The next morning right after breakfast, Kris opened the picture window and jumped out from the balcony. His room was three stories high. He flew around the woods enjoying the morning breeze, he noticed the sky was light blue and there were no clouds, but he couldn’t see a yellow circle that appeared in most of the books he’s read.

The sun, that’s what it’s called –he remembered.

He would rest on tree tops, just enjoying the view and being able to fly around outside. He felt as happy and innocent as a child. Sometimes birds would anger and see him as a threat when he got too close to their territories. But then their aversion would subside and they treated him like any other bird -a huge bird.

He saw the lake at the middle of the forest. He flew down and stood on firm ground. He was shocked when he saw the tree in front, at the opposite side. It was very similar to the tree that was plastered on every wall, door and every other object of the institution. Only that its branches hung lowly, like vines, going all the way down until they touched the water. There was an air of serenity surrounding it, as if it were magical.

He recalled what Mama told him yesterday. He looked around but couldn’t find anyone near the lake. He flew around the perimeter of the lake to see if he could spot someone. When he got tired of flying in circles, he went to the middle of the lake and hovered over it. He decided it was easier to look around from there instead of flying in circles –should’ve thought of it sooner.

A sudden movement under him caught his attention. He saw a dark shadow move in the still water. Afraid of whatever the hell that was, Kris flew higher and started to move back towards the shore, still facing the middle where he saw the shadow.  He was halfway back, when the shadow appeared again but it got closer to the surface. Kris stopped to observe. His eyes widened when he noticed the shadow had a face, a small face that looked very human.

“What the hell?” he asked himself as he stared back at the face. Slowly the creature –in his words- began to appear closer to the surface and Kris could outline the figure. It was a boy.

Is he drowning? Or just swimming? How the hell can he hold his breath for so long if he is just swimming? So he’s drowning? Or is he… dead? Kris thought in panic as the boy in the water didn’t move or even blink an eye or gave any signs of breathing. He just stared back with a look that was probably just as confused as Kris was.

“, what do I do?” he asked himself.

Maybe he should just leave and fake ignorance if someone questioned him about it. Or maybe it wasn’t too late to save the guy. He hovered close to the surface of the water and reached towards the guy. Once his hand touched the water the boy’s eyes shifted at his hand, before quickly disappearing into the depths of the lake. Kris screamed and hurried away to the shore.

What the actual was that?

The water near the shore began to move. Dumbfounded, Kris stayed rooted. A figure of a man broke the surface as he rose from the water and walked towards Kris. The guy was much smaller than him, his skin was paler, his hair damped. His blue clothes were wet. He noticed he wasn’t wearing any shoes. He looked like a normal boy, he thought, except he came out from the freaking water.

“Who are you?” the guy said with a calm voice.

Kris was taken aback, surprised at how easygoing the other seemed. But he couldn’t help but stare incredulously at the water that fell out of his mouth as he spoke. What the hell? -he asked himself yet again.

The guy tilted his head to the side, looking a bit confused. “Did you just fly above me?” he asked as he pointed back towards the lake with his thumb. “Do you speak?” he asked again, losing a bit of his patience as Kris just stared dumbly at him.

“I do,” he shot back feeling patronized. “I just- Who are you?”

“Hey, I asked you first,” the other complained. He muttered something to himself. “My name is Suho. I live at the facility. What’s your name?”

“My name is Kris. I live at the facility as well,” Kris scratched the back of his head.

“So you’re with the company?” Kris nodded as a reply. “Then we are associates or something like that. I guess we should get along or-”

“Do you breathe underwater?” Kris blurted.

“Yes. Do you fly?”

“Yes.”

“How do you breathe underwater?”

“I don’t know, I just do. How do you fly?”

“I don’t know, I just fly.”

They stared at each other for a good minute before falling down laughing.

“What kind of stupid conversation in this?” Kris laughed.

“I don’t know. Your answers are as idiotic as mine,” Suho chuckled. They smiled at each other.

“Mama told me I was special, that I had special abilities. She also told me there were more like me,” Suho said gladly, “I guess you’re one of them.” Suho stood up and walked towards Kris, he reached out his hand for the other to grab and helped the taller boy to his feet.

“I’m happy to know I’m not alone,” Suho sincerely said as he shook Kris’s hand.

“So do you live in the lake?” the boy in orange asked.

“What? No, that’s very unpractical,” the boy in blue answered. “I have a bedroom of my own. I just like to swim here a lot.” Suho looked back at the lake. “Last week I found a secret entrance that connected a tunnel from my pool to the lake.”

“Wait, Mama let you have your own pool? Like a real swimming pool?”

“Yeah, she said it was mine so I could practice my abilities,” Suho said smoothly.

“That’s awesome. All I got was a big window and a balcony,” Kris huffed. “She called it my hard earned prize,” he scoffed.

Suho laughed and then said “well since you fly maybe that’s all you really need, a window and a balcony.” Kris shrugged in response.

They walked towards the west side of the lake, where there were big rocks where they could comfortably sit, well as comfortable as a rock could be.

“Hey, is the Mama you talk about the same one I’m thinking about?” Suho suddenly asked.

“I’m not sure,” Kris replied honestly. “The Mama I know is a beautiful woman with a strong presence, like she rules the world.”

“Does she have coal black hair, long and straight, pale skin, dark pink lips and an adorable little nose?”

“Yes, yes. Her nose is adorable,” he laughed, he hadn’t realized until now. “And her eyes are dark with this impression of intelligence and composure,” he added.

“Yes, to me they always seemed elegant and calm under every situation,” Suho said with a smile, but then his smile faltered. “Even when I feel she’s cold and stern.

Kris stayed silent, there was something unspoken in the air. Something they both felt but neither dared to mention. Kris thought of the times Mama used to be lovable, kind and caring. When she would spend time with him, play with him and love him like a mother loves her child. But since they started with the trials she became a different person, a complete opposite of the woman from his memories.

“I think she’s the same Mama we’re talking about,” he said breaking the silence. “I think we share the same Mama,” Kris said now looking at Suho.

The boy in blue nodded silently, letting the information sink. “If she’s the same, what is your earliest memory with her?”

Kris thought for a moment. Maybe it was the time he played outside, in the garden with a small picnic. She sat on the blanket as he plucked some flowers and offered them to her. He thought about the time he fell off a tree he tried to climb, how worried she was about his safety. No he was at least a big kid by then; it had to be when he was smaller. Then he remembered a time he was sick in bed and she would read a story to him. He was very small then, maybe that was it.

“I think, it’s one where she took care of me when I was sick. She lay in bed with me and read me a story,” Kris finally said.

“Was it about a baby bat that fell out of her nest into a nest of normal birds?” Suho asked.

Kris’ eyes widened, he hadn’t remembered that story in a long time. “Yes! Yes it was that one. I love that story.

“Me too,” Suho smiled. “But I remember a memory before that, or at least I think it’s before that. It’s very blurred but it’s simple. I’m sitting on a chair or the floor, I really don’t know. But I’m just there, alone.” Kris felt a sudden tension in his chest as his mind replayed the memory. “Then someone appears, I can’t really see the face, but I know it’s her. I know it’s Mama.”

“She picks you up,” Kris interjected, Suho looked surprised. “She picks you up and you feel-”

“Safe,” they both said at the same time.

They go silent again, they were left utterly confused. The breeze was getting colder, they knew it was past afternoon and they hadn’t eaten lunch yet. They probably should head back, but sitting near the lake as they watched the low branches of the tree sway with the wind made them feel peaceful. Even if they felt uncertain from their new founding, they were comfortable with being where they were and in each other’s company.

“How can we have the same memories?” Suho asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

“I honestly don’t know,” Kris sighed.

They would meet every day at the lake around mid-morning. They’d hang out and enjoy each other’s company. Sometimes they’d fool around and brag about their abilities. Kris would fly away, high up in the sky and Suho would try to knock him down by throwing water. It was easy to piss Kris off, he really hated getting wet.

That afternoon Suho was relaxing in the water while Kris sat on a thick branch of the willow tree and drew -Suho had told him what kind of tree it was. He was drawing in his sketchbook, trying to depicture every detail of the little bird nuzzled on his leg. Birds loved him now. They would appear at his balcony and chirp him awake, they would sing all morning until he fed them. He was pretty sure that they just took advantage of his kind heart. But when he would rest on the hammock he placed in the balcony, they would come by to accompany him by perching on the railing or directly sitting on him. Some would bring fruits, little berries and nuts as gifts. He was like a king to them.

He drew the Crow Tit various times with different angles. He had to practice if he wanted to become better, but the bird woke up and flew away. Just then did he notice Suho approaching him. He created a water spout to lift his body up until he could reach the branch to sit next to Kris. What a smart idea, he thought with admiration.

“Watch it! Don’t get me wet,” he exclaimed as he retrieved his legs to his chest, avoiding the water. But he still got splashed. He groaned annoyed at the boy in blue.

The other just chuckled and with a swift hand movement, all the water was removed from his clothes and formed a stream that levitated before him. He swirled it around before throwing it back to the lake.

“That’s just awesome,” Kris said in awe. “Every time it’s like… awesome.”

Suho laughed. “I know,” he said, “What are you doing?”

“Oh, this?” Kris pointed at his sketchbook in his left hand, “I just, enjoy drawing I guess. I like to consider myself an artist.”

“Really? Can I see?”

“Uh sure,” he passed him the book opened with his latest drawing.

Suho looked at the drawing for about ten good seconds before he burst out laughing.

“Is this for real?” Suho asked amused.

“Of course it’s for real,” Kris answered seriously, his brows furrowed. He didn’t understand the other’s reaction. Maybe his drawing skills were too much for the guy.

“You can’t be serious,” Suho mocked.

“I am serious,” Kris sullen.

Suho stayed silent for a minute, realizing that he was completely serious. He looked back at the drawing and then at Kris, he repeated the action a couple of times.

“You don’t like it,” Kris stated bluntly.

“What? No!” Suho quickly said, “I do like it, I really do.”

“You’re lying.”

“What? No I’m-“

“Oh, please. Don’t deny it,” he said sitting up, “I can see your pupils dilating and your left hand twitched before you spoke,” Kris said angered and pointed at Suho. “Liar,” he took his sketchbook away.

“How could you see all that?” Suho asked amazed, they weren’t sitting close enough to see in detail.

The tree was huge, they had vast amount of space. The taller shrugged, he looked pretty pissed. But Suho wouldn’t stop asking, he was really intrigued.

“I have eagle eyesight,” he finally said.

“That’s amazing,” Suho said.

“Yeah, my eyes adjust things from far away to look like they’re up close,” Kris explained as his temper faltered. “The difference is that I don’t have my eyes on the sides of my head. I’d probably look weird if I did.”

“Yeah, you’d probably look weirder,” Kris shot him a glare. “Just kidding,” Suho chuckled while raising his hands in surrender. He gazed back towards the lake once they fell silent. “It’s not that I didn’t like your drawings,” he finally said after a while. “I just thought they were going to be like the ones I’ve seen in the books I’ve read.” He smiled at the tall boy, letting him see he was sincere. Kris nodded, but stayed silent.

Suho would seesaw his dangling feet, making small tides from up the tree, like a child who didn’t know what else to do while he waited. Kris could tell the other wasn’t anxious, he was just being.

“It might not be like the ones in the books,” Kris said after a while, making the other look up surprised, “but my art has its own style.”

Suho smiled and nodded, “Yes it does.”

It was midafternoon. They sat on the tree and watched the sky turn orange and yellow. Suho kept making waves in the water as he swung his legs, changing patterns from time to time -he even made small whirlpools. Kris gave up on trying to draw Suho long ago and now was drawing a tree at the shore of the lake.

“What do you think the sun looks like?” Suho asked softly, eyes cast towards the imaginary horizon.

“Uh, round and yellow,” Kris answered.

“Yeah, probably that’s all there’s to it,” Suho laughed.

Suddenly they heard a wisp through the air, like a sheet ripping, followed immediately by a loud splash.

Suho’s eyes widened at what he saw. But Kris wasn’t looking towards the same direction, so when he turned around he never expected to see a boy resurface out of the water.

“,” the stranger cursed as he tried to keep his body afloat, “I just had to appear in the water,” he said irritated. He muttered other curses as he swam towards the shore.

Kris jumped down from the tree, followed by Suho who formed an upwards stream to catch his fall. They walked a bit closer to the guy who just reached the shore completely drenched. He was busy trying to get rid of some of the water so he didn’t notice the other two. He combed his hair back with his hands giving it a slick hairstyle. He was svelte and tall, but not as tall as Kris. His skin was dark and he wore a black sleeved shirt and black jeans, even his sneakers were black.

“Who are you?” Suho asked first, gaining the stranger’s attention.

He quickly turned to face the other two, completely surprised to find out he wasn’t alone. “Kai,” he answered breathless.