Sehun’s last words left the air in here feeling colder. He slams his hands against the side table, a puff of dust flying into the air as he unleashed a fairly forceful gust of wind. Some pictures from the wall came loose, falling to the ground. I glance at the fallen ones, most of them turned to the back. One was Sehun with my mom, who was smiling brightly while pinching his cheek. It was only then I noticed that every picture had a sentence under it in his handwriting. Under him and my mom, it read ‘The mother I never knew I needed’. My heart broke reading that, knowing that, while she was my mother, she was, in a way, theirs too.

I glance over at the other picture. It was of him and a man who was a few inches shorter. He looked like some sort of fairy tale come to life. Like he was a fairy in a past life. Sehun had his face mashed next to his, sticking out his tongue. The other man was smiling, trying to push Sehun away, though it didn’t seem like he was actually trying from the way it looks in the picture. The man’s hair was a reddish brown while Sehun’s was blonde. The words underneath said ‘I don’t know what I would do without you’.

Sehun glances at me, tears falling down his face steadily. “Why haven’t you said anything,” He asks, his voice almost yelling. “Tell me how awful I am for not doing anything!”

“I don’t know what the whole story is, Sehun,” I say, trying to get up.

He walks over, gently stopping me from standing. I suppose he could tell I wanted to be close to him, as he sat in front of me, resting his forehead on my knee. “I… we were breaking some others out, like normal. It was just the usual day, really. Really routine at that point.” Sehun wraps an arm around my leg, hugging it, trying to find some sort of comfort. Moments like these, when he’s scared and alone, he truly acts his age. He was scared. I place my hand on his head, running my fingers through his hair. “I always go to the roof. Before I got there, I got distracted by some men on the ground who were sneaking behind the others. So, I took them out. But I…” His voice shakes, “I didn’t go to the roof immediately. I stayed with those men longer than I needed to because I was angry and I took it out on them for a long time.”

I feel his grip tighten on my pajama pants. I remain silent, knowing if I open my mouth it could scare him away and stop him from saying this. “When I got back, I saw three snipers on the roof. I stood there, watching as they aimed at the people I care about the most in the world.” I could feel his tears soaking into my pants as I try to comfort him. “I wasn’t like you, Y/N. When Yixing was in danger and about to be killed, you took action. You did something. I didn’t do anything then and I didn’t do anything now because I’m a coward.”

I frown, wiping tears from my eyes, “Sehun-”

“No,” He says, looking up. Anger flashed in his eyes. “Don’t! I stood by, to ing scared to move and three people died. Tao was my closest friend and he died. Kris was one of our leaders and he died. Luhan…” His face was in complete agony as tears fell from his eyes in a never ending stream. He was a completely broken man sitting in front of me telling me what happened.

“I love him,” He whispers, “I love him like you do Yixing, and I just stood by and let him die.” He looks over at the wall, wiping his face. “I can’t stay in here anymore because the memories are too painful. I can’t look at pictures of them after what I’ve done. I never believed in love before him, and I thought people just fooled themselves and made it up. But Luhan was different and I just…” He tightens his hands into fists, his shoulders shaking with sobs he was trying to hold back.

“Sehun,” I say quietly, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for your loss… but it’s not your fault.”

He shakes his head, “yes it is!”

“How long from the moment you got there until they shot,” I ask, trying to stop myself from feeling bad for making him relive it.

Sehun looks at me, his eyes red. “It… a couple seconds… one or two.”

“No one can react that fast, Sehun,” I mutter, placing my hand on his shoulder. “This is going to sound harsh, but there was literally nothing you could have done for them.”

“What,” He says, his voice coming out uneven and shaky as he tries to hold back his feelings. “I could have gotten there sooner and not have taken my anger out of those people!”

I slip out of the chair and onto the floor in front of him, He tries to stop me, but I just shove his hands away. I take his face in my hands, “Sehun. You couldn’t do anything. If you didn’t stop those men, they would have killed others. There wasn’t enough time once you got there. It is a fact. Don’t blame yourself. You couldn’t have known. Do you really think they would want you blaming yourself all this time?”

“No,” He mutters, “But… I just… It hurts so bad, Y/N. It’s like my heart was ripped out of me. Why can’t this pain stop?”

“It won’t stop because what you felt was real,” I answer softly. “Losing people you love is going to hurt forever. It never gets better, you just learn how to handle the pain. If it stops hurting it’s because it wasn’t real.”

I feel him pull me to him, as he wraps his arms around me, his head on my shoulder as he sobs uncontrollably. I hold him, muttering softly to him. He was so much taller than I was it was like I was being completely enveloped by the grieving man. His arms wrapped around me tightly as he continued to cry for a while. I just stayed there, rubbing his back and trying to do anything I could to help him.

It took a while, but he finally calmed down. He set his chin on my shoulder, hugging me close. “I was scared to tell someone because I thought they would hate me.”

“They could never hate you, Sehunnie,” I whisper. “They’re your family. They love you so much. This won’t change anything. If anything they will feel bad that you’ve carried this burden all by yourself for so long.”
He stays silent as he detaches himself from me. He crawls over to the side table, opening the drawer, taking out an instant film camera. Sehun comes back over, looking at the white camera in his hands. He smirked to himself, wiping his face one last time before tugging me to him, pressing his cheek against mine. I smile, and then there was a sudden flash.

He takes the picture from the camera, looking at it as it slowly reveals the picture. “I can’t sleep here anymore, but I suppose I can visit… and now I have to start adding pictures with you in them too, I guess.”

He stands, pulling me up with him. I steady myself, watching as me moves back to the end table, getting a permanent marker. He writes something on the picture, blowing on it to dry the ink before setting it somehow on the wall. He smiles sadly, picking up the two that fell, placing them back before turning to me. “Thank you,” He says, putting an arm around me.

“No problem,” I say, “Talk to someone about it. I’m serious. They will not blame you and you will feel a lot better knowing that.” I wiggle my fingers at his side, making him jump a bit and laugh. “Besides, the stress from not talking about it has probably had a lot of negative effects on your health.”

“Ugh, doctor talk,” He mutters as I smile.

“Do you… want to tell me more about him? About Luhan?” I ask, my voice shaky and unsure how he will take the question. The moment of silence after made me regret asking, as he stayed in one spot, almost not moving at all except to breathe.

He stops for a minute, looking down at me, “Um… sure. I… well we met when we were both trapped. I’m not sure when I realized how I felt about him, but I always knew I was different…”

“Different,” I ask, “How so?”

“The people there ran tests on us,” He says quietly, “And from these tests they found out I’m not like most men… I am attracted to women, but I’m also attracted to men.” He runs a hand through his hair, “I know it’s not normal and I know it is not accepted by many here in Korea, but I can’t help it. They told me that even for a freak I was a freak. They said many awful things and would beat me because of that. I felt worthless and disgusting. They… Before I was strong and would fight back as much as I could. The things they said to me after they knew about it broke me… made me want die. I can’t even explain it. Then, one day, another Inhuman got loose and stood up for me. He knocked a scientist out and plumbed him so much, he ended up dying from bleeding in his brain.” Sehun smiles a bit sadly, “It wasn’t the first time people vocally stood up for me, but it was the first time someone did it physically. After that he put himself between me and them and when they wanted to beat me for being different, he told them they might as well beat him instead.” Sehun’s fingers play with the hem of his shirt. Tugging lightly and picking at a string coming loose, “It was Luhan.”

I smile at him, “He stood up for you?”

Sehun nodded, and for the next few hours, he told me his story of love. I’ve heard the loss part of it, but hearing how he came to realize his feeling made me smile for him. He talked to be openly and honestly, without any sort of sarcasm and sass for once. He told me that everyone else here knew how they felt and didn’t judge them for it, and how much he is thankful to them for that.

After dinner, Sehun dropped me off to see Yixing one last time before bed. He smiles at me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I… I’m glad that you saved Yixing. Not only because he’s family, but… because you don’t deserve to go through this kind of pain, Y/N.” He glances down at his hands, taking a nervous gulp. “I… this pain hurts bad. You already lost someone once and… I can’t imagine losing someone like that twice.” He smiles at his feet, hand resting on the door knob. “I’m happy for you both. I know I act like a child and pick on you, both of you, but I genuinely am happy that Yixing has someone like you to love and to care for him.”

Before I could say anything else, he opened the door, smiling at Yixing, acting like nothing happened. He laughed with him, completely unfazed by the conversation we just had. My heart ached for the younger man, realizing exactly how strong of a facade he’s been putting up since the day their friends died. This whole time he’s felt this way and no one was the wiser. Yixing glanced at me, noticing how unlike Sehun, I couldn’t completely piece back a happy face as quickly. I nodded, telling him I was fine, letting the two of them talk and joke with one another.

Yixing stood, stretching, “It’s good to finally be out of bed!”

“Be careful,” I scold, “Just because the stitches are out and it all seems normal doesn’t mean your muscle still isn’t recovering.”

He just smiles at me, happy to finally be free from the bed. “It’s just sore,” He explains, picking up his hoodie and throwing it on. His hair still wet from the shower he had earlier. He wore his standard jeans and a tee, his feet bare against the cold floor. He walks to me, putting an arm around me as we leave the room.

“‘Just sore’ is your body’s way of saying ‘take it easy, idiot!’”

“I’m taking it easy, I just had to leave that room.” His hand went from my shoulder to around my waist, keeping me close to his side as we walked. He presses a kiss to my temple, “It’s just awful. So plain with literally nothing to do but sleep.”

I put my hand on his waist as well, “I know. We’ll have to do something to make it more comfortable. Bleak and depressing environment doesn’t help people heal.”

A door opens, revealing Neon as she casually strolls out. Her hair up and out of her way. She looked casual and relaxed, a book in her hands. She slaps it shut, tossing it back into the room before letting out a string of profanities in English. Her eyes turn and see the two of us. “So, where exactly are we all supposed to be meeting,” She asks, falling into step beside Yixing.

“Computer room,” He answers, looking at her. “Is the search for a new base of operation going well?”

“Hell no,” She mutters, crossing her arms. Her eyes glow red for a moment. “The best place is somewhere near a port so it makes getting people out quicker. Most places near the port are all taken or being heavily guarded.” She glares at the floor, “And, on top of that, I’m trying to seek out who ratted me out!”

“You work mostly alone,” Yixing says, frowning. “Besides us and maybe two other people, you don’t even exist.”

“I know, which is why whoever sold me out is going to face dire consequences,” Neon growls, throwing her hands in the air, sending off sparks of red energy like a firework.

The door to the computer room opens, revealing a disheveled Baekhyun. He grabs me by the front of my shirt, pulling me inside rather forcefully. “Your idea,” He explains, returning to his chair, “About releasing information? I did it.” He looks at Yixing, kicking the chair next to him at the older man. “Sit down before you hurt yourself.”

“Did it work,” I ask, eyes wide with curiosity.

“See for yourself,” He says with a smile, pressing a button and the wall of screens turn on. News broadcasts from all over the world appear, scenes of people protesting all over the world in solidarity.

I smile, moving to Baekhyun, hugging him tightly. “You ing did it,” I say, grinning.

“Holy ,” Neon mutters, looking at the screen.

“People all over the world angry, multiple countries threatening, presidents and prime ministers all calling to overthrow our government, and so much more,” Baekhyun says with a grin, his eyes happy despite being exhausted. He stood tall and proud, his eyes tearing up a bit at what he was able to accomplish.

“I’m so proud of you,” I say, smiling at him once more.

The moment of happiness was quickly over, however, as a loud crash was heard in the main hallway. The four of us left the room, quickly jogging to the main entrance. Jongin’s body flew back, slamming into the wall with such force. He yells out in pain, falling to the cold marble.

Yixing sprints forward, placing a hand on the younger man. I see Jongin’s face go from agony to fine in a second. He looks up at Yixing, his face completely panicked. They both stand up, Jongin looks to the door, his eyes wide.

Yixing looks over, his face becoming the exact same as Jongin’s. “How,” He asks, standing up. They both are thrown into the wall, unable to move as some invisible force keep them against the stone wall.

Neon, Baekhyun and I walk out, seeing Junmyeon, Sehun and Minseok coming from the other side of the hall. Sehun sprints forward, getting to Jongin trying to peel him from the wall. He looks to the entrance, his eyes wide and his hands immediately freeze. The color immediately leaves him as his eyes never leave forward.

I walk forward, my heart racing. I reach Yixing, trying to force him from the wall before I feel myself slammed against the wall, my feet off the ground.

“How,” Sehun says as Junmyeon walks forward, Minseok by his side. They both are thrown back, both falling into the hall. Sehun hands were shaking as his eyes teared up. “How?! You died…” He mutters, becoming almost completely distraught.

Two men were standing at the entrance. One was completely without emotions, eyes blank and stood like a robot. The other was smiling, looking completely amused. The still man’s hair was brown with a bit of a curl, his eyes brown as he was staring forward, one hand outstretched. He’s moving and breathing, but he looked lifeless. I could feel fear creep up at me, looking at Sehun in worry as he looked to be completely shattering in front of us.

Baekhyun and Neon move, shouting as they go to get the others, trying to alert them to the dangers we now face. Their powers being fairly useless here, so they try to find anyone who would be able to help.

He moves his hand, making all of us who were against the wall thrown to the left, colliding with Junmyeon and Minseok.

“Luhan, please,” Sehun begs, putting a hand forward, blasting the man with a gust of wind, sending the two men back.

“He won’t listen to you,” The other man says, grinning as they quickly regain their footing. “He doesn’t care about any of you.” His voice was deep, a mocking tone in his voice.

The five of us scramble to our feet. I rush over to Sehun, pulling on his arm, but he simply remains grounded, his eyes locked forward, not moving.

Junmyeon holds his hand out, grabbing at the air and pulling it back, the snow from outside avalanche inside quickly, covering the two men. Minseok move quickly, freezing the snow into pillars of ice around them.

“How is he alive,” Sehun says, his eyes looking to the other man with hate in them.

“We have an Inhuman who has an amazing gift to bring people back,” He answers, not at all bothered by the ice that trapped him. “Watching him go from what looked like an exploded watermelon back to his complete self was rather remarkable. They come back completely themselves. So we use another Inhuman who take away their will to fight, their own thoughts and feeling and make them into our puppets.”

I pull at Sehun’s arm as his eyes find mine, “Is it true?”

I nod, not feeling the warms of someone lying. “You shouldn’t have to see this, Sehun. Please!”

“No,” He says, “That means somewhere inside, Luhan is there!” His voice was higher pitch, straining not to completely break down.

“We can’t control him,” I say, “He’s going to hurt someone, we have to go!”

“He wouldn’t hurt any of us,” Sehun screams, yanking his arm out of my grasp.

Yixing catches my stumbling body, holding me close in case something happens as the ice around Luhan cracks. Sehun walks over, blinking as tears fell down his face. He stood in front of the smaller man, his eyes focused on his almost lifeless ones. “You’re still there,” He screams desperately, “Fight it!”

The other man laughs, “I’m the one who made him like this. He is my puppet. He isn’t there anymore.”

I watch as Minseok freezes Sehun’s feet to the floor as he started to run to the man. “Don’t,” The oldest yells, “He’ll just make you into one too!”

“Clever,” The man says, “You see, Kiyoung got sick and tired of you all ruining his plans and getting closer to him, so we decided to take this pet out for a spin and see what he remembers.”

The ice around Luhan cracks again, echoing all around. His finger tips now free. The ice around his arm shatters. He stops a piece from falling, taking it in his hand and s it forward. 

Sehun takes a deep breath, holding his hands in front of the tip of the ice, a gust of wind sending it out of Luhan’s hand. More water was placed around him, freezing quickly again, trapping him for a few more moments. Minseok unfreezes Sehun’s feet, knowing that he wouldn’t rush to the other man anymore.

Footsteps echo from the steps outside, and a third man walks through the door, though his face not familiar. He was shorter, looking like he barely 18. His hair was a blueish shade of black, his eyes light brown. He wasn’t too tall, but he looked long and lanky somehow. The new figure was certainly skinny, almost too skinny. He glances at the man to his right, frowning. “You still haven’t got what we’re looking for,” He says, glaring.

He looks me in the eyes, “She’s right there. ‘The human lie detector’, according to our research.”

I feel my heart race as I look at him. “Me,” I ask, my voice betraying my fear. My hands become fists as I look at the man who spoke.

The man in the ice grins, “We’ve had this stubborn fool in our possession for a long time. We want to know if he’s telling the truth, because he’s too valuable to kill and he’s been sending us on wild chases. We want answers.”

Yixing pulls me behind him quickly, his face contorted in one full of rage. “You’re not leaving here with her,” He says, his voice low.

The new young man smiles, “I’d love to see you stop us. Hope you’re willing to die to try.”

The ice around Luhan shatters again. This time he sends Junmyeon and Minseok back with his telekinesis. He then grips a long piece of ice, sinking it into Sehun’s stomach, making the youngest man scream in agony.

Sehun gasps, now coughing as blood comes from his mouth. His hands move to his throat as he starts uncontrollably gagging on the blood that was now in his throat. He looks at the man in front of him, his eyes wide in pain.

In the blink of an eye, Luhans face suddenly changes. The lifeless look was replaced with one of regret and fear. His hands shaking as he realizes what he’s done. “Sehun,” He gasps, looking down as he drops the ice, blood spilling from Sehun’s stomach.

Yixing shoves me back into Junmyeon who braces himself catching me easily. He sprints forward and places his hand on Sehun. “You’re not dying today,” He screams, gripping onto Sehun tightly. I watch as Sehun falls to the ground, his wound completely closed. Yixing glances up at Luhan who then falls to his knees, whatever hold the other man had on him broken.

The world suddenly froze. The snow outside no longer falling, the people all around me not breaking. No one was even blinking as I looked around. The young man with the blue-black hair then smiles, walking to me. I pull myself away from Junmyeon, trying to get myself out of his tight grasp that was frozen there. I get myself free, about try to run away only to see the man appear in front of me in the blink of an eye.

He grins, his grip on my wrist now tight. “You see,” He says, “I wasn’t born inhuman. I was made into one. Their friend that died, his power was time control. They used his body, did some tests, and now I have his power.” He smirks, the grin on his face terrifying. He yanks me forward as I throw a punch to his face, hitting him directly, though he doesn’t let go.

The third man glares, “I wouldn’t do that again if I were you. No, you’re going to come with me, or I’ll use this power of mine to kill all of your friends here, understand?” He lets go of me, taking a knife and holding it to Yixing’s throat, “Starting with him.”

“No,” I yell, reaching out. “Please. I’ll… I’ll go, just leave them alone.”

“Excellent,” The man says, walking over, grabbing my arm forcefully as we leave the abandoned school. I spare one last glance at Yixing’s frozen face as he was looking at Luhan, a look of worry and apprehension on his face. The world was completely still as we walk away for 30 minutes to a car. The only sound was our feet crunching into the snow and my heart pounding in my own head. He opens the door of a plain white van, smiling, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership.” He takes something from his pocket, holding it over my mouth and nose as I find myself losing consciousness as the world just started to move again.