D.O.

Some people like to spend their lives hiding, because they can’t find the right group to stand out with. But is it better to hide?

I’ve been hiding for a long time, but now it finally seems that I’ve found the right people to stand out with.

---

I walked out to the marshlands. The walk brought back some of my fondest memories. I found the table, sitting where it had been since we built it. I put my books down on the table and put my box on the ground. I started to build a chair quickly to match the table. When I was done, I arranged the books nicely. I really hope he was there.

I walked off to go put the box away, and unfortunately that meant I had to leave the marshlands to find the nearest landfill. While I was there I saw a kite. It was new, hadn’t even been used yet. It looked kind of sad by itself there in the landfill, so I took it. There wasn’t even any bugs or mould. Hopefully if Suho was there we could play with it.

I walked back to the marshlands, thinking about the last time we were there. We had brought out a table, it was the first thing we could grab in our rush to get out to the marshlands. It was cold and raining, but we still had just as much fun as when we ran around the marshlands.

It was a good time to spend together. And unfortunately the last time we got to spend together. I had always hidden in the background, like a wallflower. I preferred to be silent and just not speak, but that was until I met Suho. We were in middle school and had to do a project for geography. No one else wanted to pair with me, but last minute he came up and offered to work with me. At first I was annoyed by him, and I was not looking forward to working with him for this project. Halfway through the project he asked if I wanted to sleep over, I assumed I’d have no other choice. He said we could study together if we wanted, or just chill. Something about it just seemed exciting, whether it be that it was the first time I had a sleepover, or that there was something linking us. He seemed very different, he was always trying to be happy, and I was always on mute. But for some reason, that night was so much fun. We smashed through all our homework together, saving our geography project for last. He got up and offered to get some snacks and drinks, and I thought we were just going to power through the project. But when he got back, he had bowl of confectionary and popcorn, and with a soft drink each. I was kind of surprised, but then he asked me what my favourite movie was. I was honestly quite shocked. He saw that, and told me he was just trying to be a friend. I told him about how I hadn’t really had any friends before, and that I didn’t really have a favourite movie either. He had offered to tell storied instead, and that sounded fun so we did. I told him a few boring stories, but he had the most amazing fables to tell me. The last one he told me was about the boy who could swallow and ocean. I still remember what he had said after that,

“Someday I want to be able to swallow an ocean. I don’t want to help greedy old men though, because I might drown them. I’d want to help the world, because that would mean I’d need a team of friends to help me save the world. How fun would that be?”

It’s funny, because at one stage, most of us dreamed of being a magician, to be able to make magic. Now, he gets to have his dream come true.

When I got back, I saw him there, reading. I talked to him, and at first he seemed angry at me. I would be too, if he had just left the day after we shared our secrets with each other. But after a while he seemed to forgive me, and want to play. We played like we used to, we ran around and splashed in puddles, we laid down in the grass and looked at the clouds. And right at the end we ran to the table and sat close together while we watched the sunset. Everything was the same, except that there was an hourglass on the table.

It was from Kai. He had been here, and saw us playing together. I knew he wanted me to get Suho today, but he saw us having fun and left me the hourglass. He wanted us to go back there tomorrow and meet him. I wanted to tell Suho there, but I thought it would be better to tell him after dinner.

We walked back to his apartment, and he just cooked a quick dinner. We ate happily and caught up on everything we’ve missed out on. After we ate he set us up to sleep in the lounge together so that we could keep talking.

“Hey Suho,”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember the last time we were here, when you said that you wanted to be able to swallow an ocean?”

“Yeah… that was a while ago wasn’t it?”

“Hm, Do you still want to swallow an ocean?”

“I think I do, it’s a boyhood dream now though. Why do you ask?”

“Well, there was a reason I had to leave, and it’s the same reason I’m back here with you now.”

“What’s that reason?”

“I can’t really tell you now, but I can show you tomorrow. But we’ll have to go back out to the marshlands.”

“Okay, I’m just really excited to see you again.

“Me too, but we should rest, you will want to have lots of energy for tomorrow!”

“Whatever you say. Goodnight.”

The next morning we got dressed quickly and went out to the marshlands again. I don’t really know what it is about the marshlands that just always makes me feel happy, maybe it’s all the memories I’ve had here, or maybe it’s the memories we will make after today’s visit.

“So, why did you want to bring me out here again?”

“Well, I want to show you something, but we can’t have other people seeing us.”

“What sort of thing?”

“Well, this is pretty big, but I want you to trust me, ok?”

He nodded reluctantly, and I took a deep breath.

“Have you ever wondered if there is something really big that makes you just so different?”

He nodded again in silence.

“Well, I’m not from Earth, and neither are you.”

He stared at me with his expression unchanged.

“We both have a certain power, and we both have the same job.”

“Is this a prank, because it’s not funny.”

“No, it’s not. Promise not to freak out ok?”

“What?”

“I’ll show you my power.”

He stood there, expecting some sort of prank. I closed my eyes, and stomped my foot down really hard on the floor. The ground shook and split in an intricate pattern sprawling across the ground from my foot. I looked up at Suho, he looked at me stunned.

“That’s a joke right?”

I shook my head and pounded my fist into the floor. Again a spider web of cracks ran across the ground from my hand. I stood up again and he looked at my undamaged hand. He stomped on the floor, but nothing happened. He pounded his fist to the floor and again nothing happened. He looked up at me confused.

“You have a power too, but you don’t have my power.”

He stood up, baffled. He tried to think about what his power might be, until it clicked.

“Is that why you asked if I still wanted the power of water?”

“Lift your hands and make a puddle on the floor.”

He bent down, and held his hands over the floor. He concentrated for a bit, but nothing happened. He tried some different hand movements but not a single drop of water left his hands. Had Kai told me wrong? Was Suho without power?

He stood up, disappointed. He lifted his hands to express his frustration, but stopped when he saw something between his hands. A ball of water was just there. He smiled and moved his hands around, with water dragging along behind his hand making patterns in the air similar to the ripples on the water when you brush your hand over it. He laughed and pushed his hands up above his head, letting go of the ball somehow only for it to come down as a light drizzle of rain. We both laughed until we saw movement in the corner of our eyes.

“Good to see you both know how to use your powers.”

“Who are you?”

“Suho, this is Kai, he’s the one that told me of my power. He has teleportation as his power, isn’t that cool?”

“I’d love to introduce myself properly but I’m afraid I can’t right now. D.O, shall I take you back to your house? I think Xiumin and Luhan are home so you could walk to their house later.”

“Sounds good.”

Kai took our hands and in the blink of an eye we were back at my house. Without even a goodbye Kai was gone in an instant too. I looked at Suho and smiled.

“So, would you like a drink?”

---

Sometimes hiding makes you stand out. People seem to notice little things about you that you don’t even know about.

But sometimes standing out makes you blend in. And who better to stand out with than these guys?

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Hey guys, only four more members to go and then the story starts to spice up a bit!

Are you enjoying this fic so far or nah? Tell me what you think, I promise not to bite! :P

And what do you guys think will happen when all 12 are together?