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"Again."
Sun's body was shaking from lack of rest, the blood donation from the day before, and hurting all over from the schooling, but he lifted his head and braced his feet for Father to hit him again as he'd been commanded.
He tried his best to dodge and catch the fist, but Father was too fast and strong. His neck felt like it cracked as the huge fist connected with his face and he was laid out on the ground again.
He wanted to get up, he really did. But he couldn't move. He was so disappointed in himself that tears stung the corner of his eyes. He fought himself so that he didn't let them shed. He didn't want to disappoint Father more.
He felt strong hands lifting him. One of the other underlings of Father's. Father was in front of him, looking at him, concerned.
His voice was soft but firm. Paternal.
"Do you know why I don't hold back, Sun?" he asked.
Sun did know - Father had told him a thousand times - but he couldn't speak.
"It's because none of my enemies will hold back," he said, the familiar mantra, "and Sky must be kept safe."
That time, Sun couldn't hold onto consciousness. With those words echoing in his ears, everything went black.
----
He came to in stops and starts, and the only thing he knew was that everything hurt, and that he felt sick.
This, too, was familiar. He tried to get up, as slowly as he could, to start to prepare himself some breakfast. The way that one day he would have to for the Young Master. Sky.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and the world upended. He saw the floor coming up towards him before he had a grasp of what was happening, and again faded to black.
----
When he came to again, he was bandaged, and Father was there. He looked up at him, helpless. Embarrassed.
Father's large hand reached out and stroked his hair, gently. Sun could barely breathe, not wanting to disturb this moment, wanting more.
"You've been working hard, Sun," he said, and Sun just gazed at Father, needing those words like a balm. "You're doing very well. One day, you'll be just what Sky will need."
Confirmation. Praise. Sun never questioned how lucky he was, even on days that hurt. He'd never met Sky, but he knew that Sky was who he lived for, the lucky star that had made this life all possible.
"I've got you something," Father said, and Sun struggled to stay awake, desperately wanting to hear the words, to keep this moment going. Father's hand left Sun's hair and Sun ached with the loss, but suddenly in front of his eyes, Father was holding a colourful cube. A Rubik's cube.
Father placed it on his nightstand.
"Rest, Sun," he said. "You can play with it when you feel better. Happy birthday."
Sun couldn't fight it any longer. His eyes drifted closed, even as he felt Father's reassuring hand on his brow.
----
Sun loved that toy. He took it everywhere with him, and loved the challenge of making the sides the same colour. Even before he learnt how to solve it fully, he still loved to feel the slight click and slide as he moved the parts around. He didn't have friends - he was home-schooled, so of course he didn't - but that Rubik's cube became his only friend.
He loved it so much, so much that it helped him to understand what love really was. He wanted to protect it, make sure nobody dropped it or damaged it, wanted to make sure that it was clean and that it worked perfectly.
He grew to understand that he loved Sky like that too. He'd never met him, but he knew that he was out there somewhere, just as precious and just as in need of protecting.
He worked hard at his studies for Sky. The sting of the needle as he gave his blood was for Sky. He tried hard at his cooking for Sky. He worked out and lifted weights, working on his body and his capabilities in his free time, for Sky.
One day, at last, the Rubik's cube came together.
In disbelief, he turned it over and over in his hands, eyes wide, checking that the sides all had their uniform colours. He grinned to himself, almost trembling with excitement.
It felt like such a precious, sacred moment. He knew he needed to mark it somehow.
He gazed at the cube, and decided to make a wish, with all the solemnity of his 12 years on earth.
"I'm going to protect the Young Master, and keep him safe for the rest of my life."
He kissed the Rubik's cube, sealing that promise within its plastic walls.
And scrambled it again, so that it would stick.
----
One day, many years later, he turned 18. He was finally old enough for Father to entrust him to do what he was made to do - to meet Sky, and to serve him, and keep him safe from those who wanted to hurt him.
He was out protecting Father's estate at the time - he had an ongoing conflict with Sakkhee, another mafia leader in the area, and Father was right to hold his ground and keep his territory clean of the drugs Sakkhee wanted to trade - when he received the phonecall.
He answered with one hand, and felt the reassuring weight of his Rubik's cube in the other.
As soon as Father ended the call, he brought the Rubik's cube to his lips again, remembering that promise. Bodies all around him, he walked away from the scene.
----
His heart beat hard as he approached the house. He'd worn sunglasses, in an attempt to hide his emotional state. He hesitated before the door, and took a moment to gather himself.
He rang the doorbell once. No reply. Then again, twice. No reply. And again, twice more. At that he heard, faintly, some complaining from inside the house.
Then footsteps.
He was coming. Sky was coming. The sunglasses weren't enough to hide Sun's lack of composure, so he turned away, making himself survey the area.
The sound of the door opening. And a voice. Sky's voice.
"Excuse me," Sky said. His voice was a little different to how Sun had pictured it in his head. His voice didn't resemble Father's at all. It was lighter. Freer. The voice of someone more vulnerable to harm.
Slowly, Sun turned around, and saw the focus of all his years of service to Father, the boy who stood in the doorway, hair mussed from sleep, soft lips parted in confusion, looking at him like he was a stranger.
To Sky, he was a stranger. Sun knew that Father had never told Sky about his plans for his safety. He wanted Sky to grow up with the same joys that a normal kid had. Looking at him now, so beautiful and unguarded, Sun totally understood.
'Sky' was a good name for him after all. He was everything.
His heart started to beat faster, and in a different, new way.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Sky, rudely.
Sun took his glasses off, not wanting his vision to be blocked by them any longer. It was like that moment with the Rubik's cube. Some moments in life were just so sacred, that they should be committed to memory, never to be forgotten. This was certainly one of those moments.
He had rehearsed what he needed to say, so he took a breath and said it, trying to sound professional.
"Father sent me here to look after you, Young Master. From now on, I'll live here with you."
None of Father's enemies would hold back, and Sky must be kept safe. He would give his life to make sure of that.