He squeezed his eyelids against each other firmly. The light trying to make his way into his eyes and waking up his sensitive body was too vivid for him. A loud pound was beating harshly in his head as if it wanted to rip off his skull. His hands set out blindly searching for an anchor, brushing the sheet beneath him. He was laying on the floor or at least it was what he believed because of the hardness of the surface his sore body was resting on.  

After a few minutes of struggle he finally managed to open his eyes. His vision was blurry for a moment. Then, he noticed the big cushion he was lazing on. It didn’t feel like it though. He could see the sun still low in the sky through the window right in front of him. He shifted to lie on his back and he groaned when he felt each inch of his head resonate.

He tried to analyze the situation. His body was aching all over, he was lying on a bed, in an unknown bedroom to crown it all.

So, he got laid.

He passed his hand over his hair and took a deep breath. Right at the moment, he couldn’t remember his night. The face or even the name of his one-nighter were a great mystery. Anyway, he knew he should make a quick getaway before one-night stand loses his meaning.

"Hey you’re finally awake! I was starting to wonder whether or not I has knocked you down"

The woman voice broke him off his thought and he growled. It was as if she was vocalizing right into his ear.

That so annoying voice was Minjoo’s he could tell for sure. And some bride of his night at the club came back to his mind. The drinks, the dance, the rubbing, the music. Her proposal to follow her to his house. He sighed.

No, he didn’t get laid.

“I must admit I’m a little disappointed. I expected it to be a little bigger.” He straightened as best as he could trying to process what he has just heard.

Or maybe he did.

He rubbed his face with his hands and tried sitting himself steady on the bed. His head was still pounding and he wanted to close his eyes again and give in to sleep.

“Stop doing your sleeping beauty, it’s already late”

“Huh? The sun has just risen” He mumbled, giving another glance to the sun in the sky.

“The sun goes down Taemin”

“W-what?”

“You’ve overslept, now get up and let’s have dinner”

She was about to leave the room but doubled back with a devilish smile.

“But maybe you should have a shower first, you have sweated a lot last night…”

The hot water on his body made him feel so good. He could feel his muscles relax and the soreness leaving his body gradually. He finally stepped out of the shower when he felt good enough to face a friend. He hasn’t yet allowed himself to try to remember the past night, the action was too troublesome for his tired mind anyway. He dressed up with a large t-shirt and a short Minjoo brought him while he was showering.

He joined Minjoo in her kitchen hesitantly. He took a seat across from her and she looked up at him expressionless. He found the water bottle and poured himself a glass. His throat was dry as .

“How do you feel?”

“Good…I mean after a night out, better than I feared”

She pushed a box of fried chicken in front of him and he gave her a small smile taking a piece. He wasn’t sure if his stomach was ready for this kind of food, but he tried it anyway, biting in the juicy flesh.

“You look like you have lived the end of the world”

“Actually I feel like I’ve missed out on weeks” he scratched his head, trying to recall the night.

“You‘ve been too hard on the drinks, I’ve warned you though”

He finished his first piece of chicken and took another one, his stomach asking for more. He hasn’t realized he was that hungry.

“So, don’t you remember anything?” He could see her twist her fingers in nervousness and he looked up to meet her eyes. She wouldn’t look at him and he sighed. As he remembered, it was the first time he has ever seen her this stressed.

“I just remember us dancing in the club, the incredible amount of drink I paid for…whoever it was and… that’s it for now”

Their eyes crossed finally but he didn’t allow her to speak.

“Have we really…?” She nodded softly, sending him a small smile. He could see her eyes shining in their own way and he somehow stopped to breathe. He didn’t expected things to turn that way. Kibum will kill him.

“Taemin…”

She placed a hand on top of Taemin’s on the table and squeezed it softly.

“I know you aren’t happy”

The sentence startled him and he sent her a questioning look. “You don’t know anything”

“Quit your life and move with me. It will be a new start for you, believe me”

Taemin didn’t know what to say, he didn’t even know what to do, so he stared at her, frozen and mouth wide opened. He couldn’t believe what he heard and coming from Minjoo, it was even more unbelievable. But somehow, knowing that she was the one saying it, he thought that maybe she might be right.

“I’ve always care about you”

When he woke up this morning, Kibum wasn’t by his side anymore. He was alone in the bedroom and was relieved to finally have time for himself. He hasn't had any second to gather his thoughts and think about the situation since he has met the two people. It made him sigh.

The day before, he has been trapped in the house and couldn't do anything for the day. Maybe it was for the best, it would have been hard for him to do anything in the state he found himself anyway. So, he has lost one day between four walls and all of this because he has immerged in ODD in the middle of the street and he had almost been hit by a car to top it all. Is this what will welcome him each time he takes the pill? He hoped no.

He blamed himself for not studying more on the subject. It was already known that this city was where all ODD users immerged when taking the drug. But it was still unknown how it worked. Is the place of someone arrival correlated with something? Does the place depend on an unknown parameter? He hasn't studied the subject yet.

He collected himself, and sat up on the edge of the bed. He had to gather the information he has collected since he showed up. It was the least he could do for now.

Firstly, he was confused at how similar this world was compared to his. He would have believe  all of this was just a joke, that Leeteuk had moved his body in the street while he was asleep if he hadn't read the newspaper Mrs. Cho had gave him the day before. The place and the people mentioned in were unknown to him. He didn't know the political figures, the sportsmen, or the celebrities quoted. The countries, streets name were unfamiliar. But except from this, it was all the same. They live the same.

Secondly, he immerged in the ODD world dressed exactly how he was when he was lying on the bed of the Medical quarter. He wasn't sure exactly how it worked, he would have to make a few tests to be sure but he was glad it was this way.

Thirdly...it was all the pertinent things he learned since the start. And to be honest with himself, he was disappointed.

He breathed slowly and stretched. s weren't sore anymore but his head was still hurting and made him dizzy when he made abrupt movements.

Jinki couldn’t help thinking about Minho and Jieun. Did they arrive safely? Has they been luckier than him? Did they get into some weird people? A soft knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts before they go any further.

“Jinki? Come take your breakfast, we’re waiting for you downstairs,” Mrs. Cho voice rang out from the other side of the door.

Jinki immediately started to straighten himself. He already had put things in perspective. He knew what he had to do for the day. It was a question of a few minutes to be finally able to do it freely.

He went downstairs to find Mrs. Cho and Kibum around a table, across from each other. He greeted the two people and took a seat next to the woman who gave him a sweet smile. Kibum barely looked at him, acknowledging his presence with a quick nod.

“I didn’t sleep well” Kibum’s voice broke the silence and Mrs. Cho raised her nose from the newspaper.

“You sleep like a baby usually”

“Not today” he mumbled, taking a spoonful of his cereals.

Jinki watched the scene and felt a little out of place. “So what are you two to each other?,” he questioned, trying to feed the conversation and looking successively to Kibum then Mrs. Cho. He saw Kibum opening his mouth but Mrs. Cho was quicker.

“He’s my boyfriend”

Jinki parted his lips slightly, raising an eyebrow. Was she making fun of him or were they really in a relationship with each other? He made a face, not believing a second the last option. He looked at Kibum but he didn’t look even a bit bothered by it.

“Love knows no age” Kibum responded to Jinki’s obvious skeptical face.

“I don’t want to upset you but it’s so hard to believe…”

Kibum raised an eyebrow. “Why? Is it that disgusting to you?”

“You two didn’t even sleep in the same bed” Jinki reasoned. “I never see you too exchange any affectionate gesture and you just don’t look like a couple”

“We are an aual couple” Mrs. Cho said calmly as if it was obvious.

“That didn’t prevent you from sleeping in-“

“Mrs. Cho is,” Kibum cut them. “Since yesterday I am not so sure of it.” Kibum winked at Jinki and the latter just titled his head. He didn’t know what it was supposed to mean or what Kibum wanted to say. His thoughts wandered and he thought about the previous day. They haven’t spent a lot of time together except when he has woken up , when he has dragged him back to the room by the ear and when they have slept together. Loud chuckles roused him from his thoughts. When he looked up, he saw the two people laughing their head off, obviously satisfied with his credulity.

“Look at your face! Ah, you can so easily be fooled Jinki”

He felt himself blush and turned his attention to the breakfast table ignoring the two people. He took a knife displayed on the table then reached for the bread.

“Really the day starts good thanks to you, it’s the kind of story that will please my patient!”

“Kibum doesn’t you see you make him uneasy”

“I’m just trying to lighten the mood” The man pouted.

“It’s too early to bully” She hit him with her newspaper and it made Kibum chuckle once again

Jinki cleared his throat to remind them of his presence but didn’t took part of the conversation. He was cutting a slide of bread but was distracted by a loud sigh coming from Kibum. The knife slid on in index, lightly entering his flesh.

“Dammit” He whispered to himself, wrinkling his forehead and watching the little cut. After a few seconds a bead of blood appeared and he sighed. Really he couldn’t tell the difference between his world and this one. The sensations were exactly the same, even his blood was the same red. He wiped the blood with a tissue and saw Kibum watching him at the corner of his eyes.

“You look so fragile” Kibum snorted, making fun of him. Jinki ignored him and resumed the conversation where he has been pushed away.

“You are obviously not blood-related. So, how have you met each other?” Kibum titled his head indicating that he was in deep thoughts. Jinki wondered if ‘deep thoughts’ was appropriate when speaking of Kibum but he kept it for himself.

“Hum…That was a long time ago. I moved to the city for my studies and it turned out that Mrs. Cho was renting one of her rooms to lost students like me. Since then I have never left the house even if I’m working now. To be exact, she’s the one preventing me from moving out.”

Jinki glanced at the woman, expecting her to add another line to the story or responding to Kibum’s words but she looked like she was in a lot of thinking. She finally went out of her thoughts and tackled Kibum.

“Don’t speak as if you have enough of me Kibum. Should I remind you I’ve actually never made you pay for the room? And I admit I don’t want to see you move away until the day you get engaged and I’m not even joking.” She turned her attention to Jinki and added. “You can consider Kibum as my son Jinki”

“Oh, is that so?”

“You could never imagine how he was a brat when I first meet him” Jinki was about to comment but she silenced him with a hand motion and added “I mean much more than he is today” She winked at him and he laughed in return ignoring Kibum’s pouty face.

Speaking about family, his mind went to Minho and he suddenly felt the urge of getting news of him.

“Can I make a call?”

“Of course, it’s in the living room”

“Thanks”

He stood up and headed to the room. He composed the number he has memorized back in Leeteuk’s office. He didn’t have to wait long, a stern voice answered him.

“Hello, can you decline your identity?”

He looked furtively at the doorway, he could still heard Mrs. Cho and Kibum chatting in the kitchen but their voices sounded far away.

“Agent X323, Lee” he whispered in the receiver.

“Agent Lee Jinki. We are glad to know you’re safe. I’m Sumni, I’ve been informed of your mission, I’ll be your connection with the government here. What do you need?”

“Did my teammates already find you?”

“Jieun has called us earlier she-”

“And Minho? Do you have some news about him?”

“Not yet.”

He stayed quiet.

“You still have 39 hours before returning back to the original world. I would recommend you to come visit us. Jieun is on her way here. We will inform Minho once we get a call”

“Alright”

“We will give you more information on place. For directions, search for Hanni Corporation downtown. We’re located in the basement. You shouldn’t have a problem to find it”

Jinki wanted to ask more but the voice prevented him.

“We’re disconnected.”

He hung up, rather ill worried. If Minho hasn’t called yet maybe it was because he was in a bad position? He blamed himself for a moment for enjoying the little conversation he had not long ago. But maybe Minho was in the same position as him and was quietly having breakfast with a weird family…

They were either busy with their newspaper or playing with their food when he came back and silence fell in the kitchen. None of them seemed to notice it like they were used to it except for Jinki who began feeling uncomfortable. He cleared his throat in an attempt to remind them of his presence but Jinki felt ignored.

"So you said you work at a psychiatric clinic?" Kibum raised his eyes from his bowl of cereals and glared at Jinki.

"This is it. It surprises you?"

Kibum looked like he was suddenly lost in his thought, his head titled and eyebrows frown. Why Jinki suddenly seemed interest in his profession although he didn’t seem to care of him?

"Maybe... Jinki you're not an asylum escapee, right? Tell me you're not" Kibum nervousness grew up. Now that he thought, he found the man jumping out from nowhere under his car, he didn't want to be brought to hospital and to crown the whole he was behaving oddly. Why haven't he thought of it earlier?

"Wait, no! Why would you think like this?" Jinki shook his head, stunned by the man’s conclusion.

"It's not like you didn't give me any reason since I met you" Jinki scrunched his nose, not liking how the conversation was going.

"I'm a medical student that's why. I'm just curious" It was a half-lie. He were but in the same time he felt like it was yesterday the days he was taking notes in one of his college’s lecture room.

"Ohh" By the way the sound escaped Kibum's lips Jinki knew he wasn't completely convinced by it. And Kibum wasn’t, he couldn’t believe the man in front of him was a doctor-to-be.

"I haven't chose my specialty yet that’s why, I am still indecisive about it"

"So, you're telling me you're interested in psychiatric?"

"I just said it could be an option"

“Mmh”

Kibum plunged back his attention to his cereals. Jinki sighed, silence was back. Usually, he loved silence more than anything. He liked enjoying these little moments with himself, his friends had the particularity to be very talkative and very nosy.

"I can show you around the clinic" The words escaped his mouths without him noticing.

"What?"

"You know a lot of students have already come to us for that purpose. It’s a current thing”

Jinki’s mind was working out to find a lie. How to turn the proposal down? He turned to look at Mrs. Cho but she wasn’t at the kitchen table anymore, he hasn’t noticed it before. She was behind the sink, cleaning her used dishes.

"Well-"

"Tomorrow is that okay?"

“Huh?”

And Kibum went silent again, busy with a slide of bread he’s just stole from Jinki’s still full plate. Jinki was too busy with his thoughts to even notice his breakfast slowly disappearing in front of him.

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