Sehun held the tea cup to his lips, letting the book light on his desk cast breathtaking shadows on his sculpted face; he created perfect scenery, like a painting of serenity and graceful composure. But inside him brewed a threatening storm.

With a loud clink, he placed the cup back onto its plate, not even bothering to take a sip of the French Rooibos. He stood from his chair and exited his study, sighing in frustration and an emotion he couldn’t quite put a finger on.

Mei was always strict on time, and it deeply bothered him that she wasn’t at his door already, considering how he had called for her a quarter of an hour ago. A tenacious vexation gnawed at his insides, and he felt the pits of his stomach churn sickeningly. Did the bastard* hurt her too much this time?

Ironically, an image of her charming smile flashed in his mind. Even after ten years, Sehun never forgot her bright smile; it never dimmed in his memory. But in the biting reality he knew all too well, Mei’s smile had not dimmed nor faded---it had disappeared completely.

He trotted down the grand stairway and was just about to turn a corner when a foul voice soiled his ears.

“My sweet, sweet boy. Why don’t you fetch me another bottle, a Carmenère, hmm?”

The First Mistress. The witch that killed Mother. The hag that gave birth to the demon who destroyed Mei.

Sehun shut his eyes closed and tried to control the burst of loathsome anger before he proceeded to round the corner. The abominable woman was sprawled on the hierarchy chair with a wine glass between her bony fingers. He caught a glimpse of soft brown hair scurrying out of the dining room and his enmity intensified even more. Luhan.

“Oh, look who’s here; isn’t it my dear son Sehun?” she slurred. She was only half sober, but she didn’t miss the angry twitch of his eye. Highly amused by his irritation, she cackled, “Does it bother you that I am technically your Mother after she surrendered her throne and her life so easily?”

Her horrid words would have sent a chill down his spine if he weren’t as enraged as he was now. In silent, dangerous fury, he seethed, “Does it bother you that there is still no diamond on your ring finger after all these years?”

The Mistress sneered resentfully, revealing her wine-stained teeth. “You on your high horse, thinking you’re superior to the rest of us because you’re of the true lineage.” She scoffed imprudently. “Must I remind you that your side is completely defective? That woman was foolish enough to fall for a simple trick of poison, Xiumin is bedridden with that heart disease, absolutely worthless, and Baekhyun is sick in the head, choosing to be banished from the Manor in search of love and brainless nonsense.”

Sehun clenched his fists, with the most menacing glare that would have incinerated the woman if it weren’t for her drunkenness. His jaw tightened at the mention of his real family; he had nothing to say about his late Mother, for she was at blame for loosening her guard in a dog-eat-dog world, and he barely knew his oldest brother, because Xiumin was always surrounded by doctors and nurses. But Baekhyun---he had been banned from the Manor as an outcast, and Sehun secretly admired his brother’s brazen courage. He was scorned upon as having been too weak and romanticist to survive the competition, but Sehun thought Baekhyun was the strongest one of them all for holding his own beliefs and acting determinedly on them, even if it meant leaving the comforts of wealth and power.

“You! Servant boy! Pretty boy! Hurry with the wine,” the woman hollered shamelessly.

Luhan rushed in with the promised bottle, his fluffy locks bouncing on his forehead and his large, doe eyes swimming in uneasiness. He had an angelic appearance, strangely reminding him of Mei. Sehun tasted the stark, bitter difference between his kind and theirs.

The servant carefully poured the red liquid into her glass, and the Mistress grinned wickedly. “Come here,” she cooed, running her sinful hand through his soft hair. Luhan froze, obviously repulsed by the sudden act, but unable to escape and disobey because of his low social standing. Sehun saw and couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, despite the burning rivalry he secretly harbored against him. But any feelings of pity evaporated when Mei walked in, unsuspecting of the vulgar scene unraveling in the dining hall.

At the instant of her entrance, Luhan locked his eyes on hers with a burning passion that seemed unfit with his deliate mien; Sehun could feel the heat radiating from the intensity of their gaze. Mei’s expression never changed, but her eyes revealed the swirling dance of many emotions, and Sehun felt the twinge of jealousy.

“I deeply apologize for my tardiness, Master Sehun,” she bowed.

With a dismissive grunt, the Mistress waved a hand to shush her and ordered to the other servant, “Pour my son a glass too.”

Luhan obeyed, casting a meaningful glance at Mei, much to Sehun’s displeasure. He accepted the wine glass from him with a curt nod.

Glaring at him while sipping the liquor, the Mistress muttered, “Tch. She wasn’t even worth enough to stand on the game board, as foolish and naïve as she was; I don’t understand why he married such a pigeon-brained woman in the first place.”

“The fact that Father has not wed you despite Mother’s death makes it clear that you are the worthless one. It is the undeniable truth that you are just a mere concubine, nothing more, even with your sons. You will never stand where Mother had once stood before you decided to cheat and kill her,” Sehun replied in a glacial tone.

“You! How dare you!” she screeched, slamming her wine glass on the edge of the table, where Luhan’s hand happened to be. He winced as the broken shards of glass sliced and stuck on the back of his hand, the red wine mixing with his red blood. Mei stifled a gasp as her eyes widened in horror. But the Mistress, not caring for the injury she had just inflicted, raged on, “You! My sons will crush you, illegitimate or not, just like how I crushed your mother! I should have let her die a slow, painful, humiliating death if I had known what a twisted man you would grow up to be! I should have poisoned her while she was pregnant with you like I did her first son!”

For a fleeting moment, Sehun was completely dumbfounded at the sudden revelation, before his shock morphed into blinding fury; he had never known that Xiumin’s illness was her doing. This horrendous woman. Completely consumed by hatred, it wasn’t until he heard a shattering below him that he realized he had broken the wine glass with his bare hand. He watched almost indifferently as the two crimson fluids mingled together and stained his alabaster skin, so uncannily similar to the state of Luhan’s.

He lifted his hand towards the Mistress, the broken pieces of glass shiny in his blood and glinting in the light. With an intimidatingly calm voice, he spoke to her, “And I will crush you and your sons to avenge for Mother and my blood brother.” He flung his hand downwards, scattering glass fragments and droplets of red across the marble floor.  

Without further ado, Sehun spun on his heels and walked away, his hand dripping at his side. He grimly smirked to himself as the Mistress gave out a frustrated shriek and sputtered a sting of curses at the receding figure.

Worriedly, Mei glanced at Luhan, traces of fear and panic still lingering in her eyes. Red. So much red. On the ground, on the table, on Luhan's hand; she was terrified to see the mangled flesh, hear the rhythmic dripdrop of his blood falling to the ground. The fright awakened nightmarish sensations that threatened to consume over her entire reality, but then, Luhan smiled. Familiar and angelic, it was the smile that made his eyes curve charmingly into crescents and spark a comforting warmth that enveloped her trembling heart. He ignored the sharp pain that screamed at him and smiled at her, because that was his pure instinct coming from his lovesick self. He knew full well that caring for someone took dangerous risks and high stakes, but seeing such emotional concern in her eyes, he was convinved that Mei cared for him as much as he did for her. Despite his situation, Luhan was truimphant.

Mei soaked herself in the fondness of his smile and wondered why it felt like deja vu. Gazing at Luhan, the aching nostalgia grew stronger as a certain man appeared from the fog of memories long past, and Mei couldn't bear to be reminded of what she had once had that she had no more. 

"You should go," Luhan mouthed to her knowingly, "I'll be alright."

She nodded, her lips awkwardly tugging upwards to reciprocate his smile; she was still not used to smiling again. She left to go after her Master, conscious of how his warm gaze followed her until she disappeared behind wooden doors.

Sehun listened to his lonely footsteps echoing down the long hallway. Is she not coming? Is she going to take care of Luhan?

As if to answer his questions, Sehun heard light footsteps approaching from behind, and he felt a bit victorious in a twisted way.

He liked to think that she followed him because he was more important to her than Luhan.

*bastard (n): a person born of parents not married to each other