Ren...are...you...flaunting your hair on purpose? 

 

 

 

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Ren glanced at his clock. 3AM. 

 

"I can't seem to give my 100% on this." Ren sighed and threw the history book he was reading to the side. In 3 more hours, he would have to get dressed and ride to school. The boy was diligent enough that most of his summer assignments were completed. That last project was to read about a historical figure and write a report. The historical figure that Ren choose was Adolf Hitler. He thought that with all the blood and gore and madness that swirled around this evil legend, his interest would be sustained. But, alas, after the first 300 pages, his interest was parched. 

 

Reasoning that he could always write his report during lunchtime, Ren decided to nap for the next three hours. He felt exhausted, so much so that he immediately drifted off. No odd dreams this time. 

 

Or so he thought. 

 

In his coma-like state, Ren heard whispering again. Only it wasn't the familiar hushed voices of his parents. They seemed more annoying. He couldn't quiet put a finger on it but he was sure that it wasn't his parents'.

 

"Aigooooo, he's finally going to sleep!" 

 

"Finally. The child's an unyeidling noctural."

 

"Aw, Ford, can't you be nicer to the son of our late friend? He does resemble his father a great deal does he not? Especially his brown, curly hair."

 

The voice that belonged to "Ford" whispered back, almost angrily: "He also inherited the other traits. The pompousness, the cold heartedness, the assy-ness, the poker face, the wry humor and the—" here, Ford began to hiss—"disregard for other people!"

 

"He has his father's eyes and lips. His mother's nose, though. It makes him look so delicate, I feel myself wanting to protect him. The poor child, he is. I can understand why his cousin constantly worries about him. And look, there he is now!" 

 

Ren was thoroughly confused with his dream. But then he heard the floor boards creak and the slight thud of slippers. Then he felt a warm hand on his forehead. 

 

Aaron??? Aaron was in his room? But, this is just a dream...? Aaron's hand felt too real, however. 

 

"Having another bad dream? Baby cous, when will you heal?" It was Aaron's voice, a bit huskier than usual, and also a bit more serious. 

 

Ren felt his blankets being pulled up to his chin and his arms being tucked inside. He heard Aaron move around, putting away the papers that littered the floor and the books thrown everywhere. Then, he heard the closet door opening. 

 

What was Aaron doing?? Ren's eyebrows furrowed in concentration, trying to discern the little noise Aaron made. 

 

"Here is your school uniform, I'll put this on the chair. Here is the teddy bear boxers that I bought you a fews years back during Christmas. Here is the pink converse that you like so much. And here is fifty bucks for your wallet." Aaron was mumbling to himself as he prepared for Ren's school day. "Here is the water bottle. Ops, the papers! Right, the paper into the book bag. A little note of encourgement for my baby cous and a little snack in the outer pocket just in case he's hungry. What else does Renny need? Oh, right, his keys."

 

Here, the jingling of keys were heard as Aaron carefully put them into Ren's bag. Then Ren heard the creaking of floor boards again and instinctly felt that Aaron was by his bedside. A hand smoothed out his furrowed brows and a light chuckle followed.

 

"Even when you sleep, you frown. Kyeopta, Minki-ah." Then Ren felt a light kiss—just a little touch of Aaron's lips—in the area between his brows. "Good night, sleep tight, gongju-nim." 

 

The floor boards creaked again, and the light thud of the door shutting was heard. 

 

Ren blushed. Aaron just called him a princess... Knowing that this might be a dream and that Aaron could not hear him, Ren spoke a little Thank you in his mind. 

 

"Wasn't that cute, Ford? Aaron always waits until Ren's lights are off to come in to make sure he's sleeping well. I wished you were this good to me. We're cousins too and look at the difference! You should be ashamed."

 

"Bah! His cousin is just a ic- committing-ert." Ford was a spiteful soul. 

 

Ren's nose twitched. This was such a weird dream. People always say that dreams reflect the unconcious, which hold the deeper and darker thoughts. Was this how he viewed Aaron? A ic- committing-ert? 

 

"Ford! That was rude! Apologize!" 

 

"To whom? Pretty boy here can't even hear us! It's been four months now that we watch over him and there's NO SIGN of him noticing our existence. Craw, I'm starting to think that Ren DIDN'T inherit his father's powers. Things in the cosmos go wrong all the time! Maybe the power leaked and thus Ren didn't get zip. Nada. ZERO." 

 

"Ford, you need to be more patient. Like you said, it's been four months. Many others get it after the first six months is over. And here you are, whining about waiting for four months." This one, the one with the higher pitched voice, was apparently named Craw. Odd name, Ren thought. 

 

"Well, you would expect the son of the great CHOISTA to get his powers in moments, wouldn't you now?" This was obviously full of spite and sarcasm. "The kid's normal. Let's just accept that. No powers, no nothing."

 

"No!" Craw flatly rejected. "For the past four months we've watched his every move. I feel like a stalker, but it's true. We watched him day and night and what did we see? What did we see, Ford?"

 

"We saw him sleep. Eat. Sleep. Cry. Eat. Poop. Sleep. Pee. Cry. Sleep. Eat. All in one day, then repeated everyday." 

 

"Exactly!" There was triumph in Craw's tone. "He sleeps like a pig!!"

 

Ren's left eye twitched again. This dream is just getting weirder and weirder. 

 

"A normal human being can't sleep that much," continued Craw. "It's because his father's powers are surging into him that he needs his rest."

 

"Feh! I say the boy is just weak hearted. His grief is his reason to sleep his day away."

 

"Do you really think that the great—"

 

"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" This wasn't a whisper anymore. It was hollering. 

 

"Ford!!! You'll wake him up!!"

 

"WELL, GOOD. I'M SICK AND TIRED OF THIS MINDLESS WAITING. IF HE CAN HEAR US, THEN WAKE UP. Or else! He is just a normal person and we should leave him alone! The Choi family served as HOJA FOR ING CENTURIES. It's about time they returned to being normal. HIS DAD WAS A JACKASS AND IT WAS A GOOD THING HE DIED WITHOUT LEAVING BEHIND HIS JACKASS LEGACY TO HIS SON." 

 

That's it, Ren thought. No one, not even murky dream figures, can insult his father this much and not get a good thrashing. 

 

Ren forced his eyes open and shouted into the dark:  "MY DAD WAS A GREAT MAN. YOU SONS OF ES DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT."

 

What Ren saw next took all the gusto away from him. Instead of the pitch darkness he expected, he saw two figures floating before him. Two, very real looking figures. Floating. 

 

"T-the heck?"

 

"Oh, lord, he can HEAR us!!! He can SEE us!!!" One of the figures thudded his short cane twice on...on...a cloud!!! He was sitting on a cloud??? And he looked to be about five years old!

 

Ren stared, not caring if it was impolite. He pinched himself on the arm, his arm repsonded with pain, but Ren doubted still. 

 

"Ford!! Ford!! Look!! He's TALKING to us!! He's LOOKING at us!!"

 

Ren turned to the other five year old floating on top of another fluffly cloud. The toddler stared right back at him, his eyes glinting of distaste. 

 

"I can see fine, Craw. Finally. We get some results." Ford, the toddler, rolled his eyes at Ren. 

 

 

"What, who, why, where, how, ?" What Ren couldn't expressed with his words, he expressed with his eyes. He prodded them with questioning stares, he took in their ridiculous apperance, he took note of their awful fashion sense and he also tried to see if their clouds were a fakery.  

 

The two toddlers smiled at him; Craw a bright, gleeful smile and Ford a sneering, derisive smile. In unison, they cleared their throats, looked at one another, nodded, looked back at Ren and spoke: 

 

"We are Tu-di, the land gods of planet Earth, in galaxy 22-b-ic4-iso9-bunbun. We are pleased to inform you that you have sucessfully inherited the role of Protector for galaxy 22-b-ic4-iso9-bunbun. From this day forth, we shall be your tutors for a span of 49 days. 49 days later, you shall begin your duties as a hoja, which is protector, of Earth. Congratulations, Choi Minki. The Choi family has been hojas for 76 generations thus far; you are the 77th inheritor. We hope with all our hearts that you may surpass the deeds of your ancestors and bring honor to your family."

 

Once the speech was over, Craw broke out into a fit of giggles. He glided over—his cloud now hovered by Ren's shoulder—and took hold of Ren's face. 

 

"Let's see what powers you inherited, shall we? Heeheeeheeee." 

 

 

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