C h a p t e r    o n e   “H e a t h e r    G r a y”

The sky was monochrome and cloudy, breathing out gusts of winds that whipped gravel and leaves into a flurry above the drab landscape. It was cold, temperatures hovering 10 degrees above freezing. And it was nearly dark, with days being swallowed by time, growing shorter and shorter with each passing period.

A lone figure draped in a dark hoodie limped across the cracked concrete, arm crossed over face to protect it from further harm. Upon closer inspection, the boy’s pants were slightly bloodied, and scrapes covered his palms. But beneath his covers, scars upon bruises upon scrapes glimmered with unknown secrets.

His name was Baekhyun, and he was all alone in this world.

Nearby in the shadows, a few pairs of menacing eyes followed his every move, daring the boy to come closer and closer until he would meet his end.

But suddenly, as if controlled by a puppeteer, said boy snapped his head around and stared straight into those menacing eyes as if he had suddenly been alerted of their presence.

Knowing their cover was lost, the men hiding in the darkness lashed out from the blackness with a shattering yell, converging towards the single figure.

Baekhyun stood his ground, ready to fight until he caught sight of the wicked gleam of darkened metal under the belt of the first man.

Frightened, he looked back at the gang before turning around and fleeing for his life.

Blessed by the spirit of Mercury himself, he fled like quicksilver, unseen in the darkness save gleams of color. Panting, Baekhyun attempted to run away from his pursuers, hoping—no, praying for some unknown deity to save him from this predicament.

But no outside force came, and he was forced to continue running. He was losing energy, yet the loud thudding footsteps and blood pounding in his ears was a constant reminder of his attackers right on his tail. He turned into another alleyway surrounded by corroded brick walls, hoping to outsmart the men, but it was all in vain.

The men came thundering down the alley, and Baekhyun was trapped in a dead end with no other way to go.

Choking on air and sobs, he submitted to his fate, having run out of any other option. After all, he had neither parents nor friends in this lonely place, and no phone on him either. He had simply been trying to reach his rundown apartment through a shortcut when he had stumbled upon the gang.

He backed up to the wall and stood there, letting his wispy breath color the biting air white.

It was only then that he noticed the graffiti on the walls. Splashes of neon blue and orange flowed across the wall, forming a dizzying pattern of sapphire and topaz while effortlessly fluid swirls cascaded across the edges to form a definite edge to the masterpiece. But what captured his rapt attention was the pair of angel wings in the right corner, singing of newfound hope and joy.  How odd to find beauty in the quintessence of dirt and malice.

That was the last thing he saw before a punch hooked the side of his jaw and shoved him into the harsh unrelenting hardness of the wall. Stardust blessed his vision for a second as his vision swam with golden sparkles and black dust before abruptly disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Adrenaline momentary lent him iron courage and Baekhyun lashed out with a punch of his own, striking the attacker’s temple and knocking him out.

He barely had time to show triumph over his defeat before a side kick struck his rib cage, stealing his breath. He spun around to duck a round house kick before pulling on the man’s leg to unbalance him and utilizing a pressure point to knock him out.

Baekhyun grinned maniacally as he felt the raging fire flow within his pulsing veins. But after a couple more fighters down, he realized there were simply too many of them. They had underestimated his abilities before, but now they were ready to release all their raw violence and frustration.

Baekhyun was scared again and he had no idea what to do. And thus, another man came and lashed out at him with sharp nails and a dagger in hand.  This was the first time the attacker had actually pulled a weapon out, and it scared the out of Baekhyun. The man grinned and flipped sandy hair out of hooded eyes before heading towards Baekhyun.

Baekhyun didn’t remember much of anything after that.

All he remembered were flashes of color. Blood red fused with jet black to form a horrid shade of maroon. Neon orange and clear blue blended to somehow form white. Ash gray and dirt brown morphed into pepper and salt. And then the entire world folded and collapsed into a single pinprick of light.

 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Luhan quietly stole across the intersection, making sure not to draw any attention to himself. No one would look at him twice, after all, he looked like a typical teenager with his navy cap and overlarge sweats. He held a nondescript plastic bag in one hand and a backpack in the other.

With dancer-like gracefulness he strode past the crowds of the gleaming neon city. Seoul’s night lights had never failed to outshine the stars- not that he had ever seen the stars. He had lived in this plastic and metal world for all his life and had grown used to the smog and brightness of it all.

 Suddenly, a flashing neon sign caught his attention. 7:29.

. He was going to miss his ride.

He practically flew down the stairs in order to reach the subway. Frantically swiping his card, he sprinted towards the landing.

 He got there just as the doors were closing. He leapt pass the others before grabbing onto the hand rail and arching his back in order to make it on. He swore he could feel the wind catching the tips of hair before the doors closed with a resounding clash.

A couple teenage girls had their eyes wide open in amazement. Luhan just smirked at them before walking on to find another spot.

In the background he could hear them squealing, “That oppa should become an idol! He was so handsome!”

Luhan just shook his head at their naivety before closing his tired eyes. .

After nearly falling asleep twice, getting hit on another 3 times, and nearly getting slapped in the face once, he finally reached his destination. By then, there was barely anyone else on the car. After all, no one wanted to head towards the shady section of Seoul.

As soon as he got away from the subway station and its accompanying bright lights, his false façade slipped off. He tucked his cap lower, lowered his shoulders, and attempted to walk in the shadows. He didn’t want any trouble, especially not tonight.

After a few more blocks, he reached a particular alleyway.  Looking both ways, he quietly crept into the passage. He sighed in relief when there wasn’t any noise or indication of any disturbance.

Nearby, a shadow slipped up from behind him and trailed him for a couple of moments before jumping out at him.

“Boo!”

Luhan jumped in shock before turning around and realizing who it was.

“What the Kai. Do not do that to me. You scared the out of me!” He said as he punched Kai in the shoulder. “What are you even doing here?”

“Well, I thought our little gang leader should know about what happened today. We found some suspicious looking guy walking around in the area. We followed him and beat him up pretty badly. He might be from a rival gang. You wanna check him out?”

Luhan glared at him. “You beat up some random guy on the street without knowing who he was? Did he even look rich? Or did you even know if he was from a rival gang or not? I keep telling you to think before acting. The point of life isn’t to beat up other people.”

“Geez, calm down old man. We only attacked him because he looked really suspicious. And don’t feel too bad. He was a pretty good fighter. He beat the out of some of the guys. Seriously.”

Luhan only pursed his lips before nodding. “Show me the guy.”  

Kai led him through the maze of passages that occupied the gray sections of Seoul. They walked through the crumbling walls and cracked concrete in complete silence save the random shouts and yells in the background. Neither of them really paid attention since it was probably just another typical gang fight.

Luhan kept opening and closing his mouth as if he wanted to say something. it, I'm just going to say it, no matter how cheesy I sound.

“Hey Kai,”

“Yes?”

“I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.” Luhan whispered. Kai smiled before slinging an arm around Luhan.

“I know. I’m glad too. But you know, I would never get hurt. I’m too good for that.” Kai announced.

Luhan just glared at him and shrugged his arm off. “Arrogant idiot.”

Kai gasped in mock horror before laughing and putting his arm around Luhan again.

“Come on. Let’s just go old man.” Kai said.

The pair headed towards the scene of the previous fight. As they got closer and closer, some of the signs got more and more familiar.

“Hey, isn’t this the place with my orange and blue graffiti? You know, the one you said looked like an angry dinosaur?” Luhan asked.

Kai chuckled before nodding. “Yep. But I don’t think it looks like a dinosaur anymore. It looks more like a cow.”

“Now you’re not even making sense. How do orange and blue diamonds and swirls look like a cow?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m just special.”

“That you are.”

Kai laughed again before suddenly becoming quiet. “We’re here.”

Luhan slowly walked forward to look at the unconscious boy. His face was littered with cuts and a few horrendous bruises around his jaw and temple. There were a couple cuts dripping red, but those were probably from the stones on the ground. Luhan was relieved the members hadn’t actually used their weapons. Thank goodness for that.

He suddenly gasped before realizing something important.  

“Kai! This is the transfer student from our class. Remember? You know, Baekhyun!” He said.

Kai nodded before fully processing the knowledge. Suddenly, he realized what that statement meant. “ . What are we supposed to do now?”

Luhan shrugged before feeling for a heartbeat. He sighed in relief when he found it, though it was quite weak.

Kai was still freaking out, “. God Luhan I am so sorry. I had no idea, he had his hood up and I really couldn’t see his face. I didn’t even think it was anyone we knew.” He paused. “I guess we should just take him back to your house and treat his wounds. Would you mind if I stayed over tonight?”

Luhan shook his head and stood up. “Nope, I'm fine with you staying over. Just help me carry him back to my place, okay? We’ll deal with the rest later. And don’t worry too much, as long as we can get him back to my place, everything will be fine.”

Kai nodded uncertainly before lugging Baekhyun up. They both headed out of the alleyway before a low growl interrupted them.

“Where do you think you’re going?”   

 Author's note:

Dun dun dun. Sorry, I'm an evil author who loves cliff hangers. And this is barely proofread so if you find any mistakes, please tell me!

For you guys who subscribed to the story when there was only a foreword, you may have noticed that it's no longer rated M. That's because I realized that I would never be able to write anything violent or ty enough to be rated m for the entire story. This story may have eventual , but I'll rate that specific chapter M instead of the entire story. So sorry to you guys who were expecting a really ty story. It's just not going to happen. (and I at writing . I absolutely . And it's really awkward though I'm okay with erted humor.) And I realized I forgot to include Kai in the characters list. I'm not exactly sure why, since I wrote it down in my notes and everything, but I just forgot. stupid me.

On another hand, I'm so sorry that I haven't updated. Life has been a pain in the . I'll try to update more often since I'm really excited for this story, but I can't make any promises.

And finally, thank you to all of you guys who subscribed and commented and upvoted this story. Love you guys!

<3 ~L