Random Rambles: First of all: I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO UPDATE SOONER! Life has taken over, and with Holy Week and Easter tomorrow- it's been busy (EXO coming back hasn't been good for my sanity either TnT) so I do apologize. This chapter isn't my best work, it's a short one, but hopefully it'll make up a little bit for making you guys wait so long ;A; I'm sorry again, and thank you so much for your support and kind comments! You are endlessly awesome <3 

***

Something felt wrong. 

He didn’t know what it was, he couldn’t place it, but he could feel it. Something was wrong. He looked out the window again, not liking how soon night had fallen. He could barely see the waning moon, but felt that there was something wrong with that too. The whole lunar cycle seemed off to begin with, and he was sure it had something to do with the dagger and the black Imoogi.

And me and my brothers, Jae, too, probably…But what role does she play? She saved us, that’s for sure, in our former life. Was it a former life? An old one, for sure. But we’re the same. We weren’t reincarnated. We were just- saved? 

Kris heaved a deep sigh as he played with the food on his plate, his eyes darting towards the window again. It was strange remembering his old life, having his memories back. It felt comforting on the one hand, as if everything so far fell into place, but at the same time he still had questions. Why had they awakened, but Jae hadn’t? How did they manage to get to earth from Exo planet? 

And, perhaps one of the most terrifying things he didn’t like to ponder about, what about their families? He remembered his family back in Exo, and his mother from earth looked exactly like her, it was eerie, but soothing as well. Kris remembered having a father in Exo, grandparents, too. But here, on earth, his mother was all he had. He probably couldn’t survive it, if it turns out that the sweet, hardworking woman he has known for years, wasn’t really his mother. 

It was a bitter pill to swallow, so he didn’t think about it. It didn’t matter anyway. He loved his mother. He was her son. Nothing about that would change. Kris sighed again since those thoughts made him genuinely sad. How was he supposed to mix two different lives together now? He was sure his brothers were facing the same problem. 

His memories in Exo told him that he had a complete, loving family. On earth, he knew only the love of his mother. She never spoke about his father, and Kris realized that he never bothered to ask why. As for his grandparents- his mother told him that they had died before he was born. 

This wasn’t going to be easy, but they would learn to adapt- hopefully on time. There was still the tiny matter of saving the whole world to consider after all. The dagger held the answers, so they should get together soon to figure out how to stop the black snake from taking over the world. 

Kris rubbed his eyes, feeling slightly dejected. Part of him hadn’t completely processed it, so it felt as though he had fallen into some kind of Sci-Fi drama. For the first time he could relate how Suho felt most of the time. Stress wasn’t his style, though. 

“You don’t like the food, son?” a gentle voice woke him from his thoughts and Kris blinked at his mother, who watched him in anticipation. “You’ve been playing with your food instead of putting it in your mouth. Is something wrong?” his mother asked. 

“A-ah, no, everything is fine, mama, sorry,” he apologized, quickly taking a bite from his meal. 

“You don’t have to pretend for your mother, Yifan. You can order some pizza if you don’t like the cooking,” she said gently, though the hurt in her eyes was evident. It made his throat tighten with guilt. 

“What are you talking about? I love your cooking!” he stated more confidently, giving her a smirk before eating more vigorously. His mother smiled as she watched him. 

“Is it your style, son?” she asked. 

“Totally my style, you know that,” he said, chewing through his food, nearly choking as he was quick to answer her. 

“Careful, I want my food to make you strong and healthy. I don’t want you choking on it, son,” she chuckled, still watching him. “You’ve been rather distant lately, Yifan. Absent. Are you sure there’s nothing bothering you?” she asked in concern. 

Kris carefully chewed his food before swallowing it down. He suddenly thought about Jae and her mother. He bit his lip ruefully. 

“Don’t worry, ma, your son is doing fine,” he assured, smiling brightly to make it convincing. His mother seemed to believe him, smiling back just as happily. 

“Good. I don’t like seeing you worried, makes me think what I can do to make it better,” she said, sounding relieved, and Kris could do nothing more but keep the smile on his face. 

“Well then. Tell me, how are things going with that new girl you mentioned? She sounds very nice. You should invite her over for dinner someday, Yifan,” she chatted brightly. 

“Maybe one day I will,” he answered, making sure to take a bite from his dinner now and again. 

“I hope someday soon. My son is so handsome, I’m sure she can’t refuse,” she cooed, winking proudly at him. 

“Ah, ma!” he whined. “She’s not someone who focuses on looks alone,” he replied, playing with his food again. “She’s different that way,” he mumbled, purposely not looking at his gleaming mother. 

“Different, huh? I see,” she mused. “I was wondering when you were going to find the different girl,” she laughed when she saw how her son groaned out of embarrassment. She reached out to his hand, her hand so small in comparison. “I’m only teasing you, son. But you can understand that a mother only wants the best for her child. I want you to be happy, Yifan,” she suddenly said and this made him look up. 

“What makes you think I’m not, mama?” he asked, lifting his eyebrow in surprise at her. 

His mother smiled shyly, almost as if she was holding back the sadness she truly felt. “I know it’s been hard for you, growing up without a father-,” 

“Hey, what are you saying? You’re more than I need, ma,” he quickly reassured as she patted his hand softly. 

“I’m happy I raised a good son,” she replied softly. “But sometimes I wished you could’ve known your father. Have a strong, good man to look up to,” she mused before smiling up at him. “I had a dream, about you and me. We were flying through the sky and you carried me. I was scared to fall but you told me, ‘mama, don’t worry. Your son is always here for you,’” she chuckled tenderly. “You flew so handsomely and brought me to a beautiful home, an old Chinese house. My parents were waiting by the door for us, your wai po and wai gong, grandma and grandpa,” she explained with a bright twinkle in her eyes. “And in the house, your baba waited for me. He cooked for us. Noodles,” she laughed. “It was a very happy dream. I’ve never dreamt about them before,” she mused before laughing and patting him on the hand again. 

“Ah, enough of this. A mother dreaming that her son can fly, silly, isn’t it? Do you want more food, son?” his mother changed the subject, but Kris felt a stone sink into his stomach. 

“How did you feel in the dream, ma?” he asked quietly. 

“Happy, of course,” she replied. 

“You didn’t feel strange? As if the dream, perhaps, could have been a memory?” he asked carefully, secretly feeling his hope rising. 

“A memory? Perhaps it was a memory from long ago,” she shrugged, chuckling. “But a dream is just a dream, Yifan. Besides, you were flying!” she laughed. “I think that was a sign that I have a good son who makes me very happy and takes good care of me,” she got up to take the dishes to the kitchen and gave him a kiss on the cheek for good measure. “You finish up on your dinner, son.” 

Kris nodded obediently, watching her walk away towards the kitchen. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. How weird was it that his mother dreamt something that felt like a memory to him? The way she described it, it tugged on his heartstrings, since he vaguely remembered actually doing something like that in a past life. 

All of this was racking his brain. He could hardly think straight anymore. Maybe he should call Suho, see if there’s anything they could try and figure out together. 

Kris grabbed his phone while his mother was still in the kitchen and started typing a text to the leader, when another text had suddenly came in. Frowning, he stopped his message to Suho and tapped the message he had just received. 

He automatically sat up straight when he saw who had sent him the text. 

I’m sorry, I’m not so sure what I’m doing right now- Can you meet me at the plateau? Don’t tell anyone yet. Thank you. I’m sorry. Jae.

Kris lifted an eyebrow at the message and felt his heart jump to his throat. This didn’t sound like a particularly good message. Did something happen? Was she okay? Kris felt like typing all those questions in the chat, but then decided against it. 

I’ll be right there, was all he typed. He got up from the dining table, quickly grabbing his jacket and walked to the kitchen. 

“Yifan?” his mother asked, lightly startled. 

“Ma, sorry, something came up. I have to go out for a while, but I promise to be home soon,” he told her. 

“You’re going out at this time? Yifan, the weather,” she started in concern. 

“I know, I know, don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Don’t wait up,” he assured her, giving her a warm hug. 

“Well, at least bring an umbrella, son. You never know,” she told him, already pushing the biggest on they had in into his hands. 

“Ma,” he started to protest, but she shut him up. 

“For me, son. Then I’ll know you’ll be dry,” she answered. “Don’t stay out too late. I know that you don’t have school at the moment, but that’s no excuse to stay out into the late hours of the night, do you hear me?” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Kris said meekly, giving her another hug for good measure. “You rest, okay? See you later.” 

“Bye, son,” his mother greeted sweetly, but Kris felt inexplicably sad to hear her say that. It wasn’t until he was out of the house that he turned around to look at it, seeing his mother busy in the kitchen that he mumbled, 

“Bye, mama.” 

The sky darkened as he started to run, the scent of rain thick in the air. Kris made sure to focus on the road ahead- and forbade himself to look behind. 

This made it easier for prying eyes, hidden in the darkness, to follow him…