1/3

 

Zitao recognizes the slow mist crawling into his vision. It's the tall tale signs of another hint of time breaking into his mind. He's been having these visions since he was a child, at first he didn’t understand them but now he does, so he no longer fights what it does to him.

 

The vision takes him into a time that is not his, one where time flows freely and is not being manipulated by him. Through the haze he can see a tall building, it looks like a high class apartment building but what really catches his eyes is the boy standing outside the building. It's a small slim brunette with his back is facing Tao. Tao knows in this state he won't be able to find out the males face but he can't stop himself from wanting to know what his face looks like. So he watches more and sees a taller dyed blond male walking over to him, they talk closely together before they begin to walk away. The thing that stops Tao from pulling himself out of the vision is a brightly reflected light from the smaller males open palm as he continues to walk away with the taller male. Now Zitao understands the point to this vision, he has to find this boy, the light manipulator.

 

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"Zitao, there is no guarantee that this will turn out well" Zitao throws the other male an angry glare. He ignores the curious and concerned eyes of the other males standing around them in the open room. This conversation has been brought up day after day since Tao first mention his dreams.

 

"I keep telling you, he's a light manipulator and I need to find him, my dreams are never wrong" Tao grumbles out again, he's tired of repeating this conversation over so many times, they should already believe him and stop acting like children.

 

"I'm not saying that your dream is wrong, I'm saying that you going that far into the future to find this boy could have unknown problems, it could be a trap for all you know" Tao shakes his head, this conversation is always between him and Kris, everyone else is afraid to speak out against Kris and knowing that Zitao is one of their strongest members they stay clear of angering him too.

 

"You think that they can actually use some kid as a trap, there is no way they have advanced that far, they would have to know every detail about what I can do, and even you guys don’t know all of those things, so I'm pretty sure there is no way that some random person would" Zitao's frustration is really starting to show through everything he says. "Kris, this is a boy, who has abilities like ours, and he is by himself in a time period where there are no others like him because they are all standing in here with us, he needs to know who he really is and I'm going to find him" Zitao tries to stay strong, he understands Kris' worries and he gets it, but this boy is more important than his own fears or even theirs. He looks to Kris and watches him run frustrated hand through his hair and lets out an annoyed sigh.

 

"Tao you have to remember that we live in your time, it's separate from the rest of the world and leaving this time to go into that boy's time has different consequences. Yixing is going to be here, not with you so you won't have any way to heal if you get into trouble. Not to mention we still don't know anything about this boy" Kris rants as frustration shows heavily in the way he speaks and holds himself.  "If you refuse to listen to anything I say, then you should atleast take someone with you, take Jongin, he'll be a quick escape if needed and he can serve as help" Kris is still unhappy with the situation but he knows how stubborn this boy can be. He waits for Tao's reply and can see that the younger still doesn’t seem happy with this.

 

"Taking Jongin will scare him, we don’t know what he knows about us, so I think going by myself would still be the best" Tao continues to disagree with everything Kris says. Kris gives him a dirty look that Tao continues to ignore.

 

"Tao, you may be the time manipulator but that doesn’t mean you can't be killed, we could all be killed even with Yixing's healing, so taking Jongin, before you say anything, will be staying back until you need his help" Kris cuts himself off before Zitao can in and he can see that the other is starting to waver.

 

"Fine but you don’t come out, no matter what until I need your help" Tao begins his sentence, directed towards Kris before he turns to Jongin and finishes what he was saying.  Jongin gives the both of them a small nod, letting them know he understood and would behave.

 

"So when are we leaving then?" Jongin asks quietly as he steps towards the two previously arguing males. They all look at each other for a moment before Kris uses a hand to gesture at Tao to answer.

 

"Tomorrow, we need some time to talk everything over, make some plans to keep this guy happy" Tao s his thumb to the side, pointing at Kris. Kris slaps his hand away with an irritated grunt before he walks out of the open room and towards another room where he can sit. Everyone slowly follows after him and settles on the couches and chairs around him, the tension in the air has subsided now that Tao and Kris have reached a compromise.  Tao slumps into a chair and waits for everyone else to be settled as well before he starts to talk about plans.

 

"It's pretty simple, we go into the future, Jongin will stay out of the way until needed and I'll go find the boy" Tao shrugs nonchalant and he can feel the tension coming back into the room, one look at Kris confirms the other male's dislike towards his words.

 

"If that is all the planning you have, I will beat you" Kris threatens from his spot across the room from Tao. Tao sits quietly refusing to give Kris any sort of answer and it only serves to irritate Kris even more. The room falls into a silence as everyone waits for what will happen next and Kris continues to stare at Tao expectantly.

 

"What else should I have planned out?" Tao finally speaks, looking back at Kris. "There isn’t much to plan, like I said, we go into the future, Jongin will wait around and I'll find the boy, that's all we really need to know " Tao continues to act defiantly towards Kris and before Kris is able to snap back at the younger, someone else speaks out.

 

"Tao, I think Kris wants you to plan for anything, have a backup plan in case something goes wrong" Joonmyun calls out, deciding to finish the childish fight that the two have kept going for the last few days.

 

"Thank you, Joonmyun, atleast someone understands" Kris sighs in relief when someone else finally speaks and understands what he keeps trying to get through to Tao.

 

"I understand what you're saying and I keep telling you that no matter how far into the future I go, there is no way anyone can fool me, unless I have personally told them about all my secrets so there is nothing for you to worry so much over" Tao breaths out exasperatedly, slumping further into his seat.

 

"Tao, just make some sort of plan so we aren’t all sitting here at home worrying about you the whole time you're gone" Yixing speaks up softly from where he is sitting against Kris. Tao sighs quietly and gives the older male a small, resigned nod.

 

"Why does he agree after Yixing says something?" Kris complains loudly, glaring lightly at the small male practically sprawled across his lap. He knows his glare has no effect on Yixing, especially when he receives a triumphant dimpled smile.

 

"I think it would have to be because everyone likes Yixing and since he is one of our main cooks, we have to do what he says if we want edible food" Sehun calls out from across the room, where he is sitting on the floor in front of Luhan, resting against the other's legs. There is a chorus of agreements from everyone else in the room, confirming what the youngest was saying.

 

"Can I go sleep now? Since this conversation is over" Tao mumbles as he rises from the chair, stretches his arms and waits for a sign of approval from Kris.

 

"Yeah, you'll need all the rest you can get if you're travelling that far into the future in one shot" at Kris' approval, Tao walks out of the room and heads down the hall and to his room, that he has claimed to be off limits to everyone else.

 

Though back in the other room where he left everyone else some of the others start to get loud and controllers are thrown around the room while they decide what to play and who will play against each other.

 

"I still think he's going to be in over his head if he goes" Kris mumbles out quietly, catching some of the other's attention. Kris turns his head when he sees Luhan standing up and walking slowly towards him.

 

"You shouldn’t worry so much about him, he is a time manipulator, and besides there doesn’t seem to be any hidden agendas in the boys mind" Luhan gives Kris a soft, reassuring smile as he belittles the other male by patting his head. Kris swats Luhan's hand away harshly before sending the smaller male a glare.

 

"And why did you decide to wait till now to say something about it?" Kris demanded as he stared up at Luhan, who gave him a nonchalant shrug before answering.

 

"I knew Taozi would get mad if he knew I was checking into the kids head, you know him; he doesn’t like it when I doubt everyone" Luhan answers as he heads towards the door of the room. "Besides there wasn’t really a reason to mention since like I said, the boy has no ulterior motives, heck he doesn’t even know we exist" Luhan adds over his shoulder as he heads out of the room and disappears somewhere inside the house.

 

"Whatever, Jongin is still going with him" Kris mutters dejectedly as he relaxes as far into the couch as he can. Yixing laughs quietly beside him before patting his knee as he curls further into Kris' side. Kris sighs as he decides to let the conversation rest for now, considering Tao has already wandered off and headed to bed.  Kris lets his thoughts get over powered by the noise of all the chatter coming from the others playing their video games. Some of the others have followed in Tao and Luhan's footsteps and wandered off to their own rooms.  

 

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The morning starts with tension thick in the air and Tao is dreading having to see Kris again. Though he knows if he pushes it off for too long, it'll just agitate Kris more so he makes his way through the house. He walks his way towards the largely open room to find everyone already waiting for him there. His eyes search the room; the emptiness of it is familiar and makes the use of everyone's abilities so much easier.

 

Everyone is standing in the form of an open circle, leaving Tao room for when takes Jongin and himself into the future. Luhan stands on the outer edge of the circle, his clear crystal balls floating around his open palm.  Jongin is waiting for Tao closer to the middle of the circle; he's watching Tao and Kris. Tao realizes Kris is standing not far from Jongin, Yixing standing with him and he notes their entwined fingers. It surprises Tao how such a small show of affection in front of all of them, tells him so much about Kris' current opinion. Kris prefers to keep his authority, well the bit he has left after all of Yixing's jabs at him but when he is upset he openly accepts any of the younger's  touches. Kris looks over to Tao when he notices Jongin's attention has faded away from him. Tao is expecting the tight lipped smile he receives from Kris.

 

"Ready Tao?" Kris asks, stepping away from Jongin, Yixing following behind him readily. Tao walks up to them, stopping as he reaches them.

 

"Yeah, are you Jongin?" Tao looks to the younger, he watches Jongin stretch his arms and shoulders before nodding.

 

"Yeah, we can go whenever" Jongin gives a small smile as Tao nods. Yixing steps away from Kris to hand both of them a packed full bag, and a soft smile before returning back to Kris' side. Tao gives the older male a confused look, looking towards Jongin and when the other just shrugs, Tao decided to give up trying to understand Yixing and his weirdness.

 

"Alright, let's go, see you guys later" Tao calls over his shoulder as he opens a portal through time and Jongin follows Tao through it.

 

The sensation traveling through time is similar to the strange pull of Jongin's teleporting so he feels oddly at home when traveling along time with Zitao. The first time he traveled with Tao through time he had been expecting them to change as well, not just the time they were standing in. After living in Tao's time for so long, Jongin is still the only one that will travel often or willingly through time with Tao, the others still haven’t gotten use to it. Jongin still has no idea how long it actually takes for them to travel through time, whenever he attempts to understand what Tao tells him about the time it takes he always gets confused.

 

For Jongin it's like closing your eyes or taking in a deep breath of air and when you open your eyes again or release that breath you're in a different spot in time. So when Jongin focuses again he's standing in an alleyway and nothing looks familiar to him. His eyes are searching everywhere for something he understands when he notices Tao standing further down the alley, staring at him and waiting for him to get his bearings back. At Tao's continued stares, Jongin slowly steps over to the Chinese male.

 

"What's with this place?" Jongin questions as Tao opens a door that Jongin hadn’t even noticed before. He stares incredulously at the Chinese male as he gestures for him to walk into this random building and Jongin would be lying if he said he wasn’t skeptical.

 

"It's where we're staying while we're here" Tao explains, closing the door and following behind Jongin. "I'm guessing these bags Yixing gave us have supplies for us to live off of until we can return, since it's not like we can get real jobs" Tao continues to add, Jongin stops walking waiting for Tao to open the second door.

 

"This place is tiny" Jongin complains when he follows Tao into the small place. Tao shoots him a dirty look as he flops down onto the only couch in the room, Jongin following after.

 

"Well you're kinda the only one that'll be staying here, and I don’t plan to stay long, so its fine" Tao waves a hand in the air dismissively and dropping the bag Yixing gave him onto the floor by the corner of the couch.

 

"Why am I the only one staying here?" Jongin demands and he stares as intensely as he can at the other, waiting for him to answer.

 

"Yeah, you're not coming with me when I go looking for the kid, so I won't be here as much as you will be" Tao smiles at the pout Jongin is giving him as he explains. Tao ends up shoving Jongin over when the younger doesn’t relent with his annoying pout. "The bedrooms and bathroom are the three doors over there" Tao adds pointing in the direction of the three closed door down the hall from behind the couch.

 

"How did you even get this place? Did you just steal it from someone or something?" Jongin continues to ask questions as he manages to set himself upright again.

 

"No, I just have my own secrets" Tao shrugs, standing from the couch and walking to one of the closed doors. "I'm going to go start looking for the light manipulator, make yourself at home; I'll call if I need any help" Tao calls out, tossing a small bag that Jongin hadn’t seen earlier into one of the rooms.

 

"Fine, I'll see you later" Jongin grumbles as Tao throws him a small smile as he leaves back through the way they came.

 

Tao wanders around the city, looking for anything that is familiar from his visions, when a building has him tripping over himself. The building looks similar to the one from his vision of the light manipulator but he feels that there is something else about this building, something that makes it even more familiar to him than just one of his visions. Tao is so caught up in the building he fails to see a small brunette texting on his phone and he walks directly into Tao.

 

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention, are you okay?" the male begins to apologise profusely and very rapidly. It takes Tao some time to snap out of his weird haze before he is able to smile politely at the smaller male and respond properly.

 

"I'm fine, sorry I was just standing here, are you okay?" Tao asks back softly, looking down at the smaller male, finding it weird how the boy seems to be just as familiar as the building.

 

"Yeah, everything's good, wait, do I know you from somewhere?" the male looks up to Tao with bright curious eyes and Tao feels himself falling into them. It takes him some time to once again snap back into reality before he is able to answer the other.

 

"I'm going to say no, considering I am Chinese and this is my first time around here" Tao answers as truthfully as he can, the smaller male gives him a calculating look before he nods.

 

"Hmm, well I'm Baekhyun, and I'm still sorry about running into you" the smaller, no, Baekhyun introduces. He smiles up brightly at Tao, eyes clearly asking for his name and hoping he'll give it.

 

"I'm Zitao, but everyone calls me Tao" they shake hands, both seeming not wanting to pull away, holding onto to each other's hands longer than necessary. They practically rip their hands away from each other when there is a call from somewhere nearby.

 

"Baekhyun, I told you we didn’t have a lot of time" Tao turns around to see who is yelling at the other boy and he sees an older man that must be Baekhyun's father. Tao feels like his eyes were playing tricks on him when he sees the older man's eyes widen in recognition. "Baekhyun, son, who is your friend?" the man inquires as he approaches Tao and Baekhyun. Baekhyun's eyes shift from his father to Tao and they hesitate on him for a short time before they look back to his dad.

 

"Dad, this is Tao, I just ran into him" Baekhyun explains quickly.

 

"Tao? Would you like to come to lunch with us?" Tao knows he should say no at this point, tell them he's busy looking for someone but he just can't seem to make the words come out of his mouth.

 

"Sure, if it's no problem" Zitao's polite smile is forced but he follows after the father and son walking to a parked car.

 

Zitao doesn’t understand why his gut is telling him to turn the other way and run away from this man, to take the boy with him and make them both disappear but he ignores it.

 

 

 

 

---Here's an update, might take awhile to update my other story but I'll try