There was an awkward silence that filled the room. It was gloomy and uninviting now that Hyun Ae was gone. Luhan stared into nothing as seconds and minutes went by. He occasionally closed his eyes, with his brain constantly thought of one thing…Hyun Ae.

Did she go home safely? Was she going to go home? Was she going back to school? Did she attend school? Now that he thought about it, Hyun Ae wore a casual clothing which meant that she didn’t go to school. He thought this was weird. Hyun Ae never skipped school. All her life, her main goal was to do well so she can be a successful and prove something to someone. That something and someone was a mystery. Luhan did not know what it is, or who it is, but he remembers that Hyun Ae was very determined due to this goal.

Hyun Ae thirsted of something, although he was not sure if it was the same now. He wanted to know what was behind all those determined smiles she had on when she studied. Those fake smiles she had when they talked about her family. Luhan remembered knowing she was orphaned but she never said anything more. Hyun Ae did not want to talk about herself in those times where they were together.

Those years will never be enough, and will never be filled. Luhan could only entrust everything to Kris. After all, he was her everything now. In fact, today, he knew Hyun Ae was sincere as she had already cleared up everything between them. They were friends once again and he was hoping for better days. As he sighed deeply, he opened his eyes once again only to find Yoona staring at him with confused eyes.

“Are you meditating?” Yoona let out a sarcastic scoff as she stood up and walked to the nearest table and drank some water. She spun around and faced Luhan who was across her, as she held the bottle on her right hand. “You know, you’re not that bad when you’re like that, you’re so…peaceful. Let’s just get along hey? I don’t like it when we’re quarrelling.”

“Ofcourse, as long as you keep your promise, there won’t be any harm done.” Luhan challenged her with a smile. For now, he was going to get into her good books. ‘This is for you Hyun Ae. Only for you’. He helped himself into a sitting position as he extended his hands to Yoona, “Deal?”

“Deal.”

In that moment, the room’s door flung open and revealed 11 individuals. It was EXO and Hwa Young. Luhan noticed the confusion in Hwa Young’s eyes as she stared at their interlocked hands. She was the only one who wasn’t informed about the “good news”. But he knew that she witnessed what had happened in the basketball courts. Hwa Young didn’t need any more information and blurted, “Congratulations to the both of you!”

All the members’ eyes were on her. Chanyeol who was surprised approached her, “Yah! How did you know?”

“Only smart people will get it right away.”

“Yah, are you saying we’re dumb because we didn’t get it right away?” Kyungsoo chirped silently as he poked Hwa Young’s shoulder. She could only stare at Kyungsoo without getting mad. The guy was too cute. At that moment, she noticed Chanyeol’s silent mutter beside her, “Wow so she just stares at him, but gets mad at me, some kind of friend she is”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!” Hwa Young yelled into his face. The proximity was too close. Both can feel each other’s breathing, their eyes locked gazes.

Luhan cleared his throat as he meekly smiled at the two developing love birds. “Thank you Hwa Young.” Hwa Young turned her gaze to Luhan immediately, still with the shocked expression on, she felt Kai’s hands on her right shoulder. The man was now in between them, with that suggestive smile of his. ‘Stop grinning like a creeper. Idiot.’ Hwayoung silently cursed at the bronze skinned guy.

With the formalities over, all of them settled into the couch seats, with a few of them on the floor as there were no more spaces. Chanyeol and Hwayoung found themselves sitting beside each other again. Only this time, not a single word was exchanged.

“So…” Sehun who had been quiet all this while wanted to ask the couple who was now holding hands in the bed while Yoona was sitting on a chair beside Luhan, “Where did all of these start? Why didn’t we ever notice? I mean, actually… not to be rude or anything… I thought you guys practically hated each other.”

“Oh that! It’s true, we did quarrel at times but then I found out that Luhan actually liked me. He asked me to be his girlfriend in the school’s mini garden. You know… some place near the locker areas? It was very romantic!” Yoona reminisced the time she hugged Luhan while she saw the disappointed look from Hyun Ae’s in a distance, as she was comforting Kris from an argument with Krystal. The time she rubbed it into her rival’s face that he was hers. That she had NO chance. This was the only beginning. She knew right there and then that she had won.

She stared at Luhan lovingly and saw his bright smile. If only those smiles were real. If only she had his heart.

“Oh! So that’s why you ran towards the garden hyung! I thought you were going to follow Kris and ask what the problem was with Hyun Ae, you were going to ask her out!” Kyungsoo realised how Luhan suddenly ran away from him when he was talking about Hyun Ae’s drunkenness that night, now everything made sense. He thought something was going to happen between those two. He heaved a sigh of relief.

“Wait what problem?” Hwa Young interjected, her eyebrows crooked in confusion. Since when did Hyun Ae have a problem without telling her first?

“Oh you didn’t know? I thought you guys either had a night out or she had a bad day because I saw Hyun Ae walking down the street a week ago at night. I wanted to give her a lift but she insisted on walking. I was about to call for Kris hyung but then an emergency happened in the family so I had to go. I’m so sorry yeorobun.” Kyungsoo looked down in remorse, thinking of what he should’ve done. He hated to be reminded of his past doings, it just made him sad and disappointed of himself like he’d always been since the last time he remembered. He just wished everything was fine with Hyun Ae now. At that moment, he remembered her and curiously asked, “Hyung… did Hyun Ae visit you at all? She’s not calling anyone of us, Kris too…hyung I’m worried about them!”

“She just left a while ago… but Kris… he has not sent me a message, nor payed me a visit. Although Hyun Ae did visit, I’m still kind of worried about one thing, did she not go to school today?” He asked just to make sure, he felt a tight squeeze from Yoona. The girl just won’t stop reminding him.

“Hyun Ae didn’t come to school today because she said she was tired from yesterday. And Kris, I received a message from him just an hour ago. He said he’s trying to recover from his wrist injury. He wants to visit but his doctor wants him to rest for a while, he told me to tell you that he was sorry for not coming.” Yoona assured him with a fake smile as Luhan wondered if she was to be trusted. Yoona had not gained his trust just as yet. She had more to prove. Besides… since when did Kris and Yoona exchange contacts?

“Oh I see, by the way, don’t you all have classes? Why are you guys still here? Lunch time is almost over.” Luhan said in a worried tone. With that Yoona looked at her wrist watch. It was time to excuse herself and go back to class.

“That’s right dear, I have to go to sort out some business stuff that my dad is currently wanting me to do while in school. See you tomorrow when you go out, I’ll take you somewhere nice.” She patted Luhan’s head and gave it a kiss. “Annyeong.” With that she bowed to the others and left the room.

“Heol~, I can’t believe this hyung.” Baekhyun cupped his face in disgust, “I’m sorry but really hyung? Yoona? Are you serious?”

“My eyes are hurting from all the good vibes that I’m getting from her. Was she always this good? Or is she wearing a mask? Hyung, you’ve got to be careful! What if she’s just conning you…using you! Hyung! We just don’t want you to get hurt!” Tao stood up in disappointment. Why the hell did this happen? All of a sudden things just made a 360 degree turn. There was something suspicious going on, and he wasn’t going to be fooled. But for now, he could only rant.

“Guys, I know you all had a bad impression on Yoona, but give her a chance! I did, and it turns out, she’s not even close to what we thought she was. I ended up liking her along the way. Just trust me on this ok? Don’t worry about me. She’ll do me no harm. She loves me and I love her. All is good! I think you guys are just being little pricks ‘cuz ya’ll are living the lonely single life. Go and get your happy ending bros.” Luhan joked. A fake joke. He wanted to throw up and bring back all the things he just said.

Chen who had always hated the queenkas wanted to express his feelings, yet he didn’t want to make any decisions for Luhan that would hurt him.“Whatever! Hyung as long as you’re happy, we’re happy. But you know, it would’ve been better if Hyu- “ an elbow landed on his right rib. Suho who was responsible for the attack glared at Chen while Xiumin widened his eyes at the younger, as if saying, ‘Shut it, or I will cut it’.

“Hyu—na hyung!. It would’ve been better if it was HYUNA. You know! Bubble bubble bubble pop!” He started dancing awkwardly as the rest of the members looked away in embarrassment. “Yah! Anja!” Baekhyun tugged at Chen’s shirt to pull him back down.

“Luhan sunbaenim, how do you even deal with these losers? Aren’t you annoyed with how loud they are?” Hwa Young who was completely clueless of what had just happened wanted to divert their senses onto a more familiar topic. That is, of how annoying EXO was most of the time.

“Haha, most of the time yes. But they make me happy. They’re my second family that’s why.”

“Aww… but sunbae, I’ve always been curious, how did you guys even meet? I mean how did EXO become EXO?”

“It was all because of Park Jungsoo hyung…” Chanyeol answered the question instead of Luhan, “He was the one who brought us together, and we preferably called him Leeteuk. He was that one guy who didn’t want children to be alone. Basically we were all loners. We had family problems…issues within ourselves. He was the one who acted like a second father…also a brother that comforted us whenever we needed it. He treated us like siblings, although we never really got to know the reason why he cared so much. Overall, we were grateful that we got to meet him, because of him, we looked after each other’s and learned to voice out our problems within the group because our families never listened. Luhan hyung is probably the only lucky one in here because his family cares about him. Regardless of that, Luhan hyung had the lowest self-esteem. He was picked on the most and that’s why Leeteuk hyung taught him to be strong and tell off the people that thought he was girly because of his appearance. He was really something. He’s was like a family. We miss him… a whole lot.”

It was the first time that Hwa Young saw this side of Chanyeol. He was sincere, observant…a grateful person. How could she not see through him? Past his dorky side, lies a genuine being. She had underestimated his character. That moment Chanyeol had gained something… he had gained Hwa Young’s respect.

“He must’ve been a great person then. But I noticed that you constantly say ‘was’, why not ‘is’ it’s like saying he passed away or something.”

“He did.”

“Oh.”

Luhan stared at Chanyeol who was now teary eyed. He remembered how close he was to Leeteuk, how Leeteuk managed to tell Chanyeol to be himself and not try to be like anyone else. He taught Chanyeol to be a happy virus. To laugh through the pain, even though it had been hard on him with a family that’d never cared about his feelings, instead they had only cared about his physical needs. There was no love inside the Park residence. Chanyeol grew up lonely in a house full of high expectations. As the youngest of the three male siblings, Chanyeol had the least attention. Even through this, he smiled through the rejections. But the only problem was… he became numb. Chanyeol didn’t even feel anything anymore. When he had to cry, he would force himself to laugh. Today however was different. He saw him express his feelings again. Luhan’s gaze darted to Hwa Young who was now hugging Chanyeol while uttering the words ‘I’m Sorry’.

He smiled at the scene. ‘You may have left him now hyung, but you gave him someone else to replace you.’

‘He’ll be fine. I know he will be. As long as he turns to his side and know that someone cares for him, he’ll be fine.’ Leeteuk answered in Luhan’s subconscious and continued, “Luhan… it’s time to learn from your surroundings. I know that lately you have been stressed out, you’ve been confused. And I’ve not been of any help. But what I can tell you is to look past other people’s emotions and gestures just like how Hwa Young did today to Chanyeol, again… I’m telling you to learn from your surroundings. Time is precious Luhan… don’t waste it.”

Those final words left goosebumps in his skin. All of a sudden he remembered the ticking time in his nightmares. All the switched destinies he had accomplished led to Hyun Ae successfully falling for Kris. However the CT scan he received still haunted him.

The constant feeling of doubtfulness still didn’t leave him. The constant reminders from Leeteuk which he couldn’t understand properly led to self-remorse and self doubting.

Did he make the right decision?

Just as he was about to erase the thought, a memory from the past came hunting him down.

“You’re mine now and there’s no going back. Say goodbye to your little fairy-tale Luhan. Even the papers in front of you say so. You’re future with me is too clear. Look forward for brighter days dear” a snake like kiss touched his cheek as his face tensed in anger. His fists itched to punch every single part of his body. ‘Brighter days? Over my dead body Yoona. Over my dead body.’

‘No it can’t be… it won’t happen to Kris. That’s impossible’

Then he remembered one more advice from Leeteuk, ‘Nothing’s ever impossible Luhan, the world and the universe is an interesting place. The unexpected becomes a reality.’

He prayed he thought wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hello unnie, did you get back home safely? I have a lot of things to tell you!” Yoona chuckled, an evil smirk formed in her face. “We should really meet up sometime! I missed you so much.” she chirped as she spoke to a person over the phone. 

A happy voice answered, “Ofcourse. I’ve missed out on a lot of stuff. You know you’re the only one I can trust right?”

“Indeed unnie. After all, I’m your spy right? I did my job well.” Yoona jokingly scoffed.

“Wow, better than CIA darling. Anyways, keep me updated. I’ll see you very soon. Say my regards to your family as well.”

“Sure thing unnie. See you in a week’s time!” and with that the phone call ended.

Yoona grinned at the girl beside her, “See? I told you I was going to have the best plan.”

“Thanks unnie.” Krystal hugged her from behind.

‘You’re so dead PARK HYUN AE’ a determined thought crossed their minds. They were going to have what was truly theirs in no time.

NO GLOSSARY

Holy moly! HIIIIII~,

Dearest authornim is finally back with a long overdue update. You can now hit me for making you wait so long!. I have no flippin idea if this update made it up to you but I'll try my best to repay the waiting time you guys had suffered.

Holy cheese cakes though!... THIS FANFICTION HAS ALREADY REACHED 10860+ views O_O, the last time i checked, this wasnt even over 10000 O_O. you guys are so AMAZING I swear! Despite me being away for a total of 8 months, you still remained loyal *cries a river*.. you guys have no idea how grateful i am really!

So since its been a while... I would like to thank the NEW SUBBIES for reading this story ^^ and most importantly, TO MY LOYALEST OLD SUBBIES AND COMMENTERS I LOVE YOU SO EFFIN MUCH! MUAH! :*

Like the usual, authornim would love to hear more feedback and comments from you guys. This time, I'd really love your honest opinion and say as much as you want to say! I FEEL MOTIVATED WHEN I SEE THE NOTIF THAT SAYS "New story comments". That notif always makes my day ahaha XD

PS!. I have a new INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT guys! I do covers there and would really appreciate it if you follow me! my username is: onesongonelovekpop. If you want me to follow back, pls PM me ryt away here on AFF or in insta :) 

Anywhos! Enjoy reading this not-so-good enough update,
~lovely(loser)ndgrey2230
26/09/15