Listen to Riverside by Agnes Obel : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4bTi8mpWpI

                                                                                          D.O.

Even with the afternoon sun beating down on our face, our eyes had absorbed the darkness that no forewarning could measure. We were finally on our way to what we had dreamed of years ago. We were finally fighting our way through, and the inevitability of human loss that we had shrugged off a few days back, loomed over us like a deafening dirge. 

The clouds parted and the sunlight was boring down its erse gaze on the blue body of the sky. As our Hummer sped down the rough road, I found the bumps of hills moving along with us. East Paragon, the 'poor' Paragon, the area where the last shred of humanity had been chased off to. Fragments of my memory scraped through a story I had read long time ago about two boys who would run expensive sports cars over cliffs, the pleasure being their invincibility and the fact that one would go back in time while the other leaped forward. I wondered where I would go if I took off like them. Maybe there was no time left for us. Maybe I would loop back to this very moment. Maybe this world, this part of the world, did not care for today or tomorrow. Every second counted here. Every hour wasted was a lifetime sacrificed. 

I turned to look at Eunji, whose eyes looked glazed and lost and unable to comprehend the situation she had pulled herself into. What was she doing here? What if her life had been put at risk the moment she met me? What if something happened to her? 

"You know," she suddenly spoke and everyone shifted to pay attention to her. She smiled. "When Dad was alive, he would tell us a fairytale about a man named Time. He would tell us that long time ago, Time used to give three kinds of sweets to everyone and how each sweet was special in its own way. There were the gobstoppers, the ones we had to be patient with, the ones we had to wait for weeks to dissolve... but then again, that was why they were so unique. A gobstopper would only be eaten by one who loved to have its taste remain in their mouth for hours, sometimes weeks.

"The second kind of sweets Time distributed were marshmallows. Soft and fluffy, there was a strange sense of innocence attached to it. Marshmallows could be fried, could be dunked in hot chocolate or plain milk, could be eaten with anything and by anyone. The malleability of this sweet did well with families who could never decide what to buy an indecisive kid or what snack to carry along for long picnics. The marshmallow was safe and a one-in-all option."

Eunji took a deep breath. "The third kind, my father told me, was a royal blue diamond-shaped sweet. It was made with milk, like Indian sweets, and with a shiny coat of silver was attractive to human eyes. Time would give humans that sweet only one at a time and each time he gave it to us, he would fervently watch the delight that would rack through us as we tasted it. This sweet, its taste would only last for a fleeting moment but it was so delicious that eventually, Time had to ask humans to pay a price for it.

"Each time I asked Father, what does it taste like?, he would always say the same thing. Paradise. It tasted like Paradise, Eunji-ah. I asked him, what does paradise taste like? My father could never reply to that. Because Time could only afford to give Paradise to the ones who could buy it, who had enough seconds and minutes stored in their lives to dissolve in the temporal ecstasy that that royal blue candy gave them. We had to settle for gobstoppers because just a handful could satisfy us for a year. The marshmallows only made us crave more and Paradise? We hadn't even sniffed it."

The story didn't have an ending. The story was still being written. In that moment, I understood why Eunji's father had done what he did. He had too much of time in hand to watch his loved ones suffer, but he had too less the resources to buy Paradise for them. Eunji's father didn't want her to survive on gobstoppers, for fear that one day he might watch them choke on it. And so he swallowed a whole packet and stopped his heart as those sweet balls tumbled down his throat and blocked his heartbeat. 

I was the first to speak up. Resting a hand on her shoulder, I said, "Eunji. The families we're going to save today... we're saving them because they deserve Paradise. They deserve to know that this Paradise they have been dreaming of is powerful and corrupt and tempting and not worth the humanity that they have preserved with themselves for so long. But we don't want any more casualties. We don't want people to be satisfied with a month-old gobstopper. These families deserve their long picnics and their marshmallows and those seconds and minutes that have been stolen from them. Time doesn't give his hours willingly. We have to take it from him and make it our own. These families... will you help them take their time back?"

As Eunji nodded, our car stopped and one by one, the doors opened. I saw a tear rolling down her cheek and swiped it away. "You have to be stronger than this," I whispered. She nodded again but this time with the fiery look in her eyes I had seen the first time I met her. Seohyun and Luhan nodded at me from the other car and as we walked together, I could hear my own time ticking away. 

A lifetime exchanged for another. A deal worth making. 

                                                                                      SEOHYUN

"The orphanages are this side," Eunji informed us. She looked pale with fear but her eyes had a spark that seemed to compose her. From time to time she would glance at D.O who would give her a reassuring smile and she would breathe again. 

They reminded me of Yonghwa and I. 

Before every concert, Yonghwa would grab me by my arms and take me away to the corner of his green room or any secluded area. Most couples relied on good-luck kisses or hugs, but Yonghwa would simply hold my face in his hands and stare at my face. He would scrutinize each and every inch of my nose, my eyes, my lips, my cheekbones and while tracing the ends of my hair would whisper to himself, "I have you." 

"Are you okay?"

Luhan looked at me. His eyes were as wide as a deer infront of headlights, something I had joked about to him in the car. He told me he often got away with some things with his face. When I nodded and said, "I'm fine," and saw his lips break out into a smile, I could imagine why anyone would feel guilty for doubting him. 

"They're all clustered together," Eunji continued, after everyone had assembled around her. "We don't need more than a group of three to get the children out."

"Seohyun can join me," Sungjong said. He stepped up voluntarily and a quiet settlement took place. He looked at me and I smiled at him. 

"The children will love you," he said with a shrug. "And the teens will fall in love with you."

I patted his head and wound my arm around his neck. "We need one more person," I said, but Luhan had already began walking. He stopped and turned around to look at us. 

"Aren't we moving?" he said nonchalantly. "Let's do this."

Sungjong and I exchanged looks and gave a fervent nod. "We're finally here," he murmured. 

Luna was still on his mind. 
 

                                                                                       NICOLE

As a kid, my father would narrate me stories from the Greek myth. Dad always wanted to study the Classics but familial pressure made him take up medical science. He didn't regret that decision though, for that is how he had met my mother while she was studing psychiatry. Eventually my father shifted from neurology to psychology and the inherent intuitiveness my team has always flattered me with was conditioned into me by my two parents. 

Like every story, the Greek myths too had a dark place which, as my father would tell me, 'all the heroes had to visit as a form of a test'. I assumed it would be something akin to a drawing test or a spelling bee but as I grew up I realized that the Underworld had trials of suffering far greater than what the average teenager faced. What fascinated me the most about those stories was the River Styx, the black water which made Achilles near-to-invincible and on whose surface Chiron would transport the dead spirits to their deserved place. 

It felt like my childhood dreams had come true, as I sat behind Lay while he rowed the narrow canoe across the water. The sun was shining bright but the water was frighteningly still and had Lay not been accompanying me, the silence would have pierced my sanity and made me drown myself. 

The borders of Pyongyang had been a sensitive area until Paragon came into place. Long time ago North Korea threatened to shower drones on the US Coast, which didn't go down well with the then superpower. The US government was powerful at the time, but it took one photo of General Lee signing a treatise with Kim Jong Un to switch the powerplay. As I watched the two canoes rowing with us, I turned around to catch a glimpse of Amber. Her excited expression was poles apart from my memory of Sung Gyu, who was with the Central Paragon group.

"I'll be with Lay," I had convinced him. He had given me a quick kiss and nodded, forcing a smile. 

I waved at them to reassure our safety. They waved back and preparations for precaution began. From afar they looked like ants at work. Lay murmured something and I shifted my attention to him. 

"What did you say--?"

The sun's rays glinted off its steel body and when we moved closer, we saw the most slender and most majestic ship's helm towering over us. My jaw fell slack open and when I saw Chunji's grin widen, I knew that this moment was real. A tall figure had his hand resting on the railings, his bright red hair beaming like flames and when he saw me he smiled. 

"You must be Nicole?" he asked. His voice was loud and clear and I nodded. From behind him emerged a man as tall as him, with dark hair and a brooding gaze. I gasped. 

"I'm sure you recognize Mr. Henney," the red-head commented in an amused tone. 

"You're the one who ran away with Krystal's sister," I said. The water was still but the realization of our actions was rushing all the blood to my head, deafening my senses. Daniel Henney, former Paragon minister, was now standing infront of me with an uneasy smile. When I smiled and nodded at him, his shoulders relaxed.

"We seldom forget brave souls," Lay replied. "I'm Lay, representing EXO."

"I'm Leo," the red-head said as the head of the ship split into two and let out a staircase. "Where's the man who sent us the evidence?"

Dongwoo raised his hand while Chunji carefully moored their ride near the steps. Lay helped me out and once we started climbing the steps, I gave our friends near the shore one last glance. 

"They'll be safe."

I tripped as I found Leo too close for comfort. He looked down at me and smiled, offering a hand to stable myself. I shook it off discreetly and ignored his smirk as I followed the guys inside. 

                                                                                                            CHANYEOL

All of us had been waiting for this moment. I glanced at Suho whose eyes had been empty ever since Taeyeon---

I looked away the moment his eyes met mine. Of course he could sense my thoughts. He had been my mentor for so long, we had studied the same discipline. Lifting my head up with a sheepish smile on my face, my tactless musings were forgiven with a smile. The smile was empty as well, but it was something. 

A cough was heard and from my peripheral gaze I saw Kairi wheezing, her hair matted to her forehead with sweat. Woohyun touched her forehead and instantly handed her a bottle of water. She gulped it down and gave him a thankful smile. He left a peck on her lips and I left the two alone. 

Baekhyun didn't, of course. He hadn't looked away from Kairi at all and even though Woohyun was known for his protective wolfine ways, he seemed to understand the pain of losing a loved one and the anger that could arise from that love, the anger and hunger for vengeance. And so while my EXO mate continued to wistfully stare at his dead lover's doppelganger, I was distracted by the sound of scribbling. 

"What's that you're writing?" I leaned over to Dayoung who furrowed my eyebrows at me, her hands still writing down something in a notebook. 

"Is that a notebook?" I asked, my jaw falling slack open. "Man, and I thought Siwon hyung was outdated."

"This feels personal," the little girl justified. She shut it with a slam, but before she could I read my name written in a hurried manner at the bottom of the page. 

"Hey don't write anything bad about me!" I playfully complained. I grinned when she cracked a smile, nodding at Tao who was smiling at her. 

I still couldn't believe the shy guy had made his feelings clear. Sure, they had an age difference of five years but once this ordeal would end and Dayoung would grow up, who'd care? Tao obviously liked her more than he could express and Dayoung had not rejected him. Sometimes I would find her looking for him just so she could rest her head on his chest, a particular space above his ribs that would help her claim a comfortable nap. The only person who would mind was Himchan, but he too had realized that Tao was stronger and as protective of Dayoung as he had always been. 

Chanyeol. Chan chan. Yeol yeol. Park yeol.

I had to calm myself down. Saying my name in different ways over and over again.... I reminded myself of why I had joined EXO in the first place. Parents. My parents. I had to avenge them. I had to look inside myself and find that fire that had introduced me to Kris, had motivated me to do better than the rest. 

A light screech woke me from my thoughts and everyone had their hands on the hilt of their revolvers. It was only when Kai gave a peace sign from the other car did we relax....

But there was no time to relax of course. Once our group stepped out of our cars, we had stepped into Central Paragon. We had stepped inside the lion's den and---

Oh. What luck. Flashing from the billboard right above us was Woohyun's face, wanted and easily recognizable. 

"I'm ed," I heard him mutter. The crowd hadn't noticed yet but sooner than later, they would. 

"Time to split up," Woohyun said and with a silent nod, we all did.