Raven

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.