[Hellion Brothers: Book #1] Hellion Brothers

41: Punishment?

I had to take a few seconds to make sure that my eyes weren't deceiving me. But indeed, it really was Kris, and I automatically pushed him away.

"You really should try not to die. People will miss you, you know." He continued smiling as if nothing was wrong.

"Why did you save me?" I narrowed my eyes and backed away carefully, just in case he makes a threatening move.

"I'll take that as a thank you." He chuckled and glanced at Chanyeol and D.O across the street, still oblivious of the situation.

"Kris, I don't know what you're up to, but if you want me dead, do it already. Playing games wouldn't bring you anywhere." His brows furrowed at my statement, though he was still smiling. He suddenly studied me closer as if something interesting was on my face.

"You quite remind me of someone."

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time for this. Just remember that your Tao-hunting mission will be a lot easier with me dead." I turned my back to him and checked the street before crossing.

"I'm only after Tao, Maeji. It's not you that I want dead."

This made me halt. I slowly turned around to look at him from across the street, but he was already gone. My brows furrowed. What did he mean? Was that supposed to be a good thing, or a bad thing?

"Maeji!" Chanyeol called from behind as they rushed to me. He followed my gaze to see what I was looking at, but only saw the grocery store. "What are you doing here? Why are you staring at it like that?"

"I went back and got the change we forgot." I stated slowly as I placed the money in his hand, still unable to look away. Half of my brain was still wondering what Kris could have meant in his statement.

"Oookay... But why are you staring like that?" He waved a hand in front of my face. I shifted my gaze to him, thinking if I should tell them about Kris or not.

"I... think the cashier earlier likes you. Maybe you should go talk to her sometime." I faked a smile and patted his back, ushering him to start walking. He suddenly blushed, which was undeniably cute.

"She... liked me?"

"She just liked Chanyeol?" D.O asked bitterly. I laughed.

"Well, she noticed you." This wasn't enough for him, though, and he proceeded to mumble grudging words. My brows furrowed again as I looked up at the sky.

Who exactly are you, Kris?

Why do I get this feeling that there is more to you than just a traitor?

* * * * *

I stared at the neglected book on the study table as Baekhyun continued to play with my hair. I don't know how the supposedly tutoring session ended up as a hair-braiding session, but I actually didn't mind anymore. I've never had someone play with my hair before, not even when I was a kid (my hair was always kept short so it didn't need to be tied up), and to be honest, Baekhyun was pretty good at it. His pretty hands seemed to be so skillful.

"Gee, Baekhyun, why do you have so many rubber bands?" I scooped a handful as if for evidence.

"I use them to punish Sehun when he's too annoying. I tie his hair by force." Baekhyun shrugged and Sehun's head shot up to glare at his hyung.

"It hurts you know!" He rolled his eyes and went back to playing tic-tac-toe with himself.

Baek just ignored him. "He tries to throw them away in purpose so I buy a lot and hide them everywhere. There, done!"

He placed a mirror in from of me and stood proudly. My jaw dropped. He made me a waterfall braid! So pretty!

"Omo Baekhyun! Now you have to tie my hair before going to school!"

"Oookay time to switch places." Sehun shoved Baekhyun away like a diva and started unraveling Baek's masterpiece. Baek's jaw dropped in disbelief, and I pouted.

"Don't worry princess, what I'm gonna do will be a lot prettier than this." He patted my shoulder in assurance and started combing my hair. Baekhyun grumbled things and flopped on his bed.

"So how did your training go?"

"As usual, Luhan-hyung won." Baekhyun grumbled. "It's like, so unfair you know? All I could do is light and stuff, while he can practically move everything with his mind and do force fields. It's like he's a little cute god or something."

"Hyung why are you always jealous of everything?"

"I am not jealous of everything."

"Yes you are. Like you're jealous of my abs."

"Ha! Abs? What abs?"

"I HAVE abs!!!"

"No you don't."

"See, you're just jealous!"

"No I'm n—"

"Guys?" I spoke to interrupt their bubbling argument. I didn't want to get caught up between two nagging men, plus I had something bothering my chest that I wanted to get rid of, so I think it's best to just tell it to them.

"Can I... talk to you about something?" Noticing my gentle tone as if not wanting anyone outside to overhear, they shifted closer in curiosity. "But can you promise to keep it between the three of us?"

"Um, yeah, of course."

"If you say so." They gave reassuring smiles. I sat on the bed as well so we could huddle up. I took a deep breath.

"Ever since Kris left here," I carefully watched their reactions as they flinched at the sound of his name. "Have you guys tried to... you know... talk and try to figure out what exactly is wrong?"

Their brows furrowed, and they shook their heads. "I think what he said to us that night was enough. That he deserves to be the leader more than Tao, and that he'll do anything to make sure he gets what he wants."

"Did he say why Tao didn't deserve to be the leader?"

They glanced at each other, starting to get weirded out by my questions. Baekhyun still answered, though. "Tao acted carelessly at first and didn't take the title seriously. I think that's what upset him the most."

"But I think.. he hasn't lost his morals at all." I stated. Beakhyun looked at me in disbelief.

"Maeji, why are you defending him? If Tao finds out about this, he'll be furious!"

"I know, that's why I made you promise!" I hissed, but then dropped my voice as I fiddled with my thumb. "And don't think of it like that. I just think that this might be just a huge misunderstanding. Maybe we just have to clear things out."

Baekhyun sighed and gave me a small smile. He reached out to gently stroke my hair.

"I also wish it's that simple, Maeji. But unfortunately, our rules don't allow it to be like that. Whether he's doing this for a good purpose or not, he still broke all three rules of our world, and the Blood Leader would make sure that the punishment would be inevitable."

"Punishment? What punishment?"

Sehun and Baekhyun looked at each other, as if trying to decide if they should tell me or not. Then, Sehun turned back to me with a grave expression.

"Death."

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