Welcome one and all to my Mystic Messenger fic! So I've been totally obsessed with this game ever since I found it a couple of weeks ago, and after going through Zen's route and learning a bit about his childhood, the idea for this came to mind. What if he really wasn't human? It's probably something a lot of people have done already, but I'm gonna throw my hat in anyway.

Now I'm not quite sure where to leave the rating for this story. I know it'll either be between T or M, but it depends on how I can get the rest of the story to play out.

This is an AU obviously. The RFA doesn't exist but the other characters will either make an appearance or be mentioned. Anyway, enjoy the story and leave a review if you want.

"He isn't natural!" whispered a woman harshly. "Silver hair and red eyes? That doesn't run in either side of our family!"

"I know, but he is our son," a man whispered back.

"And his looks! He gets followed around everywhere! Everything about that boy is unnatural!" she exclaimed in a hush.

5 year old Hyun Ryu was just outside of the kitchen hearing his parents talk about him. He knew he didn't look like them or his older brother for that matter. They all had dark hair, eyes, and slightly tan skin; he was the only one who stood out.

He knew he was resented by them; everywhere they went, people flocked to the young boy and wanted to take his picture or touch him. Even in school, crowds flocked to him and his teachers cooed over him.

He hated it.

Hyun felt like his features were why his parents didn't love him. They always called him ugly, and gave him unrealistic expectations to succeed in school. "Everyone in your family is a professor or lawyer, and you have to be too!" they'd say to him.

As time went on, Hyun realized that the lives his family lived wasn't what he wanted. He was drawn to the arts; he loved to sing, dance, and perform. It made him happy, and he knew it would upset his parents if they ever found out.

One day in middle school, his mother found him outside of a store singing a song while playing guitar. Furious, she immediately grabbed him and took him home.

"What were you thinking Hyun?!" Mrs. Ryu yelled at him angrily. "You were supposed to be in school!"

"B-But… this makes me happy," stuttered Hyun nervously. "I want to be a performer."

"You aren't talented!" she spat harshly. "You're ugly and no one wants to hear your horrible singing."

Hyun's heart sank.

"From now on, I will be personally taking you to school and picking you up," Mrs. Ryu said as they entered the house. "This ends now."

"But mother…" began Hyun.

"Shut up!" she yelled as she smacked him across the face. "You've already disappointed me and your father enough Hyun. You need to be more like your brother."

His bangs covered his eyes as he shook. His mother had never struck him before. Eyes wide with tears forming, Hyun felt anger well up within him.

"You better not be crying," his mother said, unremorseful in her actions. "Be a man."

Hyun looked up and locked eyes with his mother, red eyes glowing. Her own dark ones widened witnessing the round pupils in his eyes turn to demon-like slits, bright red eyes turning a blood red. She backed away fearfully, not knowing what was going on with the boy in front of her.

"Leave me alone!" he roared.

She flinched at the sound of his voice. It sounded distorted, almost like he was possessed. He took a step toward her, teeth bared angrily. The woman could see elongated canines in his mouth as a growl left him.

"Hyun! You're home!" exclaimed his brother happily.

Hyun immediately snapped out of the haze he was in. His eyes returned to their normal bright color, and his pupils returned to normal. His teeth returned to normal as well as he turned to see his brother coming to greet him.

"H-Hello, big brother," said Hyun with a small smile.

Standing behind him, his mother looked terrified. Seeing the expression on her face, Hyun's brother looked at her with concern.

"Is everything alright mother?" he asked.

"F-Fine," replied their mother. "I-I just… think I might've been working too much."

Taking a shaky breath, she walked past the brothers and up the stairs to her room. She had to have been imagining what she saw.

Now 24, Hyun, going by the stage name ZEN, smiled and winked at the audience as the curtain fell. Being a musical actor was very fun and fulfilling. Returning to his dressing room, he noticed the numerous gifts that took up nearly every corner of the room. He sighed as he sat in his chair, taking his hair out of its ponytail.

"Another successful show," he said to himself as he looked at his reflection. "Ah, you're just too good looking for words."

He dramatically posed in the mirror as he lamented his good looks. Zen had finally gotten confident in how he looked and who he was. He wasn't going to let anyone take it from him; not like his parents tried to do. Chuckling to himself, he changed out of his costume and into his casual clothes.

Zen was about to head out the door, but he stopped in his tracks. Sensing the large crowd gathering outside his dressing room, he panicked. Red eyes darted around desperately for an escape. Finally landing on the window, he quickly opened it up and climbed out before his fans could bang the door down. He ran down the street, enjoying the wind rushing past his face.

Making it to a bus stop, Zen climbed aboard the bus that pulled up to it. Looking for a seat, he noticed a brown haired woman sitting next to the window while reading a book. He approached her, and quietly cleared his throat. Looking up from her book, the woman's brown eyes met Zen's.

"Pardon me," Zen began, "but is this seat taken?"

"Help yourself," was her reply as she turned back to her book.

He felt a bit put off by her dismissive tone.

"Thanks," he said as he sat next to her. "What are you reading?"

"A book," the woman said flatly.

Zen was surprised by her sarcasm at first, but a grin graced his lips.

"Interesting!" Zen said, feigning astonishment and holding a hand to his chest. "A woman reading in this day and age?"

He saw her lips twitch upward for a split second before she schooled her features, brown eyes never leaving the novel in her hands. He was pretty well versed in the language of sarcasm himself.

"So," he began again casually. "What's your name?"

"Isn't it polite to introduce yourself before you ask someone their name?" replied the woman next to him.

Hmm, snarky. He liked it.

"Ah! You are quite right!" he exclaimed, using his acting skills to exaggerate his movements. "Please forgive me!"

An amused sigh left the woman as she rolled her eyes. This man was pretty interesting.

"My name is Hyun," Zen said. "If you couldn't tell, I'm an actor."

"Oh my gosh, really?" the woman said with false enthusiasm. "I totally couldn't tell!"

Zen laughed. "Very funny."

The woman smirked.

"My stage name is Zen, but you can call me anytime," he said with a overly flirtatious wink.

"Okay, that was awful," the woman said as she laughed aloud.

Zen rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, a blush staining his pale cheeks. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you Zen," the woman said with a smile. "My friends call me MC."

She held her hand out to shake his, and Zen covered MC's smaller hand with his large one. A funny feeling washed over him, and his eyes glazed over as he let her hand go. Looking at the man next to her with worry, MC waved her hand in front of the man's face.

"Zen?" she called. "Are you alright?"

Inside of his subconscious, Zen could hear a distorted, sinister voice chuckle.

"Yes… she'll do nicely," the voice rumbled.

Zen could feel his heart beat faster.

"Zen!" MC yelled as she snapped her fingers.

Snapping back to reality, the silver haired man blinked rapidly and looked at the woman next to him. She looked worried and relieved at the same time.

"I thought I was gonna have to call an ambulance or something," she said as she sighed and slumped in her seat.

"S-Sorry," Zen said. "I don't know what happened."

The bus driver announced the upcoming stop, and MC rang the bell.

"My stop's coming up," she said as she stood up. "Are you going to be okay?"

Touched by her worry, Zen replied with a slight smile.

"Yeah… thanks. It was nice to meet you MC."

"Likewise, Mr. Zen," she said with a flourish. "Maybe I'll see you around."

He waved at her as she got off the bus. Sinking into the seat, he knew things were going to get messy.