“Zitao?”

“Tao, can you hear us?”

Tao’s eyelids slowly opened, and Luhan, Xiumin and Kris looked at each other. “Tao?” Xiumin called softly. “Can you hear hyung?”

Tao groaned and nodded slightly before fully opening his eyes, but closing it back again so he could adjust to the bright lights surrounding him.

It took him a few minutes to finally take a good look around him. He smiled slightly upon seeing the three eldest hyungs who were looking at him with concern. “Hey, how are you? You’ve been asleep for almost a week now.” Kris spoke.

Tao lifted his head and tried to sit up but felt a headache starting to form. “F-fine,” He answered, almost inaudible. He sighed and lied back down, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds before bringing his hand up to touch his neck.

His eyes widened when he didn’t feel anything—both inside and out. No pain, no sting, no scar, no blood. “Did..?”

Xiumin nodded. “He insisted on healing you completely. And we understand him. We would’ve done the same too.”

Tao frowned. “How is he?”

Luhan looked at Kris who nodded, before looking back to Tao. “Well.. He lost consciousness. He might sleep for a few more days but other than that, he’s fine.”

Tao sighed with guilt. “He shouldn’t have. He knows how much energy it takes him to heal something. I mean, he could’ve just healed the wound inside, I wouldn’t mind if I had a scar or—“

“Shh,” Luhan hushed, squeezing the younger’s hand. “It’s not your fault. And like Xiumin said, we would’ve done the same. He’s going to be okay.”

Tao nodded but still felt bad. He then looked at Xiumin. “Where’s Chanyeol hyung?” Xiumin and Kris looked at each other, and Tao did not like the look on both their faces. “What?”

“He—well, he threw a fit and almost burned the house down.”

“Yeah, you should’ve seen Suho’s face while he worked on all those—“

“—anyway,” Xiumin glared at Luhan slightly for saying something that wasn’t  so important, “Jongin tackled him and teleported him somewhere.”

Tao blinked. “..and that somewhere is..?”

Xiumin shrugged. “We don’t really know. Jongin doesn’t know too. He didn’t even pick the place. It was like.. something pulled them there. And he just teleported back home before anything bad happens to him.”

“Zitao,” Kris called. Tao looked up and saw him leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. “You said you saw Taecyeon?”

Tao thought for a while.

“Yes,” Tao nodded. “He was with some other people. I-I think Nickhun was also there, because I remember hearing someone speak Korean with an accent, I’m just not sure about the others.”

Tao really didn’t care about honorifics when talking about them. He hated them. They were like these evil people who are so hungry and desperate for power, so they hurt others and manipulate them—Tao looked up with wide eyes.

“THEY’RE MANIPULATING HIM.”

Kris looked up for the first time. “By ‘him’, did you mean—“

Tao nodded, not even letting him finish. “Yes, they’re manipulating Chanyeol hyung. They were there when Chanyeol hyung was starting to feel angry, when hatred started to form inside him. T-they invited him somewhere and—“

Kris straightened up and headed for the door.

“Hey, where are you going?” Xiumin followed, leaving Luhan and Tao alone.

“Luhan hyung, I-I’m scared. What if—“

“They’re going to use Chanyeol against us.” Kris said as he headed straight into his room.

“What do you mean?” Xiumin asked as he followed Kris. “How are they going to use Chanyeol against us?”

“Taecyeon,” Kris opened a few drawers as if looking for something. “They were once as powerful as us. I read about it somewhere. But due to their greed, they used their powers for selfish reasons and they lost everything. They’re not as strong as they used to be.” He brought out a book and started flipping through the pages.

“And so why do they need Chanyeol?”

“They need someone from one of us. They need to manipulate someone, just like what Zitao said, so they can get through us—“ Kris’ eyes widened as he stopped on one page of the book. “The person whom they’re claiming to be the ‘most powerful’ one is weak, really weak. He’s pretty much useless unless someone powerful enough heals him or whatever.” Kris put down the book and stood there in deep thought.

“But then how can Chanyeol be so ‘useful’ to them?” Xiumin asked, slightly confused. “I mean, if they need someone who can heal, then they need Yixing, right?”

“Because they can’t get to Yixing,” Kris answered, although he’s also kind of asking himself. “Yixing almost never goes out the house.”

“I still don’t get it,” Xiumin sighed in defeat. “Why are they keeping Chanyeol with them, though?”

Kris’ eyes brightened, as if he answered one question. “Because they can use him—his powers. Fire is a pretty strong element, and you know that. Plus Chanyeol hates me; they’re using his hatred against us.”

“So they’re keeping Chanyeol with them, but you think they need Yixing?” Xiumin looked up, trying to put the pieces together. “Then if that’s the case.. Chanyeol’s probably coming back here—“

“—to get Yixing.” Kris finished.

Both their eyes widened. “Who last checked on Yixing?”

“I checked how he was two days ago,” Kris answered and ran out his room. Xiumin followed behind, thinking if anyone else had checked on Yixing. He was with Tao most of the time, so he didn’t really know.

He found Kris standing inside of Yixing’s bedroom with wide eyes.

“What?” Xiumin asked, pushing Kris aside, only to find Yixing’s bed empty. “Yixing-ah!” Xiumin called out, running towards the bathroom to look for him.

Kris stood there, unable to move, when Xiumin emerged from the bathroom with a worried expression. “He’s not here.”