It was an owl’s mating calling that disturbed the silence that settled between the seven of them.

Apart from Jaelle, the other five were staring at Lay in shock. Could it be that they had heard him wrong? Could it be that their imagination played a trick on them because of Jaelle and her music? Or was it for real… that Lay said those words in the middle of nowhere?

“Ok, time to go to bed,” Chanyeol jumped up, wearing the same smile like always, shooing them all towards the van.

“No, I think it’s time you hear my story,” Lay caught Chanyeol’s arm, forcing him to stop and look at him. “I need you all to hear it and understand the reasons why I am here with you. Can you do that?”

Kris rested his hand on his shoulder: “We owe you that much,” he smiled to which the other took their places around the fire, wondering if it was good idea. Because if Lay was going to tell them his story, then they were obliged not only to listen but to share their own twisted little reasons for joining Tao and Kris’s group.

But all eyes turned to Lay who was still standing, fixing the ground with a troubled expression.

“Like I said,” he swallowed hard, trying to keep his voice normal, “I am the son of China’s president, Xi Jinping. The reason why our family name differs is that…” It was painful for him to go back to the zone he had mentally avoided all of his life. “Is that I am his bastard. His wife was unable to give him children, so he took a mistress, a woman that was never recognized for her work, for constantly being by his side. And one day, one day she gave birth to the president’s son. She died at birth,” Lay’s voice was merely a faint whisper.

“Lay, buddy,” Chanyeol slung an arm around his seatmate’s shoulders, trying to give him some sort of comfort. “You don’t have to tell us this, you know that, right?”

“But I want to!” The Chinese young man shrugged off Chanyeol’s arm. “You don’t understand the pain I’ve been through, the looks I had to bare ever since I was aware that there were eyes on me anywhere I’d go. My father, China’s leader, is a tough man. He never really officially recognized me