Phoenix | SuperM

34 / The Dance In You Never Leaves

"I knew we should have gone after them before we evacuated!" Baekhyun complained. "If we had left a minute earlier, we could have gotten to them-"

"Baekhyun, relax!" Jisung held him by the arms. "Kai teleported there! He could have gotten her out before the building crumbled."

"I don't think he did." Ten objected in a grave tone. His eyes flashed green. "I can't hear their thoughts, but I can sense their presence. They- they're trapped in there."

Baekhyun squinted his eyes as noises of confusion escaped his lips. If they were still in there, they should be crushed. "How are they still alive?"

Ten placed two fingers on his temples and hissed. His brown eyes swirled to green. "I know where they are." He slowly raised his arm and pointed somewhere close to the epicentre. "Fifty metres from the epicentre of the explosion. Parts of the ceiling have collapsed but the pillars are still holding, along with the foundation."

"Which means, we only have so long before the pillars collapse." Jisung mumbled. "The compressional force from the higher floors is bound to destroy the pillars. That's a two storey building and most of the heavy equipment is on the bottom floor. The total weight, including the weight of the walls, the tiled floors and the roof with its dense material and decorative appliances will hinder the pillars' resilience, meaning that the first pillar has already broken, which explains why only one section crumbled. That means the weight from the higher floor and the roof is now putting pressure on the other pillars, and that means, they're also bound to collapse within the next fifteen minutes!"

Yep. Jisung definitely took Physics and Chemistry as his electives.

Ten and Baekhyun barely heard what Jisung said because of how fast he had spoken. That must have been his powers. They couldn't tell whether it was an uncovered ability or a side effect. He spoke so quickly, to Baekhyun and Ten, his words came out as inaudible whispers. Ten used his telepathy to slow down Jisung's hypothesis and relay it to Baekhyun. Fortunately, it didn't waste too much time.

"Fifteen minutes to get inside and get them out." Baekhyun mumbled. "There are different sections around the epicentre that are similarly affected. Telepathic sensing won't work since Kai and Yuqi are both weakened. If Seulgi is with them, that means you guys might be able to sense her presence; if you can do that."

"We can." Jisung nodded. "I might be able to get her to respond but I can't guarantee she'll tell us where they are."

"She might just want them to die with her." Baekhyun finished with a scowl. Jisung shook his head. 

"I know her. She'd never want to inflict such pain on a person, even if she was corrupted."

"That isn't important." Ten sighed. "We need to get to the others. If we have less than fifteen minutes, we've already lost two. We don't even know where they are!"

"There are more than four places where they could be." Baekhyun added. "Three of those four aren't the right location. We can't even split up because we might just end up in all the places they aren't in-"

"Turn left from where you are then continue running straight." A woman's voice rang in their heads. It was a bit hoarse. "Radio tracking has been shut down, so you can contact your friends. Just make sure you keep the message short and brief. There's not much time in your hands."

The foreign voice went silent immediately afterwards. No negotiation was needed. They knew what they are going to do.

Baekhyun snapped his fingers and a small ball made of pure light floated above his palm. He slowly bent his fingers so that they nearly touched the ball and it brightened, giving them a source of light powerful enough to navigate them through the dust.