It's dark in the cabin but Sehun doesn't mind it.

What he does mind, however, is the constant ringing of his old phone every thirty or so minutes, loud and sharp in an otherwise silent room, slicing through the air uninvited. It interrupts his little isolation, which resides deep in the woods and makes everything seem peaceful. A small, dainty little place where he's in his own world. A place where he's in control.  

Riiiiing. Sehun clenches his fist on the flimsy fabric of the armrest to stop himself from throwing it against a wall.

"I'm dead," he says to empty air. "So stop calling me."

Riiiiiiing.

"Urgh," Sehun groans, flopping further into the couch pillows. As he sinks further and further into the softness, his hand brushes something hard and rectangular between the cracks of the sofa. His eyes fly open. His stomach tenses.  Sehun immediately springs up into a crouch with both arms extended towards the object, flipping the couch cushion with extreme force and bracing himself for the impact of a bomb when - oh.

His TV remote sits innocently on rusted springs. There's no timer. No red blinking dot.

Sehun groans again, louder this time as he falls on his with a plop, his legs outstretched in front of him. "Oh Sehun, you'll really be the death of yourself."

It's been days since the bombing. They still haven't found his body amidst the ash and the rubble, but he knows everyone pretty much assumes he's dead. Sora says it's better that way. Sehun's indifferent.

But t's not just that. Sehun's hurt. Sehun's in pain. Sehun wants to run screaming down the road and tear up the whole forest because he's Very Mad and Wants Someone To Do Something. Unfortunately, he feels like that 'someone' is most likely going to be him.

He grabs the remote and absently pushes buttons. Technology is usually the best way to forget, he reasons. Maybe laugh at Heechul hyung as he makes a fool out of himself on TV. Roll his eyes at stupid kdrama chick flicks. Anything will do. The old TV slowly creaks it's way to life and as the blurry images begin to focus, Sehun's eyes widen as big as saucers because he sees people. Very familiar people.  

Jongin.

Luhan.

Jongin and Luhan.

Luhan and Jongin.

The TV suddenly seems like the worst idea in the world.

"Luhan-shi! Luhan-shi! What is the status of Oh Sehun?"

He can't take his eyes off of them. Their faces are twisted into so much pain, so much hurt, and so much sadness that Sehun finds himself gasping for air because it hurts and now he's hyperventilating and he's seeing blurry and Luhan opens his mouth and -

"Authorities have just declared my best friend, Oh Sehun dead."

Sehun's heart stops. It's done; they've actually done it. Luhan clears his throat and looks directly at the camera. It's almost as if he's speaking to Sehun himself.

"Even though they never found his body, they claim it was burned to ash in the fire."

A few people are crying in the background. The crowd around him his silent with grief as fans hold posters and candles to their chests. He can tell Luhan is trying his best to keep it together, but he can see the familiar biting of lips and knows. After all, that's his Luhan.

"Because of this, I have something to tell you. I don't care what religion you are. I don't care what you believe in. But please, please," Luhan's voice cracks and there's a shrill scream from the concerned fans. "Pray for him. Keep him in your thoughts. No one should have to die like he did and I'm devastated. We all are," he gestures to Jongin, who's eyes are so pained that Sehun almost begins to cry.  

"Remember Oh Sehun. Don't let him die in vain. He trained too hard, worked too hard, and lived too hard to have passed like this. No matter what happens, I hope you will keep supporting all of us during this hard time. I'm sorry to all of the fans. We'll get through this together."

Sehun swears to himself before shutting the TV off, leaving himself in stony silence.

That's the Luhan he knows, the Luhan who, despite all the hardships, keeps others in his mind so that their burdens will lessen. Luhan who smiles at him at five in the morning everyday despite it being all too early. The Luhan who kissed him like he was everything, who brought him and Jongin together, who somehow kept an uncertain relationship whole.

Sehun's lips begin to tremble.

Riiiiiiiing.

"Stop calling me!" Sehun growls, getting to his feet in a huff. He pads into the kitchen and swipes the phone off the counter, about to throw it against a wall to face it's unfortunate death, until he sees the user ID. It's Moon Sora. The girl that was, literally, the death of him.

Unlocking it angrily, Sehun lets out a hearty, "What do you want?"

"Sehun? I've been trying to contact you for the past 3 hours! We give you a phone for a reason-"

"Sora," Sehun grits out, leaning against the counter with his forearms. "I hope you understand that I'm watching the news and I really don't have time for your optimistic speeches."

"The news?" Sora squawks. "Oh no. Sehun, whatever you do, you cannot  watch the news - "

"I already am."

There's a pause before she speaks again, quieter this time. "Oh. Have you… seen it?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

There's a thick silence that envelops the two of them, and Sehun can imagine her sitting at her desk trying to come up with words to say. Will it be consolation? Anger? Distress?

"Just…" she takes a deep breath. "Don't watch anymore, okay?"

Sehun shakes his head. "I don't think I can’t not watch."

"You'll be hurt."

"I know."

"God. I'm sorry it had to happen this way," she says forlornly. "I'm so, so, sorry, Sehun. It's - " her voice cracks. "It's really not fair. To you, I mean."

Sehun doesn’t say anything, opting to listen to the quiet sniffles from the other side. He imagines Sora sitting on her big, black swivel chair - industrial size, she wouldn’t accept anything less -  as she leans her elbows against the glass desk. Sitting upon the desk, there will be a rubber ducky and Pororo plush toy for when her three year old visits. Her son is very cute. He can see the Seoul skyline from behind her blindless windows and knows that all the way in the right corner, if you squint, is the infamous SM building.

“Jaesun,” she starts, her voice wavering. “I’m sure you already know what you have to do. You'll have to go back in - I - we - don't have anyone inside the field right now.”

“I know.” Sehun taps his fingers on the counter. The sound of his real name makes his heart thud in his chest.

She sighs. “Okay. Okay. God - just - let me." Sehun hears her scrambling around, hears the shuffling of papers.

"Alright," she says. "Are you ready for round 2?"

"Always am," Sehun says, ready to process whatever's thrown at him.

"Good. Listen up."

********

Oh Jaesun is someone who existed to a few people and no one else.  

He’s the son of an ex-convict who tried to change from his criminal days in order to better provide for his son. He’s the son of a politician’s secretary, who was shamed and looked down upon for marrying a murderer and graffiti artist. Oh Jaesun’s father had peach fuzz all over his lips and chin. Oh Jaesun’s mother liked American pop music from the 80’s. Oh Jaesun was an honors student and didn’t really care much about his parents’ backgrounds.

In 2006, Oh Jaesun died and Oh Sehun was born.

“It’s not official,” Sora says to him on the first day they meet. “But intelligence is getting stronger. We learn more and more. The 21st century is a digital book. We can predict everything now - their CEO claims that this boy group will be the most impacting in all kpop history.”

Jaesun - no - Sehun doesn’t really care about kpop and shows no inclination of ever doing so. He hums for the sake of humming so that Sora thinks he’s paying attention.

“We need someone on the inside. Someone strong, young, fresh. Someone with the ability to handle one of the biggest undercover stints in decades.”

“Wow,” Jae - ugh - Sehun yawns, laying his head down on his arms. Sora glares at him from the opposite side of the table. “Are you going to eat that, noona?”

“Sehun,” Sora sighs, pushing her bowl of noodles towards him. “You need to be paying attention. This is important.”

“Why do you keep calling me ‘Sehun’,” he grumbles. “My name is Jaesun.”

Sehun slurps a string of noodles loud enough for it to be called rude, but Sora looks at him patiently. They’ve settled in a small private room in the back of the shop, one that has a door and a call button for the waiters. Sehun’s never been in a room like this before. This is for Very Important People and Sehun is a Not So Important Person.

“That’s who you are now,” Sora says. “You’re Oh Sehun. Don’t call yourself Jaesun anymore.”

“But why - “

“Enough, Sehun,” she says sharply, and Sehun shrinks into his chair from her gaze. This woman is scary.

She takes out a manilla folder that’s large and bulky and intimidating, placing it gingerly in front of him as her manicured fingers reach inside to take mutilple files out, too many files, with pictures of people stapled to the front of them. Sehun’s interest is piqued as he leans forward, trying to see if he recognizes anyone. There’s nobody. He takes in the names that are in bolded black font underneath, and doesn’t recognize them either. Some are Korean and some are Chinese. Kim Jong In, Wu Yi Fan, Lu Han, Do Kyung Soo…

Sehun makes a small sound, flitting his fingers over Kim Jongin’s face. “Who are these people?”

Sora gives him a tight smile before placing each of the files out for him to see. There are eleven in total. They're all boys with different haircuts, different eyes, different noses, different lives. Each picture of them is candid - some are walking from school, some working, some crossing the street. They're all equally handsome. But Sehun doesn't know any of them.

"These are the people who you will protect with your life, Sehun. This is Exo."

a/n: wow, did katie actually update???? is this actually a thing now??? yes, it is. cries. before you pelt me with projectiles, let me tell you - i'm back on track with this story. woot woot. fist pumps. 
this is more of an inroductory; the real action will start next week. or in a few days. we'll see. i hope you guys liked it, comment what you think!