CHAPTER TWO

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            The man carried you inside, making you smile to see a big smile gracing his face. Yet, when he looked down at you, the smile disappeared, much to your sadness. He carried you for a while, listening to yelling from a room with sounds of muffled voices and laughter, as if not hearing the man. He sighed in annoyance and put you down on a big blue chair. It was very comfortable and you started to feel relaxed when he began to enter the door that had the laughter. You whimpered, fear covering your face. The man turned around, smiled softly, and made a motion as if telling you to stay there. You pouted, crossing your arms, feeling as if you were a dog. He laughed silently before walking in, making the room get louder. You heard the thunder and lightning more and grew afraid. You never were the type to like thunderstorms.

            When you got too scared, though, you got up and moved towards the door, hearing people yelling and laughing more at something. You could also hear the man trying to talk, but he was ignored. It made you sort of angry, knowing he was being ignored, and you wanted to storm in there and yell at them, but you knew you couldn’t. So, you just opened the door silently, peeking in. You saw a lot of people, well teenagers, really. You counted at least eleven, excluding your new friend, and they were all different in some way. You could see the man standing in front of the long table, trying to talk and possibly telling them about you yet they just ignored him. No one noticed you, making you walk a little more until you were very visible, limping because of your foot. You waited for a while, seeing none of them look at you or the man. Finally, the pain became too much and you decided to speak out to your new friend, deciding to call him ‘oppa’ since he most likely didn’t know any Japanese.

            “OPPA!” you screamed at the top of your lungs, looking at the man. They all stopped talking and looked at you, even your new friend. “Op-oppa…m-my f-foot h-hurts r-really-y b-bad-d.” You stuttered out, staring at your friend. The others looked at you, then at the man, and then back at you. You waved and then lifted your foot. “Owie.” Immediately, they turned to your friend, glaring at him in shock and anger.

            “Hyung! Who is this?!” one asked, standing up. The others began to talk really loud, too, asking why he brought you home, what happened to you, and why you hadn’t told them. You limped to your friend, grabbing his hand. You looked at the others as they continued to yell at your friend, some even staring at you or your locked hands. You raised your hand high in the air, waving it around as if you were in school.

            “Oh! Oh! I-I kn-know th-the an-answer! P-pick m-me!” You giggled slightly, smiling goofily at the others. You heard your friend chuckle, along with a small smile from one of the others, but they all went quiet and looked at you expectantly.

            “Ok, little girl,” one said looking down at you. “What do you know?”

            “We-well, I-I kn-know th-that Oppa w-was tr-trying t-to t-tell y-you, h-honest,” you began, still stuttering. “B-but y-you a-all w-were m-mad a-at Oppa a-and, I-I g-guess, y-you u-used the s-silent t-treatment.” They blinked blankly at you. All of them. You were shocked at what you said, making your cheeks heat up a little in embarrassment, staring down at the floor.

            “And how do you know what the ‘silent treatment’ is? You don’t look a day over six years,” a different one asked you. You looked up at him to see them with poker faces besides one who was smiling wide enough to almost creep you out.

            “I-I’m n-not s-six…” you trailed off, thinking of an age. “I’m e-eight, s-sir. A-and I kn-know a-about i-it b-because m-my f-family a-always d-did it t-to m-me since I-I c-could n-never s-stop st-stuttering, s-sir.” You finished talking, glancing up at them to see them staring at you still. You looked up at your new friend – who was also staring at you, also, but as if you were his own daughter or sister – and pulled on his sleeve. He immediately snapped out of it, swooping you up into his arms while you giggled like a happy baby. He took you into what you presumed was the main bathroom (seeing it had a whole bunch of hair products, make-up, and a basket full of dirty clothes), none of the others following you two because they began a serious talk.

            He set you down on the counter, grabbed a first aid kit, a towel, and a filled a big bowl with water. He looked at your foot, his face drawn with worry. He began to wash the dried blood off, putting on Band-Aids with super heroes on it. Then, it came to the time where he had to fix your ankle. You were almost convinced it was broken by how much it hurt and what it looked like, but your friend didn’t think the same.

            “Your ankle doesn’t look too bad,” he said as he looked at it more closely. “I think it’s just sprained…a very bad sprain. There are many ways to treat this, but I am going to wrap it in some gauze, we will elevate it, and put some ice on it, okay?” You nodded, flinching when he gently touched it. “Sorry.” You just nodded. He wrapped it in gauze and took you out into a living room area, setting you down on the couch, elevating your foot by putting a pillow under it. He left soon after, getting some ice, leaving you alone in the room.

The door opened and the smiling man from before came in. He looked at you and sat down on the coffee table next to your head, watching you.

“What’s your name?” He asked with a poker face.

“S-Samantha Ak-Ak-Akimoto, s-sir,” you told him. He nodded. “W-what’s y-your n-name s-sir?”

“Chanyeol Park,” he answered, visually becoming more relaxed. “Has Suho hyung been treating you well?”

“Suho hyung?” You tilted your head to the side like a puppy, making Chanyeol smile at you.

“Ne, your ‘oppa’ who is not in here.”

“Oh,” you nodded, understanding. “Y-yes, s-sir, Ch-Chanyeol-ssi. Suho-ssi h-has b-been t-treating m-me r-really w-well. I-I a-am s-sorry f-for in-intruding in-into y-your g-guys’ l-lovely h-home.” He smiled at your answer.

“No honorifics for me, please, Sami,” he answered, smiling with you when you smiled at the new name. “Oppa is fine for me.”

“Ne, Oppa,” you nodded before watching him leave with an even bigger goofy smile than when he came in. Then, Suho came in, holding ice and some bread, a little angry over D.O.’s episode in the kitchen. He sat down where Chanyeol was and put the ice on your foot.

“Th-Thank y-you, S-Suho-ssi,” you said politely as he put the ice on your foot.

“No need to thank me and its Oppa,” he smiled, handing you the bread. “Here. D.O. was having an episode and didn’t want anyone in his kitchen, so this was the best I can do. It’s already one in the afternoon, so you can take a nap and I will wake you up for dinner, ne?”

“Ne, Oppa.” You took the bread, eating it all as he put a blanket on you. You slowly closed your eyes, welcoming the darkness that jumped to greet you, not really full, but anxious for dinner.

Suho smiled as he saw you fall asleep quickly. “You can come out now.”

The boys piled out from their hiding spot in the hallway, standing in the living room around Suho and the boys.

Without looking at them, Suho said, “We’re keeping her. I do not care if you all don’t agree or not, I am still keeping her. She has no one left that I know of, and seeing those bruises all over her body and a sprained ankle, you should be agreeing with me that she should stay here.”

“Us eleven decided that she cannot stay here for a long time,” Kris said, speaking up. “The fans will find out and management will most likely not want us to keep her. We decided that she can stay here until her foot heals, but after that, either she is gone, or we will have to come out and take the hate and punishment for her. Your choice.” Suho stood up, still not facing them as he thought it over before turning sitting in a nearby chair with his book.

“If she has not won your hearts like she has done to Chanyeol and me when her time is up to leave,” he began, pausing before looking up at them. “I will take her to a new house and stay there with her myself.” The others became wide-eyed at that, and before any protests came, he began to speak again. “She is now the world to me; has me wrapped around her little finger, really. And where she goes, I go. That means that I will move out of this dorm, and maybe, just maybe, I will leave Exo for good. That is the deal. So, I suggest you change your minds, or you will be without a leader. Now, shoo. I’m trying to read and you’re blocking my light.” In a daze, they left to their rooms, thoughts swarming their heads. They didn’t know what to do.

Most of them didn’t like having a little girl in the house, but what could they do? It wasn’t their decision. It was Kris’ and Suhos’ decision; they are the leaders. Kris smiled to himself after thinking Suho’s proposal over.

You’ve outdone yourself this time, Joonmyeon. I will open my heart to this girl, but if she gets hurt in the end…I will not be accountable for it. You won’t leave Exo. You’d never do such a thing. We all know that, but you made it seem so true, and for that…I applaud you.