Luhan slowly opened his eyes. Blinking rapidly, he adjusted his eyes to the low light. He took in his surroundings, and then panic set in. Where was he? Everything came flooding back – the portal, the meeting with Ryohei and Doctor Park. And, Minseok. Luhan didn’t have to look far to locate his last concern.

Minseok was firmly tucked into Luhan’s side, his face buried in Luhan’s chest, his left arm lying across Luhan’s body. Snoring lightly, Minseok was still deeply asleep. Luhan smiled. He was afraid to move lest he wake his friend up. He resigned himself to lying still, relishing the feel of Minseok’s warm body resting so closely to his own.

They had certainly not fallen asleep this way. They had fallen asleep very much apart from each other, each man taking a side of the wide bed. Sometime during the night they must have moved over, ending up in the position they were in now. Not that Luhan minded or anything. Well, minded in a bad way.

It was new but it was familiar. Thinking back to the last twenty plus years, Minseok was always by his side, always next to him when he woke up. Of course, for all of those years Minseok wasn’t sleeping and he certainly wasn’t sleeping practically draped over Luhan. Luhan liked this reality better, the reality of Minseok deep in slumber – unaware of Luhan observing him, watching his sleeping form with affection.

And then it happened, rather innocently at first. Luhan started to think about how nice it was to have Minseok, a touchable Minseok, half covering his own body. And then the word touchable stuck in his mind. He could hug Minseok he could…Luhan swallowed, feeling heat rise in his cheeks. It wasn’t like he had ever consciously considered it – there would be no point until now. Luhan loved Minseok, more than he would probably ever love anyone else. But theirs was the kind of love that would always be nonphysical. It was a love built on trust and affection – nonphysical affection.

Luhan had never identified himself as gay. He had never really identified himself as anything. He had never dated anyone in his life, because he had never met anyone he liked enough to date. If he was being honest with himself it was because he had never met anyone he liked as much as he liked Minseok. And now the realization was there, Minseok was real. Touchable. Even…dateable. And that was…dangerously enticing.

As the heat rose in Luhan’s cheeks, he averted his gaze towards the ceiling. Think of someone kicking a puppy, think of dead flowers and smashing Ming dynasty vases and-

Minseok shifted, burrowing closer into Luhan’s side as he made a little noise. A noise that Luhan could swear sounded a bit like a low moan. And that shattered Luhan’s façade of self-control into a million pieces, a million pieces he tried to quickly collect,

Luhan bolted upright, Minseok falling back on the bed.

“Is everything okay?” Minseok’s eyes snapped open. He sat up, looking at Luhan with concern “Are you sick? Why are you so red?”

Luhan swallowed “I, no..um. We should get ready.” Luhan could not get out of bed fast enough. Minseok watched his friend start to pace around the room.

“Are you sure you are okay?” Minseok could tell something was wrong. He knew Luhan well enough to know when something was off with his friend.

“Everything is great. One hundred million percent wonderful!” Luhan squawked, walking to the window that faced the courtyard.

“O…kay.” Minseok was still worried, but it was clear that Luhan didn’t want to talk about whatever had upset him, “Do you want to take a shower first or should we just do it together?”

Luhan was pretty sure this was the universe – whichever one he was currently in – playing a huge joke on him. Because now he was thinking about showering with Minseok, the water running down Minseok’s body, the steam rising as-“Take one first! I need to go somewhere.”

Minseok watched Luhan stalk out of the room. He was certainly acting strange. Very strange indeed. Minseok chalked Luhan’s odd behavior up to the string of bizarre events that they had both gone through in the last day. That had to be it, what else could it be?

***

Tao and Sehun were on their second helpings of breakfast. Shoveling the hot food into his mouth, Tao shared his amazement of how similar the food was to what he would have eaten back on earth.

“Do you think they have fries here?” Tao asked, his mouth full.

“I hope so. What about Bubble Tea?” Sehun had wanted to try bubble tea for years. Tao loved it and everything about the stuff looked delicious.

“Hun-ah, you can have bubble tea now!” The realization hit Tao “And hamburgers, and chicken, and –“

“Is Tao planning on feeding his little pet?” Baekhyun asked, walking into the kitchen with Chanyeol on his heels.

“Is the little hobbit hungry?” Sehun shot back, taking another bite of a croissant.

Baekhyun glared.

“Has Doctor Park been by?” Chanyeol started rummaging through the cupboards, pulling out a cereal box, a loaf of bread, and a can of tuna fish.

“Not yet.” Tao had woken up about an hour ago. Well, to be exact Sehun had woken him up an hour ago complaining about his stomach hurting. Tao quickly discerned that his friend was hungry, something Sehun hadn’t had to worry about before. They had made breakfast, a clumsy effort that had Tao whining about the lack of a microwave. But no one had been by to visit.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol began arguing over food – Baekhyun pointing out that tuna and cereal were probably the worst combination he could think of, and he didn’t even know what either tasted like.

“I really wish they would send him back first.” Sehun muttered, smiling at Tao.

Tao kicked Sehun’s foot under the table, playfully agreeing while simultaneously scolding his friend’s barbs at Baekhyun.

“Hun-ah, we should make a list of what we should do when we get back home.” Tao had started to think of things they could do together now that Sehun was…well, real.

“Assuming we ever get back home.” Kris sauntered into the kitchen. Tao noticed that his brother’s eyes were red, blood shot.

“Didn’t you sleep?” Tao was worried. Kris had always been unpredictable, often in a self-detrimental way.

“He didn’t and neither did I.” Suho walked in next, displaying the same haggard appearance “Thought it might be best if at least some of us stayed awake in case something happened.”

Tao suddenly felt foolish. He had fallen asleep easily, despite the fact that he was in a very, very strange place.

“Were you going to fight off all of the bad guys yourself?” Chanyeol had opened the can of tuna. He was busy picking at it while Baekhyun scowled, still upset about the breakfast menu.

“Ha. Funny. Let’s face it, we have no idea where we are and if we are safe. Don’t you think it is best if we stay on guard?” Kris started searching through the cupboards for coffee.

Everyone froze as they heard the front door of the house open. It wasn’t a second later when the booming, energetic voice of Doctor Park rang out.

“Brothers! You up? We have a big day ahead of us!”

“Big day?” Luhan asked, having just walked into the kitchen. He wasn’t sure if he liked the sound of that.

***

“I don’t think it is wise for us to split up.” Kyungsoo wanted to split up, leave Jongdae and Yixing to their own devices, but he also knew enough about what was facing them to know that was not a good idea. At least if they wanted to survive.

Yixing and Jongin hadn’t spoken two words to each other since they had been escorted to the surface and unceremoniously left there.

“I think Kyungsoo is right.” Jongdae tried to join in as a voice of reason “Remember what Doctor Park said about the surface? It will be hard enough to survive here as four.”

“I don’t think that is the point.” Jongin finally spoke, staring at Yixing. “I am guessing they are only expecting two of us to return.”

“You really think that is it? You really think they want us to kill each other?” Yixing threw his hands up, “You really are insane!”

“Then why did they leave us here? Huh? So we can hug and make up?” Jongin challenged.

The four men were standing in the middle of a wide street. At least what used to be a street, before the utter destruction of the civilization that had once thrived on the surface. Now it was a wide avenue surrounded by charred rubble.

Jongdae grabbed Yixing’s arm, pulling him closer to keep him from hurting Jongin, or vice versa “I think that we need to stop and think about this. Really think.”

Jongin fumed. He stalked off, Kyungsoo running after him.

“He doesn’t want to work together. It is hopeless.” Yixing watched the man go, not really wanting to work together either but secretly happy he was not the catalyst for their lack of teamwork.

“Yixing…can we talk?”

“Isn’t that what we are doing right now?”

Jongdae hated when Yixing acted like this. He tried to ignore his burgeoning desire to slap some sense into his friend “I know tha-“

Jongdae didn’t get a chance to finish what he was saying. Because suddenly the earth under them was moving, vibrating. Jongdae grabbed onto Yixing as the dirt under them shook violently.

Then the lightning came. A burst, knocking Yixing back to the ground as it passed by him. Jongdae cried out as the crackling bolt left his hand, rising towards the sky.

 “What in the hell is going on?!” Yixing cried out, the ground still shaking, the lightning still sparking from Jongdae’s body. He tried to stand up, terror coursing through him. He stumbled, unable to find his footing with the quaking earth under his feet.

The earth stopped shaking as abruptly as it had started, a heavy stillness returning to the landscape. The lightning ceased as well, as abruptly as it had started. Jongdae collapsed, falling to the ground exhausted.

Yixing rushed towards him, but stopped when he heard Kyungsoo shouting. Looking up the road, towards where Jongin had walked off, he could make out a form lying on the ground.

“Help!” Kyungsoo shouted again.

“Go.” Jongdae ordered, catching his breathe. He felt like his entire body was on fire, weak and feverish.

Yixing rushed towards the prone form, as he neared he could make out Jongin lying on the ground. The skin on Jongin’s face was red, raw, starting to blister.

“The lightning hit him. Help, please!” Tears were streaming down Kyungsoo’s face as he reached for Jongin, not sure if touching him would make it worse.

Yixing leaned down, afraid to touch Jongin as well. He had been burnt, knocked unconscious. He was twitching. Dying, Yixing realized.

The hatred of the last five years was shoved to a far corner of Yixing’s mind as he watched the man who was once his friend gasping, the life leaving his body. Yixing reached forward, not sure what he would do, only knowing he had to do something.

Yixing’s vision became blurry, a warmth overtaking him as he focused on Jongin. Something was happening, Yixing could feel it, could feel Jongin’s pain. He could feel his pain, and he could feel something else. What that feeling was, however he wasn’t entirely sure.

***

Five years ago

“We arrested Kim Jongin for the murder.”

Yixing had gotten the call earlier in the day. The police detective had listed off the procedural events to follow the arrest, but Yixing wasn’t listening. He was too focused on the six words “We arrested Kim Jongin for murder”.  Kim Jongin had murdered his Father. Kim Jongin had slashed his Father’s throat, had cut his father, and stabbed his father dozens of times. Kim Jongin was a monster.

Jongdae had tried to reason out how it could have happened, how Jongin would descend into such madness he could kill someone. His reasoning came up with no good answer.

“Doctor Park probably planted some nonsense in his head.” Yixing had announced, firmly believing it “And Kim Jongin was sick enough to believe him.”

Jongdae didn’t believe Yixing’s versions of events. How could he? Four years before the murder– that was how long it had been since Yixing and Jongin found themselves sitting in Doctor Park Joon Hyung’s office, his newest patients in a revolutionary study of the occurrence of imaginary friends in teenagers.

Three years before the murder – that was how long it had been since Yixing and Jongin had gone through the portal, visited what Yixing called “The most godforsaken place I have ever seen in my life.” It wasn’t long after that when Doctor Park was nowhere to be found, sending form letters to Yixing and Jongin’s parents letting them know he could no longer act as their son’s physician.

“Is any of it real?” Jongin had questioned, back when he was still on speaking terms with Yixing and Jongdae.

“I don’t know.” Yixing had answered time and time again. Jongdae didn’t know, he hadn’t been there. Kyungsoo didn’t know, he hadn’t been there either. What they did know is that the event had changed their friends forever. And then the meddling of others got in the way.

“Jongin thinks we are being watched by some kind of government agents.” Kyungsoo was the first to bring it up, concerned. Jongdae had listened, but didn’t dare say anything to Yixing. Because there was something less sinister, more human happening.

“My Father is having an affair with Jongin’s Mother.”  Yixing had admitted it to Jongdae one afternoon, but it wasn’t a secret. Jongdae knew it as well as Yixing, he just never voiced the fact out loud. It was one of many things they didn’t talk about. Like what Yixing’s father had made his money off of – owning the shacks and slums that took advantage of impoverished citizens. It was a fact hanging over them, unspoken, but recognized by both of them.

Weeks passed. Yixing began to report, to acknowledge “Jongin thinks we are being watched, and that my Father is a part of it.”

Jongdae didn’t know what to think, so he remained silent. He wished, hoped, Doctor Park would return. Doctor Park had an oddly stabilizing effect on Yixing and Jongin, even if Yixing had taken to calling the doctor a quack. Jongdae remembered how Doctor Park had acknowledged him, acknowledged Kyungsoo, spoken to them. How Doctor Park had assured Jongin and Yixing they were far from crazy – they were something else. Something important to the world. He hoped, he prayed, Doctor Park would return.

The seasons turned and Jongin’s behavior became increasingly hostile. He no longer spoke to Yixing. He no longer came around to visit. He called Yixing a traitor – against Doctor Park and against his own Mother.

“Jongin thinks someone is watching you, who is it? I mean, who does he think it is? He said the government, but why? Who in the government?” Jongdae had asked Yixing on day, after he had talked himself into feeling courageous enough to bridge the subject.

“Jongin is insane. No one is watching us.” Yixing didn’t want to talk about it.

And then, a murder. An arrest. A trial. And Yixing no longer talked about Doctor Park, no longer acknowledged that Jongdae had once been seen by anyone by him. Yixing shut himself off from the world, hurled himself into helping others. Hurled himself into years of running away – a hatred for Jongin, a guilt over his Father’s occupation, a denial of his time with Doctor Park driving him day and night. And Jongdae watched, silently – not knowing how to fix it. Until one day Doctor Park asked him to run through a portal. Until one day he ended up in a charred apocalypse of a ruined civilization, lightning shooting from his body and Jongin dying ten yards away from him. Until.

***

Young Ji skipped ahead, Jackson grabbing her arm and scolding her “Walk like a normal person!”

“She certainly has a lot of energy.” Sehun whispered to Tao, who nodded in agreement. Young Ji’s energy – and her strange silent laughter – had been a source of fear for Sehun and Tao the day before. Now, after the multitude of strange things they had witnessed the hyper girl was bordering on the category of quaint and cute. Normal, even.

After Doctor Park had shown up at the house, the eight boys had practically inhaled their breakfast. They had followed the Doctor back to the complex where they had woken up the day before.

“Training day!” Doctor Park had pumped his fist as he handed them over to Jackson and Young Ji “These kids will show you to the training room. But yo- never fear – yours truly will be manning the control booth.”

No one bothered to ask what the control booth was for, because everyone was distracted by Jackson and Young Ji shoving each other as they lead the way through the winding halls of the complex.

“Are you guys dating?” Chanyeol asked, voicing what the lot of them were thinking.

“NO!” They answered in tandem, going back to their bickering.

When the group arrived in front of two mammoth doors, Young Ji turned to the group “This is training room 817.”

The doors opened, recessing back into the wall.

“Thanks Young Ji, Jackson, I can take it from here.” Se Ho waved the eight of them inside, shooting Young Ji and Jackson an exasperated look as the two young assistants left.

The room was some sort of waiting room, Luhan guessed, with chairs resting along the walls. As the doors shut, the men took their seats, looking around the room.

“Yesterday, Doctor Ryohei explained that you have abilities. Through these doors –“Se Ho pointed at smaller doors, sitting at the north end of the room “Is a room where you can safely use these powers and practice.”

“What are we practicing for?” Baekhyun questioned. While Ryohei and Joon Hyung had lectured them the day before they still had a lot of unanswered questions.                                                          

“You need to understand how to harness your abilities. When you return to earth you will possess the powers that you have unleashed here. Therefore, in order to return, you need to understand how to keep them under control.”

“Then why didn’t you bring us here yesterday?” Chanyeol asked pointing out a rather obvious question.

“Well “Seho cleared his throat proudly before continuing “You needed to be exposed to the planet’s natural electromagnetic field to activate your abilities. Now-“ Se Ho pointed at Kris “You first.”

“Me?!” Kris looked at Suho, who pushed him to stand.

Kris stumbled awkwardly towards the doors, Seho opening them with a smile “Go get em tiger.”

Kris nodded dumbly. Recovering his saunter, he walked forwards to meet the unknown.

***

“Okay, that is just hilarious.” Joon Hyung laughed loudly, making sure to hit the correct sequence of keys to reactivate the force field in the training room. He stared down at the man, who was sitting in the middle of the training room with a bewildered look on his face.

“How are things going?” Ryohei walked into the control room, his hands clasped firmly behind his back.

“Well, he just slipped after producing a rain storm, so um..HILARIOUS!” Joon Hyung continued to chuckle, staring down at Suho, who had fallen on his amid a giant rain puddle of his own making.

“How long do you think it will take?” Ryohei wanted to think that the eight men would figure out their powers and, more importantly, the control of their powers quickly.

“Judging by today I would say they will figure it out in a couple of years.”

Ryohei paled “A couple of years?!”

Joon Hyung clapped Ryohei on the back “Just kidding man, lighten up. I would say they will figure it out soon. Maybe two weeks if we train hard enough.”

“Good.”

“Hey, how are the boys on the surface?” Joon Hyung asked the question, but started fiddling with the controls as he did so. He wasn’t happy with what had happened, he didn’t feel like appearing too interested or he would give away his own feelings loud and clear. Not like he hadn’t already, but he liked to pretend.

“Kang Joon found them.” Ryohei said quietly.

“.” Joon Hyung breathed out with force “Next!” He called into the microphone, ordering Seho to usher the next hapless man into the room. He didn’t want to dwell on Ryohei’s words.

***

Jongin felt…different. He remembered the earth shaking, the lightning, a flash of light, the pain. And then he was awake, Kyungsoo hovering over him.

“Where are we?” Jongin tried to sit up, but Kyungsoo pushed him back down.

“Don’t get up, just rest.” Kyungsoo’s face was pale, tear stained.

“Yixing?” Jongin asked, trying to see where he was, then stopping himself. Why did he care where Yixing was?

“Shh.” Kyungsoo tried to sooth Jongin, ignoring his question.

“If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously, if you pretend to be bad, it doesn’t. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism.” A voice singsonged. A voice that Jongin did not recognize.

“Who is that?” Jongin’s throat was dry, his voice raspy as he asked the question.

“Who am I? I am not young enough to know everything. Ha!” The voice answered playfully, the tone lilting and carefree.

Kyungsoo nudged Jongin’s arm, putting his finger to his lips in a motion for Jongin to remain silent. The singsong voice moved closer, louder, until the blurry form of a man was standing before Jongin, leaning over Kyungsoo.

“I am Kang Joon. The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” He answered, laughing loudly as he jumped back, spinning “I am Kang Joon. But what is the truth?”

--------------------

a/n- Yes, Kang Joon spouts Oscar Wilde quotations, because…why not? And the super powers training – how hilarious would that be to watch?! Oh, and Xiuhan!!!!!!!!!!!! Poor Luhan and his sudden “I wish Minseok was but I don’t know what to do and –“. Seriously, this fic is too much fun to write!

Sad to report, but this will probably be the last update for a week or so. I have some real life commitments that I need to attend to. Aish, real life!

Thanks for reading, subbing, commenting, and up voting. I have said it before and I will say it again, thank you! Until next time -LC