Whenever he felt down, Kai always ran away from home to sit near the Tree of Life. He didn't know why, but the atmosphere there seemed so...pleasant, as if the Tree itself were trying to soothe his heart. Now was one of those times. His brother Chanyeol just fought with their parents and he couldn't do anything to help the situation. 

 

He made his way to the tree as quickly as possible. However, this time, someone beat him to it. He saw a fairly small and frail silhouette. It was a small boy with blonde hair. His clothes were all torn and worn out but his face was surprisingly clean. 

 

Kai pointed his finger at the stranger. "Who are you?"

 

The other boy didn't answer. He looked into Kai's eyes. "Why?"

 

Not understanding the blonde's answer, Kai opened his mouth to speak again, "I said, who are you?"

 

"Do you want to know? Or do you need to know?"

 

"What?"

 

"Are you one of them? Are you here to hurt me...?"

 

"Listen, I have no idea what you're talking about. But that's my spot there."

 

"I will not move."

 

"Fine then. We'll just share. Move over."

 

The blonde boy looked at him weirdly. Maybe he wasn't who he thought he was. Maybe he wasn't there to harm him.

 

Kai sat down next to the boy. "What's your name?"

 

"...Luhan."

 

"My name's Kai. Nice to meet you."

 

Luhan stared at him for a long time, his breathing shallow. He looked at him with anger-filled eyes.

 

Tao placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. "It was for the best."

 

Luhan quickly slapped the younger's hand away. "Don't touch me."

 

"Luhan-ge..."

 

"Don't call me that." Luhan averted his eyes from Tao. "Get out of my sight."

 

"Listen to me! I only did what was supposed to be done. You are not allowed to leave Exo-M, gege. If.. if you did, you would have been punished and possibly sentenced to death. Exo-M's council isn't as soft as Exo-K's. That person is not worth your life."

 

"What do you know?" he shouted back. "You dared! Dared take me away from the person that I-" Luhan seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing, "...treasure the most." Tao seemed to have nothing more to add. He then turned to face Kris with a frustrated look on his face. "I was so scared when he fainted because of the beating you gave him this morning. What if he never woke up again? You don't know how overjoyed I was when I heard his voice come from behind me. You don't know how I felt when I saw all those bandages that he was trying to hide from me." His voice sank. "It was as if my heart was being torn to pieces. " 

 

Lastly, he addressed himself to Lay, "You, out of all people should know about how important it is for us both to stay together. I'm disappointed." It was brief, but it was everything he had to say at the moment. He was doing his best to hold back the tears. Thankfully, no one noticed he was on the verge of breaking down. "Don't come after me." 

 

Before anyone could say a thing, he spinned around and ran with all his might, hoping no one would follow him. He needed some time alone. 

 

Kris stopped Lay from running after him.

 

"Kris-"

 

"Go get the leaders of the 5 Guard Squads. Tell them I want them to raise up a barrier along the border of Exo-M."

 

"...understood."

 

"Oh, and... tell Squad 5 leader Lee Taemin to find and make sure Luhan doesn't do anything dangerous."

 

"Ok." Lay accepted before running off to the Squad leaders.

 

~~*~~*~~*~~

 

"Kai... this time, I'll come to you. Just wait." Luhan whispered as he opened a door to a small house made of mainly rocks, wood and straws placed in a way it would form a cone-like shape. He closed the door behind him and entered a room.

 

"Luhan-ge?" A voice came from inside. It was Xiumin sitting on his bed in a sleeping gown, his hair a bit messy. It looked like he just woke up.

 

"Xiumin..." Luhan threw himself into his brother's arms.

 

Xiumin ruffled Luhan's hair and held him close to himself. "What's wrong? Tell me."

 

"Just hold me. Please?"

 

"Alright. Will you tell me later though?"

 

"Yes. Right now, I just need to clear my mind.."

 

Luhan's other brother, Chen, came in with a teapot and cups in his hands. He noticed Xiumin holding their eldest brother. 

 

"What happened to him?" He questioned, pouring a cup of tea for the three of them.

 

"Let him rest for now. We'll talk tomorrow." Xiumin answered.

 

"Want me to get something to eat?" Chen suggested, handing him a cup of warm tea.

 

"It's okay. Help me confort Luhan-ge."

 

Chen sat down next to the round-faced guy. He sighed, "We took Kris-ge's side this morning. I don't think he will forgive us..."

 

"He might. He might not. Who knows? But, whether or not he forgives us is his decision. No matter what, he is still our brother, we are supposed to be here whenever he needs support."

 

"Even though he's not really-" Xiumin shot him a look. "-a part of our family?"

 

"Don't say that."

 

"..."

 

Xiumin looked at Luhan and realised he already fell asleep, hoping that Luhan hadn't heard what Chen just said. He planted a kiss on his gege's forehead.

 

"Don't ever say that again..." 

________________________________________________
I didn't update for a long time and I come back with such a short chapter.
I apologize >u<  
Thank you to all those who took the time to comment, subscribe or even read this story! ;W;