Seven

Seven—Awake

It was a rainy Monday afternoon, the whole city was wet and borderline wild. In a secret storage house somewhere, a photoshoot for a cosmetic brand was in progress. The boys were all in high spirits as they played around in front of the camera and all over the place.

The brand is the group's tenth endorsement and there are more to come. Everybody just wants a piece of their fame and rub it on their products or something. Who can blame them? These EXO boys are just too charming that even an elderly woman would buy their nose pack.

"Kai! You should definitely use this soap." Chen almost hopped to Kai while holding a whitening soap in his hand.

"You should use that for your soul," Kyungsoo muttered while shaking in disapproval.

"Yah Chen, your little girlfriend looks pale." Xiumin pointed at Luhan who looked a lot like he hasn't eaten in years.

He took a deep breath and suddenly fell on the floor. Everybody in the room panicked and some rushed to him, calling his name. Luhan wasn't moving at all and was breathing shallowly.

"Oh gosh! What happened?" Sara was just coming in after talking with the staff and ran to the couch where they put the pretty boy.

"He just fainted." Suho answered while adjusting Luhan on the couch.

Sara slapped his face lightly, trying to wake him up but he didn't respond at all. It was then that the manager decided to rush him to the hospital.

Luhan was brought into the ER secretly, although having everybody leave the place wasn't exactly discreet. His blood pressure and everything else that needed to be checked was checked and soon enough, he was confined in a private room of the hospital.

Chen, Baekhyun, Sehun, Suho and Xiumin went to the hospital with him, wearing their usual masks and hoodies. The initial finding for Luhan was that he was fatigued from probably lack of sleep since his blood pressure was unusually low.

"Gosh. You guys deserve a break or we will have to occupy twelve rooms in this hospital." Sara said while fixing Luhan's bed.

"Yeah. But Luhan didn't sleep last night because of the ..." Xiumin didn't have to finish what he was saying.

Last night, there was a rerun of the story of Jessica and Luhan couldn't stop himself from watching it. It was the first time he knew in detail exactly what happened to her. All of it burned themselves onto his brain and it was impossible to scrub them off.

"Maybe SM should allow the investigation on us. To prove our innocence." Baekhyun said.

"But that would be a big hit on all of you. What if someone plants something in your bag or your jacket? We can't risk that." Sara said tiredly.

"It's better than living like this." Sehun sipped some soda from his can.

Everybody fell silent. Luhan stirred from his sleep and muttered something. Sara leaned closer to hear him better and when she did, the gibberish words formed in her mind like scrambled letters making sense.

"Stop... stop..."

Doctors and nurses rushed into Jessica's room while Andrea was slightly pushed aside. While she was cleaning her sister's hand with a towel, Jessica moved her fingers. It was followed by a slight twitching of her mouth. In just seconds after pressing the button above her head, her room was filled.

"Jessica..." Andrea whispered while watched from the corner of the room.

Suddenly, Jessica's body started to shake subtly. The doctor dictated orders to anyone who could hear him and in a flash, tubes and wires were on her little sister again. When the nurse opened her hospital gown, Andrea fought the urge to jump to her and cover her front. The sight of Jessica getting exposed in front of these strangers was just too much for her.

She remained where she was, slowly gluing herself on the wall. She let out a small shriek when Jessica's body trembled violently like she was getting an electric shock.

"What's happening?!"

This time, the nurses had to restrain Andrea from going near her sister. While she was being forced out of her room, she caught sight of a nurse injecting something clear into her sister's tube.

"Tell me what is happening to her." She hissed at the male nurses who took her out

"You should relax ma'am. It won't help if you panic now."

That was all they said and went back into the room. She couldn't even see what they are doing to her. She hugged herself and sat on of the row of plastic chairs lined at the wall. Her breathing started to pick up as she did her best to contain herself. She must not cry.

She glanced at the end of the hallway and suddenly felt to urge to walk outside. The night was warm and humid. It was nowhere comfortable for Andrea's well maintained skin. Even so, she couldn't help but notice the clearness of the sky. The stars were like sprinkles on cake, scattered all over.

"Andrea?"

Andrea slightly jumped at the mention of her name. No one, not even Tiffany nor Henry, knew she went to the hospital. She almost ran away when she saw Sehun walking towards her. What is Sehun doing here?

"Hey." She tried hard to keep her voice neutral.

"Are you okay?"

Without warning, Sehun placed a hand on her cheek. He caressed her cheek while focusing his eyes on hers. Andrea wanted to protest but for some reasons, Sehun's brown eyes pierced through her. They were almost like... Jessica's.

"Why are you... ehrmm... here?" Andrea said, almost hitting herself for wavering for a second.

She took Sehun's hand off her but gently caressed it before letting go. Her posture started to straighten up and her face shut down to the business one with a small smile. Seeing this, Sehun stepped back a little, confused. But then he shrugged it off with a slight chuckle.

"Oh, our princess is here." He answered.

"Who?"

"Princess Luhan." Sehun laughed a bit.

"Princess? Is he gay?"

"What?"

Andrea opened her mouth a bit and closed it like she regretted asking such thing. She blushed a bit, of course on purpose, and Sehun shook his head.

"You think he's gay?"

"Hmm... He looks really feminine to me. And that Chen... I think they are a thing."

Sehun laughed. He felt guilty since Luhan is sick but it was just so funny to hear things he only read in fanfictions about them. Apparently, EXO is infamous for one true pairings that suggest they're basically gay.

"They argue a lot but did you know Luhan and I are the top EXO couple?" Sehun said in a proud tone.

"What? Haha. What a waste. You're actually cute and you're gay?"

"Huh? No! You're pretty but you're stupid."

What.

Andrea raised an eyebrow at him. No one has ever dared call her stupid before and in her mind, she is a very smart person. She was about to open her mouth and call him gay once more when Sehun's lips crashed on hers. He pulled her by his hand on her back and kissed her deeply.

Sehun has kissed a number of girls but the kind of attraction he had for her is the strongest yet. The moment he met Andrea, all he wanted to do was kiss her and know what that smart mouth and the mysterious personality taste like on his lips.

"Shut up." He said and kissed her more.

"What are you doing?!" Andrea pushed him away and slapped him hard.

Her hand hurt while his cheek started to go red. They looked at each other for a while; one was furious and one was overjoyed. Sehun scratched the back of his head and looked away, turning into the teenage kid he is supposed to be.

"I'm sorry." He said with zero regret.

"Ma'am. You can come in now."

The same male nurse who forced her out suddenly appeared from behind them and Sehun quickly wore his hoodie. Andrea looked at Sehun one more time and went back in with the nurse. She touched her lips and shook her head. She has never kissed a boy before.

When the nurse opened the door, Andrea's heart almost went out of her. Jessica was propped up with pillows and was looking directly at her. The tube in her mouth was gone and it was replaced by a breathing tube in her nose. The color of her skin seemed to have gained color over the past few minutes and the small smile on her lips was unmistakably there.

"Big sis." Her voice was raspy and mostly air but Andrea heard her perfectly.

For the first time since their parents died, hot tears fell down her cheek. Two drops in all managed to escape her barriers before she unconsciously closed them again. She slowly went to Jessica's side and took her hand.

The next morning, after Jessica managed to take a rest as a person out of coma, she woke up to her sister watching her with a smile on her face and the doctor doing his follow up checkup.

"You're back." Andrea whispered to her while the doctor was observing the miracle just before his eyes.

"Back? Where did I go?" She asked innocently.

Andrea glanced at the doctor who was as curious as she was. He took his clipboard to scribble something and then asked Jessica a few questions like her name, age, her sister's name and such.

"Do you know why you're in the hospital?" He asked and Andrea focused on her sister's reaction.

It was that of confusion.

"No. Am I sick?"

"Don't you remember anything Jessica?" Andrea asked.

Jessica shook her head.

"What's the last thing you remember?" The doctor asked.

"Oh. Hmm..." She thought. "Last week there was a really strong typhoon in the country and I saw in the news that many people died."

Jessica nodded her head and felt a bit sad at what happened. There was indeed a storm, the strongest in the history of the country, and there is no way Jessica is telling a different one. Except that the storm she was talking about... happened three years ago.

**

"Manager Jung, why do you have to go?" Luhan asked while sitting carefully on the sofa in the EXO dorm.

He was discharged from the hospital just a day after he was admitted. And now, their manager is saying that she will be gone for a few days. It was bad enough that they lost all the other managers and now, their only guardian is leaving as well.

"Don't be such a baby. Suho is here. And I've talked with a few people from the endorsements and show you're gonna be doing. They will take care of you." Sara told the twelve boys like they were her kids.

"They have me, too. I'm their king. How could you forget me?" Kris rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah. You have your king too." She chuckled a bit. "You can all call me when something happens.

"You've never left us like this before." Lay said. "Is it really SM's orders?"

"Of course."

Not. She still hasn't told them that SM doesn't own EXO anymore and she is following her new boss' order and that is to go out of the country for a convention. Even though she doubted the intentions of such work assignment, she accepted it with complaints. Better follow than get kicked out.

"Now I have to go boys. Take care okay? And STAY OUT OF TROUBLE."

"Yes, Manager Jung." Chanyeol and Baekhyun as well as Chen chanted together.

Right.

"I'll walk you out." Suho offered and followed Sara out of their dorm.

Just then, Andrea was coming in after running a few kilometers that morning. Suho greeted her while Sara was closing the door. Andrea smiled but when she saw Sara at the door, she lowered her face into the neck of her jacket to covered until at least her nose.

"Jogging?" Suho asked and Sara smiled at Andrea.

"Yeah. Going out?" Andrea asked, her words muffled in her jacket.

"Hi, I'm Sara. EXO's manager." Sara interrupted and held out her hand to the stranger.

"Andrea." She answered and shook her hand. "I'm sorry. I need to take a shower. Nice running into you."

"Okay. We won't keep you." Sara answered politely.

She watched her go into her unit and looked at Suho. Somehow, her face looked familiar but she didn't know where she has seen it. Sara gave up and asked Suho if she was the same girl who made them stay up late a few days ago. Of course it was her. It has to be her. She looks really pretty even though all she saw was half her face.

"You boys should really behave. She could be trouble." Sara joked.

Not knowing she was right. And that this story is about that girl whose purpose is to cause trouble... especially to the pipes.