Heterochromia iridum

"I'm sorry, but you seem to be lacking--"

"Your expressions--"

"Your technique is flawless, but--"

"That's enough, thank you--"

"Enough. Next!"

Out of breath, you wipe the sweat from your brows and chin as your heartbeat thunders painfully in your ears. You untie your hair and push back the stray pieces before retying it into a tight, but messy bun.

You walk across the empty studio--everyone else left three hours ago-- towards the stereo to reset the tape. You smile stupidly at the mirrors as the intro plays, straining a bit as you strive again to perfect your routine. You didn't want to be passed over at another audition; you had to be flawless no matter what. The pain your feet felt was nothing compared to the pain you felt each time you failed. As the music ends, you stagger back to the stereo to reset it, and your chest tightens painfully with each step.

As you fly across the floor, you feel lighter with each step. The music suddenly stops.

"Enough."

You whirl around to face a man with droopy eyes and a slightly stern, concerned expression.

"I'm not done," you wheeze, determined to finish your routine as your eyes begin to lose their focus. Next. Enough. You're good, but . . . Words that you never ever wanted to hear again. You leap, gracefully landing into a pirouette that gets interrupted by the stranger as he grabs you roughly by the arm and pulls your trembling frame into a tight and warm embrace. You can't tell if the weird rhythm is your heart or his as a sweet and woodsy smell enters your nose.

"Jun Lihua, that's enough," the man scolds you, forcing you to sit on the floor as you claw at his muscular arms, trying to break free.

"Zhang Yixing, I'm fine," you manage between breaths as your vision distorts like a clown house.

"Yifan will flip if you--hey . . . hua--"

"Thanks, man, I owe you one," you hear your boyfriend's low rumble from a few feet away as you come to on the sofa in your aparment's living room.

"Yifan?" you call out to him as you open your eyes and your vision begins to slide around with black rims cutting across your apartment. Yikes. Your circle lenses must be dried out. Quickly, you snap your eyes shut as you hear his footsteps coming.

"Yeah, angel?" you feel his warm, wide palm on your forehead, checking your temperature before seating himself on the edge of the sofa. "Open your eyes if you're awake, stupid."

"Yifan--" you hear another voice in the room as you were about to open your eyes and squeeze them tightly shut. Yifan, I don't want to be seen with my color lens sliding around like a freak! Or more precisely, you didn't want anyone to see your natural eye color; most people were unnerved by your heterochromia. The less people that saw your eyes, the better.

"Yeah, she's still out," you hear Yifan's low chuckle. "Let's go get some chicken or something, I'm famished." And the sofa inflates as his weight is removed.

"Yifan, are you sure she's ok? Shouldn't we--"

"This happens all the time; she'll be fine. Probably needs to stop stressing all the nitty details."

"I guess . . ."

"Chicken and beer! My treat, since I owe you one."

"Yifan, shouldn't you stay with her at least today?"

"Nah, she needs to rest, it's ok. Let's go! Come on, man--" And the door clicks.

Thanks, you jerk. Today was our 1000 day anniversary. You thought, mentally feeding your dense and forgetful boyfriend a dumpling overdosed with wasabi. Opening your eyes, you went to the bathroom to remove the black lens, sighing at the ghost-girl reflected in the mirror. One hazelly-brown, and one dark brown eye. Mutant eyes.

Mutant. That's what your mother called you before abandoning your father and you. She always said that your father couldn't do anything right, and your "mutation" and condition were his fault, too. She always asked why you couldn't get top grades and dance perfectly like her. Nothing was ever right about you; you were never chosen as the main, you never placed higher than second in a dance competition, you never ranked above second in school. And now, chicken was more important than you.

You rolled your eyes at that last thought. No, you're that ridiculously handsome lizard's muse and angel. He loved you, you loved him, and your dad liked him. To the point where I have to fight dad to get my boyfriend back.

Yeah, he's forgetful, lazy, and kind of an abrasive jerk sometimes. And he's forgotten your birthday before. But hey, he's a man. Maybe his brain isn't wired the same way yours is, and that's what makes him your man. Your cool and always suave man who always solved every problem without his fists. He was your calm, mysterious, and forever derping Peter Pan who was the first person to tell you your eyes were beautiful when everyone else shunned you. You smile at the mirror. Well, the two of you had your gripes and differences, but even through all the fights, it was still ok. It's not like you ever wanted some guy to spit out greasy lines from a manhwa and worship you like a goddess. That would just be embarrassing to walk around with. You frowned. But, there were times you doubted him. Like when he called you "Li Na" once in the middle of a little spat. He'd apologized immediately afterwards and said his tongue was numb from the spicy hot pot the two of you just ate, but . . . You sigh, heading back out to fix yourself dinner.

Shortly after shoving a bowl of leftovers into the microwave, your phone goes off and you read a text from Yifan's boss,  Lu Han:

Your oversized bag of dragon droppings and his unicorn friend drank too much, can you come collect them?

You groan, feeling a migraine. What was with Yifan and alcohol even though his tolerance was lower than the floor? Sighing, you pluck a gray hoodie off the sofa--assuming it was his even though it carried an unfamiliar, sweet woodsy scent--shrug into it, swipe your keys off the coffee table, and head out.

What is this? You thought as you walk into Lu Han's restaurant to see the two drunks at each other's throats while cussing with Lu Han standing with his arms crossed and head shaking in the corner.

"Try saying that again, you bleeding prick," hisses Yifan.

"It's your own fault," Yixing retorts coldly, spitting out each word sharply and precisely. "Maybe if dragon balls remembered the story of the birds and the bees--" WHAM!

"Yifan, what are you doing?!" You shriek at the two of them. This didn't make any sense. Your gentle boyfriend--or so you thought-- would never raise a fist on anyone, despite his scary-looking exterior. He was a bit lazy, but he was always the level-headed and sensible type dad liked.

His bloodshot eyes widen as he sees you. "Sorry."

Helping Yixing off the floor, you glare at your boyfriend. "Say 'sorry' to Yixing, not me."

Yifan reaches out a hand to his buddy, scratching his head with his other hand. "Sorry--" And Yixing slaps the hand away, spitting out a tooth while holding his cut cheek. " man, you're bleeding--"

"I'm fine," Yixing growls. "And don't apologize to me. Why don't you tell Lihua what's up first, prick?" And the younger man breaks out of your hold, staggering out of the restaurant.

"Yifan . . . ?" Baffled, your eyes widen further as Yifan grovels at your feet and Lu Han leaves, sighing heavily.

"Lihua, I'm sorry, but--"

And you sit alone at the restaurant, where Xiumin, the waiter, is keeping you company.

"Yifan--" you begin, but quickly realize that Xiumin is not Yifan because he won't look at your eyes. Ah . . . I messed up again . . . You thought as you tap your eyes and realize your lens isn't there.

What just happened? You wonder, rewinding through the odd turn of events.

Ok. So you failed an audition this morning.

Ok. So you skipped lunch and forgot to take your medicine before storming back to the studio.

Ok. So everyone already went home and you stayed behind to practice. And your chest really hurt because you didn't take your medicine.

Ok. So then you woke up at home, and Yifan was talking to one of his friends. Then they went for beer and chicken.

Hold up. How did you get from the studio to your apartment? You think for a bit, concluding that you were so tired from practice that you didn't remember  Yifan picking you up and walking back with you.

Ok. So then Lu Han texted me, so I came here to pick up Yifan and Yixing because they got drunk.

Hold up. Why was Yixing with Yifan? You think for a bit, concluding that he and Yifan were studying or watching basketball together before you got home.

Ok. So then I came here and they were fighting.

But wait. Why would your harmless, space alien boyfriend hit his best friend?

Oh . . . I messed up, didn't I? After Yixing and Lu Han left, you were dumped. Yifan had cheated on you and got some other girl pregnant. He left you because he knew he hurt you, and he felt responsible for what he did to the other girl.

Numbly, you rise and ask Xiumin for the bill, but he just shakes his head and smiles.

"Lu Han says it's on the house. He wants you to take it easy, miss."

I messed up. You keep thinking as you crossed the studio to reset the stereo again.

I messed up, didn't I? I wasn't good enough for you. My eyes-- You spin and spin, imagining yesterday's events flying off into outer space with each turn. But gravity brings it all crashing back down on you.

"Enough."

You ignore that voice even as its owner rips out the stereo plug. You don't even fight as he gently grabs your arm and stops you, setting your face lightly between his thumbs and staring at you. With your glassy hazel and brown eyes, you stare at that droopy eyed face and freeze. Another pair of caramel and brown eyes were staring back at you.

"What? Never seen beautiful eyes like these before?" He smiles warmly with his dimples showing.

END //  Heterochromia iridum

20140422 - Choppitastic brainfart with typos =_= Jaedelle will modify later, maybe. The characters for "your" name are supposed to mean "beautiful jade" (Jun, the surname) and "resiliant flower" (Lihua, given name), but Jaedelle is too lazy to look them up and switch the computer's language locale. So in full, it should mean something like "beautiful and resiliant jade flower"

20140423 -- grammar fix

20140828 - adding recap that I forgot to add.

Recap - You failed a dance audition and fainted; Lay brings you home. You find out that Kris cheated on you, and he breaks up with you. The next day or so, Lay comes to comfort you and you find out that he also has odd eyes.