Byun Baekhyun, day forty seven 19:46

When I showed up for dinner about an hour ago I was not expecting to find four men sitting there, two faces I’d never seen before and two I didn’t realize I had missed until that moment. I felt something tug at my chest as a familiar smile greeted me.
“Baekhyun!” His melodic voice called out as he spotted me. I felt something warm spread throughout my body as he stood up and strode over to me. Within seconds I was enveloped in a hug, something I never expected to happen in a place like this.
“Junmyeon.” His name came out like a sigh as my tensed muscles relaxed in his soothing grip. “You’re alive.” I heard myself whispering. He laughed as he let go and stood back, hands still holding firmly --almost fatherly-- onto my shoulders.
“And so are you.” His smile was warm and wide, making it appear like his eyes were closed. “Come on, meet the others.” He said as he beckoned me over to the table. I smiled at the tall man I had met previously, Sehun, and he reciprocated.
“Nice to see you again.” He said, voice still a quiet mumble but more comfortable either way.
“Likewise.” I said and he offered me the seat next to him. I scanned the other two men. One was sat next to Junmyeon. He had a wide mouth with slightly upturned lips and his hair almost covered his eyes. The other, who sat on the other side of Sehun, was handsome enough to rival Junmyeon. His lips were full and his jaw looked sharp enough to grate cheese. Sehun seemed slightly paler next to him and it gave him all the more points in the attractive factor.
“Baekhyun, this is Jongdae,” Junmyeon said, accentuating the last syllable and gesturing to the man next to him who nodded at me with a slight smile, “And this is Jongin.” He emphasized the last syllable again, gesturing to the man next to Sehun who gave a curt, albeit shy, nod. I nodded to him as well while Junmyeon introduced them to me.
“So, Baekhyun,” Jongdae started, “how did you meet Junmyeon. He--” Jongdae’s head nodded in Junmyeon’s direction “--won’t tell us anything.” I was expecting a blush and an awkward smile to grace Junmyeon’s features and so I was surprised to see an expectant stare focused in my direction. I cleared my throat, shifting my sight back to Jongdae as I prepared to answer.
“Well, funny story actually, we met in the infirmary.” The three pairs of eyes to whom this was new information looked at me in contemplation.
“That doesn’t sound like much of a story.” The attractive man, Jongin, mumbled.
“Oh trust me, it’s a very interesting story.” Junmyeon told him. “You see,” he started, “the first time we saw each other Baekhyun was watching me sleep.”
“That’s kinda creepy.” Sehun said, sizing me up with a gaze that told me he was reevaluating his opinion on me.
“I was worried about you, alright?” I defended. “You’d been there for two days and you were still knocked out cold. You should be thanking me, you know?” I informed Junmyeon whose brows had raised at my previous statement. “I emptied that disgusting plastic thing that was almost filled to the brim with your bile. I’m surprised your stomach didn’t join the party leaving your mouth.”At this, Jongdae let out a snort which resulted in a light smack from a seemingly unphased Junmyeon.

With no reply, the four men stayed quiet. I felt myself compelled to uphold a conversation.

“So,” I said, dragging out the word until everyone's eyes were focused on me, “Jong-squared, what’re your stories?” I asked the two men I only met a few minutes ago. As Jongdae opened his mouth to answer, my stomach let out a loud growl. I smiled sheepishly, raising a finger to indicate for Jongdae to hold the thought. The quartet watched me in confusion as I dashed to my tray, barely taking notice of the lack of tray number 10, or rather, the lack of number 10 in general. That didn’t strike me until now. However, I sat down at the table, excited to hear what Jongdae had to say.

“So, Jongdae,” I said as I plopped down on my seat, “what were you going to say?” He furrowed his brows, trying to recall what my stomach had interrupted.

“Ah,” he exclaimed, “what does ‘Jong-squared’ mean?”

“It’s you two,” I said, finger pointing between Jongin and Jongdae, “because it's like Jong times Jong equals Jong-squared.” The owners of the nickname and Sehun nodded in understanding while Junmyeon shook his head in a shadow of disappointment. Of what, I couldn't say. Probably the trio's inability to recognize math terms. But it was over as soon as it started since Junmyeon was the next to speak.

“Baekhyun,” he said, “remember what we talked about before you left?” Before I could remember what, Junmyeon explained. “About the things we missed?” There was a hint of desperate sadness in his eyes as I nodded.

“Yeah.”
“Have any of you--” he said to the other three people present “--thought about how to escape?” All of us stared at Junmyeon in shock before Jongin slowly started nodding. “How would you do it?” This time, the question was directed solely to Jongin. The man in question seemed flustered as he blushed feverishly under our watchful gazes. He mumbled something incoherent and without meaning to, I shared a confused look with Jongdae who shrugged. In the end, Sehun was the first person to break the silence with a solid “What?”.
“I’d use my powers.” He said, slightly louder this time but still quiet enough for me to almost miss it.
“What are they?” Junmyeon asked carefully. Jongin looked up at him with the begging eyes mostly associated with puppies who were just yelled at. He seemed to be trying to convey a plea to Junmyeon to not make him say it. When Junmyeon seemed to be preparing for a stare-down that could last for hours, Jongin gave up with a sigh. He took a few seconds to breathe deeply, no doubt an attempt to calm himself.
“I can… I can, you know when you’re in one place and then you’re at another place?” He asked, the word seeming to escape his mind right at that moment. “I can do that.”

“You can move?” Jongdae asked incredulously.
“Yes!” Jongin started excitedly before the words fully sank in. “Wait, no. It’s not moving it’s… it’s…” Jongin searched for the word but with no luck. It came as a surprise when Sehun was the next to speak up.
“You can teleport?”
“That’s the one!” Jongin smiled in triumph before becoming uncomfortably aware of his surroundings and slumping back in his chair with a deep blush painting his cheeks. Junmyeon’s furrowed brows took a few moments to loosen up and move higher on his forehead as the realization hit him. He quickly stared at Jongin with wide eyes.
“You can teleport?” He asked loudly, voice bordering on a yell. “And you’re still here?” Jongin nodded sheepishly, muttering something into his chest.

“Come again?” Jongdae helpfully provided.

“I think he said ‘it doesn't work like that’.” Sehun interpreted.

“How?” Junmyeon pressed on, eager to know more about Jongin’s powers. Instead of replying, Jongin looked up with helpless eyes that seemed to tell Junmyeon something. “You don't know, do you?” Jongin shook his head in affirmation and Junmyeon slumped back into his seat in dejection.

“I tried,” Jongin told us, appearing to be disappointed in himself for his lack of help, “when I first figured it out I really tried to get away but I kept ending up either in my room or the test room.” He looked down at his hands in what looked like disappointment, either caused by himself or his powers not working like he hoped.

At that moment I remembered that I had a tray full of food and a hungry stomach that needed to be sated so I began work on the chicken I had been served. The others seemed to take that as their cue to continue eating their own food.

“So,” Junmyeon said after several minutes of food-eating silence, “are you ready to escape?”