So I'm hella rusty. Tell me how it is? All of exo will be in the story cause I'm a biased , with the exception of the odd extras here and there. Tell me how to improve? The end was a bit rushed, but it was past 2am and I was determined to finish. There might be errors here and there, I'll tend to those later I suppose.

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To say I was different was an understatement. I stuck out more than a red rose in a sea of white lilies. I was never like one of them, regardless of how adamant my family, or what was left of them, were about reassuring me I was. My family… Deep down, although they we’re all I knew, I knew I wasn’t one of them either. My eye colour was different, certainly not a color present in any gene pool available to me. My hair wasn’t the same, nor the markings on my skin… Surely they did not think I would grow to be naive enough to just blindly accept that I was one of them, that I was just special.

I lugged back the bucket that weighed nearly as much as me. The water sloshed around in the pail made of tin, it’s rusty handle squeaking at me tiredly. I glanced down at it, the cloudy eyes of the fish daddy had caught looking at me pitifully. I hated our family business. My love for animals made it nearly impossible to bare the idea that we caught, gutted and sold fish for a living. Mama didn’t like it either. Her and I used to pick the herbs needed to cook the fish and let the men at home do the work. Those years were short lived however.

 

I was ten when it happened.

 

It was all so sudden. Mama had gone back to the old mill to grab the basket. It was my job and I forgot to grab it as we left. She told me to stay where I was, that she should would be back soon, but seconds after she left there was screaming and not too long after the smell of burnt wood and smoke filled the air. The mill owner had been late in paying taxes, officials from the north had come to collect what he owed but did not have. They beat him, lit the mill on fire and left. Mama was a kind soul, she ran into help the old man. All I remember is watching her run in as I found a large boulder to perch myself upon near where I stood, and I watched the entire structure implode

 

I knew she was gone.

 

The sun was setting as I approached our home. It wasn’t anything big or fancy. It kept out the wind and rain during the stormy season, kept us warm during the winter. It was...enough. I pushed the wooden door open with my hip, the handle having been pushed down with my elbow. I heaved the worn out pail onto the kitchen table. A small bit of the water jumped out, my cheek being its target. Brother was there, already working to clean the earlier deliveries made by me throughout the day. He dumped the innards into a pot, probably to make stew or a soup of some kind for dinner.

“Dad said this is the last one for today, we caught two dozen more than usual!” I smiled, that was always good. More fish meant more money, but he only glanced at me with his usual frown etched face.

 

The thumping followed by familiar irregularly patterned footsteps were telltales of the man approaching the kitchen. My stomach flipped nervously as I pulled my sweater over my arms. I wasn’t allowed to roam about during the day with myself exposed. The markings on my skin, they weren’t normal and grandpa always punished me for it. No one ever lingered around the path we used to go to the river and back, but even then he forbade it. I’ll admit that they weren’t normal, but no one ever told me what made them strange. No one ever told me why I was the only one with them.

 

Grandpa stopped in the doorway, his face pensive as he scanned the inventory laid out in our kitchen. “We caught more today.” He stated as he made his way to take a seat at the table. His cane thudded softly at the clay flooring of our house.

 

“Maeha, go take a bath and help your brother with dinner.” Grunted grandpa, and I nodded my head, lowering my eyes as I left with quick steps.

 

The water in the bathing basin was already hot, probably boiled over the fire by grandpa not too long ago. I shed my clothing and placed them with the other dirty clothes, in a small bin in the corner of the room. As I lowered myself in the water, I glanced into it and smiled softly. The markings on my arms spread over my body, over my ribcage and wrapping down my legs, stopping just at my ankles. I could never make out what they were of, or if there were any on my back. I never dared to ask. They weren’t supposed to exist.

 

Something I never told anyone about them was that they could glow. I’m not sure why, but they did from time to time. Different colors meant different things from what I could understand so far. They started that day, the first time they lit up was when mama died. It was white, like the first snowfall of the winter, pure, untouched, and clean. I couldn’t tell that they were lit up until I got home and had barricaded myself in my room. I had thrown my coat to the side and froze. It was…

pretty… and soothing. It was beautiful compared to the dirty brown they usually were against my tanned skin.

 

By the time I made way back to the main part of the house, I was met with a sudden impact to the wall. Brother was looking at me, tears welling in his eyes that had become tinted red around the edges. His gaze made me feel small, I was small compared to him, which made me wonder why he had become so aggressive suddenly. My heart rate sped up as I looked at him with wide eyes, just over his shoulder I could just see grandpa with his head in his hand.

 

“W-what happened?” I looked back at my brother, my own tearing stinging my eyes as they threatened to fall as well, “Ch-chanyeol?”

 

“Ever since we took you in, you’ve been nothing but trouble. You must be cursed!” He spat angrily and pressed me harder into the wall.

 

Grandpa got up and walked over, laying his hand on brother’s shoulder and simply shook his head. Chanyeol let go of me, and without knowing my legs had become weak, I fell to the floor. What did I do? What happened? Why wasn’t anyone telling me what was going on?

 

Grandpa looked at me as Chanyeol stalked off, slamming the door aggressively on his way out. “Did you take it off?”

 

I looked at him confused.

 

“Did you take off your coat today?”

 

I hesitantly nodded. I always did. Dad said I could. Daddy always said I worked better without having extra garments on restricting my movements. He didn’t mind it as long as I put it  back on when I got back to the village.

 

“They saw you.”

 

“Who?” I blinked. “I didn’t see anyone.”

 

He shook his head. “Officials came to collect taxes today and they saw you. Dammit! I told you never to take it off, Maeha! Why do you not ever listen!”

 

“B-but da-daddy-”

 

Dad had said it was okay, that I had nothing to worry about… he took it off himself and tied it around my waist. His smile from earlier flashed in my mind, the early morning sun lighting up his skin as he braided my hair like mama used to and kissed my forehead. I sat with him and sang songs, he told me stories… No… he can’t be...they couldn’t..

“Yeah and look where he ended up for not listening. I brought you into this house, so you will stay here under my rules. I only had two! Hide your markings, and do not get too close to anyone!”

 

What did he mean he brought me here?

“You’re twenty, and you can’t even listen to your elders. Pathetic. Go find your brother before he wreaks havoc, we don’t need more trouble to deal with. I cannot go with my foot. They said they’ll release your father tomorrow morning. Bring Chanyeol home and don’t leave tomorrow. You’ll be the one cleaning the fish from now on. Your privileges to leave the house are being taken away after today.”

 

Without protest I grabbed my coat, pulled on my boots and headed out.

 

Confused, startled and scared. They wouldn’t hurt dad would they, not like they did with the man at the old mill? What did Chanyeol mean I must be cursed? I had been brought into the house by grandpa? The thoughts muddled my mind as I searched for big brother. I knew the town better than anyone, I used to wander at night when everyone was a sleep; the only time I was free.

 

I heard the sound of something like faint thudding and the sound of wood splintering. My eyesight was terrible during the day, but at night it was astounding and it proved itself when I caught the gleam of steel in the forest, the moonlight bouncing off of it. It must be Chanyeol, for some reason I was so sure. As I broke through the weak foliage and into the wooded grounds I stopped. Where was the figure I saw? The sound had stopped as well. It was too quiet. An uneasy feeling filled my gut. I turned to leave

 

I was met with the ground and a mouth full of dead leaves. “Stay the away from me you freak.” Growled Chanyeol.

 

I shut my eyes in fear. We weren’t always like this, he didn’t always hate me so much…

 

Chanyeol was always bigger than me and of course older. We used to play together in the water by the lake, or with the other kids in the village. He looked after me all the time, taking care of those who teased me or tending to any scratches or tears of mine. That was all before we lost Mama. Something in him changed. He looked at me with disgust or indifference. I could no longer make him smile or laugh, it was as if he had become a stranger to me. Did he blame me for mama dying?

 

“Brother, please..” I pleaded.

 

He said nothing and pushed my head into the ground harder, much like how he did to me against the wall earlier. I closed my eyes, tears finally escaping me and the next thing to leave my mouth were the words of a song the two of us knew all too well. The song mama used to sing to us as we slept. It had been so long since either of us had heard it. None of us sang it at home, it upset dad too much. I knew Chanyeol could tell what it was as his hand loosened, he helped me up back onto my feet.

 

“Stop, calling me that.” he mumbled, his face seemed like he was deep in thought, painful ones at that. “Let’s go back before someone, or something finds us for dinner.”

 

I nodded and followed him back quietly. When we got back, I knew nothing changed. He went back to ignoring me as he gutted the fish that was left in the kitchen, grandpa joined him. Feeling guilty to show my face, I headed to my room in the far back off the house. As I shut the door something hit me. I saw something shine in the forest earlier when I saw Chanyeol, but… he didn’t come back with anything in his hands.

 

“Who was that then?” I asked out loud and looked out my window. Droplets of water covered its surface, obscuring my view.

It had started raining, my marks glowed a dark purple.