I burst into an empty classroom. It was one that often served as a lunch spot for me and my group. The school was so large; there often were one or two classrooms that remained unused throughout the year.

Everyone looked up at the sound of the door shutting behind me. I didn’t say anything right away, breathing heavily. I had run all the way here, not willing to risk anyone noticing my eyes.

"How many times have we told you not to let that door… slam." Baekhyun spoke first, but his voice slowly trailed off the moment we locked gazes. I watched the expression slowly drain off his face.

“Sorry.”

He didn’t respond to me. None of them did, only staring. I sighed, walking into the room. Grabbing one of the chairs stacked at the back I dragged it to the center of the room. A loose ring of seats had already been assembled and I joined it. “You guys can stop staring now.” Of course they wouldn’t. I wouldn’t either if I were in their shoes.

“Wha–, what the hell did you do?” Chen spoke, a half laugh escaping his lips. It wasn’t one of humour.

"I don't know."

“What do you mean you don’t know? Your eyes, they’re–"

“I don’t know, okay?” I stared straight at him, frustration creeping into my voice and making it hard. His eyebrows rose and the disbelieving look was replaced with one of concern.

“Alright, that’s enough.” I heard Kris speak. I dropped my head, a rush of guilt running through me. It went quiet again.

The face of the girl creeped up into my mind, and I felt my heart clench tightly. I should have at least said something, made up an excuse before leaving like that. Was she still standing there? I wondered what she had thought, seeing my eyes like this. It definitely couldn’t have been anything good.

“Sehun.” I looked up slowly. Kris was seated directly across from me. His face was smooth, an even more complete mask then mine could ever be. Though his eyes were intense, staring at me so hard I fought the urge to squirm.

Suho was on his right. Unlike the former his mouth was slightly open, allowing for only the smallest bit of oxygen to enter. His eyes were wide and unblinking. The look in them, a mixture of shock and slight horror, made my stomach twist and my heart feel like it was about to burst, but this time for an entirely different reason. This was bad. This was really bad.

“Suho?” Chanyeol spoke, his voice unsure. I could feel the underlying disturbance it had from the other’s expression.

If it were anyone different I don’t think there would be so much concern. Shock yes, curiosity most definitely. But that’s it. No one would think to look further, to see the true reason behind something so miraculous and rare and impossible.

Why?

Humans crave individualism; to be unique is like being a wonder, something precious and envied and maybe even loved. We don’t have that luxury; we can’t crave it, because being too different is a bad thing. Not even being human is worse.

“What, happened.” He spoke, his voice only a hint above a whisper.

“Like I said, I don’t know– “

“Go through everything you’ve done today up until this point. Explain what you’ve done, who you were with, everything.” He cut me off, the look in his eyes never changing. It rattled me, making the nerves I felt inside grow.

“I didn’t do anything I swear.”

“You sure?” Kai murmured, his face full of disbelief.

“What could I have done, we’re in a ing school!” At the last moment my voice raised to a shout. It was accompanied by a harsh undertone; aggressive, cold, and the sound like a growl.

“Calm down.” Kris stood up. A couple others stood too, alarmed. Suho remained seated, his face stunned at my reaction. I snapped my head down, staring squarely at the floor. “Sehun,” I didn’t respond right away, taking deep breaths. I needed to stop, now.

“I–I’m sorry.” My voice was normal again, but I didn’t trust it. My mind felt shaky, like it was teetering off an edge. All the emotions that had seemed so distant before were coming back all at once, threatening to topple me over.

“Has anyone seen?” It was Suho, his voice quiet. I looked up, catching his brown eyes.

“No, not that I know of,” That seemed to thaw him out a bit. I swallowed hard before speaking again. “Except one.”  The silence was almost deafening against my ears.

“Who.” Luhan spoke first, beating Kris to it. I looked down at my hands, clasping them together so tightly they shook.

“A girl,”

“A… human,” It was Lay. He spoke softly, his voice almost distant seeming. “The scent is on you.” I didn’t know. I wasn’t aware of it. Though, it didn’t mean I thought of her any less.

“That’s, interesting.” Suho murmured.   

“She doesn’t know what it means,” I interjected before he could continue “she won’t be able to make sense of it. Not on her own.”

“But she saw,” Chen spoke up “whatever it is that’s happened to you, she’s aware of it now.”

“What is it exactly?” Xiumin breathed, his gaze a mixture of awe and worry.

“No one else has seen this,” Kris stepped closer, his eyes indecipherable. I shook my head. “And this girl, she was around you when your eye color changed?”

“We were just talking,” I tried to explain, my mind flashing back to the moment. Her face immediately floated up, filling my mind despite the situation. “Then, she just stopped. Maybe they changed color in front of her, I don’t really know.”

“Have you spoken to this girl before? What’s her name?”

“Today was the first time I’ve seen her.” I knew next to nothing about her.

“Are you guys sure that she’s a human? Maybe it was a disguise or…” Tao trailed off. I was shaking my head before he could finish. There was no question about that. I had known the moment I had gotten near her. It wasn’t just from appearance or scent; it was a gut feeling I had.

“I don’t believe this,” Suho got up from his seat. He rubbed his face with his hands. “I can’t actually believe… you’ve done it.”

"Done what? Suho hyung–”

“And it had to be a human.” Kris turned around to face him, speaking over my question.

“We don’t for sure. It could be something else.”

“What could it be? His eyes turned gold.” The two stared at each other. “What kind of explanation can we give this?”

“What are you two saying? Nothing is making any sense.” Baekhyun broke the silence. Coming up he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Do you have any idea of what this is?” Neither responded right away, sharing another look.

“We have a theory. For now at least nothing is confirmable.” Kris spoke slowly, as if choosing his words. “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions.” At the last bit he turned towards Suho.

“As it is, it’s the only one we have.” The latter continued, ignoring the former’s look. He walked up to my chair, squatting down so we were at eye level.  

“What kind of theory are we talking about?” A thousand different thoughts pummelled through my brain, the majority of them dark, gruesome, and terrifying.

“A crazy one,” His eyes searched my face, his mouth a firm line

“Why?” I forced the word out.

“For one thing I didn’t think it could happen. From what I’ve been told, it’s supposed to be nearly impossible for our kind now.”

“And it still could be, so don’t overthink this.” Kris interrupted, giving me a meaningful look. I just stared back, not wanting to say anything.

"Something happened when you were around that girl." Suho spoke slowly. My mind immediately drew an image of her, wide eyed and surprised. The thought made my heart beat fumble, like it couldn’t keep a steady beat.

"Because you’ve met this person, you’ve been changed." A couple eyes widened in alarm at that. "And I think you’re going to notice this change very soon."

"How has he changed? I mean other then his eyes nothing looks out of the ordinary." Lay spoke, concern in his voice.

“It’s not a physical change that you can see; mentally, his mind and consciousness has been altered.” Kris explained. “The girl didn’t do anything intentional; it was her presence so close to him that triggered this.”

"Can't he just avoid the girl?" D.O asked. An actual stab of pain hit my chest at his comment, making me wince. Suho shook his head.

“I honestly don’t think that’s an option.”

“Why?” Xiumin spoke “If being around her is affecting him in a negative way then staying away from her would be the right thing to do.”

“No, it would only do the opposite." He said softly.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” I breathed, trying to ignore the feeling in my chest.

“It does. She’s not here and you’re in pain.” Suho said softly, gripping my shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her so just relax.” This was ridiculous; I didn’t need a person, let alone a human, to physically be nearby me to be alright.

“It’s fine, I mean it isn’t necessary.”

That isn’t necessary.

This couldn’t be real. I wasn’t quoting her words now. The hand gripping my shoulder squeezed, and I stared up into Suho’s eyes. Brown eyes, ones that looked exactly like mine had.

“What’s happened to me, honestly.” He looked at me for a moment, his gaze softening slightly.

“You’ve imprinted Sehun–ah.”

~~~