Saturday, April 14 2012; Seoul, Korea xoxo Lu Han “Luhan”

EXO-M were transported to Seoul so fast SM might as well have just shoved homing missiles up their arses and fired them there manually. Luhan was getting nervous when they got out of the taxi and walked brusquely towards the jet, which typically meant that all was not well but Kris was trying not to panic them over it. In fact for them to be at a private airport added even more confusion to their already odd predicament.

Yifan had told them that when they were up in the air he'd explain everything, but as soon as safely possible after the jet threw itself into the daunting azure skies, the Manager dragged him aside and began talking in a hushed voice.

So there was some sort of club member secret, apparently, and they weren't in it.

The jet they were in was one long compartment with a walkway that stretched from nose-cone to tail (save the kitchen and cockpit, someone has to be flying the plane besides the chef). There were more leathery plush chairs than required (unless Casper had come too, but there'd still be too many) and the table continuously rattled as the jet glided on warm drifts. Their ride was clearly expensive, and it wasn't something they were unused to. It wasn't something they were used to either. There were small lights like cats eyes dotting the ceiling above them.

Between some of the chairs there were large tables with flower vases that hadn't been removed from the last flight. Some mushy, lovey-dovey romantic couple must've been on before them. It was funny to see Tao glaring across it at Xiumin, who still looked affronted like a cat with some dude trying to tell him what to do.

A flight attendant patrolled the walkway from time to time, asking if there were anything they needed, and Luhan was tempted to ask her to kick the conspirators in the front of the plane up the backside.

“Can we have the monitors ?” he asked politely on her third round.

“I'm sorry, but it's been requested that all the monitors stay off until you reach Seoul,” the attendant explained. “Is there anything else I can do?”

“Oh.” Their Manager looked up. “They can watch a movie if you have any on board.”

In flight movies? It was official. The powers-that-be were punishing them.

Luhan shuddered. They'd have better entertainment if they just crashed the ing plane.

“Uh, no, on second thought, that'll be all,” he said, and the attendant went away.

“Chen, go sit somewhere else,” Kris ordered waspishly, looking sternly over his shoulder. “We'll talk to you in a minute.”

One minute turned to two, two to three, and then an already-bored Chen got fed-up. And he let everyone else know he was fed-up by staging a full-blown revolt and completely butchering Growl at the top of his lungs. Then Tao joined in, followed swiftly by Xiumin, and Luhan smirked deviously as he committed his voice to the cause.

Suddenly there were five horrendously off-key, out of synch baby banshees screaming the plane east towards Seoul. the ers, the force was with them.

The attendant was a mixture of frightened and concerned by the outburst, peering around the door to the kitchen. They ignored their Manager's attempt to calm them and in fact opted to shout louder. But they did surrender when she requested they stop, lest they really crash the plane (Luhan bet the pilot was laughing in his cockpit).

All glared pointedly at Kris and Manager, daring him to leave them out of the loop again.

Kris stood up. A flicker of amusement should have passed across his face; and there was something, but it wasn't amusement.

“You going to stop playing Chinese Whispers and tell us what happened to Chanyeol?” Tao folded his arms, ending the silent battle of wills between Xiumin by kicking his feet up on the table.

Now all of them were like cats; wide-eyed, bristling, the hairs on the backs of their necks beginning to rise. Kris's eyes hardened, Tao looked defiant, Chen looked scandalised and worried, Lay lifted his head from where he'd been trying to sleep (the bastards woke him up, as usual), and Luhan felt as though something coppery just smacked him on the chest.

“What?”

“Chanyeol?”

Defeated, Kris deflated like a balloon with the air escaping but without the fart noise. That was more of a sigh. “I was trying to keep it from you until we reached EXO-K so you didn't have to worry, but you might as well know now. Chanyeol was injured. We're afraid it's serious.”

Cue moment of silence.

“It better be serious,” Lay snapped, “because this is some really ed up joke if not.” He threw himself out of his seat and fixed them with a glare. “Why didn't you tell us this sooner? Zitao, did you know?”

Luhan saw that Tao's eyes were wide as well. Either he hadn't known or Casper was on the flight with them, and Luhan was willing to bet the former.

“How is he?” he asked. “When did...?”

“Please stay calm, I'll tell you what I know.” There was a sharp, tense pause. The sort of tense pause one might expect from a circle of men wielding swords and glancing suspiciously at each other and not quite knowing who to attack first. “On the eighth, six days ago, he was hit by a car,” Manager informed them in a voice laden with exhaustion. “He's been in hospital in critical condition since that time.”

The word critical condition sent a chill down Luhan's spine. All of a sudden vertigo hit. The plane felt like it had just done a barrel roll and he grabbed a hold of Xiumin's arm as he fell against the chair he sat on. All of a sudden the shouting was back and even more chaotic than before.

Critical... That word. It circled around his mind like a bird around a tree but his brain refused to absorb it. Some bubble forcefield had formed around his mind and his body was reacting with any external object suddenly going internal: with shock. And it hit him like a god damn tidal wave, ploughing into his consciousness, washing away all rational thought before he had a chance to defend himself.

His legs buckled. Xiumin caught him, mumbling nonsensical comfort that was muffled even though his mouth was clear.

“I only just found out myself!” Kris retorted at something Lay had said. “Believe me, I wouldn't have kept it from you had I known. SM has only just managed to snag a flight. We're headed to Seoul to be with EXO-K.”

EXO-K. All of a sudden it sounded like it's okay. EXO-K. They would be there, in Seoul. How long had they known? Had they even found out?

The last time he'd seen Chanyeol it had been at a performance. They had all been awaiting the release of MAMA's music video, which had been like a rush of adrenaline in the dorms. Because they were too busy to do it on the day, they had all done a video call the day before, on the sixth, to express their hopes, wishes and good will. It hadn't been easy to cram six lively young dancers into one tiny camera shot.

Chanyeol had been there, trying to squeeze between Sehun and Kyungsoo with the biggest -eating grin imaginable plastered to his face.

What's happened to him now?

Their arrival at the EXO-K dorm ignited the sorrow and tension. They swarmed in with their backs to the wind of relief and camaraderie and threw themselves at each other.

Luhan immediately wrapped his arms around the first body he came across – Baekhyun – and wept into his shoulder. Baekhyun clung to him like a koala to a branch, sobbing about how glad he was that they were all together again. It was a sentiment which bounced off of Kyungsoo's head and ricocheted around the room, smacking all of them in the face until none of them had gone without vocalising their relief and worry, or christening each others' clothes with their tears.

EXO-K and EXO-M had reunited. There were ten idols hugging in the corridor plus Casper if he'd haunted the bathroom on the jet. It still felt like small comfort.

Junmyeon was not with them, so in any case Manager would have to settle for blowing his nose on Casper.

Damn ghost.

Update: 17.11.2013
Mood; Calm
Inspiration; Sherlock & Mycroft AMV
Drinking; Earl Grey Tea

Author comments;

Chapter two is now up, and things are kicking off. Thank you to the people who subscribed, I'm glad to have you!

Spot the reference, anyone?
 

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“And then there are the days where the wolves are silent and the moon is howling.” - George Carlin