"Creep!"

"Weirdo!"

A sickening crunch rang through his ears when the stone hit his nose. Blood began to pour out of his nostrils almost immediately. The little boy looked up at his attackers, his expression blank. Slowly, he lifted his sand-crusted hand and watched the red fluid drip onto it.

"Eeew, you like blood or something?! Gross!"

"Soonyoung is a vampire!"

Screams of laughter filled the air of the empty playground, almost drowning out the quickly approaching footsteps.

"Park Jongwoon!"

Hoshi kept watching his fingers, ignoring the much lankier boy who came running at full speed and tackled one of the bullies to the ground, punching and kicking every body part he could reach. Jongwoon screamed and shielded his head while his friend tried to pull the lanky boy off the other.

After a few more punches, the newcomer let the whimpering mess be and turned towards the second bully, who was watching him cautiously. "I'll kill you both if you touch Ji again! Get lost, Sungmin!"

Helping Jongwoon up, Sungmin glared at the boy before the duo ran towards the main building as fast as they could. Once the distance was big enough, Jongwoon dared to shout a response: "I'll tell Miss Lee! You'll get in big trouble, Seungcheol!"

Seungcheol only snorted and brushed the sand off his worn-out clothes until he noticed the still bleeding boy on the ground. They examined each other for a long moment, neither of them speaking, before Seungcheol frowned in disgust and turned to return to the main building of the orphanage as well.

By the young age of seven, Hoshi had already learned that fighting against people stronger than him only brought more problems.

"What happened? Why are you awake? For Christ's sake, stop screaming, Sungmin!"

"But Blinky is gone! Someone took him!"

"Who's Blinky? Pets are not allowed, you know that."

"My plushie! Please, I really can't sleep without him! I need him!" The voice dissolved into another barrage of sobs.

"What are you? Five? Stop making a ruckus and go back to bed. If you wake up the rest, you'll get detention."

Hoshi quietly closed the door of the dark kitchen where he had hidden to listen in. The plushie was soft between his fingers and he petted it for a while before he lifted the knife he had found in one of the drawers and cut off its head.

The only person who visited Hoshi from time to time was a women he called Auntie.

She had explained who she really was, using difficult terms, but he didn't care and she had accepted that. She accepted a lot of things other people didn't accept about him. Hoshi didn't mind her presence much since - although she didn't understand him either - she sometimes gave him valuable advice.

It hadn't taken Hoshi long to notice that staying on the good side of the people in charge brought certain benefits - but somehow he couldn't figure out how to reap those benefits himself. Whenever he tried, all he got from the caregivers were looks, the same looks he got from the children. Looks that said: "Stay away from me, creep."

When Hoshi was nine, he asked Auntie why he was different from the other children in the orphanage.

"We still don't know what causes some people to be different but we assume that it might be a trait you got from your parents before you were born, Soonyoung. Or maybe they did something that caused you to turn out this way. Unfortunately, without knowing your past and your parents, it's hard to determine."

Hoshi had stopped listening after the second sentence. "So it's all my parents' fault?"

"Well..." Auntie hesitated. "I wouldn't call it fault. But yes, they probably are one of many causes."

That was enough confirmation for Hoshi and a strange sensation rose in his chest. It was their fault. "I want to find them."

Now Auntie looked slightly wary. "Why do you want to find them, Soonyoung?"

"I'm curious." Everything was their fault. They had to pay.

The woman smiled at his flat tone and shook her head. "I'm sorry but I don't think you'll be able to. You said yourself that you can't remember them, right?"

Hoshi remained quiet for a while, only the clock in the corner breaking the silence, before he abruptly switched topic. "What can I do to be normal?"

"I thought you like the way you are?"

For a split second, the boy hesitated - but when he answered, his voice was as indifferent as usual. "I want others to like me, too." It would make his life easier.

Auntie smiled and scribbled something on the notepad she was always carrying around. "Well, people are scared of everything that's different, so you should practice to fit in. Maybe you could start by smiling more? It's important to show your feelings and everyone likes bright and happy people, right?"

For as long as he could remember, Hoshi had observed others. Although he couldn't comprehend the emotions they displayed, he studied them whenever he was bored - which was a state of mind he found himself in quite often. Those observations had only further proven to him that he was an outsider - not that he particularly cared - but he had never considered using the knowledge he had gained for his own benefit.

That day, Hoshi spent several hours in the bathroom, practising how to smile in front of the mirror.

It took him a few days until he was certain that he could pull off his act convincingly. He had taken his time to observe some more: Which behaviours made others follow along and which didn't? He had figured out that besides smiling, being talkative seemed to help as well.

His first test run included the kitchen staff. It was forbidden for the children to get seconds but if they asked nicely enough, sometimes the lunch ladies would slip them a treat. Hoshi had tried multiple times before but he had always gotten sent away empty handed.

Today was the best chance he would get to test his skills since one of the newer employees was handing out food. When he strolled up to the counter, he forced his mouth into the shape he had practised and mentally went over what he was going to say.

As soon as he held out his plate, his act began.

With his new tactic, Hoshi's success was tremendous. The children took more interest in him, now that he behaved approachable, and he got praise from his caretakers for his change from disinterested and cold to upbeat and happy. Auntie was satisfied as well when he told her about how he hadn't gotten bullied in over three months.

But nobody was as satisfied as Hoshi himself. People were much more inclined to share their belongings with him now. They became forgiving and even began to follow his orders if he softened them with a smile.

Sometimes he slipped up but those times became more and more rare and, due to his calculating nature, he was able to gloss them over without a hitch.

"Piss off, old hag!"

"Lee Jihoon! How dare you speak to me like that! Detention! For you and Seungcheol!"

Hoshi stared after the two boys and the fuming caretaker escorting them, wondering why they were dumb enough to go against an opponent they couldn't defeat. He shook his head at their stupidity before he turned back to the girl he had been talking to. She still seemed reluctant to steal her friend's wallet but Hoshi's carefree smile made her visibly relax.

Hoshi liked to see people cry. Sadness was one of the few emotions he wasn't very good at imitating since he couldn't quite grasp the concept. He was never sad. He was angry or frustrated and sometimes annoyed and it all turned into vengefulness as time went by, but sadness was something he only understood in theory. It fascinated him.

Of course he could cry too, he had tried it multiple times in front of a mirror, but it always seemed to be lacking something. It bothered him that he couldn't make it look more convincing. It would open up so many new possibilities.

"Kwon Soonyoung, we found some of the things that have gone missing in your wardrobe. Care to explain yourself?"

Hoshi looked wide eyed at the manager of the orphanage, fear painting his features and eyes b with tears. "But Sir, it wasn't me! Please believe me!" His voice was shaking in distress.

The old man's eyes softened at his anxious expression. "Soonyoung, they were in your closet. It's hard to deny that this makes you the prime suspect."

The boy looked down, his shoulders trembling slightly. "I don't know how that got there..." he whispered, his voice breaking, "I don't know why but I was getting bullied pretty badly for a while... they might try to finally get me kicked out?" He wiped a tear from his cheek and accepted the tissue the old man offered him. "If I had to hide something, I wouldn't put it in my own closet, right?"

"You've got a point there," the manager said thoughtfully, his fingers twirling his moustache. "I've received only positive reports about you and you're an outstanding student. I don't want to destroy all your efforts with this, so I'll let you off the hook. But if something like this happens again, tell me about it first; that includes bullying, okay?"

"Yes, Sir! Thank you, Sir!"

Hoshi left the room, a satisfied grin on his face once his back was turned to the director.

"So, that girl you're seeing - is she nice?"

"Yes."

Auntie wrote on her notepad before she focused back on Hoshi. "I'm curious; tell me a little about her. How did you start dating?"

"She went up to me at school and asked if I want to go eat ice cream together." She had offered to pay, of course he wouldn't say no.

"How did you feel then?"

"Happy." He liked getting stuff for free. He didn't give a damn about the girl.

Auntie nodded, a dreamy smile on her face. Hoshi examined her expression and wondered if he would be able to emulate it. "Ah, I remember when I first met you, you were such a quiet and cold kid and now look at you: You got yourself your first girlfriend. You've come a long way, Soonyoung. I'm really proud of you."

He grinned brightly in response. "All thanks to you. You've helped me a lot."

Recently Hoshi had found a new hobby: When everyone was asleep, he sneaked into the offices where most of the orphanage's records were stored and went through the files.

At first he had only done it to find more information about his parents but as soon as he had finished reading his own rather thin folder, temptation was too big to let the other files remain untouched.

Most of the contents were not the least bit interesting but some folders held knowledge that caused anticipation to rush through his veins. Soon some people would pay for how they had treated him in the past.

Relationships were not for Hoshi. They required too much attention and the benefits were too small to justify the effort.

The girl complained a lot. She complained about not seeing him often enough, about his lack of interest in spending time together, about his lack of i