As mentioned earlier today and as promised, I didn't delete the first edition chapters. It'll always be available via the dropdown menu if anyone feels nostalgic for it.

The new chapters may and may not reuse certain things from the previous edition, so don't be surprised by the parallels.

Perhaps Alicia would be back to write chapters but for the most part, Crayon Dreams have fallen to me. I will not promise frequent updates because Crayon Dreams for me is a form of catharsis which I only retreat to on occasion - good things come in small amounts; like cigs

Yours in truth
kaoru

CHAPTER ONE Its the first day of their final semester of University. On this busy morning, the 6 guys each had their own routine to prepare themselves for school.

[On the staircase landing of the second floor]

"Fabien! Get out! We're going to be late!" Owodog knocked on the door of the bathroom in an attempt to rush Fabien.

"Okay. I'm done." Fabien stepped out of the bathroom with a towel draped over his neck. Owodog stared at him, "Aren't you supposed to have styled your hair already?". Fabien laughed, "No worries, I can do that in 30 seconds flat. Worry about Prince instead. Look." Fabien gestured over to where Prince's room was. His door was slightly opened. Through the small opening, Owodog could see Prince still sitting on his bed. His eyes widening, Owodog made his way into Prince's room, sighing.

[In the dining room]

While Owodog has a hard time waking Fabien and Prince, Wayne and Brain were already seated at the dining table. "Any thoughts? It's our final semester! There's a voice in me that keeps saying 'I don't want to graduate'." Wayne spoke.

Brian laughed, "You're always like this. Few years back, you kept saying you didn't want to graduate from High School. And when we finally did, you suggested we celebrate overnight at KTV. Ironic huh?" Wayne gave a sheepish smile.

Just then, Fabien came crashing down the stairs. "Woah, Yang Qi Yu, where're you rushing to?" Fabien glanced at the table, grabbed a toast and ran off. Wayne stared after him, "HELLO! I was speaking to you!" Brian broke into fits of laughter.

Fabien rushed out of the house. A shiny black limousine was parked directly outside the gate. A smartly dressed housekeeper stepped out of the car, a bag hanging on his shoulder and a dog in his arms.

"Master, here he is." He politely smiled at Fabien and passed the puppy to him. Fabien smiled as he received the puppy.

"Gungun (滾滾) , have you missed me?" Fabien laughed as his puppy licked him. "Alright, you may go. Thanks for delivering Gungun over." Fabien spoke to his parents' housekeeper as he collected the bag containing Gungun's belongings. The housekeeper nodded.

Alicia here ~ Weeeeee .
First chapter up! :D


CHAPTER TWO Immediately after Fabien went out, Wayne jumped out of his seat and jogged towards the front door. He was determined to find out why Fabien was in such a hurry to get out of the house.

Wayne bumped into Fabien and a high pitched "eep" came from him as he almost fell. He frowned at the chocolate-coloured dog that Fabien cradled in his arms and laughed when the dog yipped at him almost as if to say "hi, nice to meet you!".

"Her name's Gungun," Fabien said quietly as he patted Gungun affectionately. Wayne blinked at the revealing of Fabien's soft side and went on ahead to announce the new arrival of Gungun to the others.

Everyone's welcome was warm and Gungun wagged her tail when William went to the trouble willingly to open a can of dog food when Fabien was busy swallowing his breakfast. Prince walked in, yawned and blinked at the dog and said hi. Gungun yipped at him and continued to eat her own breakfast.

Prince stumbled around the kitchen while owodog downed a cup of coffee. Brian seemed to be in deep thought.

"Who's going to look after Gungun?"

"I am," Fabien retorted. "She's coming to the uni with me."

Owodog had gone and dump everyone's breakfast things into the dishwasher and set the timer and now, he said impatiently, "come on, come on! Today's the first day and we must go to the uni together for the first impressions and for the sake of tradition!" Being Owodog, he was already ready in his sneakers and walking briskly towards the chauffeured limo and they filed in one by one. Fabien placed Gungun in before going in himself. The chauffeur closed the door behind them.

-

The six of them are collectively known as Lollipop. As rich young masters and blessed with good looks, they are every girl's unachievable dream and every boy's model. People often feel intidimated by their presence and knew of the cruel tactics they used when they found out who was defaming one of their number.

Many of the student body also suspects they aren't actually human - since their personal abilites are so much greater than a "normal" person. What Lollipop thinks is normal is deemed abnormal by the general people.

Are they really carefree young men or lonely as compared to the general masses?

-

"Hey! We've reached," William said eagerly

KAZUKO POSTED !
school today was okay i guess, though i'm not looking fwd to tmr's lessons
somehow i'm losing my drive for mathematics
i wished it'll rain like forever.



CHAPTER THREE [At the gate of their campus]

Heads turned and stared as the six guys stepped out of the shiny black limousine one-by-one. Some were stares of jealousy from the other males, others were mesmerized looks from many females. Also, there were envious sighs as the guys walked in a row towards their lecture hall. Several girls squealed audibly.

"I wonder when will all these stop." Owodog sighed as a girl, probably somebody new to the University, fainted. Fabien gave a small laugh beside him, "Well, the day we graduate from here and step into the society officially, " Turning to a group of girls on his right, he added, "No, I'm not accepting these." The girls burst into tears as they ran away.

Wayne shook his head, "They are just girls! Can't you be less harsh to them?" Fabien shrugged, "They just like me for my looks. I'm not falling for such girls." Owodog added, "It's not the first day we know him. Dear Fabien isn't the gentle kind with things he's impatient with!"

As Fabien fished for something to throw at Owodog, Owodog ran forward, shouting, "I'm heading to the studio for a moment. Go ahead to the hall, save me a seat!" Prince nodded at his statement. The five guys proceeded to their lecture hall.

In this prestigious University, Lollipop is well-known throughout the campus. There was practically nobody who didn't know who the six from Lollipop are.

Owodog, everyone knew him as the leader of Lollipop. A boyish male in his early twenties who loves break dancing and hip hop. To others, he was the leader. Within Lollipop, he was more like a big brother who took care of the others, one who is a good listener and gives great advices. He's generally cold towards things he isn't interested in, but always gives his best in whatever he does. He always receives many love-letters from girls who claim that they like him.

Fabien, well-known rocker of the band. Fabien is the only child who grew up in a harsh environment. He used to be always alone before he met the clique. He opened up to the guys gradually and became fast friends with them. He loves rock music. Being a composer, he has written many self-composed songs for major and minor school events, as well as for leisure. Like Owodog, he has many girls swooning after him, but remains oblivious to their existence.

Prince, the youngest member of Lollipop. His baby and angel-like face has earned him much popularity among girls. Prince is often thought to be skeptical, but that's just a protective cover he conjures around himself. A sporty boy, Prince holds a black belt in taekwando.

Standing at 1.65 metres tall, Wayne is subjectively the shortest member in Lollipop. Like Owodog, he engages in break dancing and is well-known for his signature dance move, the 'windmill' . Wayne is a fun-loving boy who is outgoing.

Brian and William are two inseparable friends. Both are meticulous and conscientious students. Brian is a song composer as well, and he enjoys dancing as a hobby. William is often labelled silly for his brainless but funny comments, he is the one who brings joy and laughter to Lollipop. Both from the cheer-leading squad in their high school, the boys are cheerful and influential.

The five boys entered the lecture hall and took their usual seats - right at the back of the hall. "Is Owodog coming? The lesson is about to begin." Brian peered anxiously at the door after 15 minutes. "Hold on, I'll text him." Prince got out his iPhone.

Alicia posted. :D


CHAPTER FOUR Owodog had teased Fabien like always, ran down the hallways, jiggling his sets of keys like always and unlocked the door to the Recording Studio 3 like always and like always, left the key in the doorknob.

"It should be here somewhere, I remembered that I put it here..." Owodog mumbled to himself as he winkled his nose at the dust that had accumulated over the holidays. he peeked into boxes and brushed things off the shelves.

By an unspoken rule, the whole of the university had stayed clear of the Recording Studio 3 and deemed it the Lollipop's territory. Prince took it a step further and asked his father to donate a healthy sum of money to the univerisity, and owodog proceeded to take every single key that could open the Recording Studio 3's doors. Nothing happened to them, and the Recording Studio was theirs for real.

They decorated it one day while they were sitting out classes. Wayne mused and said that they should have lots and lots of dancing space. Prince contributed to the beanbags idea and Fabien said that they must have good acoustics for his guitar that's why the wooden parapet. Brian agreed with Wayne about dancing space and he and Wayne bought in a high end stereo set. William grinned impishly and then said he'll paint the walls all their favourite colours and while the rest said "WHAT?!" incredulously, the effect was excellent. Owodog after thinking for a very long time, put in shelves and a big wardrobe. For our clothes, he had said reasonably.

Now, Owodog pushed the wardrobe's doors open and surveyed the inside. He saw Prince's jacket hanging neatly, Wayne's baggy pants that he always wore for dancing and somehow, Brian's ipod was inside as well on top of Fabien's t-shirt. Owodog saw his own sneakers peaking out from the bottom row. And bingo!

"My headphones and drumsticks are here afterall!" he said joyfully. Then the door which was open behind him slammed shut. Owodog yelped in surprise then ran to the door and violoently jiggled the doorknob; to no avail. He was locked in.

Pissed and feeling stupid, Owodog yelled "DAMN!!!" and then plopped himself into a beanbag, gave it half-hearted punches and then sighed. Just then his iphone sang a tune and Owodog brightened.

"Are you arriving soon?"

It was Prince's text message. Owodog laughed deliriously and felt stupid for a second time - in his anxiety he had forgotten that he had a phone sitting snugly in his pockets.

"PRINCE!!!" Owodog cried out. In the background he could hear Wayne laughing and Fabien saying something then Gungun barking almost frantically.

"Where were you? We had to get out of first lecture! And we've never done that before!" Prince said, sounding worried. It was a ritual that now, Owodog had broken. Perfect record is lost, Owodog mused and apologised. He explained his situation and he could almost hear the frown in Prince's tone. Knowing Prince, he'd would surely get to the bottom of this.

It felt like forever when they finally arrived and Fabien unlocked the door with his own set of keys. He nudged Owodog who was oblivious because of the headphones stuck over his ears. Owodog reflexively grabbed Fabien's leg then saw who it was and released it.

"Somebody locked you in and took your keys away," Wayne said doing dance warm ups for fun. Brian was joining him and William rubbed at a dirty spot on the walls. Owodog groaned.

"The house keys, my locker, the keys to my drawers and the house safe and this room and the dean's office..."

"Why do you have the dean's office key in the first place?" William asked. Owodog didn't seem to hear and continued, "My parent's house, the summer house in the States, father's office, mum's car and oh no! My ducati's key in the keyring too!" Owodog wailed. Gungun padded over to console Owodog - his ducati is like his baby.

"We'll get him. Or her," Fabien amended after thinking. "We promise you'll be driving your baby to school by Wednesday the latest."

Prince grinned evilly and said gleefully, "but now, we need a plan to catch the one who locked Owodog in and then do something."


joyce posted, i tried to shorten it! but i couldnt without omitting the feelings and everything (i just have to describe :D) alicia its up to you to catch the culprit !



CHAPTER FIVE [Still in studio 3]

"The culprit will have to come back to check up on you. We'll wait here and ambush him. Or her." Fabien mused. Prince nodded in agreement, "That's feasible." Owodog jumped up from his beanbag.

"Alright, but can someone go get some food? I'm hungry." Owodog pouted. Brian piped up, "I'll go, I need to collect something from a junior anyway. What do you guys want?"

After taking the orders from his mates, Brian left the studio. Fabien promptly got out his guitar and started strumming in a corner with Gungun licking at his feet. Wayne started his dance practice in another corner while Prince got out his iPod and played songs while reading his course book. Owodog frowned, "What am I going to do while you all get busy?" Fabien laughed, "Dance with Wayne?" Owodog's face lit up as he went over to join Wayne.

--- 3 hours later ---

"Is he coming?" Wayne whined. Fabien placed a finger on his own lips, "Shh, I hear footsteps. Gungun, sit down, don't bark." Gungun laid down on his stomach while Lollipop stood around the door. The person outside fitted the key in smoothly. As soon as he turned the key and opened the door, Owodog pounced on him.

"GOTCHA!" Prince stood motionless as the others helped Owodog corner the poor guy. "Prince, are you okay?" Fabien was concerned.

"That's my brother you're cornering. Modi, what the heck are you doing?" Prince shouted. Modi looked at him, clearly confused.

"WHAT? Some idiotic guy told me you told him to pass me this key, and said you were waiting for me here! That's why I came!" Modi exclaimed in response. Owodog stepped in, "He doesn't look like he's joking. I'm sure he was set up. Modi, do you remember how the guy looked like? Can we have the description of his appearance?"

Modi nodded. As he begun describing, Brian got out his laptop and entered in everything Modi was saying into the private school online system that only the elite students has access to.

"Ah ha! Out of so many students, seven fit Modi's description to the T. I'm gonna look through their profiles, find their blogs and facebook account. Just give me a minute. I'll find out who hates Owodog so much to play such a prank. He'll know its no joke to mess with us." Wayne gave a jump of joy, "YAY! Lollipop forever!" The others laughed.

Alicia's here! :D
Chapter 5's up. Yay.


CHAPTER SIX Modi said, "wow, I didn't know that Brian was such a stalker." Brian reached up to mock-smack Modi but he danced away laughing. Brian cleared his throat and said that he wasn't a stalker, just very good at hacking eletronic items.

Prince, Wayne and Fabien peered anxiously over Brian's shoulder as he clicked through each blog page, and scanned through every blog entry, every tweet, Facebook posts and notes that they may have posted.

"And watch this. Everybody uses Msn messenger and they think it's private," Brian smirked and with a few pushes of the keyboard keys, he pulled up every conversation with every contact from the seven suspects.

William said, "I'm glad I'm not Brian's enemy." They laughed at some of the funny conversations they've found and turned serious when they discussed about something important. Modi whispered that he didn't know that the Law students knew so many things.

"It's what they're trained to do. Lawyers are very nosy. They have to in order to win the case," Owodog pointed out. He was curious to find out who had ill intentions towards him. Brian scrolled quickly, reading faster than any of them then he stopped.

"Ah ha! Got him. Apparantly, he was jealous of our popularity and his friend, who was also in the game, had monitored our every move. He's really a stalker who knew that Owodog leaves his keys in the doorknob every time and also when Prince is alone in the shower room after he was done with whatever sport he was doing that day. And check this out. He even knew when we will meet up and what we ate for every lunch break. Look," Brian said. His tone was full of surprise and shock that one could go to such lengths. He pulled up a document and let the rest of them see.

"Oh my god," Fabien said. "He even knew when I first got Gungun. This guy is mad. I'm going to make a few calls." He disappeared. Owodog continued to look through and said, "I don't even know him!"

Wayne had disappeared as well and Brian proceeded to download the discriminating documents and said, "I'm going to cripple their computers. Get Fabien to call his family's security personnel. We are going to stop them."

Modi shrugged and Prince said, "We could pull strings." Brian nodded and then William said, "They will come and check this room. So we'll just have to give a false notice to the dean, excusing all of us. I'm thinking that they already have a copy of the studio key and will come in to destroy it."

Owodog took out a piece of paper from his file. William thought for awhile then said, "Lollipop will be going away for a holiday. But we'll be back soon! Have a nice life." Owodog wrote it and then passed it to William who went to the main notice board and stuck the note there.

Fabien came back into the room with Gungun trotting behind him. "I got what we needed. Now what?"

"Now? We'll go home and wait," Brian said matter of factly and started packing up.
-


joyce reporting!
This arc seems to be uncompletable as of yet LOL. i dont know if alicia wants to give names to the two green eyed monsters, haha.
and as the story progresses, it wouldnt be the last of Lollipop's troubles!



CHAPTER SEVEN Alicia's back. (: Enjoy the chapter ~

[At home]

The six guys sat around their huge living room, waiting impatiently for news from Fabien's family security network. After half an hour, Owodog gave a sigh of exasperation and stood up.

"I'm going to the studio to practice." Picking up his drum sticks, Owodog left the room. Fabien reached for his guitar and started strumming. Gungun sat down beside Prince, who stroked his head gently. Wayne stood up, "I'm going to dance." Pressing play on the home sound system they had installed, Wayne pushed the sofa against a wall to make space.

"Wayne! Go to the dance studio if you have to. Don't pollute the quiet environment here, I'm trying to study!" Brian rambled. "STUDYYYY?!" William screeched. "Since when have you started studying? You could easily top the class, WITHOUT studying."

"Shhh. Fabien's catching up. I'm not losing my top spot to one of my brothers!" Brian replied crossly. "Don't screech. You sound like a parrot." William opened his mouth, wanting to retort back. Just then, Fabien's mobile let out a cheery tune. Placing his guitar down, Fabien picked the call, his facial features arranging into a frown as he recognised the voice.

"Okay, we'll be right there. Keep them inside until we arrive. Guys, let's go! OWODOG!" Fabien hung up the phone call hurriedly and shouted for the rest to get into the limousine outside the house.

"Quick, to the campus." Fabien spoke shortly to their driver before turning to the other five. "They've found the identities of the two guys. They are currently locked up in our studio. And that's apparently the clever work of one of the securities." He let out a smile.

Owodog punched him lightly on his biceps, "Thanks buddy." Fabien brushed away his thanks, "It's what buddies are for."

[Upon reaching the campus]

"Come on, there's no need to run. They won't get away." Prince groaned. "My ankle hasn't recovered!" Prince had been practicing break-dancing with Wayne, and had accidentally injured himself in the process.

"How's it?" Fabien directed his question at the security member who was standing guard outside the studio. "All's well, they're inside, young master." He replied politely. Fabien received the keys to the new lock from him and signalled that he could leave.

"Let me do it." Wayne spoke as Fabien approached the door with the key. Fabien nodded, tossed Wayne the keys and stood aside. Wayne promptly opened the door, jumped inside and hit whoever was trying to escape.

"OUCH!" The person screamed.

Kazuko. We discuss how to continue tmr in school or later through text.
The harsh childhood thing, will be on chapter 9. :D


CHAPTER EIGHT Wayne stopped hitting the unknown person. The person fell to the ground, winded and goarning in pain. The other person was sitted on the sofa, seemingly at ease. But Fabien could see him playing with his fingers, flexing them.

Brian shouldered though his best friends and stood in front of the culprits. He grinned widely and everybody hastily took a step back. Owodog nudged Fabien, "He's freaky. Are you sure he's still Brian?" Fabien nodded and took another step backwards.

"First things first. I see that by using your parents' power, you've managed to catch us off guard. Kevin Yates, aren't your parents been getting their supplies from me?" Brian said chillingly.

"You! You dare to threaten me? You're no better than me - you're also using your parents' power over me!" Kevin yelled out. William stepped forward but Brian waved him back.

"Did I say anything about my parents? Unlike you, they trust me and now I control the supplying. What will happen if I decide to stop doing so?" Brian tilted his head, as if considering very hard.

"He's right you know. But I bet your parents don't just get stocks from him. They get what they need from us as well," Prince said in a dangerously soft voice. It sounded really baby-like and in the eerily quiet room, it sounded something out of a very scary horror movie.

"You little piece of shits," the one who was hit by Wayne grounded out. Fabien looked down from his height.

"I don't think you're in any state to bargain with us y'know," Fabien drawled out. "You from the Mckay family aren't you? Lots of your people work in the companies my family owns."

Mckay sneered, "but you'll never have a good family like I do!" Fabien's face closed and Owodog pulled on his arm, shaking his head just slightly. Fabien relaxed back to his position, but he still have that murderous look.

"Just before we deal with you, where are my keys?" Owodog asked and he smiled. Both of them backed away. It seemed that Owodog's smile was even more freakier than the rest of Lollipop's cold look. Kevin pulled it out. Owodog took it and scanned it through.

"If you made a copy of any of these keys, I'll know and you will be forced to a corner that you wouldn't want to take," Owodog warned and Fabien waved for the security personnel to take them away.

As they watch the retreating backs of the secrity and the two troublemakers, Prince remarked that they should just take the rest of today off and go for milkshakes at Julie's. There were murmurs of agreement.

Fabien gave a last hard look towards the troublemakers and followed the rest to Julie's.

This is how their first day of school ended.


CHAPTER NINE EDITED

[At Julie's]

Gulping down the last of his milkshake, Fabien expressed that he wanted to head home for a rest. Owodog held his arm, "Do you want me to accompany you? Prince and the others are going shopping for clothes later." Fabien shook his head, "Nahh, it's okay. You go shopping too. I'll be fine."

"But ... " Owodog was interrupted by Wayne, "Why not I go home with Fabien? I don't plan to purchase anything today, anyway." Owodog nodded in agreement. Just as Wayne collected his items from the table, Fabien stopped him.

"I'll be fine. I know you guys are worried about what the Mckay guy had said. I'm not affected, don't worry. I'm not a kid, I know how to think." Fabien forced a smile. He didn't want this to affect his other mates.

"He's right, you know. He's not a kid. We should trust him to be able to handle it." William grinned at Fabien. He gave a nod of thanks.

"Alright then, we'll see you at home for dinner." Owodog clapped a hand on Fabien's shoulder. Waving good bye to Prince, Brian, Wayne, William and Owodog, Fabien walked towards the train station.

"Hey! Get the chauffeur to pick you up!" Owodog shouted after Fabien. Fabien gave a thumbs-up sign without turning back. He didn't plan to get anyone near him now. He needed time to think. To reflect on his past. Did he not deserve to be properly loved?

[In Fabien's room]

Sitting down at his bed, Fabien unfolded a tattered handkerchief that kept all his memories of his happy childhood. It was not much, just a few faded photographs, and the guitar anklet that his father had given him for his fifth birthday.

Fabien would have a pair of doting parents, if only that accident hadn't taken away everything that had once belonged to him. His heart hurt at that memory. Clutching the faded photographs in his hands, tears welled in his eyes as he relived the hurt of losing everything at once.

[Flashback]

That day, a seven-year-old Fabien was playing with his guitar in his room when his mother entered his room. he didn't notice that her face was tear-stained.

"MUMMY! Look, I can play the song properly now!" Fabien fumbled with the strings and started strumming. Mrs. Yang sat down beside him, tears streaming silently and profusely from her swollen eyes. Mr. Yang had passed away in an aeroplane crash.

"Mummy, why are you crying?" Fabien reached over to hug her. Mrs. Yang shook her head slightly, "Fabien. Daddy has gone away." Fabien's face lit-up at the thought. Mr. Yang had always bought something back for Fabien everytime he had to leave the contry for work. "Where's daddy? I want toys. When will daddy come back?" He grinned childishly, unable to comprehend what his mother had meant.

"Darling, daddy will never come back." Mrs. Yang tried breaking the news gently. Fabien's face fell, "Why? Why won't daddy come back?"

"Daddy has gone to someplace where he'll become an angel." Mrs. Yang had simply said.

That day had changed Fabien's life entirely. Being close to his father, he was unable to accept the fact that his father had passed on. He had no channel to direct his hatred towards, hence becoming cold to the world. He never had much friends, because all his classmates had thought him to be a freak just because he seldom speaks.

Mrs. Yang passed away one year after her husband, due to depression. This dealt another blow on Fabien's young mind. At the age of eight, he had to face lawsuits and the pin-pointing of others at this unique family background. He was rich, for his parents left all their assets to him. But he couldn't inherit it then.

He was then sent to an orphanage, where the head took care of him like her own child. He still did not make many friends, everyone laughed at him for having no parents. That could have shaped him into an independent person. Because he has no one to rely on, he has to rely on himself.

When he graduated from both primary school and secondary school as the top of his cohort, everyone was shocked. By then, he had learnt to channel his emotions into music. His guitar was everything to him - the guitar that his father had given him. Advancing to High School, he met Owodog, who brought him into Lollipop. It was then that he had started to open his heart to people. Lollipop were his only true friends.

The hurt of a broken family still remains, even though Fabien had became more cheerful and positive. He still nursed the wound that a broken childhood had left on him ...

[Back to reality ; Fabien's room]

Fabien wiped away the tears that was flowing down his cheeks. He reached for his guitar and started strumming. The song he played was one that he had written when someone had laughed at him for having a broken family. He had channeled the hatred towards that person into the song, which he dedicates to his parents. Other than hatred, love was another strong emotion in the song. Fabien didn't blame his parents, instead, he thanks them for teaching him independence.

Now, at the age of 19, Fabien has inherited his parents' company and wealth. he's arguably the richest youth across the country.

HEY! ALICIA'S HERE TO UPDATE!
I'm so sorry for the late update, have been pretty busy lately. :X
I'm sure all of you have heard about Lollipop's "break-up".
I guess the album will only feature the four of them now.
Nonetheless, continue supporting LOLLIPOP okay! :D
Be it Owodog, Fabien, Wayne and William, or Prince and Brian. (:
To me, they'll always be a part of the fondest memories. ♥
BYE, off to study BIOLOGY. :D


CHAPTER TEN [at the shopping mall]

Wayne and Owodog wandered aimlessly around the shopping mall. Lollipop liked to patronize this particular mall as it was near their place and it carries lots of shops catering to each of their needs.

Right now, Prine, Brian and William are buying clothes at one of their personal favourite stores and Owodog and Wayne were left to wander around the basement where the hypermarket and other smaller shops are located.

"You know, I never wandered here before," Wayne said. Owodog shrugged. He hadn't either. Living the life of a pampered rich kid, he had not wandered in common shopping malls but rather, wandered in high classed and branded boutiques up in High Street. It was only a few years back, in their year of high school did he wandered out on his own.

His parents were happy and appreciated his move of independence. They were not rich before they had Owodog. It was due to their hard work and support of his father's family that they had made an empire that comprised of companies supplying a whole range of goods from building materials to medical needs.

Owodog's childhood is almost the polar opposite of Fabian's. He had a happy family, and he had what he wanted - break dance classes and drumming lessons. But he was lonely. He often switched school during his elementary years. His parents, having came from a humble background, had enrolled him in a public school.

But he excelled in everything. He would solve the most complex questions and once even handed in the entire textbook's worth of excerises to the science teacher. He would hold debates with the teachers teaching him and would leave them flabbergasted and his classmates looking at him like he's a freak. He would play and owned the games that they were playing that day on his own, be it basketball or just a normal game of tag.

As such, people would comment on him saying things like "prodigy". But he wished that he wasn't so, and that he was "normal". He was transfered yet again but this time to a private school where his parents had misgivings about.

This was when Owodog's potential was realised. No longer was he able to top the school without effort and for once, he was forced to work hard much to the relief of his parents. Not only he found his peers in school much more interesting, he also found his first friends; Price, Wayne, Brian and William.

Each of them was befriended in the most strangest scenarios. Wayne, was through a dance showdown that the school held. Brian was when Owodog usrped his number one spot in school. Prince when Owodog was trying out fencing during PE classes (Prince had beat him hands down) and William when Owodog crashed into him while learning how to cycle.

Owodog smiled as he pulled up each funny incidents that had occured when they had been together, and then grinning naughtily when they were caught.

"Hey!" Wayne waved a hand over his face. Owodog blinked.

"Stop daydreaming already! Let's go down to that outdoor shopping arcade that just opened. I heard that they offer a new range of teenager haunts," Wayne said, excited and impatient to go. Owodog argeed.

[shopping arcade]

Wayne walked on ahead, scanning the shop windows for interesting items. He suddenly stopped and looked intently into one of of the shop's windows and gestured to Owodog. Owodog merely nodded his head and waited outside.

He idly watched the traffic and people walk by but something caught his eye. It was a brown ordinary looking cardboard box. His curiousity piqued, he moved from his post and walked towards it.

A soft shuffling sound emitted from the box and a soft growl was heard. Owodog proceeded more cautiously and looked into the box. A brown dog, no, more of a puppy was inside it. It looked pitifully small and maybe because of its size, it was kicked away.

Owodog swallowed. This had to be a sign. He picked up the box and went back to meet Wayne.


hey,
busy days are up ahead and xue and i may not be posting as frequently as we or you guys liked. this is because :
1. PRELIMS ARE COMING ! yes, i do know that some school's prelims are alr over. but for some reason, our's are super late.
2. i'm working on my coursework, and xue is studying her very difficult subjects such as a maths *shudders*
so, we'll continue to work hard !
thankyou for always supporting us :D



CHAPTER ELEVEN Prince held up a yellow coloured long sleeved tee and studied it critically. As used to wearing limited edition, branded apparel, he has taken a liking to mass produced graphic t-shirts.

William had chosen a few coloured tees and waved madly for Brian, then proceeded to hold each item against his frame. Brian made a face and disagreed with some of the choices that William made.

"No William, you know i detest purple...can you actually see me wearing lime green? Yes, the pale yellow is nice, so is the blue. No, not orange, I'll look strange. Look, shouldn't you be looking for your own clothes?" Brian slowly answered each question that William threw at him.

"I've already bought my own clothes, actually. It's sitting on the counter... I asked the cashiers to help me look after it. So what's with the rainbow scarf? The colours clashes with your hair colour."

Brian resisted the urge to strangle William. Sometimes being around a person who excelled in Art and Design is annoying.

"It's not for me, go help Prince decide..he's taking too long," Brian gestured at Prince who was still trying to decided between two different graphic tees. Idly, he wondered if Fabian is okay and whether he should take action against the Mckay family, whose son had so unwittingly insulted one of his friends.

Having been home-schooled most of his elementary years, he only went into the private school that Owodog himself was enrolled in. Brian was left to his own devices having outsmarted all the tutors his parents could find.

He found everything massively easy. His young mind analysed that not one was his opponent...except for Owodog. He wanted to take Owodog's number one place; he had never wanted something so much nor had he wanted to achieve it using his own abilities.

It wasn't going to be easy, Brian found out. Owodog was constantly with Prince, William and Wayne and they are already a well-established team, always helping each other in various subjects and aspects. Other then wanting to achieve his goal by his own hands, Brian also wanted to be in a team in which he could relate to instead of standing apart from other people...

"Dude, what are you thinking about?" William waved a hand up and down in front of Brian's face. Prince, evidently having made his decision, held on to a shopping bag.

"You remember what happened when I beat Owodog and took his number one place back in elementary school?"

"Owodog was hopping mad when that happened. He only calmed down when I promised to thrash you in the next taekwando class," Prince nodded and smiled angelically.

"Oh yeah, you had lots of bruises too. In the end Owodog asked you to join in didn't he? Just the sort of thing he would do to get back at people. Ah, speak of the devil," William said and answered his phone.

"Hello? You and Wayne are at that new outdoor strip mall? I'll ask the driver to pick us up then...you found something? oh, well, okay," William said and flicked his iphone cover shut.

"Well, guys. It seemed that Owodog found a new pet."


ah, a long chapter to start things up agn.
i know that this post's supposed to be alicia's job but i was told by her to write the next two (chapters 11 and 12) and she would carry on with 13.

now with the holidays, i think we can post more often as out brain allows us to (:

thank you for your unending patience and unwavering support :D



CHAPTER TWELVE The ride back was quiet. They were too lost into their own thoughts to banter about mundane topics and even though none of them voiced out their opinions and thoughts, it was clear that they were all thinking hard about the McKay family.

Brian tapped away on his iPhone, pausing to do some mental calculations. Juggling the supply chain of his family company and studies is not an easy task at all. Prince scribbled some complicated figures onto a notepad. He and his younger brother, Modi had gained their parents' agreement to manage a part of their family business in manufacturing.

Wayne tapped out a rhythm as he listened onto his iPod. William frowned as he continued to turn recent events in his head. Owodog sat straight in his seat, the box balanced on his laps.

The car stopped right outside the main door and the driver bowed as he helped to open the car doors. Owodog nodded at him and waved him away. William got out his keys and started to unlock the door, but jumped back suddenly in shock when the door flew open, seemingly automatically.

"Fabien!" William chided. Fabien gave a small grin.

"What's up with the plasters?" Prince asked, his attention deviated temporarily from his notepad.

"The guitar string broke. Twice," Fabien explained. Prince winced in sympathy then disappeared into the kitchen. Wayne and William shrugged and followed Prince. Brian immediately retreated into his room.

"Hey, you got a spare food and drink bowl? And lend me a curry brush too, would you?" Owodog asked in the sudden ensuring silence. Fabien shrugged then suggested that they looked in the store cupboard under the stairs. Gungun meanwhile was entertaining himself by investigating the brown box that Owodog had left by the stairs.

"You got a name yet?" Fabien asked, his voice muffled by the objects that they had stowed away in the small area. Owodog replied that he hadn't. Fabien finally found the items that Owodog had requested then picked up the puppy who was curled up in a corner.

Fabien's expression became soft, and he asked softly, "who would've so willingly cast a cute creature like you away?" He started to run the comb over the puppy's matted fur, slowly easing out the tangles. Owodog filled both bowls up. The puppy smelling the food perked up and squirmed in Fabien's grip to pounce onto the food bowl.

Gungun yipped loudly and pranced around them. Both humans looked at the small animal devour his food.

"Lollipop. Lolli-...Lolly?" Fabien tried the names out.

"Lolly!" Owodog called out experimentally. The puppy jerked up as if to say "you called?"

[dinner]

Dinner was a more quieter affair than normal. With most of them buried in their own thoughts and musings than in chit chat. Both dogs are set to be the best of friends; they are already curled up together, fast asleep.

That night was Fabien and Brian's turn to clean up while the rest, each citing reasons retired back to their respective rooms. There was only the distant sound of Owodog's drums clashing and the running water to punctuate the still atmosphere.

"I've bought over the McKay family's properties," Brian spoke up suddenly. Fabien only nodded then added, "I was thinking of doing that myself, but perhaps you've got more use for them than I do. You're leaving their company shares alone?"

"No need for such drastic measures, I think. They are not worth much when they are already on the verge of collapsing. Don't take what he said to heart, okay?"

Fabien laughed brittlely, "of course not. I know better, don't I?"

"Here, remember you said you needed a scarf? William mentioned once that you suit rainbow colors," Brian passed the scarf he had bought earlier on to Fabien who took it and said thanks. Brian only smiled and went back to his bedroom.

Fabien slowly climbed up the stairs to reach his room, but was suddenly yanked sideways and into a dimly lit room.

"Gah!" Fabien stumbled as his assailant shut the door. The room, he saw was dimly lit because it was how Prince liked it; there was only a lamp drenching his desk with light switched on. In the dimness, he could make out the figures of Wayne.

"You know the other guy with McKay?" Wayne started.

"Things aren't so simple. The other guy belongs to one of the family that is after your fortune, Fabien," Prince concluded.


oh wow, this chapter ends on a darker note than i wanted it to be (: but anyway, it's another great arc to work upon :D
joyce posted



CHAPTER THIRTEEN Alicia's here. Yeah I know, like finally, I'm here. XD Sorry for the delay, chapter thirteen's here. Hope you guys enjoyed the hidden chapter written by Joyce! Comments please! :)

[In Prince's room]

Fabien froze to digest Prince's words. Recovering, he shrugged, "Well, what can he do? There's no way I'll get tricked into giving up my family fortune. We all know I'm too smart for that."

"But what if he has been trying to gain your trust these two years?" Wayne pipes. Fabien turned to face him. "What do you mean?"

Prince placed a hand on Fabien's shoulder, "I hate to break this to you, but that guy has a brother, whom we all had trusted." Fabien put a hand up to stop Prince, "Matthew?" Wayne and Prince nodded feebly.

Fabien continued as if it didn't mean anything to him, "Alright, then its time to take action. Tomorrow, I'll get the lawyer to come and draft up a contract. Prince, can you ... "

As Fabien and Prince discussed what they were going to do, Wayne crept out of the room quietly. He knew how sinful it was considered to be to interrupt them at work. He still couldn't accept that Matthew had a motive for being their friend. He had always pitied Matthew for his humble background, but that was because he knew Matthew couldn't afford the expensive fees for his terms at the college. Wayne was the one who had taken pity on him and offered to pay his fees so that he could continue to be at the college.

Wayne smashed his fists against the wall of his room, angry at himself for not having seen through Matthew. He had seemed so nice, so prim and proper. Who knew he had such a scheming plan beneath his 'friendly' appearance? What mattered right now was how did Matthew had hidden his real family ties; that he was actually rich and is also related to the Yates family who are open about their vendetta against Fabien.

How did Matthew manage to hid every single thing that was his, and how had they overseen him in the recent drama that had unfurled. Matthew, is, was the least of their worries in their minds when Owodog got locked in the music room, when Brian searched every student's profiles online. Matthew could have attacked during that period of time, but instead, Kevin had been the one who sneered at Fabien...

"but you'll never have a good family like I do!"

That line echoed in the recesses of his brain. That Kevin had said that was expected. That Matthew was the one who orchestrated the whole flawless-on-theory operation was shocking. Matthew who had toyed everyone's feelings by pretending to be humble, poor, likable, average.

He was nothing like that. Now that Wayne knew about it, his view on Matthew was veiled by suspicion and doubt.


CHAPTER FOURTEEN
joyce here, finally. chapter 13 was out.
just submitted the appeal to another course, and i furiously hope that my appeal would be granted!


-

[Wayne's room]

"Sup," William said as he walked with his hands in his pockets to slump into the loveseat that Wayne had placed in his spacious room. Painted in a deep blue hue, Wayne had plastered posters of various dancers and freeze shots of their various movements such as the Windmill. His bed was halfway made - his blankets were in a bunch but his pillows and blosters were arranged carefully upon his bed.

The same could not be said for his desk which was littered with completed, undone and half-done assignments. While Prince's room is dim, his is luminated with strategically placed small spotlights.

"Don't people knock on doors anymore?" Wayne grouched out as he pushed himself off his desk and skidded across the floor area in his swivel chair. He got up - leaving the chair in the middle of the room where it had stopped sliding - to get ready his attire for tomorrow. In his opinion, today was just too long. Already, the incident that left Owodog trapped in their music room seemed like a million years ago.

William shrugged unabashed. William started tracing the air, no doubt thinking about another picture in his mind to draw. "What is Fabien and Prince going to do?" he asked without looking at Wayne.

"I don't know. But the main thing is I've stopped Matthew's funding and then, I don't know, expel him?" Wayne mused out loud.

"You still like him even after all that," William pointed out. It's true, Wayne supposed. He was always naive in that sense.


"You're so naive, Wayne! Don't you get that all they want is your money? Grow up already!" his elder brother sneered at him. Six year old Wayne could only look away and furiously wished that his brother was wrong, and that his new found friends at the elementary school were not as mean as David had said.

"Stop it, David. Leave Wayne be," the deep voice of their father rang out. Wayne ran towards his father for a bear hug. His father frowned at his older son; David was getting more and more paranoid. No doubt the nineteen year old had good intentions but he was getting it all wrong. He supposed that David had gone through many so-called friends and did not want his younger brother to be hurt. But still...

"Enough, David. I know the boys' families personally. You cannot deny that they are excellent friends for Wayne; Owodog, the heir to Zhuang Corporations, Prince, first-born son of Athens Industry and Manufacturing and William, next running heir to the immense business of Maple Leaf organization," his father said sharply.

"They might be spies," David maintained.

"They are six year olds. Plus, we are all interconnected in some way or another. We rely on each other for business. We all contribute to each other's wealth. You, as the next CEO should know as much. You'll not poison Wayne's childhood with politics. There is time for him to learn as I did for you. I foresee that they will be the best of friends, and we'll all stand to gain," his father said by way of ending the conversation.

Wayne sat through the entire five minute conversation without a word. Through the eyes of a six year old, Wayne's father was, and still is, powerful and his brother, however bad was still his most and foremost protector in his life.

Now, David hunkered in front of Wayne, smiled and asked if they should go for an ice cream at the dessert kiosk. Wayne had happily agreed, but there was a certain light of sadness in David's gaze...

As if he knew that the future would involve Wayne's outlook in general life to be changed to darkness and mistrust instead of light and innocence.


"David was right. I'm too nice. Expel Matthew and shame him publicity...and in the worst possible way," Wayne grounded out. He wasn't feeling anymore misgivings or sympathy. He was the cold-hearted and ruthless second heir of his family's fortune.


CHAPTER FIFTEEN After hearing what Wayne had said, William got up and brushed off his jeans and vacated the loveseat. He told Wayne to sleep on it and think about it when he wakes up. William then walked towards his room, just down the same hallway.

William's room is light and airy. The balcony doors are opened letting the air in. Where Wayne's walls were plastered with dancers, William's walls are mostly hang with various paintings that he bought or painted himself. There were many ornaments made out of various materials sitting around on his desk and shelves.

There is an easel just outside the balcony. He looked at the half completed piece. He couldn't place just what is wrong with the piece. William sighed and let himself fall onto his bed.

The whole situation with Matthew, the Yates and the McKay family is just out of the blue. Why would there be such an obvious attack when most attacks are made covertly? Behind those veiled words, false faces, fake actions, what is his world made up of?

Lies and deceit. And if this was an olden movie, assassinations and murder, perhaps. William looked at the ceiling, at the crystal chandelier lights. He felt a sudden urge to just get rid of everything including his wealth.

He decided to find Owodog. Just as he opened the door, Owodog made his way in, causing both of them to crash into each other. Amidst the mild swearing and some nice bruises, they were okay.

"I was just going up," William muttered as he rubbed at a sore point where Owodog's elbows had hit him. Owodog grimaced and said, "I was just about to call you up. Well then, shall we?"


CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A/N: this chapter would be a bit long. since i think i got carried away describing. Can't help it, describing things in my head is one of my favourite past times :D


Owodog's room is right at the top of the house. It was the attic before. William remembered the boxes upon dusty boxes of belongings left by the previous owners. They had said to keep them and those they didn't want to be donated.

They had combed through the entire place and kept some of the more nicer furniture. William got the antique shelving units, Prince got that very lordly desk and chair. For some reason Fabien had wanted the full length mirror which was carved into a likeness of a huge tree. (the previous owners had weird tastes) Wayne got the side table which he now balances his radio upon it. Brian, very sensibly took the chest of drawers.

Owodog took the antique bed frame and the old lamp. That lamp's base, was carved so it was like a small forest had grown there. There was even an owl, perched upon one of the carved trees' branch. They donated the rest of the old furniture and other things.

Now light streamed in from the skylights, making a shaft of light hit the wooden floorboards, throwing up dust motes. The ceilings are much lower here, and they sloped, following the roof's shape and direction. The beams supporting the roof are visible and William can see no trace of any cobwebs. Owodog must be a cleaner freak than Brian.

The said bed is now in the middle of the attic, right in front of the stairs. It was partitioned off with quaint paper screens that Owodog's dad had bought from Japan as a sort-of housewarming gift. The old lamp perched atop a white bed side table which on it also balanced magazines of Ducati motorcycles and various other reference books.

The room was huge and airy on account of the fact that there were no walls blocking the breeze. The rest of the attic towards the left was his study and dance area already. The right ended in a wall with a door, where they now use it as a storeroom for the overflow of band equipment and other paraphernalia.

The left had a large rectangular table positioned so when one sat at the table, he could look up and see the sky from the skylights. On top of the table were his laptop, placed under sleep mode, the lamp, and all his work. Files, worksheets from school, reports, contracts, art drafts, the music that would strike him at strange hours of the day all were piled together. William mentally wondered how Owodog managed to find anything inside the pile of papers.

Not only papers were strewn around, pencils, pens, and other instruments of writing and drawing were stuck in pencil holders, disused mugs or just placed on the latest work that Owodog was working on.

"So what about this Matthew thing?" William asked. Owodog only shrugged.

"Don't you feel that it has been a very, very long day? I got locked in the music room, Lolly was found at the shopping strip, Prince uncovered that it was actually Matthew behind this. I just want to curl up and sleep," Owodog said wearily, sitting back in the wooden backed chair of his study table.

William plopped down onto the beanbags near Owodog and propped his head on his hands, "I've been wondering why Matthew did it. Why bother pretending to be a commoner when he isn't one? All for what purpose?"

- to be continued.

A/N: as mentioned before, I just feel that I should describe Owodog's room in great detail, since the layout has been in my head for so long. It is only fair to this thought that I put everything here. (:

I feel like I'm speaking to thin air, but as long I'm writing, then I'll be okay.


CHAPTER SEVENTEEN It was 2am by the time the house was quiet. All the lights were extinguished and the estate was only lighted by the porch lights and lamp posts in the garden.

Prince slept curled up on his side, Fabien looked like he had a war with his blankets which are currently tangled with his legs. Brian slept like a log, William had an arm over his head, Owodog slept on his stomach spreadeagled.

Only Wayne lied awake, on top of his blankets, looking at the night sky. William had handed him a piece of paper with a lot of scribbles. Now he unfolded it and tried to decipher both William's and Owodog's handwriting.


Matthew Jacky McKay, cousin of Kevin Yates is the second son of the McKay family.
McKay: specializes in the clothing industry, in which some major brand lines are with them. Has branched out to include hotel management. However business has been in decline for the past few years. Share prices has dropped.

In comparison, the Yates family has been steadily rising to be one of the largest contributors to cover the international export of small electronic gadgets...


Does that mean, then, Matthew wants to revive his family's business and wealth? Or does he want the power to take over his elder brother and be the heir of an already crumbling business? Or does he have plans to revive them and for that higher purpose, he posed as a poor student in order to make use of the power that they have to fulfill his dreams?

Sleep now, think later. Wayne berated himself. He turned and switched off his desk light, the slip of paper still clutched in his hand.

*

The atmosphere in the university is tense. Almost everyone had heard what had happened and when the group walked solemnly past, everyone got out of their way. It was as if they were emitting a very dangerous killing aura.

They had decided to continue with their lectures as per usual. Prince, Brian and Owodog filed away towards the Business block. William and Wayne walked off in the direction of the Arts block. Fabien continued along the Law department, alone.

Fabien felt a little twinge of annoyance. He had wanted to just skip school to house train Lolly, but William had shook his head slightly and Fabien had relented and went with the rest of them to the car.

Adding on to his annoyance were those fawning girls. He had to exercise great self control to stop himself from brushing off their empty well-meaning words and instead pasted on a diplomatic smile. His professor would be so proud of him, he was sure.

"Mr. Yang, you're almost late. But no matter, please take a seat," Professor David smiled and gestured to an open seat towards the middle of the row. Fabien took it and took out his stacks of research work and papers and placed it on the desk with a slight bang. His neighbors jumped slightly and shifted away from him.

Fabien slouched into his seat and proceeded to draw out the draft. He remained quiet, listening to the lecture and the questions posed. When the lecture ended, he hung back and passed his draft to Professor David and started to walk away.

"Not bad. Though, are you trying to take over the McKay family's company shares and make it your own?" The question made Fabien stop and turn.

"I have no need of it, David. You're welcome to it. A word of advice, though. Don't take them. You may be Wayne's elder brother, but it doesn't mean that I will leave you alone if you interfere," Fabien said before leaving David smiling slightly and stowing away his things.

"Father, you were right after all," David whispered before switching off the lights and leaving the lecture hall as well.


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN William and Wayne filed into the art studio allocated for them. The Art Department has a special way of doing things. They will assign an art studio for a pair and that room would be theirs to maintain and upkeep. It would also be their place for the rest of their degree.

"So, what do you plan to do?" William asked. Wayne did not answer but only set up the easel and placed a blank canvas on it.

"What do you want me to do?" Wayne tilted his head sideways to look at his friend from the corners of his eyes and turned back to the setting up of the easel and paints. William said nothing as yet but wondered how Wayne must be feeling. Betrayed? Confused? He wasn't him, and he wouldn't have known.

"I'm not betrayed. Don't you think that maybe he was set to sacrifice so much for his family?"

"Is family that important? Or should I ask, is that family so tied to the business that they can not and must not let it fall?" William asked as he twirled his pencil around his fingers.

"Think about the wealth that they have for so many years already. Do you think that they can revert back to living the live of an average household, in average house and living an average life when one moment blends into the other without the Season's parties and meet-ups?" Wayne asked. "If I asked you to throw away all the status that you had now, would you be able to do so?"

As free-spirited as William is, he himself knew that it was impossible to do what Matthew had done; to throw away his status just to revive the family's business for the good of the company, for the good of his family.

Had Matthew thought of how his family could not survive if they lost everything in one full sweep? About how his younger sisters would have to do rough work, of how his poor mother have to cook and do manual tasks at home and of his father; the one who has helped in the building up of the company only to watch helplessly as it fell, would now have to work below everybody. Then of his elder brother, having to drop out of his university education and work, just like his father, instead of inheriting the company as per customs?

"See? I knew that you or me would not be able to just drop our status and go. Maybe Owodog would be able to do so, as crazy as he is, but what about us? Fabien, Prince and Brian included. Could we have done so?"


CHAPTER NINTEEN
A/N: Hey guys, Its the September holidays now and I'm actually working. Anyway, I wish I wasn't, though because this is much more troublesome than I thought. So many things to think and consider about and also about the so-called human nature?

Oh, I don't know.


Files were strewn open everywhere. There were stray pieces of important-looking papers being held under thick reference books and pages of accounting and for some reason, a doodle was at the corner of one of those said accounts.

"Hey Prince? Could you pass the calculator?"

"Where is it? Owodog, you seen it anywhere?" Prince started shifting papers around.

"I think I saw it under that orange merger file just now, it's just beside you, Brian," Owodog mumbled as he scribbled numbers down a column.

It's study period for the Business class students, and the three of them are in a group, minus one.

Matthew would have been in their group before. But today, he is absent. The whole class was whispering about it, but they didn't care.

"It's so not like Matthew to miss a class if he could help it," Brian muttered behind his stack of reference books. Prince made a noncommittal sound of agreement. Owodog continued scribbling furiously.

"Wayne said maybe Matthew did it to protect his family. Though he could have just asked us directly," Prince pointed it out.

"Really? Maybe he was forced to do so? Like if he uncovered some plot that would destroy his family's business or something," Owodog suggested, as he held up his accounts and squinted at it.

"You mean like close friends who is also the company lawyer wanting the remains of the wealth or like he was embezzling the company or something?" Prince suggested as he flipped through a reference material and paused to highlight something before moving on.

"You two have been watching too much dramas, haven't you?" Brian said.

"Could be possible, you know-"

"Yes, it really could have been possible. Like when the said bad guy sets ridiculous conditions that you can't help but follow," a voice said from behind them.

Owodog was the first to turn around and stand up. Matthew was half a head shorter, and had to tilt his head up to look Owodog in the eye. Owodog tilted his head to the side and said, "you're late."

Matthew, ignored Owodog and instead turned towards the other two people. His thin face pale and there was a frantic light in his dark eyes. "I found it. I found a way to get around the conditions."

"Sit, and we'd listen, without hitting you, probably. That would be Wayne's job once he sees you," Prince gestured and leaned forwards to hear what he had to say.


CHAPTER TWENTY Matthew sank into his seat with the weariness of a much older man. He started tapping a staccato upon the table, seemingly filled with nervous energy. His own files added on to the pile. He took on out of the stack, it wobbled a bit but held.

"This are the company's figures. You guys were right to assume that the McKay family business of textiles and fashion lines are on the decline. But actually not.

"As good as you are, Brian, it is impossible for you to pull up the real figures. Because I wrote them myself. Handwritten. Nothing ever touched by technology that we all knew how to hack," Matthew talked quickly and quietly. For all they looked, they were having a group discussion, not of secrecy.

"The McKay business had been on the rising, actually. Business has been good, the only real problem were the people working for my father."

"They embezzled the money with legal means? Or is it the work of lawyers or the forced merger or the buying up of smaller companies?" Prince asked.

"They lowered the company stocks pricing so that the shares are split up over a lot of people not of the family. My father only holds 30 percent of the shares. I've been secretly buying them with Kevin to prevent the company from falling to other outsider's hands, but we only managed to get less than 5 percent," Matthew said, pointing it out.

"The one who holds the controls of the shares is an outsider, the adviser to the company, who also happens to be the right hand man of my father. They were university friends, and my father trusts him with everything.

"My father is only a businessman in name. He does not know how to do the business that my grandfather built up. Therefore that is where the adviser comes in. I cannot do anything at all, because I'm just the second son. Jason, my elder brother is overseas studying what he wants and my younger sisters are not much of a use. My mother cares about the company but it is hard to make my father listen to the words of a woman smarter than he is.

"I'm nothing. I'm just a second son. And you know that second sons are often ignored. Which was way I wasn't living in the main house and also the reason why I was poor. I had to make do with what mother gave me," Matthew said.

"It was not fake, the poorness of my attire. I was extremely grateful when you guys actually helped me. I mean, seriously?" Matthew laughed disbelievingly. The other three listened, uninterrupting.

"So who framed you and made us believe that you were the mastermind?" Owodog asked.


CHAPTER TWENTY ONE Fabien looked left and right before crossing the road. He knew he did. It was what he had always done because that was what his housekeeper had always said.

"Young master, please remember to look out for oncoming traffic."

And he did, he always does. But this fact did not explain the reason why the car still managed to crash into him.

*

William gave a start and the line he was drawing slipped and it veered off course. It looked really funny, because he was drawing in an woman's lips with actual lip liner. Wayne laughed and William joined in. But deep down, William thought he heard a loud thud somewhere.

Shaking off the feeling, he tried to erase his, unfortunately, permanent mark.

*

Owodog's head suddenly shot up from its rest upon his crossed arms. He looked around blearily and then dropped his head back down again.

"Nothing much, just that strange feeling," Owodog mumbled. Prince nodded and went back to his work. Brian looked at Owodog for a long while before looking back at the accounting spreadsheet in front of him.

*

Matthew's files toppled out of his grasp and he stooped to catch it before it fell. He succeeded and the file balanced on his fingertips, teetered wildly and came to a rest. Matthew sighed in obvious relief. He was on his way to Fabien, upon the recommendations of Owodog, Brain and Prince.

Now the only thing left is to actually find the above mentioned man. Which is weird, Matthew thought as he stride towards their meeting place. Fabien is almost never late and even if he was, he would most definitely leave a text message and this time Matthew was the one who is late, yet his phone remained silent. He knew that Fabien would call...right?

*
"Would someone...identity....young man...seriously hurt, emergency room.." The voices all seem to have traveled a long distance before reaching his ears. He tries to get up.

Strangely enough he is immobile. Gritting his teeth, he tried to get up again; no movement.

Which is all sorts of strange because he can feel his fingers and his toes. He can feel the coarse blanket underneath him.

 Worse of all, he could see. There was light, there are people; nurses all around him. Wait, why are there nurses? Is he hurt? He doesn't feel hurt at all though...

No sooner did the thought crossed his mind, the pain came in a huge crashing wave. Fabien blacked out.


CHAPTER TWENTY TWO The highways never looked quite as jammed as it did now. Normally, Owodog would have taken the inevitable traffic hold up good-naturedly as it's a daily occurrence especially during the peak hours.

However, his usual sense of patience have all but left him and the jam is slowly but surely slow-boiling him as he got more and more agitated. In his mind he shaped countless theories and conspiracies and just as quickly discarded them.

Who would dare to harm Fabien knowing the powers behind him? It is absurd, Owodog thought. It still does not make any sense and thinking about it just makes him want to punch someone in the face.

Seeing that the traffic has come to a standstill, Owodog straightened up, momentarily letting go of his Ducati's handbrakes.

-

Matthew fidgeted in his seat. Prince has told him to return home straightaway. He doesn't know exactly why but he thinks that Fabien's accident was meant for him and the look in Prince's eyes confirms his theory.

He has gotten the phone call from a helpful nurse who called the last person that Fabien had contacted: him. Matthew was even going to start teasing him about being late when the voice on the other end took his breath away.

"Hello, is this Mr Matthew Jacky McKay? This is Nurse Midgens from the A&E department of Foundations Hospital. Could you perhaps inform Fabien Yang's next of kin that their son has been in an accident?"

Matthew shakily dialed Wayne and it snowballed from there.

He chewed on his thumbnail. Something is wrong; he and Fabien looked way too different from each other. While he is sporting blond hair for the season, Fabien has chose to keep his hair dark. This in itself is a glaring difference.

He got up and paced his room. Five paces to the wardrobe, five paces back to his study table. His dorm could only be described as cosy; a small bedroom, suitably sized living space, a functional bathroom and kitchen.

His bedroom is well-suited to a singleton; study desk against a wall with countless photos, blueprints and important looking documents tacked onto an overflowing cockboard; what couldn't go onto the board, gets tacked upon the surrounding area.

A comfortable futon-bed and a built in closet which doubles up as a bookcase. The wall opposite his bed had generous windows and best of all, it has a built in window seat upon which his cat now lay, oblivious and snoozing away.

He decided to change out of his usual uniform of fitted trousers, collared shirt and argyle vest and pulled on comfortably worn jeans and a faded campus tee. He padded into the adjoining bathroom and removed his contacts, putting on his black framed glasses as he came out.

Matthew knew that Prince had ordered him to lay low, however, he cannot stand pacing around his house anymore. He stood in front of the full-length mirror convienently positioned at the side of his closet and surveyed himself.

He pulled on a jade green beanie which obscured his distinct orange brown hair. With a soft click of the lock, he was out of the house.


CHAPTER TWENTY THREE They paced the brightly lit corridor, expensive branded shoes clicking upon the blue linoleum floors. Blue was supposed to have calming properties however William was feeling anything but calm.

"Damn it!" he growled and slumped onto a hard plastic chair. Owodog paced from one end of the corridor to the other end; starting from the automatic doors to the doors of the emergency room, pausing to glare at the red light luminating the emergency sign.

Wayne had stood motionlessly by the window and had also stared blankly at the oppostite wing of the hospital for the past half an hour. Prince felt that he had felt the shock harder than any of them because while Owodog was the one who got Fabien into the group, Wayne was the first person Fabien opened up to.

Prince had been pacing along with Owodog albeit in opposing directions but then he gave up and sat down next to William. They had persuaded Brian to get takeaway coffee for all of them because he had been the one most jittery and they all knew it was all he could take before imploding upon himself due to his anxiety.

The automatic glass doors opened with a hiss and all of them looked up.

"I asked the housekeeper to pack clothes for all of you," Matthew said as a greeting.

"I thought I've told you to lay low," Prince said, reaching out for the large duffel bag that Matthew was carrying.

"I don't look like Matthew now, do I?" Matthew said, attempting a weak smile. Owodog raised an eyebrow at his get-up; jeans with a gaping hole in the knee, a crumpled campus tee and beaten up sneakers. Not to mention that green beanie upon his head. Matthew was sure far off from his usual attired of fitted trousers, crisp collared shirt and that iconic argyle vest.

"No, you don't," Owodog agreed easily and turned away, wondering just who would want to target Matthew...it couldn't be his father's right hand man, right?

Owodog calculated quickly. As of the last update that Matthew had given them since he revealed the plot, he and Kevin Yates now own 7% of the shares, Matthew's father transferred the shares to his wife, and collectively, they have 33% of their company's shares. Business for the McKay business is still rising and getting the last 10% of shares is going to be hard and they all knew, the moment the halfway mark is reached; that would be when things get ugly.

Matthew caught his look and just gave him a small smile. "The housekeeper said to change out of your formal attire." The smile is still in place as Matthew took a seat however for a fleeting moment, Owodog saw that Matthew already knew the truth; he had already did the calculations way before Owodog did.

"Are you afraid? They are already starting to suspect you," Prince suddenly said from his position. Matthew shrugged and leaned against his palms, "I don't know how to feel about all this actually. They are only targetting me and I'm already speaking to mother to move to where my brother is in Valencia, Spain. At least they wouldn't get caught up in this mess."

"What will you do when you get the shares of the company?"

"Kill my father's advisor. It's that easy," Matthew said without losing his smile.

An hour later


The doctor came out and asked for blood donors the moment Brian got back from his coffee errand. "The patient is an AB, he'd take anything," the doctor had said with some urgency.

They all went.

"Talk about a selfish blood type," William said in an attempt to difuse the silence as he rubbed at the spot where they had inserted the needle.

"You don't say yourself," Brian said and lightly tapped his head as he walked past. Owodog sucked up the last of his orange juice and toss the packet away. Matthew sat down unmoving.

"Here," Wayne passed him a juice packet. Matthew took it and immediately gulped the juice down. "You are borderline anemic, weren't you?"

"That, is the whole point. I am borderline which just simply means that I'm not anemic. I'm still fully qualified to donate blood. Fabien may be cold but then he doesn't deserve this; not when I'm the one who is supposed to be in there," Matthew said quietly. Everyone heard but didn't deign to speak up. Wayne looked away from Matthew.

Because it was the truth.


Changing rooms

"I could've sworn, Matthew said he would kill his father's advisor earlier on," William began conversationally in the changing rooms. There were sounds of spraying water and Brian said from his cubicle, "It is entirely possible that he would do so. Did you forgot the terms of his conditions? It is designed to humiliate the McKay family. If breaking the conditions meant death only, then they would all escape easily."

Prince towelled his hair dry and he sat there musing. "It was made by a person whom Matthew had trusted before unconditionally or somebody who thought himself too clever to be beaten." He got up and went to retrieve his toothbrush. "Look at it this way, one of the conditions states that McKay must not attempt to print out, tamper or hack into their computer systems nor can he transfer information into another device. However it failed to take into account that one could easily handcopied them and using those handcopied information, transcibe them back into another device. He never did account for the fact that people would willingly write instead of relying upon electronic devices."

"Now that you've mentioned about it, we don't know anything about this advisor do we? Brian ran a check however there was nobody listed; it's as if it is a phantom being. Could he be an advisor in name but not the company in itself? Like a puppeteer working from the outside," Wayne pointed out.

"He doesn't mean to kill the advisor," Owodog said quietly. "I'm done with my shower. How about I go get something to eat from the nightmarket? What would you guys like?"


Waiting area

Matthew raised an eyebrow at Owodog's 'home' attire. The usual smart shirts and trousers he usually favoured as a student in the Business sector has been replaced by a black fitting t-shirt and bleached jeans with sturdy boots. Owodog had a black jacket slung over a shoulder and a motorcycle helmet under an arm. He threw the helmet to Matthew who caught it easily.

"Come on, we need sustenance and you get to ride on my Ducati," Owodog said before striding towards the carpark leaving Matthew to follow behind.

"What is the meaning of this?" Matthew asked the moment he caught up. "There isn't much meaning, I just wanted someone to help me carry the stuff. I think that when Fabien gets out of there, he would want food," Owodog smiled faintly. Matthew saw the hopeful light in the other guy's gaze and allowed himself to relax.

Just for awhile.

End of Chapter 23

A/N: alicia says that she would be back to write more chapters of Crayon Dreams. This is a cause for celebration, I believe. She would return to write chapter 24, please await her chapter :D!

It is now 1737h, 11 July 2012 and I am waiting for the above mentioned person in a cold library. My butt feels flat from sitting too long and it's too late to go for a run even though I want to. Should I just go anyway after my dinner?

Oh look at me mumble, this wasn't even supposed to be a blog post of my train of thoughts.

Main thing is, Crayon Dreams have been in existence since two years ago, and I've been a fan since I'm 14 and Alicia has been a fan for even longer than I was. We're both 18 this year, as of now (and yes, Alicia, being an Aquarius is older than me.)

With regards to the recent saga of Owodog being caught smoking late at night out in the streets;
I feel this whole thing is full of shit and blown out of proportion. Like come on, Owodog is nearing 30 already isn't he, he should have a smoke if he wants to.

The most ridiculous thing is that he was caught LATE AT NIGHT. Haven't you media vampires and paparazzi idiots have nothing better to do than to stalk people late at night, hoping to get some dirt on them? So now you've got it, do you want a medal or a prize?

I despise the media industry sometimes for these useless reporters. Can you at least have some sense of pride and not invade into another's private life? So what if it sells you more papers, so what if it's gonna be huge? I don't fucking care and y'all can just go on straight to hell.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR The night market is as crowded as ever. Matthew almost recoiled from the heat, the noise and the general bustling of people. However the crowd seemed to charge Owodog up more; it was as if the he was reveling in the energies of the masses.

"Come on!" Owodog had invited and without warning, dove right into the fray. It was a relief that he was tall else Matthew would have lost him for sure.

Despite his state, he has only been to a commoner's night market a handful of times. Matthew kept thinking that they would definitely get lost in this labyrinth but Owodog continued on without pausing.

There are food stalls everywhere and their smells mingled together adding on to the atmosphere of revelry. Not only were there food, there are game stalls as well.

And he was good at them.

"We'll come back another day, Matthew! Sustenance is more important right now," Owodog commanded as he dragged him away. Matthew straightened his glasses.

"There was a prize that I was aiming for and I would have gotten it as well," he replied haughtily.

"It wouldn't fit on my baby," Owodog replied simply. Owodog took a back alley turn and then stopped in front of an unassuming row of shophouses. It was badly lit and withered plants in cracked pots lined the establishment. The only sign of life were a pair of red lanterns luminating a pair of Chinese panel doors.

Owodog strode up towards the doors confidently and pushed them open. A cacophony of voices floated out mingling with the clinks of procelain flatware and the clicks of chopsticks as the people helped themselves to the food served. Servers weaved expertly in between the tables of loudly conversing guests while balancing huge plates upon their shoulders.

"After you then," Owodog smiled widely and gestured for Matthew to step into the bustling restaurant. He let the doors fall behind them and once again, led the way into the restaurant. Owodog dodged the servers and guests with ease; seemingly to be gliding past them and Matthew had to marvel at his dexterity.

They reached the cashier who was typing into two different registers at the same time while rattling off menu items and prices to a kitchen runner. Matthew caught the words "noodles", "soup" and "fish" before the order was completed and the runner sprinting into the kitchens to deliver it.

"Mrs Chen," Owodog greeted. They shook hands and Owodog picked up a menu. "Come on, choose what you want to eat." Both of them stood there for long moments, debating and pondering over the elaborate menu and finally making decisions. They watched Mrs Chen repeat the order in rapid fire Cantonese to another runner this time and sat back to wait for their food order.

They waited in companionable silence, with Owodog honoring the unspoken agreement of not mentioning anything that has got to do with the situation earlier on.

"I feel exhausted," Matthew admits as he craned his neck to look at the rafters. Owodog looked over; was the agreement broken then?

"Things have become complicated," he allowed. Matthew gave a dry chuckle.

"Surely it's beyond 'complicated' now?" Matthew replied, doing a pair of rabbit ears with his fingers to emphasize on his point. Owodog shrugged and they lapsed into silence again.

Their orders were announced loudly in Cantonese and within moments, they had paid, waved goodbye to Mrs Chen and exited the restaurant. The empty street felt colder than before they stepped back into the fray of the night market, this time balancing multiple bags filled with paper boxes of fragrant food.

Still in silence, they loaded their food and starting up the Ducati, Owodog promptly went onto the expressway.

The streetlights of the expressway flashed past, dimming then flaring brightly again, never leaving motorists completely in darkness.

"I know who it is; that adviser," Matthew purposely said it too quietly to be heard, knowing that his words would be lost in the rushing wind.

"David Liu," he muttered into the wind, unconsciously clenching his fists where he had rested it in the space between him and Owodog.

"Wayne's brother."

-

He paced around his apartment, one hand holding a wine glass the other, a phone which he was currently listening intently from. Located in the middle of the business district, it offered him a magnificent view of the city and it's silver skyscrapers ablaze with light.

"Buy out the company," he said simply and tossed his phone onto the coffee table. He stalked towards the balcony and raised a wine glass to his lips.

"If you would forgive me, little brother," he whispered.

I know that a proper chapter has been a long time coming but with everything which is happening, including the months long brain block and the lost of the drive to do anything but sleep, it's to be expected.

& for the above, I sincerely apologize (it was hard to think of a probable twist which would work with what I've written ages ago)

Joyce. posted

HIDDEN CHAPTER 1 preludes chapter 001: how did they manage to live together in a mansion.

"This is a really good property. Large gardens, large living space, enough space to add a pool, stables, whatever. Surrounding greenery for that sense of peacefulness," the property agent babbled quickly. Sweat stood out from his forehead.

They did not actively participate in the conversation that the agent was trying to start but only looked over every property that he had bought them to with sharp eyes and even sharper comments.

"It looks nice and everything," Brian started.

"It's even nicer inside, the floors? Imported marble, tiles from Italy and pine wood parapet. Really classy and homey," the agent cut in enthusiastically. Brian glanced at the agent, annoyed at being interrupted.

Fabien did not even acknowledge the agent's presence, having no patience with such people. William and Wayne stood side by side, surveying the surroundings. "Well, at least the gardens are nice," Wayne remarked.

Prince having misplaced his contact lenses is wearing his glasses and he looked very seriously at the structure. "How long since the last occupant lived inside it?"

"A few months, but I can arrange someone to clean it up..." the agent trailed off when a sharp squeal echoed out. Owodog had pushed the gates, now specked with bits of rust, open.

"Are you going to let us see the interior or not?" Owodog asked haughtily, looking every bit like the young master he is. The agent flustered and began to lead them down the pathway which was etched out with white flat stones.

The driveway was lined with shrubbery and a massive classical fountain stood in the middle of the roundabout. The front door was massive and the mansion looked more like a palace close up; what with the heavy front door, antique knocker, doorbell and the long windows and balconies jutting outwards.

They slowly stepped up the series of steps and the doors were pushed open. Fabien sneezed suddenly. Every single thing inside was full of dust; the owner apparently did not move much of the more heavier objects, like the shelves, tables and even the grand piano on a dais.

"The previous owner didn't want the hassle, so most of the furniture here would be yours," the agent said brightly. Brian was getting increasingly bored of him.

"I like the designs. Old English themed furniture are really in right now," William uttered. It was the first thing that he had expressed a liking on. Fabien shrugged and went upstairs with Owodog and Wayne to poke around.

"Do you have a general floor plan and the structural designs of this estate?" Prince asked. The agent blanched. He had thought that since he would be showing a group of teenagers he had underestimated them and did not bring when he would usually have done so.

"Well, how incompetent you are at your job," Prince remarked. It was a fact but Prince had the ability to make it sound like it was an insult to humanity. The agent paled some more.

The three of them came down. "We've seen the upstairs. And guess what? Fabien said he liked it!" Everybody looked up in interest at Fabien. His cold personality and intelligence meant that he was prone to dislike everything and that his opinions mattered and carried importance. He was really, fit to be the heir of the immense Yang family fortune.

"Can we finalize the price right now? I'd like to pay in full, right here, right now," Brian said, going business like. The agent flustered and dropped everything onto the dusty marble floor. Papers fluttered everywhere.

"Ah, I think I'll come by tomorrow, seeing that you don't have the appropriate documents. Please get ready at nine in the morning sharp tomorrow and we'll meet at your office," Brian said, ending in a tone of dismissal.

The agent could only stare, mouth opened as the six teens sauntered out of the estate.


okay, i've made them so mean to the agent. but who cares? they're around 17 in this hidden chapter, and i seriously dont know the education system in the story. but i'm thinking that it'll be something like the US, elementary, middle school, high school, college then university. so it'll mean that they're in college.

cheers



HIDDEN CHAPTER 2 "You're moving out?" Owodog's father, James Zhuang, asked sharply. Owodog was slumped carelessly upon the leather couch in his father's office. His long legs stretched out comfortably upon the polished coffee table. Owodog shrugged.

"Yeah. The house is so huge and it's great. It has a garden and a driveway and there os a kitchen so Prince can cook all he wants. Fabien said he liked the room with the balcony. It has this floor area where Wayne and William can dance. Brian is adamant that he is going to fix up a study room. And I can have the top floor," Owodog grinned impishly at his father.

"It's not a laughing matter, Owodog. After all you're the next person to be sitting in this seat," James petted the patent leather swivel chair. He glanced at the photo frames set upon his desk. They all showed Owodog in various stages of his life. From when he was a toddler learning to walk, then to the pre-teen age when they had a holiday in France. Finally his eyes settled on the newest frame.

This picture was taken during Owodog's 16th birthday. The same mix of childlike innocence and maturity in his smiling face. And yet he had forgotten that his son had grown up, hadn't he?

"Father, I was not born to just sit in that chair," Owodog said quietly. James turned around and faced the wall-to-wall window - one that allowed him to have a panoramic view of the city.

"No, you're not," James agreed. "But you cannot escape your duties." Owodog turned away. True enough, his family's business is not an old one, and his father had relied on his own hands to expand the small business his grandfather ran into a multinational corporation.

"Let me win in this matter. I want to see the outside world, doesn't matter if you don't give me money or the usual privileges," Owodog began.

"And what would you gain from this matter?" His father asked. His tone dry, all traces of a father gone and the tone of a shrewd businessman coming through.

"Experience, human relations. Seriously, dad. I can't see myself as a person who would sit in that chair looking out of the window. I'm not as capable as Fabien, nor as quick minded as Prince or Brian. I don't even have a knack for business like William or Wayne. So, how could I even care for the thousands of workers we have?" Owodog grounded out. He was trying his best to make his father see his side of things.

James Ao sat back and hid a smile. His son had really grown up. However, he was wrong when he said that he wasn't capable. Didn't he bring together people with vastly different temperaments and also hadn't they enjoyed each others' company?

"Well then, since you put it this way. Proposal approved. Do what you wish," James smiled. Owodog grinned happily and began to make his way out of the office. His father started to look at his work again.

"Oh, and dad? Thanks for everything," Owodog gave a thumbs up sign before running down the hallway for school.


HIDDEN CHAPTER 3 Prince meticulously emptied out his wardrobe into cardboard boxes that were carefully labelled in his neat handwriting in thick black marker. Other boxes that lined one wall neatly in a stack already labelled and sealed with brown packing tape.

He scanned the area of his room. So far, he had managed to empty out his walk-in wardrobe and also donated quite a number of clothes to Goodwill. There was still the study desk to worry about.

Right now, that said desk is heaped with papers, files, reports and other whatnot. He could even spy his coffee mug perched on top of a thick stack of official papers. This task could not be put off anymore.

"PRINCE!"

Prince scarcely had enough time to duck to the side before the blur that was his younger brother burst into the room only to stop short in front of him.

"Modi! That is really dangerous and not to mention you almost gave me a heart attack...next time could you please kno-"

"Dad says you're moving out!" Modi burst out indignantly. Prince blinked a little, surprised at the outburst.

"Well, dad's right. I am moving out later this week. I know it's such short notice but could you keep mum out of the kitchen?" Prince implored. Modi suddenly looked confused.

"Why should I keep her from the kitchen, apart from that it's your favorite place."

"I like the kitchen because I like to cook. And don't you remember? That time that mum decided that she could grill cheese on sandwiches for the picnic that we took?"

"She blew up the microwave," Modi replied quickly.

"And what about that time she decided to boil pasta for dinner?"

"The pasta somehow was uncooked after much boiling then it turns out she cooked it without adding water into the pot," Modi replied again, realization dawning on him.

"And that time the oven caught fire-"

"Because she over baked the cookies and they burst into flames, igniting the oven in the process," Modi interjected. "Okay, I get your point. But why do you have to move out in the first place?"

Prince stowed his laptop into its sleeve and picked up an entire stack of papers and dumping them without looking into the black thrash bag he had by his feet.

"I needed to grow up," he said simply. "Dad understands, though I know that he wants me to stay home. And before you ask, you can't come with me; you've got to keep the kitchen away from mum," Prince added as he swept an entire corner of the table worth of papers into the rapidly filling thrash bag.

Modi pouted, "that's not a good enough reason for me to not go with you." He then began to look through the files that Prince dumped on his bed.

"That merger deal with the Azuria company?" Modi asked. "Dad was asking about it the other day."

"Oh, that? He asked because he forgot that we bought over the company over a year ago. Or was it because he asked me to do it?" Prince trailed off and thought hard while stuffing more papers into the thrash bag.

Into the black thrash bag went previous doodles, school assignments, old mergers and company reports. Stocks, financial news and month old newspapers. Then Prince suddenly halted. There was a stack of photographs that he had developed and forgot about it.

He sat down and flipped through them. There were a lot of photos that he had a think hard to recall when and where they were taken, but some were etched into his mind. Prince smiled down at the family portrait that was taken a couple of years back.

Modi, in the front, smiling for all he's worth. His parents flanking him. Prince beside his father, almost his height already...funny how he thought that his father was so huge that nobody could beat him down.

Prince flipped to the next and final photo. They were at the beach...the helpful passerby had caught them at an extremely candid moment. Owodog's undisguised outrage and shock when Wayne had splashed seawater down the front of his shirt, William reaching out to dump seaweed on Wayne, Brian and Fabien ganging up together onto him, catching the water in their hands and flinging it towards Prince.

They were all laughing, even Fabien. They were just six teenagers, having the time of their lives. Prince tucked the photos into his laptop sleeve.

The fun has only just began, he smirked as he tied up the black thrash bag.


HIDDEN CHAPTER 4

A/N: this happened way before they decided to live together. Fabien had lived in the orphanage since he was 8. i would think that he is about 13?

Fabien looked around in the room that he had lived in since his parents' death. It was not like the big room that he had slept in as a child in his family's mansion, rather, it was modest with all the basic needs like an accompanying toilet. For that, he was glad. He hated sharing toilets with the rest of the orphans.

All that he had amounted were two suitcases of clothing, and two cardboard boxes of things belonging to him. His guitar packed in its case, slung across his shoulders. Today, he is finally going back to his childhood home as per what the orphanage matron had said.


"Fabien dear, you be best to go pack up your things. Tonight, the steward of your home would be here to pick you up. You'll be living in your parent's mansion and you don't have to come back here anymore," the matron beamed at him as she bustled around getting the laundry and the cooking done.


Fabien had listened without a trace of emotion. But inside, he was excited. Finally, he'll be able to go back home. But what else remains at home? Are his parents' things still in there? Are they draped with dust sheets or are they lovingly cleaned every single day?

He stood alone, just outside of the door with his belongings. A black, non-descript vehicle stopped just outside of the orphanage's gates. He pushed it open, and Fabien could see the steward that he barely remembered.

The steward was just a middle-aged man, of average height and looks. Something nagged in Fabien's mind, then he remembered. The steward was Mr. Ching; whose own father served Fabien's grandparents and so on.

"Young master. I am Mr. Ching," the steward bowed formally before the thin boy. Fabien looked steadily at the man.

"Help me get my things into the car. I want to go home," he said.


HIDDEN CHAPTER 5 Brian tapped his knuckles against the walnut table, clearly impatient. He was dressed in a formal suit for the night's meeting later on.

"Is my father coming or not?" he asked aristocratically. The servant bowed and went out hurriedly, no doubt to find the head butler who would carefully remind his father that his son is waiting in the study. Brian wondered idly if he should just leave the room right now instead of waiting for his father when the great doors opened and his father strode into the study.

Brain's father, Sean is an imposing figure. He stood tall and was always dressed in a business suit in public. However in private, he preferred tees and khakis. He shed his image of a shrewd businessman and into a father figure just by his dressage.

His father who walked in regally was not dressed in a business suit yet for the meeting later and was instead dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a tee proclaiming his love for New York City.

"Ah, yes Brian. I've forgotten that I was supposed to see you for something. I do know that it's not business-related. How is Prince doing, for that matter?" his father asked and took his seat in the leather chair behind the walnut study table. Brian sighed audibly and wished that his father would pay just a bit more attention to things that are not business-related.

"I told you that I'll be moving in to the mansion near the country district with Owodog and the other people. It would be next week. The mansion's already paid for, by the way," Brian said.

"That's fast. I was hoping that you'll stay on longer," his father said, his facade of a ditsy father forgotten and he was an unreadable businessman again. His father sighed and smiled a small sad smile.

"You've grown up, Brian." Brian only inclined his head, but otherwise said nothing. He understood what his father meant. They have missed out most of his childhood between travelling and working and only when Sean had decided to focus on the local market that they had spent more time together.

"It would be quiet without you and your mother here. Your mother is still in Australia, is she not?"

"Yeah, she said that the fashion line is going well. She might be back soon," Brian supplied. Sean looked at his son, as if trying to see him more clearly.

"What do you think if I let you have the supplying line to yourself? It's time that you have some responsibilities other than studies in which you're proficient already, right?" Sean asked suddenly, shocking Brian. He had expected this, but maybe after he completed his university, maybe. It was only the start of junior high. Did his father think he capable enough already?

"What if I ruin it?" he whispered, almost inaudibly. It was one of his deepest fears.

"You'll do fine, Brian. Now, I do have to get changed," and Sean is the ditsy father again. "See you downstairs, son."

Brian could only see his father's retreating back and allowed himself a small smile. He was still afraid, but he could see the endless possibilities before him.


HIDDEN CHAPTER 6 William's story

The Maple Leaf Organization was said to be named after the founder's favourite type of tree. William looked up at the imposing building, knowing that what the tabloids say is far from the truth.

Truth is, Maple Leaf Organization was named as thus after he gave his father, Benjamin Liao, a maple leaf that he had found on his way home from school.

"Say, William, how does Maple Leaf Organization sound to you? Does it sound good?" his father had asked as he hefted his son up to his shoulder.

4 year old William had nodded happily and laughed as his father waltzed through the garden and into the house where his mother, Sarah, was preparing his after school snack.

William strode up the stairs leading towards the building and stopped by the fountain. He found the majestic curved metal structure spewing great arcs of water like a living, breathing work of art a complete waste of space - he should know because he is the designer for it.

However he felt no joy in seeing the structure mainly because the structure isn't something that he would create; he preferred whimsical pieces. This huge, metal contraption thing is a menace to him and he cast it a glower.

William loosened his school tie - today was one of the days in which he deigned to wear his high school uniform and while he had grown up being in fitted suits, he did not like it.

He has spent most of the day in class doing innate and mundane tasks which he had already mastered when he was younger. To put it simply, sitting in a hard chair for 8 hours and in the midst of idiots and morons is exhausting and hopelessly dull.

Like the young master that he is, he pushed the heavy doors open and walked in, his sneakers squeaking slightly on the highly polished marble floor. He walked up to the reception desk and told them that he wanted to meet Mr. Liao, the CEO.

The receptionists took in his slightly messy hair (it was windy out), the high school uniform; with its striped tie loosened and the top button unfastened. His grey jacket casually slung over an arm, a canvas bag which had seen better days and his beat up sneakers.

She smiled politely but insincerely, "I'm sorry but the CEO is currently busy in a meeting. Do you have an appointment with him?" There was a slight emphasis on the words 'CEO' and 'an appointment'.

William from his standing height glared down at the receptionist. He had caught the insincere smile and it riled him. Normally he would have let it pass, but today isn't such a day and he was sick of dealing with retards.

"Are you a retarded moron? I do not need an appointment to meet my father. Let me in this instant you pathetic piece of scum," William grounded out. The receptionist gasped loudly and garbled out apologies.

"I do not need your useless excuses and apologies. Get out of my sight."

There was a hush as he stormed into the private lifts. William stabbed the button right at the top; the 23rd floor. He stewed in silence as the elevator travelled up slowly.

At the 10th floor, he wondered what his father is wearing. The red tie that William had bought him for his 40th birthday.

At the 13th floor, he wondered what pants his father is wearing. William looked at his watch where the day of the week is flashing. Thursday. Okay, his father would be wearing those grey pressed pants that William had helped picked.

At the 17th floor, he wondered if his father would be wearing a blazer or not. William quickly decided no.

At the 20th floor, William wondered if his father had added more pictures upon his office walls.

At the 22nd floor, William ran a hand through his hair and wondered, if his father would be pleased to see him.

The elevator arrived with a ping at the 23rd floor.

William strode out of the elevator and down the marble corridors. The walls were white and the marble shiny. There was almost a clinical feel to all of these. He pushed the great doors to his father's office open. Benjamin Liao was sitting at his desk, mulling over some letters from overseas delegates. He looked up and beamed at his son. William stood at the door and looked. Benjamin is wearing the grey pants with a white tailored shirt. His red tie loosened and not a blazer in sight.

"I was right, father. You're wearing the red tie," William said with a small smile. He rounded the glass screen sections and saw a new photo frame hung upon the white walls of the spacious office.

Benjamin Liao set down his papers and hugged his son briefly before gesturing for William to sit carelessly. He poured a tall glass of OJ and set it in front of William, then sat himself down.

"You want to move out?"

"Yes."

"What does your mother say about that?" Benjamin asked and he sipped his tea. William shrugged and didn't reply.

Benjamin set down his teacup and regarded his son. This is his precious son, he mused. Who may not know that the decisions he makes right now would probably impact his entire future.

"Well, go for it then," Benjamin said and grinned. He looked forward to how William would grow.

Joyce T. posted

It's 20 minutes to 2am. I am bored.

HIDDEN CHAPTER 7 Wayne remembers the day he first met Matthew Jacky McKay.

It was raining. Not those slight drizzles but one of those torrential ones which seemed to never end.

Wayne had been 15 then. He had escaped out into the weather, slamming the door in his wake after an argument with his elder brother. He hated arguing with David and every single time they did have a disagreement, it was always blown out of proportion and always ended with Wayne storming out of the mansion, slamming every single door on his way out.

Still fuming as he approached the wet room, he took savage pleasure in pulling on his boots, taking down his coat off the peg and slamming the door once again, outside without an umbrella. The wind drove the rain into his face and he was drenched almost immediately however Wayne wasn’t cowed by nature's show of power and did not deign to return to the house without having a much deserved walk.

This was how Wayne calmed himself down; by walking. It doesn’t matter where but as long as he walks as far as he possibly can before deciding to turn back. Perhaps he would crash at William's house or check into a hotel. All that matters is that he doesn’t want to go home.

The rain continued to fall relentlessly as Wayne plodded along the pavement. The weather seemed to have chased away the crowd of people and for that, Wayne was a little glad. Perhaps he would take the other turning he had saw the last time. Maybe he would be able to find something new this time.

A year back, he found a secondhand bookstore and has spent many happy hours devouring books there till he was on first name basis with the old storekeeper. Wayne had said that he wanted to inherit the small corner store if the old man's son didn’t want it. The old man had smiled benignly and patted Wayne on the head like a small boy.

"My dear boy, you're destined for more than this store," the old man had carefully waved a hand to the sturdy oak shelves, holding hidden secrets within their pages, the ladder than the old man had said he made himself when he was apprenticed to a carpenter, the loft which held more books in boxes and crates.

"But what if I don’t want to do what I'm destined for?" Wayne had asked, quite suddenly looking like a lost child.

"Go on home and think about it," the old man had advised.

However his feet took him down the familiar route towards the bookstore; passing by shops shuttered and closed, dingy cafes which have all seen better days. Wayne stopped in front of the bookstore, it's brass plates are all dark and weathered and he pulled his hand out of his coat pocket to push the heavy doors open.

Once in, he stood for a few moments and pried off his coat and hung it, still dripping over the coat rack. The old man isn't in the counter, but Wayne is unconcerned; the old man us usually in the back, arranging crates of books. He turned to the ever-present antique tea set and gently picked up the tea pot and poured himself a cup of tea. He balanced the teacup upon its accompanied saucer and proceeded towards his usual seat.

Most people who come into this bookstore prefers the seats nearest to the front of the shop where there was more light and space. Wayne is different. He preferred the enormous deep red velvet armchair right in the back, wedged between precarious stacks of books, a standing lamp and a rickety coffee table.

Normally nobody would be there. But today. Today is different.

"You're in my seat," Wayne said to the figure sitting primly in the armchair that he has considered his since the first day. The person lowered his tome and looked up and Wayne saw that it was a boy of almost the same age as himself; black wavy hair, hazel eyes which made Wayne wonder if he has had mixed blood.

"Sorry. I wanted to hide for awhile. I'm Matthew McKay, by the way."

"Wayne Liao," he replied simply and looked around for a place to set down his teacup. He settled for a spot upon a shelf and then rooted around the piles of books.

"I don't know if you've read this yet, but it's good," Wayne said and held up an old copy of John Milton's Paradise Lost. Matthew took it and then said, "You're the running heir to the Maple Leaf Organization."

"You're the second son of the McKay family," Wayne observed. "Your father doesn’t have any business sense. Investing in AQR stocks is a mistake."

"I know," Matthew heaved a sigh. "Father doesn’t listen to me or mother. It's a pity."

There was silence for awhile. Wayne picked up his cup of tea and took a sip. He turned and started to walk away.

"Don't hesitate to put me on the list when you need it," Wayne said before turning completely away. He walked back to the counter and placed the teacup back on it's tray, took down his coat and stepped back outside.

The rain has stopped and weak shafts of sunlight shone down the street. People are starting to stream into the street again.

--

It was raining again when Matthew trudged up the driveway leading to Wayne's townhouse. The relentless rain coupled with the biting wind sapped at his strength and he shivered despite the layers of clothing that he was wearing.

Dimly he could hear the chime of the doorbell and he stood back to wait.

The door opened and warm air rushed out to meet him.

"That offer in the old man's bookstore. I'm taking it," Matthew said steadily.


HIDDEN CHAPTER 8

A/N: Hi. Just a word of warning. It's 3:21AM right now and believe me when I say that I don't usually stay up this late but here I am. This chapter's a little strange because of the multiple POVs and also one of them is from a DOG; I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at that point of time about an hour ago. Don't kill me for this, please.

Gungun looked up interestedly. She was, for lack of a better word, curious as to what the human was doing and why. She yipped and when the human ignored her, ran around his feet, barking for good measure.

"Down, Gungun," William issued out the command distractedly before saying something in human talk. "You are saying that Fabien is in hospital right now?"

Gungun's ears perked up. Fabien! That's her human's name. Does that mean he is coming home? Does that mean that they'd get to play catch??? She tried to ask the human but he batted his hand at her. "Go look for Lolly, then. Be a good girl."

Gungun stopped wagging her tail. She recognized a dismissal but was loathe to leave because the human looked like he needed a cuddle. The human in question had sat down heavily in the sofa and while she would have bound up to be a lapdog, she didn’t this time instead opting to lay down at his feet.

William looked at the chocolate-coloured dog; Fabien's first companion before them and he felt an ache. Wouldn’t he want to see his dog when he wakes - would he even wake up? It was a question that he wasn't and didn’t want to answer.

"What am I supposed to do, Gungun?" he asked the dog, a staunch believer that she could understand him even if he cannot understand her speech. She got up and padded away, returning with her leash clasped in her mouth.

"Right, you're right," William muttered as he started fumbling around and throwing things into a large gym bag. Squeaky toys, dog treats, blankets and a large container of dog food, all the way muttering to himself.

"Lolly LOLLY!" William called out. Lolly came running from the back of the house and Gungun pinned him a stare which he just happily lolled out his tongue at

I heard the human say something about my human, Gungun said.

That's funny, I heard my human say something about your human as well, came the reply

The humans say that he is in hospital. Where's that?

I don’t know now, do I? It looks like we're going somewhere, Lolly said as he looked intently at the gym bag.

We are going to the place with the other dogs, Gungun said, being older it stands to reason that she has more experience with these things.

The humans say that it's a 'hotel'. We will be back soon, Gungun said, reassuring the younger dog.

William snapped on their leashes and pretended to have not heard the exchanges of yips and growls and led them to the car, already on the phone, arranging to have them placed in the nearest dog care center.

Gungun looked back at the house from her place in the backseat. She looked on calmly as the house gets smaller and smaller as they traveled further and further away.

Labels: first edition chapters