When Sungmin could see a black butterfly on top of a person’s head, it means that the person’s days are numbered. He couldn’t tell when exactly the day or date the person will die. He just knows that the person’s death is coming.

This unique ability started when he was 7 years old at a Halloween party. “Wow! There’s a lot of black butterflies. Does that mean a lot of people will die?” Sungmin’s mom told him not to joke or talk like that. “But mom…can’t you see all these butterflies?” Sungmin’s mom said she couldn’t see a single butterfly around.

“Mom, I’m scared.” Sungmin whimpered and held his mother’s skirt as he saw that a lot more black butterflies were starting to appear. There were so many of them that the ceiling could no longer be seen. Sungmin’s mother was starting to think that his son was delusional and was getting worried that perhaps his son might have mental problems.

“Or perhaps your son is just claustrophobic.” A handsome stranger said as he approached Sungmin’s mom. “Shall I take your son outside for a while?” Sungmin’s mom seem to easily trust the stranger and was even thankful because honestly, she wasn’t really able to enjoy the party with Sungmin around.

Sungmin observed the stranger from head to foot. The stranger was wearing a vampire costume but ironically, he had cross earrings. “Aren’t vampires suppose to be scared of cross because it’s harmful for them?”

“I’m not a real vampire, kid. Now, let’s take a walk outside.” The stranger took hold of little Sungmin’s hand as they exited the building. They stayed at a garden outside the building.

“Mister, are you cold? You have a really cold hand. Let me warm it up.” Sungmin rubbed the stranger’s hand between his own cute little hands. He also blew warm air on the stranger’s hand.

“Cute kid.” The stranger chuckled as he tugged on the bunny ear of Sungmin’s costume. “What’s your name?”

“Sungmin. What’s yours?”

“I don’t have a name.”

“Eh?!?! How can that be? Didn’t your mother give you a name?”

“I don’t have a mother.” The stranger sat on the bench. He carried Sungmin and placed the child on his lap. “Why don’t you give me a name?”

“Okay…let me think…um…” That’s when the building suddenly exploded. Sungmin was stunned. He could only watch as the building was collapsing. He could only hear cries of fear, shock and panicked from the people. He could see few people running out and able to escape from the building. But among those few, his mom was there.

“Mom!!!” Sungmin yelled but then his mouth was covered by the stranger. The stranger carried Sungmin as they both hid behind a large tree. He struggled, trying to escape from the stranger’s grip. He only stopped struggling when he heard a gunshot. He was able to manage a peak from what was going on the other side of the tree. He saw one person lying on the ground with blood spilling out and a blank butter flying resting on the person’s head.

A series of gunshots followed. One by one, the people who managed to escape from the building, fell to the ground and died. Sungmin watched as his mother fell to the ground just like the others. The black butterflies, which were flying before, were now resting on top of the people’s bodies. Sungmin started to cry.

“Sungmin, I know it hurts but you have to promise me that you will stay hidden until the rescue team or police arrives.” The stranger said as he wiped the tears on Sungmin’s face. “And you have to cry silently too or else you’ll get killed by them too.”

Sungmin nodded. “But where are you going?” When the tears were wiped away, more tears would roll down on his cheeks.

“I have business to attend to.” The stranger’s black, vampire cloak turned into a large pair of black butterfly wings. Sungmin continued to stare as the stranger walked towards the building. The bad people didn’t seem to notice him but what surprised Sungmin the most was that the stranger was starting to collect the souls of the dead people.

Sungmin was distracted when the police came. There was a fight going on between the bad people (Sungmin didn’t really know if they were rebels, terrorists or murderers) and the police. Some bad people were caught and shot by the police. The fight ended when the bad people retreated and was able to escape. Sungmin turned to look at the dead bodies and the collapsed building. The stranger was no longer at sight and the black butterflies were gone.

When Sungmin’s grandparents decided to take him in, Sungmin instantly saw a black butterfly on top of his grandfather’s head. He immediately told them that grandfather was going to die. Of course, they didn’t believe him. But two days after, Sungmin’s grandfather died from a car accident. Sungmin’s grandmother started to think Sungmin was cursed and was probably the cause of his mother’s death because they were together at that time.

At school, Sungmin saw a black butterfly on top of the student, who kept on bullying him and to other weak students. Even if he didn’t like the student, he still told the bully to be careful because he might die. The bully simply laughed and said “If there’s going to be anyone who would die here, you’ll be the first to die.” A week later, the bully died from a disease.

People kept their distance on Sungmin. They thought that if they’re going to make Sungmin angry at them, they might die. They also avoid Sungmin’s eyes because they believe that if Sungmin would stare at them, they might die.

“Good morning, classmates! My name is Kim Jongwoon. I hope we’ll get along and have fun this school year.” A new student introduced himself. Sungmin can’t stop staring at him because he instantly recognized him as the stranger he met years ago. It was the exactly the same face, hair and body. It didn’t age or change at all. But the most outstanding feature that made him confirm that it was the same stranger he met years ago, was the large black butterfly wings sprouting out from Jongwoon’s back.

“Bad news, Jongwoon. Sungmin is staring at you.” Donghae whispered to Jongwoon. Jongwoon was about to turn his head to look at Sungmin but…”Don’t look!!!” Jongwoon instantly turned his head to look at Donghae again.

“Why are you panicking?” Jongwoon asked. “So what if Sungmin stares?”

“If you’re going to make Sungmin angry or if Sungmin stares at you for a long time, you’re going to die!!!” Eunhyuk explained. “Two students and one teacher already died because of him. Oh man, this is really bad. He didn’t stop staring at you since you’ve introduced yourself in front of the class.”

At that moment, Jongwoon decided to approach Sungmin with his tray of food. He didn’t care what other people would say. “Hi! Your name is Sungmin, right? You seem to be pretty much popular.” Jongwoon said as he took a seat beside Sungmin. “Mind if I eat lunch here?”

Sungmin snorted when he heard the word popular. Yeah, he was popular in a bad way. “I don’t mind but I don’t think your friends appreciate being ditched. You’ll be an outcast if you decide to hang out with me.”

“Well, if what they say about you is true and if I’m going to die, then I won’t need any friends to begin with right?” Jongwoon said as he happily continued eating his lunch. People were surprised by Jongwoon’s actions but they couldn’t hear the conversation between Sungmin and Jongwoon because they were situated at a far corner at the cafeteria. Nobody dares to be in a close distance with Sungmin.

“I thought you don’t have a name.” Sungmin suddenly said.

“Huh?” Jongwoon paused from eating.

Sungmin continued to stare at Jongwoon. “Do you really not know anything? Don’t you recognize me?”

“Have we met before?” Jongwoon asked. He was still quite confuse and didn’t understand what Sungmin was talking about.

“Never mind. Forget about what I said.” Sungmin continued with his lunch.

Later that afternoon, after classes, Jongwoon approached Sungmin again. “Where do you live? Maybe we can walk home together if we’re going to the same direction.”

Sungmin should decline. He knew that it would be better for Jongwoon if he would decline but for once, he wanted to be selfish. He wanted to experience what it would be like walking home with a friend. He was never able to do that before. Coincidentally, they live at the same neighborhood.

“Since we both live quite near to each other, why don’t we go to school together in the morning?” Jongwoon offered. It was mostly Jongwoon doing the talking and Sungmin was simply listening but Sungmin loved every moment of it.

But with Jongwoon’s question, Sungmin knew that he had to cut their short-time friendship. “No. I think it’ll be better if we don’t hang out with each other. It’ll be better if we don’t become friends. It’s not too late for you to go back and continue being friends with the people you met today. Make a lot of friends and have a fun school year with them. You won’t be dying anytime soon.”

“So the rumors about you aren’t true?”

“Think what you want about the rumors.” With that said, Sungmin entered in his house and closed the door. Sungmin watched from the window of his room as Jongwoon was leaving.

What happened, Jongwoon? Why can’t you remember that you are Death himself?

THE END

A/N:  Just to clarify things, Sungmin was the only one who could see Yesung's wings.  Comments please?