(3) WINTER

“Both Tao and Kris have powers. Does that mean we will have powers, too?”

Everyone gathers around in a circle in the middle of the living room, Kris cruising around as he glides above people’s heads without a care in the world. A few members eye him enviously at how happy he looked, his normal grumpy expression replaced with a goofy grin with every loop he made.

Chanyeol stood up from his seat and cleared his throat, the uncomfortable itch still there after his mishap a few days prior. “So, how are we supposed to get powers like that then?” His voice barely wheezed out, still tense and hoarse. He was especially jealous about how the two boys had powers and he didn’t. “It’s not fair.”

“Why don’t we just solve this without straining ourselves. Chanyeol, please sit down.” Suho ordered calmly, seeing how red Chanyeol’s face was turning. “Let’s look at all of the clues we have first to come up with an explanation.”

Baekhyun sighed and kicked his feet out frustratedly, “So you’re saying that we have to look at clues? What clues? All we know is that bad sh- stuff happens to them before they get their powers.”

Suho’s eyes squinted as Baekhyun quickly corrected himself, wandering over to hide behind Chanyeol who was biting his lip impatiently. “So the idea is that something needs to trigger the power, huh. Hey Kris, what did it feel like when you- Kris!”

Kris was too busy practicing his back flips to notice Suho’s persistent squawking, creating a moment where everyone just watched at how disregarded Suho can be, but he wasn’t the only one that was being ignored. Tao sulked on the side of the room at how much attention Kris was getting, watching with disdain as Chanyeol tried his best not to take a peek at what he was doing every two seconds. He had gotten his power before Kris and helped him get his power, so why weren’t they asking him?! It made him even more upset that Kris did not pay attention to anyone after discovering his newfound skill.

Glancing up to see Kris trying to do a very failed attempt of moonwalking on the ceiling, he waved his hand over him in hopes that he would stop messing around to listen to Suho for once. Kris continued tripping over his feet until his movements came to a halt, suspending him in the air.

Suho kept jabbering at Kris, until realizing that one, he wasn’t listening and two, that Tao had frozen him in the process, feeling a bit relieved that he wasn’t totally being ignored on purpose. “Thanks, Tao, but you can let him down now.”

“I would if I could, but he would make a really nice ceiling ornament right about now, so whoops.” Tao sighed blandly, shuffling through his back for nothing in particular.

“Please, Tao, unfreeze him.” Suho repeated himself, seeing that the younger was nowhere near freeing Kris from his state.

While Suho was occupied by a stubborn Tao, Chanyeol managed to stand on a chair and pull Kris lower to the ground, his frozen body drifting with the slightest pull. Once he touched the ground, everyone gathered around to see that Kris really was stuck in time, his expression and movements still.

Not thinking about the consequences, Chen rummaged through his own backpack and pulled out a black marker, doodling over Kris’ face so that he’d grow a unibrow and some whiskers by the edges of his mouth. The kids all giggled at how “beautiful” he looked and gave their own input as to what to add, Baekhyun adding in a ring around his eye while Sehun drew a long strand of snot coming out from his nose.

Managing to coax Tao into making Kris go back to normal, the two went back to the group to see Luhan taking a picture with his disposable camera, sniggering at how dolled up Kris looked. His lips were now stained a bright purple and they even added false eyelashes with the help of their ultra fine pen. Suho just watched in awe as Lay even joined in, sketching a small triangle smack dab in the middle of his forehead.

“Guys, you can’t just do that to people that are frozen,” Already going to the kitchen to grab a wet rag. Suho wandered back into the main room to try and wipe off the marker, only having a streak of the ink smudge upwards to his temple. He panicked and quickly set the rag down, looking at Xiumin who just laughed under his breath at how something can go so wrong so fast.

“O-Kay! Everyone move away before it gets too obvious.” Tao called out, moving back to his place before waving his hand up in the air. As if like magic, Kris began to move, dancing in place with a face full of colored markers and blobs.

“So uh, Kris. Tell me how you felt when you, erm, got your powers?” Suho managed to get out, not taking his eyes off the long strand of mucus drawn down Kris’ chin.

“It’s easy. You know you get it if you feel this pull in your stomach and then boom, you have a power.”

Kris gave the shortest explanation in mankind as Chen and the others that were there to witness it blessed Tao for at least trying when he was teaching them. They couldn’t stay mad for long though, holding back their fits of laughter as Kris moved in rhythm to his own beat.

Breakfast went about in a normal fashion, everyone fighting over the steaming hot croissants as they came out from the oven. Nobody could resist the way that the flaky crust melted in their mouths, especially with a lukewarm cup of hot chocolate to wash the bread down.

Breakfast passes by quickly since everyone is stuffing their faces at the speed of light, not caring much about how many times they’ve chewed or how messy their faces looked. Even then, they’re too much in a rush to get out of the house to care about cleaning up. Some even run after the others with food still in their mouths, wiping the buttery crumbs on the sleeves of their winter coats and struggling to put on their new warm shoes.

Xiumin was first to bolt out the doors, his mouth latched onto two croissants at once as he tread through the light layer of snow on the ground. His arm still hurt from being shot, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t go out and have fun either. The others left with less gusto, but still happy that they wouldn’t have to be holed up in the house the entire time. Kyungsoo stayed back, letting the dirty pans and plates soak in the sink. Once he finally dried his hands and wandered out back into the main room, he saw someone buried under mounds of blankets, staring out the window with his breath fogging up the frosty panel.

“Dumbyeol, why are you still here?” He asked with an eyebrow raised, already beginning to force his feet into his shoes. “Where’s Baekhyun?”

Chanyeol seemed to slump lower in his seat once Kyungsoo spoke, releasing an airlike whine. “He left me to go play outside because I didn’t want to go.”

Kyungsoo hummed and began to leave himself, sparing one last glance at Chanyeol. His eyes were filled to the brim with tears and his lower lip jutted out like a child’s, making him feel so guilty without even doing anything. Releasing a small huff, he kicked off his shoes and plopped down next to Chanyeol, whose crestfallen moping turned to surprise to see him still here.

“Kyungsoo hyung, are you coming? Everyone is waiting for you!” Kai ran in through the door to see the two on the couch, giving a puzzled look as to why both of them didn’t even have their shoes on. “What happened to Chanyeol?”

Kyungsoo sighed and smacked Chanyeol in the face, making him bury his face into his blanket to hide his now falling tears. “He didn’t want to go outside and I felt bad for leaving him here by himself. You can go on without me, Kai.”

Kai’s happy grin disappeared once Kyungsoo delivered the news, so shocked that he unconsciously began to untie his shoelaces and tug off his boots. “I’ll stay with you then.”

“Don’t mind me and go out and play with the rest of the boys. Someone needs to make sure this guy doesn’t get into any trouble, so go figure.” Kyungsoo shrugged, looking at Chanyeol who was trying to sniff as his nose stung from being hit.

Kai nodded wordlessly and began to sulk on the way back to the lake, shoulders hunched as he kicked anything within range of his snow boots. After dragging himself for about five minutes, he manages to see the rest of the boys in the clearing, all playing around by the frigid water all while letting out shouts and squeals.

Baekhyun was screaming the most, his voice traveling throughout the air as he ran around like a mad man. “Quit it Chen, you’re getting my shoes wet!” His shrill voice echoed.

Chen just grinned and began to continue picking up rocks and throwing them into the water near Baekhyun, letting out amused laughs as the ice cold water splashed onto his legs. “It’s your fault for staying so close to the water!”

Lay was on the side with Luhan, the two of them huddling together and just chatting quietly on a nearby log. Suho was busy collecting thin ice shards that were floating on top of the lake while Xiumin used them to create a small structure of ice pieces, completely immersed in aligning the glass like fragments. Kai let his eyes wander to Sehun who was just standing with his feet in the gravel, just beyond the water’s reach. His eyes were in a trance at something in the sky, not noticing Kai until he tapped him on the shoulder. Sehun gave him a brief greeting before staring once again at the sky, making Kai mimic his motion to see something interesting.

Kris was soaring through the sky with his usual exhilarated grin plastered on his face, white specks trailing after him as he circled around. He wasn’t doing his usual tricks and such, but instead, had Tao perched on his back, waving his arms around wildly as Kris firmly held onto his legs. Tao was the one holding loose bits of snow in his hands, releasing it slowly to make Kris look like a giant tinkerbell as he jet over the lake. Occasionally, Kris would descend back to the ground to allow Tao to pick up more snow, taking him back to the sky to let him enjoy his joy ride.

Sehun wouldn’t take his eyes off the two, but still managed to strike up a conversation with the brooding Kai. “Why the long face?”

Kai kept his eyes locked on the flying duo and just sighed, breath releasing a puff of hot air. “Kyungsoo hyung stayed back with Chanyeol at the house because Chanyeol didn’t want to go outside.”

“That’s okay,” Sehun smiled, more unattractive than meaningful. “You have me.”

His words make Kai stare back, his lips spreading in disgust, but the younger only laughs and pats his shoulder roughly.

“I was joking. You can hang out with hyung when we get back, so don’t worry too much.”

The two look back up to find Kris and Tao easing back down to the surface. Tao pants, hot breath puffing small clouds of hair before him along with Kris who wipes the cold sweat off his forehead. Tao happily looks back to Kris, about to praise him for how much fun he had when he realises that Kris is no longer smiling. Rather, he’s more focused on the blob of dark purple ink smudged on the back of his hands and fingertips. He jumps up onto his feet, quickly making his way through the snow and towards the lake where he leans over to see his reflection.

His sudden burst of anger alerts the rest of the members, and despite it being so scary, Chen is still laughing. He topples over in the snow, pointing at the defaced leader, and Baekhyun has to kick him lightly in the side to get him to stop laughing so hard. Even so, Chen is obviously unafraid of whatever harm would come to him.

His doom is easily avoided, however, when Kris stomps up to the nearest person to him, that person being Luhan who sits next to a dazed Lay. Luhan leans back when Kris gets too close, but even though he’s enraged and somewhat threatening, Luhan still snickers from the way the ink starts to drip down his face.

Wrong move for him, though, because before he knows it, he’s ten feet off the ground hanging from his arms. The fear numbs his legs, his hear