It was a single Papilio Ulysses, but instead of being electric blue in color, it was a bright shade of purple. It flew near the open window of the hospital and landed lightly onto the window sill.

Noticing my shift in mood, Seungkwan shifted to see what caught my attention. “Oh,” he said when his eyes landed on the butterfly as if already dismissing the threat it posed. “That’s a really pretty butterfly.”

“Yeah,” I scoffed, praying that my voice didn’t betray just how scared I was of the tiny insect. “I’m especially drawn to its incredible ability to eat human flesh.”

Seungkwan gave me a look that clearly told me how crazy he thought I was for even suggesting it.

“Riiiiight,” he drew the word out. “I’m sure such a fragile creature is capable of that.”

I started to lift my hand to show him the damage only four of them had caused me personally, only to remember how his bond had gotten rid of all the evidence. I settled for just grabbing his shoulder instead.

“I’m serious,” I told him, trying to get him to understand. But his eyes… He was looking at me, but not really at me, and I wondered briefly if this was what I looked like when I first touched the butterflies.

Seungkwan nodded absent-mindedly and shifted his focus onto the small purple creature that rested gently on the window sill. It seemed like he was in a trance—he reached a hand out towards the butterfly and that's when I realized the forcefield was gone.

"Seungkwan!" I cried desperately and tried grabbing onto his arm.

Just then, two things happened: one, he simultaneously shook me off and reached the butterfly, just as I managed to tackle him to the ground.

I was almost too late. Seungkwan had six, tiny, new burns on the index finger of his left hand and an intense scream of pain lodged in his throat, while the evil butterfly was already gliding away peacefully as if nothing happened. I quickly clamped my hand down onto his mouth to smother the cry that was sure to have any nurse or doctor in the area rushing in.

"What the bloody ing hell just ing happened?" Seungkwan cried when he was fina