It was two in the morning.

 

Luhan should have been asleep, but he’s wasn’t. He was too busy studying and stressing out about his exams. In only four hours, he went through nine cups of coffee and now his heart was racing. “That’s not good,” he mumbled to himself. He headed to the cabinet in his small apartment when something hit his window. In surprise, he yelped and the cup in his hand came crashing down on the ground.

 

He panicked because that was the cup Chanyeol had gotten him, but to his relief, the cup did not shatter. In fact, it didn’t even crack. He sighed. A loud crash from outside reminded him that something just collided against his window. Something obviously large enough to cause a ruckus and something that could probably fly because he lived on the third story of the building.

 

He slipped a jacket on, wondering what it could be. A bat was too small to create so much noise, and so was a bird.  A person couldn’t possibly reach the third floor. There were no stairs to any of his windows and he had no balcony. It couldn’t be any four-legged animal either. He frowned as he laced up a pair of old sneakers. Grabbing a flashlight, he headed out his door.

 

The alley was dark. The only one light was the dim lamp post standing a few feet away from him. He could barely see in front of him. The air was cold and nipped at his nose and ears. An icy breeze made his eyes water. He heard the trashcans in the alley topple over; metal scraping against concrete. Heart racing, he quickly the flashlight and shined it in the direction of the noise.

 

“Hello?” He saw his breath in the dim lighting. His voice sounded timid. This is ridiculous, he thought to himself. It was just a raccoon. Or a dog.

 

He froze when the light hit something and caught his eyes. Feathers the color of freshly fallen snow. Wings. Massive, feathery, white wings. The edges of the wings curled around something, almost like a cloak or a shield. He slowly let the beam of light follow the edge of the wings downwards, until he saw a face; pale skin streaked with red, thin cracked lips, dark almond-shaped eyes meeting his.

 

A person. With wings sprouting of his back.

 

It was probably the last thing he expected to see. He suspected the coffee was the reason behind this. He blinked a few times, and then hit himself with the flashlight, once, twice, before shining it back at the alley. The man was still there, sitting with his back against the brick wall.

 

“You…you…” he began, eying the blood on the winged man’s face. “You…are you okay?” He said cautiously while he observed the stranger. His…wings…looked terribly cramped in the small alley. Luhan guessed the alley was no more than three feet wide and if the wings couldn’t fit, they must be much larger. He could see the winged man’s breath coming in broken pants that seemed to cause his whole body to shudder. With every inhale, his face contorted into a pained expression. One of his hands rested on his shoulder. Luhan questioned if his shoulder was injured.

 

When he got no answer, he repeated the question. This time, the winged man spoke. “You need to leave. It’s not safe for you to be so close to me.” His voice was deep and slightly scratchy. “Leave now.” His eyes dart around, scanning the area for something unknown to Luhan. “Leave before he finds you.”

 

“What?” A confused frown found its place on Luhan’s facial features before he shook his head furiously. “No—you’re hurt. Let me treat your wounds,” he insisted. The stranger narrowed his eyes at him.

 

“Leave. Do it for your own sake.”

 

“No,” Luhan said stubbornly. “Let me help you. You look like you need it.”

 

To his surprise, the winged man scoffed. “No, I don’t. Please, just leave now. Do it while you still can.” He weakly forced himself to his feet. His knees buckled underneath him. Luhan rushed towards him to try to support him before he fell, but the winged man stepped back and planted a shaky hand on the wall behind him to steady himself. “You need to leave,” the man warned again. This time, he sounded exhausted and the urgency in his voice had vanished.

 

“You can’t even stand up on your own,” Luhan stated, his voice soft and gentle. “I’m begging you; At least let me treat your injuries. You don’t even have to stay the night.”

 

The man stared at Luhan with his dark eyes. He didn’t say anything for minutes almost, just simply stared, and Luhan let him.

 

“Okay,” he answered finally, so quiet that Luhan almost didn’t hear it. Luhan smiled in relief.

 

“Alright, let’s get you out of there. It looks really cramped, especially for your, uh--“ He gestured towards the feathery cloak around him. “--Wings.,” he finished. He experimentally took a step forward. “Are you able to walk on your own?” he asked. The winged man nodded, and to confirm, also took a step forward. Luhan smiled again. “Good. Uhm, the only problem is getting you into my apartment. Thankfully, our security cameras are down right now, but there still might be people around. Plus, your wings look huge and I don’t know if we can exactly fit you through the doorway.” The man lifted his shoulders just slightly, a small shrug.

 

“I can deal with it.”

 

“Are you sure?” Luhan asked, eyebrows furrowing in concern. The man nodded.  “Okay, uh, stay here? I’m going to go check first.”

 

He was gone quite a while, probably being extra careful and double checking, before returning. “Everything is clear. Luckily, it’s like three in the morning and no one’s awake.” He walked towards the winged man and slowly wrapped his hand around the man’s waist. He stiffened in Luhan’s hold, but soon relaxed and put his full weight on Luhan, despite the height difference between the two.

 

They slowly shuffled towards the entrance door. Fortunately, the doorway was larger than the alley by a foot or two, so they managed to squeeze in. The man kept his wings pulled in tight against his body. Somehow, they even managed to fit into the elevator. On the ride up, Luhan noticed the bewildered expression on the winged man’s face.

 

Once they reach the second floor, Luhan quickly ushered him out of the elevator. “My room is the third door on the right,” he informed the other. “It should be unlocked,” he added. He trailed behind the stranger; eyes trained on how delicately the ends of his wings dragged across the floor and how gracefully he carried himself, even with multiple injuries.

 

The winged man opened Luhan’s door quietly. After they both entered, Luhan shut the door before locking it. He removed his shoes and jacket by the door while saying, “Sit down on my couch and I’ll see what’s wrong.” He stood next to the winged man with each step the other took, prepared to assist if needed. The man sat slowly with his back against the couch and his pure white wings splayed behind it. Luhan crouched in front of him to study the wounds on his body.

 

There were a few cuts and bruises on his face, all of which were not serious. The heels of his hands were scraped. A long, but fairly minor cut was found on his thigh, torn through the fabric of his jeans. His breath caught in his throat when the winged man removed his hand from his shoulder, shirt soaked in blood from a deep gash where his hand had been covering. Luhan thought that one or two of his ribs may be broken as well, judging by each shaky inhale and exhale. He circled around the couch to the man’s massive wings.

 

“May I touch your wings?” he asked in a whisper. The man’s jaw clenched and his shoulders tensed, but he nodded anyways. Careful, delicate hands traced over each and every feather. He checked the wings for any signs of damage, marveling at the fine detail and softness of each one. He found a small patch of red, but upon further inspection, learned that it was not an injury, just a smear of blood. “Do they hurt anywhere?” The winged man shook his head. “Okay, good. Stay here. I’m going to go get a first-aid kit.”

 

Luhan disappeared around the corner for a few seconds, maybe not even a minute, before returning with a yellow box in his hands. He kneeled in front of him again and pulled out a bottle and a cotton ball. “You don’t have to completely take your shirt off, but I just need it off to where I can treat your shoulder wound.”

 

The winged man removed his arms from his shirt and let the fabric hang around his neck. As he brought his hand back down to his side, black numbers on the underside of the man’s wrist caught Luhan’s attention. He pushed the thought aside.

 

“This might sting,” he warned. He soaked the cotton ball with the liquid in the bottle, and true to his words, it did sting. The winged man hissed through his teeth each time Luhan touched the cotton ball to one of his wounds. And each time, Luhan would cringe and whisper frantically, “I’m so sorry!”.

 

“Why are you helping me?” he asked Luhan. Luhan froze. He was startled by the sudden question, but he glanced up at the stranger through his fringe with a small, warm smile.

 

“Why not? You were injured,” he answered simply. He gently rubbed some kind of ointment onto the cuts on the man’s face, then on his hands and thighs. He put band-aids on the cuts that weren’t too big. “I’m going to wrap the cut on your shoulder,” he informed the other, in which the winged man nodded. The stranger watched as he succeeded in carefully avoiding getting feathers stuck in the bandage. Once he was done, he stood up with a sigh.

 

“I think that’s all. A few of your ribs might be broken and you probably have some internal bleeding, but I can’t really do anything about it,” he said, guilty. He couldn’t take the man to a doctor because there were huge wings sprouting out of his back and that would only cause unwanted attention. “I did what I could and I hope I didn’t miss anything?”

 

The winged man shook his head. “It’s okay. You did more than anyone has ever done. Thank you,” he answered genuinely. “I think I should leave now,” he muttered as he slipped his arms through the sleeve holes of his shirt. Luhan widened his eyes and pushed the other man back down on the couch with a hand on his chest.

 

“No! Stay,” he firmly said. “It’s cold and dark. Aren’t you hungry, too?”

 

When the winged man didn’t reply, Luhan took it as a yes.

 

“I know I said you didn’t have to stay the night, but I want you to. It’s not safe at night. Let me cook you some food and you can rest. Tomorrow, I’ll cook you breakfast. You can stay here and rest as long as you want to.” The winged man opened his mouth to argue, but Luhan beat him to it. “Stay, please,” he pleaded. The stranger gnawed on his cracked lips. He slowly nodded, hesitant. Luhan grinned in relief.

 

“Great! Stay here. I’m going to get you a blanket and pillows, then I’ll cook you something to eat.”

 

The man watched Luhan vanish around the corner, feeling the black ink on the inside of his wrist tingle.

 

21291411

 

/ /

 

“So, what’s your name? If I may ask?” Luhan inquired, bringing in a tray of plates and bowls. He set it on the coffee table in front of the winged man.

 

He studied the bowl of steaming soup. “Sehun,” he answered lowly.

 

Luhan grinned at him. “Sehun. Am I saying it right?” Said man nodded. “I’m Luhan and I’m twenty-four years old. How old are you? Sixteen?” he guessed. This got a quiet chuckle out of Sehun.

 

“No. I’m twenty,” he clarified. Luhan’s eyes widened while a soft pink rushed to his cheeks.

 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” he apologized sheepishly.

 

“It’s fine. It’s not the first time that has happened.”

 

Luhan watched as Sehun scarfed down his tea, soup, boiled vegetables, pork, and steamed fish like he had never eaten. He laughed. The only other person who ate as vigorously as he did was Chanyeol. “You eat like you haven’t seen food in days,” he joked. Sehun met his eyes, chewing on some vegetables, and didn’t say a word.

 

/ /

 

“Good morning,” Luhan chirped when Sehun sat up on the mattress that was on the ground. Lying down, his wings had not fit the couch or Luhan’s twin sized bed, so they had opted to a large mattress he owned instead. It was a tight squeeze, but Sehun had thanked him earnestly.

 

“I just finished making breakfast,” Luhan said when Sehun didn’t reply. “I hope you slept well.” Sehun nodded, taking his spot at the table. “Breakfast is just something simple: rice and ramen. I hope you don’t mind?”

 

Sehun shook his head and finally spoke, quiet and sincere, “Thank you.”

 

Luhan smiled at hearing his smooth voice. “You don’t have to keep thanking me. It’s no problem.” He sat in front of the winged man to join him in eating. As he picked up his utensils, he thought of all the questions he had in mind, threatening to spill from his lips from the bubbling curiosity inside of him.

 

Where did you come from? Why do you have wings? How did it happen? Are there more of you guys out there? What are those numbers on your wrist? Why do you seem so reserved and so afraid? Why do you look so tired? Who are you running from? Are you safe?

 

Surely, if he asked all of the questions at once, it would make Sehun uncomfortable. Luhan chewed his rice for a while, the two young men eating in silence, and thought of the simplest question. “Sehun, can I ask you something?” he started cautiously. Sehun visibly tensed, pulling his wings and shoulders back while his jaw clenched. Luhan noticed and quickly added, “But you don’t have to answer if you’re uncomfortable.” Even so, the younger nodded.

 

“Where did you come from?”

 

Sehun was silent for a few seconds before he muttered, “WKK. It’s a company in Beijing.”

 

Luhan frowned. He himself was from Beijing and he had never even heard of the company. He voiced his thoughts a loud. “I’ve never heard of them.”

 

“The government runs them,” Sehun explained.  He stirred his soup around with tired eyes. Luhan studied him with crinkled eyebrows. Sehun was young and looked fiercely independent. Something about him though, maybe his pit less black eyes or the purple-black shadows underneath them or his tensed shoulders, told him that Sehun was afraid, terrified even. He had been hurt too many times and as a result, built hundreds of walls around him and would only continue to do so.

 

“What do they do?” he asked again, hoping Sehun wouldn’t mind. This question seemed to trigger something in Sehun, as his wings twitched and a deep scowl appeared on his exhausted face. Luhan debated if he had really gotten any sleep.

 

“Horrible things,” Sehun answered, monotone. Luhan, ever curious, was conflicted if he should push for more information or stop asking for Sehun’s sake. He bit his lip and chose to not push it any further, instead, changed the subject.

 

“Are you safe?”

 

Sehun stopped chewing his food. “No.” He set down his bowl and peered outside Luhan’s window into the city. “I’m leaving soon.”

 

“Wait, what about your wounds?” Luhan almost demanded. Sehun was still injured and was nowhere near being recovered.

 

“I’m fine.” Sehun met his eyes for a split second before he lowered them again quickly.

 

They continued eating in silence again. Only the sound of their utensils clanking against their bowls filled Luhan’s apartment. Like the previous night, Sehun ate in massive amounts, probably enough to feed a family of four. Luhan was glad he had woken up early to cook or else he would only have a small amount of food.

 

“Sehun, may I ask one more question?” Luhan inquired, his soft voice breaking the silence. Sehun nodded. His dark hair fell over his eyes.

 

“Are there more of…of…people…like…you?” he asked slowly and carefully.

 

“Hybrids,” Sehun clarified while his eyes remained downcast. “We’re called hybrids. There were initially two others. One was captured and killed and as for the last one, I can’t bring myself to care about where he is or what happened.”

 

Luhan’s eyes widened when he heard Sehun’s voice so cold in contrast to his monotone voice. “W-what? Why not? Isn’t he just the same as you? Is that not enough to care for him?”

 

“It’s a long story,” Sehun replied simply. “Thank you very much for the meal.” Luhan could only watch in a stunned silence as Sehun walked to the large window in his living room and pressed his forehead against the glass, eyes fluttering shut while his beautiful wings coiled around his feet.

 

/ /

 

Luhan popped his head into the living room. “Sehun?”

 

Sehun looked away from the television screen and at Luhan instead.

 

Luhan smiled at him. “I’m going to the store for a bit. I’ll be back in maybe an hour, okay?” Sehun nodded.

 

An hour later, he returned to find Sehun in the same position on the couch; slumped over with his elbows on his knees. At first, he thought Sehun was watching TV, but the longer he looked, the more he noticed that Sehun wasn’t paying attention to the drama playing on screen. He was just staring at the screen blankly, the images reflecting on his dark irises. There was even a scene where the main female character screamed in fear. Luhan had flinched, but Sehun didn’t even bat an eyelash.

 

He cleared his throat. “Sehun, I bought something for you.” He walked over to the hybrid before placing a box of strawberry flavored pocky in his hands. Sehun didn’t touch it.

 

“It’s called pocky,” he offered as he sat down beside Sehun and reached for the box again. Sehun tensed, pulling away from Luhan with a scowl. The box fell to the ground. “It’s sweet and it’s really good,” Luhan told him. He reached down to grab the box before prying it open.

 

"I've never eaten this."

 

“I think you’ll like it,” he inferred with a warm smile. He noticed the fall of Sehun’s shoulders as Sehun’s scowl melted away. Luhan opened the small bag inside of the box and pulled out a single stick of pocky. “Here, try some.”

 

Hesitantly, Sehun wrapped his fingers around the pocky. He studied the front and back ends of it before putting it back in the box. "I don't want it." He offered the box back to Luhan.

 

Luhan politely declined with a shake of his head. “This box is for you. I want you to have it. At least try some, okay? If you don't like it, just leave it alone. If you like it, then eat it. I’m going to make us some lunch.” Sehun watched Luhan rise to his feet and stroll into the kitchen, humming an unknown tune.

 

 

Sehun's box of pocky was found, abandoned on the ground beside the mattress. It was empty. Luhan smiled.

 

/ /

 

After lunch, around two in the afternoon, Luhan entered the living room to find Sehun huddled in the corner. His wings curled around his body, just like the first time when Luhan had found him in the alley. In his hands was one of Luhan’s novels. He smiled when he heard Sehun’s voice quietly mumbling the words on the page to himself.

 

“Sehun?” he called. He hated that he had to disturb Sehun. Said male looked up from the book with wide eyes.

 

“I’m sorry I took your book—“

 

Luhan laughed. “Ah, no, no! It’s fine!” he assured. “I have to go to work now and I’ll be back around ten or eleven maybe. Will you be alright?” A flash appeared in Sehun’s eyes before it disappeared when he nodded his head. Luhan sighed in relief. “Food is in the fridge and you can just microwave it when you get hungry. Try to get some more sleep, okay? I’m really sorry I have to leave you alone, but I really can’t miss a day of work.”

 

“Don’t burden yourself just because of me. I’ll be fine,” Sehun replied. Luhan smiled at him.

 

“Good. I have to leave now. I’ll try to buy you some more pocky, okay? Bye!” He waved at the winged man before he stepped out and shut his door.

 

/ /

 

That night, Sehun had even more trouble sleeping than he usually did. He couldn’t turn his mind off and only one thought ran through his mind: he was selfish; incredibly selfish.

 

He was selfish for staying much longer than he needed just because he finally had something that almost belonged to him.

 

His wounds were almost completely healed now, thanks to the rapid healing abilities given to him by WKK. He could have left the very night he arrived, but Luhan had completely captivated him.

 

Luhan; who was just a mere human and still helped a monster like him.

 

Luhan; who didn’t seem to know fear.

 

Never had anyone cared about him in the slightest. WKK threw him around like trash and rarely ever fed him. He was made to withstand hunger and thirst, but he was still human, and he would end up craving for any caloric item. Never had Sehun knew what the term ‘love’ or ‘kindness’ meant, nor did he ever think he would, until Luhan saved him.

 

Luhan fed him and cared for him for two days. Sehun didn’t believe there was beauty in the world, but seeing Luhan nurse his wounds and even buy him pocky, he found himself slowly realizing that Luhan’s kindness was what made him most captivating. Luhan had caused something foreign to blossom inside of Sehun.

 

He needed to leave. The longer he stayed, the more danger he was putting Luhan in.

 

He closed his eyes. All he could think about was chocolate brown eyes and a smile as warm as the gentle hands that had tended to him.

 

/ /

 

Luhan returned hours later and found Sehun nowhere in sight. Instead, he found a piece of paper lying on top of his novel. Slanted, flowing writing filled his vision.

 

Luhan,

 

I’m sorry to leave so abruptly, but it is time for me to go. Thank you for all your hospitality. You have done more for me than you will ever think you have. Take care of yourself.

 

-O. S.