I panted and slid under a tree’s roots. I inhaled the humid, dusty air under the tree and peered out the small openings the roots made, and listened to the eerie silence of the forest. My heart pounded against my rib cage, and my lungs burned as I quietly caught my breath.

I looked back in the dark hole and found nothing, but darkness and the faint blue glow from my dagger. I faced back to the forest and listened for the low growl of the beast that was hunting me for my flesh.

It had been three years—approximately—since my family and I had landed on this foreign planet. My father, mother, and older sister came here on a secret ship made by a local scientist who had been shunned by the government and hid in his basement ever since. But when Earth began to crumble and grow dark from little vegetation and numerous amounts of pollution, my father had pleaded the scientist for an escape route, and we had boarded the ship to this unknown planet. However, ever since we landed on the planet, day by day people died from the sudden pressure change, the change in environment, the humid air of the forest, or illness; although, most died from illness, my family died from forest beasts that roamed the area until they find prey to feed on.

After those days of trying to survive, I soon forgot my family’s faces. Their warm, sweet smiles, their warm hugs, and everything about them faded from my memories as I lived to survive and think only about myself. Although I could not remember any past memories of my family I can faintly hear my mother’s last wish with her last breath, “Live on this planet and find civilization. Search the entire planet until you grow heavy of fatigue, and survive. Live my lovely Hei-ryung.”

Before I could even blink, the soft growl grew louder and the beast’s foul breath blew into the opening of the root and loudly roared shaking the ground underneath me. I silently moved against the dirt and small pebbles rolled down the slope of the dirt and onto the ground. I could hear the heavy panting of the animal outside of the tree and its heavy footsteps thundered.

 I slightly turned my head and saw the thick, rough fur of the animal ruffling with the wind. I exhaled and closed my eyes.

The beast roared and scratched at my face and its claw continuously bobbed in and out of the small gap of the roots. I quickly ran to the other side of the tree and grasped for the long grass and pulled myself up with a small grunt escaping my lips. Blood trickled down my cheeks and I wiped the scratch with the back of my black sleeve and I sprinted, but as I ran I could hear the beast roar and pounce after me.

I turned and tripped over another tree root and turned quickly to see the animal towering over me baring its teeth and slobber at me. I heard a faint whimper and saw a dark shadow push the rabid animal onto its side. I quickly pulled myself up and whipped out my blue dagger and flung it at the animal’s eye making it whimper in pain.

Blood oozed out of the eye and I heard a terrible ripping sound and saw the side of the animal be slashed open with two X marks. I yanked my dagger out of its eye, but as I pulled it out, the beast swung its paw at me making me fly towards a tree.

As my spine contacted the tree, I gasped for air and my hand shook as it reached for my throat. My eyes began to grow heavy and my vision blurred as I glared at the animal as it it lips and struggled to stand back up on its legs. Pain surged throughout my body and burned my rib cage and I coughed feeling a heavy liquid splatter on my face. I knew it was blood and I closed my eyes and laid on the ground feeling the breeze blow in my way.

I heard a loud thud and tried to open my eyes, but only found a dark shadow hovering me and my eyes closed. Everything grew dark and silent as I closed my eyes. Will I die today?

“Eh—it’s a girl!”

“No, it’s a boy obviously!”

“Stop being sarcastic... It hurts my feelings!”

“Okay, quiet down you guys. She’s coming back.”

“You know, she isn’t one of them.”

“Yes, I know. She’s like us and I think she’s—”

“Shh!”

I opened my eyes and tried to widen them, but they drooped from fatigue. A light moist towel began to pat my eyelids and I finally was able to open my eyes fully and look around my surroundings. I craned my neck and counted the number of beings in the room.

There were exactly twelve in the room with me, and they were all male. I opened my mouth to realize that they were chapped and flaky and I my lips, “Don’t your lips. It’ll make them even worse.” A pale-skinned boy commented. He was standing next to me and slid his thumb over my lips making them smooth and I felt my ribs burn in pain and I began to gasp for air again.

I listened to myself choke and cough, struggling to gasp for air, and I felt a warm hand hover over my body and the burning sensation became light and tingly and my breathing began to stabilize. What was this? I struggled to sit up and I swung my legs over the side of the light table—did they use me as some experiment or something—and my eyes scanned each of their faces.

None seemed to be familiar to me, and I looked at the boy who healed my chapped lips and my ribs, “Who are you?” I muttered. I jumped at my voice noticing how hoarse and squeaky it sounded, and a boy smirked at me and walked out of the room. A mid-height male with a cherubic face bowed and brightly smiled, “Hello, my name is Kim Joon-myeon and these are my—uh—friends! We found you in the forest and decided to help you clean up and continue on your journey.”

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at the other boys’ faces and each had a hesitant expression plastered on their faces, “Thank you, but I was trying to get out of that forest. Do you know where I can find more of us? Are you twelve the only ones on this planet?”

Each seemed to shift their gazes and become uncomfortable and some muttered under their breath and Joon-myeon averted his eyes from mine and chuckled, “Well, we only know of us twelve that exist on Exoplanet, but otherwise, there are other civilizations.” I faked a smile at them and hopped off of the “examination table” and turned about, “Can I please wash up? I’m feeling pretty disgusting, especially after being beat up by some foreign creature.”

A tall male with ashy blonde hair pointed at the white wall, “There’s a restroom on your right once you walk out of the door. We’ll get some towels and clothes for you.” I nodded and walked towards the wall. I expected it to slide or somehow move, but I stood in front of it dumbfounded.

“How do you—”

A boy pressed a glass pad beside the door and after a long melody of his nails tapping on the glass and light beeps, the wall slid and I gawked at the sight.

Their home was not some ordinary home I had pictured in my mind. I was greeted by an open space on my left with white marble floor, and a black sectional in the middle of the floor with a low, glass coffee table and a fireplace in front. Off to the side of the living room was a large kitchen with a white granite covered island with delicacies covering its surface and the counters sparkled in the sun’s light. The cabinets were not normal cupboards, and instead were black—unlike the white interior home besides the sectional—and were to be pushed to open.

I saw a long hallway before me and I looked to my left and saw a glass wall exposing the home to the large trees under it. Chairs were scattered on the black rug and I turned back to the boys and they all beamed at me, “Welcome to our home!”

“So, the first door?” I asked the ashy haired male. He nodded and I shuffled to the first door in the hallway and I looked for a glass pad; instead of finding the wall to face me, I found an opaque glass door and it slid upwards blasting a strong wind at me making my hair whip at my face. I walked into the bathroom and saw the same contemporary interior with its white marble floor, white walls, and black hand-towels.

I slid off my shoes and peeled off my socks and walked around the bathroom to find the shower. I stared at the shower in disbelief when I looked at the ground of it. The floor of the shower was covered with dark colored pebbles sunk in the floor, and I the shower and stripped my clothes off.

The hot water burned my skin, and I let out a little shriek and turned the knob towards the middle. I glanced at the bottles lined up in the small shelf on the wall and I grabbed for the nearest shampoo and poured it into my hand. It had been ages since I had last correctly cleansed myself.

After I finished washing myself, I turned off the water and walked out of the shower and wandered around the bathroom searching for a towel and the clothes the boy said they would bring. As I turned back to the door, it opened and a dark-haired male flushed at the sight of my body and held up the towels in front of his eyes, “I’m sorry! Here are your towels and clothes!”

I quickly grabbed the clothing and towel and held them in front of my private areas and snickered, “You’ve never seen a girl before have you?” He shook his head with his eyes closed and turned around in embarrassment. I giggled and the door slid closed, but quickly opened and the boy was still at the door, but was facing me this time with his eyes wide and his face burned.

“Did you want to take one sneak peek before you leave?” I asked and he quickly ran off and I heard him shout something down the hall. The door finally closed and I quickly dried myself with the towel and put on the clothing. I looked at myself in the mirror and scrunched my nose as I saw my appearance.

The outfit they gave me was a large jean-material Oxford shirt and white jeans—that I cuffed at the bottom because they were too long—unlike my other outfit which consisted of an oversized black long-sleeve sweater and denim jeans with holes that were made unintentionally, unlike other outfits.  I twirled in my new outfit and grabbed my bloodied sweater and jeans and my socks and I walked out of the bathroom finding all of the males scattered amongst the home.

Most were in the kitchen eating the delicacies while others were in the living room and I could faintly hear some muffled voices down the hallway in their bedrooms, I suppose. I walked to the kitchen and tapped on a boy who was wolfing down his food, “Where can I throw away my clothes?”

The male’s eyes widened at me and he gulped down his food and he gazed into my eyes. I shifted the weight on my left leg to my right in impatience and the boy next to him nudged him in his ribs with his elbow, “I-I’m Park Chan-yeol, and I can take your clothes to the trash. Here, let me help you.” I jerked back my hand with my clothes before he could reach for them and I stubbornly held my chin in the air, “I want to throw them away myself so I can know where the trash can is. So, may you please show me the trash can?”

He bit his lower lip and walked over to the counter near the window and pointed at a round hole framed with silver metal, “We usually burn our trash so the smell won’t build up in our house. You can just toss your clothes in there.” I nervously threw my clothes threw the hole and felt a wave of heat hit my face as the clothes entered the hole.

Chan-yeol gulped, “I never was able to catch your name. What is it?” I raised an eyebrow at him but sighed and mumbled, “Yang Hei-ryung.” Another male walked over to us and washed his hands in the sink, “Sorry to be eavesdropping on your conversation, but my name is Kyung-soo and it’s nice to meet you Yang Hei-ryung. Don’t mind Chan-yeol because he’s just some tall creep who—”

Chan-yeol laughed and pushed Kyung-soo aside and winked at me, “He said nothing. He’s just jealous that I’m better-looking than him, although he cooks like a female.” Another boy poked Chan-yeol’s side making him bend over and he smiled at me, “Hello, I’m Oh Sehun! It’s nice to meet you, Yang Hei-ryung! You should come and meet Luhan and Min-seok! You will love them!”

Sehun dragged me over to the living room where two boys, I’m guessing Luhan and Min-seok, were sprawled on the black sectional mumbling to each other. I found them quite strange when I first saw them, but as Sehun poked their stomachs, they sprang up and shouted at the boy in annoyance. They weren’t strange at all!

“Sehun! I was trying to take a nap!” The one with sharp eyes said. He glanced at me and did a double-take before tapping on the other boy who had deer-like eyes, “Hello, I’m Kim Min-Seok! It’s nice to meet you...”

I smiled and slightly bowed, “I’m Yang Hei-ryung. It’s nice to meet you Min-seok.” The other boy gaped at me and gave me a warm smile and his ears reddened, “I’m Luhan. I am sure we have met before.” I blinked and furrowed my brows, “We’ve met?” Sehun laughed and pushed Luhan’s forehead with his index finger and steered me to the hallway, “Don’t mind him. He’s just another weirdo like Chan-yeol.”

Two boys were hanging out in one bedroom with their heads bobbing to some exotic music that blared through the speakers in the room. Sehun tapped on a small device near one of the speakers and the two boys perked their heads up and stared at me, “Oh.”

Sehun wrapped his arm around my neck and smiled, “Guys, this is my new best friend, Yang Hei-ryung.” I slapped his hand off my shoulder and the two males snickered at Sehun and me and one smiled at me, “We’re sorry that you’re stuck with Sehun. He’s a menacing little brat isn’t he?” I giggled and he stood up, “I’m Lay, but you can call me Yixing.”

Sehun scoffed and crossed his arms, “Everyone is out to steal my best friend, aren’t they?” Lay laughed and pulled on the other boy’s arm, “This is Baek-hyun, and he’s quite shy, but he’s a little puppy when you get to know him.” Baek-hyun sheepishly looked at me and chuckled scratching the back of his head.

Three more males walked into the room and I noticed one of them was the one that brought me my towels and I pointed at him, “You!” His eyes widened and he quickly turned, but one of his friends pulled him back into the room and turned him around to me, “We’re sorry that Zhitao was being a and didn’t even apologize for what he saw. He’s one of our innocent, but stubborn ones.”

Tao’s face reddened at the sight of me and he bowed and slowly stood up and faced the other way to his friends, “Hyung, let me go now!” The boy faced Zhitao back to me and patted his shoulders, “I think Zhitao has something he wants to say before he takes his leave. Don’t you?” Zhitao rolled his eyes and sighed, “I’m sorry for—”

“I don’t need an apology,” I interrupted and averted my eyes to the one behind him. Zhitao turned to him, “See, Jong-dae, she didn’t need an apology. Now, if you excuse me.” Zhitao stormed out of the room and the other two unknown males glanced at each other.

Jong-dae snickered and smiled at me, “I’m—”

“I know you’re Jong-dae,” I interrupted once again and smirked. Sehun’s eyes glanced over at me as if asking why my attitude suddenly changed, but I ignored his glance and turned to the other one, “But I don’t know who you are...”

The boy bowed and avoided my eyes, “I’m Kai,” he simply mumbled. I raised an eyebrow and found his demeanor dark and mysterious. I feigned a smile again and chuckled, “I’m Yang Hei-ryung. Thanks for notifying Zhitao to apologize, but it wasn’t necessary.” I walked past the two and out the hallway. Chan-yeol smiled and wrapped his around my shoulders, “Hey, Hei-ryung! Are you hungry? We could get you something to eat like...”

“I think I’ve over worn my welcome. Thanks, Chan-yeol, but I’m fine.” I replied, but my stomach argued. Chan-yeol chuckled, “Looks like your stomach says otherwise. Come on, let’s get you some food.” He led me past the kitchen and through a small courtyard and to a large room with a table long enough to fit twenty people.

Chan-yeol pulled out a chair for me, “I’ll be right back with your food! Stay put.” I followed his instruction and sat in my chair as he walked out of the dining room. Although I sat in silence for a few seconds, a person appeared before my eyes.

It was Kai.

He smirked and slouched back in his chair and toyed with the decoration on the table, “You’re a snarky girl aren’t you?” I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t protest. I guess I could be pretty rude since I hadn’t met any other human being for the last few weeks. Kai tapped his fingernails on the table and chuckled, “You’re not supposed to be here. It’s dangerous for you, and for us. If you stay any longer, you could put us all into danger.”

I opened my mouth, but Kai disappeared into black smoke and Chan-yeol set down a plate, “Did Kai pay you a visit? He’s such a sneaky flirt! Ugh—I wish I had—”

Chan-yeol didn’t continue on and he sat beside me, “What’s wrong? You’re kind of pale now that I’ve looked at you.” My hands shook as I reached for my utensils and I nervously gulped, “Nothing is wrong.”

“You’re not supposed to be here. It’s dangerous for you, and for us. If you stay any longer, you could put us all in danger.”  

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 

I haven't been very active for months maybe even a year because I've been busy with my schedule, but I hope to return soon! I have edited this fanfic and I'm sorry if you're not pleased with the new writing but I plan to improve all of my writings--so there will be few changes.