Cherish the time you have now, because tomorrow may never come....

Baekhyun was pacing frantically outside the bedroom door. Just a few minutes ago, his mother had insisted everyone stay out of the room while Yan, the town's healer, checked up on his now unconscious brother.

His mind flooded with fragments of seconds before his brother's fall. It was his fault, he should have known. His brother had already gone days without enough rest and their friend, Kyungsoo's, sudden appearance was an unexpected surprise that day.

There was a red bruise across his forehead, fingers digging into his skin as worry consumed him. Jongin's scream earlier replayed in his head - the sudden thud of a body hitting wooden floors sent shivers down his spine.

The sudden scrape of the silver knife sliding across the floor as Raff covered it with his scarf left him perplexed. It was the oddest thing - the way his father's friend had acted.

He glanced around the room. Raff was nowhere to be found - disappeared like a ghost.

"Baek .... why don't you wait with the others?" Roe cautioned his son, nodding towards his distressed wife buried in his arms.

Baekhyun frowned but left the hall quietly. He walked over to the kitchen area where the others were engrossed in quiet conversation - all of which came to an abrupt stop when they noticed him approaching.  

"Any news?" Kyungsoo questioned him.

"No," Baekhyun sat down next to him, ignoring the pitied gazes and unwrapping the bundle resting at the center of the table.

"Better not to touch it," Miri warned as Baekhyun's fingers grazed the air above the hilt. He reached over and pulled the fabric to cover the blade once more.

There was a deep crease in Baekhyun's brow and a slight irritation in his throat. It was strange. For a second there, he could almost hear a faint humming from the knife.

"Baek?" Miri's voice startled him. He looked up. "He'll be fine, I promise," she clasped her hands around his, giving it a tight squeeze. She had mistaken his expression for worry.

"Where's Raff?" he muttered, appreciating the warmth of her touch.

"He should be back soon," Miri answered, catching the slight aggression in his tone, "He wouldn't have given it to your brother if he knew what it would do," she spoke as if she knew every question entailing the tip of his tongue.

Her clear jade eyes studied him slowly.

Baekhyun scoffed in response.

"Don't jump to conclusions," she continued. There it was again. That confidence in her voice as she knew him inside and out.

And perhaps she did, Baekhyun thought, but still, it irritated him how well she knew him. After all, her intuition as a Seer was never wrong.

[a/n: Seer is a type of oracle with a deep connection to the spiritual world. Many Seers could read minds or even prophesize events to happen in the future.]

"I'm not," he answered, a cool bitterness in his voice.

An awkward silence followed.

Everyone seemed on edge, afraid of saying anything that would tip the scale of Baekhyun's already brewing anger. But before the blonde boy even had a chance to explain himself, a heart-wrenching scream filled the entire room.

And Baekhyun's feet moved as fast as they ever could.

The rush to Jongin's room caused a crowd in the small room, shapes, and figures all huddled around his single bed.

Jongin gasped, fingers clenched into the linen sheets as he sat upright to face the others. His skin shivered, glazed by sweat and heat plastering his brown locks against his face. A feverish veil hung in the air as if slowly suffocating him, and he struggled for every lasting breath.

His eyes searched across the room, landing on his brother - changing irises to a desperate plea that hurriedly brought Baekhyun to his side.

"It's ok," his brother assured, a soft touch to the back of his neck, "you're with me. Breathe. Someone get him some water!"

A shadow quickly ran back with a glass, placing it against his lips. He drank it hungrily, the refreshing cool breaking down the fire in the pit of his stomach - his breath slowly gaining back its pace.

He closed his eyes momentarily and then looked up to see Yan, the elder healer, standing there, eyes locked on him like a hawk. There was something eerie about his gaze like it was searching for something deeper inside him. Jongin felt caged - like an animal at the zoo, eyes watching his every moment. He shifted uncomfortably.

Thankfully his brother noticed and dismissed Yan from the room - who to no one's surprise left in a hurry. Yan was known to be somewhat of a hermit and often avoided large crowds such as this. It was shocking that he even came when Baekhyun begged him to check on his brother.

"How's your head?" Vana pushed away her son's damp bangs. Jongin smiled wearily, forcing himself to grin reassuringly if only to ease the anxiety apparent on his dear mother's face.

"Can you tell us what happened?" his father asked.

"I'm....not sure," he wasn't certain what to say, how to explain it. The feeling he had felt then, the pain that had struck throughout his body. The visions he had experienced in his unconscious state.

He reached instinctively for his brother's hand, like a cub withdrawing back to its mother. The expression in Baekhyuns' eyes changed - Vana caught the exchange between the two, her lips pressed tight.

"Well, I'm glad you're back," Baekhyun whispered as if he understood.

And he always did. He didn't notice the sadness in his mother's eyes.

The room cleared out slowly, one by one, the adults making certain Jongin was comfortable before they left the children to talk on their own.

Certain resolutions were to be made - the key two people being Jongin and Kyungsoo, but the fewer people that were in the room, the more tension seemed to build.

There was a screech of wood against wood; Baekhyun dragged a chair next to his bed and plopped down - adamant not to leave his brother's side.

Jongin could hear the others clearing their throats, waiting, and expecting. Sehun took a seat in the back of the room, close enough that he could defend Kyungsoo if needed but far enough to give the three some space.

Baekhyun spoke first.

"How've you been?" he asked as if they were simply school friends meeting up after summer vacation. There was a calmness in it. Kyungsoo appreciated it and had missed that in their friendship.

Kyungsoo nodded. "Good....." his eyes darting to Jongin, who was very aware now and awake. "You two?"

A familiar smirk brightened Baekhyun's face. "Better now..."

Silence again.

Years had passed; time had changed the three of them. They were no longer grade school kids playing heroes and monsters in the grasslands. They took the time to notice the differences in each other.

Baby-faced Baekhyun was taller now with a slim yet sturdy build, about the same height Kyungsoo would guess, with his jaw more chiseled. The traditional Manoan blue pants and white tunic shirt hung loosely on his body, but Kyungsoo had felt the other's defined muscles during their hug. Baekhyun had probably kept up with training all these years. The gold streaks in his hair swept in loose waves with buoyancy and innocence.

Looks were deceiving with him, Kyungsoo thought - he still remembered being subjected to the wrong side of Baekhyun's temper.

Jongin, on the other hand, seemed frail - the now damp white tunic clung tightly against a clearly defined chest and neck. He seemed to have gone through a growth spurt because even sitting in the bed, he was at least a head higher than his brother. A fair contrast, his skin was now tanned - probably too much sun, Kyungsoo guessed - with a head of dark hair, wild and unruly. And then there were his eyes - dark, deep, mysterious - like a never-ending question without any answers.

Kyungsoo gulped. He felt suddenly aware of himself, glancing down at his boring grey uniform - customary to those of his rank in the Balkan army. Sehun had made sure to help him cut his hair during their trip to Manoa, although Kyungsoo was regretting it now. Instead of his sharp crew cut, he would rather have locks that could cover him from Jongin's anger.

Someone cleared their throat again. This time it was Jongin who spoke.

"So you were alive....all this time...." the words cut through the air like a knife, cold and without comfort.

Kyungsoo shifted his gaze to Baekhyun, hoping the other would intervene somehow, but Baekhyun was sitting there waiting - eyes expectant of an answer. Demanding even. He would not go against his brother's will. He never did - they were always one and the same.

"I...I know I should've told you guys...but there were circumstances...." Kyungsoo mustered.

Minutes passed - he could feel the brunt of their gazes.

"I'm sorry," he followed after a while.

Someone scoffed. He looked up to see Jongin rolling his eyes, a deep-set glare behind it.

Kyungsoo panicked.

"You....you don't know how many times," he explained, suddenly feeling like breaking, his voice sounding weak and remorseful, "I wanted to tell you both, but it was too dangerous. I just thought it was better ---"

"Better?!" Jongin slipped out of bed with sudden agility, shoulders tense as he approached the other, "Wow, I'm so glad you thought you were better off without us."

Kyungsoo shook his head profusely, all the while silently pleading to Baekhyun for help. His golden-haired friend sat silently watching their interaction.

"That's not it," Kyungsoo cringed at the other's sarcasm, "they would've followed me, they would've found out.....about both your powers.....just please....ask me anything.....I'll tell you everything."

For a moment, there was a flash of uncertainty in Jongin's eyes - a haggard moment of pity followed by betrayal and anger. He could remember the crass touch of earth in his hands when he had poured it over Kyungsoo's empty coffin. They had never found his body, and he had gone through the years, secretly hoping his best friend was alive and well somewhere. He could remember the countless nights he had gone to the grasslands and prayed for anything to bring his friend back. He remembered the way the loss clawed at his dreams night after night. He had tried so hard to forget and now it was re-surging again - breaking down the well he had buried his heart in.

He slumped back to the edge of the bed, his head drooped. Kyungsoo couldn't read him.

"Why now?," Jongin whispered in a shaky voice, "why come back at all?" their eyes met "We were fine without you..." He hadn't meant to say that.

Kyungsoo bit back his lip, a glaze was now forming in his eyes. He had never meant to hurt them with his return, but this was what he had been afraid of. Of losing them both again - of losing the only bit of family he had ever known.

A creak. Baekhyun got up, a slow walk to the edge of the bed as he sat next to his brother, and patted his back as if to calm him down.

A deep sigh.

"Don't be mean, Jong. He's glad you're back, Soo. We all are," Baekhyun smiled, assuring him with a confusing smile, "It's just going to take us both some time. Losing you was...."

".....hard," Jongin finished, his cheeks were damp.

"I know," Kyungsoo replied softly.

And that was that.

If anyone wanted to escape the dining room at that moment, it was a heavily built man called Raff, who was bearing the brunt of accusations that evening.

"Look, I had ta' go get Chanyeol, "Raff defended himself when Baekhyun questioned his disappearance.

Standing next to him was a tall charming young man with deep red locks buried in an abnormally large brown wool coat. He was taking off his gloves when Jongin and his brother walked in.

"Yeol, when did you get back?" Jongin hurried to his side as soon as he saw him, followed quickly by his brother. It was obvious from the