Chapter One
Turning a Blind Eye// [HIATUS]
The sound of wheels turning, air blowing, engines flaring. The smell of a car freshener that's supposed to be vanilla but has been up for so long that it's losing it's smell even to her. The turn signal goes off and the feeling of being tilted to one side of the car indicates they turned right. The girl holds a light metal rod in her hand, she listens as the radio is softly playing and thinks to herself as she leans her head against the back of the seat.
Her name was Shin Haneul. It was said that her parents named her that because they found the sky a beautiful thing, just like the gift of having a daughter. Later, her mother had told her, after they found out about their daughter's particular situation, that it was for the heavens to notice her. To guide her. To lead her in the right way and hopefully at some time, maybe, give her a gift as payment.
The man driving opens his mouth to take a sharp intake of air before he starts to breathe. Haneul noticed the man must be a smoker since not only does the car have the faint smell of smoke but he also has a graveling sound in his throat as he talks.
"Miss. We're almost at your destination."
She lets a faint smile show. "Thank you. And don't worry. I'll be fine getting out. Okay?"
She hears him groveling under his breath and sighs. The girl didn't mean to be presumptious, she just wanted to ease his mind.
The feeling of the car coming to a halt made her grip tighter onto her metal rod and the moment it goes to a stop she makes a bowing motion before opening the door to her right. She places the stick on the ground and feels to see how close the sidewalk is. Moving along she takes the step out before taking out her medium sized suitcase and paying the driver, shutting the door. Turning around and taking a step onto the sidewalk, she inhales - taking a deep breath. This is where she was going to be living from now on, eh?
Meanwhile, in an apartment 11 boys are staring at their group member, absolutely bewildered by the news he just presented.
"No. Not happening." The one spoke up. His low voice, thick eyebrows and demeanor stood out from the rest. It was a calm but authoritative vibe. Even though he was sitting down, you could tell he was quite taller than the other members.
"But Kris. Hyung. Please! She has nowhere to go!" A shorter boy, probably around the same height as many of the other boys stood in the center of the group. His eyes pleading to the larger, more mature man. "Please. She's a childhood friend. Knowing her situation and that she has nowhere to go... I can't leave her by herself."
"We understand Baekhyun. But, Kris isn't merely saying this for our sake. Imagine if the fans found out about her. She'd be scrutinized. A girl living in the EXO dorm? Both her and us would be ruined." A calmer and kinder approach than the man they called Kris was speaking now. His polished look and kind eyes gave the sense of a mother figure. He was soft spoken but still had the respect of s.
A member to his right spoke up, he was as tall as Kris but his lean stature and almost chubby cheeks gave a childish vibe. His voice contrasted it though, it was low and rich like a drum, but smooth at the same time. "But Suho. This girl, perhaps it will work out for now? I mean - we haven't even found out her situation yet. Who knows... maybe having a girl around will be good for us. She can help us stay clean and make food maybe?" He grins trying to please the thoughts of s. Sure, he didn't know the girl but if Baekhyun had gone to such extents to get her here, there was probably a reason for it. Slyly he winked at the boy who stood in the middle, getting nervous.
An equally soft voice rose up from the group. It's sound was soft, kind and sweet. The speaker was a deer-eyed male who was prettier than both men and women alike. "Baekhyun, tell us about this girl."
"Really Luhan? You want to know about her." A click of a tongue followed the comment. The owner's hastiness and sharp tongue came out. The boy was tanner than most of his elders. His eyes were dark, almost slanted, small forms of a darker puffy area was around them. They almost seemed glazed over as they looked at his senior.
"Yes Tao. Who knows, maybe we can learn something from her." Luhan smiled as if to tell Baekhyun to procede as Tao had a momentary snarl.
"Well... Her name is Shin Haneul. She's a friend of mine since we were little. She lost her parents at a young age so her grandmother had taken care of her for all this time but she had just passed as well. She's nice, tends to stick to herself. She's a lending hand if needed. I mean I haven't seen her in a while but still."
"Okay. And why can't she be somewhere else? Why here?" The father figure had spoken up again, wanting to get to the bottom of this.
"Haneul. Guys. My friend." He takes a moment. "She's blind."
The girl waits in the elevator, listening to the dings as it goes up to each floor. She counts them up in case it stops on a floor she isn't supposed to be going on. Finally it opens and she used her stick to guide herself out and down the hall. She waits to find a door before guiding her hand over the number plate - 601. She continues along trying to find the room 612, with each checking of a plate trying to not get discouraged. Hearing footsteps nearby she procedes cautiously, she tries to listen to see if she can figure out any clues that would indicate who it is but before she gets a chance to the person speaks.
"Haneul!" The voice was of her friends. It has changed since the last time she got to see him but she smiled instantaneously as she knew it was him.
"Baekie!" She grins, turning her head to where the voice had come from, smiling.
"Here, it's this way. Let me take your suitcase." He moves along, making sure she's following the sound of the rolling wheels. "It's the fourth door on the outside if you turn left and the 10th door on the outside if you turn right." She nods understanding and making a mental note. As they came closer to the door she could hear a large array of voices talking loudly.
"There sounds like a lot of people. You said you were in a group but... Baekie how large is this group?" The small nervous laughter that came afterwards was something she took into notice. This wasn't going to be easy going. She could feel it in her gut.
"I'll tell you when we get there." She nods and slows to a stop as he stops to knock on the door. A few moments later it opens, a low, rich voice talks.
"Baekhyun. And... Haneul, right? It's nice to meet you. I'm Chanyeol." His voice seems happy, caring. She smiles and nods.
"It's nice to meet you too. You were right. It's Haneul."
"Well come in, come in! The guys are getting ready to meet you." She nods and steps in, hearing the sound of peck on someone's skin. Did Chanyeol and Baekhyun kiss? She shakes her head slightly and moves into a larger room, suddenly her stick touches something, as she reaches for it she feels a couch. Guiding her hand along the back of the couch, she moves to the edge when she hears the murmurs between voices. A flush of warmth comes to her cheeks. Just because she can't see them, doesn't mean she doesn't know they're talking about her. Thus, rightfully so, she's embarrassed. She speaks up softly.
"H-hello? My name is Shin Haneul, it's nice to meet you." She turnes to where she thought she heard the voices and bows. A small snicker behind her made her flush more and she turns quickly, bows again. "S-sorry." A light soft laughter voiced to her other side. Are they all around her? She turns and before she bows a hand comes up and rests on her shoulder.
"It's okay Hanuel-ssi." Soft, polite, formal. The scent was light and soft like the owner of the voice. She nods slightly and feels him squeeze ever so slightly to comfort her. "My name is Kim Joonmyeon. Or Suho. I'm the leader of our group. The mother so to speak."
"N-nice to meet you. Is there any name you would prefer me to call you? And... your group. What's the name? H-how many of you guys are there?"
A semi-shocked voice speaks up. "You don't know us, but you know Baekhyun?"
The boys start to talk again and before she speaks up Baekhyun cuts in.
"Guys. Be a little more thoughtful." Haneul just shakes her head. She knows what he wants to say - it's not like she can read about them. If they weren't going to say it, she was going to.
"I know what you're thinking so I might as well speak up. You all know I can't read about you guys and if it's something I can listen to, my grandmother didn't listen to the radio that often so I really don't know you guys." She tries to not let her voice quiver as she talks and as soon as she finishes she realizes that a sort of understanding silence filled the air. The soft voice of Suho spoke up again.
"Our group name is EXO. We're split into 2 sub groups EXO-K and EXO-M. EXO-M is for the Chinese promotions, but we are one at heart making us EXO. There's 12 members total; 6 for each group. I'm the leader, and specifically of EXO-K. Next?" He must have turned to face their members because another voice spoke up.
This voice was generically cute, higher pitched but at slight moments it had an undertone of being husky. "Hello. EXO-M's Xiumin, or Kim Minseok. It's nice to meet you Haneul." He was kind it seems but she gets the feeling of him being slightly playful but still respectful. She bows to where the voice came from.
An equally soft voice appears to come from the same direction as Xiumin. It's undertones are sweet and soft, overall joy seems to come off of it. "Hello. EXO-M's Lu Han. It's nice to meet you." They bow respectfully and continue on.
Once again another soft voice comes up. It's sweet and higher pitched. Why do they all have soft voices? It's going to make it hard to differentiate! She listens closely trying to find it. She recognizes a slight drifting intonation that he has as he talks. "Hello. EXO-M's Lay here. I also go by Zhang Yixing. Nice to meet you Haneul, I hope we all get along."
Then suddenly an easily recognizeable voice. It wasn't necessary high or low, mean or nice. But rather it left an impression with the sheer fact the owner had a small lisp. She smiles as she listens. "Hey, Sehun of EXO-K here. I'm the maknae here. It's nice to meet one of Baekhyun's friends. I'm surprised he has any." Haneul lets out a small laughter as Baekhyun immediately yells in his defense saying that he was quite personable. The whole group laughs together before a voice rises up.
It's different than the others. It seems harsh but she can tell that it can sound really childish and sweet. Perplexed she continues to listen to his harsh sounding introduction. "EXO M's Huang Zitao. Just call me Tao." And then silence. She bows awkwardly thinking that he's done. Does he not like me?
The next voice was also in the range of not soft but not harsh, not manly but not girly. It was expressive, slightly quirky. An easy one to remember. "Hello! Chen here but my real name is Kim Jongdae! I'm in EXO-M." She holds back a chuckle during her bow as she imagine's him grinning whilst saying it.
A voice with a slightly lower pitch speaks. It sounded a little nervous before speaking which made Haneul find it cute. It reminded her of chocolate milk. Sweet, a little bit rich, a little bit cool and a very good. "Hello! D.O here! Or Kyungsoo. You can call me Kyungsoo if you like. Yeah... Oh! EXO-K! I'm part of EXO-K!" She smiles and bows in response.
Suddenly a low, extremely rich voice came out. It had a texture to it that reminded her of gravel but only a very little bit. Like natural chocolate. But dark chocolate. It was easily distinguished from the rest of them. His intonation gave to it that he wasn't easy to impress. "EXO-M's leader Kris. Name is also Wu Yifan, but you call me Kris. Okay?" She nods and bows, noting to not get on his bad side.
"And I'm Kai." The voice reminded her of Chanyeol's. It was smooth but not as deep. Smooth like.... toffee? No. Butterscotch? Way too sweet.... Caramel. It was smooth like caramel where it had a sweet tone as if he was very slightly nervous but overall was just an okay guy. "You can call me Kim Jongin if you wish. I'm part of EXO-K." She bows and then starts to count out all of them in her head before hearing a familiar voice.
"Well, you met me but probably don't-"
"Chanyeol!" She smiles. "Sorry, I don't mean to cut you off. But you're Chanyeol, no? Your voice is easy to recognize." She instantly turns sheepish. That was probably rude to them. Aish. I can't ruin this already. Pabo! Just as she was mentally hitting herself in the head a light chuckle appears from his way. "Yep! Park Chanyeol! I'm part of EXO-K." She bows and then turns a little.
"Which means Baekkie is on EXO-K as well." Without knowing it, Haneul had just made all the guys whip their head in Baekhyun's direction.
"Yeah I am." He laughs and starts to rub the back of his neck. The nickname "Baekkie" was always something Haneul called him and as he grew older he tried to hide it, especially to s. Well, guess the cat is out of the bag now.
"Ha ha! Hyung! BAEKKIE?" An immediate slew of laughter begins as they pick on him. Haneul laughs softly to herself before someone comes up and places their hand on her shoulder.
The whisper of one of the softer voices rose up. "I'll lead you to your room, okay?" Who was it? She racked through her brain trying to match up the owner of the voice to the names she had earlier as he took a hold of her arm, guiding her along the way, down a hall.
"S-s-suho?" A small chuckle told her that her guess was right.
"Fast learner I see." She heard the click of a door, a small swoosh of him swinging it open and then the feeling of getting led in.
"I try... Is this my room?" She moves her walking stick around to map how big it is. "T-this room... is too big. It could fit..."
"Three of us. Yep. The thing is - you're a girl. So we took this one and decided to switch some arrangements around in the mean time."
She nods and continues around feeling at the different pieces of furniture and finally her bed. Suho in the meanwhile takes a brief glance at the room. He was right. Three of the members had lived in this room but they decided that since it was the smallest for the 4 rooms they would split up 1 and 2. Two would hop in to where the manager used to sleep since he's never really there at all and the other would hop in the room of three. He looked around a little. They got her new furniture already - a new bed, dresser, desk. They didn't exactly understand what a blind person needed. They didn't think a mirror, she can't see herself after all.
Speaking of her, Suho glances over the girl sitting on the bed seemingly taking in the experience. She wasn't stunning but she was pretty with fair skin and longer lengthed hair. It was slightly on the warmer shades of brown but still dark unlike the stereotypical "black hair". And in regards to her being blind, if Baekhyun didn't tell him he would have thought something was wrong but he would have never figured it out right away. The girl herself only had a few moments of delay when a new person was around and her eyes herself were a mix of brown and grey. Amusing to look at but very different since they won't ever look back - not intentionally at least.
"I really want to thank you. I can imagine that they were not happy about me coming here."
"I... wouldn't say that."
"Tao's voice said it all Suho." She giggles softly and hears Suho chuckling along with her.
"I guess you have a point." Finally another voice came into the room the rolling of her suitcases wheels behind them.
"Baekhyun? Or... maybe Chanyeol?"
A laughter broke out. "Nah, the guys are picking on him too much to even let Baekhyun move. Haha. It's Yixing. Here's your suitcase." Embarrassed Haneul immediately stood up, bowing.
"I'm sorry." And with that she rushed over to where the voice was, not needing her stick to guide her. As she reached out with her hands to grab the suitcase she felt the touch of skin from an individual. Wait... two...
Two hands.
Were Suho and Lay holding hands?
"O-oh, sorry!" She reaches to the other side and feels her suitcase before smiling and rolling it to the bed. "Thank you.. I'll be fine for now. Sorry for the inconvenience." She smiles a little more as her mind races over what she felt and heard earlier.
Was there something going on in the house? Or was it just a mild coincidence?
Lay and Suho looked over at each other, their hands entwined lightly before letting go embarrased. They walked out seperatedly and headed their own way. Passing a room, the voices of two individuals carry out slightly. Inside two members are talking about the new girl, Haneul. The panda-eyed boy whines to the older one.
"Why?! Why does she have to be here Kris! She's going to ruin everything!"
Kris puts his hand on the younger's shoulder, trying to comfort him without giving everything away to him. "Maybe she'll only be here for a little bit. Calm down Tao. No reason to get worked up, okay?"
"It's not fair!" He whines and pouts, grabbing the older's hand. "What am I to do!?"
Kris just chuckles at the panda boy. "You try to sleep."
"With you?" He bats his lashes to get the attention of his senior who just scoffs, leading him out.
"In your own room Tao. You'll be fine, there's 3 other members."
The younger boy pouts and muddles back to his room to fall into sleep, tossing and turning. Each of the lights in the apartment turn off one by one until darkness consumes it. For the girl who only sees darkness, she moves around putting things away before heading to her bed and falling alseep herself. Night is slow. Dreams are happening in the minds of the 13 individuals. But suddenly, movement. In a house that's so quiet that the tiniest sound can be heard, a small creaking sound of movement to made. A tall, sluggishly moving shadow made it's way out of a room and down the hall before turning into a smaller room from whence it had came from. The single bed there seemed comforting to the figure so he crawled into bed with the lone person, snuggling up to them, falling back to a peaceful sleep.
But who is it that just walked into Haneul's room? Who's snuggling up with her? One thing's for sure.
This dorm only gets weirder by the second.
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