09. B For Butterflies

"You know, you guys can try out for the other soccer team," Leah suggests as they wait near the gates of the school. Sehun's eyes constantly scan the area behind the gate for Haechan but Leah knows he is listening to her. "I don't like it that you have to sign out just because of me."

"You're being too hard on yourself," he says. "It's Hendery who kinda ruined soccer for the two of them."

Leah stays quiet for a moment, watching little kids crowd around the cotton candy guy. Her back leans against the metal of the gate as she thinks it must have been her who ruined soccer for Chanyeol and Baekhyun. She can't help but blame herself. When Baekhyun suggested they sign their names off, Leah's heart did sink. She could still remember Baekhyun being so excited when he told her he might just get selected. And when the names were announced, she could remember the smiles on their faces. Will it be easy for them to just sign their names off the team?

"Overthinking, are you?" Sehun chuckles, leaning back against the gate beside her. Leah smiles softly, looking away from the cotton candy vendor. ""Do you want that?" he points at the pink candies.

Leah shakes her head sideways, saying no. Sehun hums, scooting closer towards her so that their arms are now touching. Leah likes the silence. She is always a little scared when they talk, wondering if this and that will lead to another argument. But a question is still stuck in her head, she can't seem to brush it off.

Am I really ugly? 

She wants to ask that but Leah knows Sehun's probably going to give her another speech about how no one is ugly and stuff. Going around the answer she actually wants to hear. Perhaps it doesn't matter if she is ugly, because according to them, the four of them will have to do with her. They don't get to choose.

"Haechan is just fourteen and he would rather go home alone," Sehun starts first, "B-But I just want you to meet him. I know you're still somewhere around believing us but not actually there yet. You can hear it from Haechan too so that you can believe us completely."

"I believe you, I do," Leah insists. "And even without the wolf thing, I just feel like I belong to the four of you. It's weird, maybe," she shrugs, feeling Sehun's eyes on herself, "And I've pulled certain stunts that may have hurt you all."

"We were just jealous," Sehun tells her. "And hopeless. We were not hurt, however. Even though we're supposed to be together, it's not something very spontaneous. After all, the bonding . . . is a very human thing. It develops, it takes time. We weren't hurt."

Leah finds his words comforting. Unconsciously, she leans to him for the warmth of his body. Sehun looks away, blushing. "I would show my wolf but . . . " he trails off, " . . . it hurts. It's not my favorite thing."

"Why does it hurt?" Leah asks, a genuine layer of curiosity in her orbs. Sehun looks down at her, wordlessly sighing.

"Because the human skeleton morphs into a wolf's. There's a lot of joining, and breaking of the bones and it hurts like hell," Leah can see it in his face when he explains, that it does hurt. Sehun's face contorts at the memory before he looks back into her warm eyes. "But once I'm done with that, that is when I am the . . . the happiest. I can run and I feel free. And it's worth the pain but I'm still scared of the pain, Leah."

Leah doesn't know what to say to that. She silently goes back to her place beside him. She should get rid of it, the habit of not speaking to him to restore peace. She knows he wants to hear something from her. "It's alright," she whispers in her thoughts. Sehun nods, his shoulders relaxing. "I believe you. I believe you all. I just hope everything will be alright. I never had a boyfriend and now I have four," she smiled and Sehun smiled along, "I'll get used to it, I guess. But the only thing I'm worried about at the moment is how my parents will take it."

"That's . . . a long way," Sehun speaks, raising his arm and uncurling his fist so that she can hold it. Leah contemplates before wrapping her fingers around his pinky. Sehun chuckles at the difference of their hands, how the breadth of all her fingers combined is the length of his smallest finger. "You sure you don't want cotton candies?"

"Not really," Leah replies with a chuckle. 

Leah tries to bask in the silence but Sehun's body shivers up and he looks sideways. They stay like that for two seconds until a boy emerges from the gate. "Hyung!"

"Haechan," Sehun mutters his name before his pinky slips out of Leah's fingers. Leah stands straight, showcasing a smile for his sibling. Sehun walks towards Haechan, complaining about what he has done to his hair. Leah follows him, smiling at the way Sehun fixes Haechan's hair while the younger boy complains. "Did you climb walls again?" Sehun asks Haechan.

Haechan rolls his eyes, looking away before his questioning gaze falls on Leah. "What if you get a detention again? It will be your fifth and they'll kick you out of the school," Sehun keeps on complaining. But Haechan's unmoving eyes are on Leah. "I told you to save money but you blow it on you--" Sehun has finally realized Haechan is staring at Leah.

Leah glances into Sehun's eyes before looking back at Haechan. This fourteen year old boy is almost her height but he sure is taller than kids his age. Same jet black hair as Sehun, now swept to the side but it had been all messed up when he had stepped out of the gate. White shirt of the uniform and black shorts that comes to his knees. The sock of his right leg is rolled down while the one on his left stayed up. He looks like he has just been through some apocalypse. Leah awkwardly juts out her hand for a shake. "Hi," she says.

"Who are you?" Haechan asks, taking a step back.

Sehun chuckles, picking Haechan's hand and making it touch Leah's so that she can shake it. "This is Leah," he says, melting the ice that had settled in between the rest two. It's so bad that he has to shake their hands together too. "Stop staring," he hisses at Haechan.

Haechan blinks. He has been staring but so has Leah. Sehun eyes him with his lips pulled in a line, like he isn't at all sitting well with the fact that his brother had been staring at his mate. Leah clears , "Haechan," she says, and then she doesn't know what else to say. "So, uh, let's be friends?"

"Who are you?" Haechan repeats his question.

Sehun eyes wanders off in a you-know-who fashion. Haechan in a deep breath. "Seriously?" he whispers. "I thought it would be a guy."

"What? Why?" Sehun asks in a surprised tone. Leah glances at him before looking back at Haechan curiously. "Nevermind, let's go home. We'll get Noona home first," Sehun doesn't let her hear what Haechan has to say. He drapes an arm on Haechan's shoulder and nonchalantly wraps his other hand around Leah's wrist. Leah stumbles a bit before catching up to them. She thinks Sehun nagging his brother can be a cute sight because he doesn't really look like that material from the outside.

"You must be hungry."

And that must be Sehun's excuse to treat her to the cotton candy. Leah just knows. She is left with Haechan as Sehun purchases their treats. The silence is awkward but it's also a little nerve wracking. "You've been giving my brother headache for a long time now, haven't you?" Haechan asks first.

"Headache?" Leah turns to him with