Chapter Five:  Sparks are gonna fly

“You can’t be serious, that actually happened?” Kyungsoo choked on his water as Suki filled him on some gossip that was currently going through the school’s twitter and official facebook site. Suki was in complete dismay as she scrolled through, leaning comfortably beside Kyungsoo, her warm brown eyes getting wider and wider as the comments went from average to completely crazy. She wailed suddenly, causing Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to lean in, curious as to what made her so mortified. At what he saw, Kyungsoo spat out his water like a fountain statue while beside him Baekhyun cracked up like a complete douche, clapping his hands as he rolled around on the bean bags, chuckling. Kyungsoo gaped as he quickly read the latest remark and was stunned at the photographs leaking all over the net between him and Suki. The jealousy and fighting between the two fan clubs were astounding and he began to laugh while Suki groaned, tossing him the phone and covering her face in dismay.

“What the… OH HO HO~~”

“CHEN! Hyung-”

“Kyungsoo is mine, he’s just too cute for that ! Suki is not a , she’s so pretty, a lot prettier than you fat ! Shut up you mother er! Me, run back to your pretty boy-!!” Chen snorted, palms flat on the table as he struggled to control his laughter at what he was reading. At those sentences Suki burst into laughter, burying her head into Kyungsoo’s shoulder by accident. Kyungsoo felt his eyes widen as he felt the scent of cinnamon and vanilla wash over him. Contact, he could feel her cheek brushing his neck, and he could feel his heart racing. Why was he being so affected? He could feel his skin crawling, hyper aware of the way Suki was moving, the way her breath tickled, wind blowing. He felt sweat start to prickle at the back of his neck as his voice died in his throat while the rest of his brothers read the comments aloud, sniggering. His mouth felt dry as Suki giggled, head popping back up, noses barely brushing. Their eyes both widened and Kyungsoo lost his breath, the position strangely not awkward at all.

“Suki! I got your fan club name oh gosh!” Tao shrieked and Kai’s eyes widened, racing over along with Suki who jerked away from Kyungsoo and bolted out of the bean bag, arms wrapped around a pillow. Kyungsoo gulped down some air, his pulse still racing like he was out on a battle field, like he had been fighting with his brothers, adrenaline running high. He grabbed his water bottle, unscrewing the cap and was about to tilt the rim to his mouth when a familiar long lithe hand curled around his, stopping him half way. Kyungsoo jerked and almost sighed with relief when he realized it was Baekhyun. But Baekhyun didn’t smile, his lips curved into a grimace as he shook his head, glancing at Suki and back at Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo turned and watched as Suki began a pillow fight with Tao who must had said something that sparked a reaction, her brown hair flying as she and Kai joined forces, smacking him hard, her laughter echoing.

“You know what will happen if we get too close; what we signed up for.” Baekhyun warned and Kyungsoo sighed, irritation sparking off a little in him as he glanced away. Baekhyun felt horrible but he didn’t have a choice but to remind Kyungsoo. It wasn’t the fact that they weren’t allowed to have friends, but the problems that went along with it. Being friends with someone meant questions that you couldn’t answer. Lovers meant safety issues, protection, danger. It was better off for everyone if love just wasn’t added into the equation. But who was he to question his dongsaeng’s heart? If he did fall, what was he to do? Maybe a little love wasn’t such a bad thing. Baekhyun mused before patting Kyungsoo gently, earning a small sigh from Kyungsoo. The message was clear, he had to try not to fall in love, because his duty were to his brothers.

“Guys, food’s here!” Luhan called out, darting through one of their back entrances impishly, face breaking into a grin. Suho breathed a sigh of relief as Kris immediately went to Luhan, Sehun not far behind with Xiumin and Lay following, humming softly under their breath as they began distributing the food. Kai got fried chicken, as always, Baekhyun had deicided on some ramen, Chanyeol choosing Tonkatsu. Sehun had taken sushi along with Suho, some taking bibimpap, ddeobokki and other delicious Korean or Japanese food. Kyungsoo and Suki however, were the only ones with cream pasta, and they shared a small grin before they dived in. Kyungsoo twirled his fork before popping the mouthful of spaghetti into his mouth, savouring the thick creamy delicious taste. His eyes caught Suki’s, her rosebud mouth puckering as she sighed, loving the delicious Western food. Kyungsoo felt his heart do a somersault and his eyes quickly darted back to his food, not wanting to get caught staring. Why was he so attracted to her, he had no idea. There was just something inexplicitly wonderful about Suki.

“Oh no…” Suki took out her phone and Kyungsoo felt a flash of worry at her distressed tone and immediately leaned over to catch a glimpse of the message on her phone.

“My grandmother, she’s missing again, my sisters are frantic; she has dementia!” Suki leapt up, brown eyes frightened and panicking. Kyungsoo hadn’t managed to peek at the message at all, but felt a shred of fear for his new friend as she swallowed. Meanwhile, his eyes narrowed as Lay hyung whispered into Kris’ ear, kris pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm down, while his shifting eyes gave him away. Something had cropped up, something big. More fear pulsed in Kyungsoo as he weighed the probability of an attack from SJ.

“Well, I think we can give you a ride to your house.” Suho replied calmly, flashing the trembling petite girl a soothing smile. At his tone, Suki’s eyes lit up and she breathed a soft thank you, her eyes shining with relief. Kyungsoo felt the bitter taste on his tongue but brushed it off, noticing the way Suho hyung’s eyes flashed a silent message, ushering her to the back exit. Kyungsoo felt his stomach turn at the realization that there was a huge probability that an attack had occurred, or was occurring. Fetching Suki was just a way of getting her out of the way. Grabbing his wallet, he cursed silently as he realized that he had left his bags, majority of them had, because it was their break period now. Sullenly cursing, his eyes widened as soft fingers closed around his elbow, familiar brown eyes imploring at him inquisitively. Wait, familiar? There was really something wrong with his head; he just met Suki! Giving her his signature reassuring smile, Suki relaxed and smiled back, her face glowing as she quickly entered their car, frowning a little as Sehun slid into the driver’s seat.

“Relax, I won’t crash the car!” Sehun said, before turning around and whacking Baekhyun who shot him a disbelieving look. Suki giggled, sliding into the seat nearest to the door, coincidentally right beside Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo patted her without thinking, only to stop once he realized he had been comforting her without processing the action in his mind. Meekly, he drew his hand back as Sehun stepped onto the gas, shooting the car ahead. Damn inertia, because the force sent Suki hurtling straight into Kyugsoo’s arms. Not going to let a lady fall, Kyungsoo wrapped his arms around her, his heart missing a beat as their gaze melt, her breath fanning his face. There was s plit moment that Kyungsoo wondered what would it be like to press his lips to hers when she scrambled out of his embrace, apologizing profusely. His lips were moving at their own accord when he whispered it’s okay, because his heart was still hammering, pounding, even as the door slid open and she waved goodbye, stepping out. Distracted, Kyungsoo hardly noticed anything until Baekhyun pinched him.

Hard.

“Ouch! What?!” Kyungsoo cowered as Baekhyun shot him a look as Sehun stamped his foot onto the gas, the car shooting forward. Baekhyun deadpanned and Kyungsoo remembered the reason why they were skipping school. Right! His phone vibrated and he fumbled for the electronic device, unlocking the screen before the message greeted him.

Thank you for the ride :D ~Suki

He smiled involuntarily before Baekhyun slammed him at the back of his head with the laptop, screeching in panic. Sighing and getting back to the situation, it never once crossed his mind how Suki got his number as he smacked Baekhyun and calmly ordered Sehun to step on it as he contacted Suho.

‘We got a contact from Star today, it seems like a kind of warning; we’re waiting for you at the base, we’re having a video conference later with F(x), Jupiter and SHINee-”

“Suho, Jupiter isn’t in alliance with F(x) or SHINee, why on earth would they accept a conference with-”

“Because the warning was for all of us, and Jupiter was kind enough to warn all, and SHINee is our mutual ally, so naturally they will be there; just get back fast.” Suho snapped, and Kyungsoo muttered a soft ‘neh’ before Baekhyun slammed the laptop, cursing and swearing rapidly as his fingers, along with Xiumin danced, hacking into the traffic system and turning the lights green as Sehun shot through, hands turning the wheel as the car slid in front of their mansion’s gate that automatically lifted due to Baekhyun’s and Xiumin’s verification codes. Sending the car into a beautiful skidding halt into their garage, Sehun waited patiently as the platform their car was on began to sink, another plate sliding above to cover the gaping spot where their car had landed on. There was no time to muse over the décor of their place, as much as they wanted to. The car door slipped open and Kyungsoo bolted, Baekhyun and the others running with him as they completed the retina scan to enter their conference room.

“Masks? Now? Really?” Baekhyun groaned before reluctantly slipping on the mask while Suho and Kris filled them in on the details. Apparently, SNSD had left a warning for Jupiter, and told the sisterhood that they had ‘no choice’ in this matter, and that their hands were tied, and the only thing they could do was give a warning that at 2pm KST something was going to happen at Bucheon. Kyungsoo groaned, muttering under his breath as he took the head set, eyes narrowed as Lay began to confer the conference, the giant screen now splitting into three giant rectangles that were still empty. The room was silent, except for Suho’s murmur that they should all come on in about five minutes. The clock ticked, grating on their nerves as possibility after possibility ran through their minds. What on earth was happening? Was SJ attacking? Why was SNSD giving a warning? And why did Jupiter tell them about it? There was just too many loop holes, Chen thought quietly, not liking it at all. Too much possibilities and too much what ifs that could mean the very end of their brotherhood if they were not careful. The screens lighted and Suho waited with bated breath as they finally came face to face with their allies.

V stood, calculatively watching from behind her blue mask, beside her the rest of her sisterhood. X watched them, her short hair starkly obvious with K, Moon and Solstice, all of them watching quietly. Then was SHINee, Dancing maknae leaning casually against their leader T, Chain, Bling and Flame watching warily back, their eyes flickering from nervousness. And finally Jupiter, the leaders North and Star, followed by Willow, Gem, Jewel, Ocean, Venus, March, April, Pluto, Cherry and finally, Snow Flower. She was casually in the centre of North and Star, in exactly the same position Kyungsoo was in, he dimly realized as their gaze met, burning. Kyungsoo could feel, taste battle almost at the edge, just carefully balanced, wild, surreal.

“What’s so important that we need this… Conference?” V cautiously stated, waving an elegant hand at them. She sounded dismissive, but it was from experience that Kyungsoo knew the leader was wary and tired. The order of the fight against SJ had waned them, smaller in number than all, the fight had taken a lot from F(x). Now facing another battle, it only worried the leader. Suho wondered if V had eyebags like he did if she took off her mask, momentarily sorrowful for being the bearer of bad news.

“Yes, it must be pretty serious to have resulted in this. Are any of you injured?” Chain asked, worry tinging his voice as he peered at them, as though if he could he would be able to spot any injuries. A ghost of a smile flickered across Exo’s faces and Chen chuckled, earning a glance from all the leaders.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense Jupiter, tell us.” Kris said, his voice firm and a dangerous edge to it. North exchanged a glance with Star, both of them unwilling to start when Snow Flower cursed, rolling her familiar brown eyes. Familiar? What was wrong with him today? Kyungsoo wondered distractedly as Snow Flower began to address the others, her voice calm and controlled while the leaders sighed.

“At approximately 9am KST, we received a call from SNSD,” The leaders glanced at each other, momentarily surprised, “Sun had came to live up to her alliance. At 2pm KST in Bucheon, there would be an attack for territory consisting of both SNSD and SJ.” Snow Flower stated calmly, the digital 3D map lighting up such that all of them could see Bucheon, the territory boundary painfully obvious.

“If that is so, SNSD would have informed us no?” V replied calmly, though her eyes were now intense as she questioned Snow Flower. She had a point there, Kris thought distractedly.

“The reason is simple. Bucheon is where all of our territories start, save for Icheon and Seoul, both of these territories neutral and not for claiming. Because of our probation luck, SJ decided to forgo attacking us, especially since Father is still helping us build our territory.” Snow Flower paused, giving them time to process before Kyungsoo nodded, encouraging her to go on, “SNSD had been roped into this because their hands are tied. They cannot deny SJ or else their own Sisterhood would fall. They can’t warn your sisterhood F(x) either, because if they do they would break the alliance between SJ and themselves. But we-”

“Are not part of the plan.” Kyungsoo finished, eyes narrowing as he looked at Snow Flower while the other brotherhoods and sisterhoods stared interestingly at Kyungsoo, still far from understanding the concept Snow Flower was talking about.

“SJ wants revenge. After the incident in Tong Zhou whereby we combined forces to protect our shared Beijing territory, they were probably waiting for a moment to strike. SNSD is tied to both F(x) and Jupiter, but SJ only intends to attack on F(x) and Exo, leaving Jupiter out of the equation. This means that SNSD is free to tell Jupiter of the attack, banking on Jupiter to-”

“Tell us. Oh good lord.” K whispered, covering with her hand, eyes shining worriedly. Her sister was in SNSD, and to meet, hand to hand combat with SJ, while her sister could do nothing, it was torturous. Chain shook his head, T looking worried as he laced and unlaced his fingers, deep in thought, before speaking, his voice low and cautious.

“Then why speak at all? F(x) are not your allies, and only a temporary alliance lies between Exo and you. Why tell us when they could destroy us for you?” T asked, his eyes grave and serious, needing an answer. Chen felt his stomach plummet at that question, weakly looking at Snow Flower. Could this after all be a trap?

“Because SNSD was relying on us to tell F(x). And we won’t break any alliance, temporay or not. Also,” Snow Flower gave a cheeky grin, smirking a little, “I kind of nearly burned Zhoumi and made Henry look stupid so I doubt they’ll leave us alone. In the end if we want to survive and balance on this knife’s edge, we need a combined force.” The truth and sincerity of her words was like a slap to all the gangs, the leaders recoiling slightly before relaxing at her words. T smiled warmly, followed by laughter spilling from X and Solstice.

“Then we thank you Jupiter, for this warning.” V said, eyes shining with gratitude while Suho and Kris echoed their thanks.

“Not yet, you’ll thank us when we beat SJ together.” North replied quietly, twirling her gun while Star and Willow showed the 3D map, fingers flying as they pulled up the Bucheon map. V chuckled, along with T and Kyungsoo sighed in relief as his brothers glided forward, starting the discusiion of strategies as a whole.

“Brilliant,” White whispered, smirking as he gently tapped on the map, their forces already in place and waiting, “Perfectly planned.”

Bwahaha so what do you guys think? Next chapter, what will happen? What on earth will happen? Can you guys guess which member is which? Who is Solstice and Moon; Chain and Bling? Even more, what is White planning, will they fail? What about SUn and the loophole that she managed to find? BWAHAHAHA you will just have to wait for the next chapter XD Comment! Give me your thoughts and chase me to write ;D