He spent days and months looking for Lu Han after that. Months of traveling to different places using his power to teleport to that place and every time he has found no traces of him. He didn’t hear his voice and he didn’t even smell his cologne. It’s as if he never even existed in this world or his. He didn’t understand it. If only I had went back as soon as we got there then maybe he would have came back with me. That is what he thought every second of every minute; every hour of every day… Months even; blaming himself for the disappearance of Lu Han and beating himself up over it.

Sehun kept telling him that it wasn’t his fault, that bad stuff like that happen to people who are new to their power. Jongin wanted to believe Sehun, he really did, but it was hard to believe someone when another person reminds him of it ever single day.

▬

Sehun was at the front of the classroom and Zitao sat in the back. Normally they would sit together, but the teacher didn’t want them talking during class. Since Lu Han had disappeared, Sehun had to take his place in being his translator- which surprised Jongin because he didn’t even know that his best friend was fluent in Chinese.

“A century has sailed by since the luxury steamship RMS Titanic met its catastrophic end in the North Atlantic, plunging two miles to the ocean floor after sideswiping an iceberg,” the American history teacher continued on from yesterday, reading from his book and then writing notes on the board. “More than 1,500 thousand people had lost their lives on that tragic filled night.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Jongin whispers, frustrated at this week’s lesson. “I don’t even know what he is even saying. Does he even understand this lesson?”

“At least he understands more about this lesson than you did when Lu Han was trying to help you with your power,” Zitao whispers sharply in slightly broken Korean.

“Jongin and Zitao,” the teacher calls out, glaring at the pair of them, “Principles office.”

Jongin groaned and got up from his seat, abandoning his things. He walked around the mess of school bags and desks to get to the door. Once Zitao caught up with him, he slid the door open and walked out, waiting for the older to follow.

•

“This is the fifth time this week,” the principle shouts at them, losing the little patience that she had left. “I am really getting tired of seeing the pair of you in here and over the same thing: talking in class.”

“We’re sorry,” they both say together, bowing deeply. “It won’t happen again, Ms. Park.”

“You have been saying that every time and I am sick of it!”

“We’re sorry-“

She pulls a small tablet of paper from one of her desk drawers and slams it down on her desk. She then reaches for a pen and scribbles something onto two pieces of paper. She puts the pen down and holds both papers out to them, “You are being suspended for the rest of the week. Gather your things and go home.”

“But the end of the school year trip to the amusement park is this Friday,” Jongin exclaims. “I’ve worked hard to be able to go to that.”

“You should have thought of that before you decided to start fights in this school. Now, go.”

•

After showing the notes to their teachers and gathering their things, Jongin and Zitao left school grounds. Zitao snickered behind Jongin as he threw a fit in the middle of the deserted street. “I’ve worked my off for that trip and you had to go and ing talk to me!”

“You shouldn’t have-“

“If you say one more thing about Lu Han hyung’s disappearance, I will…”

“You will what,” Zitao asks challengingly, “Teleport me to that world of yours and leave me there too?”

Jongin had enough of this. He was tired of the nagging and complaining that Zitao was doing. He took a deep breath and let it out before walking up to Zitao, wrapping his arms around him and teleporting him to his world. Jongin let go of him as soon has the same familiar darkness came into view. He took a few steps back and let his school bag fall to the floor. “Welcome to the world you ever so despise, hyung. I hope you enjoy the vast darkness that this place holds.”

Zitao stood there frozen, afraid and taken aback at what just happened. He watched as Jongin walked around the never-ending place. This would be the first time that he has been here, the first time that he has seen the very world that he swore that he would never come to. He wanted to hate it, but it held so much mystery and filled him with curiosity that he couldn’t. He watched as Jongin looked at things that weren’t there and picked up things that came as invisible to him. “Jongin, what are you doing?”

“I am enjoying a world that everyone seems to hate or want to experience for selfish purposes,” he answers, not turning around to look at Zitao when his talks. “It’s the only place that no one can come to unless I take them and it’s quite relaxing.”

“No,” he says, walking toward the younger, “I mean, why aren’t you taking us back? Can’t we get stuck here?”

“It’s probable. I mean, since Lu Han hyung came here with me and we spent too long here and he is now nowhere to be found, it might happen again.”

“Jongin, why are you looking at me when I am talking to you?”

“Didn’t Sehun tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

Jongin stands up from where he was kneeling and turns around. He was looking in Zitao’s direction, but it’s as if he didn’t see him. “Of course you wouldn’t know. Sehun doesn’t like to make people look different even if they are.”

“What are you going on about?” Zitao shouts in annoyance.

“Hyung, I’m not looking at you because I can’t.”

Zitao didn’t understand him and Jongin was okay with that, not even his parent’s understand and they’ve dealt with it since he was born. Zitao stopped in front of Jongin and held a hand out in front of him, “When you say that you can’t…”

“It means that I can’t see you to be able to look at you.”

“How strange,” Zitao mumbles, brushing his fingers over Jongin’s cheek, “Yet how do you say-“

“Intriguing? Makes you want to come at me from various directions just to try me, make sure that I am not lying?”

“You really can’t see me?”

“No,” he answers, and pulls Zitao’s hand away from him, “I really can’t see you. I can feel you and obviously hear you, but I can’t see you.”

“Maybe if you could see, then you wouldn’t have lost sight of Lu Han hyung,” Zitao says finally, and steps away from Jongin slightly.

“After all I’ve told you… All that you’ve seen…” Jongin stopped midsentence and swung his arms around, hoping that Zitao happen to collide with them. When they did, he quickly teleported him back to Seoul, not giving him any time to think. Jongin let go of him and then let out a pained cry directed at Zitao before disappearing.

“Jongin, wait!” He calls out to him, sighing when it is useless. He ruffled his hair and took in his surroundings; feeling relieved knowing that he is close to home. “At least he didn’t leave me in the middle of nowhere.”

▬

Jongin was gone for a month before he went back to Seoul. It wasn’t that he wanted to stay away that long, he just wasn’t able to get back. He was trapped in all that vast amount of darkness and could teleport out of it. It’s like he was so angry with everyone including himself and so sad that his anger and pain served as a mental block between his power and himself.

He didn’t starve nor did he dehydrate, his body never felt like he was starving or thirsty. He was perfectly healthy the entire time that he was there; he just didn’t know how to leave. It was when small rays of light began to break through the sky that he was able to leave. He didn’t think that it was because of anything that he did, but more of what else might have. So, the drive to find out what or who was able to bring light into his world is what removed the block.

He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to teleport out of there at first. It has been so long that it might not work on the first try. But he tried anyway and he was surprised to find out the he could teleport. When he appeared back in the human world, he had to race to find the nearest convenient store. He felt so starved and dehydrated that if he didn’t get some food and fluids in his body, he might just put himself in the hospital.

He had to keep himself from ransacking the entire place when he walked in. He rushed over to the display fridges and grabbed a few bottles of various flavors of water. He stopped at the checkout and placed them on the counter before going down one of the food aisles and grabbing a bag of chips. He leaves that aisle to grab a premade sandwich and walks back to the checkout. The cashier just looks at him, eyeing him strangely and rings his items up.

“Will that be all for you?”

“Yes,” Jongin answers, or spit out rather. “That’ll be all.”

The cashier nods and bags his things, sliding the receipt in with them, “that will be $9.50.” She holds her hand out waiting for Jongin to fish the exact change out of his wallet. When he didn’t, she heaved a sigh and took the bag off the counter. “If you can afford to pay for these items, you need to leave. I have other customers with actual money that are waiting to pay.”

That is when Jongin met him. He didn’t even have to ask who he was; somehow, he just knew. The porcelain skin, the chestnut hair color, the slight flush that lie beautifully across his cheeks… He was blinded by the boy’s beauty, the glow that surrounded his very existence; Jongin could see everything that he only dreamt that he could see. Rays of yellow just shot out of his body and bounced off of everything they came in contact with. The boy smiled and it’s as if the room got brighter.

Jongin’s heart began to flutter and he blinked rapidly as the boy paid for his items. He bowed and took the bag, placing the bag in Jongin’s hands. “Come on, Jongin. We’re holding up the line.” He wasn’t sure how this boy knew him, but he didn’t care. He let himself be dragged out of the convenient store and up the street. Jongin was still in shock from being able to see the colors radiating of the boy in front that he didn’t even realize that they were walking into an apartment building not too far from the convenient store. “Alright, Jongin. What is your surname?”

“What?”

“Your surname,” he repeats, sighing when he got the same reaction. “Your last name, you , what is it?”

“It’s Kim,” Jongin mumbles, pulling his arm from the other’s grasp. “How do you even know my first name?”

“It was a lucky guess. Now, I need to know when you last left Seoul.”

“A month ago, but why is that important?”

“It’s not really,” he answers, jotting something down on a small notepad before placing it back in his pocket. “Alright, Kim Jongin, my name is Byun Baekhyun. I am twenty-two years old; I live by myself in this apartment due to my parents excusing me from their life- which is a nicer way of saying that they disowned me and up until just now, I wasn’t able to use any of my powers. That was actually irrelevant and I basically wasted a whole introduction on someone that has obviously doesn’t care. Okay, let me break this down for you,” he paused to catch his breath before continuing, “I, Byun Baekhyun, possess the ability of illumination. Other’s call it light, power of the daytime… I rather address it as illumination because it sounds better. Anyway… Everyone that possesses a power like I do also has a counterpart that possess something of the same element or something that can make something else stronger. Are you with me so far?”

“No, I can’t say that I am.”

“Okay, let me put it this way,” Baekhyun says, holding out his hands, “In this hand, we have a baby and this hand, we have parents. Given that the parents are smart enough, caring enough, and protective enough, they will be able to raise the baby in a good environment. They will be able to teach that baby how to talk, walk, and feed itself and so on. They will place it in a school to further its education, one that they cannot properly teach and they will guide them in the right direction to make them a strong person that is able to walk through life without any problems. If that person did not have the help of their parents, it would have never been able to survive in life. Now do you understand what I am saying?”

Jongin just shook his head and backed away from Baekhyun, “You aren’t really making any sense.” He looked around at the crumbling ceiling, eyes following very noticeable cracks, and he shook his head again. “How can someone live in a place that looks so unlivable? This whole building looks like it’s going to cave in…”

“It’s only to keep from robberies happening,” Baekhyun answers, frowning at the frightened look on Jongin’s face. “You can’t see anything anymore, can you?”

“I guess it’s because of the fact that it’s getting dark out. I am used to not being able to see when that happens.”

“You obviously aren’t. Look, I have a spare room in my apartment; I never use it at all, so it stays empty all the time. I have a futon that you can sleep on, blankets and pillows, so why don’t you spend a night or two here? Just to rest up and get some food and liquids in your body.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I have somewhere that I can stay, you don’t need to offer your home to me.”

“Jongin,” Baekhyun begins, unlocking his apartment door and pushing it open, “You’ve been gone for a month. That is long enough for your friends and family to assume that you are dead. That also is enough time for them to build up resentment and anger or any other negative emotion out there. If you went back to people that have or are thinking the worst of things, you are going to walk back into chaos.”

Even though, Jongin had just met him, Baekhyun was right. He was gone for a month and told no one that he was leaving. He wasn’t even aware of it, so he could only imagine what his friends and family thought after he didn’t come back from school. But to trust some boy that he just met and let him stay in his place, wasn’t really the smart thing to do.

•

Baekhyun sat quietly in the corner of Jongin's room; watching as he tossed about in his sleep and jumping at the screams that would erupt from his mouth every so often. It was the fifth scream that woke Jongin and he sat up instantly, trying to take in his surroundings.

Baekhyun abandoned his corner and crawled his way to Jongin to comfort him. "Jongin," he calls out, reaching over to place a hand on Jongin's trembling one, "you don't have to be scared. It was just a dream."

"I'm not scared," he answers with a shaky voice, bringing a hand up to trace Baekhyun's features. "I'm just nervous. I mean, this place is unfamiliar to me and not knowing it by memory... It just makes me nervous."

"Why are you feeling my face?"

"When someone is talking to someone else, they have to look at them, but it's different with me. When I am talking to someone, especially when I have just met them, I have to get a feel of their features."

"Are you lying to me," Baekhyun asks, pulling his face away from Jongin's hand. "It's because you could see me yesterday and this seems pointless."

Jongin stifled a laugh and brought his hand back down to rest upon his lap, "So maybe that was a bit fabricated," Jongin murmurs, trying to keep from laughing at the glare that Baekhyun was giving him, "Or maybe it was fabricated a lot."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's because of the faces that you make and the looks you give are funny to me."

"Well, excuse me for not wanting you to touch my face."

"Why are you even in here," he asks, watching as Baekhyun gets up and walks to the door. "Do you always watch strangers sleep or?"

Baekhyun stopped in the doorway and looked back at the disheveled mess that is Kim Jongin, "I could hear you shouting from my room and I was worried. I came to check on you and you had calmed down after the few minutes that I was in here. I decided to stay a bit longer in here with you just to keep watch and then you started to scream and toss about. That must have been some dream that you were having."

Jongin didn't get chance to respond before Baekhyun left. He flinched when the door shut and fell back against the bedding. He really wanted to tell Baekhyun about the dream he had, but he didn't know him well enough to trust him with the reality that his dreams held.

•

A phoenix can be seen, perched at the top of a building; eyeing the small building in front of it, it lets out an ear piercing cry. As if on cue, a boy with short caramel colored hair emerges from the flames trailing behind the phoenix.

"So he found his counterpart, eh,” he asks to no one in particular, sitting down beside the flaming bird. “It must be nice, finding your counterpart as simple as that.” The boy looks over at the bird and frowns, “I know; I’ll find him soon, I just have to keep trying. But what if it isn’t enough, what if I never find him? Stop looking at me like that. It’s not my fault that you aren’t living as long as you want to. And besides, you’ve lived for three weeks this time around, that’s something right? It means I am getting closer to finding him.”

The bird just flaps its wings in response and pushes itself off of the building. A few feet away from the boy, the bird finally combusts and disappears into nothing. The boy shook his head and lied down against the cool sand stoned roof. He used his arms as pillows and clicked his tongue, “What a showoff.”

Author's note:

I am sorry for the wait. I was thinking ahead for this and realized that I might need a few more chapters than just two to complete this.

I am sure that there are things that don't make sense or whatever and feel free to ask and what not and I will answer them.

Side note: I am very well aware of what counterpart means and I know I may misuse it, but I am going to use this as mate or soulmate is used. I think it sounds better and fits with the fic well.

Also, thank you if you have waited this long and I hope you enjoy this and the other chapters to come.