another world

gifted child

For as long as Luhan could remember, he saw things that his mother couldn't see and she dubbed them to be his "imaginary friends" and she believed that soon he'd be out of that phase. Luhan hadn't cared what they were called; he liked them and they were beautiful creatures. When he was younger, his mother took him to the park and Luhan would sit on the swings that faced the small acre of woods where he'd watch beautiful young girls play in the sunlight; their pinkish hair shimmered in the sunrays and their toxic green eyes were always lit with mischief. Luhan would just sit there and smile before shyly asking if he could play with them; they always spoke in a foreign language that sounded mostly of soft hisses that didn't sound threatening, but they'd always accept Luhan with open arms until his mother called him back to her side to go back home.

When he had turned ten, it was as if the world had become sharper to Luhan's vision. He started to draw the creatures he saw outside through the window of his classroom; many times he won awards for his creative drawings or scolded for not paying attention in class.

Often, the art teachers would ask him where he got the inspiration to make these creatures.

Luhan would simply reply with, "I see them outside a lot. They're beautiful, aren't they?"

During recess, he wouldn't play with the other children; he kept mostly to himself. Luhan would sit a couple feet from the threshold of the woods-never too close though; something told him to be careful-and he would sketch the individual that would crawl, slither, or sprint through the open patches that Luhan could peer through.

Luhan had paused with one of sketches when the foliage a few feet from him shifted. He put down his pencil and looked up to see two young boys around his age, staring inquiringly at him, "Hello," Luhan said quietly.

The tannest of the two gripped the other boy's hand while leering at Luhan. He turned to his partner and whispered something softly to the shorter boy, who had the darkest eyes Luhan had even seen before.

The dark eyed boy scoffed at whatever the other had said, "You can see us?" he asked.

Luhan was startled at first; his voice sounded surreal, "Umm...yes? Why couldn't I?"

"You're not supposed to be able to see us, Mundane," the one who glared at Luhan spoke sharply.

"Am I not supposed to see those things either?" Luhan asked. He pointed to small creature that was as tall as a crayon, and it looked like some kind of mutated fairy, "I always see them. Are you one of them too?" Luhan asked. He could faintly see dark symbols that were poking out from where the collar of their shirts didn't cover their skin and on the back of their hands, and on the dark eyed boy, he had a symbol on the right side of his neck.

The tannest boy gave Luhan the most revolted expression as if Luhan had offended his mother in six different languages, "No!" the boy shrilled so loudly that his voice had cracked.

"Jongin, shut up; you're making such a scene," the dark eyed boy hissed.

Luhan tilted his head curiously, "You have a normal name?"

"Duh, why wouldn't I? And I prefer to be called Kai. You're the one with the weird name," Kai scoffed.

"Hey," Luhan flushed with annoyance, "how do you even know my name in the first place?" he demanded.

The dark eyed boy sighed and sat in front of Luhan, ignoring Kai's scolding tone, "We can't say a lot, but we see you sometimes when...when we're going out for walks."

"Really?" Luhan asked. Being as young as he was, he didn't question why the boy was being so vague.

"Yea," Kai said. He flinched when the shrill bell rang from the school.

Luhan stood up and dusted off his pants and looked back at the school, "I'm sorry that we can't continue talking, but-" he cut himself off when he turned to face the two boys, but they were no longer there. Luhan frowned, "Okay...well, see you guys later I guess," he muttered. He puffed his cheeks before cupping his hands around his mouth, "My name is Luhan! And yes it's weird because I'm actually Chinese!" he declared. He stood there until his teacher called for him to come inside. Luhan picked up his sketch book and saw that a smiley face had been drawn on there. Luhan traced the lines that made the name that was next to the smiley face.

"Taemin," he murmured. Luhan threw a final glance back at the woods before hurrying back to class so he could enjoy his snack that the teacher was giving out to each student.

Maybe I'll see Kai and Taemin again. Luhan thought. He looked out the window, but the area was just the same.

Some day.