​From between the trees, a white, old-fashined mansion peeks at him. Its roof is gray in colour and perfected with two white chimnies; it mets into the surroundings nicely, not ruining the view of the tree crowns behind it. The house is immense; its two stories intimidate Baekhyun together with its grand windows rimmed with black shutters and massive terasse standing proudly over the entrance on two marble pillars. The entrance itself makes Baekhyun's jaw drop; double doors in a colour of deep bottle green are placed in the middle of the front wall, not breaking the symmetry. Three stone steps leading to the doors are polished, the traces of usage obvious on the gray surface.

Chanyeol stops the car the exact same moment that the doors open. A man that is about Baekhyun's hight walks out, the rest of Chanyel's friends following closely behind. Baekhyun notices Jongdae first, the latter is already waving at him with a huge smile decorating his face. Jongin and Kyungsoo are next to him, with Sehun trailing behind another boy and Yifan at the very end, closing the door. The man who appeared first stops after taking a few stepes and smiles warmly in Baekhyun's direction.

He's snapped out of his thoughts when the passenger door open, Chanyeol looking down at him and offering his hand to Baekhyun. He takes it and crawls out of the car, shutting the door behind him.

His heart races as they're making their way to the group waiting for them in front of the house. Everyone is looking at him, some of them curiously, some cautiously, but the man at the front has a smile that puts Baekhyun's mind at ease. On his left side Baekhyun sees Kyungsoo, a gentle grin gracing his face, and Jongin, who seems a little jumpy as he wiggles impatiently. Behind him, there's a boy Baekhyun is not familiar with; his face features are soft and almost angelic, brown curvy bangs reaching his calm eyes. Their gazes meet and he smiles graciously, a dimple forming on his right cheek. Baekhyun returns the smile, hoping it looks at least somewhat kind. Jongdae waves at him again from his spot on the gentle boy's left, grinning like an idiot as always. Baekhyun is about to wave back, but a movement next to Jongdae dictracts him. Another man stands there, close to Jongdae. They're about the same height, but the man's face is sharper than Jongdae's, features masculine, but the intimidating exterior is broke down by his round, somehow innocent eyes. He sends Baekhyun a gummy smile when he realizes Baekhyun is looking at him and tilts his head to the right. On the right side of the man at the front Baekhyun spots Sehun, smirking at him like there's no tomorrow. For once he's not busy texting, hands places on the shoulders of a young-looking boy in front of him, a little shorter than Sehun himself. The boy has the most innocent eyes Baekhyun has ever seen; they're round and doe, gleaming with curiosity and excitement. His face is childlike, youthful and seemingy gullible. Honey-blonde hair cover his forehead, adding to the pure vibe he gives off. The boy's features contrast with the ones of the man next to him; with height that is closer to Chanyeol's than Baekhyun's and piercing eyes decorated with dark shadows underneath, the man looks dangerous and threatening. Fortunately, Yifan is there to attract his attention, Baekhyun's eyes catching his when Yifan smiles.

Baekhyun still kind of counts for the ground to swallow him. There are so many of them he almost feels dizzy when trying to make eye contact with everyone, so he gives up quickly and looks only at Jongdae. He knows the other can easily read his uneasiness and he hopes to hear one of Jondae's stupid jokes more than ever. Still, ten faces are focused on him and it brings a deja-vu kind of feeling, but he could swear he has never been in a situation like that-

The dream, it hits him. He remembers twelve puppies jumping on him in his dream, some one them with fur in the colour of the fur of the wolves he's seen in the woods four months ago. But how can this be relevant if he has seen twelve puppies and there are evelen people here. It's not like he can ask if someone is missing, because he has dreamed of twelve of them, not eleven. Also, Chanyeol has told him earlier that he lives with ten other people. It doesn't make sense.  

They halt their steps in front of the group and Baekhyun looks right at the man at the front, not knowing what to expect. He can hear his blood rushing through his veins and his lips feel drier than they did a few seconds ago.

"Hello, Baekhyun." the man says, his smile growing bigger and eyes shining with pure affection. "My name is Junmnyeon." Baekhyun returns the smile the best he can, his stomach is still tied into a knot. "It's nice to meet you finally, after hearing all the stories about you."

"I could say the same about you, really." he lets out, voice not shaking. Baekhyun thanks the heavens for it.

The man chuckles and looks around his flatmates gathered around him. "You already know Yifan, right next to him there's Tao, our Sehunnie, Luhan, then Kyungsoo and Jongin who you also know, Yixing, Jongdae, with whom I've heard you're already close, and Minseok, the oldest of us." he introduces them and Baekhyun finally matches the faces with the names he already knows. It's not a surprise for him that they looks exactly the way he's imagined them.

"It's nice to meet you." he greets, not knowing what else to say.

A blanket of silence falls onto them for no more than three seconds before Jongae in jumping from behing Yixing and puncing at Baekhyun.

"I've got booze, Baek! The 's going down tonight!"

Baekhyun laughs, thankful for Jongdae's sole existence, and lets himself be dragged inside the mansion, Chanyeol following closely behind.

Judging by the exterior of the house, Baekhyun expected it to be more sophisticated than homey. The inside however, is marked with their loud personalities; the walls and floors vary in shades of brwon and caramel, making the ground floor of the house feel warm and pleasant. Their pictures are everywhere: on the shelves, walls and bookcases. Jumnyeon guides him through the halls and rooms, giving him a small tour. A spacious livingroom equipped with a brick fireplace, dining room with a long table and a set of matching chairs, a modern kitchen and three guest bedrooms with two bathroom are all situated on the floor. Baekhyun is not surprised; the house, mansion, actually, does seem very big, even from the outside. They reach the mahogany stairs leading upstairs and Baekhyun can hear the laughter from the first floor, where the others are waiting for them.

"This story is reserved only for us. There are six bedrooms, four bathrooms and a livingroom here. We use this livingroom more often than the one downstairs. It feels more private, to be honest." the older says as they're reaching the floor. Baekhyun nods quietly from behind him, not knowing what else to do.

They take a turn right as soon as they're all the way up and Baekhyun widens his eyes. The space of the upper livingroom is not as intimidaing as he's expected. The cherry hardwood covers both the floor of the living room and the halls of the story and Baekhyun notices just how naturally it melts with three gray couches standing proudly in the middle, facing the grand windows he's seen from the outside. Right behind the said windows is the massive terasse with its stone railings and white marble floor.

"The last floor has only three rooms and a study." Baekhyun nearly chokes at the word 'only'. "Me, Yifan and Chanyeol have our bedrooms there." Junmyeon adds as they're making their way to the rest of the guys, who are sitting comfortably on the couches.

Suddenly, he hears a scratching noise from behind him and Baekhyun turns around quickly. He has no idea what he's expected, but the sight of a small, caramel-coloured puppy surprises him. The animal looks very determinated to run as fast as possible on the slippery floor; its petite claws are trying to dig into the hardwood surface, but fail, making its small body slide from one place to another. Its fur is fluffy, just like any other pup's, and the short tail swings in the air in happiness.

It passes next to Baekhyun and Junmyeon without sparing them a single glance and struggles to make its way to the only person sitting on the floor between two couches.

"Carmen, baby, I thought you were asleep!" Jongin coos, opening his arms and letting the dog jump right onto his lap.

"That's Jongin's puppy, Carmen." B