(click to enlarge)
STORYLINE: He ran.
Boots slapped through puddles at a frantic pace, spraying water in rhythm with his pounding heart. The downpour cloaked his presence as if it could wash away what he had become. Neon reflections of acid green, candy pink, and electric blue, rippled across slick asphalt like spilled desires. Neu Seoul dozed behind its steel mask, but something beneath its skin was wide awake screaming.
A sleek black hovercar shrieked overhead. Its searchlight sliced through the haze like a hungry predator. Inside his skull, the whispers began again, low and coaxing, like silk sliding over a blade.
"Come back to us, Lathandro... We love you... We miss your warmth…"
He gritted his teeth and sprinted harder.
"My name is Yoon Jihoon,” he panted, as if the words could ward them off. “I’m a student at Jae Won University. I study. I keep out of trouble. My friends say I’m boring. I had a normal life."
"You had nothing, Little Bookworm,” sneered a new voice, richer and more honeyed with cruelty than the rest. “We gave you Beauty. Power. Desire. Every inch of you was made to be seen. And you ran."
It was the King Cobra himself, no doubt the pilot of the luxurious black hovercar.
He could hear him clearly now: arrogant, theatrical, purring each syllable with operatic flair. Seducer. Sculptor. Sadist. Jihoon could feel the demonic cybernetic surgeon's lingering presence like a phantom kiss on the nape of his neck.
"You don’t belong among *them* anymore, Little Worm. Stay with us. Be adored. Your lips are meant to be worshipped."
His torn parka flared behind him like broken wings. His body didn’t feel like his. Too graceful. Too strong. Too perfect. A nightmare had reshaped him, a nightmare called Club Apophis. He remembered stumbling into that cursed place on a dare one night. But it felt like three years of velvet madness. Whatever reshaped him in Club Apophis, it hadn't completed its work.
The spotlight hit him like lightning as the hovercar swooped low. He caught his strange reflection in its obsidian skin. Porcelain skin. Hair soaked, cascading in streaks of white, cyan, and candy pink. Bright, doll-like eyes rimmed in high-art makeup. Glossed lips parted in panic. Latex clung to his body like a second skin, squeaking with each breathless twist.
He no longer looked like the awkward, bookish boy who went in. Now he looked like something summoned from a fever dream. Androgynous, divine, and utterly unforgettable.
Ahead was the last barrier to his freedom, a tall rusted chainlink fence. Beyond that, dawn was breaking, its rays slicing between skyscrapers in soft hues of pink and silver.
Jihoon summoned strength from deep in his altered frame, and leapt.
The fence caught his coat, tearing it. He hit the concrete hard, knees scraped raw. Sunlight ricocheted off the mirrored skyscrapers, cutting through the gloom like a blade of fire as he collapsed in a pool of light.
Behind him, the shadows hissed in fury.
The menacing black hovercar halted. Then, slowly, it too backed away. The shadows slithered back toward the forested ruins.
"Be careful, Little Worm. The daylight might crack your pretty dollface."
And then... the car backed away. The shadows slithered back toward the ruins.
Jihoon stood slowly, legs shaking, breath ragged. Blood ran down his shin, but he didn’t care. He was out. He was free.
And yet his heart ached. Part of him wanted to turn back. To return to the club. To its kisses. It's velvet chains.
“No,” he whispered, clenching his fists. “I need to find that rat bastard who dared me to spend the night there.” Sunlight glinted in his hair as he turned toward the city. “I’m gonna punch his lights out.”
This post was inspired by items at event, the movies Blade Runner and Rocky Horror Picture Show, colorful SL fashion styles from the furry community, and a story I wrote about a recurring character to the blog during my year away.
The Vertui Jacket from Cubic Cherry comes in male and female fits. It's roomy and could be worn by a variety of mesh bodies. ...The Pyre pants by Wraith have a feminine silhouette but can be worn by girls and guys. The pants include shoes that are perfectly draped by the pants with a slight slit peek a boo slit on the lower leg. They come in a base texture set of cloth or latex. Bodies supported are: Anatomy, Jake, Legacy male, athletic, and female, Lara X, Reborn, and Anatomy. ... The colorful makeup is Michele by Rubedo for Evo X heads. There are 12 colors. I used the limegreen version and layered it with cyan eyeshadow. ...I paired the event items with the Rory hair by Exile that has some badass color options, the Summer Corset and Misaki color by Artificial Hallucination, Fishnet undershirt by AsteroidBox, and this was shot on location at the cybertastic Cobalt Blue Dance Club.
On him, Yoon Jihoon:
Jacket: Cubic Cherry Vertui Jacket, fatpack, Male fit [mesh](Androgyny Event)(1999L)
Pants: wraith Pyre Jake + Bulge, black latex [mesh](Androgyny Event)(400L)
Makeup: Rubedo Michele, evox 09 [BOM](Androgyny Event)(240L)
Hair: Exile Rory [mesh](390L)
Collar: Artificial Hallucination +AH+ Misaki Collar M [mesh](349L)
Corest: Artificial Hallucination AH+ Summer Sun Corset, Jake [mesh](399L)
Thigh bag: RIOT Infiltrator Thigh Bag - B. Jake - Pink gacha set [mesh](2500L)
Undershirt: AsteroidBox Shredded Nets - Black Plain [BOM]
Earrings: Swallow Earrings Goth Human Ears [mesh](group gift)
Eyes: Poetic Colors Jaded Eyes - Jade [mesh](150L)
Hairbase: BRABUS Victor Hairbase // 4 White TINT [BOM](289L)
Body: Belleza Jake V3 Bom/Bento Mesh Body [mesh](2999L)
Head: LeLUTKA Kane Evolution [mesh](3990L)
Pose Run: momomuller / 3M [3M]**_gogogo_A7 (40L)
Location:
BONUS IMAGE: inworld raw shot, hi-res, midday sky.
