Location: Seoul, Korea {Home}

                                                                         Right after the conversation with Kris, Suho, and Lay, I had excused myself to my room. My body was tired and my eyes would momentarily burn as if there was heat underneath my skin. As I closed my eyes and rested, I could feel sleep almost overcome my body when a knock on the wall sounded. I jolted up to see Wooseung walk in, smiling softly. The switch of personalities did not take away his eyebags, disheveled hair, and sunken face. But the smile on his face was enough for me to smile back. I scooted over and patted the space beside me. He followed suit and climbed into bed, an arm wrapping around my shoulders to pull me closer.

Wooseung also was the sweeter brother. I have never had hugs from Seungwoo and the majority of my warm memories came from Wooseung who never failed to show me he cared every time he got the time to make an appearance. The doctors had said that it was a mental thing, and is something that would never go away since we tried everything from hypnotism to medication. In the end, even though it seemed like a sickness, I grew up being loved by both of them and I did miss Wooseung every time he was gone.

“Hello,” I said and he chuckled, patting my head.

“We haven’t caught up in a while,” He said, smiling down at me as I nuzzled against his side.

“You haven’t come up in a while. Last time you did and disappeared, Seungwoo yelled at me for getting faced with you,” I told him and he laughed a hearty laugh that I never heard from Seungwoo.

“Seungwoo is a prude. He doesn’t understand that to be a brother is to also be a friend,” Wooseung said and I listened to him. I was used to him referring to Seungwoo as another person, used of understanding his point of view that he was his own self. “Why didn’t you slam any doors then? You could have called me out.”

“I would do that if Seungwoo doesn’t hurt every time he changes to you. Besides, where can I find doors here?” I told him truthfully, motioning to the entrance of my room that didn’t have a door.

“I know, my knuckles hurt from knocking against the wall." My brother rubbed his head, seemingly thinking about something before shaking his head. “How have you been? Tell me about school and everything.”

Another reason why I loved Wooseung was that as narcissistic as he was with Seungwoo, and as mean as he was to my brother, he really did care about my life. Every time he came up, he would make sure he asked about what I was up to and I told him everything like he was a human diary. Wooseung showed his love for me through words, while Seungwoo would be gruff but he would show his affection through small actions.

“I’ve been fine. I have a friend named Jackson, he’s great. I’ve been talking to him for a while now about what to do after I finish university,” I nodded, trying to suppress a yawn because I didn’t want to waste time with him. I never knew when I was going to see Wooseung again. Sometimes it took weeks, sometimes it took a month for him to just come for a week and disappear again. “Seungwoo thinks I should take something like business and use the family fortune to build and invest something out of it. What do you think?”

“Mhmm.” Wooseung tapped his chin. “I think you should take whatever you want,” he told me, smiling. “We have enough money to last us a lifetime. So enjoy it while it lasts as long as you do good," he whispered.

My eyes were heavy but even though I tried to keep them open, Wooseung placed a hand on my eyes to close them. “Sleep,” he said and I shook my head.

“You might be gone tomorrow when I wake up,” I told him, gripping his hand. “Not that I don’t like Seungwoo, it’s just that you hardly come by anymore. I want to…”

“Go to sleep. I’ll be right here when you wake up tomorrow,” he reassured, removing his hand just to rub my back.

“You promise?” I asked softly.

Before I could hear his answer, I fell into a deep sleep to the sound of the wind outside my window.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Next Morning

                                                         I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside and the footsteps of Ahjumma as she walked into my room. Her footsteps were light for a heavy woman, and as much as I doubted her with the new information I had gotten yesterday, she was the one who has raised me and my brother. I stretched to the side when my leg hit someone’s leg and I turned to see my brother sleeping soundly beside me.

“Harin,” Ahjumma had said, waking me up with a gentle voice. “Wake your brother up. It’s time to leave.”

I gave her a thumbs-up as she bustled out of the room before sitting up. I glanced over to my brother and reached over to shake him softly. With a groan, he turned over and buried his head under the pillow. Not knowing what to call him, I poked him again. With the second poke, he moved and peeked up from under the pillow squinting.

“Ugh, I can’t see,” he groaned. “And why am I in your room?” He asked, rolling onto his stomach, stretching his limbs.

“Wooseung stayed to catch up last night,” I said, a pang of sadness when I realized that it was Seungwoo I was talking to. “And your glasses should be in your bedroom. Wake up. Ahjumma has already called us. She says to get ready.”

“Jeez. He wasn’t being mean to you, was he?” Seungwoo asked, sitting up. “I have a headache. Let me freshen up and take a few painkillers. Will see you downstairs.” He flung his legs over to the side and stood up before walking to the door when he suddenly stopped to look at me.

“Did you have fun with Wooseung last night?” He asked suddenly, his expression unreadable.

I nodded, frowning at how abrupt his question was. “Of course. Been a while. I missed him.”

Seungwoo’s expression changed, his eyes softened and his face had a flash of concern. It was quickly replaced by his usual poker face before he nodded in acknowledgment. “I’m glad you had fun. I’ll see you downstairs, yeah?”

I watched him leave the room before kicking myself off the bed and proceeded to the bathroom to freshen up. I rubbed my tired eyes that seemed to feel so much better than yesterday. My eyes on the mirror, I took in my pale skin and dark hair, wondering if those in Exodus looked like me when a cough sounded behind me and I whipped my head around just to see Lay standing awkwardly by the doorway of my room.

“Goodmorning,” he greeted and I bowed my head a little respectively. “Kris said to hurry up, though he didn’t mean it nicely,” he said a blank look on his face.

“I’ll be right there,” I told him, waiting for him to leave before I went on with my business. With a sigh, I grabbed a towel and took a shower before finishing everything I need to be done. Putting on a pair of jeans and a simple white T-shirt, I left the room just to hear them talking in the kitchen downstairs.

“What if we refuse to go there?” I heard my brother ask and I stopped on the steps, listening intently. I didn’t want to walk into an awkward situation. Seungwoo sounded like he was interrogating them.

“You can’t refuse. It’s the Order’s order that when we seek help, the people involved are to comply. No one has ever tried to go against the Illuminati before.” The one who spoke must have been Suho.

“How about the portal? Does it just open up every time you come to Earth? How about the language? How are you speaking in Korean?” Seungwoo’s questions came out as fast as shots of fire and I cringed at my older brother’s persistence.

“The portal will open up from the sky. Our people haven’t been on Earth for decades. Those who have seen the portal will forget about it in a few days, the Illuminati will handle that. As for language—,” Suho answered patiently when Kris let out a grunt. I stood up to continue making my way towards the kitchen.

“You ask too many questions, boy. You’ll know everything in good time—”

“What about languages? Sorry to say, but we do have the right to ask questions and get the answers when we need them. You are taking us away from home,” I said from the doorway. Kris turned and locked eyes with me, his eyes suddenly flashing dark blue. I was scared of him, indeed. But to go to a place without knowing basic things was off-putting.

“The language in Exodus is Exodian. We understand you and you understand us because we’re under a spell. You’ll have to go through it too when you reach Exodus. Happy?” Kris barked and I flinched when he stood up, grabbing what seemed like a coat and putting it on his body. “And what are you wearing? Do you know how chilly Exodus is at this time? Go put on more clothes,” he snapped.

I glowered at him and was about to go back up when Ahjumma came up to me, draping a coat on my shoulders. She patted the coat and turned to the side and I could have sworn I saw a glint in her eyes as she stared Kris down, the man lowering his head to what seemed like an apologetic head bow. She gripped my shoulders and turned to me, a hand reaching up to brush the hair out of my face lovingly.

“Harin-ah. You go there and if anything, ever goes wrong; you come back to me, okay?” She smiled at me and I could feel tears prickle through my eyes.

Suddenly, I felt like I was leaving home. I felt like I was leaving my friends and I didn’t want to. Pressing my lips together and trying not to cry, I nodded. She gave me a pat on the head and turned to Seungwoo, also draping a thick coat on him. “You take care of your sister.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Seungwoo replied, adjusting the coat on his back. “We’ll be back soon,” he assured Ahjumma, patting her shoulder.

I followed the three men out to the backyard quietly. Ahjumma stood by the doorway, a worried look on her face as she watched us stand under the warmth of the sun when Kris took out a small item. With a shake, a bright light began to form in the sky and I turned my face away from it, the light getting brighter.

“Close your eyes,” Lay had said and I felt my brother grab my wrist, pulling me closer protectively as the light gradually became so bright, I could still see it with my eyes closed. And before I knew it, it felt like I was flying.

It was like a roller coaster ride that had flashing lights and I felt the bouncing of my stomach when my body picked up speed. The ringing in my ears was back and I even though I wanted to cover my ears, I didn’t want to pull away from my brother whose hand tightened around my wrist. I didn’t dare to open my eyes when suddenly the ringing stopped and it was like I was flung off a cliff.

When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was indeed falling down a very steep waterfall, my brother nowhere to be found. The sound of rushing water was prominent and as I looked around, I realized that I was falling at an increasingly fast rate. I quickly closed my eyes as the bottom of the waterfall approached when I felt arms around my waist and just like that it felt like I was back to flying.

Peeking from under my eyelids, I saw that it was Kris, his face raising upward while we soared through the air back to the top of the waterfall where I saw Suho, Lay, and Seungwoo waiting for me. Seungwoo’s eyebrows were knitted and I could tell that he was worried about what happened to me, but it almost disappeared the moment Kris lowered himself onto the ground and put me steadily onto my feet. Seungwoo rushed over to my side to ask if I was okay.

I was still in a daze, however, and with a silent nod; I looked around me and saw that the grasses were green and the trees healthy. But Kris wasn’t lying about th