"Oh Kyunggie!" D.O. hears a taunting voice calling behind him.

 

Just once. One time he can walk home without being harassed. That's all Do Kyungsoo wishes for.

 

D.O. takes the necessary precautions to make sure all goes smoothly:

 

Hide his book bag-Check

Take glasses off-Check

 

Yep, that's about it. D.O. takes a breath as the gang of schoolboys surround him.

 

Kris, Chen, Sehun and Kai.

 

Kris is the tallest and fastest. D.O. has never been able to out run him no matter how much adreneline is coursing through his veins.

 

Chen is the swiftest. He can move. He is almost like a ninja. Always wears black and comes out of no where.

 

Sehun, well....Sehun is just there to up to the others.

 

All the talents of Kris, Chen and Sehun, combined, are nothing compared to the great Kim Jongin. Everyone calls him Kai. He's charming, y, young, wild, annoying and rude. He's also a player. Some would say he's the "ultimate ". He's taken plenty of guys' ity. Oh and he's gay. No one dares mess with him about that.

 

"Where are your glasses, freak?" Chen's sinister voice invades D.O's ears and sends shivers down his spine.

 

"In my book bag," D.O. mumbles.

 

"Speak up!" Kris commands.

 

"They're in my book bag."

 

"I don't see a book bag," Kris moves up to tower over D.O. and POW! Punches D.O. in the abdomen.

 

D.O. hits the ground with a hard thud. Kris, Chen and Sehun waste no time in using D.O. as a human punching bag.

 

Kai stands and watches like all the other times. 

 

These incidents began about two years ago. D.O. had just started a new school and he was immediately dubbed the school nerd.

 

No one ever really had a problem with him until that fateful day that started D.O's misery.

 

It was a writing class and D.O. was the editor. He was editing Kai's paper. There were so many things wrong with it. It was cliche. Not to mention the grammar, punctuation, spelling and capitalization mistakes.

 

When Kai got his scribbled out paper, he overreacted just a bit.

 

"Hey! This ain't cool!"

 

"Isn't," D.O. corrected.

 

Everyone's head snapped up, mouth's dropped and gasps escaped lips.

 

NO ONE crosses Kim Jongin. No one.

 

From that day forward, D.O's life has been a living hell.

 

"Alright, that's enough," Kai calls.

 

Blood and tears stream down D.O's face as the four boys exit the scene, leaving him sprawled across the pavement. 

 

D.O. couldn't find the strength to move. He stayed there helpless and unable to call for help.

 

It is dark outside. D.O. guesses it is about 11 at night.

 

Crack.

 

Something is lurking about.

 

D.O. somehow found the strength to lift his head.

 

A dark shadow was advancing toward  him. 

 

Panic arose in D.O's stomach.

 

He tried to lift himself up, but each time he got to his knees, he fell back down.

 

Laying on his back, D.O. looks up at the stars, losing all feeling in his fingers.

 

Star light, star bright. Make my wish come true tonight...I wish.

 

He mentally sighs. He doesn't want to die, but he doesn't want to be here.

 

Something obstructs D.O's view of the millions of twinkling stars.

 

The dark shadow is the figure of a a human, yet no skin shows. Just blackness.

 

D.O. feels himself being lifted. He falls in and out of consciousness. 

 

"Who," D.O. chokes out the only word he can manage.

 

"Houdini," the shadow replies.

 

D.O. doesn't recognize the voice. It's eerie, but soothing in a way.

 

Its feels almost as if D.O. is flying, but he knows he's not. He isn't unconscious, but he's not aware of his surroundings. Everything is going by at the speed of light.

 

D.O's vision blurrs. It's too overwhelming.

 

"Think of where you want to go," Houdini says.

 

A meadow with long, soft grass. Flowers blooming everywhere. One big candy apple tree in the middle of the scene.

 

Then all in one second, D.O. falls unconscious for the fiftieth time today.

-----

 

D.O. slowly opens his eyes.

 

He's laying in soft grass, looking up at the perfect blue sky.

 

Puffy white clouds float by. D.O. can make out shapes. He laughs and rolls around in the grass, but he slowly stops and lets the smile fade from his face.

 

"This is impossible," D.O. discourages.

 

"It seems.

 

D.O. jumps. He's now sitting, clutching his chest in a attempt to slow his heart rate.

 

 "But it's not," Houdini continues.

 

"Who re you?" D.O. asks. At that moment he realizes, he is in no pain. It's as if he wasn't beaten and left to bleed.

 

"I told you. I'm Houdini."

 

"How is this possible?"

 

"Don't ask questions. All you need to know is that I'm here because you have no one else you can trust. No one you can vent to. Also, while you're with me, nothing is impossible."

 

"Pffft. Okay, fine. Prove it. I want to see a zebra with rainbow stripes," D.O. commands.

 

Houdini smirks, snaps his fingers and looks over by the big apple tree with fresh red apples peaking out of the green leaves.

 

D.O. follows Houdini's eyes over to the animal emerging from behind the tree.

 

"Holy. Crap." D.O's eyes bug out so much, they start pulsating.

 

He gets up and walks over to the animal.

 

It's a beautiful zebra with defined rainbow stripes. Each stripe has fluffy hair pushing out.

 

D.O. sticks his hand out. The zebra moves her head so D.O. is petting her.

 

"She likes me," D.O. giggles. "I'll call you Avery."

 

"I like that name," the zebra replies.

 

D.O. snaps his hand back. "YOU CAN TALK?!?!?"

 

"Of course I can talk."

 

D.O. looks over to where Houdini was sitting, but he's gone.

 

"Where's Houdini?" D.O. asked.

 

"He left, but he'll be back. You look troubled. My darling, tell me what's wrong."

 

D.O. and Avery walk about the meadow explaining their life stories to one another.

 

Both stories are depressing, but the pair find laughter in the little things. It's new and refreshing to laugh at their problems.

 

"I probably should go," D.O. sighed as he realizes that he must go back to reality some time.

 

"Okay. Whenever you want to come back, all you have to say is 'Sometimes I want to disappear'. There are a few rules, but I can explain next time."

 

D.O. nods and waves Avery good-bye.

 

Houdini reappears. "Ready to go back?"

 

"Ready as I'll ever be."