Chapter 4: The Calm Before the Storm

..."They said water heals, but forgot it remembers every scar." — Suho...

Silence.

That was what he craved more than anything. Not applause. Not recognition. Not even peace. Just… silence.

Suho stood alone at the edge of a rocky cliff, the wind tugging at his long coat. Below him stretched a churning expanse of gray sea, waves slamming against jagged stone with relentless rhythm. The sky above matched the water—moody, overcast, and heavy with rain that hadn’t yet fallen.

He liked it this way.

Because when the world was still, the water spoke.

It had been six years since the disbanding. Six years since the name “EXO” meant anything more than a bitter memory in tabloids and fan forums. People speculated endlessly—creative differences, contract disputes, burnout. No one knew the truth.

Not even Suho. Not completely.

All he knew was that one by one, they had drifted away. Not just as idols, but as brothers. First Kris. Then Luhan. Tao. And then… the silence spread like rot.

It had taken everything he had to keep the remaining members together. He played the leader until the very end, even when he felt like a ghost in his own life. And when it finally collapsed, he disappeared too.

But the sea never forgot him.

Three weeks ago, it started again.

The voices. The visions.

The rain that bent unnaturally toward him.

The puddles that rippled when he cried.

He thought he was losing it, until one night, during a thunderstorm, the ocean itself called him. Pulled him to this place. This cliff.

And now… it was waiting again.

His fingers flexed slightly. Water droplets clung to his fingertips, glistening unnaturally, suspended in the air like stars. He closed his eyes, breathing slowly.

“I know you’re there,” he murmured. “Show yourself.”

The water shifted. The air rippled.

Then a voice responded—deep, crackling like wet thunder.

“You’ve been hiding for too long, Guardian.”

Suho turned slowly.

A figure stepped out of the mist, tall and dressed in black. His face was hidden by a hood, but the energy surrounding him was unmistakable.

Red Force.

Suho tensed. The droplets floating near his hand shimmered with warning.

The figure chuckled. “You think you’re ready? After all this time? You’re barely a shadow of who you were.”

Suho’s eyes narrowed. “I may be a shadow. But even shadows drown.”

The Red Force agent lunged.

Suho didn’t hesitate. With a single motion, the floating droplets surged forward, morphing into a twisting whip of water that slammed into the attacker’s chest. The figure flew backward but landed on his feet, undeterred.

“Good,” the agent hissed. “Fight me. Make it worth it.”

He charged again, this time faster, darker. The very air around him twisted with corrupted energy. Suho summoned a wave from the cliffside, using it as a shield—but the agent broke through, slashing his arm with a blade made of red lightning.

Suho stumbled back, pain flashing through him.

“You’re still too slow,” the agent taunted. “You were always the weakest.”

Blood dripped from Suho’s arm, but his expression was calm. Controlled. The water behind him surged again—bigger this time.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” Suho said softly.

With a flick of his hand, the ocean obeyed.

The wave slammed into the cliff, rising like a beast. It curled midair before crashing down on the Red Force agent, drowning him in a vortex of spiraling water. Suho didn’t stop there. He moved like a conductor, each motion drawing more force from the sea. The water twisted into blades, crashing and tearing through the Red Force’s defense.

The agent screamed as he was thrown into the rocks below, the corrupted energy fizzling on contact with the purified sea.

Suho breathed heavily, his wound throbbing, but his eyes never left the surf.

When the water finally receded, only broken stone remained.

The sea was calm again.

Suho collapsed to one knee, pressing a hand against his bleeding arm. The water curled around him like a protective shell, glowing faintly as it started to knit his wound shut.

And then… he heard footsteps.

Not hostile. Familiar.

He looked up and saw Lay.

Yixing stood a few feet away, dressed in white, his aura calm as ever. He looked exactly the same—and yet heavier, like he carried something invisible on his back.

“Long time,” Lay said quietly.

Suho chuckled, despite himself. “That’s one way to put it.”

Lay knelt beside him, wordlessly helping him up.

“You felt it too?” Suho asked.

Lay nodded. “I remembered everything last month. I thought I was alone. Until I found Luhan.”

Suho’s breath caught. “He’s alive?”

“More than alive,” Lay said. “He’s awakened. Stronger than before. But we need all of us. The seal’s broken. The Red Force is returning. They’ve already taken three worlds.”

Suho looked out at the sea again. “Then we don’t have time.”

That night, they sat around a small fire near the cliff, dried by Suho’s power and warmed by Lay’s healing aura.

Suho’s voice was low. “I blamed myself, you know. For everything. For not keeping us together.”

Lay was quiet for a moment. “You held on longer than anyone, Junmyeon. You kept us grounded. You were the glue.”

“I wasn’t enough,” Suho whispered.

“No one was,” Lay said. “But maybe… together again, we can be.”

They sat in silence, watching the stars emerge.

Then Suho pulled out a small device from his coat. A communicator. Old EXO tech.

“I’m tracking Kai and Baekhyun,” he said. “They’re moving. So is Chanyeol. Someone’s gathering them.”

Lay tilted his head. “Kyungsoo?”

Suho nodded.

They looked at each other—and the bond they once shared sparked again. Not fully repaired. But no longer broken.