Work Text:
One. Two. Three. Five. Eight. Ten.
One hundred.
His hands shake; fingers tremble as they bend up and down.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Calm down.
Luka repeats the mantra over and over. It’s not like he killed his siblings - no.
Images flash through his mind - breaking his view of artificial trees and grass.
There’s red everywhere.
Blood. Bodies. Various fluids on the floor, something wet on his face. A metallic scent pierces his nostrils. Alarms ring.
Stop thinking about it. Just count.
One. Two. Three.
He sees red, no, let’s start again.
One .
A new voice joins him - a girl. No one’s ever spoken to him before. Who is this?
Luka glances upward and sees her .
“Hush my child, drift into slumber-”
Hyuna sings a lullaby, an ancient little tune reminiscent of times long gone. A time where humans weren’t the pets they are today. Before the segyein.
But now, Hyuna is simply a young girl singing a song her heart has memorized. She doesn’t know where it came from. For her, it could’ve been one she dreamt of, or maybe someone sang it to her a long time ago? Who knows?
“Noona!”
A voice interrupts her melody. Hyunwoo.
“What is it this time? I’m busy here!”
Hyuna stands up, annoyed at her singing being interrupted. She places her hands on her hips and pouts.
“There’s someone you gotta talk to.”
Hyunwoo grabs her arm and pulls her in his direction.
“Let go of me!”
Hyuna’s words go completely ignored as she’s dragged in the direction of her brother.
Finally, they stop. There’s a blond kid sitting under one of those synthetic trees.
“Talk to him.” Hyunwoo says.
“Why?” Hyuna questions, a single eyebrow raised.
“Why not? He’s always just by himself. Like a weirdo. Maybe if you talk to him, the weirdness will be kicked out of him.”
Hmm, sounds interesting. Hyuna loves talking to the other kids - playing around with them, laughing, cheering, singing - it comes naturally to her.
And a kid she’s never seen before? Sounds like a new friend in the making.
“‘Kay. I’ll say ‘hi’. And don’t say that stuff about kicking weirdness out of people. That’s mean.”
She sticks her tongue out playfully at Hyunwoo. He scoffs and rolls his eyes as he leaves.
Hyuna walks up to the blond kid and sits down in front of him. She hears whispering under the kid’s breath-
“One, two, six, eight. No, I need to start again.”
“ One ”.
Hyuna calls out. Smiles.
She’s a goddess.
That’s the first thing that pops into Luka’s mind when he sees her. Strands of hair fall out of her messily done ponytail. A smile so bright it feels like a glowing light. And she’s counting on her fingers too.
Why?
“What, can’t a girl join?” She asks.
Luka should talk. Probably. No one ever really approaches him so he’s woefully out of practice for conversation (not like he’s ever had practice in the first place).
“Do what you want.”
Yes, that sounds right. Maybe she’ll leave - it’s something that other people love doing.
“I’m Hyuna, by the way.”
Hyuna, as he now knows her to be, leans in closely. Her eyelashes flutter and leave little shadows. She smells good too - like the fake flowers that surround them. The constant beat of his heart speeds up, pounding. The musical term for it - crescendo , comes to mind. An increase in tempo. It takes all he has to say his name.
“Luka.”
“Nice to meet you, Luka. Let’s be friends, ok?” Hyuna replies.
So that’s his name. The mysterious Luka. Honestly, he’s pretty cute! He’s smaller than her, all dainty looking and fragile. He could be made of glass. But there’s also something about him that’s pretty sure he won’t break. Maybe it’s that gaze of his. He looks into her eyes as if he could pierce her heart.
But the thing is, his hair also looks so fluffy and soft. And Hyuna’s always been so touchy-feely - an affectionate girl who thrives off of hugs and brushing of fingers.
Hyuna places her hand on Luka’s head. Pats it. She’s right - his hair is really soft.
Luka brings his hand up to meet hers. The motion makes her hand stop. Maybe he’s uncomfortable. Hyuna begins speaking.
“Uh, I don’t need to give you a head pat if you don’t want to-”
“Friends…never had something like that before.”
Luka’s soft voice interrupts her, like he didn’t listen to what she had to say.
“Do friends touch each other like this?”
“They can.”
“I’d like that.”
Hyuna giggles and starts ruffling Luka’s hair.
Later on, they’ll look back at this moment with all the emotions in the world - happiness, anger, sadness, longing. It’s their first meeting, after all. It was magical, legendary, lyrical. It’s something they think about when creating music.
Whether it be the massive stage or a run-down bar, the two of them know deep down that they’ll always go back to this moment.
And when she dies in his arms, it’s the last thing they’ll ever think about as one soul - one mind - one body.
This is truly what it means to love.
It’s painful, yet there’s an innocence to it all. A beginning. A foolish start to the rest of their lives.