|Kai|

Food.

That’s what everyone else thinks about.

And although I am like everyone else, it is always on mind, my mind often wanders into thinking of other things.

Like what Earth looks like from outer space, or what the sun looks like when it’s setting into the ocean.

Maybe I should be focusing on other things. Like what happens if we’re ever discovered. Like what happens if something like the whole incident with Chen hyung leaping onto that poor woman, and D.O. hyung rising up the earth and Lu hyung going crazy because of it, happens again.

I don’t want to think about all that. Maybe because I’m second youngest.

Earth fascinates me. The creatures on it, how it functions...all of it amazes me.

And we can’t forget how good the food tastes.

I think I’m the only one out of EXO who finds anything positive about Earth. Honestly, I’m the only one loving it here. I’m the only one who’s had a better life here than my previous life on EXOPlanet.

There might be something wrong with me.

Or I might have been human once or twice in my past lives.

I can’t decide which one is worse.

Chapter 6~ Afternoon With a Wolf Part II

Since when did idols become kidnappers? You always thought it would be the other way around.

Kai had an insane grip on your wrist; he’d tightened his fingers so it felt like you were losing feeling in your hand. He still had a finger to his lips, and he smiled wryly in a way that made goosebumps rise all over your body. Slipping behind the SM building and into a small dark alleyway, your heart started to pound even faster with fear. What was he going to do to you? Images of terrifying things flashed through your mind.

You’d watched an interview with Kai and his dancing skills on YouTube before you’d come to help out Hyunseuk’s dad. He had seemed all right, a good-looking, normal boy working hard on dancing and practicing and doing what he loved. You looked at Kai now, your eyes wide on his own narrowed, sly, dark ones with a hint of—purple?—lurking underneath his sinister brows and animalistic face. This was not the same boy as you’d seen. This was a monster.

He watched you staring at him in terror and realization, and then he drew back and blinked twice, his eyes large and owlish. They returned to normal—still dark underneath the shadow of the SM building as the sun lowered slightly in the sky, but no longer with the glowing flash of purple you’d seen in his irises. What was with that, anyway?

Kai easily broke out into a friendly smile, his white teeth flashing as he laughed and loosened his grip on your hand, but didn’t let go. He rubbed his neck almost apologetically, looking down and biting his lip with the same stupid grin lighting up his entire face. Even though a warm wave of relief washed over you at his release and your brain screamed at you to get back onto the safety of the streets, where people would be everywhere and he couldn’t do anything to you, you couldn’t stop staring at him.

I swear, it should be illegal for someone to be this hot.

"I'm sorry," he started in a hesitating, almost apologetic tone. His y voice made you shiver. "That was certainly not necessary. I just — it doesn't feel right to see someone like that."

He probably didn't mean what it sounded like he meant, so you decided not to take offense. "Do you have claustrophobia too?"

He looked at you, his dark eyes swirling, and for a moment you thought that was a bit too personal of a question to ask. And then he shrugged and leaned against the brick wall of the building next to SMEnt with a sigh.  "Something like that."

Something like that? What other names did the irrational fear of tight spaces have?

"What do you—"

"It's nothing," he grunted harshly, cutting you off. "Just a—uh—a fear of mine too, that's all." He took a deep breath and looked into your eyes again, inspecting you as he allowed you to finally get a good look at him. His tan skin practically sparkled with vibrant health, his tousled -hair waved gently in the wind and his sharp jawline was even more accentuated with the dark shadows in the alleyway. You gulped and forced yourself to look away, your heart fluttering — but this time for a very, very different reason than fear.

Kai chuckled, a sound that was simultaneously insanely y and conceited at the same time, as if he were thinking I know I get all the ladies, you don't have to be shy about having a crush on me. You gritted your teeth and pretended not to hear it.

"Why did you bring me out here, anyway?" You demanded, trying to think about anything else.

When his laughter stopped abruptly, you smiled, immediately thinking that it was quite a good topic to change the subject with.

"Because." He cleared his throat, hesitating as he tried to think of an excuse. "Because I don't want you to be in tight —"

"Heard that one already. If you want to make an excuse for yourself, at least make it good."

He snickered softly, looking down to take your hand in his large, dark one. His skin was strangely hot — a little too hot. Nonetheless, you let him hold it. It wasn’t everyday that some hotshot idol held a girl's hand without her screaming and begging for him to do so, after all.

He tilted your chin up slightly, forcing you to meet his gaze. Kai grinned again, staring uncomfortably deeply into your eyes and flashing his gorgeous white teeth. "I can show you the world," he said in a y voice enough to make any girl's ovaries explode.

Just not this one’s.

"Please don't Aladdin me," you shot back with a dramatic roll of your eyes, causing him to throw his head back and laugh. The laugh was different from his laugh on stage—this one was light and quirky and he actually sounded happy.

"Seoyang. I couldn’t stand seeing you so scared like that." Kai's voice was soft, his eyes cast downward. “I don’t know why I felt so protective of you at that moment...I just was. Sorry if I startled you." He looked up shyly from underneath his lashes.

Ba-dumpba-dumpba-dump, your heart replied eagerly.

He's just fanservicing you. That’s all this is, you told your heart. You would feel extremely stupid if you tricked yourself into thinking that he thought you were special and you developed a for him or something. Don't become a Jisang.

"Thanks," you managed to reply with a flirtatious wink. Two could play at that game. "That's sweet of you to feel that way. But a little creepy too. Next time, when you say that to a fangirl, make sure you just say that you were overprotective and keep the smolder. They'll fall head over heels for you for sure."

You expected him to laugh. He didn't. "I'm being serious, Seoyang."

Oh. But seriously, you can stop with the fanservice now. Goddammit I'm starting to belive it. You smiled weakly instead.

"Anyway," he said with a huff of breath, grinning with a boyish immaturity once more and straightening up, "I owe you for being so 'creepy.' Wanna grab a bubble tea?"

You stared at him in shock. And then you laughed.  His face fell slightly.

"What, do you think every word from my mouth is a joke? You don't believe me? I'm serious!" Kai protested, his lip starting to jut out slightly in a childish protest. He grabbed your wrist, as if for emphasis. "I may not be the richest entertainer, but it's not like I'm broke you know. I can afford a couple teas."

"It's not that," you sputtered with giggles, gasping for breath at the silly absurdity of it all. "It's just that you've GOT to be joking. You treating me? Every girl out there will recognize you, and it'll look bad for you if it's obvious you're with me! I mean, unless you have a bodyguard or something, Kai."

He shook his head. "I can get away from people like you've never seen. One second I'm there, and the next—" he stopped abruptly, as if catching himself.

"What?" Immediately you thought of his power, teleportation. And the boy you saw on the street on the way to Jisang’s house that day. You were almost certain it was him. What if he could-

"I'm gone the next." Kai winked. "It's something metaphorical. Our managers didn’t give me that power without reason."

Alright. You had to give him that. You turned your head and gave him a flirtatious sideways glance, holding out your hand. "Mr. Aladdin sir, show me your teleportation skills then and teleport us to the best bubble tea shop you know."

He automatically took your hand, and for a split second fear and curiosity enveloped you. It seemed like he really was going to teleport. And then Kai paused and grinned slyly, stepping back to let go. "I can't. We're in a public setting. I can't show you how I teleport until we're in a private place."

He sounded dead serious. You decided to play along and said with equal severity, "Make sure you remember to do so!"

Kai grinned. "For now, we can only walk there. And to get away from people, we'll have to run. Come on!"

Without waiting for a response, he clutched your wrist and leapt out onto the main road with his disguise, the hoodie and sunglasses, on. He raced into the street laughing, letting go of you to step back and look back at you. His gorgeous white smile was spread wide, and he seemed the epitome of happiness, nothing like the fake joy he gave the camera on TV shows. Seeing him so carefree, you began to smile too. He wasn’t going to kidnap you. Or eat you. How did that thought even get into your mind? He was a human being, still practically a teenager like you were, albeit a lot more stressed out and tired now than you would probably ever be in your lifetime. It was acceptable that he would be a little weirder than the average person, given that he lived with eleven other equally stressed and tired boys.

"The shop isn't far from here," Kai assured you, turning around and removing his sunglasses to get a better look at you. The sun glinted against his eyes and his sparkling, vibrant orbs caught the light, flashing a deep amethyst purple. You squinted at his eyes, but he quickly ducked his head and turned away. Purple? He wasn’t wearing any color contacts, from what you could see.

"Uh—ok," you muttered distractedly, slightly tiptoeing to peer past his back at his eyes. He was looking in the opposite direction, purposely trying to shield them, it seemed. In a slight bout of frustration, you craned your neck but he lowered his eyes, his face reflecting your frustration. You touched him on the small of his back,and suddenly he turned around and set himself in front of you, his eyebrows scrunched. He clenched his shades in his hand. You stepped back, a little more anxious as the same strange, unexplainable predatory fear set deep into your skin and chilled your blood. It was happening again, your heart racing with something like terror and your instinctive primal brain screaming at you to get away from him, as soon as possible. Why? Kai was no threat—except maybe to an overreacting fangirl's health upon sighting him.

"...Is everything okay?" You managed to stutter, cursing yourself quietly at how your voice trembled.

He smiled, only like a shark this time. "You tell me." He lowered himself slightly so you looked at each other eye-to-eye, him searching deep into your frightened ones. He stood against the light, so his eyes were only dark. You couldn't see past the black human pupils into the purple ones, which you were certain were there.

"Why do you keep on looking at my face? I know I’m gorgeous, but..." Kai smirked dangerously. "My eyes. Is there something wrong with them?"

"No. No," you repeated, trying to make yourself sound more assertive—or maybe you were trying to convince yourself as well. You swallowed and decided to be daring enough to point it out—after all, you were in broad daylight. There were quite a few people strolling the streets or passing by in their cars; if he tried to do anything, he’d be seen by at least a dozen witnesses. But why would he try? He was an idol. “Your eyes are purple. Beneath the black, I mean.”

His eyes flickered up to you, his face expressionless but—was that a flash of worry? Any emotion was quickly sealed shut as he smiled grimly and said, “Look into my eyes carefully, Seoyang. Look at them. Do you see the purple?”

Even though the sun was blazing down in the clear blue sky, you suddenly felt cold. “We’re against the light, so I wouldn’t see it.”

“Do you see the purple?” he repeated, with a hard authoritative edge to his voice.

“No. No I don’t.”

“Then that’s that.” He stepped back in triumph, his mouth spread wide in an attempt of a smile, but his face was set in a dark grimace. “It’s the light. I’ve heard that black can look pretty much like dark purple in bright sunlight.” His smile spread wider as he started to relax and reached out for your hand. “Chillax, Seoyang. It’s the one day I managed to escape the SM building without being caught by the managers or morbidly attacked by fangirls, so give me some slack and just enjoy the day with me. Shall we?” He took your hand in his large palm before you could say anything. You noticed that he popped his sunglasses back on before his face turned towards the light.

You managed a smile and followed along, but your mind was racing with a million thoughts. The purple wasn’t the kind of dark purple that appears when you see black in the sunlight. It was a light amethyst purple, like the purple of crystals in a rock. That’s not natural. That’s not because of his black eyes.

"Tea Station," Kai announced happily, sighing as you both reached the small store at the corner. “My happy place. I come here all the time.”

“Do the workers know you?”

“Some of them old-timers do. They’ve realized I’m Kai, the dancer from EXO.” He waved his hands dramatically and opened his mouth and eyes wide, imitating the typical fangirl expression. “I’ve asked the boss to not make a big deal out of it, but she went ahead and started posting EXO stuff everywhere anyway.” He shrugged. “A lot of our fans started to make this their hangout, until Luhan—” He stopped abruptly and you turned to stare at him.

“Until Luhan—?”

He grinned at you a bit nervously and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why Luhan’s name popped up. I meant our managers. Our manager made the boss stop with advertising EXO and everything—essentially making them forget I was ever spotted here, for our privacy and safety—and eventually Tea Station was no longer the official EXO fandom hangout.”

“It was that quick? People just stopped coming?” You asked, incredulous.

Kai didn’t respond, he just smiled and said, “What’s your favorite bubble tea flavor?”

“Jasmine milk, extra tapioca.” You nodded as he held the door open for you to enter the small, fruity-smelling shop, and he smiled back easily. You passed him and you could feel the heat radiating off him—the kind of heat that usually signified if someone had a fever, but he seemed perfectly fine. And you smelled something else that wasn’t the same scent as the bubble tea shop—musk? Was Kai wearing some sort of forest-scented musky wolf cologne?

“Won’t people recognize you?”

“It’d help if you don’t say my name aloud,” he responded with a wink.

A cool breeze blew in from the door, carrying Kai’s scent and the heat from his body. Standing right in front of him, he seemed to turn the cold air hot. “Are you feeling alright? Are you sick?” you asked carefully.

He looked down at you as he entered the store behind you, his eyebrows scrunched, confused. He didn’t take his sunglasses off even though the store was dim. “No, I’m—” he stopped as a few girls sitting near the window in the far corner raised their heads up at the newcomers. Kai lowered his voice to become softer and two octaves deeper immediately. “I’m fine. Why?”

You looked at the girls. They were whispering excitedly and you caught little snippets of their conversation. “Looks like Kai kind of, but sounds like Chanyeol,” one was saying.

“Omo EXO!” The squeals were heard around the table, and you fought not to roll your eyes. It’s like the congregation of five Jisangs. How can he stand them?

“Either way, he’s totally hot. Is that his girlfriend?” Another girl with long blonde hair and a pudgy tan-orange face reminiscent of a Japanese ganguro spoke loudly, not bothering to mask her contempt as she mentioned you. All of them cast mean, beady-eyed glances in your direction. You turned with an indignant expression to Kai, who watched hidden behind his sunglasses with a smug smile on his face. He obviously wasn’t going to do anything, and if he would it’d make the situation worse. You wanted to punch him.

You gave the girls a toothed grin and they stared right back at you with eyes like lasers, driving into your face. “He’s not my boyfriend, thanks.”

“But she’s my girlfriend in my dreams,” Kai suddenly said behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and bending down to rest his chin on your shoulder. He must’ve had the same stupid smirk on his stupid face.

It felt like someone engulfed in flames was giving you a back-hug.

You jumped and glared daggers at his face right next to yours, his wolfish scent enveloping you in a warm pocket of Kai while the girls squealed with jealousy. Like pigs, you thought disgustedly. You elbowed Kai in his toned, firm stomach, but he wouldn’t budge.

“Stop, they get it,” you grunted, and he just chuckled in your ear. His warm breath tickled your skin and made you shiver. The hug felt...right, for some reason, but also dangerously wrong.

Dangerously. You didn’t know how that adjective popped up in your mind, but it just did. That was the situation. Dangerous.

He turned to a young, perky girl behind the cash register, purring out in a smooth slow voice, “Two jasmine milk teas with extra pearls, please.” You gagged exaggeratedly at his sickly sweet tone, but the girl practically had hearts popping out of her eyes.

“Yes, sir,” she said right away in a voice probably five pitches higher than usual, shuffling away to make your drinks. She turned her head back to stare at you with an expression that made your blood run cold.

“K—I mean, you, get off,” you mumbled again. “All of them want to murder me now, thanks to you.”

He laughed softly in your ear in his normal pitch and released you. Even though you’d wanted it, for some reason you felt a little more hollow and empty inside after he let go. Like you’d wanted him to hold you longer. You shook away the feeling before it could take over you. I probably just need a boyfriend.

You didn’t have to wait for long before the perky girl called, “Two jasmine milk teas with extra pearls!” When Kai went up to receive the drinks, you saw the girl giving him a sly wink and whispering, “I put extra extra pearls, just for you.” Kai gave her a winning smile and she practically fainted. The boy turned around to grin at you in a teasing, snooty manner and you puked in your mouth a little.

You led the way outside the store, past other grumbling customers who had waited in line ahead of you and had already been waiting for their drinks, but you and Kai had gotten yours first. When you both left the store into bright sunlight, you glared up at him. “That’s not fair.”

He didn’t even bother to feign innocence, he just threw his head back and laughed. “No, Seoyang, that’s life. The attractive ones are ahead of the game.”

You snorted, stabbing your straw into the plastic film on top of your cup. “Easy for you to say. Now if I die sometime tonight and you find my body tomorrow, you’ll know why. They don’t even seem to know you’re you and they’re already crying for my flesh!”

Kai smiled, sticking his straw into his own cup and taking a sip. “They won’t. I’ll eat them first before they can touch you.”

You gave him a skeptical look but inside, your brain raised alarms again. Eat them?

He noticed your expression and raised his eyebrows. “Aw come on Seo, relax and take a joke. Man, this jasmine tea is pretty good.”

Seo?

But the tea was, you had to admit. You and Kai walked down the sidewalk in silence for a while, sipping your teas, looking into the windows at clothes or furniture or anything the stores lining the street had to offer, occasionally bumping shoulders and hands. You went past a few older ladies selling items from their street booths and shouting, “Couple rings, get your couple rings here!” One of them even stopped you two and grinned, “You handsome boy and pretty girl, you make a stunning couple! How about a pair of rings?”

In the setting where there were no teenage girls around and only oblivious ahjummas, Kai was suddenly shy around you and stepped slightly away. You smiled politely at the lady and said, “No, we’re not a couple. Thank you, Grandma.”

“Oh,” She said, tsking and squinting over her glasses, her beady eyes darting between the two of you. “Sweet, sweet girl. This fine boy obviously likes you. Give him a chance, oh?” Her smile widened, showing crooked yellowing teeth, and she chuckled. “Keep these, my dear.” She placed two rings, one big and one small, into your palm and folded your fingers onto them. “You will need them someday.” Laughing softly, she shuffled back to her booth.

You gave Kai a pointed look with narrowed eyes and he smiled pathetically.

You led the way out of the small outdoor market to a nearby park. Kai was following you now, not walking side by side, and although you missed his tall wolf-smelling company you grinned to yourself. Despite his smug, y show-off appearance, he was really still a teenage boy inside. Sensitive enough to suddenly become awkward when an old ahjumma off the street thinks he likes me, you thought to yourself with a snicker.

You walked into the shaded area of the trees in the city park, taking a deep breath and sighing as the smell of earth and leaves welcomed you in. You walked along the cobblestone path to the fountain in the center of the park, shaded by trees and surrounded with benches. Beyond the little clearing of the fountain was a small field of luscious green grass. A few kids were playing soccer, and nearby their mothers were sitting on more benches underneath some towering oaks, chatting. Right beyond the field was a small playground, and cobblestone paths snaking through the small park connected all the areas together. The park was bordered with neatly trimmed green bushes, and right next to it was a busy street. It was a beautiful little nature sanctuary in the middle of towering skyscrapers and busy shops.

You sat down on one of the clean, wooden benches next to the fountain. Kai followed suit, clearing his throat and swishing the remaining tea in his cup. You both sat in silence for a while, watching the fountain bubble and gurgle and release a cooling mist when a breeze picked up tiny droplets of the water.

“I’ve been here.” You turned to look at Kai with a bit of confusion. He’d taken his sunglasses off after a quick check that no one could spot the two of you where you sat. His tone was sad, almost depressing, and his eyes were cast downwards. His expression was blank, as if he were thinking deeply about something.

When he didn’t say anything more, you said, “You should have. It’s the park closest to the SM building, right?” You know that wasn’t what he meant, but you needed to fill the growingly uncomfortable silence.

“Yes, but...” Kai pointed at a smooth, large stone that jutted out from the ground as part of the cobble pattern, right underneath the fountain. “Do you see that?” You looked closer. There was a tiny crack underneath the stone, as if it seemed to start from below it and seep out from the edges. It was a deep incision, a scar in the ground.

“I was here with EXO before. All twelve of us, buddies.” he began. “Right when we got here.”

“Your trainee days?” you supplied.

“What? Um, yeah. Our trainee days.” He sighed. “There was this accident. People died. And I don’t know, I don’t remember the details, maybe it was an earthquake, but the earth lifted and it came back down. The streets—this used to be part of the street—it broke up into so many pieces. Kyung—I mean, construction workers—they made this park, smack-dab in the center of the city, to cover up. But I just remember that people died.”

It seemed that whenever Kai said something, dozens of questions appeared in your mind. You chose to ask one.“Why did you mention Kyungsoo?”

“He...” Kai looked away, searching for words. “He was there. I remember that. I don’t know, it was when we were trainees and I was just frightened. I don’t know if we were involved in it. I believe we were, maybe that’s why I remember some of it because I was a part of it.”

You stared at him. “You guys—killed someone?”

You expected the immediate reaction anyone else might have done when asked if they’d been a murderer. Instead, you got the exact opposite, which shocked you even more. Kai was silent, as if thinking about it. As if wondering whether he really was a murderer or not.

“Chen, he...no, it wasn’t Chen. He helped the other people. Yes, that’s what he did.” Kai began to nod, as if to confirm with himself.

Okay, this was enough. “Kai, look at me,” you said demandingly. He whipped his head towards you in surprise, and your heart seemed to skip a beat at his gorgeous but equally animalistic face. You could swear the amethyst purple color was reappearing in his eyes, even though the trees provided so much shade it blocked most of the sunlight. Shadows from the leaves danced over his features. “What happened that day? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He looked away quickly, smiling without humor. “Really, it’s nothing. I don’t know what I’m talking about either. Let’s wave it off as a joke and talk about something else, okay?” He raised his gaze again and widened his eyes in a pleading manner. “Let’s talk about you.”

It was your turn to squirm uncomfortably and look away under his attention. “What about me? There’s nothing interesting about me.”

“I’m sure.” His voice was low and amused, and you rolled your eyes. “How old are you? When’s your birthday?”

“Ooh, getting to the stalker questions already,” you said sarcastically. “Might as well throw in the ‘where do you live’ and ‘do you have any pets that I can kidnap.’”

Kai laughed. “Would you like me to?”

You rolled your eyes. “I’m only a month younger than Sehun. The 24th of May.”

Kai raised his eyebrows. “Okay. I know your age and your favorite bubble tea flavor. That’s enough information to be friends with you for life.”

You snorted as he cracked a smile. “Likewise, then. What about you? Your birthday?”

His growing laughter seemed to die down immediately. His eyes flickered with something you couldn’t identify. “Wouldn’t you be able to find that information on the Internet?”

“Wikipedia isn’t always right,” you pointed out. “And what’s so bad about introducing yourself to me? Have you forgotten your age?”

He paused, his lips forming a word but without the sound. And then Kai looked up, smiling nervously. “Yeah. I’m old. January 26th. Same year as Sehun.” His smile seemed to be stuck on his face as his eyes went blank again. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if he were deep in thought. “Right,” he said, more to himself than to you.

“What do you mean, did you forget your own birthday?” you laughed incredulously. You’d heard Jisang reciting EXO’s birthdays as if the dates were a holy hymn before. For some reason, January 26th just didn’t strike a chord.

“Please, Seoyang, work is tiring.” Kai rubbed his eyes, all of his silly humor gone. He seemed exhausted now. “Or maybe...I just need to get away, what I’m trying to do now.” He coughed, his eyes darting away from you. He took a deep breath. “All this work, you know. I have to juggle work and dancing and excelling at what I can do with staying sane and eating enough and —” Kai stopped abruptly and looked up at you. You met his gaze in time to watch his eyes flicker, first in fear and then as they bore into you with a guarded, icy stare. As if he had said something he wasn’t supposed to and he hoped you wouldn’t catch on to it.

You looked away. His eyes, before humorous and suddenly angry, were too intense. “Eating enough? Staying sane?” You still dared to ask, even though your heart pounded so loudly you were sure he could hear it as well.

“It’s...it’s nothing.”

“Kai, if you haven’t been eating enough I can—”

“No! It’s okay. Just not enough nutrients and stuff. That’s all. It’s nothing.”

“I’ve heard that one too many times, Kai,” you said sternly. What was this boy doing? What was he trying to hide? “Kim Jongin, I just-”

His head snapped up immediately, the amethyst purple returning in his eyes as they filled with anger and fear. “Who gave you the permission to say my name like that? Who?!” He leapt up from the bench and towered over you, his hands suddenly clutching the bench with brute force, his arms pinned to each side of your head. Fear closed your throat up and made it hard to swallow, his sudden movements and explosive reaction enough to start your heart into overdrive. His scent was stronger than ever, his eyes narrowed and his hair standing up from his neck and—was his teeth elongating?

“Who!?” he screamed again, demanding.

“N-nobody,” you said immediately.  Okay, he was really scaring you now. “Isn’t that your name? What’s wrong?” You forced yourself to touch his arm in a weak attempt to calm him down.

Kai stared at your hand for a moment the way an animal would, his mouth slightly slack as if he were preparing to rip it off, but then he dropped his head and took a deep breath. He straightened up, ran a hand through his hair, and seated himself next to you on the bench again, but this time farther away. You were grateful for the distance.

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been so strung up lately, with work and uh—family—and everything.” He sank even lower on the bench, exhaling loudly.

“Family?” you said gently, still breathing hard from the sudden encounter. It was strange—why did he react like that? And why did your body react like that too, so taut and fearful? You’d constantly experienced a fear like never before after you’d met EXO. It was the same prey-instinct. “Like your immediate family?”

He scrunched his eyebrows at the term, shaking his head. You saw him as how he was, especially now—a stressed teenage boy. “No,” he said quickly. “I uh, I consider the band my family. They’re the ones I live with and eat with, after all.”

You nodded, although you found it a little strange that he always brought up eating and food. “Has there been a fight in EXO?”

“It’s noth-” he stopped himself and sighed. “Always. It gets out of hand, and we...go crazy...a lot.” He seemed to choose his words very carefully. He shook his head and straightened up, as if shaking away the bad memories. “Never mind, I came out here to relax.” He glanced at his near-empty cup and stood up.

Kai turned towards you, reaching out his hand and smiling. He looked exhausted and more than a little frazzled now, but he was also genuine. “Want to walk?”

You accepted his gesture and stood up, walking through the park with him hand-in-hand, but this time, you were scared. With Kai going through a dramatic range of moods faster than a girl on her period, you didn’t know what to expect. You could feel your body screaming at you to stop holding hands and make a break for it, but something tied you down.  He looked over at you, smiled softly and sadly, and squeezed your hand.

“Loosen up,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry I’ve been so weird today. Even on days off, I’m just crazy, I guess.” He grinned tiredly. “I won’t hurt you. I would never.”

You swallowed. “I’m not sure about that. You looked like you wanted to bite my head off just now.”

He looked up at you, a little startled and disappointed that you would say that. “Do you fear me? Are you scared of me?”

You stared back at him. Black eyes. No purple. “Why are we talking about you as if you aren’t human?” you accused instead. “As if you’re some sort of monster?”

Kai’s eyes widened slightly, and then he looked forward, at anywhere but you. You could see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “Why are we?” he countered. “Am I a monster to you?”

You searched for any sort of emotion in his voice. There was none. “No.”

“Good.” His answer was short and curt, and he rubbed his neck exhaustedly but didn’t let go of your hand. “I-” he began to start but was cut off by a squeal that had you both jerk your heads up in surprise.

“OMIGOD! OMO! IT’S KAI FROM EXO!”

Oh no.

“What? Where? Who is he with? IS THAT A GIRL?”

“Aw ,” you heard Kai curse under his breath as he immediately ducked his head and pulled you closer, shielding you from any possible cameras and forming a bubble of Kai scent around you again. The heat from him seemed to be blazing, and you had to fight yourself not to instinctively pull away. “Come on!” he murmured in your ear, lengthening his strides and pulling his shades on in one swift move. You stumbled over the cobblestones in an attempt to run with him, but he was too fast and you tripped over a pebble, only to be caught securely against Kai’s chest.

“Up you go,” he grunted, swinging you easily onto his back for a piggyback ride. You had hardly any time to register the movements before you were out of the park and onto the streets.

Your heart thudded and your mind raced, desperately trying to keep up with the pace that the Kai ran at. He was amazingly fast—there was no way the screaming fangirls would catch up to him now. How far was the park from the SM building? It hurt your brain to think about it, and it hurt your eyes to attempt to view your surroundings. The streets seemed to whizz past and there was an insane, almost divine feeling of flying. You could see the parked cars and the lampposts by the sidewalk, things that you didn’t notice before, but they seemed to be left in the dust in a split millisecond.

How did people run like this? The speed at which he traveled seemed to be on the grayed areas between human and superhuman, and it was as if he was only going faster.

“Close your eyes,” Kai said, his voice surprisingly clear and stern. “Do it, and don’t open them until I say so.”

For once in your life, you obeyed.

The feeling of flying seemed to surround you again and your stomach lurched, threatening to empty the jasmine milk tea and other contents onto Kai’s back. You managed to hold it in and the nausea faded when you heard something from the person below you—was that laughter?

“Did you see their faces?” Kai was sniggering. Suddenly, it was as if you couldn’t feel the ground beneath you.

“No,” you replied scathingly with your eyes shut. “You whisked me away before I could even see who said it. How are there no footstep sounds, anyway?”

Kai threw his head back and laughed happily. “What are you talking about? You can open your eyes now.”

Sure enough, the silent yet distinct clomp of Kai’s basketball shoes as they jogged easily along the cement—at a more human pace now, you noticed—reached your ears. As you opened your eyes, you realized with a start that you were back at the street across from the SM building. How did that happen?

“It took us at least half an hour to get from Tea Station to the park, how are we back—?”

“Check the time,” Kai replied triumphantly, bending down so you could climb off his back. You pulled out your phone and indeed, half an hour had passed since you had been at the park.

“Wha-?” You were dumbfounded. It had barely seemed like five minutes.

He glanced at you with a big smile and took your hand again, shrugging with a new swagger. He looked happy again, and he chuckled, his face flushed but exhilarated. “I guess that piggyback ride was so smooth you hardly felt anything.” He used the same low, purring voice he used on the girl and paired it with an extremely seductive wink.

Your heart seemed to flip in your chest but you rolled your eyes at him and punched his arm playfully, eliciting an even louder laugh from him as he lazily let go of your hand and rested an arm on your shoulder. Without being able to help it, you were smiling too. His arm was intensely hot and feverish, but you let it stay there.

“Honestly, you should’ve seen your expression,” Kai said, grinning boyishly as you crossed the street and neared the SM building. “That was priceless.”

“Because, as ridiculous as it sounds, it seemed like you were flying,” you snorted.

“I didn’t fly.” He turned to face you, steering you away from the main entrance where tourists and fans still flocked, going towards the back where he had taken you out of the building from. His eyes twinkled and your brain whirled. “I teleported. I told you I would show you.”

You glared at him. “Stop it with the powers and all. I get it, I get it. All hail EXO aliens, whatever.”

Kai chuckled, flashing his white teeth. “We’re not aliens, we’re—”

He cut himself off abruptly and froze in his step as he saw something in front of you. His eyes widened and his skin paled a few shades underneath his deep tan. You looked at him in confusion and then into the shadows casted by the SM building. There was a tall figure. Someone standing there. You squinted but you couldn’t see against the glare of the light.

Kai trembled slightly. His arm went slack on your shoulder and you quickly shook it off.

The figure stood out into the sunlight, his arms crossed, and from his expression, the same amount of fear struck you.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

A/N: Ohohohohohoooo with all the moodiness going on, who do you think the person is? Leave a comment below!

So so sorry for the late updates! Since I'm a lousy person, I wrote a super duper long chapter for you guys, I hope you liked it! If so, please leave a comment and subscribe and upvote if you haven't already; it makes my day and you can read more updates to come! Thank you so much guys! Love love love! (love that song by the way) ~xoxo <3