|Suho|

We’re called the Angels. Killer to be more precise, but we still are Angels.

It’s a lie. A cruel oxymoron, probably to remind us of our pasts when we actually were legit Angels, with no “Killer” attached to the name.

Don’t believe the “Angel” bit of it. It’s complete and utter bullcrap.

Do believe the Killer part. Because that’s what we are. That’s what we’ve stooped down to now.

You might say we deserve death. We don’t even deserve that. So we get Earth. We live here, trying to blend in and at the same time feed on the things that we are trying to blend in with...it’s terrible. Cruel. It’s worse than death.

So if you ever see us...ever. Whether you are alone, or with your friends, or with a whole crowd of people. If you ever see us and we happen to notice you and you know what we are…

Run. Run for your life.

I’m not saying you have a chance.

It just seems better when you’ve actually given an effort to save yourself.

Chapter 4~ In the Killer's Point of View

“Don’t you dare release that,” D.O grunted from the corner. Goddamn I’m tired. Only in his thoughts would D.O ever swear.

“Stupid little er,” Chen muttered, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. Luhan squeezed his eyes shut and threw up walls around his mind, blocking the endless string of profanities from Chen’s mind. With the others, he might be curious with what they were thinking, but with Chen it was Luhan who had to ward off the thoughts.

Baekhyun’s head jerked up, eyes narrowing. The boyish, playful smile on his face disappeared as his lip curled slightly, baring his elongating teeth. He collected the small wisps of light hovering in the air and cupped his hands together, wanting to clench his fists but careful to not accidentally release the power. To hell with him, Kris was an idiot for saving him. “What did you say?”

“Can you all just shut up and make peace,” Suho groaned on the other side of the dorm room, slumped in an armchair with Tao crouched beside him. “I’m sweaty and tired and every single one of you was distracted.” Images of coffee and graying hair flickered through his mind.

“Oh yeah? Says who?” ing Chen.

“Says me. I don’t need Luhan’s powers to know if you guys are focused on the performance or not.” Suho raised his eyebrows and glared at everyone in his immediate vision, including Lu. You know what I mean. The thought was directed towards him. The K leader then addressed the others. “We need to give every performance our all.”

“Why? You said yourself we need to keep our energy levels in check, or else we’ll lose our reserves too fast and someone will go berserk - ”

“Meaning you,” Sehun pointed out. ing Chen.

I second that, Luhan murmured and they shared a grin.

“ - and feed off anyone they can find.” Chen continued without missing a beat. “We can’t give any performance our all - we perform maybe five times a day, and that’s tiring you out already? I use more energy trying to block out the squawks of fangirls than performing.” Suho’s ing weak, why is he a leader? He -

“Something you ought to do,” muttered Tao. “Or else you’ll get us all in trouble.”

“Shut up, Dark,” snapped the other. “You don’t exactly have a clean slate yourself.”

ing Chen. The M maknae grunted and narrowed his eyes.

“The point is,” Suho cut in, clenching his teeth and glaring. “If we’re going to stay around here without getting caught, we all have to cooperate. Including you, Jongdae.”

Chen bared his teeth and hissed, his eyes hinting on a tinge of yellow. I swear I’ll rip that motherer apart, he has no right to decide what I want to do, by Hell I’ll -

“Suho brings up a good point,” Luhan said quickly, standing up and cutting in. He didn’t like to fight with EXO, preferring to observe the differences between what they thought and what they said, but it was hard to stand Chen’s vulgarity and cutthroat insults. And there was something important to address to the others. Not for the first time, Luhan was glad that he could read everyone’s minds while they couldn’t read his.

I swear Lulu I’ll - Chen.

Can you not. Tao.

Do you hear me Lulu? Do you hear me? Chen again.

“You guys were distracted. Especially you, Kai.” Lu ignored the bombarding direct thoughts from the younger Angels and sought out Kai with his sharp eyes. Especially you.

Kai looked down and played with his fingers. It was very unlike him to be so quiet offstage when they were resting, and even more unlike him to remember to throw the wall around his mind. When Luhan had gently probed his mind as he did to all of them, he’d found his access blocked, and by a very strong impenetrable wall at that. Kai never bothered to block his thoughts, and especially never with that much force and concentration. It would use up his remaining energy for sure - and they hadn’t had a good fulfilling  meal in weeks.

And he wasn’t actually cocky offstage. That was even stranger.

Luhan knew putting him on the spot would get him to crack, but the younger Angel was probably cursing him right now. He could sense the negative brainwaves that seeped through Kai’s wall - even though the mind wall was at its strongest, Kai was still weaker than the others.

I - Kai’s thoughts struggled, as if he was trying to guard his secrets but speak to Luhan at the same time. He sighed mentally. I’ll just show you. What I was thinking then. And then Luhan was carried away into Kai’s memories, and they were onstage again.

Kai didn’t believe in love at first sight.

But he did believe that once he fell in love, he would fall hard.

It wasn’t much of a prediction to make, really. All Angels were like this, whether they were a Dark like Tao, Fallen Angels like Suho and Luhan, or Wolf Angels like him and his pack of Kris, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Chen. Despite the way different Angels had different personalities and temperament, all Angels fell in love only once. They would have only one soulmate their entire lives; it was as if they had a space in their heart that was specifically for that one, or that they had been pre-programmed to love that being and want them. No one else could replace or force themselves to be that one.

It didn’t have to be restricted to your type of Angel of the opposite , either. Before he was banished from the Other World, Kai had heard of Angels that were gay, or Angels that loved other species on the Other World, or even--heaven forbid--Angels that loved other beings from other planets.

Such as humans on Earth.

Yet, no matter who you loved, you would fall for them forever. As an Angel you could love only one person. They might not love the Angel back. If they didn’t, heartbreak was immediate and torturous. It often killed Angels with the thought wearing down at them physically, or driving them to insanity.

Or you might be searching forever, never finding your soulmate. You wouldn’t die happily either way.

Love was something terrifying for Angels.

Love is a , Kai thought. Humans are lucky; they can love whomever they want.

But that was just how he fell in love. On Earth, a planet filled with powerless humans and a place where Angels were banished to become Killer Angels, the lowest of the low.

And considering that the only other Killer Angels with him was EXO, that only meant one thing.

Either a) he was gay for one of the EXO guys, and he just found out; or b) he loved a human he had clearly never met.

How could this have happened?

Kai had realized from the tugging of his gut and the pulling of his heartstrings that his soulmate was near. It was such an unfamiliar feeling that he had never experienced, but at the same time so distinctly recognizable. He had looked around anxiously. They were in the dressing room, right after the fight and going to perform in five. Kris had his eyebrows knit together in a furious glare, as usual, and Chen was pouting. Chanyeol was still trying to control his powers from getting out of hand and urging his eyes to change back from orange to brown. D.O. and Lay looked very tired and Luhan frowned slightly as he soaked in everyone’s thoughts.

Was it these boys that he loved?

No, it can’t be, he thought frantically. I’ve been with them for many Earth years already, how could I not have felt something before?

Could it be a member of the staff? But every single one has approached me, and I haven’t felt this way towards them either...someone in the crowd? That’s impossible! Another Killer Angel that isn’t part of EXO on Earth?

Kris spoke. “We have to get going,” he muttered with one hand on the door handle of the dressing room. He met eyes with each EXO member, the faint tint of redness still in his own. “Is everything repaired?”

“As best as we could,” D.O said with a shrug. His large eyes were bloodshot.

The duizhang sighed. “Alright. Just perform as we practiced. And remember, if I catch any one of you accidentally spill out our real Angel names--just know torture is not just limited to Hell.” He projected an intimidating stare around the room and left, the others grudgingly following behind.

“We already know,” Chen muttered sourly under his breath. “You being the leader is worse than torture in Hell.”

Tao’s snickers could be heard next to Chen. Kai rolled his eyes and fixed his clothes, preparing for onstage. Tao’s character in the human world may have seemed clumsy, cute, childish and even attached to Kris, but in reality he definitely had the traits of a Dark Angel; mysterious and cold-humored with a side of evil. Chen wasn’t a Dark Angel, but he was exactly the same.

Kai, on the other hand, was trying to be the best Angel he could be--not that being a Killer gave him much credibility, but if he was good on Earth he just might be redeemed as an Angel and accepted back into the Other World. It would take a century or two at least, and only if his EXO “brothers” didn’t screw things up for him.

But yes, they were his brothers. As Kai glanced around him, at gentle Suho, intimidating Kris, goofy Chanyeol, healer Lay and quiet maknae Sehun, he realized they were his brothers. EXO was made of outcast Angels, Killers. Yet despite how different they were and how they had never known each other on the Other World, they were now brothers. And Kai liked the kinship he felt with them.

The instinctual tugging in his gut, the feeling that his soulmate was near, told him (thankfully) it wasn’t one of them. But he also had another gut feeling that his soulmate would cause huge trouble among EXO. He didn’t want to find out what it was, or why.

They began to position themselves on the stage, behind thick velvet curtains. A slim female staff member stood on the side with a mic around her head and counted down on her fingers, in time to Luhan’s chant in their minds. Kai automatically referred to his gut feeling, but no - this wasn’t her that he was attracted to. He let out a small sigh of relief, causing Xiumin, with his sharp hearing, to look curiously at him.

Five...four...three...two...one…

And as the curtains spread apart with a whoosh, his heartstrings tugged.

Kai’s eyes automatically sought out one single girl in the immense, well-dressed crowd. Suddenly he was a believer in love at first sight.

She wasn’t looking at him, instead at someone behind him, but he was frozen. His heart skipped a beat. All the introductory dance moves that had been so painstakingly rehearsed countless times fled from his mind.

Luhan looked over at him in panic, catching on to what was happening half a second before the others. Suddenly Kai’s brain was powerfully flooded with dance moves, urging his body to jerk like a puppet before he could take control of himself. But that was all that was needed. Luhan’s powers were strong enough for Kai to push the instinctive, lustful thoughts away and perform like they were supposed to.

He locked the thoughts carefully away, even though Luhan was curious and tried to probe into his brain for the thoughts that had nearly ruined the show.

What a surprise it was when she showed up with her friend to meet EXO. Seoyang, she was called. Lee Seoyang. Kai didn’t think he’d ever forget that name.

And how strange it was, stranger even, that she smelled so enticingly delicious and appetizing and yet, he couldn’t bring his mind around the fact that it was she whom he loved.

Love is a . So y that it makes you fall for your own prey.

“...Lu?”

Luhan looked up, blinking rapidly as he adjusted to reality back in the EXO dorm.

“Messing in someone’s mind again, obviously,” Chen muttered, but Luhan didn’t miss the silent relief that echoed in his thoughts. It wasn’t my mind, at least.

Kai looked over at him, knowingly and almost pleadingly. I trust you to keep a secret. Please. Don’t tell the others. Kris would kill me, even though we all know I can’t help it.

The elder tried to hide a smile, thinking it cute that ruff-and-tuff Kai would cower under the duizhang’s might. But then again, who wouldn’t? “Yeah?”

“What did you want to tell us?”

Luhan shakes his head. “Nevermind.”

“Then...I saw you frowning the entire time the fan visit went on,” Suho began, clasping his fingers together. “I’m glad you warned us that they weren’t...well, snacks...being acquainted with Manager Kang’s son and all, but what was with all your other facial expressions?”

“I’ve never seen you react so strongly to mere humans before,” Kris added, looking up at Lu with half-transformed Wolf eyes. In the dorm, they were safe from most prying saesaengs, but it was never a good idea to admit to their true Killer forms. Human guises were the only pretense they could stay under since becoming famous. “Did you want to tell us something?”

Right. Lu took a deep breath. Despite how much he trusted these boys, how they were almost like brothers to him like the way Kai had said in his memories, he believed that revealing any weakness would make him the first one to be killed off. Although he was one of the most powerful, with the ability to read minds, he was also one of the weakest; he was only somewhat physically better than the average bodybuilder, and he had no physical powers. He couldn’t control the elements or inanimate earthly forces. His mind was the only thing that made him a Killer. And if he couldn’t even excel at his own superpower, what would be so special about him?

He decided to remain tight-lipped about this one. Just this one secret. It can’t hurt.

“I just have a few words of advice. Seo - that girl, Seoyang, is going to come visit us, right? Thursday, I believe? Watch her closely. Don’t make any wrong move. And don’t, I repeat, eat her. She’s not our plaything. She’s something else.”

Stunned silence. A million thoughts bombarded his mind, but he ignored them all. Kai seemed especially grateful and smug, probably assuming this was for his sake. Luhan shot him a glance, but he didn’t bother to explain himself any further. You can’t be more wrong than you are now, Kai.

“Why?” Chanyeol finally asked.

“She’s special,” he replied instead, standing up to excuse himself into the bathroom. Eleven pairs of curious eyes followed him.

Inside the bathroom, Luhan stared at himself in the mirror and brushed back his hair with his fingers, watching the strands part smoothly. He took a deep breath, noting his too-pale skin, the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes, and the smudged eye makeup he still hadn’t bothered to remove from after the show. His fists clenched on the sink, but they didn’t break the marble. He narrowed his eyes at himself and bared his teeth, but they were like always: white and perfectly aligned and square. No sharp canines, nothing special.

Luhan was, by far on any human’s standards, perfect.

But Luhan also was, on any Angel’s standards...normal.

And Luhan believed he was now losing his only trait that made him more special and powerful than the others. If it was true and he was losing his mind reading abilities, what would he be without it?

He couldn’t get at the girl’s mind, no matter how hard he tried to squirm into at first what he thought was the steel wall she’d made for her brain.

And then, he realized that it wasn’t a steel wall. There was no wall at all.

He simply had no access.

Out of the billions of thoughts he had already tuned into, Lee Seoyang’s were the the only ones Luhan couldn’t read.