Suho swallowed the lump in his throat, the rims of his eyes reddening from the incoming tears. “Jongin?” he whispered, dropping his weapon to the ground. The others lowered their guns as well.

“Kai?” Xiumin took a step forward. “Is it really you?”

Kai tucked his own gun back into the back of his jeans and stepped out of the darkness. The light from Suho’s flashlight made him squint and put a hand over his face, bothered by the brightness. “Suho?”

“Jongin!” Suho exclaimed, dropping his guard down and enveloping the younger boy into an embrace.

“It’s you,” he sobbed, his fingers wrapping around the back of Kai’s neck. “You’re alive.”

In a heartbeat, Kai hugged Suho back, almost about to cry himself. “Hyung…”

The others joined them, hugging and crying and laughing while Kyungsoo watched them from afar with stern eyes, the pistol in his hand still pointing at the Xinth’s head.

Kai’s gaze turned to him and his eyes immediately widened. “Kyungsoo, no,” he said, holding both his hands out, gesturing for him to put the weapon down. “She’s not one of them. She’s on our side.”

Kyungsoo gave him a reluctant look.

Kai’s brows curled up, pleading. “No, hyung.”

Kyungsoo took in a huge breath, his blasé eyes looking the girl up and down before lowering his gun. The girl collapsed to the ground from relief and Kai quickly went over to Kyungsoo to hug him.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes shut, putting a hand on the back of the boy’s head. “Where have you been?”

Kai smiled. “I can explain myself,” he said quietly. He gave Kyungsoo’s metal arm a double take. “But first, you better tell me what happened to your arm.”

Kai released the boy and helped the girl up. “Are you alright, Hyeji?” he asked, grabbing her by the shoulders and studying her from head to toe.

“I’m alright, Jongin.” She gave him a small smile, patting the hand on her shoulder before nodding over to the back of the store. “Shall we?”

“Yeah,” Jongin waved the others to follow them. “You guys want to come in?”

The boys followed them to the large storage room at the very back of the store. Inside were unopened boxes of liquor, bundles of blankets scattered on the floor as makeshift beds, and other things that told the boys the two have been staying here for quite a while now.

Kai lit three candles and placed them in the middle of the room while everyone sat in a circle. Hyeji offered the boys water, to which they hesitantly accepted.

“So you guys have been staying here for a while now?” Lay asked, his eyes constantly switching from Kai to Hyeji. He was still not comfortable with having a Xinth in their presence.

Kai noticed Lay’s discomfort and placed a hand on his lap. “It’s okay,” he reassured. “She’s no harm to us.”

“Tell us then,” Chanyeol urged. “What her purpose here is.”

“Not until you guys tell me about Kyungsoo’s arm,” he said, nodding over to the said boy.

“Well to make the long story short,” Kyungsoo passed the jag of water to Xiumin, “TOP cut off my hand after the takeover happened.”

“TOP…” Kai trailed off, eyes darkening from the sound of the man’s name. “That son of a ruined everything.”

Suho exchanged a look with Kyungsoo before asking, “What do you mean?”

Kai sighed, messing up his hair from frustration. “Remember that day I stormed out of M-LX just when we got back from Hong Kong?”

Everyone nodded.

“And then I got into a fight with Chanyeol over…Hyerin?” he reluctantly added, glancing at the said boy through his lashes. “Sorry about that, by the way.”

Chanyeol’s lips tugged upward as he held out a fist to Kai. “No worries, bruh.”

Kai smiled, bumping fists with Chanyeol. “Anyway, that wasn’t really me. Those weren’t my own words, it was” – he sighed exasperatedly – “TOP. He hypnotized me back at that warehouse when the others were kidnapped. Just when I was leaving I turned around and made eye contact with him, and I thought everything was fine until the day we came back to Seoul. He twisted my words and manipulated my emotions once I started talking to Hyerin, but then again-”

He abruptly stopped mid-sentence, holding in the pain-filled expression he knew was about to show on his face. Sure, TOP made him say things he didn’t mean to say, but TOP had to work with something. The bastard used his affection towards Hyerin and the little pent up jealousy he had for Baekhyun against him, and even though he didn’t mean to argue with Hyerin or get into a fight with Chanyeol, he knew, somewhere inside him, that it was true; true that he cared a lot about the girl enough to be absurdly angry at the boy she liked.

He almost forgot that the others were waiting for him to continue.

Kai awkwardly cleared his throat. “All I’m saying is that I never meant to hurt anybody and I certainly did not mean to run away. That was all TOP’s doing,” he assured. “He just completely made me his puppet.”

“And then?” Xiumin urged.

Kai bit his lower lip, shuddering at the memory. Hyeji, noticing this, grabbed a blanket behind her and threw it over the boy’s shoulders. At the corner of the room, Chen didn’t miss the way she reassuringly rubbed the boy’s back, her kind features contorting into concern.

“Running away was the last thing I remembered before I fell unconscious. I don’t know how or when that happened. I have no idea how long I was out but the next thing I knew I ended up…here.” Kai’s dark eyes passed the small storage room. “Here, in this abandoned liquor store, taken in by this young lady.”

He gently elbowed the girl sitting cross-legged beside him, a small smile gracing his lips. “Tell ‘em what happened.” 

Hyeji gave him a hesitant look. When he encouraged her to go on, she sighed and fixed her attention to the floor.

“I found him lying unconscious on the streets one rainy night, his clothes muddy and drenched with blood. He was so thin then, as if all that was left were skin and bone. I was reluctant to help him because I was sure he would kill me,” she said quietly. “I’m a Xinth after all. But I felt sorry for him, and also because I felt guilty about what happened to him.”

“What do you mean you felt guilty?” Kyungsoo asked.

Hyeji bashfully rubbed her wrists. “Like I said earlier, I’m somewhat a…spy for the Noxius Brothers. I was told to keep an eye on you and make sure you’re safe as their gratitude over what you did for them. I’ve been a longtime Xinth acquaintance to them you see. They didn’t have much friends but I was considered one,” she explained, “but then the outbreak happened, they left, and I didn’t have to hide my being a Xinth. I actually managed to use it to my advantage and posed as one of the mayor’s soldiers. I blended in just fine.”

“What does this have to do with Kai?”

Hyeji lowered her head. “One day, I just saw TOP and Blue dragging Kai into this laboratory of some sort inside the mayor’s home,” she said slowly. “He was unconscious, probably after he ran away from you guys. And since I was posing as one his guards I managed to get into the lab without any problems.”

“And then?” Suho asked, his brows curling up in anticipation.

“I saw them, along with the mayor, put these weird wires all over Kai’s body. It connected to this strange machine, something that I’ve never seen in my entire life, and then they turned it on. Kai started shaking, the machine started shaking, and right before my eyes I saw them the life out of him. It was terrifying, you can literally see him shrinking and it was just-” she in a huge breath to calm herself, “-it was just a horrible sight to see. I thought he was dead, everyone thought he was, and so they just threw him away to the streets.

“Curiosity got the better of me then, and I checked his pulse. He still had one, a really weak one, and I just thought I had to help him. And so I did. I carried him here and I took care of him since then, with the obligation given to me by The Brothers in mind and also just because I felt sorry for him.”

Chen studied the girl from afar with squinted eyes, his head resting against the wall, elbows on top of his knees. “That’s an awfully big risk.”

Hyeji met his gaze. “It was, but I was only posing as Jiyong’s puppet anyway and besides,” she mumbled, looking down on the lit candles, “it was the right thing to do.”

“And now you’re in good condition,” Suho said to Kai, before turning to smile at the girl. “Thank you. I’m sorry if we scared you earlier.”

She shook her head. “It’s not a problem. I don’t blame you.”

“Hey, Kai,” Kyungsoo said.

Kai lifted his head up. “What’s up?”

“Why didn’t you come looking for us?”

Everyone fell silent.

“It’s obvious that you’ve been in good condition for a while now, but why didn’t you try to look for us?” Kyungsoo asked, not unkindly. “Why didn’t you come back?”

Everyone’s eyes focused on Kai, his expression evidently regretful.

“I felt…ashamed,” he started, the words coming out quiet and unstable. “Ashamed that I ran away because of such a silly thing that could have been fixed so easily. After the cruel things I said to you guys, I just thought you wouldn’t want me back,” he said quietly, “you know?”

Kyungsoo stared at him as if he were talking gibberish. Cursing under his breath, he got on his feet and smacked Kai upside the head with his hand.

His metal hand.

“Ow! What the-” Kai checked if he was bleeding. “What the hell was that for!?”

“For being the biggest idiot in all of Korea,” Kyungsoo deadpanned.

“What, now you’re angry!?”

“Frustrated,” Kyungsoo corrected. “With you. Jongin, how could you think like that? Did you really think we would abandon you just like that? We ing thought you were dead!”

“And I thought it would be better that way,” Kai sighed. “That’s why I resorted to just…hiding here with Hyeji. Plus, I don’t have my powers anymore, since Jiyong it out of me anyway. I’m useless.”

Kyungsoo glared at him. “Don’t be ridiculous. Tao’s powers got taken away from him too and we still took…him…wait a second.” His brows furrowed, staring at Kai with puzzlement. “Jiyong took your powers.” It wasn’t a question.

Kai’s face contorted from sad to confused. “I know. I just told you.”

Kyungsoo ran his hand through his face. “No, wait, it all makes sense now.” He paced the room with hands on his hips.

“What makes sense?” Lay asked, standing up himself.

“That mission we had a month and a couple of weeks ago, when we tried to let Hyerin escape,” Kyungsoo said. “Remember that spaceship thing that came down from the sky?”

“Uhuh,” Chanyeol nodded, eyes wide.

“, I think he used Kai to bring that ship here to Earth,” Kyungsoo said, devastated himself. He turned to the Xinth. “That thing you saw back at the mayor’s house was what they used to Kai’s powers so he could bring more Xinths to Earth.”

“And that’s probably what they did to Tao too,” Suho said.

“He’s seriously taking over Seoul by bringing in more Xinths,” Lay said. “And if there are more Xinths then there would be more and more humans getting killed.”

“Then why didn’t he just do it in one go? He could have done this from the start,” Chanyeol wondered.

“Because he doesn’t have the power to do it,” Chen concluded. “He couldn’t catch Hyerin, who has the sufficient amount of power he needs, so instead he used Tao and Kai. It may not be as much as he wanted it to be, but he managed to get a whole spaceship full of Xinths to Earth.”

“He’s not planning to stop, you know,” Hyeji entered. “The longer he doesn’t find Hyerin, the more of you guys he’d probably try to kidnap. He’s going to settle with anything just to make even just a little bit of progress.”

“Well that ‘little bit of progress’ managed to kill thousands of people,” Lay scoffed.

Hyeji nodded. “Exactly.”

Kyungsoo’s hands balled into fists, his eyes turning into slits. “The more reason we need to get Hyerin out of his reach.”

“He’s growing impatient, I’m sure,” Hyeji said. “I bet he already sent some of his men outside of Seoul to look for Hyerin. He may have an idea that she’s not here.”

Something in Kyungsoo’s stomach churned. The idea of Hyerin under Jiyong’s hold made him want to break something. “I will do everything to keep her out of his filthy hands, even if I die doing it,” he growled. “He’ll never have her. I’m going to kill him, I swear.”

Kai’s eyebrows knitted together as he watched Kyungsoo seethe. When was he this defensive over Hyerin?

Beside him, Xiumin placed a hand on his shoulder, noticing his confused expression.

Kai raised a brow. “What?”

Xiumin only smiled knowingly over at Kyungsoo then back to Kai, lasting for about five seconds before the boy finally got the hint.

Kyungsoo liked Hyerin. Or, judging how determined the boy was to protect the girl, probably more than that. But, to think about it, it did make sense. He never really thought much of it, but he noticed the way Kyungsoo was when she was around. He was almost always irritated with everyone, but with Hyerin there was something different, as if he was using his always-annoyed front to cover up how he really felt about her, not like it worked. Sometimes, Kai would catch him just looking at her – whether they were just talking or from a distance – and he would see that glint in his eyes that she was more than just a teammate to him, more than a schoolmate or a friend.

Hyerin was special to Kyungsoo; different from the way they were special to him.

Kai blinked a couple of times, baffled by this new revelation. If there was anyone who he though would fall in love, it certainly wasn’t Kyungsoo. He always thought Kyungsoo would die alone.

“Speaking of Hyerin,” Kai said aloud. “Hyeji told me that she escaped with a couple of others?”

Lay nodded. “Yeah. It was the smartest thing to do. Jiyong can’t have her or else it’ll really be the end of us.”

“What about everyone else? What about Agent M and Zero?”

“They’re okay. They’re back at the woods, where we’re staying,” Lay said, glancing at his watch. “And speaking of, we need to go back. I’m pretty sure those two are worryi-”

“Wait a sec,” Kai cut off. “The woods? What do you mean? What happened to M-LX?”

Chanyeol and Suho gave each other looks. “It’s gone,” Suho answered, his tone dropping. “Jiyong destroyed our headquarters plus our second one.”

“What?” Kai’s eyes widened. “Well, wait. What about our families? Are they safe? Where are they?”

“They’re all staying at an apartment complex away from where the bad stuff happens. They’re fine.”

Kai looked relieved. “Oh, thank god. How are my mom and my brothers?”

Lay looked uncomfortable answering his question. “They’re…holding up just fine, Kai.”

“And my dad?”

Lay turned to Suho for help, only to find the leader looking torn himself.

“Kai, he’s-”

“What?” Kai questioned, confused. “Why do you look like – what is – what’s the matter?”

“He’s dead, Jongin,” Suho whispered, his eyes dejectedly focused on the ground. “Your dad is dead.”

---

Making Kai leave the liquor store to come with them to the woods was a fairly difficult task, especially when it was right after they told him what happened to his father. It took a lot of convincing and pleading to get him to stop angrily throwing things at the wall and actually come with them to the woods. That wasn’t easy too, as he only agreed to go if Hyeji came along.

Along the way, they came across at least a dozen of Xinths, which didn’t take too long to take care of. They hid the bodies and continued to the woods where their hiding place was.

As soon as everyone arrived, Zero and Myungjae greeted them with irritated faces, worried about their whereabouts since they left hours ago. They didn’t forget to welcome Kai back and didn’t miss the Xinth they brought along with them. After a thorough explanation, they welcomed her too, and from then on everyone went back to their usual duties – it was Chanyeol and Xiumin’s watch that night, so they headed out as surveillance. Kyungsoo was excused to his tent along with Lay to check up on him because his bionic arm was wearing him out, plus his spine was hurting badly. Agent M and Zero took Kai with them to examine his health and power, along with Suho to assist with whatever they needed.

Everyone was busy tending to whatever it was that they needed to do except for Chen, who was given the chore to stand guard over the newest member of their camp – Hyeji.

Chen groaned and rolled his eyes once Myungjae ordered him to set up a tent for the Xinth. Surely the girl could have done it herself, but Myungjae must have noticed how bothered Chen was with the presence of the girl therefore appointed him to be the babysitter of the Xinth. Chen knew Myungjae did it just to – and also because he’s a top grade – but it didn’t change the fact that he was pissed. He had a lot of research to do, research that wasn’t easy seeing as they had such limited resources, so babysitting was definitely something unnecessary at a crucial time like this.

But then again, he should have expected this, especially from Myungjae. Top grade and all.

Chen sighed, shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and checked his watch. 11:43 PM. He sighed again.

“Hey,” he called, tapping the tent impatiently. “It’s been fifteen minutes, why aren’t you coming out? I have things to do.”

“I’m coming,” she replied, immediately ping the tent’s entrance. She stepped out dressed in Lay’s track pants and Chanyeol’s worn out 2NE1 New Evolution World Tour T-shirt. The clothes were too big for her small frame.

Hyeji consciously pulled at the ends of the oversized shirt. “Thank you for waiting,” she said, bowing. “And I’m sorry for taking so long.”

Chen shrugged, staring at her indifferently. He nodded towards a much larger tent, wordlessly telling her to follow him.

They entered the largest tent within the camp, the inside lit with a gas lamp placed in the middle of a portable table filled with stacks of books and papers. Weapons of all kinds hung from the skeleton of the tent, and a separate table, a smaller one, was situated at the back of the tent, several bottles of chemicals and medicine placed atop of it.

Chen made a beeline towards his usual seat behind the large table with books, not bothering to wait for the girl who followed him shortly inside the tent. He busied himself right away with his research while Hyeji roamed around the room curiously.

Ever since Jiyong ambushed their second headquarters, they have been having a hard time acquiring weapons, chemicals, and medicine. Their mission earlier was one of the rare times they ever used guns only because there were more Xinths attacking innocent citizens than usual. If it were any other day, they would have dove into the inner city with nothing but knives and their powers to rely on.

The same goes with technology. Their special devices were destroyed during the ambush, and they were left to stick with old-fashioned ways. Even looking for information was hard without a laptop. Chen had to make do with the thick ancient M-LX books to look into people’s profiles and other things that he could have been done with for less than two seconds if he had his laptop. What’s worse was that it was his job to do all this work, aside from the occasional times Suho would come in and help him.

Chen checked his watch and saw that it was already 12:20 AM. He shook his head, unable to believe that time had passed by him just like that.

He let out a huge sigh as he leaned back on his chair, trying to relax his shoulders from its stiff posture. Only when he peeled his eyes away from the book on the table did he remember that there was another presence inside the room with him.

Hyeji sat cross-legged on top of a stool opposite from where he was sitting, so when he lifted his head up, she was the first thing he saw. Her fingers were laced together on top of her lap and a small, patient smile graced her small lips. She didn’t flinch when he returned her stare with a glare.

“What?” he asked.

“You seem to be very absorbed with whatever you’re reading,” she observed. “Is it an interesting book?”

“It’s none of your business.”

She nodded understandingly, seemingly unfazed by his reply. “I really like reading too. Sometimes I spend my weekends just cooped up in my room reading. That is, well, until the takeover happened.”

Chen raised a brow. Why was she telling him this? “Oh,” he offhandedly replied, though he couldn’t help imagining the girl lying on a bed with her nose stuck in a book.

“What about you, Jongdae?” she asked, playing with the ends of her hair. “What kind of books do you like?”

Chen’s cheeks flushed slightly. “I don’t read books for leisure,” he said. “And don’t call me Jongdae.”

She seemed to ignore the last part. “What do you mean you don’t read books for leisure?”

“Textbooks. I read textbooks.” He flipped the pages in front of him, took his pen, and started jotting down notes on his notepad. “I only read when it’s about school-related stuff. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“But isn’t that sad? It’s a shame for someone who’s such a good reader like you to miss out on such fantastic works of literature.”

“What do you mean by ‘good reader’?” He continued writing on his notepad.

“I know a good reader when I see one.”

Chen rolled his eyes. She made no sense at all.

“There’s no such thing as a good reader. Anyone can be a reader and you can’t just label something as simplistic as ‘good’ or ‘bad’,” he paused for a beat before continuing, “unless you have some sort of standard to compare that reader with, like for instance, how fast that person reads.”

A long silence ensued after that, making Chen look up.

The girl was staring at him as if he just swallowed bricks. “What are you talking about?”

Chen opened his mouth to explain further but decided against it. “Never mind,” he sighed, going back to his work.

Silence followed and remained for a while, until Hyeji spoke once again.

“Jongdae.”

Chen clucked is tongue. “What?”

“You were never like this before, you know.”

His right hand briefly stopped writing but quickly went back to work. “…What do you mean?”

“I’ve been studying you guys from afar since The Brothers left the city…until, that is, when the situation got worse and I couldn’t leave freely as I wanted to because I had to take care of Jongin while pretending to be one of Jiyong’s guys. Only recently did I get back to watching you guys and” – she paused – “the change in personality is really hard to miss.”

Chen kept his head low, pretending to be concentrated in the notes he was writing.

“Back then when everything wasn’t too bad, you guys were always so happy, always messing around,” she muttered, smiling nostalgically as if she was part of that memory. “It was so nice watching you, all thirteen of you, going forth with your missions with smiles on your faces. It was like watching a bunch of high school students going on a field trip rather than a dangerous mission.”

She chuckled lightly before frowning. “Then the situation got worse and everything just…fell apart,” she said. “When I checked how you guys were it wasn’t the same anymore. Not only did half of your team leave the city – it’s like your souls left with them.”

Chen couldn’t help but stare up at her now. “How long have you been watching us from afar?”

“Long enough to know you’re all miserable.”

“Well,” he sighed, a little irritated, “like I said, it’s none of your business. You may be a keen observer but you don’t know what it’s like. So…it’s better for you to not speak in our place.”

This time, she certainly looked letdown, and although Chen knew it would happen sooner or later – him saying something that’ll hurt her – he found himself wanting to punch himself in the face for doing it anyway.

“I know that. But just by watching you guys, I feel like I’ve known you for a long time now. It may seem weird, but it’s true. I genuinely felt sad seeing you guys so depressed. Especially knowing that was only a month ago,” she said. “Can you believe that? That was only a month ago, when you guys were so carefree and happy. But now,” her electric blue eyes landed on his, “you all seem so cold, so serious…so old.”

Chen bit the inside of his cheek, inhaling slowly as he listened to the girl. He never thought of it that way, only because he tried so hard to avoid thinking about it, but now that someone else was saying it the reality of their situation suddenly hit him.

“What choice do we have?” he finally said, his voice coming out too quiet. “It’s not like we can mess around at a time like this. We’re a part of M-LX. We’re EXO agents, the best of our kind. We have powers. We’re probably the only hope of humanity and let me tell you right now – it’s as hard as it sounds,” he said, “Okay? It’s not something that can be solved overnight. We need all the time we need to bring everything back to normal. We can’t do that if we’re always messing around like we used to.”

“How old are you?”

“W-What?”

“How old are you?” she repeated.

“...Seventeen,” he answered unsurely. “Eighteen in six months.”

“You’re so young, Jongdae,” she said, and if he heard right, there was a hint of worry in her voice. “But you look and act so old. You practically never smile. At least, not anymore.”

“I have to. It’s my duty,” he mumbled, trying to keep his tone neutral.

“It doesn’t mean you have to eliminate the little pleasures in life just like that,” Hyeji said. “Even in the midst of a tragedy like this, you need to smile. Even if it’s just a little bit. You probably won’t even die from a gunshot or a stab in the heart. You probably would die from loneliness.”

Chen scoffed half-heartedly, though inside he knew she was telling the truth.

“You know I’m right,” she said.

“How old are you anyway?” he asked, setting his pen down and finally paying attention to her.

“Fifteen.”

“Oh. Fif-” His eyes widened as he gawked at her. “Fifteen!? You’re fifteen?”

“Yes.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “Why?”

“N-Nothing,” he stammered, taken aback. This girl was fifteen? She looked older than him. “You just seem so…wise.”

For the first time, she laughed. Not a chuckle, not a polite giggle, but a laugh. The type that made her eyes turn into crescent moons.

“You’re smart, Jongdae, but I guess I’m somewhat happy that I have things I know that you don’t.”

“And that is…?”

“Age doesn’t guarantee you wisdom,” she mumbled thoughtfully, “experiences do.”

He fumbled with the edge of his notebook, elbow resting on the table and chin propped on top of his fist. “Then I’m assuming you’ve had your fair share of experiences, then?”

She rubbed her wrists timidly. “I wouldn’t say they’re necessarily good experiences.”

“Really?” he asked. “At the ripe age of fifteen?”

She gave him a pointed look. “You’re only two years older than me.”

Even though it was meant to be a hostile expression, her profound gentleness exuded. Chen couldn’t help but blush.

“Yes,” he muttered, “yes, I am.”

She gave him a smile in replacement of a reply. The smile was kind and somewhat sympathetic, and underneath it was a whole new level of understanding, as if she knew exactly what they were going through.

What he was going through.

 And he had to admit; it made him feel some type of way. He wasn’t stupid, he knew what it was, but he couldn’t help but feel so naïve. Experiencing this kind of emotion at a time like this, moreover, feeling this way towards someone like her, is something he never expected.

But then those eyes. Those electric blue eyes that he grew to hate because of all the bad experiences; now he’s getting attached to them.

“Well, Jongdae,” she said after a long silence. “Are you ready to be happy again?”

Chen raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

“What do you mean ‘what do you mean?’” she chuckled. “I’m asking you if you’re ready to be happy again.”

Chen just stared at her. He didn’t really understand. It was something he never thought about, ever. Heck, he didn’t even know that he was unhappy to begin with.

“Well?” she asked, smiling. “Are you?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he breathed, leaning back. “Though I’m not entirely sure what you mean.”

“You’ll know eventually,” She stood up from the stool and held out her hand across the table, waiting for him to take it. “For now, we’ll start with what you really need – a relaxing walk outside. Tell me, when was the last time you did that to clear your head?”

“Months ago,” he replied honestly.

“Exactly,” she said, grinning. “So. Are you coming?”

Chen stared at her face, her hand, and then her face again. It took him a second or two before he took her outstretched hand and stood up from his chair.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m coming.”

She said nothing as she led him outside, the usual bright smile gracing her lips.

Yet again, it didn’t fail to make Chen’s heart beat faster. It was one of the prettiest things he’d ever seen, and it was certainly something she seemed to be good at the most.

----

Hyerin was sprawled across the grassy field as she silently watched Luhan manipulate his powers by attempting to pull out a tree from the ground several hundreds of feet away from where they were.

The boy was struggling, but Hyerin was too lazy to give him words of encouragement. Instead, she rolled on her back, spread her arms out, and stared at the blue sky.

It felt like ages ago since the last time she felt at peace like this. There were no skyscrapers, no technology, and more importantly, no danger. The old house they were staying at was smack in the middle of a field where, so far, no one had bothered them. Her guard was at its lowest at this place, and although she knew it was only temporary, she relished every single moment of it.

“Stupid piece of .”

Hyerin turned her head to glance at Luhan standing a few inches from where she laid. He had his hands propped on his hips and he was breathing heavily, evidently tired from practicing his power.

“It’s been forty-five minutes, Lu,” Hyerin said, voice coming out slurry and lazy. “And I still don’t see that tree moving even one goddamn inch from the ground. What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m trying,” Luhan frustratingly replied. “It’s just that…I don’t know, I’m just trying.”

“Try harder.” She yawned, rolling on her stomach.

“I am.”

She propped her chin on top of her knuckles. “Maybe you need to start with small objects. Like, I don’t know, a pencil or something.”

“What the hell do you take me for? I can handle a stupid pencil.”

“Yeah, but can you do the same with a mug?”

Luhan gave her a death glare.

She returned it with a grin. “A mug is heavier than a pencil. It’s way more realistic than upgrading from a pencil to a huge- tree. Baby steps, Lu, that’s how it’s done.”

“You do know that I used my telekinesis to carry Kai when he got stabbed from our previous mission, right?”

“Yeah, but how much does Kai weigh?”

“I don’t know.”

“Exactly.” She pointed a finger at him. “Maybe he weighs as much as a pencil. Or a mug. Or that huge- tree over there, we’ll never know.”

Luhan gave her a pointed look before pretending to kick her. She backed away, laughing.

“Alright, alright, I’m just playing. Really now, Lu, what’s the matter?” she asked, smiling. “What’s holding your powers back?”

“Why don’t we start with the way you’re underestimating me and my abilities?” he teased, settling beside her on the grass. “But I don’t know. Is it because I’m not concentrating hard enough?”

“Oh, believe me, you’re concentrating. You wouldn’t be looking all constipated if you weren’t,” she said.

Luhan frowned, plucking a handful of grass from the ground. “Then what am I doing wrong?”

Hyerin grimaced, gesturing towards the tree. “That’s a big tree! You’ve never manipulated something as huge as that.”

“Is that really it? I’m not strong enough?”

“No. Maybe you’re just lacking some kind of purpose.”

Luhan raised a brow at her. “What do you mean?”

Hyerin shrugged, reaching out to pull on her hair when she realized it was cut short. “Well, you know, your powers were given to you for a reason. And if you try to summon it without having a reason or purpose in mind, wouldn’t it just be common sense that it won’t work the way you want it to?” she explained. “I mean, I don’t have powers so I wouldn’t really know, but I think with enough purpose in your head you’d be able to do it, right?”

Luhan looked from Hyerin to the tree. “Are you sure about this?”

“No, but you could give it a shot.”

“But I don’t know anything about ‘purpose.’”

Hyerin snorted. “Sure you do.”

“What about you, Hyerin?” he asked. “Do you have this purpose you’re talking about?”

It took less than a second for her to think of several. Her dad and brother, her hometown, Seoul, and then her friends that she wanted to protect. There’s M-LX, and then EXO, who were practically brothers to her. Then there’s Kyungsoo, who’s probably more than that.

She smiled. “Mhm. I do. I have a lot.”

Luhan stared at her for a long time before turning to the tree once again. “I don’t think I have any.”

“Oh, come on! You have a lot!” she exclaimed. “You have your family, and if that’s not enough, you have us! What about Sehun? Isn’t he enough motivation for you? You practically treat him like your own brother.”

With that, Luhan’s eyes warmed with affection and a smile graced his lips. “You’re right. I guess I do have a lot.”

“Mhm. So try again. With all that purpose in your mind.”

Hyerin waited for him to start manipulating his powers again when Jonghyun came out to the back of the house where they were.

“Hyerin!” he shouted, waving to her. “Come here for a sec?”

“Okay!” She scrambled up to her feet and winked at Luhan before running towards her brother. Seeing that Hyerin was coming, Jonghyun went back inside the house with a smile.

“In my room,” Jonghyun called out from the hallway once Hyerin entered the house. She made her way to the second largest room, Jonghyun and Hyeseul’s shared bedroom, and saw her brother sitting cross-legged on top of the neatly made bed. Before him were a bunch of letters and pictures.

“Come, sit,” he said, grinning.

With a shrug, Hyerin plopped herself across Jonghyun, the mess of envelopes and glossy photographs sprawled in between them.

“What’s this?” she asked, picking up a random 2011 phone bill.

“Remember that night you came to my apartment and told me to leave the city right away?”

Hyerin gave him a blank look. “Uhuh.”

“Well, as soon as you told me that, I immediately packed my bags to leave. But before that, I stopped by your house to get a couple of things I left behind,” he said. “And I stumbled upon these old letters and pictures.”

“And…this is supposed to have something to do with me?” she reluctantly asked.

Jonghyun chuckled. “Duh, that’s why I called you here. These are mostly from mom,” he said, looking sentimental once her face relaxed. “I thought you’d want to take a look.”

At once, she took a handful of the letters and went through them, suddenly hungry for anything that had to do with her mother. It’s been awhile since she thought about her and she felt guilty about it, but the things that have been happening for the past month occupied most of the space in her mind.

All the letters were from her mother sent to Jonghyun, all opened and old. They were filled with general information about her life with Hyerin and a whole lot of typical mom questions, nothing specifically special aside from stories about Hyerin’s self-defense training.

“As you can see, she left out the part where you actually have a mechanical, super powerful heart and that she was a part of some dangerous organization called M-LX,” he sarcastically droned. “And that dad was a crazy, super smart weapon inventor of some sort. Seriously, we’re a diverse family.”

Hyerin laughed as she flipped through the pictures of herself and her mother throughout the years. “I guess we are.”

“I’m still upset that I wasn’t in on this whole supernatural FBI BS you’re all in. I’m pretty sure I’m capable enough.”

“Well I guess they were just trying to protect you. And also because you got into your modeling career, you know?”

Jonghyun scoffed. “Well . I’d rather kick all day than pose half- for some stupid designer brand.”

“Oh, trust me, posing half- for some stupid designer brand pays way better than kicking all day.”

They both laughed out loud, for a short while forgetting their difficult situation. Hyerin stood up and climbed to the other side of the bed to sit next to Jonghyun, but stopped midway when something caught her eye.

A wooden frame peeked out from underneath the pile. Her brows knitted together as she took it and turned it over.

Old wooden picture frame. Mother and fourteen year-old Hyerin. Smiling. Glass cracked in the middle.

Hyerin turned to Jonghyun. “Why do you have this? Last time I checked this was in my room.”

Jonghyun rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, about that. When I came by to get my things I went to your room to look around and then I saw the frame and-“

“You stole it,” she finished for him.

“Technically, yes, but I’m your brother!” He reached out to grab it. “It’s not stealing. Just borrowing.”

“Jonghyun!” she yelled, snatching the picture frame back. “This is mine, you insensitive piece of crap!”

“Well you totally forgot about it until now! It’s mine now, give it!”

“No!” At this point, they were pulling it away from each other’s grasp. “She gave it to me first!”

“But it’s the most recent picture of her since you-know-what! I want it, you can take the other pictures!”

“No!”

“Give it!”

“No!”

Because of Jonghyun’s stubbornness and Hyerin’s forgotten super-strength, the frame split right in the middle, bits of glass spreading all over the bed. Jonghyun fell against the headboard with one half, while Hyerin fell off the bed with the other.

“,” Jonghyun muttered as he stared at fourteen year-old Hyerin smiling up at him, his mother completely torn out of the picture.

“Ugggggh,” Hyerin groaned, standing up from the floor. “You’re such a ing jackass.”

“Shut up, you should’ve just left it alone!” Jonghyun pouted. “You’re evil.”

“Yeah? Well at least I don’t steal things, you stealing stealer!”

“Oh, boo hoo, you…uh…”

“What, can’t think of a lame insult?”

“No, wait.”

“Wait for what, retard?”

“No I’m serious, Hyerin. Look.”

“What?” Hyerin frowned as she stood beside the bed to see what her brother was talking about.

Jonghyun felt around the border of the frame where it split, his fingers grazing the sharp edges of the glass. His index finger caught on something and he pulled it out, revealing a crisp, yellowing paper folded neatly. He turned it over, and on the surface written in black ink was ‘Hyerin.'

Her breath hitched. Her eyes immediately met Jonghyun’s, his expression mirroring hers. None of them said anything, but as Jonghyun held out the envelope to her, she shook her head.

“You do it,” she whispered, scared to know what the letter held. That picture frame had been with her for almost four years, given to her by her mother one evening when she came home late from work, just a few days before she was murdered. Hyerin never once tried to take out the picture from the frame nor do anything else with it except to place it on her bedside table to remind her of her mother every day. There was nothing suspicious about it – it was just an innocent gift.

But then what was this?

“Are you sure, Hyerin?” Jonghyun asked. Once again, Hyerin nodded.

With shaking hands, Jonghyun opened the paper. Maybe it wasn’t anything harmful. Maybe it was just one of her letters. Maybe there was no reason to be nervous.

As expected it was a long letter, taking up every space and corner of the paper. Her handwriting started off clean and perfect, but towards the end the words bunched up together like she was trying to fit everything into the sheet.

“Hyerin, I think you should read this,” Jonghyun sighed.

“But-”

“It’s your letter, Hyerin,” he said. “Not mine.”

Hyerin gulped as she took the paper. “O-Okay,” she mumbled, leaning against the bedframe. “Okay.”

May 18^th, 2010 

My Hyerin,                                                                                                                                                                     

You probably won’t find this letter unless something happens that will compel you to dissemble this picture frame and lead you to find this (the chances of that are very, very slim). And that is why I hid this letter inconspicuously – because it is most likely you will never be able to read this in your whole life. But that would just be horrible of me and you deserve to know the truth. What I’m about to tell you is going to be shocking, but you have the right to know even if you don’t want to. That’s why I’m hiding this letter.

Hyerin, I’m going to die. It may be in a few days or in a few weeks, maybe even months. And it’s not by a natural cause of death – I’m talking about murder. You’re probably thinking it’s impossible for me to know this but I do. I can see the future.

I have the power of precognition, the ability to see the future vaguely. I’ve had it since I was a child and I have been using it for my own convenience. That’s how I know I’m going to be murdered and also how I know you’re going to be extremely useful to humanity in the future. It’s the reason why your father and I separated. He didn’t want you to be involved in M-LX and I did, but he doesn’t know I have the power the see the future. He doesn’t see the potential I see in you. Literally. And that’s why I raised you on my own and trained you to fight, because sooner or later you’ll have to. I won’t go into details about my death because I, myself, do not know how or when it’s going to happen. My powers have limitations too.

Lastly (and this is the most important thing I’m about to say to you), I also have to reveal your true capabilities. I do not know if at this point your father told you about your complications as a newborn and that we made you go through a heart operation, but if he didn’t, just ask him. If yes, then I’m telling you that there’s more to you than your extraordinary heart.

I’m not the only one in the family who has a power. Hyerin, you have the ability to determine and steal others’ supernatural power - power sensing and stealing. It may sound strange and shocking, but it’s true. I had some help from the M-LX research facility and discovered this information at the last minute, just before we moved out of your father’s house. He doesn’t know this either, and it was better that way.

You cannot control this power until you activate it with the right chemicals. And I will tell you what these chemicals are, as well as the amount of dosage you need to activate and strengthen your power so you’ll be able to use it. If you want to, and if it is greatly needed.

Remember, Hyerin. Our powers are a gift. Just a couple of days ago, I’ve been assigned by Agent Zero (you never met him before but he’s a friend of mine and your father’s) to investigate on twelve young boys living around the area. They have powers too, Hyerin, like you and I. They’re around the same age as you and they don’t know they have supernatural abilities either. I will probably never meet them; I’m practically counting my days.

I love you, Hyerin. I know you know that. I hope you don’t hate yourself for the special abilities you have and I sincerely hope you use it for the greater good. When I’m gone, I hope you’ll take care of yourself better and grow into a beautiful young woman.

But who am I kidding? I know you’ll hold up just fine. I can see the future remember?

P.S. My visions of the future are very vague and unclear but I can see you’ve met the twelve boys I’m talking about. I’m happy you’re getting along with them just fine.

P.P.S. Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine (I’m not saying this just because. I can see the future!!!).

P.P.P.S (<-is there such a thing?) Say hi to your boyfriend for me. He seems like a very fine young man and you both look happy together. He seriously loves you a lot. That much I can tell.

- Mom

After that, a list of chemicas and their descriptions were listed below, at the very end of the page. But Hyerin paid no attention to them. All she could think about was her mother and everything else in this order: murder, her mother having superpowers, and herself having superpowers.

Hyerin held the bedframe for support. She couldn’t breathe.

“Hyerin?” Jonghyun worriedly mumbled, holding her elbow for support.

Hyerin didn’t get to answer as her eyes rolled back, her whole body collapsing to the floor.

Before she completely passed out, she heard a loud noise outside. Her eyes opened and she turned to the window, catching a glimpse of Luhan successfully lifting the tree off the ground.

Then everything turned black.

---

Hyerin woke up to the others talking among themselves inside Jonghyun and Hyeseul’s room, where Hyerin was lying on their shared bed. She couldn't remember what was going on until she caught sight of the yellowing paper in Kris’ hands.

That’s when she started crying.

“Oh, Hyerin,” Sehun muttered, his voice laced with pity.

“Come here,” Tao whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling the girl to his chest. She clutched the front of his shirt and cried, cried, cried.

“It’s going to be okay,” he reassured, soothingly rubbing her back.

“I don’t understand,” she sobbed. “I just can’t keep up with anything anymore.”

“That’s alright,” Luhan said. “There’s too much going on for you lately and this just…added to it.”

“Don’t cry, Hyerin,” Hyeseul mumbled, helping Tao caress her back. “Like what your mother said, everything is going to be fine.”

Hyerin hiccupped, her cheeks completely covered in tears. She didn’t mean to cry – she swore not to anymore – and she’d been through so much worse than this, but the fact that that letter was from her mother made her miss her ten times more. And made her disoriented ten times more.

She willed herself to stop crying, that this was all getting ridiculous and embarrassing especially in front of The Noxius Brothers, and immediately rubbed her eyes to control herself. Tao took the end of his shirt and wiped her cheeks with it.

“…gift…” she mumbled in between hiccups.

“What?” Kris asked quietly.

“My power is a gift,” she continued. “She’s right.”

Minho nodded. “She is.”

“And that I should use it for the greater good.”

Everyone nodded.

Hyerin pulled away from Tao and stood up. “If all that she said in the letter is true, I would want to find out myself.”

Kris took a step forward. “What do you mean?”

Hyerin thought about Seoul, how disastrous everything must be back there. All the lost lives and the suffering that they left there was no joke, and even right now, at this moment, people were still dying.

“I’m going back to Seoul,” she said, her voice cracking here and there. “She said I could steal other people’s powers-”

“And sense them,” Jonghyun added.

“Right. I want to make use of it. I want to activate it and see what happens.”

“I don’t mean to pry, but do you think it’s worth it?” Baekhyun, for the first time that day, spoke up. He was leaning against the doorframe with his hands folded against his chest, looking at Hyerin with concern.

She wondered why he was standing so far back, but then she remembered that day at the Laundromat and the things he said, and almost instantly she understood.

He was holding himself back.

“It’s worth it,” she said, nodding. “I honestly believe that it could change everything.”

And no one tried to argue with her because it was true.

“Then we’ll leave as early as tomorrow morning while it’s still dark.” Whenever Key talked, it was always clear and sharp, so only when he spoke did Hyerin realize they were all talking in a hushed manner.

“We should start packing our things tonight then,” Myungsoo said.

“You guys don’t have to come along,” Kris said. “Live your lives peacefully here in Gwangju, you need it.”

Key rolled his eyes. “We will never be at peace until all the ruckus has been solved. And trust me,” he gestured for his two brothers to follow him, “we’re as desperate as you to fix everything.” And then they left.

The others remaining discussed what their plan was for tomorrow, such as finding the chemicals needed for Hyerin’s power and how to get to the M-LX HQ without catching too much attention. It was after five minutes or so when everyone dispersed to tend to their own duties, all except for Baekhyun.

He shut the door behind him and leaned against it for a moment. He rolled his flannel’s sleeves up his shoulders and adjusted his glasses, not once taking his eyes off of Hyerin.

“What?” Hyerin asked softly, pulling her legs against her chest and resting her chin on top of her knees. In her hand was the letter.

Baekhyun sighed and walked over to her with slow steps. He sat in front of her and cupped her face with both hands.

“I know nothing I say will change your mind,” he started, “because this is a really big advantage to us and honestly? It’s probably the best thing that’s happened in a while.”

“But…?” Hyerin knew that wasn’t the end.

“But,” he sighed, his hands slipping from her face to her shoulders, “I can’t help but be worried. We’ve gone through so much to keep you safe and now we’re just throwing you back to where the danger is.”

Hyerin smiled, squeezing his arm. “You know what? I’m actually surprised no one picked a fight with me earlier to prove to me how much of a stupid idea it is to go back to Seoul.”

Baekhyun chuckled. “That’s because it’s not a stupid idea.”

“I know. And I don’t want to run away anymore, Baekhyun. Running away is worse than standing in the middle of the battlefield to fight.”

He let go of her shoulders and smiled almost nostalgically. “I liked it better when you suggested irrational, impulsive ideas. Because the rest of us find a way to point out loopholes and tell you how much you’re wrong.”

“This isn’t exactly an irrational idea, is it? Impulsive, but not irrational.”

“Well it’s certainly worrisome.”

“You’re the only one who worries.”

“How can I not?” he asked, smiling at the floor. “The girl I love is about to delve right into danger and I can’t do anything to change her mind.”

Hyerin was taken aback by how he used the world ‘love’ so lightly. She’d never done that before – speak of love as if it were such an ordinary thing.

“Mm,” she hummed, staring down at her feet. If she were in this situation when she still had feelings for Baekhyun, she would have freaked.

There was a long silence that followed before Baekhyun stood up. She glanced up at him and saw that he was already looking at her.

“I’m going to go check on Luhan. He managed to pull out the tree from the backyard and his body seemed to weaken. Want to come with?”

Hyerin shook her head. “Nah, I’m okay. I just want to be alone for now.”

Baekhyun nodded, giving her a smile of encouragement before leaving. Once the door shut behind him, she laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling before lifting the letter to her face, reading it at least twenty more times.

---

A/N: This update was almost 10,000 words long! I don't know if this is the longest update I've ever done but if it is, then yay! Although I had to rewrite and edit out stuff along the process so it took longer than expected. Comment below what you thought about the update and again, thank you so much for the support!

I'm going off topic here, but please do recommend some books? Just a heads up - don't mention The Mortal Instruments and the Divergent series, I tried and immediately gave up on them (they're not terrible, really, but I just couldn't stand it). Oh, and follow me on Tumblr (click here) I promise to post pretty things. ;;