2

~Caged~

“Have you finished with your studies yet, son?”

“Yes, father.”

“Good, then I hope you will join us for dinner and give our guests a little show.”

“Yes, father.”

Kyuhyun sighed; he really hated being put on display like that. He was their son, yet because he was different, he was treated as if he was a piece of priceless art: just something to be put on display, and nothing more. Sure, his parents treated him fairly well: they gave him everything a child could ever ask for, and more, yet Kyuhyun couldn’t help but to feel unloved as they more or less ignored him unless they required entertainment for their guests. He sighed as he sat laid on his king-sized bed, staring at his star-covered ceiling. Previously, Kyuhyun had created his own version of the star charts on his ceiling out of boredom. At night, when they glowed, it gave Kyuhyun a feeling of peace and freedom as he examined his replica of the night sky. There wasn’t much for Kyuhyun to do in his life; he was one of the privileged few, so he didn’t have to take on a job to support his family. Even though Kyuhyun didn’t really mind his lifestyle; after all, he had his video games to keep him company, yet sometimes, as he stared out his window that overlooked the city below, he wished that he could be like the people down there and socialize in harmony the way they did. He wanted a chance to be normal, get outside for some fresh air, and meet some new people besides the rich, stuck up daughters of his parent’s friends whom he knew that he would be forced to marry someday. Sometimes, he wished for freedom.

“Kyuhyun?” his mother’s voice echoed inside the large mansion as she yelled up at his room from the staircase, “Our guests have finished their dinner and would like a display.”

“Yes, mother.” Kyuhyun sighed once again as he slid off his bed and navigated through the various scattered game consoles and video game cases that laid on the floor to his door. He never bothered cleaning up after himself; after all, it wasn’t like anyone would ever bother to come up and visit his room. Not even the maids came in, and all his meals were delivered to his door with a single knock. The only times he ever got to see other human beings were at those special dinners where his talents were showcased as entertainment.

Closing his door behind him, Kyuhyun began walking down the marble staircase to the kitchen. As soon as he entered the room applause sounded; echoing throughout the large dining room. Without even bothering to look at the guests, he walked around to the front of the large polished wood dining table, and took a small bow.

“And here is our amazing son, Kyuhyun!” He barely managed to not roll his eyes at the falsely loving tone of his mother. After a pause, she turned to him and said, “You may begin.”

Kyuhyun closed his eyes, forgetting about everything in this world; every worry, every dream, every annoyance, every hate, every love. He let his mind drift to another world, one where nothing but bliss existed. In his mind’s eye, he painted a picture of a snow covered forest where a single lamppost stood in the center.  As he did this, somewhere in the distance he heard gasps of amazement as his guests surveyed the scenery and knew that they could see it too. He opened his eyes.

Instead of the large dining room of his parent’s, the entire place had become his forest. Gone were the fancy tables, the velvet cushioned chair, the bright tapestries on the walls, and everything that had made up the Cho’s family’s large house. He took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh scent of pine. This was all he could find of the outside world. He had never been outside to his forest, or any forest at all, but had once read about it in a book, and using his imagination, recreated it for all to see. This was his way to escape his caged life and find himself in a world almost like what he assumed the outside would be like.

He surveyed the scene in front of him in mild amusement; everyone was gasping at the wondrous change of scenery and wondering if it was all real. They were all picking the needles off the pine, grabbing the cold snow, and just simply touching everything in sight to see if it was all tangible and letting out little squeals of excitement as they found everything to be real. Even though the guests reacted like this every time he displayed his abilities, he still found it faintly amusing that people could be mesmerized by something as simple as this. Of course it was not real; but it appeared to be. Everything, from the chilly air to the overgrown pines, was all just in their heads. Kyuhyun’s ability was to manipulate the senses, making the guests see, feel, smell, hear, or even taste what he wanted them to with a single thought. Of course, his ability did have its limits. He could only show them what he could imagine, so the more detailed his imagination was, the more real the place seemed. Luckily for him, his mind was a very detailed place, groomed to what it was now by all of his daydreams. That was how he had discovered his ability in the first place; his parents used to leave him in the house all day when he was a kid, so he would try and imagine what the outside world was like. As he grew, his thoughts became more complicated, and eventually it grew to a point where he found he could create his own little worlds. And so Kyuhyun the illusionist was formed.

The moment he showed his parents what he could do, their attitude towards him changed as they realized that they could use him for their benefit. Before all he was to them was a waste of space, and nothing more. After they saw his power, then they started seeing him as a person, someone who they could use for their own guests. Since then, he had been given millions of the most detailed books they could find to allow him to try and recreate all of the scenes. Soon, he knew all of the books by heart and could create any scene at all from any of the books he had. His parents loved him then, and showed him with much affection, but he knew it was all fake. They only wanted him there to give a show and nothing more. Hidden behind all of the falsely loving hugs, kisses, and special gifts was a not so secret motive. Kyuhyun knew it, and was tired of his life. He wanted to be free and to know what it felt like to be truly loved. Yet, even so, he continued to stay with them, and put on shows for all their guests. After all, he didn’t have a choice, right?

As he stood there, he slowly began to feel his strength ebbing away and knew that he would have to end the visions soon. Another disadvantage about being caged in his home was that he couldn’t exercise much to build up his stamina much. Even after all this time, he still got tired after around fifteen minutes of keeping up his illusion. Soon, he was panting hard and sweating, and had to end his power flow, cause the world to slowly fade back into the white walls and brown furniture of his family’s dining room. The guests let out loud squeaks of surprise as they found themselves standing on top of tables and chairs rather than what had used to be solid, snow-covered ground. As everyone got down, Kyuhyun tried to catch his breath. With a subtle bow, he left the room to return to his solitude.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

                The sound of soft knocking pried him from his dreams. Sighing, he forced himself to get up and out of his bed to retrieve his breakfast. As usual, as he opened the door, the maid had already left, most likely to hide in the maid’s quarters. All of the maids were scared of him; or what he could do. To them, he was nothing but a demon, a dark one who used his powers to bring them under his spell then take their lives when they weren’t looking. Stupid maids.

Balancing the tray on one hand, he closed his door with the other and walked back to his bed to eat. He scoffed at the food that was prepared. Sushi? What type of normal human being eats sushi for breakfast? He laughed quietly to himself. The maids were scared of him, yet they were still too lazy to cook him a proper meal. With a sigh, he picked up his chopsticks and sighed as the salty taste of seafood hit his taste buds.

As usual, he left his tray right outside his door for the maids to clean up, than rummaged through his room, trying to find a proper game. He probably should be studying, but who would notice if he didn’t?

But nothing interested him, and soon he once again found himself staring out his window. Since his house rested at the top of a hill, he had a very nice view of the lively village below.  He watched as the minuscule people wandered around; some walking, others running, and some just not moving at all, and instead were happily socializing with each other. Kyuhyun envied them with all his heart.

Even though he knew it would never get him anywhere, it never hurt to dream.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

That night, as Sungmin was walking back from his show, he suddenly felt tingly all over. He immediately tensed up: he knew this feeling, it was the feeling that he got whenever something was wrong. Worried, he picked up his pace to a jog, trying to reach his home. What if something had happened to Donghae?

As he reached the house, the feeling only got stronger. He busted open his brother’s door, scared of what he might find behind it.

Whatever he thought he might find, it wasn’t this: his little brother sleeping peacefully in his bed, the heart monitor beeping steadily to let him know that Donghae was still alive. He stood there, shell-shocked, yet relieved. Had he been wrong? His intuition had never been wrong before, but if it wasn’t Donghae, what was it?

“Hyung?” Donghae’s sweet voice rang out through the quiet, startling him from his trance.

“Yes?”

“How are you home so early?”

Sungmin hesitated for a moment, debating whether or not to explain and risk scaring the younger. In the end, he decided not to, and simply replied: “I just wanted to check on you.”

“You’re more tired than usual. Did you really run all the way home just for me? You shouldn’t have,” the younger scolded. It wasn’t healthy for Sungmin to run like that after his body was already so worn out from all the performances he gave.

“I didn’t run, I jogged,” he teased, but under Donghae’s unamused stare, he immediately turned serious once again. “Sorry Hae, but I was just worried.”

“I’m fine hyung. You just worry too much about me. You should worry about yourself for once!”

Sungmin sighed, “I will. I’m sorry Hae.”

“It’s ok. Now go to sleep before you pass out from exhaustion!”

Chuckling, Sungmin replied, “Yes ‘master’ and you be sure to do the same.” Donghae nodded sleepily, then snuggled back in under the covers, already nodding off. Sungmin chuckled at the sweet sight, then went to retire in his own room.

A soon as he stepped inside, he knew something was amiss. Turning on the light, he looked around, trying to spot the problem. There, in the center of the room, his floorboards were all pulled up, revealing the empty compartment beneath them. Immediately Sungmin ran over and reached down. His fears were soon confirmed as he came up empty handed. Tears began to gather in his eyes, blurring his vision, as the reality of his situation hit him: it was gone. All of the precious money he had saved up over the years to pay for Donghae’s long-overdue hospital bills were gone. Not even a single penny was left.

His door burst open, and his thoughts were soon inturupted by a very familiar voice.

“We made it big tonight! You know, tomor-“

“It’s all gone.”

Heechul’s eyes widened in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“The money you idiot! Everything we had saved up over all the years is gone! Gone!” Tears were now running down his cheeks in steady streams. He heard Heechul cuss angrily behind him.

“Who the could have taken it?”

“Do you think I would know?!” Sungmin was angry now, angry at Heechul, angry at the person who stole all his savings, but mostly angry at himself. If only he could have hidden the jar better, but who would have figure that someone would try and rob a run-down looking house? That was the entire point of changing the outward appearance of the place; he had needed to keep his savings, and Donghae, safe.

Now all of his and Heechul’s hard work was gone, and Donghae’s life was in even more danger then before.

A.N. Sorry if this seems rushed ._. I was trying to finish this tonight and I still haven’t started the bucket loads of homework I got. I’ll edit it later. I’m assuming you all know the forest~ Here we see a bit into Kyuhyun’s life, ability, and his troubles. And the start of Sungmin's troubles comes (yes, he will have worse coming for him.) Please comment and let me know what you think!

My god this was a crappy chapter.

Ok! I just finished some editing! (mostly punctuation) Tell me if you find any errors I forgot! (I lost one of my errors...)