Luhan.

I’ve got a big job to do. We all do. Sometimes we know what our job is, sometimes we live our whole lives without knowing.

But I know what my job is.

---

I always avoided people. It just became a habit. I knew there was something different about me, something that just kept me from fitting in. At first I didn’t want to be left all alone, and I tried to get along with as many people as I could, but it never worked out. I felt like there was something buried deep inside of me that I had to keep a secret. But I could never find it.

I still remember on that day when I ran out into the fields and stayed there for a day. The grass was long, some flowers were in bloom and the wind left a crisp coolness on my cheeks. I was having fun by myself running around and hiding in the grass by myself. It had been a while since I had had that much fun, and even longer since I had just played like a young boy. I didn’t notice the sun getting covered by clouds as it started to set until I felt the steadily growing rain on my back. I ran straight into a little cave I had spotted earlier, and huddled up in there. I leaned my head against the wall of the cave and started to drift off. It was a pleasant sleep, and I woke up to the smell of wet grass and damp air on my face. The rain was still going, but it was getting lighter. I decided to play with some stones while I waited for the rain to ease up, and I made myself a small castle out of them. I got a little bored of making castles, so I played with my hands for a bit. I interlocked my fingers and made different shapes with them. It turned into a little bit of a dance, and I started waving my hands in a mystical fashion. I faced my palms upwards and lifted them slowly, then turned them palm down and dropped them quickly. As I did I heard a loud clunk that made me jump. I turned in the direction I heard, and saw my little castle broken in a scattered pile across the floor. I lifted my hands the same was as before, but keeping my eyes locked on the rocks. They slowly lifted up with the movements of my hands, and dropped when mine did. I freaked out, and ran into the grass, not caring that I was getting soaked through. I focused on some grass in front of me and lifted my hands up. I saw the grass getting longer, and then I saw the clump of dirt and roots lift into the air. I dropped it back in its place and grabbed a different section of dirt. I held it up with one hand and lifted another clump of grass with my other. I dropped them both and tried to lift up several clumps of dirt. I focused as hard as I could, and about seven clumps of dirt and grass lifted up into the air. I didn’t know what to do then, so I just ran. I didn’t stop running until about two towns over. I had no idea what I was going to do now that I knew what was different about me.

I lived the next few years in school trying to flat out avoid any social interaction of any kind. I was so scared that I would give myself away. I always felt like someone was watching me, like I was never alone. I gave up eating out, and just lived my life as school and home. But one day on my way home from school a boy I barely knew stopped me.

“Hey! Luhan!”

I whipped my head around and looked around to find who had called me.

“Luhan, your name is Luhan right?”

I nodded slowly, not knowing what he wanted. The guy was in my gym class, and he was freakishly good at massages.

“My names Lay, I walked you to the first aid room when you fell in rock climbing a while ago, remember?”

“Yeah…”

He held out his hand and I awkwardly shook it.

“Are you sure that your back is all good? It doesn’t hurt now?”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you for walking me to the first aid room though.”

“Are you 100% sure that your back isn’t sore at all? If you need another massage you can just ask.”

“Thank you, I’m all good.”

I bowed slightly and started to turn around and continue on my way home, when he stopped me.

“Hey, Luhan. You look pretty lonely in school, do you have someone to talk with afterschool?”

I kind of squirmed a little under my skin. I was so used to just listening to other people talk that it was uncomfortable to be in a conversation for this long.

“Are you busy tonight?”

“Uh… J-Just homework… You know, maybe some extra study for the finals soon…”

“Well let’s go eat out then. My treat.”

“I don’t know…”

“Come on! It’ll be fun! Show me your favourite place to eat and I’ll pay.”

I gave up and led him to one of my old favourites. We found an empty table in the back corner and ordered our food.

“So Luhan, do you have friends?”

“Not really… I prefer to be by myself…”

“You’re joking, I know it. You’re just lonely and you got used to being alone.”

“H-How did you?”

“A friend of mine told me. I know that sounds creepy, but it’s true.”

“Is that why I’ve always felt watched?”

“Possibly. Have you ever seen someone watching you?”

“No…”

“Ok.”

Our food came along and we dug in straight away. When we were most of the way into our meals, Lay started another conversation.

“So Luhan, is there a reason why you isolate yourself? Even I’ve noticed you going out of your way to avoid people. Are you ok?”

I stayed quiet and continued to eat my food.

“Do you have a big secret? One that you know you have to keep secret?”

I nodded my head shyly and tried to eat what little was still on my plate.

“I have a big secret too. I had no idea, yet I used my secret every day without realising. I know what my secret is now, but before I did I was exposing my secret all the time, risking being found. But now I don’t risk it anymore. Is it the same for you?”

“Yeah, sort of…”

“Could you tell me about it?”

“Well… I knew I had something different, something secret. I was always worried it was bad if someone found out about it, so I just stopped trying to talk with people so I didn’t reveal it on mistake.”

“Do you know what you secret is?”

I nodded slowly, trying to avoid eye contact.

“You can tell me. I’d like to know what your secret is.”

I shook my head. No way was I going to tell him this. It was weird enough that I had only really talked to him today and he already wanted to know my secrets.

“I’ll show you my secret first if you like.”

He waited for me to nod, and he grabbed the wilting flower that was decorating the table. He gently wafted his hand around the flower, and it started to come back to life. I could feel my eyes bulge in disbelief.

“Cool, isn’t it?”

I nodded, I was shocked.

“Is that why you’re so freakishly good at massages?”

“Yes, I have the power of healing. But it’s a secret. Don’t tell anyone.”

I still didn’t believe him so I grabbed my knife and wiped it clean.

“What are you doing Luhan?”

“If you can heal, you should be able to fully fix up a small cut.”

I cut the knife into the print of my thumb, and immediately it started to sting as blood slowly oozed out. Lay grabbed my hand and delicately pressed his thumb on mine and wiped the blood off. I looked at my thumb when he did, and there was no sign of any cut at all.

“What the hell are you?”

“Luhan, I’m just like you. You have a secret and I do too. Can you share yours now?”

“Find me after school at the gates tomorrow.”

I ran off without even thanking him for the meal and went straight for home. I could barely sleep that night, I kept waking up and feeling like I was still being watched. But I went to school the next day and met Lay at the gates afterschool. He greeted me, but I led him in silence to an empty park nearby.

“Where won’t we be seen by anyone?”

“Probably behind those trees.”

“Ok good. Promise you won’t tell anyone what I can do?”

“As long as you don’t tell anyone about me.”

“Watch this.”

I grabbed a clump of dirt in front of us and made it float. Then I picked up dead weeds and made them float too. I dropped them back on the floor.

“So that’s what you can do.”

“Yeah, but I found out that I sometimes do it unconsciously. So I didn’t want to be with someone and accidentally lift something.”

“Oh, so that’s why you were always alone…”

I walked over and flattened the dirt I just lifted so that it didn’t look suspicious. When I looked up, I saw two pairs of feet instead of one.

“I thought we were alone!”

“Luhan, this is Kai, he’s the guy who told me about my powers.”

“Hey Luhan. It looks like you know how to use your telekinesis fairly well.”

“How did you get here?”

“I can teleport.”

He clicked his fingers and mover to the other side of Lay in what seemed like a millisecond.

“Looks like I need to catch up on some stuff…”

---

I know what my job is now. I know how important it is to keep it secret. At least until we can find all twelve of us.