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354 19 31
                                    

The one who wields the stars
will rise from the ashes and bring upon the reckoning of Inception.

______

The sound of metal ground against metal with a subtle whine. It was enough to make anyone groan with discontent. Soon the whine turned into a loud rattling, a typical characteristic of an age-worn shopping cart.

A strikingly handsome male gripped the red plastic of the handlebar with both hands as he pushed the cart around the corner.

He was rather tall, but his height bore no intimidation for that matter. With slightly rounded almond eyes, they almost sparkled when you gazed into them. He had an ethereal structure to his face, a narrow, pointed nose, and beautifully plump lips. That wasn't the only thing, his body proportions were immaculate -- broad shoulders, a slim waist, and long legs. Long, soft strands of black hair were brushed back out of his face to further emphasize his visual.

Not perfection. In fact, he held the biggest flaw of all.

Strolling down the canned foods and preserves aisle, his eyes carefully scanned the shelves for what he was looking for. He had already gotten the rest of the items he came for, but he just needed one last thing before he left.

Marmalade.

Oh, how he loved Marmalade. Sometimes he would slather it on a piece of toast, and sometimes he would just eat it straight from the jar. He only liked the one made with grapefruit, which wasn't very easy to find and seemingly always out of stock.

But to his surprise, he saw it.

Jerry's Grapefruit Marmalade! Finally!

Bringing his cart to a halt, he reached out and tenderly grabbed the last remaining jar from the shelf. Happiness vibrated from the tips of his fingers to the pit of his stomach, bringing a small smile to his pinkish lips. He couldn't even remember the last time he had it, but he could almost feel the Marmalade settling into his taste buds, setting his mouth ablaze with a bittersweet taste and making his jaw ache. It made his mouth salivate in anticipation.

Just before the black-haired male could even step away from the shelves, a group of guys came from behind him laughing and messing around. One of them in a black hoodie boldly grabbed the glass jar from his hand.

The look of utter shock and confusion riddled his face as his dark eyes locked on the other male.

"Hey! Who the hell do you think you are?"

This caused the group of raggedy-looking males to turn around, all exchanging crude remarks and laughing amongst themselves. The man who held the jar of Marmalade in his hand cocked his head to the side, a disgruntled grin forming on his face.

"I think I should ask you the same question." The man tossed the jar in his hands a couple of times before he approached him. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

The darkened tone in the man's voice nearly sent a chill down his spine, but he didn't let it deter him.

"Park Seonghwa." He shot back in a calm voice, quickly getting in the man's face. "And you'll be wise to remember that name after this disrespectful demeanor you've displayed to me."

The man did nothing but laugh, using his forearm to press into Seonghwa's gut and shove him back. When he stumbled back, electricity jolted through his hands and rear-end as he collided with the hard tile floor.

The men began to laugh as they slowly departed one by one. A cold, vibrating sensation began to riddle his gut and travel up his throat as anger grew within him.

Seonghwa was sick of these assholes always pushing him around, and he was even more sick of pretending to be something he wasn't.

His darkened eyes laid upon the jar of marmalade in the man's hand as he slowly brought himself to his feet. A loud humming sliced through the air very briefly and, to the man's surprise, the jar busted spontaneously, sending marmalade and glass flying in every direction. The man began to scream as he soon realized his palm was now oozing a dark, crimson liquid with a piece of glass lodged deeply into the flesh.

Seonghwa quickly realized what he had done, he knew he had to make himself scarce. As the man's friends all crowded around him with confusion and panic, Seonghwa managed to slip away unnoticed, completely abandoning the full cart of groceries.

This hadn't been the first time that he let his anger consume him and it would cause a mess in public. He never meant to do any harm, but danger and accidents seemed to be an unwelcomed pattern of his life.

When he had successfully snuck himself out of the back entrance of the building, he made sure to look both ways of the alleyway to see if anyone was around.

No one could see him leave, he had to make sure of that.

To his relief, the alleyway was empty, not even a hint of another person around. It was then that Seonghwa felt his head begin to pound, black dots filling his vision as something wet and warm trickled from his nose. He brought his hand to his nose, gently touching it and looking down to see a royal blue liquid upon his fingers.

Shit... I need to go home. If I continue like this much longer I'm going to Ascend... Seonghwa thought to himself as he wiped the blood from his nose.

Closing his eyes and drawing one deep breath before whispering, "Home."

When that word left his lips, wind ripped through the alley for less than a second, and when his eyes opened again, he was standing in the middle of his living room.

His knees immediately weakened beneath him and he had to catch himself on the edge of the brown pleather sofa to prevent himself from face-planting. Seonghwa's vision only became darker and darker as the seconds passed, losing all of his strength as he allowed his body to collapse against the carpet.

With all of his senses slowly leaving him, he was able to catch one last glance of a snow-white cat sitting in front of him.

"S-Sulin..." He uttered the cat's name with an attempted smile before sudden sleep consumed him.

Sulin tilted his head to the side, blinking its piercing blue eyes. With a gentle mewl, the cat stretched itself out and laid in front of the unconscious male. Sulin pressed his small, soft nose against Seonghwa's as he purred loudly. A bright light started to glow from the contact, and soon it traveled into the veins of the male's face. The light continued to illuminate every vein, artery, and blood vessel until it reached his toes.

This went on for what seemed like hours before the cat pulled away, licking its nose with another mewl. Seonghwa's veins continued to glow with a pulsing light as if pure energy had been infused into him.

"Goodnight, master." The cat spoke softly and pushed himself up on his feet.

One quick jump and Sulin was on the couch, curling into a little ball and just watching over Seonghwa on the floor.

This hadn't been the first time he came home like this, so all Sulin had to do was watch over his master and ensure no harm came to him as he rested.

But no matter how much Seonghwa could rest, it would never prepare him for what is yet to come...

(A/N: Surprise. Miss me? 🙃)

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