♫

Zitao was running late. His raven hair flying up and down when he was trying to dodge the branches and ran through the forest near his house towards the city. He cursed for the nth time when his nose got hit. Yet had no time to ‘punish’ the branch for being in his way. He should stop holding grudges towards plants, self-note. A view of rustling pedestrians and sellers quickly came into view. He swiftly moved his body to prevent bumping into people and getting yelled at. It wasn’t a hard thing to do for Zitao’s body was blessed with considerable flexibility. He jumped over logs, ponds, even a crouching little kid before mumbling some kind of apologize. But the whole city knew it was Zitao who passed by. Oh, everyone knew it was him. Zitao was always in a rush for everything.

He could hear the last bell rang. He admitted it. It was all his fault for staying up late, counting the stars all over again while laying near the lavender field, humming his favorite song to keep him warm. His mother had warned him from time to time that school would take a lot of energy and it meant a lot for him, for someone who came from a mediocre family in Vega. It was his first day of school and yet he already sneaked his way inside the old building.

For some reasons, Zitao was an expert in breaking the rules. He had always been a rule-breaker. When he was 5, his father told him not to get out of his room when the blizzard approached, but he didn’t. When his brother was sick, he asked him to help his mother with their garden, but little Zitao went to the lavender field instead. When he was ten, his father asked him to collect some baits for fishing, but he disappeared in the woods, and went back the day after. Zitao didn’t like obeying anything—or anyone. He didn’t like being bound into something. He loved freedom.

He jumped over bushes of roses and violets, treated beautifully on turned soil, smelled so good and he sang them a short melody as a sign of apologize for jumping over those beauties. The color of the flowers soon turned even brighter.

He peeked behind the wall, seeing boys and girls at his age were already lining up in front of the school gate. They were whispering endless rants and chatterings over things they did on weekends. He then quietly tip-toed behind the students and was ready to get into the line when someone grabbed his collar and held him down. Zitao shrieked and looked up. Only to have his eyes faced towards Baekhyun.

“B, Baekhyun! Damn, you scared me!” He tried to wriggle the older man’s hands, but they stayed put and Zitao could feel he was starting to lose for air. He looked deep into Baekhyun’s eyes, mentally planning to sing him a song so he could flee away, but it seemed like Baekhyun knew him all too well. The older boy quickly shoved him into the line before any of the senior students could see, hovering Zitao from them with his tall figure.

“You should stop being a brat. How dare you try to use your song on me,” Baekhyun pinched his ear, earning a hiss from the other.

“Oh shut up, I use my song on everyone,” he whined.

“Then you should stop. You’re still too young to even use anything on anyone, Tao. You barely know what is song. You don’t even have your own melody yet.”

Zitao mimicked the older, folding his arms across his chest. Baekhyun shook his head in disbelief. He had known Zitao since he was still a mere baby. He used to play with him and his brother, Zhoumi, who went missing right on Zitao’s 14th birthday. That, probably, was the main reason Zitao acted this way. They were very close as brothers, and Baekhyun had to admit that he envied their relationship. His own brother, Jinki, was such a rigid person. They rarely spent time together. And now that Jinki had started working for the Eridanus, no words were spoken between them.

“I don’t understand why I’m here. I don’t need to get into school.”

The older rolled his eyes. “You have to. It’s the law here. If you don’t get into Horologium, you won’t be able to have your melody, or learn to sing properly. You won’t be able to do anything in Lyra,” Baekhyun spat.

“Oh come on. We both know I’ve had my melody—“

Baekhyun quickly sealed his mouth by covering it using his hands. He looked around to see if any of the people there heard their conversation. When he was sure that nobody was looking, he let go of Zitao.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” The older glared. Zitao just rolled his eyes.

“Tao, look at me,” Baekhyun demanded, but the latter pretended like he was deaf.

“Okay, I’m sorry. But you do know that it’s not normal for a hybrid as young as you to be able to sing. You’re not allowed to voice anything melodious, at least you have to wait a day after you get into school. I don’t want you to get into trouble. But believe me I’ve lived long enough to see what these people can do when they know underage hybrids singing…”

Zitao cocked his eyebrow. “…before they get into Horologium.” Baekhyun continued. However, Zitao was not one to give a about Baekhyun’s ramblings no matter how serious he sounded.

Nevertheless, it gave him the alarm he needed. He looked around to see girls and boys, as old as he was, but they were completely different from Zitao. The raven-haired kid had been singing since a long time ago. It was when he played with Zhoumi in one evening and he ran into a large lavender field. Zitao was not supposed to sing anything until now. It would be odd and weird. Hybrids started singing when they go to public school, and in Corvus, it was Horologium. The Eridanus wouldn’t like it if they found an underage kid to be able to sing. There was never a clear rules about what they were going to do if they really found one (Zitao of course didn't buy Baekhyun's words just like that), but maybe, that was because Eridanus had taken care of them long even before the public got to realize.

A creaking sound brought Zitao back from his train of thoughts. He looked up to see people in white uniforms coming closer to the gates. He hated those people. Dressed in white, making him feel like he was some kind of a mad patient instead of a student. Once the gates were opened, the students started flooding in and Zitao was almost squeezed between them. He hissed at how crowded it was and opted to use one of his songs to send himself inside the building. Baekhyun was close to stop him but he was too late, Zitao had already disappeared and Baekhyun’s terrific face looked around to see if anyone—especially the senior students behind them—had seen him doing that. But fortunately, no one did. He cursed under his breath and used his song to follow the raven-haired kid.

He can say whatever he wants, Zitao thought. He’s not brother, I don’t have to obey anyone.

Zitao, all in all, was one hell of a unique hybrid. Unique, that was how most people tried to describe him. He didn’t look sad when the Eridanus' Forces found his father's ship far from their home but not with its owner, didn’t look affected at all when Zhoumi didn’t return from the woods, he spent his time alone, laughed at himself sometimes, and there were also times when he just stared into blank space in front of him. His mother had always been worried about his only son now, and she thought getting him into Horologium would do best. That way, Zitao would meet lots of friends and interacted with them. Perhaps, all Zitao needed was just friends to talk to.

Lights of rose pink and violets surrounded him. Lacis was a blank labyrinth between the present and the past, and even the future. A space where creatures passed by to travel the time. Zitao would bump into random hybrids in the middle of his journey, but he could never see their faces. It was empty and plain.

Zitao appeared right before a large oak door, colored in dark brown with a mix of black here and there, telling him how old and precious the room that the door hid. He cooed at that and looked around, trying to recognize where he had stopped. He couldn’t hear any of his friends at the gate, he probably stopped a little too far from the main door. But Zitao paid no mind. He could always travel back to wherever he wanted. He was currently standing in the center of a huge intersection with four lobbies surrounded him. He was about to give up and sing again when he heard another voice coming from one of the lobby.

That voice. That melody. That song.

Zitao’s breath hitched and his head started spinning. No one was there to help him. He tried really hard to stay on his feet. The sound echoed throughout the rooms and Zitao felt weird at this. This was all too familiar for him. That soothing melodies, sickeningly-sweet voice, beautiful and lovely—so distinctive. His body gave a reaction he didn’t expect.

Come, come

The world is too cold

Here on this earth

nothing is ever warm

Come, come

The world is too bad

You should leave

For the end is about to come…

Baekhyun was quick to catch the raven-haired boy before his face met the tile. Zitao slowly slipping in and out of his consciousness. The voice he just heard a few minutes ago kept lingering inside his head like a lullaby