(1) AUTUMN

“Did you get everything on the list?”

Sehun’s hands are shaking excitedly with a nervous smile on his face, grasping tightly to the straps of his worn out backpack. The group hides below the stairway leading to a nearby alley with condos atop small, old market shops. They rummage through their spoils and take out each item vigorously, adding each to the small pile in the middle of them whilst checking off the list as they go. Yet, Sehun’s hands remain hidden in his bag, his smile just as awkward as before.

“Gumdrops… Jelly ropes… Candy buttons...” Kai mutters, hovering the pen over one of the check boxes on his notepad. “Where are the jawbreakers?”

Tao shrugged while flipping his bag upside down. The empty candy wrappers and spare coins all fall out of the bag, making him hum in thought.

“I don’t know…” He replies, popping a gum drop into his mouth despite the Kai’s instructions not to do so. “I didn’t think that was my part of the job.”

“Well, if Tao doesn’t have it… Sehun, do you have it?”

Sehun looked back at Kai with uneasy eyes, glancing away as soon as they made eye contact. He shakes his head and fondles with the item in his bag.

“I didn’t grab it, but…” He pauses, already aware of the angry glint in Kai’s eyes. “I got something better.” He pulls out a plastic bag and unknots the tie, dumping whatever it contained on top of everything else.

Tao’s eyes light up, mouth gaping and hand immediately snatching up one of candies Sehun dropped. “Woah,” he gasps, inspecting the wrapper and ripping open the corner. “Candy rings?!”

Sehun is just as excited as Tao, grinning with relief that at least one person wasn’t mad. “I know!” He whispers delightfully. “I got, like, fifteen of them- for all of us! But here,” he passes one to Kai who’s especially surprised, but worry spreads across his face like an open book. “I got us two each. A little snack for now.”

Tao is already happily at his ring, and Sehun boasts about the trouble of obtaining them, but Kai is looking like he’s about to start crying.

“Sehun, this is great and all, but it wasn’t what we were asked to get!” He cried, rummaging through the wrappers in panic. “Are you positive that you didn’t pick up any jawbreakers while you were in there?”

Joy dying down, Sehun furrows his brows with a frown. He doesn’t even need to answer before Kai is kicking his feet in a whine.

“We’re going to get in so much trouble. They asked for jawbreakers- not,” he picked up one of the candy rings and lightly flung it up in the air, “This!”

Kai rubs his face with his hands in frustration, and Tao stops eating the candy sadly. The street lights eventually began to flicker on one by one as the sun went down, and in return, the moon shone brightly in the sky.

“I’m sorry,” Sehun apologizes wistfully, head drooping in guilt. “That seemed a lot better at the time, so I…”

“You don’t think they will let us off the hook, do you?” Tao asks in an attempt to brighten up the mood. “Maybe if we’re good enough, they will let this all slide.”

“Let’s just head back before they automatically disqualify us for being late.” Kai groaned, shoveling the remaining items into his bag. His lips pressed together in annoyance, but also fear.

Tao and Sehun followed suit, Sehun looking dejectedly down at his finger that was adorned with the sugary jewel. As they made their way away from the city side, the three boys couldn’t help but think about what was going to happen. It was already nerve-wrecking that they were heading back later than planned, but more so since they didn’t even fully complete the list they were specifically instructed to carry out.

The three young boys hoped for the best, anyways.

--

The hideout was a bit further away from the main city, hugging the edge of the town just beyond the wired fence. It clearly screamed danger from the “DO-NOT-ENTER” sign hung almost every ten steps away from each other, the print sloppily scrawled out in red paint. Barbed wire lined the top of the fence, adding to the creepy feeling that the slums emitted; but this was the third time they had approached the hideout. The three boys began to pay less attention to the frightening exterior and more towards what went on within the fences.

Kai pushed against the small hole in the fence purposely made as an entrance that led outside, keeping it open long enough for the other two to pass through with ease. Letting the chains go, they chimed against each other and shook lightly. They all snuck past the knee-high grass and towards the dark forest.

The hideout wasn’t actually too far from town; in fact, right as they entered, the familiar shouts and laughter were heard from the abandoned cottage that awaited their return. All looking at each other one final time, they pressed forward anxiously, crossing their fingers in hopes that their little stunt wouldn’t get them in too much trouble.

At the entrance of the house, Kai was about to knock on the door when it swung open on its own, almost inviting them in despite the lack of a being to greet them formally. The house grew ominously silent, and as they slowly walked in, nine pairs of eyes greeted them. Some were welcoming while others seemed to pay no attention to the three newcomers awkwardly standing in the center of the room. They couldn’t help but stare at who was sitting atop the mountain of dusty books and worn out cushions. Nudging one another to make the first move, Kai was pushed out by Tao who, in return, was given a nasty glare.

“Uhh, w-we got the stuff you asked for…” Kai murmured, his voice barely reaching the ears of anyone out of a two feet radius.

“Did I ask you to speak? And why is your voice so quiet? Speak louder for crying out loud!” The boy roared, making Kai flinch from his booming voice.

Kai stood dumbfounded while sputtering out gibberish, not knowing whether he should repeat himself or stay silent just like he was told to do. One of the boys giggled at him, wide eyes crinkling from his dainty smile, making Kai blush all the way to his toes.

“Stop being so mean to them, Kris. They’re the ones doing your dirty work for you, anyways.” Another boy called out, kicking Kris’ so called “throne”. It would have made him topple down if it weren’t for his fast reflexes.

“Shut up, Chen!” he snapped at the sly-looking boy. Chen just smiled deviously in return, Kris shaking his head and returning his attention to the other three. “Anyways, did you all bring me what I asked?”

This time, Kai knew what to do. He swung his backpack out in front of him, dumping out its contents before Kris who looked interested at the plethora of colors raining out from the bag.

“Gumdrops, jelly ropes, oh Kris, look! They even got the candy buttons!” Another youth said with glee, eyes already frenzied from the sight of all of the sugar.

“What about the jawbreakers?”

Tao, Kai and Sehun all looked at one another before Sehun was shoved out in the front by a desperate Tao once again. He stood before Kris who towered over him, despite him himself also being tall for his age. Fidgeting nervously in place, he took his own bag and allowed everything inside to fall, the wrappers crinkling as they dropped down to the floor.

“HOLY CRAP! HE GOT US CANDY RINGS, TOO?!” The same frenzied child shouted, already on his knees and grabbing as many of the individual packets as he could.

“PARK CHANYEOL, YOUR LANGUAGE!”

Chanyeol cowered at the sound of being reprimanded, hanging his head low while placing all of the candy rings back in the pile one by one. Suho sighed and grabbed a candy ring before handing it back to him, chuckling at how his mood did a complete 180 at the sight of candy again. He took two more rings and cheered as he recited exactly what happened to another shorter boy, giving him some as well.

“Baek, you wouldn’t believe what happened to me just now!” He blurted out, already continuing his story without an answer back.

“I am literally three feet away from there, Chanyeol, you don’t have to tell me again!” He barked. “You’re so stupid!”

Chanyeol yelped and apologized profusely, begging like a little puppy so that Baekhyun would forgive him. Kris looked over at the candy on the floor, kicking them around with his foot and searching for a certain type. Unable to find what he wanted, he shot a cold glare at Sehun, Kai and Tao before scoffing and crushing one of the candy rings under his shoe.

“No jawbreakers.” He stated coldly, not even looking up to speak properly to anyone in particular.

The three broke out in a cold sweat, even more afraid than before.They stood frozen before the leader of the house, too shocked to move an inch from their place.

“You didn’t complete our request. You can’t join our club.”

Sehun opened his mouth, his voice high pitched in fear. “B-But I-”

“No buts!” Kris sneers, turning sharply and storming out of the living room and into one of the bedrooms. The house grows intensely quiet.

One of the other leaders, Suho, walked up to the three whose heads hung low dejectedly with a warming smile. He put his hand on Sehun’s shoulder and pulled him in closer.

“Don’t worry,” he sighs. “You guys have more chances. He’s just a bit stubborn.”

Their faces brightened just a bit. “Do we really?”

“Uhm, no. They don’t.” Kris butted in, reappearing in the room but shrinking away when Suho spun around to look at him.

“You will, but to be honest, some of us would have let you into the club anyways since the initiation was never official until you guys showed up.”

“WHAT?!” They all exclaimed in unison.

Sehun turned to look at Kris who was content with munching on some of the gumdrops they had brought back, completely forgetting about the “so very important” jawbreakers that he made a huge deal over.

“We're making it harder to join because we don't have much room for more people. But it’s alright since you guys can try again, right Kris?” The doe eyed boy chimed, looking up at Kris who was currently chewing on some of the other candies.

“Sure, but this time the task will be much harder.” He replied nonchalantly.

Sehun, Kai and Tao all didn’t care and cheered internally at the thought of getting another chance. They liked how homely the place was, despite how small the cottage was when housing all twelve kids.

“You all can stay here for the night since it’s already late. Ask me or one of the other boys if you have any questions.”

“I do- uhh… Where’s the bathroom?” Sehun piped up, feeling the need to relieve himself after the encounter with the dragon.

“It’s just down that way and to the left.” Suho pointed towards the area of the shack that led to a darker part of the cottage, making Sehun tug at Kai’s shirt apprehensively.

Kai sighed and trudged forward first, leading the way so that they could make it to the bathroom before Sehun could make an accident. Following the directions given, they walked for a bit before stopping to go in the room on the left, coming face to face with a closed door. The doorknob was rusted as if no one had touched it in ages, making Sehun cringe and motion for Kai to open it for him instead. Being the level headed kid he was, Kai obeyed his friend’s request and twisted the knob, preparing to leave when he came face to face with a single eye staring back at him.

“Kris, you have to be nicer to those kids.” Suho scolded. “They’re so young.”

“Well, the oldest one is the same age as Kyungsoo, so they’re not really that young.” He shrugged, indifferent about the way he was acting.

A quiet, calming voice began, “I’ll feel bad if they do make it in. Kris is going to give them a hard time.”

Suho rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but agree one hundred percent to what Luhan was saying. He could already picture Kris making the three boys do all sorts of menial tasks that had absolutely no meaning whatsoever, just for his own personal entertainment.

A sudden screech brought him out of his daze in time to see Tao and Kyungsoo rush towards the bathroom, and he quickly followed suit, coming across another problem to solve. Sehun was on the floor with his face pressed against the wall, leaving his back facing towards a pale faced Kai, who was on the ground gasping and pointing into the bathroom at another boy who was just cackling at their misfortune. Kyungsoo was already on the ground rubbing soothing circles into Kai’s back while Sehun was crawling into the bathroom, his hand clutching against his crotch desperately. Tao was quick to pull the culprit out and pin him against the wall, making his laughter stop and turn into cries of pain.

“W-What the heck is wrong with this guy?!” The boy cried out, struggling to get out of Tao’s hold without breaking any of his arms in the process.

Suho huffed and waited a few seconds for the victim to feel the pain before going over to Tao to pry him away from the other. Once he was free, he immediately turned around to face Tao with a frown on his face.

“Maybe if you didn’t try to scare them, then he wouldn’t have done that, Chen.”

“Well, maybe they should learn how to take a joke!” He shot back, stomping into the main room while rubbing his sore arms.

Sehun came out with a face of pure bliss, almost skipping back and leaving Kai who still looked like his soul had left him entirely. Kyungsoo gave Suho a knowing look before trying to help Kai to his feet, stumbling around a little before successfully draping Kai’s arm around his shoulder. They all then walked back out together to the main room to find Kris trying to explain something to Sehun who looked like he was going to pee his pants again.

“What do you mean you ‘don’t know what that is’? God, you’re so-”

“So what, Kris?” Suho asked with a slight hiss in his voice.

“It’s nothing, but get this, Suho.” He turned to the other with his hands expressing his words. “This kid doesn’t even know what Playboy is! Can you believe