Area One

22

A few days later, Sehun came running to Junmyeon and Chanyeol with a wide smile on his face. The two had been trying to practice together, but hadn't succeeded in more than water droplets and sparks yet.

"Guys! Tao and Yifan are back!" The youngest had a wide smile on his face. "Someone made one of the trees go back to being this small!" He held his hand above his knees.

Junmyeon frowned. "Have you seen them?"

The smile on his friend's face disappeared. "No... But who else could do that?"

"I didn't expect them to be this fast." Something about this seemed fishy.

Now Chanyeol looked uneasy, too. "Maybe Mr. Zhang can make plants grow backwards, too?" But he didn't sound too convinced by his own idea.

"Let's have a look," Junmyeon suggested. "But we should be careful."

He got ready to use whatever kind of remaining power he had and they approached the plant Sehun had been talking about.

Everyone was standing around a little tree, even smaller than expected, and arguing across its branches.

"You've been lying to us from the very beginning!" Jongin's accusing voice echoed through the clearing. "Did the Red Force send you here?"

"Jongin!" Everyone went silent as Chanyeol, Sehun and Junmyeon approached them. Junmyeon sighed. "Would someone care to tell me what happened? Without accusations?" he added when Jongin opened his mouth.

"Seokjin is a time manipulator, like Tao." Luhan's calm voice and this revelation didn't quite match.

Jin stared at him. "And how do you know it was me?"

Luhan shrugged. "I'm a genius."

"Hey, so am I!" This was the first time he saw Yoongi smile.

"But I thought the experiments failed?" Junmyeon stared at Namjoon.

The other guy shrugged. "We thought so, too. Maybe it won't last for long."

Luhan frowned. "I'll go and have a little chat." He turned around and started walking towards the tree.

"Hey, wait a second!" Upon hearing Minseok's voice, he turned around. The second leader motioned towards Namjoon and his friends. "For talking to it, you'll have to be asleep. We don't know whether the others have powers, too. If they appear, we might need your help."

Junmyeon thought back to when his power first appeared. He had nearly drowned his whole village. Yifan had nearly killed his former best friend. Maybe it would indeed be safer to keep an eye on them.

He tried to get a better overview of the situation. Apparently, Junkook had started teasing Jin and Jimin and Taehyung had joined him. Jin, usually open for any kind of bickering, had been so stressed out with their whole situation and trying to process the recent events that he had lost his temper.

"You should be glad he didn't take it out on you." Jongdae visibly enjoyed the expressions of the three guys who were trying really hard to disguise their guilt with confidence. "The first time my powers showed up, I accidentally set my own house on fire."

They stared at him, utterly terrified, until Yixing stepped in. "No one is going to get hurt. Most of us were completely on our own when our powers appeared. You guys have us."

"Our powers came from the tree," Luhan added. "Yours were made artificially. They might not be as dangerous because they didn't come directly from the source."

Namjoon's friends looked as if they were contemplating whether to be relieved or disappointed. Junmyeon tried to concentrate. If they had powers, they would be an immense help for their plans. But it would also result in more chaos and a lot more danger. He didn't want to endanger the lives of his new friends as well. And Luhan's warning was still haunting his mind.