Caged Lions Always Strike

Chapter 7

A Poor Man's Rhapsody

(Please read A/N at the end of the chapter: contains important announcements regarding this story and my account in general – don’t worry, I’m not going on hiatus or deleting ahahaha)

Luhan didn’t know why, but he found himself trembling as he walked into the training hall next to his usual lecture hall. He felt a sense of security whilst walking into the room with Tao, Baekhyun, and Yixing by his side.

The others that were also called walked in separate groups with Minseok the only one who walked alone with his head down.

Luhan had noticed that he was wearing a face mask and was clothed in thick layers but Luhan didn’t want to talk to Minseok just yet.

The large hall was empty, save for the curtains covering the large floor-length windows scattered around the hall and a few chairs that looked like they had been in that room for many decades.

“I didn’t even know this room existed.” Junmyeon commented whilst coughing as he scattered the dust on a chair close to the front of the hall.

The entire hall was darkened and filled with the chairs arranged in rows, all pointing towards a large blackboard directly opposite the double doors that the 11 men had walked through.

“You know, that’s kind of a bad thing for someone who is in the student council.” Yixing teased as he sat down in the seat next to Junmyeon’s.

The group soon began to follow and Tao sat on Luhan’s left whilst Baekhyun walked towards the seat on Luhan’s right but was intercepted by Minseok who hurriedly took his seat.

Luhan didn’t notice this and continued to talk to Tao and Baekhyun shrugged before going to sit near Kris who had sat next to Chanyeol and Tao.

Everybody seemed to forget the reason they were in the room until the doors suddenly shut and locked themselves and the room was lit by the chandeliers.

Luhan noted the way that Minseok suddenly sat straight in his seat and seemed tense when a man suddenly appeared in front of the black board, as well as a dozen soldiers dressed in all white surrounding him and the group of 11 who had sat in the front seats.

The man was smirking whilst he sat cross-legged on a chair identical to the rest and began to clap slowly. He shook his head and chuckled to himself, “I don’t understand why you all look so scared. You are all too strong for your own good, you should’ve expected this.”

The man released a large guffaw that echoed throughout the stark white hall and made the boys tense as they began to realise that this man was mad.

Tao, the mouthiest of them all, was the first to speak, “Were you the one who called us here? You expect us to not be scared of you when you bring dozens of soldiers with you?”

Kris put a hand on Tao’s leg and Luhan heard him whisper soothing words to calm Tao.

“What do you want from us?” Ever the one to be logical in stressful situations, Junmyeon took over speech and stood from his seat. Yixing stood up as well and wasn’t far behind as Junmyeon walked to stand just a few metres away from the threatening man.

The man stared at Junmyeon with a bored face before sighing and pointing towards the blackboard behind him.

Government recruitment

He lowered his hand again and leaned forward, “We’ve decided to put you forward for the government’s voluntary peacekeeping forces. Congratulations!” the man stated in a monotonous voice and clapped again.

Luhan took a breath and spoke, “Sir, the forces are supposed to be voluntary and I don’t think any of us have volunteered for this. And I know that some, including me, in this room don’t even have abilities.”

The man chuckled and began laughing maniacally once more, “No, you have volunteered.”

Luhan frowned and shook his head, “No, I haven’t.”

A chorus of agreement and nods came from the other boys; Minseok remained silent with his head lowered and his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

“You will.” Those were the chilling words that Luhan heard before he had a cold gun pointed into his temple. The gun was shaking in the grip of the assailant.

Luhan’s eyes followed the gun and up the man’s arm; towards Minseok’s face.

His face which was twisted into a sorrowful grimace and his eyes which seemed to be overflowing with tears.

Luhan couldn’t ignore the guilt in Minseok’s eyes; as if Minseok was pleading for Luhan to forgive him.

It wasn’t until Luhan’s mind had fully processed what was happening that he realised that the other boys were being held at gunpoint too. Most by the soldiers from before but Luhan noticed a new person – Jongdae – who held the same guilty expression as Minseok as he held a gun to Sehun’s forehead.

Both appeared stone cold and emotionless but Luhan could only imagine what was going on inside their heads. He hadn’t talked to Sehun enough before but he knew that Sehun wasn’t one for showing much emotion.

The man’s chilling voice rang throughout the hall that was charged with tension, “It makes me so proud, as headmaster of this wonderful academy, that such high-achieving students are so driven in serving the government and protecting the people from the enemies.”

Luhan felt his hatred grow with every syllable of the man’s sickly sweet but morbid voice.

As the rage grew within him and his hands grew clammy from his tightening fists at his side, he noticed that the gun at his temple was trembling.

Luhan’s eyes travelled to Minseok’s face and the headmaster’s words faded into the background as Luhan watched the shimmering tears travel silently down Minseok’s cheeks.

There were no sobs or grimaces from Minseok, just glistening eyes looking pleadingly at Luhan with rivers of tears running down Minseok’s face.

Luhan sighed and closed his eyes as he relaxed his position, “I’ll do it.” He stated as he stood up and walked towards the front to stand in front of the headmaster.

“You’ll do what? I don’t understand what you mean, my boy.” The man was smirking as he taunted the response.

Luhan looked directly at the man, “I want to volunteer with the peacekeeping forces.” Minseok lowered his gun.

The man suddenly erupted in hysterical laughter that had many jump in their seats. The guards backed away and except for one who stepped forward with a steel briefcase.

The man sobered and his face, for the first time since the exchange began, looked serious before pointing at the blackboard that showed a small screen full of images of various people being tied up and knocked unconscious by the same soldiers standing around the headmaster.

Luhan heard Junmyeon and Chanyeol gasp behind him and even the whispered name ‘Rahee’ from Jongin on his right.

“If you all volunteer, they will be fine when morning comes. If you don’t….” he trailed off and tutted, “Let’s not mention that.” He chuckled dryly.

The soldier with the steel briefcase walked towards the small table to the left of where the headmaster sat and placed the briefcase down before opening it, revealing 12 silver bracelets.

The soldier retreated towards the line of soldiers and they began to file out of the room, leaving the 12 men to face the headmaster alone.

“If you volunteer, take a bracelet. If you don’t, we’ll see what happens to your dearest.” He commented before standing up and leaving the room.

Luhan was the first to walk towards the briefcase and take a bracelet.

Minseok and Tao followed him, whether they were moved by the images of the loved ones or just because of their close relationship with Luhan, he didn’t know.

Luhan noticed the black etching of several orbs connected by lines on the bracelet as he slid the bracelet onto his wrist.

He felt the bracelet tighten as it settled on his wrist and however hard he pulled, the bracelet wouldn’t slide off his hand.

He heard Baekhyun scream as he tried to pull off the bracelet to no avail.

Luhan widened his attention to watch as everyone reacted to their new predicament.

He saw Tao and Kris constantly in contact with each other, either through Tao pulling on Kris’ hoodie with his fist or through Kris looping his arm around Tao’s waist.

He saw Yixing discuss something in hushed tones with Junmyeon whilst trying to hide their intertwined fingers in the pockets of Yixing’s thick jacket.

He saw Sehun who was freaking out all over Jongdae whose eyes seemed unfocused and whose body seemed to fall into Sehun’s arms too easily.

And he saw Minseok who was wiping his tears furiously with his sleeves whilst trying to discretely watch Luhan’s reaction.

Luhan was honestly calm. He didn’t feel anything yet but he was sure he was due for a fit once he was locked in his room, away from the prying eyes of his friends.

He was considering what to eat for dinner before his thoughts were interrupted by Minseok’s body suddenly crashing into his own.

Luhan grabbed Minseok’s waist to hold him up after he noticed that he had fallen unconscious. It was only when he realised that Minseok’s body was unusually warm despite wearing a thin shirt that he realised something was deeply wrong.

I guess I’ll leave the realisation over what I’ve just done to tomorrow morning.

And with the help of Chanyeol, Luhan dragged Minseok’s seemingly lifeless body to his room.

x x x x x x

Chanyeol carefully placed Minseok’s limp body on the sofa whilst Luhan switched on the air conditioning in the hope that Minseok would cool down.

It all happened in an instant as Chanyeol walked towards Luhan in the kitchen and suddenly bent down and kneeled onto the floor, groaning in pain whilst clutching his right wrist.

Luhan began to breathe heavily and sweat despite the goosebumps on his skin from the air conditioning.

He couldn’t control himself as tears began to fall from his eyes as Chanyeol continue to groan and wince. He had tried to move towards Chanyeol but that only seemed to make the pain worse and so Luhan moved away.

After a few short minutes that felt like hours to Luhan as he witnessed the severe pain mar Chanyeol’s face, the pain seemed to stop as Chanyeol allowed his body to relax.

It was then that Luhan noticed that Chanyeol was clutching his silver bracelet, not his wrist, and that the bracelet was growing an eerie orange with the symbols on it glowing an even brighter orange.

“I’m sorry Luhan but I think they’re calling me for something.” Chanyeol had his eyes closed and Luhan could see his glistening face – whether it was from tears or sweat, Luhan didn’t want to know.

“It’s okay, you better go before they hurt you or something. It’d be horrible to lose you again after being apart for so long.” He had honestly attempted to make a little joke to brighten up the tense air but it came out a little sad instead.

“I swear that was meant to be funny.” Luhan whined.

Chanyeol chuckled and shook his head as he opened his eyes, “You should leave the jokes to Jongdae and me.”

Luhan scoffed, “Don’t get cocky!”

Luhan allowed himself a small smile – he had managed to bring back the smile into Chanyeol’s face.

Chanyeol stood up and began to walk out of the room whilst waving casually as he left.

“See you in the canteen?” Luhan questioned before Chanyeol could step out completely.

“Most likely.”

Luhan smiled and nodded despite knowing that Chanyeol couldn’t see him, “See you later, then.”

The door slipped shut and it was during that moment that Minseok stirred in his sleep.

He was groaning, in pain or maybe anguish, and seemed to be sweating profusely as he entangled himself around the thin sheets Luhan had placed over him.

He was constantly tossing and turning, as if having vivid nightmares but without rest.

Luhan wanted to wake him up to comfort him but he knew it would do more harm than good. Furthermore, their relationship wasn’t the greatest at the moment.

It was no secret among the group that they were both avoiding each other.

 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x​

…..I’m so, so, so, sorry!! I’ve been unbelievably busy these past few months and it’s honestly just going to get worse…. >.> I’m so sorry the chapter is so short compared to the usual but it’s honestly going to be the norm until I can somehow get a better schedule lol

Sixth form is so hectic! I come home exhausted and have to do usually around 2-3 hours of homework and by that time it’s dinner and then I can barely keep my eyes open….

I’m honestly going to try to update more often now that the beginning of sixth form is over and I’ve settled in but it’s really high pressure right now. -.-

On a happier note, the Q&A has been extended till New Year’s Day (1st Jan 2016) as the deadline for obvious reasons ahahah Send in your questions for me and the characters!! :D

As for the promised Xiuhan fluff…. It’s in the next chapter! I swear! xD

For my loyal reader, 3Lument… Hold on until next chapter, yeah? >.< ahahah

The question for this chapter is what do you think EXO will be used for by the ~evil~ headmaster?

With love,

hetacat

(btw I'm so sorry if the formatting is off! I've been experiencing huuuuge technical errors with aff recently >.> I'll try to fix it)