Shim Changmin sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror. Today was his sixteenth birthday. His mother had told him that everything would change for him, but he didn't feel any different.

"Changmin!" A voice yelled. "Get down here now!"

Changmin jumped and spun around, recognizing the voice of his younger brother, Soohyun. "I'll be down in a minute!"

"Mom and Dad want you down here now! They've got something to tell you!"

Changmin rolled his eyes. With a groan, he turned and walked out of his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. He moved quickly down the stairs, moving past Soohyun, who smirked at him.

"They're in Dad's workroom." he said smugly. "What did you do this time?"

Changmin ignored him, just walked towards his fathers workroom, wondering what was going on. Their father never let him or Soohyun into his workroom unless one of them was in trouble or there was something important they needed to talk about.

Carefully, he knocked on the door, then opened it. "Father?" he asked.

"Come in, Changmin. Shut the door behind you."

Changmin walked further inside, then shut the door. "Um, what's going on?"

"Come in and sit down. We have something to tell you." Mr. Shim replied.

Changmin hesitated, then walked towards the desk and settled himself into a chair.

Mr. Shim was the first to break the silence. "Your mother and I have discussed this and decided we should tell you now."

"Tell me what?" Changmin looked from his mother to his father, feeling confused.

Mrs. Shim spoke up. "You're adopted, Changmin."

"What?" Changmin exclaimed. "But... That's not possible! I've seen pictures..." Changmin's voice trailed off as he remembered that he'd never seen pictures of his mother when she was pregnant. Not with him, not with Soohyun. "Is Soohyun adopted as well?"

Mr. Shim shook his head. "No, he's not."

Changmin stared at them. "Why did you tell me this? Are you trying to tell me something?"

"No, of course not!" Mrs. Shim said. "Did you think we were going to kick you out?"

"We thought you'd be mature enough to handle this." Mr. Shim explained. "Please do not prove us wrong. You're dismissed."

Changmin felt his heart sink into his chest. Dismissed. His own father was treating him like he was a servant. But he's not your father, remember? a voice spoke up. You're adopted.

Changmin stood up abruptly, turning and leaving the room quickly. He stormed past Soohyun, who gave him a look of surprise as he passed.

"What happened?" he called. "Did you get into trouble?"

Without thinking, Changmin turned around and hissed at Soohyun, his eyes narrowed angrily.

Soohyun's mouth dropped open. "C-Changmin?" he stammered. "What's with you?"

Changmin spun around without answering him and went up to his room. Once there, he started pacing around, thinking about what had happened. Why had his parents told him now? They could've easily waited until he was eighteen, then his father could have kicked him out. Was it possible that his own father didn't want him to be happy on his birthday?

Changmin dropped onto his bed as memories flooded him. Memories of his father staring at him, his mouth curved into a disapproving frown. He's never liked me. Changmin thought. Not like he likes Soohyun.

"You're not a part of his family, remember? It makes sense that he'd like Soohyun better." A voice said softly.

Changmin spun around, looking for the source of the voice. "Who's there?"

"Look behind you." the voice whispered.

Changmin spun around again, only seeing his reflection in the mirror. "Is this some kind of joke?" he demanded.

"Of course not." the voice said smoothly. "I'm right here, all you have to do is look."

Changmin frowned. Why did it sound like the voice was purring? And what did it mean by look? There was no one else in the room.

"I'm right here, right in front of you, Changmin."

Changmin looked around again. What did that mean? He turned his head sharply to the right when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

His reflection smiled at him, then waved. "Hello, Changmin."

Changmin stared at the mirror, he was completely speechless. What was going on? It couldn't be possible that his reflection was talking to him.

"It's entirely possible." his reflection told him. "Though I'm not your reflection, not really. I'm just using your reflection to talk to you."

"Who are you?"

"My name is of no importance." His reflection told Changmin.

"What am I supposed to call you then? Mirror Me?"

"Fine. You may call me Hidenori." As he said that, the image changed into a young man who was shorter than Changmin, though he looked older. His hair was black with red streaks in it, falling down over his eyes, which were a piercing shade of blue.

"What do you want with me?" Changmin demanded.

Hidenori smiled. "You're one of us."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We call ourselves 'kyoudai'. It means-"

"Powerful, I know. What makes you think I'm one of you?"

"You have powers, like we all do."

Changmin snorted. "Yeah, right."

Hidenori looked over at Changmin's desk. "There's a mirror in there. Go get it and take a good look at yourself. Especially your eyes."

Changmin hesitated. How did Hidenori know about the mirror?

Almost as if he'd read Changmin's mind, Hidenori answered him. "My power doesn't have a name, but it has to do with mirrors. I always know where there's a mirror."

"Oh." Changmin walked over to his desk and pulled out the small mirror he kept in the top drawer. He looked in and nearly dropped it when he saw his eyes.

"Believe me now?" Hidenori asked, mockingly.

Changmin ignored him. He turned the mirror over, then turned it back over, hoping the image would have changed. It hadn't; his eyes were still dark yellow with slit pupils, like a cats'. "What happened to me?"

"Your powers appeared. Every kyoudai comes into their power on their sixteenth birthday."

"I don't want it!" Changmin exclaimed, slamming the mirror down on his desk. "I never asked for this power!"

"No one does. It just happens." Hidenori replied, sounding sympathetic. "However, there is a way for you to get rid of it."

"How?" Changmin asked.

"Come with me." Hidenori waved his hand and the surface of the mirror started rippling. "Just walk into the mirror. I'll take you to the Elder and he'll tell you how to get rid of your power."

Changmin hesitated, then walked towards the mirror. "This... Elder will be able to help me?"

"Yes. He's our leader. He will know how you can do it."

"Fine." Changmin reached out, expecting to touch the cold, hard surface of his mirror. Instead, his hand sank into something that felt like warm sludge.

"Just walk forward. You'll be here soon."

Changmin closed his eyes, then moved forward, disappearing into the mirror.

His family never saw him again.