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#1 Into the world 

Featuring Kai

I opened my eyes and stare at the sky above me. Darkness is what I see. The dark clouds seem to block and absorb all the lights. I tried to rise up, lifting my head, but I just can’t. It’s just too painful to be bear. A weird smell pervades the area around me. I feel awkward, and my throat feels weird that I really want to puke.

I feel too weak to move. So, I just turned my head to the right side of me, while my body still lying on the wet grass. I am surprised of what I see. I am astonished by the beauty of the plant which is lying just in front of my bare eyes. A purple dark flower stands beautifully in front of me, and I dare my left hand to touch that thing. Once my hand touches the soft texture of the petals, I feel recharged. I have retained the energy to stand on my feet again. However, that beautiful creature just wilts as soon as I touch it as if I have absorbed all the powers that the weird flower has.

I rise up from the ground and sit. The air is getting fresher as I lift my nose to the next higher level of the atmosphere. I continue to arise and enjoy the freshness of air as my head getting higher from the ground. The feeling of drowsiness just faint and leave my body alone in the mysterious surrounding. I stand on my feet when I see a large tree in front of me, stood taller than the other plants visible. My feet suddenly step a few steps ahead though I don’t want to, but I just obey.

The strange tree is standing just in front of my tiny body now. I am dazzled by the gorgeous tree. The wild flowers that creep around the bark and the branches of the strong tree look so beautiful, so I dared myself to touch them. But the moment I put my palms near the living thing, it moves away. I am startled and dare not to try anymore. I step back a few steps to refrain the tree. At that time I realized the burnt grasses beneath my feet as I step on it.

This is creepy, it’s so unearthly. Maybe it was just a dream. I pinched my arm, hard, but all that I get is the affliction of my foolish action. It is totally not a dream and invites myself to awareness, having goosebumps all on my body.

All of sudden, I feel that I am being watched. I turn myself back and see a glimpse of a black figure. I am so scared but I insist to follow my curiousness, so, I pushed myself to view the figure fully. I step forward, leaving the strange beautiful tree to chase the figure that my eyes catch just a few seconds ago. On this very moment, surprisingly, the fear that I feel for the last few seconds ago just gone.

I continue my steps forward, into the woods where the figure disappeared behind them. The black figure disappears so fast, like a dash. But, I can feel the positive energy of the figure that I should follow it. So, I step forward without haste.

I see a guy standing behind a tree, and I believe he’s the one whom I chase. I walked towards him while he stares at me with his grey shining eyes. His innocent eyes invites me to walk nearer to him, but he just dashing away before my eyes and sit on a branch of a half dead tree, a meter further from the site he just standing. One more step nearer to him, when I feel slight arduous to take my breath. Getting nearer, the guy flicks a smirk and disappears.

“Wait!” that’s the first word that fall off from my jaws from the moment I was deserted on this strange place. No, the guy does not seem to appear anymore. I looked around and I just realized that I’m standing among the creepiest trees that I have ever seen. Everything is just a contrast of the site that I have gone for the first place. It’s getting scary.

I try to escape, so I walk back to the ground that I have stepped on. Strangely, the woods are getting thicker as I walk. The atmosphere feels getting thinner and thinner, nearly to zero oxygen as I walk further and further.

I’m suffocating. 

#2 The forest of death

Featuring D.O

No oxygen. I can barely breathe. I can’t even stand on my feet.

The forest is getting thicker and darker in front of my eyes. All the woods standing tall seem lifeless. I am surrounded by all dark dead trees, giving the freaking creep out of me. Realizing that I am alone, it is impossible for me of thinking there should be even a person or something that could save my life. Not here, it this lifeless forest. Even the earth that I have touch feels that it is not even fertile enough to grow up something. The greatest way of describing the thing is, it’s more better than a dust, nearly zero weight and have no moist in it.

I was nearly dead, pale, lying on the ground when a person arrives.

He is tall, standing right at the side of me, on the ground where I am lying. He looks down at me with a stern look. The moment when my eyes meet his ebony, darkest black eyes with his narrowed-down eyebrow, I know that my presence here is nothing than a disturbance for him. I’m suffocating but I can still look up to see the perfect mannequin well from down here.

“What the hell are you doing here?” a deep voice is coming out of the throat of the owner. But I can say nothing. I’m too weak to answer his stupid question. I even do not know what the hell I’m doing here. Don’t even have the idea how did I get here.

Suddenly he kneels down, with his left knee touching the ground. He pulled the collar of my dress, placed his arm around my shoulder, makes my body slowly rise up, leaving the lifeless earth. His touch, I can feel my skin nearly turn into dust, rotten like the skin of the dead as I don’t feel anything on the surface of my skin once his index touches my neck. Coldness is flowing underneath my skin, into my bloodstream. I should not have been mistaken, he must not a human.

He’s wearing black leather clothing, dashingly attired, looks like a royal blood, the prince of the empire of Rome, the kingdom of King Arthur. I fall into his deep dark black rounded eyes that penetrate its ray into my eyes. His pale face is too near with mine, as if he wants to kiss me. His skin is soft, flawless and beautiful radiantly white that is near to pale, but he has the touch of ice. His skin is freezing cold. I can even feel his freezing cold breath touching my nose.

I’m still suffocating. But, if I was fated to die on his arm, please let it be. Getting weaker, I just letting my eyes shut, waiting for the last second of death to arrive, letting the gods of death to pull my soul out of my body. I’m willingly let myself die on the arms of a perfect mannequin.

Suddenly, the mannequin harshly dropped me off on the dusty ground, and at the same time he makes me awake from the death. From that very moment, I can feel oxygen going in and out of my lungs through my nose again. I’m back to life. He is trying to keep himself a distance away from me as I’m slowly arising from the site where I was dying just a few seconds ago. My back, it is slightly painful but I continue to arise, making the mannequin moves his body much further away from me. As fast as a lightning, he just lightly lifts up his body, and now he is resting on the branch of a dead tree, six feet away from the ground just avoiding me to get nearer to him.

“You are not a Lunarian, nor even a Selenenion, who are you, weird creature?” he voiced again. He crinkles his eyebrows, as clearly showing that he’s totally upset with my presence. I stand on my feet, going to answer his question after this. But, wait, I don’t even know what the hell he’s talking about. Is it real that he’s really not a human? But he does look like a human though. This is nonsense. I could be dreaming, but I can’t totally prove that it is surely a dream. I could not even wake up from this dream.

“Um, I’m a… human?” I answer; just to make the conversation goes reciprocally.

“Human?” he crinkles his eyebrows again, narrowed his eyes as he look at me with his eyes full of fire and fury. He looked down at me staring deep into my eyes till I can feel the flame of his anger. Looking away from those dark black round eyes is even more preferable now.

“I don’t care who or what you are. Just stay away from my territory. If I ever see you again here, I won’t be hesitate to banish you out from this world. Forever.”

I’m terrified with those words. It sounds so real and daring. For a second, I believe his warning.

But, banish? Wait a second, who is he, have the power to banish me from the world forever? He’s no God. Tch. I dare myself to see his face again.

“Yah, you! You better get your butt outta here, if you don’t want yourself end up like this,” with his loud evil laugh he groaned, get off from the tree he was sitting. His face transforms from a perfect-build mannequin to a complete perfect horrible demon look. His face darken to dark pale green, his eyes are completely dark black, his jaws are open as wide as his whole face with billions of small yellow canines, with his two branched, sharp tongue sticking out. He rests his palm on the tree as black steam flows out from his palms, slowly seeping into the bark of the tree. In a blink of an eye, the tree becomes dust or something much better than dust. He turned back, stares at me, like I’m going to be his next prey.

I get on my running track now. Run.

#3 Black water

Featuring Ren

I run as fast as I could. I’m so terrified of what I have seen just now. I have never seen a terrifying creature in my entire life before, neither a ghost. Without looking back, I keep my head heading to the front of me. The dark surrounding seems to be much brighter; I feel that maybe I have reached the end of the forest. The air is getting fresher; there is plenty of oxygen I exhale now.

I see the end. There is no more black tree that I have seen earlier, but I see the sky. I keep running towards it. Maybe it’s better to leave the mysterious forest as soon as possible. My legs can’t stop moving to the end. My hearts keep pounding but it’s getting lighter as I run towards it.

I keep running till I suddenly step on the air. There’s no ground where I landed my feet just now. My whole body tosses on the air and I fall into the water that is running, a stream. Once the water touched my dry skin, I froze. The water is freezing cold. Something that terrifies me the most, deep water, and now, it’s black in colour. I am now so afraid. I feel I wanna get off the water, struggling to the edge but the water current keep pushing me to the center of the flowing black water. I can’t swim. I keep sinking numerously. I feel I can’t survive any longer…

* * *

“Hello! Miss! Are you okay? Can you hear me?!” I hear somebody yelling at me.

I open my eyes and see a guy holding my body, wrap me on the shoulder with his arms. I can see fear through his blue watery crystal eyes, I believe that he’s a good guy, he seems to be one.

“Uhuk, uhuk,” I cough. I lift up my upper body that is resting on that guy’s lap just now. There is still water feel inside my throat that is racing to escape through my mouth.

“Are you okay?” he asks again. I shook. I keep coughing.

He covers my mouth with his right hand. Slowly, he lifts his hand away from my lips. A ball of black water comes out from my mouth. The ability that he has astonished me, he can control water with his only hand! Now, I don’t think the guy in front of me is a human, either. Or, maybe I’m stuck at a world of aliens? Oh no… Aish! I can’t I get rid of that question again, it keep lingering on my mind ever since I’m here.  

“You seem so tired. Come, I’ll lead you the way,” says the guy, makes me awake. He arises and stands on his feet in front of me. He give me his hand, apparently wants me to grab on his hand. I just throw him a look, ignoring his hand.

“Believe me,” he says again. I grab his hand and get off from the ground.

“I’m Ren. Nice to meet you,” he smiles away a handsome smile.

“Suzy,” I replied. He is the first nice guy I meet in this weird world, I guess so.

* * *

Still on the way, to Ren’s place, we walk slowly through the green forest. Unlike the dark forest, the forest is the most beautiful place I have ever seen on earth. The trees have sparkling green leaves, blooming out all beautiful flowers of variety of colours and shapes. The scent of the forest is sweeter than ever. My naughty hands keep brushing all the petals of the flowers on the way, they are as soft as cotton. There is no soil I can see here, all covered up with green soft grasses. I feel like I am walking on huge green mattress.

My mind suddenly says; this could be the famous Eden that only will exist in dreams and tales.

“I have never seen you before,” Ren speaks again after shutting his mouth for maybe 10 minutes after he introduced himself. He gaze at me, throwing a friendly smile. I don’t give him a reply, but I’m just throwing him an awkward smile. This is me, really can’t make friends in just minutes after meeting for the first time. I’m not a friendly person, but in this case, I’ll try.  

He smiles back. Maybe he knows that I’m shy.

“So, is this the first time you’re here?” he sounded again.

“Yeah,” I say.

“Good. Now hold this,” says him, giving me a rodent. I’m not sure what it is but it looks like a hamster, but larger in size. So, I just obeyed him. I have cats at home but I have never dared to hold a rabbit or a hamster again after being bitten. Their teeth scared me. But now I have the feeling that the rodent that I’m holding is safe, so I just hold it. By the way, it’s fluffy and cute.  :3

“Waaa~ Kiyopta~” my hands keep on running on its fur. It’s really soft! So, I take a peek on its face because I still have that phobia of being bitten again.  

“Kumawo!” a voice is coming out from the rodent’s mouth! Suddenly, its eyes grow enormously large!

“AAAHHHHHH!!!” I screamed out all of my breath. I never have seen an animal talking before! So, I immediately throw the animal to the ground, with my body also thrown onto the soft ground. Damn! I am really surprised.

“AHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Ren is laughing, loudly. He joins me sitting on the ground, continuously laughing. He can’t stop laughing, and that’s annoying.

“What are you laughing at?” I say, I forced myself to be cool. Then, I stand, acting like I am not that so surprised.

Ren laugh again. And this time, he is rolling on the ground. This is too much. I don’t like people laughing at me.

“Like seriously? Hahahahahaha!!! You are really funny!” he says. “I like you… your expression… hahahahaha!!!” he tries to make his saying loud and clear, but he really can’t stop laughing. He says out each of the words with his lungs flat out of oxygen. He sits again, picked that animal again. Still laughing, he raises himself on his feet.

“EYYAAAA!!!” He jumps and draws that animal again too near to my face. I am totally surprised, scream out loud, I fall onto the ground again when I try to avoid away that weird animal. Ren laugh again, louder.

“Yaaahh! This is not a joke!” I’m already pissed off.

“Oops! Haha! Sorry… Okay, okay, let’s go. Let’s meet the others.”

I grabbed his hands to stand on my feet again and we continue the journey together, not daring myself to get too near to that talking animal again. 

#4 The gang

Featuring Chunji and Lay 

Ren placed his hand on the largest tree and the tree melts into a transparent, water-like medium. He grabs my hand.

“Come on, follow me,” he says and drags me into the medium. One step and we’re in a different place.

“This is our home. Just treat yourself like you’re in your own house. Feel free to do anything, but, err… not everything,” he explains. He lets his hand off my hand.

“Errr… okay then,” I throw a smile although I’m still not yet clear with the explanation. I turn around to see around the house.

This place is a home, but it’s more like a garden for me. Even the house is made out of a trees and plants. All of the furniture are made of plants!

I’m tired. Waa! A bamboo bench. Looks nice. I think I should sit…

“Wait! Don’t sit there! ” Ren shouts.

“Why?” I move away from the bench.

“Errr… this is weird. I never have seen this kind of bench before.” Ren says. He touches the bench and pushes it. The bench stumbled down and…

“OUCHH!” The bench suddenly transforms into a handsome guy.

“Yah! How come you push to your hyung huh? So rude…” He says, rubbing his head, he says the line with a soft intonation, not a strict hard one.

“Hahaha!!! Among all the things here, why would you transform into a bench? You failed again huh?” Ren continued.

“Hehehe… yeah. Actually I wanna change those bamboos into a bench but, I accidently change myself into a bamboo bench, hehe,” says that guy with his blushing cheeks. He grins till his eyes smiling.

Ren laugh again, loudly. I stand in front of them, just smile, watching them talking.

“Yah, I’m your hyung. Respect me. Don’t laugh too much ah,” again with that soft intonation. When he’s acting like that, I know he’s that kind who will not easily get mad.

“Hahaha!!! Okay, okay. I’ll stop.” And then Ren stops laughing. That transforming guy looks at me and with his friendly smile, he says,

“Wah, she’s so pretty. You are so unbelieveable Ren. I don’t expect that your taste improves so fast!” I’m blushing hearing those compliments about me. Thanks, handsome guy. ^^

“Na’ah, she’s so not my taste.”Ren continued. What Ren says just now puts my blush off.

“Lay hyung is still my type,” he continued again.

OMG, he’s gay! He’s so handsome, why must he choose to be one. Such a waste…

“I heard someone saying out my name,” someone approaching, appears from behind the curtains. Here comes another handsome guy. He must be Lay. Am I stuck in a planet of handsome guys? Waaa~~~ then, if I stuck here forever, it’ll be okay, I mumbled, but absolutely not be heard.

“Hehe, nothing hyung, we’re just talking about my shoe, right, Chunji hyung?” Ren denies.

“Err, yeah. I turned a stone into those black shiny shoes that Ren is wearing just now yesterday. Nice, isn’t it?” he says with a smile. He always has a nice friendly smile.

“Wow, your ability is improving now ho? Congrats! Next time, why don’t you make me a pair of shoes?” he approaches nearer to us, and taps on Chunji’s shoulder.

“Made of chicken.” He raises both his thick eyebrows, adding to his request just now. He wraps he arms around Chunji’s shoulder this time.

“Haha! Sure!” Chunji says, giving out a loud laugh.

Ren looks at them with a kind of weird look. Wait, he’s jealous? I’m so sure that he’s jealous.

“Ren, is this your girlfriend?” says Lay, taking a look at me.   

“No, she’s just a girl whom I rescued from the dark water of death,”

“What? You went to the death forest again? Rennie, you should be aware of D.O, if he finds you out checking on his what-he-called-‘territory’, you will be in a great danger. I don’t want anything bad to be happened to you.”

Ren blushed. “Alright hyung, if it’s in that case, I will never again,” he continues.

“Gosh. Your arm, it’s bleeding,” Lay says to me. I gaze on my right arm. I should have noticed that before he notices. Seriously, I don’t realize that.

He comes nearer and touches the cut on my arm. In a blink of an eye, the wound recovers. He has the ability of healing! And he’s so handsome! My heart flutters on that exact moment he touches my skin!~ 

#5 Nothing 

Featuring Jonghyun

“This is our menu for tonight…” Lay says, serving a large bowl of oijangajji (cucumber pickles) in front of us.

“This is all we have, we can’t cook. Sorry Suzy… we just can’t cook without Jonghyun hyung,” says Ren.

“It’s okay. As long as we can eat, that’ll be good,” I reply, throwing a glad smile. I look at the servings that are lying on the table, white plain cool rice with cucumber pickles.

‘Really? Among all those gentlemen in front of me, none of them can cook?’ my mind speaks.

“Yeah, we can’t. We can’t set fire, that’s beyond our power. Only hyung can, that’s his ability. Huhu, Jonghyun hyung is unreachable right now, he might be located far away from here,” Chunji replies to what I thought just now. I stunned.

“Chunji, you can read my mind?” I say, automatically. Lay laughs.

“Haha, he can, but our poor Chunji still can’t fully control his ability. He just needs to focus and practice more. Sometimes he can read minds, he has the power of telekinesis, and a bit telepathy,”

“Whoa! Telekinesis? Like moving and bending things? Or transforming something?” I speak, almost shouting.

“Yeah, hehe, something like that,” Chunji continues.

“Coooool!”

Chunji smiles away. Lay continues eating, edaciously. Ren looks at me.

“Suzy-ssi, what’s your ability?”

“Me? Err… nothing.”

“What? Nothing?” all of the say that loud, at once.

“Seriously? That’s totally rare. Nobody I’ve known has no power except you Suzy,” Lay says.

“Yeah, me too. I thought I’m the poorest Selenelion in Luna. Poor you Suzy,” Chunji continues.

“Well, I’m a human.”

“Human? What the hell is human?” Ren asking me.

“Err… like me?” I say, pointing to myself. Urgghh, I’m hungry, and I don’t know how to explain ‘human’ to those not-human-but-look-like-human.

“Oh yeah, what the hell is Selenelion?” I ask them.

All of them pointing to themselves.

Serve me right. Laughing out loud, “Okay…” I say.

“Luna?”

“Luna is the place where we stand now,” says Lay while chewing. Now, I understand. A little bit.

“So, all Selenelions have powers?”

“Yeah, Lunarians too,” Ren says.

“Lunarians?”

“Royal bloods and their apprentices.” Chunji explains. Okay, that one is adding to my knowledge now, so, Selenelions are the ordinary people, the non-royal blood. LOL, this is nonsense. I feel like I’m living in a fantasy world. This is, maybe real… I guess. Urggh, I try to not believe but, this is happening to me (?).

“Knock, knock… I’m home!” someone’s approaching. He must be Jonghyun.

“CHICKEN!!!” Lay shouts and rise from his seat, drawing himself near Jonghyun.

“Hyung, why do you come home so late? We are starving here.” Chunji complains, but again, in a soft way like he always did.

“Shut up and don’t complain. If I’m not late, I wouldn’t have caught a chicken. I even barbequed it before I arrive home. You should be thankful to me,” Jonghyun stands steadily, smiling widely in front of us, with an animal he still carry on his shoulder.

# 6 The next day in Luna

I wake up and find myself lying on a bed. It’s now morning. I turn my body facing to the left of the bed with my eyes still shut, my palm wandering for my handphone, and I find nothing! Where’s my handphone?!

I open my eyes find myself in a new place. Where am I now? Whose house is this? Am I drunk last night? Oh no!

I put my feet on the floor and sprinting towards the window. Without wasting even a second, I immediately open the window and look around.

Oh, now I remember. I’m still stuck in Luna. I really forgot that.

I run downstairs and find the boys still sleeping soundly on their bed. And it’s three of them. Where’s another one?

“Hey, good morning! Sorry I haven’t finish preparing our breakfast yet, I never expect you to wake up this early,” says Jonghyun with his apron still hanging on his neck.

Gosh, Jonghyun really gives me a heart attack. He just appears behind me like teleporting soul!

“Yah you! Please don’t do that again, okay?! I could die of heart attack if you keep acting like this,” I say.

“Oh really? Sorry… I don’t mean to startle you.” He turns his face to me and gives me a sly grin. I don’t know if he really means that or it’s just the natural way he smiles. He lowers his sight, looking at my attire now.

“Yah, don’t you ever dare to do that again!” I say, covering my chest with my arms crossing.

“Heisshhh… this is normal mode, you see?” says Jonghyun, pointing on his iris. It’s in normal black colour, like a typical Asian guy has. Yesterday, his eyes were bright red in colour.

“Okay, then. And that means you mustn’t do that to girls, don’t stare at girl’s attire, or else…”

“Arasso~ and just don’t nag like a mum. I don’t like that, even though you’re a girl,” Jonghyun continues, rolling his eyes. His words just make my mouth to shut down. I just realize that I’ve talked to Jonghyun harshly since yesterday, I’ve shouldn’t because I’m staying in his house right now. But, I won’t forgive him if he scans over my undies again.

“Those clothes, are you gonna wear it forever? You should change.” I look at my clothes when he says this.

“I’ve no extra clothes. So how?”

“Urgggghhhmmm… can you guys keep quiet?” Ren moans, still with his eyes close.

We both take a look at him and meet our eyes at the end. We end our conversations.

* * *

I sit on the table, at the center end of the table, facing all the handsome boys while having an extreme luxurious breakfast that Jonghyun has prepared. Once, in a lifetime, I really feel like a princess.

“Suzy-ssi, feel free to use the bathroom, don’t worry, we won’t peek,” Chunji breaks the silence. He tries to lift the spoon off his plate of steak, but it falls off.

“Err… I will, later on…” I say, looking at all of them who have already washed themselves. I am left untidy, still wearing the same attire from the day I meet the strange guy and chase him, the day I was fall into black water until now… blood, dust, mud… all stains still stick on my clothes.

“I think she just don’t wash herself because she don’t have anything to wear.” Jonghyun continues.

Exactly…that’s why.

Ren controls the tea in the jug, lift them into his cup until it’s full, by his hands. He, then sip it slowly because it’s still too hot.

“Rennie, would you give her something to wear? Most of your clothes are small, and look feminine too…” Jonghyun speaks again.

“Who? Me? Are you kidding me? Please don’t, I don’t even like people to touch my precious clothes!” Ren objects, he puts back his cup of tea on its saucer.

“Give her something to wear Rennie, pity her…” suddenly Lay speaks off his mind. It is hard to hear him speak though. He is always keeping himself in silent mode. Ren pauses and looks at me, and then he turn his face again to Lay.

“Okay hyung. BUT, only this time. Only this ONE time, okay…” says Ren glaring at me, I know he changes his mind because it’s Lay who is speaking.

“But, how about her undies? She must buy some, someone must send her to the town for shopping,” here Chunji goes again. I am glad to hear him to concern about me but this is abnormal thing to be discuss. Discussion at the midst of our breakfast: my undies. This is so awkward.

“I can’t volunteer myself. I have errands to do, it’s been a while I’ve not visited The Tree of Life,” Lay says.

“Me neither, I can’t,” Ren says, coldly, rolling his eyes.

“Err… hehe… I need to practice with my brother. I’m sorry Suzy-ssi, maybe next time. Actually I really hope to spend more time with you. Later, I promise I will accompany you walk around this lovely ville,” says Chunji, grins too wide until his eyes smiles.  

I give Jonghyun a look. Ahh~ I hate it, not with this pervert. ~.~

# 7 Illegal trespass

“Here, take these clothes. The shower is waiting for you,” says Ren, damping clothes on my lap while I am waiting for him to lend me some clothes.

I take the clothes he gave just now and I am so satisfy with it. It’s really not bad at all. His fashion sense is perfect. A white shirt with a jean with some details on it, simple yet but so stylish. I guess everything in Luna is so good!

“Whoa! Nice one! Thanks very much Rennie! Later on I will take care of your clothes, wash it properly and give it those back to you,”

“No, just take it and make it your own. I don’t want those clothes anymore. I don’t share my clothes with people. And… one more, just don’t call me Rennie, it’s so damn awkward.”

I look at him while he looks at me with a cold stare. I guess he grew some unlikeness in me. Ottoke? He saved my life, this is so uncomfortable, I should please him more, not making him disliking me more. Without me having the chance to say something, he quickly disappears from my sight. Jonghyun appears to approach me from the stairs when I still holding the clothes.

“Go wash yourself first, I’ll be waiting, just take your time…” he smiles away while holding a dry large blue towel.

Whatever he says, although it’s not, it still sounds like a pervert. I take the towel from his hands and dash into the bathroom. Locking the door behind me, I am trying to wash myself without making sounds and I’m wondering how am I going to succeed with that.

* * *

Everything is ready. Now, I am waiting for Jonghyun to take his things.

“Okay, let’s go,” Jonghyun says as he arrives. I lead the way, went out through the ‘resting room’ and walk towards a huge tree. I still remember yesterday, Ren and I went through this tree to get here. Imitating Ren, I put my hand on the tree and wait till it melts so we can go through.

“What are you doing?” Jonghyun says, standing beside me.

“We need to get out from home right?” I say, and I’m feeling that I’m doing the right thing. I’m so confident.

“HAHAHAHA!!! Who did ever teach you that?” he says again, laughing out loud. I look at him, puzzled.

“Am I doing the right thing? This is the door right? Am I …right?” my confidence level is decreasing. He’s bursting his laugh out loud, again.

“You can’t get through there, darling. Well, for normal Selenelion, we use manual method, such as… this one?” Jonghyun says and pointed to the wooden door just beside the large tree, as if the large tree is just a wall. Yes, we get through the wall last time.  

“Really? But…” I look at his face, and I still can’t manage to continue my words. “Haha!” I giggle.

“HAHAHAHA! Only Ren can do that Suzy-ssi. Remember, he’s the master of fluid. He can turn everything into water, control the flow of water, change himself into water, or even go through things. He is... a water-bender!” Jonghyun continues, waving his hands.

“Ahh… hehehe…” I say while nodding, showing that I’m already understood.

* * *

The forest seems different this time. I am so sure this is the path that Ren and I had taken yesterday, when Ren rescued me from the dark deep water. The leaves are changing colour, from green to yellowish brown. They are wilting and falling to the ground slowly, soaring slowly on the solemn breeze. The surrounding is more silent than yesterday. There are no birds chirping, we can only hear the sole of our shoes stepping on those dry leaves, leaving crisp sound in the air. The trees, although don’t have faces, they are gloomy with their body bend, like old people. The animals are nowhere to be seen, I guess they are hiding behind the tree.

“Jonghyun…”

“Shhh…” he says, puts his index finger on his glossy lips. He leads the way, turning his head quickly to look around the forest.

“We need to cover up! Quick!” He signs. He then grabs my hand and drags me to duck behind the tree just beside the path that we are taking.

We make no sound. While letting a bit of ourselves out from our hidings, we see a weird black fungus creeping on the leaves, slowly making it getting brown, near to the colour of the soil. I hear strong footsteps. Someone is coming.

A dark horse is approaching. Its stalwart legs step boldly on the ground, leaving deep footmarks on the wet soil. In the blink of an eye, the horse turned into a guy. He is wearing a black cloak, a hood is covering his whole head which I can see his face. He then lifts his right hand, directing his palms to the nature in front of him and ‘puff’, it becomes dust. The expression on his face showing he’s totally moody and dislike being here. His eyes are chasing on something, I’m so sure, he’s searching on something, but I am not sure what it is.

Suddenly I move my leg and CRACK! I STEP ON A DEAD, CRISPY LEAF.

THE FIGURE TURNS HIS HEAD, PLACING HIS SIGHT RIGHT ON ME.

I don’t even move. Even an inch. And he’s looking at me. I can see his face, as clearer as I can even recognize what colour the iris he has.

I know who he is. Fear is creeping into my veins. I can feel the adrenaline rush moving beneath my skin. My heartbeat stops, oxygen stops flowing through my lungs. Our eyes meet each other for the second time.

Suddenly his rough hand grabs my collar and lift me until my feet leaves the ground. I’m now revealed. I’m speechless.

“You again? He says, low voiced.

He releases me from his grasp and let me fall onto the ground, hard.

“I don’t like people who are nosy. Now, before I finish you, you should tell me why you are here.”

I just swallowed my saliva.

“No, I think you should explain first,” Jonghyun appears. A ball of flame is floating on his palm.

The guy quickly turns his head to Jonghyun and gives a sly grin. He puts his attention off of me.   

“I don’t think we should fight flame boy. You are no match for me.”

“Try me.”

“HUH? Haha! No thanks. Aishh… I shouldn’t wasting my time here, hate those green shit anyway. Well, see ya bro, I just don’t have the mood for a fight with a loser,” he says. In the speed of a running horse, he leaves.

“Now, who’s the loser?” Jonghyun says, putting his flame off. “Are you okay?”

I get on my feet, standing. “Who’s he?”

“He’s D.O. He just feels great of his ability to turn everything into dust. And he hates plants. Childish.”

We continue walking.

“I’ve met him once. In the dark forest.”

“Really? Geez… you better don’t next time or he will keep your soul forever. He’s a soul keeper. Every soul that he had taken away has never finds the light. Be aware not to let him touch you,” Jonghyun warns. For the first time I feel that he’s adorable.

“Okay.”

“Lay must know this. How dare he steps on our land. This too much, we had promised not to disturb each other. Now, he just breaks the rules. He has gone beyond the limit and he should pay for it.”   

# 8 History

We passed by the dark forest, walking on the small path at the edge of it, with no intention to intrude the land owned by the soul keeper D.O. Silence, no sound is heard. Jonghyun leads the way and as what had Jonghyun said from the time when we depart from our home, we are heading to the town. Breaking the silence, I intend to ask him a question.

“Jonghyun-ssi, what kind of… err… creature is D.O?”

“What do you mean by that?” Jonghyun turns his head and look at me.

“I mean… err, is he the same type as you? If yes, why he’s so different from you all? He’s so evil.”

“Different? Yeah, he’s a devil, and everybody can tell that at the first glance of him,” he smiled. “He’s a Lunarian.”

“Royal blood? But… he’s evil. Don’t tell me that your place… err… kingdom is ruled by a devil?”

“Yeah, you are right Suzy-ssi. It was not before Jaehyo rule the kingdom after our majesty, his parents deceased.”

“I don’t understand…” I say.

“Okay. Actually we, Lunarian and Selenelion are the same type of living beings, not long time ago we are united and only known as the Lunarian. There’s no such thing as Selenelion. Our elders live peacefully and everything was so beautiful, and the nature of Luna was fully control by the Tree of Life.  But after the birth of Prince Jaehyo, everything changes. Luna started to receive darkness and evil, there were disasters and cries, the beauty of nature was damaged in just a blink of an eye, except for the powerful Tree of Life and surrounding, which is lived and protected by only the Selenelion right now. Prince Jaehyo is the cause of everything; he also is the cause of his parents death, our Mama, King Minho and Queen Sulli. Our batch was predicted by Witch Sandara, a witch from El Dorado to receive a bad luck, and it comes true,” Jonghyun stops awhile and takes his breath again.

“But, according to Witch Sandara, our destiny will change if we found Kai, Jaehyo’s youngest brother. His birthdate was told to be so special in Lunar calendar, and he was born when Selenelion happens, when the sun and the eclipse moon appears above the horizon at nearly the opposite points in the sky,” he continues.

“That is almost impossible! How can it be? Sun and the eclipse moon appear at the same time? They are at the same line with the planet when eclipse happen,” I say.

“I’ve studied it for years, and I believe that it’s just a normal refraction. Everybody in Luna thinks that’s magic, and I think that’s nonsense,”

I laugh.

“I have passion in astronomy,” proudly he says. Well, that’s the contrast of me, I know nothing about science. Hate it.

“Wait, why was your type called the Selenelion?”

“We are the special types, we serve our people with our powers. Lay, who always deals with the Tree of Life controls the nature of our territory. He heals people who are sick and treated the nature by his power. Ren, the fluid master, helps to maintain the river; he has to make sure that the black water of death won’t flow into the river which people use. That’s why, we are always busy. As you see, the one who’s standing in front of you here is the only great astronomer in Luna. I can predict the weather, and don’t forget… I’m the best cook in Luna,” he smiles and winks his eye.

“Chunji?” I quest.

“Something wrong went when he was small, I’m not so sure though, so now he has problems with his ability. There are other Selenelions in Luna too, if you wanna know. We are the superhero, we save ordinary people.”

“Oh… so there are ordinary people too? Here, in Luna?”

“Yeah, of course. They are suppliers; farmers, fishermen, artists and businessmen. They called ordinary because they have no powers, like you,”

“Ohhh…”

“ So, we are called Selenelion because people believe that heroes are born when Selenelion occurs. But, we the Selenelion was actually didn’t. People always hope that we will found our true Selenelion one day, Kai.” Jonghyun continues.  

“After the death of Mama, not long after that, King Minho’s elder brother, Siwon takes place as the Grand Highest and adopt the princes as his children. Siwon is a black magic wizard so he teaches them black magic. But Kai was told that he left the castle of darkness when he was too small.”

“Why?” I asked.

“People told me that Siwon tried to banish Kai, but Witch Sandara took Kai and left him in the forest. After that she had been killed by the forest trolls who are working with Siwon. Kai is believed to be still alive because nobody had found his dead body.”

“Really? Come on, tell me more about Kai. What’s so special about him? How is he gonna save Luna? Does he have any powers?”

“We don’t know. We believe he exist, but we have no idea where is he. We need him to find him desperately, he's the only key to tear Jaehyo down his throne. His power is still a mystery,”

“How about D.O?”

“D.O? He’s one of the children Siwon have. Siwon has another child too, Taemin.”

“Ohh… no wonder that he’s so powerful. And he has the horrible look too.” I say.

“I know right? You have seen it? Good. Don’t be cheated by his dashing handsome look. All the black magic wizards have horrible looks. They are the devils.”

"Sure? Then how about the Selenelion?"

"We are originally like this, no ugly face. But our iris colour will change every time we use our powers. Mine, as you see, are red." he answered.

“Oh really? Wow. You should be proud because you are gifted.”

“Not really, we have weaknesses too…”

“Oh yeah? Please tell me your weaknesses then… hohoho!”

Jonghyun looks at me.

“Oh… hehehe… sorry, you can’t. I won’t tell you.” He sticks out his tongue and walks further forward, leaving me steps behind.

“Hey, wait!” I say. I am left so far behind. I never know that Selenelion are that too fast! 

 

#9 Welcome to Lunagora

Featuring Song Ji Hyo and 2yoon

I am following Jonghyun into an old ancient greek style market when someone with wrinkled hands grabs my arm and drags me into a tiny stall full of red apples.

“Young lady… would you like those juicy red apples?” she says with an old lady voice, holding a red shiny apple in her bare hand. Her voice, it’s too throaty. I look at her, her hair is graying and her face is too horrible. It just reminds me of the evil queen, Snow White’s stepmother, the character in a tale that Papa used to tell me everytime before I go to sleep, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs.

I don’t speak any words, I just shook my head and walk away.

“Oh young lady… please buy some,” she pleads, grabbing my hand back, strongly. I try to walk away but she keeps pulling my hands. She’s so strong that I can’t even get rid of her.

I pull my arm towards me, hard, that the ugly creepy old granny stumbles down on the ground. I step on the ground once when the old lady come back and locks my legs with her strong hug.

“Oh young lady… please buy my apple, it surely gives you eternal beauty!” the granny speaks again. I can’t escape… and it’s getting scary…

“Jonghyun-ssi! Help meeeee!!!” I scream. I am so scared. Jonghyun is nowhere to be seen, he disappears in the middle of the crowd of the market.

“Jonghyun-ssi!!!” I cried. The granny keeps hugging both of my legs, hard. I try to escape but the harder I move, I’m getting to lose control. I fall on my knees, losing control. Jonghyun stops in front of me.

“Halmeoni! Let go of her please!” says Jonghyun strictly with his unpleasant face. The granny, seems fearful, letting go my legs as soon as commanded. Jonghyun immediately grabs my hands and we leave the site.

The crowd in the market is so big. It is full of people, bargaining and selling their things. My legs, my body just obey wherever Jonghyun brings me. For several times my shoulders collide with other’s shoulders and things. I feel uneasy so I release my hand from Jonghyun’s grip. He stops walking and looks at me.

“Don’t ever stop at her stall and buy her apples. She’s dangerous.”

“What do you mean?” I ask curiously.

“She’s Lady Song Ji Hyo, a rich lady. She practices Jumma, a sort of black magic to maintain her looks. She needs to drink a fresh beautiful lady’s blood to maintain her youthful look. But now it seems that she’s lacking it now. What is she trying to do with you now is to hypnotize you, so she can have your blood.”

“That sounds scary. How did you know?”

“Of course I know. I can sense it because last week I saw her with her beautiful face. Now, she’s horribly ugly. And I can see what you can’t see. I can see her true face, it’s horrible than what have you seen just now. And she shouldn’t be alive now; she’s already 2013 years old.

“Now, that is scarier…”

“You better not know, she’s scarier than that…” Jonghyun continues. We continue walking in the crowd.

“Mirror! Mirror! These special mirrors can talk!” a salesgirl shouted in front of us. A talking mirror? No way! It is so cool if I have it!!!

“Jonghyun-ssi! A talking mirror!!! Oh my gosh! Let get into the stall and take a look pleeeeaaassse…” I plead him. He nods and we walk into the stall.

“Hello miss! Please take a look at our mirrors!” says the salesgirl, grabs my hand and drag me in front of a large, full-body-length mirror.

“Now, you can talk to the mirror…” she says and gives me a very pleasant smile. I smile back at her and turn my head facing the mirror.

“Hello! My name is Suzy,” I say.

“Well, hello too! My name is also Suzy! Nice to meet cha!”

I startle once hearing myself talking back to me in a chipmunk voice. This is so much better than Talking Tom! Naaah, Earth is not that so modern. Haha!

I take a look at Jonghyun. He puts his hands in his pockets while looking at me with a slight grin.

“Suzy…” I say and then put my palm on my face, whispering… “Jonghyun is so annoying right? Keke~”

Then my own virtual self in that mirror says this sooo loudly… “Yeah. He’s so annoying, all the times he brags about himself. He thinks he’s so great, can predict the weather… cheh, I also can predict the weather what. Trust me, it’ll gonna be rain after this.”

“Yah! Everybody knows that. The sky is getting darker you see,” Jonghyun says.

“That’s not all…” she appears to wave her right hand to give a sign for me to get closer to her lips. So, I put my left ear near to the mirror. Then, she whispers… “He thinks he’s so good in cooking? If it’s me, I will never go to his restaurant if he ever opens one. He’s so disgusting. Even his socks, he had never washes them since a year ago.

“Jinjia?”

“Yeah, seriously. If you don’t believe, just look at his socks,” she says again. So, I look at his socks.

“Yah! I’m not, okay!”

“Jonghyun oppa, is it true?” that salesgirl turns to him and laughs.

“Jiyoon, you know there’s no use in believing those mirrors right?” says Jonghyun.

“Sometimes, they speaks out the truth.”

“No, I’m not! Okay, I put off my shoes now…” he bends and puts off his shoes. “Here, you see, white and clean as the new one. I used Dynamo to wash it,”

“Oh, he must have changed his socks before he came here. Kekeke~” says the mirror again. I laugh.

“I never knew this before. The famous astronomer Jonghyun is so disgusting! Hahaha!” says Jiyoon.

I laugh. This mirror is so cool! “Jonghyun-ssi! Please get this one for me.” :3

“It’s surely extremely expensive. Suzy-ssi, don’t ever dream to get one okay? I’m not that rich.”

“Not really, this one is not expensive, if you wanna know,” Jiyoon says.

“So, how much?”

“Err… Gayoon! How much is this one?” Then, a beautiful girl comes out from the curtains, holding a comb in her hand while another hand holds her pony hair tail.

“That one cost ten thousand Lullar,” she shouts.

“Woo~ that’s expensive. Even a kilo of bananas in Luna costs a Lullar. That stupid mirror costs ten thousand? Huh, I rather not buying it,” says  Jonghyun.

“How dare you compare it to bananas? Hello? This is a talking mirror okay. Err, nevermind, I’ll give you 10% off.”

“That’s still expensive.”

“Then, why don’t this one, this one is much cheaper,” says Jiyoon, pointing to an A4 paper-sized mirror, with an eye catching glass frame. “This one is much cheaper, a thousand Lullar, nett price. The function is the same with the large one, and the difference is only the size.”

Jonghyun shooks his head.

“Aww… please Jonghyun-ssi. I really want this badly…” I plead him. But he just don’t react.

“I’ll call you oppa,” I say.

“Jinjia? Okay then.” He grins, widely.

“Jonghyun oppa~ Saranghaeyo~ hahaha!” I laugh out loudly.

So, we purchase the mirror. You just can’t imagine how happy I am. I stand in front of the large mirror again.

“See? He’s so stingy. He is paid with a high salary but he can’t afford me? He’s lying. So stingy~~~”

I laugh again.

“Yah, that’s enough. Just get out from here and buy your clothes quick before it rains,” says Jonghyun dragging me out.   

# 10 Thief 

My stomach growls. An embarrassment.

“Haha! Is that your stomach? Or a tiger in your stomach? Keke~” says Jonghyun.

I narrow my eyes, looking at him.

“Oh my princess, don’t be upset. I’m just kidding okay,” Jonghyun gives me wink. “We’ve shopping for your clothes, and hey! What we’ve got here? A talking mirror! Hahaha!” he laughed, grabs the mirror that I hold and see himself in the mirror.

“Oh, what a handsome prince we got here. Right Jonghyun?” he talks to the mirror.

“Naaah, I’m handsomer than you, cock feather,” says the reflection of him in the mirror. I know why the mirror says that. His blonde hair style. This is hilarious, but I just give him a smirk. I’m hungry and this is not the time for a joke.

“Okay, fine. We’ll gonna get a lunch as soon as possible dear princess.”

I smile, wide.

We walked at the food section of Lunagora. Jonghyun stops at a barbeque chicken stall.

“Okay, we gonna get our lunch here!” says Jonghyun.

“Barbeque chicken again?” I say. It’s my first time in Luna and I don’t want to have the same meal every day.

“Why? You don’t like it?”

“Yesterday we have barbeque chicken, today we are gonna have it too? Come on Jonghyun-ssi, is there something much more special here in Luna instead of… chicken?” I say, crossing my arms. I know I’m kinda bossy and I’m enjoying it, enjoy bullying this guy in front of me.

“Huuhhh… arasso princess,” he says. “Haa! I know! Let’s go!” Jonghyun suddenly excited and drags me to a stall, not far than the barbeque chicken stall.

And… “What’s this?” I asked him. I don’t have any idea what kind of food is this.

“This is our special dish! Wormita!”

“What is that?! Haha! It sounds like ‘worm’ and ‘vomit’ to me! Hahahaha!” I laugh, what a weird food name!

“Yeah, you’re right! That is mashed white puffy wood worms! Yummy~”

“Worms? Oh no no no… I don’t eat worms. That’s too… exotic!”

“Naah… you won’t know it if you haven’t taste it. Try it!”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Never!” I say. I turn my face and my eyes started to catch a glimpse of black visible steam on the chicken barbeque stall. This is unusual. I think I should ask Jonghyun about what is that weird thing.

“Jonghyun-ssi! Whaa…” my sentence is not complete (I’m gonna say “What is that?”) and there goes a scoop of cold, creamy white ice-cream taste of something.

“Mmm, nice! This is better than a vanilla ice-cream. Is it vanilla?” I say, letting it melting on my tongue, down to my throat.

“See? I know you like it. What the hell is vanilla? Haha! It’s Wormita you idiot!” says Jonghyun, sticking his tongue out.

“WHAT?” I yell. I’ve eaten… crushed worms?! Eeuuuwwww~~ *feeling queasy.

“Tasty? Delicious? I know right. Ahahahahahaha~” Jonghyun laughs it all out loud.

“Arrrggghhhh!!! Jonghyun-ahhh!!! This is disgusting!!! Huhuhuhuhu…” I yell to him again. I wish the whole thing that I’ve swallowed come out immediately. I wanna spit it out, but I think that’s rude. Urrrggghhhh…. So disgusting!

I smack his shoulder with my bare hands several times before a man shouts…

“My chicken! All gone! Help! A thief has stolen all my chickens!!!”

The crowds are in shock. Everything turns into a chaos.

Jonghyun and I turn our heads towards the barbeque chicken stall.

“The invisible thief… again? This time I swear, you’re not gonna escape…” says Jonghyun, blinking his eyes and I see his glowing red iris, burning like two red flames, floating on his eyes. He’s already transforming.

Jonghyun runs nearer, towards the stall. His eyes catch on something moving slightly on the roof. With his quick strong hands, he grabs the pillar of the barbeque chicken stall and climb on by using his legs with his feet stick on the pillar as if the pillar was smeared with a layer of glue. He gets on his feet on the roof, by the blink of an eye. His eyes still hunting for something, as if he can see something moving in the air. Maybe it’s true that he really can.

“Gotcha.” A phrase that comes out from his lips. He puts on a smirk on his face.

He jumps and stamps on another roof. TARGET: LOCKED.

He opens his fist and sparks a ball of flame. As fast as lightning, he throws the ball of flame forward.

The ball of flame seems like knocking on a figure. But, all I see is a black steam, floating on air as the flame strikes on the invisible moving figure. I hear some groans. A few pieces of chicken barbeque parts are popping out, falling down from nowhere. Jonghyun shoots several flame balls again. 

The crowds are still in chaos. Some are cheering and rooting for Jonghyun. Some are screaming as chickens falling on their heads.

I still put my eyes on Jonghyun. He tries to ignite another ball, but suddenly he is hit by a strong air force. He tries to dodge the wind ( as I can’t see what or who is he fighting with) , but he loses control and fall on the ground. He is falling on his shoulders, groaning in pain.

I rush to Jonghyun, storming through the ocean of crowds to get him. He’s still on the ground, seems like his shoulder is in great pain as he is holding it.

I fall on my knees. Once I look up, I see the black steam no more. The thief… he’s gone.

Healing

Featuring Kris

Suddenly, a tall, handsome guy appears in front of me. He looks down, looking at me. Then, he turns his sight to Jonghyun.

“Hyung. Let me send you back home,” he says, offering a help.

* * *

I wrap my arms around his shoulders while he piggybacking Jonghyun on his back. Our feet are floating, miles away from the ground, leaving the crowds. He lifts us, enabling us to soar on the wind without wings.

I look at his face but he doesn’t realize or maybe he doesn’t care that I gaze at him. His eyes, are turquoise in colour. He throws his face forward, seems like he’s focusing on his flight. He looks so serious, not letting a single line of grin engrave on his face.

Letting him off my sight, I look forward. The sky is dark. Jonghyun is right. It is going to rain. He’s so a real weather-man. I view the land beneath my hanging feet. I can see the death forest but only a part of it. I guess it’s enormously large, I assume that it is as the same large of a country, but I dare not to say what country on earth. It’s too huge that I can't accurately estimate.

For one more second after, we landed on our feet. He’s quite fast!

At that time, I saw Lay is busy cutting the hedges of his green house. He throws the cutter that he is holding on the ground as soon as he sees us.

“Omo! Kris? You’re here? What’s happening to Jonghyun? Is he hurt?” Oh. He’s Kris.

“Yeah,” Kris answers, brief and short. “Ahh hyung, please help me, get him a bed to lie down. I guess he broke his bones.”

I stretch my arms to give him a help too. But Lay is stronger, he grabs Jonghyun’s arms and carry him on his arms. He lays Jonghyun on a soft, green settee. Lay touches his left shoulder, moving it a bit.

“Arrgghh!” Jonghyun groans. “Don’t touch that, it hurts!”

“Your shoulder bone is broken!” Lay replies. “Okay, just don’t move. I’ll heal it. Lie still,” Lay instructs. Jonghyun just obey. Lay holds his shoulder and do his healing work.

He holds Jonghyun’s shoulder and with his green eyes, he focuses on healing. Not long after that, he allows Jonghyun to move his shoulder again. Jonghyun is now okay. He gazes up to Lay, who is still holding his shoulder.

“Sorry Lay. I don’t mean to do this to you,” Jonghyun says, as he arises from where he has laid.

“Jonghyun hyung, you don’t have to say any words of those. Go, take a rest. Later, I’ll get us some food for dinner,” Lay speaks. He turns his face to me.

I look at his face. I see two wrinkle lines right on his forehead while I have never seen those before on his face…

I hear something randomly falling on the roof. It’s raining, outside.

* * *

“The thief? He showed up in Lunagora again?” Ren shouts, with his mouth full while holding a chicken drumstick.

“Yeah. This time he stole chickens,” Jonghyun replies.

“This is for the third time he showed up. The first time, he has stolen all Ho Dong Ajushhi’s pork belly, the second time, he has stolen Juri Ahjumma’s kimchi… and this time Park Jin Young Ajusshi’s barbeque chicken? Haha! I guess he is really starving. Poor him,” Chunji chuckles.

“Yeah. You’re right hyung. He steals food every time he appears.” Ren speaks again.

I am enjoying my meal, sitting at the end of the long dining table. I am facing the quietest, Lay. He is sitting at the other end of the table, just silent when they talk about the matter. Me? I don’t even know what to do nor say.

“We can’t wait any longer. We have to capture the culprit. Hyung, have you seen his face?” Kris is talking this time.

“Yeah. I saw his face. But… I can’t recall what I’ve seen. By the way, he’s freaking fast! He can appear everywhere he wants, like… a ghost!” Jonghyun replies, speaking out loud with his eyes wide open.

“Oh my… if that’s the case, it’s getting harder for us to catch the thief then. Just hoping for heroes to appear after this so we can catch him…hummm,” Kris mutters.

They stop bringing up the matter and continue eating. I am observing all of them as I munch. As for Lay, I can feel that there’s a sign of anxiety on his face.

Decrepitude

Featuring Luhan

Curiousity keeps knocking my head with questions. D.O was trespassing Selenelion. The thief’s mystery. Lay is aging. Some weird things happened.

I lift my hand, pulling the curtain just beside my bed. A ray of moonlight shone on me. The moonlight is too bright tonight. But that is definitely not the reason why I cannot sleep. It is already midnight and I cannot even shut my eyes down.

I rise up my upper body, sitting on the mattress. Silently, I look around the room. Dark. I guess, there is nothing I can do now. Only lying on the bed would not make me sleep either.

I get up from the bed and I place my feet on the cool, made-of-exotic-wood wooden floor. I start walking out of the room. Silence is the only sound I hear. I guess everybody in the house is already soaring in the opposite world.

I am walking on the wide corridor; the pathway along the rooms belongs to the boys. Making sure of those steps I make does not wake those boys up, I walk slowly, even the tortoise in the hare’s story do not need to cheat me if he wants to win against me.

I reach the end of the pathway. I have decided to hold onto the handle of the staircases that are heading down. I am looking at the empty living room downstairs when my leg hair started to erect at the moment a flowing cold breeze brushes on them. Turning my head around to where the breeze coming from, I see a door, wide open. I guess the door is heading to the roof of the house.

I am heading towards it, with an intention to shut it down. Once I have stood right on the mouth of the house, I am not sure but something really invites me to escape out. I just decided to let my naked feet linger on the cold floor of the wide veranda for a while when I see a figure sitting on it. He is a man I know.

“Err… hi~ What are you doing here?” I just let it slip off my lips. I really hope that’s not a kind of disturbance for him. He glances back at me.

“Oh. Should I answer that question? Because… between us, I am sure that I should ask you that question first.”

I look into his eyes. Maybe I shouldn’t disturb him. He seems so serious. He returns to his original position, hugging his leg tightly, ignoring my question.

Maybe I should go back to the room and sleep. So, I began to turn around and walk off the veranda silently into the house.

“Wait,” he says, grabbing my hand with his cold hand. “Please sit beside me, I just need you to accompany me.”

I just obey.

Sitting next to him, we talk about nothing. Silence lingering around us for minutes. Lay is still hugging his legs tight with his anxious face. I look at him, he do not turn back and look at me. Looking at him at the close distance, I still see the wrinkles I have seen hours before, under the bright moonlight ray. He looks older than yesterday. Is he… aging a lot for only after a day? I’m not sure either. Feeling awkward, I pull back my glance of him and keep my head heading forward, to the glittering night sky.

“Suzy-ssi… I know, you are a nice girl. Please look after the boys for me okay?” Lay suddenly mouthed out that sentence. I feel heavy, a feeling that someone might get when that someone has a mission to be carry out.

“Why?” I say. “I’m… I’m still a stranger for all of you; I’ve just been here for 3 days. Don’t you think so? Why are saying this to me?”

“I just got a feeling about you… and that’s called faith. I believe you have come for a reason,” he says. I can’t reply. Something called silence come again and takes a minute from us.

“Just promise me… please? Someday, sooner or later, maybe when I’m not around, please do this for my sake,” he murmurs.

I am about to say something again, but I just stop after seeing him wiping the tears on his cheeks with the back of his palms.

* * *

It is a good day. And now, it has been the fourth day since I am in Luna. And I’m hungry.

I walk around the kitchen. In the fridge, below the pot cover, on the table… I found nothing to eat. Like a wolf, my tummy starts to growl ferociously.

The cabinet above the table is the one that I have not checked yet. I guess, maybe, there is food there. So, I grab a tall chair and climb on top of it. It’s not a hard job though.

Oh yeah, I see a packet of something. FINALLY I FOUND FOOD!

It’s quite high. I can’t reach to the packet of ‘something’. A ramen, maybe? Or a pasta? Arrrgggghhhh… I must get it, if not the boys might be shock seeing me lying on the floor because of die of starving when they arrive home soon. Somebody, please help me! Where are all of you, boys? I’m starving!!!

I think I actually can. Just a little bit. I tip toe on the chair, pushing my body up towards the cabinet. Yes! I’ve touched it! Just a little bit more… and…

“Crack!” The chair which I am standing right now cracks and I lose control. I’m falling.

I scream, shut my eyes down. At that time, I can’t feel my body touches the ground. It’s like… the time, has stopped.

I open my eyes and just to discover that I’m floating on the air. At the corner of the room, I see a glimpse of a guy, wearing white, he lifts up his hands towards me. At the moment I see him, he lowers his hand, slowly and I am now resting on the floor.

“Suzy-ssi! What were you trying to do?” Chunji suddenly approaches between me and the white dressed guy, asking as he concerns.

“Chunji! It’s good that you are home! I’m starving. I was trying to reach that pack of food up over there, but suddenly the chair cracks and I lose control, so I fall,” I reply.

Suddenly the white dressed guy giggles while Chunji looks at him. Chunji puts his sight back on me and smiles, calmly.

“Oh no. Poor you. Suzy-ssi, it’s just a pack of moth balls. You can’t eat that.”

The white dressed guy laughs. Even louder.

“Luhan hyung! That’s rude. Poor Suzy. She must have been starving since morning. It’s already noon and she haven’t ate anything. Nevermind. I brought a pack of fried chicken. It supposed to be Lay-hyung’s but you can have it if you want to,” he says as he delivers his sweetest smile.

“But… it’s Lay’s. I can’t have it.”

“Nevermind. Later I’ll get another pack for hyung. I guess he’s still sleeping now. He slept late last night,” Chunji says again.

“But… we promised to visit omma after this, remember?” Luhan speaks, at the first time I hear his soft voice.  

“It’s okay hyung. We still have time. Omma’s house is just a kilometer away. Don’t worry we will reach there on time.”

“Okay then. So… I guess we better leave now. Errm, Suzy-ssi? Just have that fried chicken and we are gonna get another for Lay, okay?” Luhan says. What am I gonna do? I feel wrong to take Lay’s lunch and burden them to get another pack of fried chicken… but my tummy is growling. Should I wait for them to bring back another pack or join them to the chicken shop? But I just can’t bear with my tummy anymore. I guess, I should obey whatever they are saying just now…

“Okay. Kumawo Chunji-ssi, Luhan-ssi, that’s just so kind of you.”

“Ahh…nothing much. Okay.  See you later. Bye!” waving as they off from sight slowly. I sit beside the table looking at the pack of delicious food. What am I waiting for? Eaaaaaattttttt!!!!!

I open the pack and the aroma pervades the whole empty space of the kitchen. My tummy growls again and I just can’t wait to grab the chicken and bite it!

“CHUNJI! IS THAT YOU? OH MY CHICKENNNNNN!!! I’M COMINGGGGG!!!”

I just heard Lay shouting from the stairs, thinking that I am Chunji. He’s coming! Ottoke?

The Tree of Life

We sit at the table, facing each other. The meal that Chunji had brought for Lay for just a while ago has divided equally into two parts. As for Lay, he eats his portion so ferociously that a minute is just more than enough for him to finish his meal. He is just too hungry, as I can see it. I eat my portion silently, feeling that it’s wrong to take a part of his whole lunch.

“Today, you must follow me out,” Lay commands, as he finishes the last bits of his meal.

“Follow you? Where?” I ask him, as a reply. I am still eating.

“Just follow me. Take that as a punishment as you have eaten half of my meal,” he says, sounds serious. As I just look at the fried chicken as I eat, I lift my face a bit higher to see the expression of his. He is looking at me, throwing a huge grin.

“Ohh… okay then,” then I throw him another.

We clean the plates, and I just spend a minute of the day just to take my cardigan upstairs. The weather is getting colder, as if the leaves are about to fall off from their branches. Having goose bumps, I immediately put on my cardigan on my body and approach Lay, who is already standing at the outside of the house, waiting for our takeoff.   

“Have you done?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Lay says, taking a bike off the small garage. A wooden bicycle.

“Are we?”

“Haha! Yes. You’re right.” Lay says as he giggles. He is looking at the bike and throws back his sight towards me who is standing beside him without saying anything.

“Ermm…” I inspect the bike. “This bike, it seems that only you alone that can ride it. It doesn’t have any seat at the back.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot. I’m sorry. Just… wait a sec, okay?” Lay smiles and touches the hind of the bike. Roots and twigs are growing above the wheel as Lay lays his right hand on it and it finally become a seat. 

“Ah, wait. The trip is going to be bumpy as well.” Lay lays his hand again and puff! Cottons grow on the seat, making it much comforter to sit on it. Just perfect.

“Waaaa…” it just popped out my mouth as my heart can keep the overloaded amusement anymore. Lay is looking at me, smiling. Well, I just watched a show of the real power of a nature healer Selenelion. So special. I am afraid that I can’t help but looking at him without blinking my eyes. His smile, his popping cute dimples just melts my metal machine heart.

“So… let’s go?” Lay says as he raised his eyebrows. I just nod. Lay smiles again and moves the bike forward. We ride the bike, totally ready for a takeoff.

“Lay! Wait!” we both turn our heads towards the voice.

“Your fried chicken, sorry, I just got it for you now.” Luhan says as he comes. He throws the pack into the air and the pack slowly soaring in the air, lightly like a hot air balloon. Lay grabs it.

“Ah, kumawo. But… can you just put it in the fridge? Suzy and I have errands to do.” Lay says as he throws back the pack into the air. Luhan quickly throws his hand into the air and that pack magically fly towards Luhan’s palm.

“Err… but…” Luhan looking confuse, blur.

“Never mind, just have it then.” Lay smiles, showing his dimples off. We ride the bike and left Luhan’s puzzled face.

* * *

We are going through the woods, on the buttress roots we go. Up and down. Although it’s not a smooth journey, I have felt no pain. The cushion is really cozy and nice. Suddenly, we stumbled upon a very large root. We nearly kiss the ground but Lay’s quick hands have defeated the forest naughty request. We have accidentally done that numerously so at last I decided to hug Lay’s waist tightly as he cycles. It does not seem awkward so I keep doing it.  

The trees I see, I think I have ever been here. Everything looks familiar to me. I think I know this place.

“Lay, where are you heading to? I think I have ever been here,” suddenly, I ask him.

“Really? When?” Lay turns his head slightly, trying to look straight to my face but he just cannot turn his body to that degree.

“I don’t remember.” I say, keep hugging his waist up tight. The wheels keep hitting on the large roots that are lying on the wet, fertile ground.   

Now, we have already reached a place where the grasses covered up the ground like a huge, green carpet. I keep looking around. I see flowers. But my eyes just quickly picked on the purple flowers which are blooming on the huge green carpet. Everything makes sense now. This is the first place I have ever discovered since I came to this weird world.

Lay stops cycling when we are exactly standing in front of a large tree, about five more meters further away from our bike.

“Okay. We are here! Now, let’s off from the bike first,” Lay says.

I landed my feet on the soft grass. I have that advance feeling since Lay commands me to get up from our bike. Actually this feeling is indescribable. But I finally finalize only one word that can replace the whole feeling; recharged.

The tree is the most glaring object that I see now, as compared to the other beautiful things around.  Maybe, I am hearing sounds, just like the sounds of tiny pixies or bells or angels, so soft and near, like it is just behind my earlobe but nothing there when I turn my head around. I feel a flow of soft breeze dancing between my hair, making my mind much more relax that I might end standing up here sleeping. Between the branches and twigs, there are sparkles that look like there are millions of fireflies hiding behind the nearly golden leaves but it’s not. Maybe it is just some pixie dust. Or maybe this is the tree that keeps all the pixie dust for the whole Luna and the dust keeper is living there? Woah. I think I should stop guessing.

“I will introduce to you… the Tree of Life. Selenelion’s pride,” Lay widens his open arms as he introduces the tree to me.

“Haha!” suddenly that pops out from my mouth. I have been thinking too much! Pixie dusts, dust keeper? I see, I have already been influenced by Tinkerbell, an animated movie which I have watched with my niece last summer.

“Why are you laughing? Something wrong?” Lay wonders.

“Nothing. I have been thinking a lot. Haha!”

“What were you thinking of?”

“Errr… nothing?” I say, and then put a really huge grin on my tiny lips.

“Ohh…” he addled for a while, and then smiles that puzzled face away. “Okay then,” he finalizes.

“Oh yeah, you just stay here, okay? I am going to move forward.” He says. I nod my head.

He steps forward, towards the dazzling huge tree. As he steps, the grasses below his feet freshens and the flowers below comes awake and headed towards Lay, like a sunflower, keep heading to the sun.

I stand afar, but I see everything. Lay continues to move ahead, and his body is glowing like an angel. His blonde hair turns golden and I see a ray of light attaches on his shoulders, resembles wings. At the moment that he touches the trunk of the enormous tree, I see the wrinkles on his white snowy skin, they are now gone.

He turns around and looks at me. I see a new person. A perfectly-build, living mannequin.

“Come on, let’s go home,” he said, about to grab my hand.

Seduction

“Good morning Suzy-ssi! It’s time for breakfast!” Chunji shrieks at the end of my bed. I open up my eyes and peek. The bright sunlight that penetrates into my room through the windows hurt my eyes. I’m trying to make an evasion, by covering my head with the blanket which its end is on my tummy but at the moment I pull it up to my head, Chunji quickly pulls it towards him.

“Wake up Suzy-ssi! Wake up, please? Hehe…” shrieks again while showing his entire teeth.

I don’t want to make any compliments about him anymore. This time, he is really annoying.

“Okay. I’m up. You can go down first,” I say that to him, and immediately he goes.

I seek to reach the alarm clock. I wonder why the alarm clock is not effective as always. I guess I’ve set the clock to ring at 8.

Oh, no wonder. It is still 7 a.m. I reset the alarm clock so it won’t ring later. I put it back on the desk.

Oh wait. It’s still 7? Argh, this boy has gotten me mad. No more compliments towards that cute boy. Any ever again.

“Chunji!!! I still have an hour to sleep! Jonghyun says that our breakfast will be at 8! He’s still cooking~” I shout, hoping that my just-wake-up voice will reach the bottom of the cottage, until at Chunji’s earlobe. What an excuse.

Pulling the blanket over my body, I am smiling slyly beneath it. I am trying to sleep again but I can’t. So, I get myself sitting on the bed.

Jonghyun have said “Chunji is a great alarm clock. We are so lucky to have him in our house. He helps us to be punctual for breakfast.” I lie on the bed again and shut my eyelids. Still, fail to sleep.

Chunji has really casted a spell on the bed. And that’s the conclusion.

* * *

After having breakfast, I grab my towel and get myself a shower. Pressing on the tap, warm clear water running smooth on my skin. Nothing is much better than having a hot shower in a cold breezy morning.

I begin to think again. Questions suddenly come up to my mind. The boys’ faces come one by one to my mind.

Chunji, he is a smart looking guy, very friendly and thoughtful. He doesn’t have a perfect power. Jonghyun said that he was having a problem since young. He must be depressed for not having the powers he desire, unlike others. But what was the problem? And why it seems like he doesn’t care about that? I don’t believe that a person will be so calm when knowing that he is the only ugly duckling, or he is probably so innocent.

Lay. Yesterday I followed him to the tree of life and that was the amazing experience ever. But, during the last two nights, when I found him at the verandah… I wonder why he was too depressed and asked me to take over him, to take care of the boys. Is he going to leave? Should I tell someone about this? I guess there must be at least a person in the house knows this matter.

Ren. He’s the weirdest. I know he doesn’t like me. Last night I saw him staring and rolling his eyes when he saw Lay and I came home late at night after visiting the tree of life. I know he likes Lay, and this turned on my fear. I see flames inside the two blue crystal eyes of the water bender and that makes me feel so damn insecure.

For a moment, I feel that it is not safe to be in the house anymore. I really need to leave.

Jonghyun. He treated me like a princess but what freaks me out the most is that he is a pervert. And I really hate being with him although he treats me so good.

I press on the tap, turning it off. I wrap the towel around my body and open the door.

“Well… did you think about me? It seems that you have traveled through time inside the shower.”

My eyes widen until that I can feel it will pop out anytime soon. The pervert is standing right in front of me at the exact moment I open the door. With his big, flashy, red eyes.

“Argh!!! Jonghyun! What are you trying to do?! Stop doing that!!!” I scream until I feel that my heart can fall out of my throat anytime.

“Well, I know you’ve been thinking of me in that shower. Now, tell me, if you have any feelings for me?”

“What?!!!” Impatient have grown in me, in just a second after he said that. Written in my mind: I really need to seek a bottle of shampoo to shut him up.

“Whoops. Okay, okay, calm down. I’m sorry!” he runs away before I grab the bottle. Fortunately he managed to read my mind before I really knock him with it.

I quickly storm into the room and locked myself inside as I put on my clothes.

* * *

I have been staring at the ceiling since an hour ago. I put so much attention on one of the fan blade and that makes me feel dizzy. I don’t have anything to do, but need to do something before the boredom bury me alive.

The house is silent just now. It supposed to be noisy when Chunji and Jonghyun are here. I don’t know where Jonghyun have been since I threatened him with a bottle of shampoo, well, mentally. I have seen Luhan around the house a while ago, maybe Luhan have brought Chunji for telekinesis practice again. Luhan is such a caring brother.   

So, pushed myself to the verandah of my room. Ren is hanging his wet clothes under the warm sun heat. I guess the heat is just not enough to dry up the clothes until the end of the day. Ren lift his head up to see me on the verandah. Smiling widely, I wave my hand to him and he just pulls his cold face. He grabs the pail and storms into the house.

Humm. It is no use to be nice to the one who hates us. I enter the room again and drop my whole body on the bed.

“Why it is so boring today? Lay! Please take me anywhere this time!” I shouted and then bury my head on the thick cozy pillow. I hope nobody hears that. I get up from bed and see the talking mirror on the desk. I have been bored talking to it. The mirror talked nothing except rubbish. Is there anything I can do? Urgh, so damn boring.

Suddenly I hear sounds from outside. More likely a sound from the act of putting down a bike stand.

I run towards the verandah again. I see Lay, looks up and place both of his smiley eyes on me. His dimple glaringly visible when he smiles. His youthful look makes him worth to be an angel. Without any voice reaching to my ears, I hear him calling, his aura, is waving, asking me to go down. I am slightly losing my mind, decided to go on the simplest way to go down. Then, logic grabs my feet back on the floor and put me back onto conscious. I quickly get on the stairs and go down.

His eyes… like a strong light. I saw the glint that can make any light be in shame. 
I have reached outside of the house. He is nowhere to be seen but I can feel his presence. The air is filled with his strong aura. He is calling, I can hear it.

I turned my head, towards the voice, while at the same time he throws his stare. A gaze, fixed one. In one second, he flicks a smirk and keeps moving, into the forest. My feet suddenly feel as light as a bird’s feather, quickly runs towards his figure. He keeps moving forward but at a time he stops and put a glance on me. I fall into his deep green eyes until I don’t remember how he escaped from my sight. He’s now, gone. I turned around, nothing visible on my sight except me in the middle of the black forest. I’m alone. The coldness of the humid air, making me goose bumps all over my body.

The serenity of the forest does not bring me to calmness, it just generates the pacemaker.

Something takes my breath away. In a heartbeat, he comes out from his hiding, snatches me and forces me to fall into his arms. A firm grab on my waist. Urgently, he pushes his soft lips and let his tongue roves inside mine. I close my eyes and softly give him a reply. I am getting absorbed by the warmth of his affection.

He is getting unable to rule his needy mouth, getting aggressive and rough. His restless hands quickly roam on my body. He pushes me, to lean me on the bark and kiss me harder till I can barely breathe. I begin to pull off to take in some air but he keeps gripping me tight around my waist. My lips cannot escape from his, he refuses to let me go. I push him with all my might but his strong arms keeps squeezing me, making me drown in his arms. His mouth, aggressively roved across my face, my neck, my shoulder… I try to push him away, struggling in his clasp but he keeps fastening. I bury my nails into his skin, grip hard and push his shoulders with all my strength. He is stronger that no man can defeat.

Breathless. I’m drowning. I have no strength left to struggle away from the beast.

At a sudden, a growl sound come out from the bushes nearby.

He stops locking me to check out the sound and I use this chance to escape away from him. My body has weakened, but I try to push him as hard as I can. Like pushing a stone statue, my weak body stumbles down and I've landed my head on a sharp stone. Hurt, it really hurts.

Blurry, I look up. I see the beast begin to undress himself. Weak, I am still trying to support myself up with my hands but I fall again. I cannot do anything but to watch Lay slowly doing whatever he desires to my lifeless body.

Growl.

The beast stops again before touching me who is already lying on the ground. The growl is so vexacious.

Everything goes blurry after that.

Let out the beast

I blink my eyes numerously so that I can see the view clearer. I am so sure that he is Lay. My sight is getting better but the pain stings sharply on my head that makes me keep holding my head. I try to get up from the ground again, but I am too weak. I keep falling on every attempt. Red sticky blood smeared on and behind my palm.

“Why, beauty? Don’t you enjoy being here with me? Hahaha!!!” He laughs out loudly.

The third alarm distracts his attention again. The third growl.

Cold terror lingered on my skin. Frightened, my heart feels like want to explode. I feel that I want to shout aloud but my voice stuck at my throat. My tummy aches. I really have to go. Faster, I must get on my feet quick!

I suddenly feel the strength to stand myself on my palm. As quickly as I could, I get on my palms and knees and crawl faster.

The beast keeps on laughing loudly, sitting on the ground. He then grips on my left ankle and drags me under his chest. I am so shocked of his sudden act that I scream loudly, tears begin to flow on my cheeks but he doesn’t care. He laughs like a devil again and forcefully pulls out my right hand. He licked on the blood that sticks on my palm edaciously. I begin to scream again.

At the right moment, a beast come out from the bushes and pushes him to the edge. The impact is so strong and solid, that my body also is being pushed back, leaning on a tree. My back hurts. My whole body aches.

They growl. Loud, facing each other with their ferocious face, fiery eyes.

I do not know what will happen to me nor do I want to predict. A beast is already hard to handle and this time, there are two of them. I should get ready to be doomed. Leaning back to the tree, I know I should accept whatever that will be happen to me. I just keep my eyes open and watch the showcase.

Lay is very strong. At once when he is driven back by the beast, he quickly gets on his feet and pushes the beast back, hard until the beast is being thrown back and landed on a trunk of a tree. He rapidly threw out punches, smashes the beast until I can hear his bones cracking. But the beast is much stronger. He grabs Lay’s shoulder and flings Lay’s body into the atmosphere. Lay is thrown hard, landing on a trunk, falling down. He is lying on the ground, groaning. His mouth gradually spits out red blood as he groans.

The beast cannot get enough. His beautiful face is filled with anger, I can sense it even though I am meters away from the battle arena. He slowly walks towards Lay and grabs his collar.

“I’ve warned you, but you ignored. You are digging your own grave,” he coldly says the words and punches Lay once, solid without any mercy. I am terrified to see the violence; the scene is full with blood.

“She’s mine,” final words, deeply outspokened. Adrenaline flows quickly through my veins as he spell out the words while giving me a sharp, stern stare. His grey shining eyes seems whispering to me that he wanted me damn much. 

Final knock, deep on Lay’s chest. Lay is finally lying quiet, unconscious.

I must go now before the beast comes.

I get on my feet, trying to stand up straight, but my legs are too weak, and I stumble down. My knees roughly kiss the ground. I throw my face behind. I can see the beast is approaching slowly. He flicks a smirk and walk steadily towards me. I fail to control my breathing, I am getting panic. My brain begins to think improperly. In a few steps, the beast is going to grab me. I cannot… I cannot let him to get me.

I crawl forward but I cannot control myself from looking back. He is right at my back. I breathe so rapidly, I really cannot control my breathing. My heart is pounding heavily that it nearly explodes.

I can see nothing now. Everything is black.

* * *

Extra: outside Suzy’s POV. The beast’s POV

I awakened by the sounds of cracking twigs and footsteps. Someone is coming. But the sun has hid itself behind the hills and the sky is getting dark.

A beauty. I was astonished by her beauty. I wish that she could be mine.

She seemed like looking for something while she’s the only one standing there. Something fishy was going on that I could smell it.

I was hiding behind the bushes when I saw a boy, grabbed the girl and kissed her. He did not seem to give any harm to that girl. Something ordinary, I guess, I should not interfere nor do watch. I should give them privacy.

So, I turned my head back, and my sensitive ears heard rough, hitting sounds. Something unexpected happened. I saw the girl, struggling, as she wanted to escape from his clasp. Something that I really could not stand was to see the girl gasping for air, drowning in that boy’s arms. The boy turned his face, facing the bushes where I was standing. He was someone I know. Not a good one; he’s a hypnotizer, a mind controller. I believe the girl was deceived.

I’m growling. “If you don’t get away, you’ll get hurt…”

I was inflamed when my warning was just ignored by the idiot.

I heard the sound of the tears of the beauty, dropped on the wet humid ground. Flamed with anger, I could not control the beast inside of me but to let it out. I knocked him roughly. I saw her face before I finally knock him dead. She was terrified.

The bad man was down, defeated by the beast within me. The beast then restored. I looked back to the beauty who was trying to escape from me. I bet she was terrified by the violence I have done. I was quite shocked seeing my hands and my face, smeared with blood. It happened, again when I could not control myself.

“Don’t go!” I said. But she refused to listen.

I keep approaching her and stand right at her back. She looked up to me, frightened and faint.

The beauty and the beast

I open my eyes, gradually. White, the ceiling is painted white. I am trying to look around the room while lying on the bed. The walls are plain, painted with light sky blue colour. Large open windows on each wall of the room make the room bright as sunshine penetrates into the clear glasses. I am buried in a thick comforter, up to my shoulder. I move my hands underneath the comforter. The bed is very cozy and soft; of thick fur it is made. 

I begin to feel uneasy. I start to ask myself… where am I now?

So, I get up, sitting up straight on the single bed. Pain stings back on my head, I am almost forgot that I have landed my head on a sharp rock last night, during the horrible tragedy. I hold my head and feel the soft bandage underneath my palm.  Maybe that is why I am now stranded in an unfamiliar room right now. Someone has rescued me.

I turn my head to the side of the bed and found a man lying on a thin mattress, wearing a white singlet with a navy blue coloured cardigan and a pair of long white pants. Without wearing any blanket, he is still asleep, silently like a baby, hugging a pillow that supposed to be the cushion of his head. He looks innocent and pure, unlike yesterday where he has become the beast.

I look at his pure face and slowly begin to feel insecure. He is sleeping and he may be awake anytime. And I am so afraid that he will maybe act different when he is conscious.

I need to get out from the house, immediately without waking the beast. When I uncover my legs, the cold breeze stings my skin. It is super cold outside as if it is snowing. Wearing a three quarter legging with a thin long white, stained, thin fabricated blouse and a pink blood stained cardigan, maybe I can survive in the weather. I do not care if I cannot find a home; at least I manage to leave the house without the awareness of the sleeping beast.

I tip toe into the living room and search my slippers in front of the door. I could not find one. I decided to steal a pair of slippers but it seems that all the slippers that belong to the beast are enormously large for Cinderella-sized feet like mine. I walk around, hoping to find one.

“Where… are you going?”

He stands just a breath away, in front of me. In one take, I inhale too much oxygen and bloat my lungs. But he just sucked my soul in just one second. Unable to resist the shock, I immediately faint.

* * *

I regain conscious when I feel the warmth of a damp cloth on my face. At the moment I open my eye, I see two shining grey iris right in front of me.

“Aaaahh!!!” I scream and move my body back slightly. I accidentally hit my bandaged head at the end of the bed. Ouch… it hurts.

“Woargh!” he screams briefly as he startled and covers his face with the damp cloth he is holding. He wipes my face with it.

I rub my head because it hurts. He slowly puts down the damp cloth that he used to cover his face and look at me. His grey eyes are very attractive. His face is filled with innocence, a kind look. I stop myself for being foolish, I deny the fear that I have towards him. Those large grey eyes… he is cute anyway.

He blinks his eyes and the colour of his eyes changes. Now, it’s black. I guess he is the same species of a creature like Jonghyun.

I blink my eyes and relax myself. He looks at me but refuses to say a word. Kneeling like a statue beside the bed where I am lying like a princess. He keeps blinking his large eyes without saying anything.

“Errr… thanks what you've done last night. I really owe you my life,” those words are slowly flowing out of my mouth. I really feel awkward.

He says nothing but smiles widely. This handsome smiling statue was my hero. Oh my gosh… my heart melts.

* * *

“You live alone?” I say, sitting on the bed instead of just lying.

“Yeah,” he replies, sitting on a couch just beside the bed. The conversation is getting reciprocate. I sipped a cup of hot chocolate that he has prepared for me. Delicious.

“How did you get into the forest?” he looks at me as he asks.

“Errr…” I say. I do not even able to answer the question. I do not know. I forgot everything that had happened last night. I was like a dream, so blurry and dark. I could not remember anything.

“I’m sorry. I don’t even remember,” I reply.

“It’s okay. well, I just wanna say to you… that it’s not safe to roam in that forest in the middle of the night,” he says as he sips the hot chocolate from his cup.

I keep quiet. I do not know what to say. Just waiting for him to proceed with the conversation.

“So… what’s your name?”

“Suzy.”

“You should go back to your home, Suzy. It’s now night… and it's getting colder.”

Another speechless time for me. I cannot answer the question. I don’t want to go back to Lay’s house, nor stay in this house alone with him.

“I can send you home if you want to…”

“I don’t have any home. I’m lost,” I say.

“Maybe…”

“I can’t stay here tonight,” immediately I say. I really don’t want to stay in the house alone with him although I know he’s kind.

“I see. So… okay, what I can I do for you?” he smiles and looks at me.

“Nevermind. I can find home by myself. Thanks.”

“No. I won’t let you,” he shook his head.

“Why?” I turn and look at him. I stressed on the question, slightly.

“Because… you’re beautiful…” he pauses there and sighs. “It is too dangerous out there. Since what had happened last night, you still dare to go out alone and sleep in the middle of the forest? It is dangerous, Suzy. And I won’t ever let any of those beasts out there to touch you. Never.”

I am speechless for a while. Well, what he have said is true. But, the trauma that I am having since last night still haunting me and I can’t stay alone with him. I am scared. Moreover, he has saved me and I do not want to owe him anything anymore.

“I can’t stay in your house tonight. Let me go. Jebal.”

He gazes at me again. I throw my eyes to somewhere else of the room. Silence has blown by the breeze of the night into the warm room through the windows.

“Deal. Stay here for one night. Tomorrow I will decide where you should go. I won’t let you go out in the middle of the night. And you, don’t ever try to sneak out. I am watching you.” He says. He stands up and leaves the bedroom, holding his empty cup. He closes the door behind him, leaving me alone in the room.

It is already midnight and I really cannot sleep. I roam around the room and sit on the huge window, covering my body with the thick furry comforter. I behold the outside view of the house. It is quite eerie. The forest is so dark; I can imagine how many beasts and dark creatures are hiding behind the trees, waiting for their prey. He was right.

I left the window and decide to go out of the room. I am not thinking of escaping, not even leaving the house. But at the right moment I open the door slightly, I see him sitting on the couch, at the living room. He has not gone to sleep. He crosses his arms across his chest and sits statically on the couch. He seems like thinking, he might have been absorbed into a deep thinking session.

I close the door and lean on it, but then I crawl onto the bed and fall asleep.

* * *

I am now awake. My head is slightly lighter than yesterday. Eyes open, but the laziness of me has glued me on the warm cozy bed.

The door opens. He comes into the room, holding a tray of food.

“Let’s have some breakfast now,” he looks at me and smile.

I look at the breakfast he has brought. Sliced toast with butter, fried eggs and some sausages. I just sit beside him, act like a statue, doing nothing. He stops moving and look at me.

“Why?” he says. I look up at him.

“Thanks. Thank you so much,” I say. I do not know, I feel my tears begin to fill my eye sac and nearly spill out.

“Shush. Just eat. Or else… we will be late.”

* * *

“Okay. Just close your eyes and open it until 3.”

I just obey what I have said. I open my eyes after counting to 3 and now I am standing in front of a huge house… or a villa.

I turn my head around, seeking for his glimpse. He is now gone. Whispers, I do hear in the atmosphere.

"Farewell, Suzy."  

One mistake that I have committed. I do not even know his name.

  

New strangers

I was left alone in front of an enormous building. It is heavily obscured by trees, but it appears as a luxurious and perfectly positioned to make the best of the view. Although the walls of the villa or mansion or whatever it is called looks old but it looks antique. I don’t know how to describe it; a villa or a mansion, because it looks like it is owned by a wealthy person but at the same time it has the most beautiful garden I have ever seen.

Astonished by its beauty, I begin to roam in the garden. The scent of the flowers makes my mind goes whimsical. I begin to dance among the flowers; me and the flowers musical. Dancing to the sound of the water droplets falling on the surface; on the colourful pebbles around the fountain, touching the clear crystally water with the tip of my pointer finger and feel the cool breeze of the morning on my cheeks. My eyes and heart is now blinded by the beauty of the nature. The landscape is piece of an amazing hard work; I guess it is perfectly done by a perfectionist.

Suddenly, I hear a squeal inside the house. Loud and clear. At first I am so shocked of the sudden sound that has broke through the harmony of the morning musical. Is it a voice of a guy? But the squeal is so high-pitched. If it’s a guy, he is so applicable in a singing contest, or maybe an opera.

After the loud squeal, I hear a loud laugh, but I am so sure that the sound was made by a different guy. That was very loud! Are they trying to announce something? Why are they using a speaker to speak inside of a mansion? Is the mansion is too big for a person until it is hard to hear someone else’s voice from a part of the mansion to another part of it?

A guy comes out from the mansion. He is short, (but not really short), wearing black-framed spectacles and holding a book. He looks nerdy but if I look at the different point of view, he might be attractive.

I am totally forgotten that I am already in the mansion, behind the gate! Oh no! I think I better hide behind the bushes before they know the existence of me, standing outstandingly among their pretty flowers.

“Park Chanyeol!!! Are you giving me a heart attack? Can’t you please leave me alone? Urgghhh!!!

“Sorry. I can’t remain quiet, Bacon. It’ll give me stress. Please… would you play with me? It is so damn boring!”

Another guy who comes out later is very tall and bright-skinned. And his voice is too deep and loud! It is just unfit the baby face that he has. A rich guy, I bet he can do anything with his money. I believe he has a speaker inside of his throat, he maybe have just implanted a speaker inside his throat.

“It’s Baekhyun! I have been living for 21 years with that name and you, yourself! And because of that I refuse to play with you!”

“Please Baekhyun-nie~~~”

“The answer is, no! Urrrggghh. I need my privacy! Go and play with your talking Pororo instead!” he then storms into the house, ignoring the baby-faced speaker alone at the verandah, biting his lower lip. He then looks down to his shoes, stepping down the little, few stairs in front of the porch. He is walking towards the garden with his sad face.

I need to step away from him. He must be displeased if he knows me intruding his mansion.

I step a few steps behind and step on a figure on the ground. I immediately turn around to figure the thing that I have stepped on but unfortunately I bump on the figure. Aish… I feel relieved to know that I did not bump onto one of the statue in the garden and broke it into pieces. I am probably saved myself for not making any single noise.

In a second thought, I think that I have already doomed. I maybe have not bumped onto a statue but I have bumped onto a man!

Hardly until I fall onto his chest. He does not move a bit and close his eyes, tight. But he does look handsome, maybe applicable to be one of the mannequins to make the garden be more alive. Feeling a bit scared, I slowly get up on my knees and say sorry. Before he does anything, another handsome guy come approaches us both.

“What are you guys doing in my enchanted garden? Sehunnie, I know you are so famous with girls, but can you pick a better place for making such scene and not my garden? You might ruin my precious shrubs!” he says angrily pointing on the shrubs beside us.

“I am sorry for ruining your … thrubs, Suho-hyung. And… FYI, she’s not my girlfriend, okay? I just thee (see) her dancing in the garden. I thought she is somehow… your girlfriend?” he said. “She knocked me down, thee (see)? My leg will be getting a bruise later on and theeth (this) is not a good news to my handthome (handsome) image!”

“She’s not my girlfriend either. Then, whose girlfriend is she? If she’s an intruder or a thief, it’s impossible for her to climb the tallest fence in Luna and barely escaped the strongest guard in the entire land!”

I am just speechless. I just looked up at them, still in a kneeling position in between of the guys. I hope they will pardon me.  But then suddenly the boy who was begging to play approaches us and ruins the situation.

“Why so serious? Are you both fighting for a girl? But it seems like you both don’t want to admit that she’s your girlfriend,” he looks down at me. “Wow, she’s so pretty! By the way, if you both don’t want her as a girlfriend, can I have her?

Three of us just look at him and narrow our eyes. It is like saying “Are you serious?” It seems that this baby-faced, big-throat beanstalk loves to play a lot.

* * *

Sitting on the tea table in the garden, the other three boys just paying a full attention to what I say. I explain to them what was happened to me, from A-Z.

“So, the guy that you have said can teleport? Wow, I have never theen (seen) a Selenelion with such an amazing ability!” Sehun says, looks so astonished.

Sehun keeps pronouncing /s/ with / θ/. I don’t know what happened to his tongue.

“Yeah, really. I wish that I have that ability too. I am just a water-bender and that’s boring. But, nevermind, at least I can wash the fountain and run it by myself using the tip of my finger instead of buying water pump. In this way, I can save more money,” Suho voiced up his ability.

Suho is obsessed with his money. He is the real owner of the mansion; the others are just staying there.   

“What is his name?” Sehun asks.

“I don’t know. I forgot to ask him.” Everybody just goes… “Ahhh… jinjia?~”

“Just forget about his name. So… Suzy-ssi, you got a bandage here,” Chanyeol says as he touches my head softly. “Since I have a gooooood mood today and I am super duper free, let me change the bandage, okay?” he says that and smile. I smile back, showing my “thanks” smile.

“Just tell me… when did you ever have a bad mood? And you are always super duper free for disturbing me!” says Baekhyun as he walks towards our table. He throws a smile, looking at me.

“Hi, I am Baekhyun. Just don’t call me Bacon,” he rolls his eyes to Chanyeol. “Nice to meet you!”

He just gave a brief and short introduction. We shake our hands together.   

“Okay, it seems that we have introduced ourselves. And from now on, I as the owner of this mansion, I approved Suzy to be our new mansion-mate!” Suho declares. Everybody hit the table and applaud. Only the advance happy virus Chanyeol throws a long “yaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy!!!”

I hope this time, everything will go well. Thank goodness I just got a new home thanks to that mysterious beast!    

Misfigured

They welcome me to enter the mansion, it is stunningly gorgeous. Suho, Sehun, Chanyeol and Baekhyun escort me to the parlor. A smart-looking old butler greets us after we step into the house.

“Good morning sir, miss. Lunch is ready within 15 minutes. I hope you will gather at the dining hall 5 minutes before the meal,” the butler says it out with glee, touches his chest.

“No worries. We will be there on time. Thank you,” Suho says. Wow, the way he talks is really… classy.

We walk further, to the next level of the mansion. The room is as large as a ball room, or maybe it supposed to be a ball room. The hall is large, with doors on its wall. I guess they are guest rooms. The room is flawless, no dirt and mess. This makes my expectation go down again, I think a boy’s house should be messy with stuffs. I am really sure that the butlers are doing their job so effectively, or maybe Suho have given them salary excessively.

From where I stand, I can see the breath-taking view through the window back wall of the house. There are tops of trees and a crystal clear river plummeting below. I gaze up to Baekhyun and he nods as he knows what I am going to ask. So, I run towards the window and enjoy the view outside the hall. I can see the fishes running in the water, of colourful sizes and shapes. The fences are covered with flowery vines, releasing scents that can generate one’s mind to secrete endorphins. The maze that is positioned at the edge of the yard may be the next place that I want to go. The view from up here is enough to give me vertigo.

“Suzy, let me show you your room,” Sehun suddenly talks next to me. He walks forward and I just follow him at the back. The others are no longer around, but I still can see Chanyeol chases Baekhyun down the glass stairs.

We walk through a door at the end of the hall and leading into a walkway. There are many doors on the walls of the walkway. Finally Sehun stops and opens a door in the middle of the walkway.

“Starting this moment, this will be your room,” he says, leading me to get into the room. It is a master room, fully equipped with a king-sized bed, a bathroom and a balcony. At the opposite side of the bed, there is a king-sized wardrobe. I take a glance on Sehun face and smile.

“Go ahead!” he says. I open the wardrobe. Inside of it, there is an enormous collection of girl’s clothes of the latest trend, variety shoes of types, sizes and shapes and fully complete collections of girl’s accessories and make ups. “This is heaven,” I mumbled, but of course, not to be heard.

I begin to check out of what I am wearing now. I feel awkward, especially considering my bedraggled attire.

“You can change that later. Now, let us go to the dining hall and have our lunch. They might have been waiting for us.”

* * *

After lunch, I decided to go up and go to my new room to change my clothes. As I walk to the walkway and grab open the door, Baekhyun shouts out to me, giving me a slight shock.

“Suzy! Why don’t you drop to my room later on? Maybe after you bath and change your clothes? We can have a talk,” he gestures he hands, pointing to the room just in the opposite of mine and smiles widely.

“Oh. That’s your room? Nice. Sure, I am really glad. Just give me… maybe half an hour or less?”

“Sure, no problem. I’ll be waiting.”

After that I walk into my room and drop free my body on the king-sized bed. It is so soft and delicate. But before my eyes get heavier, I better get off the bed and shove myself into the shower. Closing the door behind me, I enjoy the warmth of the water dropping down on my shoulders. Before that, I tied my hair into a bun and I moved slowly beneath the shower to prevent the water from touching the dry bandage.

When I pull off the cardigan from my body, there is something, drop onto the wet floor of the shower. I quickly pick it on and examine the thing that I hold. It is a pendant itself.

Suddenly my mind recalls again what had happened last night.

“This is my lucky charm. My mother gave me since I was child, and it keeps me safe till now. Please take this. It will protect you from any danger.”

Come out from the shower, I put the pendant in the accessory box. I immediately take a simple flowery-patterned white long shirt matched with a blue legging from the robe and wear it. Release my hair free from the bun, I checked out myself on the mirror to make sure that I look okay. 20 minutes passed. Closing the door behind me, I walk towards Baekhyun’s room and knock the door.

“Come in!” I hear his voice inside. I turn the knob and open the door. Baekhyun is sitting on a couch wearing white, he is holding a book.

Making me standing in awe, his room is filled with books! Thousands of them.  As I briefly going through the titles of the books, they are available in both fictions and non-fictions. All of the walls inside of his rooms are the bookshelves, the wall above the bed where he sleeps also counted. I wonder where his wardrobe and bathroom is, are they placed behind the shelves?

“What do you think of my room?” Baekhyun suddenly says, looking at me.

“Wow! This is damn awesome! I love books!” I say it out loud. I am so excited. I have never dreamt of having a large collection of book like this because I know a life of mine could not afford to have the collection of this big!

“I know right. But Sehun says it is ridiculous.”

“Sehun? The one who showed me my room?” I say.

“Yeah,” he nods. “His room is situated at the other wing of the mansion. I will show it to you later if you want to.” He says, smiling.

“Oh. Okay.” I say, briefly. I glued my eyes to the shelves. I don’t care if Baekhyun is looking at me or not. I think bringing me to his room to have a talk is a bad idea. He should bring me to another place if he needs my attention.

“My room actually was on the same wing as Sehun. Sehun and Chanyeol. But after that I changed because of Chanyeol.”

I should listen to what he is saying. So, I stop looking at the book and sit at the edge of his bed. “Why?”

“Err… because…” he utters. “By the way, could you please close the door? Thanks.”

I close the door and walk towards where I have seated.

“I am afraid that he will eavesdrop on us. He keeps disturbing me whenever I am with my books.”

“Haha! Really?” I laugh.

“Yeah, seriously. As you can see, he is a hyper happy-go-lucky guy with no sense of stress. We call him the 'Happy virus'. Everybody in this house will be contagious to his virus, except me. Maybe that’s what making him pissed off. But, I have been with him since child and I know him better than anybody else in the house. We are best friends,” he continues. I look at him and smile.

“Yargh! I can smell Bacon in this room!” suddenly Chanyeol shoves himself into the room, sniffing. “Oh, Suzy! I know you must be here. No wonder I knocked your door and nobody answered.” He sits beside Baekhyun. Baekhyun throws an "I knew it" look to me.

“She loves my books. Yeollie, I think you should learn to read books~” Baekhyun says and sticks his tongue out. He hides his face behind the book as if he is reading. But then Chanyeol grabs Baekhyun’s legs and pulls it. Baekhyun nearly falls off the couch. His face is in shock, that I really wanna laugh over his face but I just cover my mouth.

“Yargh!” Baekhyun is obviously pissed off. Chanyeol runs all around the spacious room, running away from Baekhyun who is chasing over him, laughing out loud. Running on the floor, jumping on and off the bed, I still do not believe that they are still behaving like children. Baekhyun is exhausted, panting while walking around the room. He cannot chase over happy virus Chanyeol anymore. Chanyeol keeps laughing; at last, he drops himself on the bed, showing his ‘derp’ face. Baekhyun lays beside him after that.

“Hey… this time…” *panting* “I release you… next time, don’t ever wish to escape from me... huuuhhhh” Baekhyun gives out a warning but he still panting.

“Houhou, I think you have repeated this warning for the…” Chanyeol lift his fingers and starts counting “…twelfth time.” he says again and sticks his tongue out. Before Baekhyun tries to hit him up, he quickly counteract and shoved his buttock on the couch where Baekhyun had been reading his book. I can hear Baekhyun groans on the bed, showing his dissatisfaction. Chanyeol then turns his head and looks at me.

“Oh yeah, Suzy, you haven’t change your bandage. Let’s go to my room, I’ll re-bandage it for you,” Chanyeol offers.

“No need. Just take the first aid kit behind the shelf and do it here,” Baekhyun commands. Like an obedient child reacting to his mother, he is going straight to the shelf and takes the first-aid kit out. He come towards me and slowly pulls off the bandage, off my head.

“Ouch. This had been serious, but I think the one who have done the bandaging is so professional. It’s already good. I think you don’t have to wear this again tomorrow. A handyplast is enough,” Chanyeol says and slowly puts an ointment on my injury.

“Ouch.”

“Yeollie, please be careful! Is it hurts?” Baekhyun asks.

“No,” I say and smile.

* * *

I walk around the hall after leaving Chanyeol and Baekhyun in the room. At this moment, I hear Sehun talking loudly to someone downstairs.

“Hyung! Finally you’re back!”

“Haha! Why? Miss me?”

“A lot. Huhu. It’s been boring when you’re not home…”

I am wondering who is Sehun talking to. Is there another member of the house that I have not known? Sneaking on the stairs, I want to figure who he is. But I only manage to see his hair. So, I keep walking towards them, walking down the stairs. He looks at me. Oh my goodness! I remember those ‘Bambi’ eyes, I know him! But his name cannot appear on my mind, I try to speak out his name, but my mouth fails, just open up wide.

“Suzy?” he speaks out. Bringing me to a surprise, he remembers my name.

“Errr… what are you doing here?” I do not know why I ask that question, it’s obvious that he’s the real member of the mansion.

“No. I should ask that question to you. What are you doing here?”

“Err… Luhan-hyung, you know each other?” Sehun interrupts.

“Yeah, she’s the girl Chunji have been looking for,” Luhan says while looking at Sehun. “Chunji have been looking for you. Jonghyun-hyung have been crying two nights thinking of you, you know. You should go home,” he then turns to me, telling what happened. I just keep quiet. I feel guilt.

“Lay missed you too. He is the one who asks Kris to draw your face and put the ‘missing’ notice all over Luna. But no one even come to him and tells him that you’re here.”

“Lay?” I uttered, shock. He is still alive? But… how come?

“Yeah. He have been searching for you these two days. You really need to come home. Immediately.”

I do not know what to do.

“Suzy! I think Lay is searching for you! He mentioned a lost girl in the papers!” suddenly Suho comes approaching me with a newspaper.

Everyone is asking me to leave when I hardly leave the mansion to meet them, especially Lay. There’s nothing I can do, but to obey.

Telepathy

Luhan, Sehun and Chanyeol send me back to Lay’s green house after a day and a night stay in their mansion. 

“Knock knock knock!” Luhan knocks the door. While Luhan is doing that, Sehun and Chanyeol are still chattering behind me. They are so excited since morning. Suho and Baekhyun are still in the mansion. Baekhyun told us that he really want to join us since dinner, but at the time Chanyeol shows his immaturity, bouncing all over the mansion saying  that he is going, Baekhyun pulls himself away.

“I’m coming!” a voice from inside the house replies and opens up the door.

“Hyung? Miss me already?” Chunji smiles, a bit surprised.

“No, not really. I’m here because of her,” Luhan steps aside and pulls my hand so I can step a little bit forward. I smile, looking at his angel face. I am so glad meeting him again.

“Suzy? Oh my goodness! Where have you been! We really have been worried about you! Oh my gosh… Jonghyun-hyung, look who’s here!!!” Chunji shouts while grabbing my hands, shaking them vigorously.

Jonghyun storms down the stairs as soon as Chunji calls. He stops, looking at me with his spontaneous open mouth.

“Suzy!!!” he runs towards me and hugs me tightly. I push him because it is too awkward for me. However, I do not bother of what he is doing. 

“I’m sorry, Suzy. I know you leave because of me, right? I pestered you. Next time if I do it again you should just hit me, not leaving the house. Pabo,” Jonghyun looks at me as if he is angry at me.

“No, I didn’t leave because of you, pabo…” I reply with a smirk. Jonghyun laughs. Everybody laughs after him.

“Hey, what are we doing in front of the door? Let’s get in and have some tea maybe?” Chunji voiced out while smiling, breaking the moment of happiness among them. Luhan nods while looking at Sehun.

“Wooo… what a brilliant idea! Come on! Ppali!” Chanyeol uttered loudly, smiling full of excitement. He is the first one who rushes into the house. While entering the house, I start to inspire the scent of happiness. The boys are acting so childish and loud, they are like brothers who have never seen each other after a century.

The house is still the same with the one which I have left a fortnight ago.  The scent and the air inside the room remains the same, but this time, it is just the mood that differs. The house is still green, extremely fresh and full of oxygen. While walking inside the house, I see Ren, he is silently reading a book, sitting on the couch. When he realizes that I am taking a glance on him, he just glares at me and roll his eyes. After that he leaves the sitting room and heads to the stairs, leaving all of us. He makes me feel insecure again. The boys are still sinking in their laughter, they don’t even know that someone is leaving the room.

“Okay guys, I’ll prepare tea,” Chunji volunteers himself.

“Hey! Let’s prepare it together. It’s been a while that I have not checked on your house,” Chanyeol stands up after landing his butt on the couch for less than a minute. He runs towards Chunji and grabs Chunji’s shoulder easily since he is taller than Chunji.

So, in the sitting room, there are still Jonghyun, Luhan, Sehun with me. I am sitting beside Luhan which is sitting next to Sehun. Jonghyun is just sitting in front of me. Sehun puts his arms around Luhan’s shoulder and laugh.

“What?” Luhan asks.

“Nothing. I am recalling the battle between us two years ago, right over there…” Sehun utters, pointing to the garden outside the house. Luhan raised his eyebrows and grins widely.

“Oh, the moment when I was angry because you have blown wind when I was lifting and arranging the flower pots?  Haha! That was funny, I was angry because you have broke the pots. And that was silly.”

Sehun narrows his eyes. “Not that one. What I actually mean is when you lifted back the dust and leaves when I tried to blow away the dead leaves from the verandah.”

“Oh, that one? Haha. Why? Should we do that again?”

“Aish, I know I cannot win against you, hyung.”

“Aww, come on. That was fun. We should do that again. Come on!” Luhan grabs Sehun’s hand and pull him towards the verandah. They giggle in amusement and leave us both Jonghyun in the sitting room.

I don’t know what to say to Jonghyun. I really want to say something but I don’t know what I should say to him. So, pulled my sight of his face and let my eyes stroll around the house. At a time my eyes stops lingering and found something on the study table behind Jonghyun. I see drawings. A pencil and an eraser are at the right side the drawing. From the angle which I am sitting now, the drawing seems unclear as the sunlight has strongly shone on the white paper and reflected into my eyes. I put my eyes back on Jonghyun’s face.

“What is that?” I ask. Jonghyun turns his back and takes a sheet of it.

“Lay asks for Kris’s favor to draw your face. Those are the ‘missing’ notices that we are gonna distribute later on. But it seems that Kris’s effort becomes insignificant, since you’re here,” Jonghyun is telling me while showing up the drawing. I look clearly but I am afraid that I don’t really recognize my own physical characteristics on the drawing. I begin to laugh.

“Haha, I’m so glad that you all do such things to rescue me. I really appreciate that. But it seems that nobody will recognize me when they see the notice.”

“Really?” Jonghyun asks, taking a glance on me and looks at the drawing repeatedly.

“Yeah, I’m afraid I don’t too.” Jonghyun implies. He laughs and puts the drawing back to its original place.

“Tea is ready guys!” 
Sehun and Luhan who played on the verandah quickly enter the house again. Chunji walks to the sitting room while handling a tray of cups. Chanyeol brings a huge teapot. Kris follows their back, handling a jar of peanut butter in his left hand and a few slices of bread on a plate on his right palm. He sticks a spoon which has stained by peanut butter inside his mouth. He looks at me and smile. After that, he slowly moves himself towards the study table and gathered all his drawings. He takes a file and cramps all the drawings inside that file. Looking at me again, he throws a huge grin to me.

I guess he does not know that I have been viewing his drawing.

He slowly walks towards us handling the breads and peanut butter and sits beside Chunji who distributed the tea for us all. Chunji then takes the cup full of tea and place it in front of Chanyeol.

“Thanks Chunji. Now, where is Lay? I haven’t seen him.” Chanyeol asks.

“Lay-hyung is upstairs. Later he will come. Oh yeah, Jonghyun hyung, where’s Ren?”

“He is upstairs too. Maybe after this they will join us.”

“Okay then.”

While everybody is chattering, enjoying their tea, I hear steps on the stairs. Someone is heading down.

He's coming, step by step, gradually towards me. He gapes his eyes, as if he just want to swallow my whole body into his green eyes. He quickly flicks a smirk. I cannot control myself, the trauma is haunting me again this time.

Lay have created a nuisance inside me. And I really want to escape from his incarceration. It is choking me.

I am trying to escape out from the house. I stand up quickly run towards the door. I run away from them.

“Suzy? Where are you going?”

There is no turning back, and I am not going to turn back. I should not be here since that day that I stepped into the moon's shadow. Now I realize, I am not belong to this ambiance.

"Suzy! Don't go!"

The moment I run away, I feel a blow of wind, struck my feet from the front and embraces my feet till I barely move. That grasp then pulls my feet backwards, making my body trips forward. My chest whams the hard ground. I nearly have a heart attack, but not because of the impact, it is because of the sudden act that longs for only a breath.

“Luhan-hyung! Stop please! Or you might hurt her!" I heard Chunji, shouting loudly to his brother. Luhan releases me and Chunji is sprinting towards me who am still sitting on the asphalt, looking at me in my eyes as if he can see through my eyes.

“What have happened?” he asks. Then suddenly Lay appears among the crowds and my heart starts pounding again.

“He… he drags me into the woods that day, and… and…” I say, gasping for more air.

“Suzy, calm down okay, just let me read your mind." Chunji holds my shoulder. I just obey, looking deeply into his shining hazel eyes.

“She's telling the truth!" Chunji shouts, turns his back around and glares at Lay. Lay looks like he is in shock. “What have you done? You seduced her into the woods and raped her? I can’t believe this. This is ridiculous!”

All eyes are on Lay. He gapes his mouth but no words come out. He is now speechless.

The boys are, too. They refuse to believe it but they seem like they have trusted Chunji a lot.

Exactitude

The glass windows on the tall walls of the castle nearly crack. Not because of the multiple strikes of the thunder in the darkest atmosphere. A loud slam on the door of the castle of darkness makes Jaehyo almost lose his temper. However, he just sits still on his throne. Although he was born with the ability of divination, he does not need to use that ability to know that someone must have lost his mind.

“I curse her! Why didn’t I just banish her at the first time I met her? And shame on you! Why did you ask my brother to do such a ridiculous task? He might be killed!”

D.O shouts out in full remorse, pointing his finger sharply towards Jaehyo who is still resting on his throne. The voice of the soul keeper has almost awakened all of the dead who are still on their deep sleep, in every single chamber of the castle of darkness. The loud clattering sounds of the glasses as he announces his anger, echoing in every angle and edge of the whole alcazar.

Jaehyo stands up and turns his body heading the one who is flaming with anger. His eyes are glaringly sharp, penetrates into the Soul Keeper’s eyes. The moment he does, D.O’s iris cringes and he steps a few spontaneous steps behind.  His aura has made every brave soul in the castle in fear. That’s the real power of a real dark ruler.

“I know what I’m doing. You have no right to complain. This is my plan,” his voice hits the walls repeatedly.

“Oh yeah? Well, if this is your plan you’d better stop ‘cause this is totally ridiculous. Are you nuts? Shit if you call this a plan. This is totally ridiculous! Fuck.”

Jaehyo is obviously pissed off. He can’t resist someone who shouts back at him and curse. Well, of course, he is the king. He throws another glare and D.O’s body is thrown away, on the wall. D.O groans, grasps his left shoulder which have been knocked on the hard concrete. He clenched his left fist, but he knows there’s no point of fighting back. Jaehyo flicks a smirk, feeling bossy all the time. Although he knows the fact that he was raised by D.O’s father, he is still acting rude towards him. He feels that there’s only one who is the powerful amongst all, which is himself alone.

“I wonder who defeats Taemin this time,” a guy wearing a dark cloak approached them with a metallic black wand with a replica of a small skull on top of it. The boys turned their heads towards who is coming into the room. He is Zelo, the sorcerer, a wizard of his own alchemy.

“Well, I’m afraid to say that Taemin’s wounds are too deep. He might be killed if he abandoned longer in the forest. I don’t believe that the good boys have done such thing. I mean, it’s too brutal.”

“No, I am sure that it’s the Healer.”D.O utters. He rolls his eyes back to Jaehyo. “This retard has given him the hardest time at the Tree of Life the last two full moons.”

Jaehyo clenches his fist. He then attains his patience and rests his body on the throne. Yes, Taemin was the hypnotizer; this was all Jaehyo’s plan.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think so it’s him. He seems like he have been attacked by a beast, at least, the one who was blinded by an evil. And I don’t think those good boys can ever beat a royal blood so easily.”

D.O crinkles his forehead and then gapes his large sized eyes, looking at the wizard. “By any chance, do you mean it was done by an insider?”

“You’ve read my mind, dude.”

“No, that’s impossible,” D.O rises up from the floor where he has fallen. “How about the werewolves?”

“Nope, they have descended since your father sent the vampires into the forest to hunt for Selenelion. The quicksilver years, remember?” Zelo utters.

“Yeah, you’re right…but…” D.O is going to say something when Jaehyo suddenly stops him.

“Enough! Can you all just go find another room to discuss? I don’t wish to hear anything about the Selenelion.”

So, they leave the room slowly. Leaving Jaehyo alone.

Silence, but the dark heart would not rest in peace after he heard the name after decades have past.

Alteration

They are still in the green house. They are sitting on the couch, some on the floor because there are no enough spaces for all. Everybody is in the silent mode. Well, nobody really knows how to react towards the situation.

Lay bites his lips. He knows defending himself won’t work; it just makes more noise and hatred.

“I never believe Lay hyung is the one who is guilty. We all know him very well. He is not that kind of person who we have described just now,” suddenly Ren speaks. He have been defending Lay all the time and denies the accusation. He can’t stop from defending the one who is sitting calmly on the couch, looks like he does not really care with the allegation which points directly to him.

“So, are you gonna say that my vision is bad? Hey, I know what I saw is true,” Chunji replies.

Ren stands from his seat and glares at Chunji. “I don’t care. I know Lay hyung is not the one who is guilty.”

“Well. Prove it to me then.”

Ren rolled his eyes. “Why should I care? You’re not even a perfect Selenelion, your power still sucks so why I should listen to you? You must accept the fact that I’m better than you so fuck off. ”

Chunji, the one who is known to be the best-behaved among the boys started to stand on his own feet but he just stays quiet, clenching his fists. Everyone in the room is in shock after the maknae’s last words. A Selenelion should be pure and free from the four-letter, ‘f’ word usage.

“Ren! Please mind your words! You’re talking to your hyung!” Chanyeol suddenly speaks out his words. He started to stand on his feet, gazing Ren’s face.

“I’ll repeat it for you again that I DON’T CARE! What the hell are you guys thinking? Why do you all trust this girl rather than Lay hyung? We have lived together for a long time and nothing bad happens till this girl came, and still, you all believe her? Wake up! You are all being deceived by her!” Ren says, almost shouted. Suzy frowns by hearing his words.

“What ridiculous are you saying Ren? You don’t know anything so shut up,” this time, Luhan speaks up. Ren rolls his eyes for the second time.

“Huh. I know right. Nobody's gonna trust me. I shouldn’t have wasting my time debating,” Ren finalizes his words and storms upstairs. The room starts to be quiet again till Lay speaks up for himself.

“Ren’s right. That wasn’t me. Trust me. I didn’t do such thing to hurt her.”

“Yeah, like a criminal would ever admit that he’s wrong,” Jonghyun suddenly replies to that statement. He rolls his eyes towards Lay. It seems like Jonghyun don’t even believe in what Lay have said. He stands up and leaves the room and walk towards the stairs without turning back.

Suzy is in dilemma. She can’t decide what to do next. It was real that Lay was the one and she is so sure of that, but at the same time she can’t stand to see the boys begin to go their own way. She feels that she is the one who makes them apart from each other and that is so wrong.

Lay stands up from the couch and walks through the door. They feel really awkward to talk, so they are just letting him go without asking where is the destination the one who leaves is going to head. Minutes have passed since Lay had left but still, everybody in the house do not even give a single word to say.

Suzy bites her lower lip. “I’m so sorry guys. It’s all happened because of me.”

“What the heck are you thinking?”Chunji yells. “It’s not your fault but still you’re blaming yourself? You know, Lay-hyung is like my own hyung, I love him very much, better than you all do but if he’ve done something wrong, I won’t hesitate to turn away. And I really have believed you and myself, that’s why I’m doing this. If you’re right why are you blaming yourself for the case? Don’t be stupid.”

Chunji is the most trusted person for all of them. That’s why all of them knew that Chunji was speaking the truth regarding the matter. They know if there’s anything happened, Chunji won’t mix the cases with his own feeling and stands still for the right side. He’s not bias towards anybody. And everybody in the house knew what kind of relationship between Lay and Chunji. It’s even better than the relationship that Chunji and his own blood brother Luhan ever have. But when it comes to Chunji, it is very expected for him to speak up for the truth because it is hard to find a person, maybe it is only him who chooses justice more that a true friendship.

“Why hyung have to do this? I know him very well. He’s the wisest, the perfect leader Selenelion ever have. Why?” Chunji says all the words and covers his face with both of his palms. On his face there’s a clear statement written that a heavy disappointment has made his soul so weary. He has once lost the faith of an eternal true friendship.

Luhan taps on his brother’s shoulder and slowly wraps his arms around Chunji. He doesn’t know what to say in that very moment. He also doesn’t expect that the desperado was Lay. It seems that it was really far away from the reality. All he ever wishes now is that it was only a nightmare. Sehun and Chanyeol are too, as if they’re stuck with glue to the couch with their mouths zipped.

For a sudden, Ren goes down the stairs again and heading to the outside of the green house. Before he keeps walking through the doors, he is still able to put a stare on Chunji and rolled his eyes. He, then just goes straight through the doors, leaving the house without looking back.

Chunji feels uneasy. If he still stays in the house when Ren keeps doing that, he doesn’t think that it’s the best way to live, he thinks. Living with Lay when he dislikes him is a bad idea either.

“Hyung, I won't stay here tonight, or until ever,” Chunji says, looking up to his brother.

“You can still live with me, so don't worry,” Luhan replies, smiling. Sehun who sits beside Luhan just nodded.

“Okay, I think, we have to pack for Chunji’s things now before going back right? No worries Chunji, we’re always with you,” Chanyeol utters. Chunji flicks a grin.

* * *

Footsteps, the sound of them echo, bouncing on the glass-wood wall along the hallway. His black long cloak nearly sweeps that dusty floor everywhere he walks. Zelo, the wizard, on his quick feet approaches the empty, spacious, dark room, which to be exact, the room where he always worked on his alchemy. Drawing out a mirror from its hiding, he curses on it:

“Speculum, indicate-mihi!”

Soon as the spell roams in the room, the mirror starts to glow and a dark cloud with the wind quickly swirls around Zelo and the mirror. The mirror begins to float, in an upright position to be parallel to his eyes. Zelo slowly un-hold the mirror and clasp his hands on his stomach.

“Oh Miranda, I adore you. Updates, I’m begging you. Tell me what’s going on now.”

The mirror starts to view all what’s going on. From the moment Chunji read Suzy’s mind until he’s leaving the house. When everything is done-viewed, the mirror faints and Zelo opens his arms to let the mirror fall on his arms. The atmosphere is back, normal. A line of a deep smirk he put across his face. Quite satisfied.

“A masterpiece done by a genius huh?” Jaehyo suddenly appears behind him, crossing his arms across his chest. He is letting his body resting on the door.

“No words better than ‘the best’, Your majesty. Daebak.” Zelo compliments. Jaehyo put a smirk on his face and turn around when he senses someone approaching them. D.O continues to walk forward when the two men wearing black suits keep an eye on him. He actually plans to go merely across the room, not to stop at where they are standing. When he is standing right at the front of the alchemy room, Jaehyo begins to laugh. It makes D.O to stop on his way.

"See? I told you that my plans ain't bullshit!" Jaehyo laughs loudly, villainously.

D. O rolls his eyes and stares right into the man’s eyes in front of him, with his darkest black eyes. Deep like a black hole, which none of the man in the planet owns the darkest eyes as his.

"Please. Just go die with your plans ‘cause I don't care." He rolls his eyes and turns his head forward. He keeps moving forward.

Jaehyo is obviously mad. None is as obstinate, annoying as the soul keeper, for him. He clenches his fist, as if he alters all the ‘yang’ energy from his dark heart to his fist.

He had the darkest plan, which is always running on his head but if it’s not because of the relation they have, he must have done it at the first place.