“It can’t be true, the boys in monochromatic,” she muttered to herself as she scrunched her eyes to take a better look at the dumbfounded group. “Yes, yes finally,” she said excited before turning worried, “I, I must show you the way. Yes, I’ll show you the way,” she reassured herself.

Suho gave a quizzical look to Kris, who offered no thought as he stared back confused as Kai, who was being carried by Kris, shook his head wordlessly.

“Luhan,” Kris said with a warning tone as the other nodded in response.

“It’s about time,” the woman huffed as she tightened up her hair in a bun. “Follow me, I must show you where to stay,” she offered as she began her quirky strut.

“Wait,” interrupted Suho, “Who are you?”

“Me? I,” the lady seemed disconcerted. “I live around –it doesn’t matter much. No. You on the other hand,” she pointed at them, “you boys matter most.”

“What?” Suho wondered and looked back at Luhan, exchanging gazes.

“Come now, come. Before it gets too dark,” she hurried them to follow.

Suho looked back at Luhan, who shook his head in silence, before turning to Kris and whisper something to the taller boy.

“Don’t worry it’ll be alright,” the lady insisted. “Surely you need to rest, now come.”

“I’m sorry but, we must go,” Kris said with authority. “Maybe next time-”

“We need you,” strained out the woman with a desperate look, “Please. I mustn’t fail. We need you, desperately,” she nodded vigorously. “You’re meant to help us. Please, you must help us.”

Looking back to the group Suho signaled for them to carry on and follow the lady, despite Kris’ disapproval of the other’s decision.

With her shoulders slumped forward and a brisk stride, the lady ushered them inside the town and directed them through the dilapidated streets.

“What do you think she meant?” Baekhyun asked worried.

“The helping part?” Chanyeol asked instead.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know, but,” he paused as he looked around the empty streets, “this place looks wrecked.”

“Suho, are you sure about this?” asked Xiumin, who was walking behind Suho, with Lay and Luhan.

“No, not really,” the water bender answered honestly. “But she’s desperate and I want to find out why,” he claimed as he followed behind the strange lady.

“You’re too curious,” Kris said halfheartedly.

 

Moving his hands into a more comfortable hold on his thighs, Chanyeol lifted D.O a bit more so the sleeping boy would stay secured on his back. He kept sliding down since he fell into deep slumber.

“Should I carry him for a while?” offered Sehun as he walked next to his left.

“No, it’s okay,” he declined. “He doesn’t bother at all, he just slips a bit.”

“I didn’t mind getting rid of Kai,” Tao said as he stretched his arms. He was walking by Sehun’s other side. “That kid may be thin, but he’s long and bony.”

Said bony boy had been carried by Kris after stopping at the river. With Suho they’ve been walking further up front and had been chatting incessantly since the river.

“They’ve been catching up on something for quite a while,” commented Sehun rather disdainfully.

“Well, yeah,” Tao shrugged, “Suho has been interrogating Kai about whatever he spoke with Mama before we got out.”

“What do you think happened here?” Baekhyun suddenly asked by his right.

Looking around, Chanyeol could only let his wild imagination guess what could have possibly happened to this pitiful looking town. Most of the edifices had cracks, chipped paint falling off, misshaped windows and broken glass. But some of the cracks seemed strange, as if they were cut with something sharp on purpose.

Sliced, by metal maybe.

The worst ones were broken and had some pieces fallen out. With no walls, the interior was exposed, but most of the furniture was broken and dusted. Some were even burnt inside or had holes caused by some strong chemical erosion.

The streets had holes, smoke stains and burns. There were pieces of debris scattered about. The remaining vehicles were either completely tarnished, flipped upside down, burnt or simply abandoned. Chanyeol spotted a very big vehicle far away down the street, he had never seen one like it before. The boys didn’t see anyone outside other than the lady who was at the entrance of the town.

First he perceived the familiar smell of carbonized wood, and then he saw the incinerated building further to their left, behind a small wretched house.

“At least a fire,” Chanyeol finally answered.

“It looks like more than a fire wrecked this place,” Tao commented.

“Looks like an earthquake,” chipped in Jongdae as he walked closely behind. “Do you think it could have been this little guy’s doing?” he nonchalantly asked as he pointed towards Chanyeol’s back.

“Possibly,” Sehun thought out.

“We weren’t hidden far away from this town,” Chanyeol pondered.

“This wasn’t just a fire or an earthquake,” Xiumin deadpanned.

“Tao, was this what you had pictured?” Sehun asked with a deep frown.

“Not at all,” Tao said as he looked disconcerted towards the burnt building. “I’ve never seen this place before.”

“Where are we going?” Baekhyun asked concerned. Chanyeol could tell he was worried by the waver in his voice.

“Suho’s about to ask,” Luhan replied for them. “I’m curious about what she has to say as well,” he mulled.

“You can’t read-”

“No,” Luhan answered before Tao finished his question. “And I don’t know why.”

“Luhan, can you hear anyone else around?” Sehun asked.

The telepathic only shook his head in response as they turned their attention to Suho.

“Miss? Where exactly are we going?”

“Kim estate,” she quickly answered. “Yes, Kim estate,” she nodded to herself. “They will give you refuge, given the circumstances,” she looked at her surroundings with apprehension.

“What happened here?” Suho asked.

Halting her steps, the lady turned around and smiled sadly at Suho as she answered, “Too much.”

“What’s this place called?” Kris asked.

“Doryeong, like the myth.” Facing to the front, she briskly continued to direct their way, “Come now, it’s not far.” Her walk turned rougher as she quickened her pace, “The boys in monochromatic, I can’t believe it,” she spoke to herself.

Chanyeol looked at Sehun and Tao, both looked as confused as he felt.

“Never heard of a myth,” Tao shrugged.

Without knowing what else to do, they followed through the steep streets of the seemingly deserted town.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Jongdae said as he continuously tapped his fingers against his chest. He looked down at his chest with a frown, “The fuzz feels iffy.”

“The what?” Baekhyun asked the boy who now walked by him.

“The fuzzy fuzz in my chest,” Jongdae replied as he rubbed said body part.

“I don’t get it,” Tao said frustrated.

“Static,” clarified Jongdae.

“No, not that,” he sighed heavily. “I don’t understand why I haven’t seen this place before.”

“Maybe you forgot,” Chanyeol suggested.

“I hope not,” Tao bit his lower lip.

“What if we weren’t meant to be here?” Sehun’s frown deepened as he asked skeptically.

“Maybe it’s the exact opposite. What if we were meant to be here to go to wherever you’ve seen us,” Chanyeol pondered.

“Then why didn’t I see it?” Tao argued.

“Are you meant to foresee everything?” Jongdae asked.

“No.” Tao bitterly replied.

“Maybe this is something you’re meant to live only once,” Baekhyun offered with a slight shrug.

Tao didn’t insist further as he bit on his lower lip and slowly shook his head.

“Damn I’m tired,” they heard Xiumin exasperate as he hunched forward and rested his hands on his knees. “This town is as steep as the freaking mountain,” he complained wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“You’ve barely rested,” Lay cooed as he rubbed the smaller boy’s shoulder.

“How much more ‘til we get there?” Xiumin asked to Luhan.

“I’ll ask Suho,” the other replied.

“Miss?” Suho inquired in a beat. “How much further must we walk?”

“Not much longer, just a few more blocks,” she nodded as she answered. “This way, this way,” she repeated as she directed them to turn a corner.

“Come on,” Lay helped Xiumin fall back into pace, as the group ventured even further into the town.

“I swear the street is getting steeper,” Xiumin said through gritted teeth.

 

Chanyeol heard a creak towards his left. The only thing in sight that he figured could be the source of the sound was a worn down sign, with unintelligible Hanja written on it, swinging off the display, ready to fall at any given time.

“I hope we get there before it gets dark,” Baekhyun said beside him. “I hate the dark.”

Chanyeol stared down at him amused as he propped D.O higher onto his back.

“What?” Baekhyun asked affronted.

“I hate the dark, said the boy who controls light,” Chanyeol quoted jokingly.

Jongdae giggled beside Baekhyun, “All you have to do is turn on the light,” he mocked.

“Shut up,” Baekhyun barked softly.

 

“Over here,” directed the lady as she made them walk out of the street and towards an open area. Further ahead the boys could see a big and high gate made out of stones, a long and squared gate. Behind it was a small mountain top, with beautiful native trees. As they got closer they saw the dark convex tiles that adorned the roof tops of the buildings secured within the gate. There were more concave tiles at the corners of the roof, that would stretch out and would curve upwards like the horns of a goblin.

“We’re here,” announced the lady as she motioned towards the entrance gate.

The entrance consisted of two big thick wooden doors with black iron handles, under a small version of a tiled roof top, with superposed lines of concave and convex tiles. On each door there was posted a slogan, handwritten in Hanja, one spelled endeavors and the other success.

The lady knocked on the door, using the metal handle. Slowly it creaked opened and behind stood an old man dressed in simple beige tunics.

“Miss Ga Niyoung?” he questioned.

“Are your masters at home?” spoke Miss Ga.

“Only the mistress, my lady.”

“Good, I’ve brought guests she will gladly receive,” she said motioning to the group behind her.

“Please, come in,” he spoke softly.

 

Inside was a courtyard with an evergreen garden in the center, maintained by the house service. There were only small bushes and flowers distributed meticulously around the stone paths as well. There was an inner gate that separated the main buildings from each other. At the front of the yard, there was an L shaped one-story building and behind it was the inner wall. On the other side of the inner wall was a bigger L shaped building to the left and a smaller rectangle building to the right.

The first building was propped on top an elevated foundation, with square cornerstones supporting the great wooden pillars that held the tiled roof firm against the structure. The thick clay walls were plastered with ivory Hanji and had wooden baseboards, which matched with the wooden veranda. The main door was carved wood, large and empowering. By its sides there were paneled windows, tall and slim wooden framed structures, with baseboards. The panel’s frames had geometrical designs, mostly squared, and were plastered with stiff oiled Hanji papers, covering them in lieu to window glass.

“Wow, what is this place,” said Kai in awe.

“It’s a residential Hanok, sir,” replied the man.

“The Kim’s estate is of the oldest in town,” said Miss Ga proudly.

“Follow me,” said the man as he led the group up the stairs to the entrance of the building. “Please wait inside the main room as I will go for the mistress,” he kindly ordered and turned away. He made his way to the back and passed through a side entrance of the inner gate, which led to the building further behind.

Unsure of how to proceed, Chanyeol carried D.O inside the building, only to be ushered out with the rest.

“No, no, no,” scolded the lady. “You must take off your shoes before entering the room,” she explained as she did so herself before stepping inside the building.

 

Clumsily, Chanyeol tried to pull his left foot out of his shoe, while stepping on the back of the heel with his right foot, all without dropping the still sleeping boy on his back.

“Oh come on,” he complained as he kept attempting to rid of his shoe.

“You can’t be serious,” exasperated Luhan. Moving his fingers in the air, he unfastened Chanyeol’s sneakers.

“Shh, don’t use your, ya’ know,” Chanyeol reprimanded with rapid whispers.

‘Doesn’t matter, no one saw me,’ Luhan rolled his eyes before stepping inside the building.

Following suite, Chanyeol entered the building. Inside was spacious, the ceiling high and the wooden structure exposed. The floors were made of wooden panels while the walls were ivory. At the front of the entrance hall was a small, slim and elegant wooden table, there was a ceramic vase on top with royal azaleas. To the left of the hall was a small open room, with paneled doors extended to the sides. Each door was made with geometrical wooden frames and ivory Hanji paper. Inside Chanyeol saw a small and low table, with two cushions on the floor seated opposite to each other. The house was the complete opposite of the underground facility; here everything was made of wood and Hanji paper instead of metal and glass.

“Guys, this way,” said Tao as he followed the woman to the right.

As they did, they passed through another open room, with a small and low desk against the front wall, just under the papered window, and it had a typewriter on top. To the left corner was a small cabinet and to the right there was an ink set, with paper and brushes. On the adjacent wall there was another panel, but it was painted with a mountain landscape, cherry blossom trees and a white crane.

“You like it?” Chanyeol asked as he walked up to Kris, who stood gazing at the illustration.

“It’s quite nice,” he admired. “I really like the crane.”

“Of course you do,” Chanyeol chuckled.

“He’s still asleep?” asked Kai walking up to them.

“Yeah, what the hell did you give him?” Chanyeol asked as he turned to face him.

“Umm, passion flower mix, I think,” he scratched his head. Both Kris and Chanyeol stared down at him, crooking an eyebrow upwards in a judging way. “I um, hope it was that.” Kai said sheepishly. “I’ll help you put him down.”

“Over here boys,” called Miss Ga. “Since you are so many, we’ll use the daecheong,” she announced as the group followed behind her. “It’s like a main room that connects the study room with the back room, but it looks more like a hall.”

She was right. The roof was high and the room had no furniture in display, the floor was made from wooden planks. The entrance and the back of the room served as a bridge from the study to a back room, but at the side it was open. Instead of stable walls it had long paper panels with wooden frames, which were plicated to the sides. To the right they could step out to the veranda and see the front courtyard, and to the left was the view of the back yard and the two buildings behind the inner wall, with the small mountain top and forest landscape behind.

“Since it is spring most window panels are left open,” Miss Ga pointed out. “Grab a cushion as a seat,” she instructed as she passed them a cushion from the stack at the inner corner of the back room.

Kai grabbed three and settled of them on the floor in line, sitting on the farthest. Chanyeol squatted down in front of the cushions and Kai helped lower D.O on top of the two cushions before him, resting D.O’s head on his lap.

“Wait,” gasped Miss Ga as she abruptly stood up. “Who is he?” she asked as she pointed at the sleeping boy.

“He’s D.O,” answered Lay unsuspicious, sitting on his cushion, “He’s one of us.”

“He can’t be,” she said while vigorously shaking her head, “No.”

“What?” Kai asked rather annoyed.

“He’s not dressed in monochromatic,” she said as if it was obvious. “No he can not be one of you,” she crossed her arms before her chest.

“What are you talking about?” Kris questioned while standing up, making it clear that he had power among the group with his height.

“He’s not in monochromatic,” she deadpanned. “He won’t help us. No, no, no,” she repeated as she fidgeted, pacing from side to side.

“What do you mean with that? Why do you keep calling us that?” Suho asked in a serious tone.

“Because they said so,” she quickly whispered frustrated.

“Who did?” Xiumin tried to ask.

The woman did not answer, instead she rubbed her arms as she shook her head. “He’s not here to help us, get rid of him.”

“Are you crazy?” Tao said angered.

“We won’t leave him,” Kai said dead serious, shielding D.O in his arms.

“It’s because of him we’re here in the first place,” defended Chanyeol, standing up to block her view as he couldn’t tolerate D.O being looked down by a raging lady speaking nonsense.

“They said boys in monochromatic! Not that,” she spat as she jutted her finger towards D.O.

“He’s one of us,” Sehun deadpanned, a waft of wind entered the room.

“But, but,” she stammered as she tried to fix her hair from the sudden gust.

Luhan grabbed onto Sehun shoulder, squeezing it tight until the wind died off. The lady looked around perplexed, confused to the brisk weather changes. She stared at the open side with grimness.

“Even the sky has lost its balance,” she said as if it was a dark omen.

“She’s gone mad,” Tao scoffed.

“I’m not mad!” she barked at him. “They said, they clearly said that each boy was dressed in one color,” she continued to rant. “He is not. He won’t help us, he’s not good.”

“That’s enough,” Suho said standing up. “We won’t take this anymore,” the group followed suit in standing up, except for Kai.

“No, no wait,” the lady pleaded as she reached forward to grab onto Suho’s arm.

“Let go of him,” ordered Kris as he stood beside him, looking down at Miss Ga in a defensive way.

“You can not leave,” she demanded as she let go of Suho. “You must help us.”

“Help you from what?” Suho asked.

“Th-those, those things,” she stammered, visibly scared.

“Stop being cryptic,” Luhan exasperated.

“Just get to the point,” Kris demanded.

“The mo-”

“Enough,” said a stern female voice. “Enough Miss Ga.”

The woman’s presence came to a shock to the group and Miss Ga as she entered the main room, accompanied by the old man. Unlike the lady, she wore traditional clothing, made out of shiny silk and bright colors, red with white and purple linings.

“Mistress Kim,” Miss Ga gasped as she tried to compose herself by offering a respectful bow. “Mrs. Kim, I found them,” she said stepping towards the other woman. “I brought them here.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” Mrs. Kim offered a patient smile with her dark brown eyes. She clearly looked older than the Miss.

“But this boy,” said Miss Ga as she indicated towards D.O again. “He can’t stay. He won’t help us,” she repeated like mad. “He’s not in monochromatic, see? He’s not in monochromatic.”

“Enough Miss Ga,” Miss Kim ordered as she lifted her hand. “I will decide who can stay. Now you’ve helped plenty by bringing them here, thank you kindly for that,” she said turning around her, indirectly making her back away towards the entrance and away from the group. “And of course our guests must be tired and confused. Let’s help them first, so they can later help us. Wouldn’t that be better?” she charmed.

“Of course,” Miss Ga said embarrassed. “Anything, I’ll do what I can.”

“Would you mind helping in the kitchen? We’ve got a lot to prepare,” she asked.

“Yes. Yes, of course.” Miss Ga looked at the boys in the room one more time before taking her leave. “Right away,” she said before leaving with the old man.

Once they left, Misses Kim turned to face the confused looking group.

“I apologize on her behalf,” she said graciously as she bowed to show her respect. “Miss Ga hasn’t been quite well lately with all that’s happened.”

“What happened?” Kris asked annoyed, earning an elbow poke from Suho.

“He meant, we would like to know what happened to this town. And what Miss Ga meant,” Suho asked politely.

Mrs. Kim smiled at Suho, before looking at the group with a serious gaze. Her dark eyes roamed their faces before deciding to speak

“I’m afraid it’s not a matter to be spoken lightly. I think it’s best to wait for my husband to be present.” She lifted her hand to stop Kris from speaking, “I know it must be confusing and frustrating to be held under such secrecy, but I believe it is best for you boys to rest first and have a nice meal.”

“What kind of meal?” Tao asked.

“Traditional dishes for dinner,” she offered.

“No nutritional bars?” Xiumin asked hopeful.

“What on Earth are that?” she questioned.

“No nutritional bars,” hyped Chanyeol.

Suho turned to the group, “A meal wouldn’t be bad, right?” No one denied him, for the idea of eating something different was too enticing.

“Good,” she smiled. “I would like for you to stay for the night, so you can all have proper rest,” her eyes fell on D.O still resting with Kai. “So I’ll show you to the guest house, where you can take a pleasant shower and maybe change into a new set of clothes, though I fear I don’t have enough for you all.”

“We will manage,” Suho assured.

“Good. This way,” she said as she led them out of the main room and out of the building, where the old man was waiting at the entrance. They walked on the stone path towards the right inner gate and went to the rectangle building, which looked like a smaller version of the previous building they were at.

“There are two rooms, a recreational room and a shared bathroom at the end of the hall,” she told them. “Let’s see in here,” she entered one of the rooms. It was kept ordered; all the furniture was towards the left side, where there was a clothing cabinet and a big closet. She looked inside the cabinet, “This used to be my son’s room. You use his clothes. It’s not much, but I’m sure you can find them fitting.”

“We have spare clothes,” Sehun remembered. He was carrying D.O this time.

“No, actually, we’ve only got jackets,” Kris corrected a little annoyed.

“Only we’ve got the spare ones,” Lay reminded Sehun.

“Oh, right,” Sehun nodded and didn’t notice Tao’s disapproving look.

“All right, I think you should all wear your jackets. Since there are many of you, we will have to dine at the main room and it could get chilly,” she explained. Her smile wavered a bit before she sighed. “If it’s not much bother, the smaller boys could find some clothing that fits in the other room. My daughter’s room.”

“Um, won’t she not like that?” Kai asked.

“She’s not home, it’s not a problem.”

“If, we can’t find anything else,” Baekhyun shrugged.

“Right then. In the closets there you can find towels and the bed mats for later. You can use the shower in the bathroom. This house might be old fashioned, but the bathroom has been remodeled up to date. So don’t worry, the shower is like anyone else’s,” she explained. “We also have an electrical washing machine and dryer. So please leave your worn clothes in the basket and we can have them cleaned and dry for tomorrow.”

“Thank you, that is very kind,” Suho spoke for the group.

“Very well,” she smiled. “As you are many, by the time you’ve all gotten cleaned up dinner will most likely be ready. I shall go and help with the dinner preparations,” she said as she walked out of the room. “Oh, I almost forgot. If you need anything, just ask Han. He will be outside on the veranda for you to have your privacy.”

 

“Are you sure about this?” Kris asked skeptically once they heard the front door close.

“Not really,” Suho admitted.

“Everything is so whacked up weird,” Tao commented.

“Especially that crazed lady,” Chanyeol added.

“Either something very wrong is going on here and these people really need our help, or we’ve walked into the wrong household,” Kris said.

“Look, let’s not be too pessimistic,” Luhan said, stepping up to be seen. “I think we should stay for the night and hopefully find out what the hell is going on.”

“Yeah, and if it feels suspicious or dangerous we can just get out,” Xiumin added. “They can’t possibly stop us.”

“Not with me around,” boasted Kai.

“Not to forget, we get free food,” Chen added.

“What if the food is poisoned?” Baekhyun asked.

“Uh, Lay?” Chanyeol said uncertain.

Lay scratched his stomach thoughtfully before replying. “I don’t mind, I could eat anything right now.”

“So, we stay for the night and bail if it gets creepier than it already is?” Kris asked again.

“Yes,” agreed the lot.

“All right,” Suho settled.

“I want to shower first!” Jongdae beamed.

“No way,” Tao barked as he searched in the closet for a towel.

“You should probably shower last,” Xiumin said to Jongdae.

“Why?” he asked affronted.

“You might leave some static,” Xiumin shrugged.

“That’s not fair,” he whined.

“Tao, don’t take too long,” Kris said as the other left the room.

“How much is too long?” Tao asked down the hall.

“More than five minutes,” Kris answered walking out to the hall.

“No way in hell,” they heard Tao yell before closing the bathroom door.

“Damn it, Tao,” Kris left the room.

 

“That was rather dumb,” Luhan commented dully.

“What was?” Baekhyun asked.

“He went to shower and didn’t even look to see if there were clothes that fit him,” he scoffed as he went to search in the cabinet.

“Kai, help me with him,” Sehun asked. In a blink of an eye Kai had a cushion in his hands. “You’re not supposed to do that,” Sehun whispered.

“I was fast,” Kai waved off and placed the cushion for D.O.

“Lay,” Chanyeol called, “Can you wake him up?”

Lay nodded and crouched in front of the sleeping boy. “Mmm,” he hummed as he looked at D.O. “How much did you give him?”

“Umm… a lot?”

“Seriously Kai?” Sehun exasperated.

“Do you know how to wake him?” Chanyeol asked.

“I’ve got an idea,” Lay answered.

Chanyeol felt his eyes widen as he watched Lay raise his hand and jumped when he heard how strong he slapped D.O across the face. D.O fell to the side, eyes wide open and hands clutching onto his sore cheek. He looked up at them terrified and confused.

“Damn,” said Sehun as he covered his mouth.

“Are you okay?” Kai asked concerned while crouching down to be at the same eye level as D.O.

“Does it still hurt?” Lay asked calmly.

“What happened?” D.O asked as he regained his senses. “Did you hit me?”

“It had to be done,” Lay said serious. Chanyeol couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Does it hurt?”

“Of course it does,” Kai said defensively.

“It stings,” admitted D.O.

“There, there,” Lay cooed as he rubbed his sore cheek. “Better?”

“Yeah,” D.O looked embarrassed. “What is this place?” he asked as he stood up, with Kai’s help.

“We’re in the household of the Kim estate,” answered Lay.

“We’re at some folk’s house, in the town we found near the river,” clarified Chanyeol.

“They’re letting us stay for the night,” Kai added.

“And they’re going to cook us dinner,” Sehun chipped in.

D.O blinked several times before speaking. “How long was I asleep?”

Chanyeol, Sehun and Lay looked at Kai accusingly; the usually tanned boy’s face went red from embarrassment.

“Not that long,” Sehun waved off.

“Let’s find you some clothes,” Kai said pulling D.O to walk with him.

“What for? I’ve hardly used these since I’ve been either carried around or asleep,” he said sardonically.

“Did you bring another spare of pants or just the ones D.O’s wearing?” Sehun asked.

“Oh no,” Lay sounded defeated.

“Thought so,” Sehun chuckled and swung his arm around Lay’s shoulders. “Let’s get you some clothes before you’ve got to use girly dresses.”

“Chanyeol,” Kris called out.

“What’s up?”

“Can I wear your spare clothes?”

“No way,” Chanyeol quickly declined.

“Why not?” Kris whined.

“Don’t want to,” he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Please,” he pouted.

“If nothing fits you, then it won’t fit me either.”

“There is this thing that fits, but it’s like this big ugly dress,” Kris held the silky tunic clothes. “I don’t even understand how it goes.”

Chanyeol stretched out the fabric, “I think this hole if for the head, oh look, it has giant sleeves. It’s not that complicated to put on.”

“You like it?”

“Not one bit.”

“Come one,” he complained. “It’s not my style.”

“It’s not anyone’s style,” Chanyeol joked.

 

“That was refreshing,” Tao said happily as he stepped into the room, hair damp and with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Never mind,” Kris grumbled and picked up another set of big silky clothes from the top of the cabinet. “Here,” he passed them to Tao before leaving to use the shower.

“What the is this?” Tao asked as he stretched out the clothes in front of him.

“That’s the neck hole, two sleeves and the rest is like a dress,” Chanyeol explained.

“Doesn’t it have a bottom?”

“Not that I know of,” Chanyeol shrugged.

“That won’t do,” Tao grimaced.

“It’s not a big deal,” Chanyeol waved off.

“Yes, yes it’s a big deal,” Tao complained. “I’ve got nothing under this,” he pointed at the towel.

“You’re not wearing any underpants?” Chanyeol asked loudly, gaining the rest’s attention.

Tao looked embarrassed, but he raised his gaze confidently. “They were used, so I left them in the basket to be cleaned.”

“So you’re just going to use some strange dude’s briefs?”

“There aren’t any in the cabinet. I already checked,” Luhan said with a mischievous smirk.

“Damn it,” Tao muttered before running to the bathroom. “Open the door! Kris! Open the door!” They heard Tao yelled as he banged the door.

“Wait your turn!”

 

After showering and changing into his own spare clothes, Chanyeol went to check out the recreational room. Inside the design was pretty much the same as the rest of the house, ivory and wood. But to the left side, Jongdae was looking at a foldable panel with illustrations. It had various sections with many drawings. At the front was D.O looking at a bookcase, though he didn’t pick them out, he was just reading the titles on the cover. Against the front wall was a large wooden desk, where Baekhyun leaned against as he fidgeted with the waist of the pants he was wearing. They were white and fit rather tight. His shirt was flowered with ruffles. At the middle was a low coffee table with cushions around it. Sehun, wearing his spare grey clothes, Luhan, wearing black pants, white T-shirt and his purple jacket, and Suho, wearing some odd green dressing gown, were seated at the table, not speaking and looking rather tired. At the right was something he hadn’t ever seen before, a big black object. Lay, wearing a blue skirt and his pink jacket, and Xiumin, wearing slim blue pants and his light blue jacket, sat on the bench before it, and would press on the white keys, emitting a beautiful sound from the instrument.

“Where’s Kris and Tao?” he asked as he passed by the grim boys at the table.

“Looking for pants,” Suho answered.

Chanyeol walked up to Baekhyun, who looked rather embarrassed. “You don’t look bad in that,” he said kindly, though to him, it wasn’t a white lie.

“Shut up,” Baekhyun mumbled. “These pants couldn’t possibly be any tighter. It’s suffocating.”

“Is it that bad?” Chanyeol said concerned.

The other looked to the side, which made Chanyeol notice that he had a nice profile. “Not really. It’s uncomfortable, but I can survive a night.” He smiled coyly, “Besides, the shirt is very soft.”

Chanyeol chuckled and caressed the shoulder of the shirt. “It is,” he laughed.

“D.O, what was this called?” Xiumin asked across the room

D.O’s attention shifted from the book cover to the boys by the big black object. “Piano,” he answered.

“Piano,” Xiumin repeated to himself.

“Wow, you know what that is?” Chanyeol asked walking up to him.

“Um, yeah. It’s a musical instrument, to umm, play music,” D.O nonchalantly said.

“Do you know how to play it?” Chanyeol asked excited.

“Um, a little. But I’m rather bad.”

“Can you show me?” Chanyeol said hyped. “Oh, but after you’ve finished looking for a book, of course.”

D.O shook his head and put the book away. “It doesn’t matter, it’s not here.”

Baekhyun followed them to the piano. Lay and Xiumin let Chanyeol and D.O take the bench seat.

“Um, you just press the keys and it makes the sound,” D.O poorly explained as he pressed a mid Do note. “This way you can use the sound to create songs and play music.”

“Uuuh,” Chanyeol pressed a lower sounding note. Then another and another.

“Um, the notes go from here Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si and then it repeats to Do, and it goes on,” he said as he pressed the notes.

“Cool,” Chanyeol boomed. “But what does that mean?”

“It’s just the names they gave them,” D.O replied. “So you know what note you’re playing and these repeat in lower tones and higher tones.”

“What about those black ones?” Baekhyun asked as he stood to the side.

“It shifts a note either half note up or half note down, or something like that,” he frowned as he concentrated on the keys. “If this note is Re, then the black to the right is Re sharp, which as you can hear is higher. If you press the on to the left it’s Re flat.”

Chanyeol pressed the black key, “It’s lower,” he said cheerfully.

“Right,” D.O smiled. “I don’t know much more, but if you press the Do note, and the subsequent one, Mi and Sol at the same time, it’s like a scaled Do that sounds more beautiful,” D.O stretched out his fingers and pressed the keys at the same time, creating a harmonic tone.

“That’s awesome,” Chanyeol said hyped and tried the same. Then he kept advancing through the keys, playing different harmonic tones.

“You’re quite good at this,” D.O complimented.

“Probably because of his long fingers,” Baekhyun noted.

“Wanna try?” Chanyeol asked him.

“Oh no, I’d be awful at it,” Baekhyun dismissed.

“Nah, I bet you’d be fantastic,” Chanyeol said as he attempted to play a tune. “Can you play a song?”

D.O looked down at the keys, “Not really, I’m not that good. She used to play songs for me to sing.”

“Who? Mama?”

D.O visibly froze for a second. Looking up at Chanyeol and Baekhyun, the round eyed boy slowly nodded. “Yeah, she used to play some songs.”

“I can’t believe it,” Chanyeol said impressed. “Did Mama really play songs for you to sing? I can’t imagine her doing that.”

“Hey, she wasn’t always cold and mean,” Baekhyun defended. “What’s sing by the way?”

“Like when you hum and make songs with you voice,” D.O looked embarrassed, but he pressed a combination of keys as he began to sing softly. “I lost my mind.”

“Wow, what did you say?” Chanyeol yapped.

“I lost my mind,” D.O looked even more self-conscious.

“So Mama played for you?” Kai spoke behind them in a suspicious tone, surprising them all, especially D.O. His hair was damp, fresh out of the shower, wearing only blue baggy silk pants. “She did have a piano in her study when I broke in. Didn’t you tell me she wasn’t the one who taught you to sing?”

“She didn’t,” D.O quickly said. “She just played a few songs for me when I was younger and I was…” He trailed off as he noticed the rest paying attention to him.

“When you what?” Kai cocked an eyebrow.

“When I was brought to the company,” he looked up at Kai.

“Wait a minute,” Chanyeol interrupted, “You were from the outside?”

“A bit, well yes. But not for long,” D.O stuttered.

“Oh, that’s why you know about piano,” Baekhyun commented.

“Yeah, but I don’t remember much,” D.O scratched his head.

“I’ve been wondering about that,” Suho said as he stood from his cushion. “Kai told me a bit about you.”

“He did?” D.O looked nervous as he fidgeted with his fingers.

“Well, I don’t want to make you more uncomfortable, but it just seems weird to me,” Suho said.

“What’s weird?” Kai asked.

“Your name,” Suho clarified.

“D.O is my name.”

“If you were from the outside, then D.O can’t possibly be your name,” Suho countered.

D.O frowned confused. “It is. D.O is my name.”

“D.O are just two letters, it can’t possibly be a real name,” Suho reasoned.

“Maybe they stand for something,” Kai offered.

“I, I can’t remember if it’s a nickname or not,” D.O admitted as he looked a bit helpless. “But they have always told me that D.O is my name.”

“Who did?” Luhan asked.

“The company,” D.O said as if it was obvious.

“Hey guys,” an overly excited voice interrupted them. “Don’t I look incredibly cute with this dress?” Jongdae asked as he turned around wearing a pink and yellow silk dress, with a big magenta bow around his waist.

“No,” Luhan said without joking. “You’re a boy, you’re not supposed to be wearing a girl's’ dress.”

“That’s mean,” Sehun muttered.

“Why?” Jongdae whined.

“Because you’re a man,” Luhan pointed out.

“So? This dress is super soft and comfy,” Jongdae said gleefully.

“It’s wrong,” Luhan looked him down.

“Don’t be so sour. You should wear one,” Jongdae’s smile widened.

“What?”

“You should try one, before judging. Besides, you’d totally look good as a girl,” Jongdae teased, but it turned the atmosphere into an unwanted one. Luhan forcefully pushed Jongdae with his telekinesis, throwing the smaller boy against the painted panel –which unfortunately broke against Jongdae’s weight.

“, Luhan!” Chanyeol quickly jumped from the shock. He was going to help Jongdae up, but Kai was much faster.

“Don’t ever say stupid like that again,” Luhan seethed as he threatened Jongdae.

“Stop! Luhan stop,” Sehun grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking some sense into him. “What’s wrong with you? It was just a joke.”

“Nothing,” Luhan grumbled and pulled Sehun’s hands away. “Just pissed me off.”

“We can not have any fight between us,” Xiumin reprimanded.

“He’s right,” Suho said gravely. “We’re in no position to lose our control. We are in this strange town, with strange people and we still don’t know what the hell is going on. We can’t start to turn against each other.”

“Okay, okay,” Luhan said raising his hands in the air. “I’m sorry,” though he sounded far from apologetic.

“What’s going on here?” Kris asked as he stepped into the room. He was only wearing the top piece of the blue silk sleeved dress, exposing his muscular and hairy legs. Tao was beside him, wearing the same clothes style in red, and with big baggy pants like the ones Kai was wearing.

“Just a stupid misunderstanding,” Suho said.

Kris and Luhan held their gazes, it was clear they were having a telepathic conversation. Luhan ended with a shrug while Kris shook his head.

“Hey Kris,” Tao nudged his side. “Looks like Kai’s wearing your pants.”

“Damn it,” Kris said in defeat.

 

  

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A/N: Hey guys, it’s been quite a long time since I’ve update. I’m sorry about that but I’ve been very busy with finals and exams, and just frying my brain trying learn stuff.

Anyway, I wanted to thank you all for being so patient. I know it must have been so frustrating to wait, especially with a cliffhanger, but I’m glad that I wasn’t pressured to write. I think I wouldn’t have done well with more pressure, so thank you for your patience.

I wish I could bring good news, but unfortunately I’m forced to a semi-hiatus –well basically I won’t have time nor a computer to write on for a month and a half, maybe more. I’d rather just tell you guys to not wait for an update soon, but I will be back.

Oh and hello to anai101, Gallavich, Btsisbae, kaisoo_nini, taeganger799101, WooGyu_KyuSung_YooSu, XiuminLover82, bakanabi, Kpopisawesome1 and kuraikurama -I might have repeated someone 'cause those are a lot, I can't believe it.  Thank you for subscribing, I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. 

Have a great time guys, don’t stress about life, just enjoy it.

Annyeong!

-Blackie.