The long hallway that led to the dinner room was filled with chatters and excitement about tonight’s events. It was a beautiful sight to see everyone dressed up, ordained in suits and gowns, with dazzling smiles embedded over their usual downcast expressions. It had been a long time since we had the chance to let loose and had fun, despite knowing that this was a temporary use of happiness, we held on tonight’s festive event dearly to our hearts as something we will remember for the rest of our lifetime.

The sound of throaty warm laughter and buzz filled conversations filled me up with a sort of high that I couldn’t explain. With my arm hooked tightly onto Kai’s, I watched as we passed by a sea of people, their faces looking more radiant than ever. Everyone was glowing underneath the roof of the training camp; it was evident that this wasn’t a night just for the Leaders, but also a night of celebration for those who were still alive on EXODUS.

---

It was ten minutes past 7 but the dinner room was already filled with guests. From survivors to Hunters to Leaders, the room was lit up with welcoming smiles and friendly mingling.

The cooks were almost done setting up the dinner buffet area, when Baekhyun arrived. He was the first of the class A Hunters to arrive, which was no surprise to him. Baekhyun was generally a very on time and precise person, if someone told him to be at a certain place at a certain time, he would always arrive there ten minutes earlier. It was a habit of his to always be on the go. He glanced down at his watch, just about to release a deep sigh when he heard his name being called.

He looked up at the familiar voices, and smiled. Across the room, Sehun, D.O and Suho were making their way towards him. All four of the men were wearing the same outfit, white dress shirt and black pants.

Suho had an extra glass of champagne in his hand, when he was closer to Baekhyun, he leisurely handed it over to the younger male.

“Drinking already? The party hasn’t even started yet,” said Baekhyun. He accepted the glass anyways and tipped it in the air towards his brethrens.

The other three followed him in movement, and then gulped down the bubbly fizz.

“Ah, so this is how alcohol tastes like,” said Sehun. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, feeling greatly satisfied with how replenishing and sweet the drink was.

D.O chuckled and stared fixedly at the bubbles in his drink, “Don’t get too used to it. We only get to drink champagne once every four years.” He nursed his champagne, wanting to savor every moment of it.

“There’s always beer,” reminded Suho.

“I hate beer, it makes me puke,” said D.O, who was scrunching up his face as if he had just a lemon juice  squeezed into his mouth. “Plus it’s not as classy as champagne.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, tasting more of his own drink. “I don’t know what you’re saying, D.O. Beer and champagne tastes the same. They both have that fizzy air flavor; it’s just that champagne gets poured into a nice cup which makes it appear fancier than beer.”

As the boys debated on the taste of beer and champagne, someone clapped Sehun from the back, causing the young boy to flinch hard out of surprise.

“Oh my lord!” screamed Sehun. He held his hand to his chest and spun around to see who the culprit was.

Tao had come into the dining room with Xiumin, Chen and Yixing by his side. A glass of champagne was in all of their hands, though it didn’t look like they had drunk from it yet.

Although Xiumin was your average tough boy, when it came to drinking, he had no tolerance for it. He was terrible, as much as he hated to admit it. His body just didn’t react to alcohol well. Chen was allergic to it, but he wanted to hold onto something so he didn’t look bad.

“I told you to stop doing that !” cursed Sehun. He gave Tao a long look and then rolled his eyes. Tao was laughing so hard that he almost dropped his cup of champagne. “Sorry bro, your reaction gets funnier and funnier every time.”

“Drink your champagne little boy,” muttered Sehun.

“Shut up you , I’m older than you have some respect,” said Tao as he took his first sip of his champagne. They were best friends for a reason, so when Tao called Sehun names, Sehun didn’t care because he knew his best friend was just joking.

“Alright, are we going to grab seats or are we going to stand here all night?” asked Xiumin. He was getting hungry and it didn’t help that they were just standing next to the food area either.

Yixing looked around the room and then frowned, “But Mia and Kai aren’t here yet.”

“You forgot Chanyeol,” huffed someone from the back.

The boys all glanced back to where the voice came from and laughed. Chanyeol had just come from practice, his perspiration still visible on his forehead.

“And Luhan, thank you very much,” piped in another sarcastic voice. Luhan was right behind Chanyeol, the two must’ve been practicing together since Luhan had sweat going down the side of his face. Despite how tired they looked, the all black suits that they had worn made them glisten like celebrities underneath the luminescent lightbulbs.

“Thanks for forgetting about us,” sneered Chanyeol. He crossed his arms together and blew his sweaty bangs away.

“He’s just kidding, he’s not really mad,” assured Luhan, a kind smile was on his delicate face.

“No one really cares if he is mad…” mumbled Sehun quietly.

“What?!”

“Nothing. Hey, Chanyeol try this!” Sehun pushed his glass of champagne towards Chanyeol, who looked at it suspiciously before taking a sip.

Luhan looked around the room, and Yixing was right. Mia wasn’t here yet, much to his disappointment. His lips twitched in anticipation as he searched the room for her, only to have his eyes land back on the guys. After a moment of deliberation, Luhan said, “Let’s grab a table, I’m sure they’ll be able to find us.” 

“Thank god, I was going to oppose if we stood any longer,” complained Xiumin. He was the first to march away.

Chanyeol stumbled behind all of them with a sour look on his face, all the while trying his best to conceal his worry. The first person he had wanted to see was Mia, but to his dismay, when he came in the dining hall, he only saw the guys.

Xiumin found a table right in the center of the room, the table only consisting of seven seats. The rest of the boys aside from Chanyeol, Yixing and Luhan decided to sit in the table behind them, because they didn’t want Mia to feel left out. As they took their seat, leaving an empty space between them, they started a casual conversation with one another, discussing about today’s Hunting practice.

Though from time to time, their eyes darted towards the entrance hoping to be the first to catch a glimpse of how Mia looked tonight.

---

Kris was in the middle of an important conversation with one of our greatest hunters, Heechul, when I arrived with Kai. His dark brown eyebrows were knitted together perfectly as he listened to what the older man was saying. He had a glass of champagne in one hand, while the other was tucked elegantly inside his pocket as he nodded his head.

If I hadn’t known Kris so well, I would be wonde