Chen woke to the sun streaming in through the window by the bed.

 

He swung his right arm over his eyes to block what little amount of light passed through his eyelids. Why is it so bright? He groaned inwardly as he scrunched his eyebrows and decided to just fully turn his back to the bright light. The action made him completely aware of the aching he felt in his body and head. 

 

"Ngghh..."

 

“You’re awake!”

 

Chen groaned louder and pulled a pillow over his head. Of course his brother would be there to bother him so early in the morning. I need to sleep off this headache! Go away, Baek. He wanted to stay all comfortable in the soft bed with such clean-smelling sheets and a blanket so fluffy it felt like he was sleeping in a cloud - less the moisture, of course. Wait. Soft bed?!

 

Realizing he wasn’t home, the boy’s eyes shot open and he suddenly sat up, only to aggravate the aching in his head. “Urgh.” He clutched his head, and immediately, his twin was by his side.

 

“Chen! Take it easy." His older brother said, rubbing soothing circles on his back. "Hey. How are you feeling?”

 

Chen tried to lift his head to face his twin, only to regret it immediately. The headache only got worse with his every move. He whimpered.
 

“Here, drink this,” Baekhyun handed him a glass of water, and the twin gulped it down quickly. He handed it back to the other boy, asking for more. Three more cups of water, and the headache began to subside.
 

“Lay hyung said you’d need to replace your fluids right away when you woke up,” Baekhyun explained, now working on massaging the muscles on Chen's nape. “You lost a LOT of blood the other night, so we’ve been trying to keep you as well hydrated as we could, but it was kind of hard without the proper equipment.”
 

“Lay?” Chen asked, releasing his head from his hands and stretching his aching muscles. “Who’s that? Where are we?”
 

Baekhyun shrugged. He leaned back on his seat beside the bed as he stared at his now fully awakened twin. “We’re at Kris and Yeol hyungs’. Lay is some healer friend of theirs.”
 

“That healer must be pretty good, then,” the other answered, raising his arms above his head and stretching his back with a loud Mmmmhh!!. “I could swear I was dead back at the warehouse.”
 

“Well, you almost were, you genius.” Baekhyun said grimly, his lips set into a thin line. “We’re lucky Kris hyung managed to get you back here.”
 

“What about that D.O guy from the Trio? Did you beat him?”
 

The light bearer scowled at his brother. “We could’ve beaten him. If only somebody had bothered to think before they act.”
 

Chen grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry ‘bout that. That guy just really pissed me off.”
 

"No , Sherlock!" Baekhyun slapped Chen's hand from his nape and replaced it with his own. The short and simple massage relaxed his exhausted body. Chen hummed his thanks. The older twin sighed and scooted towards the head of the bed, bringing his feet up on the free space beside Chen's, his arms supporting his head on the headboard. “Well, at least we’re alive.”
 

Chen nodded and laid down next to his brother, burying his head in the fluffy pillows, looking up towards his older twin.

 

“So... How long was I out?”
 

“Two freakin' long nights.” Baekhyun said with a huff but stared at his younger twin with relief and pure joy. The past two nights were a torture for his poor heart. Seeing his brother alive, well, and breathing... it was priceless. His brother meant everything to him.
 

“Sorry I worried you.” the younger one whispered in reply, a pout forming on his lips.
 

“Hmm.”
 

“What do we do now?”
 

Baekhyun sighed once more, his eyes now on the poorly fixed door. “We have to leave. The Trio were here yesterday morning, searching the house, and I think they’re beginning to be suspicious of Kris hyung. Lay hyung came back in the afternoon saying that troops are gonna be dispatched in the next few days to search for us."
 

“Seems like we're celebrities," Chen hummed. 
 

"And we have a battalion of people after us - perhaps literally," Baekhyun added. Despite their tendency to joke over things, both of the twins were capable of grasping the gravity of the situation. Being tracked down wouldn't only cost them their own lives - but also those of the people they cared about.
 

"We should get of here, then, huh?" Chen murmured. "If the Uniforms come back here and find no sign of us, they should leave Kris and Yeol hyung alone... Right?"
 

Baekhyun nodded, getting out of bed and pulling his shirt off. He went to a corner of the room where his and Chen’s clothes were neatly folded and threw his twin’s clothes towards the bed.
 

“Let’s get back into our own clothes first,” he said, putting on his own clean but tattered shirt.
 

After changing and fixing up the bedroom, Baekhyun led the way out of the room, moving as stealthily as during the night of the stakeout. Baekhyun knew that Kris was usually already up by this time, but he was sure that the older boy had gone to his own twin’s bedroom just before Chen woke up. That meant that they had to hurry out the back door to avoid being detected through Chanyeol’s bedroom window.
 

Chen crept along quietly behind his twin. Though still a bit lightheaded, he tried to remain just as light on his feet to avoid making any sound. Baekhyun had explained that Kris wouldn’t exactly let them leave so easily, and knowing the older boy, Chen understood that it was him playing the eldest brother like he always did - he’d make sure that they were well fed and clothed before letting either of them out the door.
 

The two reached the back door by the entrance to the kitchen and Baekhyun slowly pulled the door open. They were both hunched over in their attempt to look small and ready to walk through the door when the sound of a person clearing his throat made them freeze in their tracks.
 

“You weren’t planning on leaving without saying goodbye, are you?”
 

Both boys straightened themselves slowly and turned to face Kris, who stood on the stairs, looking regal and authoritative with one hand on the railing and the other hanging by his side. A single brow was raised and his lips were set in a thin line, obviously not amused by the other two’s attempt to ‘escape’.
 

Baekhyun grinned sheepishly at the man on the stairs, rubbing his nape. “Uhhm... W-we were just going out to... get some fresh air? I think Chen really needs it after being cooped up for so long!”
 

Kris made his way down the steps and the twins unconsciously took a step back in an attempt to avoid his intimidating presence. Kris looked from Baekhyun to Chen, and his stiff gaze broke into a relieved smile. “I’m glad you’re alright now, Chen.”
 

Chen bowed his head slightly, unsure of whether the older boy was mad or not. “Thanks for looking out for me and my brother.”
 

Kris shrugged. “That’s what we’re here for. Now,” he said, turning back to Baekhyun. “Why are you making your brother leave so suddenly when he just woke up from practically being in a coma for almost 36hours? Baekhyun, all our efforts could have gone to waste if he had fainted in an alley somewhere just because he physically strained himself without even eating anything.”
 

Baekhyun opened his mouth to respond, but the stern look on Kris’ sharp features had returned. The young light master closed his mouth and swallowed his protest. Kris' eyes softened as he saw how scared the two were. He didn't mean to be intimidating, he just wanted to look out for their sakes. They were the closest he and Chanyeol could have as a family.

 

“I hope you both remember that you're a part of this family. Me, Chanyeol, you, and Chen. I will always be worried.” Kris said as he gave the two the subtlest of smiles which seemed to relieve the stress on the younger pair's shoulders. The smile they returned to him was full of respect and adoration.

 

“Well, enough about that! Why don’t you two come into the kitchen? I fixed up some food for everyone. Chanyeol will be down in a minute,” Kris then led the way into the said room.
 

The twins exchanged a look before following suit. To their surprise, the table had already been set. The aroma of freshly cooked sausages and mixed vegetables that greeted them proved that their eyes did not deceive them. They were indeed being greeted by real food. Both twins felt their mouths water, overcome by the sensations that hit them.
 

"Hyung?" Baekhyun tried to capture the eldest's attention. The twins' feet were both glued to the floor, uncertain whether to accept what was offered in front of them.
 

"Sit down, you children," Kris ordered, remaining focused on the glasses he was pulling out of the cupboard.
 

The twins shared another glance. "Hyung, these are your rations," Chen said.
 

"Yep. Don't worry. I know how to cook," Kris chuckled, putting the glasses on a tray with a pitcher of juice.
 

"But these are your rations, hyung." Baekhyun replied.
 

Kris set the tray on the table, then turned to face the twins, eyebrow raised. "I thought we already determined that."
 

Chen sighed. "Hyung, these are your rations. Yes," he held up a hand to stop Kris from speaking up again. "We have settled that these are your rations."
 

"What we meant was that we know that the government's rations are barely enough to get by on. You don't need to go around feeding us as well. We can get our own food back at camp."
 

"Really, now?" Kris challenged, eyebrow still raised and all his weight on one leg. "You were supposed to be getting your rations the other night, right? When you, you know, got beat up by the Trio boy with large eyes?"
 

"Still..." Baekhyun fell silent.
 

"We'll find food. We have plenty of mouths left to feed, anyway." Chen answered, puffing out his chest. He would've stood up straighter if the ache in his abdomen wasn't bugging him so much.
 

"You know, you'll need energy to feed those mouths," a deep voice said. All three heads in the room turned to look at the tall boy by the door. A toothy grin was on his handsome face, his wide eyes almost covered by the curly hair that fell across his brow.
 

"Chanyeol!" Baekhyun greeted, crossing the room to give the big guy a hug. 
 

Chen wasn't far behind. "Glad to see you're up and well," he said.
 

Chanyeol pulled away from the other two to look Chen up and down. "I could say the same about you. Kris told me you guys got into trouble again."
 

"Yeah, but we pulled through, thanks to Kris hyung," Baekhyun answered.
 

"And I don't want my efforts to go to waste just because you boys refuse to eat the food I so graciously cooked for you," Kris humphed.
 

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I am starving! I didn't get to eat properly for the past couple of days, so we have a lot of food to spare. Besides--," he paused, a smug smile appearing on his normally cheery face, “that’s the beauty of being extremely talented mechanics. You earn more money that could get you more food. How else do you think did we get to be this tall?” Chanyeol took a seat and grabbed a knife and fork. "Let's dig in! Thanks for the food!"
 

Kris shook his head at his brother. "You can't really tell that he hasn't eaten in two days, though. The monster still has enough energy left to be so noisy."
 

"Hey, I heard that, Kris!" Chanyeol shouted, bits of food flying from his mouth.
 

"Oh gross, keep the food in your mouth, Yeol! We have guests!" Kris prodded the two boys to take a seat. "Besides, you were supposed to hear that."
 

"Oh, just eat, you two," Chanyeol said, exasperated. Chen and Baekhyun had taken their seats next to himself and Kris, but neither made a move to eat. "Baekhyun has become a lot skinnier and you, Chen, look like you're about to be put on display in the Academy's biology club room!"

 

Chanyeol's eyes widened as he stared at the two unmoving twins in front of him, but clearly eyeing the food served in front. "As a skeleton-like creature, in case you guys didn't get that?"

 

"Chanyeol, stop talking while your mouth is full, please. You two, eat! Now!"

 

Chen and Baekhyun soon found their plates being filled with food by the older pair of twins. The tall boys moved in sync as they put sausage after sausage onto the other two's plates, then placed forks into both boys' hands.
 

Both twins gave in at the same time. "Thanks for the food," they chorused, digging in to the meal.
 

Kris smiled, satisfied with their obedience, then dug into his own meal. Only the clinking of utensils could be heard in the next few minutes as all four ate in silence, enjoying the first proper meal any of them were able to have in the past couple of days. It was Chanyeol who broke the silence at last, gulping down the last drops of juice in his cup.
 

"So," he began, "what kind of trouble did you boys find this time?"
 

"Haha," Kris laughed bitterly. "The Trio kind."
 

"Huh?"
 

"Yeah, we kind of ran into the Trio." Chen answered dryly.
 

"What? But the Trio have powers, right?"
 

Baekhyun smirked, his eyebrow raised at the glass of juice in his hand. "So do we, remember?"
 

Chanyeol was about to speak up about his own ability when he caught Kris' look. He raised his eyebrows at his brother, but swallowed his sentence, anyway. "So the two of you fought the Trio?" He asked instead.
 

"No, the two of us fought one of the Trio." Chen revised.
 

"Well, if we’re gonna be really technical, one of us fought head on with one of the Trio, couldn't handle it, then the other had to haul our butts out of there. I guess you know who was who," Baekhyun corrected, side-eyeing his brother, who chuckled.
 

"Yeah, I guess my powers aren't a good match for D.O."
 

"So? What happened exactly?"
 

"Well, basically we were about to go on a raid when D.O and some of his men suddenly appeared. We knocked out the Uniforms easily, but D.O’s ability comes from controlling the earth, right? Pretty good defense against my ability,” Chen frowned, sparks literally flying from his fingers around the fork he held.
 

“Haha. Chill, Chen! You’re gonna bring down the house like this,” Baekhyun laughed nervously, stuffing a sausage into his twin’s mouth.
 

"Hey!" The other grumbled, choking on the sausage before managing to swallow it. The older twins chuckled at their friends, amused at how the two were acting as if their lives weren't on the line just the day before.
 

They really are something, Kris thought.
 

"So, you said that the Trio were here yesterday, Kris. How'd you manage to get rid of them?" Chanyeol asked, turning his attention back to his own twin.
 

"Huh?" Kris choked, gulping down a glass of water while frantically casting a glance at Baekhyun, who had stiffened at the question. "Ummm... Baekhyun got rid of them."
 

"What? We barely got out of fighting D.O, how'd you manage getting rid of all three?"
 

"Well, if you had stopped to think when we were up against D.O, we would've managed just fine, you know."
 

"I'll get him next time," Chen said, going back to his meal.
 

“No, but really, how did you manage to get them to leave?” Chanyeol asked, secretly relieved that they hadn’t bothered to search up to the second floor. If any one of them had seen him with his abnormally high temperature - he shuddered at the thought. He’d heard the rumors of the government’s genetic testing, and it wasn’t something he’d want for himself or his brother.

 

“Well?”
 

“Baekhyun has a.... very interesting ability,” Kris said, looking up from his plate at Baekhyun, who looked back at him with wide eyes.
 

“Something tells me you did something major, Baek,” Chen said, also stopping to look at his twin.
 

"He was actually very... Graphic." Kris said, his gaze still fixed on Baekhyun.
 

"Graphic? You mean?" Chanyeol urged his twin to continue.
 

"D.O just upped and left after one look in the room."
 

"For real?"
 

"It really was quite a sight. I think the vivid image in my head is still exactly the same as what I saw that day." Kris shivered at the thought but he was also fighting to contain the laughter bubbling in his mouth. He settled for a smirk.
 

"Okay, now you're just leaving us out," Chanyeol pouted, looking between his smirking brother and the panicked Baekhyun. Chen sat silently across from him, eyebrows raised at his own twin.
 

"What image did you create, Baek?"
 

Baekhyun chuckled awkwardly, shooting a glare at Kris. "Just the first thing I could think of in my exhausted state."
 

"Just think of the scenario, Chen," Kris began, ignoring the pain that shot up his leg when Baekhyun kicked his shin. "You were unconcscious in bed, but really, anyone who would take a glimpse of you would think you were pobably sleeping or resting your eyes. And then we have Baekhyun who had just gotten out of the shower. If I'm guessing correctly at how his power works, he couldn't exactly erase you from the room..." He trailed off, allowing the information to sink in.
 

The room fell silent once more as Chen thought of Kris' words. Baekhyun bared his teeth at Kris, who smiled smugly back at him. I will kill you, Baekhyun mouthed. Chanyeol just frowned at his food.
 

"Wait, what did you do, Baekhyun?" Chen said, the image finally formed in his mind.
 

"I was making do with what I had at the moment!" The other defended.
 

"Oh and did I mention... His towel--- ouch Baek!" Chen had never felt so mortified in his life. Baekhyun slapped both of his palms on his face.
 

"Who was the girl?" 
 

"No one," Kris muttered. Chen blinked. Once. Twice.
 

"WHAT?!" Chen stood, his eyes turning into saucers as he stared in disbelief at the ceiling. "BAEKHYUN!"
 

"KRIS!"
 

"Why was there a girl?" Chanyeol piped up. "I still don't get it!"

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

Sehun ran as fast as his feet could take him. The sun had risen just a few hours ago and he could still feel the morning dew in the breeze around him. He looked left and right for signs of the older boy that had left the house to hunt for food, but that had been before sunrise. His tracks were anything but fresh by now. The boy swallowed a curse as he hurried along, wondering how on earth he was gonna find the other "right away" and "pronto", as their guardian had demanded.

 

Said guardian had arrived perhaps an hour after dawn, frantically searching for the eldest boy, which Sehun found quite odd. It had barely been two weeks since the old man had come for his monthly visit, which he insisted on doing since Kai and Luhan's mother died.

 

Sehun never understood why this man that called himself their guardian was so adamant in protecting them. They were not related by blood, and Sehun had no recollection of the man before the three boys were left to fend for themselves. He remembered how they had first met the man the week their mother died - back when they lived in their previous home. Although the man's motives remained unclear, Sehun found that he was actually happy to have someone there to watch over them in their teenage years.

 

Distracted by his thoughts, Sehun didn’t notice he had ended up standing at the opening of a clearing. Directly across the wide green space, a wild animal was sharpening its claws on the trunk of a large tree, the sight of which made Sehun stop in his tracks. With cautious backward steps, he whispered a prayer, hoping that those beady eyes wouldn't fix on him. Where on earth is Luhan?

 

Sehun felt a disturbance in the breeze around him, and he stepped quickly to the left, just in time to avoid an arrow that whizzed past his right arm. His eyes followed the weapon's path and saw the wild animal drop, the tip of the arrow buried in its side. 

 

"Looks like you missed your mark," Sehun said grumpily, pouting at the boy that he knew was standing not too far behind him, the slight changes in the soft breeze hinting the other’s presence.

 

"Looks like you’re getting a better hang of your ability," Luhan replied, a smile in his voice. Sehun turned to face his adoptive brother, who approached him nimbly, a pile of game hovering right behind him.

 

"Was I not informed of an upcoming party? Or are you secretly planning to feed refugees from the north?" Sehun asked, eyeing the floating mountain that was Luhan’s catch.

 

The meat had been skinned and cleaned as they should, but the younger boy could still tell what they once were. There were deer, rabbits, wild boar and even some chicken. Did he just travel to and from the southwest sector within just a matter of hours?!

 

"I think I got a little carried away." Luhan stated, a bashful grin on his face.

 

"A little?" Sehun replied, eyebrow raised.

 

"I... had a feeling that we needed this much?"

 

"For the three of us?"

 

"Mhhmm," Luhan merely nodded as he organized his haul according to weight, with the lightest at the top and the heaviest at the bottom. Although used to seeing the older boy use his powers, Sehun still found it a fascinating sight to see the meat shuffling around on their own, Luhan only using his mind without breaking a sweat. Seeing the variety of the meat as they stilled brought another comment from the younger boy.

 

"Luhan, that’s wild boar. And chicken. Wild boar can only be found near the central border and chickens are exclusively living near the south wall," he stated matter-of-factly, folding his arms across his chest as he narrowed his eyes.

 

"I wanted to make a feast. Kai must not have had a decent meal from the last few days. Besides, with this haul, I won’t need to hunt again this week,” Luhan turned to look at his visitor, as if suddenly remembering something. “But Sehun-ah, why are you here?"

 

"Ah,” Sehun snapped back to attention, the urgency of his mission suddenly coming back to him. “Our guardian wants to see you." 

 

“What?”

 

“The old man. He’s waiting for you at home,” Sehun clarified.

 

"Isn’t it the 12th?” Luhan asked, clearly confused by the other’s news.

 

Sehun pondered that for a moment, not quite sure of the date. Giving up on recalling what he had seen on the calendar posted on their kitchen wall, he shrugged and gestured for the older boy to follow him. “Whatever date it is, he’s there. I didn’t want to pry, and he seemed to be in quite a bit of a hurry to see you, so I rushed out right away.”

 

Luhan rubbed his temples with his thumb and middle finger, sighing. It wasn’t that long since dawn and he was already tired, the southern wall being miles from their home in the extremes of the western section. Finding out the stern older man was waiting for him did not bring the blond comfort to what he would be going home to.

 

"Okay, I was on my way home anyway,” he shrugged, then placed a hand on Sehun’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Where have you been? What took you so long?” A deep frantic voice greeted Luhan as he trudged his way through the front door, Sehun having gone through the back door and straight into the kitchen with the haul.

 

“Hunted some deer in the vicinity.” Luhan replied politely and took a seat near the fireplace, across from the man that had risen from his seat on the large sofa in the living room.

 

“Well, you most certainly took your time. Did you make sure no one saw you? You weren’t followed, were you?” Luhan felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance but decided to humor the overbearing elder anyway.

 

“No.”

 

“That’s good, then,” the old man let out a breath and took his seat once more, glancing around him and looking at the door to the living room. “Wait, where is Sehun?” 

 

“I’m here,” Sehun murmured, stepping into the room, having dumped everything onto the kitchen counter when he heard the old man looking for him. The guardian looked him up and down, and, seemingly satisfied, questioned him no more.

 

His grimly pressed lips were obvious signs of the gravity of whatever it was that had brought him to the secret house that early morning. Sehun, not quite sure if he was wanted in the room, made a move to leave, but was stopped by the older man gesturing for him to take a seat.

 

“Please sit next to your brother.” 

 

“I thought you needed to speak to me,” Luhan interrupted, eyes fixed on the guardian’s face.

 

“Yes. Sehun needs to hear this too. In fact, where is Kai?” 

 

Sehun nervously sent a sideways glance to his brother, quietly taking a seat next to him. Luhan caught a glimpse of the boy’s confusion, and he grit his teeth to hide his own.

 

“He’s out,” Luhan said, brushing the question aside and attempting to change the subject. “Is there something wrong? It’s only been a couple of weeks since you last came in to check on us.”

 

His tactic apparently worked, as the old man went back to business, seemingly forgetting about the missing brother.

 

“Yes, about that. I will not be seeing you in the next couple of months. There are talks - rumours, really - of people other than the Trio possessing special abilities.” 

 

Silence filled the room as the younger of the two boys gaped at the older man, while Luhan gazed on, incredulous. 

 

“And apparently, one of the Trio failed to capture them in the North and they have been adamant on capturing these runaways. Of course the public remains ignorant of this, however, a very large scale search is ongoing throughout the Sanctuary. I’m afraid this poses quite a high risk for you boys being found, and what with Luhan and Kai’s abilities, there is danger for the three of you. You cannot be found. Even the South is not safe, though it is off limits to those men without a warrant from the Council.” 

 

“What do you want us to do then?”

 

“Go northeast. The forest in that area is much more conducive for hiding than the forest here in the West. There is thicker brush and perhaps even some abandoned cottages that you can use.”

 

“But that place is…” Sehun muttered, trailing off as he caught the look in his brother’s eye.

 

“It is somewhere much safer than here,” Luhan agreed, not wanting to argue with the older man. The northeast was a place neither he nor Sehun had seen in years, but it wasn’t something he wanted to discuss with their guardian, either.

 

“Well, that will be all for this visit. I really must not stay longer,” the older man rose, brushing down the front of his crimson robes as he did so. “Please, lay low. And remember to be away from this house in two months at the latest. If not, I assume that you would either be dead, or worse, captured by the Council. That would be something outside of my power to help you with. This is all I can do in the meantime, to repay my debt to your parents. Please, preserve your lives as they did mine.”

 

Both boys stood and bowed as the older man exited the house, leaving them in silence. Neither missed the glance the guardian had given Sehun before stepping out, though.

 

“Luhan,” Sehun began, but was immediately shushed.

 

“Don’t let it get to you, Sehun.” Luhan had gotten used to the concise method by which the old man shared his information and instructions. Sehun had often been excluded from their discussions and was most likely alarmed by the older man’s actions. He had never shown much interest in Sehun in the past, either.

 

“Are we in danger?”

 

“Not yet we aren’t.”

 

“Do you think he knows about my ability?”

 

“I hope not. As much as I don’t like keeping secrets from the person who protects us, you are not ready to showcase it to him. Kai and I, what we went through when he learned of our powers, it’s something I would never want you to go through.”

 

“But Kai said he taught you to control -”

 

“No, Sehun, we’ve talked about this. Repeatedly.”

 

“But… It’s obvious that I can’t control my powers. What if the government finds us out? You can’t teach me, Kai can’t teach me, and I can’t even teach myself without getting all these panic attacks.”

 

“You can, Sehun. These things take time. Just believe in yourself. Our guardian didn’t teach us everything we know about our powers. We mastered our abilities ourselves. All he ever did was make us use the powers properly in the first place.”

 

Sehun sighed. It was at times like this when he missed having the brooding boy around. At least they were on the same page on this matter. “Kai… I wonder when he’ll be back.”

 

“I expect him to come home soon.” Luhan forcefully let out a breath, his hand rising to cover his eyes. The morning’s events had finally caught up to him, and though it was still at least a couple more hours before noon, he felt drained physically and mentally. It didn’t help that his nights were plagued with memories of the past and visions of a future he feared. His arguments with his blood brother just had to add to his worries, too.

 

“I… I’ll go to the kitchen and start cutting the venison,” Sehun sighed, letting the subject go.

 

“Alright. I’ll just wash up and get changed. I’ll help you out in a bit,” Luhan said as he left the room.

 

Sehun walked towards the kitchen with heavy steps. He hadn’t meant to upset Luhan. He just wanted to be useful and not just cooped up in the house all the time. The brothers had repeatedly told him that he was no burden, but deep down, he knew he was.

 

Whether the two knew it or not. His mere existence, after all, caused regular spits between the two.

 

Heaving a sigh, he pushed the kitchen door open. A clutter or utensils as they fell to the flood snapped Sehun to his senses as he hurried to the far end of the table, his heart and mind both pounding with the news the guardian had only just now delivered. 

 

It was to his relief that he saw Kai crouched beneath the table, gathering the fallen utensils and food. Sehun’s mouth formed an “o”, and he was ready to shout for the eldest when Kai quickly sent him a look, effectively shutting him up.

 

“I’m not staying. And don’t tell Luhan I was here.”

 

“But you just came back! Where have you been? Why can’t I tell Luhan? He’s been worried sick about you! He hunted all that just for you!”

 

Kai eyed the fresh hunt on the counter, considering whether or not he should bring some, then decided against it. The warm soup he had seen on the stove would be enough. He pulled out some containers and began filling each with the liquid meal.

 

“Did you see the guardian?” 

 

Kai’s hand froze mid-scoop, though his tone remained uninterested.

 

“He was here? Wasn’t he here just the other week?”

 

“Yeah, but he had urgent matters to discuss.”

 

The dark boy remained unfazed as he went over the things he had collected into a bag, making sure he had all that he needed.

 

Sehun watched as the other pulled the bag onto his back, then quickly moved to grab his arm. “Wait!” His hand grasped air, though, as Kai teleported out of the house, just as Luhan pushed through the kitchen doors.

 

“Sehun? Something wrong?”

 

The youngest’s mind went blank as his consciousness warred over who to show loyalty to; should he listen to Kai and not tell Luhan that he had come home to grab food, or should he reassure the eldest of the other boy’s safety? Sehun gently let out a breath, calming the warring thoughts. Why is life so complicated?

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

The room with the cryogenic berth remained silent, though Kai knew that the girl that had woken from her frozen slumber was nearby. He could feel her presence, though he wasn’t sure if it were an extension of his abilities or just his instinct - he just knew that someone else was nearby. He assumed it was her - he hadn’t seen or sensed anyone when he first arrived or when he woke up after that horrible nightmare.

 

He had woken up inside a room that he had passed by before ending up at the room with the berth. He was still unsure what had happened. Waking up the girl inside the berth, being pushed back by an unseen force - it was almost like Luhan had thrown him back, except he hadn’t been able to teleport away this time. Plus, what happened after baffled him even more. He could still vividly picture the image of his flesh melting away; how his bones looked without its flesh covering. He shuddered at the memory, though if it was a real memory or just an awful nightmare, he couldn’t say. He certainly couldn’t explain how any of it was possible, and if it were, how did he even recover?

 

Kai sighed. At least I’m alive. And so is that girl… whoever she is.

 

He carefully placed one container of soup he had taken from home on top of the now closed berth. “There’s food here if you’re hungry,” he called, knowing that the girl would hear him. “I’ll leave it here while I go out. It’s good food, don’t worry. My brothers cooked it.”

 

Quickly scanning the room one last time and making sure that the plate he had left wouldn’t fall, Kai stepped out of the room to explore the rest of the building. He had passed by several rooms before arriving at the metal door he had entered, but he knew that those were all small living quarters like the one he had woken up in. Further along the hallway past the cryogenic room was what he didn’t know, so that was where he headed.

 

I wonder if there’ll be more people trapped in cryogenic berths, he wondered, stopping at the next door a few meters down the hallway. A sign on the door read, Genetic Mapping. Curious as to why the door wasn’t as large as the one for cryogenics, the teleporter searched the wall beside it for a panel. Finding the blinking red light, he pressed the button, not wanting to randomly teleport into the room without any knowledge of its layout.

 

The door swung open with a metallic woosh, and Kai found himself inside a laboratory with several machines lined up against the walls. A couple of large screens were mounted on the far wall ahead of him and to the right, while in the center were several long tables.

 

“So I guess it is true about the government doing all that genetic testing,” Kai muttered, exiting the room and closing the door.

 

The rooms that followed had doors similar to the room marked Genetic Mapping, but most did not have the same signage. Most of the doors wouldn’t open without specific codes on the doors, and Kai didn’t want to risk breaking anything if he popped into the room without any knowledge of its layout.

 

He was nearing the end of a hallway when he spotted a door quite like the one that led into the cryogenics lab. The large metallic doors had a sign beside them that read, In Vitro Fertilization Lab. Kai frowned at the words, wary of what it meant, but searched for the panel that would open it, anyway.

 

Inside the room, the teleporter found even more test tubes and machines. He recognized some of the equipment from the books their guardian had given them to read - there were graduated cylinders, pipettes and microscopes. He had only read about them in the books, but he understood what they were for.

 

What kind of place is this? he wondered.

 

Closing the door, Kai moved on down the hall and found himself at a four-way intersection. He assumed he was at the center of the building, and he could vaguely remember passing by this place before arriving at the cryogenics lab. The hall he was in was circular, with four hallways branching off diagonally on two sides of the room - if you could call them sides. In the middle of the hall was what seemed like a large column, but on closer inspection, Kai found that there was yet another door with a panel on the side. He pressed the button and waited, but the door did not open. Instead, a light switched on above the panel, showing an arrow pointing upwards and the number 2.

 

Kai cocked his head to the side as he saw the number change to two, then one, and the doors opened, revealing a rectangular space with mirrors on the walls. The teleporter entered the room slowly, looking around at what the room held, but there was none. The sound of the doors closing behind him made him turn, but he wasn’t quick enough to stop them. His fists hit the cold metal walls, but the doors remained sealed.

 

Panicking, the boy looked around the cramped space for any sign of how he could leave. Seeing none, he decided to teleport back into the hallway where he came from, but noticed another panel beside the doors. Five buttons were on that panel, and each button had a number from 1-5 on it, except for the middle button. What looked like a keyhole was in the place where Kai expected the number 3 to be. Seeing a faint glow coming from above the doors, Kai looked up to find a small square screen showing the number 1.

 

Finally calming down, the teleporter recalled something he had read in books when he was younger. He was inside an elevator. The boy mentally slapped himself for not realizing it soon enough, and he was glad no one had been around to see him flustered and panicking for no reason. Not being allowed anywhere near civilization by his parents and then his guardian, Kai had never seen an elevator before - but that didn’t prevent him from knowing how it worked. 

 

Understanding that he was on the first level, Kai pressed the button labeled ‘2’ and waited for the small room to move. It wasn’t long until he felt the slight feeling of weightlessness, which he assumed meant that the elevator was moving. He watched as the number above the doors changed from ‘1’ to ‘2’, before the doors opened, revealing a hallway similar to the one he had just left.

 

The hallway was dark except for a few security lights on the walls, but the hallway lit up once Kai stepped out of the elevator.

 

“Woah,” he gasped, then gagged at the air he had inhaled. In the dim light, he saw the cloud of dust that he had disturbed and breathed in. Coughing, the teleporter stepped carefully out of the cloud of dust, making sure not to disturb any more of the thick layers of dust he assumed were there.

 

His senses mucked up by the flying dust bunnies, Kai half-blindly tread down the right hallway. He could somehow feel that he was stepping into deep layers of dirt, but he didn't want to re-enter the cloud of dust just yet. Stepping lightly, he moved further down the corridor before he came across an open doorway. Surprised, he looked back down the hall, squinting at the floor.

 

Kai's eyes widened. There, on the ground, where he thought he would find his own pair of footprints, were two sets. Unsure of the identity of the other presence, he stepped back, perhaps even more cautiously, to prevent making his presence known. Eyes fixed on the door left ajar, he stepped further back, until he was stopped by something solid.

 

The boy's heartbeat accelerated. Both walls were visible on either side of him, and he was sure he hadn't walked far enough to reach the column at the intersection yet. Something else was behind him. Danger screaming in his head, Kai braced himself, ready to jump, but the heat around him rose.

 

A circle of fire lit up, trapping Kai and rendering him unable to move in shock.

 

A shrill voice rang from the door down the hall. "Who are you?"

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

An agonizing scream filled the dimly lit room, each decibel bouncing off the walls, the air heavy with its pain. The source of the pained voice fell to his knees, the skin on both hands and palms breaking, the blood seeping out. Even in the dim light he saw nothing, his vision blurred to the point wherein he could only distinguish the presence of the soft light. His mind's eye showed him nothing but a glass of water, his throat parched from the night of torture.

 

A loud beeping broke the silence that followed his screams of anguish, and the figure stood, strength almost failing as he rushed towards the sound. He tripped over his own feet as more pain pierced through his mind, threatening to tear it apart. His hands lifted to clutch at his head as he fell towards the wall, on his knees once more.

 

The room was no ordinary isolation room, but it was far from foreign to D.O, its current prisoner. He knew exactly how the room worked, having supervised sessions within it many times before. This time, though, he was on the other end of the stick.

 

Images flashed by his mind's eye - images painted vividly, exactly how he remembered them looking nights ago. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the images to disappear, but still the twins danced in front of him. Again and again, they stood and fought back, dodged and escaped. Again and again, he was reminded of his failure. Again and again, he slammed his head to the wall, hoping this would perhaps send the images away.

 

Thunder boomed, echoing off the walls in the narrow room. Below his feet, D.O felt the earth shaking - most likely a memory of his own power at work. Lightning flashed, and D.O opened his eyes, only to forcibly close them once more, a bright light shining in front of him in an attempt to blind him. He cursed.

 

Stop this, he thought, slamming his head to the wall once more. Over and over, the sound of rolling thunder and rumbling earth filled his ears; the flashes of lightning and the bright light blinded him. The sensory overload rendered all his other senses useless. The only thing he felt now was the warm trickling down the side of his head.

 

Just as he thought he could take it no longer, everything stilled. Slowly, he opened his eyes, adjusting to the light - or the lack of it. Silence filled the room as all stimuli for his senses ceased. A small ray of hope filled D.O. Perhaps this time it would be over? Perhaps they had found it enough, punishing one of their best in such a way?

 

A flash of lightning proved him wrong, effectively snuffing out what hope had ignited in his chest. Once again, the cycle repeated, just as it had countlessly for who knows how long.

 

I think I'm going insane. Suho! Xiumin!

 

As the images flashed and the pain resumed, once again, D.O clutched at his head. Again, he slammed his head to the wall. Again, the earth rumbled. Again, he felt his blood flow freely from the cut he had made across his temple.

 

He sobbed.

 

Never in his life had he imagined being on the receiving end of this punishment. He had watched several men lose their sanity in this very room, just as he felt his own slipping away from him at that moment.

 

Resolve filled D.O as he clutched onto his sanity and consciousness, not willing to go down so easily. Sure, he had survived countless cycles of this torture, but he was of the Trio. This type of pain was something he should easily overcome. Slowly, he pushed against the cold wall, his knees shaking from the pain as he stood.

 

Take it easy D.O. They can't possibly risk killing you here. Your brothers would never live it down. In fact, they are most probably trying their best to rescue you. D.O thought to himself as he gritted his teeth, tears drying up against his cheeks.

 

With one hand never leaving the wall, D.O limped across the room, feeling for any bumps or crevices in the wall that would indicate a door. The room was circular, he knew, and he was sure there would be a door somewhere. He searched within himself for his ability, now lying latent, buried within the pain. Perhaps he could get a feel of the room’s make up.

 

D.O cursed internally. Stupid, he reprimanded himself. His power wouldn’t work. No, not when his body was pumped with chemicals that worked to suppress his ability. He dropped to his knees once more as pain struck him again, this time hitting every single nerve in his body. It was like his whole body was on fire, except worse. He could do nothing about it. There was nothing he could do in this illusion painted within his mind.

 

Once again, everything ceased, leaving D.O in the pitch black silence of the isolation room. Taking deep breaths, he allowed his mind to clear. The fog lifted from his mind as his eyes grew hazy.

 

There was no escape from the fate he was tied to. There was no escape from the chains that held him down. No escape from the probes that stuck to his body, to his brain, to his entirety. Nothing would take him away from the haunting of a small mistake that led to such agony.

 

The haze that built in front of his eyes thickened. Nothing could pull him out now.

 

Slowly, D.O felt himself loosen his hold on that which he had held tightly to.

 

Slowly, the earth manipulator let himself go.