Jae Here's Pov
Our performance was finally over, Baekhyun and I hugged each other backstage and congratulated each other for the big success.
I was afraid I'd messed up but surprisingly, I got all the notes right and my key was on point so I'm very thrilled right now.
The other Exo members congratulated us once we got back to the dressing room, I covered my flushed cheeks because I was shy.
I saw Luhan standing a few feet away, he was smiling at me. Just a smile on his face could make me feel extremely proud of myself.
"So how do you feel Jae Hee?" Suho asked me curiously.
"I feel....really good. Wonderful actually," I gave a thumbs up then laughed.
They patted my head and hugged me like a very caring older brothers.
Right now I feel very blessed be apart of this family.
"Let's go have pizza!" Suho suggested and the rest of us cheered happily.
Some of the members were jumping around and some of them were slinging their arms on each other's shoulders.
I laughed as I looked at them, they were just too hilarious for me not to laugh at. Kai suddenly pulled me along and sling his arm on my shoulder, "Let's go." He flashed a big smile and it made me smile along too.
= = =
We ordered large amount of pizza and ate all of them like hungry hyenas. We were starving after the performance.
Chanyeol and Baekhyun were sitting right beside me, Suho, Kai and Luhan were sitting just the opposite of us while the other Exo members and the staffs were sitting at a different table.
It got really noisy since everyone was busy having conversations of their own.
"Jay-ah.." Suho looked at me.
"Yeah?"
"Do you have a younger sibling?"
"Yeah, I do actually. She's 4 years younger than me. Her name is Sohee." I proudly talked about my younger sister.
"I bet she's cute just like you," Kai smiled as he complimented me.
I blushed and said, "I'm not that cute but thank you."
Kai leaned back and sighed, "I wish I can meet her. If she's anything like you then I'm sure I'm gonna like her too."
"Yeah I bet you do. You just can't resist the ladies huh?" Chanyeol started teasing Kai which Kai blushed at it. He threw a leftover fries at him, "Yah!"
The rest of us laughed at their jokes, except Luhan---as expected. He kept checking his phone every 5 minutes like he's expecting a call or something.
He let out a long sighed, soft enough so the members wouldn't noticed but I did. He rolled his eyes and landed on mine, my eyes widen at the unexpected eye contact.
I could see it in his face that he was studying me, probably wondering why I was watching him. I looked away and drank the glass of water in one go.
Not long after, Luhan got a phone call so he had to excuse himself. I watched him as he go, something tells me I can't just let him go---
So I followed him out of the restaurant. I had to lie to the others about going to the bathroom because I didn't want them to get the wrong idea.
Once I was outside, I heard people talking in the alley just right beside the restaurant, I carefully made my way over to them and eavesdropped on their conversation. I managed to overhear a few words---
"I'm serious Luhan. If you don't get your head straight, the Phantoms will come after you personally. Either you join us or you die with your stinky beast friends."
It was Luhan and 3 other guys surrounding him. They were twice his size and they had pale skins but what shocked me most was that all 3 of them had bloody red eyes. The same ones I saw up on the roof.
What the hell is going on?
Luhan let out a laugh as if he was mocking them, "Then I guess that makes me a stinky beast too."
The tall guy in the middle, probably the leader, replied with a small laugh, "C'mon, we all know you're different. You're a hybrid after all."
....a what? Did I hear that right?
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear so I could listen better but my phone suddenly started ringing, I quickly took it out of my pocket and answered, I went further away from them.
"Hello?" I answered in a whisper.
"Jae hee? Where are you? We're almost done here. Manager-nim is paying the bills right now. Can you please drag Luhan back here too?"
It was Chanyeol on the other side of the line. I calmed my breath for a minute before replying, "Sure. I'll go and get Luhan now."
"Okay, thanks!" He said before hanging up.
I sighed and kept my phone back into my pocket before going back to where Luhan was only to see him getting punched in the face by that same tall guy, Luhan stumbled backwards, lost his balance and fell to the ground.
"Luhan!" I called and hurried to his side.
"Jae Hee? What are you doing here?!" He got angry as soon as he saw me.
I was shocked by his sudden outburst and began to stutter, "I-I came to get you."
He frowned, still didn't take his eyes away from me, I guess he was trying to contain his anger.
"Well well, who is this shorty?" I turned around and saw the tall guy and his minions laughing.
Hey! That was rude. I was the 5th tallest in my class, just so you know! Tch.
"What did you do to Luhan, you ugly monster!" I shouted back at him. I didn't know where I got the courage to fight back but I just did.
"Ugly monster?! Why you-! I'll show you what real monster is.." he took a few steps towards me with a smirk on his face, I gulped and feared for my life.
I thought it was the end of me until something so quick past by and grabbed the tall guy's neck. I widen my eyes as I saw who it was.
Luhan.
"Lay one finger on him and I'll end you." Luhan threatened him.
I wasn't sure what face Luhan was making but I was certain it wasn't a friendly one.
Luhan let him go, the tall guy fell on his knees and touched his bruised neck while coughing.
He was really pissed off when he looked at Luhan and said, "I'll remember this."
His two minions helped him to stand before disappearing into thin air.
"They disappeared," I said and stood up.
Luhan quickly turned around and stepped closer to me, I could tell he was really angry.
"Do not try to butt in ever again! This is my business, not yours!"
I started tearing up, this was the first time I ever felt fear, "I was only trying to help." I choked on my words.
"Well don't. I don't need your help." After saying this, he walked right past me and went back into the restaurant. I couldn't stop myself from crying.
Why was I so afraid of him?---
= = =
After dinner, Manager-nim drove us back to the dorm, we bid him good night and went up to our rooms.
Half of the members stayed in the living room because they weren't sleepy yet. Kai, Chanyeol and Tao were on their phones, Suho and Kris were watching TV. The others were in their rooms including Luhan.
I, however, wanted to get some fresh air so I went outside for a bit and sat down on the stairs.
I just needed to calm myself down after what happened between me and Luhan. I'm probably going to have a hard time facing him tomorrow *Sighs*
As my thoughts were occupied with images of Luhan, something so fast ran by in the woods. I got startled and almost peed in my pants. I caught a little glimpse of it and I don't think it was human.
I cleared my throat and squint my eyes as I tried to get a good look at the woods, mentally preparing myself for what I was about to see.
Then, without any warning, golden eyes appeared in between the trees, I widen my eyes and quickly jumped up on my feet, running into the house.
"There's something outside!" I shouted as soon as I entered the room.
All the members stopped what they were doing and looked at me confusingly. Suho shared stares with the members before walking towards me and asked, "Jae Hee, what are you talking about?"
I calmed myself down before speaking, "I saw something in the woods. I don't know if it was a wolf or not but it had golden eyes." I tried my best to described what I saw.
Suho's eyes widen after hearing what I said, I frowned in confusion, I glanced at the other members and they all had the same expression.
Am I missing something here?
After a quick moment of silence, Suho smiled at me and placed a hand on my shoulder, "You're probably just seeing things. There's nothing out there."
"How do you know?" I didn't want to back down. I was positive of what I saw and what I saw wasn't nothing.
Suho sighed and pulled his hand back, "It was probably just a lost dog or something. You had a long day, I think you should get some rest."
It wasn't a dog!
I screamed internally but I didn't want to make matters worse so I just smiled at him and said, "You're right. I'm probably just tired from today's event. I'm going to my room and get some rest. See you guys tomorrow." I turned to the others and gave a small smile before going into my room.
Baekhyun was there, reading a book. When he saw me, he put his book down and asked, "You okay?"
I faked another smile and replied, "I'm fine. Just tired."
He smiled back and continued reading. I crawled into my bed and covered myself up with the blanket. My mind went back to the pair of golden eyes I saw earlier.
I know what I saw and it was definitely not a dog and judging from the way the members reacted when I told them about it, they must be hiding something from me and I'm gonna find out what.
While still thinking about it, my eyelids grew heavier and not long after I drifted off to sleep.