Beomgyu had fallen asleep beside Taehyun, his eyes closed as he snored gently. Taehyun watched him with softened eyes, his gaze filled with love for the boy beside him. Nothing made him happier than to be with him. Beomgyu was the only reason he was still a good person, and he was glad it was Beomgyu. He made him feel human.
However, Beomgyu was no longer human.
He had no reason to be human.
"You… really care about him, huh?"
Taehyun looked at the door's entrance, making eye contact with Junseo. The boy still seemed quite embarrassed because of the previous encounter, barely able to progress past the door's entrance. "Of course I care about him. He's my boyfriend."
Junseo stepped forward, the automatic door closing behind him. "I… I liked him."
"I could tell," Taehyun answered. "I knew full well that Beomgyu is stupid and likes me a lot, but my energy still got out of hand seeing him sit beside you. He's really blind. Point is, you don't have a chance with him."
"I wasn't actively looking for a chance with him, anyways," Junseo said quickly. "I wanted to get closer to him, b-but… I also wanted to get into Anti-Entropy. The organisation is against Schers, after all, and getting in would be difficult. I got this opportunity because of him."
"What, are you joining Anti-Entropy?" Taehyun frowned, sitting up from the bed.
"S-something like that," Junseo answered. "I was in a testing chamber, and they said something about my energy output, and I was recruited by the Scher testing lady. They said they'd train me under Anti-Entropy because I'm stronger than a regular Scher. N-not as strong as the Herrscher, of course."
Taehyun chuckled weakly. "I'd rather not get reminded of what's inside me — or, rather, what I am. Being the Herrscher is no fun. Everyone's afraid of me and they think I'll kill them."
"Well, will you?"
"Not if you're nice enough." Taehyun looked away and Junseo gulped nervously. "Just… don't touch Beomgyu. He means everything to me. If something were to ever happen to him I'd lash out and hundred of lives will be lost. It's the first time I ever cared about anyone like this. He makes sure I'll never hurt anyone."
"Shouldn't you not hurt anyone because you believe you're still human?"
"I am human."
"…"
Taehyun scoffed, looking to the side. "They extracted the hatred from me, but… I'm still a Herrscher. The core is awakened, and I'll always have the instinct of every Herrscher before me." He looked at Junseo sharply. "The creation of the Herrschers was a mistake. Such god-like power was never meant to be touched. The existence of Scher was enough, but… a Herrscher is nothing but pure power."
"The Herrschers were made by accident," Junseo said. "Yes, you have the instinct to consume souls for power, but your human counterpart wants to protect humanity, especially Beomgyu."
"He's no longer human, as a Pseudo Herrscher," Taehyun muttered. "Sure, he's not as strong as what I am, but he's still got residual Scher energy mixed with his soul — the Herrscher of Mortality, no less. What if he develops the style of the Mortality Herrscher? He'd be able to control the outcome of life and death."
"That's if he gives in to the instinct and becomes a murderer."
Taehyun looked at Beomgyu, a small smile decorating his lips. "No… he's far too human. There are plenty of bad humans, but my Beomgyu is not one of them. Regardless, no one in this room is human anymore. I'm a Herrscher, you're a Scher… Beomgyu contains a fragment of a Herrscher…"
"Can he utilise the fragment?"
"Barely — he can hardly use the Herrscher power and hasn't developed a physical style. Who's to say he ever will?"
"From what I heard, he's actually strong."
"Not as strong, as he could be stronger."
Junseo watched as Taehyun gingerly placed a hand gently against Beomgyu's cheek. He truly didn't want to make the Herrscher of the Star upset, so he gave up on ever trying to get Beomgyu to like him. Taehyun's only rule was that no one should touch Beomgyu, and he'd rather respect that than lose his life.
"I don't want to be an underling of Anti-Entropy," Taehyun muttered. "I don't want him to be controlled by this… organisation. We don't owe anything to humanity anymore. We're hated just because of what we are. Why should we care about humanity when they do nothing but hate us for what we are?"
"You should convince them that you're not as bad as they think."
"What if I am as bad as they think, huh?" Taehyun asked, his tone firm. "Junseo, I'm a Herrscher. I have that instinct now — the instinct that I don't need to care about humanity. After all, I'm a monster now."
Junseo fell silent, not knowing what to say further. He and Taehyun barely knew one another, and further contribution to Taehyun's current mindset would make their possible friendship rather awkward. Junseo had nothing but hope, while Taehyun had already given up and accepted that he was the Herrscher of the Star.
"They said your core got the negative energy from the Sixth removed," Junseo muttered, "but I don't think it worked. Sure, you're not filled with spiteful energy, but… it's your core itself that's slowly being filled with hatred for humanity."
"Weren't the Herrschers manifested to destroy humanity?"
"Well, yes, but… you don't have to kill everyone you come across."
"I never said I'd kill," Taehyun corrected, "I simply said that there's no reason for me to continue 'protecting' humans. Heck, I could destroy everything in a heartbeat. But I won't — because Beomgyu has more hope for me."
Junseo frowned slightly, his eyes talking on the boy lying beside Taehyun. "You're going to become a villain if you give up on fighting for the right cause."
"Well, what is the right cause?" Taehyun asked. "Fight for humanity? Fight for Schers? I'm the bad guy to Schers because I side with humans, or I'm a bad guy to humans for siding with Schers. I could just destroy everything."
"I don't think you should do that," Junseo said. "Beomgyu… is a loving guy. He had a beautiful human soul. He practically still has a human soul, with residual Herrscher energy. He's basically still human. He appreciates a lot in this world. Even if he's one of us now, he still has a human outlook on life. Do you really want to destroy the world Beomgyu loves so much?"
"The world is already ruined — I'm just doing my part."