"Chan!" Hyunjin hollered from the living room, "Taeyong sent you a package!"
Chan's eyes lit up in confusion, face distorting in a way of question, then he hollered back, "Why on earth would that madman send a package to me?"
"I know, I know, I'm confused as you are right now," they all hear Hyunjin holler back to Chan, "Now get down here! I've got a client to take care of, and I don't like to keep people waiting!" He added and they all heard the door creak open, and close with a loud slam.
With a deep sigh, Chan turned on his heels and headed downstairs to check on the package, Minho and Jisung following close. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they were met with a rather large package, bigger than the rest of what Taeyong usually sends. Chan trudged towards the package and read the tag.
"To: Bang Chan and Co., I hope that this package finds you all well, I have prepared you all a set of costumes for the masquerade party, in case if you don't have any that has been set on already. Hoping for your presence for this event. From, Lee Taeyong."
"Did he say costumes for the masquerade?" Jisung's eyes sparkled in curiosity and utmost thrill.
Chan huffed and looked for a pair of scissors and started gently cutting through the strangely large box's plastic wrap to find that there were ten different rectangular shaped boxes inside, all stacked up by five, each labeled the member's names.
"So... does that mean that we all are invited to the party?" Jisung asked as he took his and Minho's box.
"I guess that's what Taeyong is implying judging by these well made outfits that he sent to us," Minho guessed as he traced the details of his black bunny mask, then he proceeded to wear the accessory, "I bet no one would know that this is me when I wear this."
While Jisung and Minho were busy inspecting their boxes of clothing and goods, Chan went to take his box and open it. He was greeted by a silver wolf mask, small chains dangling off its snout as if it were wearing a muzzle.
"He's probably mocking me," Chan muttered, all disgruntled, this didn't come unnoticed to Minho and Jisung. Chan set the mask to the side and picked up the next item, which was a fur cape.
Chan could feel the luxury on the item with his fingers, half-impressed, the greys, blacks and reds danced along with one another as Chan brushed his hand along the material, he proceeded to take the next item, which was a pair of black skinny jeans and ankle high boots, and what came in last inside the box were a pair of leather bracelets.
"I wouldn't think Taeyong would be mocking you if he bought such luxurious clothes just for you to wear on one night," Minho commented, "he probably wants to impress his cousin, whoever the fuck that guy is."
"His name is Daleun," Jisung pressed, "and I bet Chan can impress any person, may they be a man, a woman or non-binary, he lured in tons of guys after..." he stopped for a minute before continuing, "Well... After him."
"Are you guys suggesting that I should seduce the new admin into freeing us?" Chan raised a cheeky brow at the two younger males, only to have them nervously chuckle at that statement.
"Anyway, maybe I should try a fit test on these stuff," Chan declared, putting his stuff back into the box and taking it to their shared room to change into them.
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Taking off his mask as he looked into the mirror on his vanity, Daleun sighed, wiping his face with makeup remover. The man didn't really wear much makeup aside from concealer and foundation. He remembered that Taeyong said that it was a necessity to hide his blemishes. He disliked the idea of wearing makeup, but he had to. For some reason that he apparently was out of the light about. If it was any reason why he hated makeup was that he had the feeling that he should love his blemishes, and he does, but Taeyong kept telling him to cover them up for his own good.
"Oh lighten up, kid!" Moti cheered as he took a rather comfortable seat on a Cleopatra chair, "The people would love you, as long as you entertain them enough."
"I just don't understand," Daleun huffed, taking a seat in front of his vanity to properly remove his makeup, "I asked to go out and see the world, now I had to hide my face in different layers of cosmetics and accessories, not to mention that I should pretend that I don't want to say much," he ranted, clearly mad, "might as well sneak off into the night and actually live."
"Should I cover you for this one?" Moti asked, an amused grin painted on his face, "You know that I'd do anything to help you on your little rebellion."
"Yes," Daleun replied with a grateful smile, eyes immediately landing on Moti's face through the reflection on the mirror, Moti was smiling as well, "and I know that I could trust you more than anyone else here." The younger male added.
Daleun stripped himself off of his coat and his tie, dropping them instantly to the floor, knowing that the maids would come anyway to fetch them, he went to his walk-in closet only to open a secret compartment behind all of his luxurious clothes to bring out a plain black cloak. It was an item Moti got for him a couple weeks before he started his nightly adventures through the Districts.
"Which District and area are you off to?" Moti questioned as he went to lock the doors.
"I was thinking of getting myself a tattoo," Daleun stated as he shut the doors of his walk-in closet so he could change into "less" luxurious clothing, "I wanted something tattooed on my chest." He continued to talk, voice slightly muffled from the closed doors.
"Don't tell me that you're going to Angel Sins Tattoo Shop," Moti grumbled in obvious worry, "Taeyong said that you should stay away from the gladiators, even the ones that were freed from their sentence, they're dangerous."
"You don't really know that," Daleun replied, only cutting himself off with a hiss of pain.
"What's wrong?" Moti panicked, quickly approaching the doors to the closet.
"It's okay, just a sudden pain in the head," Daleun reassured Moti, "can you get me my medication? They're in the first drawer to the right at the vanity."
"Just remember," Moti reminded, trudging towards the vanity to get Daleun's medication, "you're going without any bodyguards so be alert, cover your face at all costs, and you can talk, just not too much, don't look into people's eyes and you can only stay out until eleven o'clock."
Moti approached Daleun, who was wearing his shoes, "Sure, Mom," he joked, only making Moti chuckle in return, "but wasn't a gladiator a friend of yours?"
"Ah, yes, Gaho..." Moti stayed in the tiny bubble of nostalgia for a few seconds, but let it pop as he should remind Daleun; "I'm serious," Moti pressed, "if Taeyong finds out that you have been slipping out for weeks, I'm in trouble."
"No, you won't be in trouble," Daleun reassured as he took his medication, "he'd be actually grateful if you make up some white lie that you tried to stop me from leaving this place," he added, a bit of sarcastic humor in his tone, "I may be his cousin that had a freak accident from riots, and lost most of my memories, but that doesn't mean that I have to follow everything he says."
"So you think going out through some Districts would bring back some of your memories?" Moti questioned, doubtful that any of that would actually work, "And you think getting close to the people that Taeyong claimed to be at fault would bring back your memories? It's not that easy."
"And that's why I have been trying for weeks," Daleun answered optimistically, a determined smile gracing his lips, "I have a feeling in my gut that tonight would be a chance to get at least a tiny ounce of my memories," he added, "and if I won't go out there, it would be a liability to my progress."
"So, you'll go out and book an appointment, and go back there some other time?" Moti asked, gaining a nod from Daleun who wore an unbranded satchel that he hid under his bed.
"And you're also going out on a stroll, in hopes of retrieving some memories?" Moti asked another question as Daleun wore the cloak and put a black scarf on to cover half of his face. Daleun grunted in response as he looked himself up the mirror.
"Am I covered enough?" Daleun asked for reassurance from his closest friend yet since his consciousness, "Does it look over the top?" He asked again when he heard no response from the older male.
"You're covered, alright," Moti answered as he circled around Daleun, inspecting him up and down, he then sent a reassuring smile Daleun's way, hands resting on the younger male's shoulders, giving him a firm squeeze before he pulled Daleun's hood up, "and don't worry if people stare at you, most people wear these types of style when going out at night, since it gets really chilly at night in the city. It's trendy."
"I'll be back," Daleun said, taking quick and excited steps towards the balcony, he covered his face with his scarf and started climbing down from the balcony using the makeshift rope made out of sheets and linens.
Moti watched Daleun climb down the rope, run across the lawn, past the security, climb and jumped over the tall fence.
"Be careful," Moti whispered into the wind, knowing that Daleun can't hear him, but he hoped that Daleun would somehow hear it.
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Daleun started roaming around the Shopping and Trade District, the streets were bustling with groups of people, stalls were put up on the sides, vendors clamoring about their products from street food to children's toys. Shops were crowded with people browsing for items from shoes to clothing, laughter could be heard from far distances in which Daleun noticed people enjoying amongst themselves.
Street performers occupied some areas surrounded by certain amounts of audience, the sight of seeing someone dance this close to Daleun made his heart skip a beat in indescribable excitement, yet made his head throb for a split second, having to force himself to avoid the performing crowd.
Daleun moved along, knowing that he had business to attend to. He went to take the subway that had a ride that led to the District with its own Shopping and Trade area, the Lower Class District.
Passing by several shops that all came from the range of accessories and cosmetics, Daleun spotted the LED light sign of the tattoo shop he wanted to go to. The logo of an angel eating an apple stood out from the rest of the signs, which immediately led Daleun straight through the shop's door.
As soon as Daleun entered, a client was making her way out of the shop, her fresh tiger tattoo all finished and adorning her left thigh.
"Welcome to Angel Sins, fine sir," Daleun was greeted by a tall, red haired man, "I am Hyunjin, owner and tattoo artist of this shop, how may I be at service?" Hyunjin bowed graciously at Daleun.
"I'm Lee Daleun, Lee Taeyong's cousin, and I have come here in secret," Daleun shortly replied, he could see the surprise and horror on Hyunjin's face, "I'm not here to harm anyone, I came alone..." he explained in a slight panic, to which Hyunjin's tense shoulders relaxed at the statement, then he calmly added, "I was hoping to book for a tattoo appointment."
Hyunjin went behind the counter, "Let's see..." he said as he typed in the computer's password and opened the over all schedule board, "We're always booked in the morning until five in the afternoon, we sometimes get walk-in customers in eventful evenings, however they are rare on regular nights," Hyunjin explained as he looked up at Daleun with a friendly smile.
"He seems friendly," Daleun thought to himself, internally rolling his eyes at the remembrance of Moti's warning, "Moti was probably overreacting." He thought again.
"I was wondering if you could help me choose a tattoo design, one that suits me well," Daleun requested, removing his hood as well as his scarf, to which Hyunjin smiled and nodded. But somehow Daleun saw a strange glint in Hyunjin's eyes as the redhead rapidly blinked, unable to decipher what it meant, but he brushed it off as he was being too observant on his first visit to a tattoo shop.
Standing up, the redhead led Daleun to the waiting area, where there are portfolios and even framed tattoo designs by different tattoo artists that work in the shop, both full time and part time.
"We have six portfolios here, each belongs to a different artist, me included," explained Hyunjin as he placed each portfolio down on the coffee table, "you take your time, view our works and see what you like, I'll be at the back to check on my coworkers."
Daleun started off with a portfolio where its cover was all black, designed with stickers of skulls and snakes. He opened it and noticed that most of the tattoos were sleeve tattoos, all intense and seemingly searing with rage and even trauma. Daleun closed the black portfolio.
"That was a start," whispered Daleun to nobody but himself, he sighed and saw the name tag on the portfolio, "I'm sorry, Mr. Seo, your style is beautiful but too intense for me."
Daleun picked up a lime green portfolio with nothing on the cover but a sticker of the letter "V" on it. He hummed in curiosity and opened the portfolio, instantly knowing that the tattoo artists goes by the name "Villain" with the very same signature on his works, from minimalist to glow in the dark tattoos, he seemed like a very simplistic man. Daleun tried to look for a design that he would like but nothing really got his interest.
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Hyunjin couldn't believe his eyes, his two naked eyes, he blinked a few times subtly so that Daleun wouldn't notice immediately. But he saw someone through Daleun, and it isn't just mere comparisons, but it is an actual carbon copy - a clone!
He made sure to keep his composure in front of the client, in front of Daleun. He didn't want to breakdown there and then just because he saw an exact copy of him, of Lee Felix. He held back his tears, he endured the growing pain that the lump in his throat made, and he made sure his knees wouldn't buckle in front of the client.
As soon as the client was left with the portfolios, Hyunjin quickly walked to the back of the shop and up the stairs that led to their shared apartment, his heart was booming in his chest, his breathing shallow, hands were shaking, and the hair on the back of his neck were standing on edge as he remembered Daleun's face in his mind just like a few seconds ago.
Daleun looked like Felix. Hyunjin didn't come unnoticed by Chan, Minho and Jisung, who were all trying to figure out how to act in their new clothing, Hyunjin swiftly storming across the room made them start to feel uneasy.
"Babe?" Hyunjin called while simultaneously knocking on the door to their bedroom, "Can you come down to the shop for a minute?"
"Just a second!" Changbin replied from the other side of the door, voice muffled, and in less than five seconds, Changbin swung the door open to see Hyunjin all shaken up and pale from the anxiety that he bottled up just from a few minutes ago.
Worry instantly washed over Changbin, he held his boyfriend's ice cold hands in hopes that it would comfort him and help him calm down. Chan and the others noticed Hyunjin in his horrible state. Everyone dropped everything and went to quickly check on Hyunjin.
"You look like you saw a ghost- Your hands are so cold."
Hyunjin swallowed hard, eyes darting from one direction to another, and then he replied, "Maybe I have."
The others looked at each other with confusion and worry etched on their faces, all willing to listen to what Hyunjin had to say at that moment.
"What happened?" Chan asked as he sat beside Hyunjin, hand rubbing the younger male's back.
Hyunjin shakily inhaled and exhaled slowly through his mouth, "There was a walk-in client who wanted to book for an appointment," he began, "everything was fine until he removed the scarf covering his face... I-I wasn't thinking much about it- I thought he was one of those people who came from outside the main Districts-"
"What's with his face?" Changbin asked this time, cutting Hyunjin off with his rambling.
"He looks exactly like Felix." Hyunjin finally said, taking everyone aback, all shivered at what he said, "I know that it sounds crazy, but the freckles, the eyes- it's Felix, guys! He's Felix."
"Did he tell you his name before revealing his face?" Jisung asked, hoping to find anything that made sense.
"Daleun..." Hyunjin softly muttered, then he mustered up all the courage he could collect and repeated, louder this time, "He said his name is Lee Daleun."