Chapter 1: The Sound of Earthbreaking Silence

...“Sometimes, the quiet ones carry the loudest echoes—echoes of a past they can’t remember, and a future they’re afraid to reach.” – D.O....

The rain had always been his favorite sound.

There was something calming about the rhythm, the way it drowned out the noise of the world. On days like this, Do Kyungsoo sat by the window of his small apartment, a cup of lukewarm coffee in hand, eyes staring blankly into the gray mist.

He lived simply—woke up, worked at the local bookstore, returned home, cooked, slept. Every day was a repetition, a soft blur of routine. Safe. Controlled. Quiet.

But the dreams were getting worse.

Last night, he stood in the center of a shattered world, cracked like porcelain beneath his feet. Trees burned with blue fire. The air vibrated with unspoken screams. He remembered looking up—twelve lights in the sky, and then only nine. The rest fell like dying stars.

And then—earth cracked beneath him. A force surged from his hands, breaking the ground in a ripple of raw power. He’d screamed. Not in fear… but recognition.

When he woke, the glass on his nightstand had shattered.

At work, he noticed it again. The books on the shelf trembled as he passed. A ceramic figurine slid off a counter when he reached for it. And when a kid accidentally bumped into him, the floor creaked beneath their feet—too loudly for such a small touch.

Something inside him was changing.

Or maybe, something was waking up.

That evening, as the rain returned, Kyungsoo walked past the alley near his building—the one he never noticed before. But today, his feet turned on their own.

The alley was narrow, shadowed by broken neon signs. At the end of it stood a man in a dark hoodie, hunched and trembling.

Kyungsoo paused. “Are you okay?”

The man turned slowly, revealing bruised eyes and a bloody nose. But that wasn’t what made Kyungsoo freeze.

It was the faint glow in the man’s pupils. Red. Pulsing. Familiar.

Before he could move, the man lunged.

Kyungsoo raised his hands instinctively—and the ground exploded.

The force was raw, unshaped. It blasted the attacker back into the wall, cracking it like glass. Dust filled the air. Kyungsoo stood frozen, hand still outstretched, heart pounding.

The man groaned but didn’t rise.

Kyungsoo stepped back. “What... was that?”

Behind him, a voice answered. Calm. Confident.

“You’re one of them.”

Kyungsoo spun.

A tall figure leaned against the wall, face half-shadowed under a cap. But the voice… it was familiar in a way that made his chest tighten.

“Who are you?” Kyungsoo asked.

The figure stepped closer, eyes glowing faintly gold. “Name’s Kai. But you used to call me Jongin.”

Kyungsoo blinked. “Do I… know you?”

Kai nodded once. “You will.”

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small glowing orb. It pulsed in time with Kyungsoo’s heartbeat. “This belongs to you. Your core. You’ve been asleep too long.”

The orb floated toward Kyungsoo, dissolving into his chest with a soft light. Instantly, memories flickered—a Tree of Life, twelve brothers, laughter, betrayal, burning skies.

Kyungsoo staggered.

Jongin caught him.

“I don’t understand,” Kyungsoo whispered. “What is this?”

Jongin’s voice was gentle now. “The world we knew is gone. We were the Guardians. But we were scattered. Broken. Now… we’re waking up.”

Kyungsoo looked at the unconscious man in the alley. “And him?”

“Red Force. They’re hunting us before we remember who we are.” Jongin’s jaw clenched. “They already got to some of us. Kris… Luhan… Tao…”

Kyungsoo's breath caught.

“We don’t know if they left us willingly,” Jongin continued, “or if they were taken.”

Silence hung between them.

Finally, Kyungsoo asked, “What happens now?”

Jongin’s lips curled into a soft, familiar smirk. “We find the others. And we take back what’s ours.”

As the rain turned to lightning, and the city lights blinked out for a moment too long, Kyungsoo followed him into the dark—where answers waited like ghosts.

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