Lifeless and dim the street lights seem. Each post lined up neatly beside the road lighting the ground below to guide the passing cars. The bulbs started to blink uncontrollably, one by one the street lights started to fade slowly. The scenery of trees, flowers, and cozy houses started to disappear blending well with the night. 

The backlights of the cars were faint leaving behind the cold dark. Nightlights within the houses didn't dare shine afraid what the night might reveal. Someone or something might be lurking around behind anything. You can disappear; vanish into the black night hiding your face and even your intents. Do whatever you want during the night because you can be sure as hell no one will be looking.

Everything seemed dark from the outside; empty useless space. It was something no one wanted to venture out. Seeing nothing but blank darkness can be, or is, the most frightening g thing anyone would face. You can’t see in front of you nor can you predict what might happen. All you know is a surprise can come from anywhere. But you have no idea where or when.

Light footsteps echoed inside the emporium with each candle bursting into small little flames. The grand structure was overflowing with scents from the candles of cinnamon, parsley, and even the smell of freshly cut grass. The many scents could momentarily block your smelling senses. The smells were mixed into one impossible to identify particular fragrance.  

A light gentle smile was upon Sehun’s smooth face as he watched from the second story balcony down at the ground floor. His black raven cloak clung to him loosely waving behind him like a shadow. The hood covered most of his eyes making sure to conceal his piercing gaze. He looked upon his bright building seeing his candles’ flames widely dance around at his arrival. They seem to shine brighter causing the emporium to become the light bulb of the neighborhood. It was the only thing shining in the dark little town that it was impossible to not notice the shop.

Ringing from the front door alerted Sehun that someone had entered. With a snap the flames were put out, extinguish as a gust of wind spread throughout the grand building. The man in the black cloak stayed up on his balcony watching in the dark at the intruder. His sharp eyes could clearly see the stranger with no problem.

Louder footsteps slammed against the carpeted floor with the figure’s clothes rustling. “H-hello? Is anyone here,” Luhan called out with his voice shaking from the freight. He was told not to enter so late in night. It wasn’t polite but he didn’t listen. Luhan needed to settle something. He was tired of this, of everything the last few days.

Luhan’s right hand was raised with his fist grasping the metal lantern's handle. It had taken him awhile to get through the blackout street to get where he was now. His knuckles were pale white as his grip tightened. He continued to move slowly throughout the candle store passing by small figurines and odd playthings. His brown eyes spot a few smoke puffs rise from the candles the flames had been blown away.

The flame, a small flame danced inside its glass cage. It waved around touching the glass around it trying to get the attention of someone, anyone who is willing to see. It's orange and red glow pierced through the dark only enough to light a few inches around Luhan. The small fire casted shadows upon the man’s face showing his cheekbones clearly.

From the balcony, Sehun had a smirk. He straightened his back watching Luhan move around careful to watch his step. Sehun couldn’t help but notice that the flame in the lantern wasn’t even real. It was an artificial one which got the man in the cloak to wonder. He was leaning against the railing with his head tilted just watching Luhan below.

“I need to talk to you,” Luhan called out but again he was met with silence.  He had finally got to the back of the emporium where a wooden desk was located. Papers were scattered on the desk with weird symbols and he was hesitant to touch the flat surface but curiosity got the better of him.

Ever so slowly Luhan’s shaking hand was reaching toward the wooden desk being cautious of any traps. He could clearly hear his breathing heighten with fear soaking his simple clothes, which consisted of plain flannel pajamas and a V-neck shirt. It may be cold but sweat was pouring down his forehead traveling down his cheek to his chin. It dripped down to the ground and Luhan could swear he could hear the splash.

“Tsk,” the man in the balcony hissed out in excitement. Things were finally going his way. He’s been waiting for so long for this moment traveling to China, America, Paris, Australia, and now he ended up at South Korea. Who knew he’ll find his target at the very same spot where Sehun had lost him. It doesn’t matter now because Sehun had finally found his lost piece.

A smile tugged at the corners of the man dressed in a dark cloak. His dark eyes just stayed focus on the target below. Sehun was starting to get a bit bored with the slow process of what was happening below. He was becoming quite impatient. He may have a small smile but his brow furrowed to show his irritation.

With a snap of Sehun’s fingers, the light from Luhan’s lantern letting the dark engulf the doe like male. A minor gasp was heard from the other surprised by the sudden darkness and he was soon hyperventilating from the growing fear. His chest rose with every heavy breathe with his arms stretched out trying to touch the wooden desk that was once in front of him.

Luhan stilled having a feeling of emptiness around him.

Everything seemed deathly silent in the dark.

He could feel the fear.

He could feel a presence.

“Luhan,” a cheerful voice echoed out. “I’m so glad you cared to join me in this lonely place of a store. What brings you hear, hmm?”

The baby faced male looked around him still blinded by the blank space around him. Fear was crawling inside his skin not knowing where Sehun’s location was. He could be anywhere prowling around with Luhan exposed and vulnerable. He must be eyeing Luhan from a distance wanting to inspect him carefully.

Luhan gulped before speaking, “I-I just wanted to talk.”

“Talk? Talk about what?”

“The scar on my back.”

Silence soon followed after Luhan had spoke.

The space around him was uncomfortable and unbearable feeling some type of heat grazing at his skin. Sweat soon dripped down his forehead landing on the floor. His sweat became a puddle under his feet. Luhan’s eyes widen as he realized that the space around him was radiating heat.

Lights flashed around Luhan as he tried to adjust his eyes to the sudden brightness around him. He held his hand up spreading his palms apart trying to shield his eyes. Luhan’s eyelids were shut as tight as he could but still the bright light seemed pierce through them. The thing though, Luhan couldn’t do nothing about the warmth around him.

“Open your eyes and I’ll explain everything to you. Keep this in mind, you came here on your own so you asked for the truth. It’s already too late to turn away because I already have you in my grasp.”

Luhan could only obey the other male has he slowly opened his eyes careful not to overwhelm himself with the brightness. With a gulp of his saliva, he squinted his eyes looking over his surroundings. For a minute, everything was a blur of yellow and orange not being able to distinguish one thing for another.

One blink.

Two blinks.

Three binks.

Luhan was able to see around him now seeing wooden tables piled with candles. It wasn’t different from when he entered the emporium except for the fact that the surrounding candles were smashed into unrecognizable shapes. Broken hammers and woodpicks were just pieces of metal scattered across the  floor. He couldn’t step forward as he would step on some colorful glass.

His face was a scowl seeing the mess in the room. For a minute Luhan ignored the radiating heat from the stone walls as he reached ever so slowly on the ground as he spotted a broken clay figurine. Carefully, Luhan stood up with soft eyes analyzing the thing in his soft hands.

A smile was upon his face feeling a surge of recognition. Every touch seemed to spark something in his mind but it wasn’t enough to reveal any secrets. All Luhan knew was that the clay tow seemed familiar. It somehow felt like home. Chills soon took over his skin, his eyes widening in recognition.

With a  jolt, Luhan dropped the thing backing away hurriedly. His ears picked up the sounds of glass crunching underneath his shoe but he could care less at the moment. As he was backing up with his eyes still upon the figurine, he felt a solid object against his back. Luhan was too frightened to turn around as he realized he could feel a slight breathing behind him.

Quickly and swiftly, a rough hand found their way around the doe faced male’s thick neck. Luhan didn’t have enough time to react as he was violently pushed against the heated wall. He felt dizzy as his head made a loud bang against the stone and a thump thump was felt against his brain.

“So you remember that thing, don’t you?” Sehun sneered. A glare was set upon his pale white face as he saw Luhan’s head loll to the side. With a sense anger, Sehun forced Luhan to look at him.

“I-I don’t know...”

“Liar!”

“It just seemed like something-”

“Something from what?”

“...Something from my childhood.”

Sehun took a deep gulp of air, “I’m ashamed you forgot.”

Luhan looked looked down at the other male’s grip on his throat as he tried to remember everything from the past few days. Was he suppose to know something these past few weeks? Was it important? Luhan looked up to look at Sehun’s one expose eye. All he saw there was a fire.

Weeks Luhan saw Sehun, still with the hood over half of his face, around town either buying from the local farm market with a friendly smile, different from the way he was looking at this very moment. It seemed odd to see the new emporium resident walking out because Luhan always had this sense of eyes following his move. Those gazes would be analyzing and every time Luhan would look around to find the source, it would always be Sehun watching with a tilt of his head.

Every bike ride Luhan took to his job at the post office, Sehun would be on the route waving a friendly hello from a distance. At first it didn’t seemed much since Sehun was new to the neighborhood and all he was doing was just being polite. But it seemed weirdly creepy as days passed but it was more uncomfortable not seeing Sehun.

“Why do you have to pretend you’re one of them?” Sehun’s grip tighten and Luhan started to scratch and squirm under the pressure. “You do do realize you’re not human, right?”

What does he mean? Confusion was clearly seen in Luhan’s expression.

Sehun continued to talk ignoring the fact he was almost practically choking the other male, “Watch closely. I can prove it and maybe you’ll remember.”

A burning sensation was felt on Luhan’s skin feeling the pain taking over his body. His hands desperately clawed at Sehun’s hand and his feet tried to kick the other wanting to get away from the pain. It didn’t seemed to be going away anytime soon. As Luhan tried to choke out some words, Sehun had an unemotional face putting more pressure on the spot of Luhan’s skin.

“Please... please, stop,” Luhan begged.

Sehun obeyed.

Luhan collapsed onto the ground as he tried to regain his composure. He palms were against the concrete ground and he can feel the pieces of glass stab into his hands. His eyes were shut tight trying to break down in front of the man but it was harder to be strong every passing second as he was in a kneeling position.

His mind began to thud as memories started to flash into his mind. He couldn’t believe that painful burn mark triggered a forgotten memory.
“Overwhelming isn’t it?”

Luhan could see the flashes of his past appear in his head all coming at him like bricks collapsing from a broken building. His brain started to throb uncontrollably. He tried to stand up from the ground but it was impossible. Too many things were already happening and Sehun was just standing back watching and waiting.

Luhan saw a scene with Sehun slaving over a wooden table molding some wet wax into a shape.

Another scene budged in as the wax was slammed into a life size wax sculpture. The hands and feet were visible but everything was still unmade

Flashes of Sehun building something of the wax was starting to make sense.

A gasp escaped Luhan’s mouth as he realized what was happening.

Sehun was building Luhan.

“Don’t you see. I made you so many years ago not realizing what I was doing. Everyday I craved company and someone to stand by me every passing day. Being me is a difficult thing especially when you’re wanted in more than thirty-five countries for purposely burning people alive.”

A horrified scream echoed out from the doe male feeling another intense pain. He opened his eyes quickly to see that his skin was melting off onto the ground into something grey.

“You’re just a creation and for three years everything went well. You did my bidding without much of a single word always calling me master. You started the flame in the orphanage in the United States, the gas explosion in the Philippines, and the minor house fire in Canada. It didn’t seem much but with every victim burned, I could use their skin to create such fine art. That’s how I made you.”

Luhan couldn’t do anything as his left hand had completely melted away into a puddle.

“Huh, you were so damn clueless but I was happy I created you. You were everything to me. I got my work done easier and you seemed content of what I gave you. But something went wrong. Some my humanity, or what was left of it, came inside of you. You started to think, to have morals, and most of all, you started to care for others.”

The right hand was now gone. His elbow was the next to vanish but the pain wasn’t going to go away. Instead it escalated until Luhan was crying pools of tears. He didn’t want to leave the world the way it was knowing what he was, and what was happening to him.

“A week before your birthday, or your creation day that is, Iet you have some matches wanting you to burn a bird alive to see if you were still faithful to me. You weren’t. Instead you set me on fire causing me to have this cursed thing!”

Sehun grabbed at Luhan’s brown hair letting his eyes look up. Sehun put his hood down to reveal a scar on the right side of his face like a beast. A growl was upon Sehun’s face with his eyes ablaze.

“You ran away and never looked back. You were my biggest accomplishment.”

Luhan whimpered wanting to speak, to apologize but nothing would escape his raspy throat.

“No one would talk to me because of how I look. The children run away screaming calling me a monster, a beast from the caves. I became an outsider and because of that, I wasn’t able to lure my prey closer to me! It’s all your fault Luhan. You caused me to suffer. And for that, you will be thrown away like my other candles. It just takes a flame to banish the once standing wax.”

Luhan’s legs were gone, his waist was next, and now his face would be the final straw.

“Besides if anyone found out you then I would be in trouble. Wouldn’t want that, do we?”

One last and final scene made it into Luhan’s mind and it was a quick picture of Sehun smiling brightly with his face still clear. With that, Luhan was now a puddle of wet grey wax.

“Now I have to clean up.” a smirk played at his lips. “Don’t worry Lulu, you’ll be fixed right away. It’s not like this the first time you ran. This time for sure this will be perfect.”

---

Oh Sehun’s Candle Emporium had moved away after a week but just before he left, Luhan’s house was set on fire burning everything into ashes. The doe like male was gone and never found. Soon, no one cared.

Then four years went by.

Luhan was seen at New York, United States with a smirk on his baby face tossing a flaming torch into the emergency care of the hospital with a figure in all black cloak hiding his face trailing behind him.

The two weren’t caught.

And it was likely they wouldn’t stop.

 

A/N I at one-shots so forgive me... I tried my best to make this easy to follow but I'm still pretty new to this whole EXO fandom, even though I've loved them since the the teasers. If I write more Exo then I could have a better sense with them