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Sehun slammed the door behind him as he stormed out of the hateful classroom. He was never going to ever go there ever again. EVER. He couldn’t stand the behavior of those children in there. As he fumed in the silent hallway, he saw what seemed like Suho’s back profile speed-walking down the hallway from his direction. The boy turned right and left his line of vision in the blink of an eye.

Maybe I saw wrong... Sehun thought, doubting himself.

He was about to continue his way down the hallway, but halted his tracks as he remembered.

Love letter! Didn’t I pick up Luhan’s love letter a day or two ago?

Sehun shrugged. It was the randomest thought, but it was something that he could hold to Luhan.

I’ll read it when I get home.

With that, he took long reformed strides down the hallways and left the F wing, a part of the school that he never wanted to step into ever again.

Chapter 18:

“Only once, Oh Sehun. You don’t have to deal with that class anymore after today. Just put up with it today.”

Baekhyun walked over to Sehun’s desk with light footsteps and a mischievous grin on his face, as Sehun racked his head over and over, assuring himself that everything would be fine. The class had just ended and while some of the students were packing up to go home or go to the library, a lot of them stayed put in their seats, determined to study a last few minutes. The trio needed none of that. Someone like Baekhyun absolutely would not have been able to withstand the feeling of studying at school after the bell. Why do people study anyway?

“Who is this boy muttering to himself with a perplexed expression on his face?” He asked as he approached Sehun, acting oblivious. “It’s definitely not OH SEHUN, is it?”

Sehun turned to look up at Baekhyun from his seat, his expression one of pure annoyance. Sure, one reason to his annoyance was due to Baekhyun’s constant teasing, but he was also completely ticked off by the fact that this tutoring session rumor had made it’s way across school campus. He could only hope that no one would venture to his house as a useless spectator. Recently, Baekhyun had been telling him that his popularity could compare with a member of that new boy group of SM’s. What was their name...X.O? Frankly, the only thing Sehun knew that had to do with X.O. was barbecue sauce.

“Do you see ‘perplexed’ anywhere on my face?”

“CHEN!” Baekhyun called out from across the room. “Do you notice anything different about Sehun?”

Chen raised an eyebrow and glided over to the two, his backpack in hand. He took a glance at Baekhyun, and took a longer gaze at Sehun. He wasn't that close to either of the two guys, and for a second, it seemed as if he were contemplating why they had approached him. At last, Chen answered.

“Perplexion. I see perplexion.”

Sehun strongly begged to differ. There was silence for a few seconds before Baekhyun burst into a fit of giggles and laughter. He held up his left hand for a high five and Chen slowly met his hand with Baekhyun’s. One could presume even without being there, that it was quite awkward. Chen managed to pick out a sentence Baekhyun was forming in the midst of his laughing fit.

“We--we talk on the...same wavelength, man. You should join our group more often!”

Sehun immediately glared at Baekhyun and gave Chen the cold shoulder. Chen almost blurted out a confession that he was a little bit intimidated, but Baekhyun was unfazed and simply rolled his eyes. Only at that moment did Baekhyun gain recognition of bravery in Chen's eyes.

“Think about it! We’ll have another smart earthling to help you with your tutoring, that starts in about...”

Exaggerating his actions, he checked the watch on his right wrist for a few seconds.

“...Whoa, man. You’re gonna be late soon, it starts in 7 minutes! Hurry and pack up!”

Baekhyun scrambled to pick up all of the books scattered across the table that Sehun and him were sharing. He slammed the pile of books in front of Sehun and watched him expectantly. Sehun merely scoffed.

“Why would I have to hurry? I can just be late.”

Chen himself unconsciously rolled his eyes before throwing out a comment.

“You chose to tutor Class F for a reason, didn’t you?”

Sehun cast Chen a look and Baekhyun stood by Chen’s side, watching Sehun. Chen blinked twice before turning to Baekhyun for help.

“He said, ‘What do you want to say?’” Baekhyun translated. “Sorry, Chen. Sometimes, this guy needs a translator.”

Chen chuckled for the first time since their conversation. He watched as Sehun started to pack his backpack, neatly placing his human structural textbooks in, one by one.

“I’m saying, you probably agreed to the tutoring on a condition that’s probably important enough for you to agree to. Perhaps something like blackmail or whatever. So...I don’t think it’d be wise to arrive at the lesson late. Don’t you think?”

Sehun wordlessly stood up, swinging his backpack over his shoulder and without replying to Chen’s almost perfect assumption, he headed for the door. Baekhyun grinned when Chen rendered Sehun speechless and without a comeback. He grabbed Chen’s arm and pulled Chen out the door with him.

“Come on, let’s go together!” He called out to Sehun.

They caught up with Sehun, and Baekhyun lazily wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“Whatever.” Sehun muttered.

He lightly tried to shrug Baekhyun off his shoulder as he awkwardly strode along the sidewalk on the outskirts of the school walls. Baekhyun and Chen tagged alongside him, laughing and joking around over nothing in particular. They were especially entertained by attempting to drag Sehun into their pointless conversations.

Sehun could only sigh every time he refused.

“Friends are so useless.”

~*~

Meanwhile, outside Sehun’s house, it sounded like a crowd of overly possessive fans cheering at an SM Town concert.

“Luhan, why don’t you go open the door?” Kris asked, leaning against one of the porch rails.

“No, no, Luhan, you can’t!” Xiumin protested. “People will find it weird that you can enter the house so easily. Sehun’s mom will probably greet you warmly too!”

“Then why don’t you open the door?” Kris asked Xiumin, starting to get a little impatient. “It’s not like the students in our class are smart enough to realize what’s going on between us and Sehun.”

They all took a second to glance back at Kai, who was leading the crowd with what sounded like a legitimate presidential speech before his country’s declaration of war. Chanyeol was by his side, handing out flyers for some unknown cause. Luhan suspected he might be creating a club called, “SAF”, otherwise known as, “Sehun’s Anti-Fans”. Just the thought of it made him cringe. Before the group of friends could figure out what to do, Luhan’s cell phone started to ring.

“上瘾，这是Overdose!” [Shang yin, zhe shi Overdose!]

Kris and Xiumin almost jumped out of their skins at the loud music that suddenly began to play. Luhan hastily fished out his phone, determined to shut off the ringtone before the other kids began to question him.

“Yah, I can’t believe you still have that recording that we made together with the others.” Kris said, a slight smile present on his face. “Recording that song took us hours.”

Luhan fumbled with his folders and binders.

“How could I throw away a recording that took us so much effort to make? Even Suho was in it.” Luhan, who finally found his phone at the bottom of his backpack, slid the green call button to pick up the call. It was from Tao.  

“Hello?”

“Ge! Ge! We need help over here, it’s--it’s urgent!”

“What’s wrong?” Luhan said in a slightly worried tone.

Is there something bad happening to Tao?

“Tao, calm down. Take a few deep breaths.” Luhan heard what sounded like Kyungsoo over the line.

“Ani! I can’t! This is urgent! I need everyone to come over here right now!” Tao shouted over the phone.

“Tao,” Luhan began.

“You better come right now with the other hyungs or I’ll jump! I will jump!” Tao randoml blurted out.

“Bwoh?!” Luhan shouted from his side of the phone, louder than any of the antis gathered from Jongin.

Everyone turned to look at him.

“I said, I. WILL. JUMP.”

Luhan took a few deep breaths himself.

“Okay, Tao, where are you? Tell me slowly. Don’t do anything rash.”

“I’m on Main Street.”

“Tao, stay right where you are. Arasseo? Exactly where you are. We’re coming right now!”

With that, Luhan immediately hung up the phone and ran through the crowd of students gathered in front of the house.

“Is there something...wrong?” Kris asked the others.

“I think Tao is in trouble!” Xiumin gasped as he watched Luhan sprint through the gates of the Oh house. “I heard some of his conversation with Tao. Let’s run after him!”

With that, Kris and Xiumin ran off, ditching the tutoring session entirely, leaving a lonely Jongin and his minions behind.

~*~

“We’re here at the almighty Oh Sehun’s house!” Baekhyun grinned, pointing at the house full of high schoolers swarming a few feet from the front door. “Look at the ice prince’s shocking popularity!”

Chen stared.

“Are they all here to see Oh Sehun?”

“What do you think?” Baekhyun winked. "Impressive, huh?"

“I want to kill him.” Sehun muttered, launching imaginary daggers in Baekhyun's direction.

“Did you say something?” Baekhyun asked innocently, peering through Sehun’s bangs.

“I really want to kill him.” Sehun told himself.

He gritted his teeth to withstand Baekhyun’s attitude.

“Well, I mean, I can always leave right now and leave you with a crowd of students...” Baekhyun hesitated, feigning innocence.

“If only I could kill that guy.” Sehun grumbled, supressing his urge to curse as he entered his own front yard.

The moment he entered, it felt like he had entered a tourist attraction and he was in the center of it all. Sehun almost couldn’t believe his ears as he felt the hands of girls clinging onto his arms asking for a signature, a date, or his heart. He didn’t even want to get started with those who wanted his body. Now that was overboard.

He squeezed his way through the crowds of people and pressed on his doorbell for what felt like a few hours before his mom reached the door. When the door opened, Sehun squeezed himself inside through the crack of the door and finally gave himself a breather. His mom who was about to yell at Sehun for pressing the doorbell one too many times, noticed the enormous amount of high schoolers standing outside of their house. Right away, she was ready to welcome them.

“Aigoo, are all of you Luhan’s friends?” She asked the students standing outside. “My son probably wouldn’t have this many friends so I could only assume.”

The stressed out Sehun knew there was no way out after his mom involved herself in self-introductions. He just wanted to lock himself in his room and read books upon books on psychology and proper human behavior.

“I'm right, aren't I? Come in, come in!” Sehun’s mother exclaimed, opening the door big and wide. "I'll make a lot of food for you guys so make yourself feel at home!"

It was only at this time that Sehun realized how badly he wanted to have a peaceful quiet time with his books on medical practice. Interactions with such lowly human beings was never a part of his life. It was only when Luhan leaped in and forcefully carved a space for himself in his timeline, that all this chaos is happening. If only Luhan hadn't entered his life, these noisy clucking chickens wouldn't be inside his house. Just then, Sehun stopped his wandering thoughts (a.k.a. insults).

Wait a second. Where’s Luhan?

He scanned the swarm of students -- more like, fans -- that entered his house with looks of admiration, awe, and obsession. Not one of them was Luhan.

Don’t tell me that idiot arranged this tutoring session for me and then decided to ditch it with his friends. How could he leave me alone with this group of peasants?!?!

Sehun made a mental note to remind Luhan of his place in the house when he came back. There was no way he would allow Luhan to act like this in his territory. No way.

“Sehun-ah, hurry and your friends to your study offices upstairs! There’s enough room for all of them to fit and I’ll wheel over that whiteboard of yours so you can teach all of them for the exams.”

There was no turning back once his mom had begun to prepare food, snacks, and materials for all the kids. Sehun could only sob inwardly as he made his way up the stairs, looking cold and clever -- just the way he was supposed to be. He could only shake his head in defeat as he saw his brother, Lay, peek out from inside his room, a grimace painted on his face and words of disapproval lingering silently on his lips.

~*~

“Tao, Tao, where are you?!” Luhan shouted as he ran down the sidewalk of Main Street.

He had arrived with Kris and Xiumin and all three of them were focused on looking for Tao. They heard from Luhan that Tao had mentioned something about an urgent situation and they were equally worried that Tao said he would jump if they did not come to find him. They began to scan all the rooftops of the shops on Main Street, thinking that they’d see Tao standing upon one of them, Kyungsoo at his side.

“Tao, where the hell are you?” Kris shouted once, as he looked left and right, scanning his surroundings thoroughly.

Xiumin raised an eyebrow as he saw Kris worry more than usual. It wasn’t like him to be such a caring guy. Well, then again, Tao was about to jump from somewhere. He was scared, too.

“Tao!” Xiumin called out once.

“Ah!” Luhan heard shouting from ahead. “Gege! Gege! Come over here!”

It was unmistakably Tao’s voice. The three of them sprinted up the hill of Main Street, passing rows of coffee shops, antique stores, and small snack shacks, to find Tao and Kyungsoo standing in front of a few benches near the end of the street. As they saw Tao standing there next to Kyungsoo unharmed, all three of them were as confused as ever.

Kris and Xiumin were panting as they grabbed onto the bench for safety measures. Neither of them had A's in physical education.

“T-Tao!” Luhan stuttered as he rested his hands on his knees.

He was panting and out of breath too, but he still scanned Tao detailedly from head to toe. Nothing was wrong with him and he wasn’t hurt at all.

“Tao, I thought you said there was an urgent situation!” Xiumin said between gasps.

Kris, still hyperventilating from a lack of exercise, had nothing to say.

“You said you were about to jump!” Luhan added, as devastated as ever.

Kyungsoo sighed as he stood by the sidelines watching the scene unfold in front of him. He then pointed to the store all five of them were standing in front of. All of the heads turned at once and they were faced by what slowly  looked like the openings of hell. Yes, yes. It was what they didn’t want it to be.  It was a Gucci store.

“THAT REDHEAD IN THERE HAS THE LATEST GUCCI BAG!” Tao whined, pointing at a handsome guy wearing a different high school uniform inside the store. “HOW IS THIS NOT URGENT?!”

“Mark Tuan?” Kris asked as he glanced over at the guy.

“You know him?” Xiumin said as his breathing began to return to normal.

“Yeah, he used to be in my rapping group back in middle school.” Kris replied shortly. “He’s from the United States and his family’s rich. I think they own 3/4ths of the shares of Gucci.”

“IT MAKES NO SENSE THAT THIS REDHEAD HAS THAT BAG AND I DON’T! HOW COULD HE!” Tao said, exasperated. "WHO CARES IF HE'S RICH?!"

Kris coughed at the lack of oxygen his lungs were receiving, and managed a small hi to Mark who had noticed him through the glass windows of the store. Luhan, still flabbergasted, wanted and absolutely demanded confirmation.

“Tao, didn’t you say you were going to jump?!”

Kyungsoo shook his head as he felt a headache about to emerge. Everyone had gotten Tao all wrong over the phone. This is why he hadn't wanted to accompany Tao shopping in the first place. The only reason he was there with Tao was because of his damn aegyo. He knew that maknae's aegyo would cause trouble some day.

“Tao said he would jump into the store, grab Mark’s bag, and run away with it." Kyungsoo slowly explained. "I was in the middle of restraining him from going in, and he ended up hanging up on you guys after saying he was going to jump.” He cleared his throat. "I mean, jump into the store and commit, pretty much, a crime."

“WHAT?!” Luhan, Xiumin, and Kris exclaimed in disbelief.

“You’re not serious, are you?” Kris groaned.

“W-why?” Tao asked innocently, as if he was beginning to realize what situation he had caused.

“WE THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO JUMP OFF OF A BUILDING OR SOMETHING!” Luhan shouted as he rubbed his temples with his fingers.

Tao’s eyes widened as Luhan screamed at him, but they widened even more as he realized what Luhan had just said.

“Why the hell would I jump off of a building?” He asked with a questioning look.

Xiumin rolled his eyes.

“Gee, who the hell knows why.”

There was a silence before Xiumin received a straightforward reply.

“I do. It’s because he’s Tao, of course. He overreacts all the time.”

“I was being SARCASTIC, Ben Ben. Stop ruining the vibe.”

“You stop acting like you’re cool, Baozi.”

“I”m going to kill you.”

“Sure, why don’t you try.”

"Your sarcasm..." Xiumin started.

"It's better than yours." Kris finished.

And so another day goes by with Tao in the family...

~*~

A/N:

I just had to. Don’t question me. XD -- Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I wonder how Sehun will react when Luhan returns home~ Will he be mad? Or will Luhan win him over with his upper hand? ;3