Summary: It had been a year after you were taken away from the rest of the guys. You adapted to your new environment quickly as a way to not displease your new owner. Humanity has fallen by then as a new problem and then has risen, forever changing the state of the world by storm for the better or the worst.
Pairing:Platonic Cortis x 6th member Sua!reader
Word count:2.5k+
Genre:Alien stage AU! Cortis. Angst, Mentions of death, found family
A/N: oh wow this took a while cause gen bio was killing my ass hejcceh i still have to finish a lab report but fic first cause why not :p anyway we finally get a mention of our mizi in this fic... can you guess who it was? 👀👀 you'll know in the future heheheh hope u all like this chapter luv u all <333 i also added my own twist on how human pets are chosen for the stage cause this contributes to the plot in the future truusstt 🤞🤞
divider by: @strangergraphics
You learned the name “guardian” as what they like to call themselves, Nigeh.
Nigeh was someone very controlling and abusive, though not physical, but purely psychological and emotional, that ruined your own mental health as days passed by. Nigeh was someone who liked to collect girls and display them as dolls for her image.
You knew you had to adapt to this new lifestyle, so you turned back into being quiet and observant and kept to yourself. In this way, you won't attract unnecessary attention; however, being a former idol before the fall had its disadvantages.
There were other girls that were owned by Nigeh; most of them were older and some younger. They all came from different backgrounds: wealthy, models, singers, actors, and some normal people. But there was this one agreement that they get along to.
This was because they had to fight for the attention of Nigeh for them to gain her approval. You, on the other hand, were seemingly her favorite among the rest of them despite being quiet. It was your looks that made her favor you. Features like a doll that will leave anyone entranced at first look. Perhaps this was also because she grew jealous of you for all the attention you got from the other segyeins instead of the attention being on her.
Due to this, she was more harsh on you. She always monitored everything that you did; that always made it hard for you to breathe. She constantly dressed you up in clothes you didn't like as a way for her to gain attention from the other segyeins and always made sure you looked your best everyday.
Sometimes, you would pray that this was all a dream and you soon would wake up from this nightmare and move on with your life. However, you can't reject the truth. there is no going back. You grew to accept that this was your new reality now.
Every day, Nigeh would always call you over to show you off, making the other girls very jealous of you and always leaving you out when Nigeh isn't looking. They made comments about you, how you looked, and the way you aren't special and didn't deserve the attention from Nigeh.
This rooted a very deep insecurity within you, believing that when Nigeh gets bored of you, she would always find a new “doll” to dote on and throw you away like the rest of your sisters.
It had been months after you last saw your friends. Martin, Keonho, Seonghyeon, Juhoon, and James. You missed them terribly. Their faces were soon fading away when you tried to remember them for your comfort when you were lonely.
You wonder if they're still alive to this day and pray that they are. But your hopes always get crushed whenever there is an annual gala for the segyeins to show off their human pets and you don't see them in the crowd.
Thoughts always filled your head as your eyes tried desperately to search for them from the crowd, praying and hoping to a god that you could catch even a tiny glimpse of them.
"Maybe their guardian isn't a social person?"Have they escaped from their guardian?"They aren't here; perhaps they aren't claimed yet and are still being auctioned for the segyein." “The segyein who claimed them must have taken them to another country." Your anxiety always peaks during these moments as the worst one always keeps on rushing to your head.
“Were they already dead?”
This always gets you as you try to bury that thought deep inside you whenever you can't see them from the crowd of segyeins in galas you and Nigeh went to.
You pray to God every night that they're alive, even if they're in the same situation as you, and hope that one day all of you will meet again in the future. Your prayers are always left unanswered, and your faith has been declining as you were left nothing but silence instead of answers to your prayers.
Months after humanity's fall, a show has taken the world by storm. “Alien Stage” is what they like to call it.
This show was mainly inspired by survival shows back then but it had its own twist; it really was a survival show, and losing meant dying and the winner progresses to another round until they meet someone better than them and eventually meet their doom.
Human pets are forced to compete against one another by singing, and whoever gets the most points wins, and the loser is killed on the spot. This show was a hit with the entertainment of the segyeins; they liked to see how the humans suffered, their faces filled with despair and the weight of another's blood in their hands.
Because of this, the show was insanely popular. The first season of this show had 7 rounds overall and had everyone hooked. It was brutal, safe to say; watching as humans die and the segyeins celebrate brought nothing left with hopelessness to the remaining souls of humanity.
There were some complaints from other segyeins saying that the first season's other rounds were boring because there were contestants that were not talented and were easily killed on the spot because of it. Due to this, the alien hosts of the show proposed a project.
To fully catch the attention of the segeins, the humans chosen to compete in the stage will first undergo a training program. Where they have to learn how to sing, dance, and entertain the audience to keep the seasons unique in ech way and keep the show running up until the future.
This project was soon called “Anakt Garden."
Segyeins can send their chosen pet for the stage into the garden, and it will shape them into the most “ideal” version of themselves that will please the segyeins watching. Because of this, many segyeins were ecstatic and signed up their pets without a second thought for the benefit of their pets' popularity the guardians will gain if their human pet is given a chance to participate in this said show.
You knew this whole "Anakt Garden” was just a setup for the human pets. You heard stories about it, the stories mainly coming from your older “sister” Hi-a. She was the only source of comfort you had when the other girls excluded you due to their jealousy. She was once a favorite of Nigeh, but then you came, and Nigeh threw her away like nothing.
Your relationship with her was a fresh air you needed but also strained as she sometimes showed her envy towards you when you became your owner's new favorite. However, she never failed to show you genuine care and comfort when there were days that were too harsh on you and you needed someone to rely on. She was your safe place, someone you cherished deeply as you two became close as time passed by, as she was the one to tell you about the truth and dangers about Anakt Garden, making you terrified of it and hoping that you wouldn't be chosen.
The pets that didn't meet the expectations of the people operating the garden were soon eliminated, and only those who graduated from the garden after passing all the tests held in the garden were able to compete in the stage. From thousands, reduced to hundreds, and hundreds reduced to not than 30 remaining contestants for the next season to air.
However, out of 30 surviving contestants, only 8 are chosen to participate on the stage. Through a voting system, the stats of a pet is displayed over a website; showcasing their skills on video as segyein audiences have the freedom to vote on how they wanna see on stage while the remaining 22 human pets are spared and have a higher chance to be chosen in the next season after the previous season has ended.
In other words, this was a death sentence for the remaining humans. While there were others who deemed it a safe haven because people inside the garden were separated from their guardians.
This gained the attention of your "sisters," and hope that they will be chosen to enter Anakt Garden to please your guardian. Nigeh. However, out of everyone, Nigeh signed you up for the garden, earning the jealous looks and increased dislike of your sisters sent your way. You can do nothing but keep it all in and endure the cruelty you got from them when Nigeh left.
Despite the cruelty, you wished for one person to comfort you and whisper reassurances in your ear as you trembled from fear. This was no other than Hi-a. Your wishes were useless, as you knew the truth why Hi-a didn't appear to defend you from your sisters.
Hi-a disappeared not long after her warnings about Anakt Garden to you and vanished with no one knowing where she went, but you knew the truth. Hi–a was long dead, disposed of properly by none other than your guardian, Nigeh.
The day soon came where Nigeh had to drop you off for the Anakt Garden, the so-called “safe haven” by human pets, but also being exposed to the cruelty of it. You looked into the mirror as you stared at your own reflection. As usual, you were dressed in Nigeh’s fashion; a frilly white dress with bunched sleeves matched with a frilly bonnet with bows. In a way, your outfit can be described as Lolita, making you appear more doll-like. You really hated wearing these types of clothes as the fabric itched onto your skin, but you chose to endure it to not displease your owner even more.
You watched as Nigeh handed you over to the facilitators of the garden, placing you in a clear box cage as you said your goodbyes to your owner as she ignored you and left without a word, not caring about you and only your worth that will benefit her in the future.
Time passed slowly in that little box you were placed in, waiting for the moment you were taken out of it and soon placed into the garden as a new face for the other human pets before you. You can do nothing but close your eyes and doze off for the time being.
However, the person next to you seemed to be the opposite. She was restless in a way and seemingly cared for by their guardian as you watched her guardian and her exchange tears during their goodbyes.
You chose to ignore her chances of wanting to strike a conversation and make you pay attention to her when you two were in the boxes. However, you can't help but feel familiarity towards her as if she's someone you once knew but can't recall due to how long it had been. Though you can't help but feel curious on who this girl was, so after all her attempts, you finally looked at her.
Ah, you knew she was someone familiar.
You remember passing by her and her group in the halls when the world was normal and not overrun by aliens. She was a member of a group named "ILLIT." You recognize her face but never her name as your brows furrow in thought, trying to recall who she was. She too had the same realization seeing a familiar face after a while as she looked at you with nothing but wonder and awe.
But that moment was cut short when the two boxes were now being separated from one another as you watched her go farther away from you as she banged on the glass box at your retreating figure as tears formed in her eyes. You could do nothing but just wave your hand goodbye slightly to offer her comfort as she fully disappeared from your sight.
After that, you were then led into a room by the facilitator and was instructed to change into the uniform of the garden. Finally being free from the itchy fabric, you quickly changed into the uniform and sighed in relief as your clothes were now loose and you could breathe normally after the tight dress you were in was chosen by your owner.
The facilitator then knocked at your door and told you to go outside as they led you to the main place where everyone was at.
It was a room, designed to look like a garden, hence the name, Anakt Garden.
The room was really big and wide, eerily resembling how a real garden would look back then, but at the same time, it couldn't hide the imperfections of it, as the obvious folds of the wall and artificial lighting, flowers, bushes, water, trees, and grass can be seen when looked at closely.
You then stepped into the room as eyes were locked on your figure, curious about who the new face was. Some recognized you due to your past being an idol but never chose to come close to you, as most watched in wonder. You chose to ignore them all as you observed the people around you. There were some on the ground sleeping, some practicing, and most of them were with their newly formed friend groups with the people they met recently in the garden.
You knew you had to adapt into your new environment quickly as you too wanted to survive from this garden's cruelty prior to the warnings of your now deceased sister; Hi-a.
You walked until you found a spot, a tree from the far back where you could blend perfectly without the attention from others. You then sat down and leaned your back on the trunk of the new as your hands were on the fake grass as you felt it brush against your palm. Your eyes drifted from one person to another, silently observing whom to trust in the garden, as this was now your new "home."
After some time, you didn't find anyone in the garden you could easily trust, as you knew you were going to have a hard time there and be an outcast once again, like how you once were with your sisters. You buried your head in your legs as you curled up on yourself and continued on watching the other people to cure your boredom.
As if your prayers had finally been answered, 5 sudden figures then entered the room. Your eyes widened in realization of who they were.
Martin, Juhoon, Keonho, Seonghyeon, and James. They are alive. They are breathing. Your brothers were fine. You moved your head up so fast as you looked properly at them, hoping that it wasn't your mind playing tricks on you.
A moment passed then as you realized that they were in fact real; they were dressed in the same uniform as you as you watched them all interact with one another normally.
Sensing someone was looking at them, James then looked up and met your gaze. His eyes widened at your figure as the rest of the guys followed his gaze and had the same reactions as James.
In one moment you were staring at them, and in the next was a blur as numerous arms were wrapped onto your figure in relief. Your eyes then watered at the feeling as you reciprocated the same relief as you hugged them back.
Finally, after a long time of silence and loneliness, your prayers were now answered. You've missed the feeling of their presence and the true feeling that you were "home."
