Viscaria
The Wondrous Stride of a Mugunghwa and a PeonyViscaria : Will you dance with me?
Noon had arrived rapidly, or at least it seemed that way to Sehun.
For some reason, he barely remembers what happened throughout the whole day, which is so unlike him because he is always attentive. Sehun just felt like the world was a movie that has been fast-forwarded.
"Sehun?" He saw a pair of hands waving in front of his face. He realized he had blanked out on Luhan, who was walking with him to the library.
"Huh?" Sehun finally reacted. "Oh, mianhae."
"Are you okay? You spaced out on me," Luhan told him.
"No, I mean yeah, I'm fine... um, you just caught me off guard," Sehun rambled. Luhan placed a hand on his mouth to muffle the small laugh that he released. The younger of the two just looked away sheepishly. "What was it that you were talking about?"
"I was asking you if you had any books on how to take proper care of some flowers at your mom's shop," Luhan said as they turned the corner.
"Um, yeah, we do... Why? Are you growing them?"
"Not really, I received a bouquet yesterday in the afternoon, but I don't know what type of flowers they are and I don't want them to die."
"Do you have a picture of them?" Sehun asked. Luhan nodded and took his phone out. A few seconds later, the picture of a bouquet full of flowers with violet petals with yellow filaments. Sehun's eyes widened when he saw the flower.
"Er, Luhan? Who sent you those flowers?" Sehun said, sincerely hoping it was a clueless fangirl who knew nothing about the meaning behind this specific type of flowers.
"Not sure... It was just addressed to my house," Luhan looked thoughtful. "It was probably a fangirl. I know a few who actually know where I live." Sehun facepalmed in his head after he heard him.
I swear, why does he have to be naive about some stuff... Then again, his job description is not 'flower boy'
As a person who has been surrounded by flowers for most of his life, Sehun learned the language of flowers from Soo Yun, meaning that he would recognize a flower and its significance with one single glance. At the moment he saw the flowers on the phone screen, he realized someone sent him beautiful mandrake flowers. However, the significance behind the beauty was entirely the opposite of its appearance since it meant 'horror.'
He was about to say something about the matter when he heard someone calling Luhan's name in the distance. Sehun sweatdropped when he recognized Hui Lei's voice.
"Luhan! Luhan! Luhan!" Hui Lei appeared, rushing to Luhan's side. When she reached there, she grasped on to Luhan's sleeve. "You have to run away quickly!"
"Huh? Why?" Luhan asked, fearing some foul joke.
"The frog! She's here!" Hui Lei exclaimed. Sehun just raised an eyebrow.
The frog?
"What?! Where is she?!" Luhan had a panicked look on his face.
"What's going on?" Sehun asked, but he was ignored by them.
"Yi Fan is stalling her in the main floor as we speak, so that will save you some time to jump out of the window," Hui Lei told him as she handed him a passport and cash. "Here, go buy yourself a plane ticket to any place but France!" At that point, her twin appeared by her side, looking like all the hope in the world was lost.
"Yi Fan failed," Jiao-long informed them dejectedly. Hui Lei stomped the floor. "Of course he did!" she exclaimed, scaring Luhan and Sehun.
Luhan and the twins cringed when they heard the sickly sweet female voice with a French accent calling out "Louis!"
Louis? I don't remember this school having any Europeans or North Americans
"Oh no, here she comes," Luhan said as he stared in horror at a beautiful short-dark haired girl with fair skin, brown eyes, and plump lips, that was speed-walking with an unimaginable grace towards them. "What do I do?"
"Play dead!" Jiao-long told him before dropping to the floor, Sehun's eyes widened when he saw the boy doing just that.
"Jiao-long, that is very idiotic!" Hui Lei said when the beauty in front of them stopped when she reached her destination. Sehun became more surprised when Luhan let himself fall to the floor, since the older boy never listened to the twins by his own will.
"On second thought," Sehun heard Hui Lei mutter. "Oh, horrible fate! Jiao-long, I shall join you in the after life. Goodbye world," the girl said dramatically before joining the other two on the floor. The stranger shrieked in horror at the sight and spoke rapidly in French.
This day keeps getting weirder and weirder...
"Psst, Sehun, DIE!" Sehun heard Hui Lei hiss quietly. "DIE!"
Sehun was in the process of slowly kneeling to the floor when he heard Yi Fan's voice say something along the lines of "What the hell are you doing?!"; he tried to get up rapidly, but ended up falling next to Luhan. He closed his eyes, completely giving up on the little sanity (and his dignity) that was left a moment ago.
"Yi Fan! What is wrong with them?" he heard the heel-wearing stranger speak in Korean. A grunt of pain came from Yi Fan.
"Quick, we have to ah- leave?! Yes, leave! There is ,er, some horrible disease that is killing everyone in the school!" Yi Fan exclaimed. When he heard heels running away further away from them, he opened one eye. Luhan and the others were still playing dead.
"Wait, what about Louis?!" he heard her say.
Here we go again with this damn Louis!
"He's gone! You have to go back to France! He wouldn't have liked for you to get the disease!"
"I don't care! I want Louis to come with us! Dead or alive!" the girl whined really loudly. Sehun became annoyed with her immediately after that.
Aish, this girl!
"This poor widow needs to bring his body back to France!"
"Hey!" he saw Luhan stand up as he exclaimed. "No need to do that, mon amie! See? I'm fine!"
"Louis!" the girl exclaimed as she abandoned Yi Fan and ran back to Luhan, glomping him in the process without giving any care to her elegant black A-line dress. "I'm so glad you're alive!" she cried with happiness as she completely ignored Luhan's uncomfortable expression. "Did you receive my flowers?"
So... Luhan's 'Louis'? And she's the one with the flowers...
"Try to go along with this without any attempts at murder," he jumped when he heard Yi Fan behind him. "These two devil twins have tried and failed quite miserably." Sehun's eyes widened to the point that they resembled a shocked Kyungsoo.
"M-Murder?" Sehun asked as he stared at the twins glaring at the French girl's back.
Just how bad is this chick?!
"You!" Sehun lifted his head from his desk when he heard an angry Kai. He looked at the direction Kai was pointing at; he realized it was the French girl from the day before.
"Oh, you're still here," the French girl stared at Kai with disgust. Instead of the black dress, she was now wearing the girl's uniform.
"Of course I am!" Kai exclaimed. "I live in this country... unlike you darn frog who keeps coming uninvited!"
"Morceau de merde," she told him and Kai gasped in indignation. Sehun didn't know what she said, but it must have been something offensive. "I come here because of mon amour."
"Luhan isn't your love!" Kai yelled. "He doesn't belong to you! He belongs t-" Tao covered Kai's mouth and shushed him. "Mah-ssam is coming."
Kai huffed and sat down as everyone settled into their seats with the exception of the newcomer.
"Class, please welcome back our friend from France," Mah-ssam announced to the rest of class 2-A as the dark-haired French girl walked up to the front of the class. "Mademoiselle L'Eclaire, the floor is yours."
"Merci," the French girl told her and curtsied in front of everyone. "Bonjour, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Reinette Marie L'Eclaire Ahn. As Mah-ssam mentioned, I'm a proud daughter of France. But I am also glad of returning to my beautiful fatherland for the time being. I am grateful to all of you for welcoming me back to Korea, please take care of me." By the end of the speech, half of the girls (and some boys) in the class clapped for her or released cries of "Noona! Saranghae!". Sehun was perplexed; Reinette seemed nice, slightly annoying, but nice nonetheless. So why did his friends shudder in fear (in Luhan and the twins' case) or trembled in anger (in Kai's case) at the sight of the girl?
"It seems all the seats are occupied, but one of my students is absent," Mah-ssam muttered. "For now, you can sit next to Sehun... Sehun-ah, please raise your hand." Sehun did as he was told and observed as some of the students whispered as she walked to the seat next to him.
"Psst," he was distracted for a moment by Chanyeol's noice. When he faced the 'happy virus,' Chanyeol threw a piece of paper at his desk. Sehun opened it and read it.
Good luck with the deer-eater, you'll need it for the time being! :D
Lunch time arrived and the members of class 2-A and S.A were sitting and eating in harmony until-
"Mon chér!"
"Oh no," Baekhyun muttered as Reinette ran up to Luhan, who was walking to their table with his food, and hugged his shoulders.
"Hi Reinette," Luhan greeted with no real enthusiasm in his voice.
Sehun watched the scene in front of him with confusion and annoyance. He now realizes why Jung Hee says he was relieved that Sehun was a boy and not a girl; girls are too clingy (except for Hui Lei since she was more crude and cruel than all of them combined).
"Is it me or is she too clingy around Luhan?" he asked no one in particularly. Kyungsoo watched along with him.
"She is," Kyungsoo answered. "I blame Yi Fan."
"Wha-?! Why me?!" Yi Fan asked offended.
"You just had to bring her to the damn country three years ago, didn't you?" Kai agreed with Kyungsoo.
"Um, can I get background info, please? 'Cause, you know, new guy here," Sehun asked, pointing at himself.
"Reinette Marie L'Eclaire Ahn is the youngest daughter of Chairman Ahn Hak-Kun, who owns a large car manufacturing company in Korea. Her mother is a French heiress, of what, I forget. She met Yi Fan in Canada when their parents introduced them to each other in a marriage interview three years ago. There was no engagement placed, but they remained in contact with each other, creating an odd 'pen-pal' relationship of sorts. When Chairman Ahn found out Yi Fan was settled in Korea, he made arrangements with his ex-wife to bring Reinette to the country for a few months each year. The first time she arrive to the Academy, Yi Fan was guiding her around and introduced her to all of us. She saw Luhan and declared him her 'true love' right away," Kyungsoo explained.
"So, she claims to 'love' him based on his initial appearance? That's stupid," Sehun said. "Nobody can truly fall in love with someone without meeting them properly."
"Exactly our point, but she won't understand that!" Yixing piped in. "We tried to explain to her that Luhan wasn't interested in her many times, but our words have fallen on deaf ears. So, we resorted to making her as uncomfortable and out of place as possible so she could fly back to France, hell, even the twins tried getting rid of her in the literal sense of the phrase, but nothing! She stays no matter what."
"We only worsened her attitude towards Kai and vice versa, since my brother was bothered by her clinging to Luhan like chewing gum," Suho added.
"Guys, quiet down, they're coming this way," Tao told them. The table was silent until Luhan greeted all of them. The oldest boy of the group walked up to his spot next to Sehun and sat down. Reinette followed suit, completely ignoring Sehun's presence by sitting between him and Luhan. Sehun stared at her in disbelief.
That was rude!
Now you see why they don't like her...
Reinette seemed to have finally noticed Sehun and turned to Luhan. "Louis, who is this? I've never seen him before."
Are you serious?! I sit next to her!
Luhan looked at Sehun apologetically. "Mianhae," he mouthed to the younger boy. "Reinette, this is Oh Sehun. He recently joined the Academy in early fall. He's in your class," he told her.
"Nice to meet you," Sehun bowed his head a bit, trying to be as nice as possible. Reinette kept staring at him with a barely-hidden superior attitude.
"That's odd," Reinette said. "I never heard of your family. What's your company's name?"
"Um, his family doesn't exactly own a company," Yi Fan explained. "He's a sponsored student, but he is in the top five in his class." The little fact at the end didn't change her attitude; in fact, it worsened it.
"I guess the pleasure is stilll yours," Reinette muttered quietly, but audible enough for Sehun to hear.
Okay, now I officially place her at the top of my black list
"So, other than taking in a commoner into the group, what did I miss while I was away?"
"Not much," Baekhyun said. "The only relevant thing is that Kai and Suho fought for a bit."
"Really? I never thought that day would come," Reinette then faced Suho, "You poor thing! I don't know how you can deal with that thing you have for a frère."
"Excuse me? Frog, I'm not a thing! I'm the epitome of awesomeness!" Kai retorted.
"But, on the bright side, the twins sort of saved us from dealing with the fight," Chanyeol distracted her from making another jab at Kai.
"Aww, they're adorable! How's my daughter?"
Sehun almost choked on his drink when he heard her say that.
"Hui Lei is fine. Like always," Yi Fan shook his head as he said this. Reinette ignored his sarcastic display.
"That's bon," Reinette smiled pleasantly as she wrapped her arms around Luhan. "I'm so glad our daughter is alright, don't you think?"
Sehun wanted to gag at the sight so badly if it wasn't for the slight pity he held for Luhan, who looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole.
"Oui," Luhan answered unwillingly. His expression worded out "Help me!", but no one did anything. Well, no one but Sehun.
"Luhan!" he exclaimed. Everyone just stared at him with surprise (or glared at him like Reinette was doing at the moment). "Um, er- weren't you going to show me the thing during lunch?"
"The thing?" Luhan asked confused.
"Yeah, the thing," Sehun subtlety glanced at the cafeteria's exit. Luhan caught on after that.
"Oh, right, the thing," Luhan said, grabbing this opportunity to escape Reinette's clutches. He stood up from his seat, but Reinette held on to his wrist.
"What thing?" Reinette asked, annoyed at the sudden interruption.
"Oh, you know, that thing with that shape and that color at that place... Gotta go!" Sehun awkwardly 'explained' to her and pulled Luhan away from the French girl. The boys practically ran out of the cafeteria, leaving a very confused group of males and an annoyed girl.
A week and a half passed by quickly, but it seemed that Sehun and Luhan's escapes have occupied most of that time span. They would usually end up locking themselves inside the veranda, but if they noticed Reinette closing in on their 'secret' place, they would just stay in the boys' bathroom or go as far as getting out of the building and into the Academy's greenhouse. But on Tuesday, the two boys weren't so lucky, since Reinette was one step ahead of them this time. They were in the hallway going towards the veranda when Reinette and one of the members of her fan club (who was carrying a box for some reason) spotted them.
"Louis!" Reinette ran up to Luhan and clinged to him, ignoring Sehun and her female companion. "Where have been lately? I missed you so much!"
"Oh, erm, I was helping Sehun out with his studies," Luhan half-lied. During their time together, there was some tutoring going on, but most of the time, they would talk about random stuff.
Reinette glanced at Sehun and narrowed her eyes at him. "That's nice, dear. But as much as I would love to hear about your charity work, I needed to tell you something really important," Sehun caught on to the sarcasm in her voice and tried really hard to not glare at her for the 'charity work' part.
"What is it?" Luhan asked, hoping it wasn't another marriage proposal.
Reinette snapped her fingers and her fan girl reached inside the box and pulled out a black envelope. Reinette grabbed it and handed it to Luhan. The older boy opened it and Sehun peeked from behind his shoulder.
You are cordially invited to a birthday celebration
in honor of
Mme. Reinette Marie L'Eclaire Ahn
Friday, the 18th of November
The twentieth hour in the evening
Royal Dansim Hotel
425 Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu
Please RSVP before the night of the event
He's probably going to say he's going
"I'm honored you invited me to attend this event, but I can't go," Luhan told her without hestitation. Sehun (and Reinette) stared at him with wide eyes.
"Why not?" Reinette had a strained smile on her pretty face. "You have always attended in the previous years."
Sehun noticed Luhan gulping; it was obvious he didn't want to attend the party, but it appeared that Luhan didn't have a valid excuse for not attending this year.
Quick, do something!
"He's busy that night!" Sehun said a bit too loudly. Reinette looked at Sehun and her scowl deepened.
"And how would you know that?"
"Er, he promised me he would stay at my home because my family has to go to the other side of the country for a convention. Right Luhan?"
"Yeah, what he said," Luhan looked at Sehun with gratitude written all over his face, hoping that Reinette could leave things alone. Unfortunately, no miracle could get Reinette to give up.
"You're no longer a child. I don't see why Luhan is obligated to stay with you when you're capable of being by yourself," Reinette pointed out.
"True, but I already asked him and he clearly wasn't obligated when he accepted willingly," Sehun answered back. At this point, the girl was glaring daggers at him.
"You can ask someone else then."
"I don't need to. Luhan already said yes."
"Um, guys... Can we talk about this topic later?" Luhan intervened before both Sehun and Reinette murdered each other with their stares.
"Not until you decide to attend my party," Reinette told him. Luhan stared at her pleading look and sighed in defeat.
"Fine, I will attend," Luhan said. Reinette skipped of joy and Sehun looked down sheepishly, knowing that his friend would have to deal with the Frog by himself.
"But with one condition," Luhan continued.
"Anything for you," Reinette stared at him with loving eyes.
"Sehun will come to the event," the older boy stated. Sehun looked up with wide eyes and Reinette was close to complaining, but let out an annoyed "Fine." She snapped her fingers again and another invitation was in her grasp. Sehun saw Reinette handing him the invitation. He looked at Luhan who motioned him to accept the black envelope. He was about to grab it, but the girl pulled it back.
"Don't lose it. There are no replacements," Reinette told him with full seriousness. She handed the invitation over and said her goodbyes to Luhan and walked away with her companion. The two were surrounded by awkward silence until Luhan spoke.
"I honestly didn't see that one coming," Luhan muttered to himself and then his eyes widened in realization of what he did. "Aish! I practically forced you to accept the invitation! Sehun, I'm so sorry! You don't need to come if you don't want to."
"It's alright," Sehun replied. "I don't mind."
"Are you sure?" Luhan asked him and Sehun nodded in response.
Sehun?
What?
Do you even know what you just agreed to?!
Er...
No, of course you don't! You've never been to fancy-schmancy events! What are you going to do!
"Um, Luhan?"
"Hm?"
"I've never been to this type of party before," Sehun admitted.
You've never been to a party. Period.
"I don't know the type of ettiquette required for these events," he added and Luhan was stuck on his train of thoughts. A few seconds passed and Luhan had the biggest grin on his face.
"I'll teach you then," Luhan told him.
Sehun had to pinch himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming after seeing the Park Estate for the first time. Compared to the Kim siblings' modern house, Chanyeol's house had more of a traditional yet elegant touch to it with the high pillars that reminded him of SM Academy if it wasn't for the lighter color of said pillars. He walked up to the entrance of the place where he would take etiquette lessons with not only Luhan, but the others who vowed to make him a gentleman for the night of the party. He hestitated and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, the door opened and he was pulled inside unceremoniously.
"What the-?" Sehun was shocked to find out it was Yixing who pulled him in, but was later on distracted by the latter's appearance; Luhan's cousin was wearing a butler suit. "Are you cosplaying?" Yixing just shushed him and handed the younger a rectangular box and an envelope. "Um, what is this?" Sehun questioned. "It's your uniform and the list of lessons that you're going to learn," Yixing explained nonchalantly. "Don't worry if you see some unknown terms. We dumbed the vocabulary for you." Sehun didn't know if it was pure naivety from Yixing's part or not, but he decided not to get offended for being the 'commoner.'
"Where do I change?" Sehun asked and Yixing clapped twice. Suddenly two pair of arms grasped his.
"Target," he heard Baekhyun say from his left side.
"Caught," Suho followed suit.
"Eh?!" Sehun tried to escape from the boys who were wearing outfits similar to Yixing's.
"Don't complain," Baekhyun said. "Just trust us on this. We used to deal with this all the time when we were younger."
"Being manhandled by your instructors?"
"Actually... no," Suho answered. "The clones just told us to do this to make sure you didn't escape."
Of course they did...
"Anyways, let's get you changed right away before Tao starts to get all martial artist on the three of us," Baekhyun and Suho then pulled Sehun down a hall to a restroom. When he heard the door lock and saw the devious glint on Tao's eyes, Sehun began to panic. Not long after, curse words were yelled and constant shuffling of clothes were heard from inside the room where the four boys were locked in. A few minutes passed and Sehun was pushed out the open door with the envelope thrown at him. Baekhyun, Suho, and Tao closed the door behind them.
"I could've changed on my own you know," Sehun huffed, feeling slightly violated.
"Oh, stop being such a cry-baby! You wouldn't have managed on your own!" Baekhyun poked him, "and your behavior was unecessary. We didn't even have the chance to style your hair!" Sehun just groaned.
First, they manhandle me. Then I practically get molested inside the restroom, and now they tell me they want to touch my hair! Jeez, no respect for one's privacy!
"Well, now you're five minutes late to the first lesson, so you better hurry down the hall where we came from. Yixing will lead you from there," Suho instructed and Sehun walked away from them. He remembered he had the envelope in hand and he opened it as he walked. He began reading the card.
Lesson #1: Greeting The Guests (That’s literally what it sounds like)
Instructor(s): Zhang Yixing
Lesson #2: Order of Service (a.k.a: Who gets the food first? In this case, it’s Luhan and the Wu siblings :D)
Instructor(s): Wu Yi Fan (and Lu Han makes a guest appearance)
Lesson #3: The Menu (Dining Like A Rich Bastard Man)
Instructor(s): Wu Hui Lei (Wu Jiao-long and Do Kyungsoo are in charge of the food)
Lesson #4: After Dinner (Dancing… and the occasional gross snack)
Instructor(s): Lu Han and Kim Jong In
Jong In, behave...
Yes, your highness
Lesson #5: Saying Goodnight (That’s when we get freed from the Frog! XD)
Instructor(s): Kim Jong In and Park Chanyeol
Lesson #6: Dress Code (Why is this at the very bottom?!)
Instructor(s): Huang Zitao, Byun Baekhyun, and Kim Joonmyeon
Because you guys ! :P
Shut it Kai or I'll offer you as a gift for the Frog so she can neuter you!
Baek, don't be so melodramatic... No one is getting neutered! -_-
See, Baek? Kyungsoo doesn't want my manhood to be gone
On second thought, Baek, you can sacrifice him for all I care
Sehun didn't know whether to be worried or amused at his friends' antics portrayed on the elegant piece of paper. He put the paper away he saw Yixing nearby. When he reached his destination, Yixing explained to him that as soon as he was greeted, he would have his invitation at hand and one of the greeters would ask for his name. As soon as that happened, he would be escorted to his seat. Since this was practice, he would be led to the dining room, where his second lesson would start. When Yixing opened the doors of the dining room, he was met with the sight of an enourmous room with large windows and a chandelier. It was empty for the exception of a large rectangular table covered with a large cloth that appeared expensive just by looking at the material along with porcelain plates and a bunch of other stuff that would never be displayed on his own table. When he snapped out of his own trance, he was about to ask Yixing for Luhan and Yi Fan, but his 'greeter' was nowhere to be seen and the doors were now closed. Not knowing what to do, he started walking towards one of the many seats that surrounded the table. He was about to sit down when-
"Don't you dare sit down, brat!" Yi Fan yelled.
Sehun stepped back and realized Yixing had opened the door for Luhan, Yi Fan, and Hui Lei... who were wearing suits like him (or in Hui Lei's case, a black dress).
"Come over here," Yi Fan instructed. Sehun gulped, hoping that his hyung wouldn't kill him just by boring holes into his head. When he reached them, he expected the worst. Instead, Yi Fan just snapped his fingers and the kitchen doors opened, revealing Chanyeol clad in a black suit. The tall boy began walking towards the small group at the doorway.
Why is everyone wearing black suits?!
"You just broke rule number one," Yi Fan said with such seriousness, "It is not proper to wander around on your own after you're greeted. Not only that, but you are also not allowed to choose any empty seat. The employees there are supposed to you to your assigned seat." After this, Yi Fan signaled for Chanyeol to '' him to his seat, which was the second seat on the left near the head seat.
"From there, you are to be standing until the hostess arrives at the hand of her man of honor. At the celebration, Reinette will be walking alongside Luhan, who is her man of honor, but for the sake of practice, Luhan is the hostess and I am the man of honor," Yi Fan explained to Sehun, who tried to catch up with every single detail said.
"Excuse me? I didn't agree to be the hostess," Luhan told Yi Fan with a small hint of annoyance and confusion.
"You fit the part," Yi Fan scoffed, "besides, Hui Lei wanted to be the lady of honor. Now deal with it, Han Na."
"Tch, I'm not a girl," Luhan grumbled but hid his annoyance well as he was led to his seat. Luhan gestured everyone to sit down as soon as Yi Fan was at settled on Luhan's right side.
"After this, the food will be served. It is common for the man or lady of honor to be served first, meaning Luhan and Hui Lei will be served first," Yi Fan told Sehun. A moment of silence passed but Yi Fan broke it when he said something along the lines of "My part is done. Now you have to deal with the dopplegangers. I'm out" before leaving the room.
"Who gave him the role of man of honor?" Luhan asked Hui Lei. "Anyone could've done a better job."
"Apparently it was the only role available after everyone pulled out a piece from the hat and my idiot brother just had to take it," Hui Lei explained. "I would have given Sehun the role of man of honor, but as we all know, he's our mentee for the week." Hui Lei answered and an evil smirk appeared on her angelic face. "Idiot brother is no longer here, so that means it's our turn! Yeti! You know what to do!"
"I have a name, you know," Chanyeol huffed, "and Yi Fan is taller than me!"
"We'll discuss name-calling and height after this. But this is my lesson, not yours. Now move it," Hui Lei started exuding an evil aura which led Chanyeol to speed-walk to Sehun's direction.
"I apologize for what I'm about to do," Chanyeol told him. Sehun was confused but his eyes widened when the taller boy pulled a rope out of his suit jacket.
Wha-!
Next thing he knew, Sehun was tied to his chair with said rope.
“Is this really necessary?” Sehun deadpanned. He knew he had to learn ‘proper etiquette’ for these high society get-togethers that rich people had every once in a while. However, he didn’t understand why the lessons always began with some sort of torture.
Hui Lei walked up to him. “You cannot be seen slouching in your seat as you eat on the night of your debut into society. The rope will help you get used to sitting up straight. Now stop complaining and be glad Channie volunteered his house for your pre-debut training,” Hui Lei gave Sehun a light swat on his shoulders.
“Um, our etiquette instructors never used rope to teach us this,” Chanyeol said a bit too loudly. Hui Lei gave him a “If-you-don’t-shut-up-I-will-castrate-you” look, and the younger Park remained quiet, knowing that Yi Fan’s sister was crazy enough to fulfill her threat.
“Anyways,” Hui Lei turned to Sehun, “you see those utensils in front of you?” She pointed at the many forks and spoons on each side of a porcelain plate. “There is a specific order regarding these utensils." Sehun listened attentively as the older twin explained what each one was and the "specific order."
"Get used to them for the time being. Love them, hate them, I honestly don’t care. But we have to follow certain rules when using these fun Western stuff. Understand?” Sehun nodded in response. Hui Lei just snapped her fingers and the doors that led to the kitchen opened, revealing Jiao-long in chef clothing along with a few servants that were carrying what seemed to be an assortment of food in small portions with the exception of what seemed to be four steamed lobsters. After this, Sehun was to try the utensils with each of the foods in the order they were served. Sehun wasn't going to lie; he actually enjoyed tasting each of the foods. He never tasted anything like it before. But things got sour when it came to the lobster part.
"We asked for four lobsters instead of one because we don't know what your tastes are when it comes to this dish," Hui Lei told Sehun, "and you need to learn how to eat a lobster without looking like a clueless idiot. You're going to start with the female hard-shelled lobster." She handed him the lobster claw cracker and a lobster fork before explaining how to use them. However, Hui Lei and Sehun had not noticed the steamed lobster move a bit until Sehun's hand was near the lobster's claw.
"Watch out!" Luhan exclaimed as he pulled Sehun's chair away from the lobster that was now prepared to defend herself. Everyone began screaming.
"Aah! It's alive!" Chanyeol shrieked in pure horror as he tried to remove the lobster... until he realized the other 'dead' lobsters were very much alive and clinging to the sleeve of his jacket. He started running around the room like a headless chicken, lobsters in tow.
"Die! Die! Die!" Hui Lei started screaming at the lobster on the porcelain plate as she began hitting it with one of the silver platters. No matter how hard she wacked it, she only got to numb it down.
Sehun, now untied, was about to go help Chanyeol but Luhan stopped him. "Don't," Luhan instructed, "I'll handle it. Just call Kyungsoo and tell him to get these things out of here."
A time span of five minutes, which consisted of Sehun getting Kyungsoo from the kitchen, Luhan slapping Chanyeol ("Just stay still! I'm trying to take your jacket off!"), four lobsters falling to the floor, and four teens getting on top of a table until Kyungsoo picked up the lobsters and brought them back to the kitchen ("I swear, one has to make sure they're actually dead before serving them!").
"Well, that went well," Luhan said sarcastically as he jumped off the table. He checked his wristwatch. "Well this was fun, but I think it's getting late and we have school tomorrow. Should we continue the rest tomorrow?"
"I think that would be best," Sehun muttered.
"Great then," Hui Lei clapped, "we'll start from Lesson One and continue the same order as today minus the live lobsters. We'll make sure they're dead tomorrow." Sehun, Luhan, and Chanyeol sweatdropped.
I swear the end of my days are near
The next day after school, the boys met at Chanyeol's place again. Sehun had to endure Tao, Baekhyun, and Suho undressing him once more, but fortunately for him, he no longer had to go through any more manhandling or 'zombie lobsters' and everything went by smoothly by the time his lesson with Luhan and Kai would start.
"Are you guys done?" Kai peeked his head inside the dining room.
"Yeah," Luhan replied and then turned to Sehun, "you guys can go first. I have to change for this lesson."
"Okay," Sehun said as he followed Kai. They walked towards a hall and went through a door that led to a staircase to the lower part of the house. "Where are we going?"
"We are heading towards the dance room," Kai answered.
A dance room?
When they reached the basement, the two boys walked up to the third room on the right side of the hall. As soon as Sehun entered the room, he was astonished. It wasn't that he had never seen a dance room before, but unlike the others he had seen before, this one seemed so traditional, like a reall ballroom. It even had a chandelier like the dining room. However, that wasn't the factor that surprised Sehun; it was the feeling of being inside of it. It felt like this room was a place where many happy moments occured. The pictures on one of the walls were proof of that.
He walked up to the wall and stared at each one of the images and the labels underneath them. Some of them were pictures of everyone dancing alone or together, his friends fooling around in the room, or individual pictures. But the one that he could consider the best out of all of them was a group picture of all of them smiling at the camera.
Everyone was just... so happy together. Just like he was when he was with his family.
"-and I are going to show you the dance, and then you're going to try it," Kai's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Huh?" he turned around to face Kai and realized that he had been too deep in thought because he didn't notice Luhan arrive... wearing a black ballgown with short sleeves. "I'm sorry, I got distracted," Sehun apologized, preferring not to comment on Luhan's clothing. It seemed Luhan was grateful that he didn't, especially since he knew the older boy didn't like people commenting on his feminine appearance.
"It's alright. I was just telling you that although the Frog's parties are not too formal when it comes to dancing, there is a part that you have to learn and that is known as 'Reinette's Waltz,' which is the part when the Frog will choose someone to dance with her," Kai told him. "It's most likely that she will choose Luhan like the other years. However, everyone is required to dance along to this song and nobody can go wrong with this song because they have to follow Reinette and Luhan's lead."
"Alright," Sehun nodded his head in understanding. He watched as Kai plugged in his phone to the sound system. "For now, you are going to watch as Luhan and I dance, so you can get an idea of what it looks like."
A few seconds later, the sound of Shostakovich's "Second Waltz" filled the room. Sehun sat down on the floor as Kai and Luhan walked up to each other and bowed to each other. Kai placed his right arm on Luhan's hip as the latter placed his left hand on Kai's shoulders; their other hands touched, completing the initial waltz position. From then on, Sehun watched as Kai and Luhan swayed gracefully and twirled around the room, focusing their gazes on each other and nothing else.
They're really good dancers...
Kai and Luhan started to slow down and began to sway in the middle of the room and stopped at the moment the music did. They bowed down to each other like they did before.
"So, what did you think?" Luhan asks him.
"You guys did amazing," Sehun told him and Luhan smiled in return. "But I doubt I can do what you guys did right now."
"You'll do just fine," Luhan encouraged, "besides, if you fall, I'm here to pick you right back up." He offered his hand. "Are you ready?"
Sehun nodded and grabbed Luhan's hand, letting himself be pulled towards the center of the room. He felt Luhan place his hand on his shoulder.
"Hm, you're stiff," Luhan commented. He placed his other hand on the other shoulder and started rubbing his thumbs on that area. Sehun began to feel his shoulders become more relaxed, and tried to hold back the little moan of pleasure that threatened to escape his mouth.
Okay, what can't Luhan do?
"Feeling better?" Luhan asked him, oblivious to the bliss on Sehun's face.
"Better than ever," Sehun replied, trying to compose himself. "I think I'm ready." He placed his hand on Luhan's hip. However, he heard Kai clear his throat.
"Your hand needs to be on the waist," Kai lifted Sehun's hand from its spot to Luhan's waist, "not on the hip."
"Um, okay?" Sehun was confused. He saw Kai putting his hand on Luhan's hip. Why couldn't he do that?
"There was nothing wrong with where his hand was at," Luhan told Kai, "besides, you did it too."
"Um, er, you know," Kai began stuttering, "Luhan, you and I know each other."
"Yeah, but you and I also know Sehun," Luhan replied. Kai gulped.
"That's not what I meant. I mean, we're comfortable with each other to the point of being half with each other, so it doesn't matter if I touch your hip. However, Sehun can't say the same about whoever his dance partner is going to be at the party." Everything got awkward after that. "Okay," Kai clapped his hands together, "you two have to dance now." He walked away muttering to himself.
The music started and Sehun had to follow every indication Luhan, and the occasional tip from Kai, gave him. At first, it was a bit complicated to do the steps right, which resulted with a flustered Sehun. But after a bit of encouragement from Luhan's part, Sehun started to think that this wasn't as bad as it seemed. After a while, the first part of the waltz went smoothly.
"I knew you would be good at this," Luhan told him after they stopped dancing. "You're a fast learner."
"I guess," Sehun said, getting flustered again. He was used to getting complimented for his intelligence and dedication, not dancing. The last time he had danced was when he was ten years old and that was because some annoying girl made him do it. "Thank you, for everything, I mean."
"It's no problem. Anything for a friend, right?"
"Right," Sehun agreed.
Luhan looked at his dress. "I guess I have to take this off, then. I'll see you tomorrow, ne?" Sehun nodded and Luhan smiled as he waved goodbye at him. If it wasn't because Kai was still in the room, Sehun would've leaped of joy multiple times. He composed himself quickly, but was in the middle of a mental debate.
What am I thinking?
You're happy, you idiot... You know that happens when you want to jump up and down like a sugar-high kid, right?
I know what happy is... I just never felt it this strong
Until now
What are you saying?
... Never mind, you'll find out soon enough
Everyday, Sehun's mind was now focused on only one thing: dancing. If he was at school, he would rush out of the classroom and dance without people noticing (unless he saw Luhan, then they would do one of the steps every chance they got without giving a care about what others thought). If he was at the flower shop, he would dance in the presence of the flowers. He would also dance at home, except that he would be more careful because Jung Hee had caught him once or twice. It seemed he had found another thing to do that he liked. Dancing was like an escape from reality, it was blissful and it allowed one to express themselves freely. However, no matter how much dancing made him forget about the unpleasantness of the world, it wasn't enought to forget about something. Well, more like someone.
Reinette L'Eclaire.
Besides the obvious fact that he started dancing because of the girl, he knew Reinette didn't really approve of him. Sehun was alright with that because one single person not liking him was not a matter to cry a river for and it wasn't like he was okay with her either. But Sehun did notice that her hostility towards him (along with Reinette's clinginess and her possessiveness over Luhan) increased more after she had caught them dancing in the hallways like a bunch of happy fools. At this point, he was pretty sure he had gained his first enemy within the Academy's walls with Reinette L'Eclaire, if her glares and subtle yet harsh comments weren't enough clue by now.
His suspicions were confirmed on Thursday before their lunch break started. Sehun was putting away his school stuff away in his bag when he heard her sickly sweet voice greet him. The boy looked around in his classroom and realized they were the only two people remaining.
"Oh hello," Sehun greeted back and was about to walk past her, but Reinette blocked him.
"Why are you in such a hurry? Class is not in session anymore," Reinette seemed nonchalant, but her eyes proved otherwise. "Then again, you've been rushing out of the room during the whole time I've attended the Academy." The girl started circling around him. "I usually don't bother noticing small things like this, especially if they involve commoners. But whenever you do this and disappear for who knows how long, my Louis is also missing."
"I guess it's a coincidence, then," Sehun lied, hoping Reinette wouldn't see past his mask.
"There are no such thing as coincidences," Reinette stopped walking around him.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't play coy with me!" Reinette placed her harsh and painful grasp on Sehun's shoulder and turned him around so he would face her. "I've already caught you two together once, so don't pretend!" She paused, trying to compose herself. "I don't know what you're trying to play here, but you have been keeping Louis away from me. But no matter what, Louis belongs to me, not you. You're just a worthless salaud who happened to get lucky to receive my love's attention out of pity disguised as friendship."
Sehun started to get angry, but tried his best not to lash out at the girl. "One, his name is not Louis, it's Luhan. Two, Luhan belongs to no one. Three, Luhan is not like you; in fact, I think that's why he doesn't like being around you anymore. You're getting worst every day."
"How dare you offend me with such... lies!"
"You're really shallow, aren't you? You don't even realize Luhan doesn't even enjoy your company anymore because of your damn clinginess. You're just suffocating him even more than usual."
"I'm not suffocating him! I have to keep him at my side because you always keep appearing uninvited!"
"Why do you keep blaming me? I'm not controlling Luhan to be against you. Luhan's his own person, you know? Or maybe you don't because you're blinded by your jealousy." Sehun felt a rush of victory when he saw Reinette's eyes widen. "It seems I hit the mark." He began walking away, but Reinette caught his arm.
"What stupidity is that? I'm not jealous... Why would I be jealous of a damn commoner?!" Reinette yelled, but her gaze was down when she said it.
"Exactly my point," Sehun retorted, feeling smug. "Look at me and tell me once more that your snide comments and your damn possessiveness is not jealousy."
"I-" Reinette was about to speak, but the door opened. Luhan entered the classroom.
"There you are Sehun! I've been looking for yo- oh, hi Reinette," Luhan stopped rambling when he saw the French girl. "Why are you two still here? It's lunch time."
Reinette released Sehun and walked up to Luhan. "I was just telling your friend that I found him a date for the night of the party."
"What?" Luhan and Sehun asked at the same time. Reinette looked smugly at Sehun.
"You heard me. I asked my cousin if she would like to be Sehun's date for the night and she said yes!" Reinette told them in fake excitement.
But I don't want a date... I'm okay with the company of the guys... and Luhan will need me! No! He will be with her, alone! No! No! NO!
Reinette saw Sehun's blanched expression and smirked. "Don't worry Sehun," Reinette 'comforted' him, "you will be fine. After all, my cousin is a real killer."
Afternoon had arrived and Sehun couldn't help but feel frustrated. Not only had the talk with Reinette put him in a bad mood, but the earlier conversation kept interfering with his focus during his dancing lessons. Whenever he had to go to the left, he went to the opposite side. If he had to twirl Luhan around, he would carry him instead. Everything was just horrible.
"Let's take a break," Luhan told him after one of his many flops. He sat down on the floor and patted the spot next to him, gesturing Sehun to sit down. The boy sat down and looked down at his lap. "You were doing fine the other days," Kai commented, "what happened?"
"I'm sorry," Sehun replied and remained silent.Luhan stared at him with concern until he had an idea.
"Kai," Luhan called the other boy, "can you please bring down a water bottle for Sehun and I?"
"Sure," Kai replied and walked towards the door. As soon as Kai left the room, Luhan turned his attention back to Sehun.
"What's wrong?" Luhan asked him as he began rubbing Sehun's back with his palm. Sehun shook his head but kept avoiding the other's gaze.
"Something's bothering you," Luhan stated. "You don't have to tell me, but I recommend that you do. You'll feel better if you don't keep everything inside."
Sehun sighed and looked up. "It's about Reinette." When he said it, Luhan's hand stopped rubbing his back but commenced once more at a slower speed.
"What about her?"
"Let's say I'm not her favorite person at the moment... actually, I've never been her favorite person at all."
"Why? Did she do something to you?"
"She told me to stay away from you because I'm 'supposedly' taking you away from her and that I'm just your pity case."
There was a moment of silence. "Do you believe her?"
"Huh?"
"About you being the pity case?"
"Of course not! You're not that type of person."
"Well, thanks," Luhan patted his shoulder, "but then why are you letting this affect you?"
"I don't know... I guess it's because you're my friend and I can't stand the thought of you being under her control. And I fail to understand why you allow this to happen when you have the option to walk away from such commitment," Sehun confessed in full honesty.
"You're right. I shouldn't allow this to keep going on. But I think I've been too selfish and lost control of the situation," Luhan said, using his index finger to draw imaginary designs on Sehun's back. Sehun looked at Luhan with a confused expression.
"What do you mean?"
"I knew of Reinette's infatuation with me since the beginning; she did make it pretty obvious with her open declarations of love. But I did nothing to discourage her from those unrequited feelings because I was selfish," Luhan paused for a bit. "While my friends began to see her flaws as they got to meet her, I didn't see the obnoxious and stuck-up fifteen year old Frog that they claimed to see. Instead, I saw a girl who just wanted companionship after spending most of her life lacking contact with her older brothers who live on the other side of her home. Not only that, but she reminded me of Chu-Hua... she had some of the qualities my sister had, both in appearance and personality." Another pause took over. "I just wanted to know what it felt like having a sister after so many years of not having one, but instead, I allowed her 'feelings' to get out of control and now, I don't know what to do about it."
I guess that explains a lot...
"You could just tell her the truth," Sehun told him. "She'll probably get mad, but it's better to rip off the bandage right away than just taking things slowly."
"That's one way, I suppose," Luhan muttered. "I guess we found the solution for both problems."
"Yeah, although there is one thing I'm still clueless about," Sehun said. "Why does Reinette call Hui Lei her daughter?"
Luhan chuckled when he heard the question. "Oh, that? Apparently the twins like messing with everyone in their family, and during the time Yi Fan was in the process of meeting Reinette, the twins were fighting against their parents in some sort of prank war. Long story short, Hui Lei confused her mother with Reinette, because they were the same height and Reinette wore her hair like Yi Fan's mom usually does. As a result, she pranked Reinette instead. At the end of the prank, she called Reinette 'Mama,' and the girl found this cute so she kept calling Hui Lei her daughter. That's how Hui Lei got forgiven and obtained her title as 'Reinette's daughter, much to her chagrin," Luhan explained. Sehun began laughing when he imagined an eleven-year old Hui Lei frowning as she was being glomped by the French girl.
"You know, you could've prevented a lot of things if you decided to treat Hui Lei as your sister and not Reinette," Sehun commented.
"That would've made things worst... if that ever happened, I would be stuck with Yi Fan in some crazy OTP of hers called 'KrisHan'!" Luhan and Sehun began laughing so hard they ended up clutching their stomachs on the floor, knowing that what Luhan said was true.
"What's so funny?" they heard Yi Fan's voice in the room. They began howling in laughter once more and Yi Fan face palmed as he kept hearing the older and youngest member of their group going on about 'KrisHan' and his sister while everyone else just stared at the most calm and collected boys laugh their arses off with the most confused expression on their faces.
"What's wrong with those two?!" Baekhyun exclaimed. "Oh crap! Sehun is laughing! He's laughing! What's next? Kyungsoo will reveal he's Satan?! Um, Kyungie, er, why are you smiling like that?! Noooooooo! The world is going to end today!"
Friday finally arrived and, just like Sehun expected, it was going to be a hectic day. Everyone kept rushing to their classes, finishing their assigned work, and gossiping non-stop with excitement about what the night had to offer. Sehun had already endured getting pushed by accident because fangirls would rush to their friends' side to talk (more like squeal) and make him promise to spill the beans because somebody just had to reveal he was going to the party to the whole world. By the time he arrived to the cafeteria, Sehun was famished.
He was so close to taking a short nap, but he felt someone tap his shoulders. Sehun looked up; it was Luhan looking like he took a trip to hell and back.
"Sehun, we need to talk, like right now," Luhan told him as he looked back and forth.
"Alright," Sehun got up and next thing he knew, he was being dragged by Luhan to the veranda. When they reached their destination, Luhan pushed Sehun down on the chaise lounge.
"Wha-?!" Sehun exclaimed but was interrupted when Luhan stated, "I told Reinette."
"Told Reinette what?" Realization soon hit him. "Oh... wait you told Reinette? What did she say? How did she react?"
"Nothing... In fact, she didn't even listen to any single word that I said," Luhan told him before going on about how he told Reinette that he wanted to clear things out and say once and for all that he was not remotely interested in her in a romantic way. However, it had backfired when he realized Reinette had not heard him at all because she was too busy listening to music and when he tried again, everyone kept interrupting him because they wanted to congratulate her. After this, Luhan just gave up on all hope of getting things over with Reinette. "At this rate, she will just continue to think I'm in love with her," Luhan grumbled as he sat down next to Sehun. "And I will have no choice but to play along."
Sehun patted his friend's shoulder as a gesture of comfort. Luhan looked so gloomy, it made him want to do something to turn that frown into a smile. He would have tried to talk to Reinette, but that had gone so well yesterday. Both of them knew that they couldn't let this last much longer, but what could they do?
All they could do is wait for whatever the night had to offer.
Sehun stared at the wall mirror in his room and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Instead of his usual image that consisted of his bowl hair cut, graphic tees, jeans, and Vans, the stranger in front of him had his hair combed over to the right, similar to a pompadour but with less hair gel, and his body was adorned with a black tuxedo, a white blouse, and Italian dress shoes; all courtesy of Tao's mother, the Byun's make-up artist, and a little black credit card whose owner was Kim Joonmyeon (said owner was waiting for him in his living room).
I'm wearing a monkey suit... Why do these events always require black tuxedos?
"You look so dashing!" Soo Yun exclaimed, ignoring a sweatdropping Sehun, as she stared at her son. "I have to take a picture of this!" She rushed to get the camera.
"Eumma," Sehun groaned, "please don't." He seriously didn't want this to get into some sort of photoshoot session that should only be reserved for graduation or something sappy like that.
"Oh, don't be such a sourpuss!" Soo Yun captured the picture, resulting in Sehun being blinded for a few seconds. "Smile!" Sehun didn't smile, but his poker face softened a bit. "That's good, I suppose. Your good looks make up for it!"
"They sure do," Kim Taeyeon, the make-up artist who 'dolled him up' (more like ambushed him), agreed. "What do you think Suho?" she called out. Suho peeked his head in and grinned. "You look different," he commented. "You did a good job, Taeyeon. I'll tell Baekhyun to thank you properly."
"Your welcome," Taeyeon smiled and offered took out a card. The brunette girl gave it to Sehun. "Just call if you ever need something or just tell Baekhyun to contact me. I like helping anyone who is friends with the Byun family, especially Baekhyun's."
"Komawo," Sehun said as the make-up artist began packing her stuff. "Are we going now?" he asked Suho.
"Yeah, Kai just texted me. He's just around the corner," Suho told him.
The boys grabbed their belongings and bid Soo Yun and Taeyeon good-bye. When they were outside, Sehun almost gaped at the sight of a black Rolls Royce Ghost Sprinter van. "Come on," Suho chuckled as he pulled Sehun towards the car. When they opened the car door, he was greeted by Kai and Kyungsoo... and the modern (and expensive) insides of the van. From there on, the boys were taken to the Royal Dansim Hotel; the boys were chatting with each other while Sehun stared out the window as the van headed towards their destination. A half hour later, the van stopped in front of the hotel after several other cars carrying other guests moved on. Sehun couldn't help but feel anxious when he exited the van; this reminded him of his first day at the Academy but ten times worst. The large and aesthetically-pleasing appearance of one of the most luxurious hotels in Gangnam-gu, and possibly Seoul itself, made Sehun feel like he entered another world within his very own reality: a commoner entering the world of the rich and famous like some sort of modern Cinderella story.
Wait, did I just compare myself to Cinderella? I must be going insane with so much luxury...
"Don't worry," Kyungsoo told him as he patted the younger boy's shoulder, "just remember what we taught you and you'll be fine." Sehun nodded in response but he was still unsure of himself; his friends dealt with this during their whole life span while Sehun just began to do so.
Well, here comes to nothing...
At the moment, Sehun wanted to laugh so badly. So far, he had managed to survive up to the point of the after dinner... well, sort of.
He didn't make a fool of himself when he entered so that was good. In fact, he was acting fairly well when he saw Chanyeol and the latter had the brilliant (and terrifying) idea of introducing Sehun to his father, Chairman Park Dae-Hyun, along with the few adults who were present to accompany the hostess' father. Sehun wasn't going to lie, he was glad everything went smoothly after meeting Chanyeol's father; the man looked so much like his son... yet he was so serious and strict-looking. Sehun didn't know if the man was alright with his son's new friend or not ("Don't worry. He didn't frown, so that means he's okay with you!" Chanyeol told him). After that, he began to calm down when he saw the others arrive, but he became relaxed when a butler announced Reinette's entrance (well, as relaxed as one can get when it came to Reinette), which meant he would see Luhan. When he saw the boy, who was clad in a similar outfit like his minus the hair style, walk past him with a smile directed at him, he felt a little warm feeling in his stomach and relief hit him. Soon, after the courtesies were said and done, everyone enjoyed the menu which consisted of French cuisine and Korean desserts on the T-shaped table while making a conversation with other guests; Sehun admitted that he felt relieved that Luhan and the twins, who were sitting near him, were talking to him, because if they weren't, Reinette's subtle attempts at insulting him would have resulted in him losing his appetite when the chicken piccata was served due to his downtrodden mood.
But as soon as the after dinner portion arrived, hell broke loose.
For starters, his date was Reinette's cousin, Ahn Jae Mi. Jae Mi was very pretty; she was Reinette's cousin after all. The problem with this girl? She's younger than Hui Lei by two years.
"Oh Sehun, this is Ahn Jae Mi, my cousin," Reinette presented the black-haired girl, "a.k.a. your date for tonight. Isn't she cute?"
"Er, yeah? I guess," Sehun chuckled nervously.
And I thought she was going to get me an unattractive person... at least someone who's unattractive is a better date than a child!
Not only that, Reinette wasn't joking about the twelve year-old when she said Jae Mi was 'a real killer.'
"The Frog set you up with her?!" Hui Lei hissed in his ear when she pulled him towards her.
"I know, I know. I probably look like a child molester right now," Sehun said gloomily.
"Forget the child molester part! You have to ditch her, pronto! The girl's a psycho!"
"Why?" Sehun asked, and next thing he knew, he felt Jae Mi's teeth on his right sleeve.
"Argh!"
"That's why," Hui Lei pointed at the scene in front of her. "She has a reputation for biting her classmates to the point of getting suspended at least once a month." Jae Mi kept biting him until Jae Mi's mother appeared, apologizing numerous times on her daughter's behavior while retrieving the girl away. Sehun sighed in relief, hoping that nothing bad would happen.
Boy, he was wrong.
"Would you like some escargot?" a waiter asked Sehun and the twins, who were watching at their friends dancing with the female guests. Sehun stared at the small appetizers which contained some curious and petite forks.
"Eh, sure," Hui Lei grabbed one along with Sehun and Jiao-long. When the three teens placed the escargot in their mouths, they deeply regretted it.
Hui Lei was lucky enough to have possession of Reinette's clutch because she spat out the thing inside the item.
"How can the French eat this merde?!"
Jiao-long grasped the clutch and followed his sister's example. Sehun, however, wasn't so lucky because he swallowed the escargot.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Sehun said, feeling nauseous. He was disgusted when he felt the bile slowly rise. Luckily, Jiao-long managed to drag him out of the ballroom without any interruptions and into the empty bathroom.
Relief hit Sehun once he threw up into the toilet bowl, but it took almost five minutes for his body to recover from the nausea. He sat down on the sink countertop, hoping that no one entered because slumping is definitely considered as proper gentleman behavior. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to block everything.
"Sehun?" he heard his familiar voice after the door opened. "Are you okay? Hui Lei told me you started feeling sick."
"I'm okay," Sehun told Luhan, not bothering to open his eyes any time soon. "I'm never eating escargot in my life after this."
"Oh yeah, I'm not a big fan of it either, especially after Yixing had a similar reaction," he noticed Luhan's voice was a bit off, but maybe it was the nausea affecting him. "Are you feeling better?"
"Sort of, nausea is still hanging around, but it's fading away," Sehun replied.
Suddenly, he heard water running from the sink which decreased to drips. Then he felt the cold surface of a wet towel on his face. Sehun trembled at the sudden action.
"Sorry," Luhan apologized, "but everytime I get like this, wiping my face with a wet towel helps me... don't know why, but it does."
Sehun felt refreshed as Luhan patted the towel softly around his whole face.
"Open your mouth," Luhan instructed.
"Huh?"
"Just open it."
Sehun did as he was instructed and then he began tasting the minty flavor of the thin gum strip that Luhan placed in his mouth. Luhan's hand went underneath his chin and closed the younger's mouth. Sehun opened his eyes and saw Luhan's face was a bit too close for comfort. He backed his head further away while trying to avoid hitting the back of his face.
"So... how was the party?" he stuttered.
"Eh, it's alright I guess," Luhan sounded a bit distracted.
He's hiding something
"You're worried about something but you're not telling me," Sehun stated. "Come on, spit it out."
"When I was walking over here, I overheard two of Reinette's friends talking about Reinette telling them that she's planning to give her man of honor a symbol of love after her waltz."
"Do you know what's that symbol?"
"I don't know. Reinette recited a poem, but even then, the description is vague. It went something like 'I am my love's and he is mine forever. Sealed with a seal and safe forevermore.'"
Sehun thought about it a couple of times until he finally figured it out. The only thing closest to resembling a seal used to show one's love was a kiss.
Then it dawned upon him: Reinette was going to kiss Luhan.
"Oh."
"Oh? What do you mean by 'Oh'?"
"Erm, Luhan... she, um, plans to kiss you."
All color drained from Luhan's face. "What?" Luhan began pacing around the room. "No, this is bad. What is she thinking? People will get the wrong idea... her father will think we're in a relationship and then Father will find out..."
"Luhan," Sehun tried to grab his friend's attention but failed.
"Knowing her, she'll probably attempt to French kiss me... I'm not ready for that! If I was barely ready when I received my first, what makes her think I'm ready for this?! Min never French kissed me..."
"Luhan, calm down," Sehun turned Luhan around so the latter could face him. He then grasped Luhan's face with his hands. "No one is going to get kissed tonight."
"No?"
"I promise that I will prevent that from happening. You're not going to kiss anyone who you are not okay with receiving something important like this."
"Do you really mean that?"
"I do. In fact-" Sehun was interrupted by the slamming door, revealing Hui Lei and Jiao-long.
"If you're going to protect whatever innocence there is left within Luhan, you might as well start running away. The waltz is going to begin in less than half hour," Hui Lei stated.
"You were eavesdropping on our conversation?" Luhan asked incredulously.
"Call it whatever you like, but that's not what matters right now. Do you want to escape with your knight in shining armor from the evil Frog or not?" the girl deadpanned. Both boys nodded, ignoring Hui Lei's implications. "Well then," the older twin threw something at Luhan; it was his keys for his Vespa. "We took the liberty of getting your Vespa from your house before the party. Jiao-long and I figured you two would pull some sort of stunt tonight."
"How did you-?"
"Let's just say we know people and we're always ahead of everyone by two steps 'cause we're awesome like that."
"Um, Hui Lei? The Frog is heading this way," Jiao-long announced.
"Crap," Hui Lei pulled the two out of the bathroom and led them to the right side of the hallway. She opened a door that led to the staircase. "We're on the tenth floor so you're going to have to hurry your arses down the stairs. Don't pause for anything. Luhan, your Vespa is already downstairs. Now run away, you wild children."
"Thank you," Luhan told her sincerely before running towards the stairs with Sehun.
Hui Lei walked away and headed back to the men's bathroom, but she was pulled over to where a bush stood. It was Jiao-long.
"Jiao-long, what the-?!" Jiao-long shushed her and pointed at the bathroom. Not long after, they saw Reinette stalk towards the staircase with an angry expression on her face.
"Uh-oh~" the twins chorused as they ran to the staircase.
Sehun and Luhan had barely reached the sixth floor when they heard the sound of heels echo through the dark staircase.
"Did you hear that?" Luhan whispered.
"Yeah," Sehun replied, "let's keep moving, but try to be quiet and stay within the shadows."
The boys kept heading downwards, along with the sound of heels clicking one each step. At some point, the heels stopped. Feeling relieved, the boys kept moving at their original pace until-
Ring Ring
"Damn it!" Luhan tried to turn his phone off but his blood went cold when he saw the caller ID ; it was Reinette.
"Luhan!"
As if the phone wasn't enough, they heard Reinette's voice followed by the sound of heels.
"Run!" Sehun grabbed a hold of Luhan's hand and pulled him throughout the twists and turns of the staircase. As their speed increased, so did Reinette's. When they heard her screech some words deemed far from ladylike, Sehun stopped along with Luhan in the middle steps.
"Jump!" Sehun instructed and both boys did, resulting in a temporary stumble and aching feet. "Go through that door!" he pointed at the door that led to the third floor. Not giving a care about who was in their way, Sehun and Luhan pushed their way towards the elevator. Reinette followed suit as she saw the two boys head towards one of the elevators that was barely opening.
"Move out of the way!" Luhan yelled at the people exiting the elevator. Sehun and Luhan managed somehow to slide inside the elevator and pressed the close button just in time as Reinette was closing in on them.
The two boys were huffing and tried to catch their breath as quickly as possible. "When the door opens again, we'll make a dash for your bike, alright?" Sehun told the older boy through coughing fits. Luhan nodded as he watched the screen switch from a two to a one.
"Ready?" Sehun grasped Luhan's hand once again.
"One... two... three!"
The doors opened and the boys ran like they never did before. At some points, they felt like their feet would give them away due to the burning pain that crossed through their calves, but their will allowed them to prevail.
"Luhan!" Reinette's voice was heard as they exited the hotel lobby to the outside world.
Luhan went ahead and placed his keys in their places to start the engine. He handed Sehun his very own helmet.
"Hop on," Luhan told him as he sat on the bike. Sehun looked at him incredulously.
"You're not going to wear one?!"
"Luhan! Get back here!"
"We don't have time for that! Hop on!"
"I'm not going to ride this thing if you don't wear your helmet!"
"Luhan! Don't you dare leave me!"
"I'm going to be fine! I'm not a delicate doll! Now hurry up!"
"You're getting a helmet!"
"LUHAN!"
"Look, we can go somewhere else and stop so I could put on a helmet, or we can keep fighting about this and let Reinette capture me in a French kiss. Your choice," Luhan deadpanned. Sehun immediately jumped on the bike and held on to Luhan's torso.
"Drive away," Sehun commanded.
"Hold on tight!" Luhan instructed as the Vespa was brought to life, moving at full speed away from a place of luxury into the streets of Gangnam-gu.
Kai was starting to get bored, and a bored Kai was never a good thing.
Sure, he danced with a lot of guests and ate food (except for escargot; the name itself was a warning for food poisoning), but he reached that point were he was tired of clingy girls who constantly fawned over him and he could no longer eat. So, what else could he do before his mischevious side took over? Sneaked out, of course. And he didn't regret a single thing because the hallways proved to be an excellent source of entertainment. He was walking near the men's bathroom when he saw Hui Lei pulling none other than Luhan and Sehun out of there. Kai watched as the girl led them to another door; probably a staircase because he didn't see them come out anytime soon. He was about to walk there to catch up with the two boys because he reasoned that hanging out with Luhan was better than dancing with any girl. But then he saw Hui Lei hide from sight after Luhan and Sehun left.
What is she up to?
Suddenly, he saw the Frog stalk to the men's bathroom. Kai wanted to sneak in and scare her, but after an incident from a year ago, well, he decided he valued his manhood than the satisfaction of messing with the Frog. So he just stayed put and observed what would happen. A few minutes passed and the Frog exited the bathroom, huffing to the point where she could have steam coming out of her ears.
What the hell?
Next thing he knew, she walked in the same direction Luhan went, then Hui Lei (and Jiao-long) followed suit. Not wanting to be the one left behind, Kai walked into the door that seems to attract people he knows. He kept walking down the stairs, following the sound of footsteps. All of a sudden, he heard the faint sound of a phone ringing followed by the Frog's annoying voice calling out to Luhan.
Huh, she's finally using his name...
"Damn it!" Kai heard Hui Lei's voice when he reached the sixth floor, "We need Plan B!"
He continued to follow everyone without them being aware of his presence. His legs were burning, but he couldn't go back. Kai was having so much fun in this chase that Luhan seemed to have started. It reminded him of the fun times Luhan and him spent when they were younger, when Kai would convince Luhan to play 'hide-and-seek' whenever he wanted something from the older boy.
The youngest Kim had finally caught up to everyone in the lobby and watched as Luhan and Sehun left the hotel on the Chinese boy's red Vespa. He would have been annoyed because he wasn't the one on the bike with Luhan, escaping from boredom and the Frog. But when he noticed Hui Lei throw what looked like a clutch accross the floor towards the direction the Frog was running to, which was dangerously close to the water fountain, Kai ignored that little twinge of jealousy (he didn't bother engaging in a mental battle to deny this) and ran towards the Frog to prevent a horrible accident from occuring. By the time the Frog tripped, he managed to hold her from her waist and stopping her from falling.
"Why?!" he heard Hui Lei shout from a nearby bush. Kai glared at her direction, then softened his expression when he saw Yi Fan's sister crouch down pulling Jiao-long, who was awkwardly waving at him, along with her. He returned his attention to the Frog, who was slowly standing. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," the Frog replied, her voice cracking a bit, "even though it is you who helped me, I thank you."
"Don't mention it," Kai told her, as he stared at the direction his friend left. Not a single word was exchanged at the moment.
"Both of them warned me, didn't they?" the Frog broke the silence. Kai stared at her with a confused expression on his face.
"That garçon, Oh Sehun, told me Luhan didn't love me... I thought he was lying when I told him to stay away from him, but then I thought it over, and realized Luhan never looked at me the way I wanted him to," the girl elaborated. Kai noticed a few stray tears fall making their way on the Frog's cheek as she kept staring at the distance with the same expression he caught Luhan having every December. For what reason, he didn't know, but the Frog made him realize it was the expression of having one's heart shattered into pieces.
"Don't cry," Kai told her, trying to get her to stop since he was never one to be comfortable around people who cried. She didn't stop so he had no choice but to comfort her by hugging her.
"He left me!" the Frog sobbed. "I only wanted to be loved for once! He never loved me!"
"I'm sure he left because he didn't want to break your heart more than was necessary... and he loves everyone, including you. I overheard him saying that he's always seen you like the sister he always wanted. As for love, don't worry. There are many out there looking for the same thing you want... you just have to look in deeper in order to find it."
Gosh, I sound like one of those dating websites...
"You're actually very nice, Jong In," the Frog stuttered out as she pulled out from the hug. Kai just wanted to get some smug retort, but it was a bit too early for that.
"I'm very thankful that you opened my eyes," the Fr- Reinette said. "How about you dance with me as my man of honor instead?"
"Um- I," Kai didn't expect this turn of events.
"Come on, it will be fun!" Reinette began to smile. She didn't even give him time to reply because she was already pulling Kai towards the building.
This is what I get for being nice...
Through the helmet, Sehun began to see the bright lights that welcomed him to the district. He felt butterflies in his stomach as he gazed at the tall glass building that seemed to shine brighter at night, making the streets look like a light show that was competing with the stars above them for brightness. Although the night had some unpleasant surprises, he deemed this as the best way to end it. Although the initial part of riding the bike was a bit terrifying, Sehun had to admit that it was pretty fun and calm to be on a Vespa, especially when Luhan knew what he was doing (although a small part of him was still nagging him about the fact that Luhan wasn't wearing a helmet). Soon, the city lights began fading away as Luhan drove the bike to the city outskirts near the Han River. The bike started to slow down as they were passing by a small park with a playground.
"Let's stop here for a bit," Luhan told Sehun as the bike made a stop near a set of swings. Sehun got out of the bike first in an ungraceful manner due to his numb legs and lack of experience on a Vespa. Luhan chuckled as he took the keys off the bike. Sehun began stretching his arms as he walked towards the swings while his partner in crime ran up to them like a small child after a swing has been emptied. He sat down on the swing next to Luhan's, watching as the latter began swinging back and forth slowly.
"Haven't been on a swing in a while," Luhan commented, "it's probably one of the only things I will allow myself to get off the ground willingly, other than planes, because of my acrophobia."
"So if someone tells you to get on a rollercoaster, would you say no?" Sehun asked, knowing what the answer would be.
"I wouldn't even bother saying a word, I would just run away," Luhan replied truthfully. "You can ask Kai; Chanyeol had taken us to Lotte World on our first year as friends, and while everyone got on the rollercoasters, Kai had to stay with me throughout everything."
"Ah," Sehun started swinging back and forth on his swing. Silence prevailed for a bit before Luhan spoke. "You know about my fears. What about you... do you have any phobias?"
"Not really. I've never given it much thought, honestly," Sehun confessed.
"That's good... that you're brave. Unlike me," Luhan stared at the sky as he said this. "I'm such a wimp at times."
"You're not a wimp. You just need someone to be there for you," Sehun told him and his eyes widened when he realized what had just slipped from his mouth. "Um, what I meant is that I know you're independent and stuff, but you know, it's okay to rely on others."
A moment of awkward silence passed. "Komawo," Luhan muttered, but Sehun heard it.
"So... you live on the other side of the River?" Luhan asked.
"Yeah, I live in Wangsimni-ro," Sehun added, as he stared at the bridge that separated his location from his home.
"It's not the far then," Luhan said more to himself, "Did your parents have a set time for you to arrive home?"
"Not really, they just told me to go straight home as soon as the party ended or when I felt like leaving."
"Alright then. I can take you home and then go home myself," Luhan was about to stand up but Sehun stopped him.
"Wait!" Sehun told him as he placed his hand on Luhan's shoulder.
What are you doing?!
"Uh, do you not want to leave?" Luhan asked, a bit startled by Sehun's sudden action.
"Um, I, er..."
I can't let him go by himself... what kind of friend would I be if I did that? It's late at night... what if he meets bad people while he goes home?
"If you want, we can stay a bit more here, but I'm not taking you anywhere else. I don't want you to get in trouble."
Ha! And I'm the one that's worrying about him finding trouble along the way!
"No, it's not that. I, er-"
Stop fumbling, you fool! Tell him what you want!
"Luhan," Sehun started after releasing a deep breath.
"Yes?"
"Wouldyouliketostayoveratmyhousetonight?"
Author's Note: Wow, a new year literally had to arrive for me to update. I'm sorry, but this is one of the longest chapters I've ever written; I had to divide it in two. There was a lot of research to be done, changing and adding stuff to the mix, but here it is. On the bright side, a lot of HunHan in this chapter.
Now, French Lesson of the day:
mon amie: my friend (directed towards a female)
Morceau de merde: piece of s***
mon amour: my love
Merci: thank you
Bonjour: hello (I think it's pretty obvious)
Mon chér: my dear
frère: brother
bon: good
Oui: yes
salaud: bastard (offensive term of word)
merde: s***
garçon: boy
Reinette L'Eclaire will be one of those OCs who will stay for a bit because, although she's annoying and literally falls for the first guy she sees, she's useful in the future. I honestly enjoyed writing the bit with Luhan panicking over a kiss, because it shows that he's still inexperienced in the love department (I mean, come on, 'Min' was his first kiss and that's it) and how serious a romance is in high society. I wanted Sehun to be (sort of) jealous because it's not like one day they're friends, and the other it's romantic and ual frustration (oh wait, it kind of is)... but I hope you get my gist... he's not possessive or anything (yet).
I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please comment, subscribe, upvote.
Until next time (and Happy New Year)
~Ulyana ^J^
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