You trudged behind the cloaked figures. You feared that someone would see you but it was so late you didn’t think it’d be possible. The path through the forest seemed so much shorter now. You couldn’t run it like the way you did before and you were sure you didn’t want to run it ever again anyway. You groaned as you dragged your feet along the rocky path. The twelve males did not turn around and continued to walk. You couldn’t help but feel like a burden but at the same time, you yourself felt burdened. There were only four more full nights you had until the beings walking in front of you would take you some place new.

“We’re not taking you to an entirely new place,” Lu Han spoke after listening to your thoughts. “We’ll still be on Earth. We just need you to accompany us on our journey around your planet.”

“Hold on,” you said. You stopped walking and began to think. “Does that mean we’ll be          travelling the world?”

“Yes. You can put it that way.”

Everyone stopped walking and turned around to lay their eyes on you. You were looking at the ground, biting your lip to hold back a smile. They didn’t understand why you were like this. Even though Chen, for example, did not hate your planet, he didn’t find anything particularly interesting. It seemed so peculiar to them that you would want to go see all the other places of Earth. “I’ve never left my city.”

“Well, if you’ve actually been to Exo, it’s a lot bigger than your planet.”

You shook your head but continued to follow them. Their robes swished every time they took another step forward. You couldn’t pick out who was who just by looking at their backs even though they stood at different heights. It was so intriguing. Their presence seemed to already strike you yet it frightened you so much that you couldn’t even believe it. You your dry lips as the summer breeze blew around you. The leaves rustled in the wind and for some reason, it scared you. Following a group of cloaked figures into a dark forest didn’t seem right to you. Surely, it would not seem right to anyone.

“Please keep an open mind,” Se Hun asked of you politely. Your mouth twitched, wanting to open and say something but when you took a second glance at Se Hun, you decided to bite your tongue. They were bringing you back to the clearing. It was really the only place they could explain everything to you. Se Hun opened his mouth again. “We want to show you something.” Your eyebrow rose and you bit your tongue harder from saying something. Se Hun was just too...delicate-looking for you to talk back to him. He called out your name.

You tore your eyes off the ground and saw that they all had stopped walking. You were about to bump into someone before they turned around and stopped you by putting their hands on your shoulders. You looked up to see that it was Chen. He smiled weakly at you. Your heart trembled in your chest. “Just stand here,” he said as he let go of you.

Slightly confused, you watched all of them walk ahead of you without any second looks at you. You swallowed the spit building in the back of your throat. You looked around the clearing cautiously even though you knew no one else could have been watching. You turned your attention back to the twelve beings that were now standing in the middle of the clearing. “Make yourself comfortable!” Lu Han called out to you, his voice travelling through the forest.

“Um…okay?” You put your weight on one leg but then you decided to sit in the grass instead. I wonder what they have to show me today. You took a deep breath in; trying to keep an open mind just like Se Hun asked you to do.

“We’re going to show you our powers today!” Chanyeol yelled across the clearing. You also heard him mutter, “Even though you’ve seen my powers already.” You blinked slowly, letting the reality of seeing such supernatural events sink in.

They began to huddle together and whisper things back and forth. Your nose wrinkled as you saw a big mosquito fly past you. You swatted it away foolishly and focused on them again. They had their eyes on you, making you bite your lip nervously. “Which one of us should start?” Kris yelled out to you. Xiu Min, Chen and Kai scrunched their noses up, anticipating your answers. Kris had a devilish smirk on his face while the other eight stood there patiently.

You gnawed on your lip harder. “Um…I,” you began to mutter. You tapped your chin, deep in thought. There was a rush of adrenaline pumping through you. Excitedly, you opened your mouth, with your hands cupped on either side of it, yelling, “I…I k-kind of want to see, uh, D.O’s power!”

Their eyebrows rose. Everyone looked at D.O, who didn’t even hear you. “What?” he asked.

“Show her your power,” Suho nodded.

D.O puffed his cheeks up then let out a big breath. As you watched him do that, you thought it was weird to see him do such a normal human thing. You clasped your hands together and placed them in your lip. A smile began to tug at your lips. You tried your very best to calm both your excited feelings and feelings of fright. Your breathing was not steady as D.O stepped up in front of everyone. They stepped back slowly. You just couldn’t get that big lump down your throat. Your heart was pounding in its chest.

D.O took another deep breath in. His hands were clenched into fists as he closed his eyes. He brought his leg up then…his foot stomped onto the ground.

BOOM!

Your eyes widened as you felt the ground beneath you shudder. Instinctively, you swiftly rose to your feet but by then the shaking stopped. You squinted your eyes to get a better look of what D.O did.

There was a deep embedding where D.O’s foot landed. Chunks of grass were uprooted and scattered everywhere else. Your lips were slightly parted as you were about to take a step forward. “Stay there,” D.O quietly instructed. Then, your lips formed into a straight line as you brought your foot back in place.

His arm was straight out in front of him. The palm of his hand faced the sky and his fingers were slightly curved. You watched him carefully as he brought it up and simultaneously, rocks and pebbles from the ground rose up. D.O stopped moving his hands and the rocks and pebbles hovered in the air. Your nerves tingled. He motioned his hands forward. The rocks and pebbles moved quickly toward you and you shut your eyes tightly, ready for the impact. Your heart was beating fast.

You didn’t feel anything. You opened one eye cautiously to see the numerous rocks floating in front of you. D.O stood there with still hands and the other eleven males behind him watching. You weren’t surprised that they didn’t look amused or taken aback. They must be used to it, you thought. However, there was a part of you wondering how their planet was able to put up with D.O, let alone all twelve of them.

“D.O’s too shy to show you anything else!” Kris yelled to you.

D.O was hiding his face in embarrassment (somewhat) behind everyone. You let out a soft chuckle. That was cool. That was really cool. They stood in a straight line now, shoulder to shoulder. There was a strong and powerful vibe coming from them.

“Who do you want to see next?”

You sat back down onto the path comfortably. You rubbed the back of your neck. “Um, anyone’s fine!” you shouted.

They all twitched. “You don’t have to shout! We can hear you if you just talk. I forgot to tell you!” Kris called out.

“Is that some other power you guys have?”

“All exotics have better hearing that humans! Our senses are more developed!”

“Oh, okay…” You became embarrassed and you began to blush. “Um, well, anyone can go ahead.” You sighed and nervously ran a hand through your messy hair. The twelve men looked at each other, wondering if they should step up and show you already.

“Whatever, I’ll go,” Tao sighed, shaking his head. You narrowed your eyes as Tao stepped forward. You wondered exactly how he would show you his power. He brushed his hands on his pants. Then, he called your name.

“Yeah?”

“Just wait and see.”

“…What?”

Tao stopped time. Everyone else except Tao stayed frozen. Tao snickered, glancing at his fellow mates. He skipped around like a free little boy with a precious smile on his face. He saw you, sitting on the path motionlessly. He lunged toward you then stared at you with such a confused expression. Humans, he thought as he shook his head. He pulled you up onto his back, swinging your body around that you couldn’t control. He ran the length of the clearing a couple times, laughing out loud every now and then. He thought his power was useful and at the same time, amusing yet there was something so lonely about it.                                        

Tao sighed, setting you down on the ground gently. The other eleven males he moved into different spots around the clearing swiftly. Done, he thought, wiping the beads of sweat off his forehead. With a flick of his finger, he resumed time.

“W-why am I here?” you asked, confused. You were still in the clearing but close to the trees and far from the path. You looked around to see everyone scattered around the clearing, coming back to reality.

“I moved you,” Tao said.

You breathed, “Huh, that’s a cool but weird power. An hour or two could’ve passed by of being froze and I wouldn’t even be able to tell.”

Tao shrugged, “It was only, like, a couple minutes.”

Lu Han, who was a couple metres away from you, stretching his arms over his head, spoke, “For some reason, I really hate it when Tao does that. I get so stiff.” He groaned and then began to walk to the centre of the clearing again. Everyone was making their way back to the middle so you decided to take your place of observation on the path.

“Who’s next?” you asked, once you sat cross-legged on the path. The path was a bit rocky and sharp underneath your legs but you thought it was better than standing for who knows how long.

“Chanyeol, why don’t you show her your powers again?” Kris suggested, nudging Chanyeol forward.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes slightly before stepping forward. You took a deep breath in of anticipation. Even though you’ve already seen Chanyeol’s’ fire, you thought it’d be fun to see it again.

Chanyeol put his hands out in front of him, palms facing up. There was a small flicker of light in his palm and suddenly, it burst into small flames. They burned brightly and sparks would shoot out. You gasped, startled, and your eyes widened. When Chanyeol saw your reaction, he smirked.

“Does it not burn your skin?” you asked quietly but they could hear you. Your eyebrows furrowed as you stared in amazement at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol laughed. “Nope. It doesn’t burn any of us but it can burn you and any other human.”

You frowned at the thought, causing all of them to laugh. It freaked you out. Anybody could mistake them for humans yet they were far from that. They had eyes, lips, a nose, hair, legs, arms, you name it but their senses were more developed and they were capable of doing many things humans couldn’t even come close to.

The fires from Chanyeol’s hands stopped. “You’re not going to show me anymore?”

“I’ll show you more when I get the chance.”

You nodded your head, watching Chanyeol step back into place with the other eleven. “Ah, I want to go next,” Xiu Min exclaimed. You smiled as Xiu Min took a step forward. Frost…you thought, remembering that Xiu Min controlled frost. I wonder what he’ll show me, you thought foolishly.

He flashed you a smile before sticking his hands out in front of him but with his palms facing the ground. He moved them in circles above the ground. The grass that was underneath his hands began to turn white from what you could see. You narrowed your eyes and saw that it was frost freezing the grass. He began to move his hands further around and eventually, he began to walk toward you. The ground underneath every step would become all frosty as he continued to stroll over to you.

“Xiu Min, that’s okay, you don’t have to come over here. I’m cooled off enough,” you said, trying to keep him from going over to you and freezing you.

Xiu Min laughed, calling your name. “I’m not going to freeze you.” Soon enough, he was right next to you, still standing. He pulled you up with his cold hand, sending shivers through your nerves. You swallowed the lump in your throat, looking up at him. “I won’t freeze you,” he reassured you. You let out a sigh of relief but then he said, “I won’t freeze your arm. I’ll just do this.” And before you knew it, your arm was covered with frost but it wasn’t enough to freeze your arm. Your teeth chattered lightly at the startling cold but it was refreshing because the temperature was hot. He laughed at you. You stared at his smiling face, admiring his cheeky expression. You caught a glimpse of the other males smiling. You your lip nervously before turning back to Xiu Min who looking down at you. “Here, let me take it off.” One swipe over your arm and the frost was all gone. Not just the frost on your arm, but the frost on the ground also vanished.

“Huh,” you quietly said, “That’s so cool.”

Xiu Min laughed at your fascination and let go of your arm. You gazed at him, walking back to join the eleven males, snickering at your reactions. You got comfortable by sitting down on the ground once again. Xiu Min’s so cute, you smiled at the thought.

“Xiu Min,” Lu Han called. “She thinks you’re cute.” Xiu Min just smiled. Lu Han smiled as well then looked back at you.

“Hey!” you screeched.

“What? I’m just showing you my power.”

You kissed your teeth, irritated, and shook your head.

“Okay, it’s my turn!” Baekhyun excitedly clapped his hands together, skipping forward. You smiled at Baekhyun. Everyone else was not as amused with Baekhyun as you were. They stood there, waiting for Baekhyun to start.

Baekhyun kept his hands out forward. Beams of light shot out of the palms of his hands. It was like his hands were flashlights. He flashed the light in your face, making you squint your eyes and block it with your hands. He chuckled at your action, repeating the same thing to his friends behind him. They did the same thing as you but they would angrily yell out Baekhyun’s name. Baekhyun could only laugh with his husky voice. Baekhyun continued to childishly swing his arms around, the lights moving around at the same time. It was weird to you but it was also relieving to have lights in the forest. Then, the beams of light began to grow thinner and dimmed. They started to die out and eventually, they disappeared entirely. “Okay, I finished!” he exclaimed, skipping back into his spot amongst his friends. You smiled. I guess Baekhyun is needed in a dark place. That’s nice...I guess.

“Chen, you should go next.”

“Yeah, Chen, go.”

“Chen-Chen, go ahead,” Kris said. You laughed. Chen-Chen, what a cute nickname.

“Ah, you guys, I don’t want to-”

“Chen!” you called out to him. “I want to see your power though!” You smiled reassuringly at Chen. He bit his lip then nervously walked ahead of everyone. He controls lightning, you reminded yourself. Lightning…lightning? You began to freak out on the inside, wondering how he would show his power. You began to gnaw on your lip, growing nervous just like Chen already was.

Chen nervously gulped. Just like everyone else, his hands were in front of him. His fingers flexed and in an instant, there were bright flashes of lightning across the sky. Your heart was beating fast as you watched Chen move his hands around. Bolts of lightning conjured up in the dark sky. You thought that people in the city would be wondering where the lightning was coming from for the weather man hadn’t mentioned anything about rain…or lightning. There was another burst of light that made you jump back. The lightning bolt had hit the grass right before you and when you opened your eyes, the grass was black and smoking. You gasped and your eyes diverted in all directions, wondering if that was still Chen.

“Sorry!” Chen called out to you. He dropped his hands to his sides and claimed that he wouldn’t show you anymore. He shuffled to his spot between Tao and Baekhyun in embarrassment. You thought Chen’s powers were very intriguing and cool. It was very different compared to his sweet exterior.

You stifled a chuckle so instead, you smiled. Chen was rubbing the back of his neck and lowering his head. “Who’s next?” you asked sheepishly. “I think Se Hun should go next!” you added with a smile.

Se Hun let out a small huff. He stood there with his feet planted firmly on the ground and his hands in fists at his sides. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth together.

You began to look around the clearing as the wind around you started to pick up. The branches of the trees behind you began to sway back and forth. The leaves began to rustle and the blanket of grass began to look like an ocean with its waves hitting the shore. You turned your head to hear the wind howl through the forest. You focused your attention back onto Se Hun who was still in concentration. The wind began to travel faster. By instinct, your hands began to rub your cold arms. The wind blew through your hair, causing it to sway wildly in different directions. It was useless trying to pull your hair back down. The same thing was happening to the males except for Se Hun. The wind pushed against you hard. Then, Se Hun opened his eyes and everything stopped. Your hair fell back into place and the echoes through the forest stopped. Your head twitched. You stared astonishingly at Se Hun who didn’t say anything else and just walked back. That’s cool. I’m sure it’s much more powerful on Exo.

You sighed as you realized there were only four more people to go, those four being Kris, Suho, Kai and Lay. You’ve already seen and experienced, if you may, Kris’s power. Kai has already teleported in front of you so you decided, “Lay should go next!”

Lay strode forward. He walked over to you, leaving the eleven behind him. He hovered over you, his hand in front of your face. “Come,” he said quietly. You took his hand nervously, feeling the heat radiating off of it. It shot tingles through your body.

He guided you into the forest but not too far from the clearing. The two of you walked around, hand in hand, until Lay stopped in front of a wilting flower you couldn’t even see in the darkness. He bent down, slipping his hand out of yours. You stared at him with a bewildered expression on your face.

The flower’s petals were limp. They were pale pink fading into a crisp brown at the tips. Lay caressed the flower gently then looked up at you with glowing eyes. He smiled sheepishly and asked you to join him. You bent down next to him and stared at the flower. You touched the flower yourself, feeling the brittle petals. Lay reached out and put a finger on it. The flower began to perk up. The petals became soft again and the colour turned back into a bright pink. You tilted your head, staring at Lay in amazement. He grinned. “Give me your arm,” he said softly.

Hesitantly, you stretched your arm out. There was a small but noticeable cut on your forearm. It was still red and there was a bit of dried blood on it. You looked at him before looking back down at your cut. He closed his eyes then ran his finger down the cut. You watched the cut close up and fade. You didn’t even feel a thing. He opened his eyes and smiled at you. He pulled you up and the two of you walked back to the clearing.

You sat back down onto the pebbly path. You looked down at your legs and brushed them off. You didn’t even realize Kai was right behind you. You looked back up and stared at the males. You realized Kai wasn’t there and you wondered where he was.

"Hey, there,” you heard a voice greet.

You whipped your head around with a gasp. You met eyes with Kai who was casually sitting right behind you. “Kai, you-”

“Give me your hand.”

He wants my hand instead. You cautiously reached forward, letting Kai take your hand. Once he had your hand, he teleported the two of you. When you opened your eyes and stumbled forward, you found yourself on the other side of the clearing. Kai didn’t let go of your hand so he was able to stop you from losing balance entirely. You gasped for air while your head throbbed.

“Sorry,” Kai apologized politely, “Are you okay?” His face was right in front of yours and he was still holding onto your hand. He took your other hand into his free hand and looked into your eyes. “You don’t look very good,” he stated with a bubbly laugh.

“Ah, it’s okay. That just made me a bit dizzy,” you answered. “That was really cool though.” You smiled at Kai who was now grinning at you as well.

Kai repeated, “Sorry.” He ruffled your hair with one of his hands and let go of yours.

“It’s fine.”

“Should I teleport you back to your ‘observing’ spot?” Kai asked teasingly.

You shook your head and answered with a lighthearted laugh, “That’s okay. I can walk.” And that’s what you did. You sat back down in your ‘observing’ spot for the umpteenth time. “It’s just the leaders left,” you said.

Kris shrugged. “Do I still have to show you my power? I mean, I already showed it to you last night.”

“I guess not,” you replied. “Then, Suho, it’s your turn!”

Suho walked ahead. “Am I last then?”

“I guess so,” everyone else answered him.

This time, Suho shrugged. You folded your hands into your lap and excitedly waited for Suho to show you his abilities. Suho was a bit nervous but he was interested in seeing your reaction.

Orbs of water began to form. They hovered over Suho’s palms. Suho tilted his head. He moved his hands around to show you the orbs moving around. You thought he looked even more handsome because of the serious expression he had on his face. Your eyes met his, making you look back down to his hands. Then, he reached one hand back and threw the orb at you playfully. It hit you like a water balloon, splashing all over you. The smile on your face turned into a frown and your eyebrows drooped. Your clothes and hair were soaking wet. The summer breeze blew and goose bumps formed on your wet arms. “Hey! Suho!” you screeched.

They all laughed at you, making you groan. You cried out, “You’re so mean! I thought you were nice, Suho!” You stood up and brushed the pebbles that stuck to your legs. You began to jump up and down, trying to get rid of whatever water still on you.

“I’ll help you!” Se Hun called out to you. Your eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Then, there was a gust of wind from behind you that almost swept you off of your feet.

“Ah!”

The wind stopped and you stumbled back into place. The water on your body was gone but your hair was still damp. That was weird. You shook your head, trying to clear your thoughts. It had hit you that what they were capable of doing was very out-of-this-world but they were from a different planet. And just like Se Hun said, you had to keep an open mind. You took a deep breath in of the summer air and stared at the twelve males who were talking amongst themselves. “So, is there anything else you want to show me?”

They stopped talking and exchanged glances with one another. Suho told you, “Nothing else tonight.”

“Oh, okay.”

“How was it?” Baekhyun asked.

Chanyeol added, “Yeah, what’d you think of all of it?”

You crossed your arms over your chest and put your weight onto one leg. “Why don’t you ask Lu Han? I’m sure he knows perfectly well what I’m thinking of.”

“You have to tell us yourself!” Xiu Min exclaimed.

“Fine,” you gave in. “Hmm…” you began. You tapped your foot against the rocky pavement of the path. “All of your powers are really cool but…”

“But what? Kris asked. You knew he didn’t like it when you said ‘but.’

“But it’s so…freaky! It’s all so weird and it kind of scares me,” you confessed. You bit your lip, hoping that they wouldn’t feel offended. Well, they want the truth, right?

“I guess that’s what a human would think of it,” Baekhyun sighed.

“No! It’s not that…it’s just…humans aren’t capable of doing those things and you guys are. It surpasses our abilities and that’s why I find it so fascinating! At the same time though, because I’ve never seen anyone do that, I find it weird and scary.”

“Oh…”

You nodded your head, letting out a sheepish chuckle.

“Well,” Kris began to say, “We should get you home.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” you said. You stretched your arms over your head.

The twelve beings looked at each other, signalling Kai to teleport all of you. He obeyed everyone’s commands and teleported all of you. You opened your eyes after yawning and saw that you were in your room. You were starting to get dizzy so you put your arms (from stretching earlier) down and quickly sat onto your bed.

“Sorry,” Kai apologized.

“Mm,” you groaned, “It’s okay. It’s better than walking all the way back.” You groaned again, rubbing your temples. You stretched your legs out in front of you. You your lips and stared at the twelve males in your room. It felt like déjà vu, looking at them from your bed in their black robes. You wondered how they were all able to fit in your room but then again, you’ve seen many extraordinary things that day. Feeling the awkwardness in the air, you asked, “So, um…are you guys going to go?”

They laughed at the way you seemed uncomfortable with their presence. “Yeah, we’ll be going. We’ll be back whenever.”

“Alright,” you replied, yawning.

“Get some good sleep. You’ll need it.”

“Okay. Good night.”

“Good night,” they all said. They disappeared from your sight. You laughed. How did I even get into this situation? You changed into clean clothes and dumped the ones you were just wearing into your hamper. With that, you fell asleep, safe and sound. The scenes of that day kept replaying in your mind. What a night.