Chen stared at Luhan. How was there any way that Luhan would know Xiumin? Chen was pretty sure that he had never met Luhan before, but that didn’t necessarily mean that Luhan wouldn’t know Xiumin. Maybe Xiumin had met Luhan before privately, but the reason why was a mystery to Chen. He wasn’t sure about anything and he was beginning to get confused.

            “Xiumin?” Ellie asked. She was the only one who was in her right mind to actually say something about Luhan calling Chen by a name that wasn’t his. “His name isn’t Xiumin, oppa, are you okay?” Worriedly, Ellie went over and began checking Luhan’s condition. She was still worried about him since the death of his mother.

            “Are you sure?” Luhan asked looking at Chen more intently. He swore that he looked exactly like the person that his brother used to bring home all the time. Luhan was even more certain that that person’s name was Xiumin. “You really aren’t Xiumin?”

            “He’s really not,” Ellie said getting more and more worried with every passing second about Luhan’s condition. She wondered if it was normal for him to be mistaking other people for people that he once knew in the past. “Luhan-oppa, why don’t you come in? He was just leaving, alright?”

            “Alright,” Luhan said looking at Chen once more before looking at Ellie and nodding his head. As much as Ellie didn’t want Luhan to see her house, she had no choice. She wasn’t even sure where he figured out her address in the first place or why he would even want to go to her house. Normally, under such circumstances, she thought that he would’ve at least called or said something about coming over. Instead, it was a completely surprise visit that she wasn’t expecting, but that was the meaning of a surprise visit.

            Luhan left the doorway leaving Chen and Ellie standing there. For some reason, Chen started feeling nervous and slightly angry at the sudden appearance of Luhan. He even had flowers and Ellie called him with a much more caring voice than that of how she normally talked to him. In a nut shell, Chen was jealous.

            “I’m sorry about him,” Ellie said quickly apologizing for Luhan’s behavior.

            “No, it’s alright,” Chen said attempting to show Ellie that it didn’t bother him as much as it was. Chen wanted to ask how Ellie knew him and if Ellie were dating him, but to prevent their future endeavors from being awkward, he prevented himself from saying anything. “I guess I should get going.”

            “Do you want me to have Kris give you a ride home?” Ellie offered. She felt sorry about sending Chen off by himself, especially in that condition he was in.

            “No, no need, I’m fine,” he said forcing a smile on his face. “I’ll see you tomorrow in school.”

            “Yea, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            Ellie stood there waiting at the door until Chen disappeared into the growing darkness.

A lot of things were on Chen’s mind. He wanted to know how that Luhan guy knew about his dead brother. His brother was dead and he had been dead for about four years. So, obviously, Luhan had to be someone that he could’ve possibly known before or maybe he just ran into his brother by chance. Chen wasn’t sure, but he wanted to find out.

            Growing up, Chen would always hear about his brother’s life. He would always hear about the adventures that his brother went on and what types of things that he did while he was out. Chen remembered his brother as not having that many friends, but having enough that he had something to do practically all of the time, but not once did he ever forget about Chen.

            Since Xiumin had friends, they were sometimes over at the house and Chen had met them all. Chen was sure that he never met Luhan before, it was just impossible. Xiumin’s friends had always taken a particular interest in watching over Chen and making sure that they were always helpful and supporting him. When Xiumin wasn’t able to come to something at Chen’s school or to something else that Chen was doing, he always made sure that at least someone was there for him…someone more than their mother at least.

            Walking home, Chen looked down at the bruise on his arm, the same one that Ellie had seen earlier. He hated lying to her, but it wasn’t of any use to tell the truth. The truth had betrayed him long ago, his life was full of lies anyway. Chen figured it was that way already so why should he make it any different?

            He wanted to tell her, though. He wanted to just spill everything out and confide in at least someone, but the last person he confided in wasn’t around anymore and he was worried about losing Ellie. He was worried that Ellie would run away like they all had. Chen figured that it was best if he didn’t say anything about anything.

            “I’m home,” Chen announced to the empty house. He figured it would be empty, it always was. At least it was always empty at reasonable hours of the day, or really all hours of the day. That, however, didn’t bother Chen. It didn’t bother him that it was empty, he liked being alone anyway. It was better than people.

            Somehow, Chen wanted to extend his gratitude to Ellie. He had been over her house a couple of times and they were friends. She told him things, but in the end, he wasn’t able to tell her anything. He wasn’t even able to bring her to his house. He felt like a lousy friend.

            Lying on his bed as softly as possible to prevent further aching of his body, Chen thought about the picture that he had taken with Ellie. A smile crept up on his face as he thought about the feeling of being close. He liked her, there was no doubt about that, but those feelings…it crept up on him. He wasn’t planning on liking Ellie; he was never planning on even getting to know anyone within the school. He was just going to be the normal Chen that everyone thought. After all, he was the new kid in a school where everyone was together since they were little. He was the outcast. But there he went and he fell for Ellie.

            Sighing, he stared at the ceiling as he thought about it. There was no way that he would ever be able to tell Ellie his true feelings. There was that Luhan guy who looked like he had everything more put together than Chen would ever have. It seemed like Luhan was everything while Chen was nothing. Chen was a nobody and that was a fact that he had to accept. In a school for the rich he didn’t belong. He wasn’t supposed to be there. It was a mistake.

“What are you doing here?” Ellie asked as she looked at Luhan sitting on her couch. She was angry that he was at her house, but she also found it confusing that he would even come to her house in the first place and even with flowers.

            “I’m just…I don’t know,” Luhan said shaking his head. He originally came to confess his feelings for Ellie again, but after seeing the kid who he would swear to anyone that was Xiumin and it wasn’t, he didn’t know anymore. His head was confused, there were too many thoughts hanging around his head that he couldn’t understand.

            “What do you mean you don’t know?” Ellie asked. She was confused. She thought for sure that Luhan would have some reason for going to her house, especially at night. “You had to come here for a reason, right oppa?”

            “I was going…I was going to confess to you,” Luhan said halfway laughing at how lame it sounded. “But I guess I’m not anymore.”

            “Oh,” Ellie said. Was she slightly upset that Luhan wasn’t going to confess to her anymore? She didn’t know the feelings inside of her own heart, especially after taking the photograph with Chen. There was just something that didn’t seem right.

            “Yea, stupid, right?” Luhan asked as he avoided Ellie’s gaze. “But that kid…are you sure his name isn’t Xiumin?”

            “I’m positive,” Ellie said taking a seat next to Luhan and looking at him. “His name is Chen.”

            “Do you know if he has a brother?”

            “No I don’t. Why do you want to know all of this?” Ellie curiously asked. She wanted to know why Luhan was so interested in Chen when it was their first time meeting and they barely exchanged any words. Had they met before? Impossible. Luhan was calling Chen by Xiumin, so Luhan obviously hadn’t met Chen before, but someone by the name of Xiumin.

            “I’m just curious,” Luhan said as he attempted to get his mind straight. Suddenly memories of his past started appearing in his mind, things he thought he forgot long ago came back. Things that Luhan thought he would never think about again came back. “Can I…can I tell you a story?” he hesitantly asked Ellie.

            “Sure, sure,” Ellie said getting herself comfortable. She wanted to be there so Luhan could lean on her. It seemed like he needed her and Ellie was willing to give the support. “What do you want to tell me?”

Luhan stood by the door as he watched his brother talk with his parents. He knew that he wasn’t supposed to be eavesdropping, but he couldn’t help it. No matter how old he was, he would still get curious about things and the situation was no different. His older brother and his parents were talking behind closed doors and he was very curious about what was going on.

            “What are you talking about?” their mother asked with desperation in her voice. She wondered why her eldest son was saying what he was saying. Was their family not enough for them?

            “You know exactly what I mean,” Luhan’s brother said facing their parents. He was angry, confused, and hurt. He didn’t know what was going on anymore. The only thing he figured was that he couldn’t trust anyone anymore. Things were gone now…trust was gone and somehow he found himself having this argument with his parents. It wasn’t like he wanted to have an argument, it was just that things were already where they were and it was a reality that he didn’t want to experience and admit to.

            “No we don’t,” their father said attempting to ease the situation. He hated being stuck in the middle, but if he didn’t want the argument to escalate, then he was going to have to.

            Luhan stood by the outside door questioning what they were talking about inside. Sure there was a reason why Luhan wasn’t in there directly listening with them, but he wanted to know. He was a part of the family as much as anyone else. He was curious, he couldn’t deny that. Anyone would be curious.

            “Look, we don’t know how you found out, but why are you blaming us?” their mother asked.

            “So you’re admitting to finally knowing?” Luhan’s brother asked.

            Their mother was at a loss for words. She never thought that that day would come, but she didn’t know why her son was taking it out on them. They were the ones that had provided him with clothes, food, shelter, and everything that anyone needed to live a stable life, but here he was, blaming them for everything that happened after he was born. It wasn’t their fault.

            “Son,” their father said attempting to intervene before things got worse. “I just want you to know that your mother and I have done everything for you. Why are you being like this?”

            “I’m being like this?” he asked. “I’m being like this and you’re being like that, is that how it goes? You lived your life like that and I’m living my life like this, is that right? It doesn’t matter who told me or how I figured out about your little deeds, but I’m going to leave this household.” Luhan gasped, but quickly covered his mouth so the sound wasn’t heard. “I’m leaving to go figure myself out because I can’t figure it out from you.”

            Luhan heard shuffling around inside and quickly ran away from the door so no one would know that he was listening to them. Luhan found himself in the living room and acted as though he was watching television the entire time. “Hey,” Luhan said greeting his brother as he came into the living room like he always would. Luhan knew that he couldn’t act any differently or else they would know that he was listening in on them.

            “Hey, Luhan,” his brother said with a forced smile that Luhan could detect, but he didn’t want to ask too many questions.

            “Do you want to play a game?” Luhan hesitantly suggested hoping that it would help calm down the crappy mood that his brother was currently feeling because of some mystery that Luhan had no idea of.

            “No thanks, I don’t think I’ll be playing a game anytime soon. Maybe in the future, alright?” he asked walking over and lightly ruffling his younger brother’s hair.

            “Yea, maybe in the future,” Luhan said watching as his brother went up the stairs knowing that there would probably be no future games.

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Who is Luhan's brother? What happened between Luhan's brother and his parents? Can Luhan confess to Ellie again? Will Chen ever confess? What is Chen keeping from Ellie? What are the lies that Chen has been telling? How did Chen really get into the school? How does Luhan know Xiumin?

Here is Chapter 17. Hope you enjoyed :D

Oh and as a sidenote, that part with Luhan and his brother took place in the past. I know I didn't mention it in the story, but just thought that I should now. All of that is in the past and is the story that Luhan was telling Ellie.