Chapter Four

Mist

Sungmin’s eyes fluttered open before the sun had rose, the night having progressed to dawn. His schedule had increased tremendously from the week previous. Sungmin could not be exactly sure why, however he had been transferred into Eden after having spent several months in the Garden. He had thought it would take much more to gain trust from Chosen enough to be given over to the Heroes. They found him trust-worthy and reliable, and apparently the girl Heroes had been irritated at the lack of appealing slaves in Eden. Sungmin had spent little time in the presence of the Heroes – as he served many of them, rather than being exclusive to only one – however it seemed to never fail in getting the elevated Chosen into squealing whenever they saw him. He was curious if his cute, attractive appearance was really what gained his favor to rise immediately in the rank, at least human wise.

Sungmin had caused quite some trouble when they had first tried to take him, so he could not see how it was possible for them to trust him so deeply. He had tried to repress the memories of the detention facility they had sent him to for a few months. It was not as horrible as Seventh Circle, but that was an unfair comparison. When they had tried to sell them off, they had to cover him in layers upon layers of make-up all over his body to cover all of the bruises that covered his skin. Eventually they wore off and he had retained very few scars, however the lasting effect the Chosen had hoped for had definitely been achieved. He had not been the only one to be sent there and everyone that was released understood the lesson clearly. If they were to defy Chosen, there would be heavy punishment and that would not end at mere physical beatings.

 Glancing around his new room, it was much more impressive than any other one that had ever been provided for him. His bedroom in the Garden had also been private, however it had been barely larger than the average closet – and he wasn’t speaking about the closets Chosen in the City had, as they could be considered the size of a department store. His room now was the size of a Chosen that lived in the Gates. It was immaculately clean, thanks to Sungmin’s efforts for the most part, and spacious and white. He had luckily always had a private room, however now he even had his own bathroom as well. Sungmin had despised sharing a bathroom. He had always felt horribly violated when he caught some of the others staring at him while he was showering. Sungmin tried hard to resist shuddering but failed. He knew it was dangerous for him to be in Eden, but frankly, it was better than anywhere else he could think of.

Trying to be as quiet as he could, he crept out of his room to join in with the others that attended the Heroes. It was perhaps only three or four in the morning – he was not so sure – however all of the humans were already well awake to prepare the Heroes’ breakfast meal. It had definitely taken him a while to adjust all the pageantry that came with living in Eden. Back in the Garden, Chosen there had been classy and tend to lean towards elegant, however with the Heroes it seemed that everything had to be a production. Every morning they would wake up to a performance created solely to honor them.

Of course, Sungmin and the rest of the humans found nothing honorable about the fact that they had massacred many people and then enslaved the rest. They still had to participate in the charade however. If any of the Heroes ever expected any negative feelings coming from their slaves, they were immediately sent away. They did not need even a reason as no one dared question them. Sungmin had to keep his tongue still upon his arrival. He had learned to act just like the others, however inside, he figured he was one of the very few truly bothered by it all. The rest seemed to have forgotten who they had once been. Perhaps, Sungmin supposed, it made it easier for them to cope. It made sense, after all. If they completely pushed aside any kind of memories of the past – of how things should be – then they might be able to more easily focus on the positives of their current situation. Sungmin tried to do so without forgetting his past, however he never came up with many.

“You!”

Sungmin glanced up with a widely raised eyebrow. He admired the man’s incredible talent in specifics. Everyone straightened up, however, he headed over to Sungmin with something in his arms. Balancing whatever it was in one of them, he grabbed Sungmin sharply and tugged him away with the other. Sungmin followed simply because he was unsure how else he could respond. Once they had both stopped, lingering in a darker corner of the house – although as the sun still wouldn’t come up for a while, the house was pretty dark in all the unoccupied areas – the guy stiffly handed him a large, plastic bag.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” Sungmin asked politely, trying to untie the knot that had been made to keep the contents from slipping out. One thing he had noticed while in Eden was that the others around him were constantly on edge, and as such, could be very rude or abrasive. He figured it was natural as they were all anxious – one wrong move and they could easily be dead.

“You’re supposed to wear it, as per the requests of some of the Heroes.”

Sungmin was able to get the knot undone and pull out the outfit that lay inside. All of the slaves in Eden had some kind of uniform, although it was pointless as the Heroes could easily be told apart from everyone else. Sungmin wondered why he had been singled out, however he saw several other boys lingering nearby. He paused awkwardly, noticing that the one in his hands matched the ones that they were wearing.

He shook his head defiantly, “I’m not wearing that.” Sungmin could not remember the last time he had refused an order, however the guy in front of him was no Chosen, and as such, he was not intimidated of him.

The guy, however, seemed to believe otherwise. His cheek felt raw when the guy’s hand came down with a hard smack. “Dammit!” The man hissed quietly at him, “I don’t care if you want to wear it or not. Put it on now.”

Sungmin regretted giving in to the man, however nodded submissively before hurriedly changing. It seemed as though sometimes humans could be just as cruel as Chosen. Sungmin slipped into an empty bathroom and hurriedly got dressed, staring at himself in the mirror’s reflection tentatively. The last thing he wanted was to go out there dressed like… like… that. The bottoms were tight, clinging to his skin so closely that they could’ve practically been a second layer. Instead of some kind of shirt, he wore only a sleeveless vest that did not cover any of his upper body and most of his chest was exposed as well. He wondered why the Heroes wanted to humiliate him so much. What had he possibly done to deserve being so embarrassed?

Sungmin’s cheeks flushed angrily. He knew that perhaps he was overreacting with the small gesture, however, he had never had to deal with anything like such back in the Garden. Taking a deep breath, Sungmin was able to calm himself down. There were people much worse off than him, where the least of their worries revolved around having to show off a good amount of skin. With that, Sungmin was able to confidently head out the door and start his day - he would not take for granted what he had. 

Author's Note:

Sorry it took longer than the previous ones to update. Hope you enjoy it. It's longer than some of the others, so hopefully that will compensate.

~*Carissa*~