[Year 19 of Exile]

[Sehun]

“I’ll go be with her.”

Raising my hand into the air swiftly the moment Luhan-hyung appeared through the trapdoor to the attic, I made my intention known and Xiumin-hyung gestured for me to head down.

I was about to stand up when I blinked and instantly found myself sitting on the floor and looking up at a grinning Kai. “Take care of her, Sehun.” He vanished in the next moment and I was left alone in her room, her rhythmic breathing filling the silence of the household.

Seeing how the girl was sleeping on a side of the bed, a playful thought crossed my mind. I lifted the comforter and settled into the empty side, turning to face her once I’ve laid down. Strands of her hair were obscuring her face so my fingers reached towards them and gently pushed them aside, tucking them behind her ear when that failed.

Her nose suddenly scrunched, and she snorted. I almost burst out laughing, and would have spat in her face if not for the name that followed the snort.

My heart swelled, the corners of my lips tugging upwards as my mind replayed her voice over and over.

“Sehun ah.”

“I wonder what you’re dreaming about, baby girl…” Smiling fondly at her, I daringly draped an arm across her waist, edging myself closer to her until our noses were almost touching. I nuzzled hers lightly, biting back a snicker when she scrunched her nose again for she looked so adorable doing that.

Yet, as I continued to gaze at her sleeping face, dread gradually crept up to me as I recalled what had been thrown out onto the floor earlier during our secret meeting up in the attic.

“She’s not safe alone.”

My eyes snapped to the canine. With his words, the atmosphere in the space took a turn for the worst. I could feel the tension in the air, the whirring cogs in everyone’s minds as they contemplated her spirit animal’s warning.

“If she can be attacked at school, I would suggest that she not step out of this household at all.”

“We never wanted her to leave this house.” Suho-hyung spoke up, his eyes had hardened. “I had objected to her request to attend school, but that stubborn–” A resigned sigh escaped his lips before he finished his words, and I knew that regret was filling him.

“Is there a reason for that teacher to harm her?” Zitao-hyung piped up softly, his hands wringing in his lap. Kyungsoo-hyung glanced over and promptly placed his hands on his friend’s. “I mean… It just doesn’t seem very logical for Teacher Myra to suddenly…”

“As of now, we have no clue. But I think we can all deduce who would want her dead, can’t we?” Aran deadpanned, resting his head on his paws as his unblinking eyes drifted from boy to boy.

No one needed to speak because we all knew the name by heart.

The name that haunted us ever since we knew her history from our parents. The name that troubled our parents ever since they came to know the man.

“But how is he doing this…?” Chanyeol-hyung asked, his fingers absentmindedly the beautiful crimson feathers of his spirit animal, a phoenix, that nestled beside him. “We never got to know his power, now that I think about it.”

A silent sigh reverberated throughout the attic as the eleven of us simultaneously slumped. I rubbed my eyes roughly with the back of my hands, stars appearing in my vision as I removed them and they strayed to Jongdae-hyung.

Curiosity seeped into me as I observed the boy. Unlike the rest of us who were playing with our fingers, not knowing what to do at the moment, Jongdae-hyung’s eyes were flitting from left to right rapidly. He also seemed to be mumbling under his breath, though even in the dead silence of the night I heard nothing.

If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that he had gone mad.

But I did know him since birth, so when his eyes rounded, I knew that the boy had most probably figured something out.

I was about to call out to him when the trapdoor creaked open and Luhan-hyung’s head popped through, effectively scaring the bejebus out of Kris-hyung and Baekhyun-hyung who were sitting on either sides of the door.

And with that, I lost the chance.

“He’s so handsome when he’s asleep.”

I was thoroughly surprised when my eyes opened in the morning to find my same-aged friend sleeping next to me on my bed, and even more shell-shocked when it dawned on me that none of the other boys had come to drag the boy back to his own room.

Wouldn’t Kai come by and pull him back to their room? So weird.

Mentally shrugging, I let my eyes stray back to the youngest, my fingers arranging his fringe that had flopped over his closed eyes. I tapped the tip of his nose and barely swallowed a snigger as he scrunched up his nose, and a finger reaching up to scratch it.

It was only when my eyes followed the hand did I realise that he had an arm draped over my waist the entire time. Heat surged up to my face and I was very conscious of his hand that rested on the small of my back. Even through the comforter, I could feel the heat emanating from his palm and somehow, I didn’t feel too inclined to stay in the same bed as the boy any longer.

God, why did I even sleep with a comforter yesternight?

Yet, when I was about to throw back the supposed cause of my growing discomfort, I held back. “Damn, his arm is still on the comforter.”

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