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Jongin was staring intently at the trading cards he brought along with him. They had been his treasures since childhood. Limited editions. Collectors and enthusiasts would pay him fifty thousand astrales for each one if he sold it to them. He flipped through each card again as if he hasn’t already for the millionth time: the illustration of the Lord of Healing gazed at him with a faint smile, the Beast of the Flames was so cool and calm, and the Elder of Light looked ethereal.
These were not mere fictional characters—no, sir. They were generals during the Red War from a thousand years ago. According to the mods of the Mystic Legends Trading Card game chatrooms he had went on, instead of leading the thousands of planetary systems under the Alliance, they chose to take a step back and experience life as normal people. Others say they’re dead. Those others were killjoys.
“Here’s your Iltonian Sweet Nectar, sweetie.”
Jongin was pulled back from his thoughts. The man who served him his drink smiled at him almost endearingly when he saw the cards in Jongin’s hands.
“Ah, a big MLTC fan, huh?” said the man. “Those look expensive.”
“They’re not for sale,” Jongin blurted out of instinct.
The man chuckled. “Relax, I don’t even play that game.”
“Sorry…I…”
“I’ve noticed from the counter that you looked nervous the moment you stepped in here,” said the man, blonde hair shimmering in the light. “Don’t worry. If you’re running from something or just stressed from an office desk job, the Serpent’s Savoy is a neutral zone. No one’s gonna bother you here. So…” The man pushed the drink closer to Jongin, “…take a sip and enjoy your stay here.”
The blonde haired man went back behind the counter to continue mixing drinks. There was a strange air around him that left Jongin dumbfounded, and yet the coffee shop was so unassuming that it was difficult not to notice such a presence.
The Serpent’s Savoy—the famous coffee shop in the middle of one of the busiest space faring lanes in the Eltanin star system. Twenty-one thousand parsecs away from Jongin’s home planet.
It was far enough to have some momentary peace, and far enough from anyone looking for him.
The hours had passed and Jongin laid out his plans after his third glass of nectar. He glanced at his cards again. Maybe he should sell some of them so that he had the funds to travel even further away. Travelers have come and gone from the coffee shop yet Jongin remained glued to his seat, now carefully adjusting his intervallumeter to the coordinates he saw on the hyperdrive cargo ship that he boarded on a day ago.
Another jump to a distant planetary system should do the trick. The Alliances’ enforcement officers would not be able to trace him that far away.
Jongin was so engrossed in the intervallumeter that he did not notice that he was the only customer left in the coffee shop. The lights had already dimmed around him and the waiters were putting up the chairs on the tables. Yet no one dared to disturb him…until—
“Excuse me, sir?” a timid voice called out to him. He looked up from the plasma screen: A server android was fidgeting uneasily at him. Its beautiful eyes blinked rapidly, hands demurely folding over its chest. “I’m afraid the Savoy is closed now. You may return tomorrow, if you like, but I am politely requesting that you vacate the premises—”
“It’s alright, L-1485,” said the blonde haired man. “I’ll take care of this.”
“I’m sorry,” said Jongin. “I didn’t notice the time and—”
“That’s okay,” said the blonde haired man with a soft smile. “If you don’t have a place to stay, the Savoy offers lodging.”
The android fidgeted again. “But, sir, that’s for VIPs and—”
“It’s alright,” the blonde man repeated. “Have a room prepared for…?”
“Jongin.”
“For Jongin, L-1485. We’ll be there, shortly.”
The android did what Jongin presumed to be a bow. “Of course, sir.”
As L-1485 left, the blonde man sat across Jongin and quickly took his hand. “Apologies, sir,” he said as he gazed intently at Jongin’s palm, finger hovering over the lines etched onto his skin. “I am quite fascinated by palmistry—and yours is especially intriguing.”
The blonde man looked up. “Oh, I’m Baekhyun, by the way. The manager of the Serpent’s Savoy.”
There was a strange ethereal calmness to Baekhyun that Jongin could not explain. He felt peace and warmth radiate from him as if they were not technically strangers.
“What’s so intriguing about my hand?” said Jongin.
“It tells me a lot,” said Baekhyun. “Striated lines across and skin stained purple indicates exposure to iodine and potassium permanganate. Mining and production.” Jongin felt his skin tingle. Baekhyun’s ethereal silver eyes were now drawing fear out of him. “Your melanin level though eliminates all the mining towns of outer planets located in different star systems. That and your apparent fondness for Iltonian Sweet Nectar leaves only one option: Deidion-5, am I correct?”
I should go, thought Jongin.
Baekhyun’s hand wrapped around Jongin’s wrist. “I’ve read the Alliance’s recent advisory about you…Kim Jongin.”
Jongin felt his stomach drop.
“The authorities in Deidon-5 are looking for you,” said Baekhyun.
The thought of him being in Deidion-5 makes him sick: The slums, streets unpaved and muddy, with shady shops that whistled at every passerby and offered black market goods. Beyond the outskirts of the main city district were reaping fields that were white during harvest: ghost wheat swaying in the wind with its pale ears and long, olive leaf blades. They were harvested in the nighttime when it was cold and Jongin had experienced once to carry bags of harvested ghost wheat to the towering silo barns where most of Deidon-5’s main city’s resources were stored. Lavish restaurants whose impeccably wallpapered walls and ornate tables littered the main street. Every night they were filled with slobbering aristocrats, laughing and intoxicated by every decadent delight, while outside the host of homeless beg in the streets and the workers labor till the early hours of the morning. His now deceased parents used to work in one of those godforsaken factories tirelessly and it ultimately amounted to nothing.
They were now both dead, left Jongin to the care of their neighbors. Those people were kind enough but Jongin knew how difficult it must have been for them to have another mouth to feed.
“Don’t send me back,” whispered Jongin. “Please…”
Baekhyun flipped his hand, staring intently at the dark mark near Jongin’s thumb. “Do you remember when you had this mark?”
“I don’t,” said Jongin timidly. “It has always—”
“—been there.”
“What is it?”
“The Mark of the Aegis. A very…peculiar mark that is bestowed upon only a few beings.”
“I don’t want to go back to Deidion-5.”
“And you thought running away would suffice?” Baekhyun took out of his breast pocket a round, flat mechanical device, almost like a conductor’s watch. He pressed on the protruding button and a hologram of Jongin’s face appeared. “As long as you stay within star systems that are part of the Alliance, there’s nowhere to run, especially when you have been conscripted by your planet’s royal court.”
“I don’t want to serve those…those things…”
Orphans, no matter what the age, can be conscripted by Deidion-5’s royal court as prescribed by the mining settlement’s laws. It meant serving the aristocrats that Jongin reviles. It did not matter what they would do to him, the law allows it so long as he doesn’t get killed or rendered “unserviceable” to their society.
“Ah, you fear to be their playthings?” Baekhyun sat back, slipping the mechanical device back into his breast pocket. “Honestly, I vehemently despise such barbaric cultures, but one cannot incite change if one does not face what he fears.”
He was silent for a moment, eagerly sizing Jongin up: his ethereal silver eyes were glowing as if a vision had just cascaded down to him. “I will not send you back—”
Jongin felt a dark weight falling off of him.
“—because you will go back there on your own.”
“I won’t.”
“Yes, you will. On your own volition. Fate is rarely escapable and your palm has shown me a vision of the future. The tides will turn upon your return.”
“You’re toying with me,” a little bit of anger slipped from Jongin’s voice. How could he go back there?! Back to that purgatory of a planet? This man must be insane!
“Toy with you?” Baekhyun raised his hand, showing off the back of it. To Jongin’s surprise, he also had the same dark mark near his thumb. “I have seen too much suffering and pain to toy with people’s lives, Kim Jongin.”
Then, he stood up as if nothing happened.
“Wait, who are you?”
Baekhyun just smiled. “You’ll find out…soon enough.”
As he went towards the glass elevator at the other end of the coffee shop, he turned back to Jongin. “Come. I’ll show you to your room.”
“But I don’t think I can afford this.”
“No worries.” There was a glint in Baekhyun’s eyes. “It’s on the house.”
The room they entered in the upper floor was cozy with linen wallpaper, crushed velvet carpet, and a twin sized bed that was beside a circular wide window that overlooked the space port streets below. Neon lights from the signage and shops reflected on the glass, casting a soft, colorful glow. Cargo mini-strutters zipped past the Savoy and Jongin could make out from the blinking lights in the distance the central control hub of the space port.
“There’s a stairwell down the end of the hallway that will lead you to the lodging kitchen,” said Baekhyun. L-1485 was behind him, busily fixing up the draperies and straightening the included amenities placed on the small study table near the door. “Feel free to chit-chat with the other guests.”
“Why are you doing this?” asked Jongin.
“Because his lordship believes that—”
“Tut-tut!” Baekhyun hushed the android. He chuckled and clasped his hands together. “As I told you before, I have seen my fair share of suffering and pain.”
“So this is charity work to you?”
“Let’s just say that this is an investment.”
“For what?”
“For the universe.” Baekhyun turned towards the door. “Come along now, L-1485. Let’s give our guest a chance to rest, shall we?”
The door shut firmly closed and the room fell silent. His lordship, thought Jongin. Why did the android call Baekhyun that way? Lord of what? Could Baekhyun possibly be the owner of this space port? Rich people do that quite often: masquerading as commoners for the fun of it. Even with the draperies closed and only a small slit of light peered through from the space port outside, Jongin couldn’t help but feel like he’s being watched. But even with the growing anxiety, after a long shower, the bed pulled him in to offer a dreaming that he has not found for days.
***
In the fields of white, Jongin was standing. The cold night air of Deidion-5 clawed at his skin like an incessant itch. It easily drops to minus twenty six degrees celsius, especially during the aphelion months when the planet is farthest away from its host star. You can imagine what that was like to villages outside the central cities. The heat of pyro marrow mined from deep beneath the planet’s crust was the only source of heat since even flames die out when it gets too cold.
The ghost wheat surrounding him were ready for harvest but there was no one to be found in the fields. Usually, even in the coldest months, they would still reap the wheat but now, there was only deathly silence and the freezing touch of the wind.
“Need a little heat?”
Jongin turned and a figure in the shadows sat on a throne of pyro marrow. The wheat around him had been reaped and burnt to cinders. As Jongin got closer, he could feel the warmth dispelling the chilling tide of the freeze. The figure’s glowing red eyes were like demons, watching him with much interest.
“You seem a little too young and inexperienced,” said the figure. His hands started burning. Flames licked and crept throughout his body but neither his clothes nor skin was consumed. The ghost wheat beyond the throne started wilting and igniting into swirling, dancing infernos. “But I dare not question the universe. After all, it chose me a long time ago as well.”
Jongin could not believe who the being illuminated by the fire was: the Beast of the Flames himself. He looked older than what was portrayed in Jongin’s card collection, more humanoid than beastly. He wore an amused smile that slowly creeping on his lips. “What can you do, hmm? The universe chose you for a reason.”
“I…I don’t—”
“Hush now, there’s no need to frighten him,” said another voice.
The raging firestorm was suddenly doused by a heavy downpour. Water flooded and rushed with a great force by Jongin’s feet, drowning the earth in a perpetual deluge. As the water lapped below his knees, Jongin felt invigorated as if a surge of power seeped into him, enhancing his senses and the strength in his bones and muscles.
The Elder of Water smiled at him fondly. “This isn’t the most convenient time for a first meeting but we have been summoned at Baekhyun’s request.” The Elder’s body wasn’t quite there: he was a mere reflection peering through a pillar of water that danced gracefully as the downpour continued. “Admittedly, I too am curious as to your strengths.”
“Is it just the two of you?” said Jongin.
“Do you want that to be the case?” asked the Elder of Water. “If meeting all of us is a bit too much, then we understand.”
“N-No! That’s not what I meant!”
A tendril of water slipped inside the pocket of Jongin’s pants and pulled out his most prized deck of Mystic Legends cards. The two immortals’ expressions morphed from surprise to amusement to confusion and disbelief. The Elder of Water held one particular card closer to him.
“Do I really look this pasty and peaky to you?” he said, holding the card towards the Beast of the Flame. “It’s terribly unflattering.”
“It’s an artist’s rendition,” said the Beast of the Flames. “Don’t get too offended.”
“But look at Yixing!” said the Elder of Water. “He looks so handsome and regal! I feel like this card game is very biased!”
“That’s just one version,” Jongin interjected timidly, and the two immortal generals looked up at him. “T-There’s more artworks of you in other cards.”
“Hmph.” The Elder of Water flipped his hair, cheeks puffed up. The tendril of water slipped the cards back into Jongin’s pocket. “I better be good-looking in those other ones! You know what, I’m gonna buy some at the galactic mall in Velusia Iros!”
“Don’t make a scene,” said the Beast of the Flames. “That’s Jongdae’s job.”
There was a sudden bolt of heated air that zapped between then. A flash of light illuminated the field and the sound of thunder crackled, almost popping Jongin’s eardrums.
“What did you say about me, pea-brain?” the Lord of Thunder had both his hands on his waist, staring threateningly at the Beast of the Flames. Little bolts of electricity danced over his skin and clothes, making soft zapping and hissing sounds. “I have never made a scene!”
The Beast of the Flames’ lips formed into a smirk. “And they I am short-tempered.”
“How dare you!” said the Lord of Thunder. “A few thousand years and you’re still a big dumb-ass! It’s no wonder he dumped you—”
“Watch it—or I’ll burn you into cinders, sparky!”
While the two immortals continued to argue, the Elder of Water was frantically trying to calm them both down. Flames and electricity licked the surface of the water, touching each other in an explosive passion. It was a strange sight for Jongin, seeing the elements interact like this. While the argument bellowed into a crescendo, a piercing loud voice sent chills down Jongin’s spine.
“ENOUGH.”
The downpour suddenly froze in time. The water droplets were all left hanging in midair. Jongin could feel the water surrounding him slowly draining away his energy. The flooded crops started dying a quick death, rotting from the inside out. The Elder of Water was no longer a reflection in a pillar of liquid but fully fleshed out, sitting atop the pyro marrow throne with eyes filled with in a deep seafoam green and swirling like a voracious maelstrom. Tendrils of water latched onto his skin like liquid parasites that were reaching out from the water surrounding them. The giver of life was now taking it away and plunging it deep into its unfathomable, chthonic depths.
The two explosive immortals shriveled backwards as if death was imminent and there was nothing but the sound of flowing water. “A few eons and wars later, you two still have no shame!” the Elder of Water’s voice went from calm to commanding. “Honestly! Why did the universe even chose the two of you?!”
Come with me. Follow my voice.
Jongin turned around but no one was behind him. When he looked back, the field was back to normal. The three immortals had vanished as if they had never been there from the start. Jongin’s clothes were completely dry and the chill had returned.
Relax, Jongin. Let’s go. Follow me.
Walking further, Jongin finally reached the edge of the field and headed down the dirt path leading to the city. Near the gate, a handsome being whom he recognized immediately was waiting for him, silently gazing on a white lotus (an extinct species of angiosperm from the planet Terra). The closer Jongin came to him, the happier he felt, and the chill disappeared once more.
“You heard me,” said the Lord of Healing.
“What happened to the others?” asked Jongin.
“Junmyeon went to give Chanyeol and Jongdae a proper scolding.” The Lord of Healing chuckled. His eyes shined brightly like the far-flung galaxies that Jongin used to see when looking up the dark night sky of Deidion-5. “I apologize on their behalf. Even after eons, fire and lightning still don’t mix well.”
“Is this a dream?”
The Lord of Healing considered his question for a moment. “Walk with me first.”
Through the bustling main streets of the city they walked, skyscrapers loomed over them in the darkness of the night, their stone facades bathed in neon and golden light. High above in the atmosphere, hexagonal freight carriers floated in the air, waiting for cargo crafts to carry the mined geodes to be delivered to the elyxion space ports hovering above the planet. The people passing by them wore furs and textile from other worlds, necks wrapped in crystals and metals that shimmered under the light.
“Let’s go in here,” said the Lord of Healing.
Jongin was about to tell him that only aristocrats were allowed in such a lavish restaurant but they slipped through the glass doors. Jongin noticed that his rugged clothes had changed into crushed teal velvet coat with white trimmings and silk undershirt. There was a marble-patterned scarf that wrapped around his neck. Even the Lord of Healing changed into a long pearl-white robe with golden embellishments. As they passed through the tables, the Lord of Healing stopped in front of a glass cage where young, lithe man was dancing with a mask on. The patrons of the restaurant watched him, amused as he spun around and swayed his long arms. Jongin noticed that he had a metal collar around his neck. The people around them laughed and talked with each other while the young man continued to dance, and he couldn’t help but feel a seething anger boiling within him. Meat juices dripped from the plump lips of the men with voracious appetites and women chattered and told each other their fantasies about the dancing man in the glass cage.
“Why did you bring me here?” said Jongin.
“To see how you would respond,” said the Lord of Healing. “To know how you feel.”
“I feel angry…and helpless.” Jongin looked straight at the Lord of Healing. “If you’re so great and powerful, why are there still places in the universe like this?”
“Because life is never fair.”
“Never fair?” said Jongin. “That’s it? That’s your answer?!”
“Yes.” In the blink of an eye, they were in the slums, drenched in the rain. The Lord of Healing’s white clothes were now caked in mud and grease. “I’ve learned that the hard way because these hands were never able to heal everything. I couldn’t save our two comrades from dying. I couldn’t stop another one of them from joining the darkness. Baekhyun may have told you that your return to this planet will turn the tides but I’m here to warn you to limit your expectations. He sees glorious light in everything but in truth, he fears the darkness the most.”
The Lord of Healing placed his hand on Jongin’s shoulder. “I’m not discouraging you before you could even grow. I’m merely telling the truth of this universe. The reason we never chose to rule is because we realized we can’t change everything. Even after the long wars fought, evil and pain and suffering and malice still remained.”
The rain stopped and golden rays crept through the mountains in the horizon outside of the city. The dawn approached, dispelling the darkness that covered the planet. The dark slums of the night were slowly transformed into these shabby houses of stone and metal roofing: colorful little banners rustled in the wind, the walls next to the unpaved streets were covered with dyed chalk that the children used to draw on them, plants in pots bloomed with their flowers, and the smell of food wafted in the air.
“But even though these hands could not fix everything,” said the Lord of Healing, “I want you to remember the resilience of life even in the face of adversity. After the wars, in this fragile peace, there is undoubted happiness and hope. Darkness could take away everything—except for hope.”
“Mr. Lord, uh—”
“Yixing,” said the Lord of Healing. “Call me Yixing.”
“Yixing.” Jongin felt a connection when he uttered the immortal’s name. “Is this supposed to be some kind of test?”
The immortal shook his head. “Oh, dear, no!” Yixing chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. “I’m afraid I overindulged myself. This was merely supposed to be me introducing myself to you but…I guess I went overboard. Minseok and Kyungsoo are still busy on an adventure so I thought I’d bid my time with you.”
“So this is a dream?”
“Of course it’s a dream but in what way does it differ to reality?”
Jongin cracked his eyes open. The room at the Savoy welcomed him and even though he was sleeping the whole time, he felt utterly tired. He wanted to go back to sleep but there was a polite but repeated knocking on the door: “Sir, this is L-1485. His lordship requests that you join him and the other guests for breakfast in thirty minutes!”
***
Baekhyun was true on his word that no harm would come upon Jongin. It had already been almost a week but no one came to drag him back to that wretched planet nor was there any indication that the manager of the Serpent’s Savoy was throwing him out any time soon.
The afternoon had already been far spent that day and Jongin was back in his little corner, reading the holographic books L-1485 has shyly given him on his second day of lodging at the Savoy. A group of men came bursting into the scene at sat around the table across the room from where Jongin was sitting. The waiters all clamored to get their orders and they delivered them in an adamant pace.
“They’re VIPs,” said the android when Jongin asked her who they were. “But not as VIP as you are!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Jongin, but the android was already walking back to the counter with a light giggle.
The new guests were definitely loud indeed, but Jongin kept himself busy reading. However, while he tried to engross himself in the books, he had the nagging feeling that someone was staring at him. He tried to ignore it, not even daring to look up unless he wants to be get recognized, but the feeling of discomfort remained.
“Oi, you,” the man hollered so loud that the other patrons glanced at him. “You don’t look like a regular here, but you do look familiar.”
Jongin chose to ignore him even if he kept talking.
“Hey, dumbface! I’m talking to you!”
Some of the waiters tried to tell the man to lower his volume because it was bothering the other customers but instead of calming down, the man stood up and took heavy strides towards Jongin. He slammed his hands onto the table. His sausage looking hands reminded Jongin of the aristocrats from his home planet.
“Oh, wait a minute, you’re the guy on the wanted poster!”
“Sir, please return to your seat.” Baekhyun sounded different. Jongin took a glance at the counter and L-1485 and the waiters and servers had been struck with fear on their faces. The manager of the Savoy walked towards Jongin’s table. His face appeared calm but there was a strange, heavily feeling weighing on Jongin’s chest and shoulders. Everything around them was dimming. “This is a respectable establishment so I implore you to observe proper decorum.”
The man turned to Baekhyun and sneered at him. He took out a leather badge from his pocket and stuck it near Baekhyun’s face. “You see this?”
“Yes, of course, I’m not blind,” replied Baekhyun.
“I am an Agent of the Alliance! So better shut your mouth if you know what’s good for you!”
Baekhyun reached for the badged and snatched it from the man’s hand. He threw it onto the floor and slowly pressed the sole of his shoe onto it.
The man’s face turned red with anger. “You little fucking—”
Without warning, he flew backwards, crashing harshly onto the wall with a loud crack. He coughed and spat out blood while trying to get back up. The others who were with him got up from their seats, taking out the hidden weapons from their holsters and rushed towards Baekhyun. The manager turned to face them and they all stopped mid-sprint, clutching their eyes that were slowly turning white as it burned from the inside.
They all were writhing and screaming in agony: “MY EYES!!!”
The staff of the Savoy were guiding all the other customers and guests towards the backdoor passageway behind the counter, calming telling them to exit the premises while looking fearful themselves. There was another wave of energy and the light fixtures inside the café started bursting. People were screaming and panicking; the men whose eyes were vaporized lie unmoving on the floor, strange liquid oozing out of the hollow sockets were their eyes should have been.
Baekhyun walked slowly towards the man, his eyes glowing completely white. His footsteps made no sound but each one felt to Jongin like gravity was crushing them.
“An Agent of the Alliance, you say?” He let out a disapproving sound. “The Alliance must be desperate if they are hiring scums like you. I did not sacrifice my life to defeat the Red Force just for filth like you to walk like a king!”
He crouched down, finger hovering over the man’s temple. A small dot of light formed at the tip of Baekhyun’s finger. “Let me introduce myself to you, hm? My name is Byun Baekhyun, the Elder of Light. General of the Alliance. Does that ring a bell? Maybe this will jog your memory—”
“NO!”
Jongin dashed towards them but they were too far away. He felt his body suddenly heating up and the space around him warped. His insides turned and twisted, hands elongating in the constantly reforming space. He saw Baekhyun’s face turning into pure light with a rainbow halo around the back of his head. He was suddenly grabbing the helpless man, fingers curling around the collar of his jacket, and snatching him away. The man screamed as they shifted back and forth through space and time but Jongin tried not to let go. Baekhyun’s blank face surrounded by a rainbow halo that undulated was staring eerily at him. Black cracks started to form in the face and it opened up into a black mouth that was screaming in rage. Jongin was screaming as well. He felt his insides being pulled apart and then, there was an enormous flash of light. The dimensions rushed through him, lives flashed before his eyes. Next thing he knew he was crashing against the counter a meter away. His fingers slipped from the man he just saved and the wounded man gave a turn and began vomiting on the floor.
Jongin tried to stand up. He could see Baekhyun reverting back to his humanoid form. L-1485 was running towards Jongin while the other staff of the Savoy rushed to Baekhyun. Just before he could hear what the android was saying, he passed out.
He woke in a darkened room that smelled like cinnamon and Baekhyun was looking down at him, wrapped in shadows. Only his glowing white eyes pierced the darkness. Memories of what transpired all rushed back to him.
“You’re—”
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” said Baekhyun. “I lost control. This is the first time in eons that has ever happened.”
“What even was that?” said Jongin. “You were pure light and then the darkness slowly ate at you.”
Baekhyun bit his lip. “Yixing has probably told you that our powers have limits. Exceed those limits and you become what you just saw—give it too much control and you will lose who you are. Thankfully, that didn’t happen and I managed to regain control.”
“What happened to me? My stomach started turning and then everything around me was twisting and I could see so many things and—”
Baekhyun sat down the edge of the bed. He was no longer that frightening beast but rather that man with kind eyes that Jongin saw when he first stepped into the Serpent’s Savoy. His hand cupped Jongin’s cheek. “Your powers have manifested, Jongin.”
“What’s going to happen?” said Jongin quietly. “Are you saying I’m a—”
Baekhyun pressed a finger on Jongin’s lip. He pressed a kiss on the young man’s forehead. “Rest for now. You’ll find out in due time.”
“What will be waiting for me in my home planet?”
“A future and a choice,” said Baekhyun. “Stop running from your fate, from who you can be. Don’t let go of hope. When you go back there, it will be difficult at first but I have seen what you will be able to do and I have faith in you.”
“Will I ever see you again?”
Baekhyun chuckled, leaning closer and holding Jongin in a tight embrace.
“Of course, you will.”
***
The hall was filled with chatter from the seven beings who have not been together for so long.
“It’s the two new ones, right?” said Minseok.
“It’s a shame we didn’t get to meet them the first time around,” said Kyungsoo. “I would have definitely made a good impression—oh, they’re here.”
The door unlocked and stepped in a young man with short black hair. The wind blew as he walked. He bowed ever so politely. “It is an honor to meet you all. I am Oh Sehun.”
“Take a seat,” said Junmyeon. “We’re waiting for Jongin.”
The door opened again and Jongin stepped in, cloaked in a coat of red and white. Jongdae, who was beside Baekhyun, let out a low whistle. “Hello, handsome!” The others in the room chuckled and Baekhyun nudged Jongdae’s rib. “Easy there, sparky. I don’t recall you being this enamored when you first met him.”
“That’s because he barely even noticed him,” said Chanyeol, laughing loudly. “He was too busy having a fight with me.”
Jongin bowed, silver hair shining under the chandelier light.
“Hello, everyone.” He smiled upon seeing Baekhyun staring endearingly at him. “It is an honor to be with you all today. My name is Kim Jongin, your new general of the Alliance.”