Fifteen

**Unlike the previous chapter, this chapter continues from 13.

Luhan arrived back at the Kim mansion just in time to help prepare for dinner. He rang the doorbell at the front gate.

"Who is it?" a familiar voice inquired on the intercom.

"Lu Xiaoling. I'm returning from my break, Mr. Kim."

"Very well. There are guests over, so please hurry." he instructed.

The front gates creaked open. He made sure his hood was pulled up before walking up the long driveway so that anyone who spotted him would not recognize him as a male. Not that anyone would pass by him anyways since they were all probably busy hustling about in the kitchen, but it was good to be safe.

- - - -

After quickly applying a decent amount of eyeliner and foundation and changing into his uniform, he ran downstairs to be of some use with the other maids. The sound of clacking heels, rushed chattering, and demands of that-goes-over-here and hurry-up filled his ears. Victoria and Sulli dashed past him, both of the young women carrying a tray of food in each hand.

Sulli turned her head quickly to glance at him. "Unnie! We need help setting up the table, so if you would please hurry?" He nodded, although she was already gone. He entered the kitchen, careful not to bump into other maids that were going in and out.

"Xiaoling! Aish, about time!" one of the older maids -- Luhan forgot her name -- scolded him. She placed a bowl of steamed crab in his hands. "Don't burn yourself! Follow Krystal and Lime to the dining room." Feeling confused, he looked around and spotted a flash of Lime's aqua blue hair vanish around the corner. She gave him a small nod and slowed down a bit to let him catch up before speeding up again. When they reached the dining room, Luhan realized he had never been in the large overly decorated room. He shrugged it off, guessing it was because the mansion had a large amount of rooms and he had simply never ventured into this room or the room was only used for special occasions. He set the bowl on the table and noticed there were six guests. From the looks of their clothing choice, he concluded they were also wealthy men and women.

Heading back to the kitchen, he and Jongin accidentally bumped into each other. Luhan's cheeks instantly heated up from slight embarrassment. "I'm sorry, forgive me." The maid apologized in a splutter of what he hoped was fairly understandable Korean. The taller rolled his eyes.

"It's fine. If anything, I probably hurt you. Get back to work," he snapped, brushing past him roughly. Luhan frowned.

What a brat.

It didn't take much longer before the maids were done setting up the table. Victoria informed him that when very wealthy, high-class guests came over, it was customary for them to stand by the table as the Kims and guests ate, so that they could provide assistance right away when needed. All ten maids lined up against the wall. Since it was the first time he had experienced an event as formal as this, Luhan was completely unsure as of what to do. He snuck a peek at the maids and copied the pose all of them were sharing; no curve in the spine, chin up, hands in front with laced fingers. No speaking unless spoken to. Keep any emotion off of one's face. No talking with each other.

After an hour of the same pose, Luhan craved movement. His body was aching for any form of movement, just to loosen his muscles again. It was difficult to keep his back perfectly straight and to not move a single muscle. Finally, one of the men called him out with a sniffle. "Ahh. Is that one a new maid, Kim?" He pointed his almost-empty cup at Luhan's direction.

"Indeed," Mr. Kim replied, taking a sip of his red wine afterwards.

"She's quite the eye-candy," he chuckled and grinned, shamelessly letting his eyes travel down Luhan's body in the slim-fitting uniform. Seeing this, Mr. Kim forced a hard smile.

"Xiaoling, please step up and introduce yourself to Mr. Jang."

He was frightened. He could feel this man's predatory stare glued to him as he stepped forward and bowed. A flood of relief rushed through him as he stretched his legs while bowing. "Hello, my name is Lu Xiaoling. I was born in Beijing, China and just recently started working here. Please treat me well." He rose his eyes to meet Mr. Jang, heart pounding in his ears.

"Chinese, eh? Well done, Kim. Got yourself a foreigner. Pretty one, too." He clapped Mr. Kim on the back cheerfully who forced another hard smile.

"Thank you, Jang. You are dismissed, Xiaoling. Return to your spot."

"Oh my." One of the women said after wiping delicately. "She really is stunning. I would say the prettiest one of the bunch."

Luhan flushed. He wasn't even a girl and people were calling him pretty.

"Absolutely," another woman agreed. Luhan looked at her. She was wearing dark red lipstick along with too much eyeliner and blush. "Are you willing to give her to me? She would make such a gorgeous model in my agency."

He noticed an amused smirk creep onto Jongin's face, half-hidden by his glass cup.

Mr. Kim slowly sipped his wine again while staring at Luhan. "I do not think she would appreciate that, Mrs. Yoo. Nor would I."

The man sitting beside Mrs. Yoo chuckled. "She is such a pretty thing though, Kim. She's missing out on many opportunities." Luhan kept his eyes forward and resisted the urge to hide his face.

Mrs. Kim smiled politely, but there was a hint of impatience in her eyes. "We do not 'sell' our maids. All of them are essential to us and our children."

"Speaking of children," Mr. Jang piped, "How are you Jongin?" Luhan didn't know if he purposefully meant to change the subject or not. Jongin, looking uninterested, brushed a piece of lint off the sleeves of his dark grey blazer.

"I'm fine, sir."

Mr. Jang poured himself another cup of wine. "Have you found yourself a girlfriend yet?" He took a sip from his cup, eyes trained on the older brother. A soft cherry blossom pink crawled onto Jongin's cheeks, barely seen on his bronze skin, but Luhan easily noticed it. With an even face, Jongin adjusted his tie.

"I have not. I plan to let the women come to me," he replied coolly. Though the corner of his lips were curled upwards in a smirk, there was something in his eyes that wasn't cockiness; It was doubt and hesitation. Mr. Jang chuckled, leaning over and slapping Jongin on the back a couple of times.

"Ah, yes. That's the way you do it." He said with another sip of his wine. He turned to face Sehun. "Sehun, you've been so quiet tonight. Why don't you tell us about what's been going on with you?"

As usual, the youngest had no expression on his face. He repeated Jongin's words. "I'm fine, sir."

A chubby woman across from Sehun scowled slightly. "Sehun, darling, I wasn't planning to address you about this, but your hair is just..." She scrunched up her nose. "You look hideous. It's much too colorful. Your skin is too fair for bright colors like those." Sehun lowered his gaze.

Hearing this, Jongin's jaw tightened. "It's not like yours is any better," he muttered to himself, casting a disgusted look at her sloppy dye-job of auburn and black hair. A few of the maids gasped under their breath at Jongin's remark. Sehun also seemed to hear his brother's words. He scoffed quietly as he gave Jongin a small smirk.

- - - -

After the guests left, it was somewhere around four in the morning. With a bright red face, Mr. Kim ordered the maids to clean up. Mrs. Kim thanked them, a hand around her husband's waist as she supported him up the vast amount of stairs.

"What did you think, unnie? Tiring?" he heard Sulli's familiar voice to his right and nodded. She laughed quietly, scooping a half-empty bowl in her hands. "Don't worry, we're almost done. I'm actually surprised because these kind of parties usually end later than this," she frowned and shrugged at the same time. Luhan inwardly groaned because he was exhausted and he didn't want to imagine an even longer party consisting of rambunctious rich people and too many drinks. He thought if he ever attended a party like that, it would result in him gouging his eyes out.

With a long sigh, he collected the empty champagne glasses, no longer looking as extravagant as they did earlier when the they were filled with blood red wine. His mind was clouded with fatigue, his muscles weary. He felt like a zombie walking towards the kitchen. Hell, he was barely registering each step he was taking. Luhan released a loud yawn; but at this ungodly time, the other maids were also yawning just as loud as him, if not, louder. They were all slow and sluggish, most of them barely able to stay awake.

Luhan felt another harsh yawn tear through his body, causing his eyes to squeeze shut. Darkness rushed through his eyelids, the word sleep screamed in his mind. He felt his knees going weak as he sunk to the ground.

Crash!

The male maid jolted awake. Suddenly, he felt a large hand around his waist to support him. He heard another crash a few feet behind him before he felt his back pressed up against something warm and solid. "You need to be careful," a familiar husky voice mumbled in his ear. His face flushed in embarrassment when he looked down and noticed he had accidentally dropped all the glass cups without even realizing it. The shattered pieces lay scattered in the floor. A few maids tiptoed past them with armfuls of plates and trays.

While apologizing quietly, Luhan attempted to slip out of this person's hands so he could pick up the pieces of glass. Instead, he felt himself being held firmer. "No. Don't bother cleaning it. You'll end up cutting yourself."

Luhan felt his throat go dry as realization punched him in the gut. Sehun. Sehun. Sehun had his hand around Luhan's waist. He was holding him. Sehun was holding him. Sehun was holding him against his chest. His warm, strong chest.

Another hot blush creeped up on his cheeks. It couldn't possibly mean anything. Sehun was only supporting him so he wouldn't fall. It didn't mean anything. It was an act of kindness. Yeah. That's all it was.

Luhan watched as Krystal rushed over to them (thanks to Sehun) and swept the glass into a dustpan. She bowed when she finished. Only then did Sehun release him. "Please be careful next time," he told Luhan softly. The maid could only nod and hope he wouldn't notice the pink dabbing his cheeks. "Hurry up and finish so you can rest." With that, Luhan watched him leave, his slim figure disappearing around the corner.

He headed towards the back of the kitchen with the feeling of Sehun's hand still lingering on his waist.

He bit his lip to contain the shriek that escaped his lips when someone shoved him into a corner of the dim kitchen closet. "You think you're so good don't you, ?" A heavy scent of flowers and strawberries filled his nostrils. He scrunched his nose at the overpowering stench.

He blinked. "Kyrstal?"

She ignored his question. "You're not . Don't think that just because the guests dote on you and Sehun was ing cradling you in his arms that you're the best. To Sehun, you're as low as the dirt on his shoes. You're just some ing Chinese girl they took in because they were pitying you and your pathetic life," she growled.

He thought of his father, sitting somewhere getting drunk out of his mind and still thinking Luhan's mother was alive. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I-I don't think I'm anything sp-special."

She shoved him against the wall. "Good. I just thought I would remind you."

"Krystal! Where are you? Come help me finish washing dishes!" Someone called from the sink. Krystal whipped her head towards the direction of the voice.

She replied with a rather impatient shout of "Coming!" before turning to glare at Luhan. "If you keep this up, I'll have to show you who's the best around here. Do you understand?" Luhan nodded. Krystal stomped away, looking triumphant with her head held high and her long silky hair swaying around her hips.

- - - -

A/n: Finally!! Omfg I really do apologize for the late update. Honestly, I wasn't feeling my best and I guess that caused laziness. Please realize that the updates depend on my mood and how determined I am. The end was kind of rushed so sorry >n<

Thank you to sadclown007 for encouraging me with her/his comments and excitement! <33 I specifically wrote this with you in mind ~^^ Welcome to the new subscribers c: