Almaty, Kazakhstan, March 24 (Daytime)

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Chen has spent most of the day lazing about in his small apartment. Today's the only day off from work that he gets this week, so he's not letting anything or anyone get in the way of his relaxation time.

After putting on some clothes perfect for the windy weather outside, he sets out to go to his usual sanctuary (the rooftop of the building that he lives in) to read some books. Anyone who lives in this building can climb up the stairwell to the roof, where small tables and a bench fit for two to three people are situated about a room's length away from the stairs. Over time, he and his neighbors have left many books up there--anything else being prohibited from staying there.

As he exits his home with a book and key in hand, he squints and looks down at his feet--wondering why they feel so weird. Then, he frowns as he sees that he forgot to put on his shoes again. Since he goes up to the roof so often, he treats it like a second home and so tends to forget to put on shoes when he's about to walk up there.

Once he puts on some brown shoes by the door, he exits his apartment once again, locks the front door and walks up the adjacent stairwell towards the roof. While he's walking, he starts thinking about one of his old friends--Xiumin, who probably would've chuckled at him and pointed to a post-it note that he wrote by the door that says, Remember your shoes!

But, there is no such post-it note, and he hasn't seen Xiumin nor his other friends for a whole year now.

After Kris and Luhan got captured, and Chen and his friends had to make that deal with their enemy--he's been here in Almaty, Kazakhstan, living like a regular human-being for about a year now. And he's kept his end of the deal--his power being inconvenient to use for his everyday life anyway.

He has the ability to control lightning, and remembers complaining to his friends about how they'd probably use their powers anyway because theirs are more useful and explicable. He, on the other hand, can't just strike someone with a lightning bolt because he feels like it.

With a slight frown on his face, Chen slowly continues up the steps and begins to think about how Xiumin had put an arm around his shoulder after his whining and told him that he wouldn't use his power either. "Bros 'til the end?" Xiumin had said.

With a sad smile, Chen remembers high-fiving Xiumin and repeating what the other man said.

As he turns a corner of the stairwell and looks up, his mind goes blank as he senses someone or something at the top step. His eyebrows furrow for a millisecond as he gets closer but after seeing that no one's there he shrugs o