The woman screamed as she was being dragged through the streets, the soldiers not even caring enough to silence her.

Baekhyun turned away, trying to suppress the feeling of disgust and hatred that started building up inside him once again. His mother noticed, of course.

"Don't look away, sweetheart. You know it's only for our best. She probably planned an attack on us or didn't want to share her harvest with the City." Her voice was soft and she smiled, as if they hadn't just witnessed the abduction of another, probably innocent, soul.

Everyone knew what they were doing with them. And most of the people in the City were already suspecting that not everyone of them had broken the law. But, of course, no one dared to speak their minds. And what reason would they have to do so, anyway? The people in the City were treated fairly well. Of course, the people who were directly working in the science labs, or the soldiers' families, had more advantages. But as long as the citizens behaved, they were given parts of the crop yields the villagers gave to the City (not willingly, Baekhyun suspected), and for the past few years, none of the citizens had been forced to take part in the experiments.

It was logical that they didn't take the citizens. They were responsible for the sewers, the building of new apartments, they were craftsmen, butchers, had cleaning services and so on. People the Red Force needed to keep the City running.

The villagers, on the other hand, didn't contribute with anything other than their harvests, and preventing uprisings as a result of unreasonable kidnappings was far easier in a village that wasn't able to contact any other villages to ask for help.

Baekhyun knew how this worked. He had been outside a few times, even though his parents had tried their best to prevent him from doing so. 'Those villagers are animals, they would kill you on the spot if they knew you're from inside,' his father had told him.

And so, he hadn't gotten into contact with the people and just observed. But that had already been enough. He had seen how the people lived and how they were treated by the Red Force Patrol. The soldiers who were called 'our guardian angels’ by some of the overly enthusiastic people in the City.

He didn't know whether his parents were just too stupid to see the truth or whether they knew it and deemed it wiser not to say anything. Baekhyun didn't want to imagine the third option, but with the rise of the number of patrols, the thought that his parents actually knew everything and still supported the Red Force wholeheartedly occurred to him more and more often.

He was pulled out of his thoughts with a nudge from his mother. The screaming had stopped and he felt his parents' concerned looks burning into him.

"Are you alright, dear?" his mother asked with a worried expression. He nodded quickly.

"I just... I just can't imagine why anyone would go against the rules. I mean, everyone knows they're good, right? The rules help us to maintain peace and prosperity everywhere." His own, naive voice made him want to vomit, not to mention the brain-washed crap he was forced to repeat every day. He had seen no hint of peace in that village, nor were the old rags the people wore and the wooden houses signs of prosperity.

"No matter what kind of good things you achieve, there will always be people who are too stupid to see it, son," his father answered with a heavy sigh. "There will always be traitors searching for power, with the excuse of wanting the best for the people."

Baekhyun thought back to the screaming woman. She hadn’t looked like someone who was hungry for power rather than something decent to eat. But again, he nodded. Like he always did.

 

 

It had to be past midnight by now. Baekhyun checked the calm breathing of his brother to make sure he was asleep. He quietly started packing his things. It didn't take long. How often had he already thought of doing this, how often had he imagined packing his things and escaping from here?

When he finally closed his backpack and reached for his jacket, a voice in the dark made him freeze.

"You could have told me, you know?"

Baekhyun didn't turn around, he knew who the voice belonged to and it was dark anyway.

"And risk being taken away like all of these other people?" His voice was dripping with disgust. "No, thank you."

His brother sighed, judging from the rustling, moving up into a sitting position.

"I guess we both had the best reasons for not saying anything. Can’t I come with you?”

Baekhyun snorted. “Mum and Dad wouldn’t survive the shock of losing both of their children to those ‘vile animals’.” He also didn’t want his younger brother to get into danger.

Baekhyun had to admit that he was stunned. Never would he have expected his brother to feel the same. He had been acting as if everything the Red Force did was right, sometimes even surpassing his father in his loyalty and dedication.

"But I thought... you..." Baekhyun wasn't able to form a full sentence, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that his brother supported his opinion.

He sighed.

"Just go. If you, you know... if you find friends out there who want to change something as well... If you're willing to take the risk and if you're confident enough, just let me know. I can arrange something to smuggle you inside."

Even though he knew it was hardly possible someone heard them, Baekhyun felt the urge to silence him. "That's high treason you're talking about!"

"And running off to start searching for people who think like you is not? We both know how difficult it is for the villagers to unite. They need someone who was in the City and can tell them how everything works in here."

The younger boy was speechless. If they were being spied on, they wouldn't survive the next few minutes. However, the possibilities his brother had shown him didn't want to leave his mind.

His brother must have noticed how he felt, because his voice suddenly turned a lot softer.

"If I were you, I'd go now. Try to use the sewers to get outside, the one right outside the house will lead you near a small village. But you have to get as far away from here as possible if you make it there, and, most importantly, don't get caught!"

He must have been thinking about this a lot as well. Unable to resist the sudden urge, Baekhyun suddenly crossed the room, towards his brother's bed, and hugged him.

"Just don't worry about me” his brother whispered in his ear, hugging him back tightly. "I don't want you to hesitate while following your dreams, no matter how unreachable they seem."

Speechless for once, Baekhyun nodded against his shoulder and ruffled his hair. Then, he grabbed his backpack and his jacket. Uttering his farewell to his brother, he left he room. A small "Goodbye," was the last thing he heard.

When he reached the kitchen, the tears had already started flowing. Quiet like a mouse, he grabbed a bit of bread and a few apples. Another voice made him startle.

"And where are we going?"

Baekhyun had left the lights out, but he could still make out his father's tall figure standing in the doorframe. Even though he knew it was dark, he hid the bag with the food behind his back.

"Going? I was just hungry," the boy claimed, shrinking together out of fear.

"Hungry enough to bring a whole backpack with you?"

Baekhyun realized his father had been standing there for some time already. He didn't know what to answer. His father walked towards him, grabbing him by the collar.

"I won't let my own son disgrace our family by running away like a damn coward," he growled. "You will follow the rules like everyone does."

Baekhyun pushed him back.

"You follow their rules but call me a coward?" He didn't get the chance to say something else as his father's fist suddenly connected with his face. Baekhyun's head crashed into the wall and he was quite sure he was seeing stars for a split second.

"What are you doing?" The voice of his mother joined them, sounding as if she had just in time remembered not to scream.

"This failure tried to run away," growled his father.

"You won't stop me." Baekhyun coughed. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the numbness. "I won't follow orders ever again."

"Please don't do this," his mother begged him, "don't you see how well they're treating us?"

"Yes, they're treating us very well." Baekhyun's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "What are we, their pets?"

He expected another blow to his head. But it didn't come. When he opened his eyes again, he saw his father's fist drawn back as if ready to punch. But why didn't he- wait. Why was he able to see this?

He looked around, trying to find the source that was responsible for the faint light illuminating the kitchen. Right above him, under the ceiling, there was a small orb of... light. It was just light, floating in the air.

His father's punch had obviously been harder than he had expected. Baekhyun decided this was less important than finally getting away from here, pushing his father back a second time. It worked, but it brought back his parents from their temporary petrification.

"Did you do this?" He had never seen this kind of look on his mother's face before. She looked terrified, but... somewhat happy as well. How was that even possible?

"You will stay," his father concluded after he had finally found his voice again. "We will tell the Red Force what you did today- they are very interested in this kind of powers. Can you imagine how our family's reputation would rise if it were said our own son was able to contribute to their research?"

Baekhyun had always known his father would do many things to please the Red Force. That he would sell them his own son as a lab rat was something even Baekhyun couldn't have imagined. He was so enraged right now that he didn't even care about how this had happened.

"Whatever this was, I won't let you hand me over to the Red Force as an experiment. How can you even think of doing this to your own son?"

But Baekhyun knew. The Red Force had made sure every parent and every child put the organization before their family. These people were their puppets before they were his parents.

He was burning with hatred. He wouldn't be able to stay any longer or he might lose control. He turned around, grabbed his backpack and the food and stormed towards the door. He wasn't surprised when he heard steps following him.

"You will stay!"

"NO!" Baekhyun whirled around, but simultaneously, the light he had somehow created shone far brighter, it was almost blinding. The three of them closed their eyes as a reflex, but Baekhyun soon noticed this was his only chance. He didn’t spare a second glance towards the light or his parents as he ran out of the room.

 

"Here, I packed you some food."

The soft tone in her voice was the only thing telling on her feelings. With a heavy heart, Chanyeol took the bundle his mother had prepared and packed it in his bag.

"I'm sure you will find nice people who can help you."

Chanyeol loved his father, but his optimism just tended to be a bit too much in this world. His tall figure was leaning against the wall, looking a bit helpless as his son was preparing to leave them.

"I will try to come back when I'm not a threat anymore," Chanyeol promised earnestly. "I will get it under control so I won't accidentally hurt someone."

A smile on her face, his mother came closer and cupped his cheek. She had to look up to him quite a bit and Chanyeol noticed her chin was quivering.

"I know it will be difficult, thinking of the things you might face... but please, make sure to take care of yourself, alright?"

Chanyeol softly took her hand from his cheek and held it in his. "I will."

With these words, he swung the bag on his back. Reluctantly, he said goodbye and left the house without looking back. He feared he might run right back inside if he did so. He had never gone far away from home and he was scared of just walking away from everything he knew, without knowing where he was even supposed to go.

But he couldn't stay. Not only would he risk getting himself caught and being taken away by the Red Force, they would also punish his parents for keeping his power a secret. He would train somewhere he wouldn't be discovered easily, and when he was ready, he would be able to return.

Their house was situated right along the main road - main road meaning it was the only one that led through the whole village, not in the sense of being a wide street. Chanyeol intended to leave it as soon as possible, so he wouldn't have to answer the villagers' questions about where he was headed.

With confusion, he noticed his fear was proving to be unnecessary. He didn't see one single person. His village was small, as were all the villages, as far as he knew, but there was always someone outside.

After he had taken a few steps, he heard a faint commotion, maybe from the marketplace. But this wasn't a market day as far as he remembered, so what was this about?

A bad feeling started creeping up inside him, but his curiosity won. If someone asked him where he was going, he would just tell them his mother had heard the noise and thought it was market day, so she had sent him out to buy a few things.

With every step he took, however, the bad feeling got stronger and stronger. And, as he threw a glance around the last corner, he finally discovered why.

In the middle of the market place, where the farmers would sell their products once a week (most of it was taken by the Red Force to feed the citizens) stood at least ten members of the Red Force Patrol. It wasn't difficult to recognize them, as all of them were wearing the feared red- and white uniform. A few villagers stood around them, in a good few metres of distance, huddled together in groups and giving concerned stares towards the middle.

The soldiers didn't pay them any attention. They were focusing on a boy who was lying on the ground, and a fellow soldier who was kicking him in the stomach. The boy was already curling up in pain, but they soon took his limbs and held them apart so that the first guy could kick him further.

"I asked - WHERE. DO. YOU. COME. FROM!" the guy shouted with each kick. The villagers winced at his cruel actions and his loud voice. Finally leaving him alone, he took a step back, waiting for an answer.

Chanyeol suppressed the instinct to help the poor guy on the ground. He would only get himself killed, or worse, they might notice what he was. He couldn't let that happen. In their mood, they would not leave anyone here alive if they found out about his power.

Nonetheless he felt the cold rage and disgust building up inside him and he couldn't avoid balling his fists as the guy started kicking the stranger again.

"You're not from here, are you? But you wouldn't be stupid enough to just pay a visit to your neighbour village, right? Don't tell me-" He stopped kicking again and pulled him up by the hair, searching his face thoroughly. Then, his gaze went down to the boy's clothes. Chanyeol noticed he wasn't wearing the ragged clothes of a villager. His attire was clean, without the occasional holes or rips in it, and his hair was dyed brown. On a second glance, however, his clothes and hair seemed to be dripping wet.

"Don't tell me you're from the City." Everyone held their breaths as the man smirked at the boy in triumph, not really waiting for an answer.

From the City? That wasn't possible. What kind of reason would a citizen have to get himself into danger for leaving his home? Who would get himself in danger to visit a village? Unless, of course...

"Why were you trying to run away, kid?" The man shook the boy by his shoulder to get an answer. Chanyeol was too far away to see whether the boy was even conscious. 

Suddenly, the boy coughed. A surprised murmur went through the watching people, while the soldiers were seemingly listening to something he was telling them.

After a few seconds of surprised silence, the man slapped him. The echo must have been loud enough to be heard in the whole village. Had the soldier watched him with a certain amount of cruel playfulness before, his face was now burning with anger.

"Did you just insult me?"

Chanyeol suddenly felt a bit of warm admiration for the foreign boy. He had always dreamed of being able to stand up against his suppression. But he had never been courageous enough to do so. Now there was this weak, threatened city boy, who had already been kicked and humiliated by them and he was still standing up to them. He had to have no fear. Or intelligence.

"Just watch and see what stupidity will cost you!" the man shouted, for the first time addressing the watching villagers. Chanyeol nearly expected him to draw his gun, but the guy reached for his pocket and retrieved a small knife. It was nothing special, but the thought of seeing how the guy used it on the boy made Chanyeol's stomach twist. He couldn't just stand around and watch this! Hadn't he always wanted to step up against the Red Force? Why did he feel as if his feet were glued to the ground?

But before Chanyeol was able to convince himself, something weird happened. A blinding light erupted from where the Red Force members and the boy were, so bright Chanyeol had to look away and cover his eyes. He heard shocked screams from the village people and angry shouting from the soldiers.

After what seemed like ages, but must have been only a few seconds, Chanyeol sensed the light fading behind his eyelids. Hesitantly, he opened them. He was quite sure he would be seeing these white and black dots for a few days, but his vision improved again.

The Red Force soldiers stood there with their arms still in the air, as if they had covered their eyes with them. But now, they were staring at the boy with a certain amount of newly found curiosity.

"Guys! He's a freak!" yelled one of them, pointing at the boy, who was now standing in front of them by himself, a bit crouched due to the obvious pain in his stomach, but with open eyes and a very pissed expression. All of them took out their guns. Chanyeol's heart started beating even faster. This boy was like him. He had some kind of power. Would they kill him?

"That's even better," said another one of them. "Let's take him to the city, they will have their fun with him there." With a satisfied grin, the first soldier walked towards the boy and grabbed his throat.

However, before he could do anything else, there was another blinding light, shortly followed by a string of curse words, judging by the voice it came from the cruel soldier. Chanyeol heard steps coming closer towards him and he made an attempt to hide, but someone suddenly bumped into him and they both fell. It took him a short while to identify the brown-haired boy, but as soon as he did, the soldiers seemed to notice as well.

"Get him!" shouted one of them.

Without thinking, Chanyeol helped the boy up and they started running.

"I can show you the way out!" he told the other guy while leading him through the smaller roads so the soldiers would lose track of them.

"Why would you get yourself in danger for helping me?" the other boy asked, barely audible over his panting.

Didn't he have other things to worry about at the moment? But on the other hand, of course, Chanyeol could be a spy.

"For the same reason you got yourself in danger." He felt the boy's curious stare burning into him, but he just quickened his steps.

They passed the last houses of the village and left his home far behind. But soon, Chanyeol heard shouting. He made the mistake to turn around.

The fuming soldiers were catching up at an alarming speed, they were almost in shooting range now. As if it wasn't enough, a glance towards his side made him worry even more. The boy was clutching his stomach, his face contorted with pain. He wouldn't be able to keep up with this speed.

The first shots came when they had barely even reached the rim of the forest. The boy threw himself behind the first tree that seemed big enough, and Chanyeol followed his example.

The shooting stopped and it was silent for a short time. Chanyeol didn't even dare to breathe.

The voice of the cruel soldier cut through the deafening silence. "Do you think playing hide-and-seek will save you?" 

The two boys exchanged a worried look. They were trapped. If they tried to run, they would be shot. If they stayed...

The man came closer towards their hiding spot. In his panic, an idea shot through Chanyeol's head. He groaned, cursing his stupidity for not thinking of this earlier.

He shot the other boy a warning glance and stepped a bit forward, making sure his skin didn't touch the tree. The other guy looked at him as if he were crazy, but finally did so as well.

Chanyeol didn't lose any time. He held his hands behind his back and shut his eyes. Please, he begged, of what use is this if it doesn't work when I need it?

When he heard a faint crackling noise, he sighed in relief. Realization hit the other boy's face and he nodded to show he understood Chanyeol's plan.

When the soldier was only one or two metres away, he suddenly stopped.

"What the hell-"

It only took the tree a few seconds to be completely covered in sizzling flames. The soldiers were too occupied with trying to avoid the burning branches that were hailing down to notice how the two boys had already fled.

Chanyeol lit a few of the trees nearby on fire as well, to make sure the Patrol wouldn't get out that easily. The other boy watched in awe as the small sparks transformed into dangerously dancing, burning hot flames, aiming devour everything in their way.

When he was convinced the soldiers wouldn't be able to track them down in this mess, he turned around towards the boy. Without any other reaction, the guy turned around, facing the deep forest, and started running. He ran at a slow pace at first, waiting until Chanyeol had caught up. But Chanyeol soon noticed the boy was trying to adapt to his pace, the pain clearly visible in his face, even though he didn’t complain once.

They hadn't run for a long time when Chanyeol suggested for them to take a rest. Without any complaints, the boy immediately slumped together, not even looking once where he was laying down.

"You should keep an eye on this," suggested Chanyeol as they were both trying to catch their breaths. "It might not be bleeding, but the kicking could have caused some kind of internal damage."

"What, you're a doctor now?" the boy asked disdainfully, without looking up. "I'll be okay."

"What if you don't take care of it and we meet another Patrol?" Chanyeol challenged him. "We won't be able to get away with this act again if they catch us by surprise."

The boy didn't answer, but at least he started examining his wound. Chanyeol diverted his gaze again, but shot back almost instantly when he realized something. The boy was shivering.

He had noticed the boy’s wet clothing in the beginning, why hadn’t he thought of that earlier? He opened his backpack while cursing himself and retrieved some of the extra clothes he had taken with him. Without thinking about it any further, he threw them towards the boy. He looked up.

"What's this for?"

He could barely stop himself from sighing loudly. The boy probably had his reasons for being this hostile, but that didn't mean it didn't annoy him.

"You can’t afford to catch a cold now,” he answered, staring directly into the other one's eyes. The boy finally sighed and gave in, disappearing behind a few bushes to change.

When he got back again, he was already looking a lot more alive.

"I'm sorry for their state." Chanyeol looked down, chewing on his lip. "You're probably used to better things back where you come from."

The boy shrugged. "But everything else is terrible where I come from. I definitely wouldn't want to go back. Thank you."

Chanyeol nearly choked. He hadn't expected the boy to show gratitude.

"I'm Chanyeol," he said instead of showing his reaction.

"Baekhyun," the boy stated and sat down across from him, leaning against a tree. "I guess we're going to be stuck with each other for a while now, so why don't we rest a bit? How did you find out about your power?”