They didn’t hear from Minister Ju during the next days. Instead, Yifan received dozens of other calls daily, usually other politicians asking to cooperate with them. He usually shut them down saying “I haven’t learned too much about politics yet, but is it possible that there is going to be an election soon?”

He had actually looked it up and confirmed his suspicion after the third call, but Junmyeon suspected that he enjoyed the awkward silence that followed every time. Yifan also liked listing what other people had offered so far because the callers would always make an effort to vie for their cooperation.

Some guessed correctly that they weren’t interested in cooperation and did their best to scare him away from these thoughts. They needed someone to ‘guide’ them after all, someone to ‘protect’ them and show them how politics worked since they had ‘so much potential to change the world for the better’.

Junmyeon knew they had that potential, and Yifan knew it as well. But having seen what the thoughts of people in power were like, they had decided not to interfere in politics whenever they could avoid it.

They didn’t feel bad for turning every single offer down, but the way the calls just didn’t stop coming in made them worry. No one had complained publicly about being rejected so far, as the callers were probably thinking it would be seen as a defeat against the people the boys would actually end up working with. But as soon as they realized that every offer had been turned down, the atmosphere would change. They would be seen as uncooperative, arrogant or selfish if they didn’t use their powers for ‘a good cause.’

These worries were turning bigger and bigger and Junmyeon met with Namjoon, Yifan, Minseok and Luhan at least once per day to discuss what they could do. It was a good thing Yifan had learned so much about politics while trying to establish ties to important people outside of the test area.

“We have actually been receiving calls from organizations as well,” said Yifan one day. “Some of them have strong ties to politicians, like Chronos did, but there are a few that are completely independent.”

Namjoon didn’t look too hopeful. “The power of Chronos caused other environmental organizations to lose a lot of their influence. Wouldn’t we completely lose everyone’s attention if we did that?”

“I actually think it’s quite the contrary,” Yifan explained. “We’ve been receiving so much attention that whichever party we work with will basically become famous overnight. Why do you think we’re getting so many offers?”

Junmyeon frowned at his implication. “Do we want to cooperate with someone who wants to gain fame through us?”

Yifan shook his head. “It depends on what you want to use this attention for. I did some research on this and quite a few of these organizations have genuine goals, they just aren’t heard by the people.” After a short pause, he continued: “In this aspect, they need us more than any politicians do. So even though they won’t be able to make big promises in the beginning, they will do everything to give us the conditions we want. We might be a lot freer in our decisions than with any politician.”

They considered his idea for a while. Luhan chuckled. “All the politicians would hate us, but they wouldn’t be able to say anything if the people like it.”

It wouldn’t be easy, but Junmyeon had started liking the idea as well. They continued talking about their possibilities for a while. Yifan promised to search for fitting partners right away and left the room, already lifting his phone to his ear.

Namjoon and Minseok shared a look. “I suppose this meeting has ended,” said Namjoon and stood up while stretching his arms.

Minseok copied his action and smiled at Junmyeon and Luhan. “See you tomorrow.”

Luhan took his feet from the table and stood up as well. “Let’s wait for Yifan’s results before discussing this further.” He held out his hand.

Junmyeon smiled, stood up and took his boyfriend’s hand. “Why do I feel like you’re making more progress with your powers than you want to admit? Aren’t you just looking for an excuse to hold my hand?”

Luhan didn’t seem to mind being caught and smiled triumphantly instead. “Let go then.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

Luhan snorted and pulled him towards the door, perfectly avoiding the chair Namjoon hadn’t pushed back.

It was weird how fast Luhan had returned to his old self after coming back from the hospital. If anything, he seemed happier and more carefree than before. And while his smiles before, if he had smiled, had always been sarcastic, they were genuine now. It was great to see him like this, but Junmyeon was still worried. Chronos had used the same methods against him as the Red Force had and while Luhan had seemed the least troubled by nightmares or panic attacks of them all before, it was impossible that going through this twice hadn’t left any scars at all. He was afraid of bringing it up because, if Luhan was just distracting himself from these thoughts, asking about it would make it worse.

When they arrived in their room, Luhan sat on the bed with his legs crossed. He didn’t say a word until Junmyeon had sat down next to him. “Ask.”

“Ask what?”

“What you’re worried about.” When Junmyeon didn’t react, Luhan sighed. “I can imagine what kind of questions you have and I promise I won’t get flashbacks.”

“What exactly did the Tree show you?” This question felt a little ridiculous, seeing how often he had asked Luhan that already, but if he got no answer today, he would never get it.

“I thought you had already guessed that.” Luhan raised an eyebrow. “First of all, it showed me people arguing about us and Namjoon and his guys. At the beginning, I naturally thought they were people inside the test area, which is why I warned you about getting closer to them, but it turns out they were from outside.” He smirked. “We’ve already discussed that topic.”

They had truly talked about the people’s opinions often enough, but it felt good to finally know what that discussion had been about back then. He remembered how Luhan had told him to be careful with befriending these guys and how Junmyeon hadn’t listened to him. He had made the right decision.

“Afterwards, the Tree asked how far I would go to… to defeat the Red Force.” Luhan hesitated. “It told me that there was only one chance for us to win. That I would know what to do when the time came.” He shrugged, but his voice had become vulnerable. “It was quite clear what that meant back then.”

Junmyeon wanted to take Luhan’s hand again, but he didn’t know how to comfort him. “And you didn’t tell anyone because we would have tried to find another way and would have been captured by them again.” Junmyeon nearly laughed at the irony. “And you didn’t die but were captured by Chronos instead.”

“I know I made you worry before that day in the City and caused you much more pain afterwards.” Luhan’s hands were gripping the bedsheets so tightly that his knuckles were white. “I’m sorry.”

Junmyeon finally took Luhan’s hands into his. “That wasn’t your fault. You saved all of our lives and many more by defeating the Red Force.” But then he remembered something else he had wanted to ask. “Is that why you were being so weird in that last village?”

Luhan was struggling for the right words. “That… seemed like my last chance to tell you how I felt. But if you had returned my feelings it would have been much harder to let me go afterwards. And I naturally couldn’t tell you what the Tree had shown me, so I was frustrated and…” And scared. Luhan didn’t finish his sentence, but his expression gave him away. His jaw was clenched. “Then of course I changed my mind when I thought I was dying.” His tense expression relaxed a little. “I wasn’t scared in that moment; I was actually quite proud of myself. I thought if I wasn’t able to tell you anything else you at least deserved the truth about this.”

Even though his last words sounded a little more like his usual self, he still looked a little vulnerable and lost. Junmyeon didn’t know what to say, knowing how back then nothing anyone had told him had helped either. And Luhan had been through so much more.

He let go of Luhan’s hand, moved a little backwards on the bed and hugged him from behind, resting his chin on his boyfriend’s shoulder. Luhan let out a deep breath and relaxed a little. “It seems like that was a good choice,” he said, humour back in his voice. “If I hadn’t done that, we would still be secretly pining for each other.”

Junmyeon chuckled. “You completely confused me in that village. When we left, I had a conversation with Minseok and he noticed I was worried because both of us are guys. He laughed at me.”

Luhan snorted and Junmyeon remembered something else. “Did you know about the story of that woman’s daughter? Was that why you wanted to sleep in that house?”

His boyfriend nodded. “It turns out that was a good idea, seeing how you had no idea that guys can like guys.”

Junmyeon backed off a little to push him. Luhan laughed at Junmyeon’s embarrassment.

“I sure hope I didn’t interrupt anything important.”

Junmyeon flinched at the intruder’s voice until he noticed that it belonged to Jongin. He turned around to glare at the teleporter.

“If you teleport into this room ever again,” growled Luhan, “you will leave it through the window.”

Jongin raised his hands in defence. “I’m sorry.” He turned serious. “But Yifan has important news. He said he found a solution and has already scheduled a press conference with the help of Minister Ju.”

“Press conference?” It looked like Yifan had not only found a way to make their idea possible, he had also made sure everyone would hear about it.

“Tomorrow, I think. He’s waiting downstairs to tell all of us about his idea.”

He disappeared again and Junmyeon stood up. “Let’s go.”

Luhan sighed but got up as well.

It had turned out that Yifan really had scheduled the conference for the following day already, so they hadn’t had much time to prepare. They had gone through the things they wanted to say several times and Minister Ju had told them about the type of questions they would have to deal with. They had also all taken pills to stay calm in a room with so many people and with cameras pointed at them. Junmyeon was still nervous, but the familiar feeling of panic didn’t show up and he was once again amazed at modern medicine.

They had decided that everyone would come along, even though Junmyeon would do most of the talking. Now Namjoon and Yifan were standing to his left and Luhan and Minseok to his right in case they needed to step in. There was a number of microphones in front of them. Across from them, there were about 150 reporters with microphones and there were cameras all over the room. Minister Ju had organized for the conference to be broadcast live on the internet. This way it wouldn’t be possible for the reporters to cite them incorrectly or twist the meaning of their words.

Junmyeon took a deep breath and for a second there was a light pressure of a hand on his back. He couldn’t hide a little smile while stepping up to the microphone. There were flashes of cameras whenever he moved and he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

“First of all, I would like to say thank you to everyone who came here today.” As if they hadn’t dropped everything to attend a conference that was scheduled for the next day already. “As you all must be very busy, I will directly come to the point.” In fact, he himself just wanted this to be over as soon as possible, but according to Yifan it would sound nicer if he said it like this. “There have been a lot of rumours regarding who we are going to work with. It is true that we have been receiving a lot of calls and offers ever since the truth about our powers was released.” He paused for a moment. “The truth is, all of us have seen people in power abuse said privileges more than once. I am sure that this does not only apply to Chronos and the Red Force, so you all understand what I mean.”

A confused whisper went through the rows. This wasn’t what they had expected. “We have decided that we are not going to work under any politicians or organizations that are closely tied to politics.” The flashes went off faster and Junmyeon could only guess how scandalous his next words had to be. “Organizations like Chronos have shown us how easily people can be corrupted by wealth and power, even if their initial goals were in the interest of the people. We will not let anyone make use of our powers again. We have instead decided that joining hands with purely environmental organizations is the only way for the people to gain a realistic chance at battling climate change.”

There were even more surprised faces now. They had probably thought he would try to avoid mentioning the topic itself today. “I know that you have been told that we have missed the chance to slow climate change down. I am here to tell you that we have a second chance.” A few people started whispering. “As you have all heard, me and my friends received our powers from a tree that is known as the Tree of Life. This tree can be seen as the protector of the world as well as its source of power. It has been trying to fight climate change ever since it started, and has even spread seedlings all over the world in order to increase its influence. While it has not been able to stop climate change completely, understanding its intentions and helping it is our only chance to battle this development. Following its guidelines will be difficult, but I believe that the effects of climate change that we have already experienced and the realistic prospect of change can motivate everyone to contribute to this goal. Me and my friends will do everything in our power to enable communication between the Tree and the people of this world. If we all work together towards this goal, the Tree can use its power to heal the world. Thank you.”

When he stepped back, there was a short, shocked silence. And then hell broke loose. Over a hundred people started talking simultaneously, asking questions and drowning out each other’s voices.

There were quite a few questions regarding the Tree of Life and the way they would implement their plans and he left it to Yifan to answer them. He had spent a lot of time talking to Luhan about this topic before this conference, since Luhan hadn’t been too eager to talk about the Tree in front of that many people. Most reporters were interested in their plans, others still seemed sceptical. But then there was a reporter who had a question for him specifically and Junmyeon had to return to the microphone.

“Who is going to be in charge of leading this project? As I understand it, you are the leader of this group. But since your decisions led to you being captured by the Red Force back then, shouldn’t you have taken responsibility? Can you lead a project this important with a good conscience?”

Ju had prepared them for rude and provocative questions, but Junmyeon’s jaw dropped at this one. Luhan made a step forward but he managed to answer before his boyfriend could say anything.

“I believe there are several misunderstandings here.” He forced himself to smile and not to imagine what being asked this question would have done to him a few months ago. “I was elected as a leader by the people you can see here in front of you.” He turned around to see that the others were equally baffled by the question as he was. “If they had been unhappy with me at any time, they would have told me so. I would also like to stress that the fact that we were captured by the Red Force, tortured and turned into human laboratory rats” he noted with pleasure that the guy who had asked the question had turned as white as a sheet, “was not my or any of our faults but the result of the reign of the Red Force. They interrogated, tortured and experimented on people like us. If we hadn’t gone to the City back then, they would have captured us sooner or later anyways. And to answer your first question,” he added, again with a fake smile, “you must know very well that I am not the only leader in this group.” He turned around again and Namjoon gave him a dimpled smile. “We are going to organize this project together and everyone has always been able to voice their dissatisfaction so far, if they had any, so there should not be any problems.”

While his job as a leader would be a little different than in Chronos’ test area, he had gotten used to it and it would still be necessary for them to make decisions in this situation. He had talked to the others about it and they had been adamant to leave this constellation as it was.

It seemed like he had been able to make the guy shut up. “If there are no other questions-”

Another reporter raised his hand and Junmyeon had to suppress a groan. Well, at least this question couldn’t be much ruder than the one before.

He was wrong.

“Are you planning on issuing a public apology regarding your dating scandal?”

Junmyeon facepalmed in front of 150 reporters and a live camera.

“Wha-” he was at a complete loss for words. “What exactly do you want me to apologize for?”

“You caused quite the uproar online, some people even got into physical fights regarding different viewpoints of this news. How are you going to take responsibility?”

His jaw dropped.

He was completely speechless, but the reporter didn’t seem to find anything wrong with his question and was still waiting for an answer.

Then someone stepped next to him. Luhan put his arm around Junmyeon’s waist and this time, he was too distracted by his boyfriend to notice the flashes of the cameras.

“Taking responsibility is actually a good point,” said his boyfriend into the microphone with a smile that was so angelic Junmyeon nearly would have feared for the reporter. Nearly. “While it seems like we can’t object to people filming us in public, pictures and videos of us taken in private places will be traced back to their owner and we will take legal action accordingly. I believe a certain amount of privacy should be granted for every human being. You can be assured that there will be consequences should that not be the case. It’s not like anyone would want for their whole life to be dragged into public.” His smile widened. “Imagine, for example, if I told everyone here how you and your former boss-”

The reporter jumped up. “Wait! That’s not- How do you know about this?”

Luhan’s smile had lost everything of its angelic appearance. “I really hope everyone will be able to mind their own business.”

The reporter sat down, as white as a sheet, and was silent.

Junmyeon could have kissed Luhan then and there. But one video of them kissing on the internet was enough.

‘Coward.’

‘I’ll show you how much of a coward I am when there are no cameras around.’

‘Oh? Are we going to get part two of Junmyeon lets his boyfriend order food because he’s too shy to do it himself?’

Junmyeon elbowed him and Luhan chuckled.