#this is much bigger than a scandal or drama... this is someone's body someone's soul someone's trauma

[lixiefe]

Beyond The Curse

Magical!hyunjin x Cursed!reader

⎆ Words: approximately 9k

⎆ Disclaimer: This is set in the late 1800's timeline. Or anytime near that. More precisely, the time phase Little Women was based on. And I’m really hoping I can convey the vibes. I’ve taken a bit help from the internet, so yeah, I’m sort of also crediting pinterest. (But i posted the excerpt I used, so meh)

⎆ Summery: This can be read without the back story, but to understand the story better, I recommend reading it. The summery is written after the backstory. Prologue

⎆ Type and Warning: Lots of fluff and then angst at the end. Partly a soulmate au. Comedy (a lil?). Hyunjin is pretty flirty. As for warning, molestation (just a hint, hyunjin saves you), death, war-bombing. But overall, I don’t think this needs warning.

⎆ Also: I’ve done a bunch of researches, but if there’s anything wrong, please forgive me. I’ve spent a lot of time on this lol. I have high expectations for this lol2

Sequel: Beyond The Promise

Hwang Hyunjin

A humongous blaze of fire erupted amidst, camouflaging the entirety of the wooden platform. Scorching swashes of fiery heat engulfed the winter air with a myriad of grouse merging with a few expressions of lament. A brigade of pompous nobility joined the panicked servants with buckets of water, all efforts resulting in vain into extinguishing a fire that had already burned and catapulted the wooden platform into blisters of coal.  

The people let out yet another shriek but the fire only burned. It seared and ravished what remained of the commemorative settlement like hearth consuming logs and paper. Another phase of utter panic washed through the hefty crowd as a few people approached the setting with angry words and furious roars.

They pushed through the cumbersome batch of servants, a string of heavy curses inciting as they took upon the blazing fire. They could but remain calm, especially when the mayor was fuming with anger. Because damnest to his legitimate child, the whole of his two days preparation for his rather magniloquent speech was burned into ashes of blackened woods. And he knew who did it and why.

“Hwang Hyunjin!”

It seemed rather sadistic, but Hwang Hyunjin had bigger achievements than something as puny as a mysterious fire that can’t even be called arson. The fire that burned in his chest and consumed the heckity of his inner peace scalded more than what a platform fire could even begin to. As his father hollered in utter aggregation, Hyunjin let out a satisfied laugh at the far corner. Laughing at both his father and his foolish remnants of pretentious reputation.

Hyunjin always believed it was too easy for his father to be shucking people here and there and manufacturing money out of illicit ways. It was unfair. And Hyunjin only hooted at his father’s demise. A little of the ‘unfair’ earned back through his defiant instincts.

This- he knew was the last straw. Now all he had to do was obscure himself from his family and have his way through his post-criminal days. Because that’s what his routine was.

“Have fun, father.”

You

Speed and stealth.

Go slowly, you can do it. it’ll be fine.

“Holy shiznit!”

A tardy presentiment wasn’t really what you needed at all, especially when you had already dropped the piece of fine melanin from your calloused hands and succeeded into attracting much more negative attention than you’d needed for the day.

“She dropped it again!”

Came the annoying voice of the Mr. Bard’s young son, who’d never missed on a single opportunity of causing you an immediate downfall. You’d have snickered at him and told him he was no fawning better than a wobbly weasel, but you knew ten folds better. With the child roamed his mother, who was no better.

“How scandalous! How can you be a woman?” The house keeper’s wife screeched, her nagging voice shivering you to the spine.

You stilled in your position, half bent towards the broken plate and doing your damnedest to contain yourself from running away. The vexatious woman rushed to you in saccharine astonishment, gasping through her hand that covered her brightly colored lips and eyeing you with unfiltered disgust.

As if she was any useful.

You knew what was to come, it’d happened too many times to count. Even so, you’d never shattered an expensive utility before and the remorse was only for the broken pieces of melanin that laid upon the fallow timber. You were less than appropriate for household chores and no one knew it better than the spawn of devil and Mrs. Wife ( You called her that since she took too much pride in being Mr. Bard’s wife ), but they’d loved to torment people and there was no way out of it. At least not for you.

“How are you a growing woman if you cannot carry a few plates altogether? Preposterous!”

And soon after, the people of the whole shelter gathered in one huge horde of fussing women and tutting children.  

With that started real chaos, and chaos integrated gradual commotion. Mrs. Wife could be anything but peace-loving and of course involved into an uncanny obsession with melodrama. Drama she needed to cause herself.

And how you were her favorite victim!

It was nothing but absolute rotten luck. You had screwed up in the broad daylight of working hours when the men were out to doing whichever occupation they’d acquired. And whom was left were the troublesome bunch of insolent children and their alike mothers. The elder men of the settlement were wise and rational, people who totally would not cause unnecessary clout for a single piece of guest-plate. And that’s exactly what she’d missed.

“Hurry! What shall we do! We all know how scarce these are and this little girl so crassly broke them.” Mrs. Wife spoke in entire abhorrence, jabbing her finger at your forearm with intended force. Some scrawny children took upon more stress than their age onto it, on the way of demonstrating the importance of financial parsimony to you, someone who’d lived older than their twice life. Some women also infuriated to an unexpected extent, demanding whichever way of proper justice came into their minds. Which of included, ‘Fix the plate’ and ‘execute her!’, which made no sense to you at all.

However, you couldn’t but listen with pretentious guiltiness and cower in the barks of many voices.  

“I demand she buys what she has ruined!”

That particular suggestion drew everyone like light in the water. Of course, it was quite understandable to suggest such in normal circumstances. But not now. Not when there was an ongoing war out in the roads. Even without actual battle taking place, the heat and grudge it stemmed was enough danger as it was. And having a young woman on the streets was fatal.

But that not once crossed their minds.

And that was now your fixated ultimatum, a penalty you’d not deserved. But right now, you had no choice. Protesting to them was out of question, even a little sigh of exhaustion was considered impudence and a certain labeling of ‘You trollop!’

You were afraid. There were quite a generous amount of tales going around of young teenagers being abducted and sold into slavery or simply imprisoned for whichever conditions they saw fit. It was terrifying.

Yet you congregated the most courage you could and stuffed your little purse inside your ruffled gown pocket and arranged your braid. You’d looked decent enough. But then again what would looking decent bring you? Instead maybe if you were covered in dirt and smelled like feces, people would leave you alone.

The streets looked horrific with gray tunes embellished everywhere you looked. The once lively town that embodied your sweet childhood was now devoid of any loud noise. People spoke in hushed whispers, looked with eyes that bore no soul, breathed through reddened nose and wore ashened, disheveled clothes. The terror, the impassive eyes and ghastly figures impaled you. Everything had turned into what you’d never have imagined in your early life.

You walked with unsure steps, eyes observing the cryptic exchanges and the limited rations in every shops. How you were supposed to find an expensive silver-wear in such a desolated environment was unknown to you. But you kept walking between the collapsed monoliths, gray at your feet, gray at every side. A carpet of gray that promised nothing but yet another destruction.

“Hello there, little one.”

A tight, bruising and sturdy grip yanked you into a secluded pathway, your throat releasing a panicked shriek as your other hand clutched your hemmed gown. Despite your clamor of rescue, no living being batted an eye. Each ignored you like you were nothing; oblivious- more like scared to interfere. And as you were successfully dragged into an isolated clearing, you were met with more than three scathing men that surrounded you like wolfs.

The grip on your arm released with a stinging after-burn, but there was no way of escape. You were surrounded by the bulky men who stared at you like hungry predators, their stare so lecherous and vulgar that it made you horrified and struck with desperation; desperate to escape.

Your widened eyes matched your laborious breathing, little trickle of perspiration wetting your forehead. All of them looked so cynical, eyes flooded with ill intentions and smirk portraying however precarious desires they’d brewed.  

You wanted to scream, you wanted beg to the almighty to let you go this once, to spare your life this once. But no one was there to hear you, no one except your captors. The closer they approached you, the more fright ran through your body.

“No one can hear you, little one.” Your captor said, an evil smile playing on his lips. And before you knew it, your hair was pulled behind with a harsh pull. By now, not thinking of the aftermath, you were screaming your lungs out, the sound muffled by the hand that clamped your face. Your heart frantic with pulsating beats and hands grasping for any form of liberal means.

In the blacks of near graveyard, you were the only erratic heart, skimped in the middle of heartless beings and on the verge of molestation. Darkness fell on the words spoken to nobody and screams heard by nobody. And you wished. Yearned for another beating heart, another blood and flesh, another conscience to walk upon you.

This was so bad. So so bad.

And it was as if your unspoken wish was granted, your prayers took in accountance and your desperation answered.

“What in bloody hell is going on?”

i.

Hwang Hyunjin so much as hated violence, even more so if it was precarious things like ‘stolen from family’ or ‘taken for public ledging’. He wasn’t at all afraid of using actual words instead of euphemisms, but those precepts were made mandatory- so usual that he’d gotten used to it.  

But it did not mean he was oblivious to them.

Especially not when it were to be happening right in front of his eyes. Not when he was dead-on witnessing a group of excrements laying their filthy hands upon someone innocent, in intentions he’d much rather not review.

“What in bloody hell is going on?”

The masculine man turned around, sinister eyes fuming at the intruder. “What are you doing here, boy?” he spoke with irritation rolling off every word as he released his tenacious grip on you and came closer to the intruder.

Hyunjin snickered, clicking his tongue in annoyance as he rolled up his sleeves. He eyed the repugnant man in sheer disgust. What obstinate stench and what pernicious stance, Hyunjin couldn’t but wonder how on earth you’d endured such disgust for what time you’d been in their hands.

What an indirect torture to primary senses!

“You all look like an insidious lot. You’re not government officials, are you?” Hyunjin mused, a quirky hint lacing his tone. If the rowdy men weren’t furious, they totally were now. Hyunjin should be scared, he should be petrified, but he knew so much well the men were going to underestimate his strength. Probably would cause their own downfall.

“You’re daring. I like that.” the man at front looked at him, impressed. He came closer, adapting a look as much menacing as he could. But Hyunjin really did care less. “Would you perhaps, join us?” he offered.

Hyunjin’s throat nauseated, repulsed at the ridiculous offer and the pungent man. Join them? Was he nuts on even rocks or black sand? Before he could share a piece of his mind, the man answered himself with a wicked smirk.

“We don’t share.”

Ludicrous. As if in hell I’d want to.

“But you’ve caught that right. We are no officials. We are fugitives.” The spiked man said from behind you. So criminals huh? Along with the distaste lingering in his mouth, Hyunjin could swear he visibly saw yellow and green radiations off of that man; it was so disgusting. The man behind you pulled at your hair even more, eliciting a pained cry from your lips as your eyes looked at him with desperation. “Now leave, kid.”

Hyunjin’s heart wrenched as silent tears poured out of your eyes and lips quivered in sheer fear. You were helpless, body shaking with the premonitions in your head, presentiments that could actually happen. But not when he was there. Looking at you maddened him even more. They’d abducted a fragile girl from the middle of the streets, no wonder how many other people they’d nicked or how many crimes they’d committed. It was inhumane.

“Well, I am lucky then.”

They’d really not known the infamous mayor’s son. A rebellious fellow who’d mastered sparring skills and cheap tricks all in one. Who’d repelled his father and succeeded in felonious little revolts. And they’d certainly not known or foreseen that they could be disgracefully defeated by burned ashes.

Cheap tricks were Hyunjin’s first and foremost specialty.

It took Hyunjin seconds to fill the air with ashes and simultaneously kick the men that were at the front with his sturdy boots. His first priority was saving you, but you were at the very back and shielded by two others who still hadn’t lost their hold on you. He threw even more ashes; specifically aiming for their eyes as multiples coughs broke through them in full swing, much to his pleasure.

He’d abruptly yanked you away from the weakened grip and motioned you to run in quick gestures. Hyunjin was almost flying through the smoky terrain, never losing balance, never stumbling. He landed a brutal punch at your direct captor, watching the man stumble back to the ground. He flung himself in a swift cart-wheel, feet trouncing two men at once as he injures their neck. He stood in firm steps, triumph and prepared for his last blow. He hurled the remained man hard on the rocky surface of broken pillars, a loud grunt leaving him.

Hyunjin could be sadistic, who knew? But he’d justify his actions as simply impulsive. Because there was no right or wrong, no justice and injustice and who was he to define such cruelty?

Except for maths. Yeah.

He walked over to the adjoined pathway which possibly lead to the town streets, he didn’t know. He clapped his hands together in an attempt to dust off the ash and oil from the fight. He could mourn over the dirt of his clothes later on, but his bigger concern was if he’d been contaminated with the gross stench of the men. He smelled and sniffed himself in frantic worry, finding only the dry smell of soil.

How abominable for him to ruin his clothes like that when he was searching for a hidden place to stay.

“Are you- are you okay?”

Hyunjin halted in alarm, head snapping back to look at the speaker. For an instance, he felt dumb to think that another assassin could’ve come for him, to lure him in their feminine charm and stab him with a large hairpin. Because that’s happened before, even though he was mildly asexual and openly insulted the woman for being an attention seeker.

His remaining wee asexuality flew away in the air as he took in your appearance.

You were a girl, that’s for sure, but an eye-catching one at that. It was to no wonder that some street-bandits would surely take an interest in you; and he was so glad that it was him who played the diaphanous hero and saved you from those disgusting monsters. His eyes were stuck; enamored by your striking orbs. Dried lips apart and seeking to mind for a cohesive reply but his voice enabled him no correspondence.

“Are you hurt? I am so sorry.” You spoke, jittery hands clasping together and lips seeking moisture from your tongue. You went closer to your rescuer, scanning him for any injuries.

Hyunjin was stilled, bewitched at your lovely figure that bore so much kindness. Your gentleness baffled him, it felt so pure and genuine that he’d almost forgotten how truly despotic the world was. You were so close to him, eyes sympathetic and skimming him for the absent injuries he’d gotten.

“No, I’m fine. Ha ha,” Hyunjin slipped away from you, hands in accordance with his awkward laugh. He dusted his ashened shirt with his similar hands, speckles of airy soil surrounding him. A series of light profanities left his mouth as he zoomed at the prominent tear down his shirt. Mind going full panic mode, “Oh my god! Those bleedin- heckin bandits!” He screamed, sentimental hands tracing the rip ever so gently, as if they were what held his last bits of sanity.

“My shirt!” He mourned, clutching onto the material with utmost caution. To you as well, this was over-sentimental. Who would grieve this much over a tear on their clothes? He looked so different than when you’d seen him flying through gray ashes.

But his sudden traumatic grief vanished away as he looked you in the eye, suddenly curious of what he had almost forgotten. “Why didn’t you run away?” he asked.

“Oh I, um, I was worried about you,” you answered. Sure, he was you savior, your prince in shining delight. As much as his princely looks told you he was angel’s guise, his appearance said otherwise. Hyunjin was so sure he’d looked dangerous enough to not receive such words.

“You were worried?” he laughed in amusement, lips spreading across his rosy cheeks into a beautiful grin. You thought this was some unnecessary handsomeness for his tough outlook, but you weren’t one to object. He was more beautiful than the prettiest flower, more enticing than the royalty suitors and of course more attractive than you could ever be.

What a model.

“Of course I was! You’ve saved me,” you said. Hyunjin looked at you with even more glee, his smile now a hubristic remnant of the striking laugh. Your head lent backards as Hyunjin came closer to you, noses just inches apart. Eye to eye, you shrunk under his playful gaze, yet refusing to break away.

“Just because I saved you, princess, doesn’t mean I’m safe as well.” He spoke in almost whisper, moving away to stand back. He still had the same challenging expression, as if daring you to oppose. In normal circumstances, you’d have done nothing. But something in his words was so provocative, that you couldn’t help but just dare. And he’d said princess, it was ticking.

“Well you’re not doing anything now. You seem opposite of your words.” You said, bold to your speech. Hyunjin lifted a brow, his little smirk growing at your hilarity. It was his first time hearing such response, but it was no one’s business if he said he’d like to hear more of you. But who was he to keep you?

“You’re very bold to say that, princess. I’ve ruined my clothes for you, and for that I am offended.” Hyunjin turned around in an attempt to leave, even though every cell in his body desired to see you a little more. He didn’t want any attachments in first meet. If you were to be in his life, fate would make sure of it, that he believed.

But it seemed fate was quick to catch on and almost too quick to grant his wishes as he felt a feeble tug at his dress sleeve. A sign so little and fleeting, yet not hesitant at all. He stopped, heart and blood anticipating what the next moment could transpire.

“Thank you,” you said quietly. Hyunjin’s hopes dropped as quickly as your fingers fell from his sleeves. He couldn’t contain the disappointment that undoubtedly covered his heart, but he didn’t let it show. He was shameless to admit that he’d wanted you to ask him to stay, or say anything that could give him an opportunity to again look at your inviting orbs and get lost in your solemnity. 

But what bad luck!

“Would you like me to fix your shirt for you?”

Or maybe not.

ii.

Your savior was surprised when you walked him to where you lived with a few other families, because it was one of his properties he had donated for combined charity in the flaming war. He’d contributed quite much of his fortunes to help the starving and sorrow-ridden people, which led him to having no home and using the remaining of his wealth to abide by.

You had revealed that you lived with your father, who pampered you and loved you so much that he was all you had to talk about. Even so, who else could you talk about? You’d also told him that you had an insatiable passion for art, the first thing you’d drawn being your father. Your father still had the sketch framed delicately in his personal room and you promised him that you’d let him see that.

Your savior was a rich lad, but you had yet to know that. You’d perceived that he was any other vagabond and virtuous being, who lived travelling by and had the proper guts to stand up to injustice. He told you a little about his hobbies when you were stitching up his dirt-stained shirt as slowly as a snail. 

And yes, he was wearing another short-sleeved piece underneath.

You noticed he had little scars trailing up both his forearms, scars that reminded you of battle casualties. You’d also seen the end of a cut near his pronounced collarbones. You wanted to ask him the history behind the gruesome injuries but that seemed too much of an intrusion to his personal space- at least in first meet.   

Hwang Hyunjin was his name, pretty to the ears and meaningful to his characteristics. His name matched him greatly. His princely looks and attractive hands; and the way he’d saved you like a princess, from flame-spitting dragons that constrained you in danger. He was in fact, a whole king. At least for you.

“Your clothes look dirty. Would you like to stay for a day? I could wash them for you.” You said, still guilty over the fact that he’d ruined his prized clothes to rescue you.

“But I don’t have any other clothes. I think I’d decline,” He looked at you with thankful eyes, a glimmer that spoke of apologies. You knew what it meant, yet you look at him with similar earnest, ransacking your brain for something- anything- you could say to stop him.

“I could provide you some! Please stay, it was my fault.” You speak in applied hassle, hands reaching for the hem of his shirt that you’d sewn for the past five hours, stopping him. You see Hyunjin ponder for a few seconds, feet prodding at the ground as he looks up.

You see the familiar curve of his lips appear again, forming into his trite smirk. He bends down to your face-level, eyes peering straight into yours and cheeks resembling the pink of yours.

“If you insist, princess.”

~.~

He’s come back again tomorrow. And the day after. And again the day after. He had visited you every day for two weeks, accompanying you into your stressful household chores and as you sat down on a broken pillar amidst the grassy yard for a breathe of respite. He has relentlessly stared at you with so much veneration, so much admiration and so much of the feeling only he knew.

How, he didn’t know. But you’ve captivated him into an endless trance. An endless delirium that started with your shimmering eyes and ended through the honey of your voice.

In the span of days, he has known pain, happiness and love. He has known how it stings when you accidentally cut yourself with a piece of glass, he has known how you gleam with felicity when you both gossip about Mrs. Wife, and he has known how it feels when you’re all he thinks about. He has experienced all through you, things he’s never felt and never known. The never-ending sweetness of your laughter, your electrifying touch, your twirling hair, you. That’s all he knows.

Some people used to describe him as promiscuous, or even a wandering wanton, but he knew for one that they described any attractive person like that. It wasn’t like he never went near beautiful women. He’d hung around his own fair share of women. But you, you felt so unique. You weren’t like any other he’d seen. Not the brothel girls, not the women that sought him like grilled meat and obviously not the ones that pretended to be prim and virtuous for his attention.  

Hyunjin was flabbergasted when one day, he was summoned by your father, very discreetly. He was skeptical at first. Because why would your father need him for something that seemed so confidential?  And that too, him of all people.  

“Ah, Hyunjin. Here you are.” Your father greeted with a creasy smile. Hyunjin timidly smiled back, half of him still severely suspicious. He’d only seen your father in your very precise sketches, but never in real life. But truth be told, your sketches resembled your father in the most detailed way.

The office room was warm, like the side of a fresh-burning hearth. It exuded comfort, the air permeating a relaxing atmosphere around the scaling walls and back. Brown papers and envelops engaging one part of the room, the other filled with working equipment and an old sofa.

“Yes, sir.” He replied, still standing stiff before the work-table of your father. His eyes roamed around, your sketch still hanging on the wall like a prodigious artistry. He noticed two picture frames resting on the wooden table, both being yours. You had been so beautiful since birth, he thought.

“I have news on you.” Your father said, motioning Hyunjin to come closer. He obeyed, now standing right in front of your father. Hyunjin couldn’t decipher what news could be found about him, except if it were anything negative. He was suddenly apprehensive, dreading what he could be told. Your father grabs his right wrist, thumb ghosting over the end of his palm. “You seem very close to my daughter.” Your father says.

“Sir, forgive me for my insolence, but if you ask me leave her-”

“Of course not. I’ve never been happier. She’s been so bubbly, just so full of life. I believe it’s because of you.” There was such a soft hint in your father’s speech- vulnerable even, and flowing in adoration for you. Hyunjin realized no matter how gruff your father’s voice, his words were a complete contradict. He was ashamed to have thought he was summoned to be bribed to betray you, it was disgraceful.

“I’m- I’m sorry, sir. I misunderstood you.” Hyunjin bows politely. Your father immediately stands up, grasping Hyunjin by the shoulder. Your father offers him a reassuring smile.

By this time, Hyunjin had almost forgotten about the grip on his wrist. Your father brought his hand up to chest-level, applying acupuncture pressure. For the first few seconds, it doesn’t hurt, it feels nothing. But as the clock ticks by, Hyunjin feels a stinging pain in the middle of his wrist. He struggles to free himself away but your father presses tighter, deeper.

It hurts, it hurts like hell. Hyunjin feels like he could scream, he could madly bellow out to the almighty in anguish; because it was unbearable. The stinging pain is agonizing, much intense than anything he has ever felt. But his chest felt constrained, narrowing with every passing second, every squeeze of pressure.    

He feels a pained cry rip through his chest and past his reddening lips. Eyes shut tightly, his wrist contracts in the tenacious hold, fingers twitching and wrist thrashing for freedom. It’s as if all the pain of his life has accumulated in one place, galloping into his veins like sheath needles on his skin.

But he doesn’t see how the veins of his wrist light up with a grandiose glow, ripples of blinding, magnificent white light emitting from in utter glory. He doesn’t see the smile, the breath of relief that your father gains.

Until suddenly, the pain vanishes with a mysterious extinction, like it wasn’t even there. And all that’s left is the pad of your fathers thumb on his wrist. As soon as your father liberates him, Hyunjin stumbles back, breathless. He looks at his wrist in surprise, because what the hell was that?

“I have finally found you, my son.” Your father smiles at him in relief. But Hyunjin is not in the rational state of thinking what the meaning was behind his mystic words. But he still questions, grasping the table corner with force, as if he’d fall down any time.

“Wh- what?”

“If I’m gone.., will you protect my daughter?”

It astonishes him. Hyunjin stealthily regains his labored breath, trying his best to maintain the composure of his unstable feet. He only stares for a few, as if trying to articulate if this was actually real. If he really was confronted by your father, if he really felt the piercing pain just minutes ago.

“Without a question, sir.” He replies almost immediately.

“I heard that you were born with deity’s blessing.” Your father apprises. Hyunjin abruptly retracts back. Deity’s blessing he said, it was a disgrace. A history Hyunjin never wanted to recall. How unlucky was his mother to have sacrificed herself for someone like him! 

Hyunjin lets out a throaty chuckle. “That is just a rumor, sir. People spread around stuff very easily.” Even though Hyunjin doubted every little lie that spread around in the chattering town, he knew for a fact that, there was a bit of truth in the rumor. But in all seriousness, blessing? Even though it was outrageous, he has experienced things in his life that were inexplicable. Things science cannot explain, and things he couldn’t understand.

“What if I say it’s not a lie?”

Hyunjin halts abruptly. His brows creased and adjoined together in a tumult frown, he speaks, “What might you mean, sir?”

“My daughter is cursed.” Your father says in a swift flash of wind, in a nonchalant way, as if having a cursed daughter wasn’t much of a deal. For Hyunjin, things couldn’t get any more complicated. The confusion on his face grows. He feels as if he’s been catapulted into a stirring tornado, the information a bit too much for him to handle.

He doesn’t need to question anymore, because his eyes speak it all.

You were … cursed?

“And you’re the only one who can save her.”

Hyunjin never would’ve imagined he was in for a supernatural chronicles lesson, which involved around him and you; and how the deity bestowed him to revive your human soul.

iii.

“How is my princess doing?” Hyunjin sings into your ear, startling you. You jolt with surprise, the plate in your hand again fumbling with barely any balance as it tumbles down. But it doesn’t fall, instead is caught by the slender and quick hands of Hwang Hyunjin, who nuzzles his chin on your shoulder.

It’s a meeting blessed by god, isn’t it?

You’d have looked at him in the eye and spoke face to face. But that seemed, well, impossible. Cheeks close to nail distance and his breath fanning the crook of your neck, you dared not to move. “Your princess is going to die,” You say, monotonously.

The first thing that came to his mind was, the curse. “What- why?” Hyunjin asks, bewildered. A sudden panic evident in him as he turns you around. You almost feel bad for the reply you’re going to give to this perplexed Hyunjin, who looks about to lose his sanity.

“If I break another plate.”

Hyunjin looks at you like you’d said the driest joke one could possibly muster. Eyes drained of his playfulness and mouth rendered speechless. He lets out a rather relieved sigh, one that expressed his raw concern. You’re almost tripping with guilt at his opposite reaction, mind suddenly reclining backwards and telling you that you shouldn’t have done it.

All ‘shouldn’t have’s have cost you much, you did not want any addition. You’re about to apologize when Hyunjin speaks.

“You almost broke my heart. I thought I wasn’t going to see you anymore.” he looks like he’s pleading you, like he was so painfully dreading the possibility of never seeing you again. A probability that depicted his wildest nightmare. He grabs your hands into his, a hold so vulnerable as if he’d never let you go.

It strikes you right then that Hyunjin was more serious than he’d ever been. He was scared; scared and terrified of losing you, of getting his heart broken.

“Protect your heart, Hwang Hyunjin. It doesn’t deserve to be broken.” You reply, looking into his captivating brown orbs shielded by his cat-eye lids. You’ve seen emotions swirling in the cavernous depth of his eyes before, but never this desperate, never this conspicuous. Then you knew, despite his calm façade, Hwang Hyunjin held so much more to him. So much fear, so much sentiments, so much longing- for what and whom unknown to you.

“It does, only if you’re the culprit.”

He says it like it is the most natural thing ever. Like he doesn’t mind, doesn’t care if you’re rash with his heart. It’s infuriating, yet it’s spoken with such impetuosity that it heedlessly melts you. Even so, it’s wrong. Terribly wrong to hand over something so powerful, so pure into someone’s hands just like that.

“No, don’t say that! I cannot be the force that breaks you.” You say. You’d struggled to handle melanin plates, how could you handle something as precious as your everything in your clumsy hands like that? What if you drop it? What if you’re not careful? It wouldn’t give you a second chance to redeem, a penalty to resurrect it. It’s delicate, fragile and you’re afraid.

Hyunjin only smiles at you as he slides a warm hand onto your cheeks. You were wrong if you thought the emotions in his eyes couldn’t get deeper, because now, he’s staring into your eyes with the entire equatorial constellation glimmering in his orbs. His hands, eyes, smile and gestures so gentle and passionate, as if you’re the reflection in his eyes, you’re the stars and moon his eyes procured.

“I’ll let you be the hurricane.” Hyunjin begins as you hold his hand atop your cheek, feeling the warmth and comfort of it all. You’d protest, but the intensity of his words halt you, they render you speechless. “As long as I can be part of the destruction.”

Your eyes get softer and heart wrenches with his confession. Your brows adjoin together in a frown, not at all supporting his answer. It’s brutal; unfair how he’s willing himself to you, how he’s submitting himself into your hands. “But why?” you whisper, with a hidden frustration you knew he could catch. “Do you have some horrible wish to get hurt?”  

“No,” he whispers back, “I just think every being is going to get hurt at least once in their lives. And how fortunate I’d be if I could get destroyed by you.”

It really was a rendezvous blessed by god.

~.~

You were again in the yard, peering off to the polychromatic horizon and simply enjoying the moment. Except, with Hyunjin stuck to your back and his hands wrapped around your waist. The soft breeze blows above the jeering grass, and so does the fading sounds of children playing far behind.

You love the moment, every second and every fractions of it. Because having Hyunjin by your side every afternoon is much more than the blessing you could ask for. And now, he's engulfed you snugly against his chest with the ice cold tips of his nose brushing against your ear.

Right now, you think you've lived for this.

All the children and their mothers were out in the large yard, playing and gossiping at the same time. You had asked your father to have a little respite as well, but he declined almost instantly, saying he had piled up work.

“What are you thinking about?” Hyunjin mutters softly in your ear, an inadequate vibration of his voice soothing, yet chilling to you as well. You know he’s smiling, because who wouldn’t? You both were in your blissful little world, oblivious and uninterested in what laid around you.

“You.” You reply, craning you neck to match your eyes. This was so close, a little lean and you would have your lips on his. Noses touching and a delightful smile gracing both your lips, you watch as Hyunjin’s eyes gloss with endearment, sparkles with all the affection he’s developed for you.

“You do know when to say what, right?” he asks, a sly smile covering his lips. Hyunjin leans in a little more, willfully brushing his nose against yours. You scrunch up your nose on impulse. Hyunjin stares back in melodramatic surprise, as if you’d rejected a scrumptious offer of his.

But the look changes in moments and his eyes are back to mimicking the whole universe, a thousand stars, a thousand granite shining in the confines of two reflecting orbs. Hyunjin slowly leans even closer, eyes fluttering shut. You knew what was coming, and the thought of it brought fright-nerves to you. You’ve never done this before, never really felt this way before. What if you mess up? What if he realizes you’re not what he wants? What if he remains dissatisfied because of your inexperienced movement?

Theres so many questions in your head, yet you advance with no reluctance. Partly because what if it’s the first time? You trusted him. “I’ve never done this before,” you murmur with the faintest voice, looking into his heavy lidded eyes.

“That’s a pleasure for me then.” The last comforting smile is what you see as he dips his head down to yours, lips so close that you shudder with anticipation. The time is yours. The little moment of that bliss is what remained. His lips almost touching yours, but they don’t.

Instead the air wracks with frantic yells, dozens of footsteps sound past you, along with numerous panicked yells. You whip your head forward in terror, in order to see what the commotion was about. But Hyunjin is quicker; and before you could get a gist of the upcoming danger, your face is firmly pressed into his chest. Hyunjin ducks with you behind the huge boulder, hands still cradling you into his embrace.  

You do not know what’s happening at all, nor what’s to come. All you do hear for a moment is the sprightly beating of Hyunjin’s heart, and the persistent white noise that comes with him blocking your hearing senses. Your mind blank, you cannot hear anything, cannot see anything; why is he doing this?

But then you hear it. No matter how tightly he’s holding you, how blank your ears sound, it was significant. Through your congested ears, you heard a loud explosion. Out of shock, you felt yourself in a frenzy, amid a mass of terrible sensations and trying to free yourself from the constricted hold. The fearful blow of explosion, the noise of breaking glass, the hoarse blank sound that overpowers your mind, everything was far less than the whirlpool of horror as you realized your father was still in there. He was there, inside.

On the other hand, Hyunjin saw it all. How the irregular pentagon bombs dropped from helicopter shafts, a few miles away. An instant later, a blinding flash like lightening shot through, and a huge gust of varicolored fire belched upward, emitting a series of smoke-rings floating up in the air. Then, it spread to form the mushroom-head of a column of incandescent gas that mounted to overtake it, engorging the smoke-rings as it rose, twisting, writhing, changing shape, turning to dark smoke one moment and eructing flame and crackling with lightening the next.  

The sound of burn and luminous radioactive gasses spurting into larger explosions are what remained. Hyunjin stood up with the both of you, mind frantic and persistent with the thought of getting away from here.

It was the work of enemy alliances, and he could not stay here any longer. They could be here any second, any moment. He had to protect you, at any cost.

“Will you protect my daughter if I’m gone?”

That’s what his priority was. Then from the lane comes the sound of sirens and tires throwing up spray from the dry, ash-kissed lane. The cavalry are here, but not to save, not to rescue. And no one knew it better than Hyunjin.

Hyunjin sprinted into a rapid run, dragging you by the hand quickly. Both of your hearts are turbulent, but with different causes. You know for a fact, Hyunjin is protecting you from any potential harm, but it doesn’t sit well with you. Your father was in there, probably still is, why are you the only one getting spared from the explosive fire. Why?

Your guilt twists and traps you into an inebriate current. You could’ve saved your father, he was still in there! You scream with agony, demanding him to stop as you attempt your best to jerk your hands away. At this moment, you didn’t want the costless protection, you didn’t want to be prioritized. Your only thought being your father’s demise.

But Hyunjin doesn’t listen at all. He’s only pulling you faster and closer to the guilt-ridden fate of yours. When suddenly you’re pulled and obscured amidst a terrestrial forest, only then does he release you.

“I’m so sorry, princess.”

You look up to meet his dejected eyes with you own tear-stricken ones. Not thinking even once, you punch his chest with all your might, and again, and again, again and again until you’re crying out in demented whirls, all those whelmed and jumbled frames of your mind spilling out in the form of rushing briny-liquid. Hyunjin doesn’t flinch at all, instead, letting you continue until you’re out of breath, out of strength. Only then do you plummet onto his chest, resounding cries still venting from your throat. You’d say your throat hurt, but not more than the pain that envelops you whole; a painful, wrenching pain.  

Before you knew it, your cries had taken the afternoon down, the sky now gradient with blue hues as the evening befell.

You wrap your arms around Hyunjin, fatigued wails leaving a trace of whimpers leaving your lips. Hyunjin reciprocates immediately, caressing your back in soft and tender circles. The loud cries might have died down, but not the clamor of your heart, not at all. Your mind was still in stubborn repudiation with the reality, but you cannot deny the gravity of what has already occurred.

But what can you do?

You know Hyunjin was right, is right. He’s made the most rational decision, and you were the one who was not rational. How could you be? It was not every day when you get the most important person slew and separated from you with such cruelty.

The evening went by with the both of you in the barren woods. It hurts Hyunjin to see you suffering, especially when he can’t do anything to ease the pain, can’t do anything but pledge to protect you. You felt guilty at times, even more guilt piling atop your shoulders; because you’re just letting him do everything for you without any response, any sign of gratitude. And he only does more.

Hyunjin has surmised your every feelings like an open book. You were very much grateful, but made zero to no effort in expressing it. Hyunjin carried you on his back to the end of the woods, where you could see a lit settlement and traces of human civilization. This was no spared area from the war, but it looked quite a bit lively and less damaged. These people still reeked of optimism, something that you’d rarely see in those cynical walls of the shelter.  

Hyunjin let you off his back when you reached the clearing. You’d thought you were going to walk from there on. Even though your legs ached like thorns prickling your bones, you were glad that Hyunjin was finally letting you do something on your own. But you were wrong. Hyunjin fished out some gold coins from his censored tunic pouch, encasing them into your grimed hands. You stared at him in confusion, however, you didn’t object.

Before you started walking, Hyunjin’s arms swathed around your back and knees, lifting you up in a swift motion. “Hyunjin, you don’t have to,” you object.

Hyunjin looks deeply into your eyes, a sort of surprise coating his face. Maybe because it’s the first time you’d spoken after the incident, or maybe he wasn’t about to explain how he knew your legs were technically paralyzed. However which it was, he offers you a scant smile as he begins walking.

After a while, you were in front of what looked to be a modest tavern, people wandering outside as if they’d had no worries, no concerns about the current sparse and fragmentary feud. You were still snug in Hyunjin’s hold, you nose buried into the junction of his neck and shoulder. Hyunjin doesn’t seem to mind you shrouding yourself into him, nor does he mind your hair tickling his back.

You don’t see anything after that, pretending to have drowsed off in his arms. You feel Hyunjin pry off the few coins from your hands and extend them to the hostelry manager. You hear him speak in the familiar upper-class decorum- much in contrast to his public delinquent image. But that was really just an image. He discreetly signals the man to speak quietly, but you sensed that. The next, you feel him striding up the stairs and silently unlock a door. You wanted to let him know of your pretentious slumber, because doing such with an occupied hand must’ve been so hard.

Hyunjin gently lays you down on the bed, the mattress being so soft that you sink into it. He must’ve signed for an expensive abode, you think. 

“Princess,” 

So much for your closed eyes.

You’re caught red-handed when you open your eyes, looking at him above. Hyunjin crouches down to your level as he speaks, “I have some things your father wanted me to inform you. If you freshen up, I’ll tell you, yes?”

There’s this delicacy in his voice that makes you feel like a toddler, like you’d cry any second if he was a tad bit harsh. But when did he even meet your father? Much less know something that you didn’t. But the mere name of the topic convinced you to do anything he’d say.

So you did go to wash up first.

But, the destiny seemed to conspire more for you, because everything was going so bad. You were utterly terrified when you coughed up blood from your throat. You’d thought it was just nausea, that the vigorous day hadn’t sat well with your body. But it wasn’t. It was so sudden, it was as if various insects were gnawing up your guts, as if your whole body was in distortion. The horror of it was so much for you, that the tears had begun flowing, along with the choked whimpers. As soon as you got out, Hyunjin enveloped you in a concerned embrace, consistently asking you if you were fine.

“I don’t know what’s happening, help me. Please.” You begged, clutching onto the materiel of his tunic. Hyunjin runs a soothing hand through your knotted hair, whispering words of consolence as his own heart cried along with you.

He knew it, he knew what was coming.

iv. (final)

“Will you protect my daughter if I’m gone?”

Hyunjin lays beside you in the warm bed, blankets ridden up to your neck and both your eyes wide open. Even though he’d woken up, none of you wanted to leave the comforts of each other. The summer rays, trajectory of the sun, warm hue of the complacent chamber- and the company of the other, it was all too hazy to wake up from. All too dreamy. “Say, you never told me what you knew about my father,” you ask.

“Oh, I suppose….” He replied. Hyunjin diverts his eyes away from yours, preparing himself for what he was going to transpire. This wasn’t really the right atmosphere to talk about such matters, but he needed to do it. Now or never. There was a long gap of silence before Hyunjin began, “Your father was a centenarian,” 

He watches the side of your lips twitch, before spreading into a skeptical smile. You don’t believe him. “Are you sure that’s what you wanted to say? I think we should sleep more,” he hears you say, tugging the blanket upwards. He gently holds you wrist, “No, stop. Please listen to me,” he pleads. You wouldn’t have believed him if it were not for his pleading eyes. It was a silent supplicant, one that convinced you that he wasn’t lying in the slightest. You trusted him.

“She’s cursed, and none but you can save her,”

“He really was a centenarian. Have you never wondered about the lasting time behind the bracelet on your wrist? Never wondered why your father had been so persistent about never touching it? You probably know that you’re - damn it - you’re not normal.” Hyunjin interrogates, in an attempt to make it believable. He knew it was hard to believe, mainly when you’d lived your life in normalcy- never knowing the consequences of the forborn curse; and then you’re entangled into a supernatural prophecy. No one would really be able to take it just fine. You seem to be in deep thoughts, your eyes ghosting over his shoulders. Until, you give him a faint nod.

“But sir, I have no idea how I could do that. Please don’t get me wrong, I would do anything for her, but how?”

“He was.. part of a heretic organization who obtained aberrant magic through human sacrifices.” Hyunjin’s observing your emotions like a cautious deer caught in an ineffable trap. But he sees nothing, your eyes peer over him with monochrome, nothing to be seen and nothing to decipher.

“All that you need is a bond.”

“He reclined from them once they’d tried things beyond their ability. And then he had your mother, you. He has mentioned how you were the most precious thing that’s ever happened to him.” – to me too. He sees your eyes snap back to lock into his; he sees the unending plethora of hurt, reminisce, guilt, sadness and love all pool in your glimmering orbs like the reflection of a pure brook. Your lips turn into a deep shade of red, rosy nose taking in what was now shaky breaths. You don’t say anything and he doesn’t wait either.

“A bond?”

“But you were born with an immortal curse. Your bracelet was a temporary annulment magic from a sorcerer, which would break once you age twenty one. He was told that your curse was one that could only be broken by something- something that’s purity exceeds that of the curse’s evil.” Hyunjin pauses, “And that’s me.” it seems like you’ve never known anything like that, like you’ve never surmised the possibility of your salvation being a person. Because your saucer eyes prove him just that. He feels your hands glide to find his under the blanket, a fragile hold.

“Yes, a bond. Be it a true friends concern, a lover’s love, anything. Anything that ties you to her on a deeper, emotional level.”

“Do you think it's true? That you could break my curse?” your voice is only a level above whisper as your fingers tauten around his. Your eyes have such hope, yet such trepidation, as if the reality of him being your soul mate was bewildering. Maybe you’d lost hope when you father separated, when the consternation caressed you like an old friend. Nonetheless, you’ve never ceased to trust him.

“If you think you cannot be yourself without her, that she's become an inseparable part of you, if you love her, that’s all you need. If not, don’t even try.”

“I do.”

Hyunjin has never been so sure, has never felt this flame of certainly in his veins as he connects your forehead in a feather-like touch. He doesn’t know how the haze of your eyes is so familiar to him, how every touch, every whisper brings him to the impossible conclusion that he has always loved you- before and after, in an unknown time, a relishing place- or maybe another existence. You walked into his heart like you always belonged there, took down his walls and lit his soul on fire.

This is it.

“I swear under oath, I shall, therefore, sacrifice my heart of deity for the quietus of the evil that bore you, my love.”

Hyunjin couldn’t see anything, because the overshadowing dark mist that consumed him was impenetrable. 

And before he knew it, he knew nothing.

a/n: i added the picture above if you don’t get the ending. :’)

does this need a sequel? If i get responses on that, I’ll do it.

#hwang hyunjin #stray kids #skzwritersclub #skz #stray kids hyunjin #skz hwang hyunjin #stray kids fanfiction #fantasy au #hyunjin fantasy au #stray kids fluff #stray kids angst #skz fluff #skz angst #romance #hyunjin fluff #hyunjin angst #historical fiction #hyunjin x reader #stray kids hwang hyunjin #comedy #fantasy #victorian au #hyunjin imagine #cursed #magical!hyunjin #skz fanfic #stray kids reactions #stray kids hwang hyunjin #stray kids fantasy #mythical

[nageki-yuki-blog]

Tsukiuta White Rabbit Kingdom Drama CD Translation

[It is quite long so enjoy under the cut~]

Kai: Ah, I’ve failed.

Rui: Don’t die on me.  You can’t die.

Kai: How about you, are you injured?

Rui: No, I don’t have any injuries, but… you, won’t stop bleeding. I’m sorry.  Because you protected me… It’s my fault.  (crying)

01:00

Kai: Don’t cry.  I don’t have any regrets.  If you’re okay, then escape from here.  It’s unfortunate but, for us rabbits who don’t have a king, we are weak.  Get into the forest, and escape.

Rui: I can’t leave you behind.

Kai: I’m at a loss.  If Iku was here, I would tell him to take you with him.  But before that, I wonder if he would get mad at me, for being in this awful state.

Rui: (Crying)

Kai: Ha, I said don’t cry.  (Coughing)

Rui: Get a hold of yourself.

Kai: I am going to die here.  You need to survive.  You, what’s your name?

Rui: Ru..i.  Rui.  And you?

Kai: You don’t have to ask, just forget about me... and then, you can live for me too, Rui.

Rui: But that’s…

Kai: The sky is so blue…  It’s such good weather.

03:37

Rui: No.  You can’t die.  Please, don’t die on me!

Shun: What do we have here?  There’s a smell of death in this kind of place?  Plus, there are two cute rabbits.

Rui: Huh?

Shun: But, it’s mysterious.  Even though you’re on the brink of death, you’re soul isn’t clouded over even a bit.  To approach the end of one’s life on this kind of battlefield, for most people, their souls would be screaming out in grief, becoming saturated in massive regrets.  So, what’s going on with the bigger white rabbit?

Kai: …

Shun: So you can’t even respond anymore.  What should we do about this?

(Slap)

Rui: Don’t you dare touch his body!

Shun: My, my.  I’ve been scolded.  How cute, using all your might to become a threat with that small body.  But, it will be fine, small white rabbit.  I won’t do anything to hurt him.  I’m just trying to save him.

Rui: Huh?  Save him?

Shun: After all, he hasn’t responded to any of my questions.  How can you smile while you’re dying?  I have to hear the answer in his words.  That’s why, I’m going to call you back here.  By bestowing you with this one duty, I will call you back from the brink of death.  Now then, here is the birth of the king of the white rabbits!

05:27

Yoru: So this part is like this, and this part…  Ah, I wonder if I could use this law.  After that… Huh!?

You: Hah, hah, hah.  Sorry, Yoru.  Help me hide!

Yoru: You!?  H-huh… what is it!?  Ah, Wait a sec!  I’m still organizing the stuff over there!

You: Save the talk for later!  I am not here right now.  Got it?

Yoru: Huh?  I have no idea what’s happening right now but… Woah!

06:11

Yoru: There are so many women…  Hah…  He was at it yet again.  Hah… Umm, excuse me?  Ladies?  The person that you’re probably looking for, is not here.  What’s in this room is a bunch of old books covered in dust, a bunch of official documents, and me, the civil official.  That’s it.

06:48

Yoru: It’s the truth!  I’m telling the truth!  And, umm, your pretty dress will get dirty with dust, so I think it would better for you to go somewhere else?  Maybe?

You: Phew, that was a close one.

Yoru: Could you stop trying to say cool stuff?  After doing it one, two, three, four, or however many times, it’s just going to come to an end once people find out.  Hah…

You: Hey, hey, Yoru!  Don’t say something so scandalous!  For the purpose of investigating misgovernment, I have to listen to the conversations of the residents a lot~.

Yoru: Yeah, yeah.  Rather than misgovernment, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard a lot of personal conversations too.  Maybe even to the point that some of those young women are misunderstanding it and think they are your girlfriend.  Hah…  I wonder if handing you over to them just once would be good for you?

You: Even though you’re saying that, I’m very grateful to my childhood friend for protecting me every time, it has pierced my heart~.  Here, as thanks for protecting me, I’ll let you have this.

Yoru: Th-those are… the town magazines!?

You: That’s correct, from literary history to science history, and even gossip news, I tried collecting all the latest issues~.  Check it out~, you want it don’t you?  You bookworm.

Yoru: I-I want it.  It’s frustrating but, I want it.

You: Haha.  I thought you would, so I got them for you.  Here you go.

08:25

Yoru: A-Aha.  Thank you, You.  I can’t move my right leg, as you know, and I’m a useless scholar.  I can’t leave the castle without being accompanied by someone, or without being a bother.  For me, magazines from the bookstore are a precious connection to the outside.

You: Hey~, Yoru.  That leg of yours, is the result of an injury of the honor of protecting a cute girl.  If you’re a man you should have some pride, and you shouldn’t feel indebted.  Even if you become a civil official, you’re still my partner, Yoru.

09:08

Yoru: Aha.  Thank you.  But, I also have the feelings that, I don’t want to drag others into my situation, so I can’t easily get passed it.

You: Staying locked up in the castle all the time, isn’t good for your health.

Yoru: That might be true if this was a regular castle, but this is the castle for the kingdom of white rabbits.  The courtyard is under the open sky, and there’s even a forest in the spacious area behind the castle.  I can do exercise, and I’m able to enjoy plenty of the outside atmosphere.  I can go in the warm sunlight, I can see the flowers, and I can feel the wind.  It’s very comfortable, so it’s inevitable that every day is fun.

You: I guess so.  But, nevertheless, go outside once in a while, Yoru. Even if you’re fully enjoying nature at this castle, I don’t think it would be that much of a change if you started going out.  If you go out, you can feel the mixed atmosphere of the town, it’s liveliness, it’s diversity…  You’d be able enjoy all those kinds of things too.  Nobody in this castle would ever think accompanying you would be a bother.

Yoru: Haha.  I can tell you really like the town.  It’s a part of this country that we love after all.  Umm…  “Peaceful, lovable daily lives”, I think that was it.

You: Ah~.  That phrase, that expression.  On top of that, it was his words.

Yoru: Ahaha.  Correct guess!  As expected of the bodyguard and escort.

You: Eh~.  That compliment doesn’t make me happy.  Anyways, no matter how you think about it, that guy doesn’t need a bodyguard, right? He’s a demon lord that’s been alive for 1,000 years already.  Why do I have to do that?

Yoru: It was the result of the lottery that everyone in the military participated in right?  Out of the many thousands, it was established that you were number one, weren’t you?  You’re really popular, You.

You: I’m not popular!  If I were popular, I would be able to do other stuff like use spells and magic.

11:13

You: Aaaaah.

Yoru: Speaking of which, it’s a call from the demon lord, Shun-san.  Do your best, You~.

You: What the heck, seriously!  If he says he just wants to tell me something interesting again this time, I don’t care if he’s a demon lord or what, I’ll knock him out!  Seriously...

Yoru: Oh, You!  

You: Huh?

Yoru: Umm…  The next time you go outside, could you take me with you?

You: What?

Yoru: Oh, it doesn’t have to be the next time, but whenever you have free time.  Any time is fine.  Just like you said, I thought I might want to try talking to the townspeople once in a while too.

You: Then, we’ll go tomorrow.

Yoru: Huh?

You: If tomorrow is too sudden for you, then we’ll go the day after. I’ll go whenever you want too, so where do you want to go?  What do you want to do?  I’ll take you whenever you want, that’s natural isn’t it?

Yoru: Thank you, You.

You: Sure.  Well then, I’ll see you again Yoru, I’m sorry for bothering you while you’re working.

Yoru: Haha.  You’re saying that now?

You: Tomorrow, leave the door unlocked, okay?

Yoru: Aha, understood!

You: Alright!

12:35

Iku: Oh, You was summoned by Shun-san.

Rui: (moaning)

Iku: You has it rough too.  Actually, in this situation, it’s not that I would hate caring for Shun-san, I think it would sound like fun. But still, going to meet the demon lord by himself, it would be like… Well, his intuition is different from us after all.

Rui: (moaning)

Iku: The demon lord, Shun-san, huh.  The superior I respect, who also saved Kai-san, the king…  That’s right, he’s the one that brought forth a king for the king-less white rabbits.  Thanks to him, this country became peaceful.  The land flourished, we gained mysterious powers, and we’re no longer targeted by other clans.

Rui: This time…  I’ll do it for sure… (moaning)

Iku: If you think of it that way, he’s an outrageously amazing person in any case.  Aha, well, I understand that he’s the demon lord but… Usually he’s always smiling and seems like he’s having fun, he loves mischief, and he’s an extremely kind person.

Rui: Hah…  Hah…

Iku: When we said our appearances should all match, we grew rabbit ears but…  As an official clan, I wonder what we would be?  I feel like we would be a clan of Shun-san* but…  Hey, Rui, what do you think?

[*meaning the clan would just give off the same feeling that Shun does, or that they would be created according to what Shun wants]

Rui: Ikkun!  While I’m struggling to practice using my sword, I can’t think about anything else.

Iku: Ahaha, sorry.  Umm, but Rui, you’re stumbling when you pick up the sword, aren’t you?  If you try to wield it like that, rather than it being a long road ahead, I don’t see an end*.  First of all, do you want to start with some muscle training?

[*meaning that instead of getting better after doing a lot of practice, he’ll never see any results at this rate]

Rui: Impossible.  If I do muscle training with Ikkun, I’ll end up sleeping for 3 days.

Iku: You just said something impressively hopeless.

Rui: And also, I don’t want you to say that it seems like I’ll never be able to lift any swords.

Iku: But, in reality, you can’t lift it can you?

Rui: That’s just Ikkun’s sword.  Of course I’ll be able to carry regular swords.  I request that you correct yourself.

Iku: Aha, alright.  That’s certainly true.  I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll correct myself.

Rui: Okay.  Very well.

15:12

Rui: Hah…  I wonder why I can’t lift Ikkun’s sword.  I shouldn’t be that weak…  No, no, that’s not true.  That’s not what it is.

Iku: Ahaha.  That’s right, this isn’t just your problem.  Other people can barely lift it too so, this sword is…  (lifts it up) This sword, is something I received from Shun-san but, it seems like a very special sword.  It also has the cool name Durandal*, and it’s a sword that possesses it’s own will.

[*this is some famous sword from French literature]

Rui: It has it’s own will…

Iku: That’s right.  So, he said it uses that will to decided who can use it.  If someone who doesn’t truly accept the sword tries to hold it, it will become extremely heavy, and turn so dull that it can’t cut anything…  So it wouldn’t be sufficient enough to use.

Rui: Someone who doesn’t accept it…  So in other words…  The sword hates me…  (disappointment)

Iku: Aha, no no no, you don’t have to feel that shocked about it… Rather than deciding who it likes or hates, I think it decides who has good or bad compatibility with it, so it’s something like aptitude.

Rui: Compatibility and aptitude, huh.

Iku: Yeah yeah.  So, you may not be able to carry the sword but, I also can’t heal people with mysterious power like you can.

Rui: That’s… true… but…

Iku: The power of healing, is a rare and unusual power.  That’s probably why you became the prince, who will rule the country along with King Kai-san.  I was then given the power to protect you two. That’s how I think about it.

Rui: Mm…  But this power…  Is incomplete.  It doesn’t work on fatal wounds.  It also can’t revive the deceased.  In reality, Kai already died once…  He protected me, and died in my place.

Iku: So that’s when you met Kai-san.  You were being targeted and attacked for your power.  But, why have you suddenly become like this again?

17:34

Rui: Because that happened exactly five years ago today.

Iku: Now I see.  So that’s why you suddenly started saying you were going to train.

Rui: From that point on, I have been a burden to Kai, and to everyone.  I became so pathetic.  Even though I want to do something to help, I can’t do anything.  That’s why.

Iku: Rui…  Nobody thinks you’re a burden.  Kai-san definitely doesn’t think that.  Even you should be able to understand that but, if you still feel uneasy…  Then I, who has always worked under Kai-san, will guarantee it

Rui: Ah…  Ikkun…

Iku: Everyone, by nature, has things they are suitable for and not suitable for.  In this world, this is easily understood because it is so apparent.  Rui has the power to heal, and I have the power to fight.  However, I don’t believe that either one is better than the other, because everyone is so different, it becomes a world with various types of possibilities.

Rui: Various possibilities…

Iku: Yeah!  Possibilities.  Even if there were two of me, I wouldn’t be able to gain the power of healing but…  If you and I are together, then we will be able to fight and heal.  That’s why I think it’s fine, don’t you feel the same, Rui?

Rui: Ah…  Ikkun…  Yeah, you’re right.  It’s more lovely that way.

Iku: Alright!  Now that we’ve settled that, Rui, let’s do some muscle training!

Rui: Huh?  How did it end up at that?

Iku: Because Rui, no matter how heavy the sword becomes, seeing you get that short of breath just from lifting it…  Well, I was wondering if you would be able to immediately defend yourself in a worst case scenario, so as your escort, it’s making me anxious.

Rui: Hmm…  I’m happy that you are worried about me but…  

Iku: That is why, we’re doing muscle training!  Okay then!  To start with, let’s do 3 laps around the perimeter of the castle!

Rui: Uuhhh…

20:13

Shun: I wonder if You will get here any time soon…

Kai: Shuuun.  Try not to thoughtlessly call You so often.  He could be in the middle of working you know?

Shun: Huh?  But, You is my bodyguard and escort.  If you are talking about his work then looking after me would be his highest priority wouldn’t it?

Kai: Well…  That’s true but…  Exactly what did you call him for? While we’re in the middle of an elegant tea party in the courtyard, it doesn’t seem like you would need anything from You.

Shun: I thought I would tell him something interesting~

Kai: You is the type that would definitely get angry about that.  Yeah. ...Hah~  Think about how I feel having to cover for you all the time. Anyways, Shun, you don’t actually need a bodyguard do you?

Shun: Huh?  Yes I need one, I need one, it is definitely necessary. Because after all, I am a clean and pure demon lord, and royal boy, who has never lifted anything heavier than “hashi” before. If someone doesn’t look after me I won’t be able to survive, and I will become so lonely I will die~

Kai: That’s really something, coming from someone who has lived more that 1,000 years.  And while we’re at it, what the heck are “hashi”.

Shun: “Hashi”* refers to two magical sticks that are used in an eastern country of a world far away from here.  By the way, those 1,000 years could finally come to an end at any time you know?

[*one meaning of hashi is chopsticks]

Kai: Oh, really?~  Wait, whaaaat?!  You just said something terrible in that second part!

Shun: Hmm?  I said something terrible?

Kai: You did!!  You said that the 1,000 years will come to an end.  So in other words, are you going to die somehow?  Are you sick?  Does it hurt anywhere?  Should I call a doctor?

Shun: Ahahahaha.  Kai is as usual, very gentle and kind, yet slightly misunderstanding.  It’s very lovely.  Don’t worry Kai, right now I have grown rabbit ears that match everyone else but, I am a demon lord in the first place.  I don’t have a life span, there’s no way I would get a fatal disease, and it’s not like it hurts anywhere.

Kai: Hah…  What the heck, that’s it?  Don’t scare me like that.

Shun: Thank you for your concern.  However, pain is also the proof of life.  When we try to live, it hurts.  If we try to do our best, we’ll feel bitter.  Before I met you guys, I hadn’t ever felt anything other than absentmindedness.  I’m not sure if I can call that living or not.

Kai: But you were alive weren’t you?  That’s for certain.  That’s a long time period that I can’t even imagine.  Seeing various things, and experiencing various things, and among all that you saved me. You saved our kingdom.  ...I’m grateful from the bottom of my heart.

23:10

Shun: Hmm.  I just did it on a whim though~

Kai: Haha.  You say that but, I already know you frequently go around doing things on a whim.  The “white” person that often appears in old literature, is you isn’t it?  Shun.

Shun: Oh?

Kai: Yoru told me about it.  On this continent, since long ago, whenever things like earthquakes or volcanic eruptions happened, or in times of severe famines, a “white” person would somehow somewhere appear.  There are legends where they caused miracles to happen, and they aren’t just within the rabbit clans, they are everywhere.

Shun: Well then, I don’t know anything about it.  I’m not a “white” person anyways, I’m the demon lord.

Kai: I see.  So, Shun, returning back to the topic, when you say the 1,000 years could end…

Shun: Ahh, that’s just my personal circumstances.  I have finally found the end I had been looking for since the time I gained a sense of self.  That’s how I feel.  Each one of us alone is incomplete, and there is neither ending nor beginning.  However, once the set has been gathered, they become total for the first time, thus becoming complete.  Completion... in other words, the end.  I never thought that I would find that end in the other side of this world.  Ehehehehe.

Kai: The other side… of the world?

Shun: That’s right.  The other side of the world.  It’s an important fragment of this world.  There’s a country of black rabbits that live there.  Hmm…  Ah…   Hmm…  Just as I thought.  There is a very precious, precious, end for me there.  It seems like he hasn’t been very energetic lately but…  Ah, I’m glad…  It looks like he’s laughing while being surrounded by his kind companions.  Just the same as me.

Kai: Hmm…  Your conversation is so magnificent that I can’t really understand it but, there’s a country of black rabbits huh…  To us white rabbits, I guess they would be like siblings?

Shun: I guess so, that seems about right.

25:29

Kai: Well then, I want to meet them~  I feel like we could get along well.

Shun: Hmm, I am certain that we would get along well.  Well Kai, next time, why don’t all of us go meet the black rabbits?  I’ll open up a path for us~

Kai: By all of us, you mean everyone?  Shun and me, Rui and Iku, and You and Yoru?

Shun: That’s right, so you do get it~  I mean everyone.

Kai: Everyone will be going to a different world?

Shun: Yes, a different world.  What~  It may sound like it’s a little far but, if you depend on me, we’ll be there in no time.  Ahaha.  A picnic in another world…  I’m looking forward to it.

Kai: Are picnics really that magnificent?  Well, whatever~  It does seem like fun.  Hmm… A different world, huh…  So it’s not just this place, but the outside also spreads out to other places too…  Hmm…  That’s extraordinary.

Shun: Ahaha.  Kai,  the world is extraordinarily wide and huge.  Compared to that, people are so tiny it would make them laugh.  However, every single one of them is so precious and lovely. I love all worlds and all people.  Even if I live another thousand years, or if I watch them forever, they will never lose their fascinating radiance.

Kai: An extraordinarily wide and huge world, and a person’s small existence, huh.

(sound of birds)

Kai: I wonder what color the sky is, in that other world.

[This is my first time translating from audio, and I was surprised with how much text it turned out to be. XD  There were some parts that I had trouble understanding but I translated it to the best of my abilities.  I also noticed that when I focus too much on translating it, I can’t understand what they’re saying. LOL  But if I just relax and listen I can understand it fine~]

[This storyline is also really interesting so I enjoyed translating it~]

[I will be doing Black Rabbit Kingdom Drama CD next before starting on the Tsukipara event dramas~]

#Tsukiuta #Procellarum #Drama CD #My translation