Night Club

@Jung Daehyun Luckily, thanks to the ear-piercing music blasting from several different speakers, no one seemed to notice or hear the glass shattering to the ground. Sure, a fully functional, clear-headed Taemin would thank Daehyun for his actions later, all he wanted to do now was use a string of filthy words to describe his close friend. "," was the only one he managed to mutter though before Daehyun turned toward him to give his opinion on the note. He took the note and carefully folded it once again to slip into his pocket as he listened to Daehyun over the music. When he received a friendly pat on the shoulder, he seemed to finally take in everything the other male had just told him. His movements were still shaky as he slid from his stool and walked around the broken glass and spilled alcohol. If there weren't normal beings all around him, he would have picked it up himself, but he wasn't in the mood nor did he have the right thought process to remember any abilities at the moment. However, he fully expected for Daehyun to be right beside him as he made his way, weaving between sweaty, dancing bodies, out of the night club. "I know you wouldn't, nor would the others," he settled, fixing his shirt and his hair so he wouldn't look out of place in any way. He never really liked to in the first place, but he didn't want to worry anyone but looking misplaced or stressed.

Clearing his throat, he reached into his pocket for a mint to hide the smell of the alcohol on his breath. "Do not tell the others that she just left. We'll tell them she went to look for other freaks, recruiting. It's something she normally does, anyway. However, we'll say that she's possibly going around the world, so we don't know when she plans to return. For the time being..." The rest of his words were spoken with certainty and calmness despite the storm in his mind. However, he never imagined himself as being a person in charge. Sure, he helped many of the freaks and even recruited some himself, he was no Hyori. "For the time being, I'll hold my aunt's spot as ring master. I'll introduce the acts and start the show since I can replicate what my aunt did." There was only one definite rule at the Cirque: no one could leave. How the hell was he supposed to enforce that? He was powerful with his ability, yes. But he wasn't confident enough, and others knew it. "As for no one leaving the Cirque once arriving...we'll have to think of something." They were halfway to the hidden dock for the Cirque's boats, and Taemin stopped walking for a moment to glance over at Daehyun as if he wanted Daehyun to tell him that this was all a joke and Hyori was actually back at the home island, waiting for them.

@Jung Daehyun Though he'd shot a glare in Daehyun's direction, his eyes quickly softened when he realized that the other was right. In all honesty, Taemin wasn't interested in the drink itself as much as he appreciated having something literal to hold on to for the moment being. He could tell that Daehyun was becoming quickly impatient, so he took the carefully folded note from his back pocket, leaning off the stool slightly. He unfolded it slowly and set it down on the table for Daehyun to read himself as Taemin had read it so many times it was now permanently inked into his memory.

'Taemin,

I know I told you that I'd be back. But I can't come back. At least, not now. I leave the Cirque and our family in your hands. I trust you with this. I love you.

Hyori.'

Taemin had gone over a thousand reasons why the note could have been forged or forced, but he knew that it wasn't. Those cryptic words belong to his aunt, and he knew it. With a slow shake of his head, the male glanced over at his friend. "Dae, how the hell am I supposed to run the Cirque? And what am I supposed to tell everyone? That Hyori is just gone and isn't coming back. That she doesn't want to be a part of the Cirque anymore. If I feel betrayed, I /know/ they will." It had only been several hours since he'd found the note, but it still hadn't made any sense to him. He'd watched the woman fight his parents, her own brother and his wife, when Taemin turned out to be 'irregular'. Unlike other freaks, it took Taemin a while to even realize he was different since he had no real ability of his own, except the skill to be a copy cat. Yet, when he started copying the abilities of Hyori and her friends, his parents tried to physically cleanse him of his irregularities. Hyori fought for custody of Taemin and won, adopting him and taking him with her and her friends to Paris. She'd poured her heart into the French Cirque, being crushed when it was broken up by the authorities. This was supposed to be their second chance at happiness, their second chance at a family. And while Taemin, though very kind and helpful to anyone who needed, was a quiet being, everyone seemed to love Hyori endlessly. "What the hell," he mumbled, pulling the glass of alcohol back to him with a shaky hand.

@Jung Daehyun With the blare of the music throughout the club, Taemin could block out the sound of his aunt's voice when she told him that she'd be going to Seoul to take care of some things. She never usually told him when she was leaving because she was never gone for long, so it confused him. Things became uneasily clear when he later found the note on his bed, outlining her plans of leaving the Cirque and leaving him in charge. With the cold glass filled to the brim with soju in his hand, Taemin ignored the tears slowly falling onto his cheeks. Despite the energy of the club-goers around him, dancing and drinking with friends and lovers. Taemin could have gone to a quiet bar to collect his thoughts, but that would have been too depressing. He would have surely broken down in such a place. However, he had too much pride to have an emotional breakdown in front of these happy strangers. Hell, he barely shed a tear in front of his friends or family. His pride alone explained why he kept his face down, so no one would catch the tears falling.

The music helped him forget that he was only 19 years old, that he wasn't as powerful or as socially competent as Hyori was. Sure, he'd learned a lot from her since she'd adopted him from his parents when he was only 6. Yet he wasn't ready to care for a whole Cirque of people, most the same age or older than him. Who would listen to him? What the hell would he even tell them? Staring at the slowly fading foam of his soju, Taemin took a sip. He'd had the glass of the same soju for nearly 30 minutes, and the bartender surely stared in curiosity, but he honestly wasn't in the mood to drink. Sitting up, Taemin recognized a familiar heat building up inside of him suddenly. It only ever happened when he was in the presence of another 'special' person, as Hyori liked to call them. People with certain gifts or abilities that set them apart from the normal people of the world. The normal people, however, mostly labeled them as freaks. As the heat intensified, Taemin knew whoever the freak was, he or she was coming closer to him.

With so much on his mind, he couldn't remember to replicate telepathy. So, he merely turned around on his stool to see a much too familiar face. Immediately ashamed that his close friend had seen his eyes full of tears, Taemin turned back around to face the bar. When he saw the male sit down on the vacant stool next to him from his peripheral, the replicator simply turned his head in the other direction for a long moment. When Jung Daehyun didn't leave, Taemin wiped his eyes and face clean of tears with one hand, holding tightly onto the glass with his other hand, before turning back to the familiar man. "Why did you follow me?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Daehyun wasn't stupid enough to think there was nothing wrong with Taemin when he'd left the home island to travel to Seoul just for a night club. "I'll use your own fire against you if you ever tell someone you saw me crying," he threatened lightly, knowing he'd never hurt the other male.