Chapter 1

Illusions

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a giant mansion with her parents and brother. She was bright, intelligent and very energetic. She was her parents' source of love and pride and never failed to impress all of the people she met with her beautiful smile and witty character.

One day though, as she was busy studying with her brother and best friend, just a little spark managed to change her life forever. Her house caught on fire, the entire house engulfing in flames. With the help of a mere stranger (an acquaintance only a few years older than herself) she managed to escape.

The stranger brought the bright young girl into a new family, one of which raised her, brought her new memories, shielded her from the past, and all in all, became everything in her life.

After being confronted with her past, she found out many things were not always the way they seemed. The family that saved her was the one that murdered her biological parents. They were the ones that burnt the billion dollar estate down to nothing but ashes. They were the ones that took away everything in her life for one thing, money.

Yet, here she was to this day, still living with her very family-the murderers of her past. Still, she loved each and every one of them with all her heart.

That girl, is me. My name is Kim Hyunae - the youngest in a family of 14 which consisted of the head of our household, Park Leeteuk (the mother) and my 12 other brothers: Kim Heechul, Hankyung, Kim Jongwoon (Yesung), Kim Youngwoon (Kangin), Shin Dong Hee (Shindong), Lee Sungmin, Lee Hyukjae (Eunhyuk), Kim Ryeowook, Choi Siwon, Kim Kibum and Cho Kyuhyun. That's right, there are 14 of us but 1 was missing.

Lee Donghae. He isn't living with us. After an extreme fight with my biological brother and his gang, things have changed. Sure, it was more peaceful now, but I would give anything to have Donghae home with us again instead of there.

I sighed and looked up at the stage in front of me. There, stood Park Yoochun, my biological brother, giving his speech as the valedictorian and vice-president of our school. On the side, I caught a glimpse of each of my graduating brothers along with the other graduates of the year as they lined up in their navy blue grad robes.

Truthfully, I was happy for them. They all grew up as children of the streets from at least age 10. It was hard enough as it is to fit in and support each other morally and financially, but with all the drama going on, I was happy they at least had the chance for this. To live like a normal teenager.

“Are you crying?” I snapped my head to the side where Kyuhyun was seated beside me. I shrugged.
 

“I'm just touched, I mean, they're the first ones to walk the stage and...”

“And get out of here?” He chuckled. “I can't wait.”

I rolled my eyes at my childish and closest brother.

“But really,” He said. “We only have one more year to go too, so don't worry too much. At least a few of us will still be here.”

“That's true.” I mumbled. There was still Eunhyuk, Ryeowook, Kibum, Kyuhyun, me and....Donghae. I sighed, remembering how hard it was to convince the headmaster to allow Donghae to stay in this school for the next year. The rest of us had a much easier time, at least we showed up for finals.

Both Eunhyuk and Donghae were staying another year...well at least Eunhyuk was. We had no idea when we could expect to see Donghae again. I missed him, I really did.

Everything else that happened during the ceremondy was a blur as I was too concentrated on my own thoughts. Finally though, Kyuhyun and I got up, along with everyone else in the auditorium to look for the rest of our family (as the members of student council, we had front row seats apart from the rest of the family.)

“Hyunae~ Kyuhyun!” The very familiar voice of my boyfriend yelled. I turned and caught up to him, taking him into an embrace.

“Oppa, congratulations!” I cheered before I snuggled into the warmth of his chest.

“Thank you.” He replied. I felt his lips rest briefly on top of my head. There were murmurs around us from some speculating students, still wondering, after so many months, what had really happened between Kim Heechul and I.

“Yah! Yah! What about us?” I heard Siwon say in annoyance. I grinned at my skinship loving brother before detaching myself from my secret lover and hugging him instead.

Even after 5 months of us officially going out (Ryeowook-oppa and Donghae-oppa found out at 1 month, Kyuhyun on the 4^th), only three of my brothers knew about our relationship. Although it would be nice to get things clear and out of the way, none of us dared to approach Leeteuk about the topic.

Just as I finished congratulating all my graduated brothers, Leeteuk, Eunhyuk, Kibum and Ryeowook joined us. When this happened, some spectators grew louder, murmurs became more prominent but for the most part, everybody had their own family and friends to tend to.

I scanned the auditorium aimlessly as my brothers joked around and catted amongst themselves. Just as I was looking towards the back corner though, I spotted a very familiar figure watching us.

“Donghae-oppa...”

Somewhere in my logical mind, I must have realized that the unclear figure in the background could have been someone else or simply a figment of my imagination but all those doubts easily left my mind in place of hope.

That was my Donghae-oppa. He was here to see us afterall. Here to support his hyungs, here to return with us. All along I knew he wouldn't leave us, he would be back eventually and here he was. Within seconds, I pushed any remaining doubts out of my head before stepping towards the figure in the corner. There was only one thing on my mind. Donghae-oppa, I want my Donghae-oppa back.

Slowly, I closed in on the figure a few meters away from me. However, I was jerked to a stop by a hand on my wrist. I followed the hand up to meet the eyes of the owner.

“Sungmin-oppa?” I could barely hear my own voice as the only thing on my mind was my missing brother.

“I called you several times already, are you alright?” He asked, his voice laced with obvious concern.

I nodded quickly to him though it took me a while to understand his question. He didn't seem convinced but didn't pester me any further. I suddenly felt a tug on my wrist and realized I was being dragged back in the direction I had come from. I began struggling against his grip, wanting nothing to do with the crowd I had just left.

“Oppa.” He stopped and looked up at me expectantly. “I saw him. I saw D-Donghae-oppa.”

Once again he didn't look convinced and turned to confirm for himself. I followed his eyes to the direction I was previously set on but to my surprise, there was no one there. I closed my eyes and tried again, still, no one.

I blinked again and again, even looking all around me but he was gone. Where did he go? Where could he possibly go? It couldn't have been my imagination, it was so real, he was so real. I took a step forward, determined to push past everyone and turn the whole room upside down if I had to in order to find him.

Before I was even able to make it a meter though, a voice brought me back to reality.

“He's not here Hyunae. Stop looking, we need to return to the others before they worry.” I frowned unwillingly and planned to make an immediate break for the crowd but he was a step ahead of me. Sungmin grabbed my wrist once again and pulled me back. I struggled futilely as he pulled me back to where the others were.

A few of them gave us looks but many of them were still chatting amongst themselves. Sungmin didn't let of my hand for the remainder of the night.

“Did something happen?” Heechul asked as he sat, sprawled across my bed.

“Aniyo.” I replied as I continued piling necessities into a duffel bag. I was packing for the senior trip 2 days from now, an even for graduates and council members. Convincing the principal to consent to the trip wasn't hard, however, it took a whole lot more effort to persuade Leeteuk to let his “baby girl” go on an overnight excursion.

I grabbed a spare first aid kit form the corner of my room and placed it beside my other belongings.

“But you na dSungmin were gone for quite some time.” He replied as I searched the room for my pepper spray and pocket knife. Guns weren't allowed (for obvious reasons) so Leeteuk made us vow to bring other forms of defense mechanisms.

“I had to run some errands back stage, Sungmin went to help.” I lied. “By the way, did you pack yet?” I asked him, changing the topic.

He replied with a yes. The rest of my packing was spent in silence. He watched me as I ran around, throwing random objects into my bag. After a few more minutes, I joined Heechul on my bed. His arms wrapped around me naturally as I relaxed against him.

“I love you.” He mumbled into my hair.

“And I love you.” I replied, I turned around and looked into his eyes. “Congratulations on graduating.” I said. “It must have been hard.”

“Well, I never was the smart one, I'm pretty surprised myself.” I jumped a bit at his statement.

“You remember?” I practically shouted in glee.

He shrugged but smiled. “Just a bit.”

I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him full on the lips. I couldn't help but grin when we parted.

“I love you.” I said.

“I love you too.”

I felt his hand disappear briefly from my left side before he cupped my face. I leaned into the warmth of his palm against my cheek, loving the pure sensation of it. Slowly, his fingertips trailed to the back of my neck where he gently guided me forward to meet his lips.

“Tomorrow.” He said in between kisses. “You'll...be going...to prom with me...right?”

I chuckled at the almost demanding nature of the question. “You didn't even have to ask.” I said before pulling him in for another kiss.