Rays of sunshine somehow managed to stream into Jongin's bedroom, despite the thick dark red curtains. He flipped onto his stomach and groaned into the pillow. Then he flipped back over and stretched lazily, filling the room with a loud yawn.

The good thing about his life was that he got to sleep late and sleep in. It was the dream of every teenager.

His stomach rumbled, cutting off his yawn. “Food,” he moaned to himself. “Need food. Now.” Deciding to skip his long morning bathroom routine, he dragged himself out of bed and ambled sleepily to the kitchen downstairs.

“Good morning, Jongin!” Jongdae greeted him brightly, before going to get a plate for the newcomer.

Jongin replied with a grunt and fell into his seat beside Sehun, who was already eating a western-style breakfast of pancakes. He peered at the food and commented, “That's a lot of syrup.” Sehun, mouth full of food, flipped him off in response.

The oldest returned and Jongin graciously accepted the plate, filling it quickly with pancakes. He drowned them in thick maple syrup and skewered the pile with a single chopstick. Sehun watched the entire sequence of movements with judgmental eyes. “What?” Jongin asked flatly, earning a sassy eye roll from the other.

Jongdae eyed the two. “It's too early in the morning,” he grumbled to no one in particular.

“What was that, hyung?” Jongin asked.

“You know, you haven't been around for dinner in a while.”

Jongin suddenly grinned. “Ballet Boy cooks better than everyone in the family. Combined.” Sehun raised an eyebrow while continuing to stuff his face.

“Ah,” Jongdae replied simply.

“Wait, did you know that there's a Chinese saying that to capture a man's heart, you first have to capture his stomach?” Sehun suddenly offered.

Both Kims stopped eating to look at him. “I don't think that's specifically a Chinese saying,” Jongdae told him slowly.

“And how would you know about it?” the other asked.

“My Taotao told me,” Sehun replied indignantly.

Jongin choked on his pancake and pretended to retch. While Jongdae felt like doing the same, being the eldest of the group, he resisted the urge. “It's too early in the morning,” he grumbled again, this time while glaring pointedly at the other two. “And I already had a headache,” he whined pitifully.

“Sorry, hyung?” Jongin said with apologetic puppy eyes.

“Why do you have a headache?” Sehun followed with a pout.

“Well.” Jongdae had been waiting for that question since the beginning of breakfast, waiting for his chance to unleash his grievances. “You know how Kibum started high school recently?” The blank stares told him otherwise. “You don't?”

“I'm too busy,” Jongin whined.

“And how come he gets to go to an outside school?” Sehun asked.

Jongdae sighed, not sure what he expected from the two. It was almost laughable how much they didn't know about the family, but they had a good excuse. They were too busy killing people. “Well, Kibum decided on his birthday last month that he wanted to be more of a behind-the-scenes person and deal with logistics.”

“Nerd,” Jongin muttered under his breath and Sehun snickered.

“Anyway, his dad decided he could go learn calculus in an actual school. So the point of the story is-” Jongdae paused to quickly shove the last of his meal into his mouth. “- he met this group of guys who call themselves Shinee- ” He broke off and glared until Jongin finished laughing. “ -And now he wants to be a singer. So he made me listen to him sing yesterday. For three hours.”

He cringed at the memory and the younger two laughed at his expense. “He calls himself Key,” Jongdae continued mournfully. “But he is always off-key.” There was a beat of silence and then, “Wasn't that a good pun?”

Sehun made a noise somewhere between a cough and a laugh and Jongin moaned, “Mom, you're so embarrassing.”

“I'm not making food for you anymore,” Jongdae threatened, clearing away the empty plates.

Jongin smirked. “I can always go to Ballet Boy's apartment, you know.” He pushed himself out of his seat and walked away proudly.

As Sehun watched Jongin's receding backside, he asked in a small voice, “Hyung, you'll still cook for me, right?”

Jongdae took a deep breath. “You're my favorite, Sehun.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I wish I can free you from this cage,” Luhan said with barely contained anger. He always seemed to be angry. Xiumin, lying in front of him, sat up tiredly. “But I can't. He's already becoming suspicious of me. I fear I can't come so often anymore.”

“What are you doing all this for?” Xiumin suddenly asked. “Giving me food, telling me stories . . . I'm nothing to you.”

Luhan sat down next to him and leaned back against the wall, the coldness spreading throughout his body. Sighing, he said, “I will be honest with you, but please don't be angry. Please.”

“Of course.”

“He, at first, wanted my brother Yixing to approach you, lie to you, toy with you and then break your heart. Because he doesn't know how to make you cry.” Xiumin's heart clenched. He thought he knew what Luhan was going to say next, but he didn't want to believe it. “Yixing couldn't bear to do that to you,” Luhan quickly said. “But my brother didn't want to anger him, so I told him I will help.” He looked down to his hands, laying awkwardly in his lap and Xiumin looked down too. “I thought I could trick him and then finally put an end to it all -- all this torture, this horror, this treachery . . . You don't know what it is like to live, pretending you do not hate someone, forced to do everything your heart is against!

“Or maybe you do,” Luhan finished quietly.

“I do?” Xiumin's voice was small, so unsure, but Luhan heard it clearly.

“We are the same. That is the answer to your question. Do you trust me now?” he implored, staring into Xiumin's eyes.

Unnerved by the intensity, Xiumin swallowed nervously but couldn't look away. Luhan's eyes really were mesmerizing. "But . . . but why me? How can I possibly help you?"

"You are special," the Siren insisted. "You are the only one who's able to resist him."

"Yes, but-" Xiumin searched for another protest. He was scared to finally let down his guard and trust the Prince, but why was he scared? What did he have to lose? "But I'm a captive," he finally said.

"You are more important and hold more power than you think. You will know when the time is right."
 

His mind was reeling from realizing that all his fighting -- biting against the pain, refusing to show any emotion, any sadness, weakness or anger -- was useless. In the hands of the Emperor, his suffering was turned into a casual challenge, a trivial game for his sons to play. He remembered what Yifan had said all that time ago. That fighting was useless and that he should just give up.

Fighting by himself was useless, but with Luhan . . .

Because of Luhan . . .

Luhan . . .

“Yes,” he declared. “Yes.”

Luhan smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners, and Xiumin thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

(cr. ballaydeer)

chenhun is too precious, okay? and about that shinee/key part...i don't actually know how well he sings lol

and xiuhan is finally getting somewhere!

any feedback is much loved ^_^