warning for fellow auals/-repulsed people/minors/etc: there are teeny tiny inklings of in here. i didnt mark the story as m bc theyre microscopic and kinda subtle, but theyre still here. be careful!

It’s dark outside when he wakes up; Baekhyun knows, because there’s a window on the wall opposite of him. All he can see through it are black skies and some shining silver dots, twinkling merrily. He has no idea how long he’s slept, but it doesn’t feel like enough; his eyelids still feel heavy and his mind works slowly, like his consciousness will slip away at any moment now. There’s something nudging at the back of his mind that he can’t quite put his finger on- it’s like something’s wrong, but only mildly, like the sun is out on a freezing cold day. He tries to focus on it, but he’s too sleepy. Baekhyun sighs and turns over in hopes of falling back asleep, but the minute he does he becomes aware of two things:

1. Jongdae’s arms are looped securely around his waist.

and

2. Jongdae’s eyes are trained on his face.

There’s a moment of awkward silence as Baekhyun tries very hard to swallow the alarmed scream that almost left him. Jongdae smiles at him, amused, and raises a hand to Baekhyun’s cheek, thumb sliding over skin. It feels nice, familiar, and Baekhyun leans into it, welcoming the touch. A part of him almost didn’t expect Jongdae to even be there when he woke up; after what happened yesterday, it would be more than reasonable if Jongdae would want to keep his distance from Baekhyun, but he doesn’t- he’s here, he’s smiling, and he’s looking at Baekhyun like he puts the stars in the sky every night. It puts a lump in his throat that makes it hard to breathe.

“Hey,” Jongdae whispers, voice as gentle as ever. Baekhyun wants to melt into it, but then he remembers everything that’s happened yesterday in full detail and a self-deprecating groan escapes him.

“Sorry for freaking out on you,” he apologizes, feeling genuinely sorry. He no doubt made everyone else worry about him; he’s gonna have to apologize when they all wake up. He checks in his mind for Yixing and shame attacks him when he discovers that his Parallel hasn’t managed to breach the walls he’s put up out of anger yesterday; he obviously tried, but didn’t succeed. Now that he’s in his right mind, it feels weird and unnatural to be alone inside his head, the empty space reserved for Yixing echoing hollowly. He takes down the walls and leaves a gigantic “I’M SORRY” banner for Yixing to find when he wakes up.

Jongdae, however, shakes his head and smiles at him, even planting a soft kiss on his lips that Baekhyun definitely welcomes. “It’s okay, babe. You’ve been through a lot. It’s good that you let it out.”

Baekhyun blinks- he doesn’t get it. “But I yelled at you,” he reminds Jongdae, confused. “And I stormed out on everybody. That’s not okay.” his face burns with the guilt and shame of the memories passing through his mind- now that he thinks about it, his own actions seem out of line, like a kid throwing a temper tantrum. And Jongdae- he’s never screamed at Jongdae like that before.

“Couples fight, Baekhyun, it’s not the end of the world,” Jongdae says, humored and fondly exasperated. He looks so much like home that Baekhyun’s heart aches. “And everyone else understand that this is a rough time for all of us. We’re all tired and stretched thin, something like this was bound to happen. They're not mad at you.” When he sees the uncertain look in Baekhyun’s eyes and the way he chews on his lower lip, he adds, “We understand.”

No. No, it can’t be that easy. Something inside Baekhyun tells him that this can’t be it. He shakes his head, fingers playing with the material of Jongdae’s shirt. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that,” he mumbles, not daring to meet Jongdae’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

There’s a beat of silence in which Baekhyun’s scared he ed something up, his heartbeats faltering and blood rushing in his ears, but then Jongdae makes a sound almost like a coo and pulls Baekhyun flush against his body, arms looped so tightly around his ribcage Baekhyun’s afraid he’ll break something; he’s surprised to learn that he doesn’t mind if he does as long as Jongdae keeps holding him like this, close enough to feel the thuds of his heart against his chest. Baekhyun sniffs and buries his face in his boyfriend’s neck, pressing his lips to the skin there in a silent apology. Jongdae’s breath is shaky where he can feel it against his ear, hitching and stuttering on its way out.

“Oh, Baekhyun,” Jongdae whispers, voice thick. “My Baekhyun. You never have to apologize to me about anything.”

Baekhyun feels like he’s melting, mind reeling and threatening to explode with the sheer amount of emotions barreling through his body- relief, thankfulness, confusion, guilt, admiration, and love, mostly love. Every inch of him screams closer, wants to press himself against Jongdae until there’s no more space between them and he can’t tell where he ends and Jongdae begins, and it’s overwhelming. His body reacts to his emotions on its own accord, lips parting against Jongdae’s neck and his tongue darting out to the skin. The gasp that leaves Jongdae is gratifying, and he does it again. turn into kisses that turn into Baekhyun hickies onto Jongdae’s neck, the lightning bender letting out gasps and moans that light a fire low in Baekhyun’s stomach.

“Thank you,” he breathes when he takes his shirt off.

“I love you,” Jongdae chokes when their hips meet in a spark that leaves them both breathless.

“I love you too,” Baekhyun answers, lips next to Jongdae’s ear as he pushes in with a groan. “More than anything.”

After, when they’re all curled up in each other despite the heat and the sweat on their skin that makes them sticky, Baekhyun looks at the diverging patterns on Jongdae’s skin, the ones that weren’t there a week ago. Some of them are an angry red and some a more sedated shade of purple that settles into the skin nicely; they start somewhere beneath his collarbones and go down his chest, stomach, and arms, fading just above his forearms. Baekhyun runs a finger down a jagged lightning above Jongdae’s heart and frowns.

“Does it hurt?” he asks hesitantly, unsure if he actually wants to hear the answer. What were those things called again? “Those Lich- Lych-”

“Lichtenberg Figures,” Jongdae supplies helpfully, his smile wide when he presses it against Baekhyun’s lips for a second. “It… stings a little.” he admits. “It feels kind of like a warm heat when it happens, and then it stings for a while, and that’s it.”

Baekhyun hums, struggling to find words to say and coming up blank. It is a relief knowing that Jongdae’s not seriously hurt, but he still worries, naturally. Some of it must show on his face, because Jongdae tilts his chin upwards gently so he’ll look him in the eye, and when he does, the lightning bender’s gaze is soft and reassuring. “My lightning can’t hurt me, Baek,” he says, voice barely above a whisper. “It’s a part of me, just like your light is a part of you. You have to trust me on this, okay?”

He has to roll his eyes at this, because really, when has he not trusted Jongdae? “If you insist,” he answers playfully, moving forward until his nose is rubbing against Jongdae’s and his arms are wrapped around the lightning bender. The laugh that leaves Jongdae is worth maybe waking some of their friends up.

------

It’s way too bright the next morning, sunshine filtering through the window and landing right on Baekhyun’s face in the rudest wake-up call to ever exist. When he leaves the room with Jongdae Kyungsoo’s waiting just across the hall, smile strangely radiant compared to his usual stony expression. They both return it, though, and when Kyungsoo’s done hugging and kissing Jongdae good morning he hugs Baekhyun as well, much to the light bender’s surprise. Kyungsoo’s arms could crush a whale to death, and when he pulls back Baekhyun’s half sure he cracked a rib.

It all makes sense, though, when Kyungsoo speaks. “Sorry for how I acted towards you the other night,” he apologizes, expression sheepish as he rubs at the back of his neck. “I, uh, realized I might’ve been too imposing.”

It takes a while and some frantic digging through his memories for Baekhyun to even remember what he’s referring to, but when he does, a large smile dawns on his face, and he waves dismissively. “Ah, no, it’s okay, really,” he assures the earthbender, amused. “I really don’t mind.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t look convinced. “It’s just, when it comes to him,” he jabs a thumb in Jongdae’s direction, “I don’t always think clearly.”

A laugh leaves Baekhyun. “Same here.”

The tips of Kyungsoo’s ears are pink. Before he can say anything, Jongdae wraps an arm around each of their shoulders and pulls them close, landing a kiss on each of their cheeks. “Jeez, guys, I’m touched,” he teases them, his signature cat smile on and his eyes turning into happy little slits.

Kyungsoo elbows him in the side.

When they go downstairs and walk through previously unexplored corridors of the house, decked with wooden floors and an occasional lopsided picture, a tantalizing smell hits Baekhyun’s nose. His mouth waters and his stomach makes an interested sound as he realizes that the last time he ate anything was at Yunnan, a day ago. It feels like a lot longer than a day, though, if the way his stomach’s acting is any indication. “Please tell me this smell is of food I can eat and not some decaying furniture,” he pleads, more to himself than anything, as they round a corner into yet another hallway.

Kyungsoo and Jongdae laugh in that creepy, synched-up way of theirs, earning a scowl from Baekhyun. Kyungsoo shakes his head good-naturedly and stops in front of a scratched white door, opening it to reveal what must be a kitchen; it has all the makings of one, with a dusty dining table surrounded by mismatching chairs that were no doubt confiscated from other rooms in the house, a kitchen counter, cabinets that are missing their doors, and an old fridge that looks like it belongs in the 90’s.

The magnificent smell Baekhyun caught a whiff of earlier is emanating from the dining table- more specifically, from a banged-up pot that sits on it, containing- lo and behold- something that looks extremely, but not quite, like ramen. Their friends are sitting around the pot, fishing out noodles with cheap wooden chopsticks and dumping them into their mouths unceremoniously. Chanyeol and Sehun are actually sitting on the table, cross-legged as they inhale mouthful after mouthful of noodles.

It takes some effort, but Baekhyun tears his eyes and mind from the prospect of food in favor of searching for Yixing. He finds his Parallel sitting awkwardly on a long-legged stool, waiting politely for Minseok to withdraw his chopsticks from the pot to make his own advance. The sight of him, so ordinary and familiar, makes Baekhyun’s chest ache. It’s like Yixing is a magnet; before he knows it, his feet carry him to his Parallel’s side, like some reflex. He raises a hand to place on his Parallel’s shoulder, then stops; after he threw Yixing out of his head so crudely last night, he wants to test the waters first, make sure everything’s okay between them.

So he takes a deep breath and speaks. “Hey, hyung.”

His voice was small enough to be mistaken for a fly passing by, but Parallels are super-tuned to each other- Yixing hears him, and pauses with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth. He turns to look at Baekhyun, expression soft but careful, as he takes tentative steps into Baekhyun’s mind. He looks around, on-guard, like he’s scared he’ll get thrown out again; the feeling of it is wrong, and Baekhyun hesitantly takes him by the mental wrist and draws him in, invites him to look at all the emotions he has to offer to him like an exhibit- guilt, shame, worry, hope that he’ll be forgiven. Yixing looks at all of them and embraces them, showing Baekhyun he understands.

And then he sends Baekhyun one of the greatest feelings one can receive- forgiveness.

When Baekhyun looks at him, the healer smiles at him like he always does and holds his chopsticks up to Baekhyun’s mouth. “Say ah,” he says playfully, offering the light bender some noodles. Baekhyun raises his eyebrows, checking his Parallel, but Yixing only winks and brings the chopsticks even closer to Baekhyun’s lips, a smile stretching his own.

The noodles taste so good that Baekhyun has to physically hold onto Yixing’s shoulder so he doesn’t fall over from shock; they’re spicy and salty and taste like meat flavoring and everything Baekhyun wants in life. “Oh my god, these are amazing,” he groans after he’s done thoroughly chewing and savouring the flavor of the noodles. He opens his eyes, unaware that he even closed them in the first place. “How do we even have those?”

“Remember yesterday when Kyungsoo-hyung said he found a job at the local gas station?” Jongin asks through a mouthful of broth. “He got them from there. Like, twenty packs of them. For free.”

“I love America,” Chanyeol moans appreciatively, spitting out small bits of noodles straight onto poor Junmyeon. “Oops. Sorry, hyung.”

As Junmyeon forlornly cleans his shirt from food and spit, Yixing pulls Baekhyun until he’s sitting in his lap, and hands him his chopsticks. “Eat up, baby boy,” he advises lovingly, patting his Parallel on the back. “Before everything’s gone.”

Looking into the pot, Baekhyun is horrified to learn that that is, indeed, the case- the pot is seriously on its way to becoming empty, with only what looks like a pack of noodles and some broth remaining at the bottom. He immediately begins to stuff his face with food, having been unaware of how actually starving he was. You okay, hyung? he asks Yixing between taking huge bites and fighting Sehun for the last few dehydrated peas. He’d use his mouth, but the stakes are too high right now; besides, isn’t this what their mental connection is for?

Yixing chuckles in his mind. I’m fine, baby boy. You just worry about eating enough to get through the day.

That, Baekhyun can do. Okay, he agrees happily. Then, because he feels like it needs to be said, he adds, love you.

The response is immediate and coupled with a mental bombard of kisses. Love you too, baby boy.

Baekhyun focuses on nothing but eating from then on, shoving noodles into his mouth and tilting the pot to get what’s left of the broth. He woke up later than everyone else, so they already ate enough, but Sehun looks like he could seriously eat ten more pots of instant ramen if given the opportunity. Considering what he told them of his stay in Edinburgh and his age, Baekhyun isn’t surprised; he’d be an all-consuming beast, too, if he had nothing to live on but things he barely stole for days.

He lets Sehun finish off what’s left once he feels like he’s had enough. The kid deserves it, and he’s always had a soft spot for him, anyway.

They sit in comfortable silence once the pot is empty, just enjoying the fact that they’re all together. From his perch in Yixing’s lap, Baekhyun rakes his eyes over his friends and smiles to himself. They did it. They really did it. They escaped from that awful place and got back together, safe and sound and independent. It might’ve taken them some time, but they’re here. The future looks kind of bright.

So of course, someone has to ruin it.

Namely, Kyungsoo and Jongdae. The two shift uncomfortably where they’ve settled on the counter, Jongdae hugging Kyungsoo’s arm to his chest. They both look apologetic for breaking their moment of peace, but also determined to speak. “Umm, guys,” Kyungsoo starts quietly, immediately receiving everyone’s attention and seeming very uncomfortable with it. Nevertheless, he plows on. “Remember what we told you yesterday?”

“What, that our powers are somehow amplified?” Minseok supplies helpfully, tapping out a random rhythm on Junmyeon’s nape. “I thought that was it.”

Jongdae and Kyungsoo shake their heads, looking extremely grim all of a sudden. “That was the easy part,” they say solemnly. Beneath Baekhyun, Yixing tenses.

“I immediately dislike how that sounds,” Chanyeol announces, voicing all of their thoughts. “Ah, , what is it now?”

Jongdae and Kyungsoo both wince, their expressions showing deep displeasure at what they’re about to say. Do you know about this? Yixing asks, voice hushed even though no one but Baekhyun can hear him.

How would I know? Baekhyun shoots back, helpless as he looks at his boyfriend and his Parallel fidget on the counter. A terrible feeling pools in his gut, like fog over mountaintops. Whatever it is, it’s bad.

No kidding, Yixing replies. His arms tighten around Baekhyun’s waist.

It’s so quiet in the kitchen, you could hear a pin drop. Jongdae and Kyungsoo exchange weary looks, the lightning bender’s fingers tangling with his Parallel’s seemingly without either of them noticing. They take a deep breath, readying themselves. Baekhyun can feel his heart pounding in his throat when they open their mouths and speak together.

“We think we’re all weapons.”

Baekhyun’s world cracks.

------

It’s silent for a few good seconds after that, although it’s hard to hear anything anyway through the blood rushing in Baekhyun’s ears. There are black spots dancing in his vision, and he can feel himself swallow hard, throat dry as a bone despite having just eaten. Yixing’s mind reaches out to his, latching onto it, and their shared confusion just makes everything worse, but at least they’re not alone in this. Baekhyun holds onto Yixing like his life will be taken away from him at any second. It sure does feel like it, with how fast his heart is beating.

Finally, someone speaks. “Explain,” Junmyeon demands, voice authoritative and strong with an underlying sense of panic to it. Taking a look around, it seems like everyone is just as shocked as Baekhyun and Yixing- Minseok’s lips are pursed into a thin line, Jongin is looking strangely pale, Chanyeol’s eyes are the size of saucers, and Sehun looks like he might faint.

The lights flicker. Wind suddenly howls outside. The temperature in the room drops dramatically.

Jongdae clears his throat. “The force field,” he starts nervously, eyes darting over his friends’ faces. “The one we think inhibited our powers at the facility. If it did exist, which is highly likely, it could theoretically do two things.” He holds up two shaky fingers. “One, it could diminish our powers so much, that eventually, over time, they’ll disappear.” Here, he hesitates, his lips like he’s afraid of his own words. Next to him, Kyungsoo swallows and squeezes his hand. Jongdae continues, looking tortured. “Two. It could create an explosion effect- when we get out of there and into the world, our powers, after being suppressed for so long, would burst out and consume everything around them.”

“That’s crazy,” Sehun protests weakly, looking like he doesn’t believe his own words.

Kyungsoo and Jongdae throw their hands up. “Is it?” they ask together, voices a tad desperate.

“Think about it,” Kyungsoo prompts them. “Why did the escape pods take us all over the world? It could be to separate us better, make sure we can’t get back together, sure, but it could also be to maximize the effect of our exploding powers,” he explains, voice getting louder and louder with each word until he’s practically shouting. “Assured global destruction.”

Something about that doesn’t add up. “You make it sound like they wanted us to escape,” Baekhyun says. He can’t help the little incredulous laugh that escapes him. “Why would they want that?”

“Unless it was their goal,” Jongdae says quickly. “Try to remember. When we escaped, who tried to stop us?”

A chill goes down Baekhyun’s spine.

“The red nurses,” Jongin mutters. He sounds like he’s starting to believe it, and if Baekhyun is being completely honest, so is he.

Kyungsoo and Jongdae both snap their fingers and point at Jongin like he just answered the one-million dollar question. “Exactly,” they say together.

“Why not guards?” Kyungsoo asks.

“Or mechanical weapons, which we know they have,” Jongdae adds.

“Why send their weakest staff members to stop us when they could send a platoon to take us out?” Kyungsoo picks up.

“Why were the escape pods so close to the common area?” Jongdae inquires.

“It makes sense,” they say together, crossing their arms over their chests, looking like they just ran a marathon.

Baekhyun sure feels like it. His lungs feel like there isn’t enough air in the world to help him breathe properly. There’s a hollow ringing in his ears that he clearly doesn’t remember having heard before. Even though his feet are on solid ground, it feels like he’s going through his own personal earthquake.

It can’t be. It can’t be. They can’t all be sentient, feeling, living weapons and not know it. It just doesn’t seem right. Humans can’t use other human beings as weapons. It’s wrong, it’s twisted. There are so many alarm bells ringing in his head that it’s hard to think and process everything properly; Baekhyun shakes his head like he’s trying to get water out of his ears. This isn’t right.

And yet… when did Jongdae and Kyungsoo ever lead them wrong? They’re both smart, methodical, careful, calculated. They check every angle before coming to a conclusion. They must’ve thought of this for long enough to drive them both insane. And most often than not, their words turn out to be true.

Which means- Baekhyun closes his eyes- which means they’re right.

It sinks in his stomach like a rock. He’s a weapon. All of them, they’re all weapons, trained and conditioned and released to wreak havoc on the world without them even knowing it. How did that happen? Why them? They lived in a lie and they were never even aware of it, lived their daily lives in a place that groomed them to be inhalators. Baekhyun swallows down bile, feeling his entire body shake and cold sweat on his back. What is this?

“That’s crazy,” Minseok says, repeating Sehun’s words in a hollow voice. “But it makes sense.”

Kyungsoo and Jongdae exchange guilty looks. “We’re sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Junmyeon and Chanyeol say at the same time, but while Junmyeon sounds comforting, Chanyeol is forceful, angry.

A thought blinks bright in Yixing’s mind; it springs to the front of his head and makes so much noise that it’s hard to ignore. “But my power is healing,” he says, confused. “You can’t really destroy the world with that.”

“Or teleportation,” Jongin adds miserably.

“Or flight,” Chanyeol says quietly, but they all hear him. It sends a pulse of pain through the room; Chanyeol never spoke of Wufan after his death, and they tried to follow suit. Having him bring his dead Parallel up now, of all times, makes it hurt even more.

Jongdae and Kyungsoo both wince, as if Chanyeol swung at them with a dagger. Baekhyun knows what they’re about to say before Kyungsoo even opens his mouth, and it makes him want to throw up with how wrong it is.

“We think,” the earthbender starts painfully, “that they killed off the ones that were useless to them.”

The lights in the kitchen all go off at once. Ice crystals grow on the walls. The wind outside gets even stronger, whipping at the house so hard the walls start to shake. Sehun has a look like death in his eyes, body tense like a puma about to pounce. “You want to tell me,” he starts dangerously, voice deadly quiet, “that they killed my Zitao because they couldn’t use him?!”

Baekhyun thinks that Sehun is seriously about to murder Kyungsoo and Jongdae, but for someone who might die at the hands of a friend they both look extremely calm, looking at the airbender level-headedly. “All those whose powers weren’t elemental were of no use to them. Luhan, Zitao, and Wufan were the first to go, yes, but according to that criteria,” Kyungsoo stops. Hesitates. Closes his eyes before completing the sentence, voice tortured like the words physically stab his throat and mouth on the way out. “Yixing, Jongin, and Jongdae were next.”

The room is freezing, but nothing can compare to the ice that wraps around Baekhyun’s heart at that. His heart stops beating. There’s a sound like a continuous scream ringing in his ears, and it takes a while for him to realize that that sound is Yixing’s mind screaming into his, bleeding its raw emotions into his consciousness like a blizzard. His instincts kick in before his rational minds does; before he knows it he’s spinning around in his seat and wrapping his arms around his Parallel, holding the healer’s head to his chest like it’s the most precious thing in the world. It is, on some level- just the thought of being alone inside his mind forever makes Baekhyun weak, makes his limbs shake. A fury arises within him that he didn't know he possessed; a fury at those people who took their lives away and used them like puppets in their own sick game. It and eats away at him until there’s nothing left.

They’re not taking you away from me, he snarls viciously, tightening his hold on his shivering Parallel. I won’t let them, Yixing, I swear. His vision is slowly turning white, his light reacting to his emotions and flooding his system.

Yixing’s mind wraps itself around Baekhyun’s, pulsing in its light blue hue. It’s his healing color; good old Yixing, always rational, always thinking and processing everything so neatly. The screaming from before is replaced with a calm hum- the panic is still there, the fear of knowing that he was supposed to die, but they’re subdued now, quieter; he’s compartmentalized them, filed them away for later. Instead there’s quiet reassurance and shaky confidence, slowly rebuilding itself. It’s okay, baby boy, we’ve escaped. They can’t touch us anymore. You’re mine, and I won’t be taken from you this easily.

Still, despite his steady words, Baekhyun can feel Yixing’s fingers clutch the back of his shirt, grabbing fistfuls of the fabric and bunching it up in his fists. It’s good to know that he’s needed as much as he needs Yixing; slowly, heartbeat by heartbeat, they both calm down, holding onto each other like they’re lost at sea and they’re each other’s lifeline. In a sense, it’s what they are.

I can’t- even in his thoughts, Baekhyun’s voice cracks. I can’t live without you, hyung.

Yixing shakes his head, forehead pressed against Baekhyun’s chest and his fingers tightening in his shirt. You don’t have to, Baekhyun. I’m not going anywhere.

It’s quiet; beyond the borders of their joined minds, nobody has said anything, the group too shocked to utter a single word. The air is tense and frigid- literally. There are snowflakes floating in the air of the kitchen, blowing in a gentle breeze that shouldn’t be there. They land on the floor and kitchen counters, collecting in a slowly gathering layer, turning everything white. When Baekhyun exhales it comes out as a dense cloud of fog that dissipates into nothing. It’s dark in the room, the light having been all but abruptly out of it. Baekhyun sighs. It’s time to bring the light back.

Slowly, sunlight filters into the kitchen.

It lands on the snow-covered floor, hits the walls, illuminates his friends’ faces. Chanyeol, Jongin, and Minseok all look stony, like the freezing temperatures in the room actually knocked them into immobility. Sehun looks furious, eyebrows set in an angry line and his teeth chewing on his bottom lip, like he always does when he’s upset; that fury quickly dissolves into deep agony, his hands coming up to hide his face. Junmyeon’s crying silently, hot tears paving tracks in the frost on his face as he leans on Minseok like he physically cannot hold himself anymore.

“It’s too much,” he says quietly, voice scratchy. “It’s just too much.”

Jongin shakes his head slowly, eyes trained on some random spot on the floor, his gaze holding no emotion to it. “They should’ve killed me with him,” he whispers, almost like an aside.

“Please don’t say that,” Yixing begs him, dismay and pain popping in his mind like a gigantic exclamation mark. Baekhyun shivers and leans closer to Yixing, seeking his proximity now more than ever.

Sehun bursts into tears, face still in his hands and his entire body quaking with the force of the sobs that tear through him. They tear from his throat like a roar, like the cries of a wounded animal, like no amount of pain can ever express what he actually feels. The snow that is still falling muffles them a tiny bit, but they still echo in Baekhyun’s chest like a drum, like Sehun is shouting straight into his ears. Beside him, Chanyeol pulls the weeping airbender into his embrace, tucking his head beneath his chin like there’s nothing else he can do.

There really isn’t.

Eventually Sehun’s sobs fade down to sniffles, the youngest having cried himself out to the last bits of his energy. He leans on Chanyeol and blinks his puffy red eyes at them. Baekhyun smiles at him, just a quirk of his lips, but Sehun catches it and smiles back. It’s empty and tired for now, but that’s okay. One day he’ll smile and mean it.

Kyungsoo clears his throat, shuffling awkwardly in his place atop the kitchen counter. He and Jongdae remained perfectly silent throughout the entire ordeal, as if they were afraid to draw fire to themselves, but now they smile hesitantly at their friends. “We know that this is hard,” the earthbender starts quietly, like he’s talking to an injured kitten. “But now that we know what we are, we can control it. We can write our own story.”

“We can’t let them win,” Jongdae adds, looking at his friends with a bright smile, prompting them all to perk up. Out of the corner of his eye, Baekhyun can see Minseok and Junmyeon intertwine their fingers. Jongin sits up a little straighter. There are subtle flames in Chanyeol’s eyes. Yixing’s arms squeeze around Baekhyun’s waist.

The room gets a little warmer.

Kyungsoo and Jongdae smile at each other like excited children and turn to their friends, hands clasped tightly together. “This is the dawning of the rest of our lives,” they announce together, voices strong and sure.

Baekhyun catches Jongdae’s eyes and smiles wider than he ever remembers smiling. Jongdae returns it and laughs a little, sending a flutter of something warm in Baekhyun’s chest. Nothing, he decides, can go truly wrong as long as Jongdae’s smiling at him like this; that small flutter turns into a pool of warmth that seeps into his entire body. It feels like hope.

It really is.

is this the end of this au? nope. i still have the escape and a sequel planned. strap in, fellows, its gonna get crazy. idk when theyll be out tho or in what order since im starting senior year of highschool in like two weeks and ill surely DIE lmao rip

for those of u who are wondering how i came up with the whole parallel idea, watch the mama mvs- the parallels are all there, i just used them for this story. jongin and luhan werent very obvious and i had to use an educated guess, but the rest of them are Right There, as the kids say.

anyways, thank u all for ur kind comments and for subscribing or upvoting this. i am forever greatful for liking whatever the this is. ♥

yes im jongdae biased. shocking i know

my only consolation is that death draws nearer with every single day