prologue

Silence.

There was nothing worse than that, in Baekhyun’s opinion, because silence unnerved him. It felt as if all life around him was gone, like he was the only one left there, and the feeling was so real that Baekhyun couldn’t imagine that it was just a dream.

Dead silence, perhaps, was a better word. Completely devoid of any other sign of life. That was what it was, and as he turned in his spot, trying to figure out why his dreamscape was so abandoned and dark, something shifted in his peripheral vision.

Baekhyun whipped around immediately, but the flicker of movement was gone. It was just a dream, he repeated to himself, but the dread that was beginning to creep up made him wonder if it were a bit more. Dreams didn’t bring this sort of terror, even nightmares. The presence that seemed all around him yet he couldn’t see—it felt far too real to be a dream, but the darkness and the shifting scape of shadows all around him told him it couldn’t have been anything else.

And then the figure stepped out. He stumbled back a couple of paces as a cloaked silhouette materialized from the shadows, and all of a sudden, the sense of foreboding turned into a crushing weight. It took all of his effort to stand straight, but even then, he was beginning to regret the dream.

“You want something.”

He couldn’t pinpoint where the voice came from, exactly—maybe it was from every corner of the place, resonating until he wanted to collapse then and there. The terror and fear that came from just seeing the figure and hearing them was unbelievable, and Baekhyun drew in a deep breath.

“What is it?” he prompted.

He swallowed thickly, ears buzzing.

“Wealth?” The man was beginning to pace then, circling him like a predator. Maybe it would’ve been better to wake up then. Baekhyun wasn’t sure what rooted him there, chin held high, back straight, fists clenched to stop them from trembling.

“Power?”

He grit his teeth.

“Fame?”

“None of those.” His voice sounded much steadier than he expected it to be, but he could still hear the tremor inside of it that he couldn’t quite control.

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