Chapter Text
Dear, can you promise me?
That whatever gonna happen to us, your love for me won't change?
That even if I'm no longer me, you will still look at me as I'm your one and only universe?
Even though,
You know we're never meant to last..?
………….
The lobby was filled with people, all dressed with luxury and fashion brands that screamed out money and fame. It seemed like they were trying to show off their power in every possible way they could think of in a rare opportunity like this.
Yet from afar, a man who looked at the competition of wealth with half-eyed, heaving a sigh. Was that a sigh of getting tired of the grandness or a signal for something horrendous to happen? No one knew.
The raveness casually fixed his suit.
And as his man nodded to him through the rear-view mirror, he opened the door to the fortune's attention. Unintentionally or not, all eyes were drawn to him.
Eyes of curiosity, hatred, hostility, admirable,.. glued to the man and every step he took because the center of the spotlight exuded nothing but coldness and dangers.
He waited a bit for his men to catch up before handing the guards his V.I.P ticket. A smile plastered on his face.
The man in black suit examined the card swiftly and nodded to another woman in white suit behind the entry. She quickly stepped upfront, facing the raveness and bowing to him in an elegant manner.
"May I have the honor to help you, Mr. Choi. Please follow me."
She guided him through the insane amount of guards inside, whispering in their ears inaudible words and they all stepped aside from the said man. They walked down two stairs, passed by a bunch of suspicious rooms and another security check before finally getting to the place of their target.
"Here's your seat, Mr. Choi."
He nodded at her and watched the woman walking her way out before he sat down with a mild heavy force. Smile still remained on the handsome look.
"Are you finally in, Cheol?"
The raveness subtly tapped on his wireless earpiece, briefly taking a glance around the room.
"Already in my seat."
"Is the target there?"
"Not yet." The man hooked his leg above the other, leaning on the chair's arm. "He also wasn't there in the lobby."
"He soon will." Sounds of speed typing echoed through the earpiece. "Four rows ahead of you to the left, number no.25, go alone. Just stick the bug on him and the mission's finished."
"Got it."
And the connection died down.
"I'll take the job." One of his men spoke up, fixing his glasses under the bang of his curly hair. "You should entrust it to someone who's a connoisseur of languages."
"We never doubt your abilities, Won." The raveness laughed quietly. "Though I feel more reliable when you say that."
"Sorry but," suddenly came the husky voice from their youngest, words muffled as he covered his nose. "My maned wolf sensitive sniff is bleeding both internally and externally."
"Blame it on you, Gyu," the pacifist hid his laugh behind his palm. "We three are perfectly fine though."
The raveness heaved a sigh, yet not because of his men’s complaints.
This place was an auction, an event that surprisingly where betting on people was inhuman, however in this society created by magical beings it was allowed despite all crises.
Just like a common society’s tree, they classified people into levels and treated them based on that. It was nothing until few decided that they’re more superior than others and started to use power to force weaker individuals into doing things against their wills.
Injustice led to revolution, and he's one of them. Seungcheol Choi was what they named him.
Mingyu pouted, arms crossing toward his chest. "I should've paralyzed my nose's senses first. You all know the older a creature gets the worse their scents are right? Especially when stinky perfumes overlap with it." He shuddered. "I'll jump off a cliff for a chance to get out of here."
The three olders laughed at their youngest's antics.
"Endure it for a little more, okay?" Joshua stroked his nape gently, giving in to the other's childish whines. "We'll go home right away once it's finished."
And before Mingyu could reply, the light suddenly switched off.
"What's it?"
Joshua's hand immediately set ready on his gun and Seungcheol's ears hooked up, listening in attentiveness to every sound even the slightest.
Wonwoo's eyes glowed up inside the dark cover, his pupils dilated into sharp elips. "Don't worry. This is one of their events." Being in a felinae classification apparently had its own advance.
And true as what Wonwoo had said, the forum which stood a few meters higher than the audience's chair had its curtains closed, slowly opened again, letting out lights that brightened up the entire place. A man in a tuxedo suit, hand holding a mic and face faking a smile appeared once the blind set off completely.
The raveness could smell blood off him, no matter how much it's covered up the trance was still there. Seungcheol scoffed.
"Is that the auctioneer?" whispered Mingyu and Joshua nodded as a reply.
"Let's be quiet from now on." Seungcheop raised his hand, already exuding his alpha aura that instantly made his men stay quiet.
Seungcheol leaned on his palm and eyes glued to the scene up front. Whatever he had in mind wasn't something to be said out loud.
…….
"My my," the man tapped on his mic.
"Didn't expect to be able to welcome this many guests to our once in a while event. It will be a shame for us to hold you off much longer, and if our goods don't meet your expectations. My name is Park." He winked. "Low quality products aren't our thing, and 'guests are everything' is our motto."
Everyone clapped their hands.
"So, let's not delay our show any longer and let's welcome our first piece for today!"
Behind the stage, a person wearing a mask pushed a high cart up the platform, which was on top was a glass set up neatly to display its elegance.
The diamond inside the glass cage sent out a different aura than its other bezels. Owning a smooth shade of deep blue and outline cut neatly had allowed it to reflect the beam of lights in a more special way.
"1,700 $ for number 25!" The auctioneer yelled.
"That's our target." Joshua whispered.
They saw a man raising his stick up only a few rows away from them, who if Seungcheol was being honest, the pacifist could jump and execute him right away. But that wasn't their group rule.
The show kept on going. A scarlet fire dragon head, a transparent crystal caged winter fairies inside, a sample of alexandrite rock, etc. Things and things kept pouring out in front of their eyes that it was shameful that none of it could catch Seungcheol's attention.
"Where's the painting?" Mingyu spoke in a voice laced with annoyance. "I want to see how good it is that Minghao was so eager to put me in misery like this."
"It's a painting, the very last thing that everyone here wanted to have." Wonwoo squinted. "This is going to be for a while."
"And for the spotlight of our show today." The mustache man suddenly announced loudly. "Please welcome!" He stepped aside from the center of the light, fully facing the audience.
"1004!"
Slowly, the light lowered from bright to dim and the forum casted twinkles upon the silky curtains, adorning it like a hazy dream.
Seungcheol rolled his eyes. Auctions weren't merely just a place to show who had more money than who, it had, and always, offered "pets". Not like those cute creatures which you could teach them tricks, "pets" in this society was an implication for slaves, especially sex slaves. Under any age, gender, or species, as long as they were still breathing their values still lasted.
Abruptly, the platform's center opened and from below, a well-sculpted glass swing decorated with feathers and violet roses rose up. There was a small silhouette dangling on the seat: a creature with wings and had glitters on each side.
When the lights casted on, Seungcheol's eyes instantly widened at what he saw.
A fairy.
A really gorgeous one.
One that possessed a beauty that put other beings into shame.
Fairy wasn't a rare breed. Seungcheol had encountered enough of the kind to say out of confidence that they weren't that special like the image all those fairy folks painted for them. But this one-
Silky blonde hair streamed down the small shoulders, porcelain skin brightened up under the dim stage lights. An oversized long sleeve blouse covering up only to above thighs, revealing (maybe) intentionally the smooth legs underneath. A white collar whose string came down to shin and a masquerade mask with strands of ribbon tucked behind ears.
Deities really did their best in perfecting this gracefulness.
Especially his wings. A pair of transparent wings adorned slightly with periwinkle playing the main theme and iris on edges. It allowed the ethereal to be a definition for him, not the other way around.
Yet despite all, an art never meant to be perfect.
1004 apparently was no more than 13. Childlike features, small hands, short height,.. probably not a kid but still too young and too pure. The slave industry was something that everyone in this society loved because that meant they could buy people who lost their own rights and it could only be asked back by servicing and sex.
Seungcheol loathed that. And there's no in between.
"That boy got a nice scent," Mingyu suddenly whispered, tail wagging slightly. "Vanilla."
"Childs always have good smells." Wonwoo chimed in.
Then a sudden loud applause snapped every attention back. Successfully diverting those hungry gazes away from the fragile sculpture-boy on the swing.
"My my, steal the spotlight right away, eh?" The mustache man let out a too devilish laughter. Park walked to the boy's place and lifted his face with fingers hooked under the small chin.
"This one is 1004, a good that we traders take so much pride in. Beautiful," the man squeezed the boy's cheeks. "Pure," then craning his neck to the side. Seungcheol could see 1004's pale, smooth junction of shoulders with no marks. Which meant he's still remaining untouched; a trait every slave owner liked.
"My my, it's so pitiful to let our pride go like this.” The old man faked a sniff and slowly, his fingers trailed down to the blonde’s pinkish lips and he pressed on the bottom.
Unconsciously, Seungcheol's scent flared up.
"Aw, he's so cute and obedient, isn't he? Letting everyone touch without fighting back. Such a good boy that no one dared to hate."
His eyes flashed crimson, and ears stood up.
"Cheol."
"Huh?"
"Hide your alpha."
The raveness blinked several times out of shock. Still he lowered the aura with tons of questions showing up in his mind. He just lost composure over someone he didn't know, how could it happen?
"Our little boy is branded as white so we would like to reward him with treats. I believe everyone here understands the pet classification thoroughly enough to know he's sitting there on top."
Park twirled the strand of the said boy's collar , smiling smugly to himself.
White collar meant completely untainted: had not been used, had not been touched and had not been laid.
Seungcheol averted his gaze away. He never liked these kinds of scenes.
"Enough ranting. Why don't we start now my ladies and gentlemen!?"
Immediately the crowd cheered loudly, roars that filled with hunger and possession toward a clueless creature tied down by chains.
————————
A few minutes into the bids when Seungcheol felt a light tap on his shoulder.
He propped up and saw Joshua raising a brow at him. "Turn around."
Seungcheol frowned. He fixed his attention back on stage and instantly, eyes widened.
Among the chaos happening down stage, the ethereal creature who was being in the center unwillingly, was casting his gaze upon Seungcheol.
Maybe it was out of curiosity (?). Seungcheol assumed so. Yet why he could feel something sweet dropped off those dazzling universes.
They reflected lights and livings; a vast colour of dark shading pastel. It wasn't too bright and wasn't too sorrowful to look at. If it was possible, probably Seungcheol would have fallen into the depths of those smiling orbs.
Wait.
Smiling?
Seungcheol blinked his eyes.
"One dib for the gentleman on row 2!" The auctioneer yelled.
Yet Seungcheol couldn't bring himself to hear.
1004 was smiling.
At him.
Him out of all things.
Seungcheol couldn't understand.
Like he was standing on a deserted beach inside the night. Waves hit and surrounded him with its overlapped vibrations. Not a light, not a beam of sun would shine through that darkness yet in the middle of all, there was a tiny star.
A star stood on its own alone inside the night sky. It shone upon him, even though it was weak Seungcheol could still feel the warmth radiating from it.
He adored that fragile star.
"Cheol."
Seungcheol startled, he went back to the bidding sight and eventually got snapped out of his dream.
"You there, Cheol?" He heard Joshua's voice ringing beside his ears. "You spaced out and I've been trying to pull you back many times."
"You okay, hyung?" Mingyu asked worriedly.
"I'm completely fine, don't worry." Seungcheol waved his hand. Of course he's fine, he just got into unreal because of a simple upturn in the corners of a lip.
What a shame.
————————
The bid lasted for a too long moment before Park heaved a loud exhale, immediately capturing every attention.
"The more we prolong this the more we can't decide who is gonna be the winner. So, may I propose this idea of mine?"
The fairy straightened up his posture.
And as the old man finished talking, he also started to get up.
Trance of admiring sounds harmonised together when 1004 stood beside the man. Yet abruptly Park yanked his collar string harshly, causing him to stumble forward and grimace in pain.
"Can gentlemen's number 14 and 31 raise your sticks up?" Two bidders did so as the request: one wolf and one cobra; the cobra's standing out velvet suit was adorned with jewelries and sparkling rocks. A noble?
Park pushed the boy to the edge, intentionally making his metal ankle chains which Seungcheol failed to notice clinkled in the quietness.
"Our price will give a treat before officially belonging to its new owner. I know everyone here wants a taste of him but he isn't a public figure sadly. Though," Park rubbed his two fingers together. "You would need this."
He laughed smugly which Seungcheol didn't bat an eye at.
He watched 1004 wipe off the dirt on his blouse, and with a wide smile opening, the blonde stretched his folded wings out. Causing the fairy dust to spark a soft light and hover around him like a string of ribbon.
His wings flapped from slowly, in a languid pace to quickly and finally to fly off the ground. It took only a moment for the boy to be above the corba, who according to what was said, was gonna be his new owner.
All pairs of eyes glued to the being's movement. Were they in possession? Or jealousy? Or even god forbid, admiration?
The cobra trudgingly stood up, which instantly engulfed the room in an aura of mystery that only certain few could sense.
"There's something about that cobra." Wonwoo whispered.
The man opened his arms, from behind Seungcheol couldn't see what was going on upfront yet there seemed to be a grin on his face. They stood only an inch apart and with a cute tilt of head from 1004, he abruptly got pulled in by collar and waist wrapped tightly inside the cobra's arms.
"Don't they make a cute couple?" Park commented emotionally. "I can already see the future where they will be together forever."
The cobra sat down and positioned the boy on his lap, legs still in chains curled up to chest and he applied kisses on 1004's cheeks.
"Come on, our passionate bidders! We still have more to go till the end of our auction."
Seungcheol felt a spike of irritation. Yet it died away when 1004's round hazel eyes landed on him as the cobra pulled him tighter to his chest.
The raveness averted his gaze away. Face heating up in embarrassment.
And during the rest of the auction, Seungcheol couldn't resist taking peeks at the fairy every now and then.
———————————————————————————————
"Gah!" Mingyu exclaimed in relief.
The auction had come to an end an hour ago and now Seungcheol and his members were settling inside their car.
Wonwoo opened the front door, wiped off the dust on his sleeve and closed with a thud. His face plastered a grin.
"My nose has been suffering for long ass hours! I'll never come back to this place ever again!"
Wonwoo, who was in charge of driving, hummed in nonchalance. "You're the one who insisted on going with us though."
"But I didn't know that it would mean me suffering! Oh wait," Mingyu's fluffy ears suddenly hooked up. "How did hyungies stay so immune?"
"We've gone through worse, bud." Joshua gently said, tuning the radio. He glanced briefly at the rear-view mirror for the raveness sitting quietly in the back.
"Cheol."
The alpha peered sideways at the pacifist.
"Thinking about our mission?"
"I've taken care of that. No worry." Wonwoo chimed in. He started the engine and pressed on the pedal driving away. "Will report to base shortly."
"I already entrusted you with that Won. I wouldn't doubt it." Seungcheol turned back to the front, shaking his head.
"Then what's it?" A light bulb popped up above Joshua's head and his doe eyes shone with a glint of mischief. "It's the blonde hair fairy, isn't it?"
His calmness wavered in a moment before Seungcheol covered it with a blank expression.
"That would never be the case."
"Of course to you that definitely would." Joshua smirked. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Cheollie."
Seungcheol rolled his eyes. Apparently there was nothing about him that Joshua didn't know; they were friends from the very first beginning.
"Speaking of him," Wonwoo added. "I wonder what the cobra will do."
The lynx hybrid twirled the wheel, making a turn at the corner as he went on with his words.
"It's such a sore eye to see that old noble being so sexual with the boy, yet it's a surprise watching him be so indifferent to the rubbing."
Wonwoo raised a brow. "The cobra is a noble, right?"
"Yeah, nobles can be seen on events like this." Joshua nodded, brows knotting as he was fixing the radio.
"That boy is now a noble's slave. He would be safer with that title, wouldn't he?" Mingyu asked.
The maned wolf was a softie that things like this to him were always too much. He did try to get used to them through years while staying with everyone, but talking was never as easy as doing.
"There's a possibility, yes." Seungcheol answered mostly for himself because his mind kept on lingering on a certain blonde. "But it would be naive to believe in it."
It was silent for a moment until the radio, which Joshua had been trying to tune earlier, blasted out a bunch of rock n roll songs.
"Gimme a minute." Joshua immediately said, finger turning up and down the volume until a small static came out.
"Can you hear me?"
The brunette fixed up a little. And in an instant the voice became more audible.
"Hello?"
"Hyung!" Mingyu beamed with excitement, leaning on Joshua's headrest to get close to the radio. "Mission's finished."
"I know." The group's backbone and an infamous hacker inside the underworld, known as the name Woozi, laughing through the device.
"And we also got the painting too! With a really cheap price."
Joshua shrugged as Wonwoo eyed the younger through the rear-view mirror.
"Unfortunately Hao isn't here. He would scream in my ears in excitement if he heard that."
"Is he with Soonyoung?" Seungcheol questioned.
"Nope. I sent him on another mission with Jun." Woozi scribbled on his note. "Soonyoung wants to go alone."
"That hamster if he's serious no one will dare to play with him." Wonwoo chuckled.
"He'll be sulky if he hears you call him a hamster. Anyways, how was everyone's experience at the auction?"
"Excuse me but that was hell." Mingyu shuddered at the recalling memory.
"No comment." Said Wonwoo.
"Sorry but me too." Joshua raised his hand, drawing out a gentle smile. "That wasn't too good to call it a piece of memory."
"As expected tho," Woozi raised his brows. "What about Seungcheol? I have not heard his opinion yet."
"It's fine-"
"Ah, that alpha just got his mind stolen. Let him have his time to recover."
"Shua."
"I know, I know." Joshua rolled his eyes. "You're whipped."
"Seungcheol was?! You'll have to tell me what happened, Shua."
Seungcheol sighed, he was fooled to believe that being a leader was fun.
———————————————————————————————
Wonwoo watched the corpse decompositioning as Jun pulled in nearby the place.
"Get on."
He nodded and brushed off the dirt on his coat, and quickly settled in the backseat. Jun shot him a quick glance before pedaling off into the highway.
Both of them were on a hunt, somewhere far away from the city to avoid the government's dogs. Wonwoo even brought with himself a lye substance to help dispose of the corpse more easily.
Listening to Jun's conversation with Woozi through his earpiece, an odd instance slowly came back to Wonwoo's mind.
When they were chasing after the prey, in the corner of his eyes: from one dark, narrow, and off people's attention alley, Wonwoo saw a blonde hair boy leaning on the walls.
One that was unexpectedly familiar to his memory was that Wonwoo could only take his eyes off when Jun yelled at him for the hunt.
Now while he's on the way back, when the same alley as before coming into sight again through the window, Wonwoo didn't hesitate to jump into action right away.
"What's wrong ?" Jun asked in confusion, pulling off to the sideway after the earpiece had turned off.
Wonwoo opened the door and beckoned the other to follow. And even though the spy didn't understand, he still trailed behind his friend into the alley.
"I need you to help me find a person." Wonwoo asked once they got into the middle of the place.
"Who's it?"
"You will know soon."
And without more delays, the duo separated by themselves and searched around. Over the fence of the alley, the trash carts, and even under the piles of garbage yet there was nothing.
It wasn't until when Jun stumbled over something lying under a white canva that it took both of their attention. It looked somewhat flat, and seemed nothing near dangerous so they didn't put too much thought into it. Not, until now.
"Can you lift it up?"
Observing the thing a little, Jun nodded and decided to open the cover all at once and simultaneously, Wonwoo's eyes widened.
Long blonde hair, porcelain skin, special vanilla fragrance.
All those similar features reminded him of one and only fairy.
The one on bid at the auction.
He's sleeping so peacefully in the middle of filth. Breaths evened out and eyelashes fluttered in his sleep, maybe he's travelling in a beautiful dream and probably that's why there seemed to be a smile on his small face.
The beauty which was named after the definition of gorgeous, graceful and pure like a droplet on leaves reflecting the dusk of the day, was now covered in bruises, bleeding wounds and a big scar on the right thigh. But there was one more thing that got both men frown in questions.
1004 smelt like an alpha wolf.
If there was a mark it would be understandable yet the boy's pale neck said otherwise.
Checking on the seriousness of the injuries while being completely gingerly, Jun all but grimaced when he got to the state of the back. "Wings are broken."
Not only the wings were torn, look further down they could see the boy's reddened scraped feet covered in dirt, as if he overexerted himself by running all night without a rest; exactly what did he try to run away from?
"Let's take him to the hospital." Jun turned to the lynx hybrid.
"Then who will take care of him?"
"Someone? Don't think about bringing him along with us. I don't want to be killed by Seungcheol yet."
"He's still a child. They will send him to the orphanage or somewhere like that. And you know I don't trust those bitches the most."
"If we bring him along it'll mean we touch a noble's precious slave, that's against the group's rules and the last thing I'll think of doing."
"You never listen to rules."
"And you do."
The temperature dropped drastically.
"If we don't hurry up he might be in danger." Wonwoo hissed.
"It's never our business to care about his matter of life." Jun's ears twitched.
"If you don't take him, I'll." Wonwoo crouched down near the boy. "Every scold, every punishment, I'll take responsibility for what I've done."
"You know you can't do it."
"I don't care."
Wonwoo moved the boy gingerly and laid his head on Wonwoo's shoulder. And being extremely careful like holding a feather, he brought the fairy to his chest and picked him up in bridal style.
"He's a child with bleeding wounds. I have the common sense to know that an adult like me can't just ignore him and walk away like I saw nothing."
Jun stared at the curly hair man for a second, pupils dilated and shaped into different forms before he heaved a sigh.
"Rules are meant to be broken, I guess." He took off his wool coat.
"Won, give him to me."
Wonwoo raised brows at him, still he gently put the blonde into Jun's steady embrace and fixed the boy's posture to make it more comfortable for him to lie.
"Drape my coat over him, so that we can't keep him from having hypothermia."
The glass man did as requested and stepped back.
"I'll hold him during our way back. You take care of the road for me."
Wonwoo nodded, hand formed into fist mumbling. "Thank you." And he turned on his heel heading back to their car.
Jun followed right after the other, fixing up his arm a little for the fairy to lie more comfortably on his chest. He understood why Wonwoo was so urgent in taking the boy with them, yet the scolding from their leader still made shivers shoot through his bones.
"I hope your decision won't make us both suffer, Wonwoo."