A/N: Annyeong~ To all my amazing readers, I, first and foremost, apologize for updating slowly and that this would be my last update for the month, as I will be on hiatus for a long, long time. I have to be away, that's all. But don't worry, I'LL DEFINITELY BE BACK! How can I abandon this story? Especially that I'm already putting out here the family ties among the twelve siblings and I've made things more complicated now, I guess. >.< And, the conflict. Oh, I'm really excited for that part when Kris and Luhan would have their face-off and everyone else would face their own problems in the aspects of love, family, and friendship. The picture above is dedicated to KRAY fans. Hahahah^^ You can guess already~

First Arc: Fraternity or...Sorority?

Act I: The Lee Family

Scene Four

“Get out!”

“W-What?”

“I said, Get the hell out of here!”

“W-Wait! Hey! Kris!”

“Now what's going on? They’re so loud.”

“See, I told you.”

“You still haven't won. Let's see how things would turn out from here.”

“There's no way you could persuade that cocky dragon.”

“We'll see about that.”

*          *          *

“Luhan?”

“What—Why—Wait. Kris kicked you out of the room, didn't he?” Luhan asked Lay, leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed, a meaningful smirk creeping along his beautiful face.

Lay squirmed in his spot, his head hung low as he twisted his fingers nervously. “He did.”

Luhan then scratched the back of his head and murmured to himself, “That's why I told Sooman this won't work.”

“What won't work?” Lay scrunched.

But Luhan ignored him. “Come on in.”

Lay entered the room, hot on Luhan's heels while he pulled his trolley behind him. Looking around him, he couldn’t help but wonder aloud, “Whoa, your room is big.”

A vanity table. A huge fluffy bed. A music stand complete with drums and guitars. A study table between two bookshelves that were almost empty save for a few anime figures and picture frames flooding them. A play area. And an LED TV.

“You can share it with me if you like,” Luhan said as he sat down on his fluffy bed, observing Yixing’s hungry stare at his things. This made Luhan quirk up a bit so he picked up the remote and flipped the channels through and through until the channel landed on his favorite drama. Secret Garden.

“Don't I get to have a room of my own?” Lay finally asked him.

“You actually have a room of your own,” Luhan answered coolly while crossing his legs, “but it's locked and Sooman has the key.”

Lay pondered for a little while, tapping his chin as thoughts ran in his head. “So that means I'd be sharing with someone's room until he gets back?”

Luhan nodded. “Exactly.”

“So when does he come back?”

“A month?”

“That long?!”

Luhan shrugged. “I don't know. Anyway, we could share the same room and figure things out as you adjust with us little by little.”

Lay sat down on the carpet and buried his face into his hands. “I’m starting to miss my life in America.”

Luhan didn’t miss what Lay said, even though the words came out muffled and his voice sounded really tired. And hey, didn’t Lay just hear his offer? Did he want to stay in Kris’s room that badly?

“Let me tell you,” Luhan began. “They're really hard to get along with and it would take too much time and effort to have them trust you. I mean, we all have issues, don't we?”

What? Aren’t you supposed to say good things about your brothers to reassure me at the very least?

Lay looked at Luhan, amused. “And that reminds me. What was this complicated thing you were talking about earlier?”

“Aaahhh~ That?” Luhan pouted.

Pause.

Silence.

Lay didn’t like it. “You know, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. I’d understand.”

“Did you know that Lee Sooman had two other wives before he married your mom?” Luhan suddenly said, taking Lay by surprise.

So, maybe what this baby face wanted was to do things in reverse psychology? Lay thought. Oh, great. So he replied, “My mom told me about it once.”

“Kyungsoo and Chanyeol are Sooman's children from First Wife,” Luhan began. “Baekhyun is their half-brother. Baekhyun may seem distant sometimes because he thinks he doesn't belong in the family, but he's really a great guy. Trust me when I say he has a certain fondness for Chanyeol.”

“Baekhyun is just their half-brother?” Lay asked, shocked.

Luhan was able to trace the slight confusion building up in Lay’s mind. “He's First Wife's eldest child…from another man. I don't really know the complete details.

“How about the rest?”

“Well, you'd be surprised if I tell you that Kris and I are full-blooded brothers,” Luhan confessed but in a somewhat defeated tone.

“You are?!”

“Yes, we are. And though it may not look like it, I’m the older one actually,” Luhan said shyly, scratching the tip of his nose.

Yeah, right. You don’t look like you’re already in your early twenties anyway. And that’s unfair! Lay thought begrudgingly.

“Our parents divorced when we were just kids. I lived with our father while he went to Canada with our mother. When our father died, my mom was forced to take me in. Then, she married Lee Sooman as Second Wife and gave him a child. That's Tao.”

“I'm starting to get lost along the way.”

“That's why I told you everything's complicated,” Luhan said with a patient smile.

“So you and Kris don't get along well?”

“We don’t. I act like a stranger towards him while he considers me his archenemy. Either way, our relationship is doomed.”

“Even though you're brothers? Can’t you at least try to make up with each other?”

“It's not that easy, especially if you grew up apart from each other. And...” It's something big. And, how would you expect me to tell you everything when I couldn't even explain the entire truth to that bastard Kris?

Luhan was contemplating whether he was going to tell Lay the real reason behind their brotherly feud but thought better of it and chose to keep it off topic. It was not yet time to tell Lay—or, any one—about it.

“Isn't that why you're living under the same roof?” Lay asked curiously. The whole sibling fight seemed absurd to him.

But Luhan was not dumb. “He has his own problems and he is not that willing to share them with us. You're lucky you're an only child. You seem free.”

“Not really. I don't like being alone,” Lay admitted.

“Who does?”

“Kris  does?” Lay offered.

Luhan chuckled. “I think we're going to get along well just fine.”

“And I can thank you for the rest of my life for saving my darn .”

“I know. As for the rest, they're adopted. Suho, Xiumin, Chen, Sehun, and Kai. Each of them has their issues as well and we leave those sensitive things untouched.”

“Let me make a conclusion: You live together, you belong in one family now, and yet you do not know each other well?”

“If that's how you like to put things.”

“I'll take that as a yes.”

“You're right anyway. And there's a reason why everyone's so cautious around one another. Everyone wants to have a part in Sooman's legacy. While three among the twelve of us are his real sons, Sooman claims that only one is his real son, and that it might not be one of the Three, and that he would leave everything that there is to inherit to that son. Everyone's fighting for that right.”

“All for the inheritance?”

This picked Luhan’s curiosity. “Lay, aren't you interested?”

“Nope.”

“Well, if you stay longer here, you might be.”

“I’m contented as long as I’m happy.”