A New World

[universexo]

❇ Title: A New World for everyone
❇ Pairing: Luhan/Sehun, minor Kris/Suho
❇ Rating: PG
❇ Length: 5,030 words
❇ Warnings: None
❇ Author's note: Enjoy the fluff! Thanks for the lovely prompt, I had so much fun writing it.
❇ Summary: Sehun recently discovered his ability to control the wind, but, he starts having trouble keeping his power in check! He turns to his best friend for help, and things calm down, but then mysterious guests arrive on the scene, and they seem to realize the secrets that Sehun and Luhan are struggling to hide...



A New World

Sehun still isn’t quite sure how it happened. He tries to think back to what he did previously that eventful day, but nothing out of the ordinary comes to mind; life as a servant at the royal estate of Lord Lee Soo-Man wasn’t terribly interesting to begin with.

But it doesn’t matter how it happened, because it’s there, and now he has to deal with it. Sehun sighed, and a morose gust of wind fluttered through the clearing in response.

That’s right. Several months ago, Sehun discovered that he could control the wind. Sehun snorted softly as he recalled his reaction to the manifestation of his power.

It hadn’t started until early afternoon, when Sehun had started hanging out clothes on the drying line to dry out in the afternoon sun. A playful gust of wind blew in and neatly whipped the shirt that he’d been about to hang up out of his hands.

Sehun swore and put his hands on his hips, glaring fiercely at the shirt. He didn’t want to run after the flying piece of laundry; there were better (and less tiring) ways to spend his time!

To his absolute shock, the wind suddenly reversed direction, and the shirt land meekly on top of the clothesline. Sehun stared open mouthed at the shirt as a soft breeze tugged shyly at the hem of his sleeve, almost as if asking to be forgiven.

Sehun clamped a hand over his mouth before he could start screaming.

Sehun had kept his newfound powers a secret; magic was acceptable in society, but only from alchemists and sorcerers. Sehun didn’t want to get picked up and dropped into an unforgiving, mysterious way of life with people he didn’t know; he wanted to stay in the servant’s hall and do work with his friends, attend village festivals, huddle around the hearth in the kitchen while listening to his aunt’s stories, and pick flower petals out of his hair in the spring. On the other hand, sorcerers and alchemists simply brooded away over potions and books filled with gibberish in the cold, musty towers. Sehun would rather live life to the fullest than waste it away in a cold, stony prison thank you very much!

Now, though, it was getting harder and harder to control. So far, Sehun had been able to avoid any big slip-ups; the wind usually chose to manifest itself whenever there was a storm, an open door or window, or simply in the outdoors. Lately, though, things had started becoming too close for comfort: once, someone had dropped a vase and Sehun had flinched, causing a huge gust of air to blow through the room. The wind had been quickly attributed to the open window, but the other servants in the room had cast a skeptical eye towards the still air on the mansion grounds.

Sehun opened and closed his hands, his eyes darkening with frustration. He needed to learn how to control his powers, before someone else figured out that he had them in the first place. However, Sehun knew that no one would really be able to help him; as far as he knew, none of the other servants were harboring secret powers. However, he was going to have to try and control it…and there was only one person who he knew that he could trust with his secret.

“Sehun?”

“Luhan!” Sehun smiled at his best friend and patted the patch of grass beside him.

Luhan settled down beside him and rolled over so that his head was leaning on Sehun’s bony shoulder. “What did you call me out here for? It’s almost evening, and I don’t want to miss dinner.”

“You haven’t eaten yet?” Sehun huffed softly into Luhan’s curly brown hair.

“The house servants eat later than the gardeners.” Luhan wrinkled his nose in response to Sehun’s breath tickling his scalp, and kicked Sehun’s calf in retaliation. “Don’t you remember? Especially since you switch off between the two so often.”

Sehun shifted guiltily; he wanted Luhan to know about his power, but at the same time, he didn’t want Luhan to go hungry for the night…

Luhan sighed through his nose and stretched his arms out in front of him. “What is it, Sehun? Hurry up, I’m starving.”

Sehun swallowed hard, and he felt his palms start to get clammy. This was seeming like a worse and worse idea with every passing second. “Um…You know what? It’s not important. You should eat.” Sehun got up from the ground and rubbed the sweat off his hands and onto his pants.

Luhan glared at him up from the ground and yanked on his hand so that he went tumbling back down again. “I came all the way out here for you, Oh Sehun. Now tell me whatever it is you wanted to tell me.”

Sehun propped himself up on his elbows and sighed heavily. “Just…promise me you won’t freak out, ok?”

Luhan blinked, and he felt a slight stirring of hope in his chest. Could it be…?

“Luhan?”

“Huh? Oh!” Luhan laughed even as his heart tightened in anticipation. “Yeah. I won’t freak out.”

“Ok.” Sehun took a deep breath, and then harnessed his thoughts.

Luhan blinked in confusion when Sehun remained silent. “Sehun?”

“Just hold on a second,” Sehun said in a strained voice.

Frowning slightly, Luhan shut his mouth, only to change his mind a few seconds later. His heart was beating so fast, Luhan was sure that Sehun could hear it from where he was sitting. “Sehun, I-“

Suddenly, a huge gust of wind swept through the garden, lifting Luhan off of the ground before gently setting him back down again. Luhan gaped at Sehun, his confession thrust in to the back of his mind.

Sehun fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “Is-is this ok?”

Luhan struggled to compose himself as his a bittersweet feeling rushed through his body. True, he was disappointed, but at the same time, this was much better than he could hope for.

Sehun started to panic as Luhan remained silent. “Luhan, please; I swear to god, I don’t even know how it happened! Just one day, I was chasing a piece of laundry when the wind stopped blowing and-“

Luhan put a gentle hand on his best friend’s arm. “Sehun, calm down. It’s fine.”

“It is?”

Luhan smiled slowly, and then flicked his fingers. A twig levitated itself off of the ground to hover at eye level with Sehun.

“It’s perfectly fine.”

It was Sehun’s turn to gape in shock.

Luhan dropped his hand, and the twig fell back to the earth. “Is that ok?”

“You can do stuff too? How come you didn’t tell me before?!”

“Presumably for the same reasons that you didn’t tell me,” Luhan shrugged. “I didn’t want to lose you.”

“Oh.” Sehun sighed, his shock abating and sliding into quiet excitement. “You-so you can control it?”

“Yeah. But after a lot of practice.”

Sehun nearly wept with relief. “Can you teach me to control it? I’m getting anxious-it keeps bursting out of me at random moments, and I’m scared someone will find out soon.”

“You don’t want to get swept away to one of those dreary alchemist towers?” Luhan teased. He glanced up at the sky and was startled to see the first glimmering of the stars beginning to shine down through the twilight. “We’ve been out for a long time, let’s go back in Sehun.”

“When can you start teaching me?” Sehun got to his feet, but grabbed Luhan’s arm before he could start hurrying back to the kitchen.

Luhan paused, butterflies bursting to life in his stomach under Sehun’s touch. “U-um…how serious is it? Do you think you can last for another hour?”

“Yeah, I can wait.”

“Then I’ll come by our room after I eat. Is that alright?”

“Alright.” Sehun let go of Luhan’s arm, and Luhan tried to quell the twinge of disappointment he felt inside.

“See you later.”

“See you.”

Luhan hurried into the kitchens, his stomach rumbling with both hunger and discontent, while Sehun stood alone in the shadows of the twilight.

Three months after Sehun and Luhan revealed their powers to each other, they found themselves relaxing in a remote corner of Lord Soo-Man’s courtyard. Sehun closed his eyes and counted to eight as he breathed in and breathed out.

Luhan snorted off to the side, and Sehun opened an eye to glare at him. “What?”

Luhan shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Whatever.” Sehun closed his eyes and went back to meditating again. When he’d told Luhan about his power over the wind and Luhan had in turn revealed his power of telekinesis, Luhan had started teaching him to control himself. Apparently, it all started with control of the mind; as long as his emotions and actions were controlled, Sehun would be able to control his power.

“You don’t have to close your eyes when you do the breathing exercise.”

“It’s better than looking at your stupid face.” Nevertheless, Sehun opened his eyes.

Luhan grinned in victory and absent-mindedly began constructing a fairy house out of twigs from the ground using his power. “You mean my handsome face.”

“I mean your beautiful face.” Sehun repressed his urge to stick his tongue out at Luhan.

Luhan grimaced; he knew that Sehun knew that he detested being called pretty. “I’m manly, damn it!”

Sehun gave up on his breathing exercise and flopped on to his back. “Yeah, I know, I know. Which is why you’re building a fairy house out of twigs and decorating it with flowers as we speak.”

Luhan guiltily stopped working on his house and pouted over at Sehun. “I’m manly. I play sports, I carry water from the well to the kitchens, and I work in the fields.”

“Your physical prowess is astounding,” Sehun yawned. “Also, every girl in the estate has had a conversation with you about skin products at least once.”

Luhan howled and tackled Sehun. “Stop being so mean!”

Sehun’s stoic face finally cracked into a smile as he let Luhan shake his shoulders. “You know I’m kidding, right?”

Luhan rolled his eyes and flopped down so that his upper body was lying over Sehun’s torso. “Yeah I know.”

“Hm.” Sehun yawned and let the warmth of Luhan’s body send him into a drowsy stupor.

“Hey, don’t go to sleep. You have to work on your exercises.” Luhan dug an insistent finger into Sehun’s ribs until Sehun jerked bolt upright, throwing Luhan off of his body.

Sehun blushed sheepishly at his intense reaction, but remained in his place on the ground. “You were distracting me.”

Luhan groaned as he picked himself up off of the soil, and then snickered. “I was bored.”

“You’re a terrible teacher.” Nevertheless, Sehun got back into a cross-legged position and began counting to eight.

“We only have each other though.”

Sehun hummed in response as he tried to collect his mind. “I still wonder how our powers came to us.”

“I don’t know. I can’t think of anything special that happened the day I discovered them.”

“Me neither.”

The two friends lapsed into comfortable silence for a few minutes, when they heard the sounds of raised voices and horse hooves coming from the direction of the entrance to the mansion.

Sehun opened his eyes irritably; even though they were hiding in the shade of a small corner of Lord Soo-Man’s garden, the noise still reached their ears. “Should we see what it is?”

“Probably.” Luhan sighed internally; these days, his time with Sehun always seemed to be getting interrupted. “Maybe we have guests?”

“I’m pretty sure the Master would’ve mentioned it before.” Sehun got off of the ground and dusted off his pants before offering a hand down to Luhan.

Luhan accepted, and they began walking back towards the courtyard hand in hand.

“Luhan?”

“Hm?” Luhan shifted his attention from their intertwined fingers to Sehun’s face. “What is it?” Even though Sehun was two years younger than him, Sehun was still the taller of the two, and Luhan would be lying if he didn’t find their height difference somewhat appealing.

“Do you ever wish…?”

“Wish for what?”

Sehun squeezed Luhan’s fingers tightly before letting go just as they reached the edge of the courtyard. “Never mind.”

Luhan shrugged. “Tell me later?”

Sehun turned away without responding, and Luhan sighed resignedly before hurrying to catch up with him.

A curious sight greeted their eyes as they got closer to the servant’s entrance to the main house. Their male and female head of houses stood in front of a group of ten riders.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have room for you,” Ms. Jessica wrung her hands agitatedly. “You’ll have to go down to the village.”

The leader of the group, a small, red-haired man on a dark brown horse, frowned down at her. “You must be mistaken. Lord Soo-Man is expecting us.”

Ms. Jessica turned to the side and sent a look at the crowd gathering beside her; in an instant, three maids had already taken off into the house to carry the message up to the Master. “I hope you won’t mind waiting outside while we wait for the Master to come down, then.”

The young man smiled pleasantly and sat back in his seat. “We don’t mind at all. We’re sorry to cause such a disturbance.”

A tall, lanky man with dark brown hair, heavily accented eyebrows, and a cold, sharp face pursed his lips to the side in obvious disagreement, but remained silent. Sehun allowed his curious gaze to drift through the rest of the party; besides the two head members, there were eight other riders. They were all dressed in plain colored cloaks over brightly colored tunics, and had large saddlebags hanging down their horses’ sides. Their stature and possessions spoke of money and wealth, but Sehun frowned slightly as he caught sight of the sigil on their bags; a hexagonal maze with a dot by its entrance. He’d never seen such a crest before. He felt a sudden pang of doubt as he looked at the group’s tiny leader again. Who were these ten men, and what business did they have on the estate?

The Master came hurrying through the door with several maids fluttering in his wake. “Junmyeon! I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting-I wasn’t expecting you for another three days.”

The red-haired man, Junmyeon, smiled down at Soo-Man. “It’s quite alright. But your staff here says that there is nowhere for us to stay?”

The Master scoffed. “Don’t worry, we’ll make room for you. Staff, please prepare five double guestrooms and see that these gentlemen’s horses are put in the stables.”

A low murmur rippled through the crowd of servants before people began to split off into the jobs as maids and valets hurried back into the mansion while the stable hands and grooms moved forward to help the travelers dismount, and then lead their horses away.

Sehun and Luhan hurried into the mansion to help prepare rooms for the guests.

“Did you see their crest?”

“Was that the strange symbol on their bags?”

“It must have been. Everyone is under the sponsorship of a lord,” Sehun murmured as he and Luhan began to drag a mattress down the hall.

The caught sight of the tail end of one of the traveler’s cloaks vanishing around the corner as the Master led the party up to his solar to wait while their rooms were being prepared.

“I wonder how they know Master,” Luhan murmured. “They seem so…exotic.”

“That’s enough gossiping, Sehun and Luhan. We haven’t got all day to get these rooms ready!” Ms. Jessica flounced down the hall and down towards the kitchens.

Sehun made a face at her back, but grudgingly began to hurry his footsteps. “I wonder how long they’re staying.”

Luhan smiled wryly at him. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

Sehun frowned slightly as he recalled the faces of the ten travelers. “Let’s hope that they leave us sooner rather than later.”

One month later, and the group of ten travelers were still there. None of the servants knew what lord they were under, or what their purpose was: all anyone knew was that the guests were friends of the Master, and that they were meant to be treated in the highest regard.

Sehun was wary of the ten men. They kept mostly to themselves, occasionally wandering through the estate gardens, or curling up in quiet corners of the library. They exuded an air of cool mystery, making it difficult to converse with them, but on the other hand, Sehun was also fairly sure that he’d seen Junmyeon and the man with the distinct eyebrows (Wu Fan? Yi Wu? Kristopher?) kissing in an empty chamber on the estate, but then they had leapt apart so quickly and had gone back to gazing out of the windows on opposite sides of the room so fast that Sehun couldn’t quite be sure.

“What are they doing here? They just sit around and leech off Master’s property,” Sehun grumbled under his breath.

Luhan kicked him harshly under the table. “They’re Master’s guests. Speak respectfully!”

Sehun rolled his eyes, but continued to eat his meal. “I don’t like it.”

“I agree that they are strange, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“At least they aren’t affecting our meditation schedules.”

Luhan smiled slightly at that. “Indeed.”

Sehun scooped the last bits of rice into his mouth and chewed down on the food slowly as he tried to gather his thoughts. “I wonder what business they have with Master.”

Luhan leaned forward conspiratorially. “I heard Ms. Jessica talking with some of the maids; she said that Master seemed almost frightened of the travelers.”

“Does Master owe them money?”

“I don’t-“ Luhan suddenly stopped speaking and stood up abruptly. “May we help you, sir?”

Sehun hastily set down his cutlery and stood at attention as well as a feeling of unease began to build in his stomach; one of the men had wandered in on his and Luhan’s late lunch.

The man smiled kindly. “I was wondering if you could direct me to the library. I seem to have gotten lost again.”

“Of course!” Luhan smiled courteously and slipped away from the table. “If you’ll just follow me, Sir.”

“My name is Lay.”

“Sir Lay, then.” Luhan smiled charmingly and began to lead the man away from the kitchens.

Sehun didn’t miss the knowing look that Lay sent him. It wasn’t the knowing look of I know that you love him sort of look, but more of an I know you’re hiding something.

Sehun’s blood ran cold every time he remembered those piercing eyes in his head.

“They know.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sehun.” Luhan perched on a tree root at the edge of the garden glade. “How could they know?”

“I don’t care! They know, Luhan; they know, and they’re going to tell Master soon unless we do something about it!”

“Sehun, calm down.” Luhan got up from the tree root and reached out towards the younger man. “You’re just antsy because they’ve been here for so long. Please-“

A violent gust of wind rushed through the clearing, and Luhan fell down to his knees. In an instant, the wind was gone, and Sehun rushed to his friend’s side. “Oh gods, Luhan, I’m sorry! Are you alright?”

Luhan brushed him off and got to his feet. “See what I mean? You’re stressed, Sehun. Calm down a little; there’s no way that they could know about us.”

A soft voice floated through the clearing. “Are you sure?”

Luhan and Sehun froze in their positions, and Junmyeon stepped forward into the moonlight. He lifted his hands in a gesture of peace, and smiled. “Don’t worry. It’s only me.”

Luhan recovered first and sprang to his feet so that he was standing in front of Sehun. “What do you want from us?”

Junmyeon kept his hands in the air as he slowly walked into the center of the clearing. “I don’t wish to harm you.”

Sehun slowly got to his feet behind Luhan. “Hardly comforting,” he scoffed, even as his heart pounded with fear.

“You have nothing to be afraid of.” Junmyeon suddenly lowered his arms so that they were level with his waist, and Sehun flinched when a glistening glob fell down from the sky to levitate over Junmyeon’s outstretched hands.

“What is that?” Luhan’s voice began to go higher as he grew steadily more panicked and hysterical.

Junmyeon laughed softly. “It’s water, Luhan. Just water. See?” Part of the glob detached itself and fell down to the ground; a dark stain spread, and then sank into the soil where it landed.

“I don’t understand.” Sehun moved out from behind Luhan and frowned at Junmyeon.

“What is there to not understand?” Junmyeon dropped his hand, but the blob of water remained in place. “We have something in common, Sehun and Luhan. We have supernatural powers.”

“You can’t prove anything!” Luhan snarled. “We’re not like you at all!”

“I’ve just shown you what I can do. Why do you still distrust me?” Junmyeon tilted his head to the side in curiosity, but Luhan simply trembled slightly at Sehun’s side and remained silent.

“Luhan, it’s true that I can’t prove anything. But I don’t need to prove it to anyone; are you afraid that I’ll turn you in?” Junmyeon eyed Luhan closely under the moonlight. “You don’t need to worry about that. I have no intention of telling anyone else about your powers.”

“If that’s not your intention, then what is?”

Junmyeon’s eyes flickered over to Sehun for a moment before travelling back to Luhan. “My companions and I are just like you two. We all have supernatural powers, and over time, we’ve come to form a group that work to keep the powers of the Earth in balance. Not all of us have elemental powers; for example, Jongin has the power of teleportation, and Lay can heal. Additionally, some of our powers overlap; for example Baekhyun and Jongdae control light and lightening. But over the years, we’ve come together, and wherever we go, the natural balance of elements is restored.”

“So…what? You and your group travel to areas where nature is out of balance?”

“Sometimes. Other times, we reach out to those in need. We provide help to the downtrodden and the weary, we lift up the spirit of the Earth, and we restore peace and unity wherever we travel.”

“You’ve hardly restored anything here. Everyone hates being here,” Sehun snorted.

Junmyeon chuckled lightly. “I think you are the only one discontented with our presence, Sehun.”

Luhan dug an elbow into Sehun’s side to stop him from making a jibe back at Junmyeon. “You make yourselves sound so noble. How can we be sure that you’re telling us the truth?”

“You’re right. Our lifestyle is fairly unglamorous; we are always on the road. No one gives us thanks for the work we do to restore the world. Sometimes, we visit places that are so deeply corrupted that we can’t even hope to succeed. But, along with the hardship are the good things that we can do.”

“And you want us to join you?” Luhan stared at Junmyeon incredulously. “You’re incredible. How do we know that you aren’t alchemists in disguise or-”

Junmyeon interrupted him. “Do you know why your lord allows to stay on his property for extended periods of time?”

Luhan paused, and Junmyeon continued his story. “Eight years ago, our group passed through this area. This estate was growing through a drought, and your lord was penniless because he had no land to cultivate. We came and restored the balance of nature here; I brought water back into the streams, Kyungsoo worked with the Earth, Lay struggled to heal the plants and trees, and the others also worked to bring this place back to life. Since then, we return here every year to ensure that the balance is in check and to take a rest from the road for a while before heading back out into the world. Your master both fears and loves us for the service we provided him, but also, we don’t age. I’ve looked this way for the past twenty years,” Junmyeon smiled slightly.

Sehun and Luhan stared at him. “Twenty years?”

Junmyeon nodded. “I’m not the oldest; I’m actually the fourth oldest out of the ten, but all of us stopped aging in appearance at a certain point in our lives. Sooner or later, you would have noticed. And then you would be found out for certain.

I offer you a choice: you can stay here at your master’s estate. One day, you’ll stop aging, and the alchemists and sorcerers will descend upon you and tear you apart; they’ll take you up to their stone towers and poke and prod break you down until they’ve discovered the magic within you.

Or, you can join me. My group will teach you how to use and control your powers. You will have a great purpose, a cause beyond yourself to live for. You will have the companionship of ten brothers. You will have a fantastic and fulfilling life ahead of you.

We’re heading back out on to the road in three days. You have until then to make your decision.” Junmyeon dropped his hands, and the water floating over his fingers tips seeped into the Earth. He turned around and walked back out into the night, vanishing into the shadows. The only hint that he had been their moments before was the dark patch on the soil, and the shock and wonder in Sehun and Luhan’s eyes.

Later that night, Sehun and Luhan snuck back into their shared bedroom in the servant’s quarters. “Do you think we should go with them?” Sehun lay back on his bed.

“I don’t trust them.” Luhan frowned and leaned into Sehun’s arm around his waist as he lay beside him. “I don’t know if Junmyeon was telling us the whole truth.”

“What is he was right, though? What if we stop aging, Luhan? Then the alchemists will know for sure.”

“We could wait it out.”

“It would be too late to escape if they came after us.”

“We could stay. We could get caught…find out what really happened to us,” Luhan whispered softly.

Sehun suddenly rolled over so that he was lying on top of Luhan, his arms supporting his body weight over the mattress. “I don’t want to lose you ever Luhan. Don’t you know what you mean to me?”

“Of course I know, Sehun. We’ve been friends for forever.” Luhan’s heart beat faster at Sehun’s close proximity, and he willed the blush away from his cheeks even as he prepared his heart for rejection.

Sehun let out a frustrated noise. “You’re an idiot, Luhan.”

Luhan opened his mouth to protest, only to blink in shock when Sehun dropped his body weight down and pressed their lips together.

When Sehun drew away and rolled to the side, Luhan continued to stare up at the ceiling in shock.

“Luhan?”

“You…you…” Luhan struggled to find the right words for his question.

“I love you, yes.” Sehun smiled over at him. “I thought you knew.”

Luhan finally found his voice. “How could I have known?! We’ve been this way for forever.”

“Silly.” Sehun smiled at him and leaned in to kiss him again. “Silly, stupid idiot.”

Luhan couldn’t help but smile, breaking off their kiss again. “So you think that we should stay with Junmyeon and those ten men, then?”

Sehun nodded. “I do. If what Junmyeon said was true, then…” his voice trailed off, and uncertainty glistened in his eyes as he looked over at Luhan.

“I still don’t trust them, but I’ll think about it,” Luhan promised. “If only we had more time, and a way to prove that what Junmyeon said had any standing…”

“Well, we have three days to figure this out.”

“I know,” Luhan sighed warily.

“It will be alright,” Sehun murmured as he tilted his head upwards to plant a kiss on Luhan’s forehead.

Luhan couldn’t hold back his blush this time, and he grabbed the pillow from beneath his head so that he could beat Sehun over the head with it.

Sehun laughed, and Luhan felt his heart flutter.

He was going to have a lot on his mind for the next few days.

Three days after his confrontation with Sehun and Luhan, Junmyeon and the rest of Exo were standing out in Lord Soo-Man’s courtyard, getting ready to get back on to the road. Junmyeon hesitated beside his horse, and flinched when someone came up behind him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Kris?”

Kris snickered and gently patted Junmyeon’s elbow to try and soothe him. “Are you alright, Junmyeon?”

“Do you think they’ll come?” Junmyeon walked a few steps forward to stand beside his horse.

“Exo is too good of an offer to resist. They’ll come.”

“I hope so.”

Kris smiled at him even as he cupped his hands under the stirrup of Junmyeon’s saddle. Junmyeon stepped into the hold and into the stirrup, swinging his other leg over his horse’s broad back. Junmyeon watched enviously as Kris vaulted over the back of his own horse with his long legs. “I wish I was taller.”

“You still have a chance to grow.”

Junmyeon rolled his eyes and pulled his horse to walk away from Yifan and up to the head of the group. “Is everyone ready?”

There was a chorus of agreement, and Junmyeon turned his horse around and began to walk out of the mansion courtyard.

Exo traveled for nine miles down the road when the harsh sound of horse hooves pounding against the ground reached their ears.

Junmyeon raised an eyebrow when he saw Sehun and Luhan riding up the road together. “Have you decided to join us?”

Sehun nodded breathlessly, and Luhan smiled at the group.

Junmyeon grinned back at the pair. “Welcome to Exo, Sehun and Luhan.”

Fin