Chapter Text
With the full moon's gleam up ahead, its gentle moonlight painting the quiet and dark forest, Gubo drove his car on his way home from his workplace, N Company.
He was honestly bored, his day at work giving him no projects nor material to work on. He was a scientist, one who loved to investigate and make new discoveries. Things that would eventually shake the world. Most days he did have something to work on, the constant desire for new technology to take advantage of was always running and screaming in his brain. But today was slow, almost like a break perhaps. But to someone as ambitious as Gubo, it meant absolutely nothing.
The ride home had nothing happen as usual. Gubo stared blankly in front of him as he made sure to drive safely in a world with many unknown dangers. Driving carelessly wasn't something you could do without immediately consenting to your eventual demise. However, there was nothing much on this route, typically. Just the shuffling forest and the occasional howl of the wolves. But when during the drive he saw an owl fly across his view, flying in such a way that it was perfectly encircled by the moon for just a brief moment, a small thought happened to drift into his mind. The Winged.
They were a rare, unique group of people known to have prominent bird-like features. The most well-known feature is their huge wings, both beautiful and suitable for defense and combat, very much unlike the weak hollow bone structure most birds support. In the reports collected he had read that one wing beat was enough to fracture someone's skull into pieces.
If it weren't for the massive amount of evidence recording The Winged's interactions with humans, most people would consider them non-existent. The Winged barely interacted with the outside world despite being residents of the City and were thought to take residence in dark forests akin to the one Gubo was currently driving through. The lack of detail on their abilities, customs, and more intriguing, their biological structure, made them a subject Gubo was utmost curious about studying. If he could get his hands on one, oh the number of things he could know. The desire for knowledge was not something to be messed with when interacting with someone like Gubo.
But even when lost in thought Gubo was always hyper aware of his surroundings. A trait needed to survive well in the City, developed ever since birth. And so in the corner of vision, he saw something quite odd. It was shaped almost like a black cone, but he could see a semblance of human legs peek out from the dark shape. Gubo couldn't help but slam on the brakes and quickly park on the side of the road. As he exited his car swiftly and walked over to the unidentified entity, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. It couldn't possibly be *that*, could it?
As he got closer he couldn't help but have a smile creep up his face. The black sleek shimmer of feathers in the moonlight, the large shape of beautiful wings protecting its owner. The resting eyelashes of the one within.
Without a doubt, it was one of The Winged. And the number one target of Gubo's current study interests.
When he got to The Winged person's location, he crouched down on one knee, getting to eye level of The Winged person currently laying against the tree. He lightly pulled at the wings, moving them away as the shield of their owner without much resistance, and he was met with a unique sight.
The Winged person's features were impeccable. The soft, poreless face that gleamed with the little moonlight that filtered through the leaves. The eyelashes that fluttered from gentle closed eyes. The apparent softness and glossiness of the short black hair the subject in front of him maintained. The Winged appeared to be a young man, around mid-twenties or so, and seemed to be resting at peace, even if the location was frankly quite out of place. Gubo was probably the first person to spot a Winged lying close to the roadside. Although it is not known if The Winged hate humans, they definitely do not naturally get close to their creations.
Gubo outstretched his hand and took a hold of the man's chin, upholding his features to his own. The man was remarkably beautiful, and in all honesty, was pretty attractive to Gubo. But he quickly put aside such thoughts in his brain, for beauty was truly a subjective matter. In the world of science facts cannot be decided by feelings. So while later he may ask if others at the company felt that beauty was a feature of The Winged, for now it was deemed unimportant in figuring out the more, scientific traits of The Winged in before him.
First, he would try to wake the subject up. He did not find himself wanting to commit unethical kidnapping (though no one would care if he did so, most of his colleagues turned away all morals in pursuit of the ultimate knowledge and scientific discoveries.) In most scenarios he would be the same, yet he didn't quite like the image in his mind of forcing such a beautiful man to his whims. Cough. He didn't think he was this type of person either. His colleagues would mess with him forever if he ever confessed such a feeling. Good thing he never intended to.
He didn't quite feel like raising his voice in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night to wake up one bird man on the ground. So Gubo lightly flicked the head of the man before him until he eventually woke up, a groggy yawn escaping The Winged's mouth and his eyes slowly fluttering open. The Winged's hand slowly touched their bruised forehead and he then looked up at Gubo, and a very confused frown suddenly marked their expression.
Ah, it was time for Gubo's professional smile. He reached out his hand to The Winged gently, introducing himself.
"Good evening, Winged one. I am named Gubo and found you by the side of the road, wondering if you needed any assistance." His voice is gentle and kind, very much masking the hidden intentions underneath. He did not want to frighten the little bird, after all.
What came next was a deep, unyielding stare from eyes Gubo thought belatedly to be as engrossing as the most perfectly cut obsidian. They saw deep into your soul, but yet, held some absent-mindedness and lifelessness. It was definitely a peculiar feeling, nothing Gubo had really felt before. Despite that he could see a faint light shine in them. It was definitely interesting.
The Winged kept staring until he eventually grabbed Gubo's outstretched hand. He looked deeper into Gubo's eyes and asked in a calm voice.
"Is there by chance any nourishments to be found on your person? My current state is frankly not the most amicable." A few seconds later, a stomach growling could be heard.
Gubo laughed inwardly. He sure wasn’t expecting that kind of response from someone with a high chance of being in distress. But he couldn't help but note the different way of speaking. It wasn't a surprise, as The Winged were most likely not up to date with current speech patterns. But with how little research that has been conducted on The Winged, there wasn't enough data to make any hypothesis about the various aspects of their being, let alone speech patterns. He made sure to make a mental note of this to properly investigate later.
"I frankly do not have anything on me at the moment." He shook his head in fake dismay. "However, my place of residence has quite a lot to eat, if you'd be willing to come with me." He made a slight nod to his car, parked on the roadside.
While The Winged had no idea what the object parked beside the road that the stranger in front of him nodded to was, he gripped Gubo's hand and slowly stood up. His wings unfurled and gave a small flap as The Winged stretched them and he gave out another small yawn. Then he gave a small nod.
"If you truly have the sustenance I find myself yearning for, I shall come with you. I do not enjoy the concept of perishing from hunger."
And so Gubo led The Winged to his car, a bit flabbergasted on how easy that was. But also at The Winged's attitude. The man, during the entire encounter with Gubo, was calm and collected, showing no signs of anxiety or fear when interacting with Gubo. It almost felt like the bird man knew humans quite well. Almost.
With the start of the car and the roaring of the engine, Gubo looked into his front view mirror. The Winged yet still showed no apprehension even when faced with a technology that Gubo presumed unfamiliar to The Winged. Then, he realized that he would need a proper identification to refer to this new subject by.
So as the car started to cruise down the road, Gubo spoke up.
"What is your name? You already know mine, so it should be fair for me to know yours."
The Winged looked up to Gubo from the back seat.
"It’s Yi Sang."
And that's how a morally questionable scientist may or may not have kidnapped a bird man with the premise of food. Gubo may have been against kidnapping an unconscious person, but had no qualms when baiting them with something like food. Like that, it felt like a mutually beneficial exchange. The Winged got food, and Gubo got the chance to research one of the rarest known populations of people in the City.
What Gubo may have not expected next was the very peculiar personality of The Winged he just picked up like an abandoned puppy on the side of the road.