Luhan and Tao paced back and forth in the main living room. Chen stared at the two as they continued to walk around endlessly. Kris, Xiumin, and Lay sat quietly on the couches and chairs and checked the clock every now and then. They had left Mi Yung with their mother and father to talk in their quarters. She was hesitant to meet with them alone but their mother and father seemed overjoyed to see their daughter. Overall, it was an awkward situation for Mi Yung who looked like she was thrown into a new world completely. So now the six waited out in the living room for them to finish.

“This is taking forever,” Tao muttered under his breath as he looked up at the giant grandfather clock.

Luhan looked up as well and couldn’t help but feel restless. He could only hope that Mi Yung would take the whole thing alright.

It had been two hours so far and Kris was getting dizzy from the two walking around in circles. “Luhan ge, Tao, can you two sit down? I’m getting a headache from seeing you two.”

Luhan sighed and sat beside Lay. Tao kicked his foot at the sir slightly before going over to the empty couch and flopping on it face down like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Do you think she’ll be okay with it? You know? The… marriage thing?” Chen asked out of curiosity for the others opinion.

Lay frowned a little but continued to stay quiet while Kris gave a doubtful look.

“I don’t know… I mean, it is out of nowhere to her so I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t want to. It’s just that, there’s almost no choice whatsoever,” Xiumin said a bit unsure.

“And the Exo-K Royal Family is supposed to be coming over tomorrow morning as well. They’ve already arranged for the two to meet,” Luhan added.

Tao groaned into the pillow he held to his face after hearing his geges talk about it all.

Meanwhile, Mi Yung sat at the table stunned and tried to take in everything that her ‘real’ parents were telling her. She had been shown documents of her actual birth, the connection between her real parents and her adoptive parents who passed away, plus everything from the Exo territory situations to the arranged marriage.

She had now believed that these two were her blood parents but nevertheless she felt awkward around them. No doubt, the king and queen were loving and wanted her to be comfortable around them and Mi Yung gradually found some sense of familiarity with them. They had taken a while to explain everything, but the moment they said ‘arranged marriage’ she froze.

Mi Yung’s POV

A… what? An arranged marriage? What? But I just started to believe that these two were my actual parents, they showed me proof and everything but an arranged marriage? Don’t I get a say in this? All of a sudden?

“Mi Yung honey, why aren’t you saying anything?” the Quee- I mean my blood mother told me. I don’t know how long it’ll take me to get used to the fact that they are my real parents but with this whole situation… WHAT?

“A-arranged marriage?” I managed to sputter.

Father nodded and he seemed to turn serious which slightly scared me.

“Yes, I am afraid so dear,” he said showing a hint of sympathy in his voice.

“B-but… I’m still in school. I’m graduating this year, and I don’t even know who it is. T-this… I don’t…” I didn’t know how to respond, of course I was against it. I didn’t want to. It’s all too sudden. Being taken away and told you’re a princess and to top it all off, being arranged into a marriage.

“Honey, we’re sorry. We tried to keep you out of all this. That’s why we sent you away but it seems the only way to bring peace to the island again is through this. I’m sure that even though our two families have had disputes, they wouldn’t hurt you in any way. We don’t have any other choice.” Mother held my hand and it.

I wanted so bad to tear my hand away and yell saying that there was no way I’d agree to it but I didn’t have the guts. I just sat there, bowing my head down, not looking at either of them in the eyes.

“The Exo-K wouldn’t have any other way. I really apologize dear,” father said. “Will you agree to it Mi Yung?”

I stayed quiet for a little bit. I didn’t know what to do. I finally found out I had real family. I found out so much today. But… it all made my head hurt in the end. And being asked to be married off the day you found out wasn’t exactly the best either. Looking up at them, I saw they were really hoping that I’d say yes. To be honest, I thought for a moment about their situation. As much as I’d like to be selfish at the moment, I felt like I couldn’t. The whole island depended on my decision which is what bothered me the most.

Taking a deep breath, I choked out a yes. Their eyes lit up and quickly hugged me. They thanked me several times for my understanding but I didn’t feel happy at all.

“Thank you dear,” mother said and kissed me on the cheek.

“You will meet your husband tomorrow, their family will be coming here in the morning so please get some rest tonight,” father said and gave me one last hug before letting me leave their quarters.

As I exited, I stood looking at the ground as I walked down the hall where my parents had told me to go in order to reach my new bedroom. Although I may have seemed alright on the outside, my insides felt like there was a hurricane of emotions whipping around. At first I felt slightly happy about having an actual family again, but it was quickly covered with frustration, anger, and my heart felt heavy. I never got the chance to even have a boyfriend during my high school days and now I wouldn’t get the chance. It was weird how everything just started to cloud my head. I felt like crying, but I didn’t want to. At least not until I got to my room.

Before I knew it, I was passing a room that voices could be heard from. I didn’t bother to look though. At this point, all I wanted was to go to my room and lock myself in there before I had to give my life away tomorrow morning. 

Author's POV

The boys were chatting and waiting impatiently for their parents to finish talking with Mi Yung. Nervous, anxious, and worried all the same time. As the others spoke about the whole marriage thing, Lay kept quiet as usual. He watched Tao want to throw a fit like a child at the topic of Mi Yung getting married while the rest tried to calm him down. Within the next few minutes, Lay saw movement from the hallway that passed the entrance to the main living room. Perking up slightly, he caught a glimpse of a girlish figure walking by and immediately stood up. He was so abrupt that everyone around him stopped talking and turned their attention to him and then to where he was looking. Their eyes widened and saw that Mi yung was slowly walking down the hall with her head hanging low. It looked as if the life had been out of her. 

Tao was ready to make a run towards Mi Yung when Chen grabbed the younger boys arm indicating for him to throw himself a her like he wanted to. Xiumin walked towards Mi Yung who had been slowly making her way down the hall without noticing them and the others followed suit. 

"Mi Yung?" Xiumin called out for her as the six got closer to her. It didn't take much effort for them to catch up to her since she was walking like a dead soul. 

"Mi Yung?" Xiumin repeated and placed a hand on her shoulder to turn her slightly. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up with slightly blurry eyes before quickly looking down. 

Xiumin and the rest froze when they saw what looked like tears forming in their younger sisters eyes. 

"Meimei, are you okay?" Chen asked and quickly found the strength to go up to Mi Yung while the others stood in their spots. 

Mi Yung didn't say anything for a moment before finally nodding slowly. She quickly wiped her tears that started to fall and looked up. She clenched her jaw and forced a smile that didn't seem to faze the six boys. "Yes, I'm okay. Sorry, I'm just tired. I'm going to go to bed now. Tomorrow's a... big day."

Her sentences were chopping and the six noticed this. They knew she was forcing herself and the smile was completely fake. But before they could say anything, Mi Yung gave them a meek wave and hurriedly made her way to her room. The brothers were left standing in the middle of the hall, slightly angry at the situation, and worried for their sister whom they just met again since she was four years old. 

A scowl reached Kris's face and he felt a flame of anger burn inside him. "I'm going to see father for a second," he said abruptly and started to walk down the hall towards their father's quarters. Xiumin knew what Kris meant by that and quickly ran after his younger sibling. 

"I'll go after him, just... all of you try and stay calm. Try checking up on Mi Yung every now and then," he told the rest before heading to where Kris had headed off. 

By the time Xiumin had reached their father's quarters, he could hear Kris's voice low and filled with anger. Whenever Kris lost his temper, it meant he was really angry. He was the type of person who was able to suppress his emotions if he needed to but once it was let loose, it was hard to calm him down.

"Was there no other way?! Why is Exo-K's King so persistent on this matter?! Why all of a sudden?!" Xiumin could hear Kris trying to lower his voice but it came out as a low growl. 

"Kris," their father said sternly. "You know that we've been waging unwanted disputes with them for the longest time. I don't know why they want this marriage, but it shouldn't do us any harm. Mi Yung agreed with understanding, so why are you acting up?"

"Because-" 

Xiumin quickly knocked on the door knowing that Kris wasn't going to win against their father. Opening it, he walked in.

"Excuse me father, I came to get Kris," he said while staring at Kris.

Kris glared at Xiumin knowing that his older brother interrupted on purpose. 

"Ah, Xiumin. Yes, you can take Kris. We'll continue this later," their father said. 

Xiumin returned the serious eye exchange with Kris until he finally followed Xiumin out the door.

"Kris, you know better than this. Father wouldn't force Mi Yung if he did have any other choice," Xiumin said after the two walked silently down the hall until they were out of hearing distance from their father.

"Yeah but you saw the look on her face! She doesn't want to! Her smile, everything, it was all forced!" Kris said ruffling his hair in frustration. It had been a while since he had gotten angry with anything but after seeing Mi Yung basically crying, he couldn't hold his anger in. 

" I know Kris, I saw it too. We all saw it. But right now is not the time to have inner-family quarrels. All we can do right now is just be there for her when she needs it and be her comfort zone, her brothers," Xiumin said while knowing too how Kris felt. He almost felt helpless seeing Mi Yung like that.

Kris gave out a heavy sigh and didn't say anything.

It was already 10pm and the boys would try to check up on Mi Yung every hour after she had gone to her room. But the only problem was, she had locked her door. No one had seen her after being in the hallway and eventually, Xiumin told them all to rest and prepare for tomorrow, believing that she was perhaps already asleep. 

Luhan on the other hand, couldn't fall asleep. His mind kept wandering and worrying about Mi Yung. After tossing and turning in his bed, he finally got up and walked out of his room. Quietly, he wandered the palace. In the end, he had ended up in front of Mi Yung's room. 

She's probably asleep, he thought and was about to turn around and walk back to his room when he heard small sniffling sounds coming from inside her room. Stopping in his tracks, he turned back and leaned against the door. The sniffling stopped but then continued again. Without knocking for permission, he turned the door knob and opened the door quietly. The room was dark with only a small lamp . 

Mi Yung jolted up in surprise when she heard her door open. She had been laying on her side hugging a pillow. 

"Meimei... are you alright?" Luhan whispered.

"Y-yeah..." She wiped her face with the pillow hoping that he didn't see her crying but he did. Closing the door, he walked over to her bed and sat down.

"No you're not, what's wrong?" he asked her while placing a hand on her head. 

She stayed silent and continued to hug the pillow like a child. Luhan frowned at the sight and inched bit closer to her.

"You know, you can tell me anything. I'm your brother, I'm here for you," he told her and wiped a small tear that rolled down her cheek. 

Mi Yung stayed silent again for a moment before looking up at Luhan. He gave her a gentle smile. Although he was her brother, she at first wasn't sure if she'd be able to get used to her newfound family but right now, she felt like his presence was comforting. 

"I-I... I don't want to get married. Not to someone I don't know," she choked out realizing that her tears began to fall again. "I-I'm scared..."

Luhan felt his heart ache for his sister and quickly took her into an embrace. He didn't say anything and let her cry. When she finally began to stop, he loosened up his hold and looked down at her. 

"It's okay, nothing bad will happen," he told her. "I know you don't want to. None of us want you to, to be honest... but, if that's how it's going to be, me and the others will be here for you, to protect you. So come to us anytime, okay? We weren't able to be there for you in the past, but can now and we will."

Mi Yung nodded a little before finally pulling away. Although she was nervous for tomorrow, a part of her felt relieved after hearing Luhan. She felt like she could really trust him. Rubbing her eyes a little, she felt a sudden wave of exhaustion hit her and looked at the clock. Luhan too looked at the clock and noticed that they had better get to sleep. 

"Get some rest meimei, don't think too much," he told her and let her lay down on the bed. She nodded and did as she was told. 

Luhan waited for a little while, hoping she'd go to sleep. He then got up for a moment before hesitating to leave. 

"Meimei?" he whispered, unsure if she was really asleep. 

Mi Yung, who had been close to falling asleep, heard his voice and peeked up at him. "Mmm?"

"Do you mind if I sleep here tonight?" he asked, realizing that his request may have come off a bit awkward to her. But in reality it was not what he meant, he just wanted to be there to make sure she was okay. The little sister he had missed so much was finally back but after seeing her in a distressed state, he wanted to do everything in his power to be there for her.

Mi Yung found herself hesitant but finally found it in her heart to accept Luhan as her brother. "Sure," she told him and Luhan couldn't help but smile.

He quickly crawled onto the bed like a child and took the empty spot beside her. There was silence in the room for a few minutes before Mi Yung broke it.

"Luhan?" she whispered to see if he was awake. 

Luhan was awake still and was staring at the ceiling. "Yes, meimei?"

"...thank you."

Luhan was slightly surprised by the sudden thanks and didn't say anything at first. Mi Yung looked up at the pitch black ceiling as well and there was another pause of silence. Finally Luhan spoke.

"You're always welcome," he told her and she felt her herself smile a little for the first time today since being here. 

"Now go to sleep," he whispered with a small chuckle realizing that it was getting later by the minute. 

She nodded while still looking at the ceiling. "Goodnight, Luhan gege."

Luhan paused again, caught off guard by what she said. Shaking the surprised expression away, he replied with a wide smile on his face and closed his eyes. 

"Goodnight meimei."

kind of a long chappie. took a while to write so i hope you guys like it.
please leave comments with your thoughts or anything! i love comments~
and thanks to everyone who subbed this story! I love you alllll~ <3
:)