Iseul gazed in undisguised amazement at the room before her. The studio was situated in the third floor of the building, taking up about a quarter of the floor. The off-white walls created a contrast to the wooden flooring. On the far side of the room was a glass door, leading out onto a balcony that overlooked the park between the house and the university. The room itself was littered with canvases both blank and filled, the largest was a orange and red painting of the sun above the clouds. Walking up to the painting, Iseul noticed the finer details such as the shadows beneath each layer of every orange hued cloud. The red streaked sky held hints of gold as the ball of flame descended into the cloud layer. The effect was stunning, almost as if she was actually there in the clouds, watching the sun set over the horizon. “How did you manage to paint it so realistically?” Iseul asked. “I saw it a while ago when I was on a plane to China, also my memory is quite good so I was able to take a mental snapshot of the scene.” Kris answered. No way was he gonna tell her that he’d actually taken a sketchpad up into the clouds to sketch out the scenery. Not only would she think him crazy and probably disappoint the boys when she left but he’d be revealing one of his biggest secrets. On the off chance that she did believe him, he most definitely did not want to end up as a lab experiment. “Your memory must be amazing to have gotten all these details.” She commented. “I like to think it is. Would you like to try painting something?” “Yes please!” Iseul said, trying and failing to hide her excitement. “I set this one up the other day.” Kris said, gesturing an empty easel. "Feel free to use it whenever you’re here." "Thanks." Iseul said, grinning as she picked up a paintbrush. "Cool, well I'll leave you to it, give us a yell if you need anything." "Yup, sure." Iseul replied, distractedly. She picked up the paint palette, dipping the brush into one of the colours. Bringing the paint to the canvas, she let her hand guide her.

 

A few hours later Kris came back into the room. "Hey Iseul, lunch is gonna be in about ten minutes." He said, walking to her. "Iseul?" He asked, when she didn't respond. He stood on the other side of the easel, observing the girl before him. Her hair had fallen from the pony tail that had previously held it, dropping so her face was covered, though she did not move it. Her hand moved in swift, sure brushstrokes, uncommon to one who had not previously painted before. The more he watched, the more he realised how unusual her actions were. She would change colours every few seconds though never cleaned the brush, it was the same brush that she'd picked up at the start too, though somehow it managed to remain clean. Her hands moved in concert with one another, her right painting while her left hand moved constantly, shifting the position of the palette so that the brush would always get the right colour though her eyes never left the canvas. He also noticed that whenever she gathered more paint, the brush would always end up in the exact same place, relying solely on her left hand to move the palette to the right place. Her fingers would glide smoothly across the brush, constantly shifting the position in which it was held. And her eyes! Those which where normally grey now held a purple hue, not overpowering but still clearly there. Slowly, the purple of her eyes faded, returning to their original grey colour. “Oh! Kris! I didn’t see you come in.” “Really? I called you at least two times?” “Wow actually? I didn’t even notice.” “Anyways, lunch is gonna be soon if you want to join us?” “Yeah sure.” “The others are downstairs already, the maknaes wanted to see you but they aren’t allowed in the studio. Last time they were here it took at least a week to clean up the mess they made.” Kris said. “Guess I shouldn’t keep them waiting then.” Iseul grinned. Kris waited for Iseul to leave before looking at her painting. Coming round the easel to look at the canvas, he gasped in shock. It wasn't the fact that the painting was naught more than an almost perfect replica of the room before him, but instead what the portrait depicted. A man stood, frozen in time, the eyes seemed to stare deep into the dark depths of his soul. Though it wasn't the doppelgänger of himself that scared him. Just slightly behind the rendering stood dark shadows, smudges of dark grey paint, erupting from his shoulder blades. To anyone else, they would be seen as nothing more than a dark aura surrounding the man. But to those who knew the truth, it was seen with the always accompanying thought of others knowing about them and the jolt of fear that would always follow. Putting on a air of calmness, Kris went to meet the others in the living room. The maknaes were sitting on both sides of Iseul while the others were sprawled across the room. “Iseul, your painting’s really good! Are you sure you’ve never tried it before?” “I think I’d remember that, it’s so fun, though, I don’t actually recall what I painted?” “Really? How do you paint something that good and not remember it?” “I don’t know… Though sometimes I do have a few lapses in my memory where I can’t quite remember what I was doing.” “Can we see your painting Iseul?” Kai asked. “Sure.” “I’ll bring it down.” Kris said, turning round to head back up the stairs, making eye contact with Luhan as he passed him. I know you can’t read her but can you try and see whether she was telling the truth about remembering what she painted? I’ll try, no guarantees though. When Kris returned, painting beneath his arm, the maknaes were at the edges of their seats in anticipation while the older boys were anxious as to what the painting held. When the painting was revealed, various gasps of shock and amazement were heard. “Wow, are you sure that’s mine?” Iseul asked, surprised that something that good could have been done by her. Though I guess it would sorta make sense… After all, painting for her was just another way to express her ability be it natural or not. “Yeah, the style is different to mine.” Kris said. “Hm.. Cool, I guess I can make a living off that if I have to then.” Iseul joked. “Are those wings coming from the guys back?” Sehun asked. “It does almost look like that.” Tao commented. “Hey Kris that actually looks a bit like you!” “The detail is amazing! I almost feel as if he’s looking into my soul.” As the maknaes talked about the painting, the older boys were deep in discussion. Was she lying? I don’t think so.. It felt like she didn’t realise that it was hers but she wasn’t surprised by the fact that it was. I dunno, it doesn’t really make sense. What do you make of the wings? It seems strange that she would just paint that. It may just be a figment of her imagination, she saw one of my paintings before she started. Maybe. We should be more careful of what she sees when she’s here, I still don’t trust her. That’s understandable though, you can get a reading on pretty much everyone so when you can’t, you’re instantly suspicious. I did look at the security feeds though and she drew an outline of me pretty much the same time she outlined everything else. It was really weird though, when I looked at them just before, I passed through the exact place that she painted me in. Oh! Her eyes! They were a weird lilac colour and apparently she didn’t hear me when I called her. So maybe it was a premonition? What if she’s like us and she can see the future or something? But I don’t have wings. It could have been a way of portraying flight. We should see how she reacts to the possibility of empowered people. If she shoots it down then she probably isn’t, anything else and I can try and tell what she’s feeling. You can do that? I thought you said you couldn’t get a read on her. I can’t read what she’s