Chapter 1 : The Meeting (EDITED).
Words: 10923

 

“Uwaaaaa! It’s so sunny!” A boy said as he walked out from his tent but as soon as he walked out, he remembered something and went back to his tent only to take his mother’s picture that was placed safely in a frame.

“Well, eomma, wish me luck again today! I’ll be back soon!” He exclaimed cheerfully. He placed his mother’s picture back to where he got it from before walking out.

His name is Xi Luhan. In May of that year, he lost his mother who raised him all by herself in a traffic car accident. After that incident, Luhan lived with his grandfather in Seoul but his grandfather’s house needed to be renovated and so his grandfather decided to live with his family in Busan. He asked Luhan if he had any friends that he could live with. Luhan thought that his friend, Zitao, lived alone in an apartment so he couldn’t live with him as he knew that he would become a burden to his friend. He had another friend, Baekhyun but Baekhyun lived along with a big family, so Luhan knew he'd only be a troublesome to Baekhyun. Luhan, being the nice boy he was, told his grandfather not to worry about him and lied about staying at a friend's house but Luhan decided to live secretly in a tent. It’s definitely not too comfortable, but he always said that it was alright since one of his mottos was ‘Never quit under any state!’

Luhan was all smiles when he spotted a house near his tent.

“Eoh?” Curiosity got the better of him and so he walked to the direction of the house.

Eomma, I found something, a house is here! It seems to be peaceful…

“Ah so cute!” Luhan spotted 12 cute figurines of the 12 animals from the Chinese Zodiac.

“Eung?” A boy who was way taller than him suddenly came and Luhan was shocked.

“There’s a boy around here?” The boy mumbled.

“Sorry! I-I just barged in without asking! I d-didn’t mean it though!” Luhan apologized as he bowed repeatedly.

“Oh it’s okay,” The boy chuckled. “I don’t mind since these are just drying in the sun.” He said as he eyed the 12 figurines of the 12 animals.

“But, they’re not very fun to look at from a young person’s perspective, I assume?” He smiled at Luhan.

“Not really,” Luhan eyed the 12 figurines. “They’re very cute.” Then he grinned at the boy.

“I see,” He smiled to Luhan. “I’m glad you feel that way since I am fond of these myself.”

“But as expected, there’s no cat.” Luhan said.

“Cat?” The boy seems confused, “Oh, you mean the kitten from the folktale of the Chinese Zodiac?”He asked Luhan.

“Yes,” He smiled a bit. “My mom told me all about it.”

Flashback

“Long ago, Kami-sama told all the animals, ‘I invited you to a party tomorrow and in no account, be late.’ When the mischievous mouse heard that, he told a lie to his neighbor, the cat, that the meeting was to take place the day after tomorrow. The next day, the mouse rode on the ox’s back and arrived at the meeting place. After that, the ox, the tiger, and so forth had a fun time there until morning, except for the cat that got fooled,” Luhan’s mom gasped when she heard her little son sobbing.

“Why are you crying, Luhan?” His mom asked softly.

“That’s so sad, eomma! I feel so sorry for the cat!” Luhan replied as he stood on his bed and clenched his hand, “I know what I want to become, instead of a dog, I want to become a cat!” He exclaimed as his mom looked at him with her why-is-my-son-so-dramatic face.

End of Flashback.

“Eh?” The boy smiled, “I wonder what he will think when he hears this.” Then he chuckled.

“He?” Luhan looked at the boy curiously.

The boy cleared his throat, “Anyway, so you’re born in the year of the dog, it seems we have good chemistry between us,” He grinned. “If it’s alright with you, how about going out with m—ouch!”His sentence got cut off because another boy knocked the boy’s head with his heavy bag.

“I was wondering what you were talking about,” The boy eyed the other. “Are you okay, Luhan-ssi? My cousin caused you all this trouble...”

“Se..Sehun-ssi?” Luhan looked at Sehun with glowing eyes.

Mom, this isn’t real…it’s Sehun-ssi! My High School Prince…Oh Sehun-ssi is standing right in front of my eyes!

“That bag is really heavy,” Sehun’s cousin mumbled.

This is Oh Sehun-ssi’s house!

“Are there dictionaries in there?” Sehun’s cousin mumbled.

“Hmph, lots.” Sehun smirked at his cousin.

– The Chinese Zodiac Story –

“Heh, so you are Sehun’s classmate?” Sehun’s cousin asked Luhan. “Again, I’m Park Chanyeol, Sehun’s cousin.” He said with a friendly smile plastered on his face.

“Ah! I’m Xi Luhan.” Luhan said cutely and he bowed to Chanyeol.

“Luhan-ssi, why are you in a place like this?” Sehun asked Luhan, a bit curious.

“Aah,” Luhan hesitated, a bit nervous. “Well, my house is nearby.” He grinned.

“Nearby?” Chanyeol frowned, “Here?”

“Ah, yes..” Luhan scratched the back of his head because of the nervousness.

“W-Well, I’d better get going now.”Luhan bowed once more and started to run.

“Ah, Luhan-ssi!” Sehun called him.

Luhan took a deep breath before turning his body to fully face the boy, “Neh?”

“Shall we go together?”

Luhan gasps a little.

“Heung…?”

– The Chinese Zodiac Story –

On the other side, there were three girls waiting for their Prince Oh Sehun. They were Jiyeon, Krystal, and Sulli.

“It’s almost 7 a.m, Sehun Oppa will be here soon! We better get ready.” Krystal said. She quickly took her lipstick and added some on her lips.

“Eonnie! Sehun Oppa is here!”Sulli shouted. Krystal placed her lipstick in her bag and quickly cheered for Sehun like a cheerleader.

“L-O-V-E M-E! SEHUN OPPA!”They shouted as they did their dance.

Sehun glanced at them before walking away with Luhan. The girls knew that they were being ignored and so they sighed and shouted, “Ahh!”

– The Chinese Zodiac Story –

“Luhan-ssi!” Krystal stared at Luhan with an angry expression attached to her face.

“What was that about?!” Krystal asked.

Then Jiyeon popped out from Krystal's back and questioned him, “Yes! Why were you coming to school together with Sehun Oppa?! Explain!”

“It was j-just a coincidence,”Luhan placed on a small smile as he seemed uncomfortable.

“If it was a coincidence, then there won’t be a need to call the police, right?!” Sulli exclaimed, a bit dramatic as she kept looking at Luhan as though as if she was ready to eat him up. “The fact that there are no girls who doesn’t understand ‘EXO High, Freshman, Class D, Oh Sehun’ shows that he truly is handsome!”

Krystal looked at him, and if glares could kill, he'd long be a dead man.

“Sehun oppa is a super genius!” Jiyeon nodded as she looked at him, too.

“I…Uh…It’s—”

“Sehun oppa is a super athlete!”Sulli interrupted him.

“Even we, who are members of his fanclub, ‘Prince’, we aren’t able to get close to him!”Krystal looked at him more intensely and her friends, Jiyeon and Sulli,  nodded.

“Oy.”

“What?!” The girls turned around to see a girl behind them and they got scared eventually. “Luhan said it was a coincidence. Don’t bug him about it, idiots!” His best friend, Baekhyun, warned them.

“Wh…What?!”They shouted.

“You think you ‘yankees’ can solve anything with idle threats?!” Krystal shouted at Baekhyun, with a slight scared tone, as she pointed at Baekhyun.

“You girls, want to try to die by electric jolts?” Luhan’s weird, mysterious, and scary best friend,  Zitao, asked with his mysterious yet scary glare. The girls immediately ran away from them.

“Baekkie! Zitao! you guys saved me!” Luhan thanked them as he bowed repeatedly.

“You were being bugged Luhan,” Baekhyun hugged Luhan and in return, Luhan flashed a beam at him. “And, Tao, please don’t send electric shocks,” Baekhyun mumbled, while Tao rolled his eyes.

– The Chinese Zodiac Story –

Luhan sighed as he dreamed about Sehun. “Sehun-ssi is really nice, when I was next to him, I was so nervous!” Luhan closed his eyes as he blushed. “But I wasn’t be able to have much of a conversation with him.” He then opened his eyes and sighed, again.

Tao, who was still cutting the fish meat, suddenly looked so scary. “I get strange electric waves from him...” He said with a mysterious tone. He took the knife as he cleaned up the tip of the it. “It came out on Baekhyun’s electricity report.” He said again, eyes still on the knife.

“What do you mean strange?” Luhan asked Tao.

“As for that, I’m not sure.”

“Well, he does seem very secretive, that’s for sure,” Baekhyun suddenly participated. “And he doesn’t really talk about himself, either,” He sighed. “Before this, when a sophomore girl asked him out and tried to get near him, he pushed her away, she must have been shocked.”

“It’s strange that there would be a person who puts up a wall like that these days.” Tao said, finally looking at them as he gave Luhan a bowl of rice. Luhan thanked him.

“Luhan, don’t you have to work today?” Baekhyun looked at Luhan with a hint of pity in his voice.

“Yes, that’s right.” Luhan said, however, he still seemed so cheerful.

“That’s not good, since you’re still staying at your grandpa’s place.” Baekhyun said.

“Ah, Ye..Yes…”Luhan stuttered.

“Is it because you promised him that you’ll pay for your own tuition?”

“Ye..Yes…”

“But,” Tao interrupted. “To pay for tuition in public school, I don’t think you have to work that hard.” Tao said as he turned away from his bowl of rice to look at Luhan.

“That…That is—”

“Make sure you eat every meal regulary,” Baekhyun interrupted him and Luhan gulped as he nodded before Baekhyun spoke up again, “And he’s not stealing your part-time money, right?”

“No.” Luhan smiled.

“If something bad happens, you better tell us right away! I’ll be sure to take care of it.” Baekhyun gave Luhan a loving smile as he clenched his hand in the air.

“Yes!” Luhan' smile widened.

I can’t say that I live in a tent…I can’t tell Baekkie, and Zitao!

Flashback

After Luhan’s father died, Luhan’s mother worked very hard to make a living and Luhan never thought that his mother, who was always powerful and bright, would die in an accident.

Luhan could’ve stayed with a lot of people during this, but in the end, he chose to stay with his paternal grandfather. Since he didn’t want to burden his grandfather who was living on his savings, he promised him that he’d pay for his own tuition but his grandfather’s house needed to be renovated, because the walls were already cracking, and the roof wasn't much better too, so Luhan's grandfather decided to live together with his daughter's family.

He asked Luhan if Luhan had any friends that Luhan could stay with. Luhan thought that his friend, Zitao, lived alone in a one-room apartement, so he couldn’t stay with him. Baekhyun, he was living along with his big family, Baekhyun was from the 5-member family. So of course, being a nice boy Luhan was, he told his grandfather not to worry about him and lied about living with a friend and that was how Luhan ended up in a tent.

End of Flashback

– The Chinese Zodiac Story –

Sehun sighed as he closed his locker only to find Luhan walking in his direction.

“Oh, Sehun-ssi! Thanks for this morning!”Luhan said, cutely.

“No, I should be the one to say that since Chanyeol caused you trouble.” He smiled.

They walked together, since Luhan’s house was near with Sehun’s.

“Not at all, Chanyeol's a great person! He allowed me to see the Chinese Zodiac figurines.”

“Ah…” Sehun looked at Luhan and smiled genuinely at him and Luhan himself blushed and looked down. “You said something about wanting to be born in the year of the cat, didn’t you?”

“I decided that when I was a kid…”

Chapter 1 is done~ and it's edited /grins/ well yesterday's too short :3 please do comment and subscribe! I don't like a silent reader, though c: and upvote if you like this story! thanks! love you all! <3