LOADING DATA . . . BAE HANBYEOL ( athanatos ) the CHAMELEON 31a.01.000-003.exe / 97. 09. 13 - 31. 08. 08 eternally 28
life before death
life has never been quiet for bae hanbyeol. the young child was born into a family of celebrities, his mother being a famous actress and his father being a famous musician — of course they were always under limelights. from a young age, hanbyeol had to experience his life being displayed whenever he stepped outside with his mother and even with his nanny, even when all they did was take him to school.
influenced by his father, eventually, he started taking piano classes, as well as vocal training classes to maybe start a singing career as soon as he could. hanbyeol was just a child, but he was talented and hardworking, a true prodigy that only made his parents more proud whenever he showed his musical abilities to the cameras.
it didn’t take long for him to become a little star, his father helping him with his music while his mother helped him to be cast for commercials and other acting jobs. everybody knew his face, everybody knew his name.
as he grew up, the young star who used to have fun and enjoy his career, which was usually seen as something fun and entertaining most of the time, started feeling more and more tired after the years. he didn’t have any privacy, and because of that he was caught in a few scandals during his teen years — but he was loved by the entire country, and it was easier to gain forgiveness when you have a legion of fans to defend you.
those years of judgment followed by an almost immediate merciful reaction, they showed hanbyeol that he had to be way more careful about his job, and so he became almost paranoid about it all, about keeping his image clear and intact from any bad impressions.
and that’s how he lived most of his life, preventing himself from actually living a life and putting his own happiness aside to keep a good image and a clean career — and in exchange, his success only increased the older he got: his music career was suddenly not the only path he had taken, when he decided to also dedicate himself on returning to his acting career since he has put it away when he chose to be a singer.
but all that care, all that time he spent making sure he would be safe from scandals, all the things he purposely didn’t achieve in hopes that he wouldn’t upset his fans, they were all gone when one of those fans put an end to his life. a bullet gone straight into his heart when he was coming back home from an event, he didn’t even see the silhouette of the woman that stood outside of his house.
the security guards that accompanied him rushed towards his body, already laying on the floor with shades of red staining the white shirt underneath the expensive coat he wore the entire night. one of the guards stood there with him while the others caught the “fan” that took his life. the ambulance arrived just a couple of minutes after but it was too late already.
no life could be seen in his eyes anymore.
his death was all they talked about on the news, his legion of actual fans crying for the sudden loss and finding ways to show their tributes to the talented musician that he once was. his parents, still alive at the time, were just as devastated for a parent should never bury their own child. the idea to give hanbyeol an afterlife was theirs, encouraged by the fans that agreed that their favorite singer and actor needed a second chance.
the project was still very new when hanbyeol passed, but his parents were willing to give it a try as long as their son could still continue to live, to finally achieve the happy he needed so much, to continue to make his music.
life after death
the brightness of his surroundings make hanbyeol close his eyes tightly at first, hands touching the cold walls around him and making him feel the sudden claustrophobia that he has never been diagnosed with. there’s a pain in his heart when he finally ignores the whiteness in front of him, and he moves his hand to touch over his chest — and that’s when he sees the smooth skin of the back of his hand, much younger and softer than the last time he had looked at it.
he frowns when he looks at his hands, he feels a slight panic when he touches his face and doesn’t feel the few wrinkles he has grown so used to after so many years seeing them every day in the mirror. his back touches the wall behind him and he can’t stop the tears from forming in his eyes, confusion taking over hanbyeol for a minute before he hears a robotic voice — it startles him at first, but the words he hears from the woman explain to him what has happened to him and what he’ doing inside that box.
he’s only the third person sent to that new reality, and the thought of being one of the very first people to attempt a second chance at life is way scarier than it might seem, and he remains silent and teary-eyed as he listens to the instructions he receives. he can’t believe he’s dead, but a part of him feels relieved to know he can start all over — a new life for him to live however he wants, without the pressure of media constantly telling him what to do or how to behave.
he can finally be anonymous, a random person in a universe that doesn’t need to know about his former music career or the fame he inherited from his parents. he can finally be himself and enjoy life and he’s supposed to, without cameras watching every one of his steps and without the constant fear of being caught in scandals that he didn’t mean to cause, for small reasons such as a possible romantic interest.
he can finally walk around town without cameras flashing on his face the entire time, he can finally sit at home and enjoy a mug of tea in nothing but pure silence. he can finally be bae hanbyeol, or park jihoon, or lee daehyun, or anyone else he could ever want to be just to remain anonymous. just to be just another citizen that got enough money to pay for his afterlife.
he can finally focus on himself, he can finally focus on finding his own happiness.
right now, after so many years living in this alternate reality where death is not something to be scared of, hanbyeol lives his life mostly in solitude — hidden in his expensive apartment, where he spends most of his time writing down things that have captured his attention in afterlife. things that he doesn’t understand quite well and that he’d like to explore in the future, now that he has all the time in the world.
he doesn’t trust people easily, afraid that at some point his true identity will be discovered and he’s gonna end up living a life like his previous one, without the freedom that he’s so used to now.
though, despite the freedom, there are times that he still feels paranoia creep in and get the best of him.