“It was a punishment,” Luhan said as he stared into my eyes amidst the constellation-filled ceiling that was bearing down on us.

                Both of us were sitting at the edge of my bed, side by side, knees bumping against each other. He was so close to me, so close that I can feel the beating of his heart. Our hands were clasped tightly on his lap. He never let go of mine even for a second after what we just did. Though several minutes have passed since then, I can still feel the pressure of his soft lips against mine. I know I should have felt embarrassed that looking into his eyes should have been impossible, but he just emits this sort of strong feeling that makes me want to keep every feature of his face in my memory. Plus, the thought that this is all just a dream makes me not want to even blink for a second.

                I don’t know, really.

                It just seemed so surreal that Luhan could like someone like me.

                “What is?” I asked softly as I let myself be tantalized with his soft brown eyes.

                “This mark,” he said just as it glowed powerful red, blazing the whole room with its light. He raised our hands and let my skin graze the mark on his collarbone. I know this should have been a serious moment, but I can’t help but blush as he let me touch him.

                “What?” I said, trying to think of a quick comment before he could notice and say something about my flushed face. “Are you saying that I’m a burden to you?”

                “For a time…yes,” he admitted and quickly added, “but that was before I knew it was you…”

                “You have to understand, Mi Yeon,” he continued right away when I furrowed my eyebrows at him, “that unlike the others, I was not born with this mark. I was not born to be your warrior. Seijira branded me with this mark when I was five after disobeying my father.”

                Suddenly, Sehun’s words back at that first lunch together with the eight echoed in my head. He did say that Seijira messes with things. It’s really quite unlike the Seijira I’ve met who seems so pure and good…

                “Is this what Sehun-ssi was talking about?” I asked him with concern.

                “Yes…Sehun knows a lot about me,” he replied. “We’ve been friends for so long.”

                “I see…” I said quietly.

                I wasn’t saddened at the thought really but my tone sounded that way. At this, Luhan raised his free arm and with his hand, touched my cheek gently so that I keep on looking at him. There were too many emotions in his eyes, it’s hard to single out anything.  Still, under all of it, I knew something about what he is saying is saddening him…

                “I…” he started slowly, letting out a sigh. “I entered Seijira’s room then, without knowing what lies ahead.”

                Suddenly, the memory of Luhan’s serious face flashed across my mind when he saw me materialize in front of the ancient doors. So, this is why he’d been so expressionless then, and why he’d suddenly talked about the mark…

                “Of course, kids are naturally curious beings, even duireans…” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching up without real mirth. “I played with the water there and touched the marks that were engraved on the tree. That’s when Seijira blinded me with his light and before I knew it, a searing pain was throbbing on my collarbone.”

                “I still remember what he said to me. That because I broke in his sacred place without permission, that though he wants to take my life for it, he’d rather bring me in for a greater cause…” Luhan said in such an intense tone that made me really uncomfortable. It was not anger nor hatred, but there was something along that line that's coming out of him. I can’t put it into words. “And that is to serve him all my life. To put my life on line forever, for him…for his heir, the one in the prophecy.”

                “My father got angry when he knew what I did, when he saw the mark that was not there from the beginning,” Luhan continued as I tightened my grip on his hand. “He told me that being branded is as good as being dead.” I flinched at his use of words. I never thought the headmaster could say such harsh things to his son. “That’s why, he’s been sending me on missions eversince, so I know exactly what I’m up to against. I know it must have seemed like another punishment, but I can tell he cares about me by preparing me already…” Luhan said. He must have figured out what’s running in my head.

                “And then you came to Seijira,” Luhan continued his story. “I knew right then, at my father’s office that you’re different. There’s just something about you…you’re aura, your face that seems familiar and yet mysterious. Then I started