~Re-uploaded; Edited~

        Joonmyun had been searching Jongin's house for Luhan, but he couldn't find the doe-eyed male anywhere within its walls. He knocked on each of the upstairs bedroom doors, then he had gone down to the first floor to look in the living room, dining room and kitchen. Even when he went down to the basement, questioning anyone he saw along the way, the teen was nowhere to be found.

        Suho leaned against the door frame leading into the lowest floor, exhaling loudly, which attracted the attention of Minseok. The older male moved to stand beside him, leaving Chanyeol, Kris and two newbies named Tao and Baekhyun alone to their practicing.

        "Is something wrong?"

        "Have you seen Luhan?" Suho asked in response, hoping he'd know. The two oldest seemed to have become good friends over the past week since Minseok’s arrival.

        "He left the house a while ago." The auburn haired male answered easily, shrugging as though it were normal, which his next words deemed true. "He's been going out almost every day, lately."

        Joonmyun let out a quiet sigh, suddenly troubled with intense worry for his older friend. Luhan was taking a risk by going outside. Their half-assed plan of “disguising” wasn’t the best or most thought out, and they really didn’t even know if it truly worked. Going out was something they kept limited for such reasons, and he didn’t want Luhan to risk his capture—or whatever would’ve happened to he and Chanyeol if they’d been caught.

        The thought sent a quaking shiver running down his spine, but he suppressed it and quickly thanked Minseok before heading back upstairs.

        He didn't need Luhan at the moment; any time would be fine, though sooner would be better given the latest news of his treks to who knows where. He just wanted to get his task over with, and there wasn’t much for him to do otherwise. Though, even when he does find Luhan, he might not want to help. Kyungsoo alone would always work, too...

        What exactly was his task, you may be asking? Just simple furniture rearrangement. As idiodic as it might sound, it was the best thing that he could do. And even then, he likely wouldn’t be doing the work seeing as his arms were literal noodles. However, the living room would need more places to sit if everyone in the house decided they were going to watch a movie together. If they weren’t training, they tended to just slouch around all day. They’d all dropped the idea of school for the time being, and the household only continued to grow.

        He only hoped—partially—that no more people showed up to stay, because he and Luhan were the only two people to have a room to themselves. The newbies, Tao and Baekhyun, had chosen to room with Kris and Xiumin, so Suho had his own room, for now. But for some reason, he had a feeling that it would soon change.

        With a final glance around the foyer that the basement staircase opened up to, Suho slipped on some sunglasses, his shoes, and walked out the front door. He might as well take a walk as long as Luhan was out, too. It was a nice day, but the sun was dulled with the help of his trusty attempt at a facial disguise.

        There was no particular place he wanted to go to, so he found himself wandering through the trees surrounding his home. And as his body wandered, so did his mind. He started thinking about the future, and all of the possibilities it could hold. How long would he be with his new friends? What was going to happen to them? They weren't doing particularly anything, just skipping school to stick together. None of them even knew why, or how, they came to meet. Who knows how many more people will show up at their doorstep? Friend or foe.

        Being so deep in thought, Joonmyun paid no attention to his surroundings, and it wasn’t long before he slipped on a tree root that was unusually slick. He immediately stuck out his arms to catch himself, resulting in his right hand scraping against the faulty tree as he stumbled forward, his sunglasses jolted right off of his face. He had to blink a few times to clear his head before he finally felt the stinging pain, and then he let out a small hiss as he inspected the damage.

        The skin on his palm was only torn a little, yet it hurt way too much for being just a little scratch. Blood barely even poked to the surface, but maybe it was the effect of the tree’s crumbling bark. He shook his hand a little, trying to think of something to distract himself from the pain, when an abrupt voice sounded to his right.

        "Is your hand okay?"

        Joonmyun looked away from his own hand to see a slightly taller male standing beside him, a look of concern on his seemingly glowing face. "Oh, it's only a tiny scratch." He assured with a smile that faltered under the stunning view before him.

        As he said this, the teen took hold of his hand and pulled it closer to at it. So close that Joonmyun could feel the wavy brown hair that swept across the boy's forehead. And boy was it soft.

        After what seemed like ages of Joonmyun staring at the boy’s intense gaze directed onto his hand, he was finally set free. Heat crawled up his body from the touch, swarming up his neck and to his ears as the boy dug into his pocket. Eventually, the glowing boy pulled out a Band-Aid and smiled, revealing an unbelievably cute dimple on his right cheek that spiked Joonmyun’s heartbeat. "Close your eyes."

        Suho did as he was told without argument and soon felt hands on his once more. Gentle fingers rubbed at his skin, the pain slowly fading with each circle of the boy’s thumb. The Band-Aid was then placed on his cut, and the soft hands left his. "All done. Don't take it off."

        Joonmyun looked down at his hand and a smile overtook his features as he looked at the pink unicorn Band-Aid. He couldn’t help but feel, even after such a short time, that it fit the boy perfectly. "Thank you. It feels much better."

        The teen's smile grew to an even more blinding state, where even sunglasses wouldn’t help to dull the sight. His dimple was like a beautiful crater in his cheek; so deep, that Joonmyun swore he fell right into it. "Of course. That's a special unicorn healing Band-Aid."

        "Oh, that's cute." The short sentence slipped past Suho's lips and the boy's face turned a light shade of pink. Joonmyun wasn’t even sure what he was talking about when he said the words, but they fit in more than one subject. "Well, I should be going." He continued quickly, reaching down to snatch up his fallen sunglasses. "Thanks again."

        He spun around with the grace of a headless chicken and hurriedly began walking away, heading back the way he had come. His heartbeat had only quickened following his previous slip-up, and it finally slowed down once the house came into sight. But as he walked through the front door, he swore he could still feel the soft caress of the stranger’s fingers on his skin; like an imprint on his soul, even.

        Kyungsoo found himself in Jongin's huge kitchen after Suho had come to him, asking for some help with reorganizing the layout of the living room. Apparently he had plans to ask for Luhan's assistance, too, but both teens disappeared soon after that. Kyungsoo had agreed with much inner conflict, but deemed the task to require little use of strength on his part, so he would allow the use of his abilities just this once.

        To keep himself from getting bored while he waited for the return of his two friends, he decided to find something to bake using the few ingredients that were kept in the kitchen. There was actually quite a bit of food in there thanks to Suho's never ending money stash, but it looked like very little compared to the enormity of the kitchen itself.

        Walking in, the first thing in sight was the small square island in the center of the room. A large walk-in pantry took up the closest left corner, and counters lined the wall to meet at the far right. Two stoves were placed on the right wall, and a large fridge sat on the opposite wall next to the pantry. Different appliances and dishes were kept in cupboards above and under the counter tops, the place finishing with a professional appearance. It was obvious the room was built to serve quite a few people, as it was an inn before Jongin’s grandparents had moved abroad.

        With a small, content smile on his face, Kyungsoo put on an apron and opened a recipe book that seemed to be calling out his name. He was looking for something simple, and soon laid his eyes upon a sugar cookie recipe. It was probably the simplest you could get while retaining an appealing taste, with ingredients that he could afford to spare.

        Kyungsoo made quick work of washing his hands in the sink, then he went to find all the needed ingredients and dishware. With everything gathered on the counter in front of him, he began sifting through the needed amounts of flour, baking powder and salt to begin the baking process.

        Once he was done with that bowl, he began working with the other ingredients in another, humming softly along to a song that was stuck on repeat in his head. Instead of using the fancy electrical mixer that sat sparkly clean and ready to use, he stuck to a simple whisk, which always seemed to result in a better taste.

        Kyungsoo was soon able to add the powder mix to the liquids a little at a time, as advised by the recipe, once again choosing a wood spoon over the mixer to blend them together in a large bowl. He was so caught up in mixing the thick dough that he didn't expect an arm to suddenly slide around his waist, the hum of a song catching in his throat. He reacted instinctively by swinging his elbow back, almost knocking his cookie dough off the table, but successfully making the person back off.

        Whirling his head around to look over his shoulder, he found Jongin rubbing his arm, which was probably where he’d gotten hit. A large grin was on his face, though, and Kyungsoo shook his head, unable to process how the boy could be so…Jongin... "Do you need something?" He asked, only slightly annoyed with the interruption as he continued mixing the tough dough.

        "Whatcha doin'?" Kai looked over Kyungsoo’s shoulder from behind, chin practically resting on it. The boy was a little too curious for his liking—not to mention close. His strong scent surrounded Kyungsoo, overtaking the smell of sugar and flour and filling his nostrils with something that was bound to drive him absolutely insane. He just couldn’t decide if it would be a good or a bad kind.

        "Making cookies." As he answered, he sidestepped away from the other, only to him to follow in the end. It seemed that there would be no escape from this situation.

        "Wow. I didn't know you could bake." Jongin sniffed loudly, his nose practically in Kyungsoo's ear. "It smells great. I bet it tastes good, too."

        It was as though the boy’s words were aimed to suggest something completely different from the subject at hand, and the urge to hit the freshman again was almost too great to contain. He seemed to be asking for it when he stuck his finger in the bowl of cookie dough, and Kyungsoo was much too happy to give it to him.

        With his harshest glare, Kyungsoo lashed out to smack Kai’s hand away from his precious creation. "Hey! Wash your hands! Unless you plan on helping me, then you'll have to wait!"

        Kai's smile faded, but it quickly appeared again, bigger than ever. "I see, Kyungsoo. Okay!" Slightly confused at the sudden swing of emotions, Kyungsoo watched the boy run to put on an apron and quickly wash his hands before returning. "Tell me what to do!"

        Eyeing him suspiciously, Kyungsoo slowly pushed the bowl of partially mixed dough to his friend. "Stir it." He stood back for a moment and watched as Kai took hold of the wood spoon, biting his lip as he concentrated on doing as he was told.

        Kyungsoo wasn't completely against the freshman working with him, but the boy had become a little too touchy feely lately, never asking for Kyungsoo's permission before hugging him or even simply touching his arm. Minus that part, Jongin was actually pretty cool—unless he decided to teleport right between him and a good book.

        Kyungsoo couldn't really do anything mean in return, though. He was thankful that Kai had provided a home for him to stay in, and they were all more like family that his actual parents had been. Even though his days became a little boring without school to keep him occupied, he truly enjoyed the time he spent with his friends. They were surprisingly close.  

        "Hey, Kyungsoo. Is this good?" Kai was grinning once again as he waited for a response, and Kyungsoo quickly looked inside the bowl to judge his work. It looked good and was the proper consistency, so he nodded in approval and went on to store the bowl in the huge refrigerator. "Wait, what about baking them?" Kai broke in, sounding utterly confused in a way that was almost…cute.

        "They have to cool down for a while." Kyungsoo answered, opening up one of the cupboards above the countertops. He pulled out a stack of average sized bowls and set them out on the island as he went on. "While we wait, we can make icing, though it doesn't take very long to do that, so you can go and do something else for like an hour or so. I’ll call you when it’s time." He removed his apron and rinsed the powders off his hands, but Jongin hadn't yet moved by the time he was cleaned up.

        "Well, what are you going to do?" The boy asked.

        Kyungsoo just shrugged. "I’ll probably read a book." He had found himself in the dining room a lot, since there was a huge amount of books along the large wall. One entire side of the room was complete shelves of novels, ranging across all genres and providing something for everyone to enjoy.

        "Your grandparents have good taste." He added as he headed into the room of subject, which sat across the small hallway. When he returned after making his quick book selection, Kai had still not left. He’d pulled a stool over to the island, though, and now sat watching Kyungsoo as he also took a seat.

        They remained as such for a long while, with Jongin examining Kyungsoo’s profile as he read. It was hard not to feel the boy’s gaze, but Kyungsoo did his best to ignore it, even though pink was likely tinging the skin of his cheeks. He just continued reading, only partially unaware of the intense stare Jongin had aimed at his flicking eyes, and it wasn’t long before they were going on to make icing in a big bowl.

        Time had gone by fast.

        By the time Kyungsoo had separated the plain icing into smaller bowls, he heard the timer he’d set for the cookies go off. He sent Kai off to retrieve the bowl of cookie dough from the fridge as he gathered a box of assorted cookie cutters from one of the cupboards within the island. He didn't know why they had them, in the first place, but he was glad.

He set the box on the counter and sprinkled flour over the flat surface, covering enough space for both himself and Jongin. Once he was done with the preparations, he held out his flour-coated hands. "Can I see your hands?"

        The freshman was clearly puzzled, but he did as Kyungsoo asked, and he went on to rub flour into the other's hands. "We don't want the dough sticking to us." Kyungsoo explained as he dabbed more flour onto his fingers to add to that which was already spread over Jongin’s palms. The boy’s fingers were soft and just a tad thinner than his own, so they felt small compared to his. But maybe that was because of the overbearing strength that lay just under his skin, which made him feel like he towered over everyone despite his short height.

        Giving himself a shake, Kyungsoo dropped Jongin’s hands and tore off a chunk of dough from the lump in the bowl. He handed it over to Kai and got one for himself, then he set it down on his patch of flour, gesturing for the other to follow.

        Kyungsoo began to effortlessly flatten out his dough with a rolling pin and glanced at Jongin to see that he was doing the same. When it reached an even thickness, they began choosing cookie cutters to use. There was a huge variety, from Valentine’s Day to Thanksgiving, to weird shapes of dinosaurs and simple things like squares.

        Kyungsoo chose a few that were Halloween related, since the end of October was drawing closer and he felt the others would enjoy the festivity. He placed his chosen kitty cookie cutter on the edge of the flattened dough and pressed down, wiggling the utensil slightly to make sure he cut all the way through, just as he was taught as a child. As he reached for a spatula to remove the shape, he glanced at Kai, only to see that he had placed a huge circle shaped cutter in the very center of his dough patch.

        "What are you doing?" Kyungsoo asked him, trying not to let his total exasperation show as he removed the metal circle. "You’re supposed to start on the edge so you can fit in more shapes. And why a circle?"

        Jongin grinned as he reached for a square cutter, which he put it in Kyungsoo's hand while taking back the circle. "Nobody likes squares."

        "Your reasoning makes no sense. Squares are much neater and easier to make. You can do much more with them." Kyungsoo reasoned, and somehow, he’d become absolutely serious on the topic.

        "But squares are exact on all four sides, and if it's not, then it's a—Rectangle!" Kai pulled out yet another cookie cutter from seemingly nowhere, and Kyungsoo couldn't fight back a smile. The conversation was taking an utterly random turn.

        "You need help..." He breathed out softly, pushing his smile away so that he could continue with his work. "Now hurry up. I want to get them in the oven."

        Kyungsoo went back to his own space and continued his working with ease, looking over every now and then to see that Kai was still cutting out the most random cookies. He’d go from a dinosaur to a flower, and then to a gingerbread man. Kyungsoo just shook his head, once again smiling as he let the boy be.

        It wasn’t long before they finished, with four large trays of cookies to put into the ovens, the unbaked shapes packed closely together. They had to have used every single cookie cutter in the house, but it was fun for both of them to cut out the absurd shapes, and they expected to see some pretty funny expressions when they show the others.

        After Kyungsoo set the timer for the cookies, he stood next to Kai in front of the bowls of icings that were on the center island. A tub of food coloring sat open before them, waiting to be used, and Kyungsoo took out the red. He then pushed the tub in Kai's direction.

        "Choose some colors and start adding them to bowls." He ordered. "And don't go overboard. Not many drops are needed to get some colors."

        Kai nodded to show he understood, then he reached for the small bottle of blue food coloring. He seemed to be okay without any more help, so Kyungsoo opened the red and began the tainting of his own half of the pure white glaze.

        There were many colors by the time they finished, some that Kyungsoo didn't even know existed in stores—and that was saying something. Knowing Kai, though, the boy likely managed to somehow mix the dye in just the right way to create more colors than they had bottles. But Kyungsoo didn't bother asking him about how he’d done it when he heard the ovens beep. Instead, he slipped on two oven mitts, threw another pair at Kai, then they took out the trays.

        The room was quickly filled with the smell of the freshly baked treats as they set them on racks to cool, and Kyungsoo's mouth watered just looking at them. He couldn't stop himself from taking a swift bite out of one, though it almost burned his tongue in the process. Kai was obviously amused to see him in pain, and Kyungsoo shoved the rest of the burning cookie into his mouth, grinning triumphantly as Kai experienced the same pain.

        After that, they only waited a few more minutes before deciding to start decorating—just long enough for the irresistible treats to cool. Kyungsoo went for something simple to begin with when it came to decorating, using single colors on each cookie, while each of Kai's seemed to be some sort of masterpiece. Very messy masterpieces. He had piles of toothpicks and sprinkles scattered around as he tried to add the tiniest of detail, though it clearly wasn't working very well. And that was partially because he didn't have very good sense when matching colors. He seemed to realize he was taking too long, thankfully, because he soon started using less colors and put sprinkles all over instead of on certain areas of the cookies.

        Time flew by as they decorated the sugary cookies, and Kyungsoo was soon adding the finishing touches to his last cookie, a content smile on his face as he worked. The afternoon had been fun, even more so with Kai alongside him. He didn't usually enjoy baking with others, but Kai and Luhan seemed to be exceptions.

        Luhan was always eager to learn and help Kyungsoo make meals for everyone, and Jongin was pretty quiet when it came down to it, which was actually kind of worrying him. Kyungsoo turned to ask the younger teen about his silence, when something wet was smeared across his face from out of nowhere. He jumped back a little in shock and wiped some off with his finger, only to see that it was gold icing. Kyungsoo glared at Kai, the obvious culprit, who was attempting to act innocent.

        "Oh Soo, let me help you with that."

        Jongin leaned his face closer to Kyungsoo’s, but the elder teen stopped him with a soft smack on his face, creating an imprint of his hand in pink icing. Pink happened to be the color of the icing in the nearest bowl, but it wasn't exactly the color he wanted to see all over Kai's face. He was quite sure his own features were darkening to that same shade.

        The freshman seemed shocked at Kyungsoo's immediate actions, but a smirk soon formed on his face as he motioned to himself, tilting his jaw up to expose his smooth side features.

        "Want a taste?"

        Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and flung more icing at the suggestive teen, successfully coating Jongin's styled hair in orange sugary goodness.

        "My hair!" He exclaimed, voice raised incredibly high as his hands shot up to his coated brown locks. "That's not fair! I only put icing on you once!"

        Kyungsoo just shrugged. "With that comment, you might as well have done it again." He turned to grab a bowl to begin cleaning up, but was struck with a gasp when he felt something slop onto his head. "You didn't..." He slowly turned back around, his shoulders hunched as he felt the icing slip down to his neck. Kai didn't bother acting innocent this time, and Kyungsoo held up the bowl of black icing in his hand.

        "That was a big mistake."

        "Kris! Kris! Kris! Kris!"

        The fire in the older teen’s hands grew as he heard Tao chant his name, and he grit his teeth as he focused to raise its temperature even higher. Despite the resistance his skin had against the heat, he felt the flow of power increase, which was sure to fulfill what he wanted.  

        Chanyeol sat behind him, the two back-to-back, with Baekhyun cheering him on as they raced to melt two slabs of ice. After training for a while, Minseok had thought it would be nice to test their skills and have a little fun at the same time. An ice melting competition had been his idea, and Kris was eager to prove that he had become just as good as Chanyeol at wielding fire.

        Now they sat back to back, melting slabs of Xiumin's tough ice while their new friends cheered them on. Chen sat to the side to watch with Xiumin, both of them remaining neutral. Kris didn't dare to even look at Chanyeol to see how far the other had gotten. He didn't want to break his concentration, as it’s stability was still relatively unpredictable.

        And just as he thought he was going to win, Chanyeol pushed hard against his back, so that his was practically between his knees. "I won!"

        Kris looked back after he was free of Chanyeol’s pressing weight, his mouth hanging open at the fact that he’d lost. Chanyeol's grin was even wider than usual, and Baekhyun looked just as happy. They both dipped their fingers into the puddle surrounding Chanyeol, then they flicked the water playfully into Kris' face.

        "That was fun!"

        "Let's do it again soon!"

        Though his pride was shattered, Kris eventually nodded, a smile making its way onto his dripping face. He'd make sure to win the next time; Chanyeol wouldn’t stand a chance.

        Tao hurried over from his spectator’s position to offer his hand, which Kris gratefully accepted to help pull himself to his feet. He parted his mouth to give the teen his thanks, but his attention was stolen by the sound of someone giggling drifting into the room.

        "Is that who I think it is?" Chanyeol was slow to ask no one in particular, and as soon as the words left his mouth, Kyungsoo entered the room, followed by a grinning Jongin.

        Everyone's mouths dropped open at the sight of their friends messily covered in icing, but D.O and Kai didn't seem to notice. They both held out trays, and Kyungsoo oddly wouldn't stop laughing. He hardly even cracked a smile most of the time, so a mere laugh was definitely new.

        "We made cookies." The wide-eyed boy giggled out, his words choppy due to the laughter.

        "And milk." Kai added. "Well we didn't make the milk; a cow did."

        This sent D.O into another fit of uncontrollable giggles, and Minseok hesitantly took a cookie off of his tray. "Thank you..."

        Kris watched as the others took cookies and some milk, and he thanked Tao with a smile when the younger boy grabbed enough for both of them. Kris was hesitant to take a bite at first, seeing as how Kyungsoo wasn't acting exactly normal, but he gave in once the others seemed okay.

        And as it turned out, the sugary cookies were quite addicting. Kris was quickly helping himself to just one more, and he guessed that Kyungsoo must've had one too many, himself. Maybe more like two or three...

   Hey, I hope you guys are liking it so far. I'm happy that this story is getting at least one comment after every update, but I guess it may not be good enough for more, huh? I hope it's still enjoyable. 

   I had planned this chapter with my friend during a marching band practice a while back, and I hope it turned out okay. It's my longest chapter so far. 

   Also, I know nothing really serious is happening yet. It's kind of just bonding and stuff, but it's getting there. I have the next few chapters written ahead, and I'm close to writing one of the big changes in the story, so I hope you guys will stick with it while it gets there. You might find it boring or something, but I try to add some sort of horrible humor in so you guys will like it. I'm hoping you guys will like the next chapter, because I tried to make it funny.