Edited; Re-uploaded

            Minseok walked alongside his friends as they were guided around the first floor of the compound. They were supposed to be going to their first verbal lesson, and in the afternoon they would be going to a physical training session. Siwon hadn't been joking when he said they weren't going to sit around all day. They were already up and at it and it wasn't even nine o'clock yet.

            They had all been woken by knocking at their doors, and a person they didn't know remained outside waiting for them. He was the one that eventually told them to follow him, and they did so after freshening up. Then, after a quick meal for breakfast, they continued following him up to where they were now.

            No one spoke since everyone was still pretty groggy from sleep, though it really wasn't that early. Minseok suspected that there were reasons other than lack of sleep for why everyone was so quiet. Like how Suho and D.O. strangely weren't present. He didn't ask why they weren't there, and that's partially because Lay was with them at that moment and he had a feeling that the boy was Suho’s reason.

            Instead of trying to help Lay's memory return, Siwon intended to have him continue with the lessons and training like everyone else. Minseok wasn't sure why, since Lay was now incapable of using his powers. When Lay had first been captured Siwon had made a big deal because of his power, but now that it was apparently gone for good he wasn’t even trying to save it. Unless Siwon was planning to try and teach Lay to use his healing abilities again, he should be doing everything he can to help get his memory back.

            But sadly, Minseok and the others had no say in what Siwon did. He was in a higher position than them, and what he said was practically law. Or that's what it seemed like, anyway.                                                                                                  

            The group was navigated around the first floor of the base in silence, and their guide didn't even speak when he opened a door and gestured for them to go through it. They had reached their destination and as they all filed inside, the guide left them to their own business.

            Looking around curiously, Minseok spotted a person standing on the other side of the room. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back patiently. His black hair was similar to most common styles, for his fringe reached just past his eyebrows to leave his gentle face uncovered. His plump lips remained in an emotionless state, and he almost resembled a fish in Minseok's eyes.

            When the others all caught sight of the man, his hands gestured to the chairs and tables that lined the inside of the room. It was set up relatively like a classroom, with tables and both a white board and a chalk board on the far wall. The only things left out were the supplies and motivational posters that usually covered the walls, along with the class rules that no one ever paid attention to unless they were bored.

            Almost hesitantly, Minseok took a seat in one of the chairs. The others did the same, then they all gazed expectantly at the man that still remained standing in front of them. Once all the attention was on him again, the man turned and lifted the screen that covered a good portion of the white board behind him. A few sketchy drawings were revealed, done completely in colored markers. The first looked like some sort of planet, and EXO was written in big letters at the planet’s center. The next drawing was also of a planet, but this one had ENT at the center. An arrow pointed from the second planet to a huge drawn explosion, and Minseok immediately glanced at the unknown man for some sort of explanation as to what they were looking at.

            But the man didn't say anything. He simply pointed a long stick at each and every one of the boys sitting in the room, then the tip of the stick hit the first planet with a loud whack. He circled the planet with the tip, then he took a bright green marker and drew a smiley face above it. Minseok was thoroughly confused by this strange teaching method—if it could even be called that—but he continued watching as the man did the same to the next drawing, but this time he used a red marker to make a frowny face. The man put down the stick to use his hands to gesture to and from the second planet to the explosion, making a large exploding gesture with his hands. After that, he returned to his previous stance with his hands behind his back, as if waiting for something.

            Minseok honestly had no idea what just happened. He'd been one of the smartest in his classes in high school, and he probably would've been able to choose any college he wanted to if he hadn't been forced to leave at the start of his senior year to find the others, but for once his mind was completely blank. He didn't know what to make of the drawings and the silent man, and he was going to make a comment on how the lesson was meant to be verbal when Lay suddenly let out an "Ahhh" and started nodding his head as if he actually understood.

            All eyes turned to their friend, and he smiled like what he was seeing was the most normal thing in the world. "I get it."

            Several people gasped in utter shock, including Minseok. Their minds were definitely too complex for such simple drawings and unexplanatory learning styles. Now they just waited for Lay to explain it so that they'd all understand. Lay looked around at them all and seemed to notice that they didn't get the pictures, so he began explaining with a smile. "That drawing right there is of EXO planet, and that's where we're all from. The next planet is home to the ENT race, and they don't like us. Especially since their planet was destroyed, though I don't understand what that has to do with us..." Lay's voice trailed off and he pursed his lips in thought, oblivious to the open-mouthed stares he was receiving from the others in the room.

            "You understood all that?" Minseok managed to ask, and Yixing tilted his head slightly.

            "Didn't you?"

            Minseok shook his head slowly, eyes still wide with disbelief. He wasn't sure if Lay was looking at it in a different way or if he just wasn't thinking as keen as the rest of them, but he couldn't say he cared. With their strange teacher's methods, he'd be more than glad to have Lay translate for them.

            They continued to spend a good amount of time like this, with the strange teacher-person drawing picture after picture, and Lay describing them. They learned of almost everything that Minseok had been wanting to know in just the one session.

            Apparently, they were all from a strange, unknown planet, and they were sent to Earth as newborns to replace babies whose mothers had gone through a miscarriage. It was sort of tragic to think about, but it very nearly guaranteed a better lifestyle for them. This whole replacement was because of a battle that happened between EXO Planet and the ENTs just before they were born. The ENT planet was destroyed as a result of the fight, which was over some sort of item or weapon. That part wasn't really revealed in detail, so they still didn't have any idea what it could've been. After the battle was over, the higher up people within EXO Planet sent the secret item to Earth to hide it from the ENTs, for they still sought out its use. All of the people within the base they now lived in were sent as the protectors of Earth and the secret it has been hiding. All they were tasked to do was to protect the future of Earth and their own people, for this secret item—like in some sort of fictional superhero movie—could cause an enormous amount of damage if put in the wrong hands.

            When Lay was finished the long series of explanations, Baekhyun added in a few things that Ren had told him only a few days earlier. He said that the ENTs had to be the enemies that Ren spoke of, and now they planned on coming to Earth for the item kept secret from them. He also added that Siwon was trying to prepare them for a second battle of their own.

            With everything laid out before him like this, Minseok almost couldn't believe it. In the span of almost two months, their lives took a completely huge turn. Especially within the past few days. They were now destined to finish a war that their parents and ancestors started, and they didn't even know what for. It really made Minseok stop and think for a minute.

            What exactly does this thing that they want do? What are we even fighting for?

            When Jongin returned to his room from the first informational lesson, he was completely shocked to see that the door was already open and two muscular guys were standing at the door to the bathroom inside. He was going to question what they were doing, but then he heard a voice that he had missed dearly for the past 24 hours.

            "Get away! What are you doing!? Don't touch me! Stop!"

            Kyungsoo was being pulled out of the bathroom, a mess of flailing limbs and hoarse yells. Even from a distance, Jongin could see how pale and thin he was. Missing four meals was enough to make a visible difference, but seeing that he wasn't dead brought a wave of relief to Jongin's heart.

            Hurrying into the room, Jongin made his presence known, and the two men holding onto Kyungsoo turned to face him, one of them speaking up.

            "We were ordered to retrieve a Mr. D.O. from his self-confinement, using force if necessary. Siwon has become worried about his well-being and wants him to participate with the rest of his group. We have been told to return here if given any sign of D.O. not complying in the future. Siwon will be expecting all of you to continue with your lessons and training. Thank you."  

            The man sounded like an automatic voice recording as he spoke, and the two men let go of Kyungsoo and left when they completed their messagef. Jongin watched them leave, then he turned to look at Kyungsoo, who stared up at him with enormous eyes from where he sat on the floor.

            "Kyungsoo..." Jongin couldn't even think of what he wanted to say other than his friend's name as he knelt down in front of him. He knew he should be mad at how Kyungsoo was handled, but he was just glad to see his face again. All of the horrible things that he thought might've happened disappeared when he finally saw that his older friend was okay.

            Without bothering to ask or see if Kyungsoo cared, Jongin practically threw himself at the other and wrapped his arms around him tightly. He didn't care that their legs were in an awkward mess because Jongin was trying not to sit on him; that it was uncomfortable trying not to crush his friend. He didn't care that Kyungsoo was pleading and pushing against him, trying to pry away the arms that just got tighter. He dug his face in Kyungsoo's neck anyway, because he knew they both needed this.

            Jongin may be a boy on the path of becoming a man, but even he would admit to himself that he was a teenager with weird puberty brain hormones that just made him crave a hug or two every once in a while. Just to put his mind at rest and help him relax. Kyungsoo had to be the same, and he definitely needed a hug more than Jongin did, whether he knew it or not.

            "Kai, stop. Let go of me. Please, Kai." Kyungsoo's hands pressed lightly against his chest, but he didn't move. His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't drunk anything in a while, and Jongin could hear it starting to fail. "Kai, move. I don't want to hurt you. Please!"

            "No." Jongin's voice was firm and he pulled back the slightest bit to look Kyungsoo in the eye, their faces only inches apart. "No, you won’t hurt me."

            Kyungsoo's eyes were wet and Jongin could see tears continuing to build up as he tried to blink them away. "You don't understand, Kai. I can't promise you anything. I'll hurt you eventually, so please just leave me alone."

            "No." Kyungsoo's eyebrows furrowed deeply along his forehead and a look of desperation and horror crossed his face.

            "Jongin, listen to me!" He half sobbed, half yelled. Jongin's straight face broke and switched to concern at the sudden tone of his voice as his friend continued. "I could kill you! I can't let that happen! I don't want to hurt you, Jongin! Please!" Kyungsoo's head fell onto Jongin's shoulder, and his own shoulders shook with his sobs. "Please... I don't want you getting hurt..."

            "Soo..." Jongin murmured his name softly as he brought a hand up to gently pull up his friend’s face. Tears streamed from Kyungsoo's eyes and he wiped them away with his thumbs, smiling softly at him. "You won't hurt me. I know you won't, so please calm down."

            But Kyungsoo shook his head, instead. "You don't understand, Kai. You don't know what could happen! I could—"

            "You're right." Jongin interrupted quickly, which seemed to shut him up for a moment. "You're right. I don't understand, but that's okay. I don't need to."

            "Kai, I don't—" Kyungsoo tried speaking again, but Jongin cut him off once more.

            "You're hurting, Kyungsoo. I don't know exactly why or how, but I can see it. You're scared, I do know that, and I want to help you." Jongin paused and looked pleadingly at his friend. "Let me help you, Soo. You won't hurt me; I know you won't. Not in the way you think you will. Seeing you like this is what hurts me most, so please..."

            Kyungsoo's tears had stopped by then, but he still looked completely uncertain. "No, Kai, I can't... I should leave... There's no telling what could happen..."

            "And that's why you need to stay. There's a fifty-fifty chance." Jongin smiled hopefully at him. "I told you and I'll tell you as many times as I need to, you won't hurt me. And if you do try attacking me—by some rare chance that'll never happen—I can just leave. Disappear. I'll teleport onto your back and hold you down until you calm down and just fall asleep or something." Jongin brushed brown hair out of Kyungsoo's face as the older teen just stared up at him. "Believe in yourself, Soo. If you think you're about to hurt someone, come to me. I'll take you somewhere safe to calm you down. We can get through this. You don't have to be scared."

            Kyungsoo looked at him a moment longer, then he reached up to lightly grab the hand on his face as he fixed his gaze downwards. "I'm not the one who should be scared..."

            Jongin squeezed Kyungsoo's hand and leaned his head down until their foreheads touched. "I'm not scared of you. I have no reason to be..." Jongin's voice ended in a whisper and he looked down into Kyungsoo's eyes as the older teen glanced up at him once more. Their gazes locked and then they simply stared at each other in silence.

            Unspoken fear swam through the dark brown of Kyungsoo's eyes, something Jongin didn't think he'd notice. He hoped this was a moment where Kyungsoo could see the care and determination Jongin had towards him in return, because in the time that they'd been together, Jongin truly began to care for his older friend.

            Kyungsoo wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel given the amount of self-doubt he had versus his roommate’s insistency. Jongin knew what he'd done, for the most part, yet he had somehow managed to pull Kyungsoo closer instead of pushing him away.

            Kyungsoo shouldn't be giving in to him. That would mean putting Jongin in danger along with the rest of their friends, but the look in Jongin's eyes had been so genuine and trustworthy that Kyungsoo just couldn't say no. He was actually starting to believe that maybe Jongin could help him...

            But of course, that trust soon began to go down the drain when Kyungsoo learned that they'd be going to battle training later that afternoon.

            Since he'd been pulled out of hiding right in time for lunch, Jongin forced him to eat something. And while Kyungsoo was scarfing down his food—since he was actually hungry now that he wasn't wallowing in self-hate—he was caught up on everything that had happened while he was locked away. Sadly, he did not meet his end when he began choking on water.

            Too much happened in such short periods of time these days, and Kyungsoo immediately began dreading the hours to come.

            The next time someone knocked at their door, Kyungsoo followed Jongin out into the hallway. He was all too reluctant to leave the confines of their room, but he also didn't fancy getting dragged out of the bathroom again, so that meant he had to go to this so-called battle training.

            Sticking closely to Kai's side, Kyungsoo stared at the ground as they waited for some of the others to come out. He glanced up every now and then, catching Xiumin's eye once, then Suho's when he eventually came out of his room.

            And boy, was Suho a hot mess. His brown hair stuck up all over the place and his under-eyes were dark enough to resemble Tao's. He looked like he'd been holed up in his room for days, and that's when Kyungsoo realized he hadn't looked at his own reflection in the mirror after he took a shower.

            As quick as Chen's lightning, Kyungsoo turned and grabbed onto Kai's biceps, his eyes wide with urgency.

            "Kai! Do I look okay!?"                                                                                    

            In response to his sudden question, Kai looked down at him and smiled with obvious amusement. "Yes, Soo. You look great." His hand then reached up to fluff Kyungsoo's hair and the corners of his eyes crinkled as his lips turned up in a ridiculously cute smile. "Your hair is so poofy!"

            Kai's comments brought a light blush to Kyungsoo's face, and he swatted away the hand that kept messing with his hair. It wasn't really the response that he was looking for... but he didn't mind the one that he received. 

            When Kyungsoo turned away to hide his reddening face, he caught sight of a young-looking man coming towards them. A goofy, yet insanely handsome grin lit up his face as he strode towards the group, and it didn't go away when he began speaking to them.

            "Are you all ready? I'm here to take you to your assigned training areas where I'll teach you all that you need to know to harness your abilities."

            Kyungsoo looked the man up and down, finding it hard to believe that this bright sounding person could be the one that would teach them. Kai had made it sound like they'd be fighting some sort of war, but this wasn't the kind of boot camp trainer that he'd expect. When he thought of a fighting expert, he saw a buff guy with enormous height and muscles, with a strong, deep voice. But this guy wasn't super tall, more like the same height as Kai. He wasn't incredibly buff either, unless the loose shirt he wore covered up rock hard abs and thick biceps. Not to mention the light, scruffy looking brown hair that easily covered his ears and forehead, which made him look more fun than serious. He wasn't anything like Kyungsoo had imagined.

            "If you'll all follow me, then."

            When the man spoke again, Kyungsoo came to realize that he had spaced out for a few seconds. The others must've told him that they were ready when he wasn't paying attention, and he felt Kai give him a small nudge from behind. The younger teen gave him a small smile and took his hand to squeeze it lightly, but Kyungsoo couldn't bring himself to return to action. Instead he just turned to follow the rest of their friends down the hallway.

            Kyungsoo and the others were led deeper into the base through hallways he hadn't been through before. Unlike the other rooms, several of these had windows, and they all looked in as they passed to see other people doing the same sort of training that they were probably expected to be doing in only a matter of minutes.

            Kyungsoo's stomach churned with uneasiness and he bit his lip as he thought of the possible things that he might have to do. Most of the things that came to mind he didn't want to have to go through, and he hoped they'd never reach the training area, though that hope vanished as they soon came to a stop in front of a set of double doors. The man that they had followed turned to ask them if they were ready for the second time, but he didn't wait for an answer before pushing open the doors.

            Kyungsoo honestly didn't know what he should have expected, but lately all of his expectations had been totally wrong, so it was no surprise that this training area was far more complex looking than he had originally thought it would be.

            As he gazed around at the set-up before him, Kyungsoo had to wonder just how enormous the mountain around them was.

            The first room that they stepped into was plain and empty, but the remaining three walls were completely see-through. On the other side of each wall, were rooms and rooms with the same clear walls. Kyungsoo would've thought it was one giant room if it weren't for the fact that each room had insane climate and terrain differences.

            It looked like something out of a fantasy game or a movie, and Kyungsoo almost didn't believe his eyes. He could clearly see a room that was completely icy and it was even snowing inside, while the room next to it was dusty and dry. A third room was filled with a pond and rain fell from nowhere. The next few rooms had a tree shedding flower petals, one with a wall of colorful plants, another with candles and other flammable things, and one filled with a raging thunderstorm. The final room was larger than the others and had rock and boulders of many different sizes scattered around.

            It was almost too obvious that each room was designed for the twelve of them, though Kyungsoo noticed that there weren't enough rooms for all of them, and some of them didn't really make sense. He didn't know who was supposed to go in the room of flowers, but by process of elimination, it would seem to be Baekhyun. Though he couldn't think of a room for Kai, Kris, Luhan or Lay to go into, either, so it was likely that he was wrong.

            After a few minutes of gawking at their surroundings, the twelve teens were gathered in two staggered rows. The man that had brought them to the room stood at ease before them. No more Mr. Nice Guy is what his expressions said, for now he was full-on serious and Kyungsoo was shocked at his visible personality transition.

            "I hope you are all prepared for your first day of training." He began saying. "I am your lead instructor-slash-trainer, Joon. What you see now are your training rooms, which I will soon show to you up close." Joon began pacing slowly from side to side. "This is where you will come to train, and you shall come whenever I or Siwon tell you too. If you choose to return on your free time, then by all means do so."

            Joon stopped once again in his original center position and pulled a few pieces of paper out of the back pocket of his pants. He stepped forward to hand one to three different people, one landing straight into Kyungsoo's grasp.

            "These are the rooms that each of you are assigned to." He continued saying. "You can see a number inside each room on the ceiling to match the number next to your names. Take a good look. You'll only have a minute before I take you to your assigned area."

            When Joon finished talking, Kyungsoo directed his attention to the paper in his hands. Suho and Chanyeol looked over his shoulder, their eyes scanning the page for their individual names. When Kyungsoo found his next to Luhan to share the big room with the boulders, he thought he'd drop to the floor. Instead, he jerked his head up and his eyes immediately met Kai's a few feet away.

            The younger teen looked like he was about to run over to him, but Joon's voice broke in before he could. All eyes turned to his smirking face as he spoke up once more. "Time's up. I hope you're happy with your placements, because this is where the fun begins."