FIREFALL, OR IN EXO WONDERLAND ▷ COMPLETE

The Longship Sails Away

CHAPTER 44: THE LONGSHIP SAILS AWAY

A boy at a tender age of four, Kristoff had been awakened from his slumber by an immense void weighing on his heart. He wondered what was wrong with him. Was it the atmosphere? The house felt a little too quiet, though there were hoarse cries of men somewhere near the shore.

Kristoff got down his bed. His little feet walked on a trembling surface so odd, he was almost teetering. Out of the room, his mother was setting some plates on the table.

"Mamma, where is Pabbi?" Kristoff asked.

"He'll be sailing to discover new lands with the other adventure men." Maeva smiled. "He said that he'll be back next spring."

"Pabbi promised?"

"Yes, he promised." Suddenly, Maeva stopped from arranging the plates. "Ah, Kristoff, have you seen a longship before?"

"Nei." Kristoff shook his head. But, his eyes lighted up. He could picture the big outstretched sail, the many, many oars like a centipede's legs and the long, narrow vessel passing him by.

"Go to the shore. Your father will be waiting there." Maeva bit her lip and paused. "One day, you'll be proud of him—like how he was proud of you."

She was comforting her only son; still her eyes were filled with uncertainty.

"Eun-soo ah, Eun-soo ah..." someone was waking her up in the middle of the night. She opened her eyes and saw Tao tapping his wrist. "Come on, wake up! Oh my black-rimmed eyes! We're late! We're late!"

"We're late for what...?" Eun-soo asked groggily.

"We're late for the feast! Come, come, come!" Tao pulled Eun-soo up from the couch and took her to Luhan's forbidden room. Inside, everyone was in their seats, dressed the smartest, each with a funny hat on. "Happy Parting Party!" they shouted in chorus.

"Thank you, thank you!" she was surprised by their reception. "Oh, you don't have to prepare all this for me... I didn't contribute much to you guys..." she said humbly.

"You didn't have to worry about that! It's very rare for a person from Above to visit Wonderland, so it's a historical event as well!" Chen said.

"It's time to congratulate you with cups and cups of tea!" Luhan said. "If not for you, we would miss one major component! Come and have a seat!"

Eun-soo took a seat and Luhan gave her a bunny hat to wear. "I thought it begins with tea." she commented.

"A hat ends with a 'T', Miss." Luhan adjusted the hat on her head. Once content, he said: "This one suits you a lot. Have a little more!"

"Hat or tea?"

"Tea, of course!" Luhan sent a teacup floating in her direction. She brought it down and had a sip. Hmm... Choco bubble tea!

"Have you brought some entertainment, anyone?" asked Chen.

"I hope this counts as one!" Lay showed the guitar that D.O gave him. Somewhere in the archive room, a guitar was hidden. How did it get there was an unsolved mystery.

"Shall we begin?" asked D.O.

"Have your timepiece," Tao handed Eun-soo her handbag with her smartphone inside.

"Thank you, Tao." she said.

Lay took the guitar and strummed it. Tao began to beat the dining table as if it was a gigantic drum. Luhan took two spoons and tapped on teacups of different sizes to produce different tones in the way he wanted. Kai tip-toed from his seat and moved his body intuitively to the beat.