The next morning I was too tired to move. Lay had to pinch my arm during breakfast every three minutes to keep me from falling face first onto my plate in exhaustion. It was enough that we were out late, but when we finally did return to Keunjib I had trouble falling asleep. My mind kept working over all we’d discovered, and the voices of Anonymous wouldn’t leave my head.

“How do you feel?” I asked Phoebe on our way out to practice.

“Tired, but I really think we need to tell Kris what we saw. They could attack at any minute,” she looked around nervously.

“We can’t!”

“Luhan, he already knows we were out without supervision. Telling him can’t make it any worse.”

“I feel like a two year old being told what not to do,” I pouted and crossed my arms.

“Well you look like one,” Phoebe smirked.

“Hey!” I went to give her a playful shove, but before I knew it my hand was twisted behind my back. “Ow, Phoebe!”

“I’m getting good, huh?” she laughed, releasing me from her painful grip.

“Yeah, maybe too good,” I sighed, rubbing my sore wrist.

“You have to toughen up!”

“Says the girl who’s afraid of the dark,” I stuck my tongue out at her.

“It's scary…” she looked at me innocently and I couldn’t help but feel bad for teasing, even if it was just playing. She had that strange control over me, and I felt I could never hurt her, no matter what the reason.

When we got there, Kris and Suho had us all stand in a line facing them.

“What is it we always say about going out at night?” Kris asked the group once we’d settled.

“Not to do it?” Baekhyun spoke up.

“Exactly,” Kris nodded. “Will our two night owls please step forward?”

Everyone began looking around, unsure of what Kris meant. I glanced at Phoebe who gave me a look of concern. We stepped out at the same time. Sehun seemed utterly shocked, probably because he hadn’t even heard me leave last night.

“The first part of your punishment is simple; tell us what you were doing last night,” Kris eyed the two of us.

“Well, we were looking for something,” Phoebe started.

“Interesting,” the leader nodded. “Looking for what?”

“A cave-,”

“Phoebe!” I gave her a warning look, but it was already too late.

“Look,” Phoebe said, looking directly at Kris (which was rare for her). “We went to explore in a cave near the giant mushroom rocks because a little while ago Luhan saw something in there. There were some really weird drawings on the walls and…”

She stopped and when I looked at Kris I realized why. He had turned ghost white.

“Are you okay?” she asked cautiously.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kris replied, snapping out of it, though still looking a little uneasy. “Keep going.”

I continued on for Phoebe, wanting to make sure I was equally punished. “We went deeper into the cave and finally found the object we were looking for. It… it’s a ship. An Anonymous ship.”

Everyone began talking in panic until Kris shushed them. He was looking more and more nervous by the minute. Suho looked worried, but his worry was similar to the rest of the groups’. They seemed to be in total shock while Kris looked guilty if anything.

“Are you sure?” Kris asked, trying to mask his nervousness.

“Positive,” I nodded.

“We saw them,” Phoebe finally said, causing everyone to start freaking out again.

“What do you mean you saw them?!” Kris’s eyes were as big as saucers.

“When we were leaving the cave they were coming in. Phoebe and I were able to hide before they found us. There were three of them and they just walked straight on by. They were speaking in some foreign language. I managed to get this before we left,” I pulled the rubbing of the symbols out of my pocket and handed it to Kris. “Do you know what it says?”

Kris shook his head while searching for words. When Suho tried to peak over his shoulder to see the note, Kris pulled it down to his side quickly.

“Can’t I see it?” Suho asked in annoyance. “I am a leader too!”

“No,” Kris snapped.

Suho looked so angry that I thought he was going to Kris into a never ending whirlpool. However, he simply took a long deep breath and looked Kris straight in the eye. “We are a team. Whatever you know, I deserve to know, along with everybody else.”

“I don’t know anything,” Kris began walking away, but Kai popped up in front of him, forcing him back toward us.

“Tell us hyung,” Kai demanded.

Kris stuttered for a moment, then gained control of himself. “Look, the only reason I didn’t tell you guys was because I didn’t want to create a panic. They said they were only staying for a while before starting out again, and if we didn’t tolerate them then they’d totally destroy the planet!”

“You talked to Anonymous?!” Suho shouted angrily, stomping straight up to Kris.

“I- they found me. When I was out there they-,”

“How long ago?!”

Kris looked like a child who had gotten caught stealing from the cookie jar. “My first contact with them was six months ago.”

“Six months,” Suho chuckled unenthusiastically. “You kept this dire information from us for six months?!” He grabbed Kris by the collar of his shirt, but Kris shoved him off.

“I did it for our own good! I thought they would leave, but when they didn’t, I finally put a plan into action. I showed you that note at least,” he held up the rubbing. “It got you guys ready without causing mass panic.”

“You didn’t even tell me!” Suho gave him a shove. “What happened to being a team?!”

“We are! I was doing it for the good of the team!"

“Enough with the good of the team stuff!” Suho finally snapped, tackling Kris who used his flying abilities to escape his grasp. However Suho’s water powers were no joke. A wall of water gathered quickly behind him, and he it toward Kris. Not having enough time to react, the flier got drenched and crashed to the ground coughing.

“From now on I’m my own leader, no little buddy system,” Suho turned to the rest of us. “I’m getting out of here and running things my way. Who’s with me?!”

By this time Phoebe and I had backed up to where the others stood, for fear of getting caught up in the fight. However it looked as if there was no way out.

“I’ll go with you,” Kai stepped out rebelliously.

“Kai,” Kris stared at him in shock. “I was only doing what I thought was right. Can’t you understand that?”

“No hyung, I can’t,” he answered straightly.

“Anyone else?” Suho offered.

D.O. stepped forward.

“D.O.,” Kris looked at him in desperation, which only grew worse when Chanyeol and Baekhyun stepped up as well. “Guys, please! You have to believe me! As a leader I thought it was best for our team!”

I took a good look at everybody else’s expressions. Chen looked as if he wanted to go, but he refrained. What caught my eye was Baekhyun. He was motioning for someone to join them. When I followed his line of sight to Sehun, who looked ready to go, my heart stopped. Sehun couldn’t go by himself; he needed me. But, I wasn’t just going to leave Kris. I could see how he thought he was doing the right thing. He didn’t deserve the others’ treatment. Sehun finally stepped forward and joined Baekhyun and I felt like I was being torn.

I can’t turn on my own leader, but Sehun is my brother. If anything happened to him I would forever blame myself for not being there to protect him.

“Luhan, come on,” he motioned me over to join him, obviously confused why I wasn’t there already.

I glanced over at Lay who seemed determined to stay. When my eyes met Phoebe she gave me a sorrowful look. It was obvious that she was on Kris’s side, but she knew how much I loved my brother.

“I can’t Sehun,” I stared at the ground, unable to make eye contact with him.

“But Luhan, Kris lied to us. We’ll be better off with Suho as our leader,” Sehun pleaded. 

“Your brother’s right,” Suho gave me a hard look.

I stood there weighing my options, feeling utterly torn. My brother needed me. Umma would kill me if I left him, but Kris didn’t deserve this. With a final glance to Phoebe I made my decision.

“I’m sorry Sehun,” I joined the group that had formed by Kris’s side which consisted of Lay, Xiu Min, Chen, Tao and Phoebe.

My little brother stared at me with hurt eyes. “You said you would never leave me!”

I was about to reply, but Kai cut me off by putting an arm around Sehun’s shoulders. “Come on; you’re better off with us anyway.”

“We’ll be gone by midday,” Suho confirmed. “The rest of you are welcome to join if you change your mind within that time.”

As the group walked off to gather their things at Keunjib Sehun kept looking back at me. I could tell he was crying, but what I didn’t understand was why he couldn’t just forgive Kris. Everyone makes mistakes. Seeing him leave was tearing my heart out.

“Are you okay?” Tao asked Kris who seemed dazed.

“I- I’m fine,” he whispered. “But do you realize what this means?”

“No water?” Chen tried.

“I’ve got that covered,” Xiu Min said, forming a ball of ice in his hands. “We’ll just have to melt it.”

“No,” Kris shook his head while his eyes chased after the six figures fading in the distance. “Our army is cut in half. If Anonymous attacks now, we’re dead for sure.”