Sixteen
Of Maids & MenSehun couldn't sleep that night.
His mind was constantly racing with thoughts of razors and blood and words that tore him apart. During the day, he had other people and school work to distract him from his deadly thoughts, but at night.....at night, it was just him and the demons that lived inside of him. He hated people, but he didn't like being alone.
Although he thought of red rivers and metal blades kissing his skin, tonight was the very first night in years that they didn't cross his mind for a single second. Not even once. All because of a certain doe-eyed maid and how she fit perfectly in his hands remained floating around in his head.
He held his hand up to the pale moonlight falling through his bedroom window, staring at it and realizing for the twentieth time that maybe he might want to hold her again.
- - - -
Luhan awoke from his phone vibrating from underneath his pillow. On the third buzz, he groaned and reached for his phone. He squinted at the bright light shining from the screen. When he noticed what time it was, he grit his teeth. "What do you ing want at a time like this."
"Eep," he could picture Tao's cringe etched on his face. "Sorry gege. I, uhm, I thought you would be up already? Since you know, maid and all that gets up early for the snobby rich people."
Luhan sighed, rolling on his side. "Yeah, actually I'm supposed to be up in about twenty minutes anyways. They had this big fancy party that lasted all damn night until like four in the morning and I got not even a full hour of sleep..." He hears Luhan wail. "Holy I'm so ing tired." Tao had originally planned to tease Luhan about cross dressing and possibly his kind-of crush on Oh Sehun, but he figured his elder might have enough problems for the time being. He pitied Luhan, knowing that he only cursed when he was frustrated or/and stressed.
"Sorry," Tao reiterated, feeling guilty he woke Luhan.
"It's okay, Tao." replied Luhan with another sigh and a soft smile, although his friend couldn't see it. He sat up in bed with the sheets tangled in his legs. "How are you? How's China?" He asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Everything's fine. I do miss some things about Korea, like you and Kyungsoo hyung, but I suppose we'll see each other soon enough. I got a job in that small bakery. The one that we always passed by on the way to the bus station."
Luhan smiled as memories flooded through him. "Ah, I remember. Have fun. Sounds easier than dressing up as a girl everyday," he said half-jokingly. Tao chuckled.
"Speaking of, how are you and everything over there? Is it working out? Like with school and all."
"Kind of stressful," Luhan admitted while yawning. "I honestly don't think I can finish college with this whole maid thing going on," he stated with a discouraged sigh. "I've tried for a while and I just can't. It's way too much work," he tugged at his fringe in frustration. He wanted to continue following the road to becoming a accountant, but if he did he would have to leave his job with the Kims. He couldn't do that either, since he still needed to care for his father and their home. "I don't know what to do."
The younger male hated hearing Luhan sound so hopeless. "I wish I could help, gege." He answered genuinely. Luhan muttered a quiet thanks. "But if you seriously don't think you can continue your education.....then quit. It's better to stick with a stable job than go to college and get some job where you won't even know if it will be worth it."
Luhan bit his lip. "I...I don't know. What about Soo? Won't he be upset if I tell him and he's just wasted his time with me? All this time he's been kind enough to bring me textbooks and papers."
"I'm sure he'll understand," Tao assured him. "Besides, we'll try our best to support you. No matter what decision you make about this."
A weary smile somehow found its way to Luhan's lips. "I really miss you, Tao."
"Make sure you and Kyungsoo gege cry for me, okay?" he said teasingly.
Luhan grinned, rolling his eyes. "Whatever. I have to get ready now. I'll try to text you later."
"Alright," he heard Tao make a kissing noise from the other end of the phone. "Bye gege."
After they hung up, he stumbled out of bed and towards his bathroom to get ready for another day as Lu Xiaoling.
- - - -
"Xiaoling, please go wake up Sehun and Jongin," Mrs. Kim ordered the moment he stepped into the kitchen. He immediately whirled around and back up the stairs.
He was only beginning to raise his fist to Sehun's bedroom door when it opened slowly. Sehun peered down at the smaller maid. "I'm already up," he said as he plugged his ears with black earbuds. Luhan watched the youngest walk down the hallway, dressed in a butter yellow uniform and faded rainbow hair.
Unlike his brother, Jongin wasn't awake yet. The fourth knock on his door, Jongin yanked it open with a deep scowl. "I heard you the first time, there's no need to keep knocking." Luhan bit his lip and bowed to him in a nervous attempt to apologize. When he met his eyes again, the tanned boy scoffed. "Don't bother bowing to me because I don't care." He slammed the door shut. Luhan puffed his cheeks and told himself to brush Jongin's rude attitude off. Maybe Jongin wasn't a morning person. He thought of all the occasions when said boy had acted rudely towards him.
Or maybe Jongin just wasn't a Xiaoling person.
When he was downstairs again, he walked past Sehun, whom had his head down on the table. There was a warm plate of fresh rice and eggs beside of him, but it looked untouched. He frowned at other maids in puzzlement. They shrugged.
Jongin entered the kitchen ten minutes after Luhan. He cast a concerned glance at his younger sibling. As he sat down, Sulli placed the same meal in front of him. He nodded in thanks before looking at Sehun again. "Sehun, are you okay?" He patiently waited for a reply. Sehun remained silent. "Sehun-ah," he tried once more. He gently shook bony shoulders. Sehun wiggled in his seat, but did not raise his head. "Hunnie, wake up." Jongin shook his shoulders again. This time, Sehun peeked at Jongin from the corner of his crossed arms. Jongin smiled."Hey. You feeling okay?"
The youngest sat up, pulling out one of his earbuds as he yawned rather cutely. "Mhm, I'm just tired." He looked at Jongin from under his fringe. "Aren't you?"
Jongin shrugged. "Yeah, but I'll be okay. I don't see why umma and appa made us go to school today. We only got like, what, an hour of sleep. I'm not going to be able to function," he whined and jutted his bottom lip out. Surprisingly, a small smile appeared on Sehun's thin pink lips.
"Stop doing that. It's gross," Sehun joked. Mimicking his brother, he pouted his lips as well. Jongin chuckled.
"If mine is gross, yours is too cute." He pinched Sehun's cheek, who in turn, swatted his hand away with a light scowl.
- - - -
It was lunch period. Feeling hungry today, Sehun silently stood in line to receive his tray. Heading to his usual table, he was surprised to find it occupied by someone. Normally, he was the only one even at the small round table. It was the farthest from the cafeteria doors, which was probably why no one sat there, but it was the cleanest. Sehun frowned at the unexpected guest. As he walked closer, he realized he had never seen this person before.
"Excuse me, you're in my seat."
It was a guy. He timidly looked up from his tray of food. In Sehun's opinion, the guy actually looked cute. Not in an attractive way, but more like in a baby-cute kind of way. He had dark brown hair, almost black even, which was cut in a way where it was shaped like an apple. "I am??" he asked with a slight frown and tilt of the head.
Sehun sighed. "I usually sit here," he set down his tray. "By myself."
The guy scooted his chair over, also pulling a chair out for Sehun to sit. Sehun eyed it. "Well, I guess I'm going to sit with you then because I don't like anyone else in this cafeteria. And because I have no friends yet."
Sehun sat down beside the other male. "New here?"
He nodded. "We moved here this past weekend, so today is my first day. My name is Dongho, by the way." A small smile decorated his adorable round face.
"Oh Sehun," said boy replied.
Dongho suddenly seemed highly intrigued by Sehun as his brown orbs pierced into Sehun's own dark eyes. They remained staring at each other for another minute, until Dongho grinned. Seeing this, Sehun suppressed his own smile. Instead, he shoved a forkful of whatever the hell was on his tray into his mouth.
"You know, I've heard things about you already and some of them sound pretty accurate."
Sehun rose an eyebrow. "Like what?" He swallowed his food.
"Well, I heard that you're one of the richest people in town?"
Sehun shook his head. "Not me, my parents."
"And I heard your brother is Kim Jongin or Kai or whatever, who apparently is one of the school's biggest playboys or whatever. Also that he's paid to be your brotherly figure."
Sehun nodded. "Pretty much. Except, I don't know if my parents still pay Jongin. It was years back when I found out and they might have stopped." He was surprised. He had never had a conversation this long before, nevertheless, about his personal life.
Dongho his fork before continuing. "No offence Sehun, but from what I hear about Jongin, you guys seem completely different. He's popular and you're....I don't know, Sehun." Sehun nodded in agreement. "Oh! And someone warned me that you're usually frowning or have no emotion. They said when you talk, you sound unamused. Those sound correct," Dongho chuckled. Sehun shrugged because he honestly didn't know how he talked.
"I like your hair," Dongho stated unexpectedly.
Sehun froze, his fork remaining hovered in the air. "W-what. Thanks," he mumbled, feeling self-conscience. "It's kind of faded now.."
"It still looks nice!" Dongho assured, flashing him a cheeky smile and a thumbs up. "Very unique. I wish I could pull off something like that." He pouted.
As the lunch period continued on, Sehun found himself smiling at everything Dongho said. Dongho was naturally easy-going and smiled a lot. The two found out more about each other. Turns out, Sehun was older by two months. Dongho had eight older brothers. Sehun and Dongho shared the same interest in music. Sehun wanted to play guitar, while Dongho happily suggested he could teach him. Along with that, Dongho also played drums and piano.
"You must be really determined to learn all those instruments," commented Sehun. Dongho pressed his lips together.
"Actually, I'm not that good. I suppose I'm okay, but it's nothing compared to other people." He shrugged. "I think you're really determined. I don't even know you that well, but something about you screams determination." He squinted his eyes, smiling and nodding. Sehun just shrugged. "Hm, you're very humble." Sehun just shrugged again, causing Dongho to chuckle.
"You should dye your hair purple. A kinda dark purple." He takes Sehun's face between two hands, analyzing it with smiling eyes. "Yeah. Purple. It would suite you really well. Or maybe silver. Then, maybe shave this part? If you like." He traces a portion of Sehun's hair.
Sehun's eyes lit up. "You think so?" He had been wanting to redye his hair for a while now, he just didn't know what color. Maybe now he could get a new haircut. Dongho nodded furiously, his hair bobbing up and down.
"You will look really handsome, trust me. My brother, Sunghyun, he's really into fashion and things like that. So, I know a few things."
The bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. Dongho stood with his tray in his hands. "It was nice meeting you, Sehun. I hope we become good friends," he said, beaming genuinely. Sehun agreed and tried his best to attempt to smile as bright as Dongho did. He watched Dongho merge with the crowd as they went to throw their trays away. After doing so, he was startled to feel a cold slimy liquid running down his neck. He reached back to feel what it was, only for some chunks of a creamy orange substance to be poured on top of his head.
"What..." he muttered to himself. The orange substance ran down his hair, smearing his face and uniform in the process. He felt more food being dumped on his head, feeling some get stuck in his hair or sliding down his uniform.
"What's wrong, emo boy?" an all too familiar voice taunted him. "Is your uniform dirty?" Sehun wiped some food from his eyes so he could see. Meeting his gaze was Jinyoung. In his hands was an empty tray. He heard the familiar cackling of CNU, Gongchan, and Sandeul. They appeared beside Jinyoung, also wielding empty trays. "Awh, poor lispy. How's your hip from last time?" Jinyoung asked.
Sanduel smirked. "Oh wait, we don't care." He shoved Sehun. Sehun winced when he hit the corner of a table. "Fight back, lispy." He landed a punch on Sehun's cheek. Sehun kept his eyes down at the floor, afraid that if he locked eyes with them, he would get an even worse punishment. However, today he was lucky.
"Yah! Get to class right now boys! Stop horsing around!" a female teacher barked from across the cafeteria. The four bullies eyed Sehun with a smirk.
"You got off the hook today," Jinyoung said. He gave Sehun one hard last punch in the gut before him and his crew walked away. Sehun gasped, biting back the urge to vomit and cry. "Later, emo boy. Try not to slit your wrists, eh?"
- - - -
Sehun hobbled down the hall, feeling his hip throb painfully with every step he took. He was late to class, but at this rate, he didn't care. He figured he might as well just walk home. He hated school anyways.
Entering the bathroom, he slumped against the wall. Hot tears threatened to spill.
"....Sehun?"
Without even bothering to glance up, he snarled, "Go away."
"Hunnie, it's me."
His rough exterior came crashing down. "Jongin?" He hated how his voice wavered at the end of the the syllable.
His older brother ran over to him, wrapping an arm carefully in the curve of Sehun's side. "Hunnie," His eyes softened. He noticed the food stains on his uniform and face. "You're a mess. What's wrong? Are you okay?"
Sehun bit his lip. "I-I'm not." Concerned filled Jongin's eyes. "Kind of really want to die," he laughed humorlessly, straining and choked by tears.
"Do you want to go home?" Sehun nodded. "Will you be okay by yourself at home?"
Sehun buried his face in Jongin's neck. "I don't know," he softly whimpered. "Maybe."
"I can call someone to pick you up," the older suggested. Sehun nodded. "Or..no, wait, I could go home with you and we could watch movies and eat grilled cheese and cake."
"You don't have to, Jongin. I can stay by myself," he raised his head to look at Jongin.
"Nah, I'm tired so I'll just go home too. Besides, who will cheer you up?" He poked his younger brother's cheek. "Oh, here." Jongin slowly let go of Sehun, making sure he could stand before removing his blazer and handing it to Sehun. "It might be too big, but it's better than one covered in food." Sehun gave him a small smile through his still-watery eyes. He removed his blazer, slipping on Jongin's. Indeed, it was too big for his slim body, but he felt cleaner at least.
"Thanks," he mumbled almost shyly. Jongin smiled, slinging his arm around Sehun's shoulders and dialed for a maid back at their mansion.
- - - -
A/n: this chapter was kind of.....i don't know OTL I tried throwing in some sekai. ANd Dongho is introduced yay! ; u ; i love him so much he's so adorable ~
Comments please?
thanks, ilu all ^^ have a nice day!! xoxo
-shixiin
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