Luhan pulled a chair away from the group and sat on it silently with his back facing the others, arms crossing on his chest, bottom lip jutted out slightly.


Xiumin approached the sulking boy and patted his head.


"Lulu, what's wrong? Why are you sulking?"


Luhan pointed at the crowd and narrowed his eyes at some certain boys.


It looked like Sehun, Kai and Tao were laughing at something really funny.


"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you two! Kris gege gave me two baby pandas. Isn't that sweet?" Tao batted his eyelashes.


"What? You gave birth already??" Kai pretended to be surprised.


"Aw man, that's too bad. I really want to see you pregnant," Sehun put his hands on his waist and shook his head in disappointment.


"No! I-"


"But how did you feed them? You don't have any ies," Kai cut the older's words and snickered at his annoyed face.


Sehun reached out his hand to Tao's chest. "It's hard."


Tao slapped Sehun's hand away and shrieked, "Of course it's hard! I'm not a girl! I didn't give birth to baby pandas, we adopted them! They drink from bottles, not ies."


Tao crossed his arms and turned his back to Sehun and Kai, sulking like a little kid. The two younger boys laughed and some more. Losing it, Tao stomped away from them, but Sehun yanked him back and wrapped his arms around the panda boy's shoulders.


"We're just kidding, hyung," Sehun laughed and ruffled Tao's hair. Tao stuck out his tongue and wrinkled his nose, but decided to just brush it off like he always did.


Xiumin moved his attention back to Luhan and nodded understandingly.


"Maknaes United," Luhan muttered and bowed his head sadly.


Xiumin bent down and tilted his head to see his buddy's face. "You're jealous?"


"Can't help it," the deer looked away, his face reddening slightly.


Xiumin stood straight and flew his gaze back at Sehun. "But they're not kissing or something? Why should you be jealous?"


He clearly understood the case though, he was just teasing Luhan.


"I..." Luhan bit his lip and lowered his gaze. "They just look so happy together."


Xiumin smiled at his best friend. Although they had grown up together, all this time he hadn't known that Luhan was a jealousy type of boyfriend.


He grabbed Luhan's chin and lifted it up gently so their eyes met each other.


"You know he's happier with you," the bun said. He bent down and brought his face closer to Luhan's. The deer was taken aback; they hadn't been that close for quite awhile.


"I was also jealous the first time you went out with Sehunnie," Xiumin admitted shyly. "But I guess that's just how you feel when someone close to you finds another friend to play with. But trust me, it doesn't make Sehunnie less happier when he's with you."


"You were?" Luhan squeaked. He blinked and bowed his head again. "I'm sorry. I know how bad it feels."


Xiumin smiled softly and brushed aside the strands of hair covering Luhan's pretty doe eyes. "Don't be sorry. We're all family now. You gotta let him play with the others too, you know?"


Xiumin pointed at another three boys at the other side of the room. Luhan's eyes followed the direction and finally fell on Baekhyun, Chen, and Kyungsoo.


Chen was clinging onto Baekhyun and rubbing his face against his arm, acting like a cuddly girlfriend. The trio were also having a fun talk, judging from how much they were laughing.


Luhan turned his head back to Xiumin and furrowed his eyebrows. "Aren't you jealous too, Baozi?"


"Well I was, but I think it's fine now. He can play with anyone he wants, as long as they're good. I'm not jealous now because I know he's mine, and the others who are laughing with him don't have any chances to have him, right?" Xiumin grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, causing the other to laugh.


"You're right," Luhan nodded. "I should stop thinking that Sehunnie's going to be taken away. Thanks, Baozi."


"Sure, anytime," Xiumin winked. He unintentionally caught a glimpse of Sehun staring daggers at them. "You know, actually your boyfriend is just the same type as you."


"What? How do you know?" Luhan cocked his head to the side.


"Just wait and see," Xiumin bent down and whispered on Luhan's ear, "don't look back at him."


Right after Xiumin took a step back, a gust of wind blew around them softly. It suddenly got really hard and flung Luhan out of his seat.


"Baoziiii!" he screamed in mid air before finally landing in Sehun's arms. He stared at Sehun with eyes bulging out of their sacks.


"You guys were too close for my liking," Sehun explained briefly before capturing Luhan's lips in a hungry kiss. He gave his back to the others, not allowing them to see what he was doing.


But of course, they all could still see it.


"Unstable maknae," Baekhyun blurted out and everyone nodded in agreement.


Xiumin shook his head and smiled to himself. "I told you so, Lulu."


The room was only filled with awkward smooching sound until the old professor broke the silence by carelessly saying, "Ehhh~ Kids these days. When I was young, even kissing a girl in front of my parents was terribly embarrassing. Now these boys are kissing in public and in front of their parents too." He ignored the sound and continued working with the machine and the pearls.


Sehun shot his eyes open and put Luhan down immediately as soon as he realized what he was doing. Luhan hid behind Sehun quickly to hide his reddening face and swollen lips.


"Don't surprise me like that," the deer prince whispered and hit the younger's back lightly.


Sehun faked a cough and scratched his nape awkwardly. "I'm sorry."


Clunk!


"Ahh, finally!" Lay's father exclaimed. "It's the last stone."


The group, who had been waiting for hours and were dying in boredom, jumped and cheered joyfully.


"Now help me put them in their places so you boys can wear them!" the eldest said.


Each one of them took their own stones and attached them to plain necklaces. They were the darkest shade of black, with the symbols at the front and the names at the back.


"Shiny~" Kyungsoo traced the symbol carved on the small hexagonal stone with his finger. "It looks really expensive."


He gripped the stone firmly, and when he opened his hand again, his symbol glowed in a pretty shade of turquoise.


"They're not to be sold though," Suho chuckled. "But they're prettier than my old one. It looked like a cheap stone."


"Why do they have our names too?" Chanyeol asked. At the back of his stone were a "Chanyeol" and a small "-EXO-" at the bottom, carved beautifully in white.


"Why? So you don't forget that it's yours, of course," the professor laughed. "Now wear them already."


The boys helped each other put on their new necklaces, while Kris and Suho slipped their rings on their ring fingers and admired how pretty they looked.


"Let's test them," Kris said.


"How?" Baekhyun asked, slightly tilting his head.


"By using them, of course. Let's go back to our cells," the tall king said as he stood up and walked to the exit door.


The boys turned their heads towards Suho, waiting for further explanation, but he only motioned them to follow the other king. They walked out of the room quietly. Lay, Jaesun and the professor were at the back, carrying three bags of pearls.


The group gulped nervously when they entered a familiar white empty hall with many doors. Their minds flew back to the first time they had come there, when they had only been ordinary people without any powers.


"Don't be nervous, guys," Suho chuckled awkwardly. "We're just testing these stones. Please choose one of the cells, try to be as far as possible from your partners."


Sehun let go of Luhan's hand hesitantly and walked to the first cell, his eyes not leaving Luhan's figure until the deer stepped into the twelfth cell.


Jaesun and professor Zhang went up the stairs carrying all the pearls. After awhile, both of them came back with empty hands. They entered the control room and greeted the twelve males through the microphone. Monggu, Jjanggu, Lulu and Bomi were also with them to watch the twelve.


The professor stared at their faces one by one and stopped when he laid his eyes on Baekhyun.


"Hello, Baekhyun-ssi," he greeted the oblivious boy.


"Ah, yes, hello again," Baekhyun bowed and smiled politely.


"I haven't had the chance to talk to you, let's have some talk later, shall we?" professor Zhang smiled softly.


"I'm fine with that," Baekhyun replied, still with a smile on his face.


"Nice," the old man secretly sighed in relief. "Now, can you boys please take off your contacts and put them in their places? You can find them on the small table in the corner of your cells."


Confused looks appeared on their faces, but they did it anyway.


"You can also find a mirror there," the professor said again. "Take a look at your eyes and tell me if there's something strange."


"They're not blue anymore!" Lay exclaimed. "They're grey! What happened to my eyes?"


"Mine too!" the other eleven started making a fuss about it.


"Calm down, boys," the professor chuckled. "Isn't it a good sign?"


"What do you mean?" Suho furrowed his eyebrows.


"When wolf pups grow, their blue eyes gradually change color," said the old man. "It's a sign that you are mature enough to live on your own without someone watching over you."


"Does that mean we can use our powers without having our partners around?" Chen asked.


"Smart boy!" professor Zhang exclaimed and clapped his hands. "They're supposed to be yellow though, I don't know why they're grey."


"I don't want to have yellow eyes," Sehun said. "They're okay like this. We probably don't even have to put on contacts anymore."


"We still have to," said Kai, who was in the cell next to Sehun's. "They're still not the same color as before, people will notice it."


"People will soon know this though," Suho said quickly. "We can't hide everything forever."


"Are you going to tell them, hyung?" asked the advisor. "If you are, we have to gather them all and tell them directly to avoid misunderstandings."


Suho pursed his lips and nodded. "Very well then. Let's make an announcement to gather in the castle soon."


"In the castle? Everyone? Is that even safe?" Sehun protested.


"If there's something bad happens, we can handle it, can't we?" Kris said cockily. "That's why we're practicing now."


"Are you guys ready now?" Jaesun asked, voice echoing through the speakers.


"Yes!"


"Okay. Happy practicing."


Jaesun pressed a button on the control table and a hole opened up on the ceiling in each cells. While the group was questioning what was happening, the too-familiar black spheres fell from the holes and flew at their directions in a rapid move.


"Whoa!" Luhan jumped few feet backwards and stopped the pearl from hitting his head. It turned out that the pearl was really strong to break his hold. It thrashed around the room and threw itself at the prince again, but Luhan stretched his arms out to hold it in the air. The pearl pushed even harder, trembling madly in the air. Luhan clenched his teeth and grunted before tossing his hands to the side, throwing the pearl at the wall.


"Why is it attacking me??" the deer shouted furiously. The tattoo on his neck glowed, and so did the symbol on his pendant.


"It's training you," Jaesun explained briefly. "And the others too."


"How should I beat this thing?" Kris asked loudly while dashing around the room with the pearl chasing him behind.


"It's up to you. Use your power," the advisor gave him the not-so-helpful advice.


"Well you see I'm using it. I told you I need some kind of weapons."


Jaesun pressed another button and a bag of metal arrows and a bow fell from the ceiling, hitting Kris right on the head.


"Ow! Did you really have to do that??" Kris hissed and rubbed his head before landing to take his new weapons.


"Sorry," Jaesun grinned apologetically.


Kris grabbed his bow and aimed an arrow at the pearl flying towards him.


Snap!


Clunk!


The arrow fell onto the floor. Jaesun and professor Zhang facepalmed while the king stared at the arrow quietly.


"Come on, you can do it, big daddy!" Monggu, Jjanggu, Lulu and Bomi cheered for him and banged their fists on the glass wall.


Kris winked and gave a flying kiss at them when suddenly the pearl came from behind and hit his head hard.


Growling angrily, Kris flew up