chapter one: cloaked

Sehun decided to go to school that afternoon. Though he just lost his job that doesn't mean he shouldn't go to school. As he was sitting around with his best friends; Suho, Luhan, and Kris, and waiting for their professor to come to class, there was a sudden buzz of excitement among their classmates.

"Did you see it? The special article in this month's 'Monthly Moridae'?"

"I wanna see!"

Ahh... So that explains it.

Monthly Moridae was their school's official monthly newspaper, however this month it seemed like even their school newspaper had jumped into the bandwagon and made a special feature about the four of them.

There was a sound of shuffling and of papers turning all the same time, followed by the sound of girls screaming and shrieking.

All of them had an entire page dedicated only to each of them. Every page was filled with pictures of them -- photos taken in secrecy and snapped during unexpected times.

        Oh Sehun. He has a beautiful face, and a perfect body. He's the strongest in a fight, rough, and has a really short temper. He's ranked the "Number One Man I'd like to freeze in ice and look at forever."

          Kim Joonmyeon or Suho. He's smart, and good at academics and sports. His family is the head of a flower arranging school, and he's the very cool heir. He's ranked the "Number One Man I'd like to peek at in the bath."

          Lu Han. He's as cuuuute as a puppy... He's ranked the "Number One Man I'd like to sleep in the same bed with."

          Kris Wu. He's the son and heir to the Wu Group. He has incredible charm, and loves women. He's ranked the "Number One Man I'd like to be tricked by."

          For these four to be living together, it must be... PARADISE!

          The boarding house the four of them live in is gorgeous. Estimated rent is...

"3 000 000 won?!" Hyoree exclaimed.

"That's not even close," Sehun muttered.

Hyoree was one of the few classmates that they actually really talked to. At first, Sehun thought she was also just one of their fangirls but then she became unexpectedly close to them and soon enough she also started hanging out with them. She's a very bubbly person who always looks like she doesn't have any problems.

Kris took the article from Hyoree's hand and stared at it closely.

"They should've used a better picture of me," Kris commented.

"Hyoree... Our boarding house rent is 500 000 won, and includes breakfast and dinner," Luhan explained happily.

"What? It's that cheap?" Hyoree asked in shock.

"If you think it's cheap, then lend me some money," Sehun snapped.

"If you don't have money, then you shouldn't get fired from your job," Luhan responded.

"And breaking the table wasn't necessary, was it?" Suho asked.

Sehun merely sighed in reply. He wasn't really in the mood to explain what really happened.

"Your boarding house is that cheap--" Hyoree started to say.

"Don't ever come over," Sehun intercepted.

"I haven't said anything yet," Hyoree defended.

"I can see right through your scheme," Sehun retorted, copying Hyoree's voice. "Besides, Suho--"

Before Sehun could finish what he was saying, Hyoree immediately dashed out of her seat clasped a hand at Sehun's face. Everybody knew Hyoree has the hots for Suho -- well everybody except maybe Suho. It's still not sure if Suho could ever really notice that she really likes him but Sehun knew Suho also cares for her. The way Suho would stare at Hyoree when she's not looking, the way he would often ask about her, the way Suho would smile at his phone whenever Hyoree texts him, but Suho never really talked about his feelings or even confessed to Hyoree. Sehun felt like it wasn't his place to intervene and he has trust in his best friend's reasons and everything.

"We call it a boarding house, but the landlady is friends with our parents, so it's like she's looking after us," Luhan said, changing the subject.

"So, if my parents also become friends with your landlady, then--" Hyoree gushed excitedly, finally releasing Sehun who was gasping for air the moment Hyoree's hand left his nose and mouth.

"Becoming friends with that lady is kind of difficult though..." Kris answered thoughtfully.

• • •

"Hello boys."

Luhan, Kris, Suho, Sehun, and Daehyun, their landlady's 11 year old son, were all gathered that night in front of the flat screen TV in the living room. Every night their landlady, Choi Mimi or as the four of them call her "Auntie", makes a video call to check up on the boys and especially on Daehyun. She literally travels around the world to look for true love, leaving her son in Korea in the care of the four guys. Right now, it looks like she's in a spacious and extravagant private plane with blue walls and gold mouldings, and plush carpeting. She's wearing a long black gown with a deep V-neck cut and a fur coat draped over her shoulders. In front of her was a table with a bottle of wine and a few other make-up and accessories.

"Daehyun, make sure to brush your teeth before going to bed," Auntie cooed to Daehyun.

"Yeah. You make sure to eat breakfast too, Mama," Daehyun replied eagerly.

"Where are you going, Auntie?" Luhan asked.

"I found love in Dubai," Auntie sighed dramatically. "He's a great man."

"Again?" Luhan mumbled in disbelief.

Sehun took a peek at Daehyun who suddenly plopped down on the couch next to him while hugging a teddy bear tightly to his chest.

"Don't keep abandoning your son at home and running off," Sehun complained while ruffling Daehyun's hair. "What're we gonna do for food? Food, food! FOOD!!"

Kris suddenly stood up from his seat then went near the TV screen and said in a husky voice, "There are great men here too, you know."

Auntie also stood up from her seat and pressed her face near the camera, making sure she's looking directly at Kris then said, "Could you love me more than him? Could you take me to expensive restaurants 365 days a year? Could you take me on overseas trips 365 days a year? Could you get me a new outfit to wear 365 days a year??"

Halfway through Auntie's rant, Kris was already scrunching his face sourly like he just tasted something foul while slowly backing away.

"That's not love, that's money," Suho stated, still not taking his eyes off of the book he was currently reading.

"And you've got plenty of money of your own..." Luhan said, who was also clutching a teddy bear to his chest.

"Daehyun, I'll get a rich father for you and come home, okay?" Auntie said, clearly ignoring Suho's and Luhan's statements and taking a seat back in her chair.

"Don't go overboard," Daehyun murmured.

"Quit talking like you're the only one who matters," Sehun stated in a low voice.

"Also, I've decided to quit running the boarding house. So, the four of you will have to leave within a week, okay?" Auntie informed nonchalantly at them while smiling innocently.

"No way..." Kris disagreed.

"So..." Suho suddenly said, now standing up and closing the book he was holding, "What are the conditions to stay? This is you we're talking about, so..." he was now walking closer to the screen, "You had to have some ulterior motive for saying that."

Auntie suddenly leaned forward and said, "My condition, to be frank, is to make my niece into a lady."

HA! BUSTED! So she does need something...

"Niece?" Kris asked, certainly amused and intrigued at the mention of a girl.

"She'll live there instead of me. She grew up in Gangwon, so she's a bit of a late bloomer," Auntie axplained. "With your powers, I want you to make her into a perfect lady."

"Why do we have to do that?" now it was Sehun's turn to stand up and walk up in front of the screen.

"The poor thing is so shy, she's always alone and doesn't have any friends," Auntie sobbed, wiping invisible tears from her cheeks.

"Really?" Luhan asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Huh??" Sehun immediately turned to look at Luhan.

What?! He can't possibly believe in that! Auntie's clearly just acting.

"I'd be so pleased that you Casanova-like gentlemen could make her a lady..." Auntie continued.

"Casanova..." Kris suddenly said, clearly distracted.

"Huh???" Sehun whipped his head at Kris' direction.

What the hell?! Can't they see Auntie's just manipulating them?

"Daehyun also wouldn't be lonely if he had a family member around," Auntie said wistfully.

"I absolutely refuse!!!" Sehun shouted, turning away from the screen. He's had enough of this bullcrap.

"If you're successful, I'll let you live there rent free until you graduate," Auntie declared casually.

Sehun's ears immediately perked up, he could practically hear bells tolling from a distance.

Did she just say rent free?

He quickly spun around to look at the screen that he could see stars everywhere then he flashed her the widest and sunniest smile he could muster.

"Of course we'll do it, Auntie," Sehun agreed sweetly.

"It's decided then," Auntie replied.

Sehun nodded vigorously he felt like his head would snap off of his neck.

"Her name is 'Soojin'," Auntie told them.

"Soojin," Kris repeated. Hmm... Pretty name.

Suddenly, the image froze then the screen got hazy until even the audio got all choppy.

"Auntie. Auntie! Is this thing broken? Hey! Auntie?!" Sehun screamed at the screen while tapping the TV.

"She's just out of range," Daehyun explained.

"Auntie... Huh?"

Suddenly, all the lights went out and everything became eeriely quiet. All five of them immediately looked at the ceiling.

Well... This is weird?

Nobody said anything for a while until the silence was broken by a loud rumble of thunder. Luhan instantly folded his knees atop the chair and crushed the teddy bear to his chest even more.

"What's going on?" Sehun muttered.

The wind abruptly appeared out of nowhere and soon all the trees and plants outside were swaying like crazy. Then everything suddenly went bright as a flash of lightning materialized outside.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

"IT'S HERE!!!"

Everybody promptly jerked their heads to Luhan who was suddenly hiding behind the chair he was just sitting from. Luhan slowly peeked over from the back of the chair and stared horrifyingly at a window.

"Huh?" Sehun huffed.

Luhan with wide frightened eyes suddenly pointed at the window at the far end of the room, "O-over there! Look! There!"

Reluctantly, all of them craned their necks toward the window that Luhan was pointing. At first, they couldn't see anything but darkness, until suddenly there was another flash of lightning.

And then they saw it.

Standing at the other side of their window was a woman dressed in black cloak with her hair hanging in front of her face and her neck tilted to one side.

There was a sudden chorus of manly screams. Sehun tried to run but tripped so he face-planted into Luhan's teddy bear which was left sitting in the chair. Kris literally jumped in horror then landed in the sofa. Daehyun threw his teddy bear to the air then lied down on the floor. Suho crouched down behind the sofa covering his eyes.

They stayed like that for a couple of seconds before they decided to look at the window again, but there was no one there.

"W-wha... What was that just now??" Luhan stammered.

"Was that a girl?" Suho suggested.

"Couldn't be! Girls are cuter and ier..." Kris answered.

Luhan came out of hiding and crawled towards Kris in the sofa.

"It's a ghost!" Luhan stated, clutching Kris' arm.

At that, Sehun suddenly straightened, "There's no such things as ghosts."

He stood straight and started walking towards the window.

"Sehun," Kris uttered.

"It's dangerous!" Luhan warned.

Sehun slowly stuck his face towards the window then suddenly the same woman in black cloak appeared out of the blue and plastered her face to the glass, which produced another chorus of manly screams and caused Sehun to leap at least a meter away then landed on his on the hard floor.

"It's a ghost. A ghost..." Sehun kept repeating.

The woman in black cloak started clawing the window. Her nails scratching the glass and making clicking noises.

Suddenly, Daehyun stood up from the floor and started walking towards the window as if in a daze.

"Daehyun," Kris uttered.

"Daehyun..." Luhan croaked, reaching out to grab Daehyun's leg but failed.

"Daehyun!" Sehun shouted in a whisper, "Hey, Daehyuuun!"

But Daehyun kept walking still until he was only separated by an inch from the window. Sehun seemed frozen, he couldn't do anything except look at little Daehyun stare at the woman behind the window.

What the hell is this kid doing?!

"Soojin!" Daehyun suddenly exclaimed, smiling.

Wait... Did he just..? AW HELL NO.

"Seriously?!?" was all that came out of Sehun's mouth.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Btw this is my first ever attempt at a romcom fanfic so... we'll just see how this goes hahaha.