"They Told Me To Come Here"

Mark placed his order inside with one of the workers that he had grown fond of over the years, Sam. But instead of returning to his group of friends, he sat at the bar inside the cafe. 

He just needed a minute or two to himself, not that he didn't want to be around his friends. But, it was as if he was carrying this dark cloud around with him. And whenever he was reminded of his 'inability' to perform his abilities, well, it stormed.

The guys don't deserve this, Mark thought to himself. He didn't want his friends to have to put up with his slight depressive mood. His friends deserved to laugh and enjoy themselves, not be around someone who is going to make the moment mundane and miserable.

He sighed, "How the hell did I even get to this point..." he mummbled under breath, low enough that none of the staff or customers noticed.

Mark thought back to the first day he entered Gisa Hakgyo. He was the new kid, starting in the middle of the semester, it automatically put him behind the other students that were in the same level as him. So he had to work ten times as hard to catch up. He had no room for error.

He felt awkward, not really knowing who to fit in with or how to handle his new found powers. Not to mention, he felt absolutely alone and abandoned. Which, he was. 

He spent quiet days in the classrooms, alienating himself, too angry to talk to anyone for fear of not being able to control himself. He spent long nights in his room, hoping that the days would go by quicker and the nights lasted a little longer, so that he could be alone even more. Even with so much to do throughout each day, the worst part for him though was lunch time. He usually skipped having lunch with his peers. No one had seemed to take interest in him after a few months of being at the school. He was simply, "the new kid with the firey red hair". The nickname didn't bother Mark much though, because no one dared to bother him anyways. And if they knew like Mark knew, with his temper, they wouldn't bother him.

Breaking his thoughts of memories from his first few months at Gisa, Mark scuffed, looking over his shoulder outside to the group of boys who were now people that he called "friends". Back then, they weren't even so much as associates. Glancing them over, one by one, his eyes landed on a laughing BamBam. Seeing BamBam made Mark loosened up again as he continued thinking about his first year at Gisa.

It was one afternoon, Mark was skipping lunch to go hang out in the school's garden, alone, that he ended up bumping into someone he had never seen around the school before. 

Mark eyed him closely, watching as the young boy had snuck over the school's fence. The boy was small Mark thought, he was probably homeless and it looked like he needed a meal, or two. He was very thin and had the face of a child.

Slyly, the young boy ran arched back from one bush to another. Hiding behind each one as he moved. It was almost comical to Mark, watching on, as if no one could see him running. As Mark starred on, he grew curious of the boy and why he was here, sneaking around.

He can't be a NAP... Could he? Mark questioned. A "NAP" was what the supernaturally inclined at Gisa called people who weren't of any supernatural abilities.

Mark, still unsure of the boy's purpose, continued watching him go from bush to bush, up until the moment Mark's eyes met with the younger boy's. Stunned, they both starred at one another for a fraction of a second. Mark shouted "hey" and began to jog over. He curious to find out who this kid was and why he was being so sneaky. But, before Mark could reach the younger lad, the kid disappeared, almost in the blink of an eye.

Mark stopped in his tracks, befuddled.

He's gone... He thought.

Realization set in and Mark's curiousity grew even more as he began to run to where he last saw the boy. He reached the spot, nothing. Gone. He was bemused as to where he could have gone so quickly. He checked behind several of the schools bushes that lined up against the school's brick fence, but no sight of the kid.

"Hmmm, where the hell could he have gone? He couldn't have just disappeared like that..."

As soon as the words left his thoughts, Mark knew what was next.

"When they look, they will not see.
For in other's sight, I will not be."

As Mark recieted the words that he learned from his class weeks before, he entered an alternate world.

Everything was exactly as it was, but the colors around him were desaturated. Trees that were green were now more of a gray. Flowers that had blossomed with bright pinks, yellows, read, and oranges were dull. Nothing was vibrant, until he saw him.

It was the young that had snuck onto campus. In an alternate world where everything was gray, the kid stood there shinning as bright and clear as day.

So, he has the power of invisibility or wizardry... Mark thought.

Mark gasped at the thought, There's more like me... Up until now, Mark was the only Wizard that was enrolled into Gisa, the thought of another person being a Wizard made Mark even more curious to meet this kid.

"Hey, wait!" Mark yelled as the boy noticed Mark could see him. Mark jogged over to the boy, who was looking more hesitant to stay put and frieghtened than welcoming when Mark approached.

"Hey, what's your name kid?" Mark heaved, slight of breath.

"My name is BamBam."

"BamBam?" Mark asked in a tone of disbelief... No wonder this kid looks so sad, he's named after a stupid Flinestones character...

"Yeah..."

"So, 'BamBam', what are you doing here? You know you'll get in trouble if you're trespassing. This is school is private property and you have to check in and have permission to be here..."

"I...They told me to come here..."

"Who... told you to come here?" Mark questioned carefully, putting emphasis on the who.

"I don't know...", BamBam answered with a shaky tone, Mark could tell he was a bit uneasy. 

"...My parents..." Tears began to form in BamBam's eyes as he continued, "...They woke me up in the middle of the night. They said we had to go somewhere and we had to go quickly. I- I didn't know what they were talking about. I didn't understand why we had to go or what was going on..."

A tear fell from BamBam's eyes as he took a breath to steady himself, "...I just got up and went because they told me too. We drove for hours. We passed by so many building, so many trees, so many things that I had never seend before. It was exciting, cool and new, at first. But then we stopped in front of a small fence opening with a path that lead into the woods. It didn't look right, I... I didn't feel right, but my parents said it would be okay, so I went with them... I trusted them. I loved them..."

BamBam stopped speaking, on the verge of breaking down. And suddenly, BamBam became a dull gray inkling in Mark's vision. BamBam blended in now with the gray world before Mark.

BamBam had reversed his invisibility cloak, unable to control his feelings and emoitons at that point. He no longer had the will to keep his powers under control. Mark, realizing that BamBam was no longer invisible, recieted:

"When they look, they will see.
In other's sight, I will be."

And with that, everything was normal again. Mark had to take a minute, feeling light headed from the usage of his powers, before he could console the young boy, who was broken in front of him.

Mark reached a hand out, but BamBam stayed stoic. Lingering, BamBam began to understand that Mark wasn't there to hurt him, but maybe even help. BamBam embraced Mark, as Mark threw his arm around the boy's shoulder, consoling him.

It was then that Mark felt responsible for BamBam, he was just a kid, but had so much hurt already. Mark knew what it was like to be dumped on the side of the road by someone he trusted. But he shook the thought away, not wanting to let his anger show.

Sitting at the bar, in the cafe, Mark smiled at the thought of BamBam after his first year. He was so rambunctious. But being so adorable, Mark couldn't keep from smiling or laughing at him. And, he couldn't stay mad at BamBam no matter what he had done.

He had never had a younger sibling, but if he had, he would want them to be just like BamBam. BamBam was joyous, except for the first year he started Gisa, but really as a new kid, who would be? But after that first year, it was hard for Mark to handle the adorable cuteness of his dongsaeng. There wasn't much that Mark wouldn't do for BamBam. He had to protect him, Mark would always think.

"Here you go M.T." an older guy brought out Mark's order on a tray, "You feeling alright? You're looking a little worn out today." The man remarked.

"Oh, yes sir, Mr. Chee," Mark replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck, a little embarrassed that he showed so much emoition on his face, "Just thinking about a test that I have coming up.

"Alright now, don't stress too hard, make sure you have some fun with your friends in between studying, Mark."

"I will, sir."

"And, be sure to tell those knuckle heads I said come in and speak before they leave! Even after all these years, I still have to wrangle them in." The older gentleman sighed and threw up his hands in defeat and began to tend to another customer.

"Will do, Mr. Chee." Mark took the tray, and with a smile on his face, walked out to rejoin his group of friends.