-

Kai and Taemin follow Baekhyun to the same windowed room in the morning. On the way, they pass by the open door of what looks like a kitchen. Kai and Taemin both glance in, and they see the backs of Kyungsoo and Chorong standing side by side in front of a sink full of dishes. Their arms are closely touching and they seem to be chatting with ease as they wash. When Baekhyun notices, he just smiles and gestures for them to continue.

 Krystal is already sitting at the table with breakfast. The food is warm and filling and it makes Kai sad more than happy.

It’s not until they eat that they meet the two new faces. Baekhyun introduces Xiumin, a combat commander alongside Chorong, and Chen, the guide who will lead Kai, Taemin, and Krystal to their next time jump location.

Kyungsoo and Chorong join them in the room, and Kai feels sort of uncomfortable and outnumbered.

“We were hoping more groups of travelers would come to us at more agreeable time intervals,” Chorong says with a bite of her lower lip. “A group of two landed here last week, and we had to send them off with one of our own, because they were too small with just the two of them. We can never be sure how many there will be, how many is safe, or even who make it back and who don’t.”

Kai finds it odd when he sees Kyungsoo take Chorong’s hand. “But you three seem a little better off,” Chorong continues. “Whenever you guys are ready to go off, Chen can take you.”

“But of course, feel free to rest here as long as you need,” Kyungsoo adds.

“Who gets to choose these arrangements?”

Kai looks at Krystal with a start. She looks straight at each of them before she goes on. “Among all of us, who gets to choose which time travelers stay behind and fight against the hunters, and which get sent off to the past?”

The resistance members look to each other blankly. Baekhyun rubs his face and Xiumin lifts up his eyebrows. Chorong decides to answer for the group with a shrug. “Time travelers just stay and go as needed. If I feel like my force needs more fighters, I’ll try to recruit people who jump back to our time. I’m sure it’s the same idea in later years. If they need more people to stay behind and guide other people, then they ask.”

“But what about the ultimate fight with the hunters? What then?” Krystal presses. Kai doesn’t quite understand why Krystal needs to know so badly. He doesn’t want to know how the League of Hunters finally gets wiped out in the future. He doesn’t want to know why Kris, Chanyeol, Lay, Sehun, and Luhan all stayed where he met them. But to Krystal it seems direly important.

“What are you trying to get at exactly?” Chorong retorts. The older woman gives Krystal a skeptical glare. “If you’re wanting to say that a young girl like you who lets her boys go out and risk their lives for her should stay behind and fight, then I advise you to just keep on heading back to 1983 quietly.”

“Chorong!” Kyungsoo flares, but Krystal is quick to stand up from her seat too. “Don’t you dare take me for simple or cowardly,” Krystal says through gritted teeth. “I’ve lost absolutely everything I could and I don’t have anything to gain by going on further. I don’t see why it’s all that different an option to stay here with more people like us than to skip backward fifteen years in time.”

Kai can’t contain his shock as he stares at Krystal. The realization that she wants to stay and give up on their trek shatters his own reality, and the honesty and worry Taemin opened up to Kai about last night. He doesn’t want her to stay. He doesn’t want the three of them to separate. He tries to think of something to say to Krystal that would change her mind.

But everything comes crashing down when the wide windows on all sides of the room shatter into millions of pieces. By now, Kai would recognize the racing sound of bullets anywhere.

In the midst of flying debris, Chorong’s stern and high-pitched voice cries out, “Duck!” Kai leaps out of his chair and dives forward. Right in front of his eyes, a bullet buries deeply and painfully into a small-framed chest.

“BAEKHYUN!” Kai hears Kyungsoo shout, and he watches Baekhyun’s body fall to the floor, the man’s small eyes closed into nothing more than dark lines.

Time seems to slow down in the blink of an eye as Kai’s vision focuses on Krystal and Chorong. They both shift their gazes from Baekhyun’s lifeless form, to each other. “This is why,” Chorong says to Krystal, a tear wickedly escaping from one of the older woman’s clear eyes. But then the woman seems to compose herself, debris chaotically flying about her as she moves.

“Xiumin, jump back in time to about a few minutes ago and see if you can get defense forces prepared for the attack. Also, send for backup offense from neighboring forces. Chen, get these time travelers and get out of here. Make sure they know exactly what they need to do. Now everybody move!!!”

At Chorong’s command, they all shoot into action around Kai. The man named Xiumin time jumps and disappears, and Kyungsoo and Chorong join hands and run out of the building. But Kai can’t seem to move away from the bleeding figure of Baekhyun. “Come on, we have to get you guys out of here!” A voice shouts at him, and Kai turns to see the guy named Chen nudging him.

Kai numbly follows Chen outside with Taemin and Krystal. His head spins at the site around him. Huge war tanks and giant trucks full of armed, black combat men surround the military camp. The time travelers are quick and organized under Chorong’s command and fire back at their enemies strategically, putting up an impressive fight. But Kai can’t help notice how outnumbered the time travelers seem. He doesn’t have time to linger on it, though, because Taemin yanks him along and they end up in a small, four-seater car with Chen at the wheel.

“It might be wise to keep your heads down,” Chen says as he powers the car away from the camp.

Kai catches Krystal craning her head back to watch the camp disappear from view. He wonders if she regrets it. Her basically being thrown out of the camp indirectly.

Chen begins talking as he drives. “So far, you guys have been time traveling to places you don’t have in your memory with objects that were directly brought from the past,” the man explains, his foot slammed against the energy pedal like a madman. “But where we’re going right now, it’s not going to be like that. The object you have to use from here, 1998, is a building.”

The car speeds into a wide open road surrounded by farm fields. Not too far down the path, there’s a sign indicating the district the car is about to enter. District Qoppa, Kai reads.

“The building is an old palace in the center of Distrct Qoppa,” Chen continues. “It’s been there since way before 1983. But in 1983, the time machine was built in its basement. And that will be your final destination.”

Taemin opens his mouth and lets out his dry, cracked voice. “So it’ll be safer traveling from here?” The hopefulness in his friend’s voice somehow makes Kai uneasy.

Chen doesn’t respond right away. When he does go on, he doesn’t address Taemin’s question directly. “There are problems with using a building’s memories to travel back in time,” he says. “You won’t be able to control exactly to what year you’re time traveling back to, because the building’s memories are so continuous and random. And the parameters of this kind of time travel, it’ll use up more energy than normal time travel. That’s why single travelers can’t make it.”

The car comes to a stop and Kai finds himself staring out at an impressive palace, built from timeless grey stone and towering over any other building in the district. When they get out from the car and stand next to it, it’s even more domineering.

Krystal eyes the building towering over her and shakes her head. “This isn’t going to work. How are we supposed to get to the right year if we can’t control where we jump back to?”

Chen’s brows are furrowed together. “I know it’s risky, but it’s the only way. You have to use all your concentration and make sure the three of you are time traveling at a consistent pace. And you have to keep count. Find out what year you jump back to each time, and do the math.”

The guy’s expression tells Kai that the parameters are more dangerous than he wants to show. The details are too fuzzy. Kai looks at the palace wall next to him and realizes just how cold and unwelcoming it is.

“Especially once you’re three or four years away from the endpoint, stay, focused,” Chen warns. “You’ll know it when you reach 1983. There should be a sign. That’s as far as I can help you guys, with details.”

Kai checks the weight of the backpack on his shoulders. His hand reaches for the pistol attached to his belt, and several spare ammunition rounds right next to it. He looks at Taemin and Krystal, who have basically the same gear. Taemin has added another long-range pistol to his belt.

“So this is it,” Krystal mutters, her eyes dark and shadowed. “Either we get lucky enough to make it to the right time, or we don’t.”

Suddenly Kai’s shoulders feel too heavy. He utters the words before he can stop himself. “I thought things would be better than this,” he says. “I thought this option had more guarantee and time travelers would actually have a chance of avoiding extinction. I didn’t think it would be this cruel death race.”

Chen’s face hardens and he looks like he’s going to storm away in anger. But he replies with a sincere voice. “We do have a chance. That’s why there’s even this option. You guys can make it. Don’t let Baekhyun’s and everyone else’s lives who have died in this fight, go to waste.”

Kai feels guilt washing over him at the mention of Baekhyun’s name. The air is too tense around him when Taemin breaks the silence. “Let’s get going.” Kai’s friend comes and grabs Kai’s hand. “With the three of us, I think we can aim for six years to start with, if we concentrate,” Taemin speculates.

Chen nods approvingly and steps back from the three. Kai looks at Krystal and holds his hand out to her.

She looks at him, her eyes wavering. She then turns to Chen. “Just, tell me there’s at least some chance Chorong and the others will survive,” she pleads.

At that, Chen smirks. “Oh, they’ll survive,” he assures, and the confidence in his voice surprises Kai. “I know you guys only met Chorong yesterday, but trust me, she knows what she’s doing.”

Krystal nods slowly. With a breath, she comes and takes Kai’s hand. “Okay. Focus on six years back,” She mutters, and puts her free hand on the palace wall. Taemin does the same.

“Remember, you can make it.” Chen’s last words echo through Kai’s head as he clears his mind and counts. At three, he feels the pull, the sheer force, and his head feels like there’s intense pressure inside. He appears in the similar setting of District Qoppa. But he’s sitting on the ground and his supposed-to-be linked hands with Taemin and Krystal are empty.

Kai jumps up and looks around him. With relief, he sees that Taemin and Krystal are a few feet away from him on either side, thrown on the ground from the time jump as well. “Okay, that was difficult,” Taemin remarks, rubbing his temple. Kai nods, feeling the light pain in the back of his head.

Krystal stands up and darts forward into an open street. Kai opens his mouth to call her back, but he sees her go up to a woman dressed in farming clothes.

“Excuse me, what year is this?” Krystal asks. The woman seems confused by Krystal’s question. “What do you mean? It’s 1993 of course… oh, oh, wait! You’re a time traveler!” The woman’s expression quickly changes into shock. Before Kai knows it, she starts shouting, “Time Travelers!! There are Time Travelers!!!”

People begin to appear from streets and buildings, wide eyes aimed toward Krystal, Kai, and Taemin. “Get them!” Someone shouts. “Get them and the hunters will leave our district alone!”

Kai frantically waves his arm at Krystal. “Krystal, come on, let’s go!”

She immediately turns on her heels and runs back to the palace wall. Taemin and Kai are standing ready, and Kai grabs Krystal’s hand as she joins them.

“We were off by one year! Let’s try 5 years back!” Krystal exclaims, and Taemin nods and starts counting. They disappear right before the eyes of the people of District Qoppa in 1993.

-

Evening~!

I really appreciate all of you who read, and those of you who are kind enough to leave comments about the story. I'm sure you guys are familiar with that amazing feeling you get whenever someone leaves comments about your story~ So thank you so much ♥

If you remember from the forward, this story is actually my entry for a writing contest I entered, and it was planned to be a fairly short fic. We're now at part 10, and I'm both happy and sad to say, the story is nearing it's end.

I hope you'll stick around to find out what happens, and I would really appreciate more comments/ criticisms!

And Awww man, the date already passed! But Happy Birthday to EXO-K's adorable mother, D.O!