(2) AUTUMN pt. II

The autumn leaves that coated the streets began to shrivel as October relaxed into a calmer November. It was the time of the year where everyone prioritized family, not making any sort of effort to leave the house in exchange for family bonding.

Nearly two months had passed since Sehun, Kai and Tao had officially joined the rebellious bundle of nine boys, now twelve and more laid back than ever. Being able to live in the same house with so many of them proved to be a challenge, but it wasn’t too bad. They eased into the group easily, or so they had made themselves believe.

The actual amount of trouble they had gotten into just to earn their acceptance into the group was astonishing. Like the others had proved worthy of doing, the three boys stole and snatched anything that was asked for, not even caring about consequences. It was a horrible thing to do, most certainly bad for their reputation, but it wasn’t like they had one to begin with, anyways.

Yet here they were, in the same lodge as they had dreamt of being in for so long, with smiles on their faces and new friends to share their abundance of joy with.

“I heard that the supermarket is closed for the night,” Chen starts with his usual cunning grin. “I was thinking we could break in. Maybe we could bring the new guys?”

“We haven’t done one of those in a while…” Suho hummed, fidgeting with a candy wrapper in his hands. “I’m getting sick of candy. We should get some real food.”

Kai sprawled himself out across the sofa, lightly tapping buttons on his portable gaming device as Baekhyun and Chanyeol watched curiously. “Break-in?” He repeats, “You guys do break-ins?”

Suho nods. “They’re a bit more dangerous than regular shoplifting, I have to admit, but we get good stuff out of it.”

“We can actually use the kitchen…” Lay fantasizes, staring at the unused section of their cottage that accumulated blankets of dust and dirt over the past months.

“Does this mean that we’re all going together?” Luhan inquired, his words making all of the boys turn to beam at one another with gummy grins and smirks.

Chanyeol stood up first and darted off, shortly returning with an oversized luggage suitcase. “I’m ready to go!” He said firmly, saluting in a military like fashion.

More boys followed suit, getting themselves ready with empty worn out bags and flashlights, making sure to pack batteries and other things that might be needed. Sehun waddled out to the front door with his bag already sagging past the back of his knees, catching the eyes of those who were bewildered by how his bag looked bigger than his own body.

“Sehun, why are you taking so much stuff?” Suho asked curiously.

Shrugging his shoulders without thinking much, he didn’t notice Luhan standing behind him, already ping his bag and pulling out random toys and a white box, almost spilling out its contents.

“Hey, be careful! Everything would’ve come out if you opened it like that.” Sehun scolded Luhan, making Luhan roll his eyes and open the box anyways.

The box was jam packed full of tiny fireworks; from pop pops to fire flowers, even to bottle rockets, all somewhat neatly arranged together in a little box.

Chanyeol gasped and stuck his hand into the box, pulling out one of the smaller fireworks before attempting to light it with his lighter. He managed to ignite the wick before Sehun grabbed the entire piece and lobbed it outside with a short yelp.

“Chanyeol, are you crazy?!” Sehun screeched, earning a confused look from Chanyeol to his dismay.

“That was a ground bloom, you idiot! You could’ve set something on fire!”

Chanyeol blinked and snapped out of his daze once hearing the subtle whirring noise in the distance, still not saying anything as he heard the loud “pop” as it exploded.

“Sehun, language!” Suho warned as usual, making Sehun step down and put his fireworks back in his bag silently. “Don’t take all of that. Just keep your toys at home.”

Sehun whined a little before Suho spun around, giving him a glare that froze deep into the depths of his soul. Immediately following his orders, he went back into one of the rooms, dropped his bag and grabbed a new, thicker one instead, secretly stashing his box of pyrotechnics in it before running out the door. With the others in hot pursuit, they all traveled back out to the outside world, ditching the comfort of their little hideaway to enter into the big city.

It was a big group, and a pack of twelve kids wandering around the city at this hour was bound to attract attention. They all walked in small bunches or stayed hidden in the shadows, never crossing paths within the moon’s light or before another person. This was the time when the night creatures roamed about, causing trouble to anyone they came across; patrol officers would be scanning each and every road, every passage and every alley without a doubt.

Taking this into consideration, Kris and Suho were always situated in the very front and very back of the troop, keeping an eye out for any suspicious movement. Kris stalked forward and peered around the corners and streets before motioning for the rest of the groups to follow, while Suho would look behind everyone every three seconds, a paranoid boy he was indeed.

Arriving at the supermarket, Xiumin already knew what to do as they closed in on the back door, pulling a metal crowbar out from his bag and laying it on the ground. He then swiped an old plastic card out from his pocket and slid it between the door and the frame, jimmying the lock until it popped with a satisfying “click”.

Almost immediately afterwards, he took the crowbar and aligned it with the lock and the aperture where the door was locked with it, pushing the two together so that they’d stay in place.

“Make sure nobody touches the crowbar or else we might get locked in.” He said firmly, ducking underneath it and disappearing inside.

More boys followed suit and once they entered, they knew that they hit the jackpot with this store. All of the fridges were still on, frost collecting on the windows and the little lights illuminating the store. Since the blinds were closed tight, they were able to use their flashlights without having the beams show outside. Sehun ran towards the toy section first, tossing his bag on the floor so that he could focus all of his attention on the mini bubble gum machines and the light up candy lightsabers. Chanyeol wandered off to the front counter and began to eye out the different kinds of lighters on display when someone tapped his shoulder.

“We should look at what’s in Sehun’s stash of fireworks.” Chen grinned, hands already holding the so said bag of joy.

Chanyeol grinned happily and much less evilly than the other, but took a step back when he remembered what Sehun had told them earlier. “Wait, but Sehun said we can’t use them or else we’d set everything on fire.”

Chen rolled his eyes and took the white box out anyways, putting all of the items on display for the two of them to see.

“So? As long as we don’t light anything, he won’t get mad, right? Plus, we’re older than him so he’s supposed to be respectful towards us.”

Chanyeol paused to think over what logic Chen had to say, having another “aha!” moment and going along with the plan. He was already dying to see what else was in there once he had seen it in Luhan’s hands, curious as to what all of the other colorful ones did. He looked over each label carefully, seeing words like “aerial bomb” and “fire snakes”, that one in particular catching his eye. Did it explode into a snake like object or did it make hissing noises like a snake? Only one way to find out.

Before he knew it, Chen was half yelling, half whispering for him to keep the lighter away from the fire snake, he himself not even noticing until his lighter was lit.

“God Chanyeol, you need to learn self control!” Chen yelped, placing his hands over his head and taking cover.

Chanyeol’s hands drew close towards each other and finally touched, allowing the ember to graze over the small pellet until it started to hold its own flame. By the time the smell of smoke reached his nose, a black stream was already emerging from his palm and left a tingling sensation on his skin before something slapped his wrist, making him drop the snake on the ground. It sizzled until shattering against the cold tile floor, all of the pieces spreading out and leaving a dark smudge of soot in its place.

He raised his head and tried to find the perpetrator to unleash his anger. Before delivering his rage, he was met with Chen, whose brows were furrowed and cheeks red.

“Chanyeol, can you at least try not getting caught?!” He practically screamed. Chen pushed Chanyeol behind the counter so that nobody could see them, going over the plan once again while the others were busy with their “thrift shopping.”

“Oh, Kyungsoo! Look at this! Wow!” Kyungsoo groaned as Lay pulled him over to yet another section of the mini mart, pointing and ever so amazed by every single thing that had bright neon lettering across the front. “We should take this too, Kyungsoo. Put this in your bag!”

Lay shoved a pot and pan set into Kyungsoo’s arms and ran off somewhere else, making Kyungsoo crumble to his knees while trying to keep the set up without letting it clatter to the floor.

“Here, hyung- I can get that for you.”

Kai swooped in and placed his own open bag out under Kyungsoo’s shaking hands, managing to catch the set before Kyungsoo’s fingers gave way. The two ended up working together to try and force the bag closed, with Kai pulling the two sides together and Kyungsoo yanking hard on the zipper until the piece of plastic gave way and popped off.

Kyungsoo held the tiny piece between his fingers and gasped after staring at it for a little while, looking at Kai with a panicked demeanor.

“I’m so sorry Kai! Oh my god, I didn’t know that it would break, I- Damn it, why did this happen.”

Kai laughed and shook his head, taking the broken piece from Kyungsoo’s hands and sticking it into his pocket. “No harm done. Let’s just take the pans out of the box so that we don’t have another accident.”

Sighing and nodding his head solemnly, Kyungsoo followed orders and to his surprise, the set managed to fit into Kai’s raggedy old backpack.

“See, Kris? Why can’t you be nice to me like that?!” Kyungsoo turned around to find Tao stomping his foot furiously, his loose laces whipping around as Kris tried to bite his lip to prevent saying something that would probably make Suho lecture him in front of everybody.

Baekhyun scoffed and flipped his hair to one side, “If he’s not nice to us, then he won’t be nice to you- HEY, YOU CAN’T BE LIKE THIS, KRIS!”

Letting his eyes roam to where Kris was, Kyungsoo found an amusing sight. Down on one knee, Kris was tying little Tao’s shoes, making sure to play along with Tao who was singing the bunny song as Kris tied his shoelaces.

“Bunny ears, bunny ears, playing by a tree, criss-crossed the tree, trying to catch me! Bunny ears, bunny ears, jumped into the hole, popped out the other side beautiful and bold~” They both sang aloud, making the shop burst into a fit of laughter from their little show. Kris finished lacing up both shoes before wandering off to a part of the store that was out of sight to most, hiding the way his cheeks burned from his performance.

“Isn’t that something you sing when you’re like, five?” Chen snickers.

“Shut the hell up.” Kris grumbles.

“Bread, jam, eggs, chicken… Is there anything else that we need?”

Xiumin shrugged and continued shuffling through the individually wrapped rice balls, putting anything that had the word “savory” into his own personal stash. Taking in the fact that Suho only had brought one bag, he volunteered to help the kid hold any of the actual food products they needed to take back. So far, his bag was chocked full of cans of various things, including soups, vegetables, fruits and even the good ol’ fashioned instant ravioli. Suho was persistent about asking Xiumin to stop once the bag was too heavy, but seeing that all of the other boys were still grabbing useless snacks and candies, it was up to him to take home the real goods.

Suho hummed a little before scratching his head in thought, “Should we grab some utensils as well? I don’t think we have anymore at home.” He asks, looking up at Xiumin who merely shook his head.

“Lay is making Kyungsoo and Kai hold all of that.”

“What about napkins and plates and stuff?” Suho asked, his mind trying to get everything they needed so that they wouldn’t have to come back anytime soon.

Xiumin sighed and replied back, “Baekhyun has those,” in a very bored voice, picking up a rice ball that was jam packed with kelp and red beans. He scrunched up his nose at such a combination and tossed it elsewhere while looking around for more things he could take back.

Suho grabbed the last can of spray oil before loading it up in his own bag, being careful to have everything aligned nicely so that no accidents would occur as they went back home. “Make sure to have everything upright before we leave so that nothing gets messed up.” He warned, already adjusting the straps on his own bag before suddenly jumping up in shock.

A deafening squeal was let out into the air as something flew up with a blur. Bright sparks fell along the aisle, hitting freezer windows and the ceiling. Shouts released into the air and flashlights moved rapidly to find the source of the abrupt bang.

All eyes turned to face two boys bickering behind the front counter, their eyes totally oblivious to how many more were watching the scene with interest. Suho was especially angry at this point, his face a bright red from his bursting anger.

“PARK CHANYEOL!”

The lengthy male flinched at the booming voice from across the store, his hands already raised to plead his innocence. “IT WAS CHEN, NOT ME!” His voice croaked, whimpering as Suho came closer to their hiding spot.

Chen quickly kicked the bag of fireworks under the table and out of sight before looking up at Suho who had his palms pressed against the counter.

“If someone doesn’t admit it, we are going straight home right now.”

Chen and Chanyeol sighed before looking down at their feet, their bodies slumped over before springing to life.

“HE DID IT!” They chorused together, jabbing their fingers at one another and unwilling to break until one admitted defeat.

“Chen was the one that lit the bottle rocket! He did it!” Chanyeol defended, pointing poking his finger into Chen’s arm.

Grabbing Chanyeol’s lanky finger, Chen dug his nail into the skin before justifying his part. “Chanyeol was the one that lit a firework first, so if you will, you can go and scold him over there while I go and help the others take back stuff.”

Chanyeol shrieked as his finger was pinched, shoving Chen away with a disgruntled huff.

“Well, it was Chen’s idea to even do this in the first place!”

“You’re the one that pushed me! I wasn’t going to light it if it wasn’t for your stupid giant hands!”

“I didn’t push you, you stupid head! I said it was the flying rice ball that did it, not me!”

Chen gasped and mimicked Chanyeol’s tone of voice with a bit of venom laced in his own words, “It was the flying rice ball, flying rice ball my ! Just admit you did it already!”

“Or how about both of you just get in trouble so we can go home?” Kyungsoo muttered blatantly, wandering off as Suho’s anger meter filled to the brim.

Luckily, that was all there was to it. Noticing that there was no real damage done, Chen and Chanyeol were verbally abused by an enraged Suho for about five minutes before slinking off to do what they came here to do.

Not even minutes later, there’s a loud bang that makes every single boy in the area drop their items and freeze. It’s only then when Suho notices the red and blue flashing lights beyond the blinds of the windows, and the sudden dreadful feeling that washes over him makes him sprint down one of the aisles.

The front entrance is bombarded by a flood of officers, who ready their weapons and scout for the intruders. One in the back speaks into a megaphone with a loud voice, “We have the building surrounded! Drop your weapons and surrender!”

“JOBS OVER!” Suho shouts, and just like that, there’s a stampede of twelve terrified kids heading straight for the back exit. They all flow into the storage room leading to the exit, a few members barricading the door with supply boxes and iron shelves.

Xiumin is first to jump forward, kicking the crowbar that holds the door open with such force that makes the door crash against the brick wall behind. Kris, who was close behind, managed to rush out second, only to be pushed back into the store, preventing him from advancing and placing him back where he started.

He brushed Xiumin’s hand off his arm. “What the hell?” He growled, glaring at the said boy who wasn’t even looking his way. Xiumin pulled the door with all of his force and pushed the others right back into the store, hushing them before pressing his back to the door, his finger still lingering on his lips.

The first shot was fired, followed by a second and a third, the bullets ricocheting from the metal door as a shrill buzz rang in their ears.

“Oh my god, they’re shooting at us? Do something, Kris!” Tao whimpered, clinging to Suho who stood paralyzed with his mind on overdrive.

Kris’ limbs were frozen, unable to move a muscle and watching as Xiumin toppled over cabinets and tables, the furniture blocking their escape through the back door entirely. Bags full and hands shaking, they were faced with a serious dilemma and were pressed for time, the sounds of gunshots and shouting slowly drawing in towards them.

As the rest of the boys panicked at what was lurking past the doors, Sehun was completely composed, inching as quietly as he could over to Tao before yanking him behind a rack of chips.

“ACK! HELP, I’M BEING ATTACKED- Sehun?” Tao removed his hands from his eyes to see Sehun looking at him with a small grin on his face, the sweat running down the side of his temple. “W-Why did you... What’s happening?”

Taking a quick peek between the spaces of the metal rack, Sehun made sure that nobody could see where they were before placing both hands on Tao’s shoulders. “We can get out of here.”

Tao just stared at Sehun, who nodded his head affirmatively, “What are you talking about?”

“Just use your power! You know, the one from the time that you, me and Kai were stuck in that alley? Then, we can all get out!” Sehun cheered, almost making Tao believe that it could be that easy.

Taking a deep breath, Tao ignored the smell of gunpowder in the air and tried to focus, the sounds of shots fired slowly fading until all he heard was dull thumps every few seconds.

It obviously wasn’t that easy.

Tao heaved out a breath when he felt no pull in his gut, bending over as he shook his head. “It’s no use. I can’t do it.”

“What? Why not?” The back door rattled from the slams of the men behind it trying to break it down, making Sehun and Tao jump at how loud it suddenly got. Xiumin’s face paled when the door cracked