“Oh come on. Sehun, you’re punching too lightly. Twist your hip, rotate your arm and use the whole body movement to your advantage, so you can hit harder,” the tall, raven haired boy dressed in lilac instructed. “Try to do it like Lay, he’s got it down.” His dark eyes were discerning every movement of the training boys. “Oh for ’s sake. Kris! How many times do I have to tell you? Stop doing that with your face. It’s an eyesore to watch you practice with that damn expression on your face. Just stop it.”

“What’s wrong with my face?” Kris asked piqued.

“Your expression, it’s annoying,” he bluntly replied.

“My face is annoying?” he asked incredulously.

“No, your face is good, the things you do with it annoys me.” Sehun let out a high pitched laugh and Lay watched amused at the other two.

Kris’ frown deepened, “You’re too much Tao.”

“Your face is too much,” Tao quipped, “Now get back to it. Two kicks one punch combo, then add one kick two punches and a finishing kick combo.”

Teaching the guys wushu was a pain in the , but for them it was a distraction. It was an entertainment and Tao was glad to be the entertainer. When he first met the group they radiated a gloomy atmosphere. Xiumin and Sehun looked the most depressed. They told him what they’ve gone through.

Since his abilities couldn’t be used offensively, the company taught him martial arts. The practice of martial arts benefited not only his body but his mind as well, which was important because he needed to be strong willed and develop high mental concentration to use his ability. For him, focus was key.

Lay had also been trained but in Jujutsu which had mid-range strikes that focused on using the opponent's energy against them by using various grappling techniques. But wrestling against a bogger was a bad idea. That’s why he agreed to learn range strike attacks from Tao.

Lay had great flexibility and agility, out of the three students, he was the best. On the other hand, Kris was as flexible as a log. And, incredibly, he always managed to look awkward as . Tao couldn’t understand how or why it happened. Kris’ strikes and hits were strong and powerful, he could muster a lot of strength, but the aesthetics didn’t quite match. Tao learned early on that mocking and insulting Kris and bickering with him brought joy to the mischievous Sehun. The time he told Kris that his eagle eyes were worth if he couldn’t evade his attacks, Sehun broke out into laughter. It was the first time Sehun smiled in a long while -from what the others told him. So Tao would search for any excuse to mock Kris, just so Sehun would smile again. His laugh was infectious; it always made Tao think affectionately of him as an adorable little .  Eventually Kris caught up on why he was verbally bullied most of the time and silently agreed to the abuse. He would try to level against Tao while bickering, but almost always his insults fell short.

It had been over a week since he became part of the group and up until now they’ve only had individual trials. Mama advised them –though it felt more like a warning- to practice their skills and prepare as a team to avoid last trial’s fiasco. Sehun kept blaming the company for forcing them to a trial with new members. No one disagreed with him, they all thought the company was irrational at times. But now they were given the time to train and they seized their moment to improve themselves.

Sehun kept projecting bolts of air at his feet to jump high in the air and evade Lay’s attacks. He used his air bending to aid his body in moving faster and further, breaking his falls and pushing himself up off the floor. When he felt threatened his defenses would go haywire and Sehun looked like he defied gravity. His body would float in different directions, avoiding the attacks and countering from angles impossible for Lay to react from. He never used his wind attacks against Lay, it would be too unfair.

“See Kris, see how Sehun uses the air as an extension of himself?” Tao commented as they watched the other two fight. “You should do that too. Use your flight to your advantage, it’ll make your jumps higher and your reactions faster,” he explained.

Tao watched as Sehun jumped and twirled horizontally, parallel from the floor, his body floated longer than what Tao could ever manage. He landed lightly on his feet and made a taunting motion towards Lay, whose calm face looked completely exhausted. Sehun had been toying with him for far too long. Lay placed two fingers against his neck, right where the carotid artery was, for ten seconds. Then he rested his hand on the back of his neck. It took less than ten seconds for Lay to look completely refreshed and reenergized.

Sehun ran towards him and jumped forwards to hit with a descending punch, but Lay ducked, bending his legs in a Pǔ Bù stance which Tao taught him. Tao felt proud seeing Lay squat on one leg while extending the other to his side. With his bent leg he pushed his body to stand and supported his weight on the extended leg, so he could spin while he stood up. Now he faced Sehun’s back, who had passed over him. Lay grabbed Sehun’s left shoulder with his right arm and kicked the back of his knee, causing the taller boy to fall forward. He grabbed Sehun’s wrist with his free hand and bent the arm against Sehun’s back. He sat on the taller boy to use his weight against him. He straddled Sehun’s hips with his thighs and tightened his quads to keep the struggling boy still.

“Who’s tired now, huh?” Lay challenged. He lowered his face so he could whisper at Sehun’s ear. “How does losing feel?” he teased and earned a frustrated grunt from the boy under him.

“Yah! Lay, I said wushu, not jujutsu groping and fondling,” Tao scolded. Kris stifled a laugh as he watched next to Tao. “Just when I began to see you as my star student, you had to up.”

Lay laughed and Sehun took advantage of his distracted foe. He blew wind under them elevating their bodies. He untangled himself and switched positions midair, then landed heavily on top of Lay’s stomach. Lay groaned as his breath was knocked out of him. Sehun grabbed both of Lay’s wrists and held them over Lay’s head against the floor.

“Who’s losing now?” Sehun tantalized with a smirk, his face was dangerously close to Lay’s -he could probably feel the other’s distressed breathing. Lay whined as he tried to shrug his arms free, he hated the arrogant look Sehun had plastered on his face. Lay whimpered as he threw his head back and looked to the side, exposing his slim neck.

“What the hell are we watching?” Kris asked with furrowed brows.

“Shh shut up. It’s getting interesting,” Tao said with a naughty smile as he slapped Kris’ arm.

Kris looked back at him with a judgmental look, but then shook his head and looked back at the scene before them.

Lay kept whining and struggling under Sehun’s weight. Sehun chuckled mischievously as he blew air to Lay’s sensitive neck, causing the boy to squirm in displeasure.

"Agh! Sto-op," he whined.

Sehun slightly lifted his body, making the boy underneath him believe the torture to be over, but then quickly sat back on Lay’s stomach and leaned his weight towards his arms, holding down Lay’s arms with more strength than before. Lay arched his back and gave out a strangled groan as the air was knocked out of his lungs again.

“Enjoying the receiving end, Lay?” Sehun mocked.

Then Lay looked back at him surprising Sehun, his eyes were hazed from the lack of air. Something peculiar was happening between them as they stared into each other’s gaze. Tao couldn’t decipher the tension between them. Lay had an overpowering look in his eyes, it was alluring. Sehun’s face eased and his hold slackened, he looked bewitched, his focus was completely hypnotized onto Lay’s eyes. Then, in a swift motion, Lay lifted his legs and hooked the insteps of his feet on both sides Sehun’s shoulders, at the base of the neck. He yanked Sehun backwards by the neck with his feet. With his hands freed he pushed Sehun off of him and quickly jumped on top of the boy’s chest. He grabbed both of Sehun’s ankles and pulled his legs upward, and securely held them against his back, with Sehun’s feet held over his shoulders. He pressed his knees against Sehun’s shoulders as he sat on Sehun’s chest, immobilizing the boy’s upper body.

Sehun intensely blushed once he noticed how close his face was from Lay’s crotch. He visibly gulped as he looked up at Lay who sported a sly smirk, dimple and all.

“I –I –I’m, I s-s-surrender,” Sehun stuttered flustered. He looked so nervous and uncomfortable in the body lock Lay had him.

Tao and Kris laughed at Sehun’s short lived victory and teased at the awkward position he was forced in. The amount of jokes they could come up with could set a new record -after Kris’ drawings of course.

“Let go,” Sehun weakly pleaded as he flimsily punched Lay’s side.

Lay chuckled and let go of Sehun’s legs, but he stayed on top of the defeated boy with a naughty smile on his face.

“Lay,” Sehun whined embarrassed, his face turning a darker shade of red as he averted his eyes away from Lay’s groin.

Lay laughed and finally got off Sehun. He helped the other get up and ruffled his hair. Lay playfully undusted Sehun’s clothes, purposely patting Sehun’s behind, flustering him again.

“Stop,” Sehun whined childishly.

“Lay you’re such a shameless teasing weirdo,” Tao barked as he protectively placed his arm over Sehun’s shoulders.

Lay only chuckled at the comment. He was too amused in his own quirky mind.

“What did you do to him before you flipped him over?” Kris asked seriously, “Sehun had beaten you but suddenly he looked all stupefied.” Sehun’s blush reddened even further.

“I might have manipulated his emotions,” Lay admitted cunningly.

“Poor Sehunnie,” Tao cued. “Did ert Lay make you feel all fuzzy inside?” he mocked.

“Shut up,” Sehun growled and shrugged Tao’s arm off.

“Come here,” Lay calmly said as he extended his hand.

Sehun muttered something under his breath as he step closer to the smaller boy. Lay held one hand on Sehun’s shoulder and placed the other hand on the back of Sehun’s neck. Sehun’s uncomfortable look eased, the frown on his forehead disappeared. Lay moved his hand to the taller boy’s cheek and the deep red blush vanished.

“Better?” he asked as he let go. Sehun nodded, his lips pressed firmly together.

“Wow, what’s going on? What did we miss?” Chanyeol asked as he approached the group with Xiumin and Suho.

“Oh not much. Sehun got beaten by Lay’s crotch,” Tao smirked.

Sehun ran towards Suho to hide the infernal blush that kept creeping on his face. The others broke into laughter again as Suho tried to calm Sehun’s embarrassment. They headed to Kris’s room to hang out for a while, but the teasing didn’t stop.

Tao’s practice room was a plethora of clocks. Time was measured everywhere. From the walls, to the floor and the ones hanging from the ceiling, clocks of different shapes and sizes excessively decorated the room. All the clocks were calibrated differently and read different times. There was a big stone clock laying on the floor which had set the time of the facility, the ‘correct’ time of their residence. The stone clock occupied the center of the room. It was made out of white marble, the numbers and the handles were carvings of obsidian and their borders were decorated with a thin line of gold. It was covered by a thick glass, strong enough to hold Tao’s weight. He would sit on the middle of the clock to practice his time manipulation or meditate.

And that’s what he did that night. After the long day of practice and mockery, Tao sat with his legs crossed and placed his hands on each knee with his palms facing upwards. His back was straight, his shoulders rested and his eyes closed. He maintained a steady, long and rhythmical breathing as he cleared his mind and thought about nothing. He was zoned.

Everything was a blur. His visions always began as a messy collage of images and sounds. He saw a tree, a blue sky with a yellow circle shining bright, a bird chirping, a road, a building with two towers connected with a bridge and a roof, a honk, grass, rain, someone’s lips, someone’s lips smiling, a squeaky high pitched laugh, glass double doors with black frames, yellow hair, stairs. A big spacious room with a lot of light, too much light that made the surroundings blurry. The smile and laugh appeared again, only this time they were joined with a face; brown eyes formed in crescents, big toothy smile, high cheekbones and a sharp squared jaw. Brown hair that grew lighter at the top. His laugh was squeaky and contagious. He laughed again and slightly bent forward, he placed a hand on his mouth to muffle the sound.

“What’s going on?” a familiar voice asked.

“Hyung! Hyung come look,” the smiling boy said over excitedly.

Another boy appeared, Tao recognized his face. It was Xiumin but he looked different. His hair was colored auburn and had an undercut. His clothes were different they were stylish and not plain and monochromatic as the ones they used at the facility.

Xiumin walked up to the boy and looked confused at something, something Tao couldn’t see. Then he frowned and hit the boy on the back of the head.

“That’s not funny Jongdae,” he scolded.

“But hyung,” the boy, Jongdae, whined. “Just look at the pictures. They’re the same,” he chuckled.

“That’s mean Jongdae,” Xiumin said and moved away.

“Hyung! Minseok hyung. Wait!” Jongdae complained and left after the other.

Minseok?

A new image appeared. Long fluorescent lights illuminated the grey room. There was a big wooden table in the middle. Five men in dark suits sat at one side, the one in the middle spoke as he read a file with documents. There were many files scattered on the table. He saw himself at the other side of the table, only he was different. He looked tired, the bags under his eyes were darker and his hair was almost white, it was silver with an undercut style.

When is this? He thought.

Around the other Tao was the group, only they were many more. The ones he recognized all looked different. He counted twelve in total.

“We’ll help you guys to adapt and have a normal life,” the man in the middle said. “But we need your full cooperation.”

“We understand,” Suho said.

“Then let’s begin,” the man said.

Then he was somewhere else. He’s in a test room, he saw himself sitting in his meditation stance in the middle of a stage. There were lab assistants around, shuffling from their stations, to the monitors and taking notes. Tao walked up to the meditating Tao and saw how the other’s face contorted in discomfort. He seemed troubled and Tao felt that something very bad would happen. The other Tao’s face suddenly turned motionless and his head slacked and fell forward. It looked like he was sleeping, only that the incessant flat line beep of the heart monitor told him otherwise.

Tao woke up from his trance, his breath irregular. Sweat dripped from his face and his back. He felt confused, unnerved and light headed. It was best to sleep now and figure out what the hell he saw later.

The guys met at the entrance the next morning, they were excited because they knew Kai would be released today. Tao felt a bit aloof, his mind kept drifting back to the images he saw last night. He wanted to ask Xiumin if he knew the name Minseok, but thought it would be too farfetched for the other to know. Tao wasn’t good with premonitions yet, they were all fast and blurred and sometimes he couldn’t tell the difference between a vision and a dream. Out of all the things he saw, the one that felt the realist was the one about him in the test room. But if it were a real vision, then that meant Tao had died, maybe for a few minutes, maybe for some more. But the Tao he saw had died trying to time travel, he knew that much.

“Hey Tao, you okay? You look a bit out of it today,” Chanyeol said concerned.

“I’m just...” losing my mind. “I’m nervous that’s all,” he half lied. “It’s the first time I’m meeting Kai,” he paused as he looked at the rest of the group. The all looked expectantly towards the double doors. “The guys talk so fondly of him, that I kind of feel left out. I don’t know. I’m just babbling.”

“Yeah, well you can’t possibly be as nervous as me,” Chanyeol chuckled. “The last time I saw him, he wanted to kill my guts because I burned Kris’ arm,” he smiled bitterly. “I just hope he doesn’t hold the grudge.”

“Don’t worry, if he tries to murder you I’ll reverse time and save your skinny ,” Tao said more confidently.

Chanyeol gave a dishearten laugh. “Let’s just hope we don’t have to use extreme measures.”

“Whatever,” Tao shrugged.  

The doors opened but no one was behind them. Suho and Xiumin stepped closer to inspect the doors and see if someone was hiding behind them or in the building. But they found nothing.

“Did you miss me?”

They all turned around to look towards the clearing and there he was, the famous Kai. He stood with a confident smirk on his face but his eyes were soft. He didn’t seem arrogant at all. He was faking the cool act. Sehun was the first to react, he ran full speed and bear hugged the darker boy. Kai let out a high pitched laugh as he was tackled to the ground. Tao imagined the other’s bones crushing under Sehun’s attack.

“You ing idiot. Don’t you ever do that again,” Sehun scolded and sat on Kai’s stomach, he kept his hands on Kai’s shoulders. “You think it’s funny to scare me like that?” he punched Kai’s chest, but it wasn’t forceful. “You think you’re so grand being the hero all the time? Huh? Well news flash, you at it. Next time make sure you die so I don’t have to worry sick wondering when you’re coming back,” his voice sounded strained and tears began to fall as he kept punching Kai. Kai eyes were red, every bit of confidence he posed before vanished. He grabbed Sehun’s wrist to stop getting hit. “You ing idiot. I hate crying over you,” Sehun’s voice broke.

“Nice to see you too,” Kai said with an apologetic smile.

“I hate you,” Sehun sobbed.

“I know,” Kai smiled sadly as he reached up to wipe the tears off of Sehun’s face.

Xiumin and Suho walked up to the rest of the group and watched the two boys on the floor. Xiumin looked like he was about to cry as well.

“I feel so awkward,” Tao whispered to Kris.

“Let’s just give them some space,” the other resolved.

“Looks like your isn’t going to get kicked today,” Tao joked as he patted Chanyeol’s back.

“Yeah” Chanyeol said softly with a smile and raised his thumbs up.

A/N:

Hey guys, just wanted to say a quick hi! I’m glad you guys are enjoying the story so far, I hope you liked this new chapter. Keep up the comments, they are very entertaining and encouraging. Thank you guys so much.

Thanks to Eleanor1998, Rowlyn07, prettyniceandempty, warmlove, yale11 and Septwscold for subscribing.

Have a nice week, annyeong!

-Blackie.