hissed, pushing Jongin towards an empty room and locking themselves in.

Thank you @erikai20 for that lovely poster you made for me.! I'm really touched chinggu! Kkkkkk~