Jongdae. Chen's name never seemed natural in his own mind, after centuries of being called Chen. Chen brought him an identity, as "the childish mage whose greatest joys in life came from causing havoc on everyone else". Jongdae? Jongdae was a mess of bad memories of a past life as an orphan. Of course, that was who he was, but burying his past was much easier than embracing it.

The quiet, afraid, and dependent Jongdae had long been replaced by Chen who, well, was the exact opposite of Jongdae. He'd never allow for his previous exterior to be shown - not even to his closest brothers. They all understood, even Jongin who was usually on the receiving end of Chen's torture. However, they slipped, and Chen understood even though it brought him the most pain.

"Jongdae." He winced as he was called and pretended not to be affected by it, spinning on his heels to where an impatient Kris had been standing, "You're not planning to skip the meeting, are you?"

He was, since it was boring and he just couldn't be there with them all the way he used to; but he couldn't tell Kris that. To Kris, nothing was more important than their duties to each other, and Chen had no valid excuse to avoid their group meetings.

"No, I was just going to check if Yeol was still in the field." He was lying through his teeth because he had already acknowledged Chanyeol, but Kris wouldn't know he was lying. He was good at lying, anyway.

"There's no need. He's already with the others." Kris, though he could have been suspicious of his behavior, never voiced a thing. He simply fluttered off in the wind, leaving Chen to watch with his eyes narrowed.

"Stupid bird."

There were times where Chen wished he'd gotten Kris's powers instead, or anyone's other than his own. It made him wonder what kind of person he could have been had he been given other powers, and that's what he thought of as he returned to the group's meeting place.

It was also what he thought of as their meeting started, his eyes downcast and his fingers laced together on his lap. He would have looked up or participated in the conversation, but right then, Jongdae had invaded his mind. Letting Jongdae into his mind was dangerous; he was quiet and vulnerable, frightened and alone; and no matter how desperate Chen wanted to catch a grip, he couldn't.

"How's the demolition going?" He barely processed what Joonmyun had been asking him and Chen thought it over on how so many of them were now comfortable to let their old lives blend in with their current ones. Jongin had long decided he refused to be Kai anymore, as did Yixing with Lay, Minseok with Xiumin, and Joonmyun with Suho. The other mages were already starting to call Tao by his proper name Zitao, and some of the elders and Tao referred to Kris as Yifan. Though D.O. hated it, some of the youngers, and especially Jongin, had reverted to calling him Kyungsoo.

Why? Why make up new identities for yourself if you're just going to throw it away for the past you've all been scarred by? Why was he the only one who was terrified to be unmasked? Was it because he was the only one who was actually desperate to get away from what he was before?

"Chen?" Someone called him, but he still wasn't paying attention to much other than Sehun's hesitant voice as he called.

Then, someone put a hand on his shoulder, and even without looking, he knew it was D.O., "Chen? Are you-"

"Jongdae!" When Chanyeol called him with his real name, he cringed physically, and the other mages noticed.

He caught Kris's gaze first, and though he wasn't very open with his emotions, concern flooded his eyes. The second person he looked at was Baekhyun; because although Baekhyun had always been closer to Chanyeol, he did a good job at reading Chen.

"Are you okay? Do you need Yixing to-" Just as Tao mentioned someone else's real name, Chen cringed once more and pulled into himself.

"No! I'm fine." He might have sounded a little hysterical, and perhaps that's why the mages sent each other wary looks before focusing once more on him.

"Jong-" Just the first syllable of his name uttered by Yixing was all it took for his entire frame to freeze. 

The sky darkened then, with storm clouds brewing and sending strands of lightning towards the ground. The other mages looked up as the lightning struck, but Chen was watching the ground with a heightened interest.

And then someone was holding him. At first, he wished it was Yun Seung, because she granted comfort no one else did; but then he realized who it was holding him- Luhan. Luhan was no Yun Seung, of course, but he was Luhan; Luhan who, even though he was fragile, would do his best to make sure others stayed strong. 

"It's okay." Chen was grateful Luhan didn't say his name- either of them. It seemed Luhan understood, for he gave Chen a reassuring squeeze that the mage of lightning all but melted into. The others watched silently before Luhan pulled himself away and ruffled his hair, "You'll be okay."

"Thank you." And with a bow of his head, Chen turned around and walked away from the group alone, the storm clouds following after him on his quest to find a place to be alone.

He eventually found a little forest outside of the town and climbed up the tallest tree it held, knowing the other mages would leave him alone or at least give him time to process what was going on with him. He watched in silence as lightning danced in his eyesight, its beauty encompassing the forest completely.

"I thought I'd find you here." He should have known his alone time wouldn't expand more than five minutes, but he was still a little exasperated as he glanced down at Minseok. He was wearing his signature child-like grin, though he was the wisest of them all. It took them both a few moments as they stared at each other, but eventually, Chen hopped down from the tree so he and Minseok could take a walk together.

Minseok ignored the lightning, since it wouldn't do much to harm him anyway, and Chen didn't feel like striking up a conversation as the two continually walked through the forest.

"Why do you hate what you were before you became a mage so much?" Minseok cleared his throat because he had a feeling Chen wouldn't want to talk about it; and he was right, but Chen smiled despite himself.

"Unlike you all, I had absolutely nothing, Min." Chen answered, then crossing his arms over his chest in an effort to hug himself and reassure himself that he'd be alright, "I was an orphan, out on the streets, unwanted. Even Chanyeol had eventually found people who wanted him, and then I found them and begged to be taken in, because-"

"You wanted to find a place where you belong." Minseok finished for him, and then he wrapped an arm around Chen's shoulders and squeezed him in a motion that stated he understood how Chen felt completely.Chen leaned into his half-embrace, a light sigh escaping his lips as they continued on, "But even if you go by Jongdae, you'll always belong with us. You know that, don't you?"

"I know, Min." And he did, but nothing could calm his heart, because he just knew too much about himself that the others tended to look past, "But I'm scared. What if it happens again? What if I turn into the Jongdae that no one wanted?"

"Other than Jongin, I don't know anyone who doesn't want you around, Chen." What Minseok didn't say was that Jongin only didn't want him around because he was Chen's favorite victim, but he already knew, "We love you."

"There was something Yun Seung said to us once, 'Don't let your past slow down your future.'" When Chen spoke, he could hear the chuckle that Minseok let go of, and his own lips curved into a tired smile, "I miss her."

"We all do." Minseok admitted, though neither of them needed to voice it to know, as everyone had gotten attached to their former master. Heaving out a sigh, Minseok shrugged his shoulders, "But according to Jongin, she's doing alright wherever she is. She's happy, and that's all that matters."

"She's happy." He echoed, to try and convince himself that letting her go was the best option for all of them. He had been one of the many mages that were upset with Jongin when he had returned and they all found out about him going to find Yun Seung from Tao, but he'd done his best to keep his emotions to himself, "All we wanted was to keep her safe. From us."

Minseok nodded solemnly before grunting and rolling his eyes, and after looking up at him in confusion, Chen turned to what the eldest mage was looking at and found Chanyeol just a few meters away with his eyes widened in concern, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"I'll go before he pees himself in worry." Minseok muttered, and after the two of them grinned at each other, Chen watched the mage walk away.

As soon as Minseok disappeared from his view, Chanyeol pounced on him with a bear hug, and Chen remembered all the good memories being Jongdae brought him, "I'm sorry, Dae. I'm really sorry."

Chen didn't know why he was sorry, but he appreciated that everyone cared so much to reassure him that whether he was Jongdae or Chen, they loved him. Being Jongdae brought to him eleven brothers that cared for him more than anything, but being Chen brought to him a woman that changed his existence for the better. Did he prefer one over the other? Of course, because being Chen, with cool powers, cool friends, and a cool girl he had feelings for, was an incredible person to be, but it was because he was born as Jongdae that it became possible for Chen to exist.

"It doesn't matter what you change your identity to, Dae." Chanyeol was muttering, and Chen smiled against him as he squeezed his best friend gratefully, "You'll always be my best friend. I promise."

He was born and discarded, then discarded onto the streets when his care providers decided he was far too much to handle, and then had to beg in order to find his place again because he didn't want to be alone. And maybe the MAMA Corporation's experiments with the Tree of Life wasn't the choice he should have taken, because they writ his identity without giving him a choice, but he had no regrets.

That was when he realized that he, as Chen was definitely in the right place. Lightning was an exact representation of himself, and though he couldn't do anything as cool as stopping time or flying, or even teleporting, he was Chen who controlled the storms; and he couldn't be replaced. When the two trouble makers returned to the others, they were waiting and accepting, and none of them called him Chen. 

At first, when they called him Jongdae, his heart felt heavy and it felt like it was someone else that they were talking to, but eventually, his lips curled into a grin, because he was Jongdae after all. Even though he was no longer quiet, afraid, and dependent, he would always be Jongdae, and that was natural.

Because Yun Seung already broke away the line that separated their pasts from their futures.

This isn't as long as I wanted it to be, so I apologize. I didn't know how to go about with this chapter as it's my first time going into depth with Chen's character, and though not everything about him is shown on here, I hope this sheds a light upon who he is.

Which character would you like next? I'd prefer an EXO-K member simply because I have more ideas for them right now, but anyone is up for game as long as they haven't had a whole chapter to themselves already.

I got this chapter done a lot quicker than a lot of the other chapters in this part, so thanks to all of you for being patient. I uh, thank you for supporting this, and hope that you continue to enjoy it even though I'm horrible. Please continue reading, subscribing, commenting and upvoting, and I'll see you all the next time I update!