|Baekhyun|

We’ve only been on Earth for fifty years.

I don’t think any of us can last another couple hundred.

Fifty years for an Angel is nothing. But time passes so slowly on Earth.

To a human, we seem immortal. Sure we live a long time, but no creature is immortal. We all die at one point or another. If we don’t die, we disappear. That’s just how it works.

But I can’t believe it. Fifty years and already we’re falling apart. The first thirty we lived in the Amazon jungle, hunting and eating as we pleased while Kris and Suho planned our EXO debut--what we would look like, what we would do and sing for human entertainment, all of it.

They finished planning our next ten or so years in the first two months that we landed here. We just had to wait out thirty years in the jungle before Kai would teleport us all, one by one, to South Korea and we would enlist ourselves into SM Entertainment.

The humans running the company thought they were so clever, creating this band and making millions. They just didn’t know it was Luhan who had put the idea in their minds, and walked them every step of the way so we could be successful.

But the next thirty years in the Amazon was torture.

Even though we could eat as much as we wanted, with full-sized predatory creatures and thousands of insects and poisonous plants and snakes and more, nothing on Earth that we ate could sustain us or fill us up the way food on EXOPlanet did. We were always hungry and crabby, spending twenty-three out of the twenty-four hours of the day hunting and the last hour being lectured by Kris on, essentially, how to be human.

Angels don’t need any sleep on EXOPlanet, but the effects of Earth were taking its toll on us and we would often be exhausted, with no time to get any shut-eye between finding food and Kris’s training.

But Chen was the one who hated everything the most. He was naturally a short-tempered and explosive Killer, and Earth seemed to be even worse for him than it was for the rest of us. When we happened to find two lost backpackers in the jungle, Chen was the one that seized them and immediately killed them. He had the grace to share them with us, but when we first ate those humans and that first flood of energy went into us like never before, he became addicted--more than anyone else. After all, we had finally found an energy source that not only matched the amount of energy creatures on EXOPlanet gave, but exceeded it and gave us the joy and satisfaction in hunting.

And Kris put a stop to all this when he told Chen we were going to live with the humans, and entertain what Chen saw as our prey, and try our hardest to not eat them regularly. Chen already hated Kris even on EXOPlanet, before we were banished here, and having him as the leader and listening to him made him go crazy. He was heavily dependent on his powers, for one thing, and he hated that when he even thought about us, he had to use our EXO names and not our Angel ones. Even using the human names we made up, like Kris’s Yifan or Suho’s Joonmyeon or his own, Jongdae, was discouraged in thought.

We’re all just glad that when Chen went berserk, we were in the rainforest and nowhere near human civilization.

Because when we were being a human, we couldn’t be an Angel. Kris set dozens of restrictions on us: no using powers once we are anywhere near human civilization, no hunting excessively or doing anything we did when we were isolated, stay human and act like an idol, twenty-four seven.

Idol stuff is easy for all of us. It’s the alter ego we don’t even have to think about. Our physical abilities exceed any human’s...we just have to physically act human. We don’t need to work hard in dancing or singing, it’s probably the easiest thing we’ve done since landing here. We practice just to pass time.

The real hard part is being mentally human.

Even when we’re not being an EXO member, Kris makes us think human thoughts, calling each other our human names even in our minds. That way it’ll decrease the chance of our Angel names slipping out, he says. Despite the way we can’t speak about each other on Angel terms, he released the name of our planet and called the boyband we formed after it--for laughs, he says. Because if humans speak our real names, they’ll have all the power they need to destroy us. But they have no power over the name of where we’ve come from.

Even when I think, I think about them as their stage names now. We do that for ten years, and then after a human lifetime, my human, Baekhyun, will be dead. Kris will be dead. Suho and Chen, all of us, will be dead.

And then we’ll hide out for another lifetime in some other jungle, and then reappear somewhere else in the world, with different names, faces, everything.

Kris and Chen are still at each other’s throats because of this plan.

I don’t know who to side with. Because despite Chen being the violent, explosive one of our group, he has a point. I don’t want to do this forever. I don’t want to have to remember one name and one identity for eighty years, and then disappear for another eighty just to reappear as a new name and identity for another eighty.

Over and over and over.

I want to be myself, for once.

But that, Kris always says, is what we can’t be.

That is what we get for being Killer Angels.

Chapter 1: Killers on a Talk Show

Your POV~

It was late afternoon and you were walking to your friend Jisang’s house when you saw him.

The boy.

The day was gloomy, with gray clouds hanging low and overcast, as if they were just barely holding in the rain. You had your phone in one hand and Jisang’s birthday present in the other, and you were walking across the street when he appeared in the middle of the intersection.

You looked up from your phone, slightly startled because you would’ve seen him walk to where he was standing through your peripheral vision. But you hadn’t; strangely, he had just appeared. His body was turned towards you.

You looked at him curiously, pushing your hair away from your face. And then you froze, stopping in the middle of the street.

There was something about him that chilled you to your bones.

You looked around quickly, but the passersby along the sidewalk and in the street were dull and unresponsive, their faces bored and stoic. Everyone was either looking down at their phones or straight ahead. No one noticed the boy, even though he was smack-dab in the center of the four-way intersection. You would’ve been like everyone else, usually; seeing the boy, thinking he was some sort of one-man public protester, not caring...but he had suddenly appeared.

And the image of his body was distorted.

He looked like he had walked straight from an old TV with a static quality, looking not quite three-dimensional or solid and more like he hadn’t finished materializing out of thin air. The outline of his figure was a couple shades darker than his surroundings, and it seemed to buzz with static electricity. He was tall, good-looking from what you could see on the other side of the street, and clothed in black. The ground he was stepping on had changed to the darkest black you had ever seen, like he was standing on a solid black hole. It was a startling contrast to the gray, worn color of the streets around him. His entire body looked as if rain were slicing through him even though his clothes were dry. You quickly glanced up at the sky, but it wasn’t raining yet.

You looked down and back at him, shivering with a strange fear when you realized he was staring at you. His eyes were very, very dark.

“Girl,  get out of the way!” Someone suddenly shouted from behind you, making you jump. You whirled around to see that the stoplights had turned green, and an angry red-faced driver in a rundown car was impatiently waving you off the streets.

“Sorry!” you quickly apologized, repeatedly bowing and feeling your cheeks flush. On the third bow, you paused and glanced up at the man. He was solid and real. He didn’t look like he belonged in the black-and-white films full of static--although his age looks it, you thought cynically.

“You’re really intent on blocking traffic, aren’t you!” His red face scrunched up again and you realized you were staring at him too long, scuttling out of the way onto the opposite sidewalk just as his car screeched into the streets.

Jesus Christ, that was embarrassing. You hurriedly smoothed your hair and your dress down, trying to ignore the stares of other pedestrians. You were about to take a step in the direction of Jisang’s house when the thought suddenly came to you and you looked back at the intersection, the sound of your heart pounding in your ears.

No one was there.

The ground that had been underneath the boy was normal again, blending into the same gray the asphalt around it was. You craned your neck to look at the other side of the intersection, but there was nobody that resembled him.

An involuntary shudder ran down your spine as you hurried to Jisang’s house, and you swore to yourself that tomorrow you were going to get your vision checked.

♦     ♦     ♦

“...And now, let’s welcome the hit boyband from SM Entertainment...EXO!!!!”

You were greeted by this loud, excited announcement blaring from the TV as the door burst open and your best friend Jisang dragged you in, squealing with excitement the entire way to the living room. You could only stare at her and let yourself be guided to the couch. You still couldn’t understand how someone could shriek over guys on TV that they’d never met. She looked insane, her face flushed and her eyes wild, but you decided not to ruin her moment.

Jisang looked at you, frowning slightly as if saying of course everyone should be celebrating EXO’s television appearance. Like how could you not. “This is perfect!” She announced. “My twelve hot boys on TV on my birthday!”

“Your twelve hot boys?” you echoed, making yourself comfortable on the sofa next to your best guy friend Hyunseuk.

Jisang pouted. “Of course they’re mine! I mean...Hyunnie oppa would let me meet them, right?” She turned to Hyunseuk with her best aegyo and you fought not to gag.

He laughed and shrugged. “Oh I don’t know…”

“Come on! Why has Seoyang met SHINee and SuJu countless times but I haven’t even seen my EXO outside of a TV screen!”

Hyunseuk’s father was a hotshot manager at SM, and the guy you mostly blamed for getting Jisang addicted to EXO. He often sent Jisang free posters and signed photos--not that he needed to promote them to her, considering she had every single album since their debut.

You yourself weren’t that interested in boyband groups, so you didn’t know EXO too well despite visiting the SM building often. “What’s so great about EXO?” you asked innocently, but by the look on Jisang’s face you might’ve just told her that you murdered her uncle and fed him to the bears at the zoo.

“Okay Lee Seoyang, we are not going to celebrate my birthday until you know every single one of those y hot boys by name, face, and birthdate. Hyunseuk, you’re helping me.” She huffed and plopped down next to you on the couch. Hyunseuk laughed again and looped his arm around your shoulder.

“Seoyang, come on,” Jisang whined. “Stop rolling your eyes at me, just look at how hot they are and then you’ll change your mind.”

“I-”

“Oh--oh my God--THERE THEY ARE! THERE THEY COME!” She screamed along with the fans on-screen, blasting your eardrums.

Twelve k-idol hotties streamed onto the talk show stage and bowed politely to the hysterical crowd. The fangirling was pretty crazy, both from the live fans and your best friend.

“See, there they are! Aren’t they gorgeous? Just...omigod...so gorgeous and beautiful and perfect! OMIGAWD HERE IT COMES...watch them do their EXO introduction! I can’t believe you haven’t seen them in pictures yet! Do you NOT read magazines? Hold on to me...I think I’m going to faint...there’s D.O! He is MINE! All MINEEEE….” Jisang continued to chatter aimlessly away as each member appeared.

Hyunseuk looked at you and smirked. “This is what SHINee gets every time.”

You shuddered. Because Mr. Kang, Hyunseuk’s dad, had asked you multiple times to help him with work in the entertainment company, you had befriended the members of SHINee and couldn’t help but think of them as normal people. To have thousands of people screaming at the mere sight of them, the way Jisang was doing for EXO...it seemed a bit strange.

On-screen EXO had finished chanting “We are one!” and were introducing themselves. They were very cute flower boys, you had to give them that. Some of them even look prettier than girls, you thought, wrinkling your nose. But you didn’t dare voice it for fear of Jisang coming at you with all her EXO fangirl rage, demanding that they were manly.

“Omo omo omo...how do you think they look, how do you think they look?!” Jisang was squealing.

For a loss of better words, you shrugged. “They’re not bad.”

dropped open and Hyunseuk was in hysterics. “Not bad? Lee Seoyang, they are the most beautiful beings that have ever set foot on this earth. They are EXO...exotic aliens that are out of this planet!” She sounded mystified. Whether it was from the thought that they were exotic aliens or from your complete lack of enthusiasm, you didn’t know. “Not bad my ! Aren’t they like angels? Just you wait until you listen to their songs and watch them dance!”

“You should see them without makeup,” Hyunseuk laughed while Jisang attacked him with a couch pillow.

You turned back to the TV. They seemed...different. Everything they did had a pause beforehand, as if they were receiving instructions from someone. Their actions were painstakingly rehearsed and when they thought the camera wasn’t pointed towards them, they looked downright uncomfortable. Of course they were supposed to be “out of this world”, with their name as EXO and coming from EXOPlanet and all, but it had to be all just a name and a concept nothing with purpose.

Right?

The camera focused on the EXO-M leader Kris, who smiled angelically and winked. You squirmed uncomfortably as Jisang went wild and squeezed your arm. Sure he was hot, but in an almost too-perfect way. And how he stared...it didn’t seem...human. His dark eyes were almost emotionless and piercing, with an animalistic sort of hunger. A chill ran down your spine unsettlingly.

“Doesn’t he look...a little...strange?” you asked Jisang cautiously, not tearing your eyes away from the TV.

“Strange? ...Ugh not again!” she groaned. “Seoyang, stop ruining my show with your paranormalcy nonsense! Why would beautiful boyband members be strange? The only way any stars could be strange is when they’re too hot to be true!There are no such things as vampires and werewolves and monsters. They certainly wouldn’t be monsters, and the alien thing is just to get people interested in them. Puh-leez. Now shush.” She rolled her eyes.

You shut up and admitted she was right. An idol wouldn’t go and stare at the camera like a hungry zoo animal, as soulless as their eyes looked.

“...My power is time control,” Tao was saying in accented Korean. He wasn’t looking at the camera, but at his fingers, which he was moving around as if he were fascinated by them. He smirked as the camera zoomed in on his pale face, but still kept his eyes cast down. His voice was smooth and flawless, and goosebumps rose on your arms. Too smooth. Too flawless.

“I supposedly freeze things,” Xiumin smiled jokingly, the lopsided grin lighting up his entire bubbly face.

The show went on and the boys described the powers and insignias their fans, they said, had dubbed them. Their complexions and facial features were close to perfect. However, everyone onstage seemed tense and rehearsed, from the way they walked to even the amount of teeth they showed when they smiled their dazzling smiles. The camera zoomed in close on each member, and when it focused on a y one with a playful smirk and tousled hair, you felt a sudden spike of fear.

He was familiar. A little too familiar.

“Who’s that?” you asked, trying to control your voice.

“Him? He’s Kai, of course!” Jisang giggled crazily. “The Kai, the iest and best dancer of EXO!”

“I’ve seen him around,” Hyunseuk noted. “Looks kinda like Taemin, doesn’t he?”

That’s what it is, you thought immediately. He looks like Taemin, that’s why I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere. Because it can’t…

You leaned in closer to the TV, observing his features and ignoring Hyunseuk’s frown and Jisang’s squeals of omo Seoyang goes for the y dancer type.

And suddenly Kai turned to the camera, his eyes scrutinizing and unsmiling. The talk show was discussing something about Kai’s y look and Jisang was screaming beside you, but you automatically leaned back into the couch. Your heart thumped in your ears and you swallowed. How could it be?

Because it was him, and you had no doubt about it now.

He was the boy you saw on the street.

A/N: Hi everyone! bubbletea_life here, I really appreciate all you wonderful bubblies that are already supporting this fic ^^ Thank you so much, all you readers keep me going  <3 I have a lot planned for Those Killer Angels, so please subscribe and upvote, it would help me out a lot! And I love hearing your feedback, so drop a comment below :) Again thank you for reading and supporting, I hope you enjoy!