Random Rambles: Hi lovelies, how was your Halloween? Hope y'all had fun! Can't believe it's November already (OoO) Time flies~!!

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Jae-yah! You've been so absent the whole day, are you feeling okay?

A cheerful voice sounded, while a pair of warm, sparkling eyes watched from a distance at two girls having a conversation. 

I'm fine, don't worry. I guess I'm just a little tired. I'm not particularly fond of Mondays. 

Luhan didn't have to be able to get into her mind to know that she was lying. He smirked as he carefully studied her facial expression. She fluttered her eyelids and blushed ever so slightly when she lied. Jae didn't grant him access to her mind, but that didn't mean that he couldn't happen to sneak into the mind of her friend to eavesdrop on the conversation. He eased his conscience by telling himself that he wouldn't have resorted to doing this if Jae hadn't been avoiding him and his brothers since Saturday night. 

Aw! Don't feel bad, Jae-yah, at least we get to see Luhan-oppa and all the others again, she giggled and Luhan watched to see how Jae would react to this. 

Oh, uh, yeah, I guess, she shrugged and he narrowed his eyes slightly. He couldn't interpret her words, couldn't read her expression. He knew that he shouldn't, but temptation was too great. He focused on Jae's conversational partner, Lili, he found out was her name, and sent her a message. 

Hey, what do you think about them, anyway?

He saw the girl's lips move accordingly, but he knew that it were his words she uttered. 

What? The twelve? Uh, I don't know. Why are you asking? 

Jae retaliated and Luhan pulled a worried face when Lili blinked and frowned. 

Huh? Oh, uh...I don't know, she giggled, a little confused. Time for some damage control. 

What I meant is that, you know, they're so handsome and...stuff, Luhan winced a little. How was he supposed to roleplay a girl? And, uh, they seem to be pretty interested in you. 

Oops. He hadn't meant to sound jealous. Where did that even come from? Jae watched her friend a moment before she shrugged again. 

I don't think 'interested' is the right word. But, I guess they're just being nice, or something, you know, since I'm the new girl, and all that. She ran a hand through her dark hair. Luhan sensed that Lili could continue the conversation and he just listened. Jae was not an open book, and he wasn't sure how to handle people like that since he could usually read them without any effort. With Jae, however, it felt like he had to use a pry bar to get her to open up and he didn't particularly like that. 

They would totally do that, they're so kind and sweet, and cute...especially Luhan-oppa! 

Luhan cringed again, feeling embarrassed, but he had to act cool. He didn't want to get unwanted attention by behaving strangely. 

You really like him, don't you? 

Jae then asked, causing his ears to perk up. Did he just noticed the tiniest hint of jealousy in her voice?

How could you not? Have you taken a good look at him, Jae-yah? He's sooo pretty!

"What?!" Luhan piped out of the blue, turning a few heads. Startled, he turned around, playing it cool as he looked into his locker, pretending to be searching for something. When no one gave him a second look, he sighed out of relief, but was a little annoyed. Why would she think that he was pretty? 'Pretty' was the term used to describe girls, not men, like him! 

He blinked when he heard Jae's laughter in his mind, and he carefully looked at the girls who were standing further away. Was she laughing at him somehow? 

I don't think 'pretty' is the right word to describe him, Lili. I think he'd appreciate it more if you called him 'handsome', rather than 'pretty'. 

Luhan's eyes widened a little, pleasantly surprised. There was no way that she heard his thoughts, was there? He was always very careful to shield his mind for possible intruders. He smiled along this time when he saw Jae laughing. 

Yeah, probably, but I can't help it, he's so pretty, his eyes, his face, ugh, I can't! her friend stated dramatically, and even though it made him feel a little uncomfortable, he decided to let it slide and focused on Jae instead. 

There, there, Jae patted her encouragingly on the shoulder. Lili sighed and then nodded. 

Thanks, Jae-yah. He's so pretty it hurts, she continued before finally getting a hold of herself. Hey, by the way, a bunch of us are going into town right now. Do you want to come along? We could talk about who we're going to ask for the Homecoming Dance!

Oh, thanks for the offer, Lili, but I kind of already have some other plans, Jae replied, tugging a lock of hair behind her ear. Luhan hummed softly to himself. What other plans? 

Oh gosh, of course! How could I forget? 

Luhan didn't like how Lili giggled when she playfully nudged Jae, winking at her in a teasing way. 

Give my regards to Minho, okay? Maybe we'll catch you two kids in town. 

Jae chuckled, Luhan frowning discontently at seeing her flush. 

Yeah, who knows. I'll see you later, she greeted amicably. 

See you, Jae-yah! 

Lili left and Luhan finally closed his locker after only using it as a cover-up to be able to eavesdrop on the conversation. He adjusted the strap of his backpack, feeling a little uneasy. Should he confront her? Why? What right did he have to do so? While he was debating with himself what he should do, he saw that Jae was steadily walking away, out of the school building and unwittingly, his legs started moving, going after her. He only halted when Jae waited at the bottom of the steps that lead up to the school, leaning against one of the stone lions that guarded the front gate. 

After another moment of hesitation, he cleared his throat, straightened himself and walked towards her. She was busy with looking down on her phone, unaware that he was approaching her. Seeing her face getting closer, he thought back briefly to the time in the woods when she first granted him access to her mind, so easily and so willingly. He hadn't told anyone, but he was genuinely surprised at how stable she was. It wasn't an easy feat to allow someone access to their dreams and Luhan had held himself back as much as he could, but she didn't think him an intruder. Her mind was strong. 

"I bet I can tell what you're thinking," he said teasingly in her ear, chuckling when she startled and jumped a little. She stared at him, wide-eyed, until she visibly relaxed at seeing that it was him and she clacked her tongue in accusation at him.  

"No, you can't," she replied steadily, her warm eyes beaming confidently, nearly teasingly at him. Luhan his lips, the grin evident on his face. 

"Okay, you're right. Guess that means that you should hurry up and grant me access already, make it easier," he replied, seeing Jae cross her arms across her chest, propping up a judging eyebrow his way. 

"Nice try, but I'll pass," she told him, before looking a bit out of place again. 

"You-," Luhan shut his mouth, wondering whether he should go ahead and confront her. He saw that he caught her attention and that she was expecting him to say something. He coughed shortly. "You didn't show up last night," he remarked quietly, leaning his arm against the side of the lion, liking how Jae was much shorter than he was so it appeared like she was somewhat covered by him. 

The playfulness in her eyes shimmered away and she hugged her arms. "Yeah, well, I didn't feel like being ripped open to shreds last night so I stayed home and caught up on some sleep," she replied sarcastically, and Luhan couldn't blame her. Her fear had been real. Her wound was real as well. The white wolf Jae claimed had attacked her- he still wasn't sure. He didn't see it. None of his brothers saw it either. They even went hunting for this mystery wolf last night instead of the pulse of energy, but to no avail. 

"I'd ask you how you're doing, but that seems clarifying enough," Luhan whispered, his look genuinely concerned. He wasn't one that got scared easily, but hearing Jae scream, seeing her fight off something that he couldn't see- it was something he never wanted to experience again. Something he didn't want her to experience again either. In all honesty, when he held her, he didn't want to let go. He kept it to himself, but he was ready to kill whoever did this to her. 

"I'm sorry," he then said, looking into her eyes. "We shouldn't have asked you to come hunting with us so quickly, but because we did, we should've kept you safe, protected you. If we were more vigilant, this wouldn't have happened." His apology was sincere and he could feel the strong sense of regret and guilt return to him from two nights before. "I know we made a huge mistake, but I promise you that none of us will ever allow something like this to happen again. Just- please, don't ignore us." 

"You don't have to apologize, Luhan," Jae's voice was soft and she looked sad. "It was my own stupid fault for going after it by myself. I got startled. It was just...too much," she explained, letting out a shy chuckle before facing him again. "I'm not ignoring you. I just needed to get my thoughts straight, back away from it for a while." Jae bit her lip and Luhan thought he'd die at seeing her blush, shuffling her feet in the process because, damn it, the girl wasn't cute enough already!

"I really didn't mean to give off the impression that I was neglecting you, or anything. I wanted to tell you that I wouldn't come with last night, but I realized that I don't have any of your phone numbers," she added ever so quietly, unable to properly look at him as she said it. 

Luhan laughed softly at this, smirking. "Well, that's easily solved," he commented, grabbing her phone from her hands before she could protest and entered his personal information. "There," he handed the device back to her and she accepted it, only a little bewildered. "Now you can reach me whenever you want," he said. 

"Uh- y-yeah, guess so...Um, thanks," she replied, staring at his number. 

Luhan's smile faded a little when he caught her touching her side for a moment. He wished that he could see into her mind, watch her memories. It would be easier to see what had happened to her, but he respected her wishes. "Do you remember any specific details about the white wolf?" he asked, a little more seriously now. 

"Not anything that I haven't already told you. It was a white wolf, completely white, with green eyes. I don't know why it suddenly attacked me, I mean it wasn't like I provoked it, or anything, it just kept snapping at me, and lashing out-," Jae abruptly stopped talking and Luhan noticed the look of realization in her eyes. 

"Wake up," she muttered. Luhan guessed that she was speaking to herself. 

"Wake up?" he repeated, their eyes meeting again when Jae looked up at him. 

"I heard a voice," she then told him, looking around to make sure that no one else could hear them. Honestly, Luhan didn't mind that she had to lean closer towards him to do so. 

"I didn't recognize the voice, but it told me to wake up. I can only assume that it was the white wolf that said it to me, but it doesn't make any sense. Why would it tell me to wake up when I was already awake?" she then asked, glancing up at him to see if he knew the answer. Luhan wished he did, but he was none the wiser. He was still trying to figure out how it was possible that Jae claimed to be attacked by a white wolf when he hadn't been able to see one.

"What if it wasn't necessarily talking to you?" he then suggested as he was thinking about it. "Maybe it was calling out to something as well, like the way you called for help. Something that needed to wake up," he mused, his mind racing. 

"If that is the case, then the creepy question that accompanies that theory is, what exactly was it trying to wake up?" Jae's voice was a sweet and gentle whisper, but her words struck him like lightning, almost as though Chen had been around and accidentally zapped him. 

"I don't know," he mumbled, wondering what was going on. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't help but notice that things seemed particularly out of whack since Jae arrived. What did this girl set in motion? 

"You think I set something in motion?" Jae suddenly asked him, frowning a little as she looked up at him. Luhan startled. Did she hear him? Not possible, he didn't let anyone into his mind, he shielded it, always. 

"What?" he asked, dumbfounded. 

"I heard you," she told him, a little smile playing on her lips, thinking that he was fooling her. When she realized that he really wasn't she blinked. "You did just sent that to me, in my head, didn't you? I heard you loud and clear," she whispered. 

For the moment, Luhan could only shake his head, a strange mixture of feelings overwhelming him. Panic, concern, bewilderment, and lastly, warmth. He couldn't explain it, but it felt like a key clicked within a lock that opened something Luhan wasn't even aware of that needed to be opened. All he felt was an electrifying pull, a warmth that filled him with so much energy and joy he thought he would burst. 

His nerves tingled and burst at Jae's touch when her hand was on his shoulder. He nearly gasped for breath. 

"Luhan, are you okay?" her voice, her gentle voice called to him and the rest of the world didn't exist. He saw clearer than he had ever seen before, every scent, every sound did not go passed him unnoticed, but they seemed irrelevant right now. The voices he heard had grown louder as well, but Jae drowned them out. She made him feel- stronger. 

"Hey, do you want me to get someone? Luhan? Luhan, hey, get a grip, your- eh," she leaned forward, the smell of jasmine clouding his mind. "Luhan, your eyes," she whispered warningly. Apparently, he didn't react fast enough since Jae reached for her bag and grabbed a pair of sunglasses which she slipped on him before he realized what she was doing. His reflexes were fast when he took hold of one of her hands, refusing to let go. 

"What's the matter?" Jae asked in concern, looking around, giving nervous smiles at people who happened to see the interaction, but Luhan didn't care. He never felt this way before. Like he could conquer the whole world, all because of her. 

"Hey, snap out of it," she pulled her hand which he was holding. "You're freaking me out. What are you thinking, showing your eyes like that?" 

"You don't feel this?" he asked, not knowing what to do with so much energy. He could hear the countless voices, see images and memories and thoughts all at once. In the past it had made him scream out of agony, but now, he could filter it, he could walk through each voice, through each mind like child's play. He bet that if he wanted to, he could lift and move the school building with a single thought- heck, he could probably lift the entire island! As long as Jae didn't let go of him. 

"Feel what?" she asked, her face concerned. 

"This," he nearly shouted in frustration, lifting his hand that was holding hers. "You're doing this, aren't you?" 

"Doing what? Luhan, you're scaring me," she whispered, alarmed. And this woke him up. He didn't want to let go, but he did. Gently he removed his fingers from hers, and all at once that invincible energy he felt dimmed away. Was this... was this her power? Was she like him? 

"I'm sorry," he spoke softly, taking steady breaths. He was grateful that she put her wayfarer sunglasses on him, so she couldn't see that he was unable to look at her. 

"Did something happen? Did you see or hear something?" 

He swallowed when he realized that Jae's questions were filled with concern- concern towards him. She really didn't know. She didn't realize that they made a connection just now and that made him sad above all else. How could she not know? What was he going to say? What just happened?

"Sorry," he said again, attempting to smile at her. "It's- uh, it's nothing." Even with the sunglasses on, Jae managed to peer at him, making him feel vulnerable. There weren't a lot of people that were capable in making him feel that way. 

"You're a terrible liar," she mused, but her expression was soft. "Are you sure you're okay?"

No. No, I'm not sure, please stay here with me, Luhan thought, purposely making sure that she wouldn't be able to hear it when his mouth said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Maybe it was a heatstroke, or something. It's still pretty warm today," he said, stretching himself. 

"I guess," she nodded, looking up at the sun. "You should take care in this heat. You've soccer practice, right?" 

"Oh, yeah, uh, right," Luhan nodded, mentally slapping himself. He nearly forgot about that and he was the freaking captain of the team! Girl, what are you doing to me? 

"But, you know, it's no biggie. I could skip if I want," he shrugged, wondering why he said that so easily. "Hey, you know, maybe I should skip practice for today and maybe the two of us could get something to drink downtown and, you know, talk about the stuff that's been going on. See if we can figure something out," he suggested, shoving his hands in his pockets, something he always did when he was feeling shy or nervous. 

"O-oh, well, that's a pretty good idea, except that I'm kinda meeting someone now," Jae replied gently, wincing a little when Luhan was unable to mask the disappointment on his face. "But, we could meet tonight. Bring everyone else up to date as well and see from there. How does that sound?" she then suggested expectantly. 

"Ah. Everyone else, hm," he nodded. "Yeah, okay," he said a little reluctantly, but at least her wanting to meet again tonight was a good sign. She really wasn't trying to avoid all of them. 

"Great," Jae smiled and he returned the favor. He watched as her eyes darted to someone behind him and he nearly growled when he turned to follow the gaze. 

"Hey, Minho," she greeted sweetly - too sweetly, Luhan thought to himself and he almost glared at the kid when he approached them. 

"Yo, Jae-yah," he replied cheerfully, and Luhan felt pretty darn good when the kid caught sight of him and was able to put two and two together, realizing that he had been conversing with Jae and that they were standing closer to each other than was necessary. Was it wrong to feel smug and proud at seeing someone get intimidated by you just standing there? Maybe, but damn, it felt good. 

"Ah, Luhan-hyung, were you- uh, I mean... am I interrupting something?" Minho asked, scratching the back of his neck. 

"No."

"Yes."

Came the different answers at the same time. Jae glared up at Luhan now, her eyes asking him what the heck he thought he was doing. Luhan chuckled and turned to Minho. 

"Just kidding," he assured, but he couldn't help his playful, naughtier side to bubble up when he motioned at Jae and glanced suggestively at her. "We just wrapped up our conversation," he said, starting to move away. 

"Oh, okay. Cool," Minho nodded, though Luhan read the kid's defensive body language with ease. He had straightened himself to look taller and pulled his shoulders back a bit to appear broader and stronger as well. Weaker males tended to do that when an alpha was around. 

"Yeah, cool," Luhan repeated, glancing at the both of them. Jae had perked her eyebrow at him again, judging him, which was enough reason for Luhan to further. "So, Jae, I'll see you tonight, okay?" he greeted as casually as possible, giving in to his sadistic side in utter amusement at seeing the stunned look on Jae's face and the sudden worry on Minho's. He walked away, smirking, but he walked slowly, entering the mind of Minho and reading him, listening in on the conversation. 

Whoa, did Luhan-hyung ask you out on a date or something? Minho asked, the confusion evident in his voice. He saw Jae blushing, and quickly shaking her head. 

N-no, no, don't be silly- he's just- he was joking, she stammered, which worked out great because it sounded like she was lying. Anyway, forget about him, she dismissed and smiled brightly at Minho. For now it's just you and me.

You and me?! Luhan turned his head slightly, not liking the sound of that at all. Because the phrase startled him, he missed out on what they said afterwards, but he didn't like the way they laughed together and he certainly didn't like the way how Minho extended his arm towards her and Jae accepting it while they walked away.

What the-? Crap! What are those two going to do? He followed them with his eyes as best as he could until they were out of sight and Luhan was left with the frustration and nagging curiosity (Yes; nagging curiosity, guys like me don't get jealous that easily!). After thinking things through, he finally made a decision and grabbed his phone. He hit a speed dial number and waited, pushing the sunglasses more firmly on his nose. 

"Baozi, let's skip practice today," he said when Xiumin answered the phone.

"Why?"

"Why? Because I'm the captain and you have to listen to me," Luhan said in a hurry. "Will you just hurry and meet me in front of the school gate? Quickly," he pressed, making sure Xiumin could hear the urgency in his voice. 

"You're not having a fangirl crisis, are you? I will not be used as bait a fifth time, Luhan," Xiumin stated, sounding bored on the other line. 

"Will you just ditch practice and come with me? It's important," Luhan snapped, and he could almost hear Xiumin rolling his eyes on the other side of the line. 

"Fine," Xiumin sighed. "Will you at least tell me what this is about?" 

Luhan hesitated a moment, before he gave in. "It's about Jae. She-,"

"I'll be right there."

Luhan stared in disbelief at his phone when Xiumin hung up on him as soon as he mentioned the girl's name. He shook his head but chuckled. Maybe, he thought a little regretfully, he wasn't the only one that felt connected to Jae. Whatever role she played, Luhan realized that she was at the center of it. Or, at least, to him, she was. Something told him that it may be the same case for the rest of his brothers as well. He wondered then, whether they had felt what he felt when he was connected to her. Jae hadn't the foggiest clue on what was going on, but he felt all of it. 

Luhan stared at the direction where Jae disappeared with Minho and balled his fist in determination. He wanted to feel that way again. And while they were at it, maybe, just maybe, he wanted Jae as well. He smiled. He hated it when Suho was right. Girls were trouble, and this particular one might just be the end of him. But did he mind? 

Not at all.