"It's a little windy in here, don't you think?"

Sehun froze mid-turn. He was about to head back into the staff room, when Krystal’s words caused him to halt in his tracks. He turned around slowly, and Krystal kept her face calm even though her heart was beating a mile a minute. Sehun’s eyes were piercing when they met hers. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Krystal took a breath and released it. “I said, it’s a little windy in here.”

“Is the air-conditioner too strong? I can turn it down for you,” he replied through gritted teeth.

Unwavering, she shook her head. “It’s windy, not cold.”

Sehun’s eyes narrowed, and he looked positively menacing as he surveyed her. Not breaking the eye contact, he tilted his head a little sideways. “Amber, come out here for a second, will you?”

“What’s up?” Amber asked, stepping out of the staff room with a curious expression on her face. She seemed a little surprised by the tense atmosphere. “What’s going on?”

Krystal could see Sehun’s Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallowed. “She says it’s windy in here.”

Amber seemed to realised what was happening immediately, as her face darkened and she began to approach the counter. Judging from both their reactions, Krystal was certain that she was right; Sehun had the ability to manipulate wind.

“Does manipulating wind count as aerokinesis?” she wondered, and Amber and Sehun tensed immediately. They exchanged a look and then glared at Krystal. They began to round the counter to reach her, and she took a step back instinctively.

Or, she tried to take a step back, but she hit a wall instead. Shocked, she turned around, only to see that there was a flickering translucent blue wall. Krystal looked around her, and realised she was trapped in all directions—even up—by the blue walls. Fear rose in , and she instantly regretted provoking them.

“Who are you?” Sehun asked then, his voice low and threatening. “If you know me, then you should know that I can kill you with a wave of my hand, so I suggest you start talking.”

“I—” she her dry lips. “I know your friends. Kai, Lay, Chen, and Suho. I’m—I’m friends with them too.”

Visibly stunned, Sehun blinked at her. “What did you say?”

Seeing that he wasn’t acting hostile anymore, she continued, “I know that there’s nine of you, and you’re all genetically modified so you have—abilities.”

“...You know how you always said you wanted to find your friends? Looks like they found you, instead,” Amber whispered, but it was so loud that Krystal heard every single word of it.

Sehun cast Amber an annoyed glance, before he nodded to Krystal, who was still trapped in the blue walls. “Maybe you should lower your forcefields, Amber. If she’s the key to finding my friends, I don’t think we made a very good first impression.”

-

“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but they all escaped from the Facility. Yixing—I mean, Lay—escaped around seven months ago, and Kai, Chen and Suho escaped together about a month ago,” Krystal explained. The three of them were now sitting in the staff room of the bubble tea shop. Amber had closed the shop early, waving Krystal off when she expressed worry about whether she was allowed to do that.

(“My parents own the shop, I can do anything!” Amber had told her.)

“How did you end up knowing them?” Sehun questioned. His frowning face had cleared into one of curiousity, wide eyes looking at Krystal as he tried to absorb her every word. Now that he wasn’t contemplating killing her, she even thought he looked like a child.

“Yixing is my dorm neighbour; we go to the same university. When Kai escaped, he tried to teleport into Yixing’s dorm room, but ended up in mine instead, so they kind of had to tell me what was going on. And then I slipped up when NIS agents came to ask about Kai, and I ended up having to follow them as they looked for Chen and Suho. We found them, of course, in Daegu. Chen was working in an electronics store, and Suho in a cafe.”

Sehun snorted. “Chen in an electronics store? How stupid. It’s like he’s telling everyone he’s an electrokinetic.”

Krystal nodded in agreement, shaking her head. “At least he stuck with Suho. God knows what’ll happen to Chen if he escaped alone.”

“I escaped alone, you know,” Sehun then sighed. “There were two people that escaped before me, I think they’re known as Chanyeol and Baekhyun now. We came up with this huge escape plan, but only the two of them made it out. Everyone was happy for them, but I was bitter. I wanted out so badly, that I ran off alone when we were all out on a mission. I pretty much took advantage when the guards were busy with the rest, allowing me to slip away. I used them as a cover, and I didn’t even tell them.”

He hung his head in remorse, and Amber patted his shoulder sympathetically.

“Hey Krystal, where are the four you were with now?” Amber asked, changing the topic. Both Sehun and Amber turned to Krystal, who was now looking down, dwindling with her fingers nervously.

She heaved a sigh, and began to explain, telling them all the details, including her meeting with Agent Lee in the hospital. It felt so good to finally have all of it off her chest. When she finished, Sehun looked dazed, while Amber had her face scrunched up rather comically.

“Ugh, boys,” Amber rolled her eyes, “always trying to act like the hero.”

Krystal couldn’t stop herself from agreeing fervently.

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