Luhan felt them approaching before he was able to hear them. Whatever kind of power it was that he had received from the Tree, it was undeniably useful.

A few days had passed since his father's disappearance, and he hadn't heard word of him ever since. Luhan had cried, screamed, but ultimately realized he behaved like a little child. Whining wouldn't bring him back.

He had always been able to rely on his father whenever he needed help. His father had been the only one who had treated him like a normal person. Now it was not only his parent he was missing, it was his only friend, the only person who had protected him from the others.

He had always considered himself lucky for not living right inside the village, but a few minutes further away. No one ever visited, the two of them were outsiders. On purpose.

His father had always told him to keep the Tree a secret. Luhan hadn’t even understood why he should talk about a stupid tree. He had other problems, and, aside from this, even when they were in the village everyone ignored Luhan. If he was lucky. He had no one to tell anything to. People tended to see him as a bad omen. Everyone was surprised whenever they saw him, as if they hadn't expected him to survive another few weeks. It wasn't like he had some contagious disease.

He couldn't blame them, though. The way the Red Force Patrol had treated him had made him realize how worthless he was in this world. He hadn't been able to protect the Tree, he hadn't been able to save his own father. He had needed the help of the tree that had always seemed like nothing special. A plant had been more helpful in a fight than him.

He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts that kept coming back, taking over his mind until he wasn't able to think of anything else. There were people who were coming closer, maybe two or three. He couldn't explain how the experience with the Tree had changed his way of sensing things, it was just... He just felt some things around him. And sometimes, he felt as if he was able to move them just with his mind, but he didn't trust the Tree far enough to believe that. Maybe it just wanted to play with his mind. It wouldn't surprise him.

 

"Maybe we can stay here for the night!"

Sehun got all excited, until they both noticed a frail figure walking towards them.

Junmyeon's heart dropped. He was tired of being chased away.

When the person came closer, he noticed that it was a boy, approximately around their age, maybe a bit younger. He was not very tall and quite skinny, but even for that appearance his steps seemed strangely insecure. He was supporting himself with a walking stick. As Junmyeon was observing the boy, he noticed the faint murmur of a small stream that was flowing somewhere near them. 

The boys waited for him to come close, not wanting to appear as a threat.

Upon seeing his face closely, it was not what Junmyeon had expected. He wore a grim and somewhat determined expression, but his eyes were swollen and red, as if he had been crying.

"Wherever you wanted to go, you've probably lost your way."

His voice didn't sound anything like the fragile boy Junmyeon had expected either. He had his arms crossed.

"We didn't lose it because we didn't have one in the first place," Junmyeon explained carefully. "We were just hoping to find a place to stay and maybe some food-"

"If you're running from the Red Force, staying here wouldn't be wise," the boy interrupted, a new tone in his voice... was it fear?

"We don't have anything to do with the Red Force," Junmyeon defended himself, raising the hand that wasn’t holding onto Sehun rising to visualize they were no risk for the boy.

Junmyeon doubted the Red Force would go after them, considering his parents and the others knew nothing good would happen if the Patrol heard they had let them go. The Red Force most likely didn't even know he and Sehun existed.

"If you don't want us to sleep in your house, it's okay." Sehun raised his head, his voice so weak it hurt, "a bit of food would be enough-"

"If the Red Force isn't after you, why are you running in the first place?" the boy interrupted again.

Junmyeon felt his anger rising. He knew it wasn't wise to trust strangers, especially if they outnumbered you, but there was no need for the boy to be this rude. Couldn't he see the state both of them were in?

His hands balled into fists as he was trying to restrain himself. He had tried to control his power, but he kept making mistakes when he was frustrated or angry. If the boy witnessed him controlling water, he would chase them away.

However, the more he tried to calm down, the more this weird feeling inside of him gained strength. Too late, he remembered the stream he had noticed earlier. He felt the water in the stream accelerating its pace, not yet noticeable for others.

Or so he thought. As soon as the stream quickened its pace, the boy tensed and looked directly at them, maybe for the first time. Junmyeon noticed his eyes never stayed still. It was quite unsettling and not too polite either.

"Are you doing this?" the boy asked, his voice breaking.

Junmyeon tensed. He had to have awfully good hearing to catch onto this small change. Or did he maybe...

"I'm sorry," Junmyeon quickly assured the boy, not wanting to scare him. "I won't hurt you; I promise. I don't know what this is either."

"But do you see now why we need to hide from the... from them?" Sehun had been standing still for the past few minutes, seemingly uncomfortable with the boy's aura as well. Sehun obviously hadn’t seen what Junmyeon had done for Luhan to react like this, but it wasn't hard to guess.

Junmyeon groaned with frustration. Nobody would take them in if they knew about their powers, unless they were suicidal.

The boy, however, seemed to be thinking about it for the first time. His eyes were fixed on the ground between them.

"When did you get this power?" he suddenly asked, a hint of curiosity in his expression for the first time.

Not seeing the point in lying, as it was already too late anyway, Junmyeon answered: "Only a few days ago. My friend noticed he's able to control the wind around the same time as well." He felt Sehun stiffen at the sudden memory and immediately felt sorry towards him.

But the boy nodded. "You can stay." he said, his emotions hidden again. Before the two had time to thank him, he added: "But I've got a few conditions."

Junmyeon felt so thankful towards the boy he didn't even think when he answered. "Of course. Just name them."

"First: as long as you stay, you will regularly go to the village to buy food."

Having met the people in the village shortly before, Junmyeon understood why he wouldn't want to go there himself. He nodded. However, the boy still seemed to be waiting for him to answer. Slightly irritated, he did so. "Alright. We will."

"Second: You will tell me everything about your powers and how you got them."

Junmyeon hesitated. What did he want to do with this information?

"Why?" he asked carefully. He was clueless as to why the boy was so willing to take them in after he heard about their powers. Everyone else would have chased them away long ago. "Why are you so curious about them?"

"We can talk about this inside." The skinny boy turned his head carefully, as if expecting someone to be spying on them. Without waiting for an answer, he turned around and walked towards the small house he lived in.

Junmyeon and Sehun turned around to face each other.

"Do you think we can trust him?" Sehun muttered under his breath. "He doesn't seem to be a nice person."

"I know," Junmyeon answered. "But he seems to know something. And he is the first person to allow us to stay. I'm afraid we don't have many other choices."

Sehun nodded and started following the boy with insecure steps, when Junmyeon grabbed his arm. Sehun turned around curiously.

"Let's tell him what we know, but still be careful around him, okay? He doesn't seem to be dangerous, but he could still sell us to the Red Force."

Sehun nodded and the two friends followed the boy who was already waiting in front of his house impatiently.

"I'm Luhan, by the way." The boy led them inside, into a small guest room that looked as if it had never been used before.

"My name is Junmyeon, and that's Sehun," Junmyeon answered quickly, glad the boy seemed to be a bit more open now that he knew about their powers.

Luhan nodded. "There should be some blankets around here, you might find them in the wardrobe. I'll go see if I have something to eat for you."

The two didn't answer as Luhan exited the room, his fingertips brushing against the door frame.

Sehun looked at Junmyeon. He was sitting on one of the two beds, his hand clutching the blanket that had been lying on it ever since they had entered the room.

"He's not too observing, is he, Hyung?" he asked with a nervous chuckle.

Junmyeon raised his eyebrows. "He was able to hear the stream nearby accelerating its flow just a few seconds after I had noticed it."

"What stream are you talking about?" Sehun raised his head in confusion. Junmyeon chuckled, but turned serious again soon.

"Maybe he has some kind of power that makes him hear better," he mused. "Or maybe..."

He didn't continue. He remembered how rude the boy had seemed for not even looking at them when they were talking. How could someone this rude and confident walk as if he feared to fall every other second? And he hadn't seen the blankets...

"Maybe he's blind," Junmyeon stated hesitantly. Sehun, who had laid down on his bed in the meanwhile, shot up again.

"He's what?"

"Blind, you know, that's when someone can't see." Junmyeon grew annoyed. Sehun huffed.

"Don't treat me like a child, I know what it means to be blind. But he's all alone out here, how could he have survived on his own? And earlier, he didn't seem like he couldn't see to me."

"Maybe he doesn't live alone?" Junmyeon guessed. "And what if he does have a power that helps him?"

"But, even if he had something like that, how does he survive? What does he do if the Red Force comes here?"

"I didn't live alone." The two boys shot up at the sight of Luhan standing in the door frame, a small tray with food in his hands. "And the Red Force did come here a few days ago."

At this, Junmyeon felt his anger rise again. "Why didn't you tell us? Will they come back? Why didn't they take you with them?"

Blind or not, the boy's glare made Junmyeon shiver. No one said anything for a while. Then, with a sigh that sounded more like that of an injured animal than that of a boy who had been staring them into the ground just seconds ago, Luhan slid down until he sat on the ground, leaning against the wall a few steps away from them. He pushed the tray towards Sehun, who quickly stood, picked it up and sat on Junmyeon's bed with the food between them. They thanked him and started wolfing it down while Luhan started talking.

"Let's do it like this. You promised me to tell you how you got your powers. Do that and I will tell you what happened."

Junmyeon reluctantly looked at Sehun. The younger boy just shrugged while happily munching on a piece of bread. Now that they were already here, they could just as well exchange their stories and maybe find something out about their powers.

He sat up straight, while Sehun was still eating, and started telling Luhan their story.