Misheard Reality

C'est le mal [it's the evil]

There's red blood from being torn apart by reality. I never thought that the greed would become the trumpet heralding hell.

Taekhyun lowered his head onto his knees as he endured the pain. He was left confined inside his prison yet again. Deep inside the basement of his beautiful castle. His mother gazed upon him with only bars to separate them. She was anxious and worried for her son but she couldn't do anything to help him. Instead, she gave him company.

"Mom, it hurts." Taekhyun spoke as he struggled to word the sentence out, the pain overbearing.

"Be strong, Hyun. You can fight this."

Taekhyun let out a scream as he did his best to fight it. He hated the cold ground that his bare feet touched. He hated the sweat that slid down from the side of his forehead. He hated how he was confined and treated like a prisoner. He hated how he had to let his mother look at him, how he realized over and over again that they would never be of the same blood.

Finally as he was too weak to control it, his raven black wings popped out and he could hear nothing but that annoying monotonous sound of a broken signal. He looked at his mother one last time before losing consciousness.

---

"Okay young lady, would you kindly tell your dear father why you came out alone in the dark and potentially got yourself hurt when I specifically told you that you should not set foot outside where it is not safe?" Hani's father deadpanned as he stared down at his daughter, who was sitiing on the chair in his office.

"Uhm.. I needed fresh air? hehe." She replied sounding so unsure, making it seem like she was making excuses.

Her father took in a deep breath to calm himself down and looked at her once again, "And you did that by getting yourself involved with a man and worse, bringing him here to this place meant to be kept a secret and much much worse, he is part of the enemy for christ's sake what were you thinking?!"

"Sir, I can explain." Jungkook cut in, trying to justify Hani's actions.

"Dad, first of all, meeting Jungkook was a pure coincidence. I swear we did not arrange to meet back there in the park. Second, he was part of the enemy. Plus, he is one of the children taken away years ago. Our main goal was to save them from this hell anyways." Hani stated as she tried to convince her father, completely ignoring Jungkook's statement earlier.

"I know where you're coming from but we can't trust him just yet. It was too easy for him to come here, as if it was planned." He replied, glaring at Jungkook, making the boy lower his head.

"They killed my family, sir. They have nothing held against me anymore." The boy cautiously stated as tears started welling from his eyes.

Hani's father heaved a sigh and massaged his temples. "Alright, but I'll have your every action monitored just to be sure. Now, both of you move along and get some rest."

The two looked at each other and smiled in victory. They bowed and left the office still not losing the smile on their faces. They were finally together after months of not seeing each other. Sure it wasn't years of being apart but it was long enough for them to miss each other terribly.

---

In the clear white walls with people dressed in lab gowns, the smell of various drugs and chemicals in the air, everyone was occupied with their own tasks. Inside an operating room, the professor was busy trying to form his new toy. He was in deep concentration as he was so excited about this new one. He felt really confident this time, he knew it was different.

A few hours of silence, with only the beeping sound of unknown machines and the once in a while clanging of metallic tools. The experiment was a success. Now, he only had to wait for his new product to regain consciousness and prove its full functionality.

He took of his mask and looked at his assistants, "You all can go take a rest now, good job."

And with a quick bow from everyone, they silently left the room. With their shoulders hung low and eyes threatening to shut down, everyone was relieved to be finally out. Twenty-four hours of endless labor was exhausting. The professor checked on his product one last time before deciding to also call it a day.

"Namjoon, give me a report regarding your mission earlier." The professor asked as he noticed Namjoon leaning on the wall in front of the operating room.

"I'm sorry but we were outsmarted this time." He explained.

"I see.You have disappointed me for the first time in a while. I expect you to do better next time, son."

"Yes, father." Namjoon replied as his father handed him some documents to be reviewed and left.

---

Taekhyun woke up in an empty space. He looked around, only to see that there was no end and nowhere to escape. He laughed bitterly as he realized that he was once again deep in his consciousness. He lied down and stared at nothing in particular. As he was about to close his eyes and meditate, he was suddenly interrupted by a presence. It was unusual. He usually just walked around or meditated in in this vast empty space as he was always alone, never with a companion. This was his mind after all, no one could be there aside from him.

He stood up and was graced by the presence of a being he can't quite picture out. "Who are you?" He questioned, slightly squinting his eyes to make out the face of this being but to no avail.

"You, young one, are born out of sin." The being answered, ignoring Taekhyun's question.

"You are dirty and holy at the same time. But as you are sullied and unpure, we cannot bless you with love and as you are holy, it is your duty to judge humans. Bring punishment just as they deserve. The weight of the sins you carry are as heavy as your mission."

The being's voice echoed throughout the space as Taekhyun tried to block it out. He ran and ran but there was just no escape.