Into The World of Royalties | Stray Kids

S5: 3: Reflection of the past

A light dawned on the man who groaned on the floor from the fall he experienced. He slowly looked around to see nothing but darkness surrounding him.

He lifted himself while holding onto the unbearable pain he felt in his stomach. Minho turned around to look for something amidst the darkness.

"Where am I? Whoever you are, reveal yourself!" He shouted into the oblivion.

A chuckle echoes through the room, giving Minho cold sweats.

"Welcome, my friend..." A voice appeared.

The light gradually broadened till the whole room could be seen.

"To my game!" The voice exclaimed as Minho looked terrified at the four large mirrors on each side of the room.

However, instead of reflecting himself, the mirrors reflected a boy of different kinds of ages. The first mirror shows a boy around age 6 covered with bruises on his legs, and arms and even a black eye. His head hung low as he remained quiet there.

The second mirror showed the boy aged a bit, maybe around 10 years old. This time instead of wearing short pants and sleeves, he covers himself with long sleeves and pants, tugging his sleeve to cover something underneath it. His head hung low but was looking to his side as if he was ashamed.

The third mirror showed the boy with little differences in age. Probably set at the age of 12, held his head high with thick make-up. He had a straight posture, a stiff smile and a blank stare as if he was forced to be in that position.

Finally, the last mirror showed the boy's back was facing Minho. Either that he could tell, the boy was looking down, Minho couldn't see much. The significant difference he saw was the height. He had gotten taller. Assumingly he's a teenager.

Minho staggered as his eyes shifted from one mirror to another. It reminded him of the wound he wouldn't want to reopen. As if he was engulfed by the painful memories he tried so hard to shut away. The wound he had just stopped. He knows. The boy in the mirror was him.

"Congratulations, you're my 101th player!" The voice excitedly exclaimed.

"What is this?" Minho asked while looking up to the ceiling, searching for anything that might help him know his preparator.

"Reflection of the past is a favourite game of mine! The rules are simple; watch the mirror and guess..." The high-pitched voice beamed.

"Who am I?" Immediately the voice dropped low and turned into a sinister laugh.

Having no way out, Minho decided to oblige to the game for the time being before he could think of an escape plan. He walked closer to the first mirror.

His feet trembled with each step as he stared at the boy. His jaw clenched when he got closer to the mirror. There he was standing in front of his reflection of his younger self. With shaking hands, he reached out to the boy.

"Minho!" A small voice appeared, making both of them flinched.

The mirror point of view seemed to move closer to the boy while shaking a bit as if it was taking each step. Minho could hear the mirror panting. It moved down, looking at a pair of feet with hands resting on the knees.

Minho finally realized he was watching from another person's point of view. The view moved up again to see the younger boy look at him curiously.

"That old geezer did that to you again?" The kid huffed in anger.

Young Minho hesitates before shaking his head, trying to deny the accusations. The kid grabbed his hands and pulled him closer.

"One day, I'm going to be big and strong and and, I will protect you! I'll make sure that old geezer gets twice...no ten times the pain!" The kid stated his plan to the young bruised boy. Young Minho cracked a smile and just nodded.