#icarvsx

7) My muse has survived a great battle, but someone they love has not.

When you grow up in a manor, with maids and butlers taking care of your needs, it’s easy to picture a life where none of this exists. Kibum had been young when he first put a step into this house. Sometimes he remembered cozy afternoons in the old couch of his grandma’s house while the both of them drank the hot chocolate they had made in the morning, but as time kept passing, he began to see these memories as pieces of a life that felt more and more like a dream rather than reality.

So he grew up in an environment of richness, lessons of manners and endless rules. Since he was the youngest, his opinion was never required, and because of this, he never developed a firm interest in the matters of the household or what was expected from him. He was a disposable son, there was no need for him to know where the money came from or went to, and he had always assumed that the empire his father had created was just that: a chain of companies that controlled far too many things because his father had a good eye for business deals.

He had been wrong.

He’s at the end of a loaded gun, and Julian is behind him, insisting on having Kibum out of the way because this has nothing to do with him. And while Julian is right, Kibum can’t let his eldest brother alone. Julian is his brother.

"God damn it Kibum get out. It is an order. You packed your things and left home. You are no longer welcome in here," Julian roars with a voice Kibum had never heard before.

Kibum can see the conviction he’s trying to put into his words with the hard set of his jaw and the blazing eyes. But he can also notice the desperation in the grip Julian has on his wrist and the almost not-visible tremble of his shoulders.

"He has nothing to do with anything related to the Ashetons," Julian says to the attacker as he turns around a bit and tries to put Kibum behind his back. "He is useless. Your business are with me."

But Kibum refuses to budge. The attacker is a woman clad in black, half of her face is hidden under stylish bangs and big sunglasses. Her red lips curve with a sarcastic and cold smile, and her index pulls at the trigger.

The only noise Kibum can hear is that of the bullet hitting something that should have been him. He’s stumbling backwards, and Julian’s body falls in his arms. The woman’s steps are the next thing that follow, she’s leaving, and Kibum’s hands are getting soaked with blood.

"Julian…" he whispers, shaking his shoulders before he sees the place where the bullet entered.

Kibum wakes up, heart about to leave his ribcage and droplets of sweat gathering in his temples. He looks around with frantic eyes, and then his gaze meets Hyeri’s.

"What was that?!" he asks her in a voice far too loud for a library.

Hyeri smiles sadly at him and drops her gaze to the ground. He’s not aware that nobody else can see her, that nobody else knows he’s not talking to thin air, but to his guardian angel.

"Julian said he wanted me to go home… this is what is going to happen if I go?"

A long sigh escapes his lips, dragging his gaze begrudgingly around at his current surroundings, which happens to be a park. It’s his usual route to visit his father in the afternoons, but today it seems that there’s some sort of festival, and he has yet to see anyone that isn’t in a couple. Perhaps it’s some sort of love festival, or just a coincidence, but he can’t help the slight bitterness he feels as he takes the time to stop by one of the food vendors off to the side of the park’s path, the ddeokbokki they’re serving much too tempting to pass up, even if he is surrounded by couples who can’t seem to stop making moon eyes at each other. It’s as he waits that he hears a voice come from behind him, speaking his exact thoughts, though perhaps in a more polite way than how he would have likely said it. He turns slightly to look back at the source of the feminine voice, expecting to see her with a man attached to her side, as well, but upon seeing that she’s alone just as he is, he emits curious hum. He’s sure that she’s speaking to herself, but he’s always up for a bit of company, so he supposes striking up a conversation would be a nice way to pass the time as they wait in line. "Seems so, doesn’t it? Though, I don’t think I’ve  ever seen so many couples in my life… Is there something going on here that I’m unaware of?" He raises an eyebrow, wondering if this woman knows something that he doesn’t.

Surely, there’s a soft spot in the girl’s heart. The scenario of couples roaming around hand in hand, sharing smiles easily similar to the way their lips would brush along one another to sneak a peck or two effortlessly. That’s all she’s been seeing lately or perhaps she’s been the third wheel when tagging along with her friends. Which is fine, it never makes her uncomfortable despite the cheesy remarks or sweet nicknames that spills out every five to ten minutes. Nonetheless, when she pointed it out; her inner thought spilled right out of her lips. A faint whisper but apparently it was audible enough for someone to respond back to her.

And sincerely, it caught her off guard. The way his voice rolled off of his tongue and he replied back, curiosity hanging between syllables. Needing to force a bashful laugh to appear nonchalant since it was for herself to know only but it’s fine. Especially when she found someone who actually agreed to what she was stating. Remembering how she said it out in front of a group of friend and they all denied it, claiming that she was being delusional or bittersweet about it; which wasn’t the case. Naeun was just pointing out how all that ever in her atmosphere was -- love.

He’s in his own little bubble as he sits upon the park bench, head in the clouds and gaze focused on the paperback novel in hand. However, he’s soon torn from his thoughts as he catches sight of something peculiar out of his peripheral vision, eyes blinking up and focusing on the notebook that is being held up as he swivels his head to look over at the woman seated in the wheelchair, who surely enough, seems to be aiming the message towards him.

Humming softly to himself with a tilt of his head, he gives her the desired attention with an arched eyebrow after looking around at his surroundings, rather confused. “Pardon?”

Put ‘I think I’m falling for you’ to see how my muse reacts

And Minkyung was left speechless, stunned by his small confession that made her froze in place. It took her a while to realize the scent of alcohol wreeking off of him, knowing that he had been drinking and somehow he had managed to walk all the way to her place.

"You're drunk, Jaejoong ..." she managed to say as she pulled the other in, hoping none of her neighbours have seen him.

Helping him towards the couch was easier than she had expected, setting him down gently as Minkyung turned to get a spare pillow and blanket for him only to be pulled down next to him by her hand. Her eyes widened in surprise but she let him curl his fingers around her small hand, letting him lean his head against her shoulder. 

Minkyung never understood how the body behaved when it was in its drunken state. It was said that it unlocks a person's true feelings and personality, letting the body and mind do what it wished to do all this while, only this time it wasn't being held back by rationality.

They sat in silence. For how long, she wasn't sure of that. All she was sure about was the fact that he might have meant his words, but that possibility was slim to none. But she wasn't hoping, wasn't expecting anything from him. She doesn't have the right to do so after all and it wouldn't be fair for the both of them.

It wasn't soon before long that she noticed that his breathing evened out, his weight pressed against her more as he slept. Tentatively, Minkyung pried his hand off of hers, making lie down comfortably as she retrieved the pillow and blanket for him. 

He looked like a child, noticing it after tucking him in as she pushed his hair out of his face. Maybe everyone looked like a child when they slept, she wouldn't know for sure but it was her opinion. Like how it was opinion that he didn't meant it when he said those words to her.

It’s rare that Jaejoong walks and diverts his attention at the same time. Typically observant and curious, his eyes hardly leave his surroundings at all, but there comes a first time for everything, and this one time happens to be a mistake.

He only looks away for a brief moment— eyes glued to his phone, fingers typing out a text back to his father. It takes less than a minute, but it’s in that minute that he gets far closer to the road with his long strides than he had realized, and it’s only a voice calling from behind him that makes him look up. Immediately halting just before walking out in the street, he looks back to see the girl that had spoken. Offering a thankful smile and a relieved sigh, he bows slightly to her. ”Thank you— I wasn’t paying attention. That was very foolish of me, wasn’t it?” 

"be careful!" it's what she yeals at the male not much in front of her, and she is almost reaching her hand to hold and pull him back when he realizes the danger he has been in, and does the job she was trying to alone, and almost spontaneous.

laying her hand on her chest, while the other goes to take her earplugs out, the blonde female looks from the man to the car that could have ran through him. a hiss comes out of her mouth, once or twice, as her eyes squint at the automobile, already far from them.

☏ What is the most challenging aspect of playing this muse?