Kai was having fun after what felt like a long time.

Whatever Lay had been doing was making him feel like himself again, not the torn, ragged mess he'd been since he'd matured. It was bliss, pure bliss, to not struggle every second with parts of himself, the beast always conflicting with the human.

He leaned back and enjoyed while Baekhyun and Chen entertained them by imitating Suho in 'alpha mode' as they'd witnessed when they'd arrived, sometime after Suho's dramatic entry. Suho had gone to drop Angel back home – after a long, sickeningly cute cuddle session which had the rest of them embarrassed – he was their leader, for heaven's sake, where was his dignity? – and they were taking full advantage of his absence, cracking themselves silly.  

Kris was in his room. Sehun and Tao were boasting about Angel's heroic rescue to their elders, their story getting more fantastic every time the thoroughly engrossed Chanyeol asked a question.  From a single butcher's knife, they'd advanced to a triple blade samurai katana and how they were fighting off numerous ninjas while Tao wushued their asses and Sehun blew them away, literally, so they could get to Angel who'd moved from being against the wall to being entrapped in a giant cage made of sharp, cutting glass.

'I don't believe it!' Chanyeol exclaimed at that. 'That's too unreal!'

The cubs were obviously determined to pull his leg. 'Pfft, you think that's unreal? You should've seen the flying iguanas…'

'And fire-breathing salamanders…'

'Ya, this isn't true!' Finally catching on that he was being tricked, Chanyeol threw a cushion at them, then promptly covered himself up to avoid their friendly – and very enthusiastic – punches.

The door opened – or rather fell off its hinges because Suho had broken it when he'd made his dramatic entry – and Xiumin stepped in. 'Seriously, what's with this guy and doors?' He tried putting it back but it fell down. Shrugging, he leaned it against the wall and turned, smiling at the room. 'Hey kiddos.'

As the others greeted him loudly, he looked around. 'Suho's not here yet? He called me over… whoa!'

They turned around at the fluent cursing as Suho tried to disentangle himself from the door he'd accidentally tripped on. 'Who did this?' He demanded furiously.

'It was you.' Kai informed him. He looked at the door in surprise, then back at them. 'Really?'

'Uh uh.'

'Crap!' he tried, like Xiumin, to put it back into its frame but gave up when it kept falling. 'Whatever, leave it… oh, you're here. Thanks.'

Xiumin shrugged. 'No problem. What's the deal?'

'You tell me. Why is Luhan at the hospital?' Suho slumped into the couch, looking at him.

The Legends didn’t go to the hospital because their quicker healing and some anomalies in the blood composition would put them into spotlight – something they avoided. So, if anyone had a problem, they came to Suho or Lay.

Xiumin rubbed his neck. 'His coach sent him after looking at his hands. He wasn’t letting Lay touch him so you can imagine what they were like. I wanted to bring him back after the surgery but he's refused because Mei keeps coming, looking for him.'

Kai was wondering what was Luhan's problem – why was he avoiding Mei? – but Suho, and others for that matter, nodded in sympathetic understanding.

'Still…' Suho muttered, then glared at Kai. 'Ya, can't you tell her to stop bothering him?'

Kai blinked. 'Me?'

'Yes, you. She's your responsibility now.'

'Uh…' Kai looked around the room. 'What are we talking about…?'

'Aish, this cub!' Suho snapped. 'I can understand you were being polite and all but she has to accept the fact. And leave Luhan alone. A clean break is better than dragging it along.'

Kai looked at Lay for explanation but Lay was staring in the distance, humming something. 'Why are you talking to me like I'm…?'

'Sheesh, did mating make you dense?' Baekhyun snorted. Then pointedly looked at Suho. 'What am I even saying? Of course it did!'

As the others laughed, Suho glaring at them and getting ignored, Kai finally understood. He gave a laugh of his own. 'Mei's not my mate.'

Everyone fell silent at his announcement, then they stared at him. 'What?'

'Mei's not my mate.' He stated calmly and clearly. 'I thought you guys knew that. Didn't Lay tell you?'

They all looked at Lay, still staring in the distance, humming under his breath. Kai shook his head – of course Lay had forgotten – then looked at Suho. 'She's not.'

'But… you claimed her!' Baekhyun sounded aghast. 'I saw it with my own eyes!' Sehun, Tao and D.O nodded in agreement. 'Me too.'

Kai smiled, a bit sadly. 'The kiss was an accident.'

'What?'

'I didn’t kiss her, I was saying goodbye and she turned.' Shrugged. 'Like I said, an accident.'

'But the claiming still took place, didn’t it? Whether or not it was you intention, you two kissed.' Suho frowned. 'So she's still…'

'You guys are idiots.'

Their heads swiveled in Kris's direction; he was standing bent in the doorway, looking annoyed.

'The mate is not a toy that just anybody can claim.' He growled. 'She has to accept the beast for it to work. Even an accidental kiss might do the trick if that's the case but if not, then all the kisses won't make the claim.'

'…yeah, what he said.' Kai nodded. 'So, she's not mine.'

'But why is Luhan avoiding her? Surely he'd be able to tell if she's not claimed…' D.O's brows furrowed. 'And he'd know if your powers had increased or not, right?'

Truthfully, that's what Kai was wondering as well. Luhan should've.

'He's not thinking.' Xiumin stated flatly. 'He'd figure all that out if he actually used his head but he's too busy sulking. Idiot.'

'Lay should've told him…'

'I tried to.' Lay spoke up, finally coming back to earth. 'But he threw me out of the room.'

'Ah well…' Baekhyun sighed. 'Guess I should tell them the party's off…;

'What?' Chen whined from the doorway – he and Chanyeol had sneaked off who knew when and were holding what appeared to be a large sound system they were bringing inside. 'Man, you should've said that before we dragged it all the way here!'

'Why?' Chanyeol called, equally upset.

'What party?'

'Well…' Baekhyun blasted a party popper half-heartedly. 'It was a congratulatory party for you and Suho for finally claiming your mates. And Sehun and Tao for getting selected.' He gave another heavy sigh, then moved to help the other two. 'Guess that's not happening now.'

'Hey I don't mind!' Kai told them, moving over to help them carry it inside. 'Besides, I got selected as well, so why not make it Suho's Claiming Party.'

Baekhyun gave him a sweet smile. 'Okay, thanks! You're such a sweetie!' Pinching his cheeks – he quickly backed off to avoid it -- he gave a loud, 'Hit it girls!'

Like the tricksters they were, they magically set everything up in moments and the party was soon in full swing.

………………………

Luhan leaned back against the hospital bed, sighing as his team captain, Minho, continued his lecture.

'You're lucky you're on the reserve, given your condition. Do you know how much I had to beg for you?' Minho glared at him, his pride obviously hurt. 'I can't even say you didn't miss practice because you've been absent for a week now. Ya, its quarter finals. Couldn't you, like, hold it in for another week before you wrecked your hands?'

The coach had taken Luhan off the main team – wasn't even willing to let him sub for the match but for Minho's begging – and now, Minho was bugging him, angry that he'd ruined his hands like this, right before an important match. Luhan was regretting telling him that he'd punched the walls.  

'I'm fine.' He grumbled to the ceiling.

'You know that and I know that but the coach doesn’t!'

It really didn't matter to Minho if there were pins in Luhan's hands to hold it together while the knuckles healed, as long as his feet worked and he could kick the ball. Besides, Luhan was willing to play – why should he have a problem? Luhan liked his thinking. So simplistic.

'I'll be fine on the field.' He reassured him, then started as his phone rang. Again. Minho, who'd been here over an hour now, had witnessed the nth number of texts and calls he was getting from Mei.

'Just answer it.' He urged, looking at Luhan's rather terrified face. 'She's been calling for an hour now, have a heart.'

Luhan shook his head wordlessly. He was trying to avoid Mei and get over her. Talking to her, hearing her voice wouldn't help.

'Why not? She's not cute?' He leaned over to look at the name. 'Mei… she's that freshman always hanging out with you, isn’t she?' Luhan nodded. Minho exclaimed, 'Wa, she's so cute.'

Luhan glared at him – Kai was one thing but he retained the right to be jealous and angry at anyone else who looked at her.  

Minho, unaware of his thoughts, continued. 'Half the team have a crush on her... and you're ignoring her?' He gave Luhan an incredulous look. 'What the hell is wrong with you?'

The phone rang again and Minho leaned over to pick it. 'I'll answer that if you're not interested…'

'Put it back.' Luhan told him, his tone threatening.

'See? You like her too!' Minho clapped his back hard, dropping the phone beside him. 'Just answer it – it's rude to keep a girl waiting.'

Luhan thought the guy had no room to talk, seeing as he regularly stood up his dates for soccer – which was why he didn't have a girlfriend. Minho picked up his gym bag and swung it over his shoulder. 'Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Just be on time and I'll talk coach into letting you play. Okay?'

Luhan nodded, really grateful to have something to look forward to. Sitting around in the hospital room with nothing to do wasn’t too good because he kept dwelling on Mei. And Kai but to a lesser extent because he didn't want to destroy a hospital.

The match would be good for him. He'd wear gloves to cover his hands – which weren’t as much a bother to him as they should've been but Luhan had become numb to physical pain. The doctors had been shocked he had been able to move his fingers at all, given their condition. But given the condition of his heart right now, his fingers were perfectly fine.

Which was why he was sure he wouldn't have problem playing. The match was the perfect way to get his mind off things. He could let out his pent up emotions as well, in a healthier way than cracking his own bones.

His phone beeped and he glanced away. Mei must be thinking he was such a jerk. He wished she would hurry up and decide he wasn't worth it, then leave him be because whether she loved him or not, she was Kai's.

And the fact that she was still hung up on him was not a consolation any more but a torture. Because it rubbed into his face what could've been. If he had been quicker. And sneakier. Like Kai.

Just then, he felt something inside him. A warm, friendly touch to his soul.

He pursed his lips, eyes flashing red in anger. Did Kai really think he was that stupid? That he'd fall for the same trick twice? He might – eventually – bring himself to accept Kai's claim on Mei but there was no way in hell he was ever trusting that bastard again.

He growled into the silence of his empty room, roughly pushing the warmth away and blocking himself off. Isolating himself like that was hard – he was gregarious by nature – but he would rather die than let Kai manipulate him like that again.

…………………….

Kai blinked as he felt the hard push and the sloppy closing off.

They were right, Luhan was being an idiot. Shaking his head, he glanced around at the party but suddenly, it didn’t feel so good.

He'd been feeling bad for having fun while his Shadow was alone, cooped up in a hospital room, under the mistaken assumption that his mate had been claimed by another. So, even though he was still rather resentful towards him, Kai had decided to comfort him.

Only to be rudely pushed away.

If the idiot was actually using his head, he would've known immediately that Kai's powers were exactly the same level as they'd been before. Ergo, no claiming.

And if he'd bothered to meet Mei instead of avoiding her, he would've figured things out even more easily because she wouldn't be carrying Kai's scent on her.

But did he drag his head out of his and use it? No.

And did he let anyone else help him? Hell no.

Well, Kai wasn’t feeling that generous. If Luhan wanted to be an idiot, that was his problem. He, Kai, would enjoy the party even if he had to force himself. He grabbed Sehun's waist and became part of the conga line that was currently dancing around the room.         

……………………

A/N

I did promise a Minho cameo :D and I'm sorry to present him as a football/soccer fanatic but he kinda-sorta is and the LuHo ship needs to sail and kick on the court. I'm going to miss them at the Idol championships. In the meantime, let us admire footballer Minho <3

BTW, did any of you get which character inspired Minho's character in here? I think its pretty obvious but give it a guess anyway :3