Caged Lions Always Strike

Chapter 6

I See Fire

Luhan, Tao, Baekhyun, and Yixing had decided to meet up to practise their abilities since none of them had had any proper training. The only problem, according to Luhan, was where to practise safely.

“I think we should go to Luhan’s room since nobody lives on his floor anyway – it’s super empty since it’s the new and expensive block – and nobody ever visits since Luhan’s a prude.” Tao had exclaimed in the cafeteria at lunch with the aforementioned three people.

They had grown close in the past couple of weeks since the truce was made.

Luhan faked a gasp and brought a hand to his chest, “You hurt my feelings, Tao!” he whined with a quiet sniffle afterwards.

Baekhyun was chuckling as Tao replied, “It’s true! Especially since you haven’t made up with Minseok yet! He must be feeling so neglected, poor boy…” he wiped at his eyes and made a fist towards the ceiling.

Yixing snorted a little and Baekhyun elbowed him. They were sitting in the joint table with Tao and Luhan on one side and Baekhyun with Yixing in the other.

“Poor guy must be getting blue balls!” Yixing added quietly and Tao suddenly erupted in his loud, childish guffaws that echoed across the cafeteria and merited the dirty looks that various people gave the small group.

Suddenly a tall man was next to Tao shaking his head as he sat down, “Honestly, honey… I could hear your laughter from across campus.” Kris commented with a smirk as he laid his arm across Tao’s shoulders and leaned into the seat.

Tao chuckled and put his hand on Kris’s thigh, “Is that your way of saying that my screams are too loud?”

They were both giving each other bedroom eyes and Yixing was awkwardly reading the menu in the centre of the table whilst Baekhyun and Luhan were communicating through pursed lips and wide eyes.

Suddenly Luhan saw Junmyeon approach the table and slide next to Yixing, directly across the couple who were now exchanging flirtatious whispers and their lips.

Junmyeon frowned before his expression turned into more of a shocked rather than and confused frown.

Luhan cleared his throat, still focusing on Baekhyun’s suddenly immensely interesting mole near his eyebrows.

“So… You guys gonna take it to the bedroom or are y’all gonna make me vomit up my chicken nuggets?” Luhan finally broke the silence.

Tao and Kris looked around the group with flushed faces and small mumbled apologies as they stood up, “Sorry… We kinda forgot we had company there…” Kris said quietly before Tao nodded to all of them and pulled Kris to the exit of the cafeteria.

Junmyeon spoke up, “Well, that was a good way to finish our lunch break.”

Yixing snorted and shook his head, “The lovebirds are always like this, get used to it.”

Luhan noticed that Yixing was leaning a teeny bit more into Junmyeon than Baekhyun.

Baekhyun scoffed but Luhan knew he wasn’t angry, “That doesn’t mean that it’s not awkward for us, though…”

Junmyeon chuckled and smiled, “The menu must be really interesting, Yixing. Any special offers today?” he asked cheekily and elbowed Yixing lightly.

Yixing blushed lightly and attempted to look at anything by Junmyeon but his eyes were drawn to him.

Baekhyun and Luhan both raised their eyebrows at Yixing’s blush and Junmyeon’s flirty line but chose to ignore it for now.

Yixing and Junmyeon were leaning into each other and having their own conversation so Baekhyun turned to speak to Luhan, “So are we meeting at yours tonight, or what?”

Luhan shrugged and sighed, “Why not? Like Tao said, my floor is empty so it’s not like anyone’s going to hear anything…”

Junmyeon suddenly looked up, “As the head boy I have to ask what you’re planning but as your friend I’m going to tell you to be careful.”

Luhan raised an eyebrow at that and crossed his arms, “Oh really?” he sounded suspicious.

Junmyeon raised his hands and looked panicked, “Don’t take it the wrong way!” he exclaimed, “I just need to check that you’re not having a party or anything like that!”

Baekhyun frowned and looked defensive, “We’re not having a party and it’s none of your business.”

Yixing was following the conversation with his eyes before he sighed, “Guys, Junmyeon is just concerned since the government inspectors are coming by soon. That’s all.”

Luhan visibly froze at that and both Baekhyun and Yixing glanced worriedly at him. Baekhyun chose to let Luhan take the news in by replying before Luhan could, “And what will they be inspecting, if I may ask?”

Baekhyun was eyeing Junmyeon. Junmyeon gulped before gathering the nerve to reply.

“They’re looking for new soldiers for a new peacekeeping group. There’s been an increase in rebellions so they’re wanting more soldiers.” Junmyeon seemed to pause before the word ‘rebellions’ and suddenly began looking at the floor before continuing.

“They’ve expressed an interest in Minseok and I already and I don’t want you to catch their attention, is all.”

Luhan looked up at Junmyeon and glared at him, “Why?” he was sneering, “What do you know about us?”

Baekhyun put a hand on Luhan’s forearm from across the table, “Hey, calm down.” He said quietly.

Junmyeon was looking between the two of them before he sighed, “I know about your abilities and how you’re hiding them. And I also know that you’re exactly what the army wants right now so I’m trying to keep you safe.”

Junmyeon put a hand over Yixing’s thigh and Yixing blushed as he covered his face with his hands.

“Why?” Luhan was glaring.

Junmyeon looked uncomfortable before confessing with his eyes towards his hand that was twirling the menu.

“My mother had the ability to read someone’s mind – telepathy. One of the last ones before they all got wiped out – purged. I don’t want the same to happen to my friends.”

Luhan suddenly felt a pang of guilt for assuming the worst of him and being suspicious, “I’m sorry, Junmyeon…” the table was silent for a few seconds.

Junmyeon nodded but looked up with a small smile, “But it’s okay, she died a long time ago and I was too young to remember it anyway.”

Baekhyun, Luhan, and Yixing nodded gravely.

Junmyeon turned to look at Luhan once more, “So can I join in the practise? I can serve as target or as lookout?” he winked.

Luhan chuckled, “Alright then.” He rolled his eyes.

x x x x x x

The flashes were back and Luhan wasn’t happy with that.

The flashes created faces every few seconds followed by bright lights that disorientated Luhan and made him feel dizzy.

There were a few familiar faces like Junmyeon and Jongdae but most were unknown – which was strange since most of the new people seemed to be close to Junmyeon and Jongdae.

The flashes settled on one image of one of the training domes in the academy.

They were inside the dome and Luhan wasn’t familiar with any dome other than the ice training dome so he couldn’t tell which ones it was but it was very hot – uncomfortably so.

Luhan felt sweat drip down his temple as he began to become more aware of his surroundings.

He was in a very crowded training dome that seemed to be sparse in decoration, giving way for a huge empty space in the middle of the dome – in which Luhan was standing in.

For a few seconds, his heart seemed to beat a little faster as he noticed people looking his way. But he quickly realised that nobody could see him as they were looking through him at someone behind himself.

He relaxed and began to look around the dome.

Luhan realised it was the fire training dome from the various flame insignia scattered around the dome and much bigger than the ice dome – probably because there were more fire ability citizens than ice.

He didn’t have much more time to ponder as his eyes were drawn to a group of people sitting by the bar near the entrance of the dome. There were 5 people huddled around a circular table that was clearly meant for no more than 3.

Luhan’s eyes widened when he noticed that sitting in one of the chairs, speaking to all of the huddled people, was Junmyeon.

He was sitting down with everyone’s attention on him as he spoke with a serious face and furrowed brows. It was the face he had when he had talked about his mother.

There was a tanned boy with thick lips and chocolate brown hair sitting around the table too that every once in a while glanced at another boy with pale skin but similar thick lips.

They both snuck glances at each other throughout the conversation and eventually the pale boy sat on the tanned boy’s lap as they both continued listening to whatever Junmyeon was talking about.

Luhan’s attention shifted to the tall boy that was standing behind the boy who sat in the other chair.

The tall man had ears that seemed to stick out together with a smothered grin every time he poked or pinched the man with an amazing poker face in the chair in front of him.

Luhan walked closer – he needed to hear what Junmyeon was talking about. What if he was talking about his little group? Was he telling other people about his own abilities?

“-so they seem to be in the same situation as us – attempting to hide. Although some of them are already noticed and outed.” Junmyeon was explaining with vivid hand gestures.

“Minseok has been gathering a lot of attention for himself recently.” Luhan froze and strained his ears to hear every single detail.

“I’m worried that the Academy will pass it on to the government. Jongdae has already been compromised and I fear recruited too.” The poker-faced boy seemed to frown at that but it was almost unnoticeable.

Luhan suddenly focused on the tall boy since he seemed familiar. He was listening with half a mind but was sifting through the many people he had met over the years – perhaps he had seen him in his parents’ parties? He did seem pretty affluent from his fashion sense.

“They all possess pretty rare abilities – healing and even time manipulation!” Junmyeon gave a prideful smile and Luhan spotted the tanned boy nodding with an open mouth as if in admiration.

“And I don’t think Luhan’s told anyone but us and maybe Minseok about his ability – not even his parents – but he had telekinesis.” Junmyeon commented absent-mindedly.

At this, Luhan saw the tall boy frown and scrunch his eyebrows. He suddenly opened his mouth to speak but then Luhan’s vision began to fade back to flashes of colours and sounds began to distort.

As Luhan began to wake up he faintly heard Junmyeon’s reply, “Yes, Chanyeol?”

Park Chanyeol.

x x x x x x

Honestly, Luhan felt like the world had decided to drop a couple thousand elephants on his face and then tell him to run a marathon.

After that dream, Luhan had been unable to fall back asleep. Whether it was because Luhan had dreamed of Chanyeol or because Luhan had dreamed of Chanyeol talking to Junmyeon – he didn’t know. But he knew they were worrying and that he needed to talk to Junmyeon.

So that’s what he decided to do as he walked to the cafeteria after texting Junmyeon to meet him there.

However, he hadn’t planned on meeting Jongdae along the way.

“Going somewhere, Luhan?” he grinned but Luhan couldn’t find any mirth in his eyes.

Luhan sighed and pushed Jongdae lightly out of the way, “Not now, Jongdae. I’ve got important business to deal with.”

Jongdae followed Luhan as he walked quickly towards the cafeteria, “Is it something to do with Junmyeon?”

Luhan nearly tripped over and felt his footsteps falter for a few steps and frowned, “Yes but it’s none of your business.”

Jongdae smirked, “Oh, I think it is.” His tone sounded teasing yet seemingly dark and not as innocent as it sounded.

The cafeteria doors were in sight now and wide open to Luhan sped up until he got through the doors and hurriedly sat on the table that Junmyeon was sat on with his book open.

Junmyeon sat up and smiled at Luhan before making eye contact with Jongdae as he sat down next to Luhan – they both offered tight-lipped smiles to each other.

Luhan groaned and covered his face with his hands, “So what’s the deal with you two?” he finally exclaimed after a few seconds of rubbing his eyes from the tiredness. His skin was considerably paler than usual.

Luhan continued when no answer was made, “Why do I get the feeling that you two know more than you say? Why am I dreaming of Junmyeon talking to Park flipping Chanyeol of all people? And why does Jongdae keep telling Minseok to be careful?

“I just don’t understand!” he finished loudly and banged his fist on the table.

Junmyeon jumped at the noise but Jongdae barely reacted, wrapping an arm around Luhan instead.

Suddenly Junmyeon sighed, “I guess we should all just be honest instead of hiding it – it’s far more trouble than it’s worth, to be honest.”

Luhan frowned but remained silent, silently urging Junmyeon to continue with accusing eyes.

Junmyeon chuckled and held his hands up, “I never once lied to you or Minseok about anything, just to make it clear. I just never told you about the other group of people that are in exactly the same situation as you.”

Luhan looked confused and tilted his head to the side but remained silent whilst Jongdae awkwardly patted his arm.

“And where do you know Chanyeol from? He’s mentioned that he knows you but he wouldn’t tell me anything about you unless you told me yourself.” Junmyeon questioned with curious eyes.

Luhan frowned and mumbled, “It’s none of your business for now.” He continued tersely, “Why were you discussing our group and Minseok in the fire training dome?”

Junmyeon frowned, breaking his carefree smile and aura, “Are your dreams becoming more detailed now?”

Luhan scoffed, “Yes... No...” he groaned loudly, “Ugh, fine… Yes!”

Junmyeon smiled his carefree smile again and chuckled, “I see. Perhaps you are better off meeting the other group, no? As for the fire dome… It’s just comforting to know that there are others like us who are in hiding.” He smiled.

Luhan stood up quickly and turned to leave the room, before he left he turned around to face Junmyeon and exclaimed, “That doesn’t answer anything!” and left.

x x x x x x

Tao and Yixing had already arrived to the practise session in Luhan’s apartment, which left Baekhyun and Junmyeon to arrive.

Meanwhile, Yixing was helping Luhan set up a small snacking table in the kitchen aisle whilst Tao created a workout playlist on Luhan’s sound system in the living room where rubber yoga mats were spread out around the room.

A soft knock was heard from entrance and Luhan left Yixing to finish the snacking table whilst he walked down the short hallway to the entrance.

He knew it was either Baekhyun or Junmyeon opposite his thick black door but he couldn’t help but be a little bit apprehensive in opening the door.

If it was Baekhyun, Luhan knew he would be comfortable with the other’s easy-going personality and dirty jokes.

But ever since that weird dream and conversation with Junmyeon, the relationship between Luhan and Junmyeon had turned strained and awkward which left Luhan feeling sad at the loss of a good friendship.

He unlocked the door and opened it to find Junmyeon with his hand ready to knock once more and Baekhyun behind him with a small smile.

Luhan smiled at the sight of both of them and decided to ignore the awkwardness between him and Junmyeon for one night – it could be dealt with later.

x x x x x x

The night had ended up being a massive success and Luhan had managed to practise a little of his own ability and had been able to get a little more control – he had been able to stop any movement from both Tao and Baekhyun for a good few minutes.

The others had also enjoyed the night with Tao bringing some flowers to practise his time manipulation skills. Luhan had been rendered speechless as he had witnessed a small cactus that Tao had brought with him grow a small bud and then flower within a few seconds.

Yixing had enjoyed making the various plants scattered around Luhan’s apartment bloom and grow and even healed a few cuts and bruises of the small group that they had acquired, either through practise or even from just their daily lives.

Luhan had often found himself groaning and shouting at Baekhyun to stop messing with the lights since occasionally the room would suddenly darken. Baekhyun would often find himself cornered by a very angry Luhan with a few curse words ready to leave his mouth.

But the real gem of the night for Luhan was watching Yixing interact with Junmyeon.

Throughout the entire night, the two had made sure to always be working together on something or even just glancing at each other whilst in the middle of conversations with other people.

And although Luhan had been talking to a very excited Baekhyun about the possibilities of communication through mirrors using light rays, he had actually been paying close attention to the conversation that Yixing was having with Junmyeon on the sofa whilst Luhan was hovering near the door to the kitchen.

He had begun to listen in as he noticed Yixing’s cheeks redden and then turn a darker red after each small laugh to whatever Junmyeon said.

“So I basically only became student president because the headmaster was scared that I would tell everyone that I met one of the professors at a bar where he was surrounded by a bunch of super old guys.” Junmyeon was grinning and Yixing was covering his mouth with his hands but his laughter could be seen from the way his dimple showed.

Luhan had to admit that Junmyeon was smooth.

And soon the night ended and Baekhyun left before Kris came to pick up Tao, leaving Yixing and Junmyeon to walk to their rooms together.

On their way out, Luhan winked at Yixing who noticed and rolled his eyes before closing the door behind him.

It was a night of freedom and it allowed Luhan to relax for the first time in many years.

x x x x x x

Luhan was in the academy library to look for books for his essay on the relationship between gender and abilities.

Since it was such a controversial study subject, there weren’t many books on it so Luhan had only managed to find a couple of books in the entire library and soon began to make notes on one of the many desks scattered around the library.

He had moved onto the second book and his fourth cup of coffee before his note-taking was interrupted by the loud arrival of a group of 5 boys.

He would’ve ignored them if it weren’t for the recognisable voice and laugh of Kim Junmyeon. So Luhan had kept his eyes on the small group as they entered Luhan’s favourite little spot right at the back of the library where a few desks were hidden by many bookshelves – where Luhan was sitting right now.

He scanned the group to see if he could recognise anyone and then froze when he accidently made eye contact with Park Chanyeol, of all people.

It was impossible to miss his large ears and dumb smile with the way he scrunched his nose as he laughed at Junmyeon’s jokes.

Luhan hurriedly looked down at his own book and a tried to hide his face with his hoodie but that didn’t stop Chanyeol from coming over and sitting directly in front of him at the same desk.

The group had decided to crowd around the ‘War’ bookshelves as Chanyeol sat down.

Chanyeol was smiling widely, “Hey Luhan! I didn’t know you came to this academy! How have you been?”

Luhan didn’t know what irritated him most – the way that Chanyeol greeted him like it was only yesterday that he last saw him or the way that he had sauntered over like nobody’s business and began talking to him.

Luhan was frowning and rolled his eyes, “How could I have told you when you disappeared? And I was great until this very moment, thanks.”

Chanyeol frowned and looked down, as if feeling guilty, “Sorry… I wanted to talk to you but my parents wouldn’t let me.”

Luhan sighed, “Because you told them about me, right? How did you convince them to not tell my parents?”

Chanyeol was looking at his hands as he fiddled with Luhan’s pencilcase, “I never told them anything. It was because they wanted to take me to a military school – and they eventually did.”

Luhan’s eyebrows shot up at that, “What? So how are you here? Soldiers aren’t supposed to come here?”

Chanyeol chuckled quietly at that and looked up to grin widely at Luhan, “That’s because I was a ty soldier so they sent me here to redeem myself!”

Chanyeol was still an idiot, Luhan had concluded.

How could anyone be happy about being labelled useless enough to unable to pull a trigger?

Luhan had allowed himself a little happiness at finally seeing Chanyeol again, “So you never told anyone?” he questioned.

Chanyeol grinned even wider and his grin looked like it could split his face in half, “Nope!” he made a thumbs up.

Luhan was laughing and he heard more people settle into the desks around his, “Chanyeol, I know you’re desperate for a boyfriend but you need to stop flirting with every person with a that you meet, I swear.” A tanned boy was laughing loudly with a small grin as he sat on the desk next to Luhan’s.

Chanyeol pouted and waved his arms around, “I swear I didn’t mean it that way, Luhan!”

Luhan laughed and shook his head, “It’s fine, I know.”

Chanyeol sighed in relief and Luhan saw Junmyeon eyeing the two of them with curiosity and a small smile.

Their little joke was interrupted by a deep voice over the academy tannoy, “The headmaster calls the following students to the training hall immediately: Kim Minseok, Kim Jongdae, Kim Junmyeon, Kim Jongin, Byun Baekhyun, Park Chanyeol, Oh Sehun, Do Kyungsoo, Huang Zitao, Wu Yifan, Zhang Yixing, and Lu Han.”

The atmosphere turned tense and the boys began to frown, the smaller, pale boy with narrow shoulders was the first to speak with a concerned tone, “That doesn’t sound good.”

x x x x x x x x x x x x x

For starters, I’m so sorry for the super late update!! I’ve been so busy this week with this whole modelling thing (yeah guys! I’m officially a model! :D) as well as getting ready for sixth form (basically college for any non-uk readers). Please forgive me! xD ahahah

With this update comes bad news as well… After this update, updates might become even more late since sixth form is notoriously high-stress and workload -.-; I’ll try my best to update regularly! Please keep nagging me in the comments! xD ahahah

Also…. Thanks sooooo much for the 100 subscribers! :D To celebrate this, I will be having a small Q&A thing where you guys can send in as many questions as possible (you can message me, post on my wall, or comments) about me, the story, the characters, other stories etc and I will answer them! :D You can even ask certain characters to reply ;) Just be sure to send some in otherwise it’s gonna be awkward for me ahahaha

Q&A ends on the 18^th of September so be sure to send them in asap :)

With those announcements done…

Here’s the official question for this chapter: Do you guys want instant Kaisoo (as in – they’ve been a couple for a long time) or do you want development? (aka – they are just friends right now and they will get together soon)

Thanks for reading and please comment with anything! I love reading your comments! :D Don’t forget to upvote if you enjoyed it and subscribe if you want to read more! ;) (and share with your thirsty friends lolololol)

Hetacat xoxo