Chapter Text
The sky above was a beautiful, blazing crimson. Meteors shot through the sky in perfect arcs. Ivan's heart was racing as he gripped Till's hand for dear life. They were finally escaping! They'd be happy... free... but Till's hand slipped from his grip. Till fidgeted slightly, contemplating going back. If he left with Ivan, he'd be free, but he'd be leaving behind Mizi. How could he leave behind Mizi?
Ivan's breath hitched, eyes widening as he felt the warm grip leave his hand. He knew this might happen, but he had hoped so desperately that it wouldn't. For just a second, he didn't want to turn back. He didn't want to watch Till run back for her. But Ivan had to look one last time, just to see Till's face. He needed to engrave his face into his mind for the last time.
Ivan turned around and saw Till's eyes flit up to him and back down to the ground. Till was breathing far too fast, his eyes glancing back up to Ivan one last time before he pivoted on his heel and sprinted as fast as he could back towards Anakt Garden. Ivan took a deep breath as his shoulders stiffened, tears filling his eyes.
Ivan couldn't go back with Till. He knew he couldn't. Ivan knew that if he went back, they'd probably both die in this hellhole. So he turned his back to Till and continued running in the other direction. He swore to himself he'd be back for Till someday, if it was the last thing he did.
The store was mostly empty, per usual this late at night. Some Segyein were shopping with their "human pets" who stayed quiet out of pure fear. A few Segyein were there alone, and a few human pets who were trusted enough to not rebel or run away. The yellowed lights flickered and hummed quietly. The store was somewhat rundown, right in between the slums and the main city.
The shelves were always stocked, and prices were always extra cheap. The owner of the shop kept prices cheap to get money from both the slums and the wealthy cheapskates that were willing to travel far enough for cheap prices. They sold most everything here, from food to medicine. The store wasn't too large, but it contained a surprising amount of varying products.
Ivan's hand closed around a box of hair dye: a medium brown, as per usual. He grabbed two more boxes for good measure, so he wouldn't have to worry about returning for a while, and pulled his hood further over his face. The human pet at the register looked at him with an emotion close to jealousy as she scanned his hair dye, and handed it to him in a cheap plastic bag.
Ivan walked out of the store with a slight sigh, double-checking that his hood covered his face enough. When he first escaped, Unsha's wife demanded for him to find Ivan. His men went all over the city looking for him, especially around the slums. Ivan knew he could never be too careful, in case Unsha's men were still lurking in the shadows. They stopped looking actively a long time ago, but it wasn't safe enough to walk around freely.
His life wasn't as luxurious as it was when he was Unsha's pet, but it was definitely more free. He'd gotten a part-time job at a bar mixing drinks to make money. When the Segyein got drunk, they couldn't recognize anybody as easily, especially not a kid who ran away around a decade ago and was now fully grown. Plus, when the Segyein started drinking it was hard to get them to stop, and they always tipped him well.
Ivan now had a small apartment tucked away in a shopping area. It was busy enough that finding anybody in a crowd would be next to impossible, and it was far easier to blend in. He unlocked his apartment door and stepped inside, letting out a sigh of relief. He had to work in an hour, but that still left him a moment to just be.
Back when he ran away, he picked a new name for himself to make it even harder for anybody to know who he once was. He'd written out his name in English, flipped the letters, and wrote it out in Korean instead. He remembered writing it out on a sheet of paper... Ivan... Navi... and finally Nabi. Nabi, like butterflies. Butterflies come from being born anew from a caterpillar, and that's what he was. Born anew from "Ivan" as his new self.