KissTheDream: I legit don't know what this is. But at least it was really fun to write! ^^

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“HAN SANGHYUK! IF YOU DON’T COME DOWN AT ONCE THEY’LL BE NO BREAKFAST FOR YOU!”

Only then did Hyuk groan and open his eyes, frowning at the piercing sunlight pouring through the open window. It was his very last day of summer vacation – but that wasn’t the only reason it was special.

Thundering down the staircase, Hyuk quickly greeted his mother before sprinting to the door, almost forgetting to actually pull on his sneakers.

“Hyukie… aren’t you going to eat?” asked the woman, eyebrows twitching in confusion and worry. Sanghyuk had never, in his entire life, skipped breakfast. (Or any other meal, for that matter.) No matter how late he was for school or how much his friends called him to come out and play, Hyuk would always stuff himself before taking a single step out of the house.

“Sorry mom, gotta go!” called Hyuk as he ran out, leaving his mother to stare after him with eyes as wide as the sprinkled donuts she was holding.

The small town was practically deserted. The few passers-by carefully looked Hyuk over, probably wondering if there was a fire somewhere or a tsunami approaching, since Hyuk was running as though chased by lions, taking shortcuts through people’s back yards and jumping across wooden fences.

When, at long last, Hyuk had arrived at his destination and kicked open the rusty metal door, he was met with a loud scream and the thud of a body crashing into his own.

“HYUKIE IT’S HERE! IT’S HERE IT’S HERE IT’S HERE!!!”

When Jackson had sufficiently calmed down, Hyuk managed to shove him away (which was quite difficult, since Jackson, even though much younger, was in the basketball team and was quite strong and athletic). But no sooner had Hyuk got rid of Jackson than more familiar faces approached him.

Sungjong had his delicate eyebrows knitted together in distress. Kyuhyun had a stubborn look on his face, and Changmin was just plain furious.

“Where is it?” asked Hyuk, since no one wanted to talk first. Obviously something was very wrong.

“We can’t get it to work.” Sungjong finally confessed with a sigh. “Kyu swore he knew how to turn it on, but he lied.” Sungjong cast a sideways glance at Kyuhyun.

“DID NOT!” yelled Kyuhyun with a barely noticeable pout. “I know how to set it up. I just don’t know why it didn’t respond!”

“You’re so full of ,” blurted Jackson before he could stop himself, and Kyuhyun promptly kicked him in the thigh, continuing to sulk.

Hyuk took a look around. The game room was the same as it had always been – posters of superheros, flashing lights from the game machines and junky snacks stacked up on a shelf in the back. There were damp patches on the floor where the roof was leaking, and every few days or so Hyuk would accidentally slip on them and fall flat on his (much to his friends’ amusement). The only thing different about the game room that day was the absence of its owner.

“Hey, where the hell is Mr. Jung?!”

“What, you haven’t seen him either?” asked Changmin, the oldest of the boys. He looked so angry Hyuk thought he would start screaming and throwing a tantrum at any moment, as if he’s not fifteen, but four. Hyuk had never seen him so on edge – the oldest boy was typically cool and composed.

“Maybe he’s out to buy drinks? Or he passed out in the street somewhere?” wondered Hyuk out loud, trying to find a logical solution to their problem. The owner of the game room, Mr. Jung, was drunk at any given time. Usually he’d sit in the battered old sofa in the back, cursing the boys for being loud and chugging his umpteenth bottle of cheap soju.

“Dude, we combed through the entire town!” said Kyu, flailing his hands around as if to emphasize his point.

“We’ve checked his house and the supermarket.” said Changmin. “He’s not there.”

“Maybe he’s gone to hell, like mom said old drunkards do.” murmured Jackson in a hushed voice.

Sungjong whined loudly at that. “Well, we don’t have to time to go all the way to hell and look for him! I wanna play at least one round before school starts tomorrow!”

Hyuk glanced at Sungjong, surprised. As much as he liked hanging out with Sungjong and Jackson, sometimes the fact they were quite a bit younger made him unable to understand them at all.

“You know where hell is?” asked Changmin, voicing Hyuk’s thoughts.

“Yup,” answered Sungjong casually. “Detroit. You can get there by plane.”

That’s when Hyuk decided to change the subject.

“… Can I try to turn on the game machine?”

 “Yeah, Hyuk should give it a shot.” agreed Sungjong. “You are the best gamer out of us five, you know.”

Hyuk couldn’t help but swell with pride. Smirking, Changmin raised an eyebrow at Sungjong.

“Okay, ” chuckled Sungjong, “second best. But I really think you’ll beat Changmin hyung…  in a year or two.”

Hyuk decided to ignore the bickering (and his own wounded pride) and focus on the problem at hand. (Even though he was highly tempted to casually mention his high score from last weekend, which was, Hyuk was convinced, much better than Changmin’s.)

“Okay, I’m gonna try to get it to turn on.”

Most of the boys nodded at once. But there was one person who was not pleased at all.

“No, you can’t!” protested Kyuhyun.

“What? Why not?” Hyuk spat back, getting annoyed.

“You’ll break it.” said Kyuhyun coldly.

“No, I won’t!”

“Forget it. You’re stupid, you’ll something up! ”

“Then try and stop me!” retorted Hyuk as he strode towards the back of the room. As soon as he neared the bottom wall, he slowed down

his steps, mouth opened in silent admiration.

The game machine was brand new, blue, red and golden, with bright drawings on the bottom and the sides. There was a dragon, a robot, a princess, a guy with a golden machinegun instead of an arm, a fierce ninja with a katana, a pair of twins with wizard hats, a dark warrior with a greatsword, and a human-like shadow standing behind them all.

But Hyuk couldn’t afford to stand and stare for long. Kyuhyun was getting up after he’d slipped on a puddle and continued to run after him. Mustering all his concentration, Hyuk looked carefully at the buttons on the game machine. Which one should he press?

However, before he could decide Kyuhyun was already on him, trying to pull him away from the machine by his bright orange shirt. It didn’t help that Kyuhyun was a year older and that Hyuk was just a scrawny kid who liked video games better than sports.

“Yah, get away from me! You failed, so let me try!!” yelled Hyuk, knowing it won’t do him any good.

The rest of the boys caught up, and half were pulling on Kyuhyun, half on Hyuk, in a messy attempt to separate them. Sungjong was screaming something on the top of his lungs, but Hyuk’s ears were pounding, downing out the sound.

He remembered Kyuhyun elbowing Changmin in the stomach, and all of them somehow tumbling towards the machine. He remembered the cold touch of metal, Kyu biting his left arm, Jackson crying and screaming at them to stop.

Just when it looked like Kyuhyun was about to give up, Hyuk felt his own elbow crash into the machine, pushing a large blue, red and yellow button that was kinda shaped like a robot’s head.

The machine buzzed, all of the buttons lit up, and Hyuk hardly managed to prevent himself from screaming when he saw what was happening on the screen.

Player: Han Sanghyuk (Hyuk).

Beneath the words, his own face stared back at him. When he blinked, the image blinked back; when he moved his head, so did the Hyuk on screen.

“Guys! GUYS!!!” Sungjong yelled over Kyuhyun’s grunts, Jackson’s sobbing and Changmin’s serious voice. “Guys, Hyuk did it! He really did it!!!“ Sungjong didn’t seem to notice the screen, cheering at the flashing buttons instead.

That was the last thing Hyuk heard before everything went black.

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KissTheDream: First time writing an original AU that's so... far-out? I'm usually one for semi-realistic stuff, so this feels so odd and new to me. O.o Anyways, please comment below... and, uhmmm... the comment fairy will grant your wish! :D pssst there is no comment fairy but wouldn't that be totally awesome? ^^