Blackthorn: Difficulty 

 

Ring Ring ... Ring Ring... Rin- CRASH!

"Luhan," Sehun groaned, "was it really necessary to throw your phone at the wall?"

"I made it stop ringing," Luhan replied in a sleepy manner.

"Whatever," Sehun yawned, "go back to sleep."

The two boys shuffled around a bit to get back to their original positions. However, in less than a minute or two, Sehun's phone started ringing. 

"Are you serious?" Sehun sat up after a failed attempt at ignoring his phone. He picked up the cursed item and and realized who was calling him at ungodly hours.

"It's Yi Fan," Sehun told Luhan, who was also sitting up and glaring at the phone.The older boy extended his arm to grab the phone.

"What?!" Luhan answered, completely disregarding his usual polite voice.

"Well good morning to you too," Yi Fan replied sarcastically. "Why didn't you answer your phone? I've been trying to contact you for the past minute or two."

"Yi Fan, it's seven in the morning on a Saturday. You should know the rule by now, pabo."

"Yes, yes, no one can't call Marylin Monroe in the damn mornings. I get it."

"Don't call me that!"

"Stop sidetracking me! Are you doing anything important today?"

"Not really, I'm going to the park with Sehun. Why?"

"I'm at school right now because Suho and Baekhyun need help with some stuff regarding the Winter Festival. My parents went on a business trip to Taipei and I need help watching over the twins today. Can you come today? Please? I'll buy you bubble tea today if you do."

"No."

"Pass the phone to Sehun," Yi Fan said after a brief pause. "I want to speak to him."

Luhan "tch"-ed as he passed the phone to Sehun.

"I'm here," Sehun tried not to chuckle on the phone as he saw Luhan cover himself with the sheets; he knew Luhan was very bipolar in the mornings (to everyone except for Yixing and him).

"Can you please try to convince Luhan to babysit the twins for today? I know why he doesn't want to, but there's no one else to do the job. And I promised Suho that I would accompany him and Baekhyun to solve some issues regarding the Winter Festival."

Sehun understood why Yi Fan wanted the help. From what he heard from Baekhyun, Suho, and Kyungsoo, who were all in student government, there were some issues with one of the productions for the annual Winter Festival. As a result, those who were involved in the event committee had to fix these problems as soon as possible, especially when one considers that the Winter Festival served as a fundraiser for SM Academy.

"Can't you call Tao?" Sehun suggested. He didn't want to leave Yi Fan helpless, but he also didn't want to force Luhan to do something he didn't want to do.

"Tao is here, but he's also busy helping out. Besides, the twins would take advantage of Tao's affection for them and cause destruction. Besides, the twins are more likely to listen to Luhan than anyone around here."

Sehun glimpsed at the figure under the sheets. He didn't want to admit it out loud at the moment, but he knew that Yi Fan was right; Luhan would probably be able to tame the mischievous sprites. Probably.

"Please, Sehun," Yi Fan pulled him out of his thoughts. "I know Luhan would listen to you."

He sighed. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," Yi Fan said before hanging up.

Sehun began to approach Luhan slowly. "Luhan?"

"Hm?"

"If I tell you I will accompany you to the Academy, will you say yes to taking care of the twins?"

"Yi Fan made you say this, right?" Sehun heard Luhan mumble.

"Not really. At least not this part," Sehun admitted.

Luhan pulled the sheets down a bit until his eyes were revealed. "Seriously?"

"I'm not kidding."

There was a brief silence between the two. "Are you sure you want to deal with the twins for a few hours?" Luhan asked. 

Pfft, no!

"Yes," Sehun said.

"Alright," Luhan said, "I'll go only because of you. I just hope nothing too crazy happens." Luhan tried to get the sheets off him, but realized he was tangled in them. "Help me, Hunnie," Luhan looked at Sehun with a pout.

Sehun may or may not have felt his cheeks become warm out of nowhere. 

---

Around nine o' clock, Sehun and Luhan arrived at the Academy. As they walked through the hallways, they noticed people walking back and forth, none had empty hands for they would carry large piles of papers or push carts filled with props. They were near the Arena where Yi Fan said he would meet them at, when Sehun accidentally crashed against a girl after he tried to avoid one of the cart people.

"Oh gosh," Sehun muttered as he saw the dark-haired girl picking up papers from the floor. "I'm so sorry."

"No, it's alright. I was in the way," the girl looked up at Sehun and stayed still, staring at him.

Sehun stared back at the girl in surprise. No one has stared at him that long; it was making him uncomfortable. However, he just couldn't take his eyes off her. She had this sweet-looking appearance that complemented her attractive features. Although she wasn't wearing the typical girly-girl clothes that he's seen on Hui Lei or Reinette, she looked pretty adorable. That, and he felt like he's seen her somewhere, but he didn't remember where.

"Um, hi," the girl said sheepishly.

"Hi," Sehun found himself saying, "have I seen you somewhere before?"

"Yeah. I'm in your class," the girl turned peach, "I'm Jung Krystal." She extended her hand towards him. He grabbed the hand in return.

"Oh, so that's where I've seen you," Sehun felt bad because he didn't really pay attention to anyone other than the boys, Hui Lei, and Reinette. "Sorry about that. I'm sort of a block head at times. I'm-"

"Oh Sehun, I know," Krystal said rapidly. "Sorry, that was odd." She started walking away backwards. "I gotta go. I'll see you later, then." Krystal practically ran away after this.

"Uh, bye, I guess?" Sehun was busy staring at the direction the girl left to until:

"Luhan!" 

When he turned to look at the origin of the sound, he saw Jiao-long straddling Luhan on the floor and squeezing the poor boy to death. At that moment, Sehun had realized he had forgotten about Luhan being near him.

"Long time, no see!" Jiao-long told Luhan as he squeezed the life out of the older.

"What are you talking about? I saw you yesterday," Luhan was slightly annoyed, "can you get off me?"

"Let him be," Hui Lei appearance distracted him. "He got traumatized after idiot brother cooked for us. He just wants to forget about the charred dumplings."

"Well that's a first. Considering that you two claim my cooking is no better than Yi Fan's."

"We're sorry, but you can't cook Chinese food to save your life. But according to Sehun, you would make a good Korean cook," Jiao-long said rapidly. "Are you sure you're not Korean?"

Luhan allowed his head to fall atop the boy's shoulder in defeat. "I will seriously kill Yi Fan after this."

---

"Well, that went so well," Baekhyun huffed as Suho, Yi Fan, and Kyungsoo stared at a few staff members walk away from the stage of the Arena as they dragged a few disheveled girls along.

"I swear these girls are insane! This is an audition for a Christmas show, not a wrestling match," Suho added before looking at Baekhyun. "Can't we just get a member of the Red Velvet Dance Team to substitute Song Quian as the prima ballerina?"

"Unfortunately, the team is not going to be available for the day of the festival," Kyungsoo told him, "they're going to attend an international dance competition in Belgium that week."

Baekhyun hid his face in his hands. Everything was going so wrong with the production of "The Steadfast Tin Soldier." First of all, the creation of the background setting was going to be delayed due to the lack of equipment. Then, the lead costume designer quit because of (un)proffessional differences with the team. Baekhyun dealt with the problem by assigning Tao that job. However, things went from bad to worse when the female lead of the ballet performance, Song Quian, injured her ankle; that, and her understudy left the production without any explanation. The production couldn't move on per say without said lead, so auditions had to be held for the spot. The current problem at hand was that the girls that were auditioning were either not right for the part or they were too busy trying to beat their opponents just to get the chance to dance along Kai, who was the male lead of said performance. The last thing he needed right now were a bunch of shallow girls acting like rabid sasaengs.

However, the unfortunate was occuring at the moment. 

"I'm leaving," Baekhyun lifted his head when he heard Kai's voice. "I can't take this anymore."

"Where are you going?" Suho asked his brother.

"Out," Kai replied as he grabbed his belongings.

"Can't you stay a bit longer?" Suho asked. "We have break in a few."

"No way," Kai shook his head. "I honestly don't like it when they act like that. I feel a migraine coming to after what just happened."

"Kai's right; we should just let the atmosphere cool down and wait 'till everyone's more level-headed. We should start the break now," Kyungsoo said to everyone. "We've been here since six in the morning and it's now noon. We really need it."

Baekhyun sighed. "Alright. Break ends in one hour."

"Let's make it hour and a half. You haven't even eaten anything," Kyungsoo suggested to Baekhyun.

"Okay," Baekhyun said defeatedly. "Fine, I'll just go announce it to the girls."

Suho and Yi Fan followed after Baekhyun, leaving Kai and Kyungsoo behind.

"Thanks for that," Kai told the owl-eyed boy, making the latter blush.

"N-No problem," Kyungsoo replied. He was about to say something but he was interrupted when they heard a bunch of female groans of disappointment. Both boys assumed Baekhyun told the girls about the break.

"You know, you should go through the emergency exit if you want to avoid being seen by the she-monsters."

Kai furrowed his brows in confusion. "Wouldn't that set the alarms?"

"Nope," Kyungsoo shook his head, "that door's alarm has been broken for a while. Baekhyun told me the people from Security XXI are coming next week to fix it."

"Alright," Kai placed his hand on Kyungsoo's dark hair to ruffle it, "I'll see you later, then."

"Yah! Just go," Kyungsoo huffed as he tried fixing his hair.

"Killjoy," Kai grinned at the smaller boy before heading towards the emergency exit Kyungsoo told him about. "Bye."

Once he was alone, Kyungsoo sat down on one of the seats and placed both his hands on his cheeks. They were both warm and Kyungsoo was pretty sure they were tinted in pink.

Thanks a lot, Kai, he thought, now I'm a mess once more

---

"Remind me again," Sehun heard Luhan tell Hui Lei, "why am I giving you a piggy-back ride when you have two legs?"

"Because you're my favorite cousin," Hui Lei replied. 

"We're not even related."

"Oh, we soon will," Hui Lei told Luhan, "but for now, let's carry on with our amazing adventure to SM Town!"

Currently, Sehun and Luhan were carrying Jiao-long and Hui Lei on their backs on their way to the SM Town Plaza in the middle of the Academy's campus to get something to eat. However, the two older boys were starting to become tired. After all, the twins were were almost as tall as Baekhyun- and they weren't the lightest things to carry, either.

"How much longer until we get there?" Sehun asked Luhan.

"We're almost there," Luhan struggled to keep Hui Lei on his back without making both of them fall to the ground.

They kept walking until the twins instructed them to stop at the ice cream parlor. Finally inside their destination, Luhan had ordered strawberry and melon ice cream for the twins. As he waited in line, Sehun stayed with the twins, who were currently staring at him in an intense manner.

"Please stop doing that," Sehun broke the silence, hoping the twins would stop with the creepy eye contact; they didn't.

"Is it really bad to stare at you?" Hui Lei said in a dazed manner. "It's your fault for being good-looking."

"No, really. Just stop," Sehun diverted his attention to the window.

"Here you go," Luhan placed two glass bowls of ice cream in front of the twins who dived into the treat quickly. "So, anything I missed?"

"Sehun is in a  pissy mood because we called him handsome," Sehun began blushing when he heard the girl say it so bluntly. And he wasn't in a pissy mood nor did he want Luhan to hear something as silly as this.

"Is that so?" 

"But you know what?"

"What?"

"The reason why Sehun is being like this," Hui Lei paused to look around them. She gestured for Luhan to get closer; once he did, she continued continued. "Is because he wants to hear you say that he's handsome."

"WHAT?!" Sehun and Luhan exclaimed, looking at the twins with surprise. Then they stared at each other but averted their gazes from each other as quickly as possible. They tried to ignore the confused looks people inside the parlor where giving them.

"That is not true!"

"I don't want him to call me that!"

"Right," Jiao-long said sarcastically, "and now we're going to claim Yixing is a magical unicorn."

"You two are mad, I swear,¨Luhan scoffed, while avoiding the twins' grins. "Always saying odd things."

"They may be odd, but what we say is always true," Jiao-long replied before taking a bite of his ice-cream.

"Please, you make it seem like Sehun and I are interested in each other in a way that's beyond friendly. Which is obviously not the case."

Sehun nodded at this, but he felt uncomfortable when heard his friend say this. It was as if he was- dissapointed?

"As if," Hui Lei stated, "I haven't seen anyone, not even my brother and Tao, do more skinship than you two."

I seriously didn't need to know that, Sehun thought.

"Besides, you have this look on your faces when you gaze at each other," Luhan tried to interrupt her, but failed. "Don't interrupt me, 'cause what I'm saying is true. You didn't even look at Choi Minho that way when you had a crush on him."

"I didn't have a crush on him!" Luhan spluttered. "I admired him because he was a good athlete."

"Uh-huh, right... keep telling yourself that."

"Wait a minute," Sehun raised his hands to halt the conversation, "who's Choi Minho?"

"Minho is an friend of Lee Taemin, who is Suho and Kai's first cousin from Ae Cha's side of the family. We met him when he was still in high school with Taemin. We would tell you more but it seems that if we don't stop talking about him anytime soon, poor Lulu will become a tomato."

"I never crushed on him."

"Sure you didn't," Hui Lei snickered, "because crushing on somebody doesn't consist of gawking at an attractive sunbae when he's shirtless after playing soccer with you."

Sehun saw Luhan turn beet-red. "That's enough, you two," Sehun faced the twins, hoping they would indeed stop.

"We won't stop!" Hui Lei spread her arms as if to emphasize her point. However, when she did that, she had accidentally knocked a milkshake from a random guy's hand. This caused the milkshake to be spilled on Luhan.

"Aigoo!" the guy exclaimed as he placed the now-empty cup on their table. "I'm so sorry," he apologized to Luhan.

"It's alright," Luhan grabbed a few napkins to clean the small bits of the milkshake off his face. "Oh boy," he stood up and inspected the damage. His white shirt didn't survive the milkshake attack, and his pants had tiny stains. "I'm going to go clean myself up," he told Sehun before he walked away to the restroom.

Sehun wanted to follow, but something told him Luhan would prefer to be alone to avoid being reminded of the awkwardness that had taken place before the mishap. Instead, he frowned at the twins.

"Oops?" Hui Lei smiled sheepishly, as if that would help soften the boy's expression. It didn't.

"Nice going," Sehun said sarcastically.

"I'm sor-", the girl was interrupted by her twin brother who elbowed her softly. "What was that for?"

"Look," Jiao-long pointed in the direction of the counter, where they saw a familiar lady in her mid-forties. The lady was Seong Eun Ji, the person in charge of the parlor.

"Oh crap," Hui Lei decided to hide her face behind her hand. "Let's get out of here." She stood up rapidly and speed-walked towards the exit.

"Come on, Sehun-ge," Jiao-long pulled Sehun's hand, making the latter stand up and get dragged by the youngest Wu.

"Why?" Sehun asked bewildered.

"We cannot let Eun Ji see us," the boy pointed subtly at the woman, who was unaware of their presence. "She caught us trying to sneak out a whole container of green tea ice cream with my pal Henry," he explained, "let's just say we kind of got banned from this ice cream parlour ever since."

"Please tell me this is the only place that you got banned from," Sehun hoped that this was the only case of banishment; he didn't want to get in trouble just because he was with the twins.

"Um, yeah... You know, at least in Seoul," Jiao-long laughed nervously once they were outside of the ice cream parlor. "You see, Hui Lei, my mom, and I have gotten banned from a lot of places."

Sehun's eyes widened. "How much is a lot?" Did he really want to know?

"Altogether, I would say about five countries and a 7-Eleven in Busan," he replied nonchalantly.

"I-I'm not even going to bother asking what happened," Sehun face-palmed internally.

"Do you think Eun Ji saw us?" Hui Lei barged into their small talk.

"I don't think so. We got out before she could see us," Jiao-long told her as he looked back at the place.

"No! Come back!"

The three teens were startled when they heard a girl scream as she chased after her scarf that kept flying away from her due to a strong gust of wind. Sehun recognized her as Krystal, the girl he crashed into earlier. She looked like she was struggling, so he ran after her until she stopped by a nearby tree where her scarf got stuck at. Sehun saw Krystal pout as she stared at the item in defeat.

"Need help?" Sehun made his presence known to his classmate, whose eyes widened when she saw who it was. A few seconds later, she found the ability to speak once more.

"Please, if it's not too much to ask of," Krystal begged.

Sehun started climbing the tree; although he wasn't scared of heights, he was a bit wary because of the fragility of the tree branches. After all, the early signs of winter were amongst them and tree branches tended to break more easily due to the cold temperatures. Luckily for him, the scarf wasn't too far up and he managed to get the item without falling and injuring himself.

"Here you go," Sehun gave the scarf back to Krystal.

"Thanks," Krystal smiled at him. "Um, how can I pay you back?"

"Huh?"

"You helped me. I can't just leave without paying back a favor."

"Oh," Sehun clutched the back of his neck, "er, it's not really necessary for you to pay me back."

"Please. I will feel guilty if I don't."

I guess it won't hurt to let her... She seems nice

"Well, I can't say no to a lady, right?" Sehun took a page out of Kai's book at that moment. He didn't know how to deal with females, whereas Kai knew what he was doing with them, regardless of their age. Hopefully, this was the right thing to say; he had seen Kai say this to women a bunch of times.

It seemed it was indeed the correct answer because Krystal giggled. "Well then, do you want anything in specific?"

Sehun thought about it for a bit. So far, he had nothing in mind. "Not really," he answered sincerely, "how about we leave the offer open until I make up my mind?"

"Sure, that could work," Krystal took out her phone from her pocket. "Can I get your phone number? That way we could contact each other when you make up your mind."

"Yeah," Sehun took out his phone. He almost laughed when he saw the differences between his old-but-still-functional phone and Krystal's gold iPhone. Complete opposites, he thought, but I'm still fine with my phone. "Here," he handed the phone to her, and vice versa. They started typing in their contact information and gave back the phone to their respective owners when they were done.

"Alright then," Krystal checked the time, "I better get going. I need to go help out my sister with some stuff for the Winter Festival."

"Are you participating in anything in specific?" he asked.

"Not really, but since the college students are the ones in charge of the booths for that day, my sister wants me to help her decorate the booths. What about you?"

"I wasn't told anything, but I'm pretty sure Baekhyun or Suho will tell me if they need my help."

"Suho?"

"Oh, I mean Kim Joonmyeon. That is his nickname."

"Ah. Got it," Krystal waved at him. "I gotta run. It was nice seeing you again."

"You too," Sehun told her as she began running towards the college building. He waited until she was out of sight to go back to where he was before. However, it seemed that he didn't have to since the twins were standing nearby.

"What was that about?" Hui Lei poked his chest. "You just ran off after the Jung girl."

"She needed hel- Wait, you know her?"

"Of course I know her. Her family owns Blanc and Eclare, a fashion brand that rivals Lien's BWCW. She was amongst the possible candidates for a marriage interview with Yi Fan. Well, that was before my mom started hanging out with Lien, of course. I actually happen to not hate Jung Krystal or her older sister because they're not annoying or mean. Their parents? Whole different story."

"Oh." Of course they would know each other. It seems that if you're wealthy, the world is a small place.

"Anyways, we should probably start looking around SM Town Plaza right now. We don't have all day-"

"Wait, what about Luhan? He's still in-"

"Oh, yeah," Jiao-long started laughing nervously, "about that. You see-"

"-while you were busy climbing trees and obtaining a girl's phone number, we kinda lost sight of Luhan 'cause he's no longer in the bathroom when Jiao-long sneaked back inside to check on him," Hui Lei finished the sentence. 

"WHAT?!"

---

"Great," Luhan muttered to himself, "I lost them."

After he had cleaned the milkshake off him, the guy who had apologized to him dragged him out of the ice cream parlor so the latter would be able to give him a change of clothes from the school store (apparently, he worked at said store). At that point, he wasn't given the chance to check if Sehun and the twins were still there. Once he got his change of clothes (and, unbeknownst to him, the guy's phone number written down in a piece of paper), he went back to the ice cream parlor. However, none of the three were there when he came back. He looked around the ice cream parlor and the other shops in the SM Town Plaza, but he didn't have any luck finding them. He started walking around in circles after that, and now, he was on his way to the basketball court. He hoped he would find them there because it was going to be one of the places he was going to go with his still-missing companions. When he reached the basketball court, Luhan's hopes deflated when he didn't see any of them inside. However, he did see Kai playing by himself.

Maybe, he would know where they are

Luhan walked in quietly and appproached the tan boy who was still unaware of his presence. He stayed quiet until Kai missed the net. "You're losing your touch," Luhan commented as he caught the ball and started dribbling.

"Luhan," Kai grinned when he saw the older of the two. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm watching over the... wait, no, I was watching over the twins with Sehun. But I kinda lost them after a while," Luhan said sheepishly. "I had thought they would be here, but it looks like I'm wrong." He threw the ball and managed to score.

As soon as the ball met the ground, Kai grabbed ahold of it. "Sorry, but I've been here for about fifteen minutes and nobody has passed nearby since then."

"Oh," Luhan replied dejectedly as he watched his friend score.

"On the bright side," Kai passed the ball to Luhan, "you found me, meaning you're not lonely anymore." 

Luhan smiled at this. "I guess so. Can you help me find them, or would that be too much to ask?"

"Sure, but you should play with me first. You look like you need a distraction."

The two boys kept passing the ball back and forth for a while in calm silence. However, Luhan's mind was still in turmoil because of the earlier events. He honestly couldn't believe (actually, he takes that back; he can believe) that the twins would say something like that, especially in front of Sehun. The milkshake incident wasn't any better because now, the three people he was with were missing. He couldn't even call them because his phone turned off due to low battery (Damn, I shouldn't have thrown it at the wall before it finished charging).

"You seem thoughtful," Luhan snapped out of it when Kai spoke. "Are you alright?"

"Meh," Luhan shrugged, "my morning literally went downhill thanks to the twins and a cup of milkshake."

"I get the twins, but what does milkshake have to do with it?" Kai asked amusedly.

"Hui Lei accidentally swung a cup of strawberry milkshake from a guy onto me. I got dragged out of the parlor by the same guy to get a change of clothes," Luhan pointed at the brand new gym uniform he was wearing, "hence the reason why I lost the twins and Sehun."

Kai whistled after the explanation was heard. "Wow. That is a rough considering Saturdays are your favorite." Kai received the ball from Luhan and threw the ball to the net. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah," Luhan nodded, "thanks for listening to my petty issues." Even though he left out a lot if things, he felt relieved that he didn't have to keep it to himself anymore.

There was a pause between them until Luhan decided to ask Kai about the auditions. It would only be fair if he listened to what Kai had to say, too. "So, how are the auditions going? The twins told me you guys had a long list for today."

"Terrible," Kai admitted, "I love women, but I seriously hate when they get catty against each other. Especially when they're fighting over me."

"How catty did they get?" Luhan was curious; the last time he saw girls fight over Kai was a month ago when some girls confessed their 'love' for him. It had not been a pretty sight since it involved some serious hair-pulling and punches.

"They passed the 'Baekhyun Chair Tantrum' level," Kai said.

"Ouch," Luhan muttered; whenever someone crossed the 'Baekhyun Chair Tantrum' level, that was far from being a good thing.

"Yeah," Kai remembered the constant fighting; as a result of his increasing frustration at this, he threw the ball with so much force, it rebounded to the other side of the court.

"S***!" Kai cursed aloud but regretted it when Luhan gave him a stern look. "Mianhae."

"It's alright, just don't let it become a habit. Why don't we take a break?" Luhan walked up to the fence and sat down. Kai followed suit and laid on his back , letting his head fall on top of Luhan's lap.

Luhan began to get worried about Kai; he was used to Kai hugging him and what not. But whenever Kai puts his head on his lap, it means that something is nagging him.

"What's wrong?"

"All of these issues are stressing me out," Kai closed his eyes, "I never thought that it would be so difficult when something goes wrong with the production, which had started out on a left foot and it's just going downhill since then. It only got worst when Song Quian got hurt and dropped out of the play along with her understudy. The auditions are a total wreck; I'm pretty sure ninety-percent of those girls who are going on stage don't care about the play. Instead, they're fighting each other like idiots. If it was my decision, I would cancel the auditions and choose who I want as my partner. Instead, I just have to watch from ft he sidelines and wonder whether I made the right decision to join the production or not. Heck, I was even considering leaving the production."

The Chinese boy began caressing Kai's hair absentmindedly. He understood that problems like these would make anyone change their mind about committing to a production like this. However, he knew Kai had worked hard to obtain that role; usually, the male lead of the ballet performance was a third-year student. Kai had broken that tradition this year because everyone knew he was the perfect candidate for this role, and it didn't make sense that he should give up what he rightfully won because of a few annoying girls.

"Kim Jong In," Luhan was determined to change his friend's mind, "look at me."

Kai opened his eyes and saw Luhan with a gentle yet serious expression. Behind the older boy, the sun rays were making a halo around him, making Luhan look like a divine figure.

He's so beautiful, I swear

"You worked hard for a role that you've wanted for a while now. Don't give it up just because raging female hormones are ruining your parade. Especially not now because our friends have a lot on their plate in order to make this performance a success," Luhan ranted, "What happened to the boy that told me a few years ago that he was invinsible? You're Kim Jong In; you never give up for any damn reason!" 

Even though Kai was looking at the boy's lips, he listened to every word. After giving it much thought (he was still not keen on the annoying girls part), he finally made a decision. He would stay in the production because he knew damn well that Luhan had a point. However, if he chose to stay, he will make sure to make the best of it... by pulling some strings, of course.

"You're right!" Kai sat up excitedly, feeling a bit dizzy afterwards. "I'm going to stay in the production for good."

Luhan smiled brightly. "That's great!"

Kai smirked before changing into a kneeling position besides Luhan. "However, I will need you to grant me a favor."

"Of course. Whatever you want."

Kai gestured Luhan to get closer to him. When Luhan did, Kai whispered something in his ear; Luhan's eyes widened when he heard Kai's words.

"N-No way in hell!" Luhan stuttered with his cheeks tinted in pink.

"You said you would do whatever I wanted. Or are you going to start backing out of your promises?" Kai smirked. "Come on, Lulu."

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No, I still have to look for Sehun and the twins."

"I can call them if you want. I'll tell them to wait with Yi Fan."

Luhan shook his head. There was no way he was going along with Kai's crazy idea.

"Please, do it for me," Kai begged, pulling his puppy face, "I swear I will make sure everything works out for you."

"I-It won't work. I don't have what it takes to do this, literally."

"Actually, don't do it for me. Do it for our friends who are stressing themselves for this noble cause."

Luhan sighed; he really didn't want to do what Kai had proposed, but if he did accept, he would help facilitate a lot of things for the preparation of the Winter Festival.

Ugh, why me?!

"Fine," Luhan said defeatedly, "I'll do it. But this has to stay in secret, alright? At least until I say so."

"I'll make sure there will be as much privacy as possible," Kai stood up and held his hand for Luhan to take. Once Luhan did, Kai pulled Luhan into a hug. "Thank you, Luhan."

Luhan grinned slightly, but his worries were far from over. "But what if I fail?" he asked while Kai was grabbing his stuff.

"You won't," Kai replied with full confidence in his voice. "Want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you are perfect."

---

"Where is he?" Sehun asked to himself as he looked around the basketball court, but there was no one in sight.

Luhan was nowhere to be found, and almost an hour had passed since he disappeared. He tried calling him multiple times, but his friend's phone was probably turned off.

"Sehun!" He heard Hui Lei call him. "We already checked the playground and the abandoned building, and nothing! We can't find him!"

"I already called Yi Fan. He told me that Luhan's not there, either," Jiao-long added.

Sehun pulled his hair in frustration and worry. "Where else could he be?"

What if something terrible happened to him? What if that's the reason why he's not answering his phone?No, stop thinking like that! Just keep calm! We'll find him eventually.

Beep, Beep

Sehun took out his phone and checked his text messages. It was Kyungsoo.

Yi Fan told me that Luhan is missing. I already contacted the school's security guards to help look for him. Meanwhile, you should come back with the twins to the Arena. If Luhan is found, he will be escorted there.

Sehun typed his response to Kyungsoo before sending it. He then turned to the twins. "We need to go to the Arena. The school's security will look for him and bring him there."

The twins sighed in defeat. Although they were being mischievous earlier, they were now genuinely worried. Even if Luhan was a target for their shenanigans, the boy was still their friend. They wanted to find him as much as Sehun, but they were annoyed that the grown-ups were now involved because they usually never did things the way they wanted them to.

Sehun was in the same predicament. Although he appreciated Kyungsoo's help, the thought of the security guards helping out didn't really help calm his nerves. It just made them skyrocket. If they couldn't find Luhan, there was a possibility that the adults wouldn't be able to find him either. 

But what could he do now? Just wait until his relief came back the minute he sees Luhan walk in with a guard, or worry further as time passes by with no sign of him.

---

"I'm sorry. You want me to what?"

Tao stared incredulously at Luhan after he heard him utter the impossible phrase that would probably signal that the apocalypse was amongst them.

"I'm not repeating myself. It gives me goosebumps by just hearing myself say that," Luhan shivered. It scared him enough that he had agreed to do what Kai wanted him to do. He didn't want to find a reason to run out of the costume room, where Kai and Luhan had locked themselves in with Tao as their hostage.

"Can you please help us?" Kai begged beside him.

"Look, as much as I'm internally jumping in excitement at what you've requested, I think you both are mad. How is he going to do a proper routine in less than a day? Many of these girls have practiced for days. I doubt Luhan even knows what he's going to do for the solo part of his audition," Tao tried to convince them out of their plan because it was something crazy and it would only happen in those dramas he loved to watch.

"Au contraire," Kai waved his statement off, "Luhan has been more than ready since the first year we met."

Tao scoffed at this. "Okay, you got that 'covered,' but what if he passes the audition?" The tall Chinese boy then turned to Luhan. "You do realize you can't back out of this once you do get accepted, right? You won't be able to be yourself when it comes to the rehearsals and the production."

"I know," Luhan answered with the confidence that was draining away from him as the minutes passed. However, he wanted to help his friends find a solution to the problem as soon as possible and that's what kept him from backing out.

The third-youngest boy sighed in defeat. He then pulled Luhan into a quick hug. "My sweet Lu-ge," Tao patted the smaller boy's head. "Out of all the days your rational head decided to take a risk, why did it have to be today?" He released the boy. "Do you guys have any requests in specific before I start working my magic?"

Kai and Luhan cheered internally when Tao decided to get involved in their scheme. "Not really. As long as Luhan looks unrecognizable and he's able to dance comfortably, we're fine with that. Oh, and I need you to take a picture of Luhan after you're done. I need it for his file."

"How am I gonna do that?" Tao asked confused as he looked around the room for clothes.

Kai took out a Polaroid camera. "I managed to 'borrow' it from Baekhyun while Luhan ran to go get you." He then saw Tao shake his head. "What? He didn't notice snce he's too busy dealing with the crazies."

"Just go," Tao told him. "I'll have Luhan ready in a bit."

"Thanks Tao," Kai left the camera before blowing a kiss to the two boys. "I'll come back in a half hour to check on you." He opened the door and left.

Tao gripped Luhan's shoulders. "Ready for your torture? You know you can still back ou-"

"I'm ready," Luhan interrupted him. He seriously didn't want the other from giving him lost hopes.

"Alright," Tao proceeded to take Luhan's shirt off, "brace yourself."

---

Two more hours had passed and Sehun's anxiety had yet to disappear. There had yet to be a sign of Luhan, and there he was, sitting down in the very front of the Arena with his friends waiting to get out of the giant auditorium so he could calm down and look for the missing boy.

"Thank you, Miss Lee," they heard Suho say to the girl who was currently on stage. "We will contact you in one or two days."

"How many girls do we have left?" Yi Fan asked his companions.

"One more girl, Go Ara," Baekhyun responded.

Thankfully, Sehun thought.

"Wait! There's one more!"

No! No more girls!

Everyone stared in shock as they saw Kai running towards the table where the judges were sitting at. "We can't add ano-" Suho was interrupted when Kai shoved a file to him.

"Just add hi- HER to the list," Kai pleaded. "Please. Just trust me on this. She's really amazing."

Sehun watched as Kai hugged and smiled at his brother when Suho accepted the file. 

If only he knew about Luhan's disappearance,  then he wouldn't be that happy.

Sehun watched gloomily as the second-to-last girl went on stage and danced. Although he didn't deny that the girl was a good dancer, he just wanted the performance to end so whoever Kai recommended would finish her piece; after this, he could leave and find Luhan. 

Five minutes later and Go Ara finished her audition. The stage was empty now, much to Sehun's relief.

Just one more... one more and I can leave.

"Alright," Baekhyun said aloud, "could Zhang Chun Yan step on stage? Thank you."

"Is there even a girl with that name?" Sehun heard Hui Lei tell her brother. 

"She's probably a third-year student," Jiao-long shrugged with disinterest.

A few seconds passed, and the stage lights went off, leaving most of the Arena in the darkness. Before anyone could understand what was going on, a contemporary pop song started playing followed by one of the center spotlight turning on, revealing Zhang Chun Yan. The girl was a pretty interesting sight to see. The girl had reddish brown hair but her whole face was covered by a gold Colombina half-mask with baroque accents. Other than her hidden face, the girl was slightly taller than the other candidates but not by much, but her dark long-sleeved shirt revealed her thin frame. Most of the boys and Hui Lei sat up to see what the girl had to offer.

As the song went on, Sehun was finding it hard to not become immersed with the girl on stage who was mystery incarnate. This Zhang Chun Yan was different from the previous  girls he'd seen; despite the similar appearance in the black clothing, the mask and her entrance made her stand out. When Chun Yan started dancing to the beat of the song, everyone was caught up with the light-haired girl's graceful moves. She danced in a way that made her mesmerizing to look because of her effortless yet subtle sensuality. 

Then, the song shifted to an instrumental classic and Chun Yan shifted from a sensual woman to an innocent girl in less than a second. Although she was being the opposite of the girl she first displayed, Sehun was 'subtly' staring at her lithe body. He looked away when he felt his heart race and warmth on his cheek. Zhang Chun Yan, Sehun admited silently, as irresistible, and if he were to choose between the girls he knew (which weren't a lot) and Chun Yan, he would choose the mysterious dancer.

Soon enough, there was another change in music, shifting from lively and sweet to serene tragedy. Chun Yan didn't fail to emit the emotions of the music; she danced as if she were actually hurt. 

"Whoa, she's really good," he heard Hui Lei whisper. "Jiao-long, there's no need to cry for the lovely noona on stage."

"I'm not crying," Jiao-long muttered back. "There's just something in my eye."

Even though he wasn't tearing up like Jiao-long, Sehun did feel that painful squeeze in chest as he watched Chun Yan dance to the sad music. He really wanted to run up to the stage and stop the performance just to hug the girl.

When the instrumental song ended, Chun Yan allowed herself to fall gracefully on the stage's floor as if she were collapsing to her death. After this, Sehun shocked everyone by standing up and clapping. Slowly but surely, the others followed suit and as a result, Chun Yan received a standing ovation.

When the girl stood up and gave a small curtsy, Kai ran up to the girl and spinned her around.

"You were amazing!" Kai hugged her. "I told you you would kill them with your talent."

Everyone walked up to the stage to congratulate Chun Yan for her amazing work.

"Zhang Chun Yan," Baekhyun ripped Chun Yan away from Kai and gently shook the girl's shoulders. "You have to dance for us. That's final; you're the prima ballerina of 'The Steadfast Tin Soldier.'"

As soon as Baekhyun stepped away from her, Sehun used this chance to get closer. When he had the girl's attention, he felt his breath hitch

Speak fool! This is your chance!

"You're beautiful," Sehun turned peach after he blurted this out. "I-I meant your dance is beautiful... Wait, I'm not saying that you aren't beautiful. I'm pretty sure you have a beautiful face under that mask. I'm sorry... I'm acting like such a pathetic flop right now." When Sehun heard her chuckle, his face was a full-blown tomato.

"Well, I would prefer a 'manlier' term than that, but I guess not everyone can be as handsome as you are. Nonetheless, I'm still flattered by your kind words, Sehun," a very familiar voice said. 

Eh? Wait, she just sounded like-

"Luhan?!" a pair of very surprised twins asked.

Chun Yan took off the mask, revealing a very amused Luhan. Everyone with the exception of Kai gawked in total shock at the crossdressing Luhan. 

Seeing everyone's reaction, Luhan gave them a meek smile.

"Surprise?" he shrugged, with an accidental aegyo in display.

 

 

---

The Arena:

Luhan's Audition:

Haunted-Beyonce (cover) danced by Simone / Giovanna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQcym_ouDVM

Bianca Melchior - The Chairman's Waltz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIde-gToXZw