Changbin and I shot through the streets, not sure where we were going, only that we couldn't stand still. Soon the city disappeared behind us, gave way to dark, snowy earth for miles around. The snarling, the galloping footsteps behind us, never abated, never got any farther away.

"What are they doing?" I panted. "Why are they chasing us?"

"I told you, they're... protective. I thought they'd back off, let me disappear for a week or something, but the way we left must have been too suspicious. And now they've seen us just — taking a stroll, for god's sake, and running away when we noticed them. But we couldn't've stayed still, either!" He growled, frustrated. "Why didn't you see them coming?"

"I-I don't know, it doesn't work like that." My abilities had always been unpredictable. Fei hadn't known how to train me — her gift was persuasion, it didn't need honing.

I tried not to lose pace as I flipped through the possible futures. It all depended on what we chose to do within the next minutes. We could run until the sun came up, be caught, fight until I was dead and Changbin was back in their clutches — not necessarily in that order, but the options stayed the same no matter how I looked at it.

"What the hell are we supposed to do?" I said, talking to both him and myself.

"You're the fortune teller, you tell me!"

"It's not looking so hot right now. We need a plan."

"Does fighting work?"

"Sometimes."

"What about running, do we lose them?"

"Maybe."

"Jesus Christ, a little more decisive please."

"We need a different plan, hyung. You've decided it's gonna end in a fight or a chase."

"How else could it end?!"

"Talking."

"Didn't Fei teach you that nomads don't talk? If we stop, they'll tear us up — tear you up — without a word."

"I'm not saying it'll be a civilized discussion. Maybe you can strike a deal. Bargain. Lie. Threaten. We gotta be clever about this, right? What do you think?"

His big idea was palpable, like a lightbulb flickering on above his head. As he decided on another route, the future shifted in my mind. Less violent options, still scrambled — it depended on the nomads' actions now. We might make it to the coastline in one piece after all.

"Holy shit," he said, "Felix, you're amazing."

My insides were suddenly jelly. "No, you are."

"What'd you say?"

"Er, what?"

He moved on. "I have a plan. It's gonna be hard to fend them off. Focus on protecting yourself. Stop in three, two — one."

We both came to a stop, snow kicking up around us. As soon as we weren't on the move, the coven caught up at lightning speed. Changbin hadn't gotten a single word out before a nomad rammed him in the gut, sent them both hurtling across the tundra.

I caught a male's punch mid-flight — he grabbed my face with his other hand and flung me to the ground. I rolled out of the way of his boot, but another nomad caught me, slammed my head against the ice.

"Stop!" Changbin's growl echoed off the mountains. "Ganzorig, tell them to stop."

Ganzorig was the leader. He wasn't fighting me or Changbin — he stood and watched, arms crossed over his chest.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're more trouble than you're worth, Changbin."

"I'm leaving the coven."

Ganzorig laughed, not amused. "Did you not think this through? I'll just drag you back. Juwon will kill your nancy little friend."

"Do not threaten me. I know you, I know your skeletons, your mistakes. Just throw the bodies anywhere, hm? Forget to destroy the puncture wounds?" Changbin's voice was low and biting. "I wonder what the Volturi would do if they found out about that."

Ganzorig shot forward, punched Changbin hard in the face. He fell to the ground, and Ganzorig grabbed him by the hair, held him down. I snarled and struggled to help him — Juwon didn't let me move an inch.

"You will not rat us out," Ganzorig shouted down at Changbin. "And don't even think about using your powers."

"Let me go in peace, don't bother me, I won't snitch. Simple as that. You'll never see either of us again."

Ganzorig's decision teetered between conceding to our terms, killing Changbin on the spot, ordering Juwon to kill me. The futures swam in my head, dizzying.

"How do I know you won't go to the Volturi?" he asked.

"It's not exactly in my best interest. I have my own skeletons. I'd rather not kiss Aro's feet for the rest of my life just so I can see you dead."

"You won't be executed."

"I won't have autonomy, either. I'll be on their radar, forced to join them. That's not me. Just let us go."

He growled, shoved Changbin's head down and backed away. "Show your face again and I'll rip you to fucking pieces, got it?"

"I'm never coming back. You ruined my life. I've wanted to kill you every single day for the last two decades."

"It's pathetic you've never tried."

Changbin's hands fisted. He was so close to attacking — a new swirl of futures crammed into my head.

"Hyung, don't," I whispered.

Juwon bashed my face into the ground. "Shut it. I could kill you right now, blondie."

"Get off him," Changbin snarled. Juwon just laughed, grabbed my wrist and twisted it back. I clenched my teeth against the sting, the feeling of my skin pulling too tight.

"We made a deal," Changbin said. "He's part of it."

Ganzorig's nostrils flared, eyes hard and cold. "Juwon, up. Leave the brat."

Juwon got off me. I scrambled to my feet, shaking off the snow and dirt.

"What happened here, stays here," Ganzorig spat. "Not a word, I don't come for you, you don't come for me."

Changbin nodded tightly.

Ganzorig backed up, and his coven followed his every move. They darted away, disappeared into the churning white storm. I watched them go, grateful they weren't the end of us.

I moved to Changbin's side. "You okay?"

He didn't say anything.

"You did good under the pressure. He was provoking you, but you didn't lose it."

Changbin shook his head slowly, red eyes blazing and aching. "It's... completely pathetic. That I haven't killed him. He took everything from me, and still, I followed his orders for so long... obedient... fucking stupid."

It was so hard to pat his shoulder when all I wanted to do was give him the biggest hug. "Please tell me you won't go back to them. You know, if the family..."

"Don't worry about that." He strode past me, westward, blinking the snowflakes out of his eyes. "Where'd your confidence go, fortune teller? I thought you trusted your vision."

I caught up. "I do. Kind of. I mean... things can happen the way they're supposed to, but different at the same time. I just — I care about you, hyung. I want you to feel like you have a family. I want you to know there are people who love you."

His eyes narrowed slightly. Perhaps he could hear what I was implying. "Yeah, well. You already promised me a new life. You'll make good on it. One way or another."

I just nodded, wondering if he was implying something as well.

───

We kept running for miles upon miles. At some point the ground started to roll up and down under our feet. We dashed up a mountain and jumped, threw ourselves so high that we came out on top of the clouds. It was a relief to know that the sun was still there past the storm. I could feel my skin glitter in its light.

I turned, and Changbin was glittering, too. He was so beautiful, drawn in bold lines, eyelashes frozen, arms flapping gently as if he were really flying. I stared at him until the clouds ate me up again, a haze of grey and white, and then the earth reappeared beneath my feet.

I stared even as I plummeted — wild and willy-nilly because I was busy goggling at him. I landed on my ass and rolled down the mountain, snow jetting in all directions around me. I might have started an avalanche. I dug my way to the surface, and the two of us kept running.

It was a bit surreal when we found civilization again. It was daytime so we lurked in the shadows and down back alleys. The humans all around made it difficult for me to control myself. I suggested we hold hands just in case one of us lost it. He was unsure of why that was necessary, so I let it drop.

When the moon came up and humans went to sleep, I leapt off a rooftop and squinted into the distance mid-air. I could see the ocean from here, a little black line shimmering in the moonlight.

I landed on the street, and Changbin came after me. There wasn't a human in sight, it looked like a ghost town. The snow still whipped around us, soaking my hair, clinging to my toes.

"We're almost there," I said. "Let's keep running."

"Felix, wait. We should find new clothes — shoes, too, my soles are wearing through. You've been barefoot this whole time."

I looked at the ocean again. It was so close.

"It'll only take a second," Changbin assured me. He darted to a shop window, peeked through it, and then moved on to the next. I did the same on the other side of the street. There was a butcher, a post office, a bookstore. The writing on the glass wasn't in Russian anymore, French instead.

Finally, there was a shop with clothes inside. "Hyung!" I shouted, waving him over. We ducked into an alley, came out on the other side and scanned the back wall. There was a door — I turned the knob but it didn't open.

"Right," I muttered, "locks."

Changbin cracked his knuckles and gestured for me to make room. He put his shoulder against the door, wound up, and bashed himself into it. The wood split and broke — Changbin screamed, staggering through a perfect cutout of his body.

I peeked through the door. He was brushing splinters of wood off himself.

"I meant to do that," he said.

"Sure you did." I hunched over to fit through the hole. "We'll be outta here in good time anyway."

We ventured deeper into the store, split up in the display room. There were mannequins standing in the dark, decked out in dresses and fur coats. I picked one up and went to find Changbin. He was lacing up a pair of leather boots.

I danced with the mannequin, spinning it around in a waltz. "Hyung, how's our form?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "You know that's a dummy, right?"

"I'm not being serious."

"Oh. Um. It's a little... stiff?"

I threw my head back and laughed. "That was a joke! You made a joke! You're having fun!"

He just watched me, confused and just a bit entertained.

I twirled away and put the mannequin back where it belonged. I rummaged through the aisles till I found socks — I picked out a less-tattered wool shirt, too. The smell of wool always made me feel at ease. I marched back to the shelves of shoes and picked out a pair, rubbed the ice off my toes and put them on.

Changbin wandered up wearing a long-ass trench coat. "You ready?"

"New coat?"

"Might as well stock up."

"I dunno if it'll be the best for swimming."

He blinked. "What?"

"There's a channel between here and England, just twenty miles wide or so, not too big. You should pick something that won't slow you down."

He shrugged the trench coat off. "Yeah, sure, I'll just — I'll find something else." He scampered away. I tried on a couple necklaces while I waited.

"Let's get outta here," he said, already moving toward the door. "The mannequins are freaking me out."

I followed him out through the Changbin-shaped hole, and we took off down the back alley, heading southwest. We were out of the city within minutes. The coastline was far off but I felt like I was being beckoned, I felt like I was in the water already.

All that stood between us and our destiny was a quick dip.

─────────

dude i'm so tired, i can't even think of an outro today

pls help get skz their third win

stream the music core stage on naver, the mv, comeback and inkigayo stages on youtube, and vote on Thekking and Choaedol

don't lose hope! or, at least, don't let it affect your work ethic lmao

remember stray kids love you (ಥ﹏ಥ)

bye