Inner Child

A day might've passed, or a week. Uriel trudged down the stairs and wormed his way into the dining room.

"Ah, good to see you, Uriel," his mother blandly muttered in a forged sophisticated tone, setting a plate of king prawns and carbonara against the firm table. Bowing lightly to his mother, he sat down alone, forking a prawn. "Don't eat too much, we will be visiting the Kwons for dinner."

"Hm, what for?"

"Marriage to their eldest daughter."

He inhaled his water far too sharply, causing tiny sprinkles of it to dot around his mouth. "Pardon, what? Again, already? I thought we're meeting them later. I'm not getting married, I just barely turned nineteen!"

"Remember who you're raising your voice at, boy. Do not forget who raised you. We are going, and that is final. Should you wish to object, then leave this household and all the items we purchased for you," she sneered with a deep scowl, a face only mothers are capable of making. Shuddering in his seat, he downed his water, storming up to his room, not even mustering the care to glance back.

An arranged marriage isn't something he's unfamiliar to. In a twisted way, he's been prepared for it since birth. He isn't shocked in the slightest. Besides, this is the second or third one that has been proposed, but each time, their families never got along. The Kwons, however? Business partners for the past ten years. A little harder to weasel out of this one, but figured he had to find a way out.

He passed time with a few bits of homework, throwing a ball at the ceiling, and gazing out of the window. He looked at the waxing crescent Moon absently. "Huh, rock," Uriel mumbled, groaning once he realised the time. Suddenly, a not so cleverly clever idea popped up in his head.

Hypothetically, as a casual suggestion, what would happen if the Kwons didn't like Uriel?

A smirk overtook his features, a familiar childish rush flowing through his veins. Running up to his closet, he flung on his best suit, practically skipping down the stairs. Upon reaching halfway down, his parents distastefully glared.

"With elegance, please, for God's sake!" his father beckoned, readjusting his tie.

"Well, you seem brighter than before?" his mother questioned suspiciously.

"Of course, shall we leave?" Uriel smiled, only the Cosmos knowing what he's so gleeful for.

"See? Mother always knows best. I should know you better than anyone," she arrogantly raised her head to the side, striding off as his father followed.

Momentarily, his smile dropped, grimacing. "Dear lovely; no. You don't know me at all," he mumbled, jogging to catch up with them.

A car ride later, they stood before the large door of a mansion, more on the antique side compared to the modern one they were situated in.

"Ah, welcome, Kims," a slightly pudgier woman opened the door, clothed in a black gown tickling the marble floor.

Uriel could've thrown up at the amount of artificial sweetness the adults reeked, but desperately held himself together at least until dinner. A shorter girl, almost at the height of his lower chest had appeared, eyeing Uriel in more ways than one. Finally, an opportunity, Uriel sniggered mentally, commencing his plan.

"Is this the girl I'm marrying..?" he raised a brow.

"Why, yes. Lovely, isn't she?" Uriel's father written his pearly white teeth, dagger-like enunciation piercing through the gaps of his gums.

"You sure she's legal? Wouldn't want to catch a case, to protect the Kim's name and all," he smirked, marking the drastic height difference with his hands. He was a full two feet taller, and that greatly bothered him already.

"Kim Uriel; manners," his mother scolded, pointing her gloved finger at him.

The girl was clearly taken aback, a miniscule frown crawling onto her once happy demeanour.

Phase one, considered complete.

Sitting themselves down, Uriel just ogled absently at his seat a little while, before his mother ushered for him to sit with wide, steering eyes. Making a sound in 'realisation,' he sat down, manspreading as wide as he physically could, slouching his back. The Kwon parents just stared, eyes slightly magnified with their mouths barely open, briefly flashing their artificial crystalline teeth.

"Right, so - Welcome to our dinner! We would like to create a bridge between the Kwons and Kims, welcoming all types of opportunities this unition might avail," the hefty, red-faced father cheered, hands flailing as he talked.

"Lol. Kwon sounds like con. You sure this 'aight?" Uriel internally cringed. Oh, it hurt to use awkward slang aloud, but kept his nonchalant act up regardless. Even then, damn, it hurt his ego. Appearing anything less than pristine was his ultimate goal, even if he had to sell parts of his pride to achieve it.

"I assure you, it's anything but! The name derives fr-"

"Mhm, interesting. Can someone pass the rice?" Uriel interjected like a truck at full speed, chugging the glass of water placed afront him.

Phase two, complete.

"So, Uriel, is it? I heard you major in biology?" the stunted mother began, forking a piece of beef.

Of course mother told them that, Uriel mentally scoffed. They always wanted him to be a doctor or take over their company; neither of which would ever happen on his watch. Suddenly, his first conversation with Erin popped into his mind. A few gears cogged, unfortunately, and used that to his advantage.

"Oh, yeah. I just fucking love orgasms."

The stout lady choked, pale face burning a rosy red. Grinning, he turned to see his father's reaction, and, oh boy. There was no mercy after dinner. Not that he minded; he'd take his parent's rage over marrying a deemed infant any hour of the day, any day of the week.

"I think you mean, organisms," the daughter corrected raising a brow, sipping on her soup.

"Oh, is it? Sorry. You're quite smart for a toddler," he sarcastically beamed, watching her face contort into a countenance of unblemished irritation. Closing his eyes for a moment, he sent his thanks to Erin for the conversation idea, using all the willpower he had to drown the laughter forming in his throat. Kim Uriel awoke on a sunny morning and chose violence to fashion, singlehandedly destroying a dinner, which he was actually quite proud of. He didn't look for his parents' reaction anymore, full well knowing what they look like. Luckily, they can't reprimand Uriel just yet, since they're in public and need to protect their image.

"Please, forgive him. He's had a...concussion? Yes, a concussion for a few weeks. It's taken quite the toll on his mental capacity, but it shall return to its brilliant state within the next few days!" Mrs Kim nervously chuckled, stroking Uriel's head. Flinching at her hand, Uriel's mother glowered at him, whilst he just puckered sarcastically.

"Oh, dear! What ever happened?" Mr Kwon bought into the lie, face twisting in concern.

Before his mother could open her mouth, Uriel took charge, picking his nose deeply. "Oh, you know how it is. Cocaine, and that. A few drops of heroine here and there, too. Wanna see the scars?" he stated matter-of-factly, eyes widening and tone raising to make it even more melodramatic. Pulling his finger out of his nostril, he flicked a booger unto the table, watching everyone cringe, as Mrs Kwon even gagged. "Damn, that was a thick one," he mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.

And that, was a wrap. Uriel talked himself into his grave, making it look beyond easy to hate someone. Yes, that was his plan. Talk so much rubbish until they themselves call everything off. This marked the very last time the Kwons invited the Kims for dinner. He talked and talked until he ran out of nonsense, wanting them to hate him just as much as he hated them.

Real smart.

"Just you wait until we reach our mansion," Mr Kim scowled, eyes red, skin hot to the touch. Gulping in his seat, Uriel sunk down, preparing himself and praying to every upper being.

"Kim. Uriel. Explain yourself immediately!" his father yanked him by the arm, throwing him into the mansion with impregnable aggression. His mother shut the door, walking over coyly, before smacking Uriel's cheek with her hand. Breathing heavily, she backed off, prancing up the stairs.

"Um," Uriel trailed off, not planning this far ahead as to what he'd respond with.

"Do you have any idea as to what you have done to our name?" he heaved, body doubling in size as he towered over his son.

"No, father. I apologise."

"Oh, so now you choose to be respectful! Why did you not display yourself as such, before? We've just lost access to incredible amounts of stock and power!" he rasped, running out of breath in sheer rage. "I don't want to see the likes of you. Do not exit your room for a week. The butler will bring you nourishments," he growled, pointing to the stairs.

Oh, Uriel hit a nerve.

Bowing, Uriel dashed up the stairs with trembling hands, but beyond ecstatic at the same time. Locking his door, he stared out the window, unable to bite back his squeal. Shrieking in ecstasy, he punched the air for a bit, calming his fluctuating nerves.

"Damn, that man can be fucking scary," he shuddered, thinking back to his father's limitless rage.

A regular day in his life, he'd call it.

He just knew for a fact that the Kwons would never call again; maybe even block their number, if he was truly as successful as he thought. Chuckling manically again, he leaped into his head, pulling on his headset.

Home sweet home, he thought, as he materialised into the game. Upon arriving in the lobby, he dashed towards town upon noticing the fact that Erin was online, pressing the option to teleport to his location.

Bad choice.

Erin was in mid battle with a raging bull in the same unterritorial region of land, as Uriel landed directly in between the wide eyed Erin's sword and the bull.

"Aw, shit."

Running behind Erin, he hid as he squatted below him, covering his head. Whilst jostling, Erin breathed out a sentence as he duelled the animal.

"What the hell-" Erin jumped forward, stabbing the bull's eye. "-Are you doing here?" he huffed, gracefully turning, falling to his feet, and stabbing the bull in the heart from below. Immediately, it plummeted to the ground, body deteriorating as XP hovered around Erin's feet whilst he caught his breath.

"Oh, right," he rolled tongue on the 'r', standing up and gaining composure again.

Pulling his companion out of the field and into the nearby café, they sat down, whilst Uriel ran down on the events that had just occurred to him.

Erin almost didn't have a reply. Uriel recalled it like recalling a bad sandwich you had for dinner, face deadpanned. "You-? I don't-"

"Yeah, I know. I shouldn't have worn a nice suit. It gave the wrong impression," he hummed.

"No, no, no, not that. Not that at all." Erin pinched between his brows. "You're actually really gross? I mean, it's disgusting, and," Erin scrunched his face in distaste, slightly put off as he pushed his cake away. "How did you even," he mumbled.

A lot of sentences went unspoken, there.

"You gonna eat that?" Uriel questioned, as Erin nodded a firm no, watching Uriel devour the cake.

Uriel didn't mention a lot, just the fact that he was supposed to meet a family for a potential marriage, and all the nitty gritty bits in between. Thinking a bit, Erin actually grew a bit curious for once.

"How come it's arranged? That's fairly old school, from what I can remember," Erin wondered, but unsure since he actually hasn't been involved with the essence of reality for a few years.

"One of the few cons of being loaded. The hungry get hungrier," he responded.

"Surely that didn't work. There's no way that a whole several billion deal can just vanish because of a snot-faced man-child?"

Uriel chuckled. "Thank you, I try my best," he bit into his cake. "One of the other cons of being loaded. A pretty reputation almost means more than anything else."

Erin nodded thoughtfully. It made sense, kind of. Your reputation is what attracts business deals, after all. "Uhm, was the girl.. pretty?"

"Not my type. She was barely even two foot six," Uriel joked, earning a few chortles from the latter. "She was even shorter than you, which is madness to me," he added, as Erin ceased his laughter.

"I'm literally only four centimetres shorter."

"Mhm. How's the weather down there?" Uriel smirked. "You this short in real life?"

It was safe to say Erin kind of didn't know. He barely looked in the mirror or left his bed, so he assumed he was the same height if the game set it as default. "Uh, yeah. And you?"

"Yep. I changed nothing about my appearance. Don't need to," he grinned proudly. Good for him. "You?"

"No. Though, I made my skin a bit.." more alive? More healthy? Less dead and grey? ".. a bit more pink toned," Erin timidly finished. That works, too.

Uriel noticed the stutter, but bit his tongue. "Ah, okay. You know, you can actually be, um, cool," Uriel pointed out. "Talkative." Erin didn't know how to respond. If he talked, he talked. If he didn't, then he simply just didn't.

"Why? You get bored of my voice?" he demurely mused, shamefully admitting to himself that he might value Uriel's opinion more than he liked or believed.

"Nah. Just means that a conversation actually exists, now," Uriel added, as he glanced out the window, finding himself staring at the Moon. Humming, Erin just did the same.

"Uriel..?"

"Hm?"

A short moment of silence followed Uriel's short hum.

"I forgive you."