[Royal Castle]

                                      I fell asleep almost straight away, the calming of the yellow light giving me reassurance. I don’t think I moved around a lot when I slept, but I enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by pillows. I rolled over in my sleep, snuggling against the pillow that I laid in the middle just to wonder why it wasn’t soft. The pillow was smooth and hard, the warmth unlike silk. Mumbling to myself, I raised a hand to grab the pillow just to wonder why it felt like a person’s back.

“Wooseung,” I said, groaning in my sleep. My brother always slept on my side of the bed! I kept my eyes shut, pushing my leg out and nudging the body beside me. “Wooseung—”

The body of the person turned around and I heard him groan. A hand went up to caress my face before becoming limp as the person fell back to sleep. I heard him mumble something sleepily like “Go back to sleep.” and I reached up to grab the hand that was near my chin, my eyes opening to a sleeping Sehun.

Oh, I forgot.

I forgot.

I frantically flailed my arms, shooting up and rolling to the other edge of the bed before losing my balance; slamming my shoulder against the ground. Pain shot down my arm and I held it.

“Ouch!” I yelped at the same time as Sehun.

“Ouch!” He had yelled out and I sat up, massaging my shoulder just to see him doing the same thing, his sleepiness seemed to linger at the way he rubbed his eyes slowly; his facial expression in pain.

“Why are you ‘ouching’? I’m the one who fell!” I barked, frowning at him and Sehun looked at me as if he forgot that I was in the room. He pressed his arm before running a hand through his hair. His bed hair was messy but it looked unintentionally intentional and I stood up.

“I don’t know, it just hurt,” he replied, his eyes traveling to the clock on the wall. “It’s 5:03 am in the morning, Gaian. Can you not wake me up at odd hours?”

“Why are you on the bed?” I asked back, climbing back under the covers and lowering myself down, Sehun doing the same. “After all the; “I’m not Baekhyun, Chanyeol or Kyungsoo.”” I mimicked his voice and he turned to narrow his eyes on me.

“Mimic me one more time and I’ll show you exactly why I’m not Baekhyun, Chanyeol, or Kyungsoo.” His voice was hard and I shut up almost immediately, looking into the darkness. Early mornings like this always seemed lonely and I remembered when I used to wake up at home with no one to talk to.

Somehow, in Exodus, I never felt lonely.

Silence settled in the air and I looked over to see Sehun’s eyes that were closed. As much of an he was, Sehun was blessed with everything from good looks to a good background. Some people were just given too much attention by the gods, were they?

“Oh Sehun,” I whispered and I could hear him take in a sharp inhale.

“Don’t say my name like that, Gaian.” He paused.

“Why?”

“Just don’t.” His reply made no sense. I remember he told me not to call him by his name until I got my powers and now that I got my powers, I still can’t? The arrogance of this guy.

“Why do you think your father wants to kill me?” I asked him and he exhaled, turning to look at me. His face was unreadable and I wanted to smack the out of him. He blinked slowly, seemingly deep in thought.

“My father does not want to kill you.” So, we were back to the same conversation again! I didn’t blame him for how he was acting but it did not stop me from getting frustrated. I turned to my side, moving my hand and shoving it under the pillow, facing him. “Whatever my father does, he does it for Exodus.”

I was about to scoff when Sehun turned to me, mirroring my actions. He simply looked at me and I saw his eyes skate over my features, before looking back at me. He held my gaze, but I wasn’t one to look away.

“You can’t rule if you think killing is right,” I said to him softly and the curves of his lips lifted, his eyes still on me.

“Sometimes to lead is to not do what’s right but to do what’s best for the people,” he answered and I realized he sounded like he was reciting it from a textbook.

“Would you kill your friends if you had to?” I asked suddenly. It was a rhetorical question but I wanted to know his answer; how far he would go to maintain the happiness of his people. “Would you kill me?”

He didn’t answer and I swear I saw a flicker of emotion in his expression. He pulled his gaze away from mine, a hand reaching up before he flicked my forehead. It wasn’t painful but it caught me by surprise.

“Ow,” I said and he turned away, pulling the blanket up to his chin.

“Go back to sleep, Gaian.”

“I want to talk,” I told him and for the first time, I heard him chuckle. I was serious. I wanted to talk to him. I felt as if the more I talked to him, the more he’d listen, and it might increase the chances of him getting uncharmed.

“We don’t always get what we want,” Sehun told me and I pouted to myself. He didn’t know how it felt like, to feel like someone would pop up from somewhere and kill you. He was born with guards by his door, and people serving him at the table. “Do what you want, I’m going to sleep.”

Well, if he insisted.

I began to talk. I don’t know how long I talked but I started from my first memory, to how it was like growing up with two brothers in one body. I moved to young Harin, to middle school Harin; turning to look at the male beside me from time to time just to see that he was listening quietly without a word.

I talked and talked until I found myself drifting off to sleep.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                                       A rustling sound made me wake up and I opened my eyes to see Sehun’s as he put on his shirt. I quickly closed my eyes to pretend like I was sleeping, feeling my face turn bright red. I heard him walk around the room, the sound of books being moved and the rustle of clothes being kept. It didn’t take long before I heard his footsteps come closer, a shadow falling over me.

“Ong Harin,” he whispered and for some reason the way he said my name made my heart beat faster. Damn, the lack of romance in my life is showing. I should be dating but I’m getting hired hitmen wanting to smother me with a pillow. How fitting.

I opened my eyes to see that he was already dressed in formal clothes. Flickering my eyes to the clock, I saw that it was 9 am in the morning. I slowly sat up and he watched me carefully.

“Breakfast.” His voice was normal now and I liked it better when he was whispering. I nodded at him, rubbing my eyes.

“I have to go change and brush my teeth,” I told him.

“Go with Kyungsoo,” he told me and I skipped off the bed, stretching. I silently followed him and when we exited the room, I saw that Kyungsoo was sleeping by the door; his back lumped over as he snoozed. Sehun said his name and the poor guy stood up, swaying from sleepiness. “Morning.”

“Hello,” Kyungsoo said, rubbing his eyes. “Good morning.”

Sehun had excused himself and told Kyungsoo to take me back to my room. He followed me awkwardly and I saw Sehun walk down the stairs. When I reached my room, I showered and freshened up as Kyungsoo waited. I didn’t take long and when I went out of the bathroom, I saw him sitting by the bathroom door, sleeping again. We went to his room after that and he showered, both of us going down the stairs just to smell breakfast cooking.

I saw Sehun sitting with the rest of EXO and they waved to greet me happily. I smiled, feeling safe that there were other people in the room and even though they were oblivious about what happened last night, their presence gave me comfort.

Sehun ate his breakfast quietly, Baekhyun telling me that he came by with Chanyeol last night.

“We went to wake you up in the morning but you weren’t around. Where did you go?” Chanyeol asked, pouring black pepper onto his eggs.

“I was with Kyungsoo,” I told him and Kyungsoo grunted, taking away the lettuce from his salad. Ms. Puff came in and told him to eat his vegetables but he replied with “No eat plants.”.

“I woke up early to practice with Kyungsoo.” I elaborated to Baekhyun.

“No wonder,” Baekhyun said, nodding.

“I’m done eating.” Sehun voiced suddenly, dabbing his lip with a napkin.

“So fast? You have anything to do today?” Xiumin asked Sehun, taking in his clothes.

“Horseback riding with Lady IU,” he replied. “Formalities. My father also has business to attend to.”

“Of course,” Chen replied, nodding. “Good luck, I heard she’s quite a looker.”

“She is,” Sehun agreed, standing up. I played with my eggs, thinking of what to do today when I decided that I had to do some investigating. Kyungsoo was about to stand up to follow Sehun when I grabbed his hand, turning to Sehun to speak to him.

“I’m borrowing Kyungsoo today,” I said and he didn’t put up a fight, nodding and telling me to do whatever I wanted.

“Why you let her borrow me? Kyungsoo not library book!” Kyungsoo said to Sehun, crossing his arms. I tugged on Kyungsoo’s arm and he sat down gingerly, his gaze yearning to go with Sehun.

“We’re going to have fun today, Kyungsoo,” I told him and he stared at me.

“Your fun and my fun not the same.” He told me and I told him that we’ll go to the garden and he can show me trees. He finally brightened up and ate his salad that had only pieces of bacon left. Baekhyun invited me to go to the music room but I told him that I’ll be practicing my powers with Kyungsoo. Wishing me good luck, the rest of EXO made their way to the music room.

“Garden time,” I told Kyungsoo who was already standing up. “Lead the way.”

He led me to the back door and I felt like I walked into a more well-kept version of The Forest of Isea. The plants glittered and I found myself forgetting why I was there in the first place. Looking up, I counted my room and saw that since we were on the fifth floor, it wasn’t hard to jump down. I went to the bushes when something glittery caught my eye. Leaning forward, I picked it up just to recognize the pin.

“Kyungsoo,” I called out to Kyungsoo who had his nose against a flower. He stood up and came over, looking at the pin in my palm. I remembered it from Minho’s tux when he took out his handkerchief. “What does “Shinee” mean?”

Kyungsoo shrugged and I deduced that he did not know. Pocketing the pin, I suddenly heard someone call Kyungsoo, his voice cheery. I looked up to see an older male with a big sombrero hat and a rake and the image of Kyungsoo when he first came to Earth floated into my mind. He had a toothy smile and a big belly. It was no doubt that both of them were related.

“Papa!” Kyungsoo said, running over to hug his father and I couldn’t help but smile at the way they interacted. The older man laughed joyously at Kyungsoo, dropping his rake and swinging his son around.

“I just saw you yesterday,” Kyungsoo’s father said, rubbing his nose against his sons’. “Oh, a girl.” His father looked at me with curiosity and then at Kyungsoo.

“Friend. Ong Harin,” Kyungsoo said, a hand clinging to his father. “Papa work?”

“Oh, the Ong Harin. I heard from Kyungsoo yesterday that he’s helping you. I’m Kyungoo’s father, Do Kyungmin. I’m here to weed out that place.” He extended a hand and I shook it, lowering my head politely. “You’re as beautiful as a flower.”

“Don’t compare her to flower,” Kyungsoo said immediately and Do Kyungmin patted his son on the head. “When she use power, she make flower dieded.”

“You gained weight, my son,” Do Kyungmin said and Kyungsoo nodded excitedly. I wonder why he was so excited that he gained weight but it was answered soon after. “You’re becoming like me.”

Do Kyungmin let out a hearty laugh and Kyungsoo followed his actions. This was the most I’ve seen Kyungsoo express emotion other than anger or frustration. He leaned backwards to chortle, patting his belly the same way Do Kyungmin was doing so. Do Kyungmin eluded a very Santa Claus vibe and I found myself enjoying listening to them talk.

“Like Papa. I like become like Papa,” Kyungsoo concluded happily, looking up to his father like he was the only thing in the world. “One day, I become gardener like Papa.”

“Let’s weed,” Kyungmin said and I didn’t have the heart to pull him away from the happiness he was feeling. Kyungsoo had already grabbed my hand and pulled me along. He kept talking to his father and Do Kyungmin answered his questions patiently.

This was another side of Kyungsoo I haven’t seen before.

“Fun,” Kyungsoo told me happily as he plopped himself down in the middle of the garden to start weeding. “Ong Harin, this is fun.”

“Yes, Kyungsoo. This is very fun.” I answered and was soon coached on how to weed the flowers.

[Royal Garden]

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Oh Jinah, Sehun's mother]

After two hours of weeding, Do Kyungmin had told Kyungsoo that he had things to do. He reminded his son that he’d be joining us for dinner because he has missed EXO and that he had news to tell. Kyungsoo was eager to know and seemed sad that his father was leaving; but he immediately brightened up at the fact that his father would be joining us for dinner.

“Bye, Papa!” Kyungsoo said and I smiled, seeing him wave enthusiastically as Do Kyungmin stalked away; rake in hand. “I see Papa tonight!”

“Goodbye, son!” Do Kyungmin said back, giving his son a flying kiss. Kyungsoo caught it and pocketed it before turning to me, his facial expression changing almost immediately.

“Tell truth. What you want do?” he asked and I smiled at how fast he caught up.

“I want to explore the castle. There must be something that can confirm that Oh Shin has been killing people. Maybe I can show it to Sehun and he’ll believe me.” I told Kyungsoo and he grunted, telling me that it was useless but he followed me anyway. The perks of being friends with Sehun, I thought, you get his keeper listening to your every order.

I don’t know how many flights of stairs were there but I climbed past the floor with all the bedrooms. Kyungsoo told me that the study was on the seventh floor with the library and the room of portals.

“Why were you in the seventh floor?” I asked Kyungsoo, remembering that it was where he saw the flower.

“I go get book for Master Sehun,” he told me and I nodded, finally reaching the seventh floor. Perspiration dripped down my neck from the exercise and Kyungsoo huffed. I told him to start from the study and he knew he didn’t have a say, leading me to the study.

“If people catch us in study, I say you force me.”

“Is the study off limits?” I asked him. “But you went in when you saw the flower.”

“Curious,” he answered and I nudged him playfully. “I saw flower. I enter.”

“You’re as bad as I am,” I and he shook his head.

“You badder, Ong Harin.”

“Mean,” I said to Kyungsoo who grunted and opened the door to the study. I wondered why Oh Shin would say that the study is off limits but not lock the door, then I realized that if every one was charmed; no one would disobey his orders anyway. Oh Shin has everyone at the tip of his finger and he knows it.

We walked into the study and just as Kyungsoo said, there was a flower on his desk that glowed brightly. I frowned, near