“Don’t you think we should tell someone about this whole… powers thing?” Yixing mumbles as he sits beside the window wall, overlooking the city with new, fresh eyes and avoiding his two friends.

“Don’t you think you should stop being paranoid and come and sit with us? You’re becoming more distant than Jongdae.” Baekhyun complains softly, rubbing the spot on his arm where Jongdae smacks him as he continues. “I don’t have anyone to cuddle with anymore.”

“Please be normal again, I can’t handle another night of Baekhyun’s cuddling. It’s like being spooned by a leech.”

Yixing snorts to himself, turning his head to look at the despair of his youngest flatmate’s features.

“I don’t want to hurt either of you.” Yixing admits, hanging his head. “I’d never forgive myself if I hurt either of you.”

“Do you know how many times I’ve electrocuted Baekhyun these last couple days? And he’s doing fine! He’s just a little jumpy!” Baekhyun smiles nervously, flinching as Jongdae’s hand clamps down on his shoulder. “See!”

“C’mon, Xing. I need my normal, reliable best friend back. You can’t leave me to fend for myself with this lunatic.” Yixing laughs once more, rising to his feet and outstretching his arms for the excitable puppy, getting the softest of hugs. Baekhyun hums in content. “See; you didn’t hurt me at all. I’m a big, strong boy, Xing. I can handle it.” Yixing giggles, swaying with him and reaching out to drag Jongdae in at the side. The latter protests, but the grin on his face tells the eldest otherwise as he plants kisses on both of their foreheads.

“What would I do without you two?”

“Probably nice things like go on holiday and have working electricity in your apartment.” Jongdae clarifies, for once, wrapping his arms around the shoulders of the two clingy boys.

“Hugging you both still sounds nicer.”

“Then I think you need to sort out your priorities. I’d sell you both for a vacation to Florida in a heartbeat.”

Baekhyun twists his .

~*~

The three of them share a bed that night, Baekhyun refusing to leave Yixing’s side and Jongdae showing a rare vulnerable side as he grips the duvet a little too tight and squirms and turns over as he sleeps. Yixing spends most of the night with Baekhyun’s head on his shoulder but his hand between Jongdae’s hair, rubbing circles into his scalp to calm him down from his nightmares.

Jongdae has nightmares often, but his dislike for cuddles and touchy feely shows of affection mean that he suffers in silence. Yixing makes a note not to bring it up in front of Baekhyun, but look out for it if it happens again.

In the morning, Baekhyun has disappeared but Jongdae is still folded into his arms. Baekhyun has gone to work and left a note on Yixing’s forehead that reads what he can only assume is a tiredly scribbled ‘Don’t miss me too much while I’m working hard!’. He throws it aside and surveys the situation.

If he moves, he wakes Jongdae. If he doesn’t, he can’t go and make breakfast.

So the question is, food or Jongdae.

For the future’s sake, he picks the latter. Jongdae holds a much bigger grudge than food.

He shuffles so Jongdae’s awkward position is rectified; resting the younger’s head in the crook of his arm, his bicep acting as a pillow. He runs his fingers through Jongdae’s hair to keep his calm and closes his eyes with a sigh. He doesn’t need to get up for anything, so he may as well make himself comfortable.

“Get your fingers out of my hair, Edward Cullen.”

Yixing laughs boisterously, rolling over so the boy’s body is trapped in his arms. “I hate you so much.”

“You slept with us! Cute.” He teases, rubbing his nose against Jongdae’s cheek. He has no problem with being a little cuddly, but Jongdae squirms and protests, which makes it so much more fun.

“And if you don’t stop wiping your nose on my face, I won’t ever again!” He threatens. Yixing immediately stops and simply rests his head against the top of his friend’s, kissing his head.

“I love you, you know that, right? You and Baek are my baby brothers. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you two.” Yixing mumbles softly, his hair. Jongdae yawns, wrapping his arms around Yixing’s neck and nodding.

“I love you too.”

“Good.” Yixing smiles, “Now, is there anything you want to tell me?”

Jongdae pauses, “should there be?”

“I know about you had a nightmare last night. Does it happen often?” He asks softly, pulling away enough to look the boy in the eyes. Jongdae sighs, eyes closing as he snuggles in closer. Yixing really knows something is up when the boy starts to hide his face in his neck.

“Almost every other night,” He confesses, “but I’m fine in the morning, I promise. Just a little shaken. Nothing a little coffee can’t fix.”

“Jongdae,” Yixing starts sternly, “you should come and see me.”

“Baekhyun will use it against me. You know how much he wants to catch me out on something in revenge for all the times I . But I don’t about things like this. Things that really hurt him.” Jongdae insists, clawing at Yixing’s shirt.

“I know, Dae.” Yixing soothes, hugging him closer. “We won’t tell Baekhyun, okay? Just promise me you’ll come to me if you’re scared, okay? That’s what I’m here for.”

“The nightmares,” Jongdae whispers, “they’re like someone is trying to get into my mind. I see war scenes and weird moons and barren lands. I see you and Baek and me and we’re fighting against something much bigger than us; monsters, people, armies, you name it. We’re useless and we can’t do anything and sometimes I see us lose and I lose you both and there’s bodies everywhere but I can’t find you and I’m all alone and they won’t go-” He hiccups, “-away.”

Tears tickle Yixing’s skin, Jongdae’s chest jerking with sobs. Yixing immediately sits up and pulls the youngest with him, cradling him in his arms as he grips at whatever of Yixing he can grab; his arms, his shirt, his neck. This is the first time Yixing’s ever seen the boy cry and he’s not really sure what to do, so he simply lets him let it all out, soothing him how he always does Baekhyun, wiping his tears and pressing reassuring kisses to his head.

“It’s okay, Dae.” Yixing chants, “I promise. I’ll protect you, okay? Baek and I aren’t going anywhere. We won’t leave your side.” Jongdae nods and pulls away to look the oldest in the eyes. He wipes at his tears fast with the back of his hand, hiccupping every few seconds. He laughs softly at how vulnerable he feels before he cuddles back into Yixing’s warm embrace.

“I’m petrified of being abandoned, Xing. When I turned thirteen, my parents left me. They just packed up and walked out. I lost them and now I’m scared of losing everyone else.” He sniffles, “Especially you and Baek.”

“Is that why you don’t cuddle and hug with us?”

He nods, “I was so huggy and clingy to my parents… and they left. I just thought that if I was the same with you guys, you’d-”

“Hey, hey, Dae; Baek and I will never go anywhere without you. We’re not BaekXingDae for nothing, right?” Jongdae laughs and rests his head on Yixing’s shoulder. He kisses his best friend’s cheek and blushes embarrassedly. “And being a little more affectionate isn’t going to change that.”

“Please don’t tell Baekhyun.”

“I promise,” Yixing chuckles, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Xing.”

~*~

Later on, Baekhyun returns home and to find Jongdae and Yixing curled up on the sofa with popcorn watching Love Actually. Initially, he wants to question Jongdae’s willingness to not only share a blanket but also watch said film, but he eventually goes with,

“Why the hell didn’t you wait until I got home to watch this?!”

Yixing snorts, “because today is XingDae day. You’re supposed to be working hard.”

“I finish work at five. You know that.”

“XingDae day.” Jongdae repeats, flicking a popcorn kernel at the whiny puppy. Baekhyun swats it away and sits in the adjacent arm chair, sulking when Yixing pauses the DVD.

It’s silent for a painful two minutes before Jongdae and Yixing share a look, a sly smile Baekhyun’s familiar with, and outstretch their arms and motion for the moody boy to join them. Jongdae pats the space next to him and happily and eagerly, Baekhyun jumps over and curls around Jongdae’s hug, resting his head against his side.

“BaekXingDae evening?” Baekhyun proposes.

“Only if you don’t mind watching Bridesmaids with us afterwards.” Yixing grins. Baekhyun gasps.

“I love that movie!”

~*~

“So what are we going to do about our powers? We’ve been ignoring them and it’s not working.” Baekhyun groans, pouring his orange juice and wrinkling his nose at the coffee sitting on the work surface beside him. Jongdae wanders over and sips said coffee.

“I say we embrace them.” He smirks, “There’s quite a few people I wouldn’t mind electrocuting. Take Mr Uhm from the office opposite. He could do with a little shock.”

“Don’t you dare electrocute anyone.” Yixing warns with a stern finger. Jongdae pouts.

“Especially here. If we get kicked out, we have nowhere to live.” Baekhyun adds.

“Lighten up, Baek.” Jongdae smirks cheekily, flicking the boy on the forehead. “See what I did there, Angler Fish?”

Yixing stifles a giggle before he continues, “We can’t use our powers in public, but I don’t see any harm in using them here in the apartment.” He spares a glance at Jongdae, “as long as no one gets hurt.”

“Hey, hey, I wouldn’t hurt you guys on purpose.” He defends with a nervous smile, rubbing the back of his neck as he steps away. He backs into Baekhyun and lets out a girlish squeal. Baekhyun laughs.

“I wonder if that lightsaber thing really does work.”

It took him a good few hours, but Baekhyun got a hold of a questionable empty kitchen roll and made himself a makeshift lightsaber with rough scissor cuttings and an entire roll of sellotape.

Him and Jongdae stayed up until 3am playing with it.

~*~

Yixing rolls over the next morning to find the bed empty. It’s unusual for him to have the whole bed to himself; Baekhyun usually taking up a good two thirds of the duvet and most of his own pillow, despite there being two.

He spreads out, stretching and yawning as the light floods through the cracks in the curtains and the door is flung open by a boisterous, excitable boy and a smaller one beside him.

“Xing, you have to see this.” Jongdae shakes him awake, his groaning and shoving him away having no effect to the tiredness in his eyes and the headache growing deep in his skull.

Eventually, he peels himself out of bed, flattening down his clothes and pushing the mess of hair on his head out of the way of his vision. Jongdae drags him out into the living room, Baekhyun close behind, clinging onto his spare arm. He almost trips over his feet at the speed.

“Look!”

He suddenly feels very underdressed for the event.

~*~

Sehun’s fingers have never been tighter around Luhan’s hand as they stumble down the street. Zitao’s dark aura and presence may make him feel a little safer (though he would never admit it to said boy), but just the idea of Luhan being surrounded by so many potential threats made him uneasy.

Luhan’s pretty boy looks were bound to make him number one target to any of the drunk men (and women) that were passing him by and admiring his figure.

Sehun links his fingers with the eldest boy, holding him close to his side. Luhan doesn’t really see his worry, so he just passes it off as him being affectionate and protective, and reaches up to press a kiss to his cheek. Sehun blushes but doesn’t falter.

“We’re almost there.” Zitao informs them from a foot away.

“Are you sure this is them? I don’t want to come all this way to find out you were wrong.” Sehun spits back, “Luhan isn’t safe here.”

“Sehunnie, I’m fine!” Luhan insists, a wide smile on his plump lips. “Anyway, I’ve always wanted to see what a nightclub looks like; I’ve never been to one.”

“Are you sure you’re old enough to get in?” Zitao smirks at the taller of the two blondes, watching with glee as his eyebrows furrow.

“Are you sure you want to piss me off?”

Zitao simply laughs softly and pushes open the door to a particular nightclub by the name of Double D’s. Sehun cringes; is Zitao really sure this is the right place?

“We’re looking for a tall man with ginger-ish hair. He has a really deep voice if that helps.”

“Yeah, wow, thanks. I’ll totally be able to hear his voice over this really quiet music!” Sehun snaps sarcastically, getting a slap on the arm from the smallest.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay to go look on your own, Zitao? We can always look as a three.” Luhan suggests, hand on his friend’s arm, but Zitao simply smiles reassuringly and ruffles his hair.

“I’ll be fine. If you find him, text me, okay?” Luhan gives him a thumbs up.

“I’m still unsure about that guy.” Sehun mumbles close to Luhan’s ear once Zitao’s gone. “He’s really… I don’t know.”

“But you have to remember that he’s just a kid like you. He’s your age.”

“All the more reason I don’t like him. He’s a Chinese, darker, scarier version of me. How do I know he’s not trying to worm his way into my spot?”

Luhan giggles, “your spot?”

“With you.” He murmurs against Luhan’s skin, wrapping his arms around his lover’s neck and snuggling in. “How do I know he won’t steal you away from me?”

“Because I love you, .” Luhan quips, “do you really think he’s going to change that?”

“I can’t be too sure. He’s more handsome and he’s Chinese. He’s-”

“Stop it.” Luhan insists, pressing kisses to Sehun’s lips and nibbling on the soft skin. “I love you and just because you’re not Chinese and you’re a little pale and you’re skinny as a twig doesn’t change that. I fell in love with you as you are, and I love all those things about you. Even if I do think you’re a little unhealthy when it comes to how thin you are.”

“Is that why you keep making me fatty breakfasts?”

Luhan laughs, “Just eat a bit more. You scare me sometimes.”

“I promise. Now let’s go look for this tall- ginger kid Zitao reckons is one of our famous twelve.”

~*~

Luhan and Sehun spend almost an hour trailing around trying to find the boy. They see Zitao talking to all sorts of people and darting between the crowds every so often, but they never once spot the ginger boy by the name of Chanyeol.

Eventually, Sehun plonks himself down at the bar, Luhan sitting on his lap, to prevent any strangers trying to claim the boy. He wraps his arms around his waist to balance him.

The bartender, a wobbly, chubby boy probably only just older than him comes over with a friendly smile, shooting glances occasionally at his previous customer who is quite obviously taking the mick out of Sehun’s protectiveness.

“Hi, um, I don’t suppose you know of a Chanyeol, do you?” Luhan asks politely, smiling softly when the boy laughs and continues to clean a glass he picked up on his way over.

“I don’t know, who’s asking?”

“We’re friends of his. He told us he would be here tonight.” Luhan adds, calm and collected and Sehun wonders if Luhan’s lied to him about anything in the past, because at that moment, the boy really can’t tell the difference. Luhan’s good.

“Got a name?”

“Lu Han, and this is Oh Sehun.” Luhan fills, pointing to the boy behind him.

“Are you sure you’re even old enough to be in here?” The bartender asks cheekily, his smile causing his eyes to curl up at the sides.

“I’m twenty three, thank you very much!” Luhan pouts, snapping. Sehun sighs.

“Look, have you seen him or not? We came all the way over here to see him and we can’t find him. He’s tall with gingery coloured hair. Deep voice.”

The bartender shakes his head with a small smile.

“No, sorry. I don’t know any Chanyeol’s, but if I see any tall ginger guys with deep voices, I’ll be sure to send them your way. Are you ordering anything?”

Sehun glares, “Just two glasses of water, please.” The bartender makes their order to the sound of light bickering of ‘I’m older than you, why won’t you let me drink?’ and ‘Because you have the alcohol tolerance similar to a baby with Haribos, now stop whining’.

After he’s served them, the bartender returns to his tanned friend.

“What did they want?”

“Water and Chanyeol.”

“Chanyeol?” The boy replies, his lips forming a perfect ‘o’.

“Apparently,” he continues, “they said they were friends and Chanyeol had told them he would be here. They seem genuine, but I don’t know; Chanyeol didn’t say anything to us about bringing friends.”

He nods, “What did you tell them?”

“I told them I didn’t know any Chanyeol’s, but if I saw a tall, ginger guy with a deep voice, I’d let them know.” The bartender laughs, “speaking of which, have you actually seen Chanyeol yet?”

“I have not, but the night is young, my dear Minseok, and so am I.”

With that, he waltzes off for his performance of the night.

~*~

“Are you Jongin? The boy who just danced?” A tall, dark boy approaches Jongin on his way back to the bar. The boy has a sly smile and cat-like eyes, and Jongin feels a little uneasy, like he recognises the boy but he puts on his usual front and shakes the boy’s hand.

“The name’s Kai, but yes; that was me just dancing up there.” He smirks, “Did you like the performance?”

“You were fantastic.” He confirms, “I was wondering if I could perhaps buy you a beer?”

“I would love it if you bought me a beer.” Jongin agrees – free drinks? Who would say no?

The boy sits beside him at the bar and Jongin hollers over the bartender. “Minseok, my boy! Could my friend and I please have a beer each?”

“Your usual?” Jongin nods. “What about you, kid?”

“I’ll just have the same.” The dark boy replies. The bartender, Minseok, wanders off to retrieve their drinks, passing by two familiar blonde boys on his way. The dark boy’s eyes widen and he meets the eyes of the blondes, seemingly communicating, but Jongin passes it off as the boy having the eye for the pretty smaller blonde.

“The flower boy is very protective of the little blonde, I’ve noticed. They ordered waters earlier. Came to a bar and ordered water? What is the point?”

“Maybe they came for your spectacular dancing,” the boy suggests with a wide smile and Jongin can tell already that the two of them are going to get along.

“They said they were looking for a friend of mine; I think they’re a bit shady, though.” Jongin admits, taking the bottle eagerly when Minseok returns.

“If you’re planning on seducing him, don’t buy him too many drinks. The more drunk he gets, the more emotionally invested he becomes and then he won’t do any of that kind of stuff.”

Zitao’s eyes widen, “I wasn’t planning on doing any of that.”

“Just a warning. I’m not coming to pick him up from your house at three in the morning when he won’t put out. I’ve already done it eleven times; I don’t fancy a twelfth.” Minseok warns, “Anyway, what’s your name, kid?”

“Huang Zitao, yours?”

“Kim Minseok, it’s nice to meet you.” Minseok smiles, shaking his hand. Minseok smirks at the firm handshake, noticing a tall, ginger boy giving him a pointed look in the background.

Chanyeol is dressed a little too formally for a nightclub, but Minseok doesn’t have the heart to tell him. His long drench coat makes him look more like Doctor Who than Jongin’s Magic Mike and his long, straight hair is a little more Ozzy Osbourne than Skrillex, but yet again, he doesn’t say anything. Chanyeol takes a seat next to Jongin, asking Minseok simply for a pint of Coca Cola, sipping away at it when he notices Jongin’s company and two blonde boys down the bar staring at him.

He looks at Minseok expectantly. Minseok shrugs.

He feels like the world’s number one target when three boys pounce on him.

“Are you Chanyeol?”

“Yeah, why?”

“We need to talk. You, Jongin and Minseok… We know about the bridge, and your powers.”

Minseok’s eyes widen and his cheeks puff out and Luhan thinks he looks a little like the baozis he and Sehun have for breakfast often. Minseok downs an entire glass of water in a few seconds, wiping his mouth clean.

“I think you have the wrong people.” Jongin insists, “We don’t know anything about the bridge and Chanyeol’s only power is height.”

Zitao rolls his eyes.

“We’re not stupid. We know.”

“We… We’re like you guys too.” Luhan confesses with a whisper close to Chanyeol’s ear. “We’ll tell you everything we know if you do the same.”

~*~

So the next morning, the six of them pile into Jongin and Minseok’s apartment, squishing around the coffee table in the living room and laying out everything they have on the table.

Luhan flattens out the letters they kept and their map and starts.

“A couple weeks ago, Sehun and I started receiving letters.” He picks one up, pointing to a specific line. “Almost every single one details a twelve. ‘The twelve will reunite. Six plus six becomes twelve.’, ‘the twelve protectors’. And there’s a tree and these twelve are like, protectors of this tree.”

“Twelve tree protectors?” Jongin replies flatly, “You went through all this trouble to tell us we are protectors of a ing tree.”

Sehun sets his eyes narrowed on Jongin and pats the blonde boy’s hair.

“Listen to what he has to say.”

“Okay, Mr Possessive.” Jongin sarcastically bites back, getting a smack from the oldest in the room. He pouts, but keeps silent.

“There are twelve people and twelve symbols on this map. This map came in one of the letters. Someone touch the map.”

No one moves, so Zitao reaches forward and prods it straight in the centre. The map comes to life, the gold ink running under the paper like Sehun and Luhan had become so familiar with. Twelve symbols slowly appeared in place. Six were grouped together and the other six separated into three groups; one of three all close together, one of two moving further away from the one alone.

“Each symbol represents one of us twelve. You three are also symbols. Sehun and I are these two.” Luhan points to the two most familiar symbols, and then to the hourglass. “And this one is Zitao.”

“I’ve seen those before.” Chanyeol blurts. “My book…” He flicks open to the pages on the hourglass. “The hourglass represents time,” he explains, “‘The hourglass has the ability to pause and control time and it’s flow.’ The hourglass is one of the four ‘special’ symbols. That circular one you pointed at is another.” Chanyeol flicks the pages back a few to the pages on the particular symbol.

He’s holding the book a little too tight and the urgency causes him to panic when he can’t find the page he needs. He can feel his hands heat up like previously, dropping the book on the table just as the pages begin to catch fire.

The new additions to the party panic a little, time freezing, the table levitating ever so slightly off the ground. Sehun instinctively blows on the flames, a gust of wind brushing past all of them and putting out the flames. The smoke decorates the air as the six of them sit in silence.

Chanyeol pushes his bangs from his eyes and mutters a soft ‘thank you’ as he regains control of his book, sprinkling the ashes on the table from the burnt away corner.

“The circle pattern corresponds to the ability of a telepath. The owner of the circle pattern has the ability to lift things with their mind. ‘The owner of this symbol is able to control the movement of people and objects using only their mind. This symbol is very strong and can be hard to control at times, but the power will be one of most use.’ Using the fact that Sehun just blew wind onto my book, I’d say you’re the telepath, Luhan.”

Luhan nods, “so Sehun is the swirly symbol?” He clarifies, pointing to the symbol on the map.

“I would assume so.” Chanyeol flicks back another couple pages to the wind boy’s symbol.

“This feels like a horoscope.” Jongin comments, “like you’re going to tell us our love lives are in for good news, but I should stay away from the colour yellow.”

“I’m so sorry; sometimes his mouth opens without his brain registering.” Minseok apologises quickly, closing the jaw of the younger boy. Jongin, yet again, pouts. “Carry on, Chanyeol.”

“‘The symbol of Wind holds great power. This symbol allows the owner to manipulate the wind and its properties, making it a valuable weapon when introduced to danger.’” He reads, flicking back one page to the snowflake symbol.

“Ice, right? So that one must be mine?” Minseok asks. Chanyeol nods.

“The power of Ice is the oldest of all the symbols, like you are of all of us.” Chanyeol explains, “The power of Ice has the most details to it. You obviously know that you can freeze yourself to the Seoul Bridge, but you can do so much more. You can manipulate oceans to become your own personal ice rinks, you can shape ice to whatever you like and move the frozen world as much as you like. Your body is also rather cold, which explains why you’re so affected by sitting near me.”

“Which is yours, Chanyeol?” Zitao asks curiously.

“We’ll get to me last.” Chanyeol flicks back one page from Minseok’s to find a triangular shape, a circle inside. “Jongin’s symbol represents the power of teleportation. He’s another of the four special symbols.” Jongin grins proudly. “Jongin’s symbol details the ability to transport between distances, and potentially planets, at his will. It says that he can take people with him, but it has a much bigger impact on the bodies of those who do not possess the power, than his which is built for the ability. Which would also explain that winding feeling you got when you and Jongin teleported to me, Minseok.”

“Wait,” Zitao jumps, “that means that the screaming guy in the alley who grabbed my arm as he winded me was you.”

“And creepy alley guy was you.” Jongin finishes, “Wow, it’s a small world.”

“If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have met Luhan and Sehun. You teleported me to them.” Zitao confesses. “So thank you.”

Jongin simply smiles in reply.

“And last but not least, myself. I’m fairly certain that due to my new tendencies to burn everything I touch, my symbol is the Phoenix. The Phoenix represents the ability to create and manipulate fire. It says I will one day have my own phoenix; the stronger I become, I awaken the bird, but I don’t know where I’d find said bird, so for now, I’m just an arsonist.”

Luhan giggles and flattens out the map. “What about all these other symbols?”

“They must all represent other people like us. The Unicorn, the Scorpion, the Star, the Rain Drop, the Winged Creature and the weird one that looks like a transformer. They must all be people too.” Chanyeol digs into his bag and pulls out two of the stone carvings. The two pieces don’t quite fit together, but he gets the feeling that the remaining ones will fill the gaps.

“What are those?”

“These are two of the artefacts I’ve found on my digs. I found the Phoenix carving first. I initially thought it was some sort of myth; an old legend. Never did I think I’d be living it myself, and never did I anticipate being the Fire God that started this whole obsession.”

Luhan sighs and reaches out to peer at the front cover of the book. Around a circle are the twelve symbols, just like the ones on his and Sehun’s map. He hums as he rubs his thumb over his own symbol.

“I think we should find the other six.”

“I think,” Chanyeol adds, his lips curling into a wide, friendly smile, “I think that’s the best idea I’ve heard in a while.”