He felt tired from just hanging out with the group. It’s been far too long since the last time he’s moved around for hours. His body was still lethargic. Luhan sat at the corner in front of his bed, his arms wrapped around his knees that were brought up to his chest and his back against the closet door. He couldn’t sleep. He shut his eyes and rested but he couldn’t sleep. He was afraid of sleeping, he was afraid that if he did he might never wake up again.

He had no clue about what time it was when he heard faint footsteps walking in his room. Immediately he created a telekinetic force barrier around him. Like an invisible sphere impeding anyone from coming near him. With his eyes still closed, he felt the person bump against the barrier and falter backwards.

“Luhan?”

He opened his eyes recognizing the voice but the darkness of the room made it hard to distinguish the person’s face. He felt anxious as he saw the person walk through his force field. It shouldn’t be possible. He flinched as the other boy squatted down to be at the same level as him. The boy smiled sadly, his face was nearly see through. He felt a sudden surge of curiosity and lifted his hand to touch the other’s face. Luhan’s hand phased through him, as if he were touching air.

“How?” Luhan asked, but instead of a response the other motioned with his hands to take down the barrier, and knowing that he wasn’t in danger Luhan dropped his defense.

“About time,” Kai joked. “I can’t speak when I’m fully intangible. My vocal cords don’t vibrate the air,” he explained.

“Oh.” You have intangibility? He asked telepathically, Kai nodded.

“So you’re comfortable here?” Kai asked as he sat down, his back against the closet like Luhan. He left enough space between them.

“Somewhat, I guess,” he shrugged. “It’s better than the bed.”

Kai nodded but didn’t ask further. Luhan knew the other thought he didn’t want to lay on beds for a while, due to obvious reasons.

“So how many were concerned?” he asked Kai.

“Nearly all of them,” the other replied. Luhan nodded, “Sehun was most insistent, even though I wanted to check on you anyway.”

Thanks… I’m not used to all of these… emotions.

“None of us were at first. But as you get to know each other and depend on each other, I guess we just bond,” Kai explained.

But there’s so many, he exasperated.

Kai laughed, “You’ll get along with everyone eventually.” His smile turned serious, “But you’re going to have to trust us and stop pushing us away.”

I’m sorry, it’s bad habit, I know. I don’t mean to do it, it’s just-

“A bad habit. I get it,” Kai interrupted. “Nothing is really easy around here anyway. But we’ve got each other and that’s what counts.”

You sound so sappy, Luhan rolled his eyes.

“It’s horrible I know,” he snickered.

The boy in black went silent as he looked at Luhan. Feeling unnerved under such observing eyes, Luhan found comfort in reading the other’s thoughts. As usual for the human mind, thoughts come out messily and broken, syntax was nearly nonexistent. But Luhan deciphered enough to understand the other boy’s plans.

Okay, he agreed.

It took a second for Kai to realize his thoughts were read and another second for him to nod. He lifted his right arm in front of him and made it intangible. Luhan cautiously watched the translucent hand reaching towards him. He closed his eyes. He couldn’t feel it. He couldn’t feel any presence of the hand, he couldn’t feel it approach and he certainly couldn’t feel it against his skin.

“I can’t feel you,” Luhan said as he opened his eyes. “It’s working,” he exclaimed.

But Kai shook his head as he moved his hand from Luhan’s arm to his shoulder. “I doesn’t work, Luhan,” he said defeated. “I can’t feel you either and that’s not the idea,” he sighed, “I can get close to you but I’m not really there.”

Luhan could hear the disappointment in the other’s voice, it made his stomach uncomfortable and his chest slightly clenched. Keep them far. Don’t let them get in here, he remembered and felt fear and guilt of doing wrong. He felt a sudden weight on his shoulder, something foreign and he jerked back, immediately sending a psych wave towards the foreign touch. Kai’s arm shot upwards violently enough for him to fall to his side. Luhan’s eyes widen as he realized what he just did.

“I’m sorry,” he quickly apologized.

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” Kai brushed off as he sat back. “It’s my fault for surprising you, I’m sorry.”

“But I shouldn’t have shoved you away, when I knew it was you. I just…”

“Luhan, it’ll take time. Don’t worry. Xiumin already explained this to us.”

“He did?” he said slightly angered. “That was meant to be personal.”

“Yeah, but Luhan we’re a team. We have to understand each other to work together,” he explained but Luhan didn’t give a reply. He felt slightly betrayed by Xiumin talking about him behind his back, but he understood why. Kai’s right, Xiumin’s right but it wasn’t something he could take lightly.

He felt Kai fidget in the silence, it looked like he struggled with wanting to speak. Luhan pried into his thoughts again and immediately frowned when he heard what the other wanted to ask.

“No,” he said loud and clear. I’m not ing answering that Kai. I told you I never wanted to talk about it. Ever.

“But Luhan-”

I haven’t had nightmares in a long time. So don’t worry about it, he lied.

“What about your memories? Are they coming back?”

“Yeah, but it’s all confusing,” he sighed. “What about you?”

“Oh… well not much actually. I remember mostly everything up to the trial, but then it’s just faint images and confusing ,” Kai paused and looked at him confused. “Xiumin said he spoke with you about the trial, when I was out. Did you forget that too? Is that why you never mentioned it while we were at the ICU?”

“Yeah, honestly I can’t remember about him telling me that. I know as much as you, from what you’ve told me, which isn’t much either,” Luhan explained.

“Oh… Right then,” he massaged his legs. “Xiumin, he told me. Well actually I asked him since Sehun nearly flipped when I tried asking him. So I asked Xiumin to tell me how it happened. He didn’t want to at first, but eventually he gave in,” Kai bit his lower lip. “There’s that to… help me understand. That and…” his tone went sad as he trailed off. “It’s hard to say.”

Don’t say it then, think it. Kai looked towards him, his eyes sad.

‘I remember his face. I remember Sehun’s face when I… got hurt. It’s horrible, it’s painful, I never want to see someone with that expression ever again. Never. It’s a look that makes you believe there’s no hope and the world has ended. A look that makes you just want to drop dead, so you won’t feel anything anymore.’

Well , Luhan thought to himself. How am I supposed to reply to that. He didn’t. He kept quiet as he heard Kai suppress his tears. Not knowing what else to do, Luhan used his telekinesis to gravitate the pillow from his bed to Kai. The other was dumbfounded when he saw a floating pillow in front of him.

“Hug me,” Luhan said with a funny high pitched voice. Kai chuckled lightly as he reached forward and hugged the pillow with all his might. “Not so tight, I can’t breath,” he said with the silly voice. Kai laughed and softened his hold.

“You’re so dumb,” Kai playfully said as he wiped his remaining tears against the pillow. It was obvious that his mood lightened. “Thanks.”

“Any time,” Luhan smiled back.

 

They fell quiet again, Luhan noticed that Kai seemed a little too comfortable holding the pillow that the latter was beginning to fall asleep. Luhan nudged him with a psych push, being careful and soft this time. He managed to get Kai to wake up.

“You should go to bed,” he told him as the other yawned.

“Are you ever going to sleep?” Kai asked tiredly. Luhan shook his head. “Alright then,” he said and stood up. He wordlessly went and tucked himself into Luhan’s bed.

“I didn’t mean my bed,” he tried to sound annoyed, but truthfully he didn’t mind the company.

“You should talk with Sehun,” Kai’s sleepy voice said.

“What?”

“He’s right next door you know.”

He did know, but the idea of talking to Sehun telepathically, after what happened at the lake, was nerve wracking and uncomfortable. He felt this pressure that made him believe he was guilty for forgetting the other and he didn’t know how to act about it. Besides, he couldn’t remember talking to the boy before, which would make things awkward if Sehun brought up something about the past. But, from what Xiumin had spoken with him, the least he could do was try to mend things with Sehun. He could try to get to know him again. Start new. The least he could do was try.

“I’ll try,” he said, but realized that Kai had already fallen asleep. His snoring lulled the night away and Luhan didn’t feel lonely at all.

 

Before they knew it, their free week had ended and they were sure that a group trial would be sprung up on them at any given moment.

Sleep became easier for Luhan but he’d never sleep in his bed. He would wake up each morning with a pillow sandwiched between his head and the closet door, and a blanket draped over him. The thing was that Luhan never went to sleep with those said objects; he knew it was Kai’s doing. He knew the latter sneaked into his room every night to check on him.

Luhan still hadn’t spoken personally with Sehun as Kai wanted them to. He concentrated in getting to know the group better and earning their trust -deliberately avoiding being alone with Sehun. He began to feel more comfortable around them and let his personality surface, but he kept struggling with his fits. They might not have been able to get physically close to Luhan yet but at least he was cooperative when it came to practice. At least they were able to prepare him for what was doomed to come.

They were hanging at the garden. Luhan was showing Suho that he could be a waterbender too as he levitated a formless quantity of water from the fountain. Suho frowned, retorting at how sloppy his form was. Lay jokingly said that he sounded like Tao when he nagged at them about forms and stances during wushu practice. Tao scowled at the comment, with Kris and Chanyeol snickering in the background.

A lab assistant that Chanyeol recognized as X7LA3, went to pick them up claiming there was a ‘special meeting’ to be held and they had to attend. Obediently they followed her inside the building and settled inside a conference room in the fifth floor. They all sat around a big glass table in a spacious and elegant room. Assistant X7LA3 stood by the door and closed it. She retrieved a gas mask hanging on the back of the door and calmly put it on as a strange gas filled the enclosed room. The group yelled confused at her. Kris, who was the closest, tried to walk up to her but quickly fell down stunned by the gas. In mere seconds all the boys had fallen unconscious.

 

He woke up scared and uncomfortable, missing the softness of his pillow and the warmth of his blanket. The room was small, only it wasn’t really a room. The wall in front was missing, so was the one to his right. It looked like a corner of a hall. The walls were very tall and the roof was transparent, probably made of reinforced Plexiglas because there’s no way they were getting out easy. Luhan stood up, supporting himself with the wall. His body felt lethargic, he had no idea how long he had passed out or where he was or what was this place. There was a shoulder strap backpack on the floor next to him. He picked it up and found three energy bars, a water bottle and a hand sanitizer inside. The was he supposed to do with that. Believing he would eventually use it, he swung the bag over his right shoulder.  Now he had only two options.

Which one should I use? Left, right, left, right…. Right.

Warily he walked through the corridor. The light above made him have fours shadows in a radial position. It gave a weird sensation, as if he was being followed by his own fears. He noticed a pattern with the walls. They had a division line, making each section of the wall the same size. They were pretty long. He stopped and pondered for a while if he should count the sections just in case, so he wouldn’t get lost if he had to go back. It was worth the try. He had passed two sections already, so the count started with two. Three. By the fourth there was an opening to the left. So now he wasn’t sure if he should keep walking forward or take the left.

What the do I do? I already went right, maybe I should use left this time… or maybe it’s best to continue the first path… . He furiously ruffled his hair. Calm down Luhan, calm down. Getting worked up won’t help at all. Just keep cool man, keep cool.

He controlled his breathing and realized something. Maybe he could use his telepathy to find out if someone was near. He called out, focusing hard on extending his senses as far as possible. He faintly felt a presence not too far away, but he needed to get closer if he wanted to communicate with the possible person. He turned left and cursed when he entered another hall with a left and right passage, there was no forward. He tried calling the presence again and this time it worked.

‘… the hell. This is a freaking nutcracker. Where am I even going? Aish! So now I’ll take the right again, well now I have to take the left, this is so damn confusing, what am I supposed to do?’

Hello? Can you hear me?

‘Holly ! Luhan?’

Yeah!

‘You freaking scared me.’

Sorry.

‘Luhan, where are you?’

I don’t know. It’s ing weird, there are many corridors but I don’t know where the hell I’m going. But I think I’m close to you since I can speak with you.

‘Oh… yeah that makes sense. Umm, should we… should we look for each other?’

I guess it would be better that way…

‘Alright… I, I could… I’ll blow wind, yeah I’ll make a current so tell me if you hear something or whatever. Just find the wind.’

Okay.

Yes, out of everyone from the group, he just had to find himself closest to the one he’s most awkward with. Sehun. They’ve never been alone together since he avoided such situation, he felt too guilty and weird about being alone with the boy he forgot. But now, well he didn’t have much choice if he didn’t want to be lost alone.

He heard a small drift, towards the left. So he decided to follow it, but only two wall sections away he found another opening, this time to his right. Should he keep going forward or turn right? Just then, he felt a draft of wind. It was weak at first and then it began to increase. He went forward nearing a corner. And there he was. Sehun was walking towards the same corner but from the right side, making continuous hand movements for the air to flow. He stopped once he made eye contact with Luhan. Sehun looked down as he walked towards him hesitantly and stopped two meters away. Luhan could notice how nervous the other was. He also had a single strap backpack and an obvious blush on his face.

“Is, is this far enough?” his voice turned passive.

“You can come closer,” Luhan encouraged. Sehun stiffly halved the distance between them. “Hey,” Luhan greeted kindly.

“Hey,” Sehun replied putting on an emotionless façade.

Luhan awkwardly smiled.

Sehun stiffly nodded.

“So…”

“Mhm…”

… This is ing awkward, he thought to himself.

“What do you think this is?”

Sehun shrugged his shoulders. “Probably another ing trial,” he deadpanned.

“Probably?”

“Most likely.”

“Yeah...”

“Mhm…”

Ugh, Kai was right. I should’ve talked to him earlier, Luhan rubbed his face stressfully.

“Sehun let’s stop this.”

“What do you mean?”

“This!” Luhan motioned towards the both of them, “This awkward we’ve got between us.” Sehun frowned. Luhan didn’t blame him. He didn’t express himself the best way possible. “Look, I know things aren’t… fine between us. But we’ve got to get passed that so we can figure a way out of, out of… whatever the this is.”

“Sure,” he shrugged with indifference.

“I mean it.”

“Sure,” his face still stoic

“Can you at least make an effort to look like you care?” Luhan was losing his patience.

“Sure,” sarcasm dripping from his voice.

That’s it.

Luhan shoved Sehun backwards with his mind.

“Hey!” he retorted.

“Will you stop being immature and work with me?” Luhan said angered.

“Oh! Oh that’s right, I’m the ing immature one. Sweet, Luhan. Just ing dandy of you,” he exasperated. “Like shoving me if so ing mature.”

“Shut up!” Luhan shoved him back again.

“You serious?” he sounded pissed and threw a ball of wind at Luhan.

He tried to stop it with his telekinesis by swatting the compressed air away, but it didn’t work. His mind couldn’t picture the practically invisible ball of air and he was sent backwards from the impact. He was surprised and looked back at Sehun, who sported an amused smirk. Now that pissed him off. Without consideration, he swatted Sehun to the side and then threw a telekinetic wave at him, knocking him to the floor.

Sehun gritted his teeth and created a strong gust towards Luhan. Quickly he created a telekinetic field around him, but the wind blew him back pushing the field with him. The wind grew stronger as Sehun stood and walked towards him. The current dragged him backwards and the force field broke. Luhan found himself against the wall. He protected his eyes with his arms as the wind blew strong against his face. He could feel him getting closer. He needed to keep him away but Luhan couldn’t fight against the wind. He felt him close, too close. The wind was strong, thwarting his defenses.

What do I do? What do I do? Keep him away. Far away. But I can’t, I can’t, I can’t!

The wind stopped, Luhan’s body trembled and breathing was uneven.

“Don’t push me away,” it was nearly a whisper.

“Don’t push me away,” a hopeful whisper.

“Please don’t push me away,” a desperate whisper.

Slowly, Luhan removed his arms from his face and looked at the other boy. Sehun’s face was mere centimeters from his, he could feel Sehun’s breath ghost against his skin. The stoic façade was gone, now replaced by sad pleading eyes with a hint of hope. Vulnerability, utter vulnerability as his presence screamed please, please let me in. Luhan felt his chest ache, the memory of Mama’s warning reemerged and Luhan felt obligated to obey. But something about Sehun, something about the way Sehun looked at him made him want to keep him close. At least for an instance, just a few seconds, he wanted to let him stay.

But Sehun raised his hand, and before Luhan could stop himself, Sehun was pushed three meters away. Sehun prevented his fall with wind and, just like Xiumin did many days before, Luhan was able to see the hurt in Sehun’s eyes as his body was unwillingly forced backwards. Only this time, for some unknown reason, he felt hurt too.

They were silent, keeping a good amount of distance between them, as they made their way back to the first hall Luhan walked through and turned left to explore its extent further. Three wall sections down and the corridor turned left, then two sections further and the corridor turned right and then right again, in a U turn. Later two sections and then a left turn followed by an extensive corridor.

“I’m guessing this is some sort of maze,” Luhan finally dared to kill the silence.

“Yeah, seems like it,” he replied quietly.

“Sehun?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” looked confused.

“For everything,” Luhan sighed. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper earlier. I just, couldn’t stand how you, how you were acting. I can’t help but feel like… you hate me.”

“I… I don’t hate you,” Sehun looked at the floor rather embarrassed.

“Oh… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have presumed then. I should’ve talked to you before like Kai said. I shouldn’t-”

“Luhan stop.”

“-have forgotten you. What?”

“Just stop. Please,” Sehun looked uncomfortable. He brushed his hair back with his hand. “This is seriously not the time for this. So just stop.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked faster, distancing them further apart.

Luhan sighed heavily. At least I tried.

 

They walked eight wall sections until they finally reached a corner. They turned left and began to walk through the corridor. Two sections passed before they heard footsteps –assuming they were feet. Sehun halted, pressed himself against the wall and extended his arm out protectively to keep Luhan back -only for his arm to be pushed away. Sehun looked back at him with disbelief.

“Seriously?”

“Sorry.”

Sehun shook his head and paid close attention to the steps that began to get louder. Half the length of a wall section away, a tall boy dressed in lilac appeared. Sehun’s guard immediately relaxed.

“Finally! I thought I was going to rot here alone,” Tao said dramatically. “I’ve literally been walking in circles Sehun. I’ve stupidly walked through the same loop three ing times. Three ing times!”

“Okay, okay I heard you,” Sehun dismayed.

“This ing trial gives me the creeps,” he said as he walked closer, “it keeps reminding me of the night trial and I’m ing freaking out. I’m se- oh,” he finally noticed Luhan further behind Sehun. “Well , aren’t you two all awkward with each other and ? Wow this is going to be so uncomfortable.”

“Oh, shut up Tao,” Sehun scowled. “Seriously, give your tongue a rest.”

“Wow. Okay, okay,” Tao said lifting his hands in surrender.

“Let’s just go.”

“Alright, but I’d rather take the path you guys are heading ‘cause there’s no way I’m heading back to where I was. It’s confusing as .”

Sehun nodded and they regained their step, heading forward through the corridor. Seven wall lengths and the corridor turned to the left, two sections forward and they found and opening with four options, left, mid-left, mid-right and right.

“I’m pretty sure if we turn left we’ll be heading back where we came from,” Luhan reasoned as he mentally went over their steps. Seeing how confused the others were he explained. “I don’t know where the north is, but for the sake of understanding, let’s agree it is forward now. Okay?” they agreed. “So I’m certain I began walking ‘south’, met Sehun, then back ‘south’ until we reached the corridor where we found you,” he pointed at Tao, "and walked 'east'. It’s basically an L shape. And now we walked two sections ‘north’. So if we took the left we’d be going back to the ‘west’ side. Like a square: down, right, up and left. Get it?”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Sehun nodded.

“What do you mean by ‘sections’?” asked Tao, using his fingers as quotation marks.

“Oh, right. I’ve been counting the wall divisions as sections to kind of orient me on how much we’ve walked,” Luhan swiftly explained.

Tao nodded, lips upturn in appreciation, “Pretty damn smart.” Luhan smiled. “How much have you walked then?”

“Without the detour when I found Sehun,” Sehun looked away, “It’s been… 12, 20, 22, 29, 31. 31 sections.”

“I frankly wouldn’t know if that’s a lot or not,” Tao remarked.

“Okay, so we don’t go left,” Sehun concluded. “So how about if we go right?”

“Let’s see,” Tao said and walked to the right. “It’s basically a U turn from where we came from,” he shrugged his shoulders, “If that way is north, then this way is heading back south.”

“I’m not sure south is the best option,” Sehun opined. “I’d rather head north.”

“Me too,” Luhan agreed.

“Alright,” Tao nodded. “Left or right?”

“Right.”

“Left.”

“Left would be going back,” Luhan argued.

“But it’s mid-left, we’d still be heading north and not completely back from where we came from,” Sehun countered. “Maybe the way out was just above where we started.”

“Or maybe it’s towards the right,” Luhan strained.

“Or the left.”

“The right.”

“ damn, calm yourselves,” Tao exasperated. “Both are either wrong or right, we don’t really know where the north is. We could be at the north right now instead of the south. Or maybe the north is that way or that way,” he pointed to his right then his left. He sighed. “Look, let’s just pick one and if it doesn’t seem promising then we can turn back. Okay.”

“Whatever.”

“Okay.”

“Ugh, why didn’t I stumble upon Kris,” Tao mumbled to himself. “At least he has sense of orientation.”

“Let’s just go,” Sehun walked forward towards the mid-left corridor.

Jerk, Luhan frowned as he followed the other two.

Two lengths forwards, the hall turned left, three down and it turned right, one section and Luhan stopped when he noticed the wall to his right was angled towards the inside instead of being completely straight.

“That’s odd.”

Because of the angle of the wall, they were forced to walk to their left, one section he counted. The next hall was perpendicular to them, meaning they could walk towards the left or to the right but not forwards. But this time at their left instead of a wall there was a huge metal gate, similar to an overhead door that opens upwards. Since there was no way they could open it, they headed to their right. One section and then the wall to the left was angled making them turn to their right in a sharp V turn.

An alarm resounded through the corridors. Red lights illuminated the ceiling. Luhan grew nervous as he saw the fright in Sehun and Tao’s face.

“,” Sehun cursed.

“You have to be ing kidding me,” Tao stressed as he harshly ruffled his hair.

“What’s going on?” Luhan asked, but Tao’s response was overshadowed by the loud sound of metal grazing against metal. They looked back to the metal door affirming that it was in fact opening. Luhan heard horrid screeching -loud monstrous shrieks.

“Luhan!” He looked at Sehun who had to shout over the noise. “Hurry, come on!”

Quickly he followed the others, running down the corridor. Out of fear and anxiety, Luhan forgot to count the sections. They made a sharp turn to the left, then right followed by a V turn to their right again. The alarm stopped but the red lights remained. Screeching and disordered running could be heard behind them, they were being followed. They ran the corridor, which again turned to the right meeting with a dead end.

“!” Tao cursed, kicking the wall beside him.

“What do we do?” Luhan asked -scared less.

“We don’t have a choice,” Sehun turned to look at him with a concerned gaze. “We have to fight back.”

“No, no. I…,” he repeatedly shook his head, “I, I can’t”

“Shh, Luhan, it’ll be fine,” Sehun reassured, stepping closer but Luhan stepped back making Sehun remember to keep his distance and stay put. For a slight second Sehun looked dejected, but it was quickly replaced by his serious facade. “We can do this. These trials are ing mental, but we can survive them. We’re meant to,” he assured with more confidence in his voice.

Luhan looked back towards the hall where the screeching kept getting louder and louder -closer and closer.

“I’m scared,” he said, taking note of his rapidly beating heart.

“I’ll keep you safe.”

Luhan stared back at him. Sehun didn’t step closer, but the look his gaze held made him feel closer and Luhan felt he could believe in the other boy’s words.

“Guys! They’re here!” Tao yelled.

 

.

 

The boggers were more monstrous than he ever imagined. Xiumin detailed them quite well but seeing one in real life, in front of him, was definitely not the same. Its ragged thin hairless white skin looked sickening. Their heads were layered with that disgusting skin and wide mouths filled with sharp teeth and black goo. They were taller that what he imagined, skinnier as well, and their claws were longer and sharper.

Sehun pushed them back with a forceful air current. They were at least half a dozen, but Luhan was sure there were more from all the noise.

Tao jumped and aimed a butterfly kick at the side of a bogger’s head, nearly missing the claws of another bogger thanks Sehun’s assistance. Tao spun his body horizontally, impulsing himself up with his right leg and his left aimed the strike with the heel of his foot as he turned in the air. The bogger crashed against the wall and Tao gave it no time to react as he lifted his right leg vertically, slamming down the plant of his foot against the head of the hunched bogger. His axe kick was strong enough to completely knock the bogger down. He stomped on the bogger’s neck, snapping it in two. The body disintegrated.

Luhan watched astounded at how experienced Tao looked, using only his physical abilities to fight against the monster. The look Tao gave him made him finally understand he had to step up and help them too. They all had to fight their best to survive.  

Luhan walked up next to Sehun, surprising the latter as he created a strong telekinetic wave and pushed all of the boggers back to the end of the corridor. Quickly Sehun took his chance to compress air.

“Stand back,” he warned. Tao and Luhan stepped backwards before Sehun sliced three boggers with air.

“Luhan, can you bring one closer?” Tao asked.

He obliged and grabbed the first bogger he saw with a telekinetic hold. He pulled the creature forward.

“Now Sehun!” Tao yelled and the other nodded.

Both ran towards the bogger, Sehun in front. He propelled his body with air and jumped over the bogger. He turned midair and hit the bogger’s head with a descending kick. It staggered forwards and Tao aimed a high roundhouse kick towards the bogger’s head. He used his back leg, twisting his hip as he extended the leg forwards and swiped to the side. The bogger hit against the wall. Tao finished it off with a frontal kick to the side of its neck, breaking it like he did with the bogger before, while Sehun used wind to keep the other boggers back.

Luhan felt admiration as he saw the perfectly executed team work -probably well earned from hours and hours of training. He wanted to be part of that too. He wanted to be important and helpful for the team as well. He made his way towards Sehun again, there were three boggers remaining.

“I can do this.” Sehun furrowed his brows as he looked at him worriedly. “Let me do this.” Sehun nodded and stepped back, giving him the space he needed.

Luhan focused his mind on the boggers before him. They screamed and began to run his way. He concentrated his telekinetic hold on them, managing to catch all three and levitate them off the ground before forcefully slamming them against the left wall. They fell down and Luhan grabbed hold of the closest bogger. He gravitated the creature upwards and imagined as if his own hand was holding the bogger from the neck. He grunted as he pressed harder and choked the bogger until its neck snapped. The limp body disintegrated before falling to the ground.

It felt simple. It felt too simple to snap the bogger’s neck. Luhan felt the adrenaline rush, something inside him snapped. He felt good, he felt real good. The hall became darker, the figures were unclear -they were mere silhouettes. His complete focus to the remaining creatures. They ran towards him, with ease he lifted them up and smirked as he saw their legs kicking uselessly in the air. This was too simple. He wanted to enjoy this sense of power. He forced the bogger at the right to lift its arms forwards and slammed it against the bogger to the left, making the claws penetrate the thoracic cavity and kill it. Now with just one bogger left, Luhan lifted his hands upwards imagining one hand holding onto the boggers legs and the other holding its torso. Slowly he tortured the bogger by bending its spine backwards. He wanted to laugh at how pitiful the creature screamed as it couldn’t do anything to save its miserable existence. Bones cracking resonated through the hall, the booger fell limp and silent in his hold.

This is too ing easy.

He felt a touch on his shoulder, immediately he turned and pushed the bodies back against the wall. Their silhouettes were human but he couldn’t stop. Not now, not when he realized how easy it was too overpower others -to finally be the one deciding the fate of another instead of submitting to the constraints of a bed and the prick of a needle.

But he fell backwards. He frowned as his body met the floor. He quickly stood up, just to be pushed back again. His focused began to blur. Wind began to swat him back, so he created a force field to protect himself.

“Are you sure?” he heard one say.

“Yes! Trust me!”

“Alright.”

Something began to get close. He tried to push it away but his power was nullified by it. It didn’t work, it didn’t matter how much he tried to push it away it kept getting closer.

“Luhan!”

It was a person. Who is it?

“Luhan!”

His focus got worse as the person became clearer. The harsh wind buffeted his senses.

“Luhan!”

Am I hurting him?

“Luhan!”

He shouldn’t get close. I need to keep him far.

 

He felt warmth, warmth holding onto his body. Arms wrapped tightly around his shoulder keeping him against a warm chest. He felt a head next to his. He was being touched. He was being hugged. He had never been hugged by anyone but Mama before.

“Luhan come back,” it was Sehun. “I got you. I got you.”

Luhan relaxed, the adrenaline died and his vision became normal. The halls weren’t dark anymore, they were red-lighted but clear. He saw Tao standing opposite from him, back against the wall and his eyes looked frightened with shock. He felt a shift of weight and was startled when he noticed Sehun’s body against him. He jumped in the hold and tried to push Sehun back, but the other didn’t budge.

“How? How?”

“Don’t push me away. Please don’t push me away,” Sehun vigorously said against his ear.

“Okay,” Luhan said breathlessly -utterly shocked at the whole situation, but decided to stop fighting against him. “Okay.”

Mama. the promise. He never felt so secure in his life and he was not going to let some stupid promise force him to let go of Sehun.

Let go? He moved his arms away. He hadn’t noticed he was hugging Sehun back. He let his arms dropped to the side. “What happened?”

“You, you don’t remember?” Sehun asked. Luhan shook his head against Sehun’s shoulder. “You lost control Luhan. You… attacked us.”

“What?” Luhan stepped back, pushing himself out of Sehun hold by placing his hands against Sehun’s shoulders. He needed to see if Sehun was alright. Fortunately he didn’t have a scratch. “I did what?”

Sehun didn’t answer immediately, instead his concerned eyes wandered around Luhan’s face, brows furrowed deeply. His eyes stopped and stared back at him, boring into his eyes.  “You lost control and attacked us. It was like you were a completely different person.”

Mama was right. He was dangerous he could hurt them. He didn’t mean for it to happen.

“But how… how did you stop me?”

“I,” he bit his lip, “I surrounded myself with air, it worked as a shield. It was Tao’s idea.”

Tao? How did Tao know I couldn’t fight against air? He wasn’t there when I quarreled with Sehun. How could he know?

“Luhan,” his eyes shot back to Sehun’s. “Your eyes. They weren’t normal.” He said cautiously.

Luhan stepped back. How could my eyes change? None of this makes sense.

“They were-” Sehun looked shocked as he was softly pushed back.

“Don’t tell me,” Luhan said dead serious. “I don’t ever want to know how I looked.”

Sehun’s eyes bore back into him, his gaze filled with worry and concern. He pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded in agreement.

 

 

---

A/N:
 

Yes, it is a maze trial. 

Don’t hate Luhan, he’s not psychotic he just has a different mentality.

Thanks to abi333, exotickima and saiasam for subscribing. Welcome to the world where boggers are worse than the boogey man.

Okay guys, have a greet weekend.

Annyeong!

-Blackie.