It’s well into September now, and I think this makes it two months since I was brought here, and maybe 2 weeks since I agreed to go to the castle. It still feels like this is probably the worst decision I have ever been given the opportunity to make, but I don’t know. I’ve got nothing to lose, so what harm am I causing by doing this? Might as well jump right in.

Kris smiles more around me now, and that cold image I had formed of him seems like a joke now that I’ve seen him act his normal awkward and funny self. When he thanked me for deciding to go inside, I told him that it was no big deal. It’s the least I can do for them after putting up with me and housing me. He only offered me a gummy smile and head pat in return.

What am I, his child?

Luhan is chattier these days, and he’s always moving around. I was right when I assumed that he never stops moving. It’s like he never runs out of energy, and it doesn’t help that he drinks coffee with every god damn meal that he eats as well. You’d think that he’d learn to chill out, but no. His own energy plus the caffeine only equals a headache for all of us. He also isn’t as weird about being teased any more. As a matter of fact, the roles switched fairly quick after I was just starting to have my fun. It took a week of me initiating skinship and shooting him innocent flirty remarks before he completely turned it around.

Thanks to the sudden switch up, I recently learned that he’s actually handsy as hell, and always has some kind of playful remark to say.

I haven’t gotten used to this new side yet.

Tao is still a shit. But he’s still my little shit, and between him and Luhan the talking and touching never ceases. Not that I can genuinely complain. The attention is nice since I know it’s just them being friendly and not trying to get something out of me (usually). So, I’ve verbally complained on multiple occasions, but I’m fake as hell and honestly really appreciate it.

Kris has a job somewhere in the 2nd ring, and so he leaves to go to work every other day. These two though, total bums. They…well we don’t get out enough and I have to sit and suffer due to their pent up energy.

“June, let’s go play basketball outside.” Tao says barging in to my room one afternoon.

“Um, okay. Let me find something to play in.” I tell him while pushing aside the tablet Kris lent to me for recreation. I’ve been using it to play games and read news stories. I don’t want to be in the dark about what’s going on around me if I have access to the news now.

After changing out of my long pajama bottoms and t-shirt I head downstairs to find something to eat before going and playing around with Tao. Entering in the kitchen, I’m met with Luhan rummaging in the refrigerator. “Is there any yogurt or anything in there?” I ask. He pokes his head out and smiles the flirty smile he likes to wear these days.

“Afternoon, babe.” My heart skips slightly. Curse him and this stupid pet name. “Where are you going dressed like that?” he closes the fridge door and judges my shorts and tank top.

“To play basketball with Tao. Why? Is there something wrong with this?” I look down at my own outfit in curiosity.

“Yes, it’s September and you’ll freeze like that.” I cross my arms at his exaggeration. It’s cool outside, no one would freeze in this weather. He walks over and starts to circle me like a jungle cat. I stiffen and cross my arms tighter around my chest so that I don’t feel so insecure under his scrutiny. He clicks his tongue and grabs my upper arm. “This won’t do. Let’s go. You need something warmer.” I’m yanked back up the stairs and to my little maroon room. As soon as we enter he pushes me on to my bed, and I fall on my butt with an ‘oomph’. He opens up my closet door and rummages through as if it’s his closet; I sigh while he searches.

It takes him 3 seconds to pull out a pair of thick leggings and a long sleeved shirt. He holds it up and I shake my head defiantly. “No. I’m not wearing that.”

“You need to dress warmer.”

“Okay but that doesn’t mean I have to sweat to death. We’re moving around, you know that right?” I ask. He rolls his eyes and tosses me the shirt.

“Just put this on then.” I grab the light purple shirt and hold it up to inspect it. Its thick, but if I’d learned anything since my arrival and after watching him, I know that Luhan will annoy me until he gets his way.

“Fine. But as soon as I get too hot I’m taking this off.” I stand up from my bed and grab the bottom of my tank to yank it off. I look over and Luhan is still just standing there leaning against the wall. “You need something?” He looks up to my eyes from wherever he had zoned out.

“Huh?”

“I said do you need something? You mind leaving?” I say jutting my chin towards the door 2 feet from him. His bottom lip pokes out slightly and he glances at the door before shaking his head.

“I’m fine here. Carry on.” He says with a cheeky smile. I take my hands away from my tank and let them rest on my hips.

“Luhan.”

“June.”

“I’m not playing around.”

“Neither am I.”

“You really aren’t half as funny as you think you are.”

“I’m not trying to be funny.”

“I will drop kick you.”

“Not if freeze you in your place.”

“You wouldn’t do that to me.”

“Try me.”

“Seriously, get out. I’m not going to change if you are in here staring at me.” I whine.

“I’ll undress too if it makes you less embarrassed. I know just my presence flusters you, but we can do this together, here I’ll take off my shir-”

“STOP I DIDN’T MEAN FOR YOU TO STRIP.”

“You wanna take it off for me then? Ooh I like women who take charge”

“Oh my God keep your fucking clothes on.” I say shaking my head quickly. I slap my palm to my forehead embarrassed. Why is he like this? Fuck. I take the long sleeve shirt and pull it on top of the tank I was already wearing and walk towards the door. Problem solved.

“You’re no fun.” I hear him mutter as he follows behind me. All I wanted was something to eat before going to go play with Tao, but of course a simple task is turned in to a whole ordeal here. As I grab a bottle of water the back door opens and closes. I walk around Luhan who has started talking about wanting a cat to see Tao coming back in the house soaking wet.

“Oh no, what happened?!” I jog over to him and touch his heavy and wet strands of hair.

“It started raining.” He says. A look out of a window proves that yes, it is in fact raining. I hadn’t even noticed while bickering with Luhan. I yank the long shirt off my body and give it to Tao so that he can try to dry off a bit.

“Why’d you stay out there so long? You should have come back in as soon as it started!” I take the shirt from him since he has made no move to dry himself, and run it up and down his arms to rid them of the water. Tao chuckles at me and takes the shirt back from my hands.

“I had to put up the equipment and stuff. Calm down mom I’m fine. I can dry myself.” He teases.

“Shut up. I won’t fucking help you next time then.”

“No~ I didn’t mean it like that. Baby me! Here you can dry off my hair.” He swings his head and water droplets flick off the strands and fly on to me. I try to shield myself, but it’s in vain.

“Suck a dick. That’s the last time I offer my help.” I turn around and walk back up to my room. I hate them both.

“Love me~”

---

Kris suggests that we celebrate tonight before I start my one on one training with Luhan. Since the elder is more well versed in what I need to know, it’s been decided that he’ll handle my lessons. We all happily agree to the idea of having a bit of fun tonight. Kris offers to go and buy sweets, food, and drinks for us so that we can all enjoy our night in. I bounce excitedly on the couch as Kris leaves the house. It’s been forever since I’ve been this excited about something.

Tao hooks up a disc player and puts in a movie for us to watch while we wait for Kris to come back. “I’m going to go get something from my room.” Luhan says before vanishing upstairs. I move from the couch down to the floor so that I can sit next to Tao there.

“What did you put in?”

“Some movie from like centuries ago. They added subtitles so that we can understand though.”

“Oh, what language is it in?”

“English.”

“Ooh fun.”

“Yeah it’s called,” he picks up the case to read the cover “, The Lion King.”

“Isn’t this a kid’s movie?”

“No, this movie is a classic, and you need to learn how to appreciate true works of art.”

“I’m sure this is going to be trash.”

“Trash knows trash, so who am I to tell you about what you specialize in. Maybe it is.”

“You’re mean.”

“And you’re cute.”

“ALL RIGHT ENOUGH FLIRTING I’M BACK. HALT THE DATE, THIRD WHEEL COMING IN.” Luhan’s heavy steps enter the living room and he plops right in front of the TV screen. Date? I Look at Luhan and then Tao confused. Tao looks embarrassed and wrings his long fingers. Okay, I’ll look in to that later.

Sufficiently blocking the TV and having caught our attention, Luhan starts to pass out what look like playing cards. “What is this?” the cards are more vibrant and childlike than the cards I am use to seeing.

“UNO.” Luhan replies with a grin. “We’re all going to play UNO.”

I sit there in silence while he quickly explains the rules of the game. Match either the number or the color of your card with the last one put down. If you don’t have anything, you take a card from the stack.

Seems easy enough.

I pick my stack of cards up off the ground and hold them so that the other two boys can’t see what I’m holding.

Luhan starts and we go through a few rounds calmly. Just numbers, some reverses, and the occasional skip. Tao has to help me out a bit, but thanks to him, I win first and I cheer a little at the small victory. The two boys were beginning to get a bit too serious. I was glad to finally be out.

I had put down a yellow 4 as my final card, changing the color away from red like it had been for like 10 cards now. It was all calm, but everything changed when Tao attacked. Tao laughs loudly after my turn and looks at Luhan with a devilish smirk.

“Sorry, but we can’t all win.” He says. He puts down 3 skips and 2 draw fours on Luhan, all in succession, and the latter totally loses his shit. The two boys bicker loudly and all of the cards scatter across the room from some invisible force after Tao puts down his final card.
Luhan does not like to lose.

Noted.

The bright cards flitter in the air and fall delicately in random places around the room. It’s like a rain shower…of colorful hard cards. Tao bursts in to his loud laughter at Luhan’s expense and I fall victim to my own noisy laughs as well.

“This isn’t fair! Tao literally played for you. That’s cheating!” Luhan declares, suddenly blaming me for his loss. He sounds so genuinely upset by the outcome of the game and a frown settles on his beautiful face.

“I don’t know how to play. I would have lost without help.” I say after wiping away the tears that formed from laughing so hard.

“Exactly! You would lose and then you learn. That’s how life works, you gremlins.” I giggle again while Tao attempts to gather enough breath from previously laughing so hard. He had stopped rolling around on the floor at this point, but he was still shaking from leftover giggles. I reach out to squeeze Luhan’s cheeks.

“Better luck next time, sweetheart.” I say teasingly. Luhan stands on his feet and my hands drop back down to my lap. “Let’s play another game then.” He suggests.

“Okay. What?” I say humoring him. He smirks before turning around and rummaging under the TV for something. Tao sits up and we share a confused look. I scoot closer to him and wrap my arms around his torso. I don’t know why I feel compelled to have him so close, but it just feels right. He gives me a look but I shrug and hug him tighter.

“Aha.” Luhan pulls out a different set of cards. He turns around and sets it in the middle of us three. I let go of Tao and look at the playing cards that I’m more familiar with.

“What are we playing this time?” I ask while tapping the top of the stack with my nails. When I look at the older male his smile is anything but innocent.

“Strip poker.”

“No.” Tao says immediately. “We aren’t playing that.” I haven’t played strip poker personally, but I have watched others play regular poker. I can guess what happens when you lose. My breath catches in my throat at the thought of being naked in front of these two. Yes, Tao has seen me naked before, but that doesn’t mean that he has to every time the chance arises. As for Luhan, I would just be entirely too embarrassed. Especially if they weren’t fully clothed as well.

It wouldn’t be my first or last time seeing a guy half naked, being half naked in front of a guy, or even fully nude, but I’m still only a teenage girl. Hormones still exist, even after having experienced sex in less than pleasant circumstances. And the two of them are very attractive, I just don’t think that I’d be able to handle the situation. I cough in an attempt to clear away my flustered expression.

“I’m back!”

Thank the Gods. Kris enters the living room with two large bags in either hand. He pauses as he looks at all of us on the floor surrounded by colorful cards with a children’s movie on in the background. He quirks an eyebrow. Luhan flicks his hand and all of the cards fly off the ground and into a neat pile on top of the table that the TV sits above. The clink of alcohol bottles sounds in my ears. I stand up and grab one out of the bags on Kris’s arm for myself. I sit back on the ground and wait for the rest of them to grab theirs and get settled. I hold it with both hands while Kris and Tao unpack all of the groceries.

“We should play a drinking game.” I propose. All day has been about games, so why not continue the pattern? After having set out the food he bought and gotten comfortable, Kris opens his liquor and takes a swig.

“Like what? Do you have any ideas?”

I bite my lip and look around the room for some kind of inspiration. I tap my chin twice and release my bottom lip from my teeth as an idea strikes. “Ooh! I once saw some guys playing something called Ever Have I Never?”

“Never Have I Ever.” Tao corrects with a smile. I roll my eyes.

“Okay whatever, Never Have I Whatever.” Luhan chuckles. “I didn’t get to join in, but when I watched them it looked like fun. Besides, I don’t know much about you all, and I haven’t revealed much about myself…this could be a good start…” I say shyly.

“I’m in.” Luhan quickly agrees.

“Sounds great to me.” Kris says with a smile. Tao shrugs indifferently.

“I’ll start.” Luhan utters. “Never have I ever…been a human.” He smiles innocently at Tao and me.

“That was so lame.” Tao says before taking a swig of his drink.

“You aren’t supposed to target specific people you jockstrap.” I complain before drinking myself. Luhan just shrugs.

“It’s just the truth.”

He is such a sore loser. Tao is next and follows with a statement just as bad. “Never have I ever been a Charmer.” Kris and Luhan drink large gulps of whatever it was that Kris bought. This was about learning new things about one another, not asking things we already know.

Despite the thought, I follow with, “Never have I ever been a boy.” If they want to play dirty, then let’s play dirty. Tao grabs a pillow off the couch and hits me hard in the shoulder. I groan in pain and almost spill my open drink. Kris laughs at the violent exchange.

“You all need to stop targeting really.” The three of us mutter in agreeance. “Never have I ever been a girl.” I look up from my drink open mouthed. Kris’s eyes crinkle in delight and I scrunch up my face in annoyance. I put the mouth of the bottle to my lips and take a big gulp. Stop targeting, he says. And yet he targets me. It’ll be fun I thought. A learning experience I thought. I was wrong.

5 rounds later we’ve all at least gone through 2 large drinks a piece. Whatever it was that Kris bought wasn’t low on its alcohol content, I know that now. The effects of the alcohol are hitting me hard. I’ve only had 2, Tao and Kris 4, and Luhan is almost at 5. Poor kid is suffering. The targeting doesn’t stop, but I have learned more about the group than I originally intended on learning.

Things I’ve learned about Luhan: likes to play soccer, enjoys singing, has had sex with multiple women and men. He is the more experienced than the 3 of us put together.

Things I’ve learned about Kris: he can fly, he has a lot of money and collects expensive and rare clothes, and he has a crush on the Gaia who runs the flower stall down the street.

Things I’ve learned about Tao: nothing. I already basically knew everything about him, but I did find out that he has a crush on some girl. He didn’t give any details. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I was ready to jump him for keeping this kind of thing a secret. Kris had to physically pull me away and cover my mouth to keep me from loudly interrogating the tall boy. I won’t lie and say that I wasn’t slightly hurt by his confession, but I can’t say anything about it. I’ve been low-key crushing on Luhan and Kris while still harboring my feelings for Tao.

Luckily, I wasn’t exposed much during the game.

They learned that Tao and I had a romantic past, and I was shocked that that hadn’t come up sooner. I figured that Tao would have told them about that at the very least. They learned that I have a fear of both fire and large bodies of water, and they learned that I have trouble sleeping in complete silence. When the game took a turn for the sexual, a few of my experiences were revealed, but I never stood out. Luhan lost most in that area.

Now, all of the alcohol is gone and the house is in absolute anarchy. All of the food is long gone, sauces and crumbs are all over the floor.

This is how you get ants.

Tao has started running around the house claiming that he can still fight drunk. I have to coerce him to leave the lamp alone. It didn’t say anything to him, and it wasn’t trying to start a fight. I ask him to sit down, but since I’m giggling from my own bubbly mind I don’t sound very serious. I step in between Tao and the lamp and grab his face in both of my hands. He stops talking to the lamp to look at me.

“Sit. Down.” I say as seriously as my wobbling body will allow me. He blinks dumbly and I shake my head and walk away. He’s a lost cause.

I get 3 steps away before he latches himself around my legs. His unexpected added weight throws off my balance and I topple forward. I close my eyes and prepare for my body to hit the ground, but I fall in to a different mass instead. I slowly open my eyes and crane my neck to see Kris holding me up. “Go drink some water. You’re going to kill her.” He tells Tao. Tao mutters but let’s go of me. I assume that he leaves to go do as Kris told him.

What a little bitch.

My body feels heavy and all of the dizziness and wobbling is making me tired. I lean in to Kris’s embrace unconsciously. He smells like clean laundry and slightly like the musky cologne that he likes to wear. It’s comforting.

My comfort is quickly taken from me when I’m yanked away and in to another, smaller set of arms. Kris plops down on the couch and lets out a large yawn. He is obviously a sleepy drunk, but hell, I might be too.

I wrap my arms around Luhan’s neck to hold myself up while he sways us to the music of whatever movie he had put in. He sings along to the melody of the song that plays over the screen’s images, his arms circled around my waist loosely. I close my eyes and relish in the sound and feel of his soft voice against my hair. When a particularly high note comes I start to laugh at his attempt to reach it. He strains his voice in the process. I laugh and wriggle out of our little dance embrace. My legs are weak and I collapse on the couch next to Kris, while Luhan continues to belt out lyrics to the TV.

The taller male’s head bobs forward as he attempts to stay awake. I smile and shift so that he can lean his head on my shoulder and go to sleep. It’s no use trying to stay awake at this point.

“Th-that’s not fair.” Tao says stumbling back in to the living room. He points at the older male and looks at me with a pout, cheeks stained pink. “You’re my friend. I never get to lay with- with uh- with you.” He says with a slight slur. “You should be holding me. Not him, not flair.”

“Not what?” I ask not understanding his last statement. Kris kicks at Tao.

“It’snotFAIR.” He barely clarifies. “Angry drunk.” He says fake punching at Kris. I pat the empty space beside me.

“Here. This is wide open, just for you.” I say with a lazy smile. I’m surprised that my words are coming out so clearly. Well…they feel like they are, but I can’t even really tell anymore at this point.

He flops in the empty spot and curls up with his head against my thighs. He shoves his face in to the fabric of my shirt, and I run my hands through his recently bleached hair leisurely. The sounds of both Kris’s and Tao’s snoring fills my ears not long after, and their body heat is surrounding me and suffocating me.

I’m surrounded by fucking giants.

The body heat is too much and I clumsily slip off the couch. In my defense I really did try to not move the pair too much. I just didn’t have the functionality to do it successfully. I can breathe on the ground and I slump against the bottom of the couch.

I’ve got to pee.

And I should probably hydrate myself.

Water, and then I’ll go pee. When I stand up I realize that walking will be a harder feat than I had originally anticipated.

Maybe I’ll just go pee…

I stand up and gather my wits. To the bathroom. That’s where I’m going. The bathroom.

I totter to the bathroom and ungracefully sit on the toilet seat. The song that Luhan had been singing pops in to my mind and I start humming the tune while I relieve my bladder. I continue to hum when I wash my hands.

I turn off the faucet and stare at my reflection in the mirror. I glare at the girl staring back at me and hold up an unstable finger to point at her. “Get your shit together. You are not going to act like a mess. Got it? Hmm? Okay great.”

She looks back at me just as out of it, as I feel. It’s useless trying to talk sense into her at this point.

The living room is still in disarray and Tao and Kris are on the couch where I left them. With me gone, they’ve gone to cuddling each other. Like a father and son. How cute.

The credits from the movie that had been in are rolling. Luhan sits lethargically against the foot of the other couch. He looks close to falling asleep as well.

“You should go to bed. Come on, go to your room.” I say quietly. He groans in response and closes his eyes letting his head lull back in the process. I grab his arm and try to pull him up.
In this state though, he feels like the heaviest thing I’ve ever had to move. I yank at his arm a few more times before I give up all together and sit in front of him with a sigh. He opens his dazed eyes and lets out a yawn. I yawn as well.

I lie down on my side. I can just sleep here for bit. Then I’ll go up to my room. Luhan follows suit and lies down facing me. I stare at his face in my haze and realize just how pretty he is. It’s aggravating. He’s prettier than me, and it isn’t fair. His features are soft and delicate, and deceptively cute. But once he opens his fucking mouth the cuteness vanishes. Suddenly he’s a flirty little fuck who needs to be taken down a peg.

A warm palm rests on my cheek and I let out a heavy exhale. His palm is warm and soft, and warm and if he could keep it there forever then I would be happy with life. Our eyes meet and I feel myself being pulled in by his alluring gaze. I break eye contact for half a second to glance at his pink lips that have gotten closer to my face than they were when we first lied down.

First mistake.

Our faces are closer now, and he noticed my momentary glimpse at his mouth. His glazed over eyes clear ever so slightly and it makes my heart pound harshly against my ribcage. His thumb rubs against the skin of my cheek and I close my eyes for a moment. “Luhan…” I whisper out unconsciously.

Second mistake.

My eyes flutter back open and his bottom lip is gently tucked under his teeth. I can feel his warm breath ghosting over my face and alarms are going off somewhere in the back of my head.

We shouldn’t be this close.

We shouldn’t be looking at each other like this.

I shouldn’t be reacting this way.

And I definitely shouldn’t want to kiss him with my entire being.

He releases his bottom lip and his forehead and nose are touching mine. He’s letting me make the final move.

Our third and final mistake.

I close the distance and press my lips to his softly. My skin feels like it’s vibrating and I feel like I’m being lifted in to the air. Every cell in my body is dancing and moving from the light kiss. He presses back harder and I grab the front of his shirt to pull his body closer to my own. I feel like I’m floating and I have to use him to stay grounded.

I have to stay grounded.

Suddenly the two of us are sitting up and his hand is on the nape of my neck. The kiss goes from innocent to feverish far too fast for my mind to comprehend, but my body reacts naturally. Teeth clash, tongues collide, breathy moans and groans slip from the two of us as we let the alcohol and our own hormones take over our last lingering senses.

I sit on his lap and grab a fist full of hair between my fingers as I try to take over as the dominate one in our little make out session. He moans into my mouth and I feel my underwear dampen at each noise that the boy beneath me makes. I smile slightly against his lips, and he growls slightly before he shifts our position so that he can gain the upper hand again. I lie flat on my back as he leans over me, attaching his lips to the sensitive skin on my neck. My back arches in to him and I whimper. His hand roams under the material of my shirt and rests right under my breast.

God I want this.

I want this so bad.

A groggy groan sounds through the room and I slap a hand to my mouth in terror. Luhan stops his movements and looks at me in horror as well.

Tao and Kris are still here.

Our eyes widen simultaneously and we slowly separate. Both of the bodies on the couch are still fast asleep, but after being snapped out of the trance we were previously in all of the heat and tension vanishes.

My face heats immediately and I want to go and die. What were we doing? Where were we going with that anyway? A peek at Luhan shows that his is just as embarrassed and thrown off by our actions.

“Um, we should uh…go to bed now.” I say timidly. He nods quickly and I attempt to stand up on my feet, but I’m still not as sober as I could be. My balance is still shot and even after the sobering feeling of almost getting caught doing something I shouldn’t have been doing, I determine that I’m still sufficiently tipsy. Luhan’s hand grabs mine and I look to where he is kneeling.

“Maybe you should, um stay down here.” He says tentatively. I tilt my head and his cheeks flame a brighter red. “You can’t make it up the stairs yourself, and I’m too drunk to help you. Just sleep down here.” He clarifies. I look at the stairs and then to the doe eyed boy.

My decision is made quickly.

I sit back on the ground and lie in the position that I was in before the whole um…thing just happened. He follows suit again, this time pulling me flush against his body and throwing his limbs around me. I’m turned in to his personal pillow and I smile in to his shirt. I snuggle closer to him and close my eyes.

I fall asleep almost immediately. Drunk and surrounded by 3 boys that I’ve begun to treasure more than myself. What better way is there to end a night?

Notes