A lone figure walks with hurried steps, heading towards an olive green house. Looking at his face, nobody would guess that he’s just a boy, no older than eighteen. His face has a semi-permanent cold, hard look to it. Yet, as he yawns and rubs his eyes, his face transforms and his real age is slightly more believable.

He raps the door and spins in his place while he waits for someone to open it. A guy with dimples opens it with a surprised look on his face. “Hey Kai.”

“Lay hyung.” Kai bows a bit. “You’re here too? Perfect.” Without being asked, Kai steps inside and heads to the living room. Lay follows behind. Kai inviting himself in is nothing new, but Lay is perplexed to the reason why he’s here in the first place.

Kai sits himself down on the yellow-colored stool, his favorite piece of furniture in the Hwang household. He doesn’t come here often, but when he does, he never sits anywhere else. There’s something about that stool that draws Kai to it, but he can’t quite put his finger on it.

Kris who’s sitting in the sofa opposite to Kai raised his eyebrows when Kai walked in. “Hey Kai.”

“Hi Kris hyung. Hey, listen, can I go with you guys?” That’s Kai for you. Always cutting to the chase. His words are unminced and his actions are brash, but he’s as honest as honest comes.

Kris and Lay exchanged looks. “Are you sure?” Lay’s the first to talk.

Kai nods. “Yeah, I’ve been there before, so you know, I can show you guys around. “ He says with a smirk. When the other two didn’t react, he continues. “And you know, I’m partly responsible for what happened to Sehun, so I’d like the opportunity to make up for it.”

If Kai’s feeling guilty, he doesn’t show it. His face shows only a blank, matter-of-fact expression.

Kris and Lay exchanged looks again. Kai had tried to teleport back to EXOPlanet when returning from Earth a few years back. For some reason, his powers didn’t work as well as it normally would when he uses it here. They had made it back to EXOPlanet, but that was the last time Kai ever used his powers. Sehun’s powers are still working, but it got weaker.

They’d lost their memories on Earth, too.

“Listen, I know what’s going on through your head right now. I don’t blame you guys if you wanna blame me, but I know what went wrong. I had tried to use my powers. Well, THAT danger is out of the way, now, isn’t it? I can still help you guys though, I’ll do whatever it is that you guys tell me too. Just let me... Let me help Sehun.”

Lay nods. “Are you sure your power isn’t telepathy?” Lay says, trying to lighten the mood. Kai laughs his usual small laugh.

“I’ll help you guys remain focused. It won’t be like last time.”
                “Last time?” Kris asks, but Lay’s the one who answers him instead of Kai. “Yeah, because you know how you get when you’re really agitated, you lose focus. And we all know how bossy this kid, is, he’ll be like, ‘Get back to work, Kris, stop wailing like a girl!’ and you’ll be back in shape in no time.” Lay finishes his awkward speech with an awkward laugh. “Oh, there you are, Tao.”

Tao had entered from the main door and nods at Kai. He hesitates on whether or not to stay in the room, but decides against it and heads to his bedroom.

“So it’s decided, then? I’ll go with you guys? Okay, no turning back now!” Kai announces and Lay just nods in agreement. Kris hasn’t said a word and is still processing all the things Kai had said.

Lay shakes Kris a little. “Hey, we’ve talked about this, remember? We’re trying to decide if we need another one on board, and we mentioned your name. Twice.” Lay explains to Kai.

“Yeah, but this is all happening too fast.” Kris finally speaks.

“Well, yeah, we’re leaving in like, four days, Kris, we need to be fast.” Lay says.

Kris looks back and forth between Lay and Kai. Kai puts on an indifferent expression and asks, “So, what do you guys plan to do on your last days before leaving? You know, aside from packing and stuff.”

Lay considers. “I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it. I’m thinking about asking Suho to build me a machine to take care of my plants for me. And I need to stock up on medicines, too, and proper instructions for Kyungsoo to manage my pharmacy. What are you going to do?”

To Lay and Kris’s surprise, Kai blushes. “Well, actually, I’d like to use my powers. But, you know...”

That made Kris stops internally arguing with himself on whether bringing Kai is the best idea.

To use your powers... for the last time? Kris shakes his head. No, no, Chen had said it’ll be alright. If you can’t trust Chen, who else can you trust?

You can trust Kai. Kai’s way more straightforward than Chen is.

An awkward silence fills the room and Lay says suddenly, “Well, I’d like that too, but at the same time I’m kinda glad no one needs me to heal them right now.”

Kai laughs softly and gets up. “Well, that was easy. Truthfully, I’d spent the last couple of days practicing a speech inside my head in case you guys need persuading. I guess you don’t need to hear it. I’d better leave now, Tao hyung looks like he has something to say to you guys.” Kai jerks his head towards the hallways, where a Tao-shaped shadow can be seen slapping its forehead. Kai leaves the room and Tao high-fived him before bursting in.

“You’re bringing Kai? Why not me?”

Lay throws his hands up in the air. “I’d... better leave too. Suho... Plants... Bye.” He slips out as fast as he can.

Kris gets up slowly, facing Tao. “I thought you were against the idea of going to Earth.”

“I was, but if you’re gonna go anyway, so am I!”

“I can’t risk it, Tao. And anyway, Kai’s on board, and you know how Astral is only made to seat three people.”

“So you’d rather throw your own brother away? Well, this is no surprise.” Tao rolls his eyes. “And what risks are there that Lay and Kai and you can handle but not me?”

“You know you can’t leave. EXOPlanet needs you, more than they need me. My powers are slightly useless with the technology we have now, but yours isn’t.”

“Lay’s powers are much more needed here, ask HIM to stay.”

“Tao, he wants to go to Earth, you know how... Obsessed he is with it. He thinks he can find... his roots there. He doesn’t mind leaving. You can’t leave, you’re the remaining Hwang heir, you need to carry out our parents’ legacy here. ”

“Tell you what, you stay here and carry out our parents’ legacy and I’ll go to Earth and save Sehun.”

“Okay, now you’re just throwing ridiculous arguments. And this isn’t JUST about Sehun, either. It turns out that there’s actually a lot that need to be done. We need new resources, new information, we need to know what Earth has been like for the past years that we lost contact-“
                Tao cuts him off. “You want to know what Earth is like? Why would you bother? The people on Earth are selfish es, hyung! They put us here and they freak out and abandoned us when they’d know what we’ve became. They’d thrown us out here, they’d forgotten about us, hyung!” Tao has tears in his eyes.

“They don’t want us.”

His last sentence, almost a whisper, tugs at Kris’s heart with a pain that Kris hadn’t felt since his dad had died.

Kris says weakly, “WE need them though, Tao. We can’t survive without them.”

“Need them for what? We’re perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves. We’ve been doing okay all this time, why the sudden NEED for Earth people?”

Kris can’t answer that one. Chen and Suho had explained it to him earlier, how they need new resources and maybe some new technology, but it’s all technical. Kris knows the question Tao’s asking has nothing to do with technicalities, instead, everything to do with the betrayal all the EXOs experienced 17 years ago. Kris stands with his eyes out of focus, looking back on those years. He was just five, but he remembers the pain on their parents’ faces, on other parents’ faces.

Suddenly, a sharp pain comes upon his own face as a fist comes colliding with it. Kris is shocked. Tao never uses his martial arts skills unless he’s defending himself, he never attacks first. It’s against what his video tape master taught him; it’s against his own principles.  Their dad would be so mad if he sees this, but Kris just lets Tao take out his anger.

Tao sends his fist flying across Kris’s face again.  Look at him, he can’t even answer. It’s not true, we don’t need them.

Wedon’tneedthemwedon’tneedthemwedon’tneedthem. Tao repeats like a mantra in his head with every hit. Kris doesn’t respond; he just stares at the ground, letting his brother beat up the crap out of him. It is only when Kris begins sputtering blood, the only sign of pain that he can’t control, that Tao stops. He looks at his older brother with a disgusted expression and exits the house.

Kris collapses. We need them, he tries to reassure himself. His breathing is heavy. We need them because...because... Kris blacks out before he can come up with an answer that he can believe himself.

Having gotten rid of all the angst in his system and now panic with worry, Tao runs towards Lay’s. He barges in into the pharmacy and finds Lay there, talking to Suho. “Hey Lay, you have a chance to use your powers now.” Lay’s face darkens and without questions, he runs out of the pharmacy quickly. Suho, on the other hand, is still confused. “Tao, what happened?” He asks.

“I beat up Kris”, Tao announces, and falls to the floor, worn out mentally and physically.

-------------

Kyungsoo watches as his brother Chen explains something to Kai, Lay and Kris over their kimchi spaghetti. Kris and Lay are listening intently, while Kai looks like he’s trying not to fall asleep. Kyungsoo chuckles a bit and Kai notices. He looks up at Kyungsoo and does that thing with his eyes, where he blinks hard and smiles. Kyungsoo turns away from Kai so quickly that he almost drops the plate he’s holding.

Kai’s eye-hug.

Kyungsoo blinks back his surfacing tears while washing the plates, hoping that Kai or anybody else doesn’t come over to the sink. He remembers the first time Kai gave him the eye-hug.

During one of their football games, Kyungsoo had kicked a ball into their house window. Kai had said that he was the one who did it, not Kyungsoo, and he got away with a warning. Kyungsoo would have gotten grounded, but his parents go easy on Kai because he’s new to the family. It was while his, no, THEIR parents are deliberating on Kai’s punishment that Kai had looked into Kyungsoo’s huge, terrified eyes and blinked hard.

Like he’s squeezing you with his eyes when his arms can’t.

                Since then, Kyungsoo had gotten more comfortable around Kai, the strange new boy with a perpetual haughty expression. He balances out their little family very nicely. Their parents had once said that Chen is like tea; refined and good for the brain, Kyungsoo is cocoa; always soothing and homely while Kai is straight up coffee; raw and intense.

                Kyungsoo remembers his first time on the watch tower. His element is earth, and Kyungsoo’s theory is that the farther away he is from the ground, the weaker he gets. In truth, he’s just scared of heights. That first time on the weather tower, Chen had played a prank on him, along with Sehun. They told Kyungsoo that the weather will be fine like always, then come up with a lightning and wind storm while he’s up there. Kyungsoo, already scared out of his wits, had almost fainted when Kai teleported in.

               Kai grinned, held Kyungsoo’s hand and teleported him out of there into Lay’s house for some freshly-made donuts. When Kyungsoo’ shift is almost over, Kai teleported with him back into the tower. Chen and Sehun were laughing about it afterwards, those jerks.  Kyungsoo had acted like he was mad at them, but in actuality, he, Kai and Lay were laughing at them earlier, eating donuts while watching them suffer in their self-created storm.

                Since then Kai had always been with him on his shifts. They never teleport out anymore, since Chen checks up on Kyungsoo sometimes out of worry (He IS Kyungsoo’s brother, after all). At other times, he put on lightning shows around the tower, (“To keep you from being too lonely up there!” he had protested, but they all know Chen just like to mess around and scare him).

                But it never gets lonely and it never gets too scary, as Kai would always be next to him, ready to teleport him out should he needs it.

                Kai never comes up anymore ever since he lost his powers. Kyungsoo never asked why. He knows that Kai feels like he’s useless now that he lost his powers. But to Kyungsoo, his brother’s presence and warmth is the thing keeping him brave, not the knowledge that they can teleport out at any moment.

                He saw him once, though, out of the watch tower. He sat in the shadow of the tower and Kyungsoo wouldn’t have seen him if it weren’t for one of Chen’s lightning (this time it was really for test purposes). The lightning had lit up the whole planet and Kai had looked up at the tower, a worried expression etched on his face.

                He was always there, it turned out. A short distance away, still ready to catch Kyungsoo should he try to jump out of the tower.

------------------------------------

                “Like I said, I’m really, really, really, thankful for you guys for agreeing to go on this journey.” Luhan said for the umpteenth time today. “Kris, you will always and forever be the best warrior we’ve ever had, second only to your dad, of course. Lay, my dear unicorn, not only do you make our pain go away literally, you were always there to offer a helping hand, to cheer us up on bad days.” Luhan continues.

                Lay leans a bit to his right and speaks into Suho’s ear. “Why do I feel like I’m at my own funeral?”  Suho sniggered and continues to put on a smiley, nerdy expression. Next to Suho, Kai is shaking his head slowly, silently making fun of his King with Kyungsoo beside him.

                “Oh, Kai, I’m so glad you came to us” (Kai turns to Kyungsoo and mouths, “Oh, Kai?” and chuckles) “You’ve been such a loyal friend to Sehun, and to all of us here in EXOPlanet. Kris, Lay and Kai, KLK, we love you. I’ll be flippin’ some royal tables if you don’t come back. You have to come back safely, you hear me?” Luhan asks a little too loudly, and smiles a little too widely. He’s got tears in his eyes that he’s trying to hide by blinking really fast, yet the tears fall nonetheless.

                As Luhan is trying to recompose himself, his followers leap at the chance to clap, signaling the end of his farewell speech. Kai looks up at Sehun on the opposite side of the circle they formed, trying to catch his eye so that they can make fun of Luhan secretly, but Sehun’s head is hanging low.

Slowly, the atmosphere in the desert is changing. They are no longer the restless crowd waiting for their King to finish his weepy, dramatically-worded speech. They are now a crowd ready to send some of their bravest folks out into space, risking their lives for the rest of them.

                “Don’t worry, everyone, Chen and I’ve checked and re-checked the rockets. We won’t be able to contact them while they’re on Earth, but we can watch them during the earlier phase of the journey. They’ll be alright, everyone, don’t worry!” Suho says with a bright smile to no one in particular.

                Lay nudges Suho with his elbow. “Actually, I’m more worried about the fact that you named us KLK. It’s so lame! We’re so gonna be made fun of on Earth. Seriously, you’re the most creative genius on the planet and THAT’s the best name you came up for us?” Lay stares at Suho with a mock serious expression. Suho smiles weakly as Lay rests an arm on his shoulder. “I believe you though, bro. We’ll be alright.”

Turning to Kyungsoo who was laughing with him a few minutes earlier, Kai is faced with the sight of Kyungsoo sobbing openly into Chen’s shoulder. Kai rolls his eyes. “Aww, hyung, come on... You cried enough back home.” Kyungsoo moves from Chen to Kai, gripping his wrist so tightly that Kai thought he was going to die, and crying into his chest. Over Kyungsoo’s shoulder, Kai sees that Chen’s eyes are red too. And that sight slashes Kai’s heart open even more than Kyungsoo’s sobs.

                This is the first time I’ve ever seen you cry, Chen hyung.                 That thought sends shivers down Kai’s spines. So this is really happening, huh? We’re leaving. What’ll happen this time? Kai pulls Chen in for a group hug, completing their little family of three.

               Soon, their group hug is joined in by Luhan who dragged Sehun with him, who was holding Tao’s wrist, who was holding Kris’s hand, who grabbed Lay’s collar who pulled in Suho with him, who breaks free to pull Xiumin along before rejoining the group hug. The only ten inhabitants of EXOPlanet hug each other, trying to feel each other’s presence for the last time before KLK leaves. Who knows? This maybe their last time together.

Ever.

                A beep sounds as EXOPlanet’s second moon, Emi comes into view. “Guys, it’s time.” Chen announces with a loud sniff. He had set the alarm for the time when Emi and Ebi are both in line with each other as well as the sun. The two moons loom overhead while a crest of the sun hangs below them, forming a smiley face. Kai nudges Kyungsoo, making him look and smile.

                At the sign of the departure, everyone hugs the KLK for the last time. Chen starts to give out last-minute reminders with a stuffy nose (he had cried more than he will ever admit) to the KLK as they enter the Astral one by one.

Tao holds on to Kris’s wrist and Kris pulls him in for a hug. “You realize that you’re the second warrior now after Luhan, right?” He whispers into his little brother’s ear, “You better beat him for the top spot before I come back, okay? You deserve it more than I do.” Tao nods, biting his lower lip. Kris enters the pod quickly after that.

Chen is herding everyone else to stand back as the rocket is taking off. With a spark and a crackling sound, the rocket takes off; flames trailing off like a brilliant phoenix tail. The other EXOs watch in awe and some other feelings.

Tao walks backwards to watch the rocket climb upwards and out of sight. Soon, he finds Kyungsoo’s hand on his elbow and Tao puts his arm around Kyungsoo and his other arm around Suho, who is now crying like a grandma sending her husband to war. He was the one supposed to give out instructions to the KLK and the remaining EXOs instead of Chen, but his tears had rendered him useless. Tao had never seen Suho cry, and he’s glad. I never knew someone so handsome can look so ugly in a matter of seconds. He tries to keep himself from laughing.

Just before the rocket takes off, Lay looks outside to see Suho crying and laughs, elbowing both Kris and Kai to make them look outside. When Kris looks outside his window during the takeoff, the last image that he sees of the EXOs is Tao laughing. He knows the sensation that he’s feeling now, where he feels as if his heart is being lifted up tenderly had nothing to do with the G-force and acceleration they’re experiencing.

As the rocket takes off on its maiden voyage, Kris flashbacks to the last conversation he had with Tao two nights ago.

“You’re trying to fish for sympathy, aren’t you? Why didn’t you ask Lay to make all of it disappear?” Tao said grouchily as he eyes the purple bruises still on Kris’s face.

“Like you said, I’m fishing for sympathy. Please don’t beat me up ever again, it really hurt.”

“You deserved it. Plus, I needed practice with another human being. Turned out you were as alive as a training dummy.” Tao sits on the couch next to Kris. “You’re really not letting me go with you?” Kris merely nods.

“Besides, If you get hurt while on Earth, Lay can’t heal you.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe you won’t reach Earth at all.”

Kris turned to Tao with a sour expression. “Are you hoping that I’ll die?”

“No, I meant you can get lost!” Tao had cried out in a sorry-if-I-offended-you way.

“Oh, thanks, that’s a comfort.” Kris sighed and said, “I’m worried too, Tao.”

“Then why are you still going?” Tao enquired gently, his tone controlled and careful. He’s in no mood to argue anymore, not when Kris is still broken all over and his departure a few days away.

“It’s my duty. It turns out that there’s so much that needs to be done on Earth, aside from trying to help Sehun. We need to re-establish our connection with Earth; we can’t exist separately from them. No matter how much we try to deny it, we can’t exist without Earth, Tao. We have to stay as one with Earth. No matter how hard it gets, we have to.”

“What are you worried about then, hyung?”

“You.” Kris looked at Tao, staring hard at his brother’s face. Tao has perennial eye bags, but these days, the pouches under his eyes seem to be darker than ever. Tao had been eating every meal Kris prepared eagerly, even mushrooms, but his face looks gaunter, as if something’s eating him from the inside. Kris knows now that people can literally become sick with worry.

Kris cleared his throat. “When- While I’m gone, you’ll be sociable, right? You won’t just sit at home, bullying that pet turtle of yours, right? You’ll go visit Luhan and Sehun, Kyungsoo and Chen, Suho and Xiumin, right? You’ll eat mushrooms too, right? Okay, you don’t have to eat them, but if they’re getting grey around the edges, at least feed them to Geori, okay? Don’t let them go to waste. And you’ll practice martial arts everyday, too, right? Ah, and you’re the third warrior! While I’m gone, that means you’re the second! You’ll do your job, right? You won’t slam the door in Luhan’s face when he comes prancing around?”

Tao snorts.

“What? He does prance around.”

 “I’ll be all right, hyung.” Tao said, a sad smile on his face.

“Awesome. Now I only have like, forty-three other things to worry about.”

“Tell me all of them.” Tao reached for a pillow and made himself comfortable, as if they’re kids again and their parents were telling them bedtime stories.

 “Okay, so number one, I guess, will have to be Suho. I worry if he can stand not being to gloat in front of me every single day. I mean, after doing it for the past two decades, it might harm him if one day he just stops, you know?”

 “Like drug withdrawal symptoms?” Tao asked with a laugh that made Kris feel a little better.

Closing his eyes for his first nap on board a rocket, Kris smiles in relief. Tao will be okay.

The first two days of their journey had been cheerful and noisy, as they were able to communicate with EXOPlanet. Everyone had camped out at the palace, watching their journey. Luhan was unusually focused and kept on asking questions about their well-being. Suho had pressed them on the technical aspect of their journey, rewinding his instructions to the point that Kai, the one who normally listened to them the least, had once recited the emergency instructions in his sleep.

Chen looked relaxed, his confidence rubbing off on Kyungsoo now. To Kai’s relief, they looked like they had enough sleep and the redness in their eyes are gone. They were more keen to know how Saturn looked up close, rather than how well the toilets work. Tao had been adopted by Xiumin, apparently, and the two of them kept bugging KLK to find them girlfriends on Earth, so that ‘the EXOPlanet legacy can continue’.

After the communication device stopped working, the days get slower and slower, that Kris, Lay and Kai wonder if they are moving at all, or if they’re just floating around in space.

A few days into their journey, Kris wakes up suddenly, a mental image of a worried Tao appearing before his eyes.

“No, I meant you can get lost!”

Cold fear strikes the warrior.

Crap, it feels as if WE ARE lost right now. Or not moving at all.

Kris checks their coordinates and his worries disappear. They had been progressing.

In fact...

Kris looks outside the windows and nearly went crazy with excitement. He runs over to the bunks where Lay is sleeping and Kai is dancing in zero gravity, dragging them both (Lay still asleep) over to the window. Staring open-mouthed, Kai and Kris both smacked Lay’s head at the same time to wake him up. The open-mouthed staring is joined by Lay, as the three of them witness the beauty that is The Moon.

Kris looks at Lay and they both look at Kai, the moon reflected on their enthused faces. All their boredom and worries are now gone, replaced by a tingling eagerness.

Kai puts his arms on Kris’s and Lay’s shoulders, grinning ecstatically. “Wow, we’re really close now, aren’t we?”

“We’re almost there.”