[Hellion Brothers: Book #1] Hellion Brothers

12: Vice President

"Why can't you cancel the initiation if you're the Vice President of the Student Council? You know how transferees and freshmen are bullied once the bad guys are given the chance. It's like you're giving a go signal for that to happen!" I insisted for the hundredth time of the day. Suho just chuckled and patiently shook his head once again. Apparently, I have found out from Xiumin that he was the vice president of the Sectored Youth's Nexus Council, or "SYNC" for short, when I asked them about the dreadful incoming event.

"It's not that scary, Maeji. It's actually fun." Baekhyun assured.

"You can only say that because you haven't experienced it." I muttered grudgingly.

"Oh yes we have!" Kai defended their side.

"Well, yeah... On second thought, it really was quite scary when I had to do it. There were hands coming out of nowhere and-" Chen started, but was cut off when Sehun sharply nudged his side.

"I'm not supposed to tell you anything about it, but since you're special, I will consider. There will only be games, maybe two or three. The point is to be able to make friends. It's not that scary, really." Suho nonchalantly shrugged. "There! I broke one rule for you, so now you have to attend! If you try to escape, we'll get Kai to find you!"

Kai waved cutely as I glanced at him. Though it was so adorable, it still wasn't enough to comfort me. I continued whining, ruining the supposedly peaceful atmosphere offered by the boys' garden.

"But I can't let other people gain interest in me! Currently, it's just the 11 of you and it's fine because you're nice people but... I can't be so sure about the other students..." I mumbled the last part. They fell silent as they considered my statement.

"Why are you so afraid of them? You know we can protect you if they ever try to do something bad." Kai cautiously said. I bit my lip, trying to choose the right way the say it.

"It's not that I think they'll hurt me... It's what they'll think about my family. It's fine if it would only be me they would judge and laugh at, but with my parents involved, not so much."

They glanced at each other, obviously confused by my vague explanation. While the rest were hesitating to ask, maybe afraid of offending me, D.O asked the magic question straightforwardly.

"What happened to your family?"

I took a deep breath, before letting it go with a huge sigh. Thank you, D.O, I finally will be able to get this off my chest. "We went bankrupt."

"I knew you were rich!" Chen suddenly exclaimed, making an "AHA" face. The others just looked at him with a "-____-" face. I continued.

"My father was CEO of a company. It was soaring high up above the rest of the companies in Seoul, but somehow, it suddenly crashed down. It was all business stuff I didn't really understand, but what I did understand was that my father lost a lot of our money trying to save the revenues they had left. In the end, though, nothing was left and I had to stop attending Anhan Girl's High to enroll here instead. So now, we live here, in a tiny town, in a tiny house."

"You came from an all girls' school?!" Chanyeol blurted out, eyes wider than saucers.

"Are there pretty girls there?" Sparkles formed in Sehun's eyes. I chuckled at their ecstatic behavior. As I expected, my status in life wasn't important to them. All that they cared about was who I am, and not what I have.

"Yes, a lot of them."

"Are you friends with them? Can you introduce us to them?" Baekhyun joined Sehun's playboy mode. I laughed at their antics and shook my head.

"Sorry, but I didn't have friends there. Maybe you should go visit by yourself sometime."

"You didn't have friends...?" Luhan cautiously asked. I tried to maintain a smile, though I was aware it looked forced. It was quite sad, yes, but it wasn't than much a big deal for me anyway, so I got over it quickly. It wasn't like I was a loner or an outcast that people avoided. It was simply that I didn't seem to belong anywhere. I didn't feel comfortable with them.

"Yeah, but it's okay. At least now I know I have true friends. Who knew I could find my friends in a very unexpected place?" I smiled as I looked at all of them. Most "awww"-ed at my cheesy remark, while one certain person remained awkward at the side. It was quite funny how Tao was just sitting there, unmoving like a statue or a shrine of something. I turned back my attention to Suho, before Tao could notice me staring.

"So Vice President, do I have a very acceptable reason to be exempted from the initiation?" I made an aegyo face as he rubbed his chin in deep thought. Chen, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun laughed at seeing my mischievous smile, but that didn't stop me. I was desperate.

"Hm, yeahhhhh," he nodded. I was about to show a thousand watt smile, only to be ruined immediately. "Not really. We have a list of names, and all those in the list should participate in an initiation, as per president's order. Sorry, I'm just a vice president."

Huffing, I finally stood up with hands to my waist. "That's it! Fine! If you don't want to, then I'll have to talk to the president myself. Where is the president?"

They all looked up at me like little innocent kids, then slowly, they lifted their fingers to point at the same time.

Xiumin.

I froze, dumbfounded, and he only showed a cute innocent smile. All this time, I was just right beside the SYNC's president. And nobody spoke a word about it.

"Aaaarrghh you little trolls." I rubbed my temple in frustration, and they burst out into laughter. I pretended to be mad at first, but then a smile sneaked its way to my lips. These boys. It's been a while since I felt this warmth of happiness. Now I think our bankruptcy was not so unfortunate after all. It brought me to a very special place, and to a very special bunch of people.

My eye grazed over Tao, who was shyly smiling at the ground as the others laughed their hearts out.

"And to a very special person," my brain added.

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