[Sera]

“That’s troubling to hear.”

My mother seemed to be far more relaxed than I expected her to be. After barging into my parents’ room despite Suho-oppa’s violent objections, I found her lazing on her bed with a book in her hands. Her long legs dangled off the edge of the bed while she held the book above her face. Now I know where my brother’s awful habit of reading while lying down came from. Tch, like mother like son.

“Aunt Lia, you don’t seem to be very concerned about this.” Suho-oppa voiced out, his hands clasped together as his worried gaze rested on her relaxed frame. She was still reading the book, even after the elder boys had explained the situation to her.

“Well, I would be if I had proof.” She drawled, her fingers flipping the page as her eyes flitted up to meet Luhan-oppa’s eyes briefly before returning to the words. “And don’t go looking for your father, he’s busy enough trying to keep our world in order.”

I found myself pouting at my mother’s lack of worry for our safety. The rest of the boys had similar expressions on their faces, the look of confusion and disappointment, as the Queen’s response didn’t quite seem to meet their desired reaction. My brother rose from his seat and headed towards the door, slamming it after him and we heard him stomping away.

Glancing at my mother who didn’t even flinch at the loud slam that betrayed Sehun-oppa’s anger, I sighed in exasperation.

“Omma, aren’t you taking this far too lightly? Sehun-oppa thinks it’s rather serious.”

“Get me proof and I’ll decide if it’s worth my time.”

“Fine.” I stood up, my tolerance for the woman severely decreasing; I needed to escape before I blow up at her. “We will get the evidence, if that’s what you want.”

Pointedly looking at Yixing-oppa, I expected him to follow after me but he remained as frozen as he had been when Sehun-oppa and Kai-oppa brought us the dreadful news. Not knowing the reason for his ‘shutdown’, I trudged past him and like my brother, I headed towards the door. As I was about to shut it behind me, I heard my mother call out to me.

“If it’ll lessen the disappointment you and your brother have towards me, I would issue an order for you to be watched over twenty-four hours a day. Bodyguards would be assigned to you.”

“What kind of bodyguards…?”

“I haven’t thought about it yet. It just came to my mind.” She didn’t even bother to make eye contact with me as she spoke, her eyes continuing to dart left and right as she read her book. Kris-oppa glanced at me, his eyes telling me to calm down and not explode. “I’ll inform the necessary personnel and you shall see your first bodyguard tonight.”

I bit on the insides of my cheeks. “Yes, mother.”

Throwing my pillow up in the air, I let it fall on my face, muffling my grunt of slight pain that it inflicted upon my nose. I removed it and held it to my chest.

Why did omma seem so indifferent when Luhan-oppa told her about our situation… She barely even glanced up from her book, her eyes were still glued to the pages, and she didn’t seem to be absorbing the information at all.

Yet when I retreated to my room after dinner (I didn’t feel like playing games with the boys), Xiumin-oppa came up to me and whispered something alarming in my ear.

“Aunt Lia might seem that she doesn’t care, but there was something that I noticed about her.”

He was about to continue when Zitao-oppa came over and pulled him away from me. Despite my scowl, the younger boy forcefully dragged his hyung over to the television where two game controllers had been set out and the screen showed the starting menu of a racing game.

“Damn that Huang Zitao…” I muttered, my hand punching the pillow lightly. “Now Xiumin-oppa might forget to tell me the thing about my mot–”

Knock knock.

I shot up, the pillow still clutched to my chest. My first instinct was to sniff the air, and a familiar scent greeted my nose.

Guess I’ll know what he noticed after all.

“I do hope you’re not or anything, Sera.” The door to my room opened slightly and his head appeared, a playful grin on his face.

I threw my pillow at him, and he caught it with one hand.

“And that’s the thanks I’m getting for bringing you your favourite dessert.” He scowled, flinging the pillow back at me. Peering over the top of the pillow, I watched as the boy brought out a small white bowl from behind him and my nose picked up a faint scent of lemon.

I squealed.

“Nuh uh uh.” He wriggled his index in my face as my hands reached out towards it. “You threw a pillow at me, I am not giving you this. In fact, I shall have it for myself.”

He sat at the edge of my bed, fingers grasping the spoon and he was about to stuff the spoonful of yellow goodness into his mouth when a guttural growl came from somewhere within the mansion.

“Xiumin-hyung…”

The elder boy laughed. At Kyungsoo-oppa’s warning, he shoved the bowl into my hands but not before sneaking that spoon into his mouth. Putting his finger on his lips, he mouthed for me to not spill the beans and I nodded, a knowing smile on my face.

“Xiumin-oppa,” I asked, in between mouthfuls of lemon sorbet. “What did you want to tell me about my mother before that of a Zitao-oppa interrupted us?”

He stiffened, eyes immediately dropping.

“Sera,” I could barely hear him. “Whatever I’m telling you, do keep it to yourself.” He froze for a few moments, and I was wondering what happened when he continued to speak. “And for those who are listening in, shut your trap as well.”

Oh. If Kyungsoo-oppa could warn his hyung, that means the others could be perking up their ears throughout the night.

“I noticed this about your mother,” He gazed up at me, eyes hard, a slight frown forming on his face. “That she wasn’t really reading the book at all.”

“Huh…?”

“When we first sat down with her, her eyes immediately darted to the right and then left, and they continued that pattern of motion. It seemed like she was reading, but who the hell reads from right to left?”

He swallowed, hands bringing my pillow up to his chest. My hands gradually lowered the almost-empty bowl to my lap, the coldness freezing my exposed thighs lightly.

“So I’m thinking that the news did shock her, and it mattered to her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t assign bodyguards to you, to watch over you all the time now.”

“Wait, does this mean that you’re my bodyguard?” My eyes widened, my hands bringing the bowl up to my lips. “That you guys would be my bodyguards?”

He nodded, a sheepish smile on his face. “Besides being bodyguards, your mother ordered us to train you as well. After all, you’ve missed out on a decade-worth of important training.”

I could hardly believe my ears. Delight surged through me and I downed the remaining lemony dessert in one shot.

He laughed and ruffled my hair, messing up the loose bun I had tied. His eyes formed crescents and the happy atmosphere momentarily tossed my worry to the back of my mind.

Xiumin-oppa draped himself on the armchair that was in my room, pulling the extra blanket that I gave to him up to his chin.

“Goodnight, Sera.”

“Goodnight, oppa.”

I closed my eyes, euphoria still flowing in my blood as swirls of bright colours danced in the darkness of my closed eyes. The thought of the boys being my bodyguards brought a smile to my face as a loud snore echoed in the room and I knew my bodyguard had fallen asleep; well someone is going to be rather displeased at his hyung in the morning for sleeping on the job.

At least it's them and not the official bodyguards for the nobles. I do