chapter sixteen 

Details

"Close your eyes and breathe in," Tao said softly closing his eyes too.

Alice and Tao were on the park near the apartment sitting in front of each other with their legs crossed. The first agreed to accompany the latter to help him clear his mind by meditating.

It's been a week already since Alice moved with the angel apprentice and the guys. It had been a week full with stress for them since they had to study and deal with work. In that week, the girls tried to helped them in some way making them feel a bit tired and stress too, but not as much as the boys. Also during that time the demon apprentice got closer to them, but as Sulli stated getting close with Sehun it was a bit laborious. She noticed the latter always watching her like he was studying what the girl was doing or pretending to do, but Sehun wasn't the only one Lu Han too. Even though the way Sehun looked at Alice was different from Lu Han. The first was observant, alert, the same way as Lu Han but his was like somehow caring and playful too.

Alice, during that week, got to know then a bit too. The six boys got close even with their age differences/gaps. She still doesn't know how or when, but the fact of them respecting their decisions and trusting each other was enough now for her to know for now.

What the apprentice knows about the six boy’s background is that Chanyeol's parents and his little brother, Jinwoo, live in Daegu. The tall boy is 20 years old. He moved to Seoul when he was on high school due to the scholarship he got. There, Chanyeol met Baekhyun, at first they didn't get along with each other, but somehow they became really close friends. Baekhyun is currently 21 years old. Baekhyun situation is a bit difficult because the relationship with his parents is not in good terms. Both, his mother and his father, are the owners of one of the biggest electrical companies from Korea and they wanted his oldest son, Baekhyun, be the heir of it, but since the boy didn't like the idea of working on that company and majoring in something related with it, and the fact his vocation was somewhere else, in music, Baekhyun started living in his own leaving the spot to his younger brother. Also to get away from the pressure his parents gave him to change his mind and to pursue his dream. Due to his family´s popularity, adding the fact Baekhyun loathe the idea of doing something he didn’t want to, his family stated that the heir position was going to be occupied by the youngest son. In that way, all kind of scandals can be avoided, but that didn’t mean his parents supported Baekhyun’s choice. They are still against it.

In the case of Tao, he was born in China. He moved to Korea when he was in high school and he got accepted to college in Korea later, but his parents moved back to China the same time he got admitted. He’s currently 20 years old. But the fact that shocked Alice the most about Tao is that he was adopted when he was eight years old. His mother couldn't give birth so they decided to adopt.

Kai's background is difficult and shocking too. His father was alcoholic and used to beat him and his mother. One day, when Kai was eleven, he disappeared leaving the young boy and his mother with no money, homeless and harmless. Both, Jongin and his mother, worked hard to survive. Now Kai's mother is living with her sister, the only family both have left, in Canada due to his aunt’s sickness and also because there his mother found a proper job. Jongin stay in Korea because he wanted to. Kai is 19 years old.

Alice breathed in the cold, but refreshing air. After a few seconds she opened her left eye to watch what Tao was doing. The latter was mediating silently so the girl closed her eye again. "Tao, what can you tell me about Sehun? I mean why he is so cold and distant with Sulli and me?"

Tao opened his eyes as the same time the girl on front of him and sighed.

Sure Alice knew about some facts about the four boys, but somehow she didn't get to know about the other two left, Sehun, who is the same age as Jongin, and Lu Han.

"He was abandon when he was barely five." Alice gasped almost noticeable. "He used to manage to survive on his own until a social worker found him and sent him to an orphanage. Lu Han told me about Sehun, since he didn't want to tell us himself, is that he escaped when he was twelve because there he was treated really badly."

Alice was shocked. Sehun's past was that harsh? He had to manage with all those bad things happening to him at that young age. She just couldn't believe it. Now she understands why Sehun is so cold with strangers and doesn't trust them easily. She understand that feeling since the girl had to deal with that too. Living most of her life surrounded with demons obligates her to not trust others easily, yet she knows which ones are a bit warm-hearted; if she could put it in a number it would be 1/500 demons.

"Sehun really trust Lu Han, doesn't he?" Alice changed her seated position. She is now hugging her legs as she listen Tao, who nodded at Alice.

"In fact, Lu Han helped Sehun after he escaped," Tao stopped as he saw the surprised expression on Alice's face and burst out laughing. Alice showed a face with concern mixed with shock and not knowing what to say about adding the fact the statement left her open-mouthed.

"It's not funny!" Alice smacked Tao right arm.

"You should have seen you face! It was epic!" Tao grabbed his stomach from pain due to laughing so hard.

Alice shook her head. "Can you please continue?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry," Tao rubbed the back of his head still laughing a bit, "So, in fact Lu Han knows Sehun the longest. Sehun was about twelve when he met Lu Han, who was around sixteen then. Lu Han took care of him with the help from his mother. Even though I don't know about the details, neither the others, of how they met, we can see Sehun really trust Lu Han the most"

Alice nodded. So that's why the two of them are so close and somehow so similar. It made her smile that Lu Han has a warm and beautiful heart. People is getting greedy, only aiming for their own benefits.

Alice sighed quietly. Now she knows a bit about Sehun, sure she'll be more careful, in a positive way, around him.

About Lu Han.... Alice only knew what Sulli told her and what Tao just mentioned. What the angel novice said it was that Lu Han, who also had to deal with a hard past, is that he's from China. He and his mother moved to Korea when he was six years old. She didn't mention anything about his father because Lu Han haven’t mentioned him before, not to Sulli, the boys and neither Sehun. Sulli told her that Lu Han's mother is on the hospital yet she doesn't know what her disease is about and she doesn't know since when too, but she assumed it was since Lu Han was eighteen due to the boys mention him living on his own, with Sehun, by that time. By now, Lu Han is 23.

The six boys past is a bit shocking, painful and somehow interesting to know. It shows you how different kind of persons from all society leaves can get along without judging each other.

Alice sighed as she stood up, "I think we should go back."

Tao stood up too and nodded. "Thanks for telling me about Sehun since I know he wouldn't tell me himself"

"No problem," he patted Alice's head, "It took us a while to get to know Sehun and got close to him, but somehow I still think he doesn't trust us that much yet"

Alice laughed as they started walking back to their home.

Alice got to know a bit more about the people she had been living with, yet they didn't know about the girl's past since none of them had asked her about it. The apprentice would not mention a single detail if they don't ask about it and the girl doesn't know if she'll be able to tell them about her difficult past, which is hard to explain and there are some facts about her family Alice still doesn't comprehend yet.

 author's note 

»HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! ^^ Best wishes for all of you! and I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I felt the need to write this for you guys to get to know a bit of the boys's families and past :) Every single of them had to go through something difficult, even Alice, which I reavealed with details later. That's a similarity I created ^^

See you soon! :D