Chapter 04 | UNANSWERED

"What's up with him?" 

 

 

 

Deep in the forests of the West...

 

"KAI!”

 

Luhan woke with a start, his chest heaving with each breath. Sweat poured from his forehead and down his face and neck as he sat up in bed, glancing blindly around his room. All was quiet despite his outburst; the night was still deep. He looked at the clock on his bedside table. 4AM, it read.

 

It was still much too early for him to be up, but his sleep in the past few days had been erratic and fitful. Ever since the argument with his brother, who teleported away before they even finished shouting at each other, he had been uneasy. Kai often ran away when things got heated between them, but he had never been gone for this long. Three days had gone by without any signs of Kai returning and Luhan was starting to feel uneasy. The nightmares were not helping, either.

 

He sighed and got out of bed, wiping at his forehead with his forearm. He slowly made his way to the large window and pulled the curtains back. The Sanctuary was dark - still far from dawn. Only a few lights were on in the distance, and Luhan knew that these were bakeries and cookeries; cooks and chefs up and about in the wee hours of the morning to serve the small town.

 

This was one of those times when he missed his parents dearly. The only family he had left was his one and only biological brother -  his twin, actually - with whom he argued way too often, only to regret it immediately after, and Sehun. He couldn’t always run after Kai because the third member of their dysfunctional family needed protection. Sehun, their adoptive brother, had been quite sickly for as long as they could remember and needed a lot of care.

 

Luhan could still remember how they used to be one of those picture perfect families of five - well, as picture perfect as a family in hiding could be - until event after event had dwindled their numbers to what they had now. Since then, he’d taken on the role of breadwinner, and, with the help of certain connections in the Sanctuary, had been able to support his brothers, keeping them nourished and ensuring a roof above their heads despite being unregistered. The woods in the Western Sector provided them their safety.

 

He shifted his position to face the sleeping boy, smiling fondly as he heard Sehun groan in his sleep as he curled up in bed.

 

“Mmmmffff... No... I can… I can...” Sehun talked in his sleep.

 

All of a sudden, the winds outside started to pick up. The trees' branches swayed, unable to oppose the wild breeze. Luhan squinted his eyes as he observed the strange winds outside. That’s odd. Why are the trees at the baker’s house not moving at all? True enough, it seemed the gust of wind was only building up in their vicinity.

 

Understanding the situation, Luhan closed the windows, drew the curtains, and ran towards his brother’s bedside and shook him awake, pulling out a brown bag from the drawer by the boy’s bed.

 

“Sehun-ah. Wake up. Sehunnie,” Luhan cooed, his hand lightly brushing the boy’s back.

 

Sehun’s eyelids fluttered open and was greeted by Luhan’s smile. He felt the foreign sensation of his body shivering uncontrollably, though he was no stranger to the experience. Oh no. Panic attack. It’s here again. He gasped for air as he tried to catch a glimpse through the windows, but was disappointed to find that the curtains were drawn. His hands found their way to the brown bag Luhan held.

 

“T-the w-wind?” Sehun asked as he tried his best to calm his body down, holding the brown bag to seal his nose and mouth. He inhaled deeply.

 

“Don’t mind it. Just focus on your breaths, okay?”

 

“I-- hhnnnnggg...”

 

“Just relax, Sehun-ah. You’ve overcome this before and you can do it again.”

 

“...c-c-cold….”

 

The eldest brother frantically reached for more blankets, wrapping Sehun into a cocoon. He reached for the lamp by the bed and switched it on to increase the heat in the room, similar to how chicks were warmed up inside an incubator. Using a dry towel, he wiped the cold perspiration from Sehun’s forehead.

 

“Is Kai not back yet?” Sehun’s breathing had slowly eased, but the convulsions turned for the worse. He felt the tears sting his eyes as he lost control over his tear ducts, the sound of the howling wind outside not helping him calm down.

 

Luhan only shook his head and glanced at the closed window. Propping an elbow onto his thigh, he massaged the bridge of his nose while his other hand clasped Sehun’s. Despite all three of them being the same age, he had always had to watch over the other boys, making sure they were healthy and well-taken care of. The stress of being the father figure in their dysfunctional family was beginning to take its toll.

 

“It’s about me again, isn’t it?” The wind howled louder, perhaps even stronger than ever. Sehun freed a hand from the blanket wrapping and pressed on his eyes to stop the silent tears from falling. It was embarrassing enough that he was getting panic attacks at such an advanced age, but there was the problem of his brother also having to deal with him losing control over his element. To top it all off, his brothers were fighting over him… again.

 

“Relax Sehun-ah. It’s not your fault. You know how Kai and I are. We're just really loud with our opinions,” Luhan cooed.

 

Luhan wrapped an arm around the cocoon, pulling the boy to himself in a warm embrace while patting his head soothingly. He quietly hummed a lullaby to calm his brother’s heart.

 

Sehun inhaled deeply, wrapping his arms around the other's waist, his head buried in the crook of Luhan's neck. Luhan now coached his brother through his breathing exercises, asking him to inhale and exhale slowly.

 

 

"You're always babying him, Luhan," Kai growled. "He's not going to get any better if you don't let him learn to control himself."

"He's fragile, Kai, and you know it." Luhan responded.

"Try to remember what happened when Dad died, Luhan. If this kid keeps losing control like this, what's to stop you from being a victim then?"

 

 

 

“Sehun-ah,” Luhan began, his gaze on the closed curtains. Sehun stopped shivering

 

Outside, the howling stopped and Luhan was sure his brother had finally calmed down.

 

“There'll come a time when I won't be by your side anymore. So many things could happen and if I'm not there, if I can't be there to help you through it..." Luhan stopped, glancing at the boy in his arms.

 

Sehun's breathing was regular. The boy was fast asleep.

 

"Promise me you'll become stronger. For yourself. For me. And even for Kai..."

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

Light rain fell from the sun-lit sky. Despite the droplets that fell from above, the sun shone blatantly from high up at its midpoint, indicating that it was noontime. The cirrus clouds were the only evidence proving that rain was truly falling, as softly as it was.

 

Fox rain, Lay thought, lifting the hood over his head and placing his hands into the middle pocket of his hoodie. He wasn’t much too fond of getting himself wet yet he was too pre-occupied in choosing which casual clothes to wear that he forgot to bring an umbrella. He didn’t get to leave the Central sector very often, and the need to be cautious when he did was always his priority. Lay sighed as he wiped his boots on the mat of the porch of his destination.

 

The poorly repaired door and the splinters he saw scattered across the front yard were proof enough that something had happened. The eerie silence that seemed to envelope the household made him second guess his current safety. I can’t afford to get recognized by anyone, he thought, glancing around the premises.

 

The Trio had returned to the metropolis not many hours ago, and Lay had heard no news of prisoners or anything eventful happening on the mission. The Uniforms had come back, none scathed, but mostly just tired from their operation. No one in the Trio had been injured, either, and Lay had been given the day off instead of being summoned to their quarters.

 

The healer knocked on the door’s frame, peeking through the cloth that now hung in place of the door, calling out his friend’s name tentatively.

 

“Lay?” Kris responded, appearing almost immediately by the doorway. He held out the cloth and gestured for the healer to enter the house, taking a quick glance around the yard.

 

“What brings you back here so soon?” Kris asked as he led the younger man to the kitchen.

 

“I needed to check on my patients,” Lay responded, taking a seat at the counter when the other motioned for him to. “How are they?”

 

Kris sighed, his exhaustion evident in the sound and in the dark circles forming under his eyes. “Chanyeol’s still asleep. He had a pretty eventful evening all on his own. I gave him some of the meds you prescribed and thankfully his - temperature - has gone down.”

 

Lay nodded, a little absentminded at the thought of the other boy’s strange manifestation. The Council had always been researching the genetic code and searching the people for such manifestations, but they hadn't really been successful. As far as they knew, only the Trio had manifested such abilities. Well, there's Jisung, too.

 

Lay forced himself to pay attention. He had an awful tendency to drift off or simply blank out. He looked at his tall friend and refocused on their conversation.

 

"...still unconscious. I think Baekhyun's really tired from using his powers so much in the last thirty-six hours. He should be resting right about now. He won’t leave his brother’s side, either," Kris was saying.

 

“They’re regenerating the energy they lost after using their powers, so this isn’t anything to be concerned about.”

 

Kris nodded and the two fell into silence. Lay looked into the kitchen, his gaze landing on the large pile of trash by the back door that consisted mainly of splinters.

 

“Looks like the Trio did a lot of damage,” he murmured.

 

Kris on his tooth in annoyance. “Those idiots think that just ‘coz they rank high, they’re also above the law. They barged in here during their search and didn’t even bother to actually use the doorknobs.” He cringed as the image from earlier resurfaced in his memory. “At least Baekhyun was able to use his ability to disguise themselves. After that, D.O didn’t bother to go upstairs, so he didn’t see Yeol.”

 

Lay took this information in, trying to reconcile it with the hearsay that had reached the base at Central. There were murmurs about D.O storming towards the direction the suspicious man captured by the CCTV had gone, only to storm back even more angrily. The mission's failure was no secret, especially since this was the first time the Trio had come back from chasing rebels empty-handed.

 

"I think you guys should lay low from now on. I heard that D.O was pretty angry when they came back today. What did you do to piss the guy off?"

 

“I didn’t do anything. It was Baekhyun. Although I’m not really sure I want to know,” Kris said, shuddering. He turned to face the door as the said boy entered the room. “Well, speaking of the devil, why don’t we just ask him?”

 

Lay's eyes fixed on the boy that had just walked in through the door, wearing clothes much too large for him. The boy ran a hand through his hair, tousling it to get rid of the parts that had flattened when he fell asleep with his hair still wet. The index finger on his other hand rubbed an eye as he yawned. The boy stopped mid-yawn when he noticed Lay sitting across from Kris at the counter.

 

"Good morning," Kris huffed, not able to look at the other for very long.

 

"Morning," Baekhyun answered, joining the older males at the table.

 

"Although it isn't exactly morning anymore. You hungry?" Kris asked, getting up and moving to the fridge.

 

"Famished," Baekhyun admitted with a sheepish grin.

 

"I'll fix something up," Kris stopped rummaging through the fridge and turned to Lay. "Have you eaten?"

 

Lay nodded absentmindedly as he did a quick inspection of Baekhyun. The heavily bleeding arm the other night seemed to have healed pretty well with his help, but he could tell that the younger man still favored it when he picked things up.

 

"Is your arm alright?"

 

"Huh? Oh - yeah," Baekhyun responded. Lay could tell that the other was still wary of his presence. He couldn't blame the boy, either. He and his brother had gone through quite a lot thanks to the government, according to Kris, and being in the same room as an officer from that organization - medical personnel or not - would take some getting used to.

 

"Kris," Lay began, turning back to the tall man now by the stove, wearing an apron. "The Trio will be taking action soon. I'm not sure what their next move will be, but I know they will be doing a sweep of all surrounding areas. You have to make sure that Chanyeol doesn't catch their attention."

 

“He won’t,” Kris assured, his tone so final that Lay no longer thought to argue.

 

“Speaking of which,” Baekhyun began, both boys turning to glance at him, “I think Chen and I should be going. He should be up soon, and it’ll be best if we weren’t hanging around anymore. I don’t want you and Chanyeol hyung to get dragged into this any more than you already have.”

 

Kris grunted. “You know, Baekhyun, judging from the way D.O rushed out of the house yesterday, I think this is the safest place for you to be right now.”

 

Lay raised an eyebrow. “D.O rushed out of the house? What happened?” The idea of the earth manipulator rushing away from anything seemed completely fictional to the healer.

 

“Yes. He rushed out. He was in quite a hurry, actually. Didn’t even bother to apologize for all the broken doors he left behind,” Kris scoffed, bringing the ramyeon he’d cooked to the counter and taking out bowls and chopsticks. “Eat up, you two. I haven’t been to the mart, yet, so let’s make do with this for now, alright?”

 

“Why did D.O rush out of the house?” Lay asked again, still not fully grasping the image in his mind.

 

Kris sighed and gestured to Baekhyun, who was silently serving some ramyeon into his bowl. “Ask him.”

 

Baekhyun froze, a sheepish grin appearing on his face as a hand rose to rub the back of his neck. “Sorry. I guess I was panicking too much. The illusion didn’t exactly come out right.”

 

“Illusion?” Lay echoed.

 

Baekhyun nodded, slurping up some noodles before explaining. “My ability allows me to control light waves. One of the things I’ve learned I could do with my power recently is how to adjust the light waves that reach a person’s retina - thereby altering what they see. Yesterday…” He paused, a soft blush climbing his neck and cheeks until even the tips of his ears had turned red. “Well, Chen was still unconscious in bed, and I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard all the ruckus outside heading to the room, so…”

 

“So he decided to put on some gay o for the Trio,” Kris finished, his arms folded across his chest. The glare he shot at Baekhyun made the younger boy recoil, ears even redder than a few seconds before.

 

“Like I said, I panicked! The illusion wasn’t complete in my head by the time that other guy made it to the room. I didn’t realize right away that we both still looked like males!”

 

Lay’s eyes widened as the realization of what happened hit him. His mouth hung open, but no sound came out. He sat there, gaping at the light bearer sitting across from him.

 

“Yeah, well. Like I said. Because of that, I’m pretty sure this house’ll be safe from the Trio for the meantime,” Kris resigned, dropping his glare. “They probably think this is some kind of brothel, now.”

 

“I am so sorry, hyung! I haven’t been able to master this trick, yet, but it was the only thing I could think of at that moment!”

 

Kris waved a hand at the now pleading boy, then nudged Lay out of his trance. “Let’s just forget about it, okay?” He turned to look at Baekhyun, this time without averting his eyes. “At least it’s not your faces embedded in my head with that image. I think I’d be the first to kick you out if it were.”

 

Baekhyun frowned and tousled his hair once more. “Just one favor, though, hyung.”

 

“What?”

 

“Please don’t let Chen hear about this…”

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

"Damn it!"

 

The floor in the Trio's living room shook as D.O stomped across the room, hands clasped firmly behind his back and jaw clenched tightly. Suho and Xiumin watched him in silence.

 

"They were in our palms already, and we let them slip!" The earth manipulator grumbled.

 

His sworn brothers exchanged a look. "What on earth happened to you back there, anyway? I was sure you'd found something back at the house." Xiumin mused, lounging on their large blue sofa. He poured out the contents of his pocket onto the coffee table in the middle of the room, meticulously counting them one by one, careful not to melt any specimen. Satisfied with the amount that he had gathered, he gave himself a pat on the back.

 

D.O grimaced and rubbed his temples, eyes shut tight. "Please don't remind me of the scene back there. It was an abomination! And in broad daylight, too!” He shuddered.

 

“Now I’m even MORE curious. What did you see?” Xiumin, now fully focused on the earth manipulator, whined, his age completely forgotten once his aegyo was suddenly displayed.

 

D.O frowned at the supposedly eldest boy, cringing as he pressed his face closer to the earth master, eyes wide and blinking exaggeratedly. The eldest then started rubbing his face on the other’s shoulder as if to imitate a cat. D.O shuddered.

 

“Yah! Can you not?!” D.O used his strength to shove the eldest, aiming towards the wall on the other side of the room. Though caught off-guard, Xiumin flipped effortlessly in mid-air, landing gracefully by the said wall.

 

“Well, that was uncalled for. Next time you flip me outside the training grounds, give me a heads up, will you? What is wrong with you?" Xiumin asked, walking back towards the other. "You're acting like you have something stuck up your ."

 

"Stuck? Up my ? What the hell, man?! I'm pissed, and using such figures of speech isn't helping!" D.O whined, burying his head into his hands and letting out a frustrated growl. Still with his face in his hands, the earth master moved to the other side of the room, plopping down onto a couch.

 

“What’s up with him?” Xiumin asked their leader.

 

Suho was preoccupied as he read the latest edition of the Academy’s official school publication. He looked up and glanced at the youngest, shrugging.

 

"Beats me. He's been like that ever since we left that house." Suho put down the magazine and sighed, looking at D.O once more, tilting his head to the side as if to analyze the other boy.

 

"I still wanna know what he saw back there," Xiumin pouted, sitting back in his seat and staring at his frozen collectibles.

 

"What's more important now, though, is how we're gonna catch the culprits behind all this warehouse thievery," Suho said, his eyes still on the earth manipulator, who had by then taken to lying on one of the large couches, staring blankly at the ceiling. "This is.gonna be a speck on our otherwise pearly white record. Once the public knows we failed, more and more of those thieves will pop up thinking they have a chance. I can already see the crime rate increasing-”

 

“Based on his reaction, it looked like whatever it was scarred him for life. What could make D.O that iffy and irritable?” the eldest mumbled to himself, clearly not listening to the leader.

 

Suho, completely oblivious to the now one-sided conversation, continued his monologue as he walked towards the bookshelf to store his unread magazine. The school’s publication would have to wait. “Then we’d get more missions - not that I’m complaining - but the designated prisons would be too full. Plus if these thieves have families, then the children they’ll leave behind would have to go to orphanages and you know what it’s like there when we last made the rounds -”

 

“He did throw a mean punch on that tall guy though. Did you see how tall he was? That guy was towering over all three of us!” Xiumin exclaimed, getting up and going to the youngest of the group. He waved his hand in front of D.O’s eyes, only to have that hand swatted away with a scoff from the earth manipulator. D.O grunted and turned to lie face down on the couch. Xiumin chuckled at the boy's actions. What was that tall guy up to though? I'm pretty sure that package I saw was for government-prescribed meds. Curious.

 

“Xiumin, are you even listening?” Suho said, cutting off the other’s thoughts.  “My point is… sooner or later they’ll ask us to go on missions left and right to improve our credibility once more. I do NOT want to end up using threats just to stop the lower class from becoming thieves.”

 

The eldest stopped annoying the earth manipulator and faced Suho as the latter continued, “ - and by threats, I mean, we'll be using our powers against innocent and harmless people,”

 

“If that’s what they order us to do, there’s nothing we can do about it.” Xiumin replied, finding interest in the conversation with their leader. His eyes gleamed with a hidden challenge.

 

Suho took his time to think of the best way to respond to the eldest’s statement. Sure, his loyalty to the Council and the government was unquestionable, but his morals swayed a little differently in this situation - not that he would never admit this to anyone though, not even to his brothers. Xiumin may be brave enough to disobey some of the commands given them, but the outcome was never good. The last time he tolerated his brothers' disobedience - Suho shuddered. I never want to remember those days.

 

One thing the Trio knew for sure was that no matter how powerful they were, they were still the government’s pawns - nothing but pieces being played by the hands of the Council. This didn't concern them, though. They were raised, taught and taken care of here, by the government. This was their home, and serving the Council was their duty.

 

D.O stood abruptly from the couch, taking the eldest by surprise. He gave both his brothers stern looks before letting out a deep sigh. “I’m gonna take a nap. I’m not up for this conversation.”

 

The two simply nodded as D.O went out the automatic doors, turning to the left and heading to where their quarters were located. They understood the pressure the youngest must have felt. The obvious depression did not surprise the other two - they expected his actions, especially now that they were nowhere near to catching their runaway criminals.

 

“Hey, want to go on a hunt tonight? They’re patrolling the northern section in a bit. I’m thinking of going for a different tactic this time around,” the leader suggested.

 

“Sure thing. What’s up your sleeves this time?”

 

“Running after thieves who don’t want to be found won’t get us anywhere. But there’s always one thing these criminals have in common,” Suho explained as they exited their room, turning to the right, where the military base was located.

 

He saw a Uniform walking towards them with a note in hand.

 

“And what do they have in common?” Xiumin asked.

 

“Motivation. They steal with a purpose, and most probably, these thieves - powers or not - are no different. Why else would they be raiding a food storage warehouse in the middle of the night?”

 

By now, the Uniform was face to face with two thirds of the Trio.

 

The shorter and of lesser title man bowed to the Trio as he extended the note with both hands. His fingers were shaking.

 

Suho got the note and read it not once, but twice. And by the third time, Xiumin got curious as to why the leader, whose eyebrows were scrunched up in concentration, kept staring at the said note. The note was pretty much concise and straight to the point. In their current situation, that meant only one thing.

 

“Suho, we're basically going to the North anyways. Are we still going?” Xiumin asked the leader.

 

“Do you want to?”

 

“You’re the leader.”

 

“I know.”

 

“You decide.”

 

Suho rubbed his temple and shoved the letter back to the Uniform.

 

With fast strides, the two continued their way to the military base for this new mission’s briefing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few minutes after two had left, the Uniform pocketed the note and pulled out his transmitter. He was tasked to monitor and make sure that the earth manipulator was alone and incapacitated.

 

The first objective he had cleared easily, but the second task was the true problem.

 

No one takes the Trio by force. And he prayed to the gods for their target to go easy on them.

 

“Coast is clear.”

 

Within ten seconds, half a dozen of the Uniforms’ elite filed into the hall.

 

With one nod, they quietly made their way towards the earth manipulator’s room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They should have expected what was likely to happen when they opened that door.

 

They should have known that the earth manipulator’s training included sensing the ground’s vibrations for possible intruders.

 

They should have been prepared to cushion their fall once he used his power. They knew they didn’t stand a chance.

 

But one shot was all they needed to succeed in their mission. One lucky shot. As the ground shook violently and his comrades fell one by one, the man wished for a miracle. Fortunately, it was his lucky day.

 

For luck was most certainly on their side when she finally made her appearance.

 

Gunshots echoed throughout the hallway in the Trio’s quarters. Shots from the gun containing the tranquilizer they were supposed to inject the earth manipulator with flew across the room.

 

D.O looked at the needles that hit both of his arms and legs. Four out of five. Damn it. His gaze remained fixed on the person holding the gun as he fell to the ground. His eyelids became heavy and he felt drowsiness overcome his body.

 

The perpetrator simply tossed the gun aside and walked out of his room, leaving everyone in awe and utter adoration.

 

Tsk. Show off. D.O whispered in his mind as he finally felt his consciousness leave him.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

"Dad," the man murmured, his sleep fitful and shallow, though he still refused to awaken.

 

Wol Saebyuk sat on a chair beside the bed where the boy lay, her head propped up on her crossed arms resting on the back of of the chair. She vaguely wondered who he was, but there were so many questions filling her mind for her to pay heed to the thought.

 

Seeing him in his situation when she woke up, she immediately brought him to one of the sleeping quarters inside the facility. It was a small room furnished with a bed and small desk. She remembered that a lot of the rooms in the Facility were vacant most of the time - she had overheard some of the scientists talking about how it was because none of the experiments lasted long enough to be able to use them, anyway.

 

Why is the Facility so quiet? There would normally be more than a dozen scientists going about their business at any time of the day. From the time she had woken up until she moved the boy she had injured into one of the rooms, she had seen no one else. Even Hanhae, the scientist that had been with her most often, wasn't anywhere. Where did everyone go? Where are the babies? What happened?

 

But the biggest question on the girl's mind was, what happened to me?

 

Wol held out her arms - they were longer than she remembered they were before falling asleep. She also found herself taller. In fact, it seemed that she had grown older. But all she did was sleep! How could she sleep as a kid and wake up in an older woman's body? Maybe this is another experiment?

 

Tears welled up in the girl's eyes. I want Sunmi. The blonde scientist was the only one who played with her and looked after her. Hanhae said she would be back, but now everyone's gone!

 

"I- I don't know what to do-" the girl hiccuped, finally letting the tears flow. Hanhae had taught her to be strong, to hold back the tears even when she was hurt and afraid, but he was nowhere to be found, anyway. He wouldn't see her crying like the child she was.

 

 

"Wol Saebyuk! You have to calm down! Listen to me," Hanhae said, pulling the girl to face him. "I know you're afraid, and I know that what we did just now hurt you. But I need you to be strong. Your powers are doing this," he showed her the hand that held her - the flesh looked like it was rotting, melting off the bones.

Wol gasped, panic rising all the more. Hanhae shook his head, its skin now also drooping off his skull.

"All you need to do is take a deep breath, Wol Saebyuk. Remember what happened to the dog? You fixed him, right? But you need to calm down first."

 

 

Wol sighed, shuddering from the memories that flowed through her. She had woken up to see this man wilting - as Hanhae had called it. It was the effect of her power. She usually held it in check, but waking up like that - she lost control. She was just glad that she had realized what was happening in time to reverse the process.

 

She let her gaze fall onto the man in the bed once more, wiping at her tears. “Do you know what happened to me?” She whispered.

 

As if he heard her, the man in the bed stirred. “Luhan,” he called.

 

Wol rose from her seat and left the room, peeking from the other side of the door. She wasn’t sure why she was hiding - she had already found some clothes in one of the rooms, so she was well covered up now, unlike minutes ago when she woke up in the freeze room. Perhaps it was because she was afraid the man would know that she was the one that had caused him to wilt earlier. A lot of the scientists were scared of her because of that. And she didn’t want to scare off the one person she could ask about what happened to her.

 

She watched as the tan man sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Then, apparently recalling his previous state, he stretched out his arms in front of him, clenching and unclenching his fist. She saw his eyes snap towards the door, as if he knew exactly where she was - although since she stood behind the door, she knew that would be impossible.

 

“Hey,” the man called out in a deep voice. Sungji gasped and clamped her hands over . “Are you there?”

 

Wol fought the urge to show herself. Somehow, she felt she should respond, but she didn’t know what was happening to her - she didn’t know if the man inside was friend or foe. He didn’t look to be a bad man, but a lot of the scientists looked nice, but they were the ones who performed so many of those hurtful experiments on her.

 

Slowly, Wol stepped away from the door and ran down the corridor, making sure her steps didn’t echo throughout the silent hallway as her now much longer legs carried her farther from the man in the room.

 

What do I do, Hanhae? Sunmi? What happened to me?

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

An ominous wind blew haphazardly down the dimly lit street. A chill ran down his spine, though from the cool breeze or the images his mind injected into the darkness, the hooded figure wasn’t sure. What he was sure of was that neither could deter him from his current mission as he hid behind the oak tree. He eyed the large black garbage bags that lay at the foot of the porch’s steps of the house across the lawn before studying the poorly repaired door. He looked carefully at the house and waited for movement. He should be awake any moment now.

 

He risked a step out of his hiding spot and squinted his eyes to get a clearer view of the house’s living room. His catlike eyes, filled with memories both painful and endearing, observed the small group of three as they gathered in the kitchen with what seemed to be a rather awkward but lighthearted exchange of words. One of them stood by the stove, stirring the contents of a pan, while the other two moved around the room placing various cans, jars and bags into different cupboards and drawers.

 

The tallest, whom he assumed was Kris, left the group to set the dining table - his thick eyebrows still scrunched up in worry, glancing every now and then towards the stairs. Even if it wasn’t the hooded figure looking in, it was obvious how worried the dragon-like man was. When it came to matters of the family, the usually cold and stoic Kris always wore his heart on his sleeve. The healer, Lay, who had just finished sorting out the cupboards with a small smile, was harder to read. His calm demeanor gave no clue as to his thoughts - whether it was on the current situation or even on the stresses of his latest promotion.

 

The hooded figure watched as the group had their dinner and cleaned up. Their teamwork was surprisingly good despite the awkward atmosphere. The house was cleaned and doors were repaired with lightning speed.

 

Once everything was done and Lay had bid his goodbyes, Baekhyun - the light bearer - immediately made his way back to the bedroom and stood by Chen’s bed, while Kris turned off all the lights and locked the doors securely.  

 

The hooded figure sighed and he crossed his arms in front of his chest, now standing right in front of the oak tree. Observing them would not get him anywhere. He needed them to snap out of their pure innocent bubble but he himself had not the heart to burst it in that moment - the tranquility was something they needed to treasure.

 

Everything has its own time.

 

But with this, the time is now.

 

 

 

 

 

~end of Chapter four~

---

 

 

 

AUTHOR's NOTES

maiesta: i feel bad for Sehun… *sigh* seldi and i have seen panic attacks before and it’s really hard to control the shivering/convulsions that comes along with it… this chapter introduces us back to the hooded figure, i know there's a lot of things that are unclear.. What is he doing there? And who is that girl who easily brought down D.O singlehandedly? All I can say, once again, is that everything will be revealed when the time is right. There's also a lot of characters in this story; we will try to make a simple character chart once our schedule permits for easier reading...

seldi: ........

maiesta: err.... she's having difficulties with her internet connection right now so she can't type her notes but we'll see her next chapter neh~? ^^ anyway.. thanks for reading guys~! mian for the delay~ <3

 

 

 

 

maiesta’s shameless spazzing and promotion corner:

1. CONGRATS EXO!!! for winning Song of the Year at MMA2013 and Album of the Year at MAMA2013

2.  Did you watch EXO Showtime? XD

3. Sooo… apparently they’re gonna gift us with an EXO-mas album… hahahaha.. that EXO-mas tree!! <3

4. Kyungsoo in a movie~~ kyaaa!

5. EXO’s 5 day 5 minute radio show (?)

6. EXO Season’s Greetings Calendar! yay for planner! ^^

7. Kai and Suho on WGM.. more TaeKai moments for me!! <3