Chronicle 1-The Prince and his new kingdom

It was  just another day for Kang   Taeseung, he’d just graduated high school   Earlier in the summer with his twin brother Heeseung, and was enjoying the final days of summer break before he is sent   to study art.  Their sister  Kyo lived where he’d be attending , running a business with her husband Felix there but they didn’t know what kind of business it was. Both brothers  had been popular in school, with Taeseung being on the cheer team and Heeseung being on the football team. 

   He came from the Kang family, one of the richest families in the nation.  They gained their wealth in the post World War Two period by dealing in arms and selling to governments and militaries.   

Back to the house, they were currently in their room packing up. Heeseung was doing the heavy lifting while Taeseung was trying to organize his  stuff in boxes.   Heeseung would be staying at the home to prepare for a career in their uncle's weapons business while Taeseung got into a college. 

“Yah! Heeseung! Did you see my necklace case?!” Taeseung called out to his brother.

“Which one? You have like 15” Heeseung’s voice came from inside their closet, before he stepped out carrying a bundle of warmer clothes since the city where his sister lived got very chilly this time of year. 

Taeseung sighs and begins to look through his drawers until he finds the compartment he’d been looking for. 

He found it tucked into a corner underneath his cheer uniform in his second to last drawer on the right side of his dresser. 

“Found it!” He cheered, Heeseung, ignored him and set  the bundle of clothes down in Taeseung’s suitcase. 

“Good job, Mr detective.” Heeseung  sarcastically remarked to his twin while snickering. 

Taeseung gave his brother a look of annoyance, as much as the two of them got along. Something had been different between them recently. 

Ever since Heeseung had stolen money to go clubbing earlier that same summer, things had been rocky between them. Sure they still hung out but there was a growing rift. 

Taeseung walked over to the bed, putting the box into his suitcase. “That’s all, you can go now.” he told his twin.

His brother left without a word, not even a hug goodbye.  He knew where he was going, straight to their parents' private study. They’d be doing “family bonding” again (always without Taeseung). 

He continued to pack,  trying to ignore the sounds of movement downstairs and the eventual door closing.  

“Welp, looks like its just me and the staff again.” He murmured to himself, as he walked into his closet and grabbed the last of his clothing and packed it into his suitcase before zipping it closed.

He laid back on his bed and proceeded to  face-time his friend Minju. 

“Hey!” Minju picked up almost instantly. 

“Hey, how’s it going?” Taeseung’s mood brightened. 

Minju and him had been friends since they were 5 years old and  His parents had even decided to sponsor her college education with Taeseung.

they’d  dated for a while in high school but after a pregnancy scare they decided they'd be better off as friends. 

But that hadn’t changed their relationship much. 

Minju finally replied after a minute of silence “oh! I’m doing well, just finished packing! I’m so excited that we are going to the same school together.”  she spaced out often. 

“Yeah, i’m glad that you agreed to move into the apartment with me.” Taeseung replied, laying back on his bed as he held his phone above him.

“You and I both know that I only agreed because I hate living in dorms.” Minju replied in a sassy tone, causing them both to laugh. 

“Caught me.” Taeseung put his  free hand up in mock surrender causing Minju to grin. 

“Dang right, nobody out sasses Park Minju!” she quipped.  Causing both of them to laugh.

“Except for Kang Taeseung”  Taeseung retorted through laughter. 

They continued to laugh and chat into the night,   wanting to enjoy the last day of their lives where they wouldn’t be stressing about adult responsibilities. 

[Three  days later ]

Taeseung  had just gotten off the plane and were making their way through the small local airport in the city where his sister lived. 

Minju had taken a earlier flight two days ago so she could begin setting up their apartment with his sister Kyo, letting him have extra time to continue packing everything he needed to live there. 

He stretched as he stepped off the plane, removing his backpack for a moment. “Man, that was a long flight.” 

Hoisting his backpack back onto his shoulders he began making his way to baggage claim.  He found his suitcase almost instantly, rushing over and grabbing it before making his way to the pickup area to catch a taxi to the apartment block his sister owned. 

“Taxi! Taxi!”  He hailed a taxi, failing the first 4 times before the 5th stopped for him.

“Where to?” the old taxi driver, with a voice that sounded like a box of nails from years of smoking asked him.

“To  Phoenix district please!” Taeseung replied energetically. 

The taxi driver nodded, before he took a road that led them into the center of the great, Atlas city.  

A massive  man made island in the middle of the Pacific island with a climate similar to New Zealand. Built in the 2010s and it had quickly attracted a population. 

The city was a buzzling metropolis almost like a  human beehive. Taeseung had never seen so many people before. 

It took the taxi about an hour to take him the the Phoenix district, a suburban inner city hybrid area that was said to be the Atlas city version of Itaewon. 

The taxi stopped in front of a large looking apartment building, the style blew  Taeseung’s mind.  “This is where my sister lives? And she got Minju and I an apartment here too?” he said out loud, absolutely bewildered. 

He payed the driver, with the currency of the city known as  Hyperyon and grabbed his suitcase and made his way into the building. He barely got into the building when a weight slammed into him.

It was his older sister Kyo.

“Hey there little bro!” she playfully punched his shoulder. “Took you long enough to get out here, your girlfriend beat you here!” 

Taeseung choked on spit upon hearing her refer to Minju as his girlfriend. “A-Actually………we broke up last summer. Were still friends though.” 

Kyo’s face flushed with embarrassment, covering her mouth in shock. “Shit, I need to-” 

A deep voice cut her off. “Hey there, bud how are you?” 

It was Kyo’s husband Felix.

“Hyung!” Taeseung ran to Felix and hugged him tightly. 

“Yah! How come you didn’t react that way when you saw me?!” Kyo puffed out her cheeks playfully. 

Felix patted the younger boys back, before turning his gaze to his wife and mouthing ‘does he know?’ 

Kyo’s eyes shot to her little brother before she looked at Felix and shook her head as ‘no.’ 

Kyo took hold of her brothers arm and softly whispered. “Hey, let’s head inside the apartment okay? Yours will be right below ours and is connected by a spiral staircase with a special hatch.” 

“Okay Noona.” Taeseung smiled softly, unaware of what had happened. 

When they walked into the apartment, Minju was walking out of the bathroom in a oversized shirt drying her hair with headphones on…………she looked somewhat upset.  Taeseung noticed. 

“Minju? What’s wrong?” He tried walking to her but was stopped by Kyo’s grip on his arm. 

“Taeseung…………there’s something you should know.  Mom and Dad never actually paid for school here, they sent you away………….here so Heeseung can take over the company.”   Kyo told her brother. 

Taeseung’s hand, which had been gripping his bag  relaxed and it crashed to the floor. “What?.........they…..abandoned me?” 

Minju walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.  “Kyo Unnie was nice enough to let us work at the club she and Felix Oppa own.”  she whispered softly,rubbing her thumb on his skin. 

The boy broke down into tears, he was by far the most sensitive member of the family. His sister hugged him tightly,  whispering to him that it’d be okay.

[6  weeks later] 

It’d been 6 weeks and Taeseung had been adjusting into this new life living with Minju in their apartment. He hadn’t spoken to his family, he didn’t want to and he knew they wouldn’t try and reach out. 

He’d been taking some commissions online to make art for music artists and content creators, small projects that didn’t take him much effort. 

Minju herself was helping Taeseung, posing as a model for some of the more………….risque requests.  But other than that she’d been helping Felix and Kyo by cleaning their apartment when they were working.  

But this morning they were taking it slow, Taeseung was working out in the living room while Minju sat on the counter sipping coffee.  That’s when Felix opened the hatch that connected their apartments and walked down the staircase.

“Hey guys, I talked to Kyo and she said she finally might have a job for you both.” He called out, not caring that he interrupted their quiet morning. 

Taeseung stopped mid push-up and Minju froze, coffee mug halfway up to her lips.

Felix crossed his arms, scanning the room. “The job, I cannot tell you here. You don’t have to take it but if you do you’ll find out when we arrive at our club,Kyo’s there already.”

Minju stared at Felix for a moment,  same as Taeseung as neither of the two did anything. But Minju finished her coffee, set the mug down and hopped off the counter.

“Let me go get ready first.” 

“I’m coming to.” Taeseung said, pulling a tanktop over his head. 

He and Minju quickly got dressed, Minju went with something fancy but simple. 

Taeseung, finally not under the thumb of his controlling parents, decided to dress a bit more loosely. 

“Alright, lets go.” Felix closed the hatch and walked them to the front door.   He led them to an elevator that led them down onto the ground level, this part of Atlas city didn’t allow cars so people got around by going on boats.

Minju and Taeseung sighed in exasperation as they saw the boat.  Much to Felix’s chagrin he looked at them as he hopped on. “You want this job or not?” 

The two then begrudgingly got onto the boat and  Felix put it into gear and it shot under the water and soon they were underway  through the watery archways

They shot through the water,  Minju held onto Taeseung’s arm as she was still not used to doing stuff like this. 

Soon they slowly began surfacing as they got closer, and Taeseung was able to see the vibrant life in the Phoenix district of Atlas City.  The drive was about half an hour.

“Woah..”  Minju whispered, “Woah is right.” Taeseung echoes.

“Impressive huh?” Felix spoke, eyes focused ahead of them as he piloted the boat.  He coasted the boat into a smaller waterway before parking it this magnetic doc in front of a large black building. 

“This is it?” Taeseung asked in awe, the building was a large complex with what looked to be like castle-esque palisades around it.  Minju looked at him, before closing his  open mouth with her hand. 

Felix grinned before leading them inside the club,  nobody was there because it was early afternoon. 

He led them through the entrance which was a long narrow hallway where bouncers wearing black masks stood watch.  Through the hallway led into a large complex lit up by fancy chandeliers and a large stage.

There seemed to be dancers practicing on the stage, but Taeseung and Minju were too far away to get a good look at them. 

A large crimson door that was next to the stage opened and Kyo stepped out, this version of his sister Taeseung did not recognize. 

She was all dolled up and in a dress, in a way Taeseung had never seen. But before he could voice his shock and awe. His sister made her way over to them and wrapped an arm around her little brother. 

“You’re here! Quickly, follow me!” 

As she led them through the back area of the building, she told them that their club was a  pleasure club with two different types of membership. The 1st floor was  for paying customers who wanted to see strippers and naked dancers. The 2nd floor was for those who bought private memberships and joined a sex club with a strict dress code. 

Minju and Taeseung were flabbergasted, much to Felix and Kyo’s amusement.  Kyo kept on talking as she led them into her office.  They then spent most of the day discussing options for work. 

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of bass playing music. 

“Well, looks like the afternoon shows are beginning.” Kyo grinned and turned to  Minju and Taeseung. 

“Go check it out.” She said with an expectant tone. 

So, as the obedient learners  they were,  Minju and Taeseung walked out of the office and through the back area into the main room. 

The room had drawn a small crowd as performers began dancing, they wore skimpy clothes that could barely register as anything but cloth. 

They could finally see them, but one of them looked familiar. Minju pointed her out to Taeseung.

“Tae, look.” Minju shook the boys shoulder, causing him to look where she pointed. 

What they saw nearly  made his heart stop out of shock because on that stage, wrapped in nearly see through cloth sensually  dancing……………….was  Heeseung’s girlfriend Youngseo. 

“Y-Youngseo?!” both of them whisper yelled...