Hi guuuuuuyz!! Long time no see, right?^^ Of course I could go on and on and on about how sorry I am but there is a looooong chapter ahead of you so I´ll try to keep it short. Why I didn´t write for so long? Hmm... That´s a little hard for me to anwer but I´ll try. I just didn’t really believe in the story anymore and was kind of afraid it would  (seriously=.=) if I would get to finish it and that together with school I sort of decided I should focus on school rather than anything else. But then I got a few messages, even though there were just two, they suddenly made me realize how unfair it actually was to my readers to just suddenly stop the story for a few months. That’s why I’m sincerely saying: I’m sorryT.T

Sooooooo, here we are again!(/^.^)/ Remember what happened last chapter? Up to the karaoke room~!!

Their dinner was quite succeeded, although Sehun was only being down as usual. Walking the way to the karaoke room was quite succeeded, although Sehun was being down. The first twenty minutes of rather talking and catching up with each other than singing was very succeeded, although Sehun was still being down. Luhan, Baekhyun and Chanyeol are all three standing spread over the little room and laughing because Baekhyun was just telling about some awkward moments he had experienced with Chanyeol before but also things he had experienced with Luhan many years ago. Apparently not even able to wait any longer Sehun pulls Luhan’s sleeve, who is standing quite close to the couch Sehun’s sitting on, and immediately Luhan stops laughing, although he still smiles.

“What is it Sehun~ah?” Luhan asks, the light in his eyes shining a lot less already. Sehun points at himself and then towards the wall where behind the toilets are in the hallway.

“Oh, okay,” Luhan says not really understanding why Sehun had that weird look on his face just yet. But then Luhan suddenly understands. Maybe he’s afraid that if he’ll just leave I would think he’d go away, not just out of this room but out of this building. He probably knows that he’s being obvious. I bet he knows it’s obvious he’s not having fun. But… that sounds like we wouldn’t notice him leaving the room or something. I mean… that’s ridiculous! Like I wouldn’t notice him! Right? Sehun nods, stands up and then walks away to the door. It makes me a bit sad, seeing him like this. I know he wants it. I know he wants to have fun. I know he wants to smile. He just doesn’t really know how to. Every time he smiles it still seems… sort of unnatural. He keeps holding himself and I don’t know why. Why does he do it? What is he afraid of? His chain of thoughts is quite abruptly cut off.

“Yah, Luhan!” Baekhyun calls to draw his attention. Luhan looks up, a little surprised. “Finally, I already called you twice Lu. You know, sometimes it really seems like you’re in a different world in your head. What’s going on with you?” Baekhyun asks suddenly getting irritated, seeming even angry.

“What are you talking about? Where does thát come from?” Luhan asks with big eyes.

“Oh, come on Luhan. It happens more often every day that you are a bit absent, sometimes even completely absent.”

“That’s not true!” Luhan states in a rather defending way.

“Yes, it is. By the way, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Sehun’s gone. Do you really think he needed to go to the bathroom?”

“Baek, don-”

“He’s not having fun at all. He just wanted to be away from this for a moment, away from us.”

“Of course he is having fun… a little bit,” Luhan begins loudly and ends very softly.

“That’s what I’m talking about. It looks like your plan isn’t really working out.”

“Why are you being so annoyed?” Luhan asks with an already louder voice as he feels Baekhyun attacks him in a very accusing way.

“Let’s say his mood doesn’t affect only himself but me, Chanyeol and even you as well. Yes, we said he could come with us, but eventually we’re still here to have fún.”

“Wh- It aff-” Luhan’s eyes get bigger as he thinks for a short moment, but when he opens his mouth again surprisingly Chanyeol is faster.

“I’m sorry to say it Luhan, but… I do agree that it’s not going very well,” Chanyeol squeezes in softly from the side, with his low but this time also rather compassionate voice, afraid of his reaction. Chanyeol hates arguments. He seriously hates them, and especially if he’s in one himself, which doesn’t happen that often though, barely ever actually. That’s why he doesn’t want to choose a side in any way, but… he thinks he kind of has to admit this to Luhan. “I’m not sure if it’s going to work tonight, or… any time this year,” he continues completely seriously. “He has been like this for years. Maybe it’s just the way he is. If that’s so, it might be better if you stop trying to change him,” Chanyeol concludes still quite softly. Both Luhan and Baekhyun are quite shocked by the wise words coming out of the tall guy’s mouth since… it’s not a usual thing for him to be wise… or smart in any way. They’re all quiet for a while. Is that… Is that really what I’m doing? Luhan thinks slightly confused. Am I trying to change him? N-No, I’m not. No, that’s not true! I’m just trying to… help him. Help him? With what? How would I know what’s best for him? No. No, it’s still not true. It has never been my intention to do that.

“You see? I’m not the only one who thinks like this,” Baekhyun says with a little smirk, obviously taking advantage of Chanyeol’s honesty. Chanyeol looks a bit disappointed towards Baekhyun but then just looks down with a sigh. This is why I should’ve stayed quiet. This is exactly what I did nót want. “Maybe you should just give up on it,” Baekhyun concludes very seriously but still with a tiny smirk.

“Would yóu give up if I told you to do so?” Luhan asks fiercely, his eyes not wandering from Baekhyun’s even once. This startles Baekhyun and his eyes get bigger for a  moment. He doesn’t immediately know what to say, cause he didn’t expect Luhan to hit back like this. “Would you?” Luhan asks again, a bit louder than before. Baekhyun avoids Luhan’s eyes, looking away slightly sad. He doesn’t react with words but does accept his ‘defeat’ with his eyes so Chanyeol doesn’t know but Luhan ís able to see.

“What do you mean?” Chanyeol asks slightly confused, not sure if Luhan was talking about something specific or not. At that moment they hear the door is being opened. They all look up as Sehun walks in again, who looks at the scene in front of him a bit surprised. Even though all three of the other guys are able to put something like a smile on their face but the atmosphere is still a bit awkward. After Luhan looks at Sehun for a few more seconds he looks at Baekhyun and nods, like he’s saying It’s okay. Baekhyun luckily nods back, making Luhan smile a bit more. Luhan walks up to the couch where Sehun has already sat down again and sits next to him, trying hard to act like nothing happened. Just when Sehun wants to poke his friend on the arm to find out what’s going on with the guys… suddenly Chanyeol opens his mouth.

“Hey, it’s SNSD!” The other guys all turn around at the same time, looking a bit confused, but they soon find out what he’s talking about.

“Aha~ Listen boy~”

“Come on Baek, you know you love Gee. I chose the non-karaoke practice version,” Chanyeol continues.

“I… I-I don’t…” Baekhyun starts stuttering, probably trying to deny it. “O-Okay,” he admits while looking defeated and stands next to Chanyeol, but a smile is already forming on his face, which makes Chanyeol softly grin.

“Bacon, I didn’t know you still did this,” Luhan says sort of happily surprised, aiming at dancing to girl songs. Baekhyun just answers showing Luhan a slightly awkward but happy smile, baring all his teeth, but turns around quickly again.

“Oh, we do this a lot,” Chanyeol explains. “But this is the first time other people are allowed to see this, so you should feel honored,” he jokes with a stately and exaggerated voice. Luhan laughs for a short moment.

“You’re going to lóve this,” Luhan says softly to Sehun while still grinning a bit. Sehun doesn’t really understand yet, but just seeing Luhan’s happy face he smiles a tiny bit.

“Gee gee gee gee baby baby baby~ Gee gee gee gee baby baby baby~” As both the tall and the short guy do the famous crab leg dance Luhan has to try hard to hold his laughter but for now only sniggers. Sehun still seems to feel a bit awkward but keeps watching the two guys attentively.

“Honestly, I think you’re doing this dance a little bit tóo good,” Luhan says while chuckling a bit.

“Oh, this is nothing Lu. You’re really going to see something at the chorus,” Chanyeol says with a smirk while eyeing to Baekhyun, who’s still too emerged in the song to really notice the others.

“You know the whole chorus as well?” Luhan asks a bit surprised but anticipating.

“Well, Í only know a few parts of it, but Baekhyun does, and he does it much better anyways so I’ll give him the honor.” Only a few seconds after hearing his name Baekhyun looks up to the other while raising up his eyebrows a little.

“What?”

“Just do your thing Bacon,” Chanyeol says like it’s the most normal thing in the world, trying not to let his smile grow too big, for now at least. Baekhyun looks at him a little suspiciously.

“You’re going to laugh at me, aren’t you? I know it because you said Bacon again,” Baekhyun states determinedly while squeezing his eyes a little. “You… You know what? I don’t even care,” he suddenly continues while holding his head up. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks. At least I’m going to do it with style.”

“Well, I never doubted about thát part,” Chanyeol jokes. Luhan claps in his hands while laughing, totally agreeing with him. Baekhyun only squeezes his eyes again for a second but then just gets ready as the chorus is coming up.

“Neomu banjjak banjjak, nuni bushyeo~ no no no no no~” Instantly the three other guys start laughing – yes, even Sehun chuckles – at Baekhyun’s actually quite good dancing, especially because of his complete focus.

“Yep, SNSD makes him forget all his worries,” Chanyeol says a few seconds later, slightly dramatically but still being serious.

“Yeah, I can see that. Like a real fanboy,” Luhan reacts while laughing. Indeed there’s nothing visible of Baekhyun’s moodiness from two minutes ago and to be honest, everybody’s mood has cheered up, especially one person’s mood. Because of all of his laughing Luhan only notices the boy sitting next to him after little while. Sehun’s eyes are squeezed to splits, most of his teeth are bared and the sound coming out of his mouth… Right now to Luhan it sounds like the most beautiful thing he has ever heard. Eventually he decides not to keep looking as that might snap Sehun out of it. He wants to enjoy this moment, this scene as long as he can and just starts laughing again like before.

“Oh yeah yeah yeah~”

“Thank you, thank you,” Baekhyun says acting serious as he turns to the others. Luhan and Chanyeol both applaud loudly for him and sniff every once in a while since they laughed so hard just yet.

“Wow, that was um…” Luhan starts while trying to find the right words to describe what he just saw.

“It blows your mind, doesn’t it Chanyeol?”

“Oh, it sure does,” he replies with a smile just as big as Luhan’s and they’re accidentally provoking each other and start laughing again.

“Yah, don’t you deny it. I’m not the only one who used to dance like this,” Baekhyun says while looking at Luhan.

“What? I don- No. Really, I-” Luhan replies denying.

“What did I say? Don’t deny it! Come on. Chanyeol, pick the next song!” Baekhyun says commanding but enthusiastically to be proven right.

“Yes ma’am.” Baekhyun gives him an evil glare with his cheeks blown round. Chanyeol grins for a second. “Just kidding Baekie. Okay, here it comes.” After waiting for a few seconds Luhan and Baekhyun suddenly look at each other with big eyes.

“Is this the song that I think it is?” Luhan asks.

“I think so. Oh god, get ready,” Baekhyun replies with a smile that is actually more like a smirk. “1, 2, 3.”

“I want nobody nobody but you~ I want nobody nobody but you~” Then again Chanyeol and Sehun burst out in laughter as they see the two other guys dancing almost completely synchronized as if they’ve did this together yesterday.

“Wow! You don’t see this every day, now do you?” Chanyeol says to Sehun who jolts a little as the tall guy unexpectedly talks to him. Chanyeol himself doesn’t notice any of the weirdness, as always, and already looks back to the dancing boys again. Sehun just answers with an awkward smile even though he isn’t looking at him anymore. Then he slowly starts to smile sincerely, not that anyone sees it but just automatically, and looks down for a moment. It almost seems like he’s feeling… some sort of…joy. Happiness even. After a while he just accepts the feeling and looks at the dancing guys again, his teeth immediately bared and laughing.

“Well, that’s um… that’s some good exercise, isn’t it Lulu?” Baekhyun says while roughly patting his blond friend on the back.

“Yah!” Baekhyun chuckles.

“And you’re supposed to be so tough,” he jokes.

“Okay,” Chanyeol starts again, ignoring the others. “Then now, we will choose the last song. It’s going to be epic,” he announces like he’s hosting a TV-show. “It’s going to be… twinkling,” he adds sneakily.

“The twinkle~ twinkle~”

“Baekie,” Chanyeol calls and his friend turns around right away. “Who is your favorite group?”

“Oh, that’s SNS- S-SHINee of course,” he answers a bit too quickly.

“Yeah, sure. Don’t you deny it. I bet your one of the biggest SONE’s out there.”

“Yah! I told you it was SHI-”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re in the denial fase, I know,” Chanyeol says softly while petting Baekhyun’s head for a moment but pulling his hand away soon enough not to be hit by Baekhyun and laughs.

“Sumgyeodeo twinkle eojjeona~ nune hwak tijjana~” Of course everyone can see that Baekhyun totally lights up again – seriously, like the sun…

“Well, those lyrics sound pretty right coming out of your mouth Bacon,” Luhan throws in after a little while, while still dancing and sometimes softly singing along.

“Yah! What do you mean by that?!”

“Well… You can be kind of… twinkly. And why would you spend so much time on your make-up and clothing if it wasn’t true?” Luhan asks with sort of a naughty look on his face.

“I… You c- Ugh… I’m not going to respond to that.” Only at that moment Baekhyun notices how hard Sehun is laughing, together with Chanyeol of course. For a few seconds he stares at Sehun, totally shocked – luckily Sehun doesn’t notice – but is snapped out of his thoughts by Chanyeol.

“Well, guys… You know what there is to do nów,” he says a bit mysteriously. Both Baekhyun and Luhan give Chanyeol a curious look. The tall guy lays a hand on both Luhan’s and Baekhyun’s shoulder. “We’ve really got to make this undone… and get our manliness back,” he continues completely serious. Now no one laughs anymore, expect Sehun softly, and they act very serious about this issue.

“Yes, that’s indeed the thing to do,” Baekhyun confirms.

“It’s going to be hard to completely become our old selves again but we must try,” Luhan adds a little dramatically while rubbing his chin. Again Chanyeol grabs the remote controller.

“Baby~ Naege banhae beorin naege wae irae~”

“Hey Bacon, SHINee was your favorite, right?” Chanyeol asks seriously but Baekhyun knows he’s just asking it to mess with him.

“Ha ha, really funny.” Luhan and Chanyeol both chuckle. Then suddenly Chanyeol gets an idea – wow, he’s on a roll today! – and turns around.

“Hey Sehun.” Sehun looks up immediately, questioning. The other two guys are actually just as curious. “Why don’t you join us on this one?” Sehun’s eyes get big for a second.

“Chanyeol,” Luhan softly whispers in his ear. “I don’t think he’s gonn-”

“Do you want to?” Chanyeol just asks again. Sehun hesitates for a while. He doubts whether he really wants to or not. And even if he does, if should he really do it. In the end, unfortunately, Sehun shakes his head, but not the way he normally does, in a more apologetic way. Chanyeol just pulls up his shoulders. “Well, okay then. That’s a pity.” The three guys just continue dancing enthusiastically.

“Ring ding dong, ring ding dong, ring digiding digiding ding ding~”

When they’re finally done Baekhyun and Luhan immediately sit down on the couch, wiping the sweat off their foreheads.

“Geez… I seriously never would’ve expected to be sweating like this in a karaoke room,” Baekhyun then says while smiling but unable to really laugh.

“I think we were a bit tóo enthusiastic about this,” Luhan notes.

“Yeah, probably.”

“Hey guys. Want to go for another last round?” Chanyeol suddenly throws in.

“What? Are you crazy?” Baekhyun asks looking at him like he’s an idiot. “Didn’t you sweat enough already?” Apparently not, as they hear Super Junior’s Sorry Sorry playing already.

“Oh. You really don’t want to anymore?” Chanyeol asks with a pout. “Well, I’m not doing it alone. You’re just going to make fun of me.”

“Yeah, right! Then what did you with mé the last ten minutes?!” Baekhyun asks joking but also a bit truly irritated. Everybody just laughs then and Chanyeol decides to join the guys on the couch. Somehow they just start randomly talking again – really, sometimes they’re just like a bunch of girls. So what they don’t notice is that behind them Sehun is suddenly standing up to grab his drink, but just when he wants to drink it he hesitates for a second. Then he puts the drink down, not even really understanding what he’s doing himself, and while the others have already forgotten it Sehun listens to the song that’s nearing the chorus.

“Oh ow oh ow oh oh oh oh oh oh oh~” And before he can grasps the situation himself… he dances along with little movements.

“Sorry sorry sorry sorry~ nuni bushyeo bushyeo bushyeo~” As he sees the other guys are still not noticing he automatically makes his movements a little bigger. Just at the moment that Sehun is almost losing himself in the music he sees Luhan is looking and immediately stops. Luhan doesn’t say anything, he just smiles and stands up, standing next to Sehun. Unexpectedly, Luhan just dances along with the song again, looking at Sehun as if he’s inviting him to dance along again… and it works. Definitely when Baekhyun and Chanyeol join them too it’s just one big party and everybody dances, relaxed and having fun like they’re supposed to, even Sehun. Even though Sehun’s still smiles a bit awkwardly between his laughs Luhan level of happiness couldn’t be any higher, at least that’s how it feels right now.

“Okay guys, now… now we áre really done,” Luhan concludes. “I don’t think anyone of us can handle of this right now.” Baekhyun and Chanyeol both nod clearly agreeing with him. They all sit down on the couch again and grab their drinks, drinking it like their life depends on it. Eventually Chanyeol and Baekhyun start their own little conversation and Luhan focuses on Sehun.

“I’m really happy that you laughed… and danced along with us,” Luhan then starts after a little while. “Doesn’t it feel… feel good?” Sehun nods with a sincere smile. “Good. It was a lot of fun for me too, I think for all of us.” Sehun nods again.

“Thank you.” It takes a while before Luhan realizes it but then his eyes get huge. Sehun, who’s apparently just as surprised as Luhan is, slaps both of his hands on his mouth as his own eyes get big as well. Baekhyun and Chanyeol don’t notice a thing. Both Sehun and Luhan can’t move for a moment.

“D-Did y… You just… Did you just… talk?” Luhan asks as if doubting whether it was his imagination or real. Sehun doesn’t really react. A few seconds later, out of panic and confusion, Sehun stands up and runs out of the room, one hand still covering his mouth. Luhan stands up and for a short while all Luhan can do is stand there with big eyes and his mouth open.

“Luhan, w-what is going on?” Baekhyun asks. The slamming of the door obviously drew the other guys’ attention. Luhan doesn’t answer. He doesn’t even look at them. He just runs out of the room himself too and as he still can’t see Sehun in the hallway he’s certain he went outside and so he runs to the outside door.

“Sehun? Sehun!” Luhan calls when he spots him, but immediately he’s quiet again as Sehun is standing still just two meters away from the door. “Sehun?” he then asks at normal volume again. Then Sehun suddenly pushes Luhan behind a big trash bin next to them and stands half behind it himself too. “Sehun, wh-” He then realizes he might better whisper. “What’s going on?” he asks not annoyed or anything, actually only worried. As Sehun looks at him it seems like he wants to say something but he’s just having a hard time getting any sound out of his mouth. Just yet… Did he truly talk unconsciously? Eventually Sehun looks sideways to where he was looking just yet too, but he also obviously avoids Luhan’s eyes.

“He j-j… I-I-I…”

“Easy Sehun, relax,” Luhan says as he lays a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Just tell me what we’re hiding for,” he requests calmly, somehow making Sehun immediately relax a bit too. Luhan looks around the corner for a moment but can’t figure out who Sehun was watching. There are many people on the street. A few seconds later Sehun takes a deep breath and tries again.

“He just can’t see me. He just can’t see us,” he finally states, quite vaguely though, still looking away. Again it shocks Luhan, simply the fact that he’s talking. But then he focuses again.

“What? Who can’t s… And why both of us?”

“It doesn’t matter!” Sehun suddenly blurts out fiercely, leaving Luhan kind of shocked. “I-I…” He then just sighs. “He’s gone now. I’m going home.” Home…

“What? W-Wait. Sehun!” he tries to make him stay and holds onto his arm for a moment, but Sehun keeps walking determinedly and Luhan decides it’s probably better to just let him go. After that he slowly walks back inside to their room. When he opens the door Baekhyun and Chanyeol both stand up and look at him worriedly right away.

“Luhan, what did just happen?” Baekhyun asked totally confused as well as a bit worried. Luhan first looks down for a moment, not really because he doesn’t want to tell but simply because he doesn’t really know how and what to tell. Honestly, there’s just one thing that is truly important.

“Sehun just… He… He talked to me,” Luhan says slowly with almost as much disbelieve as before and the other two guys’ eyes go open to the size of apples.

She still doesn’t like it. She still doesn’t like the fact that her parents made her do this. If it would’ve been my own choice? Fine. But like this? It still bugs her. It’s not that she dislikes the school or something. The few teachers Taeyeon has met so far were quite nice to her and didn’t look at her like she was the little girl of the group. Well, she ís only 21 years old so it wouldn’t be strange, but they treated her with… respect. I like that. Finally, just a tiny bit of ‘respect’. Don’t get that often, you know… As she walks through the hallway she looks around her. There have been a few people who thought she was a student at still school and she also thinks quite some people can’t grasp the fact that she is their ‘teacher’. She chuckles inside. She honestly thinks it’s kind of funny. Suddenly… she spots two familiar guys in the big hall. She immediately stops to look at them from a distance.

“Luhan? A-And Kai?” she asks to no one particularly, while looking at the scene with big eyes. She sees the two standing opposite of each other, looking pretty angry into each other’s eyes. She can’t hear anything of the beginning of the conversation, but she does catch the second half of it.

“Come on, tell me. Did something bad happen between you or not?” Kai asks with a fake pout.

“Just knock it off Kai! It’s none of your business,” Luhan says not that loud but really serious. He tries to walk away but Kai stops him by grabbing his shoulder, firmly.

“It’s true, they always say the first few months are the hardest,” Kai just continues while nodding.

“That’s a marriage you’re talking about ! This is nót the same thing.”

“Oh, my bad. It just seemed… so damn similar to me,” Kai says with a bit of exaggeration and slowly at the end.

“Ha ha. You’re really funny. Now let me go,” Luhan tries again, now a bit more relaxed than before. Kai sees he clearly has enough of it now and he’s not going to tell him anything, not nów at least. He bites his bottom lip for a moment and looks a bit disappointed.

“Alright. Go then. Fetch!” he calls like he’s ordering around a dog.

“I’m not your dog,” Luhan says with a low voice, simply annoyed, and starts walking away.

“Or maybe you áre,” Kai says with a satisfied and slightly… kind of y voice. Luhan turns around a bit confused and squeezes his eyes a little when he sees Kai smirking and pulling up his eyebrows. In the end Luhan decides to just walk away again and especially resist the urge to ask what he exactly meant with that. Do I even wánt to know? He thinks for a bit. Probably not. He sighs with a growl. He’s just trying to get on my nerves, as usual. Eventually Luhan disappears in one of the hallways while Kai keeps chatting or something with his friends. Luckily neither of them spotted Taeyeon. Actually the chance was small anyways since she was at such a distance. Suddenly she notices a guy, around the age of 18 probably, who’s standing about three meters away from her. She thinks for a short while but then decides to walk up to him, trying to find out if he knows a bit more about this as he probably saw what happened too.

“Yah. You,”  she says bluntly when standing right next to him. It’s nice being a teacher, she thinks with a tiny smirk. The guy looks up slightly surprised but then turns towards her.

“You’re the new teacher, right?” he asks with a kind of… let’s say satisfied face.

“Yes and wipe that smile off your face.” He immediately complies and coughs for a moment.

“Okay then. What is it?”

“I was just wondering if you could… Did you see what happened just yet? What can you tell me about those two guys?” she asks while pointing to the spot where Kai and his friends are still standing, acting like she doesn’t know the two at all.

“You mean… Kai and the blond guy?” She nods. “Well, I’ve followed classes with Kai for a few years now so I know him quite well, even though we’ve never been friends. About the blond guy… I don’t know that much. Actually I only know he got to this school this year and is the only one who hangs out with Sehun – don’t ask me why. Have you ever seen Sehun?”

“No, I haven’t. But I’ve heard of him,” Taeyeon just decides to say, and it’s true.

“Well, he’s kind of weird, but whatever. If I heard right it’s Séhun they’re arguing about most of the time.” Taeyeon looks a little weird at him.

“Abóut him?”

“Well, yeah. But I don’t know what they exáctly argue about. This is just from what I’ve seen and from what others told me.”

“Okay, but let’s go back a little. So they… hate each other?”

“Oh yeah. They tótally hate each other!” the guy confirms quite exaggerating, although it’s true. “Sometimes it seems like they want to freaking kíll each other. Maybe both in different ways though,” he says joking while joking a little but soon realizing she probably wouldn’t get that joke.

“Um… How do you mean?”

“Of course, you’re new here. Hmm… I bet you’ll find out how Kai is soon enough.”

“How then?”

“Well…” He hesitates a little. “You’re still quite young, I’m guessing, and you’re… not really bad-looking,” he says like he’s simply stating a fact. This time Taeyeon sees it as a compliment and smiles a little bit, shyly.

“Well… S-So?”

“Kai likes that.” She looks up with big eyes for a moment. “That’s all I can say, and probably all I shóuld say.” She is a bit confused but even móre curious now.

“Well, eh… Thank you for the information. I’ll definitely um… keep an eye on them.”

“You’re welcome. Hope I’ll see you in class some other time.”

“Don’t even TRY to-”

“Got it, got it,” he says slightly startled/frightened of the tone in her voice and immediately walks away. Taeyeon just shakes her head a little and turns around, heading to the right classroom. So you’re friends, huh? Ha! I knéw there was something going on between them. I think we need to have a little talk Lulu.

As the students flow into the classroom Taeyeon doesn’t even bother to say hi to everyone. The only one she is focused on is Luhan. When she sees him walking in she immediately grins inside. Just catching him is somehow not enough this time. She’s not going to tell him, she’s going to make him tell hér himself.

“So… My baby brother…” Taeyeon starts with a sweet and slightly sensual voice to start the conversation. Luhan looks surprised but most of all suspicious at her, his eyes slightly squeezed.

“Um… What?” he replies softly. “Wait a s- Don’t call me you baby brother Taey-”

“Oh, but you are, aren’t you?” He doesn’t answer but just looks at her, annoyed, already. “I’m sorry about that, but what I wanted to say wa-”

“No, you’re not.” She gives him a bored look and just sighs.

“Okay, I might not. Not really. But… But the thing is – ugh, you’re distracting me – I just wanted to… propose something.” He pulls up one eyebrow.

“Really?” he asks curious and yet again even more suspicious.

“Yes. I was just thinking… As mom and dad still don’t trust you, as you know, wouldn’t it be a good idea to invite your friends over for dinner once, so they could see your friends aren’t that bad at all?” Well, at least she’s still able to surprise me after all those years.

“Yeah, well… That might even be fun, actually. I could ask th-”

“Oh, that’s great. I also thought they were só overreacting,” she continues with an unusually big smile on her face. “So hopefully one visit will calm their nerves,” she says acting nice, like she’s ‘totally on his side’. “But anyway, what about tomorrow? Tomorrow is Friday, right? Of course you should bring Baekhyun and Chanyeol…”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll just have to ask them if they ca-”

“And Sehun. Oh, and… What was his name again? Right! Kai. That was the name,” she goes on as if she didn’t hear him, as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. You know, honestly I’m a better actress than I thought I was, she thinks while smiling contently(?) inside. For a second Luhan thought his eyes were going to literally pop out, but luckily he was able to control himself. He swallows.

“W-What? Wh… Who?” She looks at him again, surprised by his reaction.

“Oh, um… Sorry, did I forget anyone?”

“No, it’s n-”

“Well, these are the guys that mom and dad know of. You would want to (zuiveren) at least théir names, wouldn’t you?” she says a bit more softly, still acting but with less of a smile, making sure the message gets through to him. When he heard those last two lines he suddenly froze and thought. If she would just know… just know how Kai and Sehun are she wouldn’t ask something like this. Baekhyun and Chanyeol? Fine. But Sehun… And especially Kai! Well… Actually I don’t even know which one I would want to keep away from my parents most. Ugh… How am I going to get out of this?

“I…” Come on, think Luhan, think! “I’ll see if they’ve got… the time,” he says trying really hard to hide his nervousness, ending with a little, forced, smile.

“Welll…” Okay, think Taeyeon, think! Hom am I going to make him say it… “That’s wonderful. Oh, but you don’t have to ask Kai. I’m seeing him next class so I’ll do it for you,” she lies. As if he knows even a bít of my schedule.

“What- No. No, that’s okay. I can just ask him myself too. By the way, if I remember right, I think he has something tomorrow already. He told me about it but I honestly didn’t listen thát closely,” he lies, better than he ever did before actually, while rubbing the back of his head. Taeyeon is also kind of impressed actually. She’d almost believe him, looking at his face, but of course she knows better.

“Oh. Well, that would be a pity if that was true. But… as you’re still not sure I’ll just ask him to check.”

“No!” Of course. I just made it even worse. If she’d ask him and find out I was lying… “Just… No.”

“What? But… it would just be a lift off your shoulders, wouldn’t it?” she asks acting confused and a bit suspicious now.

“Yes, I know,” he replies with a sigh, no idea what to do now.

“Well, then why would it b-”

“Taeyeon, I don’t like him!” he then, finally, bursts out. For a moment it’s quiet. Taeyeon’s face shows no emotion right now and puts her hands on her hips but Luhan is too busy thinking to really notice. “I don’t like hím, he doesn’t like mé. We hate each other Tae!” Again Luhan is quiet for a moment, but for a different reason than before. It’s still not getting through to him but Taeyeon’s face does make him a bit confused. Then finally she opens again.

“Ha,” she says still with no emotion in her face. Luhan now rather looks like she’s crazy, having no idea why she say that in this situation, at this moment.

“Wh-”

“Ha!” Finally an evil but also happy smile appears on her face. “Haha! I knew you would give in at some point,” she says with a satisfied smirk.

“What? You… Y-You knew? You… You knew! How?!” She pulls up her shoulders.

“It wasn’t that hard to find out.”

“Wow… You are even more evil than I thought.”

“It appears half of the school knows about you and your little friend,” she states like she didn’t hear him, somehow a bit condescending.

“You really like ignoring me, don’t you?” he says rather stating a face than asking. “B-But… So someone told you?” Please, please tell me she did nót see any of it. The fact that she knows is bad already, but if she would’ve witnessed one of our ‘conversations’… That’s bad. Taeyeon hesitates for a moment.

“Yes. Yes, someone told me.” I’m not sure if it’s the best thing to tell him that I’ve also seen it. I’m still not sure what I actually saw, so… He’s probably not going to tell me just like that. By the way, just with the fact that he knows I know now I’m probably able to blackmail him a little. I’m not that evil, but if it’s really necessary… at least I’ve got something quite good to use now. “Some guy, one of my students, somehow heard we were siblings and asked if that was true,” she lies, skilled as always. “Then he apparently couldn’t help but start about you and Kai, that you were… enemies even. And by the way, also about Sehun,” she says without a smile as she feels like the topic Sehun is a bit different, a bit more sensitive even. And when she sees Luhan’s face slightly change she’s certain. “He didn’t tell me much about Sehun though. He couldn’t really.” And that’s the truth this time. “Although… I don’t really understand that part.” She thinks for a bit, about how she should ask and what she actually wánts to ask. “First of all, you’re friends, right?”

“Um… Well… Yeah. Why? What did he says about him?” Taeyeon looks at his face for a bit. Just yet, when talking about Kai, he seemed indeed shocked and full of… disgust almost, but now when it’s about Sehun… he seems kind of down, a bit sad even.

“As I said, not much. It’s just…”

“Well, then that’s great, cause that’s enough,” he says slightly relieved but almost just as down as before, not even angry but just down, and he starts walking to his seat. Taeyeon stops him in time though.

“Luhan, wait…” she says quite softly, in a compassionate way, while holding onto his sleeve and looking at him as he turns around again. A light shock went through Luhan’s body as he felt his sleeve being grabbed. When he sees the face of the person whose hands are holding onto him he somehow gets a feeling of… disappointment.

“Don’t,” he says softly but fiercely, without looking at her, and again walks away, but this time Taeyeon lets him leave. What was that? Why did he suddenly react so much more fiercely? Maybe I was just bothering him too much, or… What the hell Tae?! Don’t suddenly get all sentimental! she thinks to herself. You’re not like that! Not with him. Cause… Cause he’s just your annoying little brother. Yeah, that’s why. Remember that, she thinks as if she’s trying to persuade herself. Then she sighs and mentally slaps herself. Ugh, who am I kidding. Don’t be so childish! It’s true that I usually never pity him, like… never. He never really hád to be pitied either. But somehow the last few weeks… I’ve been – ugh, I hate to admit it – worrying about him, in several ways. Everything was always perfect for him and he seemed almost completely care-free. And even though I never really liked that, as that wasn’t how mý life was, I was sort of… used to it I guess. It was just the way it always was, the way it was supposed to be. I was used to it, everyone was used to it actually. But… Only about a minute ago I realized how much it hurt me to see him like this. Suddenly the bell rings, signing the start of class, frightening her to death. It takes a moment before she can think straight again. Okay, first there’s class. Focus on that right now. Later I’ll start ‘playing detective’. Sehun is the tricky one. As I haven’t seen him before I first should meet him, at least sort of, and I’ll just have to see how that goes. Kai on the other hand… He might be a ‘big shot’ among the students, but to handle mé he’s going to need some better weaponry. I don’t know exactly what the topic is going to be, I don’t know whén it’s going to be, but at least I know one thing for sure… Eventually, I’m going to talk to both of them.

Finally the bell rings and both Luhan and Taeyeon are glad class is over. Both of them have been quite busy worrying, only in two different ways. Only when the first few students already walk out of the classroom some guy just walks ínto the classroom. He quickly walks up to Taeyeon’s desk.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I…” Then he suddenly realizes this woman isn’t that much older than him. “I’m sorry, but I had to go to the dentist this morning and he started a little late so…” he continues while grabbing the back of his neck and showing his teeth in an awkward smile. “I just wanted to tell you that was the reason that I didn’t attend class. I um… Oh, of course. My mom wrote a note for if I would be late, which she had expected and she was right, once again. So… here,” he says while handing her the note, not even once noticing how… oddly quiet Taeyeon has been. Not even realizing it herself, she somehow has been looking at him, ‘examining’ him without even saying a word. Is he really only 18? He is just so… tall and so… She quickly snaps herself out of it and takes his note.

“Um… You are the new teacher, right? I’m Chanyeol,” he says with a tiny bow and a smile so bright it makes Taeyeon smile almost automatically. As soon as she realizes it she wipes the smile off her face and replaces it for a tiny, polite one. She nods and clears .

“Yes, I’m th- Wait. You’re Chanyeol?” He nods, a bit curious why she asked like that. “Oh. Oh, well… I’m Taeyeon, Luhan’s sister. I’ve heard about you. Well, not much, but…”

“Taeyeon? Oh, so yóu are his sister. Well, nice to meet you. You know, when I head you were only 21 and about to start teaching here I thought it would be a little awkward, but actually I think you kind of fit here. A-And I mean that in a good way, of course.” She pulls up her eyebrows for a moment, almost startled by the things he just said. She never expected him… or actually anyone to say that.

“Oh. Well, thank you. And… You’re just…” She feels stupid to ask and the reason is also actually quite stupid. “18, right?” First he gives her a bit of a weird look but then he laughs.

“Yes, I’m 18. No one ever estimated my age over 18, so thank you,” he says while wiping away the invisible tears of laughing and stops laughing but keeps smiling. He seems so… comfortable. Why? Taeyeon wonders while looking at his face. He is so… spontanious and… not awkward at all and so… happy. “Sorry, never mind. It was just a little funny.”

“Oh no, that’s okay. That’s fine. Um… But I just wanted to ask something about… You are friends with Luhan and Baekhyun, right?”

“Yeah. I’ve been friends with Baekhyun for a long time already but I already think Luhan is a really nice guy.” For a short moment she hesitates.

“Okay, and can you also tell me a little bit… about Kai?” I feel a little bad to ask him like that while we practically just met, but… as he seems to be good friends with Luhan he múst know what’s going on between those two, and I just need to know. He seems rather shocked about the question. She can see he’s thinking deeply about what to answer.

“Well, um… Why do you want to know, if I may ask?” She thinks. She decides to leave a few things about for now.

“I… I’ve been told I needed to keep an eye on him. Could you maybe tell me why?”

“Um… Who told you that?”

“Just someone. It doesn’t matter who because apparently half of the school knows about it,” she says trying to get him to answer.

“Um… I um…” He rubs his neck again. “I don’t think I’m the one to answer that question. And by the way, if I would even tell you you’d probably just immediately go to the principal or something. That way all the teachers will know and Luhan might get into trouble that way too,” Chanyeol explains getting a little bit angry, but as he doesn’t like to be angry of course he puts a gentle smile on his face right away. Taeyeon thinks about that for a moment.

“Well, but… Chanyeol, you have to understand that I wouldn’t tell the principal, or simply anyone. I just want to know it because I’m worried about my little brother.”

“Well, he isn’t that little and you know that.”

“Th… That’s true. But still I just-”

“Just don’t ask about it, okay? I mean… I’m asking you please not to go on about this, at least not to me. If you really want to know so badly just go talk to Kai himself, but I’m not completely certain if he’ll react well.”

“Okay, then that’s what I’ll do,” she concludes a little icky, as she’s feeling hé is rather ‘teaching’ hér than the other way around.

“Fine then.”

“Fine.” For a while it’s totally quiet in the classroom. “Um… Sorry. I-It wasn’t really my intention to talk to you like this. I’m not a or something, really. I mean, I-I’m just-”

“Worried. I understand,” he says while nodding with again that gentle smile on his face. He thinks for a second. “Well, I um… I think I’ll go look for Baekhyun. Um… I’ll see you later, in class.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” As soon as Chanyeol leaves the classroom Taeyeon does the same and rapidly walks through the hallway, looking for her brother. Not as she expected, she bumps into him very soon, literally.

“Ouch! Aw…” they both groan while rubbing their heads.

“Oh, Tae,” Luhan says kind of surprised, not too happy though and he doesn’t even smile.

“Oh, Luhan! I’m sorry, can I just ask you one thing? It’ll just take a second.” He is a little confused because of her eagerness and so just complies.

“Okay. Sure.”

“So, listen. We… just talked about that dinner, right?” Luhan’s face already becomes more suspicious. “No no no, not in that way. I don’t want to invite Kai or Sehun over or something, but… wouldn’t you like it if only Baekhyun and Chanyeol would come?” Luhan’s face then clears up a bit again.

“Um… Well… Yeah, thát I would like. But you’re sure you’re not going to inv-”

“No Luhan. Seriously, I promise. Maybe with just those two guys it’ll give mom and dad some consolation or… whatever. So… what do you say?” He thinks for a moment and then just shrugs his shoulders.

“Well, if it’s just like that… then I’m fine with it. It would be nice to have them over. Okay, I’ll go ask if they have some time tomorrow.”

“Okay, that’s great!” she says almost a bit too enthusiastic. Luhan doesn’t even bother anymore. He just turns around and starts walking away again.

“Well, see you later. I’ve got class now. And by the way, so do yóu.” When he disappears around the corner Taeyeon shakes her head for a moment, but with a smile. So typical. If we just had an argument he always feels like he hás to stay mad for a certain amount of time, so when he forgets for a moment he always tries to end it tough or playing smart. As she starts walking again too… only then she realizes. Why did I actually want them to come have dinner with us? Yeah, why is that? It don’t know. Maybe it was… No, don’t be silly. Or maybe it is… Then she pictures that smile of him again, while he rubs his neck awkwardly. She shakes her head vigorously. What?! Are you nuts?! Stop it! she demands and slaps herself mentally. After a while she has calmed down again. Don’t be silly. It’s just a dinner. Nothing more. You just want to see if you can find some more things out, if some words might slip out of their mouths unintentionally. Yes, that’s it! That’s why. And nothing more.