~Reuploaded; Edited~

       Rainwater sloshed under the feet of two teens as they sprinted over grass from the four others who pursued them. Their breaths came in shorts pants due to the chase that’d already lasted for nearly an hour, and their limbs ached from overexertion. Their clothing clung uncomfortably to their bodies, on top of that, as it’d been raining non-stop since the beginning of their chase. However, the forest coming up before them was viewed as both a protection from the weather and an opportunity for freedom.

       "Joonmyun!" The shorter of the two males looked to his taller friend as his name was called.  A signal was then sent in his direction in the form of a nod, and he acknowledged it with a nod of his own. He knew what he had to do.

       Joonmyun didn’t cease his continuous flow of movement as he glanced back over his shoulder. He caught sight of their pursuers immediately, despite how well they blended in to the black of night, and he was quick to throw an arm out in their direction. A path of water droplets became suspended in the air between them, leaving a clear opening for the distraction his friend planned to give. "Chanyeol!"

       As soon as he called out his partner's name, a ball of fire flew past him, warming Joonmyun’s side for a mere second. Their pursuers dived to avoid the hot flames that rushed towards them, slipping on the wet grass in their hastiness to evade. Joonmyun then allowed the water to continue falling as he focused on their escape.

       They had moved into the forest, barely dodging the large trees as they moved within their dense midst. Only a few moments passed before they heard yelling behind them, which meant Chanyeol’s distraction had served its purpose. Joonmyun knew they needed to hide, and fast, but the question was where?

       He glanced around, hoping to spot something to give him an idea, when a flash of light in the distance caught his eye. It didn't appear again, though, so it was likely he just imagined it, but something still pulled him closer.

       Chanyeol followed Joonmyun as he veered off, both quickening their pace as they heard their pursuers catching up. The shorter teen noticed the dark outline of a building slowly growing nearer and pushed himself to run as fast as he could in order to reach it in time.

       They came up from behind the large house and parted ways to run on separate sides. Chanyeol was already at the front door when Joonmyun rushed over, and the handle turned easily when he tested to see if it was locked. They didn’t even spare a second thought before running inside, and Joonmyun swiftly turned the lock once they were safely separated. Though he still held his breath when voices spoke from outside. "Where'd they go?" A deep, gruff voice asked.

       "In here, maybe?" The door handle shook viscously as one of the men tried opened it, and fear crawled up Joonmyun’ pine until it stopped.

       "No, it's locked." Another observed.

       "Damn, if we didn't have to play by the rules then we could break in." The gruff voice went on to say, but a fourth voice spoke up with words to momentarily ease Joonmyun’s troubled soul.

       "You know we can't get caught. Let's go. We have to at least check out the next town over before the sun comes up."

       The voices gradually faded, after that, and Joonmyun and Chanyeol finally collapsed to the floor. Both were exhausted after running for so long, but they knew they couldn't just sit around inside a stranger's house. The threat was gone, and as unnerving it was to know that others may end up in their situation, Joonmyun was still relieved. They could stake out for a few more minutes before leaving again, but as he began brainstorming for a plan of action, an unfamiliar voice reached his ears from above.

       "Are you okay?"

       Luhan woke to the sound of voices outside. He didn't really think anything of it, since he was generally a pretty light sleeper, but then he heard an unusually loud thud coming from downstairs. He jumped out of bed almost immediately and stumbled out of his room, then he tiptoed silently down the single hallway. He stopped at the peak of the main staircase to look down onto the first floor, and was surprised to find two boys lying on the floor, each seeming to be around his age. He hardly spared a thought before confronting them.

       "Are you okay?"

       As he called down to them, they bolted upright into a sitting position. Even in the dark and from a distance, they looked terrified.  

       "Luhan, what are you doing? They could be burglars, for all you know."

       Said boy jumped at the sound of Kris' voice behind him. He turned to look at the tall male, who was dressed in the same clothes as he had been earlier. "I didn't know you were awake."

       The taller male avoided his gaze with a self-conscious shrug. "I couldn’t sleep..."

       Luhan placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, since he had a pretty good idea as to why Kris was unable to rest. "It wasn't your fault." He tried to assure, but his gesture was shrugged off when Kris turned his attention to the intruders,  his own hand reaching out to flick on the lights.

       "What are you doing here?" He sternly questioned the two teens, who’d been watching their short exchange from afar. Their eyes were wide, and Luhan could see them shaking horribly, which was saying a lot given the distance between them. Droplets of water from their hair and clothes sprinkled onto the floor at every move they made, and Luhan only then noticed the sound of rain pattering against the side of the house. "W-We were being chased.” One of the teens finally spoke up, his soft, trembling voice easily crossing the empty room. “W-We had to hide."

       "So you are burglars." Kris accused, eyes narrowed to bare slits.

       "N-No! Your misunderstanding! We didn't do anything bad!" The second, much taller male spoke up. His voice was considerably deeper than the first, and Luhan completely shared his opinion on Kris’ unreasonable claim.

       "Then why were they chasing you?" In response to Luhan’s demand, the two teens shifted their eyes to the floor.  

       "We can't tell you."

       "Just spill it." Kris said, his irritation plain as day. His impatient tone seemed to reach the boys fairly obviously, for the second one lifted his gaze with a fearful expression.

       "Just promise you won't turn us in..." He pleaded, much to Luhan and Kris’ confusion. "We haven't, or won't, hurt anyone."

       Luhan exchanged a glance with Kris, and they both gave a nod each, despite their lack of understanding. It was then that the first male sighed and answered Luhan’s question, his voice laced with bitterness. "We're two of the so called mutants that are posing as humans. They were trying to take us away…"

       The answer sent a jolt of shock through Luhan’s body. Of all things, these boys were just like them? How was it that they were all finding their way to Jongin's home?

       Through his shock, Luhan found himself laughing. The whole night was just too strange and coincidental for him to keep a straight face, and there was no way he could keep still with everything going on. There wasn’t anything humorous about the occurring events, but he felt like things were going well for them with each new face that showed up at their doorstep.  

       "There's no need to be scared. We are, too." Luhan told them. He ran down the stairs, dragging Kris with him. "Don't you recognize this guy from the news?"

       After one glance at Kris, the two teens seemed too relieved and shocked to speak. They collapsed back to the floor, where they’d been when Luhan showed up, and he gazed down at them in concern. "Do you want towels? You’re completely soaked!"  

       To Luhan’s surprise, the shorter of the two shook his head and waved his hand over his body, the water lifting from his clothes, only to disappear completely. Luhan clapped as Kris merely nodded in approval, mumbling something about water manipulation.

       After both males were dry, the second teen sat up and cupped his hands together, a flame glowing brightly between his bare palms. The two huddled together beside the warm fire and Luhan knelt in front of them, gazing at them in awe.

       "That's a pretty cool combination you guys have there. My name's Luhan, by the way."

       "And I'm Kris."

       "My name is Joonmyun."

       "Chanyeol."

       It was quiet for a few moments, as they all had so much to say, yet so little. Then Luhan spoke again, a little hesitant on bringing the subject up to the teen’s they’d met only minutes ago. "You know, if you guys want to stay the night, then I'm sure our friend Jongin won't mind."

       "Oh, is he the teleporter? We thank you for the kind offer.” Joonmyun said, then a tad more uncomfortably, “We kind of had to run away from home..."

       "Maybe we can get him to let you stay forever." Luhan smiled at the idea, especially after Joonmyun’s last few words. "That would be fun!"

       His two new friends mirrored his smile and nodded, voices sincere. "Thank you so much."

       "You want to live here?"

       "Please."

       "Fine by me."

       The request was simple, and Jongin made it possible to give an answer that was even more so. Luhan was a bit surprised at how chill the younger boy was, but he was happy nonetheless. Given their position as practical runaways, his answer made complete sense. Chanyeol and Joonmyun had stayed the night as Luhan had allowed, and he pushed off introductions to Jongin until the morning. Both seemed quite happy to have found living arrangements, and Luhan was even more happy to find people like him, though it was a tad awkward to ask permission of someone younger than him.

       They’d been quick to push introductions out of the way, though Kris refused to speak after the night before. Luhan knew Kris blamed himself for causing Joonmyun and Chanyeol to be chased away from their homes, but it wasn't his fault he wasn't able to control his powers. It turns out Jongin decided it was time to change that.

       "Kris, I think we need to help you control yourself. It would be better for all of us." The younger boy brought up abruptly, in what most would consider a rude tone of voice.

       As expected of anyone, Kris’ mood didn't seem to get any better when that was said, but he nodded slightly. His words came out as a soft exhale. "I agree."

       "We can help, too." Joonmyun said with a gentle smile, nudging Chanyeol. The taller boy nodded, an unusually wide grin present on his features.

       "I can help with his flame control, and Joonmyun can put him out if something goes wrong."

       Luhan rose his hand as if he was in elementary school, an action that occurred out of habit when he wanted to speak. "Can we put together some money for food while we're at it? We need to take a shopping trip." Kyungsoo was nodding, though Joonmyun and Chanyeol were still uninformed of their lack of food.

       "I second that." Kyungsoo agreed.

       "Yeah, we haven't had a proper meal in a while..." Jongin murmured, putting a hand into his pocket. He pulled out mere five-dollar bill and handed it over to Luhan. "That's all I had on me when I came here and I haven’t quite had the time to look for a secret money stash. Sorry im not much help in this case.”

       Luhan smiled, nonetheless, as he accepted the money. "It's better than nothing."

       With that, everyone contributed to the grocery money, coming up with almost 200 dollars thanks to Joonmyun, who everyone soon learned was practically made of money. Luhan wouldn’t have dared to carry that much money on himself at any other time, but that just showed how different their lives really were outside of their abilities.

   Okay, so I updated early because it's Kris' birthday and I absolutely love him.

   So Happy birthday to him~!

   Speaking of the one who ruined my life, have you guys heard his new song for the movie Somewhere Only We Know? It's called There is a Place and.... I cried... It reminded me of Luhan and EXO and I just died. 

   On the subject of movies and songs, I also listened to DO's song Scream for the movie Cart, so I died a total of two times last night. Well probably more. So sad... 

   But yeah, I hope you guys are enjoying this lil fanfic. I'm grateful for all the subs and comments, even though it's little compared to others. I've read all the comments, even if haven't reponded, and I always get really happy. ^-^ I'm working hard to keep writing and I hope it turns out well so you guys can enjoy.

   I'd love to know what you guys think, and I'm personally one to leave long comments, so feel free to do so, whether your telling me I did good or something seems wrong. :3 :3 :3

  So i definitely didn't do math homework yet, haha, so I should probably go do that now. ^-^'

   I'll update again soon!