|| Chapter 12: A Dangerous Tango ||
The joyous sounds of young children running around with sparklers in their hands filled the park as the festive streets bustled with hundreds of people. Several neighbourhoods had dozens of food stalls and festival game booths, entertaining the crowd. Most people wore hanboks with animal masks to represent their zodiac year while others were dressed casually without a mask. After all, a mask wasn't always compulsory at these types of festivals.
In the middle of one of these crowded streets stood a tall yet athletic-looking teenager, towering most people which caused passersby to gawk at him when they walked past him. Even though he was a teenager, he looked picturesque. The faint warm orange lights of the lanterns hanging from the booths and stalls gently illuminated him. He was dressed in a black chima jeogori with a white tiger mask covering his entire face. A pair of thin crimson bar-shaped earrings dangled from his earlobes, chiming whenever the summer breeze fluttered past him.
His hair was dyed with an extremely dark chilli-red colour and it was slightly longer than usual. His bangs draped over his masks while dark hooded - yet slightly droopy - charcoal-grey coloured eyes peered from the mask's eyeholes. There was a reason why some passersby were gawking at him in awe and others in disbelief; it was because of his black-coloured chima jeogori. This dark-coloured chima jeogori represented creation, intelligence, wisdom, and infinity, but also darkness and death.
A black chima jeogori was often worn by intellectuals, as well as the Grim Reaper. That's why passersby were glancing at him, since he really did look like a young grim reaper, who was ready to take lost souls to their respected afterlife. Yet, he paid no mind to their obvious glances and whispers. 'Where is this?' His thoughts were slightly hazy as his gaze cautiously flickered over the crowd in confusion. 'Ah,' Soon, he realized with wide eyes and bitterly frowned, 'It's when I was still on Earth...'
"You seem distracted, my little star," A familiar soothing voice suddenly mused from behind him, startling him. Swiftly, he looked over his shoulder at the owner of the voice with tense shoulders. It belonged to a gorgeous yet slightly short woman - who was dressed in a traditional navy hanbok with lotus flowers stitched into its hems. Her dark chocolate-coloured hair was tied into a bun with ornaments decorating it.
A grey mouse mask covered her face, but her droopy hazel eyes that peeked through the eyeholes were filled with amusement and care. Her ears adorned a matching set of earrings that he wore. "...Mom?" He uttered out in disbelief before shaking his head in disbelief. How was this possible? With confused yet cautiously narrowed eyes, he kept staring at his mother, who stopped to stand next to him. "Fix your horrible posture, boy," She softly scolded him as she harshly poked his lower back, earning a surprised yelp from him.
Speechless, he stared wide-eyed at her, watching how she huffed and folded her arms over her stomach, hiding her frail hands from the cool summer breeze. He noticed that her gaze was pinned on something in front of them. Slowly, he followed her gaze and tensed up at two familiar figures crouched in front of a 'scoop up a fish!' game booth.
The taller figure of the two was a man in his late thirties - he was dressed in a dark emerald-coloured chima jeogori and a white-gold dragon mask covered his face. His short wavy raven-coloured hair was messily styled over the mask. Next to the man was a ten-year-old girl, playfully teasing him when she skillfully caught a goldfish with the paper net.
She was dressed in a bright yellow hanbok and a cute corgi mask covered her face. Her long ashy-brown hair was loose, caressing her backside while small peony earrings dangled from her ears. "My little star," His mother called out to him, never tearing her gaze away from her husband and daughter. "Y-Yes?" He stuttered, caught off guard before turning to face her with his lips in a nervous frown.
"Please forgive your father for what he did to you," She softly told him, oblivious to how his fingers curled into a fist. Irked, a loud scoff of disbelief was heard from under his mask. "You know deep down that he had a reason to do it," She explained and glanced up at him, tilting her mask up to her forehead. "I pray that you survive and safely come back to us," She added with a sweet smile and her eyes grew glassy with various emotions.
"Wha-" Before he could respond, her hand stretched out to his mask. "Now," Her voice suddenly turned cold and her eyes were fierce as she merely flicked the tip of the mask's nose with her finger, "It's time to wake up, my sweet little star." The moment the tip of her finger touched the mask's nose, he was unexpectedly hurled back, causing him to fly through the festive streets at the speed of light before landing in a starless void.
It felt like someone had just punched all the oxygen out of his lungs, triggering his entire unconscious body to jerk awake in shock. Immediately, he pushed himself to sit upright, gasping in panic. His panicked gaze quickly flickered around him, recognizing his surroundings - it was his bedroom, but it looked extremely messy and eerie.
With a low shaky sigh, he pushed his sweat-soaked hair out of his eyes and slouched forward. However, he winced with a pained groan when he felt his entire backside grow uncomfortably warm with a stinging sensation. Slowly, he glanced over his shoulder and spotted the thick layers of bandages wrapped around his torso, waist, and stomach.
Frowning, he tore his gaze away from the bandages and raised a brow at his gloomy surroundings. He spotted the countless empty cups, water jugs, and wooden basins littering the bedside tables and floor. Blood-soaked murky water swirled inside the basins and jugs while blood-stained towels hung off its edges, dripping onto the floor. He cautiously grabbed his throat when he realized how dry and itchy it got from not drinking any fluids for god-knows how long.
Carefully, he reached for the glass of clean water on the bedside table, leaning towards it. A low uncomfortable groan escaped his lips when he felt his bandaged back strain from stretching. Just as his fingertips were about to touch the glass, the bedroom door suddenly slammed open, startling him. He looked at the figure at the doorway from the corner of his eye.
It was Ellipse, but, she wasn't dressed in her usual neat yet composed uniform. Her tie was untidy, draped around her crookedly buttoned shirt's collar and her pants were messy. Her sleeves were rolled up to her biceps while her hands were covered in white medical latex gloves. There were old dried blood splatters all over her shirt, sleeves, and pants. Her hair was barely tied up in a bun.
His gaze landed on the metal tray in her gloved hands - a bowl of fresh vegetable soup and a plate of sliced fruit was seen on it. Upon seeing that he regained consciousness, she paused and stiffened, her golden eyes widening by a fraction. Neither of them moved from their spots as an awkward yet tense silence surrounded them. Slowly, she regained her composure and approached him with her usual stoic expression.
Once she was close enough, she placed the tray down on the bedside table before facing him. They stared at each other for a second before she reached out to his face. He flinched slightly when her icy cold fingers moved his sweat-soaked bags away from his forehead, measuring his temperature. Instinctively, he sluggishly squinted one of his eyes, looking up at her.
"Warning: Current temperature is 38.5 °C (101.3 °F)," She reported in her usual monotone-robotic voice as her gaze was pinned on his feverishly flushed face, observing how small sweat droplets dripped down his chin. "How long was I out for?" He asked in a low voice while gently pushing her hand away from his forehead. He felt uncomfortable by how feverish he was, causing him to frown in displeasure.
"Answer: User has been unconscious for approximately 252 hours (1.5 weeks)," She answered him, watching how he swung his legs off the bedside, sitting on its edge. He picked up the glass and gulped down the cold water, rehydrating his throat. "And injuries?" He queried with a raised brow, glancing up at her with an emotionless glint in his eyes - it was as if he grew numb after what he went through.
"Notice: User has suffered from severe life-threatening second and third-degree burns across your entire dorsal, spine, and waist," She revealed while slowly picking up the tray and handing it over to him, "Through precise examination - User has recovered 75,18% of flesh, bone, and muscle fibre in the last 168 hours (1 week) during your coma." His brow twitched at her words and hummed, taking the tray from her. For a moment, he felt her icy cold fingers against his feverishly flushed ones, causing him to tense up.
Silently, he stared at the soup for a second before lifting a spoon, scooping it up and eating it. "Did those Disassembly Drones bring me here?" He asked without lifting his gaze from the tray while Ellipse gathered up the bloodied basins and towels. For a second, she halted her actions and watched how her reflection disorientated in the bloody water. "Answer: Negative," She answered before continuing her actions, "EllipseXX programming sent out emergency signals to the facility, alerting me and Designated-E about User's condition."
At the mention of 'emergency signals', his fingers twitched around his spoon and a dark expression appeared on his face. 'That could only mean one thing,' He noted with a displeased frown, feeling his blood boil underneath his skin as he clenched his fingers around the spoon, 'The damn program is trying to merge with my nerves.' Out of nowhere, a knock against the open bedroom door snapped him out of his thoughts, alerting both him and Ellipse about the presence.
It was Ezekiel, but he wasn't alone. Behind him, V and N peeked over his shoulder. "Why are you two here...?" The ravenette asked in annoyance as he handed the half-finished tray to Ellipse, who quickly took it from him. "They kept bugging me about letting them see you," Ezekiel stated with a small frown, fiddling with his fingers as he avoided the ravenette's intense gaze.
"I just wanted to see if you were still alive or not," V bluntly admitted with a huff before turning her head to the side. N remained silent as he continued to stare at the ravenette, taking in how bandaged up and feverish he looked. "Well," The ravenette hummed while scoffing slightly before attempting to get on his feet, "As you can see, I'm still alive and kicking." They watched how he grabbed onto the bedside table's edge when he staggered on his feet. Ellipse was ready to give him support, but, he slapped her hands away from him.
"I can do it," He sneered at her with venom lacing his tongue, his gaze was fierce and stubborn, "Alone." Immediately, she backed away to create some distance between them. Once he was standing upright, he rubbed his nape and approached the three murder drones standing in the doorway. "Move," He demanded when he stood in front of them, towering over them, "You're in the way."
Silently, Ezekiel obeyed his command and stepped to the side. N hesitated with uncertainty before following the brown-haired drone's actions. However, V made no sign of moving out of the way for him. "I ain't moving," She coldly declared with a glare, placing her hands on her hips. Annoyed, he clenched his jaw, causing veins to pop out of his forehead and throat. His fingers curled into a fist, causing his knuckles to grow white.
"Warning: User's wounds have reopened," Ellipse announced, alerting all of them. His brow twitched when he felt his backside get sticky in blood. He could smell the heavy yet fresh scent of iron as the crimson liquid soaked into his bandages. "Just leave already," He told V and N with a cold glint in his eyes before sitting down on the edge of the bed, allowing Ellipse to unwrap his bandages. They watched how she carelessly tossed the bloodied bandages into an empty dirty basin.
V and N caught a glimpse of how pinkish-white and leathery his backside was, hinting that his burnt wounds were recovering. A few of the undeveloped blisters on his back had popped from rubbing against the bandages, causing blood and pus to stain the bandages. However, it was safe to say that he was recovering at an alarming rate. A 'beep' was heard as Ellipse cleaned up his reopened wounds with a cloth, causing Siwoo to raise his head in frustration.
Out of nowhere, a glitchy hologram version of Khan appeared in the middle of the bedroom, glancing around in confusion and surprise. "H-Hello?" He greeted in a stuttering tone before his eyes widened in horror at the sight of Siwoo receiving medical treatment. "What do you want now, Khan?" The ravenette venomously sneered at him with a vicious glint in his eyes. "Don't tell me something got broken again because I swear to God..." He assumed in a pissed-off manner, glaring at the hologram.
"No!" Khan immediately denied it and waved his hands around in front of him, denying his assumption, "N-No! Nothing is broken again...! I swear!" The ravenette deadpanned at him, completely unconvinced. "Uh-huh..." He mumbled under his breath with a scoff, rolling his eyes at him. "The colony... is holding its prom for 3071," Khan hesitated as he explained with a nervous smile, glancing around to see whether Uzi was close to him or not before whispering, "I was wondering if you-"
He was interrupted when a long blade-like tail swung at his hologram, causing it to glitch as it got slashed. Fortunately, the hologram glitched back to normal, revealing the drone's petrified yet pale face. "Ha," A short dark laugh escaped the ravenette's lips as he lowered his head, his shoulders shaking from he was silently laughing, "Haha..." Menacingly, he glared at the hologram through his sweat-soaked bangs - a dangerously dark gleam seen in his charcoal irises.
The skin around the base of his tailbone was ripped apart to accommodate the blade-like tail before his flesh regrew in mere seconds. Heavy tension filled the room as creaking mechanical sounds clicked with each movement the tail made, flicking around. "No," He harshly rejected his offer before Khan could even finish saying it. "I'm not some teenager anymore," He snarled at the hologram, his tail thumping against the floor like an angry feline, "I'm already 24 years old, so why would I agree to go to the prom?"
At his words, Khan tensed up with a bitter expression and fiddled with his fingers, pursing his lips as he tried to come up with an alternative offer. "Then..." He paused for a second and glanced in V and N's direction. "What about as a bodyguard?" He proposed as he looked back at Siwoo's hunched-over figure, "For Uzi." A loud scoff of disbelief spat out of the ravenette's mouth and he harshly slammed his tail against the floor, startling everyone.
"You're-" He got interrupted by a cold gloved hand grabbing his shoulder from behind, causing him to redirect his infuriated glare at the owner of the hand. The moment he made eye contact with a pair of golden irises, he noticed the ominous emotion swirling inside them - it was a sign that something felt off about the situation. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck stood on their ends at the foreboding warning.
'Don't look at me like that, you damn AI,' He internally cursed at her with gritted teeth as he felt his sixth sense told him that something was indeed off, 'I can't trust you after what you've done to me.' With a loud click of his tongue, he harshly shook her hand off his shoulder. In the corner of his eye, he noticed the hidden excitement in N's eyes when he heard about the prom before growing disappointed, recalling the incident from a week ago.
The ravenette pitied him slightly before holding his chin with his thumb and index finger. When he got an idea, his eyes widened by a fraction. "I'll go," He blurted out stoically and folded his leg over his thigh, "I'll be Uzi's bodyguard for the prom." Khan's face physically brightened up in relief at his words and was about to thank him, alas, he was stopped by the ravenette. "Only on one condition though," He half-heartedly chuckled, tilting his head at the hologram, as his tail flicked around behind him.
"Those two are coming along with me," He revealed as he gestured towards V and N with an arrogant smirk on his lips, showing off his sharp canine-like teeth. Confused, V furrowed her brows while N happily clenched his hands in front of his chest. "Deal?" He taunted Khan, who was not in favour. Khan held his tongue in distaste as he glanced at the two said murder drones before sluggishly nodding his head in understanding, accepting the condition.
"Good," He scoffed at the hologram and stood up when it disappeared with a glitch. "Go look for something fancy to wear for the prom," He told V and N as he stretched his arms over his head while his tail retracted back into his body in a quick manner. With a flick of his hand, he gestured for Ezekiel to escort them out of the facility before they could respond. As they got dragged away, he boredly rubbed the back of his nape when it felt stiff and his other hand rested on his hip.
Ellipse's gaze was burning holes into his backside, feeling uneasy at the thought of him recovering so quickly in a short amount of time. She watched how the leathery skin around the bandaged patches returned to its normal state, causing his tattoos to reappear as well. His nails seemed to grow sharper ever so slightly without him noticing. Feeling her intense gaze on his backside, he paused his motions.
"Ellipse," He called out to her in a low yet merciless voice, causing her to tense up unconsciously. "Behave," He warned her, glaring at her over his shoulder. His eyes were a bright shade of a sunset colour that had purple mixed in at the bottom of his irises. 'Don't cross the line again' - A warning that was more threatening and unforgiving than the other ones he had given her in the last few months.
"Understood," She responded with her head lowered to him, showing that she would be careful. He rolled his eyes at her before shooing her away. Immediately, she scurried out of the bedroom, swiftly closing the doors behind her. After making sure that she was gone, he headed towards his attached bathroom and switched the shower on. As he undressed himself, he grabbed a washcloth and entered the shower.
Carefully, he washed himself with the washcloth and was mindful of his patched-up wounds. After a while, he stepped out of the steaming bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He stood in front of his closet, drying his hair with another towel. Recklessly, he tossed the towel to the washbin in the corner of the room and opened the closet, searching for a formal outfit.
When he spotted a maroon-coloured suit at the back of the closet, his fingers twitched slightly before pulling out from the back. Once it was out of the closet, he blankly stared down at it as he rubbed its rough fabric. The suit was a deep yet rich maroon colour that had golden chains attached to its blazer's collar. It belonged to his father, who usually wore it whenever his company - Ⲁⲧⲏⲉⲛⲁ-Ⲥⲟ.™ - had a joint party with its brother company - JCJenson-Ⲥⲟ.™
He recalled one evening when they were still on earth, attending JCJenson-Ⲥⲟ.™'s party. It was hosted in a large mansion with other elites across the world. He still remembers how he would roam around the mansion to slip away from the party. With a bitter frown, he started tugging the suit on, buttoning up his black long-sleeved shirt and cuffs. He styled his hair back with some gel, making him look more mature and older than before.
As soon as he finished getting dressed, he crouched down next to his bed and pulled out a large iron suitcase from underneath it. With a click, he opened it, revealing several varieties of pistols, daggers, and other equipment. 'This is going to be one long ass night,' He mentally prepared himself with a heavy sigh as he picked up a pistol and loaded it with ammo. 'Better keep my eye out tonight,' He reminded himself, tapping the barrel against his shoulder as he stared down at the rest of the weapons.