Part I

Black Out

Chapter VI

Curiosity

Sehun’s words had hit Luhan, hard, it was like he had been on the receiving end of one hard punch. His breath taken away, he stood where he was motionless, not even making the slightest move to hold Sehun back as he watched the younger boy walk away, walk away from him.

 Don’t get involved with me.

Needless to say that their encounter wasn’t at all like Luhan had expected—wished it to be. Several times he had imagined them meeting again under the same tree where they’d kissed years before; several times a smile had formed on his lips as he thought of the slightly innocent smile that Sehun would direct to him, once more.

Yet the hallucination faded away, and Luhan realised he had been leaning over a hole called reality and so he fell. Hard.

It hurts.

The space between his arms, where Sehun’s body had fitted perfectly, now felt strangely empty. Luhan numbly turned around and left, the sound of Sehun’s voice ringing in his ears like a loud, painful gunshot and his movements were all on auto-pilot.

Yet still, he couldn’t help but want to know more.

It wasn’t until the next week that he decided to act. If Sehun had changed that much, there had to be an explanation.

 Honestly speaking, Luhan would’ve acted earlier if not for the guilt of wanting to barge into Sehun’s personal life but as always, the curiosity gnawed at him until he just couldn’t contain it anymore.

He wanted to know who Sehun was, because everything was a mystery and if there was one thing that Luhan disliked, it was mysteries... but then again, Luhan liked Sehun and Sehun was the biggest mystery he’s ever come across.

So he went to the first person he could think of—Tao.

Just like him, Tao had arrived to Korea a few months before. They were already friends before, but being the only four exchange students in the high school, the bond between the two of them and the other Chinese teenagers had tightened, imperceptibly but strongly.

The similarity stopped there, though. Tao was undoubtedly different from Luhan, owing to the fact that he’d quickly got to know students from a few other classes, while Luhan had stuck to their tiny group, not really daring to open up to new people.

 That was why Tao was the person he chose to ask questions.

Because Zitao knew people, he knew many people.

“Hey, Tao…do you know a—a Sehun?” he asked carefully.

“Sehun, huh? Yeah, I do. We’re not friends or anything, but I know who you’re talking about,” Tao replied casually, yet a certain cautious look approached his eyes, “...Why ?”

“Oh, I…” Luhan said. “I was just wondering. I-I well, I was just curious, I heard rumours about him a-and I was just-just curious... yeah…”

Tao seemed to chuckle in relief, making Luhan tilt his head in curiosity. “Well, Curiosity killed the cat,” he said but nonetheless he answered the question. “Sehun... he’s not exactly someone you want to, uh, bump into.”

Luhan looked up at Tao and Tao seemed to understand what Luhan meant behind his gaze. “Sehun, he... he’s a bad person—and when I say bad I mean, bad. Luhan, he’s a criminal.”

Luhan shivered and he felt his eyes widen considerably. “W-what do you m-mean... a criminal?”

“He’s hurt people, Luhan. He’s not just a bully, he’s far worse than the stereotypcal ‘bad boy’. He’s in a gang, a murderous gang. They have a reputation, a big one.”

Luhan couldn’t do much except numbly nod.

“Luhan, why exactly do you want to know about Sehun?”

Luhan tried to look up at the younger boy, but he felt so shocked. A criminal. Sehun, criminal? Why? “I’m just curious.” He spoke and on any other circumstance it would be a valid reason, but for some reason it sounded weak in his throat... and to Tao’s ears too.

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

Tao softened his features after noticing Luhan’s expression, he placed a hand on the older boys shoulder and squeezed it gently, earning a small jump from the younger boy.

“Xiao Lu,” Tao waited until Luhan looked up at him and into his eyes, “be careful around him please, just... just don’t get hurt, he’s dangerous.”

“I…I won’t,” Luhan spoke softly.

Of course he would.

Luhan was curious and this time curiosity is going to kill the boy.

Sehun’s words had hit Luhan, hard, it was like he had been on the receiving end of a blow. His breath taken away, he stood where he was motionless, not even making the slightest move to hold Sehun back as  he watched the younger boy walk away, walk away from him.

 Don’t get involved with me.

Needless to say that their encounter wasn’t at all like Luhan had expected—wished it to be. Several times he had imagined them meeting again under the same tree where they’d kissed years before; several times a smile had formed on his lips as he thought of the slightly innocent smile that Sehun would direct to him, once more.

Yet he was now drawn back into reality. Hard. And it hurt.

The space between his arms, where Sehun’s body had fitted perfectly, now felt strangely empty. Luhan numbly turned around and left, the sound of Sehun’s voice ringing in his ears like a loud, painful gunshot and his movements were all on auto-pilot.

Yet still, he couldn’t help but want to know more.



It wasn’t until the next week that he decided to act. If Sehun had changed that much, there had to be an explanation.

 Honestly speaking, Luhan would’ve acted earlier if not for the guilt for wanting to barge into Sehun’s personal life but as always, the curiosity gnawed at him until he just couldn’t contain it anymore.

He wanted to know who Sehun was, because everything was a mystery and if there was one thing that Luhan disliked, it was mysteries... but then again, Luhan liked Sehun and Sehun was the biggest mystery he’s ever come across.

So he went to the first person he could think of—Tao.

Just like him, Tao had arrived to Korea a few months before. They were already friends before, but being the only four exchange students in the high school, the bond between the two of them and the other Chinese teenagers had tightened, imperceptibly but strongly.

The similarity stopped there, though. Tao was undoubtedly different from Luhan, owing to the fact that he’d quickly got to know students from a few other classes, while Luhan had stuck to their tiny group, not really daring to open up to new people.

 That was why Tao was the person he chose to ask questions.

Because Zitao knew people, he knew many people.

“Hey, Tao…do you know a—a Sehun?” he asked carefully.

“Sehun, huh? Yeah, I do. We’re not friends or anything, but I know who you’re talking about,” Tao replied casually, yet a certain cautious look approached his eyes, “...Why ?”

“Oh, I…” Luhan said. “I was just wondering. I-I well, I was just curious, I heard rumours about him a-and I was just-just curious... yeah…”

Tao seemed to chuckle in relief, making Luhan tilt his head in curiosity. “Well, Curiosity killed the cat,” he said but nonetheless he answered the question. “Sehun... he’s not exactly someone you want to, uh, bump into.”

Luhan looked up at Tao and Tao seemed to understand what Luhan meant behind his gaze. “Sehun, he... he’s a bad person—and when I say bad I mean, bad. Luhan, he’s a criminal.”

Luhan shivered and he felt his eyes widen considerably. “W-what do you m-mean... a criminal?”

“He’s hurt people, Luhan. He’s not just a bully, he’s far worse than the stereotypcal ‘bad boy’. He’s in a gang, a murderous gang. They have a reputation, a big one.”

Luhan couldn’t do much except numbly nod.

“Luhan, why exactly do you want to know about Sehun?”

Luhan tried to look up at the younger boy, but he felt so shocked. A criminal. Sehun, criminal? Why? “I’m just curious.” He spoke and on any other circumstance it would be a valid reason, but for some reason it sounded weak in his throat... and to Tao’s ears too.

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

Tao softened his features after noticing Luhan’s expression, he placed a hand on the older boys shoulder and squeezed it gently, earning a small jump from the younger boy.

“Xiao Lu,” Tao waited until Luhan looked up at him and into his eyes, “be careful around him please, just... just don’t get hurt, he’s dangerous.”

“I…I won’t,” Luhan spoke softly.

Of course he would.

Luhan was curious and this time curiosity is going to kill the boy.

 Sorry gets you nowhere and Curiosity only buries you deeper.