The sun started to set as Xero and Hansol walked along the cobblestone pathway near the fountain.

“This campus is huge, and there’s so much to do… I think I’m really gonna have a good time here,” Hansol said as they sat on the edge of the fountain.  His phone beeped and he fished it out of his pocket.

From: B-Joo

Hey, I’m ready. Where do you wanna go?

He told Byungjoo to meet him at the fountain and turned to talk to Xero… but he was staring intently at something, or someone.  Hansol followed his line of sight and saw that his eyes were locked with a boy sitting on the bench across from them.

“Xero… you okay?” he asked.  Xero just slowly nodded as the boy got up and walked away.  Hansol could feel the unspoken tension between them.  He couldn’t help but wonder who the boy was, but he didn’t have time to ask before Byungjoo showed up.

“Hey hyung! Who’s this?” Byungjoo asked.

“This is my roommate Xero, he’s invited us to join him and his friends for dinner at Top Class,” Hansol replied.

“Oooh fancy!” Byungjoo said in an unnaturally high voice, getting a laugh from Hansol.

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Kidoh slammed the door to his dorm room and kicked over the trash can.

“What the hell is your problem Kidoh!?” his roommate, Jin asked, looking up from his laptop.

“I saw that bastard Xero… every time I see his face I just want to stab him through the heart!”

“Calm down… was he alone?”

“No… he was with some white-haired kid… it wasn’t Hojoon though,” Kidoh said, sitting on his bed and running his hand through his hair.

“Do you think he could be another one?”  Jin lowered his tone considerably… he was terrified at the possibility of another person like Hojoon and Xero, there were already enough of them.

“Maybe, I’m not sure if his hair is natural or not… either way, I’m tired of sharing this campus with them and pretending like everything is fine,”

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Hansol looked around nervously as he sat down at the large table.  He’d never been in a restaurant this fancy before.

“These dinner rolls are so good! And they’ll just keep bringing more and more!?” Byungjoo asked, his mouth full.

“Yeah,” Xero replied with a chuckle.  It wasn’t long before Xero’s friends arrived… and boy was there a lot of them.  Hansol immediately started to get hot flashes… he wasn’t used to interacting with so many people at once.  Although there were only seven of them, it felt like seven thousand.

“Hey you guys! This is my roommate Hansol and his brother Byungjoo.  Guys, these are my best friends Hojoon, Sehyuk, Sangdo, Gohn, Yano, Seogoong, and Jenissi,” Xero said.  He immediately noticed that Hojoon’s hair was white too.  Hansol scooted over a bit as Sehyuk sat next to him.

“Do I smell weird or something?” Sehyuk asked as he smelled his own armpit.

“Uh… no, it’s just… I… I don’t really know what to say,” Hansol stuttered.

“Chill out dude, there’s no need to be so uptight.  We’re all cool,” Sehyuk assured him.  When the waitress came Hansol hesitated before just ordering a small salad. 

“Uh… I wanna get two lobsters, a steak, a plate of french fries, two cheeseburgers and… four slices of cheesecake,” Sehyuk said.  Hansol and Byungjoo’s jaws dropped, but no one else seemed to pay attention.

“I’ll have everything he ordered, with a side of shrimp,” Sangdo said with a smile.

“You always have to do one better than Sehyuk!” Yano shouted, causing everyone to burst out laughing, including Byungjoo.  Hansol just shifted in his seat, waiting for dinner to be over.

Hours passed and everyone ate, talked and laughed.

“Hansol, you’ve been quiet all night. What’s on your mind?” Xero asked.

“Yeah, we haven’t gotten to know you at all! Tell us about yourself,” Gohn said.  Everyone stared at him, eagerly awaiting his answer.  His heart rate sped up and he started sweating.

“I… I don’t… just… just... LEAVE ME ALONE!” he screamed.  The lights flickered before every light bulb in the building exploded.  Screams filled the air as Hansol ran from the building… he had no idea what was going on, but he knew he needed to get far, far away. 

“Hansol wait!” Xero screamed as he ran after him.  He finally caught up to him halfway down the road.

“Just get away from me!”

“Look, will you just calm down? We were just trying to be friendly!”

“Who asked you to be friendly!? I don’t need friends, I didn’t before and I don’t now!” the louder Hansol screamed, the more thunder could be heard in the distance.

“You’re lying to yourself Hansol… I know how you feel, all of us do.  You feel different, unaccepted, and cast out.  We’ve all been there.  It’s because normal people feel threatened by us because we’re not like them Hansol… we’re like a different species,” Xero put his hand on Hansol’s shoulder.  A tear fell down his cheek, accompanied by heavy rainfall.

“Am… Am I making this happen?” Hansol asked through trembling lips.  Xero nodded.  It all made sense.  He remembered when he got beat up on the playground in elementary school and the wind picked up so much that it almost blew the bullies away.

Xero squeezed his fists together and the rain sloped over them like an umbrella.  Hansol’s eyes grew wide as Xero smiled.

“We have a lot to talk about Hansol.”