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Anonymous
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Published:
2025-06-16
Updated:
2025-06-25
Words:
4,786
Chapters:
4/?
Comments:
39
Kudos:
178
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1,503

carefully, lovingly, purposefully raised

Anonymous

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

 

 

Yoojin awoke to a clean, modern office room.

 

The air was still. Clean. No hint of smoke, no blood thick on the floor, no weight of death pressing in from all sides.

 

His eyes fell on the calendar.

 

That date.

 

Of course.

 

How merciful, that time chose to rewind here. Not to some random day of mundanity. But to the moment it all began.

 

The day Yoohyun came to him in a rage. The day he accused Yoojin of selfishness for daring to reach out to the Awakening brokers. The day he began to pull away in earnest.

 

Yoojin sat still for a long moment. Letting the silence settle. The certainty.

 

He wasn’t dreaming. That much he knew.

 

And he wasn’t surprised.

 

Why would he be, when he’d already clawed his way through the worst fate could offer? When he’d already watched Yoohyun smile through a dying breath, finally remembering where he belonged?

 

He wouldn’t wait around this time- for love to find its way home, for Yoohyun to remember who he belonged to.

 

Love was too soft. Too uncertain.


It faltered, it wavered.


It could be twisted, rejected, mistaken for guilt.

 

So this time, Yoojin wouldn’t just love.

 

He’d make himself necessary.

 

As necessary as the air one breathes.

 

And most importantly...

 

Impossible to escape from.

 

The door slammed open.

 

Yoohyun stood in the doorway, furious, breath ragged from running. His eyes burned.

 

“You went to an Awakening broker?” he snapped, voice already rising. “What were you thinking?! Are you insane?! Do you know what those people do to unawakened—?!”

 

Yoojin didn’t respond.

 

He only looked at him.

 

Yoohyun’s anger hit like a storm, but Yoojin didn’t flinch.

 

He simply watched. Calm. Detached. As if Yoohyun’s fury was no more threatening than a child’s tantrum.

 

Inside, though, he was drinking in the sight.

 

Alive.

 

Whole.

 

Still loud. Still careless. Still beautiful.

 

And still so easy to break.

 

“Are you even listening to me?!” Yoohyun snapped, stepping forward now, hands clenched. “You could’ve been hurt- no, killed! What the hell were you trying to prove?!”

 

Yoojin tilted his head, slowly. Then finally, he spoke. His voice was quiet. Almost thoughtful. Very softly, he asked,

 

“...Hey, Yoohyun. Do you want me dead?”

 

The question hit the air like a dropped blade.

 

Yoohyun stopped cold.

 

“…What?”

 

“It’s a simple question.”

 

The fury on Yoohyun’s face faltered, replaced with confusion, before settling back into anger again. “Why the hell would you even say something like that?”

 

Yoojin stood up. Walked forward slowly, each step unhurried, deliberate. Towards his brother.

 

“If you want me dead,” he continued softly, “Then keep going. All you need to do is just keep treating me like this.”

 

Yoohyun flinched. His eyes widened.

 

“Keep talking to me like I’m a burden. Like I’m something to be ashamed of. Keep walking away. Go on. Keep pushing me away.”

 

“Hyung, what? I- I don't, What are you saying—”

 

“Now, don't play at being innocent, Yoohyun,” Yoojin said, smiling faintly. “You’ve been doing it for years. I’d dare say you've even become a real expert at it.”

 

“I don’t, no, I'm not-”

 

“As if the sole purpose of your very being is just to push me away as far as you can. Well, if you want me far away so badly, why stop at simply pushing me out of your life?”

 

He stepped even closer, until Yoohyun had to look directly into his eyes.

 

“The furthest you can push me, Yoohyun, is to the grave itself.”

 

Yoohyun’s breath caught.

 

“You always said I was weak. Powerless. That I shouldn’t get involved.”

 

Yoojin lowered his voice further, soft and sad. He continued.

 

“But did you ever think… maybe the only thing keeping me alive was you?”

 

Yoohyun took a half-step back.

 

“I’m not saying this to make you feel bad,” Yoojin continued, smiling like he meant it. “I just want you to understand. If you keep pushing me away… then I will stop trying to live.”

 

His tone was so even. So reasonable. Like they were discussing a scheduling conflict, not life or death.

 

“Because without you at my side, living for me, there’s nothing left for me to live for.”

 

“Stop it,” Yoohyun whispered.

 

Yoojin’s smile didn’t waver. “Why? Does the truth scare you? Because if you want me dead, if that’s what you want- then fine. Just keep continuing on as have you been.”

 

Yoohyun shook his head, eyes wide. “That’s not what I meant by my actions. I just didn’t want you to get hurt. That’s all.”

 

“You didn’t want me to get hurt,” Yoojin repeated. “So you decided it was better to abandon me altogether?”

 

“Of course not—!”

 

“You didn’t even say goodbye, Yoohyun,” he said, voice still even. “Do you remember that? When you left? You packed your bags and told me I was a hindrance. And then you walked out.”

 

“I was trying to protect you!”

 

“No,” Yoojin said simply. “You were trying to escape me.”

 

Yoohyun’s face crumpled. “That’s not true.”

 

“It’s okay,” Yoojin said, with a small, patient smile. “You don’t have to say it. I already know.”

 

Yoohyun’s breath hitched.

 

“I know you thought I was weak. That you didn’t need me anymore. That I’d hold you back.”

 

Yoojin leaned in slightly, voice dropping.

 

“And maybe I was. Maybe you're absolutely right. But the moment you decided you were better off without me, that’s when I started dying.”

 

Yoohyun flinched like he'd been struck.

 

“You can’t say that—”

 

“Why not?” Yoojin asked. “Because it makes you feel guilty? Because it reminds you of how fragile and weak I really am?” He smiled faintly. “It’s the truth.”

 

Yoohyun looked down. His hands trembled.

 

“I wasn’t trying to hurt you…”

 

“You don’t have to try,” Yoojin said gently. “You just have to keep doing what you’ve been doing. Then, you won’t have to worry about me for much longer.”

 

Yoohyun looked up sharply. “Don’t say that.”

 

“Why not?” Yoojin asked again. “You’re the one who made me feel disposable.”

 

“I didn’t mean to!” Yoohyun shouted.

 

Yoojin’s expression didn’t change. “But you did.”

 

There was a long silence between them. The kind that stretched and coiled and filled every breath like smoke.

 

Yoohyun’s shoulders began to shake. His mouth opened, but the words stumbled and fell apart.

 

And finally, finally-

 

Yoohyun broke.

 

His eyes filled. His hands trembled at his sides.

 

“I’ll do anything,” he choked out. “Just—don’t talk like that. Please. I’ll do anything for you.”

 

Yoojin’s heart stilled.

 

For a moment, the world held its breath.

 

But then—

 

[System Alert: Condition Met — Total Emotional Submission]

 

[You have Awakened.]

 

[Title Acquired: The One Who Shackles]

▶ Rank: L

▶ Description:
You do not love. You bind.
You do not protect. You possess.

 

[Unique Skill Acquired: Shackles of Shared Fate]

▶ Rank: L

  • They breathe for you. Bleed for you. Break in your place. Die in your place.

  • The skill activates the moment someone sincerely tells you, "I'll do anything for you." From that instant, their fate is bound to yours.

  • Upon activation, distance becomes torment. Defiance becomes agony.

  • Under specific conditions [Locked], Yoojin may use the abilities of those under his shackles.

  • Those who are shackled may try to flee, but every attempt only drives the shackles deeper. They will always return. Or they will break trying.

 

The world dropped away.

 

Shackles stirred in the void. Dark, gleaming. Alive.

 

The shackles were his.

 

They slithered toward him like loyal beasts, wrapping around his limbs, his spine, his heart.

 

Yoojin opened his eyes.

 

He was back in the room with Yoohyun.

 

Yoohyun still stood in front of him, tear-streaked and pale, his hands clutching Yoojin’s sleeves like a lifeline.

 

“You’ll never have to worry again,” he murmured. “I’ll make all the decisions for you from now on.”

 

Yoohyun blinked, confused. Still trembling.

 

Yoojin leaned in, their foreheads touching. His voice lowered into something darker. Intimate.

 

“There’s no need for doubt anymore. You’ve already chosen.”

 

He slid a hand behind Yoohyun’s neck, not to restrain, not yet, but to remind.

 

“Your place is with me, okay?”

 

After a moment, he felt Yoohyun nod. Then leaned against him fully to hug him. 

 

Then, softly, as a reward:

 

“Good boy.”