38: Where does a man go to find himself again? The Garden. OT!12, GardenofEden!AU, Warning!WhimsicalAngst

January

Chanyeol wakes in a cold sweat from a dead sleep. He's shivering but he doesn't know how that's possible—he's never felt the cold a day in his life. There's a blanket his mother leaves at the end of his bed for appearances' sake and now Chanyeol finds he's glad for her obsession with normalcy. That's never been his life until this very moment; he misses being warm.

February

Chanyeol surprises his mother by asking for sweaters and winter boots.

"Eden" is the last thing Luhan's brain hears before he's alone with his thoughts for the first time in memory. The silence unnerves him because he's learned to drown the others out but no one ever taught him how to do the opposite. Mental deafness is how the rest of the world operates; Luhan takes back all his wishes to be just like them.

March

Chanyeol's school sends its students camping and it's been so long since he's seen a live flame that he cries himself to sleep.

Luhan reads every book on human emotion that he can find.

Jongdae drops the curtains that cover the window separating him from the early spring storm. He hears the thunder coming but there's supposed to be a crackle of lightning beneath his skin and Jongdae feels nothing. He tells his father not to bother with the backup generator that keeps the house's electricity running smoothly during weather like this; if there are any more blackouts, Jondgae isn't the cause.

April

Chanyeol spends as much time in the warmth of the reappearing sun as his schedule allows.

Luhan transfers out of neural biology and becomes a psychology major to better understand how humans think now that he can't just listen.

Jongdae contracts a chronic cold from hopelessly standing out in the pouring rain during every thunderstorm.

Kyungsoo takes a deep breath, eyes closed and palms open toward the ground. He expects to feel the vibrating hum of the earth and waits for that deep seated calm to sooth his soul. But the land makes no sound of welcome to the child it once loved. Flowers bloom to the left of Kyungsoo's front door; fists clenched and eyes filled with tears, he tries but cannot greet them.

May

Chanyeol receives an ungodly number of punishment points for it but doesn't stop wearing chunky sweaters over his school's required uniform.

Luhan is relieved to get an internship that keeps him in Seoul all summer and gives him a legitimate excuse to not go home.

Jongdae is taken to the hospital after sticking his finger into an open socket.

Kyungsoo's house plants begin to wilt and at the last minute he rejects the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of an archeological dig in Crete.

Yifan's contract with the Air Force is up for renewal but he finds himself suddenly afraid to fly. Even the tight fit of his seatbelt and the undamaged parachute at his back are not enough reassurance for someone who became a pilot because flying with a plane is more acceptable than flying without one. The Air Force honorably discharges their best pilot after four years of service; he accepts the medal and the freedom of unemployment because he cannot accept that he's somehow lost the freedom of the sky.

June

More than once over dinner Chanyeol's mother makes passive aggressive mentions of the relationship between sunburns and skin cancer.

Luhan finds himself unable to confess after developing a crush on a fellow intern whose emotions are impossible for Luhan to read.

Jongdae's father grumbles incessantly about the embarrassment of a college-aged son in hours of court-mandated therapy.

Kyungsoo is banned from his neighborhood library after humming too loudly in the silent reading room.

Yifan wears heavy coats and metal-tipped cowboy boots that weigh so much it's like his feet are anchored to the ground.

Sehun's wispy companions bring him caressing whispers of a garden called Eden and a deer-like boy of unimaginable beauty named Luhan. He tries to ask "Where?" and "Who?" but his wind has gone missing. Leaves rustle in the trees planted uniformly along the pedestrian avenue so Sehun knows the breezes are still there; he calls to his friends but cannot summon them.

July

Chanyeol is late to summer classes and is overheated enough to break a sweat for the first time in months when he's forced to run laps out under the sun.

Luhan recognizes the loss in Sehun's eyes as a pain he can share.

Jongdae goes on a date with the cute graduate student mentored by his therapist.

Kyungsoo takes skydiving classes to get away from the empty ground.

Yifan's dwindling finances necessitate a move to a smaller apartment that's super cheap since it's ironically right next to an airport.

Sehun carries around a small portable fan for when the stillness of the air turns suffocating.

Junmyeon leans heavily on the shovel he's using to help dig a well for the minority members of a village hidden deep in China's countryside. There is no doubt that a wellspring flows beneath the ground under his feet, why has the water suddenly stopped laughing? Sweat soaks his hair and Junmyeon doesn't know yet that he can no longer pull the moisture from the air to reenergize his exhausted body; he collapses from dehydration and it's devastating.

August

Chanyeol prepares for his last year of high school by going back-to-school shopping for fall-appropriate attire.

Luhan's internship ends but he isn't done learning about the emotions that flit across Sehun's face so he asks for the other intern's number.

Jongdae decides that having a boyfriend is a pleasant replacement for when coffee and energy drinks stop being electrifying enough.

Kyungsoo sets his sights on a skydiving license of his own and almost successfully forgets why he does the extreme activity in the first place.

Yifan gets a job working nights as a security guard very far away from the sounds of the planes that give him nightmares.

Sehun steals his brother's old phone and learns the more traditional way for two people to send each other messages.

Junmyeon drives to the ocean only to realize he's never actually learned how to swim.

Baekhyun needs help if he's to sleep all alone in this big room in his family's new house. He's really too old for a night light but a lightbulb's glow is his oldest friend. That familiarity is supposed to be a comfort in itself but Baekhyun's request for soft illumination goes unanswered. The blackness of night overwhelms him and Baekhyun cannot sleep; he's embarrassed but afraid of the dark.

September

Chanyeol finds a sleeping boy in a brightly lit classroom on the first day of school and doesn't understand how a person can sleep so soundly under the cold breath of an air conditioner.

Luhan visits a psychic who's nothing more than a con artist but he gets his palm read and pays the woman anyway.

Jongdae spends an entire day with his hand pressed hard against the surface of the electric crystal ball on temporary display at the Seoul Science Museum.

Kyungsoo buys himself a mini cactus to celebrate getting his skydiving license and throws the plant across the room in rage when he cannot make it grow.

Yifan saves enough to leave the airport apartment and sleeps better in his new home than he has in months.

Sehun relies on friendly gusts to cushion a drunken leap from a balcony onto a trampoline and breaks an arm when no wind is there to catch him.

Junmyeon lets his younger cousin move in rent-free in exchange for swimming lessons.

Baekhyun finds a warm sweater draped over his shoulders when he wakes up from a nap on the first day of school and lovingly hides it in his closet until the weather cools a little.

Jongin cannot disappear to places he's never been, so the first time he climbs the steps to his cousin's modest apartment the regular way. He reaches the top and pops back and forth to the bottom a few times just because he can. The silly fun is over instantly when Jongin is dropped mid-teleport and ends up sprawled on his face in the stairwell; his heart breaks so completely that his nose doesn't have to.

October

Chanyeol overcommits by signing up for every school club that might make him warm again.

Luhan is saved the awkwardness of confessing when Sehun gets tired of waiting and does it for him.

Jongdae breaks up with his boyfriend.

Kyungsoo gives up on everything and buries his sky diving license in the backyard—right next to the cactus.

Yifan goes to buy a nice watch as a gift for his mother's birthday and gives his number to the cute guy who works behind the counter.

Sehun drags his new boyfriend to the park where they sit together and watch the leaves fall for an entire afternoon.

Junmyeon starts to sink while treading water in a shallow pool and has nightmares about drowning for the first time in his life.

Baekhyun understands that light and heat are intimate friends and joins all the same clubs as Chanyeol.

Jongin wishes he could still disappear whenever someone asks about the nasty bruise decorating his face from his busted lip all the way to his forehead.

Zitao goes in to his part-time job like it's any other day but then he meets a y former Air Force pilot and stops time to admire Yifan further. He's walked in a slow circle around the other man and is caught appreciating Yifan's when something goes wrong and time begins to flow again. Zitao can feel the embarrassment all the way to his toes, but things work out when he gets the Adonis' phone number; he wonders if it was really necessary to lose one good thing in order to gain another.

November

Chanyeol takes Baekhyun on a first date to a Guy Fawkes Day celebration party and remembers a time when the smell of bonfire was a comfort in the crisp November air.

Luhan binge watches a US television series called Lie to Me and spends the rest of his evenings studying micro expressions.

Jongdae doesn't leave his bed for days and doesn't answer any of Minsoek's calls.

Kyungsoo contracts pneumonia after falling asleep outside with his hands under piles of dirt.

Yifan dreams he has wings and flies a little too close to the sun like Icarus.

Sehun downloads an app that plays natural wind sounds and listens to it when he's alone.

Junmyeon runs into someone he worked with in the Chinese village and gets invited out for drinks sometime.

Baekhyun's parents pull him aside to have a serious discussion about the recent increase in their electric bill.

Jongin learns how to be on time to stuff while getting to places like everyone else.

Zitao wants to spend every waking moment with Yifan but time marches on and he's powerless to stop it.

Minseok rolls over in bed to groggily check the time on his phone. He finds he was supposed to be up hours ago but glances out the window to make sure. The early morning dusting of frost on the ground should have been Minseok's alarm like always; he scrambles outside in his pajamas and feels absolutely nothing.

December

Chanyeol's mother takes him shopping for Christmas presents and loses him in the crowd when he's distracted by all the candles in the windows.

Luhan hears "Eden" again after his grandmother drags him along to a Christmas Eve mass.

Jongdae finally picks up the phone and holds Minseok tight when he stays over.

Kyungsoo develops a taste for herbal tea.

Yifan's fear of flight returns every time Zitao's smile makes his heart soar.

Sehun quietly thanks his boyfriend for the mini windmill Luhan buys him for Christmas but sobs bitterly over the figurine once he's alone.

Junmyeon replaces his apartment's bathtub with a shower as a present for himself.

Baekhyun enlists Chanyeol's help and together they cover Baekhyun's entire front yard in Christmas lights.

Jongin sits in a quiet cafe watching a cute, owl-eyed boy drink tea and realizes he has forgotten what it's like to be this content.

Zitao counts down to the New Year with Yifan by his side.

Minseok plugs in his refrigerator for the first time since purchasing it two years earlier.

Yixing likes Junmyeon a lot but doesn't ask him on a second date because Yixing's healing isn't the kind Junmyeon's looking for. The doctor remembers Junmyeon's youthful joy from their village days and wonders what exactly happened for the other man to change like this. Yixing is distracted by these thoughts and cuts his finger while cleaning up broken glass; it hurts but he's never been able to fix himself so he doesn't realize yet that suddenly something's missing.

January

Chanyeol sees that he's gone a year without heat and tells his mother that he can't live like this anymore.

Luhan spends so much time by himself researching the mysterious "Eden" that does not recognize hurt and disappointment on Sehun's face until it's too late.

Jongdae sticks his finger in an open socket again.

Kyungsoo visits a greenhouse and is informed by a guide that a garden called Eden is the most beautiful of all.

Yifan leaves Zitao waiting alone at Namsan tower after reads a tourist guidebook about the attraction's impressive height.

Sehun thinks that if this mysterious garden truly exists then it must be in Chicago—America's "Windy City."

Junmyeon watches Titanic with his cousin and his cousin's new boyfriend.

Baekhyun runs away to see the Northern Lights in his search for the dwelling place of a deity who once spoke light into being.

Jongin wants to visit his parents back home but he's never had to take the train and finds he can't afford the ticket.

Zitao knocks an entire shelf of expensive watches to the ground at work.

Minseok confuses Jongdae by blasting the air conditioner instead of the heat, even though it's the middle of winter.

Yixing carries band aids around and hands them out to people he would have healed with a mere thought if he still could.

~~~

Chanyeol decides he's ready to find himself again. Luhan feels the same. Jongdae has been waiting for this moment since the very beginning, but Kyungsoo doesn't know if he can handle any more disappointment. Yifan still has fear to overcome. Sehun misses his winds so much that he's willing to try absolutely anything to get them back. Junmyeon tells himself he's finally in a good place and doesn't want to risk that. Baekhyun left a long time ago. Jongin would teleport there instantly if he knew what this garden looked like. Zitao is desperate for more time with Yifan so joins the others in their searching. Minseok needs the frost. Yixing considers this garden but doesn't go because he must heal other before he helps himself.

They'll all get there, maybe soon, maybe not, but it will happen. The Garden of Eden awaits.

Disclaimer: The prompt was OT12 Garden of Eden AU. This is what came to mind for some reason and I don't even know what to say about it other than I'm sorry for the sadness.