"Hey, Kris!"

Yifan turned around and was met with the smiling face of his best friend, signalling for him to come over. He shrugged and walked towards the other boy, who was impatiently waiting for him.

"I found something, follow me!" Jinho whispered breathlessly, blushing in anticipation. Yifan rolled his eyes.

"If it's another 'abandoned' bear cave, I decline, thank you."

Jinho violently shook his head and tugged at Yifan's arm. "Just trust me, it's worth it!"

He dashed off without another word, leaving a dumbfounded Yifan behind. However, his curiosity won and he followed Jinho through half of their village to an abandoned house. Yifan hesitated.

He knew this house. Only from the outside, as, until a few months ago, a father with his daughter had lived here. They had done nothing wrong, still, the last Red Force Patrol had arrested both of them, claiming they were conspiring against the authorities. No one had ever heard of them again.

Yifan scoffed. The Red Force had always been the thing that came closest to a 'government'... If you could call abducting and torturing people to make sure the rest of the population behaved governing. The Red Force had weapons, the people didn't. The Red Force had the right to do anything they wanted; the people didn't have any at all. As easy as that. However, this had been the first time they had called themselves the 'authorities' and arrested innocent people openly.

They were becoming bolder and crueler with every single day and no one was able to stop them. It was only legends and myths the people trusted to be able to save them now. But Yifan didn't believe in the stories everyone told each other at the fireplace. He was searching for a way to stop them... and was failing ridiculously.

"You coming now, or what?" Jinho asked impatiently. He was standing in the door and looked at him, cocking an eyebrow and tapping his foot.

Wordlessly, Yifan nodded and made his way into the house, staying closely behind Jinho. He knew his older friend loved to sneak away and try to frighten him. It had never worked, but he was still trying nonetheless.

Jinho led him through the dusty house, up to the attic. He pushed up the lid of the trap door and vanished. Yifan struggled to fit his broad shoulders through the small door, but with the help of his friend, he made it and laid down on the floor, exhaling with relief.

"So," Yifan mused, eyes wandering around the attic, "what are we here fo-" He stocked. At the far back of the attic, there was a window. It wasn't just a small window, though. The house was built right at the end of the village, making it possible to see what happened miles away from the window that was taking over most of the backside of the roof.

Yifan walked towards the back, resisting the urge to rub his eyes, and laid his hands on the glass. It was dirty to the point where you could only see through a few tiny openings, but it was the most beautiful thing Yifan had ever seen. They would be able to see the Red Force advancing far earlier than before, giving them the time to prepare themselves.

"And have a look at this!" Jinho requested, pointing at a box right next to him. Every sign of boredom gone, Yifan opened the box. Inside was a pair of binoculars, together with a long gun, a stack of paper and a knife. He could only stare at the things he saw before him, not quite able to understand. Binoculars were really rare; he hadn't seen many and not many people possessed them. He had seen kitchen knives, of course, but this one had undoubtedly been made for another purpose. And the gun. The Red Force obviously hadn’t searched the whole house when they had arrested its owner. Possessing weapons like those was strictly forbidden and they made sure everyone obeyed this rule.

Jinho eyed him with curiosity as Yifan stretched out his hand and reached for the gun. He didn't take it, though. He just travelled along the cold metal with his fingers, still unable to believe his own eyes. Slowly, he turned around to Jinho, who was just standing there, hands in his pockets.

"How did you find this?" he asked incredulously, trying to prevent his hands from shaking. Jinho shrugged.

"I was wondering whether I could find a clue, you know... why they took that old man and his daughter. I guess he was a member of a resistance or something."

There had always been people who wanted to rebel against the Red Force and tried to form alliances, but the regime always made sure the communication between the villages was observed. They weren't able to form one single resistance, but had to fight in their small groups, which made it really easy to defeat them.

"This is perfect! Look at this, Jinho!" Yifan excitedly gestured to the window. "We can see them coming, we can fight them..."

"-and we can be extinguished completely." Jinho interrupted, making Yifan close his mouth. "Look, you defeat a patrol, they come back with an army. What good will it be?"

"By the time they understand what happened and send an army, we will have already contacted a few other villages to help us! We can't always live like this, Jinho, you know that!"

His friend just sighed. His eyes kept observing Yifan, as if he were waiting for something else.

"Look," Jinho began, "you know I support you as much as I can, but you can't just lead us into a resistance fight against the Red Force. Most of us just want to live quietly and do their best not to be noticed. You might not even be able to convince your own village to fight, let alone others."

Yifan knew Jinho was right, but he was so energized from this discovery, so determined to do at least something against their helplessness. He felt waves of frustration and anger crushing over him, taking him with them and whirling him around, making him a puppet in their game. There was no feeling he hated more in this life, and he was not ready to give in. Never.

"And you suggest to do what?" asked Yifan, trying to get a hold of his anger, his inner thoughts unwillingly escaping for a second. "Surrender to your friends and beg them for mercy?"

Jinho looked at him, his eyes full with shock. "Friends? Come on, just because I don't want you to die-"

"-I saw you," Yifan said coldly, making his friend freeze. "You met up with this guy in red and white clothes. It was night and I was taking a walk because I couldn't sleep, I don't think anyone else saw you. What is your business with the Red Force, Jinho?"

His fists balled, he was waiting for an answer from his friend, who just stood there, completely surprised by the turn of events.

"I told you I was curious about the guy who lived here and his resistance-"

"- and you let a Red Force member tell you?" Yifan was nearly shouting now, not accepting ridiculous excuses. "Did you truly ask about him or did you just receive your payment for betraying him? If it's true he was in the resistance, who told on him?"

"We can't win against them!" Jinho had raised his voice as well. "If I hadn't done that, they would have burned down the whole village as soon as they found out!" He made a few quick steps and stood directly in front of Yifan, having to look up a bit.
"It was either him or us," he mumbled, grabbing onto Yifan’s arm, looking him in the eye with a glare he had never seen before. "This guy was arrested, along with his daughter, in a house with a weapon like this, being able to see them coming from afar, and he didn't oppose. He knew he didn't stand a chance."

Yifan could no longer hold himself back. He punched Jinho, right on the nose. The boy stumbled backwards, but was able to regain his composure. He smiled.

"What are you smiling at?" Yifan snapped. He couldn't believe it. He had just punched his best friend, the guy he had known since forever, and the guy... smiled.

"That was a good one, Kris," he taunted, his nickname for Yifan sounding like an insult right now. "Why don't you join us? We could use a determined fighter like you, that's what I've been telling them since I met you."

Yifan felt as if someone had hit him with the gun in the box. "You... what?"

"They aren't as bad as you think, you know? Their main focus lies on research, they don't care about the people that much. You can come with me and they will put you in charge of taking care of the people. How's that sound?"

"Taking care... in which kind of way?" Yifan asked, his voice trembling. "Arresting people for speaking their minds? Torturing them for trying to fight an organisation I hate myself?" Jinho chuckled.

"You're special, Kris. As soon as your beloved people find out, they will hate you, call you a monster and turn their backs on you. Every single person you know would sell you to the Red Force to save themselves. If I were you, I wouldn't make both sides my enemy."

"You-" Yifan grabbed him by the collar, not even noticing he was slowly lifting the whole boy who started grinning.

"Finally."

Wondering what he was looking at, Yifan looked down his body. That was when he noticed the huge, brown, scaled wings in the corner of his eye. Terrified, he let go of Jinho, tumbling back. But wherever he turned, the wings stayed on his back, moving without his influence.

Jinho laughed at Yifan’s shocked face.

"Don't worry about it," he said, still laughing, "we can cure you of this as well."

Yifan didn't know what ultimately made him do it. Maybe it was the betrayal of his best friend he got so angry about, or maybe it was the mental picture of the Red Force examining him, a tortured, insane body chained to an operating table.

He grabbed Jinho for a second time, this time hauling him against the walls of the attic, hoping the impact might knock some sense into him and give him back his best friend.

He watched in terror as the wall crumbled into pieces due to the amount of force behind his movement. He heard Jinho scream in terror as he was falling.

Without hesitation, Yifan rushed forward and jumped off the house, right through the hole he had just caused. He tried to make his wings carry him to Jinho, who was screaming in terror, but his wings didn't listen to him.

Yifan closed his eyes, and then, right before they hit the ground, time seemed to stop.