Chapter Text
The children clapped in awe, completely entranced by his sister’s outstanding performance. Hyuna’s cocoa brown long ponytail swished gracefully as she bowed with a blush decorating her charming face. Indeed, her singing was powerful, rich and brimming with potential—the segyein caretakers clapping in courtesy whilst recording the siblings' capabilities and areas for improvement.
“Sis, you did amazing!”
She spun around with a bright grin, “Yeah!”
Hyunwoo never heard this level of applause when he sang alone or as the lead; likewise it was generally only when Hyuna had her brother as a supporting vocalist was her singing at its best. The Anakt Garden teachers disapproved of this dependency between pet-humans when it came to singing, however since siblings were a rare sight and both still very young, there was plenty of time to instil the separation of their performer identities. Hyunwoo was at a clear disadvantage to his older sister, with a tendency to harmonise with any melody—musical intuition perfect for choir practice but ultimately pulling his scores lower in more important subjects.
They were training to participate in Alien Stage, afterall, a place where only one absolute can dominate.
“What a shame, the boy shows promise but you never know if pet-humans from the same womb properly mature like the others”.
Hyunwoo was never vex when teachers or peers looked at him with pity or mixed emotions, he simply loved his sister -everything about her and more—and as long as he kept up with the class they would be together. Even if Hyunwoo carried a sense of inferiority deep inside, his beloved sister similarly showered him in unconditional love that washed away that darkness. The curriculum would soon intensify in its next phase, and he promised himself to try as hard as possible and excel. For now Hyunwoo was content to play in confined freedom, basking in the endless fun he had with his sister and being her biggest supporter no matter what.
But one night completely shook his steadfast determination.
Anakt Garden had brutal procedures meant to stamp out imperfection in children. He was walking out of the facility with his brain feeling as though it had been microwaved—the taste of death lingering on his tongue. Overhearing the segyein caretakers organising the ‘yellow letter’ list. A letter sent to owners whose pets lacked raw talent in their formative years or with faults that could not be corrected by machines and conditioning. The owners then weighed whether to continue investing in their musical education or discard the kindergarten child.
When Hyunwoo heard his file being discussed his face went aflame with shame, anger, regret and sadness. His singing did not match Alien Stage’s success criteria like his sister did with flying colours—they said it was his mentality of attachment, his voice was missing an edge -ego. He couldn’t let Hyuna find out and burden her with the information her behaviour could have contributed to this problem, but to Hyunwoo there was no right place for the blame to go other than himself.
Hyunwoo was the one who was weak to begin with, always protected by his older sister. Hyunwoo was the one who failed to respond to the correction procedures, showing stagnating improvement in his cortex scans and vocal analysis. Hyunwoo was the one risking his sibling bond because he wasn’t good enough.
How do you polish a rock into a stone?
The boy ran with light steps into the main yard—it was empty and cold with artificial stars illuminating the grass blue. Hyunwoo was last to finish the check up with everyone else already sleeping, that’s why he caught the caretaker’s conversation. He tripped over the hill, knees glued to the ground as he gripped the grass. Huffing intensely with tears streaming down his face as he was overcome with the fear and guilt the situation gave him.
There was another child laying in the grass right next to where Hyunwoo fell. They appeared to have dozed off in the taller shrubs and their small body went unnoticed during pack up time. Their platinum blond hair poked out from the bush in a dizzy awakening, white emerging from the spot.
‘Cold…’ The child thought.
They crawled closer to Hyunwoo who looked up in surprise, quickly wiping the snot, sweat and tears from his face in embarrassment. “W-what are you doing here, L-Luka… Oh…” Hyunwoo was reminded of the yellow letters, the beautiful angelic looking child at the top of that list. Hyunwoo was overwhelmed being reminded of the segyein’s cruelty when they bemoaned the struggles and complications they had to deal with—the classmate ‘Luka’ was infamous for his terrible constitution which gave him a poor mental devlopment at birth despite being one of the older kids.
Hyunwoo tried hurrying away but his sensitive ears noticed chattering and he froze. Luka slowly shifted towards him whilst shivering horribly, it seemed the somewhat chilly environment could kill him.
Suddenly, a biting cold sensation exploded on his red cheeks as Luka held the side of Hyunwoo’s heated face.
Before he could say anything another hand reached to cup the other side of his face; and now his heart wasn’t just racing due to stress but now with the added strange sense of intimacy the other boy moved with. Hyunwoo’s face melted at the soothing coolness and he unconsciously tilted his head further into the hold—seeking reprieve from the turmoil he felt but could not reveal to Hyuna. Luka’s hands slipped further up below Hyunwoo’s puffy tear stained eyes that burned with heat. The blond boy’s fingers wandered to Hyunwoo’s sweaty bangs and absorbed the warmth from his forehead too. Luka took a moment to stare at the twinkling stars then back to boy's face, moist half-lidded eyes causing his grey irises to glimmer.
Hyunwoo’s blinking red collar had calmed to orange and he retracted from the touch, pulling Luka up by the hand to drag him inside to the sleeping quarters. “I’m sorry,” he sniffled, grip unintentionally tightening Luka’s now normally tempted hand. Hyunwoo was still hot from the running and recovering from the fact he had a near breakdown in front of the weirdest kid in their class.
Luka’s gaze remained blank throughout the whole interaction, stoic expression not faltering once—not visibly at least. Not that Hyunwoo was looking, as he faced squarely away from Luka, said boy nibbling his free hand to chase the warmth still lingering there. They were at the end of the yard and had to walk all the way to the opposite side. Luka began wheezing, breaths shaking his whole frail body.
“Are you ok?!” Hyunwoo tugged the boy closer to lean on him as he let the coughing fit pass. “Do you want me to carry you?” Luka shook his head, not letting go of Hyunwoo’s hand and pressed into his side. They separated at the sleeping quarters silently as Luka had a special chamber his owner paid extra for while Hyunwoo had a normal room.
“I hope you’re alright…” Hyunwoo whispered as he scampered off back outside to wait for his collar to go green.
“...” Luka sunk into the medical cot, drowsiness overtaking him once more.
‘It’s not warm enough…’ He pushed into the fluffy blanket with a light sigh.
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