CRADLED

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　　　　　　　　he feels her hands connect to his chest before he sees it—the all too sudden force knocking him off balance and sending him to the ground with a hard CRASH. luka is disoriented, hands reaching out for purchase and instead bringing with him the sheet of his cot and the bedside tray that tips over, sending a familiar clink of aid equipment & medical instruments to the ground along with him. there isn't much time to react before he feels the weight of mizi's body being thrown onto his own, a sharp grunt in surprise and effort being forced from luka as he throws his arms up to protect himself against anything that may come next ... the dull ache of purpling bruises seemingly responding to the matching knuckles lifting before his face, pulsating beneath his skin as they await their connection that was sure to come. again.

　　　　　　　　he waits, and he waits. the blow never comes. there's a rush of blood roaring in luka's ears, fuzz slowly creeping into the corners of his brain and his heart skips. it skips! luka's well maintained placidity is- for a blink of a moment- disturbed, a feat so few have ever accomplished. a force-placed habit so often difficult to break. this revelation is exciting to luka ... frightening. and it's almost mechanical in the way that he defaults to slow, concentrated breathing in order to will it back down. his chest thrums with the painful reminder of what happens if he decides to lose himself, even now. the reminder of a father who looks down to him with eyes so disappointed. so ready to punish. luka doesn't give him the chance.

　　　　　　　　the hit still does not come, he's noticed, and luka wills himself to peek at her through the spaces of fingers and hands that separate them so flimsily. his gaze meets with eyes that don't quite look at him, but through him. there's a fire so devastatingly familiar ... a flame that refused to die out since they'd seen each other last. since he'd dangled the girl's grief before her like a prime cut of meat in front of a starved hound — and laughed. yes, he remembers it. he remembers how easily & how quickly it was for mizi to break her resolve, to lose all semblance of self control on the stage and turn their dance into a dogfight.

　　　　　　　　it seems they've both fallen short of perfection, heperu would say. a laughable offense he would not say, but one luka has to bite back the second the corners of his mouth threatens to twitch. instead, hesitantly, he lowers his arms from blocking his face ( he'd certainly paid the dues owed to her in their first round, the currency taking form in a blackened eye, swollen cheeks ) and the two continue to stare at each other in a heavy silence. mizi is still on top of him, one hand grabbing tight around the collar of his shirt- other, a posed fist in the air as if she were still contemplating on bringing it down on him. he surely wouldn't blame her ... this small mercy is perhaps less than he ever deserved.

　　　　　　　　eyes flicker quickly around their unfamiliar surroundings before landing back on @moonfelling. luka is the first to braek their silence, voice but a dry croak when he finally speaks to her. "you're alive. you survived, i mean..." yes, quite the astute observation, luka. words trail off as if he had something more to follow. he didn't, but the fatigue was starting to settle into his bones and every muscle in his body were suddenly screaming. and that was ... bothersome.

　　　　　　　　"anyway ... if you aren't going to hit me, can you at least get off? this concrete is hurting my back."

and then there was hyuna in arise in walk.. "[...] yet i bet you were smiling from ear to ear. because you love me.. more than yourself." the way hyuna knows how luka feels about her. and the complex feelings she has about that. it's so iffy on how exactly luka would act on stage against hyuna. he would perform earnestly, of course. he'd put his all into it. but it'd be more for her, than for the segyein.. but if it came down to it, he wouldn't have to worry about hyuna losing. she's the best. she can never lose.

i've been thinking so much about how luka refers to heperu as his "father" and what exactly that even means to him.. or if it was something that had been pushed onto him by heperu due to heperu's obsessive need to be superior to his peers, for the sole fact that this implies a closer bond than them just being a "guardian" and his "pet".

luka has always been lonely, continuously alienated for the sole purpose of being used as a perfect weapon of the stage, "luka is like this because i created him" could absolutely imply that luka isn't.. human, as this is a popular theory that is still making its rounds but i digress.. but i personally see it as that luka, from the moment he was adopted, was groomed to be an extension of heperu- of the alien stage- and that need to become the best.

he was, after all, the first human in anakt garden's history to have scored all perfect scores in every subject, as well as being the only human to ever receive full marks in a notoriously difficult course of Expression of Music. he'd won the 49th alien stage. received the highest points in alnst history in the 50th. and has won the 50th technically.

heperu himself said that it would be impossible to replicate someone like luka. this is his money maker. luka is his climb to success.

and so for heperu to be the reason this all started would make most sense to me, also considering the scenes in wiege where it flashes briefly to luka as a child having killed all of his clones- so i can only imagine that THIS takes place after he'd already met hyuna and hyunwoo. it was the first time luka had seen a familial dynamic with such closeness. a warmth that he was not familiar with, not with the family he had.

actor / gen verse : off the record .

in the earlier years of third generation entertainment, luka had made his long-awaited debut as the lead vocalist and visual of the 5 member music group : go1den. this group had been manufactured under the 4NAKT ENT label which is known today to have quite a monopoly over the industry, but was still considered to be a fairly small company at the time in which they started garnering more recognition. shockingly, he had been a trainee under that entertainment label for only 2 years after being scouted outside of a movie theater by what luka first thought to be some scam-artist. it wasn't taken seriously in the slightest, however due to the persistence of the scouting agent (and luka's staggering inability to say 'no'), he finally agreed to audition under 4NAKT. with skills already set in performing arts and instrumental, singing was never really something luka aspired to do, nor was he entirely practiced in previously; it was to say- however- that in his time as a trainee, he gained plenty recognition for his fresh and dream-like vocals that captivated many. this caused him to gain a more prince like image to the public, one the company continued to run with even after debut. GO1DEN had a strong run once out in the public, releasing a total of 5 albums in 4 years- two of which had awarded them well deserved music show wins- before going on an indefinite hiatus for solo activities and members rest. during this time, there was no official news of any planned comeback or disbandment- but after 1,113 days (they counted) of no news or group activities, it was safe for fans to assume GO1DEN was to remain inactive. during this hiatus, luka had dipped his toes into acting. in his career, he'd already done quite a few commercials and endorsements for energy drinks and juices. made cameos in other music videos for artists under the same company, as well as hosted appearances for smaller music shows. without the grueling scheduling and idol training taking its toll on luka's body, he found that acting was moreso a calling to him than performing on stage. something he actually preferred to pursue. not too soon after the group silence, 4NAKT ENT announces the re-debut of some GO1DEN members as a cash grab subunit, luka being one of two members chosen for this project. bittersweet and short-lived, however, as the unit only released a single ep before disappearing from the stage once more. not that it hurt his feelings in the slightest. since then, luka concentrated most into putting his all into his acting pursuits and began to land more prominent roles in up-n-coming dramas and b-list movies. while still releasing music on a smaller scale (ost's, solo songs, independent projects), he'd decidedly renewed his contracts with 4NAKT and fully debuted himself as an actor, leaving behind him the ambiguity of his former groups and shutting that door for good.