❝decisions to make

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                                 Life is full of it but what matters most is our choice.

Luhan's perspective 

“Luhan! Luhan!” Yixing came rushing to my room.“I think I figured it out.”

I shot him a concerned look. “Figured out what?”

“The meaning of the hidden prophecy line.” He said as he closed the door. “I knew it was this. After I quarreled with Kris, I visited the master’s bedroom and I noticed something. If we just saw it earlier, we could have stopped a death. If… if…” He looked like he was going to lose his mind.

“Yixing, calm down first.” I made him sit on the bed. “There’s no point panicking. What is it that you’ve find?”

“A note… written on the mahogany table. It wasn’t that easy to notice because it is scribbled with black ink.” He fiddled with his fingers. “I think we all misunderstood Xiumin. The note was clearly his handwriting and I think he was hoping Kyungsoo could read it. We all jumped into conclusions without knowing the details.”

“What did the note say?” I took a chair and sat in front of him. “And explain to me your conclusions.” I held his hands to stop them from fiddling nervously. They were cold and shaking.

“It says, ‘Don’t worry. I am not leaving you. I am going back.’ It wasn’t a conspiracy, Lu-ge. We were all wrong. Xiumin just resorted to the choice of stopping Chen himself. He was just desperate.” Tears welled up in his eyes. “That is what the prophecy means. It focuses on Xiumin. The ability that shall stir up the sea is his. Only he has that ability now that Suho is gone. Water and Frost are two related powers. The stormer refers to Chen since lightning is a component of the storm. Decree means a mandatory and official command and it says that Xiumin’s understanding will break it. I think breaking means… it means…” He didn’t finish and just cried but I got what he wanted to say.

“It means suicide.” I nodded as I spoke slowly. “Xiumin understood what was going on even though he didn’t know about the venom’s effect.”

“We must save him, Lu-ge.” He squeezed my hands. “He committed no wrong.”

My eyes darkened at what he said. “He still killed Kyungsoo, Xing. We all know that.”

“He must have his own reasons.” He insisted. “We can’t just let him die. Come on, Luhan.”

I sighed in defeat. “ Okay. I will help you but promise me one thing. You will not extract the Taste of Greed.”

He lowered his head to avoid my eyes. He did not say anything.

“Xing, promise me.” I made him look at me. “You have to promise me.”

He kept his mouth shut and shook his head.

I was infuriated. “Gosh, Xing! If you can’t promise me, I won’t do it. I am sane enough not to deliver you into your death bed in a shortcut. No, I won’t do that kind of thing.”

“Sorry. I came to the wrong person.” He slipped his hands out from mine. “I thought you would help me no matter what, I was wrong. If you won’t, I will do it alone.”

“Do it alone?” I stood up and raised my voice. “What can you do to save even one of them anyway? Heal them at the verge of death? No, Xing, your powers are of no help during these times. Go on. Save them yourself and let’s see if you’ll succeed.”

“Thank you for making me feel even more useless!” He yelled at me and walked out, slamming the door shut.

“So blunt. Tsk tsk tsk.” Kai shook his head in disapproval. “You just encouraged him into doing it.”

“I discouraged him.” I threw him the chair. He teleported right away and the chair hit the wall. He appeared beside me and put his arm around my shoulder. “No, Han. You urged him to prove what he can really do. You challenged him.” He whispered. “Reverse psychology.”

“What the hell are you saying?” I screamed. “Can you just leave me alone?”

“Okay.” He smirked and vanished.

I slumped to my bed in exhaustion. My head was throbbing. I was massaging my temples when someone opened my door with such a great force it almost fell off.

“Is Kai here?” Baekhyun asked. I can hear something from his voice—is it anxiety?

“He was but he already left.” I muttered. “Why?”

“Was he with Yixing?” The question made me frown.

“I don’t know.” I looked at him. “Maybe he was.”

“When he heard the two of you fighting, he left me alone in his room so I thought he would be here.” He was browned off. “I should have stopped him. Gosh, I think he is serious. This is so frustrating; he is so good in timing.”

“Why are you so annoyed, anyway?” I gave him a stern look. “What’s happening?”

“Kai is… ugh!” He let out an irritated grunt. “Can you first locate him? I’ll tell you later if we’re on the move. There’s no time to waste.”

I rolled my eyes at him and tried to concentrate. I imagined about the link between Kai and me and tried to read his mind. It was hard though, he is moving fast. I concentrated harder and locked the target. He is with Yixing and they’re heading to the sea. I organized his thoughts and one idea caught my attention: He is planning to die.

“They’re heading to the ocean at a fast pace.” I said to Baekhyun. “We’ll be able to catch up if we double up the speed, assuming that they won’t teleport.”

“Got it.” He nodded. “We have to get moving. I will explain.”

“No need.” I snatched up the jacket from the floor. “I already know.”

We sprinted out of my room without any delay. I tried to contact Kai’s mind but it was blocked. Maybe he already figured out my intrusion. I gritted my teeth. If I find you, you’re dead. When we got near the door, it opened and Chanyeol came in. we stopped in our tracks.

“Where are you two going?” His voice was hoarse and eyes were bloodshot. It looked like he just finished crying.

“We are going to…” Baek tried to say everything but I gave him a signal not to be too truthful. It will be trouble if others will know.

“To stroll along the beach.” I finished his sentence immediately. “We need to wind up ourselves.”

Chanyeol frowned. “With Baekhyun?”

“Yes, of course.” I put my arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“Can I come, too?” Chanyeol asked.

“NO!” Baek and I said in unison.

“O…kay?” Chanyeol arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Baek smiled at him as I opened the door. “We gotta go.”

We run again the moment we got out of the tent. We entered the Forest of Mirage and headed north. We covered quite a long distance until an unexpected thing happened. A crevasse appeared before us, so deep that we can’t se the bottom.

“Where to?” Baek panted. “Dead end.”