If Joonmyun remembered, there were no clouds in the sky and the air was very calm that morning. Even the weather forecast said it would be such a perfect day for the people living in Seoul to do outdoor activities today. But as a strong wind blew past him, causing a few papers to fly off the table, he knew better than hoping for it by now…

“Stop it, Sehun—“

The pale skin leader halted his scolding as a loud sound like a boom of cannon suddenly interrupted him from outside the practice room. He narrowed his eyes to Jongdae who is just two arms from him, but the latter nonchalantly crosses his legs like the innocent dino-camel hybrid he is, Joonmyun may add.

Within a second, lightning flashed and thunder roared for time to time. A much stronger wind too lashed through the open windows and nearly knocked down one of the stereo systems if it wasn’t Luhan who held it back.

“Don’t”, Joonmyun turned to his right to find Yixing tugging on his shirt sleeve, eyes shows nothing but concern to him. “You don’t want it to start raining, do you?”

Joonmyun shook his head a little before taking a deep breath. How reckless of him to almost loss his control over himself, especially at this crucial time. Murmuring a quick thank to the younger, he shifts his attention to the rest of his brothers in the room.

The two oldest, Minseok and Luhan are leaning on the big mirror behind them. Tao and Jongin lay on their stomach on the floor, probably taking a nap (though everyone could hear sobs coming from the two). Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Kyungsoo settled themselves in the corner, and Joonmyun thought he could finally enjoy the peace that ChanBaek stopped bothering the owl eyed boy, but he didn’t.

They are beyond exhausted. Preparing for their concert is fun, having a comeback after a while is exciting, and meeting with their fans is just a pure bliss. But all of them leaving their body worn out, not that they didn’t expect this when they sealed a contract years back.

Still, they are tired. Even more when the news broke out. Just… why?, Joonmyun wondered as his eyes trail on from one member to another, again. They are one. Supposed to be one.

The deafening thunder and the howling wind haven’t subside much to Joonmyun’s uneasiness as he takes a look at the maknae and the main vocal. He always knew how sensitive Sehun is but Jongdae? …the younger had never lost his cool in front of him and the others like this bad. Sure he would sulk whenever the members, mainly his fellow beagle line, teased or pranked on him, yet he was able to return to his troll self in a blink of eyes. So Joonmyun is worried.

“What a beautiful sight you did there, Oh Sehun… Kim Jongdae”

The distinguished voice brings all the eyes to the entrance at once. Him. They noted as they quickly stand up to greet the said him.

“I was told you are in London, Lee Sooman ssaem”, Joonmyun questions, trying to distract the old man from both Sehun and Jongdae. If the luck is on their side, the two may possibly pass up an hour extended dance gruelling, unlike him back in his trainee days. After all, to losing a control is indeed a serious crime to them.

“I am back because of the you-know-what, Joonmyun”, Sooman replies with a sigh as he sits on the floor, following by the boys afterwards.

Joonmyun nods in acknowledgement before silently cheering inside that the older is distracted. ‘You owed me, brats’, he says to no one as he glances at Sehun and Jongdae, and get startled in return upon seeing red eyes on Tao, who is seated next to the two. So his ‘son’ was really crying. He should have known it. Tao is as softy as Sehun, yet the maknae chose to keep everything bottled up, while the panda let his emotions rolled down his cheeks.

The practice room is slowly become stuffy to the leader’s liking. Tension could be felt everywhere, and all the boys seem like they wanted only a good thing to be passed to them at the moment. Anything on the current situation. Something that could ease them. As long as it means everything would be fine.

Joonmyun heaves a depressed sigh. As if SM would come out with a good result in a very short time. It is not like the thing they face now is a freaking child play.

“At least ssaem must has something to update us, Joonma”, Luhan says out of the blue, making the others to look at him and the leader confusedly.

Joonmyun snickers at the Chinese boy as he notes to himself to not letting his monologue run wild next time. It is when there is someone in the group who could read mind. Since when telekinesis invaded personal privacy anyway?

Luhan shrugs coolly before turning to Lee Sooman at opposite him. “Right, ssaem? You do have something to tell us, hurm?”. His expectant face later brings the members’ attention on him to the SM producer.

“I am afraid not, kids. I am not the person in-charge for this“, Sooman ponders a little bit, juggling between to continue or not as one by one boys shows their crestfallen look to him. It is Luhan then that urges him to proceed. Tsk. This kid read his thought again. “We couldn’t reach him too up till now”

“So why are you here, ssaem?”, Jongdae asks after a while. And if it is not because of the sun that started to shine brightly outside, Joonmyun might have assumed that the younger is still lost, judging from his bitter tone.

It is not a wise to think of right now but Joonmyun wonders if the muggles freaked out by the unusual change of weather yet. He rolls his eyes as Luhan nods his head at him, which is simply means the hyung has trespassed his mind once more.

“Well as you can see… it is 6 to 5 now. This is not good for the nature of the forces, boys”

“W-why? But we are still good?”

“Yes, you are, Chanyeol. But I can’t promised what would happen later”

Silence.

“This is different from what you had told us before, ssaem. So what? Are we going to die?”

“Hey calm down!”

“NOT NOW, HYUNG!”

“What?!”

“SHUT THE UP—“

“BAEKHYUN!”

Baekhyun wipes the water droplets from his face, eyes remains on his leader with a full distaste. If one glare could kill, someone has surely died at this point. He felt like to attack the older with his light, but as Kyungsoo slung his arm around his shoulder, he couldn’t move at all.

Joonmyun, on the other hand, begins to regret his action just now. He didn’t mean to use his force on the younger. No matter how hard it was to wake up the members from their sleep, he had never splashed them with water, as tempting as it sounds. He trained for seven years for heaven sake! He worked hard to be an idol. He worked even harder to gain the force. And then…

“Ssaem, is this perhaps one of the things you have been scared of? That the imbalance will trigger the good in the remaining forces?”, Yixing questions as he lifts up his wife beater to show a bruise on his unicorn symbol at his waist. “I got this just a few hours ago”

Soon enough, all the boys check their own logo and found a similar ugly mark on it. Worst, the light and the wind crest on Baekhyun and Sehun’s waist respectively have been entirely darkened by it.

“W-what had hap-pened? Am I… am I an e-evil now?”, Sehun cries as he scoots away from the group, not so far though when Jongin swiftly teleported to his side and engulfs him in a hug.

Kyungsoo also pulls Baekhyun into his arm as the latter started to shake so bad at the newfound surprise. Everyone is in fact has become dumbfounded. Is this a dream? A nightmare? Right now… it is not just their career that feels uncertain, but their life as the forces’ carer too.

EXO’s debut concept, the so-called super powers... yeah, the public made fun of it and the fans got cringed at it, but it is actually not a nonsense in any way. Water, light, fire, earth, teleportation, wind, flight, frost, telekinesis, lightning, healing and time control are really there. The forces have always been there.

In SM building, there is a room that was specially built when the authorities received the same sign in a few letters sent by an anonymous. It might look silly to some that they even gave in to a ridiculous threat, yet try to say it again after one have done looking into at least of the letters.

Because the note in it is written on its own…

Was there a ghost then? Spirit?

It was known later as the forces.

Of course, the thing is kept as a top secret from everyone. Everyone, except the carers and the room guardian.

And obviously, the room is forbidden to everyone—trainees, staffs, artists, talents and you name it—aside from the carers and the room guardian.

To becoming a force’s carer then needed a different contract from the usual idol-label agreement. ‘Never lose control’, that is the main and the only condition.

The force would choose anyone it deems suit to be with it, but when the time comes that the carer doesn’t want to be forced anymore, it dies. Yes, as powerful as it is, the force will dies, and its loss is going to stir the good and the bad of nature until the rest of the forces regain their balance once again.

Nonetheless, none of the carers and the room guardian aware of this yet since it is merely the first time such a trial like this happened.

The thing where the carer leaves his force, and not mentioned it was the flight.

“The dragon is dying”, Chanyeol says as he hangs his head low. A phoenix that rests on his shoulder also show the same sadness. “Kris hyung must has hurt its pride so bad—“

“No, the dragon and hyung are close! It won’t easily give up its life just because hyung isn’t around! It is not that pathetic!”, Tao retorts in between his tears as he clutches onto his chest, coughing.

Yixing immediately goes to the taller before putting his palms at his back. Purple glow begins to emit through the healer’s fingers. The rest of the members and Sooman watch anxiously from the side as Tao lets out an occasional painful whimpers. “You are burning hot but your inside is cold, Tao. Chanyeol… Minseok hyung, lend me your force please”

Both Chanyeol and Minseok nod in understanding as they put their respective hand on the top of Yixing’s. Fire red and ice white flame radiates from the two’s palm and creates light burgundy glow, much to the others’ astonishment. After all, this is the first time they witness the unicorn boy heals someone using his force. He is usually just settled with pills, vitamin and energy drink to take care of the sick or exhausted members.

“Don’t hold on the time for the dragon anymore, Tao. If it prefers to die, then let it be”, Yixing utters as he finishes the healing. He heaves a relieve sigh sensing the younger’s temperature becomes normal again.

“B-but… but it is the only thing Kris ge left for us”, Tao chokes on a sob, another fresh tears rolls down his face. “If I lose it, I feel like I lose ge too”

The mood in the room turns solemn at the time controller’s breakdown. All of them don’t even dare to speak a word as they are afraid if their action would bring the worse then.

Joonmyun hastily wipes a lone tear that escaped from his eye before approaching Tao and pulls the younger into a hug. “Taozi… peach... listen here. Kris hasn’t leave yet. At least, until SM confirms it, he is still a part of us and he will always be. And about the dragon… it is its own choice, hurm? You can’t do anything on it so don’t push yourselves, Tao. To messing up with the Death isn’t a good thing to do anyway. We are merely a carer. remember?”

“I-I… understand”, Tao says as he tightens his hold on Joonmyun, earning a chuckle from the leader. Mama boy.

“I don’t get it. I know Kris hyung wanted to leave SM for good but why don’t he brings his dragon along? Even he is not in EXO, he is a carer, right?”, Kyungsoo questions as his hand keeps rubbing comfort circles at the back of the still shocked Baekhyun beside him.

All eyes turns to Sooman at once, expecting an answer from the old man. They can’t help but agreed with the Earth carer. EXO is a group of idols, as well as brothers that united under the twelve forces. The fact practically gives a hope for them that they aren’t going to completely miss connection with the Chinese-Canadian boy. But, as Sooman shakes his head…

“Why not?”, Minseok asks, his eyes screams sadness, like the rest of s. The room also become a bit cold slowly.

“The Tree of Life resides in SM, Minseok. Any force won’t be able to survive if it stays too long away from the tree, its sole nature—“

“So either the dragon follows Kris or get abandoned by him, he would just die in the end? That is so wrong!”, Minseok cuts in and deliberately quite down Sooman. The 62 years old teacher lets out a long sigh as he sends the look to the resident’s deer, who somewhat cheerfully grins back to him.

“Baozi, as cruel as it mays sound to you, this is the way a force live its life. It is strong and powerful but its weakness is its own carer. The greater the attachment it has with its carer, the more helpless he is going to be when the carer leaves it. It is already six years anyway… imagine how close the dragon and Kris have gotten so far”

Luhan states calmly as he smiles at his mandu cheeks friend. Minseok and the others hang their head low in regret. How could they forgot that? It is written in the first latter, which they have been going through for several times by now.

“It will harm Kris hyung too if he takes his dragon with him”, Jongdae mumbles, didn’t mean for it to be heard by anyone, but as almost of the members stare at him with wide eyes, he sighs and continues. “A force that dies out of the Tree of Life would also disorient its carer’s life. I am not that sure about the details but yeah… that what it said in the last letter. Look. I think Kris hyung knew about this, that was why he left his force here. Selfish? Maybe, but I won’t judge”

“You already implied your view though, hyung”, Jongin snaps, but Joonmyun quickly hushes him before turning to the lightning carer.

“How did you read the last letter, Jongdae? Isn’t it impossible if you don’t have two forces with you?”

“Urm… I was with my force and Light at that time. You know, right? Though I was the last person to join SM, I was forced earlier than Baekhyun so… well… let’s just say I took control on two forces before”, Jongdae replies quite sheepishly as his eyes trail on everyone in the room. Luckily, Sooman looks like he is far from being angry while some of them roll their eyes at him.

“But Kris hyung and the dragon are inseparable. Hyung loves to fly and he always enjoyed flying together with it. I don’t know… but it is so not like him to abandon his force like this”, Chanyeol murmurs sadly as his phoenix pats his back, comforting him.

Joonmyun sighs yet again. He admits that he was taken back when Lee Sooman ssaem told him that his debut group will have two leaders. He thought his 7 years long training plus the fact he is the first carer were going to get his teacher to reserve the leader title for him only. Besides, how could a ship sailed with two captains’ command? It would be confusing and nut, he was that sure.

But then, Kris turned out to be the best partner ever. The things Joonmyun lacks, he fills in it every times, as well as, if the older did wrong, he gladly corrected him. They were good just like that. It was also very comfortable… maybe too comfort in his part that he failed to see Kris wasn’t happy sometimes.

Likewise, Minseok and Luhan feel somewhat regret at the Fire carer’s words. They are both the same age with Kris but their favourite past time were barely spent along with the taller. Of course, Kris is neither a soccer maniac nor a coffee addict like them. Nevertheless, if only they know he was planning to quit the group, they would have created more memories with him before. Not that they really wanted their duizhang to leave though.

Although he said his Kris hyung is selfish, more than anything, Jongdae is simply very anxious since the latter left. He looks up at the gloomy face of his fellow beagle and Kyungsoo. He could tell that they are as restless as him too—"What will happen to us now?", "How about the fans?", "Can we do this?"—as thoughts run and mess up their head. Still, the first question that continuously bugs Jongdae until now is, “Will Kris hyung forget us?”.

Lifting up the mood by sprinkling a little bit of his healing dust, Yixing can’t help to recall his conversation with Kris days ago. He was asking the older to help him with his composition but he unusually had been refused. The Flight carer also mentioned something like he won’t always be there to help him and the rest was so fuzzy because he was busy sulking at that time. The healer wonders if it was a sign from Kris then to tell him that he is leaving.

Jongin takes Sehun and Tao’s hand into his as he struggles to stop his tears. He had enough of this. He can’t stand to see his brothers, especially Joonmyun hyung tries to be strong for them when he clearly needs comfort too. Thus, he decided to be independent. He is the middle child in maknae line so he is confident enough to help Tao while protecting Sehun at the same time. He wanted the three of them to be a helping maknaes for EXO during this crucial period.

“Don’t think about it too much, kids. Everything will be fine. Now cut the rest. Practice in 5 minutes!”

Sooman chuckles as the boys turn to him with their sceptical eyes. He gets up and dusts himself off before looking at the one of the most devoted ex-trainee he ever had there. “What is your group’s cheer, Joonmyun?”

“EXO saranghaja?”, the tiny-framed leader replies almost immediately.

“Right, saranghaja. To be truth… when I suggested the cheer to you guys, I didn’t particularly ask you to date or what”, Sooman says nonchalantly as he sends a pointed look to the Light carer and some of the boys. “—It meant to remind all of you to spread the love among your fans, to always love each other, to repay the love you received from the staffs and anyone who work hard with you, and… well I had never told you this before but love is the sole thing that could strengthen the bond of the twelve forces. Love can defect the evil. So what if there are only eleven of you left? You are still able to preserve the love. Have a faith on the power of love, kids. This could be your new beginning”

“S-ssaem…”, Joonmyun pauses as one by one member stands up and attacks the poor teacher with a group hug. The Water carer smiles at the warm scene. He bet it is also his first sincere smile since the lawsuit news came out. Yes, let’s love. Let’s just love.

He gets up and joins the rest of his brothers and teacher.

Joonmyun is water. He brings calmness to the group

Luhan is telekinesis. He keeps everything in order

Minseok is frost. He freezes the sorrow

Yixing is healing. He heals everyone better

Baekhyun is light. He brightens our day

Jongdae is lightning. His existence keeps us still

Chanyeol is fire. He emits warmth for us

Kyungsoo is earth. He is our strength

Tao is time control. He makes every seconds worth

Jongin is teleportation. He will always be there

Sehun is wind. He blows away the sadness

Kris is flight. He is supposed to fly…

…but we set him free

How is the story? Comment juseyo~~