Manufactured peace is always bound to fall apart.

Sunghoon realizes this quickly.

He's seen it in the way inebriated men throw fists at each other in their drunken daze. He's seen it in the way cheaters crush their assigned partners when they think they find someone better. He's seen it in the way thieves take more than they need just because they can.

And each time without fail he keeps a fixated gaze on their bodies as they are ejected from the spaceship— quickly asphyxiating and drifting into the cosmos until they become a mere speck in the distance to rival the stars.

It has been decades since the original group of survivors set foot upon the Destined Utopia— a spacecraft project that was created by a stupid man with a provoking attitude that got him killed within the first week of the project's inhabitation.

Earth's population was ruled extinct as soon as the last spaceship carrying the wealthy and those with status left the atmosphere. No one was supposed to be able to survive the virus that plagued and decimated nations within weeks. No one except those with tickets to the Destined Utopia.

Something that originally referred to many, now referred to one. The Destined Utopia was a fleet of spacecraft engineered to sustain human life in space; reminiscent of a picture perfect suburban life in the stars.

Unfortunately that image was quickly shattered when over half of said prototype spacecraft hurtled back down into the atmosphere merely weeks after they were first populated.

Aside from his own, there were now only two ships left circling in Earth's orbit. All abandoned and deteriorating after entire crews massacred each other in an insanity filled rage; assumed to have been caused by the Syndrome being brought into their ranks during initiation, or by an accidental outbreak.

And that's how Sunghoon finds himself in his current position. Prince of the final remaining and living spacecraft of the Destined Utopia that circles Earth. Set to rule once his father dies, and sentenced to living a relatively lavish life as they drift aimlessly in space.

Sunghoon was told tales of his great-grandfather, the man responsible for creating the title of King after overthrowing Lee Seungmin, the engineer of the Destined Utopia project. It has been his family's title for four generations.

When Sunghoon was younger, he remembers his mother constantly lecturing him. The most important lesson she instilled in him was that peace can never be manufactured. That the peace and prosperity his ancestors created was something that was never meant to be— something that was never meant to last.

Sunghoon learns this again from a boy— about his age, maybe a little older, and certainly much wiser.

Sunghoon has never told anyone about him, but he's seen him in his dreams. He's like the only splash of color in his monochrome life.

Presently, he sits in a hazy silence in a room he has become all too familiar with. It's a cozy kitchen with a wood burning stove and given character by the clutter on every available surface. Normally the mess would irk him, but he actually finds it endearing— especially when it's the clutter of the kind boy who is currently making them some sort of bread.

"You said you don't know what Earth is like, right?" The boy asks him for what feels like the nth time, kneading the dough and checking the pot currently atop the fire.

Heeseung is an enigma. A mystery shrouded by a handsome face, evasive responses, and even more ominous words. He is alluring, almost to a fault— and if he asked Sunghoon to do something, he would do so without hesitation.

But even so, what would the consequences be? Of following something of your own imagination?

Since his first encounter with Heeseung two years back, he always believed that the boy was merely a figment of his imagination; that he was someone he conjured up to fill the gaping loneliness he felt in his own home.

However, some minor details over the past months were leading him to believe that this was not the case.

Heeseung has a complete mind of his own, unlike anyone else Sunghoon has encountered on the Destined Utopia. He's sharper, wittier than any of the boys he's ever met. He holds his mouth to be kind but never ceases to make him feel uncomfortable if he finds it necessary— something the residents of the Destined Utopia would never dream of doing to him.

When he asked for vague advice on the situation, the elder's only told him that it's impossible to imagine a person's face who you have never seen before. This worries him.

There are no records of anyone with Lee Heeseung's face in the files of the Destined Utopia. He's never seen his face from their history lessons, and he's certainly never touched a book with his face on it. There is no conceivable way that Park Sunghoon has met or seen one Lee Heeseung at any point in his life outside of his dreams

Heeseung also has an innate curiosity about Sunghoon's past and current life to the point where it can feel like an interrogation. If he was just a figment of his imagination wouldn't he already know these things? Sunghoon isn't the type to brag or say much about himself either, so it's unlikely that is the case.

Heeseung has also brought up topics that Sunghoon has never heard of. One time he mentioned something called a "hawthorn" in passing, and Sunghoon pretended to understand what he was talking about even though he still doesn't know what it is.

His subconscious wouldn't come up with mind games of that level, would it?

Sunghoon has also spent a majority of his life preparing to land on Earth to measure its survivability rates— something each of his ancestors have done in the case they would be sent down as the first scouts. Why would Sunghoon ask himself if he's ever been to Earth? Why would he ask himself what his current living situation was?

Another rather odd detail is that his dreams with Heeseung are anything but consistent. Sometimes he surfaces in the cozy cottage every day for a week, sometimes it's once a week, and once he went three months without surfacing once (a particularly low time in his life).

If Heeseung was created to save him from his plaguing loneliness, why would he only appear at random?

Finally, it never feels like a dream.

Sunghoon has had many lucid dreams and nightmares before, but interacting with Heeseung in this realm feels entirely different than when he's dreaming.

Heeseung's hands are always warm whenever he passes by him, or hands him a glass of water. He always remembers every detail of his visits with the boy, and he feels the pain when he accidentally runs into the counter or the table. Most importantly, the strange anomaly of whatever happens outside the boy's house.

Oddly enough, every window and door is covered with large, white sheets. Whenever Sunghoon visits it's never dark out, and there's a consistent glow emanating through the fabric. This is true to every room in the house— the bedroom, the living room, the kitchen, even the bathroom.

And the thing is, it's always a different time whenever he visits. No matter the amount of light coming through the veils, it always seems to be different. He usually measures this by what Heeseung is doing when he surfaces in the house since there are no clocks anywhere in sight.

Sometimes he's cooking dinner, sometimes he's curled up on the couch in front of the fire, and sometimes he's already in bed fast asleep beside him. But the time outside always seems to be the same.

Sunghoon has only tried leaving the cottage once by moving the sheet from the front door, but in the blink of an eye Heeseung seemingly materialized behind him with a firm grasp of his wrist telling him calmly yet sternly that he shouldn't go outside.

This piqued Sunghoon's curiosity quickly, but he never had it in him to really check despite the amount of opportunities that presented themselves to him that would allow him to.

Something about disobeying Heeseung made him uncomfortable. The boy who would almost always greet him with a small smile and a meal waiting or being cooked when he arrived. He wanted to please him, and that worried him.

"No, I've never been to Earth." Sunghoon admits again, restlessly running his hand over the back of Heeseung's empty chair.

The boy pulls the pot off the stove and replaces it with a container, "Curious, you don't look much like an alien to me."

His tone is humorous as he reaches into the fridge to grab an empty pitcher.

That's another thing that doesn't add up. There should be no humans alive outside the Destined Utopia, and yet there he stood, making dinner like any domestic partners would.

Even in a dream it doesn't feel right to him.

"Because I'm not, I'm human." Sunghoon reiterates, and it feels like Heeseung is just fact-checking him at this point.

"Odd. I thought all other humans were extinct." Heeseung hums, turning around to face him and dusting some flour off of his apron.

Sunghoon can't help but stare at his eyes, something he's developed the habit of doing since he first met him.

Heeseung's eyes are a violent shade of red; bright, but not too bright— just enough to unsettle anyone upon first glance. Sunghoon has just grown to love them, and thinks they're extremely unique.

Just another detail to make him believe Heeseung isn't a real person.

"I told you, some people escaped into space and have been living there for decades." Sunghoon continues when he refuses to speak, watching the boy pour water into their cups and place them on the table.

"It's odd, though. Only that small group survived?" Heeseung swats his hand away when he tries to brush the flour off of his cheek.

"That was the plan." Sunghoon hums in agreement, taking a sip from his cup.

Truth be told, he didn't like the environment that the Destined Utopia created. The original group of fifty survivors were composed of 45 passengers consisting of the ultra-wealthy and their families, and five lower class individuals thay were intended to act as slaves for the rest of the people onboard.

Because of this, the class divide continued even in space; the happiness of the wealthy still depended on the suffering of the poor. Even when Sunghoon was given power as Prince he still felt absolutely helpless with the council of shallow, cold-hearted men beside him.

"You need to tell me more about your home eventually." Heeseung smiles, turning his back to the stove to play with the collar of Sunghoon's shirt.

He has to stop himself from melting at the touch, "Only if you tell me more about yours."

"Silly, this is my home— and you've seen all of it." Heeseung chuckles, hitting him lightly on the shoulder before returning to his cooking.

Well, not all of it.

"What's outside?" Sunghoon asks again, eyes trained on the boy's back.

"I've already told you, it's nothing important." Heeseung says, stirring the pot on the counter and reaching for the bowls on the top shelf.

"Even if it's nothing, why won't you just tell me?" He sighs in exasperation, standing up and going to reach for the sheet covering the kitchen door.

Just as he is about to catch a glimpse out of the glass, Heeseung appears beside him and entwines that hand in his.

"This is a dreamscape, Sunghoon. There is nothing to see outside. You wouldn't want to ruin the magic, would you?" Heeseung asks calmly although his eyes are blazing.

Sunghoon looks up at him, at their intertwined fingers, and then at the dimly lit sheet that was just under his hold. They stand in a brazen silence, daring the other to make a move.

"I guess I wouldn't." Sunghoon finally concedes, and Heeseung trips to slip out of his grasp but he holds on.

Sunghoon tries to relish whatever time he can get with the boy, and if he's within arms reach he won't let go.

He quickly concluded that Heeseung wasn't the type to initiate physical contact unless absolutely necessary, but he also didn't mind when Sunghoon would cling to him or peer over his shoulder whenever he was cooking for him.

Sometimes Sunghoon got to spend more time with him than usual, but more often than not he would wake back up in his bedroom shortly before or after he was served dinner.

The first time he was able to stay until Heeseung was tired was over a year ago; meaning he was finally able to explore the rest of the house.

Normally Sunghoon would wake up in Heeseung's bedroom and immediately stumble disoriented to the kitchen where the boy would most often be. The first time he went back to the bedroom after clearing his head he noticed how clean and meticulous everything was. There was not one piece of identifying memorabilia in the room or on his empty shelves, but Sunghoon still believed it that it felt like Heeseung, if that made sense.

The window in this room is also covered by a sheet, and despite it still emanating light through the thin veil, Sunghoon was still able to drift to sleep quickly with Heeseung beside him— waking up alone the next day in his disheveled bed on the Destined Utopia.

"How have you been lately?" Heeseung asks, setting down a bowl of soup for him at the table.

"It's been... alright, I guess. No news is generally good news back at home." He admits, and just as he's about to lift the spoon to his mouth he feels the world spin.

Sunghoon has felt this before, almost like being sucked into a vacuum. The colors disintegrate into one and he's suddenly shooting back up in his bed to banging on his door.

"Sunghoon, open up!" A familiar voice cries, and there's fiddling with the door handle before he stands up to unlock it.

Yang Jungwon is now standing right in front of him, blood on the bottom of his sleeves and blinking tears out of his eyes.

"Your father has been shot. We're escaping to the pods."

The younger one takes his hand and attempts to move him but Sunghoon freezes, "What?"

"The general has made a coup. We need to go before they get to you too." Jungwon please, attempting to drag him down the familiar ashen hallways.

"Jungwon, there's nowhere to go." Sunghoon protests, shock settling in as the boy drags him haphazardly down hallways that gradually become more and more disheveled as they traverse farther into the ship.

Your father has been shot.

"There is one place..." Jungwon mumbles matter-of-factly, turning sharply around a corner when voices begin shouting up ahead.

Your father has been shot.

"And where would that be?" Sunghoon snaps, pressing himself against the wall when armed vanguard members run by, presumably towards his room.

"Earth."