Chapter Text
The drive towards their new home (if one could even call it that when in actuality it was just a new prison) is silent. The two young ones, Chenle and Jisung are sitting in the middle row of the car, their faces pressed against the window glass as they stare in awe at the surroundings passing by. Compared to their old home with its huts hidden between trees and walkways made out of tramped mud, the houses standing in neat rows are indeed an interesting sight. To Haechan however, this view means nothing, their mother had taken him out before and made him run errands on the outskirts of the city.
Next to himself in the back row Jaemin sits, eyes shut, though the way his fingers nervously play with the handcuffs placed tightly around his wrists betrays that he has not fallen asleep. Haechan looks down to his own cuffed hands which lay atop his lap, balled into fists.
He hates the black car, he hates the city and he hates the Agent sitting behind the wheel and the Agent who sits beside him. In any other situation, he would have laughed at the weird sight they must make, a high ranking magic wielding Agent overseeing a car filled with children. But after the failed revolution Haechan hasn’t laughed once. Even before that he hadn’t been known to smile a lot, which might also be the reason why his siblings tended to avoid him. But since he had watched the Agents slaughter his mother and kept him in a holding cell for a month he thinks he has the right to be mopping a bit.
The car stops sooner than he expected but then on the other hand it makes sense that they would place them somewhere close to the ‘Administration for Magical Matters’ short AMM in case they revised the decision of the high court.
The verdict still rings in his ears every time he allows his thoughts to wander. Supervised living and a retrial once he turns 18, with the possibility of changing his sentence to lifelong in prison. According to the judge this gives him one year to change himself into a ‘productive member of society’.
What a joke their system is.
His siblings had gotten away with a lighter sentence, Jaemin only got supervised living till he turns of age in two years and no retrial as long as he does not act out which is unlikely to happen. The two young ones were placed into foster care with occasional visits to make sure they did not stray from the ‘right’ path. How funny that they still were sent to the same place as Jaemin and Haechan, one could think the AMM did not trust even an eleven year old and a twelve year old boy and needed them under constant supervision.
But Haechan shouldn’t complain as the fact that they were minors had saved their life during the trial. Of course their lawyer and the lack of evidence of involvement had played a part but the AMM mainly let them live to soften the blow of their otherwise harsh sentencing. After all providing mercy to children always looks good on paper.
All other surviving followers of his parents had been sentenced to death.
The house they stopped in front of does not look any different than the surrounding houses, painted in a boring beige, two stories high and a green lawn surrounding it. The only thing making it stand out were the bright blue windowsills that were placed under each window and a blue door.
“Time to get out. We start with Chenle and Jisung, Jaemin and Haechan you will stay seated in the car with Mr. Jung for now,” the driver had turned slightly backward to relay the information before he stepped out to open the door to the middle row.
Searching for help on what to do next Chenles eyes gaze back towards Jaemin who gives him an encouraging smile. Seemingly assured by the small gesture Chenle tentatively steps out of the car, his one hand occupied with dragging Jisung out with him.
Silence once again spreads through the car as Jaemin watches Chenle and Jisung disappear inside the house. He is stiff as a board the concern for their two brothers rolling off of him in waves, while Haechan ignores their departure completely. Instead he locks his eyes through the rearview mirror with Agent Jung’s who is looking at him with just as much hostility. Briefly he wonders if maybe Agent Jung had lost someone dear to him during the failed revolution which would explain the unfriendly behavior he had displayed the last few days he had been assigned to them as a watchdog.
After roughly half an hour the other Agent exits the house and walks towards the car, gesturing to Agent Jung that it was now time to release the two other siblings into their new prison or pardon, new home.
“Okay boys, you know the procedure, you exit one at a time and no sudden movement. Don’t even try running away, I’ll have you on the ground before you can say ‘retrial’”
Haechan scoffs while Jaemin only obediently nods. He is also the first to leave the car, the first Agent holding him lightly by the biceps and leading him towards the house. When Haechan makes his first steps on the ground the grip Agent Jung has on his arm is everything but gentle. In moments such as this he wishes he could use his own magic to set the Agents body on fire but using magic from now on would only give him a one-way ticket to prison and no matter how much he bitched around when they questioned him a small but strong part of himself had not wanted to die with the other followers of Rising Star.
This leads him to tolerate the grip on his arm with a silent snarl while he walks closer towards the blue painted front door. When he enters the house he is greeted by a man in his early thirties. The man looks weirdly normal, with a pair of glasses perched on his nose, a beige sweater and a pleasant smile on his face. But Haechan won’t let himself be fooled. If this unsuspecting man was selected to guard the only offspring of the leaders of Rising Star he had to possess an impressive amount of magic even when his appearance seemed unsuspecting.
“Welcome, my name is Johnny and I’ll be your supervisor for the rest of your life in Jaemins case,” he gives a friendly nod towards Jaemin but his eyes slightly harden when they drift over towards Haechan, “and yours until the retrials decide how we should proceed further with you”
Jaemin manages to give a light tilt of his head back and a halfhearted, “Nice to meet you too”
Jaemin might not share the same burning hatred towards the AMM like Haechan did but he was certainly not a fan either. How could they when they grew up with the tales their mother told of their injustice and blindness towards the greater good? But Jaemin had always been better at pushing aside his own emotions and focusing on creating a harmonious atmosphere. A pushover. Might have been one of the reasons why Haechan had been mothers favorite and not him. Haechan had lived for Rising Star with all his might and he wouldn’t cower just to avoid creating a socially awkward situation, so he stays silent.
“Don’t take it personally, they tend to not speak to anyone besides each other,” Agent Jung assures Johnny while he moves to take Haechans handcuffs off, the second Agent doing the same to Jaemin. As soon as the cold metal leaves his skin he can feel magic surging through his veins again. After having it suppressed for so long the sensation is like welcoming back an old friend, missed dearly and both sides ecstatic about being reunited again. However it does not last long as Agent Jung binds a piece of red silk around his upper arm, the fabric decorated with golden engravings. When he is done the Agent presses a silver coin onto it and suddenly a burning sensation comes from the silk. Then as fast as the pain had appeared it disappears only leaving the golden engravings on his skin.
This little decoration is supposed to seal Haechans magic. Looking at it makes him sick to the stomach and hatred bubbles up from his insides. How dare they take away a part of him?
“Now that this is done too I’m sure you’ve got this covered from here. I and my partner have other work to do”
“Oh yeah sure. I’ll be back at the office in two weeks after everyone got used to the new routine. Make sure to tell Agent Lee not to eat my biscuits while I’m away”
“I can try but you know how Agent Lee is when he is frustrated”
While the men banter with each other Jaemin and Haechan still stand in the middle of what appears to be a living room, Jaemin’s inspecting the magical seal on his skin. Chenle and Jisung are sitting stiffly on a green couch two cups of what Haechan assumes is hot chocolate are placed in front of them on the coffee table. Carefully Jisung lifts the cup to his lips but when he senses his older brothers disapproving stare he is quick to place it back. In his head Haechan chides Jisung for his behavior. They are not safe here, they couldn’t accept drinks from their enemy, no matter how friendly they looked. Haechan has lived long enough to know that friendly faces often hid the most cruel personality.
As soon Johnny has sent the men off to continue with their oh-so-important work he turns his attention back towards the siblings, “So everyone I think it’s best if I show you around the house and then you can rest until I call you for dinner”
None of them answer which Johnny takes as affirmation to continue with his plans, “as you may have noticed this is the living room, equipped with a Wii, PlayStation and everything a teenager such as yourself desires though we will talk about the rules of using them by the end of the tour,” he points at the next room which could be separated to the living room by a movable wall, “this is the kitchen. You are free to eat out of the fridge whatever and whenever you like, though if you notice that something is close to being finished please note so on the board hanging on the fridge. The stove is off limit for the two youngsters though Jaemin and Haechan if you want to you can use it to cook under my supervision. Other than that I will cook dinner and one of you will help me and two of you will clean the kitchen, the rotation always changing”
“Why not wash the dishes with magic?” Haechan is not quick enough to swallow down the question.
Johnny halts in his explanation looking at Haechan with an unreadable expression, “ because you no longer have magic to wield and taking part in running this household will help you later in life when you have your own to manage”
Without giving Haechan the time to react he moves on towards the hallway, leaving him behind, inwardly stunned. How dare he speak about his loss of magic so casually when to him it feels like he lost both of his arms?
“This door leads to a spare bathroom and this one to a guest room. The door at the far back is off limits as it’s where my office is located”
There is another door but Johnny does not explain what is hidden behind which makes Haechan curious. Locked doors mean secrets and he would rather know everything about the place if he had to stay in his enemies territory. The shiny silver doorknob seems to mock Haechan when he passes by it.
They go to the stairs leading upstairs and Haechan notices a few pictures displaying Johnny together with a variety of different people. One picture in particular perks Haechans interest. It’s Johnny standing in front of a fast food restaurant, his arm slung around a person he knows all to well. An unpleasant memory pops back into his head.
“You better stay down boy, if you don’t want to get hurt,” a rough voice grunts from behind and when Haechan turns around he is faced with a man pointing a dagger in his direction.
There is a desk between him and the intruder and yet he can feel the magic radiating off the weapon, telling him that it is an artifact rather than a simple dagger.
The man takes one step closer and in turn Haechan takes one step back, coming closer towards the fireplace that warms his back. The books he had thrown in there just seconds prior crack as they turn to ashes, his lungs protesting against the smoke he keeps breathing in.
Never had he expected everything to go down this fast. After receiving the signal from his father that the storm on the AMM Headquarters had failed and even with his mother on her way back with whatever was left of Rising Star, Agents would arrive soon, he had started burning their research material. Every precious page that is burned in the fire hurts his soul but it’s what the emergency plan said.
And now he was face to face with one of those Agents, weapon pointing in his direction. Until today he had only encountered them bound by sigils and shackles.
He wills himself to stay calm.
“I should be the one telling you this”
The man does not falter in his combative stance like Haechan had hoped he would. From what he had learned spending time with their imprisoned Agents they did not enjoy being taunted by a minor, which led many to put their guard down. They did not expect an underfed child to be the one being sent to hurt them.
This Agent however did not seem to underestimate him and Haechan couldn’t fault him. The sigils written with their enemies blood on his skin had not yet crusted over, surely making him look threatening.
“I will only repeat myself once boy. On your knees on the floor and hands up where I can see them”
Instead of following the mans command Haechan takes another step backward, wincing slightly at the sharp pain he feels in his back. Last night had taken a lot out of him. They had never expected the revolution to go anything but according to plan so why leave Haechan any strength?
“Boy please I don’t want to hurt you but I will if you don’t stop moving now,” the voice of the Agent turns more urgent as he follows Haechan forward, stepping further into the room.
They probably haven’t found the basement of the house yet or the Agent wouldn’t be so hesitant to hurt him. Haechan doesn’t care, as long as it gives him an advantage. In a movement sped up by the help of the bloody sigils on his body he throws a cloud of darkness into the Agents direction. Surprised by the sudden attack the Agent barely manages to block the cloud but it distracts him long enough for Haechan to take a few steps sideways onto the illusion of a wooden plank which makes him fall right through the floor and drops him into the hidden tunnel system underneath their village. Though before stepping through the illusion he hesitates for a second to wield his magic into the fireplace to make the already thrown in scripts burn faster and leave nothing for the Agents to recover. However this millisecond is enough for the Agent to send the dagger flying in his direction.
He lands hard on the tiled floor. Immediately his hands go towards his abdomen where the dagger sticks out of his flesh, deep red blood running down its blade and coloring his black pants even darker. Looking upwards to make sure that the fake wooden plank had turned solid again, the sigil making it intangible only intended for a one time use. The sigil had worked and Haechan for now was safe from the Agent, even if the cloud of darkness had failed to do the job of killing him.
Ensured of his temporary safety he turns his full attention to the wound, which in sync with his heartbeat sends pain signals into his brain. With one fast tuck he gets the weapon out of his body, ignoring how more blood gushes out of the open gash and how it starts to make him light headed. He needs to keep going, needs to find his returning mother so that they could combine forces and drive out the Agents from their village. They would take revenge on the Agents for every single scratch they had caused on Rising Stars members and make them scream in pain. The thought of revenge grounds him enough to use his already blood stained fingers to paint the familiar healing sigil on his body, filling it up with magic as he draws the lines.
A gasp leaves his lips as the sigil does not start sinking into his body and his flesh does not close over the wound. Desperately he draws it again, yet nothing of the weird behavior changes.
It fills Haechan with dread.
Tears start to form in his eyes as he realizes what the daggers artifact magic is, the Agents coming prepared with their choice of weapon. The dagger would slowly drain out his own magic. He does not know how long the effect will last as he had removed the dagger from his body but every single second he wastes sitting on the cold tiles underground and not searching for his mother is a second to long and they need his presence if they want to defend their home.
Taking a deep breath and using the wall he stands up on shaky legs.
He can’t stop, he needs to keep on going.
The man in the picture is the Agent who had set off the series of events that had led to leaving Haechan and his brother an orphan.
One look closer and he can make out a phrase engraved into the picture frame.
‘Jaehyun and I passed the physical exams so we are allowed to eat fast food again!”
Jaehyun, finally Haechan could put a name to the mans face. A name he would curse at night when memories filtered back into his mind.
He wonders if that man had survived the cloud of darkness he had thrown at him or if he had been suffocated by it. Asking Johnny would probably be tactless.
Reaching the top of the stairs Johnny continues the tour, “The first door is my bedroom and also of limits. I have an en-suite bathroom so you don’t need to worry about me crowding into yours in the morning or at night”
The next three doors are the only ones in the entire house being open, giving sight to three plain looking bedrooms.
“The first one is for Jisung and Chenle. I’m sorry that you have to share one room but I was told that you preferred being together rather than alone and I didn’t have more rooms anyway”
It calms Hacehan down slightly knowing that Jisung and Chenle wouldn’t be separated like they were at the holding facility.
“Jaemin and Haechan you can decide how you want to split the last two rooms”
Haechan searches for Jaemins gaze but the other avoids looking at him, so he takes matters into his own hands and chooses the room with the view onto a pretty garden. The green reminds him a little bit of home.
The room is furnished with a queen sized bed, a long table with a comfortable looking gaming chair pushed halfway underneath and a wardrobe. Emotionless he looks around not really knowing what he is supposed to feel looking at the space he will have to live in for a year from today on. It’s not bad at all, definitely miles better than the basement he had expected to be thrown in but it’s not at all like the room he had back home with its furniture made of dark wood and the smell of incense wafting through the air.
From the hallway he can hear Johnny answering Jaemins question if they are allowed to alter the rooms in any way. When Johnny says yes he can picture how Jaemin holds back the beginning of a smile not wanting to show how thankful he is for finally being allowed to let his creative ideas free. Mother never allowed any of them to change anything they were given, to never paint over or alter anything, including the space they were living in.
“Now that the tour is done I would like to talk with you about a few general rules regarding your stay here,” Haechan turns back around to face Johnny. Rules were a nice way to describe the regulations placed on them and would send them back to the holding facility as soon as they even moved a finger to break them.
“First of all you are not allowed to use magic,” he says it towards Jaemin and Haechan as they were the only ones who had been identified as wielder but he makes sure to also gaze at Jisung and Chenle as he says it. You’ll never know when magical talents develop and technically the magic ban also extended to those two.
“Second you will follow every order I give you. Of course I am here to care for you and support you as best as I can but you also need to remember that I am your supervisor and I have to keep the good of everyone in the back of my mind. I will never ask something unreasonable of you and I hope that with time we can build a good relationship”
Johnny ignores the scoff that escapes Haechans but Jaemin jams his elbow against his side. Haechan gets it, they needed to play along to the game as long as they didn’t know the rules and playing field but that would never prevent Haechan from expressing his distaste towards their lies. ‘Build a good relationship’ as if that could be possible with their history, neither from their side nor Johnnys.
The best they could ever hope for is a stalemate.
“Curfew for Chenle and Jisung is 8pm and for Haechan and Jaemin 11pm. No alcohol, no drugs and no other stimulants”
“What about clothing and stuff? They didn’t allow us to take anything with us,” Chenle asks timidly. It’s a reasonable question as they didn't have anything but the clothes provided to them during their stay in the AMM holding cells. He would never admit it but he misses his old clothing, the lend ones scratching against his back in a painful manner. But they had all been burned down by the fire that set their home ablaze.
“Don’t ask him,” Haechan interrupts before Johnny can even open his mouth. With a challenging glint in his eyes he looks at Johnny while answering Chenles question, “The government will provide us with a stipend which we are allowed to spend on whatever we want without any mingling from our supervisor. We will go out by ourselves and buy stuff later on”
“Kinda true but also not. You do get the stipend from the government and while I can’t tell you what you can spend it on I have the authority to tell you what not to spend it on,” Johnny explains patiently, “Though don’t worry I don’t plan to use that power maliciously. In fact, I would like to add my own income to help you buy clothes so that you can focus on the comfort factor rather than the pricing”
For once his siblings share his wariness. Johnny was hired to make sure that none of them would continue their parents legacy so why would he use his own money to help them out? Ministry supporters weren’t known to be selfless.
It seems the adult can sense their distrust, how could he not when faced with four pairs of skeptical eyes staring at him, so he clears his throat and announces, “Anyways, I will start making dinner in an hour. Feel free to relax until then. Today I don’t expect any of you to help me out. When it’s done I’m going to call you down”
He leaves down the stairs leaving the siblings silently standing in front of their rooms. They are waiting for Haechan to make the decision on how to continue. However Haechan is just as out of his depth here as the others, only compared to them he can’t show any weakness. He needs to lead his siblings well, they were the only ones left protecting the legacy of their family and what they have worked for years for.
And yet one had to admit defeat when there was no other way out. For now they would have to play by the rules the AMM gave them.
“Let’s rest today”
They take his order with a nod and leave back into their rooms. Jaemin hesitates for a second, looking back at Haechan as if he wants to say something but thinks better and closes his door without a word.
Back inside his room Haechan lets himself fall onto the bed. It’s cozy, a little to soft but it will do for a year. He makes himself no illusion, he does not think they will let him live outside after he turns eighteen. It had already been a rough fight during this first trial, his lawyer Chittapon using every little story and evidence to sway the opinions in their favor and even then it had been a close call. Maybe because he thinks about the cold wooden bench he had spent most of the trial sitting on and listening to people curse his friends, his parents and himself, but when his eyes fall shut against his will and sleep takes over his sleep is filled with nightmares.
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He wakes up from his slumber silently. Nothing betrays that he just had a nightmare, not a sound left his lips nor did any movement shake his limbs. The only indicator is the sweat that makes his shirt stick to his body. Back at home he couldn’t risk terrifying his brothers by crying in his sleep or even worse waking mother up with his noisiness.
A knock on his door, this must have been what had woken in the first place followed by Jaemins voice, “Haechan, Johnny says dinner is ready and I don’t think.. I think we should attend so as to not anger him on the first day”
Haechan takes a second to slow his breathing and steady his voice before telling Jaemin that he’ll be ready in three minutes. He needs to change out of his stinky shirt before going down and facing Johnny again.
On his way down the stairs he pointingly ignores the picture of Johnny with his friends. He can’t stomach seeing anyone from that night right now. When he enters the kitchen his brothers are already sitting at the table, Johnny at the head of the table putting food onto their plates.
“You are late, though Jaemin said you would come down soon so I thought we could already start without you”
Haechan looks at Jaemin, trying to convey that he is annoyed that they had not waited for him to be done before going down together, but Jaemin ignores his stare in favor of taking a bite of the mashed potatoes. Chenle however catches his gaze and the younger cowers further into his seat.
Without gracing Johnny with an answer he sits down next to Jisung and opposite to Jaemin. This way Jaemin and him build a protective wall between Johnny and the kids.
“So tomorrow I’ll take you downtown to go shopping, any preferences on brands?”
Silence is the only answer as they continue eating.
“Next week school will start, are you excited to go?” he tries again but silence greets him once more.
“Good, I’m not getting paid to be your replacement parent anyways,” Johnny mumbles to himself clearly fed up by their lack of answers. It’s okay he will get used to the silence and their independence. According to Haechan they wouldn’t need to see each other at all but that was probably against the guidelines Johnny received once it was decided he was going to supervise them.
Dinner continues without any more attempts at conversation. Once done Johnny sends them upstairs and wishes them a good night. They wash up and leave into their separate rooms without exchanging words but later when Haechan lays in bed he can hear Jaemin open his door to sneak into Chenles and Jisungs room. He can imagine how they are laying together in Chenles bed, cuddling. When the sounds back at home had become to loud the younger ones often sought comfort in Jaemins arms and that wouldn’t change in their new surrounding. Haechan on the other hand stayed alone in his room. When they had been really young he had been a part of them but then at one point he had started to become alien to them and they no longer liked it when he came back from the basement and joined them.
After a few nights he had given up trying and opted out to being alone. It was easier to follow his parents call this way anyways.