-March 21st, 2015. Paris 23:55.

Baekhyun wasn’t fond of the underground laboratory. It wasn’t the plain and sterile infrastructure or the many complex instruments that caused his dislike; it was the feeling of not being able to comprehend half of whatever Mama conjured up with her myriad of equations, chemicals and test subjects in the lab.

He did consider himself to be smart though. He had been able to pick up a few things from what Mama had taught him -but he knew that he would never be able to compete with her innate intelligence and years of experience.

The laboratory wasn’t currently being used for any grand investigation, so most of the equipment was kept in place and protected from the dust with plastic covers. Mama was running something small-scale to keep her insatiable curiosity at bay, a project involving mice and rapid regeneration, which meant that at least one workstation was being used.

The laboratory wing had sections and the test subjects were kept in a separate room at the far left section, which was where Baekhyun was currently at. Baekhyun hated entering the room were the mice were kept in individual cages, so he stayed away from it, but at this section there was an incubation tank that he kept visiting -despite the tightness in his chest whenever he came to visit him.

Baekhyun, dressed in comfortable sweats, was sitting on a wheeled chair by the station desk across from the tank, resting his elbows against his thighs. He kept picking at his fingers and fidgeting his foot.

He was annoyed that he couldn’t sleep because he was still under the effects of the pill he had taken the day before. He could use the treadmill to use up some energy and exhaust himself to sleep, but he felt the need to stay in the lab to watch over the tank.

“Yifan,” he whispered to himself.

This morning Zitao had quite literally shaken him up with a warning -a warning he had never expected to hear. Zitao told him to not recruit Yifan back to the team and nearly threatened his life if he ever dared to jeopardize Yifan’s.

Baekhyun wondered why in the world would Zitao believe an omen was so important when none of them were truly safe at all -not while EX’ACT was still around.

Baekhyun had schemed a foolish plan to keep Yifan distracted for the time being, not wanting the elder to worry about Jongin’s whereabouts. Baekhyun would’ve sent Jongin to pick him up eventually; he needed as much help as he could get.

He was wary of Yifan’s sharp eyes though. He had kept Lu Han away for the same reason, he couldn’t have either of them close enough to point out every lie he spoke. So he had one option -or he used to, Zitao just had to it up for him.

His ideal choice was to have Yifan help them out from afar, revealing just the necessary information to get him on their side, but if Zitao was going to about bringing Yifan back, then his best option would be having them both in the same square meter to keep Zitao from worrying too much.

Though that option implied having Yifan close by, which would probably up his plan. He could try to be hopeful and see if Yifan would take his side if he told him the truth. And if Yifan would agree to secrecy then he’d avoid confronting the other members -who was he kidding, he wouldn’t be able to keep lying if Yifan was around. He would have to admit the truth to Jongin and that was a risk he wasn’t willing to take.

Unless… Unless it was too late for Jongin to do anything against his plot. If he kept Yifan far away until then, maybe he could keep Jongin on his side despite revealing the truth to him.

Still, it would be a risk and an argument he desperately wished to avoid.

His best option at the moment -given that his plan will keep Yifan distracted for about a week- was to revise the steps of the game with his chessboard and try to find alternative routes for Yifan’s piece.

“Ugh, god damn it,” Baekhyun muttered annoyed as he rubbed his temples. He knew it was going to be a ing pain to figure out what to do with Yifan. “As if I don’t have enough problems already,” he said frustrated as he rubbed his face with his hands.

His mind wandered again as he nibbled on his thumb. He hadn’t heard news from Moon yet. No text, not even one, and that worried him so much that he could feel a pain in his gut -a throbbing pain of guilt or possibly a stomach ulcer from all the stress he was under.

Chanyeol was running around through freaking Arizona, causing forest fires to keep safe from those damn monsters. Did he still have Agent Jeon with him? Or had the fate of the agent been the same as Kyungsoo’s? Was Chanyeol even safe at all? Was he unharmed?

“Did they catch him?” Baekhyun wondered out loud “What have I done?” he whispered so low that he barely heard himself speak.

It wasn’t meant to go the way it did. Revealing Chanyeol’s position was meant to scare him off and force him to make his way to Jongin, but Jongin had teleported to London because of Moon.

“Why the hell did he let himself be seen?” Baekhyun thought aloud. “How could he be so careless to be spotted by the Agency? It doesn’t make sense.” Baekhyun rubbed his hands against his knees as he tried to order his thoughts. “Unless… Unless he wanted to be seen.”

Baekhyun suddenly became quiet as his eyes caught a nearly imperceptible shift at the entrance of the lab section. Yifan might have an eagle’s sharp eyes, but Baekhyun could see a wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum, giving him a different view of the world.

“I thought you’d come by,” he spoke louder as he sat up straighter, making it clear he knew the other was in the room.

Jongin stepped inside, materializing his body as he walked closer to where Baekhyun sat. Nervous was an understatement to what the other boy looked like -his naturally tan skin appeared rather pale and his hands trembled. Jongin bit his lower lip as his wide eyes scanned around the laboratory, stopping cold as he spotted the tank.

Baekhyun was able to see a flash of recognition pass through Jongin’s brown orbs before they glistened with tears. Baekhyun’s legs worked faster than his brain and, before he knew it, he stood before Jongin without knowing what to say.

What could he possibly say?

Sparing unnecessary words, Baekhyun held Jongin’s wrist and guided him towards the chair he had been sitting on. Baekhyun pulled out another to sit next to him. He remained silent as he watched Jongin who kept his gaze fixed upon the incubator tank across from them -not even blinking once as he stared in silent shock.

Baekhyun looked back at the incubation tank; a white sheet was draped around its middle, covering the lower half of the clone’s body. Different types of tubes and wires were attached to various vital parts of his body. The Kyungsoo inside, resting in a fetal position, seemed to be in a peaceful sleep and completely unaware of all that was happening around him.

So ing innocent.

“All this time,” Jongin whispered with a strained voice. “Why did she keep it?”

Baekhyun didn’t like how Jongin called the clone it, but he decided it was best to keep his opinion to himself.

“The time loop,” Baekhyun said after a heavy sigh. “She’s kept Kyungsoo’s clone safe all this time because she knew one day we’d need him.” Jongin’s eyes finally shifted towards him and Baekhyun felt compelled to explain further. “Meddling with time is a crazy business, which explains Tao’s personality,” he tried to joke but Jongin wasn’t amused at all. Baekhyun cleared his throat awkwardly. “It’s very strange how the time travel affected our lives. Back then Tao had said that the future didn’t exist yet, but for the time travel to have happened, a fraction of the future existed within a time loop that linked our past with our future. This means that Mama already knew that Kyungsoo had been kidnapped when she sent you and Tao to the past.” Baekhyun took a moment to consider if his words made sense at all. “When you traveled to the past -wait, well, not you yet, but the future you that has already lived through the past-”

“I get it, Baek,” Jongin cut in. “It’s because of me that it’s here and she’s kept it all along knowing that this would happen.”

“Right.”

Jongin clenched his jaw before letting out a shaky breath. “So we’re going to use it to find Kyungsoo.” He spoke with a frustrated tone as tears finally slid down his face.

“Jesus, there’s no need to say it that way,” Baekhyun admonished in a light tone, not really wanting to cause an argument. He reached forward to wipe the tears off his face with his slender fingers. “Do you understand why you have to do this? Why you need to save his clone in the past?”

“Understanding doesn’t make it easier to accept,” he bitterly said as he pushed Baekhyun’s hands away.

“Maybe, but it’s the only way to save him,” Baekhyun said earnestly. “Having kept his clone alive all these years means that the clone has accumulated Kyungsoo’s memories. Memories that could lead us to wherever they’re hiding him.”

Jongin frowned, eyes squinting as he glared at him. “You really believe it’ll know where the they’ve hidden him? Are you that foolish?”

Baekhyun closed his eyes in an effort to keep his anger at bay. Jongin was emotionally frustrated and Baekhyun knew he was taking it out on him, so he just had to bear with it and not aggravate the situation.

“His clone might remember what last happened to him when they took him away,” he explained in a calm manner. “He might remember what the surroundings felt like for Kyungsoo, which can help us figure out where he could be. And if he doesn't remember, we can still have his clone feel the earth and find the subunit.”

“Great, find a building hidden anywhere in the world,” Jongin’s voice was full of sarcasm. “That isn't hard at all, we’ll find Kyungsoo in no time.”

Baekhyun kept himself from rolling his eyes at Jongin’s pessimistic attitude. “We’ve narrowed down the search area,” he disclosed, causing Jongin to frown in confusion. “We know it’s in China and their major ally are the Russians, so the facility must be somewhere between them, around the northwest of China.” Jongin’s frown began to smoothen as he listened to him speak. “They’re probably hidden in the desolated mountain area of Xinjiang.”  

“Why there? Why the northwest?” Jongin questioned.

“Well, there were two subunits in Russia, one near Moscow and one near Omsk. Moscow is relatively far from China, but Minseok hyung said that the one near Omsk was pretty close to Kazakhstan. There’s-”

“Wait,” Jongin interjected. “Minseok hyung?”

Baekhyun realized he hadn’t mention Minseok before. “He was in Russia.”

“Was?”

“I’ll explain later,” Baekhyun waved him off dismissively. “As I was saying, there’s no direct route from Russia to Western China, so the best option by land is crossing through Kazakhstan, since Mongolia has fewer routes.” Baekhyun paused as he tried to recollect from his memory the strange names he had learned. “There are six routes between Kazakhstan and China, the best ones being close to Urzhar and Zharkent, but if they are hidden in the mountains then it’s more probable that they move through the smaller routes closer to Almaty.”

Jongin stared at him with wide eyes and lips parted in amazement.

“What I’m saying is that if Kyungsoo’s clone says he felt mountains and nothing else, then we’re on track.”

Jongin blinked slowly as if he was processing everything Baekhyun had just told him. He looked over at the incubation tank and then back at him with a more hopeful gaze.

“You’ve really thought this through,” he commented with amazement.

“Me?” he pointed at himself. “No, this is all Mama’s hard work. She’s the one who has spent endless days and nights figuring out how to save Kyungsoo.” Baekhyun let out a small smile, “I’m just the errand boy. All I have to do is get everyone back together.”

Jongin stayed quiet for a moment, looking at him with a pensive quirk of the brows.

“What?”

“Didn’t you say something about wanting to make things right?” Jongin asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice. “How is getting the group back going to make things better?”

“Because finding Kyungsoo isn’t the hard part,” Baekhyun spoke with a low and serious tone. “It’s getting him out.”

Jongin nodded slowly but made no comment of it. He let out a long sigh and leaned his elbows against his thighs, slouching forward.

“I may not have met you guys before we escaped the underground, but I remember Chanyeol told me that you barely knew Kyungsoo at the time,” Baekhyun recounted. “That he was new to the group but didn’t hesitate to help us out. Yeah, well, maybe it was some sneaky plan but in the end, if it wasn’t for him we’d still be stuck down there.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that the roles are reversed,” he said with a little shrug. “Now it’s us who have to help him out.”

There was a pained look in Jongin’s face -Baekhyun managed to see it before the other looked away. Again, Jongin was at a loss for words and only nodded in agreement to what he had just told him.

Baekhyun didn’t like seeing the sadness and conflict in Jongin’s face, but he knew he’d better start getting used to it, for Jongin wasn’t the only one he would end up hurting. No, he had much more pain to cause with every lie and every truth he spoke. This time, whether he was being honest or not didn’t matter much -it didn’t matter at all, for everything would hurt them in the end.

A lot of was going to go down and he was going to need to be the tower to keep them up.

“He looks so small in that thing,” Jongin whispered, breaking the silence of the laboratory.

“Do you know why Kyungsoo’s built is small?” Baekhyun asked, but Jongin kept the silence Baekhyun wasn’t fond of. “Muscles just tense and relax, so strength is proportional to the cross-sectional area of the muscle fibers, not mass volume. This means that he doesn’t need more muscle mass to be strong, he just has thicker muscle fibers within a small volume. He’s dense,” he cracked a joke but the room remained quiet. Baekhyun stopped talking and leaned to the side to see if Jongin gave any reaction at all. The other kept silent so Baekhyun just let his mouth run to get rid of the silence. “You know how some insects are really strong? Well, since force isn’t proportional to volume, the smaller the body, the less disparity between mass and strength. Muscles of a-”

“Are you saying Kyungsoo’s an ant?” Jongin interrupted and looked at him with a small glare.

“Umm, no.”

Jongin cocked an eyebrow in the most skeptical look he could muster.

“The logic behind his inhuman strength is based on small insects, but he’s different. His muscles and motor neurons are different. Or was it the motor units?” Baekhyun tried to explain, wondering if he said the correct physiological term for the innervation between the motor neurons and muscle fibers. “Well, anyway-”

“Hyung.”

“Hmm?”

“Shut up.”

“Sorry.”

They fell silent again. Jongin kept a contemplative gaze towards the incubating tank while Baekhyun tried his best to sit still and not fidget. He crossed his arms and hid his hands for good measure. He didn’t like staying quiet for so long, but he didn’t want to leave Jongin alone in the lab. Jongin was going through an emotional turmoil and he wanted to stay by his side for moral support, whether the other wanted him there or not.

“Why did it have to be Kyungsoo?” he heard Jongin whisper behind his hands.

Because it couldn’t be anyone else but Kyungsoo, Baekhyun answered in his mind, for he thought the other would tell him to shut up again if he dared to speak.

He forced his lips together in a way that reminded him of Sehun’s unique habit, and waited. He waited until he began to worry. Jongin kept his face covered in his hands, but now his body was shaking. Baekhyun read the heat emanating off of Jongin’s body. He was black and blue all over, with red near his eyes, throat and chest.

“Jongin?” Baekhyun cautiously leaned over and placed his hands on the other’s slumped shoulders. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” he heard his muffled voice. “Everything is wrong,” Jongin strained out as he uncovered his tearful face. “How am I supposed to face him? How am I supposed to look him in the eyes and say ‘Hey, you’re not the real Kyungsoo, but help me find him anyway’.”

Baekhyun fell quiet in shock, keeping his surprise to himself when Jongin finally called the clone him instead of it. He tried to look into those red eyes, clouded with pain and sorrow, and ignore the searing guilt inside his gut.

“How am I supposed to act? Huh?” Jongin stifled a sob. “I, I, I can’t j-just hold him like I want t-to. K-kiss him.” Jongin tried to breathe in to calm down his stuttering. “I can’t do this, Baek. Not when he’s exactly the same as the person I’ve missed the most. I can’t look him in the eyes knowing he’s not my Kyungsoo.”

“Jongin-”

“I can’t. I can’t,” he chanted as he furiously wiped his tears. “I can’t replace him.”

“Jongin, shush,” Baekhyun stood in front of the other. “Don’t think about that now, it’s messing with your head.”

“My head?” Jongin looked up at him with disbelief. “It’s m-messing with my heart, hyung. It’s breaking,” he cried out, voice filled with anger and sorrow.

Baekhyun had to steel his own heart against Jongin’s words, the pain in Jongin’s voice was threatening to rip it apart. He felt himself close to crying, wanting nothing more than to let everything go and drop down to the floor -but he couldn’t. He needed to become the pillar that kept the rest standing. He needed to be the heavy piece on the board.

He took a moment to breathe in and calm down his own emotions. This moment was the first of many others where his will and strength would be put to the test -and he wasn’t going to fail without putting up a fight.

“You’re wrong,” he finally spoke, voice calm and steady that surprised them both. “You’re heart’s not broken -not yet, but it will be if you don’t get your together.”

Jongin stared at him in sheer shock, as if Baekhyun had just slapped him across the face. Baekhyun knew he was being harsh, but Jongin needed a wake up call.

“You’re not going to replace Kyungsoo because we’re going to save him, and his clone -him,” he turned to point at the inactive clone in the tank. “He is our best chance at saving Kyungsoo. And you’re going to have to grow up and stop dwelling in your own self pity, because right now it’s not about you,” he poked his finger against Jongin’s chest as he spoke with a cold and serious voice. “It’s about doing anything and everything to bring Kyungsoo back.”

Jongin remained quiet, eyes wide and unblinking as tears fell silently. His jaw was set tight, forcing himself to keep his breaths quiet and still his trembling frame. Baekhyun didn’t need to see his heat readings to know how shaken Jongin was. He could see the struggle in those chocolate orbs, fighting to keep his emotions in check while his body was ready to fall into pieces.

Baekhyun stood unwavering, eyes watching every tremor and every glimpse of emotion in Jongin’s hazed gaze. The fact that Jongin hadn’t broken down into a sobbing fit was indicative enough that Baekhyun’s message had gotten across. He was trying to keep his together.

Baekhyun fisted his hands and took in a slow, long breath. He couldn’t help but realize that he used to be in Jongin’s position not long ago, crying and letting his emotions dictate his actions without caring about the big picture. At that time it had been Mama who used her cold and rational words to get him to calm down, explaining why Kyungsoo had been taken away and what they would need to do to get him back.

It had been just over a month ago, and now here he was, doing the exact same thing Mama had done. He had spoken such harsh words with a calmness that wasn’t like him at all, and that realization sent a shiver creeping down his spine.

With Moon arguments had always been heated, words full of hurtful intentions, that only broken feelings brought to light. Countless of times he had spat out the most cruel things he could come up with and even threatened his agent’s life out of spite. Baekhyun preferred it that way, screaming and venting, letting it all out at once. After all, Moon would forgive him without needing to hear his apology and they’d continue with their lives, as if they had never fought at all. It had always been Moon giving him a reality check whenever he threw a fit. And it had always been his guardian who had to endure all the venom whenever he lashed out. God, the patience Moon had with him.

Baekhyun noticed Jongin had finally calmed down and was wiping his tears with his sleeves. He carefully reached over to help clean a spot the younger had missed. Jongin blinked before looking up at him and Baekhyun felt unsure whether he wanted to speak or not. So  Baekhyun took the initiative to speak first, wanting to give a few last reassuring words.

“Right now you need to focus solely on time traveling,” Baekhyun said with a warmer tone in his voice and a small smile. “Going back to the past is the first step to getting Kyungsoo back. Okay?” he lowered his head to look at Jongin at the same eye level. “So you have to do your ing best and not let anything distract you. Not his clone and not your heart, understood?” Baekhyun placed his hand over Jongin’s chest for good measure.

Jongin reached up to place his hand over Baekhyun’s and nodded in agreement. Baekhyun smiled caringly and moved his hand to hold Jongin’s.

“We won’t activate his clone until you guys come back from the past,” he informed. “By then the rest of the members will be here. They’ll help and you won’t have to feel that burden. We will all help makes things easier.” Baekhyun bit his lower lip as he hesitated about saying his next words. “We’ll be here to support you and, well, Chanyeol will be here.”

Jongin’s brows knitted in confusion. “Why Chanyeol? Did Moon find him?”

Baekhyun bit his tongue, stopping himself from saying something that would make Jongin feel worse. “Not yet, but he will find him. Don’t worry.” Jongin kept looking at him with confusion written all over his face. Baekhyun felt he needed to say something to ease up the tension. “I just mentioned Chanyeol because he, umm, well being the moodmaker he is, I think he’ll help Kyungsoo’s clone feel more comfortable with us. At least I’m hoping he will.” Baekhyun scratched his head, “It’s not going to be easy to make the rest of the members agree with the idea of using Kyungsoo’s clone.”

Jongin nodded as his gaze drifted past Baekhyun. “It’s not easy.”

Baekhyun let out a small yet relieved sigh. “You’re not alone anymore, Jongin.” The latter looked up at the mention of his name. “We’re all going to be here to help.”

Jongin smiled, though Baekhyun could see sadness in his eyes. “Thank you, hyung.”

Baekhyun forced a smile as those heartfelt words kicked him in the gut.

-March 21st, 2015. Edinburgh 10:15.

Minseok had noticed long ago that each European city had its own uniqueness, yet he always felt as if he was stuck in the same place whenever he walked through similar cobblestone streets.

The air felt fresh with a hint of brine from the coast nearby. The sun was up and settled behind big fluffy clouds. They had spent so many hours sitting on stiff bus seats just to get to Edinburgh -Bao had complained hundreds of times about his becoming flat. It was a feat to get the other to remain still for so many hours, so, when they finally reached their stop, Minseok didn’t reject Bao’s request to walk all the way to Dr. Murdock’s house. It had been a refreshing choice indeed.

Minseok checked the directions Baekhyun had provided. They were about two blocks away from the desired street.

“Bao, we’re almost there,” he called out to the other. “Bao?”

He looked around to find the giant man-child running after pigeons and trying to scare them off. Minseok knew better than to reprimand the other with haste; he needed to be patient with Bao. So he took advantage of the impromptu pause to readjust the straps of his canvas backpack. As long as Bao didn’t scare the pigeons his way, then everything was alright.

The younger’s ash brown hair was a mess, locks twirling around from all the running and the wind. Minseok couldn’t help but smile as he watched Bao’s cheerful and carefree side. He had changed so much. There had been many times were Minseok doubted his decision to take Bao with him, but whenever he saw the younger smile so wide that his dichromatic eyes disappeared behind upturned crescents, and laugh so heartfully, with the innocence of a child, Minseok knew he had made the right choice.

Minseok’s eyes widened as the tall idiot was about to cross the street without looking. “Bao, stop! Stop! Ska stop!” he yelled in Russian and the other immediately obeyed.

Bao stopped so abruptly that his neck snapped forward, nearly causing him to stumble but his strong legs kept his body in place. He turned back to look at Minseok with wide, frightened eyes, resembling a puppy terrified of being kicked out of the house. Minseok could see how the other’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped hard, body stiff as a statue, only three steps away from the asphalt where a car drove close by. Hell, Bao didn’t even blink as he waited for Minseok’s next order and that behavior made Minseok feel disgusted in himself for what he had done.

Minseok let out an annoyed breath and gestured silently to the other to tell him to come back to him. Minseok closed his eyes for a moment, unwilling to see the fright in Bao’s gaze. He hated using commands on the other, it went against his objective. Minseok’s goal was to reverse Bao’s conditioned behavior and help him become as ‘normal’ as possible, but if giving orders was going to help keep the other safe, then he had no other choice -for now.

Bao walked up to him, hands clasped together and head dropped as his blue and brown eyes looked at him with worry, as if expected Minseok to scold him.

Minseok crossed his arms over his chest as he looked up at the taller boy. “What do you do before crossing a street?”

“Left, right,” Bao replied, looking at both sides to demonstrate.

“You check both sides always. Understood?” he said, trying not to sound too stern. “I don’t want you getting hurt, okay?”

“Yes, hyung,” Bao said, keeping his gaze down and pouting his lower lip like the kid he was.

“Come on, we’re almost there,” Minseok said, dismissing the other and continuing on their way.

With each step he took closer to the house, Minseok felt his heart beat with excitement. He couldn’t contain his smile from spreading across his face. He was finally going to see Lu Han and Sehun again. And then they would head to Paris where they would meet the whole group again; he was so close to finally reuniting with all his brothers.

His steps practically turned into skips as he got closer to the gate, only he skipped head-first against an invisible force field.

“Ow,” he complained as he rubbed his sore nose. “What the , Lu Han?” he said annoyed, even if the latter wasn’t in sight.

“You okay?” Bao asked as he held him by the shoulders to twist him around and see his face.

“I’m okay,” Minseok assured quickly.

“What this?” Bao asked indicating the area where the force field should be.

“What is this,” Minseok corrected.

“What is this?” Bao repeated as he placed his left hand against the invisible shield.

“Wait, you can see it?” Minseok asked astounded.

Bao nodded with a proud smile. Using his free hand, he reached for Minseok’s wrist and led his hand towards the force field. Minseok pushed forward to try to feel the telekinetic defense, but Bao pulled his hand back a bit, shaking his head. Bao let go of Minseok’s wrist and extended his own palm forward, right next to Minseok’s. Taking the hint, Minseok copied the younger’s actions, slowly bringing his palm closer to where the field should be. He felt a soft tickle against his skin, a faint warmth emanating from the invisible energy field.

“Energy,” Minseok muttered thoughtfully before looking back at Bao. “A shield of energy.”

Bao smiled widely as he nodded. “Light reflecting off it,” he tried to explain, mixing in Russian words.

“Reflecting off,” Minseok said in Korean.

“Reflecting off,” Bao repeated.

“You see bits of light reflecting off the force field,” Minseok stated.

Bao tilted his head to the side and nodded in agreement, smile ever-present on his face. “I see.”

“Yeah, you do,” Minseok chuckled. “So it’s right here, right?” Bao nodded yes. “Okay, step back a bit, please.”

Bao looked at him with curious eyes, but did as told. Minseok smiled reassuringly before turning towards the invisible force field.

He kicked forward, feeling as if he had kicked a wall. “Lu Han!” he kicked again. “Lu Han, you prick! It’s Minseok!”

Minseok was about to lift his foot again, but Bao stopped him. “Gone. It’s gone,” Bao informed. “No more.”

“Huh?” Minseok’s brows rose up. “It worked,” he said surprised.

The front door opened without warning and Lu Han popped out, looking rather confused. His eyes widened in surprise as he recognized Minseok, and then the gate swung open.

“Hyung?” Lu Han said surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean what am I doing here? Baekhyun sent me,” Minseok replied as he walked into the front lawn, with Bao right behind him. “Why the hell did you have a force field up?”

“I,” he looked past Minseok, furrowing his eyebrows, “I felt someone else I couldn’t recognize.” He inspected Bao with his gaze. “Who’s this?” he asked when they stood before him.

“Bao,” Minseok introduced. “And Bao, this is Lu Han.”

“Nice to meet you,” Bao said shyly, bending from the waist to give a proper bow. “I’m Bao.”

“Uh huh,” Lu Han mumbled as he looked at the taller boy rather suspiciously. “He looks too young to be your agent, hyung.”

“Cuz he ain’t my agent.”

“Who is he then?” Lu Han said defensively.

“I’ll explain inside,” he huffed. “Is this seriously how you’re going to greet me?” Minseok asked offended.

Lu Han rolled his eyes and let out a chuckle. He reached over to pull Minseok into a tight hug. Minseok let his smile widen and spread across his face. He felt elated, as if a piece of his soul was back where it belonged -like falling back into a familiar scene, as if he had last seen Lu Han the day before instead of three years ago.

“I missed you,” Lu Han said without letting go.

“I missed you too.”

“Me too.” Minseok heard behind him and suddenly two strong arms wrapped around him from behind, joining their embrace.

Lu Han leaned away, giving off an annoyed look towards the third-wheeler. “Seriously, who the are you?”

“I’m Bao.” The younger squeaked under Lu Han’s intimidating gaze.

“Don’t be mean, Lu Han.” Minseok warned as Lu Han led them into the house.

As they walked through the main hall, Minseok appreciated how wide and open the design of the house was. The ceiling was built very tall and the windows were long and wide, letting in a lot of light and illuminating the residence. The white walls made the living room feel even more spacious and ethereal.

Minseok walked towards the middle of the widespread living room and looked up at the crystal chandelier hanging from the high ceiling.

“Wow, this place is beautiful,” he said wholeheartedly.

“Mhmm,” Lu Han hummed. He kept eyeing Bao suspiciously, making the younger boy uncomfortable.

Minseok looked around once more before speaking. “Where’s Sehun?”

Lu Han’s slight glare turned into a wide-eyed, guilty expression. “Uhh… well…”

Minseok frowned, not liking Lu Han’s hesitant tone. “Lu Han, please tell me Sehun’s here,” he deadpanned.

“He’s here, but not exactly here here,” Lu Han explained poorly.

Minseok let out a tired sigh as he rubbed his forehead. “I did not travel a whole ing day for this bull,” he mumbled to himself. “What the hell did you do?” he accused.

Lu Han spared a look towards Bao before replying. “Let’s talk in the kitchen.” He said and showed Minseok where to go, only to stop shortly as he noticed Bao following them. “Privately,” he stressed.

Minseok rolled his eyes at him before turning to speak to Bao. “Just stay here, I won’t be long,” he instructed. Bao pouted but stayed put, fidgeting from foot to foot since it was nearly impossible for him to stay still. “And don’t touch anything,” Minseok added quickly. Bao’s eyes doubled in size as he clasped his hands together, earnestly showing that he would obey.

Once inside the kitchen Lu Han leaned against the table as he offered Minseok a seat.

“I’m good,” he declined and stood in front of the other.

Lu Han was awfully quiet, eyes looking at him from head to toe, and Minseok quickly caught on to why.

What’s up? He thought as clearly as possible -just like he used to whenever they conversed telepathically.

Lu Han smiled. ‘You’ve changed so much. I can see you’ve built your body even with that jacket on, yet your face looks younger,’ Lu Han sounded amused in his mind. ‘How’d you do that, hyung?’

Minseok chuckled. Clean diet, lots of gym hours and, well, I’m always cold so I age slowly -he shrugged.

‘Ah, so the secret to eternal youth is being cold blooded?’

Pretty much, he laughed. You’ve grown too.

‘Do I look old?’

Yeah. You look like you could use some sleep. Like years of sleep.

Lu Han tsked his teeth. ‘Thanks, hyung.’ He sounded sarcastic.

Does your lack of sleep have anything to do with why Sehun isn’t here, where he’s supposed to be? Minseok cut to the chase.

‘Maybe.’ He replied dryly and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘So what is he? The tall guy with different colored eyes. If he isn’t your guardian then what is he?’

I’m his guardian, Minseok replied seriously. I’ve been watching out for him for almost six months now. Why are you so unfriendly towards him?

Lu Han shrugged. ‘He’s too happy, it’s annoying.’

God, you have know idea. Minseok thought as he laughed.

Lu Han chuckled and leaned more against the table, placing his hands on the counter-top ‘Bao? Is it?’

Yeah.

‘Is he Korean? There are a lot of words I don’t understand though?’

In his mind?

‘Yeah.’

He speaks Russian, though I’ve been teaching him Korean. Minseok rubbed his arm. He’s not a fast learner, but he’s grown a lot.

‘What is he?’

Minseok smiled sadly as a few memories resurfaced. Images of dark, dank cells, of smoke and screams, of pain and death. He remembered ice. Ice and pain. Ice and death. And in the midst of all the mess, a pair of brown and blue eyes, willing to spare his life.

Minseok knew Lu Han could read his memories, so he felt he should explain what they really were about.

He is experiment B40.

Lu Han blinked surprised. ‘B40, Bao?’

Yeah. He was part of the trials at the Sobaka subunit in Russia, near a city called Omsk. That place, Lu Han, that place was… hell. Lu Han took a step forward, looking at him with concern in his eyes. They started with about one hundred subjects, but most died during the experimental trials. It’s been reported that thirty-five made it to the later stages, but by the time the agents and I got there, there were only eleven.

‘. Eleven?’

Minseok nodded. They were different, Lu Han, they were all grown up but their minds were so immature, so easy to control. What they went through was something else, something horribly  different from what we went through. Minseok could feel a knot in his chest just thinking about that place. They were trained to fight under command, like ing fight dogs. If they ordered suka kill, they would kill.

‘Suka?’

. Minseok thought resentfully, scratching his elbow. Just saying ska is enough to trigger a submissive behavior.

Lu Han looked completely appalled. “I need to sit down,” he said, barely getting the words out as he pulled a chair to sit. “I..” Lu Han remained silent for a moment as he seemed lost in thought -thoughts Minseok couldn’t hear. “I never imagined there could be anything more despicable than Namu. The worst I’ve seen in the Chinese subunits were animals that had been experimented on until they were completely unrecognizable. That, and, well, seeing the whole cloning process.”

Minseok nodded as he listened to him. “The subunit near Moscow was like that, minus the cloning. Just crazy labs with even crazier experiments.” Minseok let out a long sigh before continuing. “The NSB had intel about there being some sort of human trials in Sobaka, but we never expected… that.”

They remained quiet for a moment. Lu Han remained deep in thought with his gaze fixed on the ground. Minseok rested his hands on his hips as he waited for the right moment to interrogate Lu Han. He had a pretty good guess as to what had happened between the other and Sehun.

“Why him?”

“What?”

“I mean, why did you become Bao’s guardian?” Lu Han asked again.

Minseok didn’t answer immediately, and instead tried to smile to hide the sadness he still felt with every memory about that place.

“He’s the only one left,” Minseok confessed, keeping his cool demeanor despite the glossiness in his eyes. “I felt I was the only one who could help him, the only one he could relate to. The agents, they try but it’s not the same. They could never understand what it is to be like us.”

Lu Han just nodded to his comment, keeping his arms crossed in front of himself as he if he didn’t know what else he could do or say. So Minseok took the chance to take over the conversation.

“Lu Han, why were you surprised to see me? Baekhyun said he’d tell you I’d come here.”

“Oh, I,” Lu Han said while looking up and breaking out of his daze. “I expected you here yesterday. So I just assumed you had already picked Sehun up and left to Paris.”

“I might’ve been able to get here last night, but it’s safer to travel by bus in Germany. And the train from Paris to London is just too damn expensive, so we took the bus too, and the whole ferry ride is just too long, so we ended up spending the night in London.”

“Man, that’s a lot of hours stuck in a bus,” Lu Han commented.

“No ,” he chuckled. “So, let me guess.” Minseok hummed pensively while Lu Han stared at him with a guilty expression.

“No, no. The latter was right,” Lu Han interrupted, clearly having read his mind.

“Oh,” Minseok said disappointed. “So it didn’t work? You’ve been here for, what, like a month and still no progress?”

Lu Han scratched his neck as he looked down disheartened. “I thought I was getting better, but as soon as he walked in here I just… lost it.”

“So that’s why Baek sent Sehun, to test you,” Minseok commented.

Lu Han huffed annoyed. “I don’t get why he meddles so much.”

“Because he understands,” Minseok said and pulled out a chair to sit next to Lu Han. “This charade we’ve been trying to live these past few years doesn’t work. There’s no such thing as a normal life for us, much less a relationship with a normal person.”

“Min-”

Minseok lifted his hand to stop him from interrupting. “In this life we’ve only got each other,” he said with a meaningful tone, showing that he was certain about his thoughts. “You don’t know how lucky you are that Sehun loves you -scratch that, has been in love with you for three years despite how difficult things been between you two.”

“Hyung, how…” Lu Han didn’t finish speaking for he was too focused in trying to understand why Minseok spoke to him that way. HIs eyes searched Minseok’s face as if he could read what he was trying to find. “What happened to her? To the girl you liked?”

Minseok shook his head, not wanting to share anymore memories with him. “That doesn’t matter, it’s history. What matters now is helping you get better.”

“I’ve tried,” Lu Han said frustratedly. “I’ve tried, hyung, I swear.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. This takes time,” Minseok assured, reaching forward to hold Lu Han’s hand. “Separating your emotions from your abilities has always been difficult for you. You can’t expect to completely change that in a meer month.”

“What if I, if I.” Lu Han’s voice wavered as his eyes began to glisten with tears. “What if I can’t get fixed?”

“Don’t say that,” Minseok immediately responded. “Don’t ever think that way, Lu Han,” he squeezed the other’s hand. “You just have to keep working hard for it.”

“It’s not getting any easier, hyung,” Lu Han said bitterly.

“It’s not meant to get easier, Lu Han, it’s meant to be the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do. Because the toughest challenges in life, those we struggle with so bad that we only want to give up, are the most meaningful of all.” Minseok tried to be as eloquent as he could. “It might be hard to believe now, because you’re discouraged, but eventually it’ll happen. Your life will become so much better because of all the effort you put yourself through.”

Lu Han tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You sound so sure about this.”

“Because I’ve gone through a lot of too,” he confessed. “And I didn’t let myself down, no matter how many times I just wanted to give up, I pushed myself to keep going. To work harder and do better than the day before.” Minseok let out a soft sigh before continuing. “You can’t change anything if you keep thinking that way, Lu Han. First you have to change the way you think to be able to change the way you feel.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do all this time,” Lu Han argued.

“Have you now?” Minseok sounded unconvinced. “Have you really tried hard? Because the way I see you now makes me believe otherwise.”

“I have,” Lu Han muttered annoyed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Lu Han, you don’t know how lucky you are,” Minseok snapped, “and it pisses me off that Sehun’s the best part of your life and you’re wasting your chance being a sorry , moping around instead of trying to get better.”

“I am trying!” Lu Han yelled angered.

“Then prove it!” Minseok stood up and peered down at the other. “Prove that you’re willing to do everything possible,” Minseok’s voice turned as cold as ice. “That you’re not going to let your stubborn ruin your chance for happiness.”

“I will,” Lu Han stressed as he furiously wiped the sole tear that dared to escape. “I will.”

Minseok smiled proudly as he reached forward to help Lu Han up. “I know you will,” he said as he gave Lu Han a comforting hug. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”

Lu Han let out a scoff in disbelief. “I thought you wanted to know where Sehun was, not to give me a motivational speech,” he said as he still held onto Minseok.

“Who says I can’t do both?” Minseok grinned. He let go of Lu Han and waited while the other rubbed his face to try to calm himself down. After a moment of silence Minseok spoke up. “So, where’s Sehun?”

“I, uh, the beach,” Lu Han answered. “The last thought I heard was that he wanted to go some place calm and quiet, and the memory of Yangyang beach came to his mind.”

“Alright, the beach. Calm and quiet, got it,” Minseok said nodding while preparing to leave.

“Hey,” Lu Han held his arm to get his attention. “Can you, umm, tell him I’m sorry for ing up again?”

Minseok shook his head. “There’s no need to apologize, he’ll forgive you anyway.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“It’s simple,” Minseok said with a shrug. “He loves you.”

Minseok couldn’t help himself from chuckling as Lu Han’s face became flustered and rosy.

They made their way back to the living room where they found Bao sitting on the floor, at the exact spot Minseok had told him to wait, with a blond kid sitting in front of him. Bao looked rather uncomfortable but kept smiling anyway.

“Why are your eyes of different colors?” The young boy asked speaking in English, to which Bao could only stare back wide eyes, not knowing how to speak the other's language. “You’re weird. Are you mute? Or just retarded?”

“Daniel, that’s enough,” Lu Han reprimanded, startling the young boy with his presence. “Go to your room.”

“Freaks,” the kid mumbled as he stood from the floor and left the room obediently.

“Sorry about that,” Lu Han said to Minseok.

“Don’t worry about it. Kids will be kids,” Minseok waved him off. “Bao, let’s go.”

The taller boy stood up eagerly, ready to leave at any moment.

“Though this visit has been short, it was great seeing you,” Minseok said honestly.

“Yeah,” Lu Han said rather sadly.

“You’ll join us latter, right?”

“Yeah,” Lu Han replied. “Once I’m done here, I suppose, or maybe before that. I’ll be there when you guys need me.”

“Okay,” Minseok smiled. “Just work hard, okay? So we can see each other soon.”

“I promise, hyung.”

Lu Han gave him one last hug before bidding them goodbye.

“Where now?” Bao asked as soon as the were out on the street again.

“The beach,” Minseok informed as he checked his map. “Can you smell the seawater?” Bao nodded with a proud smile. “Good, take us there.”

“Follow me. Follow, follow, follow me,” Bao sang playfully as he led the way.

It wasn’t until they had walked five blocks that Bao spoke again.

“Hyung?”

“Hmm?”

“You think I am weird?” Bao asked with a decent English pronunciation.

“Do you even know what weird means?” Minseok asked amused.

Bao shook his head. “No.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter because you’re not weird, you’re just different.”

“Is different good?” he asked innocently as he tilted his head to the side.

Minseok could give many reasons to argue why different wasn’t good nor bad, that being different just meant that other people would have a harder time to understand who they were, but he wasn’t going to start a motivational talk again.

“Yes, different is good,” he assured with a smile. “It’s awesome.”

“Awesome,” Bao repeated with a giggle. “Hyung?”

“Hmm?”

“What Da- Daniel means?” Bao asked, trying his best to sound just like Lu Han did when he said the name.

“What does Daniel mean,” Minseok corrected, pronouncing the name in Korean.

“What does Daniel mean?” Bao asked again, sounding just like Minseok.

“Daniel is a name,” he answered rather distractedly as he was checking the map again.

“A name? Like Minseok? Like Bao?”

“Yeah, a name like Bao.”

Minseok felt Bao pat his shoulder. He looked up and Bao pointed left, towards a street that crossed the one they were walking on. Minseok checked the map and confirmed it to be the right direction to head north. One block further and Minseok could hear the waves crashing against the shore and the noisy squawking of seagulls, he could feel the cold wind graze against his face and smell the unmistakable scent of brine.

The stretch of beach they walked to was nearly deserted, only few people were out walking by the shore -probably because it was nearing lunch time. Minseok felt a wave of nostalgia hit him as he was reminded of Yangyang beach, the place where  they ended up after escaping the third part of the trials. He remembered how the fresh air had felt against his skin and the way the rhythm of the waves had relaxed his tired soul. He remembered how he had admired the stretch of the horizon, mesmerized by how huge the world seemed to be after he had been locked up for so long.

He remembered how Junmyeon dove into the ocean without second thought while the members had sat down on the sand, finally relaxing after the last fight.

He remembered Jongdae has asked him that time if they were going to be alright. How he wished he knew then what really would happen to them, so he could’ve answered: No, not yet.

“Hyung?”

“Hmm?”

“Can Daniel be Bao?”

Minseok furrowed his brows in confusion. “What do you mean?” he asked as he looked up at the younger boy.

“Can Daniel name be Bao?” he asked again.

It took Minseok a few seconds to understand what he meant. “You want your name to be Daniel?” he asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Bao nodded with an eager smile.

“But I named you Bao. Don’t you like it?” Minseok asked, rather upset.

“I like Bao, but I like Daniel more.”

“Why?” Minseok continued to walk along the beach.

Bao huffed annoyed as he followed behind. “Because I’m not Chinese,” he reverted to speaking in Russian.

“You’re not English either,” Minseok argued in the same language.

“But Daniel sounds better than Bao. Bao sounds like a baby’s name.”

“It does not,” he said offended. “Bao is a cute name.”

“It means steamed bread,” Bao deadpanned.

“No, it means jewel, precious or rare. Which is quite fitting since you are unique,” Minseok countered.

Bao smiled wide. “I’m unique?” he asked delighted.

“Yeah, you’re one of a kind,” Minseok humoured him.

“So can I be Daniel?”

“How about we compromise? Compromise,” Minseok suggested and repeated the word in Korean.

“Compromise,” Bao repeated.

“Yeah. How about we mix them into Bao-Dan? That sounds cool right? Baodan.”

“No”

“Too bad then,” Minseok said switching back to Korean.

“Hyung,” Bao whined.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Minseok waved him off dismissively. “Right now I need you to tell me if you see anything strange about the wind.”

“The wind?” Bao frowned as he looked around. “Why wind?”

“Sehun manipulates air,” Minseok explained.

“He what?”

“Manipulates,” Minseok repeated and then explained in Russian.

It took a while before Bao noticed the air looked different at the west side of the beach. After ten or so minutes of walking, they came across a row of massive triangular pillars that went from the beach, into the sea and towards an island not so far away. As they got closer to the pillars, they noticed a thin stretch of land that was halfway covered by the waves and led towards the island.

“You gotta be kidding me,” Minseok muttered to himself.

Before making any rash decisions, Minseok guided Bao back towards the city to find a tourist information center. They found a decent looking place to ask for advice, though it took a bit of effort to understand the tour guide since his English wasn’t like anything Minseok heard before.

The tour guide explained that they had to wait for the low tide to cross the causeway to Cramond Island, which was half a kilometer away from the shore. The massive pillars along the causeway were used as an anti-submarine defense during the war -which war he didn’t know exactly.

So they decided to wait on the beach, using the free time to eat an early lunch -the low tide was predicted to be at two in the afternoon.

“Hyung?”

“We’re not talking about changing your name, Bao,” Minseok sighed annoyed and he munched on what was left of his sandwich.

“What was your name?” Bao asked instead.

“What?” He asked with his mouth full.

“Your before-name, what was it?” Bao looked at him with a serious gaze -one Minseok rarely saw.

Minseok swallowed thickly and then drank some water to delay answering.

“Hyung?”

“Xiumin. My name was Xiumin.”

“What mean- what does it mean?”

“I…” Minseok fell speechless for a moment. “I don’t know.”

“Not unique like Bao?” he asked as he looked at the sand. He used his finger to draw something on it.

Minseok shook his head. “No, Xiumin was a name made out of numbers and letters.”

“Numbers and letters?” Bao asked, eyebrows raised as he looked at him with a mix of surprise and apprehension. “So it was unique, like Bao.”

“What do you mean?”

Bao sighed long and bothered. “I know what Bao means, hyung.”

“I just told you what it means,” Minseok said back, not quite understanding where Bao was heading with their conversation. “It means precious, rare.”

Bao shook his head in disagreement. He pointed down to what he wrote on the sand. “B40,” he read aloud, “The code to my room.”

“That was hardly a room,” Minseok muttered with distaste while he remembered the cell Bao grew up in.

“If I’m truly free, then why does my name remind me of that place?”

Minseok felt the food settle uncomfortably in his gut as he stared into Bao’s sad eyes. The kid was so damn expressive that it was easy for Minseok to feel his heartstrings tighten with just looking into those dichromatic eyes.

Minseok finally realized how inconsiderate he had been these past six months, naming the other boy after the very place that had traumatized him for life.

When Minseok had the chance to change his code name for his real name, he had hesitated. It was the name of a kid who had died many years ago. The name of a son from a family he would never meet. Though Minseok’s hesitation had been short lived, because he didn’t want a code name that linked him to a dark past he’d rather forget, he had much prefered a dead kid’s name.

So when it had come to naming Bao, Minseok had convinced himself that the language barrier was excuse enough to just use the code he had thought was Bao’s name. It turned out that Bao had been referred to as a number during all the years he spent in the subunit. He wasn’t Bao like Minseok had believed, but 40. So when Minseok called the other Bao the first few times they spoke, the other quickly adopted the name, never questioning Minseok’s reason to name him that way.

Now Bao finally spoke up for himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the name Minseok had given him, but it kept him attached to his horrible past, which Minseok was trying to help erase. Minseok realized he had been contradicting his himself, underminding his efforts by giving Bao that name, and it was completely unfair of him to not let the other choose his own name, when he himself had changed his own.

“I’m sorry,” Minseok apologized wholeheartedly as he reached for Bao’s hand.

Bao shook his head with a small smile. “No, Bao is nice. I keep it.”

“No, you’re right.” Minseok squeezed the other’s hand. “I want you to move on with your life. To get over your past and have a new start, but you can’t if your name keeps reminding you of that place.” Bao’s smile grew wider as he listened to him intently. “If you want to change your name to Daniel, then let’s change it to Daniel.”

Daniel’s smile grew impossibly wider as he effortlessly pulled Minseok into a bear hug. “Thank you, hyung.”

“No need to thank me,” Minseok chuckled as he tried to escape from the rib crushing embrace.

“Now when meet Sehun hyung, I say,” Daniel let got of him to stand up, “Nice to meet you, I’m Daniel,” he said cheerfully and bowed to demonstrate how he would greet Sehun.

“Yes,” Minseok said with a content smile as he gazed towards the causeway that was gradually clearing up. “When we find Sehun, you do just that.”