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priincekin · 5 months

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Hyuluka Oneshot - Of Warmth and Withering

Luka, now an Alien Stage victor, comes to Hyuna's door in the dead of the night seeking a place to stay; Hyuna is more than reluctant to agree.

CW for an unhealthy relationship dynamic.

For in-depth tags, please check the AO3 upload! Apologies for any formatting issues, this is my first time ever posting fanfic on Tumblr.

“Miss Hyuna?”

In her room, Hyuna lay on her stomach, gripping a pillow tightly. She pressed it against her ears, trying in vain to block out the irritating sound of Luka’s quiet, yet persistent. knocking. Each knock sounded like nails against a chalkboard, each making her more frustrated. Clenching her teeth, she prayed that the knocking would stop soon so she could retire for the night.

“Miss Hyunaaaa.”

Another knock, louder.

“Hyuna, please, hear me out. My quarters are freezing tonight, and I cannot sleep. I understand the need for discretion given our situation – rest assured, I can be quiet. A little secret between us, perhaps?”

He trailed off, mumbling the last part more to himself than to her. Hyuna rolled her eyes in response. As far as she was concerned, he could keep talking to himself forever for all she cared. She was determined not to let him in, not this time.

"Hyuna," he said, his voice growing more desperate by the second. "I know me winning Alien Stage might have put us at odds. It's bitterly cold out here, and frankly, you’re the only one I feel I can approach. Could I perhaps trouble you for a bit of warmth and company, just for tonight?" At odds? What an understatement.

Hyuna shut her eyes tight, nails digging into her pillow as memories flooded her mind. She could see little Luka in her mind’s eye, outside her door, tiny and shivering in his too-big white fur coat, his cheeks flushed from the cold. Those memories hit her hard - all those nights when a scared, sniffling Luka would tiptoe into her room, looking for the kind of comfort only she seemed to know how to give. He'd huddle close, his small hand holding hers, feeling safe only next to her. Things were simpler then, their friendship a little haven from the hell they lived in. But now, well, things had changed, and he had no place in her room.

Still, Luka persisted, each knock slowly gnawing away at her resolve.

‘He doesn’t deserve your sympathy’, she reminded herself. ‘Not after everything.’

Hesitantly, Hyuna sat up, her heart torn. Could one more night really cause any harm? She wondered. Dewey and Isaac had advised her to be firm, but they wouldn't know about this. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Shaking her head in resignation, she pushed herself up to sit on the edge of her bed. Hyuna reached for a cigarette with trembling fingers, her hands fumbling slightly as she lit it, the orange glow briefly illuminating her conflicted expression. Taking a deep, steadying drag, she let the smoke swirl around her, hoping it would calm her down and let her think straight, Finally, with a heavy sigh, she stood up, shuffling toward the door.

Hyuna yanked the door open with a force that echoed down the hallway, her eyes instantly locking onto Luka's pitiful form. He looked up at her, his cheeks unnaturally pale. Right. He never did do well in the cold.

She propped herself against the doorway, an eyebrow raised. Taking a long, lazy drag from her cigarette, she let the smoke billow out, watching it hang in the air; really, she would rather look at anything other than Luka. “Alright, Luka, out with it. It's too late for your shit. What's the big emergency? Lost your teddy bear?”

Luka flashed a disarming smile, the kind that usually got him what he wanted. “Ah, depriving me of your charming pet names? You wound me,” he quipped, effortlessly sliding past her into the room. With a flourish, he removed his luxurious coat, which now fit him perfectly, draping it over her rickety old chair. He let out an exaggerated sigh, as if shedding the weight of the world along with his coat. “Though I believe I made my situation quite clear. My room is cold, and I cannot sleep, and that is all there is to it.”

“Right. Riiiight. Because the segyein would totally let their precious little pet become an ice sculpture, huh?” Hyuna scoffed and put her hand on her hip. If looks could kill, Luka would be on the ground writhing in agony. She watched, half-amused, half-irritated, as Luka practically sashayed over to her cluttered vanity. He began fussing with his hair, his reflection preening back at him.

“Make yourself at home, why don’t ya?” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Oh wait, you already did. What’s next, Luka? Gonna raid my beer fridge too?”

“Ah, making myself at home? If you insist,” he retorted, catching her sarcastic tone. “Though, I'll pass on raiding your beer stash. Not quite my taste.” He picked up her scarcely used lip gloss, examining it with a curious eye. With a subtle smile, he admired the glitter's shine in the soft light.

“Your thoughts, darling?” he inquired, turning towards her as she sat on the bed. His tone was light, yet there was a sharpness in his gaze, a hint of calculation in his seemingly casual demeanor.

“Call me darlin’ one more time and I swear I'll superglue your lips shut.” Hyuna sat down on her bed, inhaling more smoke. She watched Luka like a hawk, deeply anxious about his every move. Obviously, she couldn’t trust him to behave himself. Why the hell had she let him in? Since when was she that stupid? Between the power he held over her and the shit he pulled in the last round…

“I must admit, I’m not too fond of your recent attitude.” Luka hummed, turning back to look at his reflection like it was a long-lost friend.

“Piss me off one more time and you’ll get more than my attitude. I don’t have the time for your bullshit.”

“It seems to me you have nothing but time for your dear childhood friend.” Luka’s voice dripped with a mocking sweetness as he gazed at her reflection in the mirror. He batted his eyelashes with an exaggerated innocence, a smug smile playing on his lips, fully aware of the irritation it would provoke in Hyuna. She clenched her fists, but kept them squarely at her side, refusing to give him the satisfaction of her anger.

“Oh, please. My childhood friend? That guy’s long gone. This person in front of me? I don’t even know who you are anymore, Luka. You’ve changed, and not for the better. So do me a favor, take your drama and get out of my room. I’ve got no space here for strangers.”

As he did with everything he disliked, Luka ignored her and instead sat down closely next to her. His perfume, a mix of white musk and sugar, was uncomfortably familiar to her.. He leaned in, his voice dropping to a low whisper. "You're right, I have changed as of late. It’s for the better. I’m no longer the fool you had to protect in your youth.” He paused. “But some things haven't changed at all..." His hand brushed against hers, a bold, yet seemingly casual gesture coming from him.

Hyuna's heart raced, but she quickly pulled her hand away, glaring at him once more. What an asshole, having the nerve to try and flirt after everything. "Don't play games with me, you bastard. I'm not one of your fangirls. You don’t get to whisper sweet nothin’s and expect to get away with it, you hear me?”

“I’m not playing games, Miss Hyuna. I genuinely miss us… I miss what we had.”

"Ya can't just waltz back into my life and expect things to be the same," she said, her voice quivering slightly.

Luka extended his hand, his touch unexpectedly tender as he cupped Hyuna’s cheek. “I know I’ve made mistakes, more than I can count. But here I am, darling, trying to make it right..” His thumb traced a soft line across her cheek, a gesture so familiar and yet new at the same time. For a fleeting second, Hyuna found herself yielding to the warmth of his touch, her resolve wavering. It was getting harder and harder to be angry with him.

Anakt, it was awful, the way he could sway her with a few words and a bit of touch. She knew damn well what was happening, that this was the very reason they kept going through this cycle. But she could never bring herself to stop it.

The tense moment was broken by a sudden knock on the door, followed by Dewey's voice. "Hyuna, you good in there? Heard voices."

Hyuna jerked away from Luka as if burned, the sudden intrusion of Dewey’s voice at the door snapping her back to reality. “I’m fine, Dewey! Just… talking to the walls, you know how it is,” she called out, forcing nonchalance or something resembling it.

She moved to the other side of the room, putting as much distance between herself and Luka as possible. His gaze lingered on her, loaded with an unreadable emotion that only added to her agitation.

As Dewey quickly agreed with her and walked off, Hyuna began to pace the perimeter of the room like a madman. Luka’s eyes watched her every. She bit at her nail, her body tight with tension, her mind racing with thoughts she dared not voice. The urge to lash out at Luka was overwhelming, but she bit back the scathing remarks teetering on the tip of her tongue. She knew all too well that throwing him out would only escalate the situation. The segyein were always looking for a reason to come down on her, and Luka, their prized victor, would make the perfect catalyst for her downfall.

“Luka,” Hyuna choked out, finally, after what must’ve been five minutes of awkward silence. “you know damn well we can’t do this. Not here, not now, never. After what ya pulled in the finals, I can’t trust you. Literally pushing that guy to his death?! You played it off as an accident, but I know you! You had a weird-ass look on your face as you approached him, and your elbow jutted out, and-- Anakt, how did anyone fall for that shit?!--“

“Because, Hyuna, no one else sees through me like you do.”

Hyuna whipped around to face him, jaw on the floor. “You… you actually… what?”

“Yes, I admit it. It was no accident, though I prefer to call it insurance for my victory.” Luka’s voice was chillingly calm as he stood up and closed the distance between them, his movements deliberate. Hyuna’s breath hitched, her body instinctively recoiling, but she was rooted to the spot. As his hand reached out, brushing through her hair with a disgusting tenderness, a shiver ran down her spine. “I pushed him off the ledge. I knew I had solid rapport with the segyein, and they wouldn’t think twice about the chain of events. Why, one of them even said that it was delighted with me for getting him out of the competition. You know well how much of a pain he was. He was not victor material. And neither are you…”

The room felt colder, the air heavier. Hyuna’s mind raced, grappling with the revelation. Her first instinct screamed at her to lash out, to confront him with the full force of her rage. Yet, fear and shock stifled her, muffling her voice to a choked laugh, one that sounded hollow even to her ears. “… well, at least you’re being honest for once, huh? That’s rare for you, nowadays…” Her words were laced with sarcasm, but her voice quivered nonetheless.

Luka tilted his head, scrutinizing Hyuna's reaction. "You seem calmer than I expected.”

Hyuna let out a long sigh, sinking down to sit on the edge of her bed once more. "Oh, I'm pissed as all hell. But not surprised. I always knew you had it in ya to pull some underhanded shit like that." She shook her head, a bitter smile crossing her face. "I just didn't think you'd take it that far. Guess you really have changed."

"It was necessary for my success," Luka replied matter-of-factly. He sat down next to Hyuna, tentatively snaking an arm around her shoulders. She stiffened, but didn't pull away. “I’m now in a position of favor, Hyuna. Think about it — they’ll treat me better, and naturally, I’ll ensure you’re taken care of too. Our lives, they’re about to change for the better. You’ll see, it’s all going to work out in our favor.”

Hyuna turned to look at him incredulously, her face turning the slightest bit red. From anger or embarrassment, she had no clue. "Our lives? I want nothin’ to do with your success, Luka. Especially when I know you’d throw me under the bus if it helped ya. Or should I say, under the stage light?!”

Luka's confident expression faltered. He brushed a strand of hair away from Hyuna's face, his voice softening. "You know that's not true, darling. I had nothing to do with your accident.”

"Don't lie to me! You've always been obsessed with fame, you don’t give a shit about me, deep down.” Her voice broke as she gestured down at her prosthetic leg. “Look what you did. That had to have been your fault.”

"That was not me. I haven’t any control over the stage lights."

“Really?! Or did you sabotage it like everything else so that I couldn't beat you?"

Wordlessly, he shifted closer, reaching for her hands, but Hyuna backed away until her back hit the wooden headboard.

"I don't know anymore," Hyuna said bitterly. "Just leave me alone. I don’t wanna talk about this."

Hyuna pressed the release button on her prosthetic leg at the knee joint, disengaging the lock. She gently slid the prosthetic off her thigh, setting it next to the bed. All the while, Luka tried to whisper more sweet nothings in order to change her mind, but she pretended like he wasn’t even there.

With a huff, she threw her covers over her head and laid her head on her pillow; a clear dismissal. If he didn’t get the idea from this, he was hopeless.

She waited for Luka to leave, but instead, he quietly lifted the edge of the comforter and peered in. Hyuna curled up into a ball, pray

Despite Hyuna's closed off body language, Luka crawled into the bed beside her, encircling her waist with his arm. As he curled against Hyuna's back, she tensed, conflicting emotions rising up. His familiar touch, though cold, brought back memories - both sweet and painful.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hyuna said through gritted teeth.

"Nothing,” Luka mumbled, pulling her closer and hiding his face in the nape of her neck.

Hyuna drew in a shaky breath, resentment warring with lingering affection. Silently she covered his hand with her own, not pushing him away or pulling him closer. They lay in silence as the minutes ticked by, bodies entwined, her thumb slowly stroking over his knuckles. Hyuna slowly relaxed in his arms, leaning back into his touch.

“I can’t believe I’m lettin’ ya do this.”

“I can. I know you’ve missed me just as much as I’ve missed you.”

“Shut up. I like you better when you’re quiet.” Hyuna snapped.

Luka lightly chuckled, tightening his grip on Hyuna. At least he had the decency to be silent.

But Hyuna still wasn't having any of that. She pushed him off, a glint of defiance in her eyes. Luka's lip curled in a fleeting show of disappointment, but before he could react, she flipped him over and spooned him instead. "Big spoon? Ha, as if. You're in my world now, Luka," she said. Poking his cheek, she couldn't help but snicker at the warmth of his flush. "Aw, are you blushing? Cute. Don’t even try to complain about being little spoon — You begged to be here, remember? My bed, my rules."

“I’m sure we look absolutely ridiculous right now.” Luka muttered. “Since I should be big spoon and all…”

“Why? I’m taller. I’d argue this looks better!”

Luka huffed, but not once had he attempted to tear himself away from her touch. Hyuna smirked against his shoulder, closing her eyes. This was far more comfortable than she’d ever like to admit…

The good thing was that, by the next day, she was sure that they’d both be denying that this ever happened. Maybe that was for the better. But for now, she’d let herself enjoy the moment, regardless of how traitorous it was.

#alien stage #alien stage luka #alien stage hyuna #hyuluka #alien stage hyuluka #seriously how do I tag this #divider credit; cafekitsune #fanfic #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction

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yuissamidare · 10 days

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I saw a lot of people questioning the appeal of lukahyuna/hyuluka, and I think that’s quite understandable. here are my two cents no one asked for! for me, other than the fact that they’re the perfect example of interpersonal horror, at least a big part of the attraction comes from my interpretation of the characters—both being people who struggle with control and autonomy.

Luka is someone who is controlled in every aspect of his life, from his daily training, to his health (canonly having heart problems and other congenital issues), and he was paraded around since he was young for his appearance and constantly made to be a spectacle — there is nothing that is fully his expect his emotions, to which he hangs onto hyuna with his love; then there is hyuna, who was completely aware of the encasement she was in and could still live freely, happily chaining herself to the parental role she placed herself in for her younger brother and later on, refuses to live anything but freely but except for being trapped by her feelings and memories of luka and her brother.

It’s a case of someone who has no independence finding a sense of sovereignty and control in regards to the feelings he has with another person versus someone who will carve a path of freedom and control for herself but constantly losing her footing as the only thing she has no control over are her feelings, and that contrast makes it very appealing for me.

Luka and hyuna were made with each other in mind, hyuna being stated to be a ‘YOLO!’ kind of girl while luka is the opposite and is careful—this is shown in their official merch stands as well, hyuna being a lunar eclipse that interferes with the path of the moon (luka) and luka being a solar eclipse that blocks the path of the sun (hyuna). They are complimentary opposed forces, however that does not mean that at one point they were not mutually attracted to each other, regardless of the intent of the attraction—in the prologue and old supplemental art, Hyuna and Luka are seen side by side while rehearsing and also spending their free time together (though Luka is glaring at Hyunwoo who is offscreen), and in all in as well, they’re shown to spend time together while Hyunwoo is not around, and Hyuna also allows him to encroach on time spent with her brother. (In this particular part of All-In, luka shows traits such as sucking on his sleeves which are associated with poorly socialized or developed children, which is something he seems to stop when Hyuna touches him for a sufficient amount of time)

— Anakt Garden Initially, i had thought what luka felt for Hyuna was not traditional ‘love’ or a properly developed crush but possession and desire to have hyuna act as a readily available and constant companion in a convenient social tie—something to have which a special relationship no one else can touch, having something that is truly his regardless of what he felt being considered as ‘love’—, which, while not completely untrue, had shifted when their supplemental comic came out and showed that he had genuine value in her thoughts and opinions (while making sure she had stopped looking at hyunwoo), and in a recent doodle, showed that he had genuinely sought her affection and validation (via picking fights with Hyunwoo and using that as a way to see her take his side over his, which is the second time she is shown to prioritize him over her brother, who calls for her and only her attention in the supplemental comic who she seems to put off for a moment in favor of acknowledging luka’s clinginess towards her and calling him cute).

While the form changed, the one constant of luka —> hyuna has always been: ‘this is mine, I want a relationship with her that gives me a level of exclusivity and control over her that others can’t have, one that includes priority over hyunwoo’

Luka is shown to value her opinions and use it as a basis for his own, as seen in a supplemental comic. he finds worth in her viewpoints considering and there’s a sense of mutuality there that makes him comfortable enough to share and talk about opinions with her and to use her as either a building block for his own ideals due to not having any strong feelings of his own, or to compare and contrast their ways of thinking and finding worth in the perspective that she has brought.

this comic is my second favorite piece of media involving them, with my first being the in the storyboards for all in…! (which i can’t talk about since it’s patreon content, but, you know) and it directly correlates to his character inspiration in which he finds value and a reason to be on stage due to the experiences he spent with hyuna, just like how his character inspiration finds value in their story of origin through experiences spent with others.

Singing makes Hyuna feel free, and through Hyuna, Luka attempts to find freedom and independence through singing as well, though the results are debatable as it seems he doesn’t inherently enjoy singing, but the feeling of closeness it allows him to feel for Hyuna and the privilege it brings him.

hyuna’s feelings for him at this point is hard to succinctly place on tenterhooks, as she was a character kept private and secret for much of the run, but i do think that she had fledging affection for him for several of the reasons i mentioned (re: the purposeful and conscious spent with him over others; the decision to spend time with both luka and hyunwoo and seemingly split her attention between them as they seem to fight when she’s not around, as in the supplementary comic hyunwoo only calls for Hyuna’s attention rather than calling for them both; once again taking Luka’s side when luka provokes others; the memory that sparks her panic is one of them being close—her playing with his hair while he looks at her.)

It is difficult for me to talk about hyuna’s feelings when there is so little about her known, I do feel like much of it will be my interpretation so please forgive the conjecture.

Personally, I believe that Hyuna viewed her love of others through her love for hyunwoo. She took on a maternal role for her brother which spreads through her interactions with others even if she acts like a wild auntie nowadays. I believe she took Luka’s side over Hyunwoo’s because she thought Hyunwoo should treat Luka more carefully since she had expected him to be more responsible to a child that seemed weak and delicate in comparison to Hyunwoo. I believed she split her attention between them both as Hyunwoo seemed to rely on her for her attention as much as luka did (re: only calling for her when he wanted to show off the space beetle.) and had acted as a bridge between them, despite them seemingly not having the best relationship—she could have always cut luka off when hyunwoo had grown frustrated with him, but again, she divided her time between them and had spend moments with them both apart and together because she had cared deeply for them both.

Since she viewed her relationships through her love of hyunwoo, she could not differentiate her feelings for luka being different or starting to develop as something different because she did not treat that as a possibility with her stubbornly placing herself in that motherly role—which is why things like Luka’s possessive statements had the red flags ignored then seemingly encouraged with petting and praise due to being flattered by his close attention.

And since luka is implied to have been artificially created, hyunas nature was something he found soothing and comforting (see: no longer self soothing after she had touched him) before the nature of his feelings changed as well, though his feelings changed sooner than hers did.

— Season 49 and present day: regardless of how hyunwoo died*, it is possible hyuna’s misery and potential feelings of guilt and regret give him a modicum of control over her—even after hyunwoo is dead, she’s going to need to live with luka all the way until season 49 starts and she escapes. she’s still going to have years and years of staying with him and having him cling to her or remind her what happened and she has been affected as a result (her looking so muted and sad when depicted prior to her escape, or having less vibrant expressions compared to all in; her potentially starting to smoke to deal with stress). he has, essentially, ruined her so thoroughly they’ll find his face carved into the darkest part of her heart and that’s sign of her thinking of him, and there’s ownership in that as well. i think the part in sweet dream where they show up and she’s hovering a knife over him while he’s holding her hip implies that he’d genuinely be delighted if she tried to kill or hurt him back, because that’s more proof that she’s still under his control. *While it is normally agreed that Luka’s actions caused Hyunwoos death, there is still contention as to what happen or led up to it, as some people from the start believe when Hyuna had pulled them apart, Hyunwoo hit his head (while originally theorized on the all in YT comments, it gained traction with the doodle comic as additional evidence for later on, but it’s been theorized since all in came out [while I have screenshots, I do not have the source for the original YT comment, magratbastard on Twitter has a great thread on it) or that Hyunwoo had just landed badly when luka pushed him off. Therefore I am using vague phrasing here as what happened is not agreed on in a unified manner as we lack context.

At this point in time hyuna is actively haunted by thoughts of hyunwoo, but seems that she’s conflicted about luka and battles her unhappiness, disgust, and past positive feelings under a vein of apathy, but seemingly falters (sweet dream) due to lingering attachment or being unable to truly know what happened that day, which leads to her passively allowing him near her despite her distaste. she needs to live with him and remember that he was involved in her brothers death, and that he is attached to her for some reason, and that displays itself in a way that could be taken as romantic.

In supplemental art where he is giving her a massage, unlike fighting or squirming away like till does with ivan, hyuna seems to reluctantly acquiesce to his touch despite seeming awkward about it (for many reasons). it seems to resemble parts of all in, and sweet dream—haunted by him, but is determined to shut out her feelings and move past him in order to benefit others (re: singing at the club; her surrounded by robots and his image, only moving forward and away from them in awe when mizi fights for her) seems to have settled into a more uncharitable view of him but still trips up when confronted with thoughts of him and actively fights his memory and positive association with him because she still can’t truly push him and thoughts of him away.

Note: as children in the garden are indoctrinated to think that singing while dying allows you to go to the in universe equivalent of a heaven, her feelings of being haunted by hyunwoo may be exacerbated by that indoctrination, even if she doesn’t believe in it anymore. May possibly be reluctant to kill luka due to three things: this, past affection for him, or feeling the value of other humans for the sake that they are human, despite not wanting him in her life. — present day: Romh, all in, love and peace, sweet dream cover:

ROMH: ruler of my heart is a song that was created prior to season 50 and is implied to have been written about Hyuna. I wrote my thoughts on it here: https://x.com/8bitdetective/status/1745091500789076201

SWEET DREAM: sweet dream generally parallels the luka and Hyuna’s story lyric wise, as luka and sua are diametrically opposed contrasts in their approaches to love and ‘self(ish/ness)’.

I made a rough comparison here: https://x.com/8bitdetective/status/1745110121108168870

hyuna and mizi are mirrors in how they live their lives, similar, I believe sua and luka mirror each other as well.

hyuna and mizi are both people who have experienced love prior to meeting their respective others and having happy experiences with their family—mizi was loved by her owners, who had gifted her toys and sent her off in tears, and in return she loved them as well—mizisua is a video about the people mizi has loved, who have ‘abandoned’ her, and I believe this was also her realization that her family left her alone to participate in a death game, the same way sua had consciously sacrificed herself despite not knowing what may happen in the future.

hyuna had also been given and received familial love in the form of hyunwoo, and that had been her everything. these are both people who had been secure in their love and therefore had love to share, and both luka and sua were addicted to that healthy affection—however luka seemingly refused to let anyone but hyuna in and has never willing spent time with anyone but hyuna, focusing all his feelings on hyuna and ‘the person who is intruding on his time with hyuna’ that he was jealous of—luka, being older than hyuna, was probably set in his ways and didn’t see a need to change, as such change would lead to detrimental effects on his life elsewhere. he did not change, nor did he want to—why would he have to, when hyuna would seemingly always take his side and put him before even her brother? instead, he selfishly wanted hyuna to have her world narrowed to only him, he wanted to own her and I believe wanted her to choose to ‘own’ him as well.

meanwhile sua was willing to spend time with others and talk to them, while mizi was her most important person, mizi wasn’t the only person in the world and mizi had allowed the universe to expand around them, and such varied experiences of being around people had allowed sua to develop a healthier relationship and way of thinking—even if she had become childish and jealous of till at points, she did not try and steal mizis from his company and allowed her to have her own friends, and then was allowed to make her own connections with ivan (as contentious as it may be at time) and had become a person who was more socially conscious and well adjusted compared to luka.

LOVE & PEACE: depending how you look at it, LOVE&PEACE can reference both luka and hyunwoo at the same time, or either/or. For this, I’ll mainly talk about how it can possibly apply to Luka.

if you consider sweet dream to also be applicable to his character, luka says the morning (hyuna, who is compared to the sun) won’t come for him, but to hyuna even if time marches on and she can find the sun (new experiences) it still feels like she’s fumbling in the night (Luka) after everything, because luka is always associated with the night and darkness and hyuna being his brightness, feeling trapped by lukas influence even if she’s mentally aware she’s not under his thumb anymore, because he always pops into her mind.

while luka was her friend, hyunwoo was the other half of her heart—no matter what luka did, it doesn’t change that hyunwoo is apart of her, that he’s still inside her as her blood, and that’s something luka can never take away. That’s the interpretation I got from the cover art, at least. every time she bleeds, he’ll be split on her skin and that is something she will always have to live with, and something she always has to acknowledge being stolen from her.

This also contrasts their ways of loving: luka wants hyuna for herself and lives for the sake of having her, but hyuna lives in order to express her love for hyunwoo by rebelling against the system that has taken her brother away from her, and to keep loving hyunwoo and for that sincerity to reach him someday—to live on for the part of her that couldn’t, despite seemingly not taking good care of her body by drinking, smoking, and getting hurt on her rebel mission. She’s a character that claims to live for herself while taking care of others (again, contrasting with luka who lives for others while taking care of his own self preservation.)

Because Hyuna is a character that constantly thinks of others, she can’t forgive herself when she thinks of Luka fondly, or that she still has memories of them being affectionate after everything, even as she confesses in LOVE&PEACE that she didn’t think the ‘night’, the peace and safety she felt in the garden in the times spent with him, would be stolen from her and would have her reevaluate everything about him.

— re: the kiss

luka is a character with no control or autonomy in his life, he is chronically ill and he is consistently put in high stress situations that he doesn’t enjoy being in. luka is a character who is meant to be subservient and obedient to his owners and ‘betters’ while being treated like a showdog for a majority of his life for his own appearance, in an interview, he mentions ‘being made to sing in a variety of situations to be made sure that he can sing perfectly at any time’ and is someone who is meant to control his own heartbeat consistently and manually. He’s always hunched in and doing things like sucking on his sleeve are traits of neurodivergence and abused/highly stressed children (to which he only stops when hyuna pets him long enough) which reads as him being poorly or under socialized.

I believe he thought that hyuna wouldnt have reacted badly as she had always reacted positively to other things he has done (openly claiming ownership of her or when she takes his side, earnestly as seeing his questions and giving him physical affection) and had showed that she had prioritized him over everyone else. Luka is a character who is calculative and doesn’t do anything unless the move works in his favor, he’s made to be hyunas diametric opposite in that way, which is why he picks on hyunas brother to get him to lash out, to see if she will put him first.

I do not believe* have made a move if he didnt think there was an investment there, because that would risk losing her, and luka has always been someone who has ‘known his place’ and what he has to gain and lose. Even if there was not ‘love’ there, he had probably expected some positive reciprocal action.

*on the case that lukas actions were out of impulse, i think it would be spurred by insecurity and envy. while luka and hyuna hold mutual respect for one another, he does get annoyed when she calls him cute and reminds her that he’s older, despite always going to her when hyunwoo hits him back for her defense. if this wasn’t a gesture that was calculated, it was most likely one used to have her categorized as as something other than something to just be taken care of as the nature of his feelings started to change.

i believe the collar is used to track—rather than negative emotion—level of emotional intensity or dysregulation, which may correlate with heartrate but wouldn't always? for example, there’s supplementary art of mizi and sua that shows sua getting flustered at the sight of mizi’s body, which usually wouldnt indicate discomfort but rather suggests a sudden fluctuation in emotional state, if that makes sense, meanwhile since till is often shown with a green collar around mizi despite being shown heavily flustered when thinking about her, since he’s a very intense person that kind of status would be normal on him, however since sua is a very low intensity person, her red light signals an abnormality.

I think Hyuna’s light changed because she was startled, this was something that was new to her and an out of character action for luka. I do not think she expected him to kiss her as these things would not be on her mind as she has always given priority to others.

In the days that followed it is likely that hyuna had decided to put space between them and luka had ached for her attention again after startling her, and probably decided to get it again in a way that seemed to work over and over again probably provoking hyunwoo (either seeking him out or letting him come to luka and seeing a chance) and getting into a fight with him in hopes that hyuna would defend him, knowing that he was weak and sickly, however hyunwoo had died in the process and that had driven the rift further, if that makes sense?

Luka also purposely provokes Mizi in ROMH, leading to him being protected by a stronger force who will protect him while playing victim—this potentially stemmed from repetition of Hyuna’s defensive behavior when he was young, and had continued using this technique until the present day.

Tldr: I don’t think luka understood that he came off as too aggressive at this point, regardless of what led up to the kiss, and that hyuna was startled being approached in a blatantly romantic way as, while she always liked him, she could not differentiate what made her feelings for him different from anyone else and it had shocked her

—comparing and contrasting ivan, sua, and lukas affection and actions:

luka, ivan and sua all start exhibiting quiet and subdued demeanors, characterized by introversion and a sense of resignation. they all appear passive and reserved in their interactions and behaviors which makes a contrast with the seemingly more assertive nature of the rest of the cast.

ivan, sua, and luka are all self(less/ish) in different ways, they all show different aspects of the weight of being saved by love and ‘marking’ their respective interests in different ways. — sua quietly plans her end and goes out with a smile, fulfilling mizis dream of singing with her while knowingly sabotaging herself with the hopes that mizi will live and remember her, even if she’s not there; ivan forcing himself onto till and choking him in order to lose and make sure till survives, despite having sneered at sua for the same thing; though luka, without a doubt, is the most selfish, as he has nothing but his feelings for hyuna and the stage that hyuna claimed made her feel free. their object of affections affect them by changing their perspectives and motivations in the future, and as a result they’ve been changed and they changed the person who became their object of affection.

all three start the same their respective apathy for life until meeting their assigned partner, but while the former two set aside their lives for love, luka cannot let her go because that is probably his only proof of ‘self’.

first we have sua, who appears to have given up on life, living a subservient existence without expectations of a better chance at life or ever breaking the norm, full of resignation and apathy but the moment Mizi enters the scene, it's like her life is something worth living, like the colors, smells and all of her senses suddenly come to life, she starts becoming more open and expressive infatuated by Mizi's carefree existence—she becomes envious and emotional, she starts to smile brightly, and due to these experiences sua believes she's lived what she thought was worth living, and now what's truly important was preserving Mizi's existence, as life was not worth even being in without her god and the person who had made everything animated. Sua was only able to enjoy ‘living’ with her company, though she had still ‘selfishly’ marked mizi in a way where she’d never forget her.

then we have Ivan, who possibly attempted to unsuccessfully escape his caretaker as he was shortly captured back up again leading to him having a very similar sense of resignation but with a glimpse of mundane contempt. life isn't necessarily worth living but it's also not worth losing, it is comfortable enough even if just as lifeless as it had always been. however this changes when till makes a scene and not just once but multiple times- making him infatuated by the constant refusal of the conformity he had deeply fallen into. this sparked interest and curiosity in ivan who had until then, had nothing to ‘live’ rather than to ‘survive’ for until he met someone with the qualities he lacked—and those are qualities he wanted to have preserved as well, even if he had to hurt till by forcing a kiss on him as a tool for assured survival, and die in front of him, ‘inflicting’ his emotions onto him. Luka’s emotions come from a desire to have and to own due to being taken care of conditionally (due to his looks and talent) and seemingly being treated like a toy. there seems to have been a mental separation between him and other children that excluded Hyuna because she either was able to nurture him in a genuine way that he lacked the support of elsewhere AND she was able to catch his attention in ways that other people could not—whether it was due to her singing talents, her natural charisma that seemed to make her suitable to be a rebel leader, or, similarly to ivan, he was curious after spending close proximity to her due to the time he was forced to spend with other kids that brought him to her and had become curious about someone who seemed to be his diametric opposite, but still had the maturity to realize that she was a prisoner under anakt; however, unlike ivan, luka was not content just watching and provoking reactions out of hyuna, he wanted to own them as well and keep them all to himself- and once again, harming the object of his affection by forcing intimate proximity, and then leading to hyunwoos death.

if ROMH is written about hyuna (which it likely is) then all three share the sentiment of ‘I want the person i love to live’, though lukas sentiment has the caveat of *‘with me’. ivan was always aware that his feelings were not reciprocal, and had contented himself by watching and being in his presence. sua had mizi’s love and affection, and then was willing to be ‘let go’ and die loved. luka can not be happy just observing hyuna, nor does he want to let go or be let go—theyre all very different aspects of love being displayed, and i believe luka and hyuna have a lot of complexities and depth to them that make them appealing even outside of what’s on the surface! theyre all very different aspects of love being displayed!! its really interesting! It’s a really fascinating and intricate dynamic… tldr its neat!

#Mbbbaf #alnst #lukahyuna #hyuluka

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