A/N: Guys I made one change in chapter two, whereby I said that Soonyoung was his first friend, and I removed that because I decided to put his first friend in his childhood. This chapter has like violence and death so //trigger warning!

 

 

Maxiolem.

A separate world or dimension that’s existence is unknown to the inhabitants of Earth, with the exception of some. It was an unwritten rule that no one speaks about Maxiolem to the humans on Earth, though not all obey, hence there are rumours of Maxiolem floating around. People do not like changes, especially changes that threatens them, therefore the people in Maxiolem came to an agreement to keep their existence a secret. A magic portal is required to get to Earth anyway, so there wasn’t much harm done so far.

There are three types of people residing in Maxiolem: Magicians, Knights and ordinary people. Magicians are rare, and they tend to hide their powers so that they do not stand out. Knights are people who are trained in combat, usually with weapons such as swords. Few of them were able to pick up magic as a secondary weapon. Magic is not something one can simply learn; one is required to possess the innate ability in order to be able to use magic.

 

Woozi.

A name known throughout Maxiolem, however identity unknown to all. Equipped with unrivalled combat and magical skills; one of the strongest and most fearsome person in Maxiolem. An infamous assassin who never gets caught; the one who resigned himself to the king of Loxsyn, who leads his personal assassination squad.

 

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Jihoon was five when his parents were mercilessly murdered in front of him. Held captive by the killers, he was made to take up combat fighting. He trained every day, getting whipped and thrown around like a ragdoll if his movements slowed, denied food and water when he refused to obey. He doesn’t even know what he’s training for, just a lost soul; a lost child, doing whatever he can to survive.

Three years. The boy was eight, still clinging on to the small hope that he might escape one day. He trains even harder now, in hopes that his skills can be of aid when he plans his escape.

“Come on Jihoon. Stand.”

“Again.”

“Your attacks are as plain as the nose on your face.”

“Plan it in your head! Everything is showing on your face!”

“Again! Focus Jihoon! Stand!”

“Why did you stop? Show no mercy. It will only have you killed.”

“You better rid those feelings of yours. They’re useless.”

“You’re merely a tool for entertainment.”

At that time the poor child didn’t understand what they meant by the last sentence. But soon he’s about to find out.

It was the start of summer and festivals are held all over the country, people all over Maxiolem are gathering here as Loxsyn is a hot spot for tourists during holidays. Or so he heard from the guards patrolling around the hideout. Jihoon was heading towards the training facility as per usual until one of his captors started dragging him to another direction.

The poor boy was thrown into an underground caged arena, dagger in hand, confused at all the loud cheers surrounding him. He turned in a circle, working his brain to register and understand what was going on. His eyes were darting around, unfocused, at all the people, until he noticed a huge screen hanging on the cage. “Woozi vs. Han” below the two names, there were numbers that kept increasing every second.

Han? Jihoon looked at the opposite end of the arena, and there stood a boy, slightly older than him, about twelve, he too had a dagger in his hand. Han, this boy slept a few rooms away from him, he knows because they trained together, they ate together, they hung out with each other, they were friends. The older boy was here a couple of years before Jihoon came, Han approached the smaller first, saying that they can rely on each other to escape this hell. Han taught him words, how to speak them and write them, he taught him basic science and mathematics, giving the younger some general knowledge for survival when they escape.

Now, he is standing there, staring straight at Jihoon, emotions masked, just like how they were trained.

“Ladies and gentlemen! The battle will start momentarily, and I hope that all you have placed your bets already! May the best wins!” a voice boomed throughout the arena. Soon the screen changed to a countdown, causing the spectators to cheer even louder.

…3, 2, 1, beeeeep!

As soon as the buzzer sounded, Han lunged forward, fast towards Jihoon. Still confused, he barely managed to dodge that attack, grazing his arm a little. He doesn’t want to fight the boy; he was his friend! Despite all that, Han was just attacking him with everything he’s got. The crowd started jeering at Jihoon, shouting at him to fight back, to stop playing defense, (well of course they did, they want a good show and not lose money right?). Well, Jihoon was mad, he’s upset, why is his friend attacking him?

“Why are you doing this?! I thought we were supposed to escape together?!” Jihoon voiced out just enough for the other to hear when they clashed.

“We were. Until you showed up at the other entrance of the arena,” he punched Jihoon in the face, causing him to fall on his back, “didn’t anyone tell you? Once you enter this arena, it’s either you live, or you die. I knew you had to enter one day, I hoped so much that I wouldn’t match up against you, because you’re my friend.”

“So why?! If I’m your friend, why are you fighting me? Why are you so merciless?” Jihoon cried, he cringed at the desperateness in his voice, trying all he can to salvage this friendship.

“Because I want to live! I want to escape alive! And if you want it too, I suggest you take me on seriously,” Han once again swung his dagger at Jihoon’s face, and he dodged it well this time.

 Jihoon fought back with all he had, throwing punches, swinging his dagger. He needed to pin the older down and talk some sense into him. Convince him that they can both leave this place, alive, together.

Being too engrossed in fighting back, he loses himself momentarily, his punches were reaching the older, he managed to cut the older here and there, weakening him. They were, after all, children. There is only so much pain they can handle. Soon, he found himself pinning the older, straddling his torso, holding his dagger with two hands, pointing it at Han’s throat. He stopped, stunned by his actions, looking straight into the elder’s eyes, eyes filled with regret.

A soft smile formed on Han’s lips, “Hesitation. It’ll kill you,” the older reached out towards the clutched, trembling hands hovering above his throat, “the moment I saw you enter the arena, I knew that I’m going to lose. Hah, well I tried. You’re strong, something special, and I know that, because we trained together; because we are friends.” With that, the older pulled his hands down and the dagger went straight through his throat, blood splattered all over the place, over Jihoon’s face.

Shocked, traumatized, everything bad, Jihoon felt it in his very core, he screamed in despair, his chest hurt so much, his brain wasn’t even functioning properly. Despite all that, he couldn’t cry, the tears just won’t come, he just kept screaming into the caged space, and when all his energy were drained from him, he collapsed on top of his friend’s body. At the age of eight, Jihoon took his first life, under the alias Woozi.

 

By the age of twelve, Jihoon had mastered the sword and dagger. In these four years, he took over a hundred lives of children around his age. At the start, still traumatized by Han’s death, he would cry himself to sleep every night after taking a child’s life. He would apologize and repeat it like a mantra until he collapses from exhaustion. Over time, he grew numb to the pain and agony, plotting his escape was the only thing that’s keeping him moving.

He chose a beautiful night to paint this hell of an organization blood red. Guards, trainers, every adult in the facility, not one spared. He released the other children and they all ran away frantically, afraid that he might kill them as well. He gave the facility one last look, satisfied at his work, before leaving. On the entrance, “Woozi” was written huge on the walls, with blood. Why he did that? Don’t know, he just felt the need to.

 

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WANTED! Woozi; Dead or Alive

A horrible sketch of his eight-year-old self was printed on the poster, probably a tip off from one of the spectators from his first few fights. The portrait looked nothing like Jihoon, so the officers are going to have a hard time looking for him. Jihoon started wearing a white fox-like mask during his fights to give off a ‘mysterious aura’, or so his captives claimed, but looks like it backfired on them. Still, he hopped around towns as a safety precaution. He continued to train and hone his already perfect skills along the way, picking up new weaponry skills such as the scythe, spear, dual blades etc. Jihoon would also visit the library often to read up on general knowledge or just random things when he’s bored.

While training, he found out that he has a very strong magic affinity, and after weeks of practicing and studying, he managed to summon a familiar. It was a strong and beautiful black jaguar, emerald eyes with piercing gaze, black fur soft as silk, beautiful. It is shorter than the twelve-year-old Jihoon, about 75cm to its shoulder, weighing about 90kg; and it was decided that the huge feline shall be Jihoon’s training partner.

A few months after the incident, he heard rumours about himself floating around town; that he was a hired assassin and accepts any request as long as he is handsomely paid. So, the best thing for a kid running low on stolen daily supplies is to turn the rumours into reality. He summoned another familiar, a black cat, as a courier to receive requests and payments from his clients so he doesn’t need to reveal himself.

The boy is now fourteen with a secluded nice house, on the outskirts of a flourishing town, Aematine, with an infamous title, Woozi the Reaper.

 

 

“Hey! You’re that kid from the library!”

Silence.

“Are you ignoring me?”

A young boy, slightly taller than Jihoon, stood in front of him, hands on his hips, pouting. Jihoon looked at him for a second, turned around to see if anyone was behind him, then back at the boy in front again.

“Me?”

“Who else?” the boy rolled his eyes.

“Sorry, I didn’t notice. What were you saying again?” Jihoon replied coldly, honestly he wasn’t interested in making small talks with the townspeople. He just wants to get a sturdy sword and leave, asap.

“I always see you in the library, and I thought for sure that you were a nerd! Didn’t know you had interest in swords,” the boy took a sword from the rack and admired it for a bit before placing it back, “My name is Soonyoung! What’s yours?”

“Jihoon,” sighing that he couldn’t find a suitable sword for himself, he decided to leave; ignoring Soonyoung and his unwanted opinions on him.

“Hey! Jihoon, wait up! Why’d you leave so suddenly? Nothing you like? I thought the one you were holding on to was pretty good though,” the taller boy ran after Jihoon when he left the shop, “anyway, are you aspiring to be a knight? Is that why you’re looking at swords? You know, my father’s an awesome knight! I can get him to teach you if you want!”

Jihoon just rolled his eyes and walked even faster. Damn you kid, can’t you just go be annoying somewhere else?

“Don’t ignore me! Come onnnn! Let’s be friends and hang out!” Soonyoung started whining and thumping his feet as he trailed behind Jihoon. It was really annoying the hell out of Jihoon, so he decided to just give the boy a piece of his mind. He halted, causing the boy behind to falter a little.

“I don’t want to be friends with you so can you go annoy someone else instead?!” Jihoon spat viciously.

“But I want you to be my friend! You’re a nice person.”

“Nice? Me? You don’t even know me.”

“I’ve seen you in the library and seen you petting animals! If you like animals, you are nice!” Oh god what is with this boy’s logic.

“You are always reading alone, so I thought you could use a little company…” the taller boy looked down, pouting while playing with his fingers, “You don’t have to entertain me, okay maybe just reply a few questions once in a while…” his eyes peeked at the smaller boy frowning in front of him.

“Looks like you’re not giving up anytime soon…” he sighed and continue to walk, “just do whatever you want.”

“Yay! So are you going home? Where do you live? Can I come?”

Jihoon groaned and regretted instantly. But deep inside, maybe, just maybe it’s not so bad after all, to have a friend again, maybe their fate won’t end up like his previous one, maybe it’s a good thing.

 

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“Jihoon-ah! You’re seventeen this year right? When are you going to for national service?”

“Soon maybe? Oh, two packets, takeaway please,” Jihoon said while handing the lady boss some cash.

“For Soonyoung? Still best friends I see,” the lady chuckled before handing him two packets of noodles.

“Haha, yeah. Thankyou.”

 

“Jihoon, let’s register for national service this year okay?” Soonyoung asked while slurping on noodles, “then you don’t have to be Woozi anymore, you’d have a stable income,” he made sure to whisper the last part.

Being best friends, Soonyoung knows all of Jihoon’s secret, his past, his night job, everything. Everything physical, nothing mental. Sure, he was horrified at first, they didn’t talk for a few weeks, but Soonyoung came to accept his friend and stand by him. Despite Soonyoung knowing everything, he still couldn’t comprehend the smaller’s feelings at times. He would always put up that stupid poker face, saying not more than he need to, keeping the important details from him, hiding his emotions. Sometimes, Soonyoung wonder how does he even manage to kill every night without feeling anything? But of course everyone feels something, it’s only a matter of showing it.

“Mm sure, but I probably won’t be under the recruits’ platoon with you.”

“Why?”

Jihoon passed a black envelope to Soonyoung, “this came a few days ago.”

 

Woozi,

                How would you like to become the leader of the King’s personal assassination squad? We will pay you twice the amount that you are currently earning. Do consider and we expect a favourable reply from you soon.

On behalf of the King,

Taehyung

Secretary and Head Bodyguard

 

“Wow. Someone’s a big shot now,” Soonyoung remarked sarcastically. A low grunt came from the huge feline lying beside them, "Look, even Zazzie agrees!"

“Please. I’m still the same.”

 

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Author's Note:

So here's part one of the past! The war will be in the next chapter. 

I kinda rushed through it after work so I didn't proofread this, so please pardon any errors!

Also do give me suggestions on Jicheol moments like what should I make them do on dates etc. All the things I can think of are not suitable for idols! D:

Hope you enjoy it, critical constructive comments are always welcome! :D

This is how I pictured Jihoon’s mask to be: https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=hotarubi+no+mori+e+gin+mask&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=676&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPq-Ha3eHPAhXBrI8KHWOjDjEQ_AUICCgB

Not that 'mysterious' but enough for a child? Right? Heheh