[WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC SCENES]
~~~
The night was young, and the glistening bright moon was peeking into the empty sky that clothed the world in darkness. It seemed somewhat barren, as there were fewer stars distributed all over the atmosphere...but it did not mean that there was eternal darkness.
For the light from the heavenly bodies would always be bright enough to guide the people throughout the nighttime.
...a man, who was wearing a ruined shirt that had long dried over time, was seen walking through the streets with poise and grace. He was swift and efficient. The way he walked and the clothes that he wore signified only one thing.
He was not part of the common folk.
He looked like an easy target. Easy enough to deceive, trick, and steal.
...but no one dared to do such a thing. No sane man would.
Not when his face was displayed under the light of the city streets. Brooding, charming, and twistedly amicably was he: Shun Cailworth. A man whose very features were accentuated throughout the rays of the dim lamps placed all over the city.
He was walking to a destination none other than his home.
It was quite a long walk...but, given how he had already been walking for 3 hours, he should have been around the streets that led to the Apotheosis, a well-known popular neighborhood for the affluent.
It was easy to spot, as it was a place that you can never miss.
Bright neon lights and opulent homes displayed side-by-side...there's no way for someone to ever pass over and disregard the area. It was ostentatious and flashy...and really? It's just a big place to flex wealth.
Of course, the more Shun walked, the easier it was for Shun to see one of the billboards that served as the entrance of the Apotheosis.
Just a few more steps...and he could be home.
But he chooses not to.
Not when his attention was redirected to a huge fire in some shunned alley...an alleyway that served only as a place to park some of the lower-tier celebrities' vehicles.
...so the fact that a fire was there was rather odd.
So he decides to check it anyway.
Maybe he could benefit from it by boosting his public image as a good citizen.
Thus, he walks quicker, pacing his steps...until he can finally see the light...or rather, the fire. It was a huge flame that dominated the area with its blazing embers...tempting to incinerate all those who came too close to it.
But it was the least disturbing thing about this.
Screams echoed throughout the alley...but no one cared about it. Everyone else was situated in the Apotheosis, in a nightlife paradise that never ceased to end. So naturally, there would be no one who would notice such screams.
...and these screams were guttural. It was so piercing throughout the whole alley that he could hear it from afar...from a place where he could clearly make out what was happening further down.
But he could tell it was up to no good.
He should have escaped...but a familiar voice stopped him from doing so.
"Ah! Little bro! Where have you been?" A lively high-pitched voice echoes throughout the alley. Shun could immediately tell whose voice this belonged to...but why was he here? This voice definitely meant trouble.
Big trouble.
"Older brother Zain," Shun replies calmly, walking further down the alley to make out the scenery in full view.
His older brother, a charming and brutish blonde man in his mid-twenties, was clearly seen bringing a bottle of alcohol at his fingertips...and to the side, he was accompanied by 3 burly men who looked like gangsters.
Those were his bodyguards...bodyguards that no one should mess with.
But that shouldn't be where Shun's attention is at...
It should be at the flame...
A flame which was set on...a car that looked identical to his.
Except, it really was his car...
"Older brother, you are--" Shun says, never expecting his brother Zain in particular to do such petty tricks on him. He couldn't believe what he saw, and he was in utter disbelief at the situation.
Yet he showed nothing of it, only voicing out his thoughts before getting cut off by a loud scream.
It silences Shun immediately...but his brother doesn't have the same reaction as him. Instead, he was smirking, laughing sadistically to his side. It made Shun wary, as he couldn't quite see what his brother was laughing at.
So he steps closer...seeing two bodies.
Two corpses? Or...
No. They weren't corpses.
They were the burnt bodies of a child and an adult...they were both crisped to a flame, ending up as black as charcoal. It was excruciating for them to even be alive in such a state...
But they were still breathing. Still living.
The child...who had to rely on their hearing to survive, could hear the unfamiliar Shun's voice, which was rather close to where they were.
"Save..." The child pleas, unable to see or do anything except lie on the ground and try to move their body around...but it felt scorching. The only thing they were successful in doing was opening up their mouth to speak in desperation.
"Brother, what is--" Shun asks, looking at the scene with a mixed expression of shock and calmness.
His brother, Zain, starts clapping and comes close to Shun, hugging him close. "I missed you, little brother! Don't you like my gift?" He asks, laughing as he holds Shun tightly. "I've gotten rid of the people who dared to disobey you! After all, don't you hate it when they touch things that belong to you?"
Shun could only hide his disgust...but he should play along. As he always did in regards to his twisted family and their antics.
"Don't try to justify your gift to me, it is distasteful," Shun says with a slight tinge of hesitation...which Zain immediately notices.
He scoffs at Shun's reaction and backs away, kicking the child to the left...all to see Shun's reaction. Shun was flinching...but not in the usual way that Zain remembered.
"Little bro, you should really learn to toughen up," He smiles wickedly, as he kicks the child again. "Go to the gym and start working out," He comments, looking at Shun with enthusiasm. "After all, weren't these the idiots who dared to steal your car and play tricks on you? It's not the Cailworth's way to give mercy to their enemies."
"It's not the Cailworth's way to show mercy...but there is no need to be indecent while doing so," Shun retorts, looking at Zain with displeasure.
But Zain thought of his logical retort as nothing more than an excuse. Perhaps something was up with Shun. "No, no, you're thinking wrongly brother." He comments, stepping on the child's head. "Whatever crime we do...it will all be covered up by our logistics team. Father makes sure of it,"
"But maybe you don't agree with this cruelty...maybe your views on the commoners have changed after staying in one of their houses?" He smiles as he steps on the child's head, looking at Shun's stoic face.
"Have they?" He asks again, this time with much more malice in his tone.
Shun's heart was filled with turmoil...as he himself wasn't so sure of how to feel. It's not like he has grown attached to any of the commoners...but he couldn't deny that he did feel something.
A feeling that clashed with his morals.
"So you tracked me down when you just got back home from Spain?" Shun laughs, his voice as stoic as ever. He would never display any sense of hesitance or cowardness in front of Zain.
Zain only laughs, waiting for a proper answer. "Don't change the subject,"
Shun only looks at Zain calmly and scoffs. "My morals do not change...cruelty is nothing more but the strong overpowering the weak. There is nothing wrong about that,"
The ironic response only catches Zain off-guard, and he could only whistle in amusement.
"What a fierce response!" Zain comments, laughing softly. "But if you're so sure about that, then you don't mind if..." He smiles twistedly, looking at the burned bodies that were still breathing.
Shun looked in the direction of where Zain's eyes were directed...and he could only frown slightly. There was nothing to be done about the situation now except to accept it.
"Do as you wish. You can even hang them to a stake for all I care," Shun replies back...but it only worsens the situation.
"Oh! That's a good suggestion!" Zain smirks, licking his lips as he orders his men to prepare the stuff for him...and as for Shun? He could only stand still and deal with his brother's antics.
The child could only scream after hearing the comment of Zain...and as for the adult? They seemed to be incapacitated, only feeling numb and listless. "Save me- save me!" The child says again, hoping for a glimmer of light.
But Shun did nothing.
He only stayed at the sides and watched as his brother ordered his men to prepare the other materials...which, didn't take too long. It was easy for them to set up the tools necessary to prepare for the scene that Zain wanted to see.
And thus...after a painstaking 10 minutes of torture, Zain was finally satisfied by the torture that was displayed in both of their eyes. He was laughing maniacally...a polar opposite to the reaction of the indifferent Shun who was trying his best to compose himself.
It wasn't easy, but he got through the whole ten minutes.
"Hahaha! Commoners in pain really scream the best!" Zain says, his eyes gleaming as if he were watching an entertainment show. Zain then looks at Shun, who looks oddly appalled and uninterested...so he decides to change the subject.
"Why don't we have midnight drinks tonight?" Zain smiles, "I'll drink this beer in my hands...and you can use the imported strawberries I brought from Spain. Weren't those your favorite?" He says, acting like a normal older brother.
He would have been one...if he weren't a complete lunatic.
Shun keeps his mouth shut for a few seconds, but he only nods. "I'll take up your offer," He says calmly.
And honestly? Shun couldn't help but inwardly think that the cucumber juice from earlier taste much better than the strawberries that he had been looking for since morning.
...his evening was spoiled, but he had no choice but to carry on despite the setback. Getting the wrath of his brother would not be a good situation for him in the slightest.
That was what it meant to the sole heir of the Cailworth's corporations...he had to put on a heavy public mask to cater to everyone.
Even to his family.