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[winterskim]

wolves by bonecarvers

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[winterskim]

jim morrison by bonecarvers

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[winterskim]

moondust by bonecarvers

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[winterskim]

MONA LISA by BONECARVERS

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[ravixen]

we’re the lucky ones

prologue : 1 : 2

♡ I’m cringing at my old writing. definitely glad I improved over the past year ⚓ 4474 words || multichapter || supernatural!au || not requested || personal

“That looks painful,” she commented as the man before her peeled off his shirt. “Like, really painful. I’m going to start now.”

Baekhyun yelped when something cold touched one of his wounds, “I know I said hurry with this, but can you do it just a little more carefully? That hurts, So Eun.”

“I am doing it carefully,” the brunette huffed, tweezer in her right hand. “You’re the one that keeps squirming. Now hush so I can do this.”

Baekhyun bit his lip as So Eun drew a thorn out of his back and tossed it onto a metal pan at her side. It was a little bloody and not a pleasant sight at all, especially for a squeamish person like him. He resorted to wiggling his toes, but that only earned him a soft hit from Lay.

“I’m trying to work, Baek,” Lay said, glowing hands settled over the younger man’s calf. “Movement disrupts the cuts I just closed.”

“Can we just get Luhan in here to levitate them all out at once and then have Lay heal me in my sleep or something? And are you going to have to stitch me up again?”

“I kind of have to,” So Eun pushed him forward to examine his lower back. She tutted in disapproval. “You ripped up the stitches that were there before and you know healing big wounds drains Lay of all his energy. This wouldn’t have happened if you were careful. Now I have to spend my time taking care of you instead of watching the episode that was just subbed.”

Baekhyun peeked over his shoulder with a pout, “Do you want to kiss it all better?”

The person quietly leaning against the wall gave a chilling laugh before approaching the exam table. “Limits, kiddo,” Xiumin raised an eyebrow, swinging an arm around his girlfriend’s shoulder. His words practically dripped with venom. “Learn them.”

“Get off, I’m working,” So Eun tried to push his heavy arm away, but he was stronger than he looked and she had to accept the fact that he was going to continue to backhug her as she disinfected Baekhyun’s injuries. “Fine, but only because you were gone for a month. Don’t distract me, either.”

“No promises, baby girl,” Xiumin muttered, nuzzling into her hair. His voice was all sunshine and cupcakes and butterflies when he spoke to her. “I’m a pretty distracting person.”

“You guys sicken me,” Baekhyun pretended to gag and Lay wrinkled his nose in agreement.

Aeris placed her stuffed rabbit on top of the dining table and rested her chin on it. She addressed the girl in front of her with half lidded eyes, “So… what’s your name?”

“Jae Yeon,” she answered, back straight. The least she could do was play it off cool, but it’s hard with five people staring you down. Especially when those five people are probably a head taller than you. Jae Yeon tried to fake anger. “How dare you interrogate me when you’re the ones trespassing in my house? I want all of you out so I can–”

“Calm down, miss,” the tall one beside her, named Kris, put a warning hand on the back of her chair and Jae Yeon hated how she automatically recoiled with a Sorry, sir. “We just want to talk and get this sorted out since it seems like you were given the wrong information. This house is ours and has been ours for two years now.”

“They told me that this was my place,” she looked around the table, ready to make a snarky statement, but she realized that it was more likely she was the one intruding, not them.

“Give us a second. Sehun is pulling up some documents now and we’ll see what happened,” Luhan sent her a stunning grin and her cheeks flushed. “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart.”

Sehun typed away on his laptop before showing them the screen. All Jae Yeon could see was a lot of numbers and letters, but there must’ve been something important because Kris pressed his palms against his eyes, Aeris buried her face in her hands, and Suho gave everyone an apologetic look.

“What does it say?” Luhan cocked his head to the side. “I don’t get it.”

“The database is wrong. It says that the property’s open so the department probably assigned her this house,” Suho explained, pointing to a line in the middle of the screen, “which is odd because almost everyone knows we live here.”

“…so what happens now?” Kai drummed his fingertips on the table, waiting for his leaders to answer. “Should we go talk to the department?”

“We can go see them in the morning,” Suho suggested once he caught Jae Yeon trying to hide a yawn. “We’re all pretty tired.”

“Yeah, but where is she going to sleep? In the spare bedroom?” Kai studied the newcomer with suspicious eyes. “What if she snoops around or attacks me in my sleep?”

Luhan stretched his arms over his head and winked, “She can take my room.” When Aeris asked him where he would sleep, he quirked his eyebrow suggestively. “I’ll sleep in my room, too.”

“You’re disgusting,” Aeris scowled at him and rose to her feet. Kris did as well and Luhan glanced between the two of them curiously. “Jae Yeon, you can take my room for the night since the spare room is a bit messy. Kris, come with me.”

“Where are you guys going?” the lilac haired man stood up to follow them. “And if she’s staying in your room, where are you sleeping?”

“I don’t know, the couch?”

“You can sleep with me–”

“Fuck you,” Aeris gave him the finger before leaving with Kris trailing behind her.

“Let’s go. I’ll show you where her room is,” Kai got up from the table and pulled Jae Yeon’s chair out for her. “Just don’t come by my place or I’ll convince them to kick you out.”

“Kai, don’t be rude. And Sehun, you can check that tomorrow. Why don’t you go rest? You’ve done enough for the night,” Suho closed the laptop and patted the youngest’s back. With Suho leading and Jae Yeon in the back, the four of them made their way upstairs. Sehun turned back to look at her.

“If you want to get on everyone’s good side in the morning, make them some breakfast,” Sehun advised. “Xiumin wakes up the earliest, but he doesn’t eat until all of us are up so you’ll have time. And you see that door over there? It’s locked, but don’t try to open it. Don’t go looking around either or the others will really pissed.”

“Got it,” she nodded, making a mental note to avoid the mysterious panelled door. “How many people live here?”

“Including you? Fifteen.”

Kyungsoo groaned, rolling over and burying his face in his pillow. He was usually in a better mood in the morning, but today was not his day. The small cough he had yesterday worsened overnight. His throat hurt, his head was spinning, and it was his turn to cook breakfast. Lay’s powers, unfortunately, do not on things like colds and fevers because the body has to experience them in order to form resistance. He can lessen symptoms, though, which Kyungsoo planned to see the healer about.

He sniffed the air as he went down the stairs, a blanket wrapped around him. My nose must be messed up, too. It smells like food–wait. His eyes narrowed. Someone’s using my kitchen.

The PJ clad intruder hummed to herself, oblivious to the presence at the doorway. She continued to fry, scramble, toast, whatever she was doing…but it was his kitchen. Friends or not, he never let anyone use his kitchen when it was his turn to cook.

“Woah, there!” a hand clamped onto Kyungsoo’s shoulder when he tried to approach the girl. Chen. “Let’s not disturb the newbie, alright? I know you don’t like people in here, but she’s doing it for a reason. Everyone else is over there.”

Kyungsoo was swivelled around and redirected toward another door (more like forcefully shoved, but you get the idea), one that opened up to a spacious living room. Newbie? That meant that it wasn’t one of the only two female residents in the house. Now that he thought about it, the girl was dark haired and, while the team’s medic could cook, So Eun dyed hers brown recently. And Aeris was blonde, which meant that–thank God–she wasn’t the one in there because that girl cannot make food to save her life and would probably burn the house down.

“I found one!” Chen chirped happily, pushing Kyungsoo into a chair and skipping over to curl against Aeris’s side on the adjacent couch. “That makes the attendance nine out of fourteen here.”

“But only eight out of that nine awake,” Xiumin said softly, referring to the person sleeping soundly against his shoulder. “She didn’t even wake up when I carried her down here.”

“So we’re missing Luhan, Lay, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Tao?” Suho ticked off the names off his fingers. “Baekhyun is sleeping off his injuries and Lay’s tired from healing all night, but the rest? It’s already 7:30. What are they going to do when classes start?”

“Who was that person before?” Kyungsoo asked Chen as the others talked amongst themselves. “And why are we all gathering here?”

“Apparently, her name’s Jae Yeon,” he replied, words melting into a purr at Aeris’s hand running through his hair. “She was assigned this house by accident so we were going to talk to the department of Student Affairs about this. Oh, and she’s making us food, too.”

“I can see,” Kyungsoo deadpanned and was going to ask another question, but he was interrupted by the sleepy people stumbling down the stairs and the emergence of the aforementioned girl.

At her call of Breakfast’s ready, there was a mad dash for the dining table. Within seconds, every chair around it was filled and Jae Yeon seated herself in the last one, between a still drowsy blonde man and a completely excited one with mint blue hair. Mouth stuffed with food, the one to her left introduced himself as Tao and the right Chanyeol. The others eventually said their names as well and in a relatively friendly manner, content with what she whipped up.

Except the owl eyed man sitting next to Baekhyun. He’s been glaring at her for quite a while now and she was honestly feeling a bit unnerved. “Umm, is it not good?” she lifted her fork. “Do you not like it?”

“No, he’s just pissed that you cooked in his special kitchen. Don’t worry, he’s like this to anyone that does that,” Chanyeol mumbled around the crepes in his mouth. “But, shit, these are good.”

Sehun let out a happy grunt. “Apology accepted, kiddo. Apology accepted. Thank God you made enough to feed 25 people.”

Jae Yeon watched as the crepes disappeared from the large platter in the center of the table. “Well, I thought you’d eat a lot so… ”

There was silence as the last few strawberries were stabbed and plates scraped clean of cream. Kris was the first to finish and he dutifully brought his utensils to the sink, calling over his shoulder, “The office is opening in half an hour. We should be there early before there’s a line. It’s two weeks before classes start so there’s probably going to be a lot of students. I guess we don’t all need to go so Kai, Chanyeol, Tao, So Eun, and… ” there was a cough from the brunette’s boyfriend, “Xiumin.”

Xiumin beamed in approval and sent the girl beside him a wink, but So Eun easily brushed him off, rolling her eyes.

Jae Yeon soon found that the people with her were…interesting, to say the least. From what she could tell, despite their tall statures, Tao and Chanyeol acted like children. One skipped around the concrete path and snapped pictures on his phone, murmuring about how the lighting was great in the morning. The other had headphones in, singing and dancing to a dubstep remix of what she figured was Row, Row, Row Your Boat. He walked along the edge of the path, using an imaginary paddle to push his imaginary boat through an imaginary river. And yes, he was attracting the stares of the people straggling about on campus. The other two, So Eun and Xiumin, were obviously dating. You had to be blind not to see it. His face twinkled with adoration while his coos of I missed you, babe were never ending; and even though So Eun was dodging his open arms, trying to escape the hug, her smile never faltered.

And then there was the person next to her. To be honest, she was still wary around Kai. She’s had a lot of awkward first meetings, but accidentally crawling into someone’s bed in the middle of the night certainly takes the cake. Jae Yeon quickly glanced at him, averting her eyes when her cheeks felt warm. Kai was undeniably handsome, from the way his hair fell perfectly over his forehead (jeez, was bed head not a thing for him?) to his seemingly perfect proportions. Now that she thought about it, in the house, no one was a visual error. All of its occupants were oddly good looking and woah, is this the real life version of the Cullens?

Kai watched her, brow furrowed. Jae Yeon’s expression changed with her thoughts and it was amusing to see it shift in a matter of seconds. “Something on my face?” he quirked an eyebrow when he caught her gaze. “Or am I just that charming?”

“Um, ah, oh, yeah, you see…”

“And I leave you tripping over your words? Man, I’m good,” his grin was brilliant. He was going to continue teasing her (it was almost as easy as messing with So Eun, just as satisfying, and there isn’t a vengeful boyfriend to bite his ass), but Chanyeol loudly pointed to a red brick building several yards away.

Like Kris predicted, a line was already forming despite the office opening just minutes ago. Thanks to Xiumin’s fast running, though, they were able snag eleventh place. Numbered slip in hand, they took a seat and leaned back the padded backing. The only thing left to do is wait…and wait…and wait…and wait…and wait…and–

“Eleven!” the person behind the counter called. “Number eleven? Going once. Going twice?”

“Wait, isn’t that us?” So Eun peeked at the rectangular paper in Tao’s hand. “Yah, that’s us!”

“Going three times–holy fudge nuggets!” the office lady let out a squeak of surprise when the group suddenly rushed to the front, four pairs of hands slamming onto the counter. “Gracious, please don’t scare me like that. How can I help you today?”

“Ah, yes, we have a bit of a housing issue. You see, she,” Xiumin pointed to Jae Yeon, “was accidentally assigned to the house that we,” he gestured to himself and his four friends, “and about ten others live in. We were wondering if you could fix that issue so that she can have a place to stay, just preferably not ours, before school starts.”

“Can I have one of your IDs, please?”

Xiumin blinked before turning to the people behind him. “I didn’t bring mine.” They stared back just as blankly, patting their pockets. So Eun rummaged around in her bag for a bit and hummed in satisfaction once she found the black and white card in one of the zippers. “Oh, look at my princess, always prepared.”

The lady inputted So Eun’s student ID code and pulled up her residential record. She scrolled through the file, shaking her head. “Nope, no mistake here. That’s where she belongs.”

“No, you don’t understand. We were put in that house by a certain someone, as you can probably see in the thingy,” Tao tapped the monitor.

“Yes, I saw that, but Ms. Lee here was also assigned to your house by that same person,” the lady tilted the computer screen, “as you can probably see in the thingy. This person had specially requested for Ms. Lee to stay in this house, like you were. Because she hasn’t confirmed her arrival yet, your house is still considered ‘open’ as in there is a missing place, but it’s reserved for her. I just need Ms. Lee’s ID so that I can officially put the house as closed.”

“I don’t have my ID at the moment,” Jae Yeon showed the lady her empty hands and nodded when she was answered with You can come back later. “Okay, thank you!”

When they left the building, Kai sighed. “Let’s hurry back. Everyone else needs to hear about this.”

To say that everyone was surprised was an understatement. A major understatement. Once the situation was explained, the living room erupted into a simultaneously shocked Ehhhhhhhhh? It took Kris a whole minute to hush everyone.

“So, you’re saying Lee Soo Man put her in our house?” the leader asked carefully. “Our Soo Man–Baekhyun, stop that!”

But the brown haired man refused to listen and kept shaking Jae Yeon by her shoulders. “Who are you and how do you know Soo Man?” he demanded. “Answer me. Answer me, you intruder!”

“H-he’s my uncle!” she managed to say through her dizziness. “How do you guys know him?”

“Wait, he’s your uncle?” Kyungsoo repeated, confused.

“I literally just said that–”

“Shhhhh, Kyungsoo is talking,” Chanyeol waggled a finger in her face. “No one talks when Kyungsoo talks.”

Ignoring the two of them, he went on. “Does that mean Lee Soo Man wanted her to know about the thing? He put her in this house with us and all.”

“Possibly,” Kris gripped the armrest of the chair beside him. “Jae Yeon, did your uncle or your parents mention anything about us?”

“Nothing much…oh!” her eyes lit up. “My mom said something weird before I left. Something about looking for the dude that was at his funeral last year. Apparently, I’m supposed to tell you the day I got my braces removed.” At their weirded out faces, she quickly raised her hands. “Her words, not mine. I swear!”

“If she’s Soo Man’s niece and she’s supposed to tell us a date,” Sehun pointed to the black door in the corner, “wouldn’t that be part of the code that unlocks the file we couldn’t open? After all, Kyungsoo went to the funeral for us. Didn’t you say you talked to Master Lee’s sister? That could’ve been Jae Yeon’s mom, right?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Suho muttered as their gazes shifted. “Can you tell us the date? Then Sehun, go down and input it into the computer.”

“Uh uh,” she refused firmly. “I’ll help you, but I want to go down, too. This somehow relates to my family and I don’t like not knowing about it. And I live here now because my uncle put me here so why keep secrets?”

“She’s got a point,” Kris admitted and Suho agreed. “Alright, so we’ll all go down together, but you have to keep what you see and hear a complete secret, got it? We’ll explain everything down there.”

She silently followed as they unlocked the door and flipped on a light. There were your run of the mill stairs leading down to what she assumed was the basement. They looked stable enough, with how everyone was walking down without relying onto a railing, but she wasn’t too sure.

“Watch your step,” Kai warned, steadying her with a hand on her elbow. “Don’t fall.”

There’s a scoff from the blonde behind them. “That’s actually really cute. Why didn’t do that?” Aeris complained.

“You seem okay,” Luhan quipped, going on ahead. “Not like you’re going to get a cramp halfway down.”

“I could–oh, look, Lay was kind enough to help me. Thank you, darling,” she smiled at the one holding her hand and stuck her tongue out at the one who wasn’t.

From the front of the pack, Xiumin overheard what was going on and held out his hand. “Watch your step.”

But So Eun didn’t take it. “One, I’m not going to fall and two, no.”

“I’ll tickle you,” he threatened, wiggling his fingers. She–being the air ticklish person she was–flinched immediately.

“Fine, but this is it,” she huffed, linking their pinkies together. She shouted over her shoulder. “Jae Yeon, the steps start widening at this point so don’t trip.”

Despite the advice, Jae Yeon nearly lost her footing when the concrete steps changed to white marble ones, red carpet sitting on top, but Kai’s grip tightened and prevented her from face planting. He couldn’t stop her jaw from dropping, though, and that’s exactly what it did. The farther they went down, the lighter it became until she was able to identify the source: a giant crystal chandelier dangling from a panelled ceiling.

“Is this a grand staircase?” she gaped at the new environment. Somehow, when she wasn’t paying attention, the narrow, dusty passage opened up and they were in a room that reminded her of Beauty and the Beast’s entrance hall, stone pillars, tall doors, and all. From what she could see, they were on the left fork of the staircase.

“Yes, indeedy,” Tao chirped. “This is our main hall. It’s supposed to be a secret so tell anyone and you’re dead. Haha, just kidding!” Even though his tone was light, the tenseness in his shoulders suggested otherwise.

They walked straight forward, up another flight of stairs that led to a decorative hallway. She was only able to get a glimpse of it before being pulled into the first door on the right. The inside was exactly what she expected to see in Jimmy Neutron’s shed: a large monitor embedded into the far wall, the ground littered with paper sketches, a table piled with circuit boards, and tools tossed around haphazardly.

Without being asked to, Sehun nudged his way past the others and settled in front of the biggest computer, cracking his knuckles and typing in a long string of characters that appeared as asterisks to everyone else. Finished, he asked for the remainder of the code and Jae Yeon stuttered out a mess of numbers, still in awe over the fact that she was trapped in an underground base with people who didn’t look very friendly anymore. Holding his breath, Sehun hit the ENTER key and watched as a red processing bar filled the screen.

“Hello? Eun Jin, is this thing on?” a weathered finger tapped the screen once the file opened. Jae Yeon immediately recognized the voice as her uncle’s and was proven right when he moved away to sit on a chair. A female answered with a soft Yes, dear and she realized with a jolt that it was her aunt.

Jae Yeon didn’t know that she was falling until Kai grabbed her by the waist and guided her to the bench where everyone else had drifted towards. The look on their face was probably the one she had on her own, fascination with the tiniest little bit of fear. When Soo Man suddenly laughed, she jumped a mile in the air and the ones around her did the same because this was really him.

“Sehun, play it,” Suho whispered. The youngest had paused it right after the startling laugh. He complied and scurried away from the screen, choosing to seat himself next to Tao on the bench instead.

“Well, if you’re watching this, it means Eun Jin and I are dead,” the mirth in his voice was the complete opposite of the current atmosphere. “I’m guessing you’ve all met each other by now. I don’t know how old you are as you’re watching this, but I’m guessing that Xiumin and So Eun are dating. You think I couldn’t see it? I knew you two were soulmates the moment you saw each other and the connection will only get stronger as you get older. And Kris isn’t overworking all of you, is he? He should start loosening up. After all, Suho is showing potential leadership qualities and I hope he’s also a leader now. Anyway, I could go on and on about all of you, but I’m afraid I don’t have that much time and I think you want me to get to the point.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “As you know by now, Jae Yeon is my niece and yes, I do want to involve her our business. Train her and explain everything that has happened, from the Creator to the Great Exodus to the second Exodus to now. I assigned her to the house I gave you and I expect nothing but the best from you. Besides, you were able to get the password for this, right? Ah, I had you travel all over the world and solve the hardest riddles… sorry about that, but you had to prove yourselves.” There was a scoff from Chen, I nearly fell off that damn mountain in Peru. “Now that you’ve seen this, a few more files should appear in the folder. I made videos addressed to each and every one of you. Unless, that is, you’ve recruited more members. There’s also the data I was able to get from the laboratory and info about other branches and associates, if you ever need help.” He gestured to someone offscreen and Eun Jin came over to say hi.

“I’m sorry we had to leave you all so soon,” she said, “but you’re big kids now! Be careful. Ah, Soo Man, we have thirty seconds left. Stay healthy, okay? Don’t die on the job! And remember to clean up after yourselves. Separate the lights from the darks when washing. Oh, and don’t–”

“Ten seconds.”

“Ah, what to do… We love you!”

And with a final wave, the video ended. Silence reigned in the room until Suho cleared his throat. “I guess that’s that.”

“What’s going on… ?” Jae Yeon trailed off, unsure of what to say. “What are you guys? What am I getting myself into? What’s business was he talking about?”

“Well, first things first,” Kris heaved himself to his feet and offered her a hand. “We’re EXO, a group of monsters that could probably kill you in our sleep if you ever decide to betray us. Welcome to our home and we hope you enjoy your stay here.”

[ravixen]

we’re the lucky ones

prologue : 1 : 2

♡ this was my writing almost exactly a year ago and it feels weird to be posting an old fic…but here’s chapter one! ⚓ 3396 words || multichapter || supernatural!au || not requested || personal

“Alrighty, I got control of the place,” the silver haired man reported to his teammates as he dusted off his hands. “Who knew that these security dudes can actually fight? Aish, I’ll need some ice for this later. We have some at home, right? Ask Lay–”

“Focus on your job,” a gravelly voice hissed, causing his earpiece to crackle, “or you can forget being Sehun and go back to being Subject #35AN instead.”

“I’m going, I’m going,” Sehun rolled his eyes and plopped down in front of the main computer. To be honest, his leader’s words had no weight and everyone knew it. Kris didn’t risk his life to release all the lab experiments only to send them back to that hell hole. Besides, Sehun was more worried the workers’ backs (these chairs were pretty stiff. Can the city’s best art museum not afford any better?) than Kris’s empty threat. “Give me five minutes.”

“You’ve got two,” another voice chimed in. Baekhyun. “We took too long with sneaking in through the window and we’re off schedule.”

“Oh, a challenge! This’ll be exciting,” Sehun plugged a USB into the computer and wiggled his fingers as he waited for it to load, getting ready. “If I do this in time, can you convince Grandpa to let me try those new hallucination drugs? Xiumin made too much last time and I really wanted to get some before he sells the extra.“

“You don’t get anything for doing your work properly and pulling your own weight in this mission,” Kris snapped. “If you get in, we’ll get out of here safely and get paid by the client. If you don’t get in, then we’ll be arrested for life and probably sentenced to death.”

“You’re always ruining my fun…oh hey, it finished!” Sehun’s eyes lit up as he typed away on the keyboard. Hacking into high quality security systems always got his blood pumping, the thrill of sneaking and wreaking havoc while not leaving a trace behind. At his level, something like the Lancaster Historical Art Museum was child’s play, but it’s been a month since his last mission and his fingers were slower than usual. “I got the cameras on a loop. Instead of recording, it’ll just play the same footage over again. I’ll get to working on the sensors now. Start moving in forty five seconds–wait, thirty.”

There was more clacking as he tried to switch off the motion sensors surrounding their target: a sculpture that looked like a monkey took a dump and decided to call it art. Thankfully, the sculpture wasn’t the main focus of its exhibit and replacing it with a fake was relatively easy. He counted down in his mind, pinky hovering over the ‘ENTER’ button. In 5…4…3…2…1…

From the other end of the museum, Baekhyun snapped his fingers and every single light bulb blew out, masking the fact that Sehun just shut down the entire building. Sounds of surprise came from the patrolling guards and the rest of the team used those precious moments of confusion to carry out their objective.

A voice, previously mentioned as ‘Grandpa’, suddenly spoke from their ear pieces and gave out hushed orders as they all moved from their hiding spots, “We have about five minutes until Baekhyun returns the lights, making it look like the backup generators came on. Sehun, keep those generators off for as long as possible. Chen and I will make it look like it raining. No, we’ll make a storm. Chen will make it to the designated pick up place in time. Baekhyun, go get the–”

“You talk too much, Suho,” Kris hissed. “Everyone, just go.”

And so they went. Baekhyun inched toward the edge of the balcony he was on, checking in case guards were in the immediate area, but luckily the employees were all running toward the back up generators in the boiler room. He tightened the small pouch around his neck, not wanting the lights to accidentally slip out, before jumping off the ledge. For an experienced thief like him, the twenty foot drop was nothing and he landed softly, rolling behind a pedestal display case once he hit the ground. According to their scout (that blasted Luhan. He took one of his girls on a date while doing work), the case with the sculpture should be five steps forward, ten to the left, turn to the right, eight steps forward, avoid the weird statue, and five more steps. Doing things in the dark isn’t usually Baekhyun’s thing. He’s used to working with a flashlight, but Luhan said that the exhibition had a lot of glass and mirrors and precious stones–reflective things–and Kris told him not to bring a flashlight. The only thing he had to guide him was Luhan’s instructions and his outstretched hands, making sure that he didn’t bump into anything.

Which was a seriously bad idea. Following Luhan’s words, at least. Baekhyun had turned to the right and tried to go forward eight steps but walked straight into a wall on the fifth step. He rubbed his cheek, muttering a string of curses with something that sounded like “Luhan” and “castration” thrown in. He was going to turn around and try again when a slightly panicked Sehun came through on their comm units.

“Shit, shit, shit,” the youngest said,  breathless. “Guys, okay, so it turns out they have another generator that wasn’t a part of the circuit before, but they’re starting to plug it in now. I don’t think I can shut it off fast enough, but I can probably stall it for a minute.”

“And why can’t you shut it off fast enough?” Kris’s throaty growl sent a chill down everyone’s spine.

“Because I have to fix the security tapes. The looped footage has to cut into the black out and show them moving around with flashlights so there won’t be suspicion. And the computers are spread too far apart. Even the main desk only has one monitor. I can’t do several things at the same time. Kris, my fingers are starting to cramp. I haven’t done this in forever.”

“Um, not to make you guys even more crazy,” Baekhyun flinched at their leader’s heavy sigh. Oh, they were going to get it later. “But I still don’t have the target. Luhan’s directions were wrong and I just got hit in the face by a wall. I have no idea where to go.”

There was silence as they waited for either Kris or Suho, their other leader, to speak. To their relief, it was the kinder of the two.

“It’s okay. We’ll just have to improvise a little,” Suho said slowly, thinking of a new plan. “Once they hook up the new generator, Chen will hit the building with lightning. That can probably buy us some time. Sehun, stall the generator for as long as you can, but focus on the tapes. We can’t leave any tracks behind. Baekhyun, get the light you took before and use that to get around. You know what the target looks like and generally where it is, right? I remember seeing you studying it the other day. The employees are in the boiler room so I’ll flood it a little. And Kris. Breathe. We got this. Team, move out.”

Although Suho tended to ramble when they’re on the job, Baekhyun was honestly grateful for the older man’s presence. His quick thinking skills and ability to keep calm and take charge when Kris has steam coming out of his ears was always a good thing to have, even if he couldn’t fight. That’s why he was in the getaway car with Chen. Baekhyun did as he was ordered and released the lights in his pouch. The twinkling orbs started to float away, naturally attracted to the light bulbs, where they should be, but he gathered them into his hand and formed a sphere of light. At last, he could see. And he discovered that he was on the wrong side of the room.

Kris is going to kill that kid when we get home, he made his way quietly to where the sculpture should be, hoping that all the workers really were down in the basement. He carefully lifted the glass case surrounding the art piece and set it out the ground. The team’s artist in residence, Aeris, had made an exact copy and it was up to Baekhyun to replace the real one with the fake. He slipped the target into his bag, zipping the top.

“I’m done. Start wrapping up,” he reported, putting the case back. “I’ll meet you guys out back.”

Baekhyun looked back at his work with an accomplished smile and was about to find a way to escape through the skylight when he caught sight of something. Shoot. It was a guard coming toward him with a flashlight sweeping across the ground, breaking the darkness. He pocketed his own lights and crouched behind a display case. At that moment, Sehun decided to warn him with a Dude, there’s a guard in your room to which he replied with a No, shit, Sherlock.

“Eric? They need some help with the old generator. The place got hit by lightning so it’s not connecting right. You coming?”

“Yeah, just give me a second,” Eric said absently and Baekhyun watched with bated breath as the beam of light passed just over his head. “I thought I saw something. Never mind though, I’m coming.”

Baekhyun exhaled as the light turned off and the sound of footsteps faded away. To the untrained ear, it would seem like both men left, but Baekhyun could tell that only one person walked away and the other was quietly snooping around. Eric was pretty good at being stealthy, the thief admitted. But I’m better. As the guard tiptoed through the center of the room, shoes barely making a noise, Baekhyun stayed by the walls and avoided him, running out the door as soon as the man turned away. He immediately ducked into the neighboring exhibition, a botanical themed one that led to an outside garden.

“Change of plans. I’m coming out of the garden now and I’ll meet you at the place,” he said, glancing behind him to see if he was followed.

Big mistake. The path leading out the building turned left and sloped downward…and Baekhyun wasn’t paying attention. With a muffled yell, he tripped over the bricks lining the path and tumbled into some sort of flower bush five feet below. Thorns buried themselves in his body and he had to press a hand over his mouth to stifle the shout of pain. Overlapping Are you okay? came from his worried teammates, but his eyes were focused on the lights that were flying out of his open pocket. He reached out for them, trying to bring them back, but the sharp stings all over his body were splintering his concentration.

“Fuck, guys, the lights are returning, but I can’t move,” Baekhyun groaned. “I fell into a pile of thorns and I’m kinda stuck. And–oh God, the power came back on.”

“Just stay down for a bit. I’m right above the garden and I can see you. Once the area’s clear, I’ll fly you out.”

“Thanks, Kris,” Baekhyun ground out between clenched teeth. He could usually hold in pain well, but a few of the thorns dug into his still healing wound and he had to arch his back to keep from pushing them in deeper. Seconds later, Kris was easing him up from the bush and gently prying the branches from his skin.

“The sculpture’s still good, though, right?” Kris asked as he got the younger man on his back.

“…your priorities suck.“

“It’s a valid question,” his voice was noticeably softer. Who says Kris didn’t care about his subordinates? “Hang on tight; we’re going now.”

Baekhyun leaned into Kris’s broad shoulders once they took to the sky. He wasn’t scared of heights, but safety is questionable when you’re being carried by someone 100 feet in the air, supported only by their hands clasped beneath your bottom. As if sensing his sudden nervousness, Kris tightened his arms around Baekhyun’s legs.

“Don’t worry, I got you. I have to go this high so that the people down below can’t see us.”

“Yeah, I know,” Baekhyun murmured before pointing to something in the distance. “Hey, why is Chen already driving away?”

“It’s better to be in motion and gain distance than to stay still and wait for us to get on. Like that time Running Man did a relay race and had to beat a moving bus,” Kris explained, referring to a show that they occasionally watched, “but, Chen, you’re going too fast.”

Chen’s singsong voice rang in their ears, laughing, “You can do it! I believe in you!”

Kris let out a huff of annoyance and flew faster to catch up. It wasn’t that hard, but the problem was getting in the convertible. Kris lowered his altitude, hovering over the moving car, and tried to ease Baekhyun into the backseat, but Chen was being a dick and the injured man was harshly dropped, an agonizing hiss coming from his mouth. When Baekhyun got himself into a sitting position, Kris ungracefully landed in the remaining seat and promptly hit the driver on the back of his head.

“What was that for?” Chen whined at the person sitting behind him, who silently glared. “You wanted a get away car, you got a get away car. I’m a car racer, not a chauffeur.”

“Where’s Sehun?” Baekhyun noticed that their youngest wasn’t in the car with them. “DId he get out alright?”

Suho, who was sitting in the passenger seat, gestured to the seemingly empty road in front of them. “He’s somewhere up there. He’s fine.”

Baekhyun could hear a faint revving noise, Sehun obviously, and settled into his chair with tired eyes. The ride back home would usually be an hour, but with Chen driving, it’d probably be half an hour at most. That was long enough to take a nap.

The black haired girl stumbled into the large house and hurriedly took off her shoes. If she was her usual self, she would’ve spent at least five minutes staring at the exterior because man, was it nice. On a street lined with architecturally similar houses, the one she was in didn’t seem out of place, but it was certainly different from the small apartment she shared with her family before. She headed straight to the stairs, wanting find a bed and sleep, but to carry her suitcase up the staircase in front of her would be a nearly impossible feat for her weakened self.

I’m the only one using this house. My stuff won’t move, she reasoned. With that logic in mind, she left her blue suitcase and trudged up to the second floor, holding onto the railing for support. The end of the staircase opened up to a long hallway that went from her left to her right. She entered the first room she saw and sighed in happiness. It was a bedroom.

“The student comfort department is seriously no joke,” she marvelled at how tidy the room was. “When they say they get the place ready for you, they really get the place ready for you.”

She jumped into the king sized bed and squealed at how good the clean sheets felt. After being in a plane for several hours, her body missed the comfort of a real bed. She snuggled into the pillows, content, and prepared herself for a very long and very comfortable rest. She already closed her eyes when she felt water droplets fall on her face. She squeezed her eyes tighter, rolling to the other side. She could worry about broken pipes later. She tucked the blanket underneath her chin and tried to settle into sleep again.

But…

Drip. Drip. Drip. Okay, maybe she’ll worry about it now. Irritated, she opened an eye, about to glower at the ceiling, but the handsome face in front of her was not what she was expecting. The tanned man straightened and she realized that he was leaning over her and the water came his wet hair. Both of her eyes were open now and, frozen, she watched a bead of water emerge from his hairline, slipping down the side of his face until it dropped onto his protruding collarbones, where it trickled down the toned muscles of his exposed upper body before being absorbed by the white towel wrapped around his waist. Her eyes snapped up to his face again.

And she screamed.

“Jesus Christ, would you tone it down a bit?” the unnamed man winced at her high pitched voice. “You’re going to wake the others–”

There was a crash from some other room and the sound of scrambling footsteps before a brown haired girl burst into the room, cellphone in hand, “Mother, are you–Kai, what the hell are you doing?”

Another person appeared at the doorway, this time a black haired man, “So Eun, you okay?” At the sight of his undressed friend, he put a hand over the brunette’s eyes before leading her away. “Damn it, lock the door next time, man. Let’s go.”

“Hey, is everything alright? I heard noise,” an out of breath blonde girl shooed the other two away from the entrance to check for herself. After seeing the scene before her, she crossed her arms with a disapproving stare. “What did I tell you last time? If you’re going to bring a girl home, Kai, do your business in the extra bedroom downstairs. I don’t want to be kept up the entire night, trying to drown out your disgusting–”

“She’s not mine, I swear!” Kai held his hands up in surrender. “I just found her here. She’s one of Luhan’s!”

The blonde girl turned to her left, where a lilac haired man suddenly appeared. “Not mine, either,” he said, but it was clear that she didn’t believe him. “I’m not lying this time, Aeris.”

At that moment, there was some bustling downstairs and someone shouted, “Lay, So Eun, we need your help down here.”

“If she isn’t yours, Luhan, then whose is she?”

“I don’t know, Kai. Now stop, you’re making making Aeris misunderstand. Bambi, I promise you–”

“Lay! So Eun!” someone was bounding up the stairs. “Are you guys asleep?”

“Sehun,” Luhan pulled the tall newcomer into a chokehold. “Tell Aeris that I didn’t bring a girl home. You know all the girls I hang out with and she’s not one of them, right?”

The girl on the bed widened her eyes when pointed to. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on…? Why are you guys in my house?”

“Your house?” Kai scoffed, running a hand through his damp hair. “Sweetheart, I don’t know who you are, but you’re surely mistaken. We’ve had this place for years. Aeris, can you tell her to–”

“Bambi–”

“Is Lay or So Eun still awake–”

“Why is there dog shit on my foot–”

“Aeris–”

“Everyone, freeze,” the blonde girl, presumably Aeris, pressed fingers to her temples as the overlapping voices quieted down. She slowly dragged a hand down her face. “It’s, like, two in the freaking morning and we have work to do in a few hours. Listen, Kai, go get dressed. Why are you even showering this late in the first place? You’re going to get sick. Luhan, go find Lay and So Eun. It seems like someone got hurt downstairs. I don’t about Lay, but So Eun’s still awake, watching another drama. Sehun, can you be a darling and get me some Advil? My headache’s killing me and Kris has to debrief me on what happened earlier. And you, girl in the blue, you’re coming with me. Let’s move.”

The black haired girl stayed in her position, still in shock at how her supposedly empty new house wasn’t so empty after all.

“She said go,” Kai grabbed her arm and pulled her up roughly. “The sooner you talk to her, the sooner we can get this straightened out.”

And she had no choice but to blindly follow Aeris, who managed to look threatening even when cradling a giant stuffed rabbit.

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