Round 25: Prince Sunggyu ★ Protector of L♡VE! (1/2)
Title: Prince Sunggyu ★ Protector of L♡VE!
Team: AU
Rating: PG
Fandom: Infinite
Pairing: Gen/Sunggyu-centric + Sunggyu/Myungsoo
Summary: ｡･ﾟ･☆Magical Boys AU☆･ﾟ･｡ There is darkness rising in the world, and the Children of the Sun-Sunggyu, Hoya, and Dongwoo-have been called upon to save it.
Author's Note: Thank you to the Bu to my Dong for beta on my first draft, love you! Any remaining errors in this final version are purely mine. The fun vibes from the Jackpot MV and the overall feel of the lyrics are what inspired this story. Hope everyone has as much fun reading it as I had writing it! Also thanks to my fabulous teammates for always being encouraging and lovely~ (And special thanks to everyone who said yes when I asked about magical boys AU. :p)
Prompt Used: Block B - Jackpot MV + lyrics
“The seeds of darkness are beginning to sprout.
Children of the Sun, it’s time to rise.”
In a time long, long ago, on a distant planet-
Or not exactly. Sunggyu’s story takes place on Earth, a planet so vibrant and teeming with life, yet shrouded in ascending darkness that is slowly taking over the world. It has been pretty crazy lately, with all sorts of shit happening, hundreds of thousands of people dying, innocent people getting killed for no reason... Earth may be a beautiful planet, but the hearts of those who live on it are not so much.
It is the Year 2018, and 2018 Seoul remains very much the city it has always been-on the surface, a bustling city with spirit and vivacity. But it is also where people are too busy with themselves to care about others. The strong thrive like never better, the weak are left to die. The lack of warmth in the city has been increasingly apparent in the past few months, like something has happened to disrupt the balance, like something has started to manifest.
Sunggyu is 17, in his last year of high school, and can’t wait to graduate. He is also handsome, charming, and sexy-he believes so, at least-and perfects the look of a high school delinquent with his flaming red hair. His tall frame and long legs do make him pretty swoon-worthy, since he wears his uniform like he’s modeling for some school uniform label, if there’s even such a thing. His shirt is half tucked in, and his socks are way too low.
Yet none of the teachers actually care, because Sunggyu is in Year 3 Class H-the bottom class, where all the supposed bad students with no future are relegated to. The others refer to the H in their Class H as Hopeless, so they automatically become the objects of ridicule. Being on the receiving end of taunts and jeers have become routine to them now that most of them have become apathetic.
But Sunggyu isn’t stupid. Oh, he’s far from it. Sunggyu is a genius, but he is also extremely lazy. He had given up trying to make an effort since he was done with the first year of high school, and hence very naturally got booted to the last class.
“Are you coming?” A rather well-built boy with stylish blonde hair says as he walks by.
Sunggyu had fallen asleep, leaning backwards in his chair, at some point of the lesson, though let’s be real, the teachers don’t care much about their class at all and they might as well have been reading from the textbooks from the amount of effort they put into teaching Class H. Sunggyu knows way more than they can teach them in a year. He opens his eyes without moving his head to look at Hoya.
Then a slightly shorter boy with flamboyant pink hair bounces into Sunggyu’s vision. “Let’s go!”
Sunggyu gets up with a huge grunt and stretches. “Okay.” He is really envious of Dongwoo’s boundless energy sometimes. But, no thanks. Too much effort.
Their only route out of school takes them past the rest of the Year 3 classes, from G to A, and they hear things like “the useless ones are here”, “such disgrace”, “you taint the Earth just by breathing”, to name some of it. Sunggyu has never cared, and never will care. Hoya and Dongwoo thought those remarks to be hurting at first-which they are-but they have also learnt to ignore them.
After all, it isn’t like Hoya and Dongwoo are interested in academics. All they need is dance.
Sunggyu doesn’t really remember how he became friends with Hoya and Dongwoo for their personalities are complete opposites. Perhaps that is also what makes them work.
Playing pool after school has turned into sort of a regular activity for them, and they already have a table claimed at the place. It is an unspoken rule, but people generally avoid their table anyway.
So there is nothing different about this day, as Dongwoo skips and twirls along, while Hoya and Sunggyu take their time strolling at the back. As they pass a small alley on their way, Hoya has already walked slightly ahead, and a dark figure suddenly gets thrown out of the alley and into Sunggyu.
Sunggyu stumbles sideways and has his cigarette hit out of his hand. He manages to regain his footing and reflexively reaches out to hold the person who knocked into him. Before Sunggyu can say anything, five huge dark shapes emerge from the alley.
Hoya and Dongwoo have realized what is happening behind them and have backtracked to flank Sunggyu’s sides as the big men approach him.
Sunggyu knows who they are. Everyone in school knows who the star players of the school rugby team are. And they’re standing right in front of Sunggyu right now acting like barbarians.
“You have one day, pretty boy. Or don’t blame us for getting nasty.”
Then they stalk away after one of them delivers that line to the boy in Sunggyu’s arms in a low, gravelly voice that could give Megatron a run for his money. They don’t even look at Sunggyu though he stares at them with a deep frown.
Sunggyu holds the boy up. “Are you alright?”
The boy nods but he doesn’t lift his head. Jet black hair that is a little messy and pressed white uniform that is rather crumpled after his encounter with the barbaric guys-Sunggyu figures he must be one of those academically inclined kids from school. But he always thought they just all band together to mock at Class H, he didn’t think they had so much time to actually fight among themselves.
“Thank you.” The boy says and tries to slink away.
Sunggyu grabs him by the wrist to stop him. “What’s going on here?”
The boy finally looks up and hot damn. Sunggyu is struck by how absolutely stunning he looks. His skin is smooth as silk, his nose so straight it could rival even that of the most beautiful gods, his eyes are dark and sparkling just like those of a kitten feigning innocence, and his lips, wow, his lips are a rosy pink and look perfectly kissable. Sunggyu is enthralled. Hearts sparkle and dance in his eyes and around his head.
“It’s nothing, but thank you.”
The boy manages to escape while Sunggyu is still lost in the enchantment. He doesn’t realize until Dongwoo waves his hands in front of Sunggyu’s face.
“Yoohoo~ Earth to Sunggyu, hello?”
Sunggyu snaps out of his trance and the hearts pop like bubbles. In a split-second his expression has reverted to the same bored expression he always wears.
Hoya is watching him with his brows raised.
“What? He’s attractive.”
Sunggyu struts ahead before any of them can say anything else.
The thing about being Sunggyu, is that it’s never too late to get out of bed. That’s why he’s strolling to school at ten in the morning, hours after when school is supposed to start. His red hair draws a lot of attention as he walks past the other classes, but also earns him the stink-eye from the teachers and students alike.
Well, he’s Kim Sunggyu, he’ll do whatever he wants to.
But Sunggyu subtly looks for the black-haired boy as he passes each class. He doesn’t see him anywhere in the Year 3 classes, so Sunggyu figures he is possibly a Year 1. Only Year 1’s can manage to look so neat and bright-eyed. Perhaps Sunggyu will run into him some other time, though hopefully not like how they had knocked into each other yesterday.
He accidentally meets the eyes of one of the Class A elite students on the way, and said student scowls before looking away haughtily. That’s Nam Woohyun, top scorer of the cohort, the hot favourite of the principal and all the teachers because he never fails to make the school proud with those straight A’s of his. His hair is such a vivid leaf green that Sunggyu sometimes thinks he resembles a Bulbasaur, but way less cute, of course.
Nam Woohyun, Year 3 Class A, Model Student, known for his academic grades now, but previously known as the boy who got rejected by Sunggyu after confessing to him with a bunch of beautiful sunflowers in the middle of the school field in their first year. Sunggyu had said no, because he wasn’t interested in relationships, and told Woohyun that he could definitely find someone better. Woohyun had taken it really hard, and had been trying to make Sunggyu’s life difficult since.
People have forgotten about it soon after, and now only know him as the straight A’s student, but Woohyun still regards Sunggyu with as much contempt as the day Sunggyu said no, or possibly even more than then.
Hoya and Dongwoo find the hate unjustified, but Sunggyu accepts it. There is just a fine line between love and hate, after all. What Sunggyu doesn’t accept, is that the two boys who are always with Woohyun, this lanky one with loud cyan hair who towers above Woohyun, and this one with flashing purple hair and a perpetual seductive expression-Sungyeol and Sungjong-have taken to insulting Dongwoo and Hoya whenever all six of them encounter each other.
Sunggyu is the one who rejected Woohyun anyway, and everything between them shouldn’t have anything to do with anyone else, but somehow Woohyun made it everyone’s problem. So Sunggyu tries to steer clear of his way, not because he is scared, but because he doesn’t want to stir anything up.
He feels the scornful glares of Sungyeol and Sungjong on him before he disappears out of sight of Class A, but takes no heed.
Sunggyu continues walking and steps into his class like he owns it. Most of his classmates don’t even look up, and the teacher pays no attention to him as well.
Dongwoo waves happily to Sunggyu as he takes his seat. “Thought you weren’t coming!”
Sunggyu ruffles Dongwoo’s bubblegum pink hair and smiles warmly. “Didn’t want to ruin my perfect attendance this year.”
Hoya snorts.
Sunggyu ignores him and lets himself sink down in his chair, propping his legs up on the desk as he pulls a book out of his bag to read. Technically, reading in class is not wrong. It’s just that Sunggyu isn’t reading anything related to class. Despite his frivolous appearance and behaviour, Sunggyu is kind of a literary geek.
Class is a bore as always, and Sunggyu dozes off with his book on his face because the drone of the teacher’s voice is really hypnotic.
Hoya picks the book off Sunggyu’s face when the last bell goes off, and Sunggyu rubs his eyes before opening them.
“What’s the agenda today?” Hoya asks.
“The usual?” Sunggyu yawns.
“It’s Thursday. Nine Cues doesn’t open early.”
“Oh, right.”
“What about drinks?”
“We can go after Dongwoo’s dance class, then.”
They don’t even make it to Dongwoo’s dance class.
Sunggyu spots the black-haired boy being dragged away the moment he steps out of the school gates.
“Uh...” Dongwoo starts. “Are we going?”
The three of them look at each other, then Hoya and Dongwoo both look at Sunggyu, who sighs.
“You guys go for the dance class, I’ll go take a look.”
Dongwoo shakes his head. “We can’t let you go alone. It might be dangerous!”
Hoya nods. “Dongwoo’s right.”
Sunggyu shrugs and leaves in the direction that the people have taken the black-haired boy. Hoya and Dongwoo follow him wordlessly. They reach the end of the path, which is surrounded by ominous-looking trees and has pretty much been abandoned for years judging from the overgrowth there. Sunggyu never knew this place existed right behind the school.
The burly athletes had thrown the black-haired boy on the ground and are surrounding him when Sunggyu, Hoya, and Dongwoo arrive.
“Five big men against one boy. Haven’t heard of the term ‘pick on someone your own size’?” Sunggyu says in a degrading tone. “Oh, right, I’m sorry, look at how petite and pretty you five look. Aww.”
All five of them have directed their attention to Sunggyu now.
“Mind your own business.” The one with the Megatron voice growls.
“Thanks for the concern, my business has been booming lately.” Sunggyu smirks.
“You Class H trash don’t deserve to speak to us.” Another one speaks up. Sunggyu thinks this one reminds him of Bebop.
Rocksteady steps up next to him. “Yeah, who are you to talk to us?”
Perhaps Megatron is Shredder.
Sunggyu turns to Hoya and Dongwoo. “Is it just me, or is there something speaking to us?”
Hoya shrugs. “Pretty sure it’s just the wind.”
“Voices in the wind! How poetic!” Dongwoo chimes in.
Sunggyu feels the withdrawal of air from the side of his face and swiftly ducks down to avoid the punch thrown by Megatron, driving his elbow into Megatron’s guts as he slips away.
Megatron sputters and stumbles backwards. His eyes are filled with fury. Bebop and Rocksteady, and the two others that Sunggyu will refer to as Weezing and Muk just because, stand alongside Megatron just to look menacing.
Hoya stands on Sunggyu’s left, and Dongwoo on Sunggyu’s right.
If they want a fight, Sunggyu will give it to them. It has been a while, anyway. Back in Year 2, Sunggyu is always caught in fights. That’s also how he has that one pool table claimed in Nine Cues. In his defense, Sunggyu only fought that guy because Dongwoo got to the table five seconds before him and the guy was angry so he pushed Dongwoo and called him names. It had made Dongwoo sad, so it made Sunggyu angry.
Megatron throws the first punch in this fight, and Sunggyu steps out of his reach again. Weezing and Muk have retreated to try to take the black-haired boy away, while Hoya and Dongwoo take on Bebop and Rocksteady respectively.
They may look like huge guys with lots of brawn, but that is also all they are-huge guys with lots of brawn. Sunggyu realizes they don’t really know how to fight. All they have is their strength. Hoya and Dongwoo fight so gracefully they seem to be dancing. Sunggyu isn’t so much about the grace. All three of them take a couple of punches to the face, to their stomachs, in their shins, but these things aren’t going to stop them.
Sunggyu rolls away after a particularly forceful punch that takes the air out of his lungs, and lays down for a while to regain his bearings. He notices that the black-haired boy is actually bound and gagged on the ground, and Weezing and Muk are standing over him like they’re guarding him. Then footsteps that grow louder alert Sunggyu to the fact that Megatron is almost onto him, so Sunggyu waits till Megatron is close enough before he kicks his leg out and sweeps it across Megatron’s feet.
Megatron falls with a loud grunt. Hoya and Dongwoo manage to subdue Bebop and Rocksteady at the same time. Sunggyu gets up and steps on Megatron’s chest, the heel of his shoe digging into his flesh and making Megatron wheeze. When he still doesn’t retaliate, Sunggyu knows they’ve won. He crouches next to Megatron and slaps his cheeks with the back of his hand. “Guess you’re a lot smaller than you think.”
Then Sunggyu gestures to Hoya and Dongwoo to keep Megatron in place as well, and walks over to where Weezing and Muk are.
“So...” Sunggyu raises his hand, and both of them scream as they flee. He runs his fingers through his hair instead. “Well, that was easy.” He watches them for a bit to make sure they aren’t coming back before he helps the black-haired boy up and gingerly peels the tape from his lips.
“Thank you.” The boy says softly without looking up.
Sunggyu unties his hands and feet.
The boy suddenly throws his arms around Sunggyu with a huge sniffle, burying his face into Sunggyu’s shoulder.
Sunggyu is taken off-guard and is at a loss for a moment. Then he slowly puts his arms around the boy and hugs him back, patting his hair gently. “There, there.” He hears Hoya and Dongwoo snickering behind his back and knows how awkward he must be right now.
The boy eventually releases Sunggyu after what Sunggyu thinks is close to five minutes. He steps away from Sunggyu bashfully-how cute!-and nods his thanks at him again. “I’m Kim Myungsoo, by the way. Year 1. I’m sorry for getting you into trouble, but thank you so much.” Then the boy pecks Sunggyu on the cheek and runs away.
Twenty question marks pop out around Sunggyu’s head as he stands rooted to the spot, blushing. What just happened?
Hoya wolf-whistles at Sunggyu while Dongwoo exclaims, “That’s so sweet!”
Sunggyu makes his way back to Hoya and Dongwoo, stepping onto Megatron nonchalantly as he does.
“Are you blushing, Kim Sunggyu?” Hoya grins.
“Not a word!” Sunggyu walks away without waiting for both of them.
That night, Sunggyu has to avoid sleeping on his right thanks to a huge bruise that has formed on the side of his ribs. The rain, however, provides a soothing lullaby so Sunggyu falls asleep almost immediately, pain forgotten.
Bright lightning pierces the sky and a particularly loud crack of thunder results in Sunggyu getting jolted awake. He lays staring up at the ceiling for a while, and that is when light starts streaming in through his window and flooding his room until it becomes blinding. Sunggyu sits up reflexively as he attempts to get out of bed, but he can’t do anything except shield his eyes with his arm because even closing them isn’t of much use.
Then the light fades into a dull, glowing sphere suspended in the middle of his room and Sunggyu opens his eyes tentatively. He wants to reach out to touch it but at the same time he is apprehensive about doing so. He has no idea what that thing does and he would prefer not to implode or explode before he finds the black-haired boy-Myungsoo-again and speak to him.
But the sphere starts talking.
“Child of the Sun, you have been chosen to protect this world against the rising darkness. You will henceforth be known as Prince Roseus, Protector of Love. Cleanse this planet of its evils, and lead them into light. Protect the Earth and its inhabitants. Embrace the love and be the light, Prince Roseus!”
Hoya and Dongwoo are whispering to each other when Sunggyu walks into class, and don’t even notice him until Sunggyu breaks their conversation by putting a hand between them.
“What’s with the serious discussion?” Sunggyu asks as he sits sideways on his chair. He accidentally brushes his bag against his rib and hisses, cursing under his breath.
“We had this weird dream last night.” Hoya starts solemnly. “There was thunder and lightning, and this ball of light-”
“-that spoke! It’s really cool! I thought I was in an anime!” Dongwoo chirps.
Sunggyu remembers now. He wasn’t too sure before if it was a dream or if it really happened, but now that both Hoya and Dongwoo mention it... “What Prince are you both?”
Both of them look at him as they realize it had happened to Sunggyu too. The silence isn’t too long-lived, though, because Dongwoo very enthusiastically shares his new name.
“I’m the Protector of Joy, Prince Corallius!”
Sunggyu looks at Dongwoo with his coral pink hair and the bright smile on his face. Well, that certainly fits him.
“I’m the Protector of Peace, Prince Aureus.” Hoya deadpans.
Sunggyu snorts.
“Don’t make me hit you, I’m supposed to be at peace.”
Sunggyu puts up his hands in mock-surrender. “I will not stop you from protecting peace, Prince Aureus.”
Hoya narrows his eyes at Sunggyu. “What are you, then?”
“Protector of Love, Prince Roseus.”
Hoya laughs hysterically and Sunggyu pushes him.
“But what does this mean though? For us to all have had the same dream?”
Hoya shrugs, and Dongwoo shakes his head. This is getting really weird.
Life goes on as normal for them, as the three of them head towards Nine Cues again. Except this time Sunggyu gets sidetracked.
Myungsoo ambushes Sunggyu when three of them step out of school. But Myungsoo’s way of ambushing is really adorable, since he just quietly shuffles out from the side and plants himself in front of Sunggyu.
“Oh, hello.” Sunggyu says, for lack of a better reaction.
Myungsoo looks down shyly. “Hi.”
“Hi, Myungsoo. I’m Sunggyu.” He turns to gesture at Hoya and Dongwoo. “That’s Hoya, and this is Dongwoo.”
Both of them wave politely at the boy, who nods and waves back bashfully. And before Sunggyu knows it, Hoya and Dongwoo have already made themselves scarce by walking ahead and not waiting for Sunggyu, and when Sunggyu looks over Myungsoo’s shoulder at them, both Hoya and Dongwoo are grinning back at him. Idiots.
“I’m... I was thinking... Maybe we could...” Myungsoo wrings his hands nervously.
“Would you like to go somewhere together?” Sunggyu says.
Myungsoo glances up at him and nods, blushing. “I have yet to thank you properly.”
Sunggyu smiles. “Do you have something in mind?”
Myungsoo nods and holds Sunggyu’s hand to lead him away.
Sunggyu grips Myungsoo’s hand as he looks at him. This boy is too damn adorable.
Then Sunggyu suddenly feels fury that is boring into the back of his head, and he can sense an intense loathing from somewhere in his surroundings. He catches a flash of green, then blue, then purple, from the corner of his eyes, but when he turns to look, there’s no one anywhere. The sense of impending danger that is building up rapidly makes Sunggyu really uneasy.
But Myungsoo’s holding his hand really tightly, so Sunggyu forgets about everything else, and focuses on the attractive boy next to him.
“Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around before.”
“I just transferred here a week and a half ago to Year 1 Class A.”
“Ah, such a bright and promising future ahead of you. You shouldn’t mix around with people like me.”
Myungsoo frowns as he glances at Sunggyu. “What do you mean people like you?”
“I’m from Year 3 Class H. Surely you have heard stories about us?”
Myungsoo seems to ponder for a while, then nods. “Does that matter? You could have left me to die, or something, but you didn’t. I can’t say the same about some of those people from the other classes.” He pauses as if thinking back on past experience, Sunggyu supposes the bullying must have started from the day he arrived. Then Myungsoo looks at him again. “Your red hair... It makes you look sexy.”
Sunggyu laughs. “Just the hair?”
Myungsoo shakes his head. “The way you carry yourself. Your confidence. How you wear your shirt half tucked out.”
Sunggyu raises his brows. “You’ve been...”
Myungsoo stares at the ground as they walk. “I... I first saw you on my second day, but I never thought in a million years that we would meet this way.”
“It is a pretty fun story to tell, you have to admit. ‘Sunggyu hyung rescued me and we fell in love.’ You know, something like that.”
Myungsoo chuckles softly. “You’re just getting ahead of yourself now.”
“Am I? So says the one who kissed me the first time we officially met.”
“It was a kiss of gratitude! And it was on your cheek!”
“Still a kiss.”
“Why are you being so mean to me?”
“I’m not!” Sunggyu protests.
Then there’s a booming crack of static and both Myungsoo and Sunggyu fall backwards.
“What the-” Sunggyu stares up at the three figures who stand in front of him, shrouded in dark glows.
There are the flashes again-green, blue, purple-then the glows fade to reveal three huge boys Sunggyu is definitely familiar with. He had just fought with them yesterday. Except they look different.
“Hand the boy over.” Megatron says. He is clad in some kind of metal armour from head to toe, and when he speaks, Sunggyu can see that his teeth have now become metal spikes. His eyes glow blood red. Sunggyu can’t decide if he is imagining the scene in front of him or it could be reality that the bad guy has somehow managed to turn himself into exactly what Sunggyu had thought he resembled.
“No.” Sunggyu says calmly as he gets to his feet slowly, pulling Myungsoo with him and subtly makes Myungsoo stand behind him.
“Then prepare to die.” Bebop and Rocksteady step forward.
Sunggyu almost laughs. Megatron may have turned out a tad too terrifying, but these two... Well, Sunggyu can only say the nicknames he thought of for them are way too apt.
Bebop has two long tusks protruding upwards from his lower jaw and Rocksteady has a horn on his forehead. Sunggyu starts to think this is a nightmare. They look even more like Bebop and Rocksteady than they have before, except they are also wearing matching armours.
Myungsoo clings to Sunggyu’s back, and Sunggyu realizes this may actually be real life.
So how is he supposed to fight these things?
All three of them stick their hands out and suddenly weapons appear in their hands. Megatron holds a sword, Bebop and Rocksteady have clubs with spikes.
“Myungsoo, you need to run.” Sunggyu says in a low voice only meant for the boy hiding behind him.
“But-”
“There are no but’s, just-” There’s a jingling sound and then sudden coldness on Sunggyu’s skin, just on the top of his chest, like Sunggyu is wearing a necklace. But Sunggyu doesn’t wear any. He reaches up to touch whatever it is, and that is when it happens.
A blinding white light engulfs Sunggyu, and he’s lifted off the ground, spinning around in circles as his uniform morphs. When he has both his feet firmly on the ground again, he reflexively stretches out his hand like he has done this a million times over. A staff about a metre long materializes in his hand and he assumes battle stance. The light fades into a warm glow.
“Protector of Love, Prince Roseus!”
Sunggyu points the staff at the thugs.
“We are the Children of the Sun, Protectors of Earth. Together, we command you to renounce this darkness and embrace the light!”
The glow fades and Sunggyu is left standing there wondering what the actual fuck in the world just happened. He looks down at himself, and finds that he is wearing the most ridiculous outfit to ever exist. There are so many things wrong about this that he doesn’t even know where to start. He’s like a prince from some olden day era except in shorts.
His shirt still resembles his uniform in some way, but it now clings far too tightly to his chest, and an unnecessarily long and puffy red ribbon is in the place of a tie. The short sleeves have a red trimming, and the vest has way too long frilly red shirt tails that are longer than his shorts and stick out in a way that makes Sunggyu seem like he has a bigger butt. The necklace that Sunggyu had touched to trigger this change presses against his chest coolly, obscured by the red ribbon.
The shorts are just slightly longer than mid-thigh length, and the straight cut makes them the most normal thing Sunggyu is wearing. Sunggyu supposes they are acceptable.
Sunggyu kind of likes the boots. They are high cut white boots that reach halfway up his calves, and there are wide red ribbons in place of the laces. Wings extend from the sides of the boots. Sunggyu wonders if this means he can fly.
Hold up a second.
Hold up a second.
Why is he even in such an outfit in the first place? How did he recite those weird lines when he has not heard them once in his entire life? What is happening? And there is just one of him, where did the ‘we’ even come from?
Sunggyu glances back and realizes Myungsoo is looking at him with-never mind, Sunggyu doesn’t even know what that look in Myungsoo’s eyes is. He turns back to find Megatron and his goons snickering at him.
They think it’s funny, huh? Sunggyu will vanquish them, he will... Then Sunggyu’s heart drops when he realizes he doesn’t even know what he can do or if he can even do anything. The sphere’s words reappear in his mind at that moment.
“Cleanse this planet of its evils, and lead them into light. Protect the Earth and its inhabitants. Embrace the love and be the light.”
If this isn’t a nightmare, then this staff had better fucking work. Sunggyu stares at the glowing staff in his hand. At the top of it is a red rose-love and respect-encased in a shining, gold spheric wire framing. To hell with the ridiculousness of it all, he might as well try something.
Sunggyu waves his staff and points it at Megatron. “Face my Flame of Love!” Sunggyu doesn’t know where those words come from, but an orangey-red blast shoots out from the top of his staff and hits Megatron so fast he flies backwards.
“Haha, what the fuck.” Sunggyu says aloud, clearly amused.
Bebop and Rocksteady give a loud bellow in unison and charge towards Sunggyu. Sunggyu fends them off with his staff, deflecting each hit, but there are two of them and one of him and he’s being backed into a corner. He doesn’t even know where Myungsoo is anymore, but he hopes the boy has listened to his words and run away.
A yellow blast hits Bebop and a pink blast hits Rocksteady and they both fall backwards as Sunggyu grabs the opportunity to throw them backwards with a mighty push of his staff.
“Don’t laugh.” Hoya says when Sunggyu sees him, but Sunggyu has no intention of laughing anyway.
Dongwoo skips on the spot a bit. “Isn’t this adorable?”
Dongwoo does look adorable. His outfit mirrors Sunggyu’s except whatever Sunggyu has in red, Dongwoo has in coral pink. His shorts are also longer than Sunggyu’s, up to his knees, and rather puffy. His boots are just high enough past his ankles, and there are obviously a gratuitous amount of shoe lifts in them. Dongwoo’s staff has a pale pink rose-joy and grace-instead of a red one.
Hoya’s colour is yellow, and what strikes Sunggyu first is that Hoya’s sleeves are way too tight because of his biceps. His shorts are the length of Dongwoo’s, but of a straight cut. His shoes resemble low cut running shoes, but are also complete with a yellow ribbon and white wings on each. Hoya’s staff has a yellow rose-friendship and new beginnings.
Sunggyu walks over to Hoya and undoes the buttons on his sleeves for him. “Whoever made these needs to take into account your huge arms.”
Hoya rolls his eyes.
“You insects!” Megatron roars.
Bebop and Rocksteady are back by his side.
“We’re not the insects here, neither are you. None of us are. But to harm a person like what you guys have been trying to do? That’s low. Way low. You guys are strong, but brute force is not the answer to everything. Sometimes you need to talk it out-”
“Enough of your bullshit! Attack!”
“Alright, here goes nothing,” Sunggyu mumbles.
He exchanges glances with Hoya and Dongwoo, who both nod. Then three of them charge towards the bullies and hop up high before aiming their staffs and unleashing the blasts again.
“Wave of Joy!”
“Sparkle of Peace!”
“Flame of Love!”
Megatron, Bebop, and Rocksteady attempt to fend off their attacks with their seemingly powerful weapons, but they fail appallingly against Sunggyu, Hoya, and Dongwoo.
Then, as if planned, the three of them touch the spheres atop their staffs together and yell, “By the power of the Sun, we, the Protectors of Earth, cast on you the Rainbow Light of Hope!” As its name suggests, a swirling rainbow beam shoots out from the centre of the spheres towards the three fallen thugs and envelopes them in a rainbow cloud.
Two seconds later, the rainbow cloud disperses like bubbles popping, and what’s left tumbled over each other in a heap in the middle are three dazed schoolboys who no longer resemble the monsters they had taken the form of.
“This means we won, right?” Dongwoo says excitedly.
“I think so?” Sunggyu lowers his staff.
The star rugby players now resemble themselves again, although they look like they have gone through hell. At least they are all unhurt, just frazzled.
“Are we just leaving them there?” Hoya asks.
“Would you like to take them home?”
“No.”
“Then yes, we’re leaving them there.” Sunggyu glances around to look for Myungsoo, who is nowhere to be seen. His necklace suddenly feels way too cold against his skin again.
“How do we...” Hoya gestures to their outfits.
“Try touching the necklace again?” Sunggyu suggests and does it. Nothing happens.
“Maybe we need to say something? Like how they say ‘Mischief Managed’ in Harry Potter to keep the Marauder’s Map secret?” Dongwoo pipes in.
Sunggyu blinks then waves his staff around. “Earth protected! Darkness eradicated! Evil vanquished! I don’t know, nothing is working?” Sunggyu sits on his shirt tails in frustration.
Dongwoo sits next to him. Hoya joins them.
Then Sunggyu feels his necklace warming up, and he is about to start worrying again when he looks up and spots Myungsoo peeking out from behind a tree in the distance. He waves to the black-haired boy.
Myungsoo walks over. “You guys look amazing!”
“I know!” Dongwoo agrees joyfully.
Sunggyu and Hoya exchange glances and sigh.
“We look like some boyband destined for failure,” Sunggyu says.
Then as if on cue, all three of them touch the spheres on their staffs together and Sunggyu says, “Light restored.”
The next moment they are all back in their regular uniforms.
“How did you do that?” Myungsoo exclaims in awe.
Sunggyu, Hoya, and Dongwoo shake their heads simultaneously.
“Well, that was anticlimactic.” Hoya muses.
“This is actually really freaky.” Sunggyu says. “I don’t even know how I say these things or do these things. I haven’t even done them before in my entire life!”
“Do you think the sphere has somehow... managed to control our thoughts?
“Who or what even is the sphere anyway?”
“Why does it make us do this?”
“To do our part and repay the society?” Dongwoo says.
Sunggyu scoffs and retorts, “Why do we need to repay the society? What has the society done for us?”
“Ah...” Dongwoo twiddles his fingers and nods slowly.
“They treat us like scum.” Sunggyu states, his tone somewhat bitter.
“You do act like one sometimes,” Hoya says earnestly.
Sunggyu rolls his eyes. “Thanks for the input, Hoya.”
“You’re welcome.”
They are about to pick themselves off the ground when some students passing by yell insults at them.
“See what I mean?” Sunggyu glances at Dongwoo with a brow raised, then reaches for Myungsoo’s hand and pulls him up.
Myungsoo clings to Sunggyu’s arm and stares at him adoringly.
Hoya gives them a judgmental look. “You two are gross.”
Sunggyu sticks out his tongue at Hoya and turns to Myungsoo. “Why do they pick on you so much?”
Myungsoo chews on his lip and straightens even though he doesn’t release Sunggyu’s arm. “They wanted me to do their homework for them but I didn’t want to.”
“What?” Hoya blurts out incredulously.
“Yeah, they used to pay the other students to do their homework for them, but since I’m new and all, I guess they figured I would be an easy alternative. I don’t have any friends yet, I wouldn’t have any back-up if they did try to do anything to me.”
“Disgusting.” Sunggyu murmurs, then gently slips his arm out of Myungsoo’s grip and puts it around his shoulders. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you from now on.”
Sunggyu, Hoya, and Dongwoo sit around in a circle on the floor in Sunggyu’s room. Myungsoo has made himself comfortable on Sunggyu’s bed and is reading a manga. Sunggyu was supposed to take him out on a date but due to their necklaces continuously emitting a muted white glow in pulses since morning, the Children of the Sun decided to have a discussion.
They have found their necklaces to have the same symbols as their staffs, which, admittedly, isn’t that bad because they are rather pretty. The more horrific part of the necklace, is that no matter how hard any of them try, they are unable to take them off. Therefore the three of them have lived with it for the past week, but the necklace didn’t do weird things during this time so they have pretty much been able to ignore the fact that they are part of something else, something big, according to what the sphere had told them.
It is now that the necklace is buzzing that they are reminded of this fact again.
Honestly, nothing much has changed for them since the first time they have transformed. School has gone on as usual, they still face a barrage of insults every day, they are still the useless bunch of students everyone thinks they are. The powers have not made them any different.
“I guess there must be something bad happening soon?” Dongwoo’s glance darts between Sunggyu and Hoya, his expression is one of worry.
“At least it seems to be giving us ample warning this time instead of throwing everything at us out of the blue like last week.” Sunggyu says.
“I don’t think we’ve quite figured out why... Shouldn’t we have some kind of mentor appearing to show us the ropes? Cardcaptor Sakura had Kero. Why hasn’t some cute cat appeared to us yet?”
“I-”
The blinding white light from outside the window fades in and fades out within two quick seconds, then the glowing white sphere appears before them again. When the white sphere sinks to the ground, it pops like a bubble, and in the middle stands an orange mouse.
“Okay, that was so not what I had in mind when I mentioned Kero.” Hoya stares at the mouse in disbelief.
“Does this make us Ninja Turtles?” Dongwoo asks, “Sensei?”
“My name is not Sensei.” The mouse speaks. His voice is a lot deeper than they had expected.
Sunggyu notices how Myungsoo has put down his book and is listening in on their conversation with way too much interest. It probably feels like a scene from one of his favourite anime or manga.
“You can call me Sir Yeobby-Dobby.”
Hoya accidentally snorts, and apologizes quietly.
“I have been watching you, but you seem to be doing quite well without any help.”
Sunggyu refrains from scoffing. Instead, he says, “That doesn’t mean you can just ignore us. You can’t just give us these weird powers crap and just leave us with it. We honestly have no idea why we are the ones chosen for this, or how we can recite all those cheesy lines we have never heard before. That time we were just lucky. What if this bloody necklace makes us transform at the wrong time or what if it makes us fight some powerful monster? What are we going to do then? My-our lives have been perfectly fine before that night, I didn’t need this extra responsibility to do whatever this transformation is making us do!”
Sunggyu had not meant to say this much. In fact, he had no idea he had all these thoughts bottled up inside him until the mouse appeared. Sunggyu can now admit that the whole thing scares him, possibly more than it scares Dongwoo. Hoya seems apprehensive as well. The first transformation had been an incredible adrenaline rush, but if Sunggyu were to sit down and think about it, there were a lot of ways the fight could have gone.
They could have died. They might die in the future. They need to know who they are and what they are now.
The mouse scratches his head with his little paw. “Oh dear, I must apologize. It has been a while since I was a guardian. These have indeed not crossed my mind. But do not fret, I shall be with you from now on.”
“Well, we’re listening.” Sunggyu sighs.
“You have been chosen by the powers of the Sun, for your innate traits of faith and courage. Sunggyu, you possess remarkable love and respect in your heart. Hoya, you are gifted with an exceptional sense of loyalty and hope. Dongwoo, you are blessed with a big heart filled with extraordinary grace and joy. It is for these reasons, that you are worthy Children of the Sun.”
Dongwoo seems so impressed his eyes are twinkling.
Sunggyu and Hoya keep their straight faces.
“You said it’s been a while since you were a guardian? You mean this has happened before?”
“Centuries ago, the first seeds of darkness were planted on Earth. Three Protectors, very much like yourselves, were chosen to defend the Earth. Since then, I’ve been visiting many different Galaxies to guide the worthy in protecting their Planet from the forces of evil that have grown from the seeds sowed throughout the Universe.”
“And you’re saying it’s happening again?”
“Yes. Once again, a powerful adversary is starting to gather their forces, and darkness is coming soon. The Planet Earth needs you to fight to save it and everyone, everything, that lives on it. Without all of you, Earth will be overtaken by evil. We need you to restore the light to this beautiful planet before it’s too late.”
“Well, uh, that’s inspiring.” Hoya says.
“So how do we do that?” Sunggyu frowns as he runs his fingers through his hair. Myungsoo seems to sense his frustration, sliding closer to him and squeezes his shoulders.
“The same way you fought the three creatures last week! They, too, have been chosen to be part of a bigger army. But they are chosen for the darkness in their hearts-arrogance, vanity, pride, among others-and their darkness is enhanced, so they will terrorize and overpower the helpless. The three of you have shown that you have what it takes to stop these things, but slowly you must realize your full potential to stop the Commanders of Earth, as they call themselves. They are the Sons of the Moon, the Warriors who are in command of the rising darkness on Earth.”
Sunggyu and Hoya exchange cynical looks. First, Children of the Sun, and now, Sons of the Moon? This is getting more ridiculous by the second. Only Dongwoo seems to be enjoying this like it is all just a game.
It feels absurd that the three of them, out of so many people, would get chosen for such an important mission that concerns so many lives. They are but just useless Class H students who have nothing to contribute to society, students who are meant to live a life of mockery for they are deemed inferior, students who care too little to be anyone of import, students who will eventually be left behind.
“You honestly think we are capable of that?” Sunggyu finally asks after a long period of silence.
The mouse stops gnawing on his sunflower seed and looks Sunggyu in the eye. “I do.”
Sunggyu can’t explain how ludicrous it is to be looked in the eye by a mouse, but then again, with everything that is going on or beginning right now, that may already be considered normal. He remains silent for a while before nodding. “We’ll try our best, then.”
“We will?” Hoya echoes skeptically.
“We will!” Dongwoo punches the air in enthusiasm. “I’ve always wanted to be a superhero!”
Sunggyu smiles and pats Dongwoo’s pink hair. He can tell that Hoya still has his reservations, just like he does. At least one of them is raring to go.
The mouse clambers up onto Sunggyu’s leg and he holds out his palm to let the small creature climb on. “Sunggyu, the world may not think highly of you, but you have infinite potential and when you fully embrace your powers, you will realize there is nothing you can’t do.”
Next
Team: AU
Rating: PG
Fandom: Infinite
Pairing: Gen/Sunggyu-centric + Sunggyu/Myungsoo
Summary: ｡･ﾟ･☆Magical Boys AU☆･ﾟ･｡ There is darkness rising in the world, and the Children of the Sun-Sunggyu, Hoya, and Dongwoo-have been called upon to save it.
Author's Note: Thank you to the Bu to my Dong for beta on my first draft, love you! Any remaining errors in this final version are purely mine. The fun vibes from the Jackpot MV and the overall feel of the lyrics are what inspired this story. Hope everyone has as much fun reading it as I had writing it! Also thanks to my fabulous teammates for always being encouraging and lovely~ (And special thanks to everyone who said yes when I asked about magical boys AU. :p)
Prompt Used: Block B - Jackpot MV + lyrics
“The seeds of darkness are beginning to sprout.
Children of the Sun, it’s time to rise.”
In a time long, long ago, on a distant planet-
Or not exactly. Sunggyu’s story takes place on Earth, a planet so vibrant and teeming with life, yet shrouded in ascending darkness that is slowly taking over the world. It has been pretty crazy lately, with all sorts of shit happening, hundreds of thousands of people dying, innocent people getting killed for no reason... Earth may be a beautiful planet, but the hearts of those who live on it are not so much.
It is the Year 2018, and 2018 Seoul remains very much the city it has always been-on the surface, a bustling city with spirit and vivacity. But it is also where people are too busy with themselves to care about others. The strong thrive like never better, the weak are left to die. The lack of warmth in the city has been increasingly apparent in the past few months, like something has happened to disrupt the balance, like something has started to manifest.
Sunggyu is 17, in his last year of high school, and can’t wait to graduate. He is also handsome, charming, and sexy-he believes so, at least-and perfects the look of a high school delinquent with his flaming red hair. His tall frame and long legs do make him pretty swoon-worthy, since he wears his uniform like he’s modeling for some school uniform label, if there’s even such a thing. His shirt is half tucked in, and his socks are way too low.
Yet none of the teachers actually care, because Sunggyu is in Year 3 Class H-the bottom class, where all the supposed bad students with no future are relegated to. The others refer to the H in their Class H as Hopeless, so they automatically become the objects of ridicule. Being on the receiving end of taunts and jeers have become routine to them now that most of them have become apathetic.
But Sunggyu isn’t stupid. Oh, he’s far from it. Sunggyu is a genius, but he is also extremely lazy. He had given up trying to make an effort since he was done with the first year of high school, and hence very naturally got booted to the last class.
“Are you coming?” A rather well-built boy with stylish blonde hair says as he walks by.
Sunggyu had fallen asleep, leaning backwards in his chair, at some point of the lesson, though let’s be real, the teachers don’t care much about their class at all and they might as well have been reading from the textbooks from the amount of effort they put into teaching Class H. Sunggyu knows way more than they can teach them in a year. He opens his eyes without moving his head to look at Hoya.
Then a slightly shorter boy with flamboyant pink hair bounces into Sunggyu’s vision. “Let’s go!”
Sunggyu gets up with a huge grunt and stretches. “Okay.” He is really envious of Dongwoo’s boundless energy sometimes. But, no thanks. Too much effort.
Their only route out of school takes them past the rest of the Year 3 classes, from G to A, and they hear things like “the useless ones are here”, “such disgrace”, “you taint the Earth just by breathing”, to name some of it. Sunggyu has never cared, and never will care. Hoya and Dongwoo thought those remarks to be hurting at first-which they are-but they have also learnt to ignore them.
After all, it isn’t like Hoya and Dongwoo are interested in academics. All they need is dance.
Sunggyu doesn’t really remember how he became friends with Hoya and Dongwoo for their personalities are complete opposites. Perhaps that is also what makes them work.
Playing pool after school has turned into sort of a regular activity for them, and they already have a table claimed at the place. It is an unspoken rule, but people generally avoid their table anyway.
So there is nothing different about this day, as Dongwoo skips and twirls along, while Hoya and Sunggyu take their time strolling at the back. As they pass a small alley on their way, Hoya has already walked slightly ahead, and a dark figure suddenly gets thrown out of the alley and into Sunggyu.
Sunggyu stumbles sideways and has his cigarette hit out of his hand. He manages to regain his footing and reflexively reaches out to hold the person who knocked into him. Before Sunggyu can say anything, five huge dark shapes emerge from the alley.
Hoya and Dongwoo have realized what is happening behind them and have backtracked to flank Sunggyu’s sides as the big men approach him.
Sunggyu knows who they are. Everyone in school knows who the star players of the school rugby team are. And they’re standing right in front of Sunggyu right now acting like barbarians.
“You have one day, pretty boy. Or don’t blame us for getting nasty.”
Then they stalk away after one of them delivers that line to the boy in Sunggyu’s arms in a low, gravelly voice that could give Megatron a run for his money. They don’t even look at Sunggyu though he stares at them with a deep frown.
Sunggyu holds the boy up. “Are you alright?”
The boy nods but he doesn’t lift his head. Jet black hair that is a little messy and pressed white uniform that is rather crumpled after his encounter with the barbaric guys-Sunggyu figures he must be one of those academically inclined kids from school. But he always thought they just all band together to mock at Class H, he didn’t think they had so much time to actually fight among themselves.
“Thank you.” The boy says and tries to slink away.
Sunggyu grabs him by the wrist to stop him. “What’s going on here?”
The boy finally looks up and hot damn. Sunggyu is struck by how absolutely stunning he looks. His skin is smooth as silk, his nose so straight it could rival even that of the most beautiful gods, his eyes are dark and sparkling just like those of a kitten feigning innocence, and his lips, wow, his lips are a rosy pink and look perfectly kissable. Sunggyu is enthralled. Hearts sparkle and dance in his eyes and around his head.
“It’s nothing, but thank you.”
The boy manages to escape while Sunggyu is still lost in the enchantment. He doesn’t realize until Dongwoo waves his hands in front of Sunggyu’s face.
“Yoohoo~ Earth to Sunggyu, hello?”
Sunggyu snaps out of his trance and the hearts pop like bubbles. In a split-second his expression has reverted to the same bored expression he always wears.
Hoya is watching him with his brows raised.
“What? He’s attractive.”
Sunggyu struts ahead before any of them can say anything else.
The thing about being Sunggyu, is that it’s never too late to get out of bed. That’s why he’s strolling to school at ten in the morning, hours after when school is supposed to start. His red hair draws a lot of attention as he walks past the other classes, but also earns him the stink-eye from the teachers and students alike.
Well, he’s Kim Sunggyu, he’ll do whatever he wants to.
But Sunggyu subtly looks for the black-haired boy as he passes each class. He doesn’t see him anywhere in the Year 3 classes, so Sunggyu figures he is possibly a Year 1. Only Year 1’s can manage to look so neat and bright-eyed. Perhaps Sunggyu will run into him some other time, though hopefully not like how they had knocked into each other yesterday.
He accidentally meets the eyes of one of the Class A elite students on the way, and said student scowls before looking away haughtily. That’s Nam Woohyun, top scorer of the cohort, the hot favourite of the principal and all the teachers because he never fails to make the school proud with those straight A’s of his. His hair is such a vivid leaf green that Sunggyu sometimes thinks he resembles a Bulbasaur, but way less cute, of course.
Nam Woohyun, Year 3 Class A, Model Student, known for his academic grades now, but previously known as the boy who got rejected by Sunggyu after confessing to him with a bunch of beautiful sunflowers in the middle of the school field in their first year. Sunggyu had said no, because he wasn’t interested in relationships, and told Woohyun that he could definitely find someone better. Woohyun had taken it really hard, and had been trying to make Sunggyu’s life difficult since.
People have forgotten about it soon after, and now only know him as the straight A’s student, but Woohyun still regards Sunggyu with as much contempt as the day Sunggyu said no, or possibly even more than then.
Hoya and Dongwoo find the hate unjustified, but Sunggyu accepts it. There is just a fine line between love and hate, after all. What Sunggyu doesn’t accept, is that the two boys who are always with Woohyun, this lanky one with loud cyan hair who towers above Woohyun, and this one with flashing purple hair and a perpetual seductive expression-Sungyeol and Sungjong-have taken to insulting Dongwoo and Hoya whenever all six of them encounter each other.
Sunggyu is the one who rejected Woohyun anyway, and everything between them shouldn’t have anything to do with anyone else, but somehow Woohyun made it everyone’s problem. So Sunggyu tries to steer clear of his way, not because he is scared, but because he doesn’t want to stir anything up.
He feels the scornful glares of Sungyeol and Sungjong on him before he disappears out of sight of Class A, but takes no heed.
Sunggyu continues walking and steps into his class like he owns it. Most of his classmates don’t even look up, and the teacher pays no attention to him as well.
Dongwoo waves happily to Sunggyu as he takes his seat. “Thought you weren’t coming!”
Sunggyu ruffles Dongwoo’s bubblegum pink hair and smiles warmly. “Didn’t want to ruin my perfect attendance this year.”
Hoya snorts.
Sunggyu ignores him and lets himself sink down in his chair, propping his legs up on the desk as he pulls a book out of his bag to read. Technically, reading in class is not wrong. It’s just that Sunggyu isn’t reading anything related to class. Despite his frivolous appearance and behaviour, Sunggyu is kind of a literary geek.
Class is a bore as always, and Sunggyu dozes off with his book on his face because the drone of the teacher’s voice is really hypnotic.
Hoya picks the book off Sunggyu’s face when the last bell goes off, and Sunggyu rubs his eyes before opening them.
“What’s the agenda today?” Hoya asks.
“The usual?” Sunggyu yawns.
“It’s Thursday. Nine Cues doesn’t open early.”
“Oh, right.”
“What about drinks?”
“We can go after Dongwoo’s dance class, then.”
They don’t even make it to Dongwoo’s dance class.
Sunggyu spots the black-haired boy being dragged away the moment he steps out of the school gates.
“Uh...” Dongwoo starts. “Are we going?”
The three of them look at each other, then Hoya and Dongwoo both look at Sunggyu, who sighs.
“You guys go for the dance class, I’ll go take a look.”
Dongwoo shakes his head. “We can’t let you go alone. It might be dangerous!”
Hoya nods. “Dongwoo’s right.”
Sunggyu shrugs and leaves in the direction that the people have taken the black-haired boy. Hoya and Dongwoo follow him wordlessly. They reach the end of the path, which is surrounded by ominous-looking trees and has pretty much been abandoned for years judging from the overgrowth there. Sunggyu never knew this place existed right behind the school.
The burly athletes had thrown the black-haired boy on the ground and are surrounding him when Sunggyu, Hoya, and Dongwoo arrive.
“Five big men against one boy. Haven’t heard of the term ‘pick on someone your own size’?” Sunggyu says in a degrading tone. “Oh, right, I’m sorry, look at how petite and pretty you five look. Aww.”
All five of them have directed their attention to Sunggyu now.
“Mind your own business.” The one with the Megatron voice growls.
“Thanks for the concern, my business has been booming lately.” Sunggyu smirks.
“You Class H trash don’t deserve to speak to us.” Another one speaks up. Sunggyu thinks this one reminds him of Bebop.
Rocksteady steps up next to him. “Yeah, who are you to talk to us?”
Perhaps Megatron is Shredder.
Sunggyu turns to Hoya and Dongwoo. “Is it just me, or is there something speaking to us?”
Hoya shrugs. “Pretty sure it’s just the wind.”
“Voices in the wind! How poetic!” Dongwoo chimes in.
Sunggyu feels the withdrawal of air from the side of his face and swiftly ducks down to avoid the punch thrown by Megatron, driving his elbow into Megatron’s guts as he slips away.
Megatron sputters and stumbles backwards. His eyes are filled with fury. Bebop and Rocksteady, and the two others that Sunggyu will refer to as Weezing and Muk just because, stand alongside Megatron just to look menacing.
Hoya stands on Sunggyu’s left, and Dongwoo on Sunggyu’s right.
If they want a fight, Sunggyu will give it to them. It has been a while, anyway. Back in Year 2, Sunggyu is always caught in fights. That’s also how he has that one pool table claimed in Nine Cues. In his defense, Sunggyu only fought that guy because Dongwoo got to the table five seconds before him and the guy was angry so he pushed Dongwoo and called him names. It had made Dongwoo sad, so it made Sunggyu angry.
Megatron throws the first punch in this fight, and Sunggyu steps out of his reach again. Weezing and Muk have retreated to try to take the black-haired boy away, while Hoya and Dongwoo take on Bebop and Rocksteady respectively.
They may look like huge guys with lots of brawn, but that is also all they are-huge guys with lots of brawn. Sunggyu realizes they don’t really know how to fight. All they have is their strength. Hoya and Dongwoo fight so gracefully they seem to be dancing. Sunggyu isn’t so much about the grace. All three of them take a couple of punches to the face, to their stomachs, in their shins, but these things aren’t going to stop them.
Sunggyu rolls away after a particularly forceful punch that takes the air out of his lungs, and lays down for a while to regain his bearings. He notices that the black-haired boy is actually bound and gagged on the ground, and Weezing and Muk are standing over him like they’re guarding him. Then footsteps that grow louder alert Sunggyu to the fact that Megatron is almost onto him, so Sunggyu waits till Megatron is close enough before he kicks his leg out and sweeps it across Megatron’s feet.
Megatron falls with a loud grunt. Hoya and Dongwoo manage to subdue Bebop and Rocksteady at the same time. Sunggyu gets up and steps on Megatron’s chest, the heel of his shoe digging into his flesh and making Megatron wheeze. When he still doesn’t retaliate, Sunggyu knows they’ve won. He crouches next to Megatron and slaps his cheeks with the back of his hand. “Guess you’re a lot smaller than you think.”
Then Sunggyu gestures to Hoya and Dongwoo to keep Megatron in place as well, and walks over to where Weezing and Muk are.
“So...” Sunggyu raises his hand, and both of them scream as they flee. He runs his fingers through his hair instead. “Well, that was easy.” He watches them for a bit to make sure they aren’t coming back before he helps the black-haired boy up and gingerly peels the tape from his lips.
“Thank you.” The boy says softly without looking up.
Sunggyu unties his hands and feet.
The boy suddenly throws his arms around Sunggyu with a huge sniffle, burying his face into Sunggyu’s shoulder.
Sunggyu is taken off-guard and is at a loss for a moment. Then he slowly puts his arms around the boy and hugs him back, patting his hair gently. “There, there.” He hears Hoya and Dongwoo snickering behind his back and knows how awkward he must be right now.
The boy eventually releases Sunggyu after what Sunggyu thinks is close to five minutes. He steps away from Sunggyu bashfully-how cute!-and nods his thanks at him again. “I’m Kim Myungsoo, by the way. Year 1. I’m sorry for getting you into trouble, but thank you so much.” Then the boy pecks Sunggyu on the cheek and runs away.
Twenty question marks pop out around Sunggyu’s head as he stands rooted to the spot, blushing. What just happened?
Hoya wolf-whistles at Sunggyu while Dongwoo exclaims, “That’s so sweet!”
Sunggyu makes his way back to Hoya and Dongwoo, stepping onto Megatron nonchalantly as he does.
“Are you blushing, Kim Sunggyu?” Hoya grins.
“Not a word!” Sunggyu walks away without waiting for both of them.
That night, Sunggyu has to avoid sleeping on his right thanks to a huge bruise that has formed on the side of his ribs. The rain, however, provides a soothing lullaby so Sunggyu falls asleep almost immediately, pain forgotten.
Bright lightning pierces the sky and a particularly loud crack of thunder results in Sunggyu getting jolted awake. He lays staring up at the ceiling for a while, and that is when light starts streaming in through his window and flooding his room until it becomes blinding. Sunggyu sits up reflexively as he attempts to get out of bed, but he can’t do anything except shield his eyes with his arm because even closing them isn’t of much use.
Then the light fades into a dull, glowing sphere suspended in the middle of his room and Sunggyu opens his eyes tentatively. He wants to reach out to touch it but at the same time he is apprehensive about doing so. He has no idea what that thing does and he would prefer not to implode or explode before he finds the black-haired boy-Myungsoo-again and speak to him.
But the sphere starts talking.
“Child of the Sun, you have been chosen to protect this world against the rising darkness. You will henceforth be known as Prince Roseus, Protector of Love. Cleanse this planet of its evils, and lead them into light. Protect the Earth and its inhabitants. Embrace the love and be the light, Prince Roseus!”
Hoya and Dongwoo are whispering to each other when Sunggyu walks into class, and don’t even notice him until Sunggyu breaks their conversation by putting a hand between them.
“What’s with the serious discussion?” Sunggyu asks as he sits sideways on his chair. He accidentally brushes his bag against his rib and hisses, cursing under his breath.
“We had this weird dream last night.” Hoya starts solemnly. “There was thunder and lightning, and this ball of light-”
“-that spoke! It’s really cool! I thought I was in an anime!” Dongwoo chirps.
Sunggyu remembers now. He wasn’t too sure before if it was a dream or if it really happened, but now that both Hoya and Dongwoo mention it... “What Prince are you both?”
Both of them look at him as they realize it had happened to Sunggyu too. The silence isn’t too long-lived, though, because Dongwoo very enthusiastically shares his new name.
“I’m the Protector of Joy, Prince Corallius!”
Sunggyu looks at Dongwoo with his coral pink hair and the bright smile on his face. Well, that certainly fits him.
“I’m the Protector of Peace, Prince Aureus.” Hoya deadpans.
Sunggyu snorts.
“Don’t make me hit you, I’m supposed to be at peace.”
Sunggyu puts up his hands in mock-surrender. “I will not stop you from protecting peace, Prince Aureus.”
Hoya narrows his eyes at Sunggyu. “What are you, then?”
“Protector of Love, Prince Roseus.”
Hoya laughs hysterically and Sunggyu pushes him.
“But what does this mean though? For us to all have had the same dream?”
Hoya shrugs, and Dongwoo shakes his head. This is getting really weird.
Life goes on as normal for them, as the three of them head towards Nine Cues again. Except this time Sunggyu gets sidetracked.
Myungsoo ambushes Sunggyu when three of them step out of school. But Myungsoo’s way of ambushing is really adorable, since he just quietly shuffles out from the side and plants himself in front of Sunggyu.
“Oh, hello.” Sunggyu says, for lack of a better reaction.
Myungsoo looks down shyly. “Hi.”
“Hi, Myungsoo. I’m Sunggyu.” He turns to gesture at Hoya and Dongwoo. “That’s Hoya, and this is Dongwoo.”
Both of them wave politely at the boy, who nods and waves back bashfully. And before Sunggyu knows it, Hoya and Dongwoo have already made themselves scarce by walking ahead and not waiting for Sunggyu, and when Sunggyu looks over Myungsoo’s shoulder at them, both Hoya and Dongwoo are grinning back at him. Idiots.
“I’m... I was thinking... Maybe we could...” Myungsoo wrings his hands nervously.
“Would you like to go somewhere together?” Sunggyu says.
Myungsoo glances up at him and nods, blushing. “I have yet to thank you properly.”
Sunggyu smiles. “Do you have something in mind?”
Myungsoo nods and holds Sunggyu’s hand to lead him away.
Sunggyu grips Myungsoo’s hand as he looks at him. This boy is too damn adorable.
Then Sunggyu suddenly feels fury that is boring into the back of his head, and he can sense an intense loathing from somewhere in his surroundings. He catches a flash of green, then blue, then purple, from the corner of his eyes, but when he turns to look, there’s no one anywhere. The sense of impending danger that is building up rapidly makes Sunggyu really uneasy.
But Myungsoo’s holding his hand really tightly, so Sunggyu forgets about everything else, and focuses on the attractive boy next to him.
“Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around before.”
“I just transferred here a week and a half ago to Year 1 Class A.”
“Ah, such a bright and promising future ahead of you. You shouldn’t mix around with people like me.”
Myungsoo frowns as he glances at Sunggyu. “What do you mean people like you?”
“I’m from Year 3 Class H. Surely you have heard stories about us?”
Myungsoo seems to ponder for a while, then nods. “Does that matter? You could have left me to die, or something, but you didn’t. I can’t say the same about some of those people from the other classes.” He pauses as if thinking back on past experience, Sunggyu supposes the bullying must have started from the day he arrived. Then Myungsoo looks at him again. “Your red hair... It makes you look sexy.”
Sunggyu laughs. “Just the hair?”
Myungsoo shakes his head. “The way you carry yourself. Your confidence. How you wear your shirt half tucked out.”
Sunggyu raises his brows. “You’ve been...”
Myungsoo stares at the ground as they walk. “I... I first saw you on my second day, but I never thought in a million years that we would meet this way.”
“It is a pretty fun story to tell, you have to admit. ‘Sunggyu hyung rescued me and we fell in love.’ You know, something like that.”
Myungsoo chuckles softly. “You’re just getting ahead of yourself now.”
“Am I? So says the one who kissed me the first time we officially met.”
“It was a kiss of gratitude! And it was on your cheek!”
“Still a kiss.”
“Why are you being so mean to me?”
“I’m not!” Sunggyu protests.
Then there’s a booming crack of static and both Myungsoo and Sunggyu fall backwards.
“What the-” Sunggyu stares up at the three figures who stand in front of him, shrouded in dark glows.
There are the flashes again-green, blue, purple-then the glows fade to reveal three huge boys Sunggyu is definitely familiar with. He had just fought with them yesterday. Except they look different.
“Hand the boy over.” Megatron says. He is clad in some kind of metal armour from head to toe, and when he speaks, Sunggyu can see that his teeth have now become metal spikes. His eyes glow blood red. Sunggyu can’t decide if he is imagining the scene in front of him or it could be reality that the bad guy has somehow managed to turn himself into exactly what Sunggyu had thought he resembled.
“No.” Sunggyu says calmly as he gets to his feet slowly, pulling Myungsoo with him and subtly makes Myungsoo stand behind him.
“Then prepare to die.” Bebop and Rocksteady step forward.
Sunggyu almost laughs. Megatron may have turned out a tad too terrifying, but these two... Well, Sunggyu can only say the nicknames he thought of for them are way too apt.
Bebop has two long tusks protruding upwards from his lower jaw and Rocksteady has a horn on his forehead. Sunggyu starts to think this is a nightmare. They look even more like Bebop and Rocksteady than they have before, except they are also wearing matching armours.
Myungsoo clings to Sunggyu’s back, and Sunggyu realizes this may actually be real life.
So how is he supposed to fight these things?
All three of them stick their hands out and suddenly weapons appear in their hands. Megatron holds a sword, Bebop and Rocksteady have clubs with spikes.
“Myungsoo, you need to run.” Sunggyu says in a low voice only meant for the boy hiding behind him.
“But-”
“There are no but’s, just-” There’s a jingling sound and then sudden coldness on Sunggyu’s skin, just on the top of his chest, like Sunggyu is wearing a necklace. But Sunggyu doesn’t wear any. He reaches up to touch whatever it is, and that is when it happens.
A blinding white light engulfs Sunggyu, and he’s lifted off the ground, spinning around in circles as his uniform morphs. When he has both his feet firmly on the ground again, he reflexively stretches out his hand like he has done this a million times over. A staff about a metre long materializes in his hand and he assumes battle stance. The light fades into a warm glow.
“Protector of Love, Prince Roseus!”
Sunggyu points the staff at the thugs.
“We are the Children of the Sun, Protectors of Earth. Together, we command you to renounce this darkness and embrace the light!”
The glow fades and Sunggyu is left standing there wondering what the actual fuck in the world just happened. He looks down at himself, and finds that he is wearing the most ridiculous outfit to ever exist. There are so many things wrong about this that he doesn’t even know where to start. He’s like a prince from some olden day era except in shorts.
His shirt still resembles his uniform in some way, but it now clings far too tightly to his chest, and an unnecessarily long and puffy red ribbon is in the place of a tie. The short sleeves have a red trimming, and the vest has way too long frilly red shirt tails that are longer than his shorts and stick out in a way that makes Sunggyu seem like he has a bigger butt. The necklace that Sunggyu had touched to trigger this change presses against his chest coolly, obscured by the red ribbon.
The shorts are just slightly longer than mid-thigh length, and the straight cut makes them the most normal thing Sunggyu is wearing. Sunggyu supposes they are acceptable.
Sunggyu kind of likes the boots. They are high cut white boots that reach halfway up his calves, and there are wide red ribbons in place of the laces. Wings extend from the sides of the boots. Sunggyu wonders if this means he can fly.
Hold up a second.
Hold up a second.
Why is he even in such an outfit in the first place? How did he recite those weird lines when he has not heard them once in his entire life? What is happening? And there is just one of him, where did the ‘we’ even come from?
Sunggyu glances back and realizes Myungsoo is looking at him with-never mind, Sunggyu doesn’t even know what that look in Myungsoo’s eyes is. He turns back to find Megatron and his goons snickering at him.
They think it’s funny, huh? Sunggyu will vanquish them, he will... Then Sunggyu’s heart drops when he realizes he doesn’t even know what he can do or if he can even do anything. The sphere’s words reappear in his mind at that moment.
“Cleanse this planet of its evils, and lead them into light. Protect the Earth and its inhabitants. Embrace the love and be the light.”
If this isn’t a nightmare, then this staff had better fucking work. Sunggyu stares at the glowing staff in his hand. At the top of it is a red rose-love and respect-encased in a shining, gold spheric wire framing. To hell with the ridiculousness of it all, he might as well try something.
Sunggyu waves his staff and points it at Megatron. “Face my Flame of Love!” Sunggyu doesn’t know where those words come from, but an orangey-red blast shoots out from the top of his staff and hits Megatron so fast he flies backwards.
“Haha, what the fuck.” Sunggyu says aloud, clearly amused.
Bebop and Rocksteady give a loud bellow in unison and charge towards Sunggyu. Sunggyu fends them off with his staff, deflecting each hit, but there are two of them and one of him and he’s being backed into a corner. He doesn’t even know where Myungsoo is anymore, but he hopes the boy has listened to his words and run away.
A yellow blast hits Bebop and a pink blast hits Rocksteady and they both fall backwards as Sunggyu grabs the opportunity to throw them backwards with a mighty push of his staff.
“Don’t laugh.” Hoya says when Sunggyu sees him, but Sunggyu has no intention of laughing anyway.
Dongwoo skips on the spot a bit. “Isn’t this adorable?”
Dongwoo does look adorable. His outfit mirrors Sunggyu’s except whatever Sunggyu has in red, Dongwoo has in coral pink. His shorts are also longer than Sunggyu’s, up to his knees, and rather puffy. His boots are just high enough past his ankles, and there are obviously a gratuitous amount of shoe lifts in them. Dongwoo’s staff has a pale pink rose-joy and grace-instead of a red one.
Hoya’s colour is yellow, and what strikes Sunggyu first is that Hoya’s sleeves are way too tight because of his biceps. His shorts are the length of Dongwoo’s, but of a straight cut. His shoes resemble low cut running shoes, but are also complete with a yellow ribbon and white wings on each. Hoya’s staff has a yellow rose-friendship and new beginnings.
Sunggyu walks over to Hoya and undoes the buttons on his sleeves for him. “Whoever made these needs to take into account your huge arms.”
Hoya rolls his eyes.
“You insects!” Megatron roars.
Bebop and Rocksteady are back by his side.
“We’re not the insects here, neither are you. None of us are. But to harm a person like what you guys have been trying to do? That’s low. Way low. You guys are strong, but brute force is not the answer to everything. Sometimes you need to talk it out-”
“Enough of your bullshit! Attack!”
“Alright, here goes nothing,” Sunggyu mumbles.
He exchanges glances with Hoya and Dongwoo, who both nod. Then three of them charge towards the bullies and hop up high before aiming their staffs and unleashing the blasts again.
“Wave of Joy!”
“Sparkle of Peace!”
“Flame of Love!”
Megatron, Bebop, and Rocksteady attempt to fend off their attacks with their seemingly powerful weapons, but they fail appallingly against Sunggyu, Hoya, and Dongwoo.
Then, as if planned, the three of them touch the spheres atop their staffs together and yell, “By the power of the Sun, we, the Protectors of Earth, cast on you the Rainbow Light of Hope!” As its name suggests, a swirling rainbow beam shoots out from the centre of the spheres towards the three fallen thugs and envelopes them in a rainbow cloud.
Two seconds later, the rainbow cloud disperses like bubbles popping, and what’s left tumbled over each other in a heap in the middle are three dazed schoolboys who no longer resemble the monsters they had taken the form of.
“This means we won, right?” Dongwoo says excitedly.
“I think so?” Sunggyu lowers his staff.
The star rugby players now resemble themselves again, although they look like they have gone through hell. At least they are all unhurt, just frazzled.
“Are we just leaving them there?” Hoya asks.
“Would you like to take them home?”
“No.”
“Then yes, we’re leaving them there.” Sunggyu glances around to look for Myungsoo, who is nowhere to be seen. His necklace suddenly feels way too cold against his skin again.
“How do we...” Hoya gestures to their outfits.
“Try touching the necklace again?” Sunggyu suggests and does it. Nothing happens.
“Maybe we need to say something? Like how they say ‘Mischief Managed’ in Harry Potter to keep the Marauder’s Map secret?” Dongwoo pipes in.
Sunggyu blinks then waves his staff around. “Earth protected! Darkness eradicated! Evil vanquished! I don’t know, nothing is working?” Sunggyu sits on his shirt tails in frustration.
Dongwoo sits next to him. Hoya joins them.
Then Sunggyu feels his necklace warming up, and he is about to start worrying again when he looks up and spots Myungsoo peeking out from behind a tree in the distance. He waves to the black-haired boy.
Myungsoo walks over. “You guys look amazing!”
“I know!” Dongwoo agrees joyfully.
Sunggyu and Hoya exchange glances and sigh.
“We look like some boyband destined for failure,” Sunggyu says.
Then as if on cue, all three of them touch the spheres on their staffs together and Sunggyu says, “Light restored.”
The next moment they are all back in their regular uniforms.
“How did you do that?” Myungsoo exclaims in awe.
Sunggyu, Hoya, and Dongwoo shake their heads simultaneously.
“Well, that was anticlimactic.” Hoya muses.
“This is actually really freaky.” Sunggyu says. “I don’t even know how I say these things or do these things. I haven’t even done them before in my entire life!”
“Do you think the sphere has somehow... managed to control our thoughts?
“Who or what even is the sphere anyway?”
“Why does it make us do this?”
“To do our part and repay the society?” Dongwoo says.
Sunggyu scoffs and retorts, “Why do we need to repay the society? What has the society done for us?”
“Ah...” Dongwoo twiddles his fingers and nods slowly.
“They treat us like scum.” Sunggyu states, his tone somewhat bitter.
“You do act like one sometimes,” Hoya says earnestly.
Sunggyu rolls his eyes. “Thanks for the input, Hoya.”
“You’re welcome.”
They are about to pick themselves off the ground when some students passing by yell insults at them.
“See what I mean?” Sunggyu glances at Dongwoo with a brow raised, then reaches for Myungsoo’s hand and pulls him up.
Myungsoo clings to Sunggyu’s arm and stares at him adoringly.
Hoya gives them a judgmental look. “You two are gross.”
Sunggyu sticks out his tongue at Hoya and turns to Myungsoo. “Why do they pick on you so much?”
Myungsoo chews on his lip and straightens even though he doesn’t release Sunggyu’s arm. “They wanted me to do their homework for them but I didn’t want to.”
“What?” Hoya blurts out incredulously.
“Yeah, they used to pay the other students to do their homework for them, but since I’m new and all, I guess they figured I would be an easy alternative. I don’t have any friends yet, I wouldn’t have any back-up if they did try to do anything to me.”
“Disgusting.” Sunggyu murmurs, then gently slips his arm out of Myungsoo’s grip and puts it around his shoulders. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you from now on.”
Sunggyu, Hoya, and Dongwoo sit around in a circle on the floor in Sunggyu’s room. Myungsoo has made himself comfortable on Sunggyu’s bed and is reading a manga. Sunggyu was supposed to take him out on a date but due to their necklaces continuously emitting a muted white glow in pulses since morning, the Children of the Sun decided to have a discussion.
They have found their necklaces to have the same symbols as their staffs, which, admittedly, isn’t that bad because they are rather pretty. The more horrific part of the necklace, is that no matter how hard any of them try, they are unable to take them off. Therefore the three of them have lived with it for the past week, but the necklace didn’t do weird things during this time so they have pretty much been able to ignore the fact that they are part of something else, something big, according to what the sphere had told them.
It is now that the necklace is buzzing that they are reminded of this fact again.
Honestly, nothing much has changed for them since the first time they have transformed. School has gone on as usual, they still face a barrage of insults every day, they are still the useless bunch of students everyone thinks they are. The powers have not made them any different.
“I guess there must be something bad happening soon?” Dongwoo’s glance darts between Sunggyu and Hoya, his expression is one of worry.
“At least it seems to be giving us ample warning this time instead of throwing everything at us out of the blue like last week.” Sunggyu says.
“I don’t think we’ve quite figured out why... Shouldn’t we have some kind of mentor appearing to show us the ropes? Cardcaptor Sakura had Kero. Why hasn’t some cute cat appeared to us yet?”
“I-”
The blinding white light from outside the window fades in and fades out within two quick seconds, then the glowing white sphere appears before them again. When the white sphere sinks to the ground, it pops like a bubble, and in the middle stands an orange mouse.
“Okay, that was so not what I had in mind when I mentioned Kero.” Hoya stares at the mouse in disbelief.
“Does this make us Ninja Turtles?” Dongwoo asks, “Sensei?”
“My name is not Sensei.” The mouse speaks. His voice is a lot deeper than they had expected.
Sunggyu notices how Myungsoo has put down his book and is listening in on their conversation with way too much interest. It probably feels like a scene from one of his favourite anime or manga.
“You can call me Sir Yeobby-Dobby.”
Hoya accidentally snorts, and apologizes quietly.
“I have been watching you, but you seem to be doing quite well without any help.”
Sunggyu refrains from scoffing. Instead, he says, “That doesn’t mean you can just ignore us. You can’t just give us these weird powers crap and just leave us with it. We honestly have no idea why we are the ones chosen for this, or how we can recite all those cheesy lines we have never heard before. That time we were just lucky. What if this bloody necklace makes us transform at the wrong time or what if it makes us fight some powerful monster? What are we going to do then? My-our lives have been perfectly fine before that night, I didn’t need this extra responsibility to do whatever this transformation is making us do!”
Sunggyu had not meant to say this much. In fact, he had no idea he had all these thoughts bottled up inside him until the mouse appeared. Sunggyu can now admit that the whole thing scares him, possibly more than it scares Dongwoo. Hoya seems apprehensive as well. The first transformation had been an incredible adrenaline rush, but if Sunggyu were to sit down and think about it, there were a lot of ways the fight could have gone.
They could have died. They might die in the future. They need to know who they are and what they are now.
The mouse scratches his head with his little paw. “Oh dear, I must apologize. It has been a while since I was a guardian. These have indeed not crossed my mind. But do not fret, I shall be with you from now on.”
“Well, we’re listening.” Sunggyu sighs.
“You have been chosen by the powers of the Sun, for your innate traits of faith and courage. Sunggyu, you possess remarkable love and respect in your heart. Hoya, you are gifted with an exceptional sense of loyalty and hope. Dongwoo, you are blessed with a big heart filled with extraordinary grace and joy. It is for these reasons, that you are worthy Children of the Sun.”
Dongwoo seems so impressed his eyes are twinkling.
Sunggyu and Hoya keep their straight faces.
“You said it’s been a while since you were a guardian? You mean this has happened before?”
“Centuries ago, the first seeds of darkness were planted on Earth. Three Protectors, very much like yourselves, were chosen to defend the Earth. Since then, I’ve been visiting many different Galaxies to guide the worthy in protecting their Planet from the forces of evil that have grown from the seeds sowed throughout the Universe.”
“And you’re saying it’s happening again?”
“Yes. Once again, a powerful adversary is starting to gather their forces, and darkness is coming soon. The Planet Earth needs you to fight to save it and everyone, everything, that lives on it. Without all of you, Earth will be overtaken by evil. We need you to restore the light to this beautiful planet before it’s too late.”
“Well, uh, that’s inspiring.” Hoya says.
“So how do we do that?” Sunggyu frowns as he runs his fingers through his hair. Myungsoo seems to sense his frustration, sliding closer to him and squeezes his shoulders.
“The same way you fought the three creatures last week! They, too, have been chosen to be part of a bigger army. But they are chosen for the darkness in their hearts-arrogance, vanity, pride, among others-and their darkness is enhanced, so they will terrorize and overpower the helpless. The three of you have shown that you have what it takes to stop these things, but slowly you must realize your full potential to stop the Commanders of Earth, as they call themselves. They are the Sons of the Moon, the Warriors who are in command of the rising darkness on Earth.”
Sunggyu and Hoya exchange cynical looks. First, Children of the Sun, and now, Sons of the Moon? This is getting more ridiculous by the second. Only Dongwoo seems to be enjoying this like it is all just a game.
It feels absurd that the three of them, out of so many people, would get chosen for such an important mission that concerns so many lives. They are but just useless Class H students who have nothing to contribute to society, students who are meant to live a life of mockery for they are deemed inferior, students who care too little to be anyone of import, students who will eventually be left behind.
“You honestly think we are capable of that?” Sunggyu finally asks after a long period of silence.
The mouse stops gnawing on his sunflower seed and looks Sunggyu in the eye. “I do.”
Sunggyu can’t explain how ludicrous it is to be looked in the eye by a mouse, but then again, with everything that is going on or beginning right now, that may already be considered normal. He remains silent for a while before nodding. “We’ll try our best, then.”
“We will?” Hoya echoes skeptically.
“We will!” Dongwoo punches the air in enthusiasm. “I’ve always wanted to be a superhero!”
Sunggyu smiles and pats Dongwoo’s pink hair. He can tell that Hoya still has his reservations, just like he does. At least one of them is raring to go.
The mouse clambers up onto Sunggyu’s leg and he holds out his palm to let the small creature climb on. “Sunggyu, the world may not think highly of you, but you have infinite potential and when you fully embrace your powers, you will realize there is nothing you can’t do.”
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