Chapter Eight; 

      Vepria

A/N: Special chapter: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/366251/the-first-colours-of-the-rubik-s-cube-exo-luhan-sehun-lay-hunhan 

Sorry for not updating for a long time >> This is a short chapter, and hopefully I can work on some short stories about how Kris and everyone met Luhan and Lay. Thanks for sticking with me :)  

They all sat down, slightly cramped in the cosy living room. Glances were flying like sharp daggers. Luhan asked for a ‘talk’ with Lay, which was extremely surprising for them all since it was always Lay that asked for the ‘talk’.

The drone silence between them was unbearable and Kris could no longer stand it. Being the eldest amongst them, he felt responsible to create a more comfortable atmosphere for them and their guest.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way, but, why are you here?”

“I’m sorry. My name is Song Hyejin. I’m a patient of Doctor Zhang.”

A light chuckle seemed to pull on the strings of her heart. Something told her that she had to be careful with her words and actions.

“We call him Lay, in this household.” Baekhyun smiled. “I’m Baekhyun. That was Kris, and this is Tao.”

“But what about him?” She eyed them curiously as her crooked finger pointed to none of than Sehun.

“You can see him too?” Tao’s eyebrows rose. “He’s Sehun, but…he’s a ghost.”

“Well,” she laughed light-heartedly. “I’ve been seeing quite a lot of stuff recently.” She bit her bottom lip. “Are you all relatives? Friends? You don’t mind me asking, right?”

They all stared at each other.

“I don’t think any one of us minds, to be honest. It’s not like it’s some kind of secret,” Kris begun. “You see, we’re all a bit odd, in our own ways. I think I recall Lay telling me that he’d been friends with Luhan for a while, and that he wasn’t always like how he is now. But I don’t think anyone knows how they’ve actually met. Sehun doesn’t remember much from his ‘living’ years. I was the next to join the three.”

They all sat closer to him as he took them on a trip to memory lane.

***

“Impressive,” Lay chuckled in amusement. “The aura you’re emitting, suggests that you want to kill me right now. You’ve never been this angry before, right?”

Luhan’s knuckles cracked. He was breathing heavily in order to rid the burden that was tightening his chest. Lay’s smile disappeared when Luhan’s eyes were covered by a light shade of grey.

“I’m sorry, wasn’t this what you wanted?” The healer’s sarcastic comments were slowly pushing Luhan over the edge.

“Why did you bring her here?!”

“So she can be a little bit closer to ‘Kai’. Poor girl. The world thinks she’s insane.” 

Lost eyes caught Lay’s attention.

“Isn’t insane better than being awake?” The oddball’s voice cracked for the first time. It was the first time in years that Lay saw him as a human being, the first time he saw him as being alive. Those were all part of his intentions, to witness this special side of Luhan that he’d been hiding all those agonising years. It had been so long since he used his ‘odd’ image as a cover up for all pain he felt. “If she’s here, I have no confidence that I can make her fall in love with Jongin. She has to fall in love with him. Lay, get her away from here. I can’t continuously play this role if I see her constantly.”

“Why are you so persistent with matching her with Jongin?”

“A vision.” Luhan swallowed. “The child of her and Xiumin, is another monster…like me.”

The healer’s gaze softened as sympathy drowned everything logic within him. Then again, it was probably the same with Luhan. He was so afraid of it happening that he would do absolutely anything to prevent it. It may be illogical, but it was better than doing nothing, he thought.

Lay’s unicorn appeared before them. She walked towards Luhan and leaned her head against his arm. Luhan the beautiful creature’s manes and soon, his eyes reverted back to their original state. Incomprehensive murmurs and strange noises vibrated from the oddball’s throat. They may appear to be incoherent to many people, but to the people he was closest to, they were extremely clear.

Those noises were his replacement for tears.

They were his only way to relieve the bitterness he bottled up all this time.

-

It was past midnight, and most of them were sound asleep. Like always, Luhan just stared out his window, waiting for something to surprise him. Of course, he’s never surprised because he knew exactly how each and every individual on the other side operated. He continues to be optimistic. Since almost everyone was asleep in the house, there weren’t many people he could pester.

Suddenly, a piercing breeze could be felt on his neck. Luhan cackled slightly.

“Are you bored too?”

The spirit remained silent.

“Ah, you’re still thinking about this morning.” The elder smiled as he slowly turned towards him. “It takes practice, don’t worry.”

“You read minds. Why don’t you read my mind?”

“You’re not physically here. I can’t read a spirit’s mind. Sad, I know. But isn’t this nice?” He paused, and a solemn glint appeared in his beautiful, doe eyes. “I feel normal when you’re around.”

“How and when—what made you become like this? Why are you suffering so much?”

Luhan gestured for the spirit to go closer to him. A fragile curved formed on his lips.

With his raspy voice, he croaked out the answer the spirit had been looking for.

“It’s because I was born with a gene they called vepria.”