Yixing

Stupid Kai, he had to leave me in the airport bathroom. Kai was supposed to leave me at the Yixing centre to be picked up by a limousine. Now I’ll have to call up my manager and make up a stupid excuse as to why I’m already at the airport.

Although, I am incredibly worried about Kai, I know that look on his face, the glint of excitement, mixed with the boyish gleam that usually accompanies him doing something stupid, like coordinating an attack on the protectors with only Sehun and Kyungsoo by his side, or attempting to kidnap the Tree of Life in a half-baked plan. I know what was running through his mind, that he wanted to confront the B.A.P members. It was stupid, but there isn’t much that I can currently do

I stayed in the toilets for a few minutes, composing myself. I take out my phone and send a risky text to Suho.

Everything’s okay. B.A.P showed up at our place just as we left. I’m worried that Kai went to attack them again.

I send another text to my manager, creating a false story about how the fans were crowding the Yixing centre too much, so I jumped into an unsuspecting taxi and rode by myself to the airport, only over half an hour early. I also gave a half-explained request for someone to bring my bags and medical gear to the airport to check in to my flight for me.

Finished with my texts, I slip the phone into my pocket and sit down on the toilet lid, crossing my legs underneath me. I’m no longer afraid of germs; I figure that from the amount of hospital-hopping I do each day I’m bound to come into contact with a billion times the germs of an airport bathroom.

Ugh. I’m so tired. I check my pockets for any loose change. I don’t have enough for a coffee before the flight, unless I buy an overpriced tiny cup with one mouthful of caffeine.  I pull my legs in closer, resting my head in my hands. So tired.

It took twenty minutes of quiet thinking to myself and a few exhaustion tears before I’m ready to leave my stall. I stagger out of the room on stiff legs, feeling the blood flow through my knees. I lean on the automatic sinks and stare into my reflection in the mirror.

Dishevelled comes to mind. Spent, overworked, these are all words that I could use to describe myself. The circles under my eyes look darker than ever, and is that a pimple? My publicist always insists that I never show my face in public without minimal makeup, but I’ve never enjoyed the covered, thick feeling of the stuff. I much prefer to have my real face shown to the cameras, without the glorified face paint which scares me from touching my own face. I’ve grown impressed at any of the girls or music idols who regularly wear makeup.

I drag my fingers over my face, utilising a small trick that I discovered early in my celebrity life. With a quick flash of my powers, I pull my fingers down to my chin, taking away the traces of dark circles and unclear skin.

Even with a rejuvenated face, I still look forlorn. I attempt a petty smile, cranking the edges of my mouth upwards. I ended with only a creepy face that would make little children run to their parents. Instead, giving up on the smile, I settle with a neutral, slightly dazed and confused look.

Satisfied with my look, I pull up my jacket collar and briskly walk past all paparazzi and fans, managing to avoid a swarm of people until I sit down in my first-class seat.

I take a quick flick through the airplane magazine, skimming over articles about dream holiday destinations and adventures. The only dream holiday destination I can imagine is a place where the protectors and I are safe.

I look up, watching each of the people board the plane, walking through first class to reach the economy seats.

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Suho sits on the couch, crouched over the coffee table.

“We can’t let you go on that plane by yourself Yixing. I’m going to send two of us on the same flight to act as undercover bodyguards. So who wants to go? Okay, how about a game of rock paper scissors to decide?”

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Chen walks past me, looking for his seat in economy. His hood is pulled over his face, an eye mask dangling from his neck with his headphones. I feel safer knowing I have him as a bodyguard for me.

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Luhan telekinetically drags Sehun across the floor, kicking and screaming.

“No guys! I don’t want this! I didn’t sign up for Yixing babysitting duty knowing this would happen! What I’ve got going up here, my hair, its professional ! I look good! I don’t need no disguise!”

“Shut up Sehunnie,” Baekhyun crouches down in front of the limb-locked teenager. “Kai is very professional at this, look at what he did to Kyungsoo! You can always fix it up later”

“But I don’t want that!”

Kai teleports into the middle of the room, his arms laden with boxes of hair dyes.

“There were so many I couldn’t decide.” He says “So I just took them all and ran.”

This spurs Sehun into an even more intense fit of kicking and attempting to escape his hidden bonds.

During the process Sehun shoots daggers into everyone with his eyes. He doesn’t look at the final outcome in the mirror; he walks straight to the kitchen. Pulling out a large sack of flour, he hauls it into the room where everyone sits, watching curiously. He pulls out a large pair of scissors and hacks through the top of the sack brutally.

He takes a step back, lining up the sack between him and his impromptu hair stylist, Kai. He crouches down and achieves a solid fighting en-guard position.

“Watch out everyone! He’s going to blow the flour every-“

-----------------------

It takes the full capacity of my self-control not to burst into laughter when Sehun walks past.

As if that is not going to draw the attention of the public.

Sehun’s hair no longer has its trademark white colour with black under colour. Instead, I see pink, orange, blue, yellow, purple, an entire rainbow. Sehun does not blend in at all, and his face shows that he is the most disgruntled boy on the plane.

“Shut up.” Sehun grumbles quietly as he walks past my chair.

With my two bodyguards hidden on the place, I feel a lot more secure. I rest my head against the headrest, ping my jacket slightly.

“Hey, excuse me? I just couldn’t not say anything; you’re a blessing on this world.”

I look up to meet the eye of a flight attendant. Dressed impeccably in the trademark uniform, the woman has her hair pulled up into a tight bun. She’s beautiful. I think to myself. I don’t get much time to admire the small amount of women in my life; most of them seem to be old, sickly or married.

“Just say the word, Zhang Yixing, and you can have anything you want from our kitchen. It’s not much, but from the amount of work you’ve done in Seoul, you should be treated like royalty. I personally don’t know anyone healed by you, but I know some of the attendants have sick parents and relatives that you have saved. Everyone is very grateful that you have shared your talent with the world.”

“Thanks,” I reply “I’m sure I’ll be very comfortable as is. I’m very happy that you feel that way.”

“No worries, Dr Zhang. It’s the least we can do.” The flight attendant pauses… hesitating for a second. “Actually, I was wondering if you could do a favour. I… I don’t even know if you can do this or not… but… Well… My husband and I have recently been trying for a baby… but it hasn’t been working. I was wondering if you could check to see if everything is… working?”

I nod and lean forward in my seatbelt, reaching out to rest my palm over the girl’s belly.

“Can I have kids? Is it okay? Just tell me if I’m fertile or not.” The attendant asked, eager to find out my answer.

I beam back a genuine smile at her, my hand still resting on her stomach. “Congratulations. You are more than fertile.”

She covers in astonishment, a slight, audible gasp escaping her fingers. Colour rushes to her face and she stumbles a little into the seat behind her.

“I’m… I’m….”

“Pregnant.” I confirm, my teeth still showing through my smile.

“Su Hwa!” The girl calls out to another pretty girl in an identical outfit, helping an old man post his suitcase into the overhead lockers. “I’m going to be a mother! I’m pregnant!"

A few people who have overheard start cheering and clapping.

“Is it a girl? Is it a boy? Can you even tell this early? Wait, don’t tell me, I want it to be a surprise. No, I changed my mind, tell me. No don’t, I’ll leave that for birth. ”

“All I’m going to tell you,” I say, “Is that they are both very healthy.”

“THEY?!” She shrieks “I’M HAVING TWINS?!”

She pulls me out of my chair, tripping over my seatbelt and gives me one of the biggest hugs I’d received in a long time. I hold on to the neighbouring chairs for support as she throws herself onto me.

“Thank you so much Dr Zhang! I’m so happy to have met you!”

I sit myself down, fixing up my messed hair. “It’s no problem, I’m always happy to help.”

“Is there anything at all I can get you, tea, coffee?”

“Actually,” I say, “Now that you mention it, I’d much like it if you could get me a coffee.”

“Sure, how do you take it?”

The sound of heavy leather and work boots sits down into the seat beside me.

“He’ll have milk and two sugars, and I’ll take a whiskey, please.” A low, mystery voice sounds from the chair next to me.

“Of course, I’ll… uh… go get the drink tray.” The attendant stammered and left, bowing stiffly to the newcomer beside me.

I turn around to speak to the man sitting beside me.

“How did you know how I take my coffee-“

I immediately recognise him. Military outfit, heavy metal belts and chains which would’ve taken ages to get through the metal detector, dark shades and spiked up hair. This was the B.A.P leader, Yongguk.

“I know your coffee because it’s my job to know everything about my targets.”

I stiffen in my chair, gripping my armrests. It takes all my self-control not to look down the airplane to check if Chen and Sehun are okay.

“Relax, little healer, I’m not going to kill you. You’d just cause a riot between the military and the public. You’re no threat; you can just parade around in your limos and heal the world from cancer. Well, until the big guy tells me that it’s time to kill you. As far as the public are concerned, you aren’t a terrorist, just the nation’s Healing Unicorn.”

The attendant arrives, shakily placing our drinks on the trays before us. I attempt to give her a look that said ‘call for help’, but she rushed away too quickly, the tray jiggling under her fingers.

Yongguk stretches his arms out in front of him, relaxing in his chair. “Let me show you a thing,” He says casually, as if he was talking to his best friend at a pub. Rolling up his sleeve he points to a tattoo of the South Korean flag. “See this ink? I got this when I was enrolled into the military. And this one?” He pulls down his collar to show a line of text in script to cursive it was impossible to read. “Got it when my sister died. Car crash. It was messy.” He lifts up his shirt to show me the third tattoo on his flank.

“This tattoo, I got it when I was chosen for my mission. I think you have something similar.”

I feel very conscious of my own mark, the trademark unicorn on my left pectoral, the tattoo that marks me as a protector.

While our marks both have similar meaning, they are by no means similar. The small branding that marks the B.A.P. leader’s flank was far from elegant. It has no pattern, no clean-cut edges or fanciful designs. The mark seems rushed, harsh and careless, a big dark splodge that protrudes with sharp spikes and heavy curves. It reminds me of the Dark Slimers that we fought last time the Dark attempted to take over the world.

“This tattoo,” Yongguk continues, “Shows that I am qualified. I am qualified for immense power, and for the duty of clearing the world in preparation for the Dark’s arrival. I’d like you to give a message to the other eleven of you, because I know that they are never far behind you. Tell them this: In the perfect world, the world imagined by the Dark, there is no light. There will be no happiness, no safety, no protectors. Tell them that their future ends soon. They will be hunted, and they will all die.”

With that final message, Yongguk stands up, no longer being subtle. Flashing the badge on his belt, he reaches into his jacket for a weapon. I tense up, ready to activate my powers to protect me from any guns or knives. Yongguk’s eyes flicker down the aisle, settling on someone down in economy.             

It’s Chen, standing up out of his seat, pointing his hand towards Yongguk, prepared to strike.

Yongguk smiles and draws his hand out of the jacket. Instead of a weapon, he holds a notebook and pen.

“Don’t be so tense, Dr Zhang. I only wanted an autograph.” He points towards Chen lazily, “Take him.”

Two other men sitting in first class stood up, walking towards Chen with a pair of handcuffs.

Chen seems startled. I can see the sense of mistake on his face; he had just given up his cover to protect me from a notebook.

“I wouldn’t want to use that talent of yours,” Yongguk says, loud enough that everyone can hear him “You wouldn’t want to let loose so much electricity in a large metal tube of innocent people, so high in the air.”

Defeated, Chen allows the men to handcuff him. I flinch as a man pulls out a large syringe and sticks the bright blue liquid into his neck. Chen’s head rolls back, but with my power I can sense his heartbeat slow down to a relaxed state. He is just sedated. The men drag him down the plane until he disappeared from sight.

“Dear civilians,” Yongguk addressed the many passengers and video-taping iphones. “With love from the military, we have just caught our first superpowered terrorist before he could assassinate the nation’s beloved unicorn, Zhang Yixing.” He pulls me up to a standing position, receiving a wave of applause and cheering.

I caught Sehun’s eye, still maintaining his cover. He looks confused, but masks his fear by holding his phone over his face and filming the events before him, clapping when necessary.

“Remember, people,” He continues, “There still remains eleven more of these terrorists, and they are highly dangerous. Stay safe, and if they are sighted anywhere, call the military.”

He holds me roughly next to him as we pose for some photos, shake some hands and receive many thanks for taking down ‘the terrorist’ who had aimed to ‘assassinate’ me. After ten minutes, Yongguk leaves to speak with the captain and to search for a phone, mumbling something about calling the military to meet him at the Cambodian airport.

Alone again, I take deep breaths to calm down. They have Chen. My immediate thought is to start a rescue mission, but I know that I can’t do it without the other ten members. I need to send a message to Sehun.

I quickly devise a plan. I quickly gulp down my coffee, leaving the empty cup on the tray in front of me. Leaning out into the aisle, I catch the eye of the pregnant flight attendant and flag her down.

“Hello, Dr Zhang. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Sure, I was wondering if I can get a second coffee… and how much is the cup of instant ramen?”

“For you, Dr Zhang, they’re free of charge.”

“Thank you so much,” I drop my eyes down to the girl’s belly, lifting my hand to touch her stomach. “Excuse me miss, there’s no need to worry or become anxious, but I think I will need to heal something for you.”

“Oh my god what’s wrong. Are the babies okay?”

I look down the aisle. Yongguk still hasn’t returned. “I’d prefer if I can speak of this in private. Doctor’s confidentiality, you understand? It will only take a second, and then about a minute to heal it completely. I just want you to have healthy children.”

The attendant takes me by the hand and leads me towards the larger toilet at the end of the plane. “Thank you so much Dr Zhang, I don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t met you.”

We enter the toilet, not much space between the two of us.

“What’s wrong, are they going to be healthy?”

“They’re fine. But I need to ask a major favour. The only problem is, you can’t tell anyone.” The lady nods, eager to help me. “Ah, do you have a pen?”

With the attendant’s pen, I scrawl a quick message onto a piece of toilet paper.

They know I’m a protector – I won’t be able to meet up with you or they’ll find you all. I’ll do my best to get away and find you, but for now continue without me. They didn’t kill Chen I could sense that he was still alive, just subdued. Yongguk showed me that he has a mark like us, it labels him as a Dark protector. He said I will be kept alive as long as I’m just healing people, then he will kill me later once you guys are dead. Good luck, stay safe.

I hand the note to the flight attendant, explaining quickly about how B.A.P are actually evil and hunting down the protectors of the Tree Of Life. I gave her instructions to give the note sneakily to the boy with rainbow hair sitting in economy, and she nodded fiercely, happy to be given such an important part in the protection of the world.

When I return to my seat Yongguk is already asleep. I can feel my hatred radiating off of me, despising the man. For the remainder of the flight I immerse myself in the small television screen, unable to stop my mind from wondering about the safety of Chen and the other protectors.