Chapter 1: Resurrection

 

It was really strange trying to imagine how immortals could live even sliced to pieces or trapped forever without dying. How would that feel? Do they feel pain like mortals do? Would he feel pain forever if someone cuts his arm off? Maybe he could still feel pain even if it was more difficult for him to die.

 

Looking down at his book, Byun Baekhyun kept reading the wonderful story of how the Titan Kronos ate his children and how Zeus made him disgorge them. Being immortal gods, they had been living and growing up completely indigested inside the Titan's stomach. How cool was that?

 

"How cool is what, mister Byun?" A strict voice woke him up from his daydream and made him look up at the front of the classroom. The stern woman looking at him couldn't be older than forty years old. Yet, she held herself like she had so much experience treating with people who couldn't understand her love for rules that Baekhyun knew right away that no one on this universe would make her believe he was a good student; only just a little bit distracted. It took him a couple of seconds to catch up what his teacher had say to him and an even quicker glance at the blackboard to notice what the hell they were talking about in class.

 

"I think is really cool how the Korean economy had been expanding to the Chinese and Japanese market, professor." Answering innocently and noticing how his teacher was eyeing his only book opened on top of the table, Baekhyun knew he needed to do something now. Once his teacher’s threatening glare looked even more menacingly and how she started to walk in his direction, Baekhyun gulped. What is he suppose to do? He can’t let his teacher see his book! It was invaluable and it would raise a lot of questions if someone else sees this particular book. Plus, his mother would kill him. Glancing at his side, Baekhyun wondered if it would be too obvious if he did something to distract not only his teacher but all of his classmates too. Would anyone notice it was his fault if say, he made something break?

 

Thank the gods he didn’t need to do anything because at the same time his teacher stood at the level of Baekhyun’s table, a disgusting sound made everyone glance at the front of the classroom.

 

It wouldn’t have been weird or unusual if just one guy had started throwing up (were those carrots? eww.) but once the third guy started showing everyone else what he had for breakfast and everyone near them stood up just to get away from them, the teacher had no other choice but to go to them and try to get them to the nursery, completely forgetting about Baekhyun.

 

Quickly, Baekhyun took his book and shoved it inside his backpack before anyone could notice it; a slim chance seeing as everyone was already nauseated by the smell of their sick classmates and were trying to get away from them.

 

Just in time the clock on the wall announced the end of class and everyone started gathering their things, wondering not even once how their classmates got sick exactly at the same time. Finally, the teacher managed to bring the three sick guys outside of the classroom and towards the nursery, sometimes yelling ‘Don’t spill all over the floor, this shoes are new!’.

 

Looking for something unusual, Baekhyun stayed in the classroom waiting for everyone else to leave, telling them with a smile he was just going to call the janitor to clean up the place. No one cared to stay with him and wonder how Baekhyun could stand the smell; they didn’t care enough. Once everyone else left him alone, Baekhyun headed towards the front of the classroom and peered over the tables and chairs, finding nothing.

 

What was he looking for? He didn’t know but living twenty three years with his mother had taught him how coincidences don’t exist. Standing and trying not to inhale the disgusting smell, Baekhyun looked all over the classroom. Maybe…

 

Walking to the open windows just beside the teacher’s desk and glancing down, Baekhyun found what he was looking for, hanging from the window sill.

 

“Are they still alive? I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make them that sick, I swear!” The new voice with a slight accent asked Baekhyun, letting the younger help him enter the classroom and stop hanging from the fourth floor before anyone on the parking lot could see him.

 

“I guess they’ll be fine once the nurse cures them. How did you get here?” It was weird seeing his best friend and cousin somewhere else besides their own houses. It wasn’t for a lack of trying on both parts, but Baekhyun couldn’t be seen in places Lay could go and letting Lay roam free in Baekhyun’s world was a really really bad decision.

 

“Your mom told me how to” Smiling like it was the best day of his life, Lay showed Baekhyun a piece of paper with a really childish drawing of a map. Baekhyun's mom wasn't really artistic after all; she preferred sports. While his shorter friend was looking at the map, Lay started walking all over the classroom, touching everything and asking a lot of random questions.

 

Once Lay finished touching the blackboard and laughing quietly seeing how his fingers got white because of the chalk and wondering why on earth humans use that to write, Baekhyun smiled softly and understood Lay had helped him once again, causing a distraction without Baekhyun having to ask him in the first place.

 

“Let’s go then; I’m guessing your father will go nuts once he realizes my mom let you get away without supervision.” Turning around, Lay nodded at his cousin’s suggestion and headed for the window, before Baekhyun could catch him and tell him humans don’t use windows to get out of buildings. (“Why not? It’s easier!”)

 

Now in the hallways, Baekhyun made sure to take Lay’s hand tightly and prevent him from running away once he sees something interesting or shiny. Really, Lay was like a five year old when he was in the human world. He used to go outside more often when he visited Baekhyun when they were kids but Lay’s  father nearly got a heart attack once he saw how a creepy old human with a pedo smile was trying to coax little Lay to go with him in exchange of a unicorn plushie when he and Baekhyun were playing in the park.

 

Needless to say, Lay wasn’t allowed to go outside Baekhyun’s house ever again.

 

The downside of the story was how unable to stand his baby Lay’s sad face and teary eyes, his father let him keep the unicorn plushie. Lay got so happy that if everyone else asks him how he got his plushie, he’ll tell you how a ‘caring and nice human’ gave it to him, much to his father’s frustration at his son’s lack of common sense.

 

“Do you think they’ll be fine? I mean, I can’t remember what I did to them; I don’t know if I just make them nauseous or if I have to get Seungho to help me get rid of the bodies. Again.”

 

Baekhyun laughed at his best friend’s comment, noticing how if anyone else were to hear him say that, they would think of Lay as a ruthless murderer rather than someone who got so guilty when he accidentally killed a couple of squirrels that he had ran to his eldest brother to hug him and ask to help him make the little animals a funeral.

 

“I’m sure they’ll be fine” Baekhyun answered, noticing how a couple of girls in the hallways were looking at them and giggling while they looked down at Lay’s and Baekhyun’s joined hands, whispering between themselves how ‘cute is Baekhyun with his boyfriend’ and how it was ‘nice of the older guy to come pick Baekhyun from school’. Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun keep wondering why everyone assumed he was gay. This wasn’t the first time everyone thought that. It was like he was born with an ‘I’m gay’ sign tattooed on his forehead. Even his past girlfriends told him that! It got to the point when he seriously thought he really was attracted to males and started trying to like them but nothing happened. He saw his male classmates and friends like always; without a bit of attraction towards them. “Lay, do I look like I’m attracted to dudes?”

 

Looking down at his cousin and forgetting how amazed he was seeing human interaction, Lay thought really hard before giving his well thought and intelligent answer.

 

“…Eh?”

 

“I mean, do I look like I fancy girls or boys?”

 

“What’s the difference?”

 

Sighing, Baekhyun knew he couldn’t expect a useful response from Lay. The older one couldn’t see the differences humans made when liking someone. Is that why he didn’t look manly enough for normal humans? Because he was raised with his mother’s point of view? But then again, Lay’s brother Seungho looked manly enough. What was it then?

 

It wasn’t until he felt a pull from his left hand that he woke up from his thoughts and looked up just to see how a huge guy was looking at Lay with rage. Noticing their change of posture, Baekhyun realized how the angered dude probably tried to shove Lay against the wall by surprise, not thinking how it was nearly impossible to take Lay by surprise with anything.

 

“Is it truth what Namjoo said, you idiot?!” The huge dude asked Lay, making the two cousins look behind their aggressor and notice how a girl was looking at them with a superior expression on her face.

 

“Well, you can’t expect me to give you an answer if you do not tell me first what she said to you”. Lay hated violence, he really did, but apparently he had a gift for making everyone frustrated with his expressionless face and calm responses. This only angered the huge guy, who was probably part of some sport team or some like that looking at how muscled and idiot he seemed.

 

“Are you-?!”

 

“Hello… bro!” Baekhyun intervened, stepping in front of Lay and using one of his huge smiles before the guy decided to hit his cousin and possibly break his hand. Uncle Apollo would be really pissed if someone tried to hurt his distracted youngest son. “Listen, this is my cousin… Yixing.” Baekhyun used the name both of them invented when they were kids and nice grandmas came to see them play at the park. Lay wasn’t a normal human name after all. “He’s Chinese and doesn’t speak Korean very well so you have to forgive him if he says something rude to you. He doesn’t mean to.”  Noticing how the guy let his guard down for a moment, Baek took advantage of that “Excuse me, who are you?” After receiving a confused ‘Chansung’ as an answer, Baekhyun just smiled warmly and continued “We really don’t know what this… interesting lady said to you, so we can tell you if what she said is right or not.” ‘Interesting’ was the most sincere adjective Baek could use, seeing as if he said ‘beautiful’ would be a total lie. The girl looked so artificial and fake that not even Lay with his never-ending curiosity about humans would feel attracted of her.

 

‘Maybe that’s why everyone thinks I’m gay’ was Baekhyun’s random thought, realizing how girls liked to undergo plastic surgery just to look ‘prettier’. He couldn’t understand that. They were fine to begin with!

 

“Namjoo heard your stupid cousin tell you how he’s the responsible one of Kibum’s sickness! Don’t try to deny it, she’s not a liar!” Glaring at Lay after his huge friend defended her word, the girl stepped up in front of Lay now that Baekhyun wasn’t protecting him and tried to look at him with anger.

 

“It’s your fault isn’t it?! Kibum and his friends are now sick because of you! Why did you do it?! If you wanted my attention, you didn’t have to make my boyfriend sick!”

 

Wait… what?

 

Baekhyun tried to think of something to say before Lay opened his mouth but it was too late.

 

“Your attention? What does that have to do with anything? Baek, they are so weird.” And turning at his right to say the last part to his cousin, Lay couldn’t see how the girl, angered to have her comment pushed aside, raised her hand to slap Yixing.

 

And she did, only to make a horrible crack sound in her hand.

 

After seeing how her wrist doubled in a weird angle and how she started screaming while holding it against her chest, all the guys that were in the hallway with them –including Chansung- went to her aid, trying to help her in any way they could, even if just to show her how caring they are. Unfortunately, someone else beat them to it.

 

“Did you break your wrist?! I’m so sorry! You shouldn’t have done that! I’m so sorry, I should’ve avoided your blow but I was distracted, I’m sorry!” Instantly and to everyone’s confusion, Lay’s face turned from expressionless to the most caring expression anyone could make, taking her hand between his with love and caressing it softly, making the girl blush and forget the pain for a moment.

 

“Hey, you’re making it worse! Stay away from her!” One of the guys said to Lay, trying to take Namjoo away from him and only hurting her more, making her scream once again. “See! Release her, now!”

 

“No, wait! I can heal her!” Following Namjoo and still holding her hand, Lay didn’t notice how everyone was expecting him to do something else than holding her. Maybe take her to the nurse? Take out some bandages? Anything? But Lay wasn’t doing anything else.

 

Sensing their confusion and how his uncle was going to kill him once he knows how Baek didn’t help Lay, Baek could only say “He’s a doctor” to everyone who asked him what the hell is wrong with Lay and hoping his huge smile could make them confused enough not to question his word.

 

“I’m not a doctor” Lay said randomly, looking at Baek and wondering why his cousin would say that to him. “Doctors cut people, right? That’s what Kris told me.”

 

A lot of guys took the chance of Lay’s momentarily distraction to push him away from Namjoo but noticed with surprise how they couldn’t make him move at all. It was as if they were pushing a wall.

 

“…He’s studying medicine.” And before anyone else could notice what was happening with the girl’s hand, Baekhyun grabbed Lay’s neck and pulled, taking him away from the commotion and yelling. “We’re sorry! I hope you can forgive us! You people are amazing! We love you! Bye!”

 

Looking how the weird cousins ran away from the hallway, everyone else just stared at them until they disappeared, just hearing a ‘Wait, she’s still hurt! I need to help her!’ and a ‘Shut up and run, you idiot!’ before they heard the unmistakable sound of the front door closing.

 

“…Are you alright Namjoo? Do you need me to take you to the nurse? To the hospital?” Glancing down at her hand and still remembering how Lay took it like it was the most prized possession he had ever had, the girl noticed how it barely hurt now. It looked swollen and kind of bruised but not broken. Maybe it was just sprained? That must be it.

 

----

 

Still holding his cousin by the neck and making sure Lay stopped telling him how he could heal the girl, Baek headed towards his car, only releasing the older for a moment just to shove him inside the passenger seat and trapping him with one of Lay’s biggest rivals: The seat belt.

 

“Baek!” Lay sighed once he realized where he was trapped now. Waiting for his friend to walk around the car and get inside, Lay wondered once again if he could ever understand human’s transportation. I mean, how the hell cars worked? Maybe one of Hephaestus’ children could help him understand it more? After all, there was always one of Hephaestus’ sons that was almost always at Lay’s house. Why? Lay doesn’t know.

 

Once his best friend started the car’s engine, Lay looked outside the window and got trapped by the beauty of the human’s world. How could it be so chaotic? So perfect? Humans don’t know what they’re doing! They make mistakes and nobody cares! Because no one expects them to get it right at their first try.

 

Maybe if Lay could be human, he wouldn’t feel like a failure all the time.

 

“Are you listening, Xing?” Baek asked him louder this time, noticing how the other one was in his own world once again. When Lay looked up to him, he smiled a little and all his anger towards his cousin banished all at once. Lay looked so innocent and breakable at the moment that Baek didn’t have the heart to start scolding him about what happened at his university. “Do you have any questions about what happened earlier?” he asked instead, knowing Lay still couldn’t comprehend human behavior.

 

“Why did you do that? Why did you lie to everyone saying I was something I’m not? Why did you say sorry for something it wasn’t our fault?” Pocking one of the door’s buttons, Lay kept wondering how electric windows work.

 

"I know..." Sighing, Baekhyun some corner and kept driving away from his university, “But I couldn’t say you can heal with just touching people, that’s weird for humans and they would make a scandal. And I said sorry just to make them calm and make them leave us alone. Do you understand?”

 

“I guess so. Are you trying to tell me you just deceived them? To get what you wanted?”

 

Listening to Lay’s question, Baek felt bad about himself but he couldn’t do anything. While Lay spent all of his life living in Olympus with his family and learning how to be honorable, honest and make the gods proud; Baek had spent all of his life living in the human world with his mom, learning how to fend for himself and avoid getting bullied.

 

“I think so. Humans aren’t straight forward like us, so you need to make them think they want what you make them believe they want.”

 

“Like political campaigns?”

 

“Yeah, like that.” It was still a mystery how Yixing could remember something like human politics but forget his own name sometimes. Baekhyun settled with a smile, stopping at a red light and deciding he was too tired today to try to explain to his friend the complexities of human customs. "By the way, did you find it?"

 

"What?" Yixing asked, clearly entertained with how a car alarm was making noise and repeating the sounds by himself.

 

"The potion! Did you find it?"

 

"Uuuiiiiuuuu uiiiiuuuu peep peep peep peep!"

 

"Xing!" Baekhyun used his friend’s nickname one more time, something he did everytime they were by themselves.

 

"Ssshh! This human song is so odd!"

 

Rolling his eyes a little bit, Baekhyun kept driving and one more time wondering what he would do without Lay. He’d been a couple of days old when he first met his friend. His mother and Lay's father were twins so it was only natural that he and Lay were destined to be close since they were almost of the same age and their parents used to just let them play together.

 

"Oh look! A e! I had never seen one in my whole life!" Lay yelled out of nowhere and pointed at a girl they were passing by on the street who was just using a mini-skirt and high heels. Baekhyun just rolled down his seat and kept driving, hoping no one noticed how the weirdo at his right could be possibly connected to Baekhyun. "I still think muses are prettier."

 

That comment made Baekhyun forget his embarrassment and sigh dreamily about meeting a muse. Just once, Baek isn't picky. What he would do to meet one! Or a dryad! Or a nymph! Or a satyr! Satyrs are awesome!

 

The rest of the way to Baekhyun's house made Lay more and more excited with everything new he could see. The only thing Baek could compare with his desire to meet Lay's world was Lay’s desire to meet the human world. The difference between them was that Lay had visited the human world a couple of times, -even if he was just a kid and couldn’t remember most of it- and couldn’t do it anymore (until now) because it was dangerous. Baekhyun on the other hand, has never seen the Olympus outside of Lay’s house because no one can know he exists.

 

A couple of minutes later, Baekhyun turned right and kept driving; this time, down a small street between two old factories and into a deep forest. His mother was really secretive about where they live. Forests had always been somewhat precious to her and she didn't want to live away from them. It was really difficult to live with privacy inside of Seoul so, managing to get a house away from the pressure of the city, in the middle of a forest and still relatively close to everything they needed, Baekhyun was sure his mother did something to get this house.

 

Turning around one of the hills and driving down the little path, Yixing went back to his calm nature seeing how they were a couple of minutes from his friend's house. No human could trespass this side of the woods.

 

"Did you get the potion?" Baekhyun asked one more time just when he caught sight of his house at the other side of the hill, between a couple of pine and maple trees. Apparently, his friend had no intention of answering because with a calm smile, Lay pointed at the roof of the car just seconds before a huge thud was heard over the roof followed by laughter and a guy a little older than them falling over the frontcar.

 

"Hello Baekhyun! Hello Lay!" The guy waved happily before running away from them.

 

"Hello Onew..."

 

Another thud was heard over the roof of the car once again and Baekhyun wondered why they had to pass over the car?! They could just pass it sideways!

 

"Hello guys!" And just like before, another guy jumped over the frontcar and kept running towards the other one, chasing him with all his might.

 

"Run Henry! Catch him!" Lay waved happily, pressing the button to make its magic and roll down the window to yell at them and watch happily how his mature (yeah, right) older brothers were playing. "Damn, I wish my dad could let me play with them. The other day he made me categorize his papers according to how many lives he had saved the past fifty years in the Middle East. Do you know how many hours I passed doing that? It was so boring! I fell-"

 

"You fell asleep, I know" Baekhyun smirked at Lay's direction while he finished parking his car just beside his house and got out, watching amused how someone as powerful as Lay was trying really hard to get out of the evil paws of his car's seatbelt. "Just press the damn red button Xing."

 

"I know that" the Chinese guy replied, exiting the car and acting like he was a pro at sitting in ‘human transportation devices’ as he calls them. "Why do you think my brothers were chasing each other this time? The last time they did, it was because Onew accidentally fell on top of Henry’s violin. Do you think that happened again?"

 

"Naah, that was last week. I have no idea what they're up to today. I just hope they don’t break anything or mom will be mad, come on"

 

"Human food!" Lay replied happily, following Baekhyun inside his house.

 

For Lay it may not be an unusual home since he had visited it since he was a kid but for anyone else, it could be a really odd house. On the outside it was a cute little two-floor house, all white and with huge windows that could let all the sunlight in. But inside, it really looked like a huge treehouse. It was made of pure wood; different kinds of wood everywhere; the walls, the floor, the roof, the furniture, everything! At the windows, there were tomato vines growing from the outside and covering some parts of the walls and roof and sometimes parts of the roof were also made of glass like the windows. It had columns in different parts of the living room, the kitchen and the dining room, garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The wooden walls were carved with different images from family drawings to messed up little drawings baby Baekhyun had made when his mother had let him use knives for the first time.

 

The two boys passed the living room, ignoring the deer that was taking a nap on the couch and walked straight ahead to the kitchen, following the delicious smell of homemade food.

 

At the same time, Lay’s older brothers entered the kitchen using the back door and joined the rest of the kitchen’s occupants, saying happily, "Happy 23rd Birthday Baekhyun!" while Baek’s mother held a huge and beautiful cake.

 

The birthday boy smiled happily at his family, noticing how the rest of Lay’s family and his own mom were there. Hugging his cousins and his uncle and smiling at the presents they gave him, Baek proceeded to take his cake away from his mother’s hands and leave it on the countertop before hugging her tightly and kiss her face, making her laugh and hug her son even more.

 

“Happy birthday my baby!” Artemis kissed his son’s cheek one more time, amused at how his baby got embarrassed everytime she called him that in public.

 

“Yes, happy birthday baby!” Or maybe it wasn’t Baekhyun’s fault he got embarrassed if everyone was going to like that, seeing as Lay’s older sister had gotten close so she could join the hug and pinch the hell out of Baek’s left cheek.

 

“Jieun, leave me alone! You’re ruining our moment!” Baek complained jokingly, watching how his mom didn’t care at all and how his older cousin suddenly yelled ‘Group hug!’, bringing the rest of his cousins to hug Baekhyun until he couldn’t breathe. Thank the gods his uncle didn’t join the hug or all of them would get crushed to death and back again.

 

“Come on Baek, be nice! You have the nicest family after all, you should be grateful.” Seungho smiled and patted Baekhyun’s head like the little kid he was.

 

“Plus, we made you a present!” Henry smiled brightly once the hug was broken and Baek could breathe once again.

 

“We didn’t make him the present; it was dad and Aunt Artemis.” Jieun scolded her older brother and hit his head, making Onew laugh at his brother’s pain.

 

Wondering what was going on, Baek glanced at the couple of gods that were in the room and seeing his Uncle’s soft smile showing his dimple (the same dimple Lay had) and his mom’s bright expression, he looked down at the envelope his uncle was holding at the moment.

 

“Baekhyun, I hope you can accept this present with pride and honor and be aware of how your life’s going to change from this moment and-“

 

“Just give him the damn letter! I’m dying of anticipation!” Artemis interrupted her twin, making the younger twin roll his eyes at his sister’s impatience and just give the envelope to an eager Baekhyun.

 

“Well, at least I know is not a new laptop.” Baek tried to joke while he opened the letter “If it was, I could just give my old laptop to Yixing so he can-"

 

“Don’t you dare!” Five voices rose all at once, making Lay pout and Artemis laugh at everyone else’s vehemence to keep Lay away from human knowledge. Not even the gods know what would happen if Lay realizes something like the internet exists. It was safer to say the human world was better without Lay owning a laptop.

 

Once he opened the letter, Baekhyun starting reading it, noticing how he knew whom this calligraphy belonged to. It was his father’s.

 

‘Baekhyun, happy 23th birthday! I wish I could be there with you and give you the hug you deserve. I love you so much, my son. And knowing you, I know the perfect gift for you. Your mother visited me yesterday and we agreed we wanted to give you the best gift you could ever receive; free pass. After all, how can I expect you to visit me if you can’t even show your existence to the other gods? Your mother was reluctant and I can understand why, so please take care of her while I’m not with you. Your uncle and cousins agreed with us and they’ll take care of you so please rely on them and their knowledge of the Olympus. And bring me a souvenir! With love, the best human ever.’

 

“He’s an idiot” Baekhyun laughed, trying to keep at bay the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. Now he could visit his father! Now he could go to Lay’s world! He didn’t need to hide anymore! But…

 

Noticing his son’s confused expression; Artemis wiped her tears thinking about her husband and kissed her son’s cheek one more time. “It’s ok Baek, we’ll handle it. Apollo and I know what we’re going to say and your cousins are going to back us up. I know you want to go see Orion, but at least wait until everyone calms down and start forgetting you, alright? We'll find a way to bring you to your dad, just not right now. Do you promise me you’ll wait Baek?

 

Nodding, Baekhyun understood he really doesn’t have a choice. What they were going to do was dangerous after all. Looking up, Baek’s eyes connected with Lay’s and both knew what the other was thinking; what they needed to do.

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent with everyone eating cake; with laughs, jokes, embarrassed moments and one or two yells from Apollo to his sons when they started chasing each other once again.

 

"Baek, tomorrow I'll present you to the high gods at eight in the morning. I already asked for the clothes you'll be using at the ceremony." Artemis said to his son, smiling warmly at how his little boy was already so excited to meet everything his mother has told him since he was a baby. "Now, come closer darling." saying this, the beautiful woman took Baekhyun's left arm and gave him a plain gold bracelet, securing it on his wrist and chuckling lightly at his son's excited expression. "As you know very well, this will let you travel between the human world and the Olympus. I already asked your uncle to let you have access to his house everytime you want so you'll be able to visit Lay and the rest of your cousins at any time. For every other house, you'll have to ask for permission first. Common places like the half-blood meeting rooms, the assembly building and the rest of the Olympus, you won't need to ask for permission; you can just go. I guess that would be it, darling." and smiling like it was the best day of his life (which probably was), Baekhyun hugged his mother one more time before touching his bracelet with his right hand and disappearing in a whirl of leaves.

 

"Well, would you look at that?" Apollo said, back hugging his sister and looking at the place his nephew was not just five seconds ago. "You give him the key to go wherever he wants and he ditches us. Typical."

 

"As if you weren’t like that when you got what you wanted" Artemis twin brother, turning around and kissing his cheek before looking at Lay who was too busy still sitting at the table and eating cake. "Darling, would you be so kind and watch Baekhyun for us? I don't want him to destroy your house on his first day of freedom. Your father here can get angry if he sees his home crowded with bunnies. Again." Apollo’s facial expression turned sour, remembering how frustrated it was for him to clean up his house from bunnies’ poop.

 

"Oh, good times" Lay smiled, looking pleased and remembering that entertaining day when Baekhyun was nine years old and he was ten. Seungho's expression seeing his room filled with bunnies was priceless.

 

"I'll take care of him, don't worry." And bowing a little bit, Lay too touched his black bracelet, disappearing in a soft green light and leaving the rest of his family by themselves.

 

“I’ll go too!” Disappearing too in a soft green light, Jieun followed her brother and her cousin, leaving her three older brothers with the gods.

 

“Guys, why don’t yo-”

 

“I have work to do.”

 

“I promised Amber I would see her right now!”

 

“I just don’t want to help clean the house! Thanks for the cake though!”

 

And just like that, the rest of Apollo’s sons disappeared, leaving their father sigh at their behavior and Artemis laugh at her cute nephews.

 

----

 

"Where do you think I should go once I can roam free? Do you think I could run in the forest outside your house? No one would mind? Hey, I want to meet people! And muses! And satyrs! Do you know how I can do that, Jieun?” Lay heard his best friend's voice inside his room once he arrived to his house. He could have arrived earlier than his older sister but somehow, he got lost inside his own house. Again. Comparing it to Baekhyun's house, Lay's was definitely bigger considering his home housed five demigods, a god, a couple of centaurs and servants on the east side and a bunch of empty bedrooms in case his other brothers and sisters decide to visit. Lay's home consisted of a lot of shelves. Really. Every wall was filled with books, flasks, bottles, compartments, more books and stairs. Yeah, stairs. His house was of just one floor so all the windows were on the roof. And the roof was made of pure glass. This way, they could all enter and exit the house wherever they wanted to. That’s why Lay thought it was completely normal for humans to go outside of their buildings just using the windows.

 

Plus, it was easier to replace the windows when a certain youngest son at Archery and decided to keep practicing near the house. He had a really weird ability to shot his family members no matter where they were.

 

Onew can still remember the disaster of 2005 at the bathroom. He was never the same after that.

 

"I don’t think anyone will mind where you are as long as you don’t invade private property" Lay heard his older sister say once he opened his door to see Jieun and Baekhyun sitting on his bed. "I'm sure everyone would like to see you at all times though".

 

"Everyone?" Lay asked, sitting at his sister's side and hugging her by her shoulders, "You mean, as in our father too?" confused, both friends glanced at each other, missing how the girl rolled her eyes at the guys' obvious obliviousness. It was expected of Lay but apparently, Baekhyun was spending too much time with his best friend.

 

"No, silly." Jieun poked Lay's forehead, making his younger brother pout. "Aunt Artemis is going to present you to the high gods tomorrow, right?" Looking at Baekhyun nodding, she continued. "Well, that's just the beginning! Do you think the meeting's going to remain as a secret? Of course not! Everyone's going to want to get to know you from now on. Your mother had you hidden for too many years Baek, everyone's curious, you know? You’re the only son of Artemis. That's like, huge! You're practically a miracle; everyone thought your mother was going to keep her promise to stay as a maiden forever. You're father must've been extremely handsome and perfect."

 

Jieun was right. The moment Baekhyun's mother announces she was pregnant and that she has a teenager son, a huge commotion will start in the Olympus. Centuries ago she had promised she would never marry or lose her ity. She had said she would marry only if she found someone who could catch her attention long enough. No one could; she was extremely stubborn and didn’t let any man get close to her. Until one day, she saw a mere human hunting in her woods and it was love at first sight.

 

His name was Orion.

 

Everyone thought they would get married and live happily ever after but unfortunately, that couldn't happen. Orion died a couple of days later, killed by Scorpio.

 

Is not necessary to say that filled with rage, Artemis killed him and asked Zeus to let him die in shame. Accepting, Zeus made Scorpio into a horrible animal and created a beautiful constellation for Orion.

 

Destroyed, Artemis promised she would never love any other man and she would stay single for the rest of her immortality.

 

The other gods told her she didn't have to love other human if she didn't want to but that an existence without anyone in her life would be very lonely. And they were right, but Artemis kept her promise for hundreds of years.

 

"Yeah, handsome..." Baekhyun smiled sadly, glancing at Lay and trying to change the subject. "By the way, what does that have to do with me being seen by other people?"

 

"Well Byun Baekhyun, you'll get admirers of course!" Jieun exclaimed happily, already picturing the scene of Baekhyun surrounded by handsome guys and beautiful girls. “Do you know how many proposals of courtship are you gonna get in your first week? You’re the only son of Artemis! Just think about it. You’re special as it is, now imagine how would you look in the eyes of everyone else; a cute handsome young man heir of one of the high gods who doesn’t know how to protect himself?"

 

“Hey!” Baekhyun felt insulted. Of course he could protect himself!

 

“I’m right and you know it. You don’t know how to avoid a proposal. Some demigods propose with apples; if you take the apple you accept. Others may propose with goblets of wine, or with beautiful flowers or even with blood. Do you know how to decline each and every offer? Do you know how to tell which demigod is which? If you deny the blood, you’re insulting them. You need to take it but just touch it with your thumb and give it back afterwards. Did you know that?” Seeing Baekhyun’s shocked expression, Jieun got her answer and smiled comfortingly at her little cousin. “That’s what I thought. Aunt Artemis may have given you lots of books to help you learn about our world, but there’s a lot of things you can’t know if you don’t live here.”

 

Trying not to freak out, Baek lowered his gaze and started caressing Lay’s white sheets. What his cousin had said to him was scary but logical. Even if he was excited to meet an entirely new world, he couldn’t let himself insult anyone. He may not know a lot about relationships in the Olympus but one thing he knows is about its history. All the big battles and wars and destruction started because someone felt insulted; by humans, by other gods or by other demigods; it didn’t matter. The last thing he wanted was to cause some misunderstanding and trouble for his mom.

 

Plus, there was other thing he was realizing just now…

 

"Wait, but I'm not ready!" Baekhyun blushed, looking up at his cousins and remembering one of the biggest flaws in anyone with god blood. If gods, demigods or magical creatures could feel easily insulted, they could fall in love just as easily. Baekhyun had been safe because the only demigods he knew were his family. Even if he could technically still fall in love with one of them, (Heck, following Olympus’ history he could even fall in love with his own mom. Eww) Baekhyun’s mentality was too accustomed to humans to even think about his family members in a romantic way. He was having problems being comfortable with the idea of omniuality as it is. “I won’t know what to do if someone says they’re in love with me.” He was just starting to get used to everything! He wanted to meet other demigods but just to make new friends, not to have to choose a partner yet.

 

Now he was starting to understand how his mother could get annoyed everytime someone told her to choose a partner already.

 

Plus, he needed to complete his and Lay’s mission! It was important! And he only had until the Summer Solstice.

 

"If you want to, I'll talk to father so he can cancel unwanted visitors at our home from now on" Jieun smiled and ruffled Baekhyun's hair, treating him like her little brother. "Your house is extremely secure in the human world but here, everyone's gonna know who you hang out with and everyone's gonna start asking to visit us just to see you."

 

"Thanks Jieun."

 

"No problem. Well, see you later guys! Henry told me he wanted me to teach him how to cook today. I wonder why he wants to learn. I’m sure Amber has nothing to do with it " She said sarcastically and winking at them before standing up and exiting Lay's room.

 

Making sure they were alone and the windows at the roof were all closed, Lay let himself fall on top of his bed by Baekhyun's side. "Father says it would be better for you to stay here for the next couple of days. With all the commotion, everyone's going to want to get to you and they may find your house if they try hard enough. But if everyone knows you're here, they won't need to look for your house. Your mom's invited to join us too and she said yes so you don’t have to worry about her."

 

Baekhyun said nothing, letting himself fall on top of Lay and using his best friend as his pillow. Both of them just looked at the ceiling, enjoying how they could see the trees outside moving slowly and how everything was so quiet and calm.

 

"By the way, happy birthday dude." Lay said after some time, giving his friend a piece of old parchment and smiling to himself waiting for Baekhyun to read it.

 

"You found it!" Baekhyun exclaimed, sitting on the bed once again and surprised at the piece of information in his hands, "You actually found the potion! How the hell did you do it?!"

 

"I have my resources" Lay smiled to himself, not mentioning how difficult it was to sneak inside Athena's library without being noticed. He still had the battle scars caused by Athena's owls attacking him at midnight.

 

Bloody birds.

 

"I love you! Thank you!" Baekhyun throw himself at his best friend, hugging him tightly and laughing happily. Maybe he could complete his mission on time! Maybe there was hope after all! This definitely was the best day of his life!

 

"Woah, don't say that out loud. What if your future partner hears you? They may want to try and hurt me! And you know what happens when someone tries to do that." Lay joked, also hugging his friend.

 

"Oh yeah. I don't want to stay single for the rest of my life after all."

 

Laughing, Baekhyun took the piece of old yellow parchment and read it once again.

 

As he was reading, he started to get worried. He needed thirteen ingredients and thirteen different people helping him. Well, he had at least three people already and one ingredient. His mother's blood.

 

"You'll help me, right?" He asked Lay, just to make sure.

 

"Of course.”

 

Smiling faintly and grateful for having such an amazing friend, Baekhyun kept reading. Well, that makes three people already. Yixing, his mom and himself. Only, his mother doesn't know about this yet.

 

And she won't know until she's ready if Baekhyun can make sure of that. There was a reason why he was doing this after all.

 

Twenty four years ago, Artemis got tired of feeling lonely. But she couldn't be with anyone but her beloved Orion. Desperate, she went to who could help her with her dilemma.

 

Hades.

 

They made an agreement. Hades had a way to revive Orion with one condition. Artemis would give away her immortality. She still would be a goddess but one day, she would die. After all, Orion needed a source of life for himself to stay in the world of the living with Artemis and he wouldn’t be immortal so he could die at any moment. Desperate, she agreed.

 

Orion came back and both of them were together once again. Unable to age, Orion would look the same he did when he died, making it useful since Artemis herself would look young forever.

 

The bad news? Orion died after four years had passed, leaving Artemis to take care of baby Baekhyun by herself. The worse news? Artemis will only live until her twenty four summer solstice starting the day of the agreement.

 

And that would happen in exactly two months from Baekhyun's 23rd birthday.

 

"Where the hell do we need to look for the tongue of an immortal snake?" Baekhyun asked out loud, reading the ingredients for the potion once again and trying to memorize them.

 

"That's nothing, read the nine ingredient."

 

"Of a Chimera, you will need the left testi- what the hell?!

 

"Exactly."

 

"Who created this thing?!"

 

“I don’t know, but I’m not cutting any Chimera’s balls.”

 

No one else knew about Orion’s resurrection. It was against the natural law of Zeus to exchange immortality because it would mean Artemis’ position as a goddess would die with her. If someone else knew about her new mortality and her deadline (literally), she and her family –meaning Baekhyun and the soul of Orion- would be punished.

 

In need of support, Artemis made Apollo promise that in case something happened to her and Orion was unable to come back from the death, he would protect Baekhyun.

 

Apollo accepted.

 

And now, Lay knew because he spent too much time in Baekhyun’s company  and visiting him that they had to tell him who Baekhyun's father was in order to prevent him from asking questions. Eventually, they had to tell the truth to the rest of Lay’s siblings once they realized Lay at keeping secrets. They needed the whole family’s help to keep Lay from spilling the beans. Until now, they had succeeded.

 

To everyone else, they would tell them Artemis had with a random human and got impregnated by him. It was normal for gods to intimate with humans every now and then but they never had lasting relationships. It was difficult seeing as one was immortal and the other was not. Some demigods didn't know who their mortal parent was. In the best case, both parents agreed to let their son or daughter live with each parent at different periods of time but that was it. No god had ever stayed faithful for too long to a human.

 

Except Artemis.

 

That's why no one else knew of the existence of Orion as Baekhyun's father.

 

And Baekhyun wasn't supposed to know how his father could be once again alive. The condition Hades gave Artemis was too painful that she never told anyone but Orion. She never told Apollo or Baekhyun. To them, she was still immortal.

 

How Baekhyun knew then?

 

"I hope this can help your mom, really." Lay said quietly from his position on the bed, not looking at his friend but smiling softly.

 

"Thanks. I hope so too."

 

"And if Jieun's right, you should just tell your new fans that you’re going to marry everyone who can help you with the potion. That way, we'll have the remaining ten in no time!."

 

Yixing's laugh died once Baekhyun poked his ribs with a stick.

 

--------------------------

 

Hello there.

Questions for today. What do you think is Lay's and Baek's mission? How Baek found out his mother's secret? What's going to happen once everyone else knows about Baekhyun's existence? Were you expecting couples already? Sorry. Do the writer really expects everyone to know about Greek Mythology? The answer is no, you don't need to. Just in case I write completely different things for each god. It's better if you don't notice.  :D

 

Just in case you don't know what idols I used:

Namjoo - Apink

Chansung - 2PM

Seungho - MBLAQ

Henry - Super Junior M

Onew - Shinee

Jieun - Secret

 

Aaaand, that's it!