“Appa, is umma all right?” A small five year old girl sitting on her father asks looking up to him with frighten eyes. She clutches on to his white button up shirt as she winces from hearing her mother scream from pain in the room across from them.

“Hyunah, umma is fine. She’s bringing your new brother into the world,” The man replies with a small smile to the young girl and pats her head reassuringly. Hyunah smiles a little but then yawns and rubs her eyes with her tiny hands. The man then looks up to one of the maids surrounding the room and nods at them before turning back to the small girl on his lap, “Go to bed sweetie, it’s midnight and that’s way passed your bedtime,”

“But I want to see my new brother,” Hyunah shakes her head and protests as the maid picks her up. She frowns at her father when she sees the disappointed look on his face.

“You will see him in the morning. He won’t look any different from now until then. So off to bed you go,” The man says and pecks the small girl on the cheeks as he stands up to meet his eyes with hers. The small girl gives in after a few moments and the maid carries her away down the long hallway in the large mansion. The man then glances up looking worriedly towards the door where his wife was residing. Another scream was heard and he plops down onto the armchair restlessly next to him as he continues to stare at the door worriedly. A hand suddenly rests on his shoulder and he looks up to find an old man with similar features to him and an old woman.

“Jo Kwon-ah,” The older man calls out and the man stands up abruptly.

“Father, Mother, you’re here,” Jo Kwon says surprised and the older man chuckles.

“Of course we’re here. I have to seen the birth of the next marked star. This is very important for our family. We must welcome our new star with grace and elegance,” The old man says as he settles down onto the armchair that Jo Kwon was just sitting in. Jo kwon then motions for the old woman to sit in the armchair next to the old man and she smiles weakly before sitting down.

“Jo Kwon-ah,” The older woman calls out and pats on the couch next to her armchair.

“Yes, mother?” Jo Kwon asks as he sits on the long couch staring at the door once more. Another scream was heard.

“You must be worried for your newborn to carry such a burden,” The old woman says with sadness in her eyes and Jo Kwon smiles bitterly hearing what she said. Of course he was worried for his future child to carry such a burden. Being marked is something not to be happy about, it was a curse in his opinion. But Jo Kwon couldn’t say that out loud or else the elders would get angry and the Heavens will be upset. He really had hoped that his future child would not be marked. He prayed to the heavens to let his future child not be marked and to let his family be. He prayed that his next child wouldn’t have to go through what his humble grandmother had went through when she was graced with the mark. That his future child wouldn’t have to live their life the way the marked ones were destined to live. He was the only one besides his mother to know the true life of the ones that were marked. When his grandmother was nearing the brink of death, she told Jo Kwon to try not to run away or hide from the mark but to embrace it and guide the next generation well. To teach them that fighting isn’t the only thing that can save them all from the destiny and that it can be indeed stopped so don’t lose hope. He didn’t understand what his grandmother meant but he knew for sure that she had lived a hard life and he didn’t want his child to go through that.

"Hyori, don't spew such nonsense. The heavens will punish us," The old man warned the old woman. Hyori sighed and Jo Kwon set a firm hand on his mother's. His father didn't understand the mark at all. Most people didn't understand the hardships that the marked ones had to endure unless they saw it for themselves or had a Marked One tell them about their life. Most people tended to stay away from Marked Ones because they had a duty to fulfill and because of their high status, they were always assumed to be unreachable. Unhuman and godlike figures.

"Joong Kook, you don't understand," The old woman says to the old man but the old man brushes it off with a small scoff. Jo Kwon smiles sadly to his mother and opened his mouth to say something encouraging to her but another scream was heard from the room his wife was residing in. His head snapped in the direction seeing how the scream seemed more intense this time. After that, a long silence followed and soon after a tired doctor comes out.

“Congratulations Mr. Lee, you have been graced with a son,” The doctor says with a warm smile. Jo Kwon suddenly stood up and brushed passed the doctor walking towards the room to where the mother and child resided hoping and begging that his son wasn’t marked. He walked into the room and laid eyes on his tired wife with their crying son in her arms. She was crying also. He stopped where he was and was unsure why she was crying so hard. Her sobs filled the room as she hugged the child dearly in her arms. She then slowly rose her gaze to Jo Kwon's. His heart nearly sank when he saw the sadness in her eyes.

“G-Ga In-ah,” He called out to his wife unsteadily hoping that what he was thinking wasn't true. He then saw her shake her head slowly as tears still flowed down her rosy cheeks and that's when he knew. He felt his heart sank even deeper.

The old man and woman then arrived in the room. Hyori saw the reaction in the room and made her way to her shocked son. She patted Jo Kwon's back trying her best to soothe him understanding that he didn't want this destiny for his son. Joong Kook smiled widely oblivious to everything happening around the room as he took the baby out of Ga In's arms. The old man observed the baby's body until he spotted it, the mark. It was a light colored auburn and it resided on the baby's collar bone.It glowed brightly for a few seconds and then faded away.

"Congratulations my dear children, your son will surely bring us all great fortune for the next 100 years!" The old man said enthusiastically ignoring the atmosphere in the rest of the room. Jo Kwon gasped a little hearing his father and stumbled backwards a little.

"N-no," Jo Kwon said trying to shake off what his father just said, "He can't be,"

“Jo Kwon-ah," Jo Kwon suddenly heard Ga In calling for him inbetween sobs, "He’s marked,” She muffled out quietly and burst into sobs again. Jo Kwon felt his knees go weak and he stumbled back leaning onto the door frame now. He couldn’t believe it. His son was marked.