pleia | svt

30

the large empty halls seemed to wrap around chan's body, the walls creeping in closer as he wandered aimlessly.

his fingertips felt itchy.

itchy? painful? they just felt odd.

no matter which way he wanted to go, he felt something pull him in the other direction. it was confusing, yet chan had no choice but to follow the pull in his fingertips. through the halls, around corners he didn't truly remember, he found himself at the door to a bedroom that wasn't his. he quietly knocked on the door, to no response. the tug on his fingertips intensified, leading chan to softly opening the door to the room.

the room was beautiful. large and open with big windows, but it was unsettling. there were mirrors scattered across the walls, the light and reflections bouncing around leaving chan disoriented by the feeling of stares that belonged to no one except himself. he wondered who's room this was, quietly looking over the belongings scattered on top of the dressers. messily thrown on the dresser was a white t-shirt that had a picture of a cartoon bear. it was the shirt he had bought seungcheol for his birthday a few years ago. 

a small smile struck is face as he realized that he was in jeonghan's room.

but again, why the mirrors?

his heart started to pound, and his fingertips started to itch. he winced for a second, his eyes squeezing together tightly. when they opened, before his eyes was a small cat. made of thread, the cat's tail wound and unwound slowly, the threads very thin yet shiny and beautiful. 

the cat's red beady eyes had no expression, that is, until the threads on its face unwound to reveal a cheshire smile spread across its face.

"hello, my best friend. we meet again."

"ai...?

"i knew there was a part of you that remembered me. you can't forget me. we're one in the same, after all."

chan's eyebrow flicked up, not fully grasping what ai was saying. "i was too young to understand my powers, so i can't understand how this works. i remember this itch in my fingers though when you lead me to something. so tell me, why did you bring me here?"

"oh, my best friend," the wide eerie grin on ai's face never left, even as it spoke. chan never recalled ai having this grin, or a mouth, at all. "i already told you. you're the puppet master. you're in charge of all the stuff!"

"i really don't understand what you mean though, what stuff ?"

the smile remained but the momentary silence rang loud.

"i guess i really have to explain it all to you. take a seat." ai said quietly, jumping into chan's lap as he took a seat on jeonghan's bed. "do you actually know what your powers are?"

"no, ai, i already told you i don't understand any of this."

"alright then, let's start at the beginning."

ai settled into chan's lap, nuzzled in as chan ran his fingers through the threads gently.

☁

"when the imanity and fae were one, there was a beauty and appreciation between the two races. tools and art, head and heart, winged and wingless. they complimented one another. what one lacked could be made up by another, meaning that the world was balanced.

however, it seemed that nobody was truly satisfied with the peace and balance between the races. people, both imanity and fae, have the fatal flaw of wanting more. more power, more love, more ideas. just more. however, if they thought of the reality of the situation, there were no real differences between the two aside from the wings.