CHAPTER 3
the institute

          Luhan, are you there?

That was the only word Rena managed to say. She pretty sure that she was not out or went unconscious, because she still felt her feet burned and her head leaned against to something hard. She heard a groan beside her. Feeling familiar with the voice, she went to its voice and her hand bumped into something cold and soft. Luhan.

“,” He cursed in hoarse voice. “I hit the counter.”

Rena sighed in disbelief before she helped him up. Everything was still dark, but she could see Luhan’s twinkling eyes through the darkness. Rena was staring at Luhan’s eyes, checking and feeling comfortable on his eyes. Luhan blinked before he shoved out something that made Rena’s eyes burned. She covered her eyes and stepped back.

“Sorry.” Luhan muttered before he took Rena’s hand and leaded her into the kitchen. Both walked calmly, and for Rena, it seemed like an awkward walk. Luhan was being overly quiet and mysterious ever since the attack of the demons, Ren, and of course Yuna. It felt like Rena was the source of this all. She blamed everything to her, and her brain let out a growl because it seemed that her brain was too small to stuff big things like that.

“Hey,” Rena spoke. She stopped her pace, which made Luhan annoyingly stopped him too.

“Stop it, Rena!” He cried in frustration. “Whatever you want to do, stop that okay?”

Rena taken aback by his words, she knew it was true—it is so damned true. She was being selfish over the past three hours, and all Luhan did was just trying to make everything okay and organize, but what she did was ruining. She stood there, looking at Luhan, and seeking for a blade to kill herself. She was just a burden, and it painful.

Luhan ran his fingers against his blonde hair and decided to walk ahead her, leaving her alone in the damp kitchen.

Rena decided to follow him into the emergency exit. He looked around, making sure everything was clear before he took out something shining and threw it against the brick wall. The wall surprisingly continually changed into a medium hole of waters, spinning ever so calmly. Luhan beckoned her into the wall in impatient. His eyes were sharp but there was a tad of tiredness beneath the black irises.

Without any words, she stepped there. She could feel her body went wet, and she was spinning rapidly. She was screaming for the excruciating pain she felt until everything was becoming hazier.

The only thing she could remember after she got into the spinning water was nothing. Suddenly she was here, at an odd place. She could feel a damp grass beneath her body; she was lying down on the grass. The grass smelled sickening to her nose, and the air slowly strangled her. She could see an old building structure and shining clouds. She couldn’t move her body, heck, she couldn’t even move her finger tip. It was liked she was paralyzed.

A pair of hands picked her up and carried her bridal style. The person remained calm and quiet, only walked straight the aisle. The only word he only said was, mundane. Moreover, it felt like a curse. He continued it with a scoffed before he went into a dead silence.

After a long time of walking, she managed to jerk her head and she found familiar distinct features of face; sharp jaw line, black irises, and a cherry lips.

Luhan, is that you?

“Yes, it’s me, .” He rolled his eyes and threw me a bit to fix her position.

Then, her eyes fluttered closed.

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Rena started to expose colors and pictures. She blinked them slowly to make vision clearer, and all she could see was an odd room. It was huge and somehow, the structure of the wall was unlike the usual wall. It was glamorous and there were so many gold paint over the wall. Overall, it was pretty. It seemed like a palace walls. Underneath them, there were a couple of clean beds. Everything seemed so unfamiliar for her. Once again, the anxious hit her. Luhan wasn’t here, and he was the only person she could ever trust. She sat up and looked around. Positive, nobody was here.

“You may take a rest, young lady.” A voice crept in, echoed through the thick gold wall. Rena turned her head and found a middle-aged woman walking as she brought a tray full of foods and water, and the most important, clothes. She was sure that she needed that.

“Who are you?” Rena croaked in nervous.

“I’m Lorta,” She said. “The head institute.”

“Institute?” Rena echoed

“Yeah,” She said, putting the tray down and sat beside me. “Luhan took you here—carried for a better word, unconscious.”

“Luhan?” Rena asked hurriedly. “Where is he?”

“At his own bedroom, cleaning himself.” She said in a warm tone. Lorta wasn’t the prettiest woman she had ever seen, but she could see it that Lorta was kind. The way she talked was a sign of warmness caring. Her heart slowly calmed as she found herself staring at Lorta’s blue eyes. It was not a usual color of Koreans, but nothing was impossible in Luhan’s. She lived in Luhan’s world now, and she knew, it will be hard to turned back.

“Thank you,” Rena said. “For the clothes and foods.”

“No problem,” She smiled ever so sincere. “Will you consider eating with us at the dining room?”

“Sure,” Rena answered. “I’ll change and eat this first.”

Lorta rose and flashed a smile. She walked into the door and closed it for good. Rena started to breath normally again, and she rose up from her bed and slightly stretched. She looked around for a moment, trying to figure out something. As she found nothing, she started to strip there, changing into the black clothes that Lorta had brought.

As she screened the clothes over the mirror, something light weirdly tugged in its pocket. She reached in and found a locket; it made by iron and there was a small symbol in the middle; it looked like a sun, but the curves were more sharp and random. However, she put her hair aside and started to wear its locket. As she finished, she brushed the locket softly and turned back to head to the dining room.

“Are you ready?” A familiar voice perked up as she went out from the room. She jerked her head and found Luhan leaned against the wall, he crossed his legs and he fiddled with his nails. He looked up and fixed his position. He was wearing the same type of dress she was wearing; rock, black, and some sort of punk. It revealed some tattoos on his hands until his neck, however, it wasn’t an usual tattoos she usually seen—it was some kind of symbols.

 His hair was disheveled and damp; some droplets of water fell over his skinny jacket. They stared for a long time before Rena broke it first, feeling awkward. Luhan went over her, closing the gap between them. Rena stunned but keeping her head down, because she knew, her face was already red. Luhan looked at her; from head to toe before slightly smile.

“You are not bad.” He shrugged before he walked away. Rena could feel that her cheeks went into a dead red. “This way.”

Rena hid her face by looking at the floor as he leaded the way to the dining room. She wasn’t even bothered to know the path, her cheeks were bothering her. Even though he was her best friend’s boyfriend, that didn’t close the possibility that Luhan was the hottest boy in the school, everyone admitted it—including her as well. But as far as she was concerned, Luhan was different with the usual Luhan she had saw. He was more aloof and the sarcastic in his mouth was increasingly high.

Rena followed Luhan by the slight view of his shoes. He didn’t even look back for a second, he kept walking forward without inverted his gaze into any direction but straight. He had changed his black converse into a pair of black boots. He walked ever so casually and turned left, Rena turned left too. It may seem comfortable, but it wasn’t. For Rena, it was awkward, and she presumed that Luhan was angry with her because Yuna. The more she thought about it, the more she felt guilty about it.

Then, his boots stopped for a mere time. Rena also stopped. She felt a different aura came into its aisle.

“Oh, Luhan.” A girl about his age was smiling. Luhan gave her an idle smile before he leaned against the wall. He crossed his legs and wrapped his hands in front of his chest.

“Soojung.” He greeted back.

“Who’s that?” Soojung peeked over his shoulder. “The girl you’ve carried?” She was laughing now.

“Yeah,” He laughed a little. “My back hurts now.”

“Well, we could call Thug for that.” Soojung shrugged carelessly. She shifted her gaze into Rena and waved sarcastically, “Hi.”

“She wasn’t very friendly.” Luhan said, replying her sarcastic moves. Soojung could see a tad of annoyed in his tone, so she decided to call it off. Everyone didn’t want to get on Luhan’s bad side, anyone.

“Okay, see you.” She waved and walked past both of them.

Luhan watched Soojung until he didn’t catch any shadow of Soojung. He peeked over the aisle that Soojung had been through to look things. Luhan looked at Rena and poked her shoulder with his, “She was gone for good.”

He knew that Rena didn’t want to meet with anyone aside of himself, she wasn’t ready for anything. Luhan knew that Rena didn’t like meeting new people, because that was Yuna said—and he trusted her as much as he trusted himself. Now, when Yuna was gone, he needed to study to trust Rena just like he trusted Yuna. That was the only choice.

Rena sighed in desperate before she jerked her head up, looking at Luhan ever so sincere. Rena’s irises were sparkling, telling him to stay by her side. She was scared by some unfamiliar things that she had never been encounter or, even think of. Rena’s mouth was mumbling a thanks before she stared down again, decided to follow Luhan with his boots. That felt a lot better that way. Luhan was walking straight, didn’t even dare to look back at her. Because he knew, the moment he looked her, she would broke down and Luhan have to hug her, soothing her the way every moms did.

Luhan stopped walking as he facing a dead end with a glamorous huge brown door. He turned its hold and it opened slowly. The dining room already packed by another residence in the institute, including Lorta. They were too busy by their own talk and nobody noticed their present. Luhan looked back and found Rena stood still in front of the door, hanging her head low. Luhan came to her and bent his body, only to whisper into her ears.

“We are good people, we didn’t have intention to hurt you,” He whispered. “You trust me right?”

“Yeah, I trust you.” Rena answered slowly, jerking her head up and gave him an idle smile. Luhan croaked a small smile before he headed to the empty seat; Rena followed him and sat next to him. The dining room was surprisingly bigger than she would think; there was only a table and some chairs to sat down. It left a lot of room for any furniture. In the left side of Luhan, Lorta was seating there, talking to a man that wasn’t far away from her age. She seemed calm and steady, she even laughed. Luhan examined the whole dining room before he put elbow against the mahogany table and he put his chin on his palm, feeling a tad of bored and annoyed by the situation.

Again, Rena felt insecure about everything. Luhan was surely was not amused by everything. Lorta was talking into a guy, and a bunch of stranger was sitting in front of her. They were busy talking to each other, laughing, and Luhan looked like he couldn’t care less.

“Oh,” Lorta spoke. “Rena!”

Rena jumped and turned to see Lorta. She was smiling genuinely and the man behind her perked his head, looking at Rena ever so suspicious but at the same time, warm. He was smiling but his eyes told the same question she always been asked, who is that?

“Henry, this is Rena. Rena, this is Henry, my brother.” Lorta smiled, and shifted his gaze on Luhan, who was nearly dead by boredom. “Where are Soojung and Kai?”

Luhan gave her a brief glance before he fixated his gaze onto the table, playing with his own reflection. “I don’t know, making out perhaps.”

“They are not couple, Luhan.” Another boy joined in.

Who is he?

Trek, we invite maid on dinner—always. Luhan simply answered.

“That is because you want Soojung, Trek.” Another boy replied; he sat beside Trek.

That was Baekhyun, he was the most noisy boy you would meet—in case you are wondering.

I am. Thanks.

“Shut up, Baekhyun.” Luhan spoke with his sarcasm.

“You all shut up,” Lorta snapped. “We need to discuss on their invasion.”

“I’m here!” A boy came recklessly, trying to steady his position as he took a seat next to Rena. He was probably younger than Luhan, and his skin was darker than anybody was. His hair disheveled—just the way Luhan’s—and it was brown. He had a pair of brown irises, and he was taller than Luhan. His face looked slightly older than Luhan.

“Kai!” Baekhyun cried in relief. He covered his face with his palm before he threw Kai a glare. Kai dismissed it and fiddled with his chair. Kai, who was feeling a weird aura lingering, shifted his gaze on Rena. She was staring at him, as if she tried to read his mind. Kai flashed her a warm smile before Baekhyun spoke again, “You are late, you .”

“No cursing here.” Henry spoke with a monotone voice. He sipped his tea and put the cup down. He glanced over Rena and broke them in the next second. Rena felt pretty uncomfortable about everything; the way Henry looked at her was making it worse. Luhan was dead bored because Soojung haven’t arrived yet, and then, the boy who just sat beside her—Kai—was often glancing at her. This wasn’t exactly what she had expected.

“Where the heck is Soojung?” Luhan yawned as he shifted his gaze into the door, watching it closely and hoping that Soojung will arrive soon.

“I met her back in the library.” Kai spoke.

“I’m dying of food here.” Trek said. His eyebrows furrowed and his face looked older than it was. Luhan stretched his back and gave Rena a brief glance before he fixated his eyes on the door. Just then, the door opened slowly; revealing a shadow coming into the dining room. It was Soojung. She calmly strode over the seat in front Luhan’s and gave Luhan a sweet smile. Rena started to wonder what kind of relationship both side had; Luhan seemed didn’t bother to reply it, and Soojung was the opposite.

“So,” Soojung cleared . “What’s up?”

“Demons,” Kai said.

“And Ren.” Lorta added. Everyone didn’t bug, they did the same thing they did; eating and talking. No one seemed to bother by it, and it felt that Rena was the only one who cared about it. If they didn’t care about it, why did Lorta set up this kind of dinner. Why did Luhan take her here when they were not helpful? Rena was starting unsettling about the plan.

“Well,” Baekhyun his lips. “Predictable though.”

“Yeah,” Soojung mumbled in agree, still fixated her eyes on her plate. “It always does actually.”

“The demons—Almeric, someone who had called them must be really strong.” Luhan spoke, and the dinner went quiet. Everyone was staring at each other and landing their eyes on Luhan, solving the tangled puzzle in their own brain.

“What does Almeric type do?” Rena spoke, this was the first word she let out for the past hour. This was getting in her nerves, and she was really curious about it. The demons must be really great until everyone in this room had went quiet by stunned.

“Almeric, they bite you and it makes you hallucinate and mess with your brain.” Lorta answered.

“In the worst case, death.” Kai whispered in her ears. The shiver ran down through her spine and it felt like something had bitten her neck, it felt cold by the sudden. Kai fixed his position and looked at her in the eyes; his eyes were sparkling brown and Rena had noticed that Kai’s eyes were so deep until she lost by it. Rena face was so perplexed until Kai had to break it first.

“Then, is it obvious that Ren was the culprit?” Rena asked again. This time, everybody laughed; some were chuckling as they ate their food—this included Luhan. He was chuckling silently as he looked down at his plate, then Rena head turned to Kai; he was laughing too, it echoed around the room. Soojung shook her head as she smiled in mock. Trek and Baekhyun was hitting each other to contain their laugh. Lorta and Henry were also chuckling silently. Rena felt a fire in her body, it burned her and she just wanted to strangle everybody who had laughed. She felt mocked.

Rena rolled her fist and hid it under the table. She was new, and everything was still unfamiliar. She was just curious, why the hell they would laugh? Rena’s eyes shifted on her plate, debating to eat it or not. Then, her head perked up as Lorta spoke.

“Dear,” She swallowed her laugh. “Ren is only the level one.”

comments are always appreciated and welcomed!