♦ ♦ ♦ Chapter Eight ♦ ♦ ♦

Chanyeol pulled Baekhyun into the house, with Suho following close and dragging Chen and Xiumin with him. They quickly locked the door and headed to the living room. Wordlessly, Chanyeol and Suho pushed the three clueless boys towards the couch. The two nervous wrecks remained quiet, sharing knowing looks with each other before turning around and resuming their pacing. Chen was about to speak up when Suho held up a hand, turning to him.

"Where's Kris?"

"Here."

They all turned to the deep voice that came from behind them. Standing in the doorway with their figures soaked in rain and their boots drenched in mud ('guys, could you at least take off the ing boots', Minseok mumbled) were Kris and Luhan, looking very serious and shocked themselves. This was a rare sight to see. Kris was never shocked. They noticed how he kept his hands clenched into fists at his sides, his shoulders looking very stiff as he approached the little group huddled in the middle of the room.

"...how was your mission?" Suho started tentatively, eyeing Kris with a questioning look. Chanyeol took a seat beside Baekhyun, linking their hands together but still not yanking his intense gaze on Kris.

"...how was yours?" Kris chose to reply, shifting his weight to one foot.

Luhan remained frozen by the doorway, biting his lips as his gaze flickered back and forth between Baekhyun and a random spot on the floor beside Kris's foot. Baekhyun noticed this, and was about to stand up and get a towel for his soaking friends when Chanyeol pulled him down with force, slightly hurting his wrist. He winced, whipping around to glare at his boyfriend.

"You er, what's wron--

"Baekhyun, please be quiet. This is seriously important." Chanyeol said firmly, and for the first time in a while, Baekhyun found himself obeying Chanyeol's words without a fight.

Chanyeol was seldomly serious, and when he was, it was always with reason. Baekhyun sat back down properly, hands on his lap as his eyes darter back and forth between the two leaders. Suho cleared his throat, and Kris tensed up, as if bracing himself for something.

"Did Jun Jin-sunbae tell you anything?" Suho asked quietly, and Kris pressed his lips into a thin line before nodding slightly. Suho observed the details on Kris's and Luhan's face. He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it there as he closed his eyes tightly before speaking again. "Andy-sunbae told us things, too, Kris."

At this, Luhan finally detached himself from the door, walking over to Baekhyun and cupping his face. Chanyeol let him do as he pleased, and Luhan proceeded to turning Baekhyun's face this way, and that, observing every inch of his face. He took one of Baekhyun's arm and pushed the sleeve back, examining his skin again. Baekhyun blushed at what was happening, but kept his mouth shut. Soon, Luhan stopped and let Baekhyun's arm drop down lamely.

"He's...I don't get it." Luhan muttered, and Chen, Xiumin and Baekhyun could only stare in wonder and unadulterated confusion at their friends.

"Luhan, calm down." Kris said sharply, and Luhan shook his head.

"I don't get it, Kris. He's normal. He's human! Perfectly human! How...how can he be an error in time?"

Baekhyun's ears perked up, and he turned to Luhan, throwing him a scandalized look. Error in time doesn't really sound good, and he swallowed nervously as Kris and Suho looked at him, their gazes piercing. Chanyeol held him protectively, and he was the one who broke the silence.

"We'll talk when everyone's here."

Baekhyun sat in between Chanyeol and Luhan. Sehun was beside the latter, holding hands and just keeping quiet. D.O. was nursing a wound on Kai's arm (a wound that he got from chasing around Eric Mun, another Shinhwa member) and they conversed in hushed whispers. Lay sidled up to Suho, his eyes darting back and forth between everyone's faces. Tao sat quietly beside Kris, face looking grim. Actually, everyone looked grim and worried and just plain scared.

"EXO, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Kris started, elbows resting on his knees and clasped fingers pressed against his chin.

Everyone waited with bated breath as their leader collected his thoughts. His watch beeped, and they all raised an eyebrow at how he ignored it, promptly taking it off after a few more annoying beeps and shoving it under the couch's cushion.

"We've been fired."

Everyone looked at him quizzically, even Suho who seemed to know everything that was going on except for the one that Kris had just dropped.

"We're jobless?" Chen repeated lamely, and Kris shrugged.

"No."

"...is this a joke, Kris." Chen deadpanned, and Kris threw him a look.

"It's not. Technically, we're jobless, because I doubt you'd want to go back to HQ once you hear what Shinhwa told us."

"Shinhwa? Didn't our sunbaes start a rebellion against HQ a few months back?" Lay piped up curiously, and Suho nodded behind him.

"Yeah, they did, but for a good reason, apparently."

"Wait, so they told you something during your pursuit and you're believing them?" Kyungsoo asked, eyes wide and lips parted slightly in surprise.

"I trust them more than I trust HQ, to be honest." Kai mumbled, and Kyungsoo turned to him.

"Gentlemen, we're being used." Kris said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"By whom?" Xiumin asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"By HQ, by Ko Hyunjung. She's using us for her own greed."

Kris shifted in his seat, and Tao gently placed a hand on the small of his back, pushing him on and smiling. Clearing his throat, he tried his best to remember Jun Jin's exact words, wanting to relay the message to his comrades as verbatim as he could.

"For sick reasons unknown to us, Ko Hyunjung wants to rule the world. She's using SHINee and Shinhwa to erase problems in different timelines."

"What do you mean? Why are you singling those teams out?" Sehun interjected, and Suho took it from there.

"They're level A teams, and they have one more thing in their job description that isn't in ours."

"And that is?"

"The authorization to kill." Chanyeol mumbled darkly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"They...kill? But we're only supposed to bring back illegal timedroppers and fix the creases caused by this illegal timedropping! We don't kill!" Lay insisted, sounding horrified and offended.

"We don't, but they do. It's their job. Ko Hyunjung orders them to do so." Suho straightened up in his seat, and Xiumin frowned.

"But how come we don't hear about this?"

"Ko Hyunjung controls everything in here. We may be called a democracy now, but she controls everything behind the scenes. Seoul isn't enough for her, so she wants the world. But then, here is the most confusing and surprising part. There's still no explanation as to why this is, but it's a problem that Ko Hyunjung is still facing, hence her need for SHINee and Shinhwa." Kris stated, and everyone leaned closer to hear the big news. "Her biggest problem...is Byun Baekhyun."

After a considerable silence, everyone turned to the said boy. Chanyeol rubbed Baekhyun's back soothingly, but he couldn't process anything. How was he the biggest problem in all this? He wasn't even from that period! His mind was still reeling from the revelation, but Kris continued on with his talk.

"Byun Baekhyun, it seems, is who SHINee and Shinhwa are after, or rather, were. Ko Hyunjung had them timedrop to different time periods to eliminate the Byun Baekhyun of that time. Now, I'm only assuming this, and so is Shinhwa, but I think that the reason why Ko Hyunjung is bent on eliminating on you is because Baekhyun, from whatever time period he may be, might have repeatedly found a way to stop her from her plans. Now this is only an assumption. And another thing, we believe that the reason why the Baekhyun of this period, you, are still alive is because of Chanyeol." Kris gestured at the tall boy, and Baekhyun instinctively snuggled closer.

"Chanyeol wasn't supposed to overstay in your period, but he did, ruining the equation by adding his self. Had he not met you, you would have probably been eliminated by SHINee's Key." Suho explained, and Baekhyun shook his head.

"I don't get it...what do I have to do with all of this? I'm not doing anything to ruin her plan of world ing domination." Baekhyun muttered, and Kris nodded.

"We know. That's what we're trying to find out."

"How?" D.O. was the one who spoke up, gripping Kai's hand a little too tightly.

"We're running away. We're leaving Seoul. Jun Jin-sunbae told us of a hideout invisible from HQ's radars, just outside city borders. Minwoo-sunbae's there, keeping watch." Kris stood up from his seat, and everyone had an alarmed look on their faces. Things were going too fast.

"Wait, this is...wait, Kris! We need to think about this!" Chen said, worried and scared of the rapid change of things.

"We don't have time, Chen! If we want to live, we need to go now." Kris hissed, and Chen frowned at him, fists clenching.

"No one's going to kill us, Kris! That's probably just bull that Shinhwa fed you so that you'll let them go!" He retorted, and Chanyeol snapped at him.

"Who the told you that we're making this up?! When we surrendered Andy-sunbae to HQ, he wasn't even given the right treatment and procedures. He went straight to the lowest level of prison. We were checked and inspected from head to toe, man. We were brought in for questioning. We were being suspected and mistreated after a supposedly job well done, and the first thing Ko Hyunjung asked us when reported to her was, 'did he tell you anything?'. She sounded apprehensive and worried for herself. And don't forget, that loathed that Baekhyun was here, under our guard. She's out to get my Baekhyun, and I'm not going to let that happen so get your ing up and follow Kris!" Chanyeol hissed angrily, hand wrapped around Baekhyun's wrist.

"Guys, we need to go. We need all the time we can get to prepare." Suho pushed on, ushering everyone out of the door.

"Prepare what?" Sehun asked, and this time, it was Luhan who answered, finally speaking again.

"Shinhwa, even before they started the rebellion, was already aware of Ko Hyunjung's intentions. Because of this, they had been secretly researching...things. Things that could help us in an inevitable war against HQ and Ko Hyunjung's A.I. robots." Baekhyun's ears perked up at the mention of robots, but he remained quiet, listening.

"What kind of things?"

"Super powers." Luhan mumbled quietly, and all twelve of them forced themselves to walk faster under the pounding drops of rain despite the force and gravity of the news that they had just received.

A/N: Fear not, for you are not the only confused by this . =))))))) I've already read it a bajillion times and I'm still baffled at my ability to turn anything random =)))) feel free to ask questions so I know what's confusing everybody. I'll make sure to clarify them in the coming chapters. yeh. =))) yeaaah, this is turning into a MAMA!AU, what with the powers and robots and stuff. im so sorry =)))

Tumblr | Twitter | Ask.fm | Livejournal