Trees, trees, and more trees. Where exactly were they planning to go? I was all for ditching, since we'd only get in trouble the second any teacher spotted the soot stains and singed jackets, but we'd have to face this eventually, and my legs were starting to hurt from climbing over fallen logs and trudging up and down the steep slopes of the forest path.

I still had Sehun's wrist. I thought he would've complained by now of my hand being wet and sooty, but he never said a thing. We were silent. Even when the woods ended and the other three boys were waiting for us by a quiet road in front of a large modern-looking house on the edge of a small town, we never said a word. The curiosity was killing me, but I couldn't speak yet. The atmosphere was pressing me into silence.

Maybe it was because I couldn't hear the birds anymore.

Crossing the empty road, the house before us looked friendly and inviting with a beautifully aged brick wall and wrought iron gateway in front, but why did it feel like I was stepping into a nightmare; like soon the gate would creak open on it's hinges with no one pushing it and the sky would turn dark and cloudy?

But the gate opened quietly with a gentle hand that held it open. Before us stood someone I never thought I'd meet again.

“Joonma!” I shouted, taking this man in my arms immediately, the spell of silence broken.

“Taozi?” He asked in disbelief, hugging me back without caring about the black stains that rubbed off on him. “Taozi, when did you grow so much?” he laughed, taking in my new height.

“I think you just shrunk!” He was so tiny in my arms now that I had to bend down to embrace him. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen him in-

“Five years! It's been five years since I've last seen you!”

Kai looked at me funny as we parted. “Tao, you know Suho?”

“Suho?”

“Ah,” My Joonma blushed. “They started calling me that last year...”

Chanyeol snorted. “But what's Taozi and Joonma?”

“Joonmyeon was like a second mother to me when I was in elementary and middle school. I was able to stay in one school for three years before we moved again because my Joonma was there to support and protect me.” I beamed at my long lost friend. It had been too long. It was weird seeing him all grown and adult-like, even if he hadn't grown more than a few centimeters taller in all that time.

Joonmyeon looked embarrassed, but he couldn't stop smiling anyways. “I wish you'd call me a big brother instead of a second mother...”

I shook my head. “I really like Joonma.”

There was a tug at my sleeve and I found Kai looking at me questioningly. Suho had noticed and was looking back and forth between us. There was something very confusing going on and I wished in that moment that my power was the ability to read minds, especially when Sehun suddenly started pushing me inside the gate without warning.

Baekhyun introduced himself to Suho before stepping inside. “Is this your house?” Baekhyun asked him. The interior was very clean and expensive-looking while still looking homey. There were plants and pictures of my Joonma as a child with his parents. Even the air felt crisp and fresh from where we took off our shoes.

“Ah, it's my parents' house. They're out of town right now on a business trip, so it's just me here for a few days. Yeollie, I'm glad you're here. There's actually something I've been meaning to talk to you about.” said Suho, keeping his voice even, but directing a look to the tall kid that meant serious business.

Chanyeol nodded and waited for him to continue.

“In private,” he added, growing impatient. “Concerning the club at school and the new recruits-”

Chanyeol blinked. “We're nearly all here. You can just talk now.”

This time Suho blinked. “What?” He looked to me and his mouth parted open just slightly like they used to years back when he was caught off-guard. “T-Taozi? Zitao? All this time...?”

What? What was going on?

Recruits.

Chanyeol called Kris and Lay new recruits before... Then Joonma, my Joonma, was in on all this?

“You have an ability?” we asked each other in near unison.

“I can control water-”

“I can control time-”

“Time?” Suho paused and considered this. “Of course.” he whispered. “I should have known.”

You should've known? What did that mean?

“So Taozi is one of the five new recruits? And- I'm sorry, you said you're name was?”

“Baekhyun.”

“Right.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. “Uhm... Let's get you some spare uniforms-”

“Spare uniforms?” I asked.

Chanyeol grinned sheepishly. “His parents bought a tailoring shop back when I had a lot of trouble controlling the... firepower.”

A whole tailoring shop? Just how rich was he? Joonmyeon's parents had never let him want for anything when I was a kid, but I never really knew the extent of it.

“He went through so many uniforms, I thought we'd have to buy a second shop to keep up.” laughed Suho, grabbing a set of keys from a stained glass bowl atop a low bookshelf. “It's closed since my parents are both out, so we can all go there without anyone coming in and wondering why you aren't in school.” The implied question was lying heavy in the air as he turned over his shoulder to Chanyeol, who chuckled nervously. “Why did I even ask?” he muttered, shaking his head.

He led us out the back door with Chanyeol filling him in on what happened. We walked across a lightly buzzing street to the little shop nearby with uniforms and a couple different dress clothes featured in the windows.

“There are only two dressing rooms,” Joonmyeon said while unlocking the door and flicking on the lights. “You can figure out what to do about that by yourselves-” he stopped, taking in Kai pulling me eagerly towards him. “Okay, well, uhm... Both school's should be towards the back, this way.”

“Do you know your size or do I need to check?” Baekhyun asked Chanyeol, smiling slyly and slipping his arms around the taller boy's waist.

Before Kai could open his mouth after watching the scene, I sputtered, “I know my size.”

“Never said you didn't.”

Sehun shoved a uniform into Kai's hands. “Just go get dressed, idiot.”

“You know my exact size. I'm touched.” he held the uniform to his chest like it was precious.

“Shut up.” He watched Kai duck into a dressing room and both Chanyeol and Baekhyun take up the other. “Wow, those two are moving fast.”

He had to have meant the bright couple. “I think that's more Baekhyun's doing, but I can't be sure. Chanyeol called him his soulmate, you know.”

There was a light tug as I felt fingers closing over the back of my shirt under my jacket. “Soulmate?”

There it was. A clear answer. Sehun was always so vague I could never tell, but this was too obviously a clear yes to if he liked me. It was too obvious not to be.

Now that my mission was done... What do I do?

I was a little panicked and my hands had stopped on the line of uniforms on the rack.

“Here,” Sehun handed me a jacket. “It's the same size as this one if I read the tag correctly.”

Tag?

The tags on the school jackets were on the middle seam in the back instead of the collar...

Okay, nevermind. I had no clear answer. This brat was going to be vague about everything forever and I was going to let him be that way because I still didn't have the guts to simply ask.

I nodded and grabbed the pants and shirt I needed, halting when I remembered the dressing rooms were full. There was no way I was going to dress in front of Kai or disturb the happy couple. That was okay. I could wait. I walked over to Suho to see him scratching out a note to his parents about the missing uniforms behind the register. “Did you miss me when I left?” I asked him, setting the clothes down and leaning on the other side of the counter. He smiled a little, but didn't answer as he kept writing.

“It seems like,” he signed the bottom quickly. “You settled down nicely. I take it you managed to get away from... him.”

Him. My mom's ex. I didn't want to think about him anymore. “He's behind bars now...” I murmured, examining the buttons of my jacket. One was melted, but the rest were salvageable if I want to keep them just in case I lost one or-

Suho laid a hand on mine, stopping me. “Taozi, are you okay? Everything turned out okay?”

The road was long and arduous with parts that were definitely not okay, but in the end- “Everything is okay.” I told him, keeping my eyes down.

He walked around the counter to give me a hug, having to pull me down to his height. I kind of liked our new height difference. Now our hugs let me lean more into him. Suho rubbed the back of my neck like he used when we were kids and he would joke that I was cat in my past life. The memory made me laugh and hug him tighter.

Until I was hugging air.

“Seriously?” I asked, as I spotted the shadows stuck to my arms still. I turned around and found Kai with Suho, letting the older man go with an annoyed look. “What happened to you exhausting your power?” But my question was ignored.

“Jongin, what are you-” started Suho.

“That's my boyfriend you were touching!” Kai exclaimed, earning a hard look from Sehun, who was just opening the curtain to the empty dressing room.

Huh?

“B-boyfriend?” I sputtered. When was this decided? Wasn't this supposed to be a mutual thing with at least some talking to start it and- boyfriend? The day was turning out to be weirder and weirder.

“You idiot.” Sehun was coming towards us. Why was Sehun coming towards us? “Tao chose me long before you pulled your tricks on him. Like I was trying to say before, he lost the chemicals for me-”

“In case you didn't hear me in the gym,” Kai snorted back. “He's already kissed me three times-”

“Because you pulled him into it.”

“And he complied entirely.”

Suho laughed nervously amongst the fighting. “I guess we're not getting married then, huh, Taozi?”

“Married?” the other two asked.

My voice broke upon trying to explain the little joke me and Suho had as kids when we both found dating to be impossible and difficult. I didn't think he'd remember such a silly thing; I couldn't even tell which of us started it.

Boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

...Boyfriend.

I wanted a clear answer from Sehun. This had to be it.

No, he said I chose him, but never anything about choosing me.

But it was implied, wasn't it?

Was I hoping it was?

Boyfriend...

I quietly took my clothes to the dressing room, away from the situation at hand. It might be running away, but I couldn't process what was happening at all.

Boyfriend.

After years of giving up on dating, someone, possibly two someones, wanted me to be their boyfriend. This thought alone had me flustered, but I had to think of which one I actually wanted to pick. I should decide without a doubt who it was before I left this little room.

Take into account everything you know about them, regardless of whether you know their feelings or not. This is what you want, Tao, not what's available, I told myself.

Okay, so I knew that Sehun really didn't like chemicals, he's a bit of a brat, he didn't like to show his vulnerable side, he was so over-protective and always trying to take over the role of the adult in a situation, was really affectionate when he wanted to be, once shared that he had a thing for bubble tea, got annoyed easily, was really into computers and technology, and he was a whole lot smarter than he looked and because of that got impatient with stupid people. Also, he really wished he could chew gum again, but I didn't think that was important.

Now for Jongin... Well, he certainly went for what he wanted. He had a strong curiosity that may or may not have greatly improved his physical... skill. He had a shy side that I hadn't seen much of. He thought innocence was cute.

That was it.

That was it?

Wait... That was all I knew about him? What did Kai know about me? Had he ever even tried to get to know me at all? I knew nothing about his school life, his hobbies, his family, or anything else; I certainly hadn't been trying to get to know him.

Sehun opened the curtain to find me sitting on the bench in thought, the uniform untouched on the hook. “So you took my room and what, just sat down? Have you moved at all?”

“You didn't knock.” I answered, though I didn't care since he was right. I hadn't moved even a little. “I could've been in the middle of dressing...” I continued, more to have something to say than anything else.

He stepped in and hung up his own uniform on a hook next to mine, taking off his jacket and undoing the buttons of his shirt.

“Hold up!” I threw my hands up. “I'll get out!”

“Just get dressed now, you idiot. We can't hang around here all day.” He tossed my uniform down at me and continued with the buttons that slowly revealed more of his skin.

“Sehun... you're making this difficult-”

“What? We're both men. It's no big deal.”

It was a big deal. It was a very big deal. The very fact that this felt like a big deal was making this an even bigger deal.

I wasn't making sense.

No, I was.

“Se...hun.”

Well, that was entirely helpful.

No, really, he was actually stopping. Now I could think. If I didn't forget anything while I was gathering information, then there really was only one answer. “I think... I think you were right.”

“I'm right?” he asked, stepping closer. “What about?”

If you keep stepping closer with your shirt open like that, I might forget.

No, focus.

“I chose you long before Jongin confessed, and I guess... I never stopped choosing-” He was too close now. If I talked, I'd be breathing right into his face. “you.” I whispered, feeling self-conscious about the possibility that my breath could smell really bad right now and I would've just blown the smell directly at his face.

But I needn't have worried. Everything was fine and odor-free and I knew this because he was still getting closer.

I vaguely processed the curtain behind him no longer moving gently with the wind before his soft fingertips were running across my cheek, angling my head upwards just enough-

Shadows replaced the figure in front of me, and Sehun and Kai appeared not far back, tripping into the curtain and knocking it down.

“Kai!” I rushed over and held a hand up, waiting for someone to take it. I pulled Sehun up first and stuck out my other hand, since Sehun apparently wasn't keen on the idea of releasing the first one. Kai was looking up at us from the ground with big eyes. He already knew, and the hurt expression I really hated seeing was on his face again. “I'm sorr-”

“Don't.” he said, falling back onto the floor with his wrists to his forehead in bitter resignation. “Don't.” He vanished again, this time not reappearing within the shop.

"That jerk lied about being exhausted." muttered Sehun after a while.