Chapter 6

Kris' eyes did not open.  He was in an endless sleep, where he didn't have to deal with unwanted memories or suffocating thoughts or feelings of emptiness.  He was free

"LUHAN WAKE UP!"

"Holy cr--what the--Sehun!"  Luhan poked his head out of the blankets.  "Get out of my room!"

Sehun cowered a little under his brother's glare, but he persisted. "What happened to Kris?" he demanded.

"Urghh." Luhan's head disappeared back into the blankets.

"Come on, tell me."  Sehun sat on the edge of Luhan's bed and bounced up and down.

"Stop that! I'm sleeping!"

"You promised," bounce, "you promised," bounce, "you promised--"

"Ugh MOM! Get him out of my room!"

Chapter 6

Now that Suho had agreed to be more invested in his marriage, his perfectionism came out in full force.  The couple had their first fight over the color scheme for their reception. Xiumin wanted white, to symbolize a fresh start. Suho wanted gold, to symbolize the common factor in their relationship. The poor wedding planner, who now had to completely redo her past 3 months' work, wanted a bottle of Advil ASAP

"LUHAN! How about now?"

"What part of 'get out' do you not get?"

"You promised!"

"I'm tired."

"What? But you slept all day!"

"Not today, okay?"

"But that's what you said yesterday!  Are you sick?  Do you have the chicken pox too?  Did I give it to you?"

"What? No. Don't be dumb."

"Then why can’t you--"

"Not. Today. Okay?"

Silence.  Then, a grumpy "It's not okay...but fine.  TOMORROW."

Luhan waited for the sound of footsteps to fade, before he groaned and rolled over on his bed.  What he wouldn't give to just lie in bed forever and forget all of his looming responsibilities... With a sigh, Luhan grabbed a familiar black notebook and pen from his dresser and flipped it to the latest entry. He scribbled a few half-hearted words, before crossing the whole thing out and flopping back onto his bed.

Chapter 6

Three more days.

Suho stared at the sparkly engagement ring on his finger.  He didn’t feel ready at all.

"Luhan! What's a Tree...atment Center?"

"Treatment," Luhan corrected automatically, before freezing.  Slowly, his eyes blinked open.  His gaze swept over to his desk, where an item was now conspicuously missing.  Then it landed on Sehun, who was holding a familiar brochure in his hands.

"You looked through my stuff," Luhan said flatly.

Sehun looked guilty for a second, before a defiant scowl overtook his face.  "I just wanted to know about your adventure!  You wouldn't tell me about it!"

"Maybe because it's none of your business!"  If he wasn't before, Luhan was awake now.  He was very ing awake. "Give me that paper back!"

"It’s not fair.  No one ever tells me anything." Sehun folded his arms.  "But I know about it now, so I guess it's not a secret anymore and I can come with you!  Right?  Look, I even packed my stuff!"  It was then that Luhan noticed the large rolling backpack sitting by Sehun's feet. Sehun sat down to it.  "I brought all my Exo comics.  We can read them together for tips and stuff.  And I also made a superhero badge for me, and for you...and one for Dad when we find him...oh yeah, we're going to find him, right?"

"What?!  No--"

"I was looking at the pictures on the paper.  The Treat Center place looks sunny.  I saw a picture of the swimming pool so I brought my swimming suit..."

"Oh my god--"

"Oh yeah, here's our badges!  See? It says L, S, and D. For Luhan, Sehun, and Dad.  It's yellow, green, and blue.  In Exo, they all have badges so they can talk to each other--"

"SHUT UP!"

Shocked, Sehun did just that.  Luhan ran his hand through his hair and let out a breath.

"Get out of my room."

"But...what about the story?"

“Not now.”

“But you promised—“

“I lied."

"What?"

"I lied. You know, like people do ALL the time?  Stop bugging me.  Fine!  You want the ending? Everyone dies. Including Byul.”

Sehun recoiled.  “What? That’s not fair—“

“Life’s not fair.  It’s just a stupid story, anyway.”  Luhan got up from the bed and pushed his brother out of the room.  "Go watch your lame Exo cartoons, if you can't handle it!"

"W-why are you being so mean?  I just want to go on an adventure, with you and Dad--"

"Are you really this dumb?"  The words spilled out of Luhan before he could stop them.  "Dad didn't go on some adventure, Sehun.  He LEFT us!  He left us because he didn't want to see us anymore!  Get that through your stupid head!  And guess what?  I'm leaving too BY MYSELF!  I'm going to be gone FAR AWAY FROM YOU and I CAN'T WAIT!"

The last thing Luhan saw before he slammed the door shut was Sehun's stricken face.

Chapter 6
It's kind of pathetic that Kris just gave up like that, right?  Even Kris, with all his years of training to become a badass fighter and leader, was defenseless against Dr. Cat's mind machine.  Maybe it was his fault.   Maybe he was just too weak.  He had always just been messed up, from the very beginning.  Maybe the hole inside of him would never be fixed.  Maybe, no matter how hard he worked, he would never be good enough.  Maybe he should just stay dead.  Maybe this story is just stupid. Maybe 

“Hey.” Luhan set the tray on the bedside table. Sehun ignored Luhan, eyes trained on his iPad.  “I brought a snack.”

“I'm not hungry.” Sehun didn't even look up for the strawberry cake and bubble tea bribe.

“Well, you should have some food with your medicine.”

“No.”

"...No to the food, or to the medicine?”

“No to you,” Sehun hissed.  Luhan flinched.

“Look....  I’m sorry, Sehun." The cheerful game music was Luhan's only response.  "I'm really sorry about yesterday."

"Hmph."

"I shouldn't have said all those things.  I wasn’t thinking properly.  I didn't mean it.  I don't actually want to leave."

"Yeah?" Sehun put down his iPad and glared at him.  "If that's true, then why are you leaving?"

Luhan hesitated; he couldn't answer. His chest squeezed as Sehun's face pinched.

"Whatever, I don't care," Sehun mumbled, returning to his game.  "The story was stupid anyway."

"Tao.  Tao, let's go."  Chanyeol shook his friend.  He looked nervously down the passageway.  "We have to hurry!"   But no matter how hard Chanyeol poked, prodded, and pinched, Tao refused to budge. He stared down at the lab room with a glazed-over look in his eyes.  "What's the matter?  You look like someone just killed your family or something.”

"Excuse me?" Tao gave Chanyeol an incredulous stare.

"Excuse me." The voice around the corner finally showed itself.  Chanyeol jumped and nearly screamed.  It was another man. Unlike Chanyeol and Tao, he was dressed completely in white.  He was also holding out a hand and smiling pleasantly like it was perfectly normal to crawl through stuffy vents on a Monday morning.  "Pleased to meet you, gentlemen.  My name is Dr. Unicorn.  If you two would be so kind as to step aside, I have a patient to save."

Chanyeol unstuck his mouth.  "Who, the Masked guy down there?"

"Indeed."

"Oh. Uh, I think you're too late."

"Yes, I managed to catch the tail end of the...proceedings."  Worry appeared in Dr. Unicorn's eyes as he peered down into the room.  He watched as Dr. Cat covered the still body with a sheet.  The door slammed shut as Dr. Cat exited the room.  "Very unfortunate."

"That's kind of an understatement." Tao glared at Dr. Unicorn.  

After checking once more that Dr. Cat was truly gone, Dr. Unicorn pulled a wrench from his bag and used it to loosen the screws on the grate.

"What are you doing?”

“I may be able to save him.  He's not completely dead.  That machine isn't meant to kill, despite its name."

"Oh, I remember!" Chanyeol exclaimed.  "The crazy doctor said it was just supposed to make you wish you were killed."

"Exactly. The machine's power lies in the mind."   Dr. Cat pulled a rope from his bag and tied one end of it securely to the edge of the vent.  "Well, it was nice meeting you two.  Safe travels."  With that, he slid down the rope.

"Wait!" Tao demanded.  "What are you talking about?  The mind?  What are you going to do? Hello?  Hey!" Dr. Unicorn had landed on the floor and was making his way over to the machine, a white figure in the equally white lab.  "What are you doing, you crazy fool?  Don't touch him!"  

"I don't think he can hear you, Tao."

"Then I'll...I'll make him hear me.  That's it, I'm going down," Tao growled.  He handed the map to Chanyeol.  "You go get Suho. I'll see what that crazy unicorn guy is up to, and we'll meet up later, okay?"

"But I can't kidnap Suho alone!" Chanyeol protested.  "I..." Chanyeol gulped and said in a smaller voice, "I have something to confess."

Tao waited, eyebrow raised.

"I actually don't like fighting....I hate it."

"I know."

"You...what?"  Chanyeol stared.

"Baekhyun knew, too. Why else do you think he hired me on to the team?  We all have our strengths and weaknesses.  I'm sure you know mine."

"Bacteria?"

"...Right."  Tao gave Chanyeol a rare smile. "Besides, that's why you're going to talk to Suho.  Politely, without fighting.  Tell him the truth."

“The...truth?”  Chanyeol stared.  "What about our job?"

"Forget the job," Tao said firmly.  "I think it's about time everyone tells each other the truth, don't you think?  As a very renowned scholar named... Sehun the Scholar...once said, we shouldn't keep secrets from one another.”  Tao's gaze lingered on the Masked Man's prone body and turned serious.  “Otherwise, people get needlessly hurt."

With that nugget of wisdom and a dramatic swish of his black robes, Tao slid down the rope.

Sehun made a noise and shifted in his sleep. Luhan tore his gaze from the window to the bed.   The younger boy's face was mashed into his pillow, his body was curled up in a fetal position. Even in sleep, his posture was defensive.  Luhan pulled the blankets closer around his brother.  He wondered what Sehun was dreaming about.

Dr. Unicorn was exclaiming over every surface of the machine.  "It's just as I remembered it," he marveled.  "Unbelievable."

"Hey, you!  What business do you have here?" Tao's voice shook slightly from having to slide down the rope, though his fear of heights was currently outweighed by his fear for his brother.  “Do you even know what you’re doing?”

"Of course.  I built this."

"You what?  The machine?"

“I co-built it, to be exact.”  Dr. Unicorn studied the monitor that was hooked up to the machine.  "Back when we were classmates at Mammal Medical School, Dr. Cat and I did our research project together.  We wanted to create a tool to extract suppressed memories and thoughts, to help our patients.  Many people suffer because they keep their pain hidden, locked, or bottled up."

"And this is the machine that's supposed to help?" Tao gestured to the prone body.  "Because that looked pretty painful to me."

"You're right." Dr. Unicorn admitted.  "I soon realized that the machine would never work as we envisioned.  The mind is very delicate.  All of our thoughts, memories, and emotions are interconnected.  Additionally, some things are buried for a reason. You can't just go willfully probing around at people's minds.”  Dr. Unicorn looked down at the still young man strapped to the table.  “His mind would have fallen apart under the stress." 

"So why does this thing even exist, then?" Tao demanded.

"An idea, once hatched, can never truly die.  I tried to convince Cat to drop the project, but if you know anything about him, it's that he never gives up on something once he's set his mind to it.  After we graduated, he's been spending the past year trying to perfect the project.  I've been sneaking in here for the past month, and this is the first time I've arrived in time to see him using it."

"But you were still too late," Tao said bitterly.  "My brother is dead.  That animal killed him."

"Young man, have more faith in your brother."  Dr. Unicorn looked calmly back at him.  "The human mind, in addition to being delicate, is also stronger than you think.  His brain shut down to protect itself, but it's still there. See?"  Dr. Unicorn pointed at the monitor screen, on which little peaks and valleys passed by.

"What's that?" Tao's gaze traveled down the cord connecting the monitor to the helmet around his brother's head.  "That's him?"

"Yes. And from the increased signals, it appears that he is aware of us."

"Really?  Yifan!" Tao called. The body on the table remained immobile, but there was a sudden spike on the screen.  "He heard me!"

"Unsurprising, given that you two are related. He must recognize you." 

"Yeah...sure..."  Tao winced as he realized that he really didn't know his brother.  And Yifan did not know him at all.

"Keep talking to him.  Say whatever you can think of to trigger his mind."

Tao stared down at his brother.  It was a stranger's face on the table.  Tao thought of the lost years between them, and all the stories and secrets and misunderstandings between them. Only two days ago, they had been battling each other; Tao had been ready to kill him to avenge his family.  And now, it turned out that his family had been right there in front of him the whole time.  Tao could only hope that it wasn't too late to reach out and reconnect.  

"Hey, gege," Tao cleared his throat.  Another spike appeared on the monitor.  "Do you want to hear a story?  It's about a boy, who grew up in a village in Yuan..."

As far as stories went, it wasn’t anything that would ever win a literary prize.  Tao wasn't very good with directly expressing himself, but he hoped Yifan could understand what he was trying to say.

"And then?  Did Kris get better?"

"Sehun!"  Luhan whirled around from the window in surprise.  "You're awake?"

The blanket lump froze back into stillness.  

"I didn't even know you were listening."  Luhan said.  "Sorry, I'll leave."

"No," the lump muttered.  "Wait."

Luhan waited.

"I’m still mad at you.  But I wanna hear the rest of the story.” Sehun mumbled.  He still hadn't turned to face Luhan.

"It's late.  You should be sleeping."

"Well, you were really mean to me, so you have to be nice and do what I say."

Luhan winced.  He couldn't argue with that.

An hour, many sneezes, and a pair of bruised knees later, Chanyeol finally made his way to Suho's bedroom.  He had gotten lost at least four times in the labrynth of vents, thanks to his dust allergy and Baekhyun's tiny handwriting on the map.  Coughing and rubbing his red eyes, Chanyeol peered through the grating and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the familiar room he had kidnapped Suho from.  Suho was reading on the bed, facing away from Chanyeol.

"Suho," Chanyeol whispered loudly...which kind of defeated the purpose of whispering.  "Suho, can you hear me?" Suho refused to turn around.  "It's me, Chanyeol!"

"You know, there are two guards stationed outside my room."  Suho turned another page in his book.  His words were casual but his voice was oddly squeaky, perhaps from fear. "I could call them in right now."

"No, wait!  I come in peace!" Chanyeol yelped.  "Look, I know we kidnapped you, which was really bad.  I'm sorry! But listen, okay?  It's important! You're making a super huge mistake marrying that Xiumin guy."

"There's nothing wrong with Xiumin," Suho hissed with surprising ferocity.  "Why can't some people just give him a chance? "

Chanyeol blinked.  "Uh...ok...well, that's really nice of you to say, but I dunno if he deserves it.  His family hired us to kidnap you."

Suho froze. “What?”

"Yeah. I know it sounds crazy.  They told us to kidnap you and then make it look like the Moxe did it.  We had to leave fake clues all over the plane and the hotel and stores when we went to buy stuff."

"That's...no...that's ridiculous," Suho stuttered. His voice shook.

"It's true!  They wanted to make your parents mad at the Moxe and stop doing business with them.  Oh, by the way, I just saw that masked Moxe guy getting tortured downstairs. He's actually your ex-boyfriend right?" Chanyeol winced as he realized that probably wasn't the most tactful way to deliver the news.

There was a growl as Suho flung his book aside and whirled around, revealing a pair of wide eyes and--Wait...that wasn't Suho!  Chanyeol barely had a moment to realize he'd made a huge mistake, before not-Suho strode over to the wall. Suddenly, the vent entrance was yanked open, and a pair of surprisingly strong hands yanked Chanyeol out.

"What did you just say?"

Gulping, Chanyeol looked up into a furious Xiumin's face.

"FATHER!" Xiumin stormed into the room.  "I DEMAND an audience with you!"

"Now, now, son."  Mr. Kim barely looked up from the poker tournament he was watching on the flatscreen TV.  "It's perfectly normal to get cold feet.  Go sweat it off in the sauna. "

"That's not why I'm here--"

"Or knock yourself out with some good bubble tea.  That's what I did the night before I married your mother."

"YOUKIDNAPPEDSUHO?!"

"What?  Oh, nonsense!"  Mr. Kim sighed and lifted his remote to mute the TV.  "It wasn't kidnapping."

"Oh." Xiumin let out a sigh of relief and calmed down.  I knew that giant guy was talking crazy!

"I mean, Suho Kim is over 18 years of age. So, technically, it wasn't kidnapping."

Xiumin's mouth dropped.  "What."

"If it makes you feel better, we always intended for him to be returned safely in time for the wedding."  That tidbit did not make Xiumin feel better.  Mr. Kim continued, "Rather than 'kidnapping,' it was more of a...surprise detour."

"Surprise detour," Xiumin repeated flatly.  "Orchestrated by you?"

"Your mother and I, yes.  And look, he's back safe and sound, just in time for the wedding!  Will that be all the questions?"  Mr. Kim returned to the television.  Xiumin snatched the remote out of his father's hands. 

"I can't believe you!  Were the guards in on it too?"  But Xiumin knew the answer already.  No wonder the search party had taken so little time, and they had so easily pinpointed the kidnapping on the Moxe.  The guards already knew where to find Suho!  And if the guards had been ordered to obey his father's instructions to discredit the Moxe, then they definitely would not have obeyed Xiumin's order to let the Masked Man go...

Xiumin recalled Chanyeol's words, about what he had seen downstairs.  That meant...

Xiumin's face paled as he realized he had unwittingly broken his promise to Suho.

"This is a mess," he groaned.

"Really?" Mr. Kim frowned as he pulled out a second remote.  "I thought it was the perfect solution.  For the longest time, the Moxe have been in a thorn in our side, ever since they've set up the Koxe here in Won Land. I'm sure you've noticed they've been encroaching on our software market.  I hoped to convince the Kims to terminate their association with the Moxe and partner with us instead. "

"Is that why you want me to marry Suho?"

"Of course.  The kidnapping was an additional precaution to ensure bad blood between Suho's parents and the Moxe.  Parents are very protective when it comes to their children."

"Are they," Xiumin said bitterly, thinking of his own mostly-absent parents.

"I'm doing this for your sake, too, son." Mr. Kim gave him a sharp look.   "Once you're a married man, our company will be legally yours."

"What?" Xiumin's eyes widened in shock. "All mine?"

"Yes, as per tradition.  It's about time, too. Your mother and I plan to retire off to Ariary and put you in full charge of the business.  After all, you've done a wonderful job running the branches we've assigned you this year.  I was quite pleasantly surprised by how much our stocks have grown."

"Er. Thanks."  Xiumin fidgeted.  He decided not to tell his father that he'd actually spent most of the last year reading adventure books and dumping his work onto Chen.  It was his own parents' fault for not bothering to check on him!  Besides, Chen seemed to actually like doing all the boring work...

Mr. Kim put a hand on his son's shoulder.  "In twelve hours, you and Suho will be married.  In twelve hours, we will be part of the most powerful technological force in Won Land, and the Moxe will be forced to unhook their claws from our country's market.  This is your chance to do something great."

"There's a difference between doing good and great things," Xiumin murmured, recalling a line in one of his books.

"What's that?"

"Nothing." Xiumin shook himself.  "Don't worry, Father. I'll get married. I'll do what's best for the company."

Mr. Kim looked surprised, but he nodded.  "You've matured.  I'm proud of you, son."

"Thank you, Father."

The moment he had escaped his father's sight, Xiumin fled downstairs, his heart racing like a horse.  He felt like he'd just stepped into a landmine.  For once he was in the middle of a giant plot that rivalled those in his adventure books, and he had zero idea what to do.

"So? What did Xiumin do?"

"Hm...What do you think he should do?"

"Well how should I know?" Sehun grumbled into his pillow, evidently still in a prickly mood.  His voice was tight."YOU'RE the one telling the story."

"Glad you finally accepted that,"  Luhan teased.  "You'll find out tomorrow, okay?"

"Wait."  Sehun spoke again, in a quieter voice.  "Hyung...I'm not stupid."

"I know," Luhan hastened to reassure. He didn't want to spoil the tentative truce between them.  "Of course not.  Whatever I said yesterday, I wasn't thinking--"

"It's not that."  Sehun turned over to finally face his brother, and that was when Luhan realized Sehun hadn't been hiding his anger all evening.  He had been hiding tears. Luhan stared.

"Sehun--"

"I'm not stupid!  I know something's wrong!"

"What do you mean--"

"Is Kris going to be okay?"  Sehun demanded. "You promised me a happy ending!"   He wiped his face angrily.  Luhan gaped.

"Sehun...it's just a story..."

"It's not!  I'm not stupid," Sehun repeated shrilly.  "So is Kris going to be okay? Tell me!"

Luhan opened his mouth to speak, before he took a good look at Sehun’s face. Suddenly, he realized Kris wasn't really the person Sehun was asking after.   Damn, Luhan had forgotten how little kids sometimes had an uncanny ability to see through things.

"And I'm not a little kid either!" Sehun screeched.  Luhan winced; he must've spoken aloud.

"You kind of are. You’re just a baby to me." 

That was the wrong thing to say.  Sehun's face scrunched up in frustration at not being taken seriously. "FINE!  No one ever tells me anything!  You all think I'm too little to understand!"  Sehun grabbed something from under his pillow and threw it at Luhan's face, before hiding under his blankets. "GO AWAY!"

“Wha—OW!”  Luhan untangled Miranda from his face. "That hurt!"

"GOOD!"

As he glared at Sehun, Luhan sighed and made a decision.  He didn't want Sehun to remember their last moments like this. It reminded him too much of the way things had ended up unresolved and bitter between him and his father.

"Sehun," Luhan quietly said as he set Miranda down on the blanket.  "I'm sorry.  You’re not stupid at all.  In fact, you’re really smart." 

Slowly, Sehun wiggled up so that he was peering at Luhan from the tops of his blanket.

"Okay," he said suspiciously.

“The truth is... Well, uh.  First off, I'm not a hero.  I'm not going on a secret adventure, like you think.  Sorry to disappoint you. I…” Luhan sighed. This was harder than he thought.  “Actually, I did something pretty bad.”

"Did you steal something?" Sehun asked. "Are you going to a jail?”

“Pretty much,” Luhan muttered.  “I mean, no.  No, I’m not.  But it was dangerous, and I almost...well, I got hurt.”

Sehun waited.  Luhan chose his words carefully. He didn’t want to scare his brother, but he also didn’t want to talk down to him.

“I’ve been sick, and it makes me do things I shouldn't do. I need to get better, so I don’t do it again.” 

"...oh."  Sehun grabbed Miranda and held her tightly.  "Will...you get better soon?"

"I don't know,” Luhan replied honestly.  “It's not like the chicken pox.  Some things take much longer to get better."

"That sounds pretty bad." Sehun's eyes were now worried.  He couldn’t imagine anything worse than the chicken pox.

"I won’t lie, some days it's really bad.  And other days, it's not so bad. But listen, Sehun.”  Luhan made sure to look into his brother's eyes.  "I promise you, I'll get better one day.  That's why I'm going to that place.  It'll help me get better."

"...really?"

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

Sehun looked ready to argue, but he nodded instead.  His eyes fluttered as Luhan reached out to smooth his hair.  “So...Kris will wake up?”

"Well, I promised a happy ending, right?"  Luhan reminded with a reassuring smile.  And as he met Sehun’s wide, trusting eyes, he silently promised himself the same thing.