Monkshood: Beware

"...You would cross-multiply these two numbers and then subtract the product of-" Lee-ssam stopped teaching when he heard the loudspeaker make a beeping sound. Everyone in class 2-A stopped what they were doing when they heard the announcer clear their throat before speaking in a very monotonous tone.

"Will the following students report to the main office: Byun Baekhyun, Do Kyungsoo, Huang Zitao, Kim Jong In-"

As soon as the fourth name was called out, the students started whispering to each other. Lee-ssam began shushing them.

"...Kim Junmyeon, Lu Han, Oh Sehun-"

Sehun, who at the moment was fiddling with his pendant, looked at Kai with a confused expression. Kai just shrugged in response.

"...Park Chanyeol, Wu Yi Fan, and Zhang Yixing. Thank you."

That's weird. Why is our group being called and no one else?

"Gentlemen, gather your stuff before leaving," Lee-ssam told the boys.

Once they did this, Kai signaled for them to exit the room; by the time, all of them were out in the hallway, the Special A students were walking out of their room. Sehun approached Luhan, who was also doing the same thing.

"Do you know what's going on?" Sehun asked him. He hoped he would get some answers from Luhan, but that wasn't the case since his hyung shook his head in response.

"You soon will," the brunette jumped when he heard Yi Fan speak behind him. Sehun berated himself for reacting like that, which caused Yi Fan to chuckle.

"Do you know something we don't?" Luhan narrowed his eyes as he stepped in between Yi Fan and Sehun.

Yi Fan smirked before ruffling the older's hair. He then walked away before pulling Tao along. "Follow me, children," Yi Fan said aloud as he walked ahead of everyone. The rest began to walk behind the blond and the dark-haired boy; Luhan got ahold of Sehun's arm and pulled him to the back of the group.

"Yi Fan knows something," Luhan told him quietly, "he's been acting weird lately."

"Like, how weird?"

"For once, he had been on time to our first lessons, which is odd because he always makes sure the twins are in their room when class starts to avoid any trouble. Tao had  told me earlier this week that the he has not escorted the twins at all. That, and Yi Fan has been grinning like a lunatic to the point where Suho and Kyungsoo are starting to get creeped out."

"That is strange."

"Guys, come on," the two boys heard Suho's voice resonating through the hallway. Not wanting to be left behind, they speed-walked until they were united with everyone else. A few minutes later and the boys reached the door to the main office. Yi Fan opened the door and walked inside; when the rest followed suit, they were met with the sight of Hui Lei and Jiao-long sitting on each side of the slightly-impatient Dean Choi .

"Choi-ssam?" Luhan questioned, trying to make sure his eyes were not lying. Before the dean could reply, Hui Lei stood up in an excited manner.

"See, Siwon?! We weren't lying to you when we said we were heading to see the boys," Hui Lei poked the dean's shoulder several times as if she was trying to get her point across by doing this. Choi-ssam just swatted her hand away.

"First of all, you two were walking in the hallways during your lessons. Second of all, I am your elder. You're supposed to respect me," Choi-ssam tried to look intimidating, but Hui Lei just stared at him with a stoic expression.

"Sir, she barely respects me and she likes to prank my parents. What makes you think she would respect you or any adult for that matter?" Yi Fan deadpanned. 

"That's not true," Hui Lei retorted. "We respect Tao."

"He's still a minor."

As the two siblings tried outsmarting the other, the boys just watched as the dean covered his eyes with both his hands in an exasperated manner. "Can you two drop the subject this instance?" Choi-ssam turned to Hui Lei. "You said you would discuss something with the boys, not fight with your brother," his attention was then directed to the eldest Wu. "Yi Fan, I expected better behavior from you. This is why you ended in detention with your friends."

 Yi Fan began spluttering. "Excuse me?! You placed me in detention because yo-." The boy couldn't finish his sentence because Tao placed his hands on Yi Fan's mouth. "Yi Fan, shut up," Tao said between his teeth as he gave a forced smile to Choi-ssam. "You're going to get detention if you don't."

"Fine," Yi Fan muttered after Tao removed his hands. "Choi-ssam," the blond tried to sound calm, "The principal gave me permission to use the conference room, but we need a staff member to supervise what's going to take place inside. Is it possible for you to stay a bit longer with us?"

"Do I really have to?" 

"Yes."

"Can't Lu Han take my place. He's responsible enough to-"

"Siwon!" the Wu siblings (and surprisingly Luhan) cried out at the same time. From what he was told, Sehun assumed this wasn't the first time that the dean tried placing the adult's responsibility on Luhan.

The dean huffed. "Alright, but this better be good."

Everyone followed Yi Fan and the dean as they walked up to the double doors which were next to the principal's office. The dean opened the doors and allowed everyone to enter before he did. Everyone was greeted by a white room that contained a large wooden table with multiple swivel chairs and a white screen board. 

"Everyone, please take a seat and take out something to write with," Yi Fan instructed as he started taking out file folders and markers.

Everyone started to rush to the seats as if it were a game of musical chairs. Some had accidentally pushed Sehun to the side as they tried to sit next to their favorite person. As the seconds passed, the only seats available were next to Luhan and Kyungsoo. Not thinking about it twice, he ran to the seat next to Luhan's; when he managed to sit down on the chair when he felt like someone's gaze was directed towards him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kai standing just a foot away from Sehun. However, he was less concerned about the distance between them, but the expression on Kai's face; Sehun was pretty sure Kai was glaring at him, for what reason, he didn't know. However, the glare disappeared once Kai realized he had caught Sehun's attention.

"I guess I'll sit with Kyungsoo, then," Kai said with a forced grin directed at him before heading to the only available seat. Sehun narrowed his eyes at Kai's retrieving figure.

That was odd.

"Sehun," he heard Luhan call his name. He turned to look at the boy, who was holding on to the folders Yi Fan had taken out earlier. "Pass it down." Sehun just nodded as he grabbed his own and passed it down to Suho, who was sitting next to him.

"Alright then," Hui Lei caught everyone's attention when she clasped her hands together. "I'm pretty sure you guys are wondering why you are stuck in a room with your fellow friends rather than staying in your homerooms learning about matrices and completing a break-even analysis-"

"How do you know about tha-" Baekhyun interrupted before he saw Hui Lei give him a stern look which shut him up quickly.

"As I was saying," Hui Lei walked up to one of the white walls, "you will find out that the answer to that question is this." She proceded to write 'December 6' with a green marker on the wall. Sehun's eyes widened at this and looked at Luhan, who looked pretty calm about what Hui Lei did. When Luhan turned to face him, he stared at Sehun's expression as he looked continously at the wall. Soon, the latter just grinned and gestured for the younger to come closer.

"Don't worry about the walls, they're meant to be written on since they're like a dry-erase board," Luhan whispered to him.

"How do you know?" 

"The walls of my room have a dry-erase surface... and I've had the chance to write on these walls before, too."

"That explains a lot," Sehun felt kind of stupid for not knowing this. He decided to move on from the topic and pay attention to Hui Lei. 

"Everyone of you, with the exception of our dear Sehun, should know this date by heart. If you don't, shame on you because that means you forgot about someone really important to Yi Fan, Jiao-long, and I," Hui Lei continued. 

"All of this has to do with Tao, doesn't it?" Chanyeol spoke aloud and then regretted it when he saw three pair of eyes glare at him.

"No," Yi Fan said with a slightly flustered look, "good guess, but no. Next person." He avoided Tao's gaze when he pointed at Baekhyun, who had his hand raised. "Tell us the answer."

"It's your dad's birthday," Baekhyun flinched when Yi Fan broke the pencil in his hand.

"Nope," Hui Lei face palmed. "Luhan!" she pointed at said boy. "You better know this one."

"It's Yi Fei's birthday," Luhan said nonchalantly. "Correct! We have a winner!"

The room echoed with interjections of realisation before the girl's voice boomed with: "Jiao-long, start the slide show!"

Jiao-long pressed something on his laptop and soon, the screen displayed the picture of a pretty dark-haired woman with fair skin and dark eyes that emphasized the softness of her face. 

"Who is that?" Sehun asked Luhan.

"That's Wu Yi Fei," Luhan answered, "she's their mother." 

Sehun observed the image once more and started to see some similiarities between Yi Fei and the Wu siblings. For example, Yi Fei had the same hair color and the innocent expression that the twins had. She also looked like a smaller, more feminine (definitely more feminine) Yi Fan.

"Just like Luhan mentioned, it's Mom's birthday," Hui Lei's voice brought his attention back to the girl. "We are going to celebrate it that same day and you guys are going to help us organize the party."

Wait, what?

Nobody really knew how to react to what Wu Hui Lei had just said. The silence in the room was beginning to thicken when Baekhyun and Chanyeol started laughing out loud. Everybody just stared at them with blank faces; the laughter began to fade followed by their shocked reply: "Wait, you're actually being serious about this?"

Hui Lei gave them an expressionless look. "Of course I'm being serious about this, you gits. We're talking about our mother."

"I'm sorry, but what makes you think we're going to help you organize this?" Kyungsoo glared at the girl.

"Jiao-long, move on to the next slide," she instructed. 

The boys watched as Yi Fei's picture was replaced with a small black square with a 'Play' button in the middle. Once Jiao-long clicked on the button, a video started to play. Sehun watched as the eyes of eight boys widened in recognition at the screen.

---

Two Years Ago:

When one is a pre-teen, they usually assume that the first time they drink alcohol, the moment would be blissful and fun because alcohol seems pretty tasty(or at least, that's what American comedy movies have taught them). At the mere age of fifteen, the boys find out that this is a total lie when they were inside Huang Lien's room of avant garde designs while her husband's birthday is being celebrated downstairs. The idiots, Taozi, and Lulu (as the devil twins called them) had tasted alcohol for the first time after one of the staff members accidentally brought strawberry sangria with vodka rather than the non-alcoholic version of said drink. Once the boys had taken their first sip, their throats began to burn terribly and they felt warmth in their stomachs as the weird drink passed down. Although they had clearly noticed that this wasn't what they were supposed to be drinking, they kept on doing it regardless of the increasing relaxing confusion that made their minds foggy.

It was almost one in the morning and the boys were being idiots. Drunken idiots, to be more precise.

The twins, who were playing scary Japanese video games in the room next door, where becoming more annoyed at the loud giggles (yes, the idiots were giggling) that seemed to get louder and louder (at least for them; the adults were busy getting drunk downstairs, hence their ignorance to the people upstairs). Getting tired of the noisiness, the eleven-year old twins paused their game and walked to the room where the idiots where at. When they opened the door, their unamused poker faces disappeared and were replaced by evil grins as Hui Lei and Jiao-long watched the scene in front of them.

Yixing and Suho were waltz-dancing (or at least, trying to) with each other, completely unaware of the others. Chanyeol was jumping on the couch like a sugar-high kid while Baekhyun was completely knocked out. Tao was busy talking to a mannequin about the most recent Gucci sunglasses he bought the other day. Kai was almost stark if it wasn't for his boxers as he hugged an almost drowsy Luhan. Although Luhan wasn't doing something random like talking to an inanimate figure, his clothes were replaced with Lien's red-and-gold hanfu. Kyungsoo, who was wearing an elaborate head piece created by Lien, was drawing on Yi Fan's face with colored markers as the blond muttered gibberish as he snoozed on.

Yup, this was definitely blackmail material and the twins were not going to waste an opportunity like this to catch the idiots incognito. So they did what they usually did: catch the boys off-guard.

---

Sehun was busy watching the video, completely surprised at what he was seeing. Sure, he knew the boys could be crazy, but this was another level; he made a mental note to not be around them when they were drunk. However, he was also amused at the boys' reactions. Just by seeing some of them cover their eyes in embarassment (Luhan, Yixing, and Tao) or gaping at the screen with open mouths (Chanyeol, Suho, and Yi Fan), he could tell they regretted what was shown on the video.

But he felt something weird when he saw Kai and Luhan at a close proximity. He didn't know what it was, but his mind kept telling him that Kai shouldn't be that close to Luhan when they were both in an incoherent state.

"YOU WERE THE ONE THAT PAINTED ON MY FACE?!" Sehun's attention was directed at Yi Fan who was yelling at a stoic Kyungsoo.

"Of course it was me," Kyungsoo replied nonchalantly. "Did you really believe me when I told you it was the devil twins that did that?" Yi Fan was fuming at this point (and Kai was snickering at this).

"I'm not a freaking notebook. I'm your father! I deserve more respect, young man," Yi Fan howled indignantly.

"Alright, that's enough," everyone jumped when they realized Choi-ssam was still in the room. "Can we move on and pretend that we never saw this?"

"How can you say that after watching this?" Luhan asked incredulously. "You should be scolding us for this!"

"Eh, I've seen worst than this," Choi-ssam waved him off until he saw Luhan narrow his eyes. "Fine.... er, boys! Stop this tomfoolery!"

"Not until these bozos agree to help us," the Wu siblings chorused.

"Oh, so we're the bozos now!" Chanyeol complained. "I thought we were your children."

Yi Fan face palmed. "Now is not the right time to discuss this. Are you guys going to help us or not?" At that moment, Suho raised his hand.

"This better be good," Yi Fan gestured Suho to speak.

"I'm not saying I accept to help you out, but what do we get in exchange if we do get to help?" Suho asked. 

"One, we won't show the video to anyone aside from the people in this room, which will prevent future embarassment in front of your loved ones or acquaintances. You won't get in trouble or disowned for this if you agree. Two, even if you decide not to help us, we will hunt you down and drag you to our house and hold you hostage on the day of the celebration," Jiao-long spoke up for the first time in a while. Suho (and a few others) shivered at his calm attitude when he talked about something that would promise torture.

"Oh, and you get free food," Yi Fan piped in as if that would convince his friends to accept. 

Even though it wasn't enough to make the boys say "Yes" right away, it did make them consider it. In their minds, lending  a tiny bit of help to Yi Fan and the twins sounded better than resisting what could mean imminent labor (and further embarassment). Besides, they all liked Wu Yi Fei (with the exception of Sehun, who had yet to meet her) because the woman was fun (and good-looking, according to Kai).

"Alright then, everyone who is willing to help out, stand up," Hui Lei instructed. As soon as she said this, all of the boys stood up.

"Um, Siwon... I said boys," Hui Lei deadpanned when the dean stood up along with everyone. 

"I am a boy."

"You're a dean, for crying out loud. Sit back down!"

"Don't worry, Choi-ssam," Kai told the man. "If I were in your spot, I would also pretend to be a teenage boy just to see that woman."

After the comment, everybody winced when Kyungsoo slapped Kai's arm.

"What was that for?!"

"For hitting on other people's moms!"

This is going to be a long week...

---

"Well, this is definitely not a train."

At the moment, Sehun was sitting in the Wu's red car (or as the twins dubbed it, the Galaxy; "It is the very first car our company created for the new project last year"). Why? Well, let's just say poor Sehun may or may not have been dragged to said car by Yi Fan. According to his hyung, they needed to go make a visit to the Baedal Flower Shop to make an order and the twins have been nagging about wanting to visit "our dear Sehun's home."

"Obviously," Hui Lei replied as she sipped her water bottle, "it's much better than a train. Don't you agree, Lulu?"

Sitting next to him were Luhan and Jiao-long. Luhan, who was also being dragged along, narrowed his eyes at her. "This was completely unnecessary. You could've just told us about your intentions before dragging us in."

"You're no fun, Lu."

Almost a half hour later, the car stopped in front of the Baedal Flower Shop. Once they got out of the car, they headed inside where Soo Yun greeted her son first before moving on to the guests.

"Luhan," Soo Yun hugged Luhan, "it's nice seeing you again. Are you planning to sleep over or is it just dinner tonight?"

"I'm actually just going to stay for dinner. I promised my cousin I would stay with him for the night."

"Oh, that's a shame. You know we will always welcome you into our home."

While Sehun's mother interacted with Luhan, Yi Fan face palmed when he saw the twins discreetly giggle at something they only knew.

"Anyways," Soo Yun directed her attention at the Wu siblings, "who are these wonderful young people visiting my shop today?"

"Eumma, this is Wu Yi Fan," Sehun introduced her to his friends, "and these are his siblings, Wu Hui Lei and Wu Jiao-long."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," the three of them chorused together.

"Aw, they're so adorable," Soo Yun gushed. "Yi Fan-ah is really handsome, too."

The twins snickered when they heard Soo Yun say this but stopped when the woman began to lead them to the room in the back where everyone could sit.

"Is there anything I could offer you today?" Soo Yun asked as she began serving water.

"Actually yes," Yi Fan answered, "we wanted to make an order."

"Oh, Alright then," Soo Yun left the glasses of water on the table. "Sehun dear, can you bring me the book? It's on the counter."

A few minutes later, after reviewing the many flowers inside the book, Yi Fan and the twins chose the bouquet arrangement of stargazer lilies and pink roses. When she asked them the amount of bouquets to be ordered. Once they replied, Sehun and Luhan watched in amusement as Soo Yun blanched.

"H-How many?" Soo Yun stuttered.

"We are asking for one hundred and sixty bouquets," the twins said a bit too happy.

"When do you need the flower arrangements by?"

"This Saturday before the eighteenth hour."

Sehun nudged Luhan to catch the latter's attention. "It's going to be impossible to make the order; Eumma is going to say that she doesn't have much in stock, which is true."

Luhan got closer to Sehun. "Don't be a pessimist. The word 'impossible' is nonexistent in the Wu's vocabulary."

"Do you want to bet, then?"

"Sure. What's it gonna be?"

"If I win, you will have to cook for me for a week."

"Alright. But if I win, you will have to do that for me. Same time span. Deal?" Luhan extended his hand to start the bet. "Deal," Sehun grabbed Luhan's hand. The two directed their gazes to the scene in front of them.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think the bouquets will be ready at this time. I don't have enough flowers to make the amount of arrangements you want and I have to order them now if I want the flowers to arrive next Monday at the earliest," Soo Yun explained. "I am really sorry."

Sehun smirked and gave Luhan's hand a gentle squeeze. "Guess who's gonna cook for me?" he mocked as Luhan rolled his eyes. "This isn't over," Luhan replied quietly.

"Oh, don't worry about the quantity," Yi Fan told Soo Yun with confidence.

"We kind of figured you were going to say that," Hui Lei continued.

"That's why we called your provider and they said yes in giving you permission to occupy their greenhouse and their staff to make the arrangements. Someone will you to the place, too," Jiao-long finished.

"Eh?!" Soo Yun's eyes went wide while Luhan squeezed Sehun's hand after hearing this.

"If you are not convinced by this," Hui Lei took out an envelope after seeing the doubtful expression on Soo Yun's face. "I think this will help you make a decision."

Soo Yun grabbed the envelope and glanced at the Wu siblings before opening it slowly. Inside of the envelope, there was a check; the woman's eyes widened after seeing the amount written.

"Holy mother of-!" Soo Yun exclaimed. "Children, I thank you, but this is too.... too-"

"Too little? No worries, we can increase the amount if you want."

"No! I can't take any more won! I'll do it!"

Before anyone else said anything, Luhan let out a yell of excitement.

"I won!" Luhan exclaimed before running up to Yi Fan and kissed his head, making the latter surprised. He moved up to the twins and kissed their cheeks, followed by their complaints. "I won the bet!" 

Soo Yun stood up with an elated expression. "I'm getting 110,404,500 won!" Luhan hugged Soo Yun and the two of them started jumping in joy.

Sehun watched in amusement as his mother and his friend started jumping around like two girls who just met their idols. 

"What was that bet about?" Sehun heard Yi Fan ask him. When did his hyung walk up next to him, he did not know nor care.

"I'm supposed to cook for Luhan," Sehun replied.

"I feel sorry for you, man," Yi Fan patted his shoulder. Sehun tried to hide his grin.

If only he knew I would've cooked for him, regardless of who won the bet...

---

 Throughout the week, the boys were able to complete the tasks needed to organize Wu Yi Fei's birthday celebration. Since the day before the celebration was a free day for everyone at SM Academy due to a faculty meeting, all of them agreed to meet up at Yi Fan's house to discuss last minute organizing. Once Friday morning arrived, Sehun had woken up to a knock on his door. 

"Sehun," he heard his dad outside the door, "can I come in?"

"Yeah " Sehun as he rubbed his face with both hands.

Young Soo walked into his son's room with a confused expression on his face. "Your friends came to visit," he told Sehun, who was yawning at the moment.

Sehun's eyes widened in surprise. He wasn't expecting anyone at this time (it was barely seven in the morning, of course he wouldn't do such thing). But now that curiosity was killing the cat, he might as well abandon the comfort of his bed to stand up.

"Are they in the living room?" Sehun asked his dad, who nodded in response. 

The two males walked up to the living room and were greeted by Tao, Suho, the twins, and Chanyeol. Sehun began to have an odd feeling about this; he was okay with seeing his hyungs, but he was wary about the twins.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sehun asked before moving on to the twins. "I thought we were going to meet you at your house?"

"We are going to our house," the twins chorused. "We just wanted to pick everyone up so when we arrive, we can enjoy a peaceful breakfast before moving on to the last minute details."

Peaceful? Ha!

"We recommend that you take an extra set of clothes, sleepwear, and essentials. It is most likely that we are staying over there," Suho told Sehun as he typed something on his phone.

"Do I even have permission to sleep over at your house?" Sehun deadpanned. He was pretty sure his parents wouldn't allow him to go somewhere without notifying them beforehand.

"Yes, you do," Tao piped in before taking out a piece of paper out of his bag, "your mom signed a waiver to allow you to come."

"Oh that's- wait, Mom did what?" Sehun ripped the paper out of Tao's hands. "When? And why did you even need a permission sl-," Sehun was interrupted when pajama-wearing Jung Hee slammed a duffle bag to his chest.

"Here you go, little brother," Jung Hee said a bit too cheerful, "I prepared this for you last night while you were in the shower. We'll see you tomorrow night."

"Eh?!" Sehun was so confused now. There were a lot of things to process. First his friends arrive, then he is told his mom and Jung Hee knew about his apparent sleepover before him; now what? His family is going to the birthday celebration filled with filthy rich people.

"Bloody hell," Sehun muttered under his breath. This was too early for these kind of things, even for him.

"Great then," Hui Lei grabbed the duffle bag from him and threw it to Chanyeol to carry. "It has been a pleasure meeting you two. I hope to see you tomorrow at my mother's birthday celebration," she told the Oh males before placing her arm around Sehun's. "Let's go, Sehun-oppa!"

"Wait, I haven't even washed my-" 

"Who cares? You can do that at our house. Or take a nap. I know Luhan will do just that because he's not a morning person."

"Why did you have to give Yi Fan the job to wake him up?" Tao asked Hui Lei. "You know how Luhan-ge gets in the morning. I'm actually afraid of what will happen to your brother."

"Wait, what will happen?" Sehun asked curiously. 

"If you wake Luhan before eight in the morning during the weekends or breaks, say good-bye to your manhood," Chanyeol replied, shuddering at the end.

But he wasn't like that when he slept over... Chanyeol is probably joking

"Don't listen to him," Suho told him, "He's just exaggerating."

Thank yo-

"But Luhan does kick people if he's woken up early," Suho added, "Same thing with Kyungsoo. I know that there have been a few incidents where those two have kicked Yi Fan, Chanyeol, and my brother in that area."

Never mind then...

---

An hour later, Sehun found himself standing inside the ultra-modern home of the Wu family. The large glass windows allowed the autumn sun to shine bright into the large home. Just looking at the white hallway and the large black entrance doors made him feel small all over again. He was now wondering how many grand buildings are awaiting for him to remind him that his friends are a bunch of rich bastards? 

"It's so-" Sehun found himself muttering.

"She's a beauty, isn't she?" Yi Fan interrupted the starstruck moment Sehun was having with the blond's house. "Cherish her while you can. The twins have burned the house twice in the past five years."

What?!

"Yi Fan," Hui Lei walked up to her brother and pulled his ear. "What did I say about scaring our guests?"

"Yah! Stop it!" Yi Fan hissed in pain. 

"Hui Lei, let him go," Yixing appeared running out of the hallway, "He already got kicked by Luhan earlier today."

"Fine," the girl reluctantly let go of her brother, "where's everyone else?"

"They're in the dining room," Yixing replied cheerfully, "Except for the obvious people, of course."

"Alright," Hui Lei turned to look at Sehun. "Do you want to get settled into your room before getting breakfast?"

"Sure," Sehun replied. After all, he did want to wash up and wear something that was not sleepwear.

"Follow me then," she then turned to Chanyeol. "Channie! You're coming with us! Bring the duffle bag!" 

One flight of stairs and two set of hallways later, Sehun was left alone in a large spartan room. Just like the rest of the house, the walls were white and the large glass window wasn't making an exception for the room to make its appearance. The bed had red sheets and white pillows that looked like one could sink into it without trouble. There was a door that lead to the large, fancy bathroom. 

Fortunately for him, he was allowed to use the room at his own pleasure. He showered and made himself presentable by clothing himself with a striped shirt and black pants. Once he was ready, he stepped out of the room, only to see Luhan close a door behind him. Sehun smirked when he realized Luhan was unaware of his presence. He walked stealthily towards him.

"Morning sleepy head," Sehun whispered. 

"Sehun!" Luhan jumped when he felt a small breeze at the back of his head. When Sehun started chuckling, Luhan raised his foot and made it look like he was going to kick the younger of the two. "That wasn't funny," Luhan gave the other a small grin since he couldn't contain his amusement.

"You know it was," Sehun replied before he started getting chased. Luckily, he remembered the way to the entrance but that was as far as he went. He almost fell when he felt Luhan's weight on his back. 

"Yah! Get off!"

"Not until you say sorry."

"Neve- Gah!" Sehun released a very manly squeal when Luhan's foot using his leg as a stool to climb fully on the boy.

"Fine, you want to play dirty, huh?" He grasped his hyung's calves and felt satisfied when Luhan started begging him to let him down when the brunette started twirling him around in circles.

Their play fight stopped abruptly when they heard someone whistling nearby. The two boys went silent when they realized Yixing, who stopped his whistling, was there, staring at them.

"Am I interrupting something?" Yixing asked them calmly, as if he wasn't fazed after seeing his cousin and their new friend playing around.

"No, not really," Luhan told him as he got off Sehun.

"Oh, okay," Yixing gave them a grin. "Are you two heading to the dining room?"

"Yeah," Luhan and Sehun said at the same time before laughing at this. 

"I'll walk with you two then," Yixing placed his arm around Luhan's shoulder, "after all, I did get lost more than once in this house."

The three boys walked in silence (well, as silent as it coud get with Yixing humming) through the hallways. Sehun wanted to approach Luhan to continue their play fight, but Yixing was in the middle of the two. That, and he didn't want to be the focus of Yixing's attention if he saw Sehun acting like this; after all, the boys still figured he was the more demure of them all.

When they got near a two-door entrance,  they began hearing the loud voices of their friends. Once they opened the doors, Sehun, Yixing, and Luhan stared at the scene before them. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were bickering with each other, the twins were using their eating utensils to build... something undescribable. Yi Fan and Tao were busy talking amicably (and blushing) with each other. Suho and Kai were looking at Kyungsoo, who was busy talking to three non-Korean females who were dressed in traditional mariachi apparel.

Wait, what?

The three were stuck in their reverie until Suho looked at their direction before calling Yixing over. Yixing was more than happy to join him, leaving Sehun and Luhan by the doorway. Sehun exited his train of thoughts when he felt Luhan's hand snake around his wrist, pulling him towards the Kim siblings and Kyungsoo. 

"Morning," Luhan greeted everyone in that section of the room, big smile in place. 

"Good morning, Lulu," Kai said cheerfully as he stood up and walked up to Luhan before embracing the latter. He then turned to Sehun, "Hello Sehun."

"Hi Kai," Sehun raised his hand to wave at Kai, but he realized Luhan was still grasping his wrist. When Sehun turned to look at Kai, he saw the tan male narrow his eyes at this. The two then made eye contact with each other; none of them took their gaze away from the other because if they did, they would admit defeat in some unannounced competition between the two. During this whole time, Sehun began to feel uncomfortable because this reminded him of Reinette's initial hostility towards him. But, that couldn't be, right?

"Oops, sorry," Luhan let go of Sehun's wrist before turning his attention back at Kai, who removed his gaze from him.

"Sehun," he heard Suho call him over. "Come over here."

Sehun walked up to him and Kyungsoo. "I want to introduce you to the lovely Torres sisters," Suho gestured at the three women Kyungsoo was talking to. "This is Maria," Sehun looked at the thirty-something year old woman at his left. Maria was a pretty brunette with tan skin and warm chocolate brown eyes. Sehun wondered what nationality she was because her face yelled neither Asian nor European. It was the same for the other two; the only difference between them was the hair color. "Next is Isabel," Suho pointed at the jet black-haired female who looked slightly younger than Maria. "Last but not least, Lola." Lola, unlike the other two, had a lighter complexion, similar to Kai's but not quite, and her hair was dyed burgundy. "The Torres sisters travelled from Mexico and have been living in the house for a good three years now."

"Señoritas," Sehun's eyes widened when he heard Suho speak Spanish. "This is our new friend, Oh Sehun."

"Nice to meet you," Sehun made a small bow.

"Fue un placer conocerlo a usted tambien," the women chorused.

"They said it has been a pleasure meeting you, too," Suho translated. The women then returned to their conversation with Kyungsoo, who was also speaking Spanish.

"How do you guys know Spanish?" Sehun's eyes widened when he heard himself voice out his thoughts.

"Yi Fan's parents invited us to a trip to Mexico during the summer. Out of the six of us, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, and I went. That's when Yi Fei met the Torres. After that, we went back to Korea with the sisters in tow. They have been teaching us ever since."

"Oh," Sehun said as both boys watched Chanyeol run in the sisters' direction, carrying an empty plate.

"Lolita," Chanyeol addressed the woman on the right, "me puedes servir mas? Porfis, si?"

"Aw, Mister Chan is so cute. Your Spanish is getting better; I'm such a good teacher," Lola patted Chanyeol's head before grabbing his plate. "I'll be back."

"Gracias!" Chanyeol yelled before turning around, letting out a squeak when he saw Baekhyun with crossed arms.

"So, you've been hanging out with 'Lolita,' huh?" Baekhyun stated rather than asked.

"So what if I have?" Chanyeol poked Baekhyun's cheek. "What if I want to learn a new language with a pretty woman?"

"A pretty woman? Are you telling me that you need a woman in your life?"

"What's it to you?" Chanyeol pouted. "You have Taeyeon, don't you?"

Sehun almost choked on his saliva when he heard this. Baekhyun and Taeyeon, together ? If it was true, it kind of made sense after he remembered some of her comments.

"It's not like that," Baekhyun muttered. "Besides, you used to call me effeminate. I don't see why you claim you need a woman now."

"I never did su-"

"Boys, stop fighting and get over your ual frustration," a female voice said. Everyone turned to look at the entrance, where Wu Yi Fei herself was standing.

"Mom," Yi Fan stared at Yi Fei as if she was mental. "Please don't go there."

"Hush, child," Yi Fei replied as she walked past him. "It's too early in the morning for such pointless quarrel when Chanyeol knows that our dear Lola is currently in a relationship with Hamlet."

"Hamlet?" Sehun's curiousity was piqued.

"That's the gardener who hailed from Denmark," Suho whispered back.

"Mianhae," both Chanyeol and Baekhyun apologized. 

"It's alright," Yi Fei smiled. "I forgot to say good morning to everyone, but I guess it's a bit late for that... But why are some of you standing? Sit down, the chairs won't bite...  unless my dear Hui Lei finds a way to achieve that."

"What about me?" Jiao-long asked, making everyone remember he was there as they sat down.

"Oh dear, you soft-spoken stranger... why are you here dressed like a genderbent version of my daughter?" Yi Fei asked in confusion before laughing. "I'm joking, Jiao-long, you know mommy loves you." 

She walked up to Tao. "Aww, my cute son-in-law! How are you?"

"Mom!" Yi Fan complained as he started blushing. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Well, he will be yours soon enough," Yi Fei smiled. "After all, being gay runs in the family."

"Mom!"

"Stop being such a drama queen, Yi Fan. Or Taozi will end up with someone else." She kept walking until she stopped where Luhan and Sehun were sitting at. She became really happy and hugged Luhan. "Lulu, my sweet, effeminate nephew," Yi Fei cooed at Luhan.

"Hi Yi Fei," Luhan greeted. Sehun almost snickered when he saw Luhan lose all hope when Yi Fei called him effeminate.

"That's Aunt Yi Fei to you. We might not be related now, but we soon will, one way or another," Yi Fei giggled. "Now, Lulu, won't you introduce me to your friend."

"Aunt Yi Fei, this is Oh Sehun," Luhan told her. "He's the new member of our group." Luhan then introduced Sehun to Yi Fei.

"It's nice to meet you," Sehun bowed down to the beautiful woman. He felt a hand ob his shoulder. "There's no need to be so formal. You can stand up, sweetie." Sehun did as was told. "You are now part of this big happy family."

"T-Thank you," Sehun stuttered. Although he heard (from Yi Fan and practically everyone else) Yi Fei was slightly eccentric, he could see that Yi Fei was really nice.

"Omo! He's so cute! And so serious!" Yi Fei had pulled Sehun into a bear hug, which surprised the latter. "He has the cutest b**** face ever. Not even Yi Fan can pull it, and I know he can act like one."

"Mom!"

"Yi Fan, stop overreacting," an unfamiliar male voice said. "You know your mother likes using terms like b**** face to substitute boring and common expressions such as poker face."

"Honey!" Yi Fei released Sehun and ran up to the man at the doorway. Sehun watched as Yi Fan's mother glomped the man who was slightly taller than her. From what he heard and his observations, he assumed that the man was Yi Fan's father due to the man's dark hair and that seemingly cold exterior that he shared with Yi Fan and Jiao-long. Everyone looked away when Yi Fei gave her husband a peck on the lips; it was such a private moment for them, and for those who were 'anti-romantic,' didn't want to get traumatized.

"Go make out somewhere else!" the Wu siblings said at the same time with fake disgust.

"Oh please. One day, all of you will have the special person  in your life that you would want to show your affection to," Yi Fei stuck her tongue out at her children before giving her husband another peck. 

"Is that-?" Sehun stopped asking mid-way when he saw Yi Fei dragging her husband to his direction.

"That's Wu Xiao Dan, their father," Luhan confirmed his observations. 

"Danny, this is Oh Sehun," Yi Fei said when she stopped in front of Sehun. "He's the new member of our group."

"Nice to meet you," Sehun said before being hugged again, this time by Xiao Dan.

"Welcome Sehun-ah," Xiao Dan's cold exterior disappeared and was replaced with a friendly smile.

After this, everyone sat down to eat breakfast. The environment became loud and welcoming, since everyone was talking with each other. Sehun was being encouraged to talk to Yi Fan's parents as they kept interrogating him.

"So, Sehun," Yi Fei said, "I heard your family is coming to the party." Sehun nodded in response.

"That's great. I usually like meeting the parents of my children's friends, especially mothers. Lien and I are acquainted with everyone and once I meet a new mother, they become part of the L.M.W.G.B.H.C.."

"I'm sorry. The what?"

"The League of Mothers Who Gave Birth to Handsome Children, or L.M.W.G.B.H.C for short. The guys just call it the League."

"Oh."

"Xiao Dan has a similar club called the Fruit Sister Alliance, but the only members are Huang Li-liang and Zhang Biming, who are Tao and Yixing's fathers respectively, since they seem to like Katy Perry a lot."

Katy Perry lovers? Yup, my brother will get along with them.

"Let's just put it this way," Yi Fan got involved in the conversation, "my dad loves her."

"But not as much as I love your mother, mind you," Xiao Dan pointed out with flushed cheeks.

"Aw, Danny," Yi Fei kissed her husband on the cheek. "Wo ai ni."

"Wo ai ni."

"Go get a room you two," Yi Fan grumbled. Sehun winced when he saw Xiao Dan throw a spoon at his eldest son.

Suddenly, the dining room doors opened. A man dressed in a suit walked in and headed towards Yi Fei and Xiao Dan who were having a moment.

"Madam Wu," the man said, ignoring that Yi Fei was whispering sweet nothings to her husband.

"Hm?"

"Mrs.Choi called. She said the paperwork regarding the Taiwanese headquarters is ready."

"Aw, man!" Yi Fei complained before turning to everyone. "If you may excuse me, the Galaxy needs me. Bye dears."

Everyone said their goodbyes to Yi Fei and watched as the beautiful woman retreated the room after Xiao Dan yelled something along the lines of "Work hard, my dear! You can do it!". Once that happened, the Wu patriarch rushed to the doors and closed them.

"Phew, thank you Mrs.Choi," he said to no one in particular. He then apologized when he saw multiple pairs of eyes staring at him.

"Is everyone done with breakfast?"

"Um, yeah?" Baekhyun replied as he glanced at the empty plates. It seemed Baekhyun (and the others) could never get used to Xiao Dan's random behavior.

"Good, I need you all to pay attention to what I'm going to say. Do not tell my wife about what is going to happen today, alright?"

Everyone nodded, despite their increasing confusion. Even the Wu siblings, Sehun observed, were not sure of what was to come.

"I need a really big favor from you all. I need you guys to sing a song for Yi Fei."

As soon as he said that, there was comotion in the dining room.

"Shut up!" Everyone stopped when Yixing, out of all people, yelled. "Sorry," he said with flushed cheeks.

"Thank you," Xiao Dan replied and then proceeded once more. "I need you guys to sing a song for my wife tomorrow at the celebration."

"What song?" Yixing asked.

Xiao Dan gave Yixing a piece of paper. The boys rushed to his side and peeked over Yixing's shoulder to look at what was written on the paper. From the looks of it, the page contained the lyrics of a song composed by Xiao Dan himself.

"This was the song I dedicated to Yi Fei when I asked her to be my girlfriend," Xiao Dan sighed as he remembered the events of that day when Yi Fei and him would stay together for life.

"It's a really nice song," Kyungsoo commented with sincerity, "but I think it would be more meaningful if you sing it yourself."

"That's the problem," Xiao Dan groaned, "I can't sing in front of so many people."

"Yes, you can," Baekhyun patted the man's back, "there's no need to be shy."

"I'm being serious," the man said, "I really can't sing."

"Es verdad," Isabel added, "I've heard him sing before. I'm actually surprised Yi Fei decided to marry him many years ago with that voice of his. He sounds like a dying walrus being trampled over by a monster truck." She looked at Xiao Dan. "No offense, señor." 

"None taken," Xiao Dan replied nonchalantly.

"Oh," Baekhyun scratched the back of his head, "that's unfortunate."

"Yeah," Xiao Dan shook his head to avoid getting sidetracked. "But in full seriousness, that is why I need you guys to sing this song." He noticed the nervous glances the boys exchanged with one another. "Don't worry, not all of you will be singing. I already wrote who will sing my song on this piece of paper." The man gave the paper to Yixing.

"Plain flour, eggs, milk powder... Um, Xiao Dan?"

"Yeah?"

"This is a list for ingredients needed to make mooncakes."

The Wu siblings began laughing at their father's fumble while everyone else kept their amusement to themselves. The Wu patriarch just blushed as a result.

"Oops," he finally gave Yixing the correct piece of paper. Everyone huddled behind him once more to see who was on the list; once that happened, there were sighs of relief and of exasperation.

My Lady:

A song composed by Wu Xiao Dan (with love)

Vocals: Luhan, Baekhyun, Yixing, and Kyungsoo

Rappers: Yi Fan and Tao

I didn't know he could sing... I guess he can really do anything

"Eh?!" Luhan stuttered, "I can't do this."

Sehun looked at Luhan, whose face had blanched after reading the list. "I can't sing," Luhan told everyone. 

Is he scared? Sehun thought as he noticed Luhan's hands shake slightly if one looked closely.

"Yes, you can," Yixing told his cousin, "I have caught you sing in the shower so many times, you can't deny that fact."

"Just because I sing in the shower, that doesn't make me a good singer," Luhan turned peach. Just by hearing his voice, Sehun knew Luhan was trying hard to get himself out of this.

"Yixing's right," Kai pitched in, much to Luhan's chagrin. "I've seen you sing when you think no one's watching and you sound better than a lot of the people at our school."

"But still-"

"Why don't you show us?" Sehun found himself blurting out. Everyone, including Luhan, was staring at him. "Let us be the judge of that."

You idiot! Why did you have to voice your thoughts out right now?!

"That's not a bad idea, actually," Xiao Dan commented. "If we see that Luhan can't sing for some weird reason, he will be excluded from the list. But if he is deemed a good singer, he will have no choice, okay?"

Luhan sighed reluctantly. "Alright."

"We will give you five minutes to yourself in the living room," Xiao Dan said, "when time runs out, we will come and see you, okay?"

Luhan nodded in understanding and started to walk towards the entrance. He turned to look at Sehun, and then at the others, who were grinning in anticipation. Another glance and he left the dining room, looking hestitant.

Everyone began to murmur exitedly, but Sehun stayed quiet. Maybe he shouldn't have suggested such a thing. Instead, he should've been more considerate of his friend by helping him out. But no, Sehun just had to allow curiosity to kill the cat.

"You should go see him," Sehun turned to face Kyungsoo, who was next to him.

"Isn't it better to give him some space?" Sehun didn't want to make things worse, so it wouldn't be bothersome to Luhan.

Kyungsoo shook his head. "Give him some words of encouragement. I know he's a good singer. Luhan just needs a little push, that's all."

Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try...

"Thanks Kyungsoo," Sehun told the smaller boy. Kyungsoo just waved it off.

"Go hurry," Kyungsoo shooed him, "I will distract everyone to buy you guys time."

Sehun nodded and walked stealthily to the doors, trying to avoid being discovered. Once he got out, he was surprised (or maybe he wasn't) to see Luhan crouching down next to the floor.

"Luhan?" he tried catching the boy's attention.

"Hm?" Luhan acknowledged his presence, but never looked up.

"Are you okay?" Sehun sat down next to him.

"Yeah... no, I'm not," Luhan confessed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sehun asked as he began rubbing Luhan's back.

"It's just that... ugh, I know the guys are right, in a way... but..." Luhan wavered off.

"But what?" Sehun hoped Luhan would finish what he was about to say. It was necessary for him to know in order to help Luhan with whatever issue he was dealing with, no matter how small it was.

"I just don't feel comfortable singing to a large audience. For me, singing is too personal to do such a thing."

Sehun felt even worse when he heard this. He honestly didn't want Luhan to be mad with him because of what he said earlier.

"So... was it wrong... you know, what I suggested?"

This time, Luhan looked up at him, "No. Actually, I was and still am grateful for that."

"Eh? Are you sure?" Sehun was thrown off-guard at that moment. Luhan nodded in response, but Sehun was still not convinced. "You're not mad at me, then?"

"Why should I be? You saved me from being forced directly into singing. After all, our friends can be really persistent when they want to, so your idea helped me."

"Oh, then I guess I'm glad I suggested it in the first place."

Luhan smiled and stood up from his spot. He offered his hand to Sehun. "Take my hand and come with me."

Sehun held on to his hand. "Do you really need me that bad?" he chuckled.

"Of course I do," Luhan replied, "you're my knight in shining armor. You said it yourself, remember?"

Of course I do remember, Sehun thought, I never forgot in the first place.

---

"Your five minutes are up," Xiao Dan told Luhan. "Are you ready?"

Luhan looked at Sehun, who was sitting next to him on the couch. Sehun held on to his hand firmly but gently. The Chinese boy smiled at him nervously before he turned to his pseudo-relative and nodded in response.

"Okay," Xiao Dan walked up to the living room doors and opened them, letting the rest of the group enter. "Make sure you're quiet during the mock performance, alright?"

Sehun managed to catch Kyungsoo grinning at him, as if he was blatantly admitting that he was right after all without saying anything. The younger just grinned in response.

"Alright," Xiao Dan interrupted the small exchange, "Luhan will start singing soon, and once that happens, we will all have a vote." In other words, Luhan thought, they will procrastinate what is to come soon. Luhan sighed, then faced Sehun once more. He closed his eyes and let out another deep breat before starting.

One person walking to the finish line

somehow returning to the starting point

a new world

only now did I realize

time has no absolute

Sehun stared wide-eyed at his friend after hearing Luhan sing for the first time. Although he didn't understand what he was singing about, he knew that there was no way Luhan was getting out of Xiao Dan's 'mad' plan. 

Until there comes someone else

who can understand my feelings

no need to say, no need to ask

will just know, will just understand

every moment is like forever

 

I'm looking, there is not much time left

to make  a wish, I wish there could be one more day

our tomorrow

At that moment, he felt Luhan squeeze his hand. Sehun realized Luhan's voice was wavering just a slight bit; it wasn't anything major, but he took it as a sign of nervousness, if his furrowed brows didn't give that away.

I'm asking, how much time is left

before my eyes, I thought there would be one more day 

to fulfill our promise

Once Sehun did what he did, he didn't care what happened, especially  if certain people glared at him for no damn reason. If he wanted to, he would hold Luhan's hand just like he has done in the past couple of days when both of them started becoming closer and closer to each other. After all, Luhan seemed to need more encouragement.

Until there comes someone else

who can understand my feelings

no need to say, no need to ask

will just know, will just understand

every moment is like forever

Luhan opened his eyes, looking at Sehun with slight shock wrtten on his face. Soon, that turned into relief.

I'm looking, there is not much time left

to make  a wish, I wish there could be one more day

our tomorrow

Luhan began to smile at him as he kept singing, which resulted in Sehun smiling like a fool.

I'm asking, how much time is left

before my eyes, I thought there would be one more day 

to fulfill our promise

Pit-a-pat

In fact there is a tale

that can turn back time

because there is a dream, that tells me

love never holds back, that gives me strength

Pit-a-pat

I'm looking, there is not much time left

to make  a wish, I wish there could be one more day

our tomorrow

That's odd...

I'm asking, how much time is left

before my eyes, I thought there would be one more day 

to fulfill our promise

My heart is racing all of a sudden. Why is that?

Memories

that become eternity