Kai's POV

He was still frozen.

We moved Tao into the forest with us, or rather, Kris and Baekhyun moved Tao. I wouldn't allow Sehun to touch him and instead faked that I could barely stand on my own two legs (though Yixing healed the worst of the fatigue in my limbs that made me feel like I was dying) in order to lean on him heavily as we walked. Yixing was our scout, looking out for teachers as he parted the foliage back to allow us more room. After making sure everyone was together, he grew more leaves on the trees and made the plants thicker and bushier to help hide us because we weren't too far in the forest.

Zitao was set on a bed of leaves, eyes stuck closed. It was too eerie to see him like this. No rise and fall to his chest, no warmth radiating from his body, no pulse. If I didn't know any better, I would call him dead. But he couldn't be – Lay would know, Lay would tell us.

Why was it taking so long? Whole hours were going by and nothing had changed. Lay continually tried to establish a link with Tao, searching for the movement of his soul. He said it was difficult since the place he was looking for was outside of time. I thought it was a little strange; I found Tao just fine before. Should I go back in, I wondered, just to check up on him?

Loud sniffling broke my thoughts. Sehun was hugging his knees and crying, doing his best to keep from making any noise while doing so, but he couldn't stop a runny nose without any tissues.

It hurt to see him like this. I really wish it didn't, because he was crying over what he took away from me. Tao should be with me, someone who truly loved him. Sehun was just a bratty kid. He couldn't really love him-

It had been years since I'd seen him cry so much.

I didn't like this. I didn't like being the third party to their relationship and still caring about the one who gets to hold Tao close just because he felt like it.

Please don't cry, Sehunnie. Those words were dying to get out, but I couldn't let them. No. I needed to fight. I needed to-

God damn it.

“Hey,” I said, lightly kicking the crying boy's foot. “Stop.”

He looked at me like I was gum on the bottom of his shoe.

“Tao's fine in there.” I added, tiredly waving a hand at the statued teen. “I talked to him.”

“Does he blame me?” Sehun asked, staring blankly ahead. “Because he should. I don't know what's wrong with me. The anger takes over so quickly; it doesn't feel natural. Jongin,” he looked up and I was reminded of how young he was still- the youngest of all of us. Everything is scarier when you're young. “I'm a monster.” he choked out.

I was cracking, I could feel it even through the deep fatigue. Unable to bear it any longer, I moved to sit next to him, putting an arm about his shoulders.

We used to be such good friends. What happened?

I still remembered the day I met him years ago in the park. He cried then too.

Back then, I thought he was just a cry baby exaggerating his woes to get attention. He was distracting and I wanted him to shut up. No one else in the park was helping him or telling him to stop, so I sat down beside him in the grass and asked what was wrong. His younger self cried about strict parents and a mean older sibling and not being loved. Anyone else who heard this would agree that he just sounded bratty and spoiled, but I stopped to really listen, meaning becoming open to every red flag that everyone else missed. That young Sehun had tears running non-stop, but his shoulders only shook a little. That young Sehun didn't try any big gestures or dramatics to gain sympathy. Above everything else, that young Sehun didn't blame his family for not loving him; he blamed himself for being unlovable. His parents weren't just strict, but they were constantly seeing Sehun as someone not good enough for them, not good enough for their family no matter how hard he tried in school or what kind of grades he got back. Everyone in that household turned their noses up at him and treated him like trash.

That was why we became friends. Because we had something in common; he wasn't the only one who was unlovable.

Zitao didn't have a good childhood at all, but he had someone who loved him. His mother doted on the boy, if the card and expensive gift was anything to go by. I didn't have anyone. None of my friends knew this, but I ran away from home a few days before meeting Sehun all those years ago. The funny thing was, my parents didn't mind at all, didn't even come looking for me. They still continued paying for my tuition, but they didn't miss me or call the police. I'd been living on my own, sleeping in strange places, stealing food and necessities, sometimes hiding in the school and staying there for the night to get away from the cold. It got easier when I discovered my power, teleporting short distances to get past locked doors and hiding from authorities.

Really, it seemed like having a power was the only thing that made life worthwhile, since it brought me Sehun, Chanyeol, and Suho. Those years had been really tough, but I survived.

I was closer to Sehun than all the others. I always made sure to text him lots to check up on him after we started going to different schools, but he never mentioned his home life again and I found no reason to tell him of mine. I was sure he suspected something was off because of the days he had asked to come over and see my house and I fished up a lame excuse of needing to clean or having a creepy relative over to keep him away. Our relationship became a little strained, from friends to two people who merely talked to each other to make sure no one got in serious trouble to rivals, fighting for the same person's affections.

We stopped trusting each other with our secrets.

Seeing Sehun crying again brought back the memory of his small, hunched figure alone in the park where the only people who bothered to look at him only gave faces of annoyance and whispered words of disapproval.

And I remembered why he would always fight with me. I used to praise him for doing his homework well and steal sweets for him when he passed a particularly brutal test. I used to thank him for even the small things he did when we saw each other nearly every day, including for all the silly doodles he'd write in my textbooks because they made studying more fun.

I used to be there for him to tell him how proud I was of him. I let him know that his hard work meant something and accepted him when he couldn't do well because I knew his family did none of this. All I had wanted back then was to show him that just because you aren't loved by the people who raised you, you could still be loved by others. It became important, because I hoped the same was true for me too.

Why did I cut him off from my life without any explanation? Sure, I transferred schools and we saw each other less, but when did I stop listening? When did I stop being so receptive to his pain?

I sighed, far too tired for this kind of drama. My eyes were pulling closed and I knew it wouldn't be long before I couldn't say anything at all.

“Thank you for half-dragging my tired here.”

“Let go of me.”

“Nah, I don't want to.” I decided, hugging him tighter. “Thank you for only trying to kill me only once in this fight. I deserved it after that incident in the gym.”

By this time, Sehun had raised his head a little, curious.

“Thank you for responding to every text I've ever sent, whether you were in class or not. You're a smart kid, getting into so many advanced classes.” I kept going, wondering how big his head was going to swell over this little pep talk. “Thank you for letting me into your life and letting me stay. Even after all this weirdness, you never stopped being my friend.”

“Are you sick?” asked Sehun as I wiped away a few of his tears.

“Do I look sick? No, I just want to make sure you're okay. We've barely talked face to face since I transferred schools and found Kyungsoo.”

His eyes narrowed and I wondered what that was about, but my head started tilting, feeling too heavy to hold up. Sehun's shoulder made a nice pillow.

***

Tao's POV

So much ticking. It hurt, it really hurt. How could I make it stop?

No, I couldn't make it stop. I could throw whole worlds out of balance with this piece missing.

But everywhere I went, I couldn't find any spot that looked out of the ordinary. Each clock face was moving at a different speed, some whose hands had become blurs. And each one changed - changed shape, color, speed, size. It was like they were all living, breathing entities working as one to force balance where something had gone wrong.

Where? Where could I find the source of this unrest? Where?

Ah, it hurt so much!

I needed quiet. I couldn't think.

Tick-ick-ti-tick-ck-tick. The ticks were overlapping. I wasn't sure how long I could take this. I was going crazy! I was losing my mind! I-

There. There it was. A piece of void amidst the ticks where the musical thrum coming from what my mind viewed as a vibrating, long golden thread echoed just slightly. I stumbled my way to it, fighting through the mess of ticks to jam this piece of metal and red memory in it's place.

As I put it back, the metal straightened out and the pieces of gears slid into place with the help of red electricity pulling it all together.

Amidst the ticking, there was a loud and final tock that ended everything and brought silence back into my tired mind.

***

I woke up, but didn't open my eyes. I wanted to sleep again, for real this time. A hand was on my forehead, and I knew it to be Lay's. His unique musical imprint made it clear. When did I learn to distinguish these pulses?

My head throbbed, but I could already feel it going away under the warm touch.

“He's back?” asked Baekhyun from somewhere close by. I took note of this boy's musical pulse too, committing the subtle differences to memory. “Tao, you're okay? Say something. Please-”

My lips parted only slightly at my command, issuing a croaked, “It will consume you. Is this what that means?”

Eyes fluttering open, I looked at the pair's and Kris' shocked faces before finding the two idiots vying for my love hugging on the ground. At least they finally made up after all their nonsense. If I find them fighting again, they're toast.

“Tao, Where have you heard that?” Yixing asked me, brushing back my bangs for me. “Was it a wolf?”

“You've been seeing it too?” Baekhyun asked over this. “Suho was telling us about a weird dream he had of some wolf spouting weird warnings when you and Sehun were still getting uniforms.”

“So then I'm not crazy?” That was... something. But this whole wolf thing was getting more real, even serious.

I tried getting up, only to be pushed down again.

“Not yet.” said Lay as Kai and Sehun suddenly realized that I was awake.

“Tao. I'm sorry-” blubbered Sehun, fresh tears falling over his cheeks. “There's something really wrong with me and I'm not doing it on purpose, I swear!”

“Save it for later.” I suggested, turning away so my back faced him (much to Lay's distress). “I'm not in the mood for forgiveness right now.” It was childish, but I really needed some space. “Let's just go see Suho and talk about what's going on or something. I'm tired of everyone being on a different page.”

“Good idea. I'll take you there and everyone else can walk up and meet us-”

I cut Kai's stupid idea off. Like he could even try after moving three people. “Forget it. I'm walking on my own.” I needed space from him too anyway. They both caused too much trouble and I wouldn't be able to pick either one if they kept this up. “As soon as the doctor lets me, anyways.” I added, because Lay was already beginning to protest.

“When will that be?” asked Kris, and I was glad he did, because I didn't think to ask.

Rubbing his neck like he didn't really want to voice the words, Lay said, “I don't know. This will probably change once he's moving, but his body appears to be in fine working order-”

“So I can get up?” I immediately pushed myself off the bed of leaves and stood, ignoring the many pairs of hands trying to help me along the way. “Don't worry, I've got this. I'm not a baby learning to walk for the first time-” I took a couple steps and felt like the earth was moving underneath me, and I crashed a shoulder into a tree, leaning on it while Lay tried to persuade me to sit again.

I wanted to quickly get to Suho's and then to a bed. My body needed to get working again soon; I could already feel my bad memories scraping at the surface of my thoughts and I didn't know what would happen when they finally reached my attention after being suppressed like that.

We needed to hurry. Time gets impatient too.

***

Author Note:

I spent a lot of time on a new fic, trying to get it done around Christmas because it was a gift to the lovely person that made that cool poster on the foreword (It's almost finished!). That and all the other Christmas stuff going on just took up all my time (Why did I decide to crochet so many presents? That was stupid stupid stupid!)

So, this is very late and I'm very sorry. I'll do better!