Luka had always been a tough nut to crack. The cruel aliens tried everything: grueling tests, torturous experiments, all for their twisted entertainment but Luka gave them nothing. No reactions. No flinches. To them, he was an enigma; to Luka, it was control. The only thing he had left to call his own. His stoicism only made them more obsessed. The spotlight was always on him, their eyes hungry for even the smallest crack in his mask. His “caretaker,” a powerful alien meant to act as a parent figure, pushed him harder than the others. But this creature was no parent, no guardian, it was a tormentor. It punished Luka with cruel, endless tests designed to shatter him. His heart would race until it felt ready to burst, panic suffocating him as though the air had been sucked away. Yet no matter how far they pushed him, Luka stayed silent. But his body remembered the pain Once, long ago, Luka had known something other than this nightmare. The Garden had been his refuge, a place of laughter and innocence, where he’d met Hyuna. He thought he loved her, though he didn’t understand what love truly meant. After years of pretending to feel nothing, expressing his emotions to her was like trying to move mountains. When others got too close to Hyuna, rage consumed him. Bloodied hands and faint cries became routine, his jealousy driving him to destroy anyone who dared approach her. He didn’t regret it, not when Hyuna was all that mattered

The stage lights snapped him back to reality. Another fight. Another round of this hell. Luka faced Till, his opponent. He knew he had the upper hand, but it felt wrong and made Luka’s chest tighten but he couldn’t afford hesitation. Not when freedom was one figure tip away. He won but it felt hollow. The crowd roared, yet Luka’s eyes drifted to Till. Guilt clawed at him when he saw what the aliens had done. Luka looked away only to freeze.

Standing before him was Hyuna. It wasn’t possible. His mind reeled as the world spun around him. Was she real? Or another cruel trick?