Kyungsoo nodded his head approvingly, “This restaurant has good reputation, I heard. Especially with service and food.”

The two guards surrounded Sunmi: D.O on her left and Luhan on her right. Luhan accidently brushed his hand with Sunmi’s as they were walking, and he tilted his head to the side to make sure she wouldn’t see his small smile.

Security let them arrive through the doors to enter to the private party area. D.O let his eyes wander around the place, simply adoring the upcoming smells of food and current cleanliness of the restaurant halls and building.

Then came the door where there was music playing on the other side, with obviously including celebrating people. D.O tightly held the present under his arm, and looked at Sunmi.

“We’re not late, are we?” he asked, confused.

Sunmi shook her head, “I don’t believe so. Why do you ask?”

D.O craned his neck, as if trying to peek through the lock to the other side, “I… I don’t know. What if we’re the last people? And since we’ve just met these people a while ago, won’t they judge us? We’re new to the public.”

Sunmi’s face softened with the fact that the junior guards have probably never experienced true society, “I’m sure they’re not like that. Humanity is not as harsh as you think it is.”

Luhan nodded at her wise, kind words, “She’s right, D.O. Let’s go inside now, shall we?”

The younger two obeyed the elder’s suggestion, and Luhan opened the handle of the door. D.O became slightly nervous.

Everyone inside looked to see who had arrived. There weren’t too many people, just B.A.P, Eunji, the chefs, and a few others Sunmi had never seen before. There had to be less than fifteen guests attending the party.

The room became quieter as the three model looking new guests came inside. D.O became a little uncomfortable and muttered, “I think we just might have caused a scene.”

The three awkwardly stood there as the open-mouthed audience staring continued. Luhan’s good ears heard some of the unfamiliar people whispering compliments about those who just entered.

Youngjae glanced at Sunmi, and stargazed at her shimmering form. Himchan elbowed Youngjae, knocking him out of his daydreaming. Youngjae cleared his throat and tried to focus his attention to the nearby balloons.

Eunji ran to Sunmi with open arms and hugged her.

“You’re here!”

Sunmi shyly smiled, “Of course, why not?”

Eunji beamed and had someone guide D.O to place the present on the table across the room.

Eunji happily grinned as Sunmi and Luhan looked around the room, “Sunmi, you look absolutely gorgeous. And Luhan, you and D.O look very dashing.”

Sunmi sheepishly blushed, “Ah, you look marvelous yourself, along with your beautiful restaurant.”

Luhan gave a polite bow, “Thank you, Eunji-ssi.”

Eunji rolled her eyes, “Just because this party is semi-formal doesn’t mean your words and actions can be the same. Have fun!”

Sunmi laughed with Luhan chuckling after her. Sunmi nodded, “We’ll try.”

Eunji sweetly admired them. They look cute together.

D.O returned and formal introduced and thanked himself to Eunji and vice versa. Eunji had to check on some errands for the party and left them alone.

Sunmi’s head bobbed to the music, Luhan quietly hummed, and D.O tapped his foot. D.O’s eyes caught the sight of the pastries and told them, “I’m going to try those out. Want any?”

They nodded and Kyungsoo strolled over. Luhan melodically laughed, “He’s in love with food.”

Sunmi looked at Kyungsoo’s eyes becoming larger as he examined the quality of the pastries. She laughed, “He surely does.”

D.O. came back and gave them some pieces of bread to eat. His mouth was stuffed with the other pastries. Sunmi gave a bite to one of them, and it was very sweet in flavor. Luhan nibbled on another, and he enjoyed the delicious taste. Not bad.  

Kyungsoo chewed thoughtfully, “These are so good. I must figure out the secret recipe. I’m going to… guard in the kitchen, okay? I’ll come back for you guys later. Bye!”

D.O quickly left and went to talk to one of the chefs heading back into the kitchen. Luhan laughed, “Looks like he’ll come back when the party is over.”

They walked over to the birthday boy. They wished him a happy birthday, and Zelo graciously thanked them over and over again for coming.

Zelo excitedly called Jongup, “Hey! Hey! Jonguppie! Take a picture of noona and me!”

Jongup did as he was told with Zelo’s cell phone, and professional photographers also took pictures. As Luhan waited for the pictures with Zelo and Sunmi to end, he cautiously looked around the room. Nothing seemed suspicious…

Meanwhile, Youngjae dragged Yongguk to a less noisy place in the restaurant.

“Yah, don’t rip my shirt,” Yongguk muttered at Youngjae, scowling a little.

“Sorry. Hyung, I’ve got something to ask…” Youngjae shifted his eyes to the ground.

Yongguk was interested. Youngjae never said something like that a lot. “What is it you’ve got something to say?” Yongguk raised his eyebrows.

Youngjae told him, “Do you know the reason why Luhan is always next to Sunmi? It’s like they’re… dating, or something.”

The leader shrugged, “No idea, but remember what I said before? He’s guarding.”

The younger cringed, “I know that, but why isn’t that other guy D.O with her too? Why can’t Luhan be like that?”

Yongguk sighed, “I don’t know either. My dad doesn’t tell me everything.”

Youngjae cut in, “Tell me everything you know then.”

The deep voiced man asked, “Excuse me?”

He desperately repeated, “Tell me everything you know.”

“You know I just can’t. It wouldn't be fair to the others.”

“Come on, hyung!”

“Why do you even want to know?”

“Please!”

“Youngjae.”

“Hyung, tell me please!”

“Why do you want to know!?”

Youngjae was still going strong, and Yongguk really didn’t want to argue with any of s.

“Hyung…” Youngjae said again.

Yongguk gave up debating, “Fine, just don’t tell the others or they’ll kill me. I’ll tell them later anyways.”

Youngjae deliberately nodded, curious to find out. Yongguk dragged him into the bathroom and checked to make sure no one else was there.

“Kang Sunmi is the heiress of one of my dad’s childhood friends. Her dad is extremely rich in his car designing companies in Korea, Japan, America, and other world countries. In fact, all of my family’s cars were made by Sunmi’s dad. Her mom is a singing and dance teacher to many famous celebrities, so the family is very rich and in the upper class. Her older brother is in a private university in the United States right now. Sunmi has never been to a public school before, until now.”

Yongguk paused. Youngjae pressed on for more information, “And?”

The leader lowered his voice, “The reason why she is surrounded by countless guards all her life is because… she’s powerful, and so is her brother. My dad only told me the word ‘powerful’, so I don’t know what ‘powerful’ means exactly in Sunmi’s case. Apparently, she and her brother are gifted in ‘something’.  And…”

Youngjae went closer, “And???”

Yongguk’s voice came out as a whisper, “She’s on the run.”

Youngjae’s eyes popped out, “What do you mean?”

“Because of her born gift, she has dangerous people coming after her and her brother. Her power is somehow slightly stronger than her brother’s. The Kang siblings are valuable, and they were recently split into different countries to be kept apart for safety. If she and her brother were together, there would be a greater chance of risk for people to kidnap them both at the same time. For their childhood, they were homeschooled with tutors for all their lives, with the exception of her brother going to college a while ago. I still don’t know why Sunmi is here. TS High is just a regular high school, probably no more protection than her mansion. Maybe one of her family’s strongest households are here, I don’t know. Her family was constantly moving all over the world to keep their toes up. I was thinking, if they’re now making Sunmi coming outside for TS High, then it must mean that she’s staying here for a while, or why else would she be put in public enrollment? Her brother too. Why did he just recently leave his home outside for a university if he’s not going to stay there? Therefore, he’s going to be in the States for a while too. I’m guessing that the Kang family is going to stay put, for a little bit. I don’t think they’re going to be on the run anymore. Maybe they’re settling down? Who knows? Maybe this place in Seoul and the place where her brother is currently at is the safest haven for their protection and they’re risking public education? I don’t know, Youngjae. I’ve told you everything I know.”

The door opened and in came Himchan.

“Oh, hi guys. I haven’t seen you in a while. Have you two been in here this whole time?” Himchan blinked.

Youngjae didn’t know what to say, and Yongguk stuttered, “Y-Yeah. We were, uh…”

Himchan cocked his head to the side.

Youngjae fibbed, “Hyung was helping me fix my shirt. It was crooked and he fixed it. It took a long time, but it’s all good now.”

Himchan sarcastically nodded, “Sure. Dude, I’ve known you guys all my life. I know when you’re lying, Youngjae.”

Yongguk smiled at his comment, “I promise I’ll tell you later when I have the time, Himchan. But for now, let’s enjoy Zelo’s birthday, okay?”  

Himchan washed his hands, “Alright, but you promised, so you’d better.”

The three went back out to the party and Youngjae was taking in what Yongguk told him.

Sunmi. Rich. Guards. Brother. Run. Danger. Powerful. Gift. What did this all mean?   

These thoughts surged through his mind the whole night.

By then, Sunmi had been introduced to all the other guests and it was time to open presents. Many of the other gifts consisted of the regular things: gift cards, money, video games, stuffed animals, but the most interesting one was given by Himchan, which was baby bottle. Himchan claimed, “Zelo is always going to be my baby!” Zelo playfully scoffed, “Wow, hyung.”

Sunmi bit her bottom lip as Zelo lastly unwrapped her present. Luhan at her side grinned at her. She was so cute…

Zelo read out loud the card on top, “'From Kang Sunmi'. This one is going to awesome, I already know because it’s from the amazing noona~”

Sunmi laughed, “Go ahead and open it.”

Zelo gingerly unwrapped the skateboard and gasped at the signature. He looked back at the skateboard and to Sunmi. Zelo ran to her and gave a big hug.

“Noona! This is… the best gift ever! It’s Lee Jongmin! How did you even get this!?”

Sunmi proudly looked at Luhan, “My cousins all helped.”

Zelo cautiously went up to Luhan and waited for a moment. Luhan blinked his eyes, “Huh?”

The tall maknae made a move by also giving him a hug. Luhan’s eyes became large by the sudden touch, but he returned the quick hug.

“Thanks man,” Zelo quietly told him.

“No problem, happy birthday Zelo.” Luhan happily nodded.

Zelo gave a small smile and went to adore his new skateboard some more with his skateboarding friends. Himchan loudly said, “Ooh, I can’t wait for my birthday because Sunmi’s rich!” Yongguk kicked him in the leg and shook his head disapprovingly at his best friend. Sunmi giggled.

Luhan silently looked around the room at the friendly atmosphere. At first he thought when they entered, perhaps this was opponent territory? However, after the warming hug with Zelo, he realized that… maybe B.A.P wasn’t as bad as he thought they were. Sure, they were pretty boy kingkas, but the types that helped people and treated everyone as friends. At least, so far. No doubt that Exo was still going with the game plan. Win.  

The party ended and they bid goodbye to everyone. D.O came just at the right moment and winked, “The kitchen is perfectly safe. No food poisoning.” Luhan rolled his eyes.

As soon as the three returned back, a swarm of guards surrounded the car. Luhan grew nervous, something must have happened again. Why didn’t anyone tell him about this? D.O looked back at him and gave him a small nod. Luhan checked on Sunmi’s condition.

Thankfully, she fell asleep before she had seen the mansion. Luhan knew that she would worry if she saw anything like that. Sunmi’s head wouldn’t rest until she found out.

The two boys swiftly brought her back to her room and let the maids wash her up.

D.O and Luhan walked into their rooms with the other boys. Suho’s head perked up as the door opened, “How did it go?”

Luhan laughed, “This pig didn’t even do anything except go into the kitchen.”

D.O countered, “Yah! The kitchen is my home!”

Baekhyun smiled, “Yep, the place where boiling water and sharp knives are.”

D.O glared and went to go change. Kris held Luhan’s shoulder, “What else happened, Luhan?”

Luhan told them that everything was fine, including the hug from Zelo. A few of the guards were surprised, but they listened well. They all smiled when Luhan told them about the positive feedback on the skateboard.  

The speaker finally yawned, “So, what’s the commotion out there?”

Lay nervously answered, “Mr. and Mrs. Kang went to the airport to go check on their son. But the cover is that they’re on an emergency business meeting for a new car dealership. The guards over there in America couldn’t find anything effective. The kidnappers cleaned up real good. Mr. and Mrs. Kang are going to see if they can make a deal in person.”

Luhan slowly nodded his head, “And when are they coming back?”

Tao gulped, “A week.”

Sehun sadly frowned, “I really hope they can get him back.”

Luhan shivered, “And let’s just hope he’ll be back alive, not dead.”  

Hello~ ^^ Wahhh why is school so mean >.< I just took some big tests last week and ugh... Don't want to bug you with all this haha. Anywho, another chapter!!! Dude, it's been such a long long long time since I've updated, oops. I forever will blame school. -_- But how do you like it so far? I don't even think I'm even halfway since I made the whole plot on my laptop already hehe There's going to be more drama, don't worry! I know the beginning is a little slow and probably kind of boring, but I promise it'll get better!!! I'm still unsure about updates, so I'm sorry if you wanted fast updates :( and one thing I feel even more guilty about is... it's actually Zelo's birthday today, and I just HAD to finish this chapter because it was supposed to come out last year so....... uhm......... here it is *nervous laughing, hides* One year late= no good, I know I know, but at least I remembered to make the chapter now ehe...  Sorry if I'm rambling haha if you're reading this, you're cool ^_^ HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHOI JUNHONG!!!!