Chapter 1: Origins Have To Start Somewhere
Chapter Text
Gangu Gwon couldn't breathe.
He could feel the sweaty hands of his executioner, forcing his head in the god-forsaken toilet.
If there was a competition for most embarrassing way to die, Gangu would definitely have taken Gold, Silver, and Bronze for this stunt.
He was dying to a useless bully who would probably peak in high school, while simultaneously drowning in a public toilet.
' At least if I die I can send them to jail. ' He though bitterly as spots continued to dance around his vision.
He could feel his body shut down slowly, he no longer struggled, what was the point in doing so?
Yuri
Anger began to stir in his gut and an unfamiliar strength coursed through his limbs.
Did he seriously just ask what was the point in living?
He had an older sister who loved him and moved heaven and earth for him.
Yet, here he was leaving her to mourn him?
As if.
He forced himself back and lifted his head out of the water.
"The hell?!" Yelped the boy who was still holding his neck trying to push him back.
"Yo help me!"
Gangu felt his body tremble as more weight pushed him back.
"Not so cocky now? Are you?" The cruel voice whispered in his ear.
Gangu shivered in disgust.
"M-must hurt your pride...huh?"
"The fuck you said to me?!"
"I was saying," he pushed backward, "it must hurt your pride that you need 3 people to hold me down!"
He felt a sharp hit to the back of his neck.
"Uck!" He stumbled, just for a moment, but a moment was enough.
With him off balanced those bastards pounced shoving him into the toilet so hard his head hit the ceramic end.
Gangu's vision swam.
Did he have a concussion?
It would explain why his head felt so heavy, and why his life was leaving him so much quicker this time.
As his eyes fluttered to a close, he was sure this was the final time he would ever open his eyes.
...
...
...
Thump
...
Thump
What?
Gangu raised himself to a sitting position.
"Ugch-" And let out hacking coughs
He was alive-!
Dots were still dancing around his vision, but he was alive!
"I-"
He heard some shuffling and some murmurs he couldn’t quite put together.
"Rest." A voice whispered roughly.
The hands he assumed belonged to the voice grabbed him, pulling him into an embrace.
Gangu wanted to stay awake, he didn't want to go back to that infinite nothingness from seconds before.
"Rest." The voice repeated, more roughly this time.
Gangu didn't have the energy to argue and just went back to sleep.
+++
Cassian Lee was 100 percent sure he was supposed to be dead.
He'd been double teamed 2 S-ranks and his life ended with a shot in the heart.
His body probably ended up in the bottom of the ocean.
So why did he wake up (with a sizeable migraine) in what looked like-
A public bathroom?
“What the hell!?”
He turned toward the source of the voice, and was met with 3 teenagers shoving another kid down the toilet.
It honestly felt like a slap to the face, like people actually did that shit?
He blinked and stared at the scene to process the bizarre scenario. Only to quickly shoot up in anxiety.
That boy- the one with his head in the toilet- he wasn’t moving .
Like at all.
No struggle whatsoever.
His body moved before his mind could react, and he quickly shoved the idiot teens away.
He pulled the boy out, fingering his pulse.
Nothing
The boy’s heart had stopped beating.
“Hey you!”
He felt a hand grab his shoulder.
Cassian frowned deeply.
“I have no time for you imbeciles ,” the insult slipped into English, “so move or I’ll snap your arm like a twig.”
Cassian wasn’t one for threatening kids, but these snot-nosed brats had killed a person.
They held very little of his patience in that moment.
“Listen here punk-”
Cassian grabbed the boys’ offending for arma and grasped tightly.
Cruch
“ Back off .”
The boy let out an honestly pathetic squeal.
“I-i, You’ll regret that!” He then simpered and ran away, his lackeys quickly followed.
Cassian rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the dead kid in his arms.
He quickly positioned the boy on the floor and began chest compressions.
1
2
3
Staying Alive
Was he using that stupid song, because it happened to stay in the rhythm recommended for CPR?
Yes, that didn’t mean he liked it.
So shut it Jeff-
Oh .
Right .
Cassian felt his heart clench, but he kept going.
Jeff would probably strangle him in the afterlife if he found out he spiraled in the middle of giving a kid CPR.
He pinched the boy’s nose and tilted his head, only to have said head swiftly stand ramrod straight and hit his forehead.
Ouch.
The boy’s eyes widened, pupils dilating, he didn't even seem to flinch at the headbutt.
Well at least he didn’t have to perform mouth-to-mouth.
“Ugch-”
Cassian watched as the boy broke out into large wet coughs.
He honestly sounded like a cat hacking out a hairball in Cassian’s humble opinion.
“Hey? You okay-”
Cassian frowned, maybe it was because he’d gotten them before, but he could tell the kid had gotten a concussion.
He frowned as the boy floundered.
“Come ‘ere.” He sighed, grabbing the kid and pulling him into a hug.
“Rest.” The boy continued floundering.
Cassian frowned, no he was more like shivering.
“Rest.” This time his voice came out with a bit more oomph.
The boy stilled and his breathing steadied.
When Cassian was sure the boy was fully asleep he stood up and began walking out with him in his arms.
He maneuvered the body into a more manageable position and walked, looking around the hallways.
They were predictably empty.
Most kids were probably in class right now.
“Well, too bad.” He stopped at the nearest classroom door and opened it.
Dozens of eyes of curious students looked up at him.
“Teach, can you point the way to the nurses office? I think this boy’s got a concussion, but I need a professional opinion.” He stated blandly and straight to the point.
The teacher looked like he’d seen a ghost, it was almost enough to make Cassian feel pity.
“Uh, Of course.” He turned awkwardly.
“Seojun, take this young man to the Nurse’s Office.”
The boy nodded his head and stood up.
He was a tall kid with brown hair and even browner eyes. He had a trustworthy look to him, probably why the teacher picked him.
“Great, lead the way.”
The boy nodded and walked out the door expecting to be followed.
…
Was it just him or was the boy freakishly tall?
Like most Psykers grew up to an average of 6 '5 and even Cassian’s malnourished ass grew to roughly 6' 2.
How embarrassing, a civilian student was taller than him.
He rolled his eyes, priorities, maybe the kid just drank a lot of milk.
(He ignored the fact that there’s probably an 80% chance the kid was lactose intolerant.)
“We’re here.” The boy stated calmly, and opened the door.
“Why hello- Oh dear.” The nurse stammered.
He looked to be late 20s early 30s with a hair dyed carrot top that was a curly mess.
He quickly set up the bed and beckoned Cassian to set the boy down, Cassian did just that.
“What happened?” The man sounded serious despite his appearance.
“Some lowlifes tried drowning him in a toilet.”
The Nurse turned to him with an eyebrow raised as if to say “ And ?”.
“I performed Chest Compressions, he woke up, and here we are.”
The nurse looked at Cassian incredulously.
“And you didn’t call 119?”
Cassian sighed.
“I don’t have my phone, so I did the next best thing.”
Cassian was about to ask the nurse to check for a concussion, but he stopped.
“He doesn’t have a concussion.”
The nurse frowned.
“How do you know/?”
It was Cassian’s turn to frown.
“I just do.”
The nurse clicked his tongue.
“Twins and their blasted hunches…”
Cassian scoffed.
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah, you’re excused. I'm giving you both passes to go back home.”
“What?”
“Are you deaf? Passes to go home? You know what I’ll just call you guys’ guardian.”
The man stood up and walked toward his desk, logging into a computer.
“Name of injured?”
“Gangu Gwon.”
Cassian turned to Seojun in thanks, only to stop.
“Wait, aren't you supposed to like, monitor Gangu for a while?”
The Nurse scoffed.
“You really are a fool.”
Seojun stared at the back of the nurses’ head.
“Sir, I do believe the twin of Gangu-ssi might be a new student.”
‘Twin?’ Cassian frowned, did Gangu look like him?
Last he checked Gangu’s what- sixteen? Meanwhile Cassian is twenty-six.
If Gangu looked like him, he was was kind of worried at the pace the kid was aging.
The nurse stopped.
“Really? Why would they enroll at separate times- you know what I don’t wanna know.” He continued scrolling and typing.
“Ah! Here it is: Yuri Gwon.” He grabbed a telephone and dialed the number.
Seojun smiled calmly at Cassian.
“Nurse Choi is an Outer.”
Cassian’s eyes widened.
“His specialty is emergency healing, so he knows what he’s doing.”
Cassian looked at Seojun then back at Nurse Choi.
“Hello, is this Ms. Gwon?”
The Nurse listened.
“Ah, yes I’m calling about your younger brothers.”
“Yes, brothers, Ms. Gwon. Gangu’s twin is here too.”
The Nurse Choi looked confused.
“Ms. Gwon? I am not aware of your family situation, but Gangu’s brother is right here. Their resemblance is uncanny, they’re definitely identical twins.”
There was a bit of silence on the other line then the voice on the other line spoke.
Nurse Choi nodded his and plopped the phone back to the holster.
“Good news, your big sis is on the way.”
Nurse Choi smiled.
“On even better news, she’s bringing you some spare cleaning supplies to get rid of the toilet smell you two brought to my office.”
Cassian blinked.
“Who?”
Chapter 2: A Familiar Grin
Summary:
Yuri picks up BOTH of her brothers.
She tries to be as welcoming as possible, but she can tell Gilyoung Lee isn't well.
'Gilyoung' is so, so confused and is lying through his teeth.
PS: If you see what looks like a keyboard smash, it means a character is speaking a foreign language that the person whose pov I'm in narrating can't understand.
PSS: The first few chapters will be kind of boring and slow, 'cause I'm trying the settle the setting correctly. After that Twin Shenanigans galore!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
When Yuri Gwon got the call she felt very small.
The caller ID read Gangu’s school and in that moment her brain filled with all the horrible scenarios that could be the reason behind said call.
Gangu was a reserved young man, calm, a mostly B+ student who worked hard to ensure he wasn’t a bother to her. She wasn’t blind, she saw how he treated himself and she saw when he’d attempt to hide that something was bothering him. A small part of her wished he could see he was never a bother to her.
She smiled at her boss.
“Excuse me? I need to take this.” She stated calmly and speed-walked to a quieter area, one away from customers.
She then with trembling hands answered the call.
“Hello, is this Ms. Gwon?”
“Yes, may I ask what’s the reason for this call?
“Ah, yes I’m calling about your younger brothers.” The caller answered.
Yuri frowned.
Brothers? She was sure she only had one last she checked. Unfortunately she never did check when to keep her thought to speech reflex on the downlow, because she quickly asked:
“Brothers? You mean Gangu Gwon, sir? I only have one brother.”
The man didn’t respond with the typical” “Oh my bad.” instead he doubled down
“Yes, brothers, Ms. Gwon. Gangu’s twin is here too.”
Twin? Twin?!
Since when did Gangu have a twin?
She could feel herself spiraling.
“Pardon…? Could you please repeat that?”
The voice sounded exasperated, but reasonable.
“Ms. Gwon? I am not aware of your family situation, but Gangu’s brother is right here. Their resemblance is uncanny, they’re definitely identical twins.” He stated plainly.
“Holy Child of Light…” She started.
“I, um, I’ll be right there.” She heard a humming on the other line and the call cut off.
She reentered the main area and walked toward her boss.
“Sir-”
“Somethings up with your brother and you need to leave early?”
“I- yes.”
“Okay, I’ll man your shift. Take the rest of the day off.”
“But sir-”
“You're still getting paid if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Yuri smiled.
“Thank you, sir!” She ran toward the exit, just slow enough to hear something along the lines of “kids these days”.
She thanked whatever higher being above told her to wear flats today, and sped toward Gangu’s school. Yuri breathed through her nose and began to use the posture she used back when she was in the track team.
Mentally she screamed “Gotta go fast” and kept going, only stopping when she felt like breathing was a chore.
As she neared the corner she let out a breath of relief in seeing Gangu’s school. She quickly pressed the buzzer.
“Hello?”
“This is Yuri Gwon, I got a call regarding my brothers.”
The buzzer crackled.
“Slide your ID, please.”
Yuri rolled her eyes, but quickly showed her face and the card to the camera.
“Alrighty, come inside!” The door lock clicked, signaling she could go in.
She did as told and entered the front office.
The receptionist smiled, handing her a pass.
“Your pass is here, head to the nurse’s office.”
Yuri nodded her head, muttering a small ‘thanks', and beginning to walk the mess of hallways. A small part of her hoped the school’s layout hadn’t changed since the last time she was here.
‘Okay a left- no a right, then up the stairs, left, straight, and… I’m lost.’
Maybe the panic showed on her face ‘cause a girl with dyed purple pigtails walked up to her from across the hall.
“You good, miss?”
Yuri felt shame build up inside her.
“I’m lost…?”
The girl raised an eyebrow.
“Ok…? Where are you going?”
Right
“Nurse’s office?”
The girl nodded her head.
“You’re almost there,” she pointed straight ahead, “three doors to the right.”
Yuri smiled brightly.
“Thank you so much!”
“Uh huh, just don’t tell anyone I ditched Physics and we’re even.” She said, before walking away.
Yuri sweatdropped.
Then proceeded forward.
She opened the door and was met with-
A poorly dyed carrot top scolding 3 boys. He stopped when the door opened and turned to her.
“Ah! You must be Ms, Gwon. Good, tell ‘em to shut up.”
Yuri looked at the two boys wrestling on the bed. Twin pairs of amber-brown eyes stared back at her. She’d only taken- what- 20 minutes? How did they end up like this?
“Hi, sis.” Waved the one with a towel on his head.
Yuri felt her brain reboot for a second.
“Is mitosis possible in humans?”
Silence…
“Nope, not unless I’ve been out of the industry that long and they found a way.” Shrugged the carrot top.
Yuri flushed red.
She said that outloud, like a dumbass.
Yuri shook her head, she had to think logically. Some people had doppelgangers that weren’t related to them by blood, maybe Gangu found his.
“Um, Gangu-look-alike, let me check your nape.”
The look-alike glared.
“What!? Why?!”
“Gangu’s got a birthmark there.”
The look-alike scoffed.
“That seems like a really unreliable way to check blood-relation.”
The nurse nodded his head.
“Yup, twins might be identical in DNA, but same birthmarks aren’t guaranteed.”
Yuri groaned.
“How else do we check? DNA tests take a WHILE and they aren’t cheap.”
The nurse laughed.
“You’re forgetting moi!”
Gangu frowned.
“Is it something to do with your top secret Outer abilities?”
Maybe it was that he said so innocently, but Yuri suddenly felt a surge of pity for- uh.
She squinted at the man’s name tag.
Dr. Jinwoo Choi.
Wait, this man was a certified doctor?
“Ahem, yes.”
The Nurse-that-was-actually-a-doctor walked up to the twins.
“I can look at your mana, relatives share distinct similarities.” He smiled.
“If they’re related, I’ll know.”
Gangu looked at his look-a-like his with a bright face… only to stop.
His potential twin looked tense.
“... You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Gilyoung.”
So that was Gangu’s potential twin’s name.
Gilyoung clicked his tongue.
“I have no siblings, but if this little test proves it to you then sure.”
Nurse Choi smiled.
“Good.” He reached and grabbed both of their hands.
His eyes narrowed in focus and changed to a shade of silver.
After 30 seconds of silence-
“Yup, they’re brothers, your honor.”
To his credit, Gilyoung looked just as horrified as Yuri felt.
“I-i- huh?!”
Gangu looked like he was on cloud nine.
“I fucking knew it!!!” He yelled with a look of absolute triumph.
“See, Gilyoung? I knew it!”
Yuri smiled.
Sure the whole situation left her with many questions (like why was Gilyoung separated from them? And why did their parents never mention him?), but she couldn’t help but feel cheerful.
Honestly, though? She smiled because he had never seen Gangu this happy since their parents died. It was plain and simple.
She had no idea what Gilyoung was like, but she found she didn’t mind. They’d learn about their other sibling and love him regardless.
Clap, Clap, Clap
“Alright, good. Happy ending- whoo! Now get out of my office.”
Yuri blanched.
“W-what?”
“Yeah, out. I already wrote your passes, now shoo! Arivaderchi!”
All three were promptly pushed out and the nurse threw the slips of papers behind him.
“Well… damn.” Gangu frowned, grasping a pass.
Gilyoung’s eye twitched.
“You just woke up, you should be resting…” He muttered through gritted teeth.
Gangu rolled his and crossed his arms.
“I told you! I’m fine .”
“You fucking drowned .”
Gangu shook his head.
“Yup, I did, but I’m better now.”
To his credit Gilyoung just scoffed and began to walk down the hall. Yuri turned to Gangu, who was already running after his twin.
She sighed and walked to them.
“Lee Gilyoung,” she started with “do you prefer if we called you by your first or last name?”
“First.” the boy stated with no hesitation.
Yuri smiled.
“So… what do you say? Are you coming with us?”
The boy slowed, his eyes looked toward Gangu, then back to Yuri. He looked uncertain, like he didn’t understand how to answer the question.
“I- if that’s fine with you,” he then turned to the left, “besides I needed a change of clothes anyways…”
O, Holy Child of Light, that was adorable.
His ears were pink!
Yuri grinned from ear to ear.
“Good! You can tell us a bit yourself on the way there!”
Gilyoung didn’t look at her, but nodded his head.
“Okay!”
Yuri thought of what to say first, but Gangu beat her to the punch.
“How come I’ve never seen you before? You’re wearing our school uniform.”
Gilyoung stayed silent for a second.
“I’m doing an exchange student program, this school was one of the options to enroll in, so I was checking it out before the final decision.”
Gangu nodded his head.
“That makes sense.”
“Where are you transferring from?” Asked Yuri.
“America.”
Gangu looked at Gilyoung in surprise.
“Cool! Does that mean you speak English?”
“Yes.”
“Can you say something?”
“sodn3ln.” One word again, for some reason Gilyoung looked mischievous.
“Can you say ‘Yuri Gwon is the best older sister ever!’?”
Gilyoung stayed silent and for a moment Yuri thought she overstepped, but the boy opened his mouth to speak.
“Yuri Gwon jn4cbcuj4olv sister xblbc.”
Yuri understood only three words of what the boy had said, but smiled regardless.
“What’s that pendant around your neck?” Asked Gangu.
Yuri looked at Gilyoung’s neck, sure enough from it hung a fancy silver chain with a strange large charm attached to it.
“It’s very pretty.”
It was true, the pendant also looked expensive with its unique design.
Gilyoung grasped it.
“My adopted brother gave it to me.”
Yuri felt that this topic was hurting the boy so she changed the subject. They’d just met him, it wasn’t a good idea to probe too deep when he still saw them as strangers.
They reached the school entrance, the two students showed their passes and walked out into the street.
“What’s your favorite food?”
Gilyoung perked up at that.
“Lasagna.”
“Is that American?”
Gilyoung shook his head.
“Italian.”
Gangu smiled.
“Sounds delicious.”
Gilyoung nodded his head, eyes shining almost reverently.
“It is.”
“What are your hobbies?”
“Martial Arts.”
“Really? Are you any good?”
An almost evil smile to place on Gilyoung’s face.
“That's for me to know, and for you to hopefully not find out.”
“Was that threat?”
“Nope, a promise.”
Yuri laughed at Gangu’s concerned side eye.
“When was the last time you’ve been to Korea?”
“... 8 years.”
“That’s a long time, and yet your Korean is still flawless.”
“If not slightly outdated.” Gangu smirked.
Gilyoung glared at Gangu.
“Excuse me?”
“Ahem, you’re excused old man.”
Gangu broke out into a run, and good thing too, because Gilyoung was right on his tail.
+++
Cassian Lee awkwardly sipped lemonade on the kitchen table of the Gwon apartment.
Moros walked floated idly by him.
“You know for someone who just found out an hour ago that he’s in the body of a teenager you’re adapting pretty good.”
Moros was a self-proclaimed mighty soul from ancient times that jumpscared Cassian when he was watching a still unconscious Gangu Gwon.
“Don’t talk to me, there’s people around .”
“Relax, Yuri’s is ordering takeout and Gangu is in the shower.”
Cassian clicked his tongue.
“Okay, then explain what the hell is going on. Don't leave anything out.”
“Ahem! This mighty soul from ancient times sacrificed two thirds of their power to create an identical copy of Gangu’s body. This way you wouldn’t die.”
“Okay, I got that, but why Gangu?”
“He happened to be dying at the same time as you, it was a matter of convenience.”
“So, what? I just leave them to believe that miraculously some long-lost brother of theirs coincidentally appeared out of nowhere?”
“Seems like you already took advantage of that fact.”
“I thought since- you know- the soul thing… our mana would be different.”
“And you felt bad for Gangu.”
Cassian cringed, the minute Gangu opened his eyes (which was roughly 10 minutes before Yuri showed up) he acted like he was a hundred and ten percent sure Cassian was his brother.
He shot rapid-fire questions at him, and Cassian barely had the time to answer with a fake name.
“I’m Gilyoung… ” He remembered answering unsurely.
“Gilyoung?”
“Yeah, Gilyoung Lee.”
“I couldn’t just say no to his eyes.”
Moros blinked.
“So he’s like Jeff?”
“Yes!”
Moros (who somehow showed a wide range of emotions with only one eye) looked slightly understanding.
“Sad looking golden retrievers.”
Cassian shook his head.
“No, Jeff’s a golden retriever… Gangu is like a sneaky black cat that worms his way into your defenses…”
“You sound like you're speaking from experience.” Moros deadpanned.
“Regardless, I’m in a bad spot. ‘Gilyoung Lee’ doesn’t exist and Gangu probably is expecting me to go to his school now.” Cassian frowned.
Moros’ eye narrowed.
“... I could expand more magic power to enter your soul into another body, but I have too little power left.”
“No, even if you had enough Gangu and Yuri would freak out if ‘Gilyoung’ went missing out of nowhere.”
Moros flew to his left side.
“So what then?”
Gangu smiled.
“There’s a second bank account I made. I can make some calls and create a fake identity.”
“So why were you so concerned?”
“Hiring a person to craft you a fake identity is crime, Moros.”
If Moros had shoulders he’d probably be shrugging.
“I am a mighty soul, such standards don’t apply to me.”
Cassian rolled his eyes.
“That and that it might take a while to get the identity situated fully.”
“How so?”
Cassian grinned.
“Well if I’m going to commit a crime I'd prefer not to get caught, so I’ll hire the best of the best.”
Moros let out an approving hum.
“But the best usually has a lot of customers… and most pay to get out of the line.”
Cassian clicked his tongue.
“I’ll ask for school records first and pay to have the rest crafted, but…”
“How long?”
“The school information? A week at most, who I’m planning on contacting is most familiar with hacking American-Based Registries, so making me look like a transfer is the easiest.”
Moros blinked slowly.
“What of everything else?”
“Most of my ‘medical’ files would just be a copy of Gangu’s, but putting me in this country’s registry might take a while. Especially if it’s up to my standards.”
Moros let out a soft hum.
“So how long?”
“Bare minimum a month until I’m an official Korean citizen.”
Moros sighed.
“Without accounting everyone cutting in line?”
“Sadly, yes.”
“Gilyoung?”
Cassian tensed, but answered.
“Yes?”
“I found a restaurant that’s run by an Italian couple in southern Seoul.” She walked out from her room and into the kitchen holding her phone to her ear.
“It might take an extra 30 minutes to deliver, but they serve Lasagna.”
Cassian blinked, shocked at the caring gesture.
“I- um, if you guys are okay with that I’d love it.”
Yuri smiled.
“They’ve got great reviews and me and Gangu ain’t picky. If we were, we would've never survived my teenage cooking. ” She let out a little shiver at the mention.
“Alright then, Gangu should be out of the shower soon-”
Cassian jumped at the sound of a door opening.
“Speak of the devil.”
Gangu came out of the bathroom hair still dripping and a tower around his neck.
“The door’s open for you, Gilyoung.”
Cassian nodded his head and walked in, completely unaware of Gangu’s and Yuri’s sly grins.
Notes:
Me: Look this would've been so much less confusing if you'd looked in a mirror BEFORE human interaction.
Cassian: THERE WAS AN EMERGENCY- DO I LOOK THAT VAIN TO YOU?!
Me: Yes, 'Gilyoung' you do.
Cassian: Sigh, can you at least stop abusing 3rd person limited so you can avoid tedious scenes?
Me: Nope, I'm a perfectionist not a masochist.
Chapter 3: Settling in the Nest
Summary:
Cassian is held down by the fact that he can't be 'Gilyoung'.
His siblings might not know everything, but they aren't letting his brother slip off the deep end.
Cassian said a week until he enrolled into Gangu's high school, Gangu will abuse this.
They're far from a perfect family, but perfect is overrated.
(A bit of a filler chapter.)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Cassian Lee used to find the idea of “Shower Thoughts” amusing. Sure every once in a while your brain might drop some gems, but for the most part he saw it as more of an unwinding process.
Yet, here he was, in the shower with too much to mentally process.
He was in the body of a teenager.
He had no papers (that was akin to a death sentence in America).
He had a new ‘family’ which he could never share the truth with.
By all accounts, Cassian Lee the psyker was dead.
Child of Light, Jeff was dead .
He was dead .
Murdered, both of them.
‘Those Lampas bastards…’
Cassian gripped his chest, his nails digging in his skin. In a way it was comforting, grounding even, but that didn’t change the fact that Lampas had to pay.
It was not an option, even as civilian Cassian would rip that blasted Witch and Swordsman to shreds, they would pay with their lives .
As his thoughts grew continuously gruesome, his grip got tighter.
“CASSIAN!”
The former psyker jumped at the sound of Moros’ voice.
“You’re losing control of yourself, Cassian.” Moros eye flashed in concern.
“What…?”
Moros sighed.
“Look down, you almost lost your humanity there.”
Cassian looked down at his body and let out a hushed gasp.
His hands were covered in large black gauntlets, the tips of the gauntlets were so sharp they had pierced his skin and drew blood.
“What the hell?” He turned to Moros eyes flashing.
“You turned me into a villain?”
Moros nodded.
“Yes, Gangu Gwon is a villain capable of bringing the apocalypse, since your body is his copy you’re one too.”
Cassian let out a crazed laugh.
“So, now there's two villains that can destroy the world?!” His hands trembled.
Moros shook himself in the negative.
“Do you think Gangu would be the type to end the world?”
Cassian frowned, he wanted to argue, but Gangu just didn’t fit the image.
For the little time he’d known him he seemed like a normal teen. Hell, the boy was filled to the brim with bright energy, the energy only hopeful youth emit. The energy of someone who hadn’t been completely destroyed by reality, yet.
“Cassian… isn’t this better? You can take out Lampas easier this way.”
It was true, taking out Lampas agents as a civilian sounded impossible and as a psyker he would have to work for them to destroy them from the inside.
“Right… sorry, I just…”
Moros let out a sigh.
“You were groomed into believing the worst of villains.”
“Exactly…”
Moros somehow made a tongue clicking sound.
“You should probably be finishing up soon…” An awkward subject change at best, but Cassian took it.
He focused on cleaning himself off thoroughly, before getting out of the shower. He dried himself, got dressed and walked out the door completely on autopilot.
He felt heavy, rubbing the towel on his hair and when turning to the very-obviously-staring Gwon siblings.
“Is there a problem?”
Silence…
Yuri snapped out of whatever trance first.
“Ahem, Gilyoung, come to the table we have much to discuss.”
Cassian frowned, she sounded out of her depth like she was trying to seem older than a woman in her 20s.
Still, he did as told.
“What is it?”
Yuri cleared her throat again.
“While you were in the shower, Gangu and I came up with a proposal.”
“Okay…?”
Yuri smiled nervously.
“Since you’re in an Exchange Student Program we thought… we could be the family you stay with?” Her words tumbled really fast at the end, showing just how anxious she was at the answer.
Cassian stopped for a minute.
He never thought this opportunity would fall right in his lap. Without legal papers it would be impossible to sign or rent any housing, even with his secret stash.
Their offer was unprecedented, but it would be invaluable to him.
‘But… it would require more lies…’
He bit his lip, he could never encroach on a civilian’s kindness. Especially since he was pretending to be their family member.
“I-i…” He shook his head.
His brain was muddled, the combined pressure slowly crippled his ability to think straight.
“2 million won… that’s the highest I can pay for rent, I’m sorry.” He answered quietly.
“What?”
“1,500 USD… that’s all I can pay you weekly. I did an estimate…”
“Gilyoung, who said you have to pay?” Gangu asked tentatively.
Cassian blinked, what kind of silly question was that?
“Everything has a price… I can’t be the brother you want me to be, but I can still be of use.”
“...”
He couldn’t lose this deal.
“Who said anything about needing to be my ‘dream brother’?” The words came in as sharp as whip.
“Gangu-”
“It doesn’t matter who you are, what matters is that you're here. We don’t know anything about you, but we want to know you.”
Gangu placed a hand on Cassian's shoulder.
“We want to know the brother we’ve been separated from for 18 years. No amount of money can buy us into not taking that opportunity, so you’re staying.” His grip tightened.
“If you attempt to pay us off in any way, again, I’ll skewer your ass.” He spat, like he hadn’t gotten his ass handed to him by a bunch of punks.
Cassian stayed quiet.
“Good, now how long until you can go to school?”
“... Around a week, but I need to get an answer from my director first.”
Aka they needed to contact that hacker.
He looked at Gangu in surprise. The boy was a lot more assertive than he gave him credit for.
“Okay, I’ll be staying with you, helping you set in.” He gave a close-eyed smile, like he hadn’t just threatened him two sentences ago.
“Gangu..” Yuri scowled disapprovingly.
“My teachers love me! I’ll just ask them for the whole week's assignments tomorrow and leave with the ‘Family Emergency’ excuse.”
“Gangu…”
“Come on! As if this doesn’t count as a family emergency…”
Yuri rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
“Fine, you better help Gilyoung with his room.”
“Of course!”
Cassian blinked.
“I get my own room?”
Yuri nodded her head.
“We have a ‘guest room’ that will be your room from now on.”
“...Cool.”
“You were planning to rent for 2,000,000 won weekly without a place to sleep?”
Cassian sweatdropped.
“Seoul is expensive.”
Both Gangu and Yuri looked at each other as if having a mental conversation. Finally after about 2 minutes they nodded their heads.
“Gangu will be shopping with you now.”
Cassian frowned.
“Why?”
“To make sure your dumbass doesn’t get scammed.”
“What?!” Cassian yelped, flushing.
How did they know he was prone to falling for scams?!
“Now… Gangu, why don’t we discuss the bastards that attempted to drown you?” Yuri glared.
Cassian sweatdropped and proceeded to ignore the conversation.
‘I choose life.’
+++
Gangu Gwon glared at Gilyoung.
“So, you got scammed out of all your stuff the minute you landed?”
“I did not!”
“You’re lucky you're rich.”
“Am not !”
He sighed, ignoring the growing pit in his gut.
Gangu knew he was more cowardly than most his age. He had no pride at all, he’d let himself be bullied if it meant he didn’t have to cause a ruckus.
He was quiet, introverted, and borderline antisocial.
What’s worse, he knew why, or at least had a hint.
He wasn’t sure that he’d be the same if he let himself be brave. Most of his injuries would heal in minutes, Yuri’s reputation and CPS interference couldn’t just fade.
He knew the minute he let his emotions surface beyond a threshold he’d be taken into custody of Lampas.
He’d be less than human.
He hoped his brother wasn’t in the same boat.
Even if he could spend the rest of his life barely living, he could never demand the same of anyone else.
Especially not his family.
“There’s a mall not far from here, there we can get all that you need.” He stated calmly.
‘Ah, I’m becoming cold again.’
“Okay.”
Gangu pulled a small notepad.
Basics:
- Toothbrush and paste.
- Towels (1 pack of 5)
- Underwear (3 packs of 9)
- T-shirts (Casual, number varies)
- T-shirts (for going out, number varies but at least 5)
- Tank Tops (summerwear, same as above)
- Shorts (summerwear, same as above)
- Pants (5 jeans and 5 sweatpants, design may vary)
- Sweaters (3 in plain colors, 2 personal choice)
- Coats (2 plain, 1 personal choice)
- Sneakers (2 pairs for school, one for running, 2 for special events, 1 for rain, and 1 personal choice)
- Socks (2 packs of 5 pairs for every plain color)
- 1 umbrella (design may vary)
- 1 phone
- 1 laptop
Gangu frowned as he felt his twin look over his shoulder.
“Don’t you think that’s a little… detailed?”
Gangu coughed into his fist.
“These lists are to ensure we get the basics, we’ll probably buy more than what’s on it.”
Gilyoung nodded his head, then stopped, eyes wide as saucers.
“Wait lists? As in plural?”
Gangu huffed and turned the page.
“Of course! Each list is the shopping list of the day, rich kid.”
Room Basics:
- 2 buckets of paint (color may vary)
- A drawer
- 4 sets of Bedsheets (colors and design may vary)
- 1 item of entertainment (vary on taste of subject)
“Are you referring to me as a subject?”
Gangu frowned.
“Yes, and?”
Was that weird?
…
“Let’s just go.”
“Can we get my phone and laptop first?”
Gangu shrugged.
“It’s your money.”
Both boys entered the mall.
It was large, bright, and filled with a variety of different people.
Adults dragging along children, groups of young women gossiping, and teenagers just being teenagers.
Gilyoung was using Gangu’s phone to access his savings account while being dragged around like some lost puppy.
They might have looked like a weird sight anywhere else, but this chaotic building.
“You done? We’re at the tech store.”
“Yeah, lets get this over with.” Sighed Gilyoung.
As soon as they entered they were greeted by a middle-aged woman with the fakest smile known to man.
Gangu could tell just by looking at her that the woman was going to be a headache.
“Hello! I’m Kim Bora.” She said in a sickly-sweet tone that sounded like she was talking to a dense child.
“If you’re looking for phone accessories or video games you should stop at the store five doors down.” She put her hand on her chin as if deep in thought.
“Auto-Vid Busters was it?”
Gangu stayed calm, this was his first real outing with his brother. Nothing, not even a condescending old hag was going to ruin it.
“No thank you miss, we are actually looking to buy my brother here a laptop and phone.” He stopped and turned to Gilyoung.
“Do you want to set it up in the store or do you want to do it yourself?”
“Myself.” He answered.
The woman blinked, then narrowed her eyes.
“Are you sure? If you mess it up you can’t return it.”
Gilyoung answered the lady this time.
“If I mess it up, I’ll just buy a new one.”
The lady sniffed.
“How disrespectful?! Not caring for a device, because your parents can buy you another.” She crossed her arms.
“Your parents work so hard just for you to waste their money on frivolous things.”
Gilyoung, to his credit, didn’t bat an eyelash.
“Lady, I’m here to buy, not for a lecture.”
Gangu rolled his eyes and walked to the shelves.
“You got any preferences?”
Gilyoung nodded.
“Candroid, preferably a Sumsang.’
Gangu searched for a matching model.
“Are you ignoring me?”
Gangu shook his head.
“No, I’m just prioritizing the goal for visiting the store.”
In other words, yeah.
“Got it. The laptop?”
“Cambook.”
Gangu frowned as he looked at the prices for both items.
“You sure? That’s almost 2 Million won.”
“Gangu, I was willing to spend that weekly, comparably, this a one-time thing.”
“Tch, rich kids.” He sighed melodramatically.
He walked to the shopkeep, who looked like she’d swallowed a lemon.
Despite this she did her job.
“Are you planning to transfer data and using your old number?”
“No.”
The lady sighed, but pulled a small instruction book from her desk.
Hey maybe this wasn’t so bad-
“I’m not giving it to you.”
Gilyoung raised an eyebrow.
“Why..?”
“Because you're irresponsible children.”
Gangu sighed.
‘I take it back.’
“Ma'am, once we buy it, you have to give us the instructions.”
“Just do it, I’d rather we get done with this quickly.”
Gilyoung turned to him as if to protest, but stopped when he saw his face.
About half an hour later they exited the store.
“I’m hoping that’s the worst of it, Child of Light what a Karen.”
Gangu blinked.
“What’s a Karen?”
Gilyoung smiled evilly.
“Well Gangu, in America...”
+++
Thankfully, their hopes were fulfilled.
The rest of their week-long shopping trip went without a hitch.
Despite the rocky start the rest was great.
They spent way too much time in the dressing rooms trying on anything that caught their eye.
Gilyoung even bought them some matching outfits.
In his own words:
“Being a twin opens many possibilities to confuse and astound an enemy.”
Sadly for him, Gangu only heard.
“Let’s prank Yuri.”
At one point Gilyoung went on a powertrip, buying anything Gangu even looked at for half a millisecond.
This included:
A Golden Fredbear plush
A mug that read “This is reserved for the BETTER twin”.
“We both know it’s me, but I’ll let you have it.” Gilyoung stated solemnly
A pair of matching T-shirts that read “I’m with stupid” and “the idiot's with me”
A rubber duckie
A lighter and 7 different kitchen knives.
“Good, my little brother is learning.”
“Learning what?” He said mouth was full of Ice cream.
“That women live longer, because there's knives in the kitchen.”
Gangu choked.
“That is the most sexist thing I’ve ever heard- what the actual fuck!?”
“Learned that one from Maria, I had the same reaction.”
Gangu took another spoonful of strawberry ice cream.
“That’s messed up…”
“You think that’s bad, wait until you hear the one she made about kids in wheelchairs.”
“I’m sorry what?”
On day two he got in contact with the director.
“He says I can stay, but the transfer might take a bit.” He said during dinner.
“Noted.” Yuri smiled.
The twins bought all kinds of decorations for the guest room.
Gilyoung decided on a navy blue color for the walls and bought a pair of bean bag chairs.
He also got a large circular rug and a couple random books for the empty shelves in his new room.
“Do you seriously like this stuff?” Gangu stared at the book cover.
The Priest of Corinth
Gilyoung shrugged.
“Eh, it’s nostalgic.”
Gangu turned to face him, eyes wide.
“Nostalgic?!”
Gilyoung smiled.
“Yeah, I read it when I was… like seven?”
“What about this?”
Peter Johnson and the Olympiad Clan: The Thunder Stealer
“A masterpiece.”
Gangu looked at it with interest.
“Can I read it?”
“Go right ahead.”
Gangu looked at the other books in the cart.
“What’s that one?”
Pharmacist Journals
“Another great one.”
“This one?”
3rd Person Reader’s Perspective
“An addiction, I would recommend it, but I would never cause anyone so much pain.”
On the third day they bought school supplies and Gangu reviewed most of his notes with Gilyoung.
It was a more peaceful day.
Gilyoung made Hamburgers from scratch at Gangu’s request.
On day four it was all about entertainment, Gilyoung splurged on a SP 5, bought 3 controllers and a couple games.
He also bought some board games.
“You just wasted 959,490 won…” Gangu stared at receipt.
Gilyoung shrugged.
“It wasn’t that much, besides I’ll start working again.”
“Our school doesn’t allow part-time jobs.”
“I’d dare them to try and stop me, but I doubt they’ll ever know.”
Gangu could feel himself relax for the first time in a couple years.
Maybe one day when he’s sure Gilyoung is too attached to him he’d tell Gilyoung the truth.
Day 5 was Gilyoung’s first day of school.
Notes:
Me: Damn rich kid.
Gilyoung/Cassian: Excuse me?
Me: You heard me rich boy.
Chapter 4: Warped Mirror
Summary:
Uchan Kim, Gangu Gwon, and Gilyoung Lee don't get off on a great foot.
Trigger Warning: Mentioned nudity and mind control. No this is not by the main characters and no sex or non-con scenes are mentioned nor happen. All of this is very mild.
A lot of character exposition of Gangu's mental state and spoiler alert it isn't very good.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Uchan Kim tried to ignore the following whispers as he walked to class.
These were the times where he would feel less like a teenager and more like a circus show.
He had chosen to become a psyker for his sister and for the death of his parents. He fully believed all villains had to be exterminated.
Yet, all people saw was a teen that would one day be seen on the news, someone who would one day have amazing connections.
Of course that didn’t mean the Uchan disliked school, though. It was refreshing in its own way, and ten times more interesting than the dozens of ethics classes in most psyker academies.
So he moved in a stride and with purpose to his first period.
History , by far his worst subject.
Ironic considering this was the closest thing to an ethics and policies class.
The teacher, Mrs. Yoo, was a strict middle aged woman with a soft heart.
When you were in her classroom you would follow her rules, but she treated the students like their age, she didn’t baby them or consider them incompetent.
“Settle down, I know Monday’s are Satan in your eyes, but we have an announcement.”
She smiled as the class all quieted down.
“We have a new student, can Gilyoung Lee please stand up?”
A boy 3 seats to his left stood up.
He gave a lazy wave and began his introduction.
“Hi, I’m Gilyoung Lee, Gangu’s older brother from America.” As soon as he said that, he bowed his head politely.
“Pleasure to meet you.” He then sat down.
Uchan racked his brain, trying to remember who Gangu was.
Thankfully, it wasn’t needed, because it seemed Gangu and Gilyoung had identical features.
Uchan remembered Gangu Gwon.
He was a quiet boy from his 3rd period (Math, the world’s best subject!), he always had a disturbingly blank expression.
Uchan didn’t like judging by appearances, but Gangu just felt off-putting.
His amber-brown eyes always looked like a researcher looking through a microscope.
Analyzing everything that made you tick.
It was weird how staring down a villain was easier than staring at those knowing eyes.
He looked at Lee Gilyoung from the corner of his eyes.
He felt less off-putting, but his eyes still shined with an analytical look. This look Uchan Kim was familiar with, it was the look he saw during every fight.
‘How can I take him down? ’ Were always the meaning behind those eyes.
Everything about Gangu felt more dangerous than Gilyoung, but for different reasons.
In Uchan’s eyes, Gilyoung felt dangerous because he knew the best way to take you down.
Gangu felt dangerous because he knew everything about you, your fears, your hopes, your very thoughts.
One to hurt you physically and one to hurt you mentally, a perfect pair.
Uchan shook his head.
‘I’m overthinking this.’ He looked back at the teacher.
She was talking now.
‘This is probably on the test.’ He quickly began jotting down all his notes.
+++
Gangu Gwon could feel the listlessness of school begin to take a toll on him.
Predictably, Mr. Sung had given him all the notes the instant he entered class.
“I e-mailed you some videos that can help you, I hope whatever happened is better now.”
Gangu gave a placid smile.
“It’s all good now, sir.”
He sat down and waited for all the students to arrive.
The day had just started and he could feel it drag on, usually he would zone out or at least try to listen to the lesson, but his mind just refused to focus today.
Gangu would tell himself that it was one of those days, but lately everyday felt like one of those days.
He felt muddled, like even the bare minimum of breathing was an annoying chore.
Gangu breathed in.
Normally he would just continue the day, but now he had a taste of what it felt like to feel, and it took its dues.
He didn’t even have the energy to crack self-depricating jokes.
Gangu breathed out.
‘I wonder how Gilyoung is doing now…’
He breathed in.
‘... I hope it's better than me.’
He breathed out, lungs burning.
‘Ah, my breathing is too shallow and slow.’
Gangu should probably fix it.
‘But how?”
He glanced down at the sheet the teacher was handing out.
They were instructions for a group project, minimum of 2, maximum of 5. He almost raised his hands to ask if he could work alone, until his eyes landed on a specific detail in the instructions.
“Note: You may work with people from different periods as long as they share me as their science teacher.”
“Example: A student from Class Period 1 can work with a student from Class Period 2.”
For a moment Gangu could feel his breathing still.
He sneakily grabbed his phone and texted Gilyoung.
Gangu: Do you have Mr. Sung as your designated science class?
He didn’t expect a reply, and was about to put his phone back into his pocket, but then it buzzed.
Sure enough, Gilyoung had responded.
Gilyoung: You call ME an old man when THIS is how you text? 🙄
Gangu felt his lip twitch in annoyance.
Gangu: stfu
Gilyoung: That’s more like it, now lemme see…
Gangu waited patiently.
Ding
Gilyoung: Yeah, that’s my 3rd Period.
Gangu felt his spirits lift, maybe this wouldn’t be that bad.
Gangu: Would you work on a group project with me?
He waited on the response with baited breath.
Gilyoung: Sure.
Gilyoung: gtg Mrs. Yoo is giving me a death glare.
Gangu let out a soft chuckle and turned his phone off.
He then grabbed his pen and wrote he and Gilyoung’s names on the top, as well as their science periods.
He then picked the areas he wanted to do and circled them, he made sure to leave some of the ‘fun’ ones to Gilyoung out of courtesy.
After that, he got to work creating a draft, and using his notes to outline the important parts that were required in the presentation.
It was like someone had laced him with 7 shots of caffeine, Gangu didn’t feel perfectly energized, but he was alert.
This was a lot more than can be said for most of his high school career.
Against his better judgement he felt his lips quirk up, the weight in his chest lessening, and the beginning of a new emotion.
One he hadn’t felt in a while.
Anticipation.
He didn’t know how quickly it would turn to murderous intent.
+++
It was lunchtime now, and despite better judgement, Uchan Kim stared at the Cafeteria in front of him.
It sounded normal and was as rowdy as usual, yet an inkling told him to enter it.
Uchan didn’t like to eat in the lunchroom. It was loud, but worst of all the people did not know how to gossip correctly.
He could hear every single bit of dirt passed around, stuff he was sure minors should not be discussing.
Or tea that was spilled? Is that what Neaun called it?
Regardless, something felt off .
Heavy might be a better word to describe it, the air felt tense and unnatural to breathe in.
He entered quickly and looked around, a couple of students frowned and looked at him weirdly for it.
His eyes scanned everywhere, it looked so normal, which is what made something odd stick out like a cracker in a cookie jar.
3 boys were crowding a familiar head of dark hair.
But that was it, they weren’t moving an inch. They were stuck in place like statues
Yellow-brown eyes turned to him, calculating and cold.
Gwon Gangu
The world warped and a blanket of darkness erupted enveloping the room.
The loud chattering of the students felt muted, as if he was listening to them while underwater.
The world looked like a bizzaro-world you’d see in the cartoons. A world where everything looked the same, but had a filter to tell the viewer it was different.
However that wasn’t where the differences ended, whereas in the normal lunchroom the tables looked the same as always, here they were skewed, thrown across the floor.
Trays of food littered the walls and ground, leaving it sticky and stained.
Finally the main difference, here the 3 boys crowding Gangu were on the ground kneeling, faces living murals of hurt.
They were crying silently, their faces beaten to a pulp.
Gwon Gangu ignored them completely, his eyes bored into Uchan instead.
He looked warped.
His eyes glowed gold, mana spasming as if he was angry, but his expression was serene.
A warm, almost calming smile.
Uchan realized it was a mocking smile.
“I should've expected this, a psyker-in-training would never fall for this parlour trick.”
Uchan grit his teeth.
This boy’s mana was too coordinated and controlled, everything felt too methodical to come from a villain.
Villains couldn’t control their desires; it led them on wild rampages when they were caught.
“... Are you an Outer ?” It felt wrong to connect this disturbing image with a psyker, even one who didn’t work in Lampas.
Much to his surprise, Gwon answered honestly.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged, no change in heartbeat and no reaction.
Uchan’s eyes narrowed, flames erupted in his hands.
“Then are you a villain? ”
Gwon shrugged again.
“I don’t know,” his eyes flicked to Uchan’s hands, “all I know is you’re attacking someone innocent.”
Uchan scoffed,
“Innocent? You have three civilians beaten like dogs!”
Gwon’s eyes turned back to a regular shade of brown..
He raised his hand toward one of the boys and waved it in front of him.
Instantly all wounds were gone.
“They’re not hurt, this isn’t reality. This is the combined subconscious.”
Uchan tensed, ‘subconsciousness’ this was some kind of mental magic, he needed to be careful.
He didn’t know the rules here, one wrong move and he turned them brain dead.
Gwon looked at Uchan calmly and then pressed a finger on the healed boy's head, the world twisted.
Uchan gagged, partly from the shift, and partly from the sight.
“This is how he sees the world.”
Female students were bare for everyone to see, a letter “ O ” on their breasts.
Smaller male students warped into punching bags with the letter “ B ” on them like a brand.
Finally, larger male students had an “ A ” printed on their left cheek.
Uchan touched his own cheek, sure enough the same mark.
“I let him live in his delusions, but he took it too far this time.”
Uchan turned to Gangu as frowned as he noted Gangu had no brand, instead he was covered head to toe in bruises.
Gwon put a finger on his own head and it warped back to the bizzaro-world from before.
“My actions will just make them wary of me by instinct.” He stated calmly.
“This is just to keep them in line.”
“You mean scared?” Uchan asked.
Gwon shook his head, expression exasperated.
“It’s temporary, unless I completely change their view on the school hierarchy, they’ll never truly leave me alone.”
He clicked his tongue.
“That would require completely reworking through his desires.”
Uchan blinked, confused.
“What..?”
Gwon smiled sharply.
“You know the want to bully, the want to eat, the want to live .” He raised a finger for every item on the list.
“I have my morals, but if they threaten to target my brother again.” His hand erupted with dark magical power.
“You have a sister, right? You understand.” The once mocking smile changed to a calmer more understanding one.
…
“Please?” His gaze was much softer, almost pleading.
“Can you overlook this? I guarantee they’ll be the same after a couple of weeks, by then my brother will have his bearings.”
Uchan felt conflicted, his brain was screaming to take him to be turned into Lampas.
Yet, how could he? If he was telling the truth, he’d be unbeatable here, and Uchan would end up hurting the civilians.
If he was.
The real question was if Uchan was willing to risk it all on the possibility that Gwon Gangu was lying.
“This is wrong…” He whispered.
The boy smiled faintly.
“I’m aware.”
Uchan clicked his tongue.
“Do you even feel guilt?”
The boy looked surprised at the question. Like he’d never even thought about it.
“No.” He shrugged.
Uchan’s mind spun, his only advantage here was the fact that Gwon didn’t seem to have murderous intent toward him.
He was docile, if Uchan kept him talking Gwon might just deplete his own mana and Uchan could take him down.
“What exactly did they threaten your brother with?”
Gwon Gangu scoffed.
“They threatened to break his arms like he did to Jinchul and drown him in shit in the school bathrooms.”
Uchan winced a little at the crude threat, but his mind zeroed-in on a specific part.
“Your brother broke a student's arms?”
“One arm really, and to be fair he gave them a warning.”
Uchan frowned, Gilyoung and Gangu were twins, did Gilyoung also wield the same powers?
Also why did Gilyoung break Jinchul’s arms.
“They drowned me.” He stated plainly.
Uchan froze.
“W-what?”
“You asked me why my brother broke his arm, right? He drowned me and then tried to separate my brother from my unbreathing body.”
What the hell?
Uchan blanched, what kind of evil would do such a thing?
For a moment a doubt crept in his mind, one that had been appearing one too many times now.
You’ve met corrupt psykers, so why can’t you believe that not all villains are bad?
There must’ve been a way the Child of the Night and the Child of Day coexisted at one point.
He shoved that sentiment down, villains were evil beings incapable of controlling their desires.
All villains must be put down.
“Why are you answering all my questions?”
Gwon’s smile softened.
“Because I trust you, I’ve seen you countless times, trying your best to better the world, despite your want for revenge.”
Uchan grit his teeth, bangs falling over his eyes.
“I’ll report you.”
Then a blink and Uchan felt cold steel on his throat.
“Go right ahead, but bring Yuri or Gilyoung into this and no amount of trust will stop me from ripping out your spinal cord and feeding it to wild pigs.” The blade was removed from Uchan’s throat.
Swoosh
The world returned to normal.
Uchan blinked, in front of him was Gwon Gangu still smiling.
“Gangu!” Gwon turned to the voice of his brother.
Gilyoung tackled Gangu into sidehold.
“How are you doing?”
“Great.”
The two then left, but not before Gilyoung gave him a suspicious side eye.
Notes:
Does anyone have the canon names for Gangu's bullies?
Gangu's abilities are vaguely inspired by Persona 5 and how he appears in Chapter 32 of the Webcomic.
I know in Chapter 32 it's probably Cassian hallucinating, but it didn't felt that way to me. It seemed there was still a bit of Gangu's influence on Cassian, also the fact his mana grows larger feels suspicious, like Gangu was purposely not giving Cassian full access to his body's potential.
Lastly, I'm sorry readers, but I love abusing 3rd Person Limited to keep mysteries going, it might be a while until you find out what Gangu's personality is truly like or not. Depends on where my drafts lead me.
Chapter 5: An Imprint of Reality
Summary:
Cassian visits Gadam Vilzone
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Cassian Lee gritted his teeth, while on his first day at school he’d been hearing rumors of the string of murders happening. That and the fact a villain by the name of Driver was the main suspect.
Cassian was livid, the murders of innocent civilians for nothing more than sport pissed him off.
Did villains feel pleasure in terrorizing people so much weaker than themselves? Why? It never clicked in Cassian’s brain no matter how he tried to look at it, on one hand it was evil so it made sense, on the other it would seem more satisfying to defeat a strong Psyker.
Not only was it a more enjoyable fight, but it would strike more than thrice the fear in the hearts of the populace.
It would still be despicable, but it would ‘immortalize’ their legacy, something many villains dreamed of in their life.
It was the reason why the name Moran struck fear in many.
“It is cowardice.” Moros whispered.
That it was.
He made his way around the library, when he found himself stopping.
“Good senses.”
He turned to the floating shadow eyeball.
“Is that Gangu’s mana?’
Moros nodded.
“It’s… weaker than I anticipated.”
Moros let out a laugh.
“Of course, he hasn’t quite reached the point of bringing the Apocalypse.”
Moros looked into Cassian’s eyes.
“But..?”
“It’s deeper… it may be weak, but it has a level of control I’ve yet to see in other villains.’
Moros let out a deep approving hum.
“Although true, I think you forgot an even more important detail.”
Cassian raised an eyebrow.
“That being…”
“We’re in public, do you think Gangu would risk getting caught in broad daylight? The same Gangu that let himself be bullied ruthlessly by a triad of ruffians?”
Cassian tensed and let out a curse.
“Hey! Where are you going?!”
Cassian continued running.
“That mana, it isn't just his, there's someone else activating at the same time.”
“Who?” Moros blinked.
“Don’t know, nor care, what matters is that it’s hostile.”
He ran as quickly as he could.
“Careful, the last thing we need is to pay for property damage.” Moros warned, Cassian only responded with a click of his tongue.
Left, right, and… straight!
He entered the lunchroom and his eyes landed on Gangu.
He was in a stalemate with a red-head.
‘Psyker.’
“Don’t be reckless!”
“Gangu!” Cassian called.
‘Gilyoung’ tackled Gangu into a side hold.
“How are you doing?” Child of Night he hoped he sounded casual.
Gangu gave a bright smile.
“Great.”
He grabbed him and dragged him off, but against his will his ‘Gilyoung’ mask slipped some.
His eyes pierced into the psyker- well the psyker trainee.
It took more than he cared to admit to keep his rage from boiling over. It was like he was a teenager again, defending Jeff from some ridiculous claims about his strength.
“You’re slipping.”
Cassian refused to respond.
“Are you okay Gangu?”
Gangu smiled.
“Of course! Kim-ssi took care of the triple toilet trio.”
…
“... Just call them shitheads like a normal person.”
Gangu’s smile faltered.
“Fine, Kim-ssi put some shitheads in their place. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
Cassian shook his head.
“It would be better if you said ‘I put some shitheads in their place’.”
Gangu frowned.
“Your standards are too high, not everyone is a martial arts junkie.”
Cassian laughed bitterly.
“Wrong, your standards are too low.” He looked Gangu in the eyes.
“Just let me teach you, you’ll be ruling the fighters within 2 weeks.”
Gangu’s expression twisted.
“Okay.”
Cassian blinked, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t expecting more resistance.
As if reading his mind Gangu let out his own version of a bitter chuckle. It didn’t sound like ‘Gilyoung’s’-no -Cassian’s own bark of disdain. It bubbled upwards like the beginning of a real laugh, before skitting into a sound of disgruntled amusement.
“I can’t leave my safety up to the kindness of strangers all the time, Gilyoung.”
“Right, we’ll start this Wednesday.’
Gangu raised an eyebrow.
“Not today?”
Cassian kept his gaze steady.
“There is a place I need to visit, before anything else.”
Gangu’s face turned to worry.
“Was it related to your life before America?”
Moros let out a low whistle.
“They just keep giving you cover stories, free of charge.”
“Yes…” He hesitantly agreed.
Gangu nodded his head.
“Where?”
“... uh.”
Moros laughed.
“Clearly you relied too much on it!”
Cassian had to hold himself back from punching the entitled Ancient soul.
“I won’t pry.”
Cassian let out a sigh of relief.
“... Thank you.”
Gangu shook his head.
“It’s your right, but be careful.”
Cassian smiled.
“Who do you take me for?”
“A fighting junkie.” Gangu answered plainly.
Cassian turned to look at him in disappointment,
“What?! That’s all you think of me?!”
Moros cleared his nonexistent throat.
“I mean, is he wrong?”
Cassian stayed silent, choosing to ignore the clearly wrong opinions of the people around him. Instead he chose to focus on the real important information.
The ones detailing the recent murders, and the prime suspect: Driver
+++
The school-day ended quietly and without issue.
“I’ll be at the library preparing our outline for the project until six.” Gangu stated matter-of-factly.
“Got it.”
“If you’re not home by 7:30 I’ll call the police.”
Cassian jumped.
“What, why?”
Gangu raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve known you for a week and in that week I’ve learned one thing.”
Cassian glared.
“Go on…”
“Your lack of care for personal safety is greatly ironic considering how you nag me.”
Cassian let out a scoff.
“Liar.”
Gangu took a sip from his mango smoothie.
“You literally told me you’d get a part-time job even if it meant expulsion.”
Cassian flicked his hand.
“Bah! It’s only expulsion if you get caught.”
Gangu just kept sipping his smoothie and walked toward his home’s direction.
“Farewell my reckless brother.”
Moros laughed.
“Shut it will-o-wisp.” He muttered walking toward the direction of the Gadam Vilzone.
It was roughly 30 minutes away from his school.
Cassian’s eyes narrowed. They had to be careful.
The Vilzone was a dreary place filled with dark, rotting buildings covered in quickly fading graffiti.
Cassian nearly jumped as he registered a mana signature right behind him.
“What’s a kid doing out here?”
Cassian turned to the source of the voice.
It was a short man roughly in his twenties covered in purple fabric filled with yellow accents. His hair was held-up and his eyes completely covered by a futuristic looking visor, in his hands was a comically large screwdriver.
Cassian kept his face unexpressive.
“I’m just passing through.”
Driver let out a chuck;le.
“Kid, I don’t think you get it.” He flipped his screwdriver over and its end began to glow.
Cassian tensed.
“Don’t you know who I am?”
“Driver.”
“Yet you still don’t fear me? My pride is wounded!” His smile widened, his screwdriver glwoing brighter.
“Gadam Vilzone isn’t a playground.”
POOF
Cassian blinked at the bouquet that popped out from the screwdriver.
“I was messing with you, but seriously, leave kid, no amount of time saved is worth your life.”
Cassian stared at the villain, surprised that he hadn’t been attacked, but his body was overtaken by a stronger emotion.
The energetic adrenaline of the thought of fighting someone stronger, someone who might be an actual threat.
“Fine.” He said plainly walking out of the alley.
His gaze followed Moros.
“Tell me when I can change.”
“You’re not seriously thinking of picking this fight, right?”
Cassian let out his signature jaded laughter.
“Without a doubt.”
Moros somehow made a tongue clicking sound, then as he turned left on a narrow turn he heard it.
“He’s way stronger than you, his magic points and yours are in completely separate leagues.”
Cassian rolled his eyes.
“Not what I asked.”
Moros went silent.
“Now.”
Cassian grinned, feeling mana curl out from the crevices of his core outward to the rest of his body, manifesting clawed gauntlets and a dark turtleneck.
Moros looked unimpressed.
“Villains can transform their visage however they please, yet you choose not to use it.” Moros muttered disapprovingly.
Cassian chose to ignore the ancient soul and instead focused on his first strike.
The best way of gaining strength was fighting someone much stronger than you, in Cassian’s eyes experience was the world’s best teacher.
The first move was important in a fight, especially against someone with over 1000 magic points.
Quickly he threw a punch toward the villain and felt his grin widen when his blow was blocked.
Definitely not an average villain in the slightest.
Driver summoned his weapon again, this time the thing coming out of the tool would not be flowers.
“You almost got me there…you know what?” The villain smiled as his weapon shot a beam of bright energy.
“An eye for an eye!”
The beam was strong, but Cassian blocked it with his Shadow Slicer ability.
“Not bad kiddo, maybe I shouldn’t hold back!” He swung his weapon at his opponent.
It was a heavy blunt piece of magic enforced metal, a hit from that would leave lasting damage, but a weapon's effectiveness didn’t matter if it couldn’t hit the target.
Cassian dodged every hit, before finally catching the thing in his gauntless.
CRACK
Cassian jumped back as a beam of red flashed from the mechanic-like villain’s eyes.
“What are you? A fighting machine!?” At this point it was obvious Driver was getting agitated.
He threw a punch filled with a large amount of mana, which was countered by Cassian’s own black mana projectiles.
“What’cha doing dingdongs?” Smiled a villainess dress in a leather sleeveless top, lab coat combo, and a plague doctor mask.
Next to her was a tanned man with a red bandana covering his face.
Finally from behind Cassian a shirtless man with a black scarf.
“... why wear a scarf, but no shirt?” Muttered Moros.
Cassian just ignored him and his silly questions.
(Even if the Ancient Soul did have a point, Cassian had always been told he was fashion illiterate, so he just shrugged it off as another aesthetic he didn’t understand.)
“Dude, what’s taking you so long?! He’s just a rookie, you’re going too easy on him!” The fashion(?) statement yelled.
Cassian grinned, all he saw was more people to fight.
“You lose 1-on-1 so you call in the cavalry?"
Driver scoffed.
“Get your facts straight, kid. I was losing so far.”
The lady let out a small laugh.
“... so you really lost.”
Driver gave the lady a look.
“Why did you attack me all of a sudden?”
“You were strong,” he frowned, “also there’s many who believe you’re a scumbag murdering civilians.”
The lady looked at Driver’s confused expression.
“My! If that were true I would’ve let him have your head.”
Driver crossed his arms.
“I’m not a serial killer.”
Cassian also crossed his arms.
“Can you prove it?”
“...No…”
“Well then-” Cassian’s vision started to blur.
“And what do you think you're doing?” A voice rang out from behind Cassian.
Within a second he was behind the cheap shot, knocking him out with one punch.
The other villains seemed impressed, while Driver spoke of him suffering from mana overuse. Cassian listened carefully to Driver as well as his offer.
His voice rang in his head long after the deal was set.
The continued nausea hit like a truck, but Cassian focused on a different voice.
He was sure that he’d just heard Gangu.
“Reckless, truly beyond comprehension.”
Cassian looked up and his heart stilled.
There right above a tall building glared a pair of mismatched eyes. His arms were crossed, eyes lazily gazing coldly at him.
Unlike Cassian, Gangu fully embraced the costume aspect of a villain.
His outfit was a short black jacket lined with red and gold over a solid white undershirt. They had slight similarities, such as the gantlets, face markings, and heterochromatic eyes. However the colors were way different.
His eyes for one, one was gold the other white. His gauntlets matched his jacket glinting black and gold.
Gangu’s hair was long, so long it was tied into a braided tail that swished with his every movement. However what was most striking was a pair of two crooked rings on his head held together by a symbol of an eye.
Cassian felt his dizziness leave him a warm energy entering his core.
He felt ready to fight again, his mana still felt unsteady from overuse, but it was lessening by the second.
Gangu was gone.
“The hell…?”
Moros let out a thoughtful hum.
“Gangu must have noticed your condition and imparted some of his mana unconsciously."
He turned to Moros.
“What…?”
Moros sighed.
“Forget what you saw, it wasn’t Gangu, just an imprint of his unique mana signature.”
Cassian frowned.
“Even if I told you I saw Gangu?”
“Especially then, Gangu doesn’t know anything, his mana just reacted on instinct… which was rather a sweet deal for you, your mana’s recovered.”
Notes:
I teased Gangu's design a bit!
Now: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TtkED5g7pO28lsKRmqfYBLPkYVL3Hrzg/view?usp=drivesdk
Chapter 6: A Normal Day
Summary:
No summary guys sorry.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Where were you?” Hissed Gangu the minute Cassian opened the door.
The teen looked disheveled, eyes bloodshot, hair sticking out in random directions, and hands trembling.
Cassian gave a sideways glance to Moros who shook his body. The message was clear, leave it.
“I said where were you?”
“You said you would respect my privacy.”
Gangu’s eyes twitched.
His eyes flashed in color for a second molted golden and pure white swirling into Gangu’s usually amber eyes.
“That was before I realized your dumbass went to a Vilzone!”
Cassian narrowed.
“How did you know?”
Gangu’s eyes widened, their glow quickly fading
“I- was being hyperbolic, Gilyoung, what the h-hell, why?”
Cassian crossed his arms.
‘Stay calm.’
“How so?”
Gangu’s expression suddenly froze in place before shifting to a calmer, almost unimpressed look.
“Are you going to leave me to do the project all by myself?”
“No.”
His unimpressed stare softened.
“I hope whatever you had to resolve has been taken care off.”
Cassian nodded his head.
“You go take a shower, you smell like roadkill.”
Cassian nodded his head again, he felt a little numb in the head.
“Then join me.”
“I’ll be out in 20 minutes.”
He went to his newly-refurnished room and picked out a simple t-shirt and basketball shorts. Then he entered the bathroom and turned on the shower.
“What was that?”
To his credit Moros looked sheepish.
“I don’t know, I was surprised he remembered something his subconsciousness did, even if only for an instant.”
Cassian peeled his clothes off, shucking them into the hamper and entering the steaming hot shower.
“Are there any risks of him ever remembering for more than an instant, Moros?”
Moros laughed as if Cassian had asked him if pigs would one day evolve to have wings and fly.
“Nope, he’ll at most he’ll feel like he forgot something; the conscious and subconscious are separate things for a reason.”
Cassian said nothing just began his quick shower, enjoying the feeling of the warm water trailing on his sore muscles.
“He looked…” Cassian searched for a word before settling on “ tired.”
Moros scoffed.
“That’s a bit of an understatement, I would not be surprised if he fell asleep while you were in here.”
Cassian grimaced, it was true Gangu was thoroughly exhausted, but Moros didn’t have to be so blunt.
“Is it because of me?”
Moros gave Cassian a deadpan look.
“What do you think? How else would he be so tired, he gave you most of his mana pool, then had a mental awakening, all while completing homework.”
Cassian hissed.
“I guess dinner’s on me today, any recommendations?”
“How about some rice with-”
“No.”
“What why?”
Cassian stayed silent; there was no way he’d let Moros know he didn’t know how to cook basic white rice.
“Too plain for an apology dish.”
Moros blinked slowly.
“But he won’t know it’s an apology dish…”
“But I will.” Cassian huffed.
As he turned the shower off, went on to dry himself off and get dressed he mentally thought of all the dishes he could make with the ingredients in the fridge.
It was roughly 6 so he still had some time to whip something up to eat while working.
‘If Gangu hasn't collapsed on the table by now.’
Salmon Stir Fry? Did he even have fish?
Garlic Ginger Chicken? Eh, maybe another day.
Paleo Mango Cashew Chicken? Does Gangu even like mango?
Mexican Ground Beef with a Zucchini Skillet? No Zucchini.
Stake Kebabs? Too little food.
Creamy Lemon Chicken? Wait, that actually sounded good, plus it’s a warm and lighter way to cook chicken. Shelf that on for later.
Salisbury Steak? He did say he wanted to try more ‘American’ dishes…
Cassian raked his brain for foods he’d dabbled and cooked, being an international hero had its benefits that included a varied palette.
‘Note to self stock up the fridge and pantry. I want to make peanut noodles next week.’
In the end he stuck with Creamy Lemon Chicken, leaving the bathroom with a clear goal in mind.
“Gangu?”
Gangu- bless his heart- jumped up, eyes half-lidded.
“Yeah…?”
“I’ll get started on dinner, you can take a nap until I’m done.”
Gangu turned on his phone.
“It’s *Yawn* 6:49 PM, what am I an old man? I can *Yawn* stay awake.” He shook his head.
“Besides, we can order take out.”
Cassian narrowed his eyes.
“Are you saying you’d rather order some takeout instead eating of my homecooking?”
Gangu’s eyes widened.
“What, no! I love your cooking. But you just came back from something personal and we have a project to do-”
“Do you like eating my food, yes or no?”
Gangu nodded his head up and down.
“Good then lay your ass down, before I pull out the old fashioned method of anesthesia.”
Gangu sighed before laying on the couch and closing his eyes.
It took Cassian 30 seconds to hear Gangu’s breathing even out, he was out like a light.
Cassian rolled his eyes and walked toward the kitchen, the hustle and bustle of picking out ingredients and tools made for a relaxing and familiar routine.
He hummed as he began the process.
“... you look like a 1950’s housewife…”
“So?”
Moros rolled his eyes.
“I don’t mean it negatively, it’s just Jeff’s always described you as a battle junkie, weird to see you so happy doing something as mundane as cooking.”
Cassian’s eye twitched.
“Cooking is anything, but mundane, one wrong move and you could cause a fire!” Cassian huffed, his lips turned into a scowl.
“Or worse end up eating something so underseasoned you feel like you’ve lost all sense of taste.” His voice was a solemn whisper, like he was speaking of some horrid evil.
Moros just let him talk as he continued to cook.
“So… about Driver’s mission?”
Cassian wrinkled his nose.
“I have my pride, but pride is nothing.’
“So you will be using the tools he gave you?”
“What do you think?”
Moros eye narrowed at the familiar words.
Cassian just gave a shit-eating grin and kept going with his dinner.
“I despise your childish antics.”
No response.
“How dare you ignore this mighty soul-”
40 minutes later
“This is delicious!” Grinned Gangu eyes practically sparkling.
Cassian just gave a smug humph and began to savor his own food.
“Are you still tired?”
Gangu shrugged.
“Yeah, but not enough to shirk responsibility.” He stated completely bored sounding.
Cassian softly chewed on his chicken and picked up the notes on his part of the project.
“Fair.”
He typed on his Cambook as he got to work. Science was probably the most mid-subject in Cassian’s opinion, it wasn’t hard enough to feel rewarding (not until it decides to whore itself to math), but tedious beyond compare.
It was the first subject to be annoying with its ‘no straight answer’ policies, but not as nuanced as Literature. You couldn’t bullshit your answers.
Of course that didn’t matter right now, if he got any bad grades he feared Yuri might exercise her rights as the oldest sibling and make his life increasingly annoying until he stopped ‘ruining his future’.
The project was simply to create 3 fictional/hypothetical experiments showcasing 3 out of the 7 chemical change reactions. Use real world examples and experiences to explain how the experiments are set-up, hypothesis (before researching), and a real world version of the experiment or event to compare your hypothesis to.
“I call dibs on Combustion.” Muttered Cassian.
Gangu rolled his eyes.
“Then I’ll do decomposition and we’ll team up on Double Replacement.”
Cassian found himself chuckling.
“What’s so funny?”
“I once had a teacher describe Double Replacement as 2 couples breaking up, getting on a game show, and finding out their ex is dating their current lover's ex.”
Gangu blinked slowly.
“He also called Decomposition ‘Divorce’... I miss Mr. Ekip.”
“He sounds like an… interesting man.”
“He was old, 2 years from retirement, levels of old.” Gangu looked at Cassian, eyes wide in disdain almost as if he’d been the one being called old.
“Let’s just focus on the work in front of us.”
Cassian sighed, but did as told.
They worked on mostly silence, each extremely focused on their work. Until finally they heard the front door open.
Yuri was home.
“I’m back!” She called.
Both brothers stood up in an instant.
She walked into the living room, leaving her shoes at the door.
“Gilyoung made food.” Gangu said hugging his sister.
Yuri raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, really? What’s the rating.”
“10/10.”
She gave him a quizzical look.
“Not even a second of hesitation? It must be good.”
Cassian walked to the kitchen and began the process of serving the food.
“It’s a bit cold so I’m gonna turn it back on low heat, the microwave ruins the flavor.”
Both siblings sighed at their new family member's antics.
+++
The school day was boring, but that was to be expected, thankfully there was one good thing that came out of the school day being boring.
The workout he and Gangu were doing felt thrice as satisfying.
Well at least or Cassian it did.
“This- this is satisfying to you?!” Huffed Gangu, he looked exhausted.
“Your body needs to be able to keep up with my training.” Cassian shrugged plainly.
He grunted as he exerted more force.
“A weak punch is a weak punch, even with a flashy technique.”
“I know, I just, ugh-” Gangu flopped onto the floor, he looked like a puppet that had its strings cut off.
“... take 5.” Muttered Cassian handing his brother a water bottle.
“We have the same body *huff” why are you so much more athletic.”
Cassian rolled his eyes.
“Experience and endurance.”
Gangu gulped the water greedily.
“I hate you.”
Cassian hummed in response, continuing his work out.
“Dang it, is it too late to quit…”
At that Cassian turned to Gangu giving him a look that could count as its own laser eyes.
“You can try.” He said a wicked smile stretched on his face, one that promised pain unimaginable.
…
“On second thought, I’d love to continue our daily workouts brother!”
Cassian scoffed.
“Can it even be counted as daily since you want to quit day one?”
Gangu sighed.
“How much longer?”
“One more hour and we’ll head home, I’ll even cook today.”
“Wait! Can’t we wait a little before going home? It’s still pretty early, why not head to the arcade?”
Cassian frowned, he was planning on using that time to search for the killer.
“If you manage to not complain at ALL for the rest of the session.”
Gangu’s eyes filled with determination.
“You’re so on.”
An hour later Cassian and Gangu found themselves entering an arcade.
“Why did I agree to this?”
“Because you underestimated me, clearly.”
“A mistake I won’t make twice.” Muttered Cassian bitterly, staring at the blue sign reading “Town Arcade WELCOME”.
“Is this place seriously just called ‘Town Arcade’?”
Gangu rolled his eyes.
“It’ll be fun!”
“You’ve been here before?” Cassian asked, eyebrows raised.
“... Not really.”
Cassian’s lips twitched in annoyance.
“Then how are you so sure?”
“Because you’re here.” Gangu said, completely serious.
Welp, that was one way to guilt trip Cassian into playing along with this nightmare of a gaming hub.
“Fine then, what are we waiting for?” Cassian walked toward a punching machine only to be stopped entirely by Gangu.
“Nuh-uh, we’re playing The Trampling Departed with me and you’re going to like it.” He hissed, dragging him away from the glorified dick-measuring contest.
Cassian sighed and looked toward Moros.
“I’ll tell you if I sense any odd or violent mana signatures… just enjoy yourselves.”
‘Fine.’
It turned out Gangu was obnoxiously good with a plastic gun, his aim rarely if ever leading to a miss. The game was a lot more realistic than Cassian expected, it had realistic gun reloading and recoil, so it required a bit more than just spam click.
“You’re pretty good at this.”
“Some Japanese school boy kicked my ass at Gun About one too many times for me not to attempt to get better.” Gangu sighed in response.
“Dang.”
“Your pride will never recover from the beating you get when being trampled by a half-pint in an arcade game.” He sighed again.
Cassian just stayed silent, it was hard to talk when surrounded with a horde of Zombies and a very low supply of bullets.
Next they played one of those “Get as many Baskets as you can in a minute” games, again Gangu had good aim, but lost to Cassian by 7 points.
After that a trivia game on Psykers, Both absolutely sucked at that one.
Then after a quick snack break Gangu dragged him to a creepy looking VR game with some Chuckie-Cheese looking mascots.
“Again!” Cassian was ready to pick a fight with that pirate looking fox.
“It’s just a kid, Gilyoung.”
“What?!”
“Yeah, leave lil’ Fritz alone.” Huffed the girl behind them in line, as if offended, but she wore a wolfish grin
“Excuse me?! Who even are you?”
“Gilyoung, manners!”
“Yeah, Gilyoung manners!” Giggled the girl behind them.
“I hate my life.”
“That sounds familiar… what was it you did…?” His face turned into an over-exaggerated blank face, then he hummed.
Just like Cassian had done during the workout.
The words that came out of Cassian’s mouth were not pretty.
“There’s a kid, Gilyoung!”
Cassian shut his mouth.
Finally, they decided to use a crane machine, and a pair of girls looked at it in clear disappointment. They must’ve lost, Cassian thought then proceeded to use a bit of his hidden talent.
“H-how?!” Gangu gasped as he was handed the fifth plushie in a row.
Cassian simply grinned.
“You look like a preening Peacock.” Muttered Moros.
He then heard some crying and his smile dropped.
“I wanted to tell someone, but I was so scared…” The blue-haired girl trembled.
Gangu noticed and his eyes subtly shifted to the two girls.
“I w-was afraid that it’ll come after me…” She whispered through soft trembling sobs.
“Did the killer see you?”
At that Cassian’s blood ran cold.
Notes:
I just came back from Gospel camp, during the trip my signal was nonexistent, so there's that...
One of my readers has made a lovely fanart, I will be asking them if I can post it on here for you to see, but I would be lying if I said I didn't nearly cried. I missed you guys and am happy to be back!
Fun Fact: I actually went to Chapter 15 to see the name of the Arcade, the arcade is literally just called "Town Arcade" lol
Also did my fellow P5 fans catch the reference?
Lastly, I wonder what part of the chapter i got hungry...
Chapter 7: A Skirmish
Summary:
A pretty short chapter, but I'm putting some drawings at the end.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Gangu Gwon sensed the instant something caught Gilyoung’s gaze and frowned. From the little time he’d known his brother he’d never seen Gilyoung look anything less than self-assured, but in that moment, whatever those girls said left him tense, eyes wide, and fingers tightening on the joystick of the machine.
He glanced toward the girls, eyes filled with suspicion as the Pink-haired one dragged her friends eyes blazing with determination… but most of all fear.
He instantly grabbed Gilyoung’s shoulder as he made his way to follow the girls.
“Where do you think you're going?” Gangu’s frown deepened, was that really what his voice sounded like?
It just sounded wrong, yet he couldn’t pinpoint why.
“Off to go play Psyker, Gilyoung?”
To his credit guilt seemed to bloom in his brother’s eyes, but his determination didn’t waver, not for a second.
“They’re in danger, Gangu.”
A noise came from Gangu’s throat… since when did he scoff in such a way? It was not like his brother’s actions weren’t honorable.
“I’m sure they are, which is why you should contact the authorities, not endanger yourself.”
Gilyoung opened his mouth then closed it.
Child of Darkness this was stupid.
“Take me with you, don’t and I’ll tell Yuri.”
Gangu bristled like a cat.
“Are you blackmailing me?”
“Yes, now let’s go.”
He pulled his idiot sibling’s sleeve and began to follow the two girls, which wasn’t too hard considering one had bubblegum pink hair.
The chase lasted less than a minute as from a bloody puddle erupted a humanoid figure.
“Poor child.” It chided, a cruel smirk marring his features.
Gilyoung broke free from his grasp running in front of the two girls with zero hestation.
“My…? More children? How wonderful will it be delivering you unto eternal slumber!”
Out of the villain’s hands blood coalesced into a bright solid blade, a blade that Gilyoung wasted no time in grabbing the two girls and yanking them away from.
“... Your reflexes are sharp for a civilian.”
Gangu wasted no time; he already had the number dialed in all that was left was to simply hit the call.
The phone answered on the first ring, but it still caught the villain’s attention.
Not that that mattered to Gangu anyways.
“Emergency located at 307 Ilyoung Street, 1 block away from the Town Arcade! A villain is targeting two civilian girls, please hurry!” The words spilled fast and sharp.
‘Still sounds weird.’ He thought.
‘What’s weird is that’s the thing you're choosing to focus on.’
The vampire-looking freak let out an angry hiss and ran forward to attack Gangu.
Or at least it tried to.
+++
To say Cassian was a second away from having a seizure would be an understatement, his idiot brother Gangu had shoved his way into a situation that required more than human strength.
Something that he couldn’t show due to the witnesses.
He was tempted to forgo his identity altogether, no scratch that he almost did, before the world slowed to a stop.
Shadows seemed to wrap around the streets and the sky grew a menacing shade of red.
“So this is how you see the world…?” Cassian turned back to the voice.
The voice of Gangu.
He was standing in front of the villain who now laid on his knees suckling on a bloody corpse.
Cassian felt his heart stop… that was Gangu’s dead body.
What the hell was going on?!
“Gilyoung…?” Gangu walked up to him casually, like he had all the time in the world.
Cassian felt his body tense, getting into a fighting stance before he had a chance to even process the area around him.
The sky wasn’t just red it was the red moon that gave it the illusion of being red, the world was dark as if put into a greyed out filter, and there was blood everywhere.
Everywhere you could see puddles of red in various shades glistened under the moon’s glow. Swirling like potions of vitality.
Gangu stared at Cassian, mismatched eyes widening in surprise, before softening a touch.
It was the same eyes he’d seen during the fight with Driver.
“It’s okay, Gilyoung, your memory of this place will fade into your subconsciousness. You won’t remember a thing~!” He said a smile filled with mirth.
Cassian said nothing, just stared.
‘Where the hell was Moros?!’
“Anyways… my ability won’t hold for long… so I guess you’ll remember one thing right…? Get the girls to safety.” He whispered softly.
“He’s catching on as we speak… the ones with similar abilities to mine always catch on too quickly.” He huffed in annoyance, in his hands appeared a parasol, which he opened slowly and deliberately.
Gangu walked back to the villain who was still feeding on his bloodied corpse, his face tilted back facing Cassian coyly, he moved his index finger to the front of his lips and the world faded back.
Cassian blinked, unsure if what he had seen was real or an illusion.
The world looked normal again.
Cassian immediately turned to face Gangu who was just standing there phone in hand eyes wide with concern.
The villain was on the ground, all fours, hands grasping at something that wasn’t there, and drool dripping from his mouth.
If Cassian didn’t know any better he’d say the man might’ve been choking on a hairball, but he saw that same pose in that warped red world.
This villain was completely convinced he was draining Gangu’s blood dry.
Gangu on the other hand looked confused, if not a little concerned.
Cassian stared for a split second looking for any trace of the heterochromic eyes of the weird Gangu.
He found nothing, but adrenaline and concern.
Cassian grit his teeth before turning to the two girls.
“Run! Get out of here, now!”
The pink-haired girl's eyes turned serious, she grasped at her blue-haired friend's arm and pulled her, running as fast as her legs could take her.
“What’s wrong with him-?” He ran to Gangu’s side putting a hand in front of him.
To his credit Gangu looked just as confused as Cassian felt.
“I don’t know- he just dropped to the ground and started acting like that- is he seizing?!”
“... I don’t think so… he kind of looks like he’s being hypnotized." Cassian whispered, dropping the hint, hoping to see a reaction from the suspected cause of the villain’s odd behaviour.
“By what?! The air?!” Gangu spat sarcasm lining his words, but still no sign of recognition.
Cassian would’ve laughed if it wasn’t such a dangerous situation to be in.
‘What in the-’
Cassian brightened, finally!
‘Moros what’s going on?’
The self-proclaimed “mighty soul” simply let out a thoughtful hum.
‘Gangu, he’s entering the villain’s cognition and…’
‘And what?’
‘He’s… excuse my tongue, fucking it up.’
‘What?’
‘He’s in laymen’s terms convincing the villain he’s already feeding on his blood, but with his mana points… it shouldn’t be THIS powerful.’
‘Meaning…?’
‘I don’t know, Gangu doesn’t even seem to be aware of what he’s doing in the first place.’
“What?”
Gangu tapped Cassian on the shoulder, eyes filled with concern.
“Gilyoung… we should leave, the Psykers are already on their way. There is no point in waiting for him to snap out of- whatever the fuck he’s doing.”
Cassian stared at Gangu’s eyes, again no malice gleamed in them, only warmth, concern, and… exhaustion?
‘He’s right, his mana pool is dropping extremely fast, holding someone with so many more points than him is taking its toll.’
Cassian cursed.
They would have to leave the villain there.
‘Will the psykers reach in time?’
‘Not likely, the minute Gangu is a certain distance away the spell will wear off.”
‘Next time then.’
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Cassian gently grabbed Gangu’s armand put it around his neck, trying to side carry him.
Gangu furrowed his eyebrows.
“I.. I can walk on my own, Gilyoung…” He protested, but his eyes told a different story and the protest came out half-hearted.
He looked like he was running on fumes, barely even there.
Cassian felt his concern growing.
‘Is he okay?’
‘He will be if you get him to stop wasting his mana.’ Moros deadpanned.
With a tight grip he began dragging his brother away, but not before throwing a Driver-made tracker onto the body of the villain.
“Let’s get you out of here.”
Notes:
Some old art! I made these a bit before... so they're quite scuffed lol
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i4noEGTa5S-rea0YzKoQj30eClvH3Be8/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JLCNZxjFWMBkJML_QjNqvVGtXhUUFZCN/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15dolNTnp33tHJsWDuvrri5xpJ42O7n67/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fLQOHbveYIpN79Fj320vPrK2Xnxrtw4K/view?usp=sharing
This one was made by one of my readers and was the one I mentioned last chapter:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16VdUiA8s6P89WdIOPNfTAuLKI6XqmM44/view?usp=sharingAlso I have fanart for other fandoms comment down below if you'd like to see them or if you only want to see art based on the fic. I'm now 18 (whee...) and am starting Uni in the Spring (Whee? I think Whee I'm happy but terrified lol).
Also seems Gangu isn't aware of what he's doing... maybe he wasn't aware when Uchan questioned him... wink wink