Area One

21

Before anyone was able to process what happened, Taehyung had already rushed towards his brother and hugged him tightly. Mr. Zhang stood behind the seven guys, a proud grin on his face. "I don't know how, but they ended up here after fleeing, and when I heard they met you I told them to stay. I hope that was alright with you."

"I thought you didn't develop powers?" The younger ones in Namjoon's group froze at Luhan's cold voice. "Why would you come here? The Red Force will attack us sooner or later, anywhere would be safer for you than here."

Don't be too harsh. You know Baekhyun's brother is with them. Luhan scoffed at Junmyeon's thought, but he didn't argue.

"We thought so, too." The guy who had spoken had to have a lot of self-confidence. His stare at Luhan was unimpressed, but Junmyeon couldn't help but smile as he flexed his already broad shoulders. "But even if it has nothing to do with powers, something has changed."

"We don't know what that feeling is supposed to mean," Namjoon started to explain, "but you are experienced with your powers and you were captured as well. And we're already indebted to you for helping us to flee. We will find a way to repay you for all of this if we stay with you."

"But you have to follow everything we say," Sehun claimed eagerly. "Because we were chosen by the tree and because we have experience in using our powers! Ow!" He rubbed the back of his head and glared at Jongdae, who smiled at Namjoon and apologized for the behaviour of the youngest.

"As Junmyeon and Minseok agree on letting them stay, let's get Jongin inside already," Luhan grumbled.

"I'm perfectly fine!" Despite Jongin's defensive words, the sweat on his face and his posture showed his exhaustion.

"How manly of you. Why don't you stand here until you faint, you will look really impressive."

Luhan helped Jongin into his house, but shook his head when he noticed Junmyeon's thoughts.

Don't be ridiculous. Everyone knows that you're the mom of the group.

"Hey!" While his friends were used to his and Luhan's (just partly voiced) arguments, the new guys stared at Junmyeon as if he had lost his mind.

"Is it just me, or is Luhan becoming more friendly lately?" Chanyeol's words made Junmyeon frown. Luhan was friendly, he just hated showing it. But he had noticed something off about him, too.

"It's like his good moods are getting even better and the bad moods scarier." Kyungsoo looked at the house uneasily. "Do you think he knows something we don't?"

"Luhan seems like someone who has a lot of things on his mind," Yixing's father explained thoughtfully. "Everyone copes differently." When he couldn't restrain himself anymore, he rushed towards Yixing and grabbed his shoulders, scanning his face and body for injuries. "The boys told me what happened. I should have known what would happen, I shouldn't have let you go."

"We had a reason to go, father." Yixing smiled at the worried man. "And we saved Baekhyun's brother and his friends, so there's also a good side to it."

Of course, his father knew what that meant for Luhan's parent, and he returned the smile sadly.

"There's actually something really urgent to talk about," Minseok reminded them, shooting Junmyeon a meaningful look.

"Right." Junmyeon ruffled through his hair with embarrassment. Returning home had pushed his memories of the last few months into the back of his head. He shouldn't lose focus because of his own feelings. He had to think of the group first. "Actually, we've seen unbelievable things ever since we... since we have left the city. And we might have come up with a plan to defeat the Red Force."