“-a violent attack in which the whole Jung family was brutally murdered, just a few months after the youngest child Soojung went missing.” The newsreader paused, looking down at her papers.

 

“In other news, the search for the three missing Wu brothers continues. Many believe that a year having passed since the first abduction of Luhan Wu, there is not much hope left for the three young boys. Police, however, say there is no need to lose hope. Although there are no new leads on the eldest and second eldest children Luhan and Jongdae, police have stated they are looking into possible suspects that have come to light recently regarding the youngest Wu, Sehun’s, abduction. In a press conference today it was revealed Sehun’s case, like many of the other teenage abductions occurring recently, could have ties to the violent attacks in the north led by sadistic rebel groups who have taken control of the northern regions. All eyes are now looking to Kris Wu, the last remaining son who-”

 

“Baekhyun!”

 

Baekhyun’s eyes jerked away from the TV, and he scrambled for the remote to press the power button. He managed to turn it off just before his mum walked into the room, a timid smile on her face.

 

“You ready to go?” she asked, glancing at his packed suitcase by his feet. He nodded in response. “Great! Then… shall we go?” She gave that small smile again and Baekhyun wanted to scream as she followed him down the stairs.

 

She had been this way – nervous and unsure – ever since it happened. He knew she wasn’t doing it on purpose but the very idea that his own mother could actually be scared of him made a thick sense of dread settle in his stomach.

 

He dragged his suitcase out to the car and was sliding it into the boot when a large hand settled over his shoulder. He turned around with what he hoped was a positive smile to look at his father.

 

“Now, son.” The man said gruffly, never one for emotions, “Your mother and I we… we know you’re a good kid.” Baekhyun resisted the urge to wince and stared at his dad’s shoes. “And what happened – what you did – it’s not you. So I hope you’ll take this trip as a time to reflect on the good person you really are, okay?”

 

Baekhyun could do nothing but silently nod and wait until his father’s shoes were out of sight. He could hear his parents muttering to each other, but he didn’t want to try and hear what they were saying. Instead he walked around to the passenger side of the car and waited.

 

<><><><><> 

 

There weren’t many kids on the coach, only fifteen including himself. The rest of his year were on the actual school trip, a week at the snow learning to ski; or showing off their skiing – it was a sports school, after all. The kids on the bus were the ones not allowed to go due to misbehaviour. Mrs Park was supervising them, along with a nervous looking student teacher called Mr Kim (“Please, just call me Joonmyeon!”) who had been pushed into the job of marking the roll.

 

Baekhyun recognised a few of the names called – Kris Wu being one of them – but the only person he was actually friends with was Minseok.

 

“I still can’t believe you have to come on this stupid trip. You’ve done nothing wrong!” Baekhyun grumbled.

 

Minseok laughed at his pouting friend, his hands busy fiddling with the pocket on the seat in front of him. “It was a very expensive trip, and my scholarship only covers so much.”

 

“That’s bull. You’re the best skater in the whole country! They should be paying you to go on the trip.”

 

Minseok giggled into the back of his hand, sending a small thrill through Baekhyun’s stomach. Stop it, he told himself. “Don’t overreact, Baekhyun. I’m on an ice-skating scholarship, not a football scholarship. I don’t exactly get the best funding as it is.”

 

Baekhyun was about to reply but he was cut off by Mr. Kim/call-me-Joonmyeon’s timid voice calling out more names on the roll. The coach was small, so as they set off it wasn’t hard for Baekhyun to tune into people conversations around him.

 

He recognised one of the boys sitting in front of them as Kyungsoo, but the other guy he was unfamiliar with.

 

“Zitao, stop complaining.” He heard Kyungsoo sigh out.

 

The Zitao kid shook his head petulantly. “This is so not fair! I wasn’t even skipping class. I was just running late!”

 

Kyungsoo snorted loudly. “Tao, I don’t think you’ve once been on time all throughout high school. A week ago you were literally an hour late.”

 

“I just never have enough time to get ready, okay? Whose idea was it to start school at nine in the morning?”

 

“Whatever Tao, just accept that you’re an idiot.”

 

“Oh I’m the idiot?” Zitao scoffed incredulously. “I’m not the one who punched the damn dragon!”

 

“Don’t call him that ridiculous nickname. He’s a brat, not a dragon.” There was a slight pause. “Also, I don’t regret it. That son of a purposefully walked all over my new saplings.”

 

Zitao sighed like they’d been over this already quite a few times. “I really think it was an accident-”

 

“I had just planted them! Besides, he was the one who punched back.”

 

“I know. You two had a damn brawl in the middle of the conservation garden.”

 

There was a very long silence, before Kyungsoo sniffed disdainfully and muttered, “I stand by my actions.”

 

Baekhyun glanced down the bus at ‘the dragon’ in question. He had his head pressed against the window clearly trying to block out the rest of the world, including Park Chanyeol who was attempting to breach a conversation with the boy but was being brutally ignored.

 

Baekhyun felt pretty sorry for Chanyeol. About a year ago, Kris and Chanyeol were basically inseparable, the best of friends. But ever since Luhan had been abducted, then Jongdae and then Sehun, it was rare to see them together at all. Kris became a completely different person. Not that Baekhyun really blamed him, with three of his brothers missing. He used to be the prince of the school, with a sweet and caring personality and a cute gummy smile that went hand in hand with Chanyeol’s own blinding grin.

 

But now… well, now he was the dragon.

 

Baekhyun turned to glance at two of the students on the bus who were sitting across from them. He didn’t know them but heard them answer to the names ‘Kim Jongin’ and ‘Zhang Yixing’ on the roll.

 

“How can you even be so excited about this?” One of them grumbled to the other.

 

“I, my dear Jongin, am a man of opportunity.” The one who Kyungsoo assumed to Yixing said. “Why shouldn’t I enjoy this trip?”

 

“I still can’t believe what you did you absolute .” Jongin look like a mix between unimpressed and vaguely awed.

 

“Excuse, me but I believe all I did wrong was break into the school staffroom to get a first aid kit to save a boy from a severe allergic reaction.”

 

“No, I’m pretty sure what you did wrong was stealing a copy of the answers to the mid terms when you returned the first aid kit.”

 

“Nobody seems to remember the part where I saved a young boy from meeting an early grave.”

 

“At least you actually did something wrong to get you landed here. All I did was skip a few classes!” Jongin whined, and he crossed his arms with a huff.

 

“A few?” Yixing laughed loudly. “Try half, Jongin.”

 

“So? That isn’t exactly a crime. I should be skiing right now! It’s not like I beat up a teacher like that Baekhyun-” Jongin cut himself off quickly with wide eyes as he looked up and made eye contact with Baekhyun.

 

Baekhyun glanced away quickly to stare out the window. He could vaguely hear Yixing berating Jongin but he tuned it out and focused on the surroundings whipping past.

 

He almost jumped a foot in the air as he felt a warm hand rest on his thigh. He looked up to see Minseok staring at him worriedly. “Are you okay?”

 

It was moments like these when Baekhyun just wanted to kiss Minseok. Well, really that was more like every moment but the feeling was particularly amplified at times like these.

 

Minseok was the only one who didn’t treat Baekhyun any differently. Usually when you find out someone beat up a teacher so bad they broke a leg and two ribs you become a little wary. Hell, even Baekhyun’s parents didn’t look at him the same, even though they tried to hide it.

 

Minseok didn’t push anything, either. Most people were still pushing Baekhyun for an answer as to why the hell he did it, but Minseok simply asked once, and when Baekhyun hadn’t replied he smiled that perfect smile and changed the subject.

 

Baekhyun was more than a little bit head over heels for Minseok.

 

He nodded in reply to Minseok’s question, and tried not to look too happy when Minseok didn’t take his hand away from his thigh.

 

Baekhyun glanced up when Minseok was curiously quiet, and found the boy staring at his hand with a troubled expression clouding his eyes.

 

“Minseok?” he called out quietly. His piercing eyes darted up to meet his.

 

“Baekhyun…” he started, the grip on high thigh tightening slightly. “Do you-”

 

He never got to finish his sentence.

 

Whatever he was going to say was cut off as a blinding light filled Baekhyun’s eyes and a searing pain ripped through his body. He heard screams tear through the air – whether his own was one of them he couldn’t tell – before all sound was blocked out by a deafening crack.

 

Baekhyun wasn’t sure if he out or not but when he finally wrenched his eyes open he could still only feel blistering pain under his skin, like his blood was pumping poison through his body and burning through his heart. His vision blurred in and out of focus but he could eventually take in his surroundings, even though it felt like his brain was processing things in slow motion.

 

The coach was on its side, ripped completely open and smouldering, a cracked and blackened husk.

 

It looked like it had been hit by… by lightning.

 

Baekhyun himself had been thrown across to the other side of the road, and as he – with much difficulty – looked around he saw that the rest of the students and Joonmyeon were similarly sprawled across the road. He could hardly hear a thing as his ears were ringing so loudly it felt like needles in his ears. He squinted back at the bus but quickly looked away at once he saw the bloody mess in the driver’s seat. He didn’t want to think about what had happened to the driver.

 

Everyone else seemed to be in an equal amount of pain, except as Baekhyun really tried to focus on their writhing bodies he gasped in shock.

 

Their bodies… they seemed to be glowing, like there was a coloured aura around them. Baekhyun looked to his left at the person closest to him – Jongin – and gaped as he saw the area around his right eye pulsing a bright purple, the skin there bubbling and mutating as Jongin screamed in pain. Baekhyun felt his own face crawling and stabbing and he panicked that the same thing was happening to him.

 

He spotted a large shard of glass about half a metre away and fought through the dizzying pain to haul himself over by his arms, feeling small bits of broken glass slice into his skin. When he reached the glass he pulled his torso up, and almost screamed at his reflection.

 

There were three large slashes across his face, like something with claws had sliced diagonally across his whole face. But the scary part was, they were glowing like Jongin’s, except his were a fizzing and crackling pink.

 

Baekhyun was about to sob, and reached a bloody and shaking hand up to feel his face. But his hand stopped abruptly, because as he watched, the slashes stopped bubbling. The pain coursing through his blood seemed to subside slightly as well. He stared at his face as the pink gashes grew thinner and thinner, until with one last ripple they closed completely.

 

He gaped at his reflection, and felt at his face, uncaring about the blood he was smearing across it. The skin was smooth like usual, and it was then that he noticed the pain was all but gone. All that was left was a dull throbbing ache through all of his limbs.

 

Now that the ringing in his head had dulled out, his ears could faintly pick up on the sound of a rhythmic thumping. He looked up to find the source of it, and could see a line of people in uniforms coming over a hill in the road, and he realised the thumping was marching. There must have been about a hundred soldiers, all in grey.

 

At the head of them was a tall figure, his uniform a glaring white. Baekhyun kept his eyes trained on them, not sure what to do and watched as they approached the body closest to them. One of the soldiers pulled the body up, and they seemed to be wearing a headpiece that performed a scan before they dropped the body, announcing “Dead.”

 

If Baekhyun couldn’t move already he would have stilled in fear as the limp body of his classmate lay on the ground. The commander nodded and they moved to the next person. Baekhyun recognised them as Kyungsoo. Like everyone else, his clothes were in tatters and Baekhyun stared wide-eyed at his feet that were a bright green, the colour wrapping up his calves like vines. As one of the soldiers hoisted him in the air he could see the areas of his temples had the same markings. The soldier holding him called out, “He’s marked.” The commander waved his hands and thick handcuffs were placed around his wrists.

 

Kyungsoo appeared to be conscious but he wasn’t moving much. Baekhyun guessed that everyone was in the same boat as him then, as he couldn’t find the energy to stand or even crawl.

 

Baekhyun held his breath as they marched towards the next person sprawled across the road. They didn’t have any markings that Baekhyun could see, but they were definitely alive.

 

“Alive.” One of the soldiers informed their commander once they had lifted them up.

 

“Any markings?”

 

The same scan from before was performed.

 

“No, sir.”

 

The commander sighed, looking irritated. “Kill him.”

 

Baekhyun’s throat closed around a scream as the soldier pulled out a gun and fired a bullet straight through the kid’s head. They dropped his lifeless body to the ground and moved onto the next person.

 

Baekhyun’s heart was pounding as he remembered the way his own face had healed over. It was clear as they killed another student that those markings were what they were looking for. What was going to happen to him?

 

They cuffed more kids who had survived and were marked – including Joonmyeon, whose whole body was electric blue excluding his face.

 

They also took Chanyeol - the skin on his right arm and hand a bright flaming red, Zitao – who had a black stripe from the top of his forehead right down his nose, Yixing – who had three matching yellow stripes on both cheeks, Jongin – the skin around his right eye bright purple, and Kris – his back covered in swirling orangey-red that swept all the way up to his neck.

 

Baekhyun watched in horror as they neared Minseok, a few metres in front of him. His back was to Baekhyun, but from what he could see there were no markings. However, he was pulled up and examined, and met with approval by the commander. Baekhyun strained to see his face from the ground, but his view was soon blocked by the soldiers.

 

All thoughts of Minseok soon left his brain as the eyes of the commander landed on him. The soldiers marched towards him and before he knew it he was been pulled to his feet.

 

“Alive.”

 

The commander paused slightly, which Baekhyun briefly thought was strange given the curt orders he had been giving so far. The thought was flung far from his mind in place of sheer panic as the man asked, “Any markings?”

 

There was a silence while the soldier scanned him. “No, sir.”

 

“Well then.” The commander stared at Baekhyun, a small frown making its way onto his features. When he finally did speak the words seemed forced. “Ki… kill him.”

 

Baekhyun’s eyes widened, and he felt tears pool in the corners of his eyes as his heart hammered in his chest. “N-no please! Please I-”

 

He snapped his mouth shut as a gun was pressed to his head. He stared once more at the commander, before squeezing his eyes shut.

 

It was only after a full ten seconds that he dared to open his eyes again. The gun still hadn’t moved, but the soldier supposed to kill him was almost shaking and the commander was frowning, staring openly at Baekhyun.

 

“What is your name.” he demanded, crossing his arms.

 

“B-Byun Baekhyun.”

 

There was a long pause, and Baekhyun looked back and forth between the gun and the commander, not sure what was happening.

 

“Take him onto the ship.” The commander ordered shortly. Baekhyun’s head spun in a mixture of relief and confusion.

 

The soldier spluttered slightly, not taking the gun away from his head. “But sir, he is a defect. There are no markings. If we-”

 

“Well if you can actually shoot him then you are more than welcome. If not, we have to get back to the north as quickly as possible before they find us.”

 

The soldier pressed the gun harder into his head for a few seconds, seeming resolute, before he sighed and slumped back, placing his gun into its holster. He grabbed Baekhyun instead, looking as confused as Baekhyun felt.

 

“Back to the ship! Lets move quickly, we can’t afford another run in!” the commander called out.

 

They began marching back down the road, Baekhyun and the rest of the surviving students stumbling and tripping. Baekhyun was too far away from the rest of the group to see Minseok, but he was more than relieved he was alive.

 

As they came over the hill that the soldiers had approached from, Baekhyun gaped. In the middle of the road there was a huge metal air-ship. He had seen a few on the TV that the government used, but it was nothing like seeing them in real life, even if this did seem to be one of the smaller models. It looked exactly like the government ships, only painted grey and black instead of the usual blue. Probably stolen, then.

 

As they got nearer, a ramp extended from the mouth of ship and they boarded, being pushed along by the soldiers. Inside the ship was alive with activity, men and women in grey uniforms hurrying around. The second the ramp closed behind them the craft began to take off, and some of the men and women in uniform hurried forward to place a metal cuff on the ankle of each new arrival.

 

Except for Baekhyun, that is. While the rest were being cuffed, the commander turned to him, and grabbed onto his forearm. He marched past everyone down the hall, after huffing out a quick order of “Take them to their rooms after you’re finished.”

 

Baekhyun was pulled around a few corners until they reached a hallway with only one door. The man swiped a card through a lock and stepped into the room with Baekhyun, the door sliding just after him.

 

He dropped his hand from Baekhyun’s shoulder, letting it slide down to his hand.

 

Baekhyun swallowed nervously before looking up at the other man. He decided to try and speak. “What’s going on?” His voice tremored badly.

 

The man seemed to frown at himself for a moment before his eyes clouded, and he smiled fondly at Baekhyun. The action made Baekhyun’s head spin. What was going on? “Everything’s going perfectly, you don’t have to worry.” Baekhyun felt bile rise in his throat as the man reached up two hands to cup his face gently. “Your friends all successfully got through the changing, and you’re…” Baekhyun watched the man’s throat bob as he swallowed. “You’re perfect, Baekhyun. Everything’s perfect.”

 

Even through the confusion, Baekhyun’s mind flashed with all the dead bodies on the road, the searing pain, the glowing skin. Perfect, huh?

 

His head was swimming with questions. Who were these people? What happened to Minseok and everybody? Why was he in this room with this man and not dead? And why was the man acting so… caring?

 

“Why didn’t you kill me?” The question was out of Baekhyun’s mouth before he could stop it and he watched in horror as the man frowned again, his eyes seeming to clear. He stared at Baekhyun for a few seconds, his head tilting in confusion.

 

“Why…?” he shook his head, muttering to himself. “Why didn’t I? I was going to but… but you were just so… beautiful. Perfect. Byun Baekhyun.”

 

Baekhyun was terrified, the man was obviously insane. But he also looked like he was regretting ever taking Baekhyun onto the ship. Like he might be about to take everything back and kill Baekhyun.

 

It’s perfect he wants? Baekhyun’s panicked brain tried to search for a remedy. Just try to be perfect.

 

Baekhyun reached out a hand tentatively, resting it lightly against his cheek. He knew it was probably too bold but he couldn’t have the man deciding Baekhyun was better off dead. “What’s your name?” Baekhyun asked, his voice shaking slightly. As he spoke the words he felt a surge of… something. It was like a wave pushing out from his chest.

 

The man’s eyes seemed to glaze over again, his gaze returning again to the almost… loving stare it was before. “Just call me Jaejoong.”

 

Baekhyun nodded. “Jaejoong.”

 

He seemed very pleased to hear Baekhyun say his name, even though it felt like venom on Baekhyun’s tongue.

 

Baekhyun glanced over Jaejoong’s shoulder, and gasped, a hand whipping up to his face. He was staring into a mirror, and those three pink slashes from before were there again, rippling across his face.

 

“What is it?” Jaejoong looked behind him at the mirror then back at Baekhyun in confusion. “What’s wrong, Baekhyun?”

 

“Do you – do you not see it? The things on my face?” Baekhyun whispered, three fingers tracing along the pink skin.

 

“There’s nothing on your face.” Jaejoong smiled, pulling Baekhyun’s hand down. “Your face is absolutely perfect.”

 

Baekhyun tried to smile at Jaejoong, but not before he glanced in the mirror again.

 

The three lines were gone, but he could still feel them, sizzling and pulsing under his skin.

 

<><><><><>

 

Hope you like it. Thank you so much for reading!!!! xxx