A Heart's A Home (2/2) ✿ for gloomvalleys

[daelightmods]

Jongdae ends the day with multiple bruises but also with a giddiness that Kyungsoo couldn’t understand. Baekhyun has a couple of strands of singed hair, but the ache on his face from laughing so much made up for it. When the four meet up for dinner later that day, Joonmyeon almost thinks it was a bad idea to introduce them to each other.

A couple of weeks later and he thinks they almost fit too well together. Juhyun thinks it’s good that they both seem to less wary of the others in their ragtag company, winning everyone over with their charm. Minseok just thinks they’re a bit too loud.

The boys still share the same room, but no one bats an eyelid. At the end of every day, they lie next to each other and talk about their day.

Everything is good, except that Jongdae seems to be moving forward, and Baekhyun isn’t so sure about himself.

Though both of them have made the same friends, Jongdae is inexplicably closer to Minseok than Baekhyun is to anyone else there. The more control Jongdae has over his magic, the more Baekhyun feels like he will be left behind. The distance between them on the bed seems to widen everyday, and Baekhyun is afraid only he sees it and only he feels it.

One particular day, Baekhyun stomps out of training after Chanyeol accuses him for the umpteenth time that “you can’t possibly only turn lights on and off” and “why don’t you ever talk to me” and Baekhyun isn’t in the mood for it. He leaves Chanyeol and his flaming wings behind.

He searches for Jongdae at lunch, but Kyungsoo tells him that Jongdae and Minseok are hanging out in the greenhouse. Baekhyun frowns at that.

Kyungsoo raises and eyebrow and says, “Why don’t you bring some iced coffees to them?”

Before Baekhyun can indignantly refuse, he says, “So you can spend time with them and stop being a jilted lover.”

Affronted with no words to say, Baekhyun simply grabs the coffee and leaves with a huff.

“You should probably try washing it with like colors. I don’t think washing it with your black jeans will help the orange,” Minseok says stretching his legs out from where he is seated beside Jongdae on a random bench.

Jongdae frowns slightly and whines, “It’s supposed to be pink.”

They both laugh.

Jongdae and Minseok originally met up so they could talk about Jongdae’s progress, but soon after that topic was over, they naturally ease into other topics. Mostly mundane everyday chatter, but Jongdae is glad to talk to Minseok.

After sitting in a comfortable silence for some time, Jongdae says, “Thanks.”

“Hm?”

“I- I figured I should say it at least once. You’ve all done so much for me and Baekhyun. And you even bother to listen to me talk about stupid little things like this so... thanks.”

Minseok laughs. “You’re both very welcome, especially you.”

Jongdae turns to look at Minseok, “Me?”

Minseok hums to himself for a bit then replies, “Yeah. Sometimes I feel like you could be my real younger brother, so I don’t mind.”

Jongdae gushes to himself and with a wide grin says, “Really? Is that okay?”

“What?”

“For us to be brothers?”

Minseok’s eyes are looking into the distance but he still hums affirmatively.

“I…”

Jongdae wonders if it’s okay to tell Minseok. He stares off to the side and thinks, well why not.

“You know, my last brother…” Jongdae hesitates and glances over at Minseok. He’s still looking into the distance, but his eyes are focused. Jongdae knows he’s listening.

“Before I met Baekhyun, before I was on the streets, I had a family.”

Jongdae can see the corner of Minseok’s mouth go up slightly. He soldiers on.

“It was me, mom, dad and my older brother.” He counts them off his fingers. His family used to have four people.

“My older brother- He uh- he used to pick on me a lot.” Minseok grins.

“But no one else was allowed to. The other kids would somtimes pick on me, but he’d always defend me.”

“My family- they- they knew about my magic and they still loved me. Mom used to even read me stories with characters that had lightning powers. Heroes that wielded lightning. I used to think I would be like that someday.”

They both laugh at that.

“And?”

Jongdae worries his bottom lip. “One day a kid at school found out about my powers and-”

Minseok closes his eyes and Jongdae runs through the rest of his sentence, “I was taken out of school.”

“My mom quit her job to homeschool me for awhile but as I grew older, I- I couldn’t control it.”

Minseok nods once, as if he expected that.

“I- I hated it and I- I really wanted to be outside instead of staying home all the time.”

Minseok leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees, his hands loosely clasp together. They both know how the story ends.

But Jongdae feels like he should finish.

“I went out by myself one day, after distracting my mom. I only wanted to go to the corner store for some ice cream but-

“I ran into some kids…

“I didn’t mean to- I- I was scared and-” Jongdae chokes on his words a bit. Minseok grabs his hand and holds it. Jongdae doesn’t notice that Minseok’s hand is frosted over.

“In the end, I… I ran away. I knew it was bad so I- for everyone’s own good, I-” Tears start to stream down his face and Minseok pulls him in for a hug.

In the corner of his eye, Minseok sees a retreating figure near the entrance of the greenhouse. He closes his eyes and sighs.

After a little while, Jongdae stops crying and pulls back and smiles.

“But I met Baekhyun.”

The lights are flickering wildly again as Baekhyun walks quickly away from where the greenhouse is. Seeing Jongdae and Minseok in an embrace is the last thing he needs right now.

He barely stops himself from running because alerting people is not what he wants. There is no problem here. No problem.

He finds himself turning the corner back to the cafeteria, but halts. He sees Chanyeol and Kyungsoo laughing together and he can’t bring himself to join them.

He doesn’t think it’s fair that they’re having a good time while he’s in pain.

Wait, no.

There’s supposed to be no problem.

His heart is beating fine, he thinks. Probably.

To be sure, he backs out of the room and speed walks away. He doesn’t see Chanyeol stand up to go after him or Kyungsoo stopping him from doing so.

Everywhere he goes, there are people laughing and smiling and he can’t stand it.

Unaware, he find himself at the infirmary. After a couple moments, he decides he can’t deal with anyone right now and hides himself behind the sleeping man’s capsule. He wants to be alone but not completely alone. At the very least, the sleeping man can’t make him feel worse.

And so Baekhyun sits there for a long while before one of the nurses, Sooyoung he thinks her name is, comes in to check on the sleeping man. He flattens himself against the side of the bed to keep out of sight.

He hears her bright voice exclaim, “Ah, that’s weird. The lights have gone out! Juhyun, are you trying to scare me again?”

Juhyun’s softer voice answers with a laugh, “For once, it wasn’t me.”

Baekhyun didn’t think Juhyun looked the type to be a prankster but he supposes that looks can be deceiving. I wonder what else they’re all hiding from me.

“Anyways, it looks like his condition is still the same, but the monitor seems to have frozen. Look, the time is off by 10 minutes.”

Baekhyun wonders how long he’s been sitting in the room for.

“Probably has to do with the power.”

“Yeah, I’ll go check to see if I can reset the power or something. Are you going to…?”

Baekhyun sneaks a glance around the corner to see Juhyun nod and Sooyoung smile sadly at her before leaving.

He goes back to hiding but he can hear her light footsteps come nearer to the bed. The floor screeches as Juhyun pulls a chair over to sit by the side of the bed.

There is silence for along time.

“So,” she says, “Baekhyun, why are you hiding here?”

Why are you upset?

He stays silent. He’s not sure how she knows he’s there and he’s not sure what to tell her, so he stays silent.

After what feels like an eternity, he hears her get up.

Don’t go, a part of him wants to say.

No, leave like all the others, another part of him shouts.

Amongst the war in his head, he notices a movement to his right. Juhyun comes around the side of the bed and sits down next to Baekhyun on the cold hard floor. She hugs her knees to her chest and doesn’t say anything to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun doesn’t look at her and focuses on the wall. Except that his vision gets blurry and his raging mind makes it hard for him.

He decides he wants to talk to Juhyun, but he doesn’t know what to say. For someone that speaks as much as Baekhyun, he surprises himself by not finding a single word to convey his feelings.

In the recesses of his mind, he can’t seem to find a starting point.

Does he tell her about what he saw? About his argument with Chanyeol? About the time before he and Jongdae came to them? About the time before that? About the beginning?

Does he tell her about the loneliness he feels even surrounded by everyone here? Is he allowed to tell her that?

Is he allowed to tell her about how he feels left behind? How he expected it but how it still hurts?

Does he want to tell her about the people that he left behind? About his own mother and his own brother?

Jongdae can tell Minseok things, but can Baekhyun tell Juhyun?

He bites his lips and opens his mouth but no sound comes out. He tries again and the only thing that moves is his hand gesturing strangely into the air. He tries to focus again but belatedly he realizes that his vision has blurred completely. He’s been crying and he didn’t even notice.

He feels Juhyun place a hand on his head and he starts to choke. “Jongdae.”

“Minseok.”

And he can’t continue. Juhyun doesn’t ask him to.

She lets him rest his head in her lap as she pets his hair gently.

“It’ll be okay,” she whispers.

Her reassurance and warmth reminds him of his childhood before everything happened. For awhile, he pretends it’s his mom’s lap and this is home. For awhile, he allows himself to close his eyes and believe her.

Later on, after he calms down, he thanks Juhyun for everything and goes back to his room to nap, exhausted from his emotions.

Juhyun stays behind to sit with the sleeping man for a bit. She notes to herself the lights that returned after Baekhyun left and the time on the monitor that starts running again.

How curious.

For reasons Jongdae can’t figure out, Baekhyun starts spending more time in his designated room. At first, he doesn’t say anything. Junmyeon takes it as a sign that they’re becoming more independent of each other and it’s a good thing. Minseok comments that Baekhyun reminds him of Junmyeon from a long time ago. Junmyeon’s eyes widen in understanding and coughs his way out of the conversation. Minseok follows without explaining to Jongdae.

Jongdae brushes it off until one day Baekhyun’s not sleeping with him anymore. He makes the excuse that he’s tired from training and just sleeps on whatever bed he happens to see first. It doesn’t explain the locked door though.

Jongdae decides to talk to Baekhyun about it, but everytime he approaches Baekhyun, he’s either talking to Juhyun or arguing with Chanyeol.

It’s always the same argument.

“Why is Jongdae getting better at his magic and you haven’t changed at all?” Chanyeol stabs a fork in Baekhyun’s direction from across the dinner table.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes, “What improvement were you expecting? I can only do lights!”

“I refuse to believe that you’re only a human light switch.”

Kyungsoo mutters under his breath something about “that’s the only light bulbs that turn on”, but Baekhyun can’t really hear him. To cover his bases, he decides to poke Kyungsoo anyways.

Kyungsoo almost attacks him but Chanyeol cuts him off saying, “Really though, I think-”

“Can we talk about something else?” Jongdae snaps.

Kyungsoo’s eyes widen a bit and he changes the topic to Jongdae. “You know, before when you got irritated, we’d all get static shock from our utensils.”

Jongdae blushes at the mention.

“If you get a bit better, you could probably leave the house soon.”

Jongdae sputters in disbelief. “What?”

“You could do field work-”

“Like farming?” Baekhyun pipes up. Kyungsoo smacks him before continuing.

“Like seeking out other kids like us. Runaways. You could help the field team find and protect these kids before the Red Forces take them.”

Baekhyun stops with a fork in the air. “Wait, you guys are runaways?”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes, “Yeah, if you bothered to ask, you’d know our tragic backstories.”

“Uh I-”

“Stop interrupting me, Baekhyun!” Kyungsoo smacks him again.

“Anyways, you can probably join the field team. Since your magic is electric, you could probably use it to blow up their circuits or mess with their radio system or something.”

“Oh, I never thought I could use it for anything other than.... um-”

Jongdae stutters, unsure of how to finish the sentence, when Baekhyun interrupts.

“Wait, how did you guys find me and Jongdae then?”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Junmyeon.”

“What about him?”

“He bought pizza from you once and noticed you were different.” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow.

“He has a good feel for these type of things.” Chanyeol says. “Also he stalked you for like a month and caught you turning off the lights in the park.”

“Oh my god. I-” Baekhyun puts his head on the table. “Cause of me. All this because of me. I thought I was doing so well too.”

“But it’s a good thing right?” Jongdae laughs. “Now we’re here and everything is good, right?”

Baekhyun opens his mouth and then closes it. He then simply answers with a hum. Jongdae looks right at Baekhyun with confusion, but Baekhyun only looks away.

“So when do I get to join the field team?” Jongdae asks instead.

“Maybe in a little bit,” answers Chanyeol. “You probably need to take some hand-to-hand combat before going out, you’re a bit scrawny.”

Jongdae pokes Chanyeol’s side and they all laugh, except Baekhyun.

“Hand-to-hand combat… sounds dangerous.”

“Ah it’s nothing, Baek-”

Before he can finish his sentence, Baekhyun is already standing up and putting his plate away. He briskly walks out of the cafeteria, and Jongdae immediately follows.

Jongdae catches up to Baekhyun in front of their bedroom doors and grabs his wrist to stop him.

“What is wrong with you?”

“There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“Baekhyun, why won’t you talk to me anymore?”

Baekhyun yanks his hand away and squares himself.

“Are you going to do it?”

Jongdae is confused.

“Are you going to try and do field work?”

“Yeah, why not? If I can save something with my magic, then yeah, I’m gonna do it.”

Baekhyun scoffs. “Save someone. You always wanted to be a hero.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Jongdae takes a step back.

“You want to be a hero so badly, to save someone instead of hurting someone that you can’t even see they’re using you. They’re turning you into a weapon and you can’t even see it.” Baekhyun spits the last part out with venom he didn’t know he had.

Jongdae freezes. Then his body shakes with rage. “Byun Baekhyun, what are you on?”

“These are our friends you’re talking about. Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, Minseo-”

“Of course, of course!” Baekhyun throws his hands in the air. “I’m sure Minseok would love for you to be on the field team with him.”

Jongdae can feel the surge under his skin. “As a matter of fact, I’m sure he’d be supportive and proud of me. Like you should be!”

“Proud of you? For going head first into danger without any clue about what he’s doing?”

“I’m no-”

“For trying to save people when you can’t even save yourself?”

“Stop it, Baek-”

“I’m telling you right now, it would be a stupid decision to-”

“Stop making decisions for me!” Jongdae shouts over Baekhyun.

Around them, a curtain is on fire, and the light fixtures have all blown off.

“For you?” whispers Baekhyun. What about decisions for us?

“If you want to make decisions for only yourself,” Baekhyun’s eyes sweep the hallway, taking the damage in. “Then fine.”

He give Jongdae one last hard look before he disappears behind his door and the click of the lock resonates in Jongdae’s ears.

Jongdae drops to the ground and buries his face in his hands.

“Baekhyun, I just don’t want other kids to go through what we went through.”

Jongdae hears a shuffle behind Baekhyun’s door. He crawls his way to the door and sits against the door.

“Baek-”

“What we had was fine,” comes a whisper.

Jongdae buries his face in his hands once more. “No, no it wasn’t. We stole. We broke into people’s homes and we starved-”

“I’m not ashamed of any of that.” Baekhyun’s voice sounds strained to Jongdae’s ears.

“We had no future, Baekhyun.” Jongdae’s voice is pleading now. “We don’t have to do things alone anymore and they’re taking care of us and we can help others-”

“They’re strangers. We know nothing about them,” comes the curt reply.

Jongdae runs his hands through his hair in exasperation. “We used to be strangers too.”

“We don’t need them.”

“I need them! Kyungsoo and Chanyeol and Minseok and,” Jongdae takes a deep breath, “and you. I need you, Baekhyun.”

“I don’t need them,” he says quietly.

“We could be a family. All of us. It’s just like having brothers, again and-”

Baekhyun gives him a dry and hollow laugh. “I don’t need any more brothers. The last one tried to sell me.”

Jongdae closes his eyes and lets his head fall backward, knocking on the door.

“They wouldn’t. If you trust them, they wouldn’t.”

He hears shuffling from the other side and footsteps walking away from the door.

“Baekhyun, no, no, don’t.”

Jongdae cries at the foot of the door until Junmyeon and Minseok arrive to quell the fire that has eaten away at the opposite wall. Jongdae didn’t even notice the destruction until he’s taken away to the infirmary to check for injuries.

And like that, Baekhyun and Jongdae stop talking to each other completely.

Jongdae continues with his training, eager to prove Baekhyun wrong. He can control his powers, he can use it for good, he can rely on his new friends, his new family. He’s going to do it all, and show Baekhyun that they’re not the monsters and freaks people told them they were.

And maybe then, Jongdae can snap Baekhyun out of his momentary insanity.

He doesn’t talk to Baekhyun anymore, but he always asks about him. For the longest time, Baekhyun had shut himself in the wing that Jongdae blew up. Junmyeon told him that all the facilities in that wing didn’t work for days afterwards. He is more than mildly concerned.

At one point, Chanyeol was so tired of Baekhyun’s attitude that he blew down his door to drag him out by his hair. He did blow down the door, but Baekhyun wasn’t inside. Jongdae asks around, but no one knows where he is. Even cameras couldn’t give Jongdae an answer.

Eventually, Jongdae approaches Juhyun on one of her daily visits to the infirmary. Before he can even say anything, she gives him an apologetic smile and shakes her head. Jongdae merely sighs and leaves.

And so, Jongdae goes back to training. Junmyeon tells him he does well, but Jongdae knows otherwise. Whenever his thoughts wander to Baekhyun, he can feel himself lose control. But Minseok pats him on the back and Junmyeon gives him a reassuring smile, and Jongdae thinks, maybe I can do this.

There’s a mini celebration when Junmyeon tells Jongdae he can join the next party that goes out for field work. Yixing, who Jongdae visits on a semi-regular basis for bruises, personally goes into the kitchen to make him ramen. It’s a bit salty, but no one has the heart to tell him otherwise. Minseok tells him it’s good, but Jongdae merely tells him it’s okay. When Yixing looks put out, everyone laughs.

Jongdae looks around at all his laughing friends and stops short when he remembers that he’s missing one person. The most important person. His person. His heart aches for Baekhyun but he smiles brightly when Minseok gives him a look.

Junmyeon catches the exchange and his eyes bore into the back of Juhyun’s head until she looks at him. He gives her a look and she pretends to not see him and ducks aways immediately.

She rounds the corner to the infirmary and looks inside to see the lights on in one of the rooms. She sighs. Baekhyun is certainly a creature of habit.

She finds him huddling in a corner of the room, out of sight from the corridor.

“You know, for someone hiding, you are pretty obvious with the lights.”

“I left them on after you and Sooyoung kept complaining about it.”

She smiles and sits down next to him on the floor. “They’ll find you if they see the lights on.”

He nods.

“Do you want to be found?”

Baekhyun huffs and sticks out his hand and the lights in the room collect into a small ball of light in his hands. He takes out a lighter and squeezes the light into it.

Juhyun watches him in fascination. “You’ve improved. How did you know you could do that?”

Baekhyun just shrugs and hands the lighter to Juhyun. Juhyun pockets the lighter and turns to Baekhyun.

“You know, you should go see him before he leaves for field work tomorrow.”

“Why should I? He doesn’t need me.”

“You could tell him good luck and-”

“I thought this one was supposed to be a piece of cake. You said it was one of the more simpler tasks.”

Juhyun sighs, “It is but it doesn’t hurt to see him for a bit.”

“Actually it does.”

Baekhyun doesn’t meet Juhyun’s eyes. He simply stands up and walks out of the room.

The next day, Junmyeon gathers up the field team for a briefing. Jongdae thinks it’s simple enough, get in, grab the kid, get out, don’t let anyone see you do magic. Easy. Except Jongdae’s hands still quiver and his stomach feels like a million knots.

Junmyeon pats his shoulder. “Don’t worry Jongdae, it’s nothing. Just follow my lead and Chanyeol and Tao will be beside you and Minseok has our backs.”

Junmyeon nods his head in Minseok’s direction and Minseok smiles back. He nods towards Jongdae and Jongdae feels a bit better.

As they’re leaving, Jongdae waves Juhyun and Yixing goodbye. His smile wavers when he notices that Baekhyun isn’t there, but he shakes it off. It will be fine and he can come back and prove Baekhyun wrong. As Jongin starts teleporting them away, through the black smoke he thinks he sees the lights flicker and his hopes soar. It will be alright.

Except that it isn’t.

The moment they get there, Jongdae feels uneasy. There’s about three seconds before all hell breaks loose. He isn’t sure what’s happening, but he hears Tao scream.

“Run!”

And he bolts. He isn’t even sure where he’s running but Junmyeon is in front of him and suddenly Jongdae sees red everywhere.

It’s a trap.

Jongdae tries to change his trajectory but the red suited men are too close. Suddenly he slips on ice and manages to dodge the first round of bullets from their guns. When he stands up, he realizes that he ended up actually very far away from where most of the combat is taking place. There’s fire and smoke everywhere so it’s hard to see but Jongdae’s eyes follow the ice on the ground.

In the chaos, Jongdae looks up from the ice to see a gun pointed at Minseok. Fear washes over him. His hand reaches out. Jongdae feels the need to get to Minseok travel from his bones, from the bottom of his soles to the top of his head. He needs to get to Minseok, now. He needs to save him. Like how his own brother saved him. Like how Baekhyun has been saving him. This time, just this once, Jongdae thinks, let me be the one to save someone I love.

As if in slow motion, Jongdae sees the lightning bolt leave his fingertips like a claw ready to snatch Minseok away. Before he knows it, the bolt has reached the man threatening Minseok. Before he realizes what he's doing, he sees the bolt splinter off like cracks in a glass. It's already happened before he can stop it. In horror, he sees the lightening bolt hit not only the man, but also Minseok. He sees the whole area struck down by his bolts.

Frantically he pulls it the bolts back to him. He tries to imagine them as strings that he's pulling back to himself, winding up to be stored away. He tries, but then he sees Minseok fall to his knees. He hears an anguished scream. He sees Joonmyun rushing to catch Minseok. Minseok, whose body hangs heavy in Joonmyun's arms. Joonmyun, whose face in that one moment showed more true emotion than Jongdae thought he was capable. And he loses it.

Jongdae feels all his energy, his electricity all at once and then not at all.

Baekhyun looks up from the boxes of bandages Yixing told him to put away when a siren blares through the intercom. He hurriedly puts the boxes down and runs into the main area of the infirmary.

He sees Yixing running, so he quickly matches his pace.

“Is there a fire? This is a fire alarm right?” His heart races when Yixing doesn’t answer him.

They both stop when the double doors burst open and Chanyeol is flying in with his phoenix form. He stops right in front of Yixing and Baekhyun and falls to his knees, his flames disappearing. In his arms is the body of a boy.

Before anyone can stop him, Baekhyun yanks Jongdae out of Chanyeol’s arms.

One look at Jongdae in his arms and Baekhyun’s heart stops in his chest.

Jongdae’s tattered clothes fall away from his body when Baekhyun shifts him to look at his face. Every hair singed right off and there’s soot and ash all over his body.

In the background, Chanyeol tries to explain to Yixing what happened, but in his daze, Baekhyun can only make out “trap”.

It was a trap and they were stupid enough to walk right into it. Baekhyun can feel a searing white hot anger start in his head.

Chanyeol stops mid-sentence when the lights start to get brighter in the room.

Alarmed, Yixing reaches for Baekhyun only to be scorched by his hand.

“Baekhyun!” There are various voices now, and Baekhyun can’t seem to discern who they belong to anymore. His heartbeat drums in his ears and his vision starts to white out.

“Baekhyun, Baekhyun, stop!” There’s shuffling. “Gods damn it, Baekhyun, we need you to be calm!”

“Turn down the lights, Baek-”

“Let me see Jongdae, Baek-”

“No!”

Baekhyun backs up until he hits a wall, and pulls Jongdae closer to his own body. The lights in the room get even brighter. Baekhyun sees silhouettes of people on the ground, hiding their heads, shielding their eyes.

Except Chanyeol. He reverts back to his phoenix form with desperation in his eyes.

Chanyeol’s flaming figure attempts to crawl closer to Baekhyun and reaches out for him. He stops in his track when Baekhyun shoots a beam of light right at his feet and the ground there starts to crumble.

“Damn it, Baek. Please calm down, I know it looks bad, but if you just-”

“No!” Baekhyun refuses to believe anything he says. Look what they’ve done.

Yixing’s clear voice rings out from the whiteness, “If you just let me put him in a capsule, we can-”

“No!” comes again. This time, Baekhyun doesn’t recognize his own voice. It seems to come from somewhere outside of him.

Chanyeol’s deep voice growls, “Baek, you need to let us help him.”

“No. You’ve all helped him enough. We don’t need you. I don't need you!” roars Baekhyun. His eyes light up now. “I just need him! Only him.”

He turns to the charred boy in his arms. Tears stream down his face. He starts rocking Jongdae back and forth in his arms, calling his name.

“Jongdae…” he chokes out. He turns Jongdae’s face towards his own.

“I need you,” he begs. “Wake up, please. You're the only one... only one I... Please wake up.”

No movement came from the boy. Desperately, Baekhyun cradles Jongdae's face with both of his hands and leans closer. He presses his forehead to Jongdae’s in an attempt somehow transfer the words in his head to Jongdae.

In a small voice, he says to him, “You're my only one, Jongdae, please.”

And yet still, Jongdae didn’t stir.

Baekhyun lets out an anguished roar and the entire room whites out.

“I always knew the Baekhyun could do more than turn lights on and off.” Chanyeol grumbles at Kyungsoo who is putting bandages on him. “Didn’t think he could do lasers though.”

“He also has a phoenix form too. Or well, something like it.” Kyungsoo muses as he wraps Chanyeol’s arm. “So what happened after?”

Chanyeol shakes his head. “I don’t know. There was a burst of light and I couldn’t see for a moment and then they were gone.”

“The light is still there though.” Kyungsoo points out.

“Leftover magic. He flooded the entire infirmary in light and now no one can go in there without sunglasses.” He shakes his head again. “Gods, if only I could have got through to him sooner, then we’d know that he could do all these things and…”

Kyungsoo sighs.

“Still haven’t found them yet, huh?”

Junmyeon turns to Jongin from where he’s sitting beside Minseok’s bed. Jongin gravely shakes his head as he takes in Minseok’s unconscious state. Junmyeon follows his eyes and sighs. “Hey, go take a break. Everyone else has been bandaged and everything, so you can take a break.”

Jongin looks at Junmyeon guiltily, but Junmyeon just shakes his head. “It’s not your fault, we all made an error. Just rest, okay?”

Jongin sighs, takes a lingering glance at Minseok, and teleports away.

“Juhyun?”

“Yeah?” Juhyun stands at the doorway to Minseok’s room and watches as Junmyeon slowly bring his head down to rest in his hands. Her heart aches at the scene.

“Don’t play dumb with me. You know where he is.”

Juhyun bites down on her bottom lip. “I might. I’m not completely sure.”

“Could you- could you just make sure that they’re okay?” Junmyeon’s voice sounds weary. After all the events of yesterday, Junmyeon is still trying to keep things together. Juhyun can’t bear to look any longer.

“Seulgi and Sooyoung will come by later to check on Minseok.” Junmyeon doesn’t say anything, only a slight movement of his head to show that he’s heard.

Juhyun sighs and leaves.

Juhyun arrives to the infirmary with sunglasses in tow and sees Yixing scrambling around, getting supplies onto a cart. He stops when he sees her and raises an eyebrow from behind his own sunglasses in question.

She gestures towards the room with the capsules, and he doesn’t understand, but he follows her anyways.

Every inch of the infirmary may be swathed with light but the room with the capsules in particular is hard to see in. Even with sunglasses, both Juhyun and Yixing can only see whiteness.

“Baekhyun, why are you hiding here?”

She says it pointedly at an empty chair and capsule. Yixing turns to her, confused. He’s about to take her temperature until out of the corner of his eye, he sees a strange shimmer where Juhyun is staring at.

He stares directly at it now and notices something strange about the space. He blinks a couple of times and Baekhyun appears in the seat. He blinks a second time and sees Jongdae in the capsule.

“What in the world- bending lightwaves...you can bend the ligh-”

“How did you know I was here?”

“I hazarded a guess. And I knew I was right when I saw the monitor.”

Yixing looks at the monitor, expecting something miraculous, but he can’t find anything amiss. He looks at Juhyun and at Baekhyun again, waiting for an explanation. Exasperated, he comes closer to the monitor. Baekhyun flinches when he’s within arm’s reach.

“What is it? I don’t get it?” He clicks the buttons on the monitor but it shows the same reading. “Oh, the screen froze.”

Juhyun lets out a long sigh and says, “No, it’s working. It’s just that time stopped.”

Yixing and Baekhyun stare at her.

“In the capsule, time stopped in the capsule.” She gestures towards where Jongdae lies with the minuscule specks floating about him. Except that the specks are not whirling at they usually are, but are still, in suspension.

“I don’t get it,” says Baekhyun dumbly.

Yixing raises his hand and says, “I don’t either?”

“Tao’s magic isn’t strong enough yet to stop time completely and if you loo-”

“I can’t magic time, Juhyun. Light. All I can do is light.”

Yixing carefully lays a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Let us help you.”

Baekhyun laughs. “What can you possibly do? I’ve already hooked him into the machine. You can see for yourself. His mind is going crazy. The electricity overloaded it and his body… his body is barely hanging on. How can you help? What can you possibly do?”

Yixing frowns and looks at Juhyun for an answer.

“Look, Baekhyun, the three of us here, we can save him.”

“Don’t make me laugh. I can turn on the lights and Yixing might be able to heal bruises, but he can’t possibly fix all this. And you?” He turns towards Juhyun and hiccups. “Do you even have magic?”

Yixing gasps. “How could you? Of course she has magic!”

“I’ve never seen it.” Baekhyun says accusingly.

Yixing cocks his head to one side, “Most latent magic isn’t visible to the blind eye.”

“What.”

“Latent magic. Like how Kyungsoo always beats you at wrestling?” Yixing offers by way of explanation.

“I just thought he was abnormally strong.”

Yixing and Juhyun laugh. Baekhyun brings a palm to his face. “Because he is abnormally strong.”

“Yes his latent magic is strength.” Juhyun confirms.

“And yours?” Baekhyun narrows his eyes at Juhyun.

She smiles at him and simply says, “Calm.”

“What.” His mouth hangs ajar. “That doesn’t make any sense, how do you-”

“Seulgi said something about oxytocin and pheromones coupled with magic”, Yixing offers.

Baekhyun’s head starts to hurt. He feels like it gets more complicated every time he asks and it’s just not getting to the point. Juhyun clears her throat to get his attention.

Baekhyun looks up at her to see her pointing to the lights. “It, um, got a bit hot in here for a second.”

“Anyways, I know you’re getting impatient so hear me out. Like I was saying earlier, Tao’s magic isn’t strong enough to completely stop time yet, but if you look here” She gestures towards the monitor “and here” she points towards the capsule, “you can see that time is stopped.”

Yixing seems to get it before Baekhyun. He looks at Baekhyun with a smile.

“It’s you, Baekhyun. I don’t know how but I think you might have a latent magic that can enhance that of other people’s.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t get what you’re saying. You sound like a complicated RPG game.”

Yixing tries to make a comment about “RPG” and “game” but Juhyun cuts him off. “Baekhyun, if you learn to use your latent magic, you can help us help Jongdae.”

Baekhyun turns his whole body around to face her.

“Yixing can heal his body and I might be able to calm his mind.”

“Ambitious, Juhyun.” Yixing comments.

“Thank you.” Juhyun smiles at Yixing and they both turn to Baekhyun.

“Come on, Baekhyun. Trust me. Trust us. We’re trying to help, everyone is.”

Baekhyun looks from Juhyun to Yixing and reluctantly dims all the light in the infirmary. He figures that his fear has hurt enough people. Maybe, just maybe, he can redeem himself a little bit if he can at the very least save Jongdae. Maybe he’d be less of a monster if he could save even one person, especially if that person is Jongdae.

Once the infirmary is brought back to its former state, the first thing that happens is that Kyungsoo and Chanyeol sweep Baekhyun up in a hug. Then Kyungsoo lets Chanyeol punch Baekhyun. Baekhyun sputters indignantly and looks to Juhyun and Yixing, but they both pretend to not have seen it.

Baekhyun mutters something about “traitors” until Chanyeol blows up on him about his selfish attitude. He gets an earful, and he bites down his snappy comments because he knows he’s right. If only he trusted them at the beginning, then maybe, maybe none of this would’ve happened.

After that, Chanyeol works with Baekhyun to draw out his latent magic and Baekhyun puts his all into it. It takes a couple of months, but eventually Baekhyun gets it right.

Finally the day comes to try healing Jongdae. They have to act with perfect teamwork if it’s to work. Baekhyun starts off by drawing out his light and channeling it into Yixing. Tao removes the Sand from the capsule slowly at certain parts of Jongdae’s body while Yixing heals them. Yixing moves slowly, healing the easier parts of Jongdae’s body first. Slowly, his hair grows back, and all the cracks in his skin smooth out. On the outside, Jongdae looks fine, but internally there’s still a lot of healing left.

Baekhyun passes out the first day.

The second day comes, and despite Junmyeon’s insistence, Baekhyun wants to continue the healing. And so they continues on with the same procedure. Each day Baekhyun passes out, and Juhyun worries that Baekhyun is pushing himself too hard. On the fifth day, Juhyun give Baekhyun a large dose of her calming magic and knocks him out.

He’s furious when he wakes up, but he could never get mad at Juhyun. When they try again on the seventh day, Yixing finally finishes.

Baekhyun wants to push on, and have Juhyun calm his mind as well, but this time Yixing is the one who knocks him out. And not with magic.

When he wakes up, Kyungsoo insists that he go outside and relax for awhile, take a couple of days to recharge. When he refuses, Kyungsoo drags him outside. Chanyeol and Tao laugh as they trail behind them with picnic baskets.

Finally, Yixing and Juhyun lets Baekhyun back into the infirmary. Jongdae no longer lays in the capsule but on a regular bed, still hooked to a monitor. Baekhyun can see his heart beating fine but the lines of his mind is a jumble.

Juhyun smiles at Baekhyun as he charges up. He passes his ball of light to Juhyun and in her hands, it immediately turns pink. She carefully maneuvers it to Jongdae’s head and holds it there. Baekhyun stares anxiously from Jongdae to Juhyun to the monitor. Slowly the spikes in the lines start to shrink, and eventually, Juhyun takes her hands away. Yixing leads her over to a chair to rest and Baekhyun eagerly takes the one closest to Jongdae. He takes Jongdae’s hand into his and waits for his eyes to open. Five minutes pass, and then another.

Eventually, Yixing takes Juhyun back to her room and leaves Baekhyun there with Jongdae.

Hours pass and Jongdae doesn’t so much as stir. Baekhyun keeps waiting.

He doesn’t know when he falls asleep but when he wakes up it’s already six in the morning the next day. Jongdae is still in the same state he was the day before.

Frustrated, Baekhyun gets up and pulls his chair closer to Jongdae. He grabs a hold of Jongdae’s hand and brings it close to his heart.

He leans in close to Jongdae’s ear and whispers, “Hey, Jongdae, it’s me Baekhyun.” Jongdae doesn’t respond, and he feels like an idiot but he keeps talking.

“Look, I’m sorry, Jongdae. I was an idiot. I- I knew you were right and I was just so angry and hurt and- and- jealous that I couldn’t think straight. I know, I know now that we can trust them. I mean, hell Chanyeol pulled you out of a fire and brought you back even when he wasn’t any better and Yixing was at his wit’s end trying to heal you and Junmyeon and Minseok visit everyday to make sure you’re okay, and Kyungsoo and Juhyun make sure I’m not a complete mess, and- and-” He takes a deep breath.

“And they all love us so much Jongdae. They love us even though you almost killed everyone and I almost killed them a second time. They still love us, Jongdae. You were right.”

Baekhyun chokes on the next words. “Family, Jongdae. They’re like family. But Jongdae, it’s not complete without you. You told me you needed me once. Jongdae, I need you too.”

Tears threaten to fall down Baekhyun’s face as he leans in close to Jongdae, lips almost brushing his. He whispers, “You’re part of my family, Jongdae. You’re more than that too. I- I-” He lets out a breath.

“I love you.” Baekhyun presses his lips to Jongdae’s.

When he pulls back, he sees that nothing has changed.

He falls back into his chair with disappointment. He sees a movement by the door and look up to see Sooyoung carrying a tray of food. She blushes and quickly sets the food down for Baekhyun.

“I- I really thought that would work.” She says. “Like in fairy tales.”

Baekhyun laughs a little at that and said, “I thought so too.”

When Sooyung leaves, Baekhyun turns to the plate of food and picks at the bacon on his plate. He starts nibbling at the end of one piece when he hears coughing.

The bacon falls from his mouth as he turns around quickly to face the coughing. The coughing that is coming from Jongdae. Baekhyun yelps in a pitch so high, sopranos would be jealous. Jongdae winces at the sound and coughs some more.

Baekhyun hurriedly presses the red button on the side of the bed, and then flings himself at Jongdae.

“Bae-”

Baekhyun happily helps Jongdae sit up and he hastily brings his orange juice to Jongdae’s lips. Jongdae drinks for awhile before he starts coughing again.

“Bae-”

Baekhyun clasps his hands eagerly around Jongdae’s own.

“Bacon.”

Baekhyun’s mouth falls open and he can hear Junmyeon and Chanyeol howling with laughter in the background.

He throws Jongdae’s hand down and Jongdae chuckles until he gets into another coughing fit. Baekhyun decides to not help him this time, only to earn a smack on the head from Kyungsoo, who takes over orange juice duties.

Baekhyun whines pathetically while rubbing his sore head, but he turns back to watch Kyungsoo help Jongdae and smiles. Jongdae finishes the orange juice and smiles back at Baekhyun. He hooks a finger around one of Baekhyun’s own, and they smile stupidly at each other for a moment. Jongdae ruins it by pointing forlornly at the bacon. Baekhyun throws a pillow in his face and stomps out as Jongdae wails.

Baekhyun runs into Juhyun and Minseok on the way out and grabs them both in a big hug. Minseok laughs into his hair and Juhyun’s smile is brighter than he’s ever seen it.

Three Months Later

There’s a knock on the window of the infirmary. Baekhyun looks up from the box of bandages he was putting away to see Jongdae sporting a Cheshire Cat grin from the other side of the glass. His eyes crinkle in a smile and he tidies up the medical tools he was using. Time to leave, Baekhyun celebrates in the back of his mind. After a full day of cleaning cuts, putting on salve and bandaging people up, Baekhyun is glad to leave for the day.

In particular because he’s taking Jongdae out today. Last week, he went back to the pizza shop to get his paycheck. The boss didn’t ask any questions, but just gave him a small nod.

With the extra money, Baekhyun decided to take Jongdae shopping for a new shirt. Jongdae excitedly asked if Baekhyun was finally taking Jongdae out on a date, and Baekhyun was too surprised to say no. The answer wouldn’t have been no anyways.

And so they go on their first date in which Baekhyun pays for Jongdae’s new pink shirt, and ice cream, and movie. Jongdae is so happy, Baekhyun can’t even complain about the money.

When they get back, Jongdae stands in ridiculous poses to show off his pink shirt to everyone. Minseok comments to Junmyeon next to him that Jongdae now has matching shirt and socks. Juhyun laughs and proclaims that she loves it. (Baekhyun finds out later that Jongdae and Juhyun both have an affinity for pink overall.) Chanyeol calls Jongdae a piglet and Kyungsoo calls Baekhyun whipped.

Baekhyun would be more affronted if not for the fact that Jongdae has flung himself at Baekhyun and is laughing so brightly, Baekhyun gets distracted. Everyone laughs along with the couple and Baekhyun takes a moment to imprint this in his memories because he’d never thought he’d be this happy. Happy and safe with people that he loves and a boy that loves him. Jongdae was right, but Baekhyun won’t admit it to him just yet.

Later that night, when they’re about to go to sleep, Jongdae snuggles close to Baekhyun and gives him a kiss as a thank you. Baekhyun stills at the kiss so Jongdae kisses him again, to make sure it registers. Baekhyun laughs into the kiss and pulls Jongdae closer, until their entire bodies are touching, no distance in between. He kisses him back.

As they both fall asleep, Jongdae muses that if home is where the heart is, now they’ve both finally reached home.

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Additional Author's Notes: If anyone was wondering where Sehun is, he’s the boy they were supposed to pick up. Haha. Also Seungwan got cut from the story due to time constraints. Sorry to the prompter again, I’m sure I took a lot of liberties with your prompt, but I hope you still enjoyed it! <3