“I sense a bad force in the atmosphere.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I feel like something is going to happen. I feel uneasy. I don’t know why,” Lay announced, biting his bottom lip a little to hard.

“Like what?” Luhan asked.

“I don’t know and I don’t want to know either.” Lay stood up from the chair and walked towards an aisle of books. The two had entered the school library during their lunch break with the intentions of getting some quiet time, but the longing silence resulted in getting an unshakable feeling– at least for Lay.

Luhan remained in his seat and looked down at the magazine he was reading. It was a Korean magazine and although his Korean was close to perfect, reading Hangul was still a little behind his ability of speaking. 

If returning to Korea meant that something bad was going to happen, he wouldn’t be able to get himself to think properly. He knew he was over-thinking it and both his and Lay’s return surely couldn’t have been the cause of this feeling.

But for some reason, Lay’s uneasiness somehow rubbed off onto Luhan and now he couldn’t stop worrying. 

“Ah, now he’s got me being all anxious and paranoid. How annoying,” Luhan scoffed, continuing reading the magazine in front of him, slightly losing focus.

The only possibilities he could think of that could possibly be the reason for this feeling were about the dance shows. Surely he had nothing to worry about when it came to their friends. They're finally back together. What could go wrong? 

Would it be selfish to say that he would rather it be about the dance shows instead of his friends? Dance was an important passion and hobby that most of them shared together, but to have something happen between them would be even more devastating.

Whatever happened between them in the past, he couldn’t– more like he wouldn’t– allow it to repeat itself. To Luhan, it seemed as if his and Lay’s departure back to China was the beginning of the downfall for their friendship. After they left, according to the others, that was when they all started to cut contact from each other.

But it’s clear as to what the real reason was. Unlike the other guys, Lay and Luhan were the last ones to find out. They didn’t find out by Mira, but by Sehun. After the death of Mira and Jae’s mother, word had supposedly gotten out from their father. Lay and Luhan weren’t aware of the situation about her father and the hardships the two kids had to face with him. 

Back in the day, Lay and Luhan continued to follow the guys’ social network accounts even when they started to unfollow each other. One of Sehun’s posts contained a morbid feeling and although the message was vague, it still seemed rather upsetting on his end and it made the two wonder what it could possibly mean.

Luhan looked back at an aisle of books and tried to scope out his friend, but he was nowhere to be found. There was nothing to be worried about since Lay was a big kid and can take care of himself, but Luhan already had this anxious feeling– thanks to Lay.

“Where can he be?” Luhan sighed as he closed the magazine and got up to look for Lay. It didn’t help when the school library was two stories high and was huge. Wherever Luhan looked, there was no sign of Lay. It was then that he caught sight of a familiar black-haired fellow.

“Chanyeol?” Luhan chuckled at the sight of the tall male. “What’re you doing in here?”

“Comics, duh,” Chanyeol didn’t even lift his head the slightest bit and kept his focus on the book laid across his lap.

“Ah,” Luhan didn’t know what else to say, he didn’t want to interrupt Chanyeol. He was going to leave but he didn’t know how to say ‘bye’ without completely interrupting him either.

“Why are you here?” Chanyeol spoke up, still not giving any eye contact and surprising Luhan. 

“Too loud in the cafeteria.”

“Ah-ha.” Chanyeol nodded and patted the floor beside him, gesturing Luhan to take a seat next to him. Lay will be okay, he thought.

After taking a seat, a comic was thrown onto Luhan’s lap. “What is–“ Luhan wanted to ask what it was for but assumed it was Chanyeol’s way of saying to read it. He still looked absorbed in whatever comic he was reading.

Comics have never sparked any interests in Luhan, but since he had one in his possession, why not start now? And if Lay needed him, he has his phone. Plus they’ll see each other when the break is over. So for now, Luhan distracted himself with the comic and acknowledged Chanyeol’s quiet, yet filling presence. 

—

“I think Iron Man is my favorite super hero now. He’s such a bad !” Luhan praised the Marvel character continuously to the others at the table as they all sipped on their boba.

“Yes, we know! You’ve been saying it for the past twenty minutes,” Lay covered his ears. The constant talk about Iron Man being ‘bad ’ and ‘the best Marvel character’ was starting to get on everyone’s nerves, especially Chanyeol’s.

“Thanks to Chanyeol, I plan on reading all of the Marvel comics!” Luhan smiled widely and unintentionally put Chanyeol in the spotlight.

Kyungsoo shot his head up and turned his head towards Chanyeol as he pointed his finger, “So it was you! You’re the one who started this!”

Chanyeol ducked his head into his shirt as much as he could from the judging eyes. He didn’t know Luhan was going to get so hyper over a comic. If he had known sooner, he never would’ve offered the comic to Luhan.

“Yup! It’s all thanks to Chanyeol!” Luhan continued.

Kyungsoo scoffed and replied in a low tone, “Yeah, thanks a lot, Chanyeol.”

“Okay, okay. Enough about comics and thanking me! How about we talk about the dance shows, eh? Are you guys planning on making a new routine or doing the one you auditioned with?” Chanyeol’s questions was aimed towards, Kai, Mira, Baekhyun, Tao, and Chen.

The fastest to answer was also the most talkative one of the five– Baekhyun. “Both. We’re going to revamp the original piece we auditioned with. But we plan on tweaking the medley, too.”

“That’ll be good, so then it’ll still be a surprise when we all see it,” Sehun added.

Lay smiled, “Can’t wait to see it!”

"4! It's 4!" Tao jumped up and raised his hands. "Finally!"

"What does the number four mean?" Luhan asked.

Mira scoffed and answered, "I think it's about us–"

"Today is my day with Mira and it's finally time to go! Come on, Mira!" Tao grabbed Mira by the wrist and practically dragged her out of the boba shop, leaving everyone staring at the door.

"Well, that was nothing out of the ordinary," Sehun said, and received numerous nods in agreement before Luhan changed the topic back to Iron Man.

Sehun needed to get away before he gets the urge to choke Chanyeol for introducing Luhan to the comics. He hasn't seen Luhan so impressed and fascinated by something since the time he discovered the existence of chocolate bubble tea.

Walking over towards the back of the store to use the bathroom, he heard some voices behind a door at the end of the hall. Curiosity filled his head and it distracted him from his urge to pee.

Inching closer and closer as quiet as he could, he recognized their voices– it was Kris and Suho. He knew internally that he shouldn't eavesdrop, so he turned rapidly on his heels, only to stop in his place before turning around again. Especially since he heard them mention Mira's name.

Sehun managed to get close enough to the door so he could hear them, but still close to the bathroom just in case he needed to escape or needed an excuse if he were to get caught. He noticed that the door was cracked open a little and he could see the both of them leaning against the wall.

"I don't get it. Why are you so interested in Mira? I've seen you interact with girls and crushes, but the way you talk about Mira… It's not the same. It's as if you're interested but then not interested in her in that way… Like as if your words are a bit forced, yet you still seem to care for her?" Kris wondered, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "And the weird thing is that you don't even know her. So why do you continue to pursue in her?"

It took a moment for Sehun to finally register what Kris was saying and all of this was coming as a surprise to Sehun. Why is Mira constantly being brought up in conversations now?

Carefully, Sehun took a few steps closer to the room the other two were in.

"I can't say," was Suho's answer.

"You can't say? Or you won't say because you don't want to?"Kris snorted.

"It's complicated. Yes, I know nothing of the girl and you're right, I have no intentions in getting together with her. But a situation has occurred and it has put me in this position. I have a duty to fulfill and it deals with watching over Mira." Suho's words were the truth, yet it left both Kris and Sehun in total silence and confusion. How was it possible that this guy, who Sehun and the guys have never met before Kris introduced them, had a goal which consisted of watching Mira? Their Mira? There was definitely something fishy about Suho and Sehun knew something was going on, but he couldn't figure out what.

Kris, on the other hand, seemed a little more lost. Running his hand through his hair, he rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I still don't understand. Did she do something nice for your grandparents and so now you want to repay her or something? Because to be honest, I am so confused right now. So please enlighten me."

"Like I said, it's complicated. It won't help in trying to figure it out. Just trust me. You know I'm not one to go about without having some kind of thoroughly thought-out objective or plan. I'll continue to watch over Mira and soon, I'll let you know the truth," Suho admitted, now standing up from the chair he was sitting on.

He started walking towards the door and Sehun saw him through the creak of the door, scaring him and which made him step back rapidly into the bathroom to hide.

"Truth about what?" Kris scratched his stomach, lazily. Suho stopped in his place and noticed through the crack that someone had just entered the bathrooms. Lowering his voice and not risking any chance that someone could possibly eavesdorp, he whispered just loud enough for Kris to hear.

"The truth about my return and stay in Korea. The truth about my grandparents. And the truth about the connection between Mira and I."

—

The mall wasn't too crowded but it was definitely infested with both middle and high schoolers. With groups of teens walking around the mall, it made walking around in the mall a lot less than a stroll. When Tao and Mira arrived at the mall, he immediately took her arm and lead her to H&M– a popular clothing store. Instinctively, he looked at Mira, up and down, and grabbed a few dresses and blouses, leaving Mira by herself just watching Tao go back and forth. Once he returned, he had about five different dresses, twice as many blouses, and a