[Chapter IV: Premonition Part I]

For the past 15 years, the strange cracks in the sky caused by the Mirage was like a usual sight for those who grew up under such a sky. People have questioned it for a long time, but no one would really think of it otherwise. But that calmness changed in a single night.

The next morning, the changes in the Mirage were all over the new and the once calm city of Little Valley became unsettled once more. What’s happening? What were those images that flickered across the sky? What did they mean??

“Should we move?” one lady whispered to another as she was holding her child who was crying uncontrollably.

“But isn’t it the same everywhere we go? It’s useless,” the other replied to her, while completely ignoring the fact that her twins were running around the supermarket and causing a mess.

“Do you think it’s the end of the world?” another older woman came to join in the heated discussion.

There was not a moment of silence and especially not in this supermarket where gossips travel left and right. Hakyeon thought that he would be a good older brother for once and go out in the morning to stock up their fridge before Sanghyuk wakes up. But he forgot that the supermarket was the worst place to be especially after what happened last night. He was surprised too about what he saw last night but he didn’t know if panicking was the right way to react.

Hakyeon let out a sigh as he walked out of the supermarket, carrying bags and bags of grocery all alone. But even as he walked through the parking lot, everyone stared at the Mirage and continued to talk about it.

Beep.

He searched for his car and sat inside the driver’s seat while he waited for the engine to warm up. It was very chilly in the morning, so it took awhile for the car to be ready. The windows fogged up both in and out and even after he wiped his side mirrors, they fogged up in an instant.

As Hakyeon sat there in the car, he gazed up at the Mirage like all the rest. All the places that showed up in the sky were very real, but he didn’t know where they were from. He looked up on the internet to see if anyone could recognize those places but all there are a lot of theories of where those places could be but no definite response. Though Hakyeon didn’t panic about the Mirage, it wasn’t as if he was indifferent towards it. He did feel a little anxious but there was nothing else he could do but to wait and watch.

The morning traffic felt longer than usual but after a while, Hakyeon finally reached home. The younger hasn’t woken up yet luckily so as soon as Hakyeon finished putting away all the grocery, he started to make breakfast for two. Though he wasn’t a good cook, he thought he was good enough. But as he watched the eggs cook in the frying pan, a random thought loomed over him.

How many more times can I still make breakfast for Sanghyuk? If it’s really… the end of the world…

Hakyeon went upstairs to Sanghyuk’s room after cooking and setting up the table. As he opened the door gently not to shock the younger, he saw that the younger was still asleep. His alarm hasn’t gone off yet so Hakyeon approached the younger cautiously. He looked around the room and saw how clean and organized everything was. As expected of Sanghyuk. Sanghyuk’s room used to be Hakyeon’s room when he was younger, so all of the walls were painted a navy-blue color with glow-in-the-dark stars plastered up on the ceiling like a starry sky. It could have been because of that, Sanghyuk also grew fond of astrology and space when he was young. Hakyeon even noticed how many books of science and space have filled up the younger’s bookshelf.

Then, sitting at the corner of the room by the window was a vintage-looking telescope.

I wonder if it’s still working, Hakyeon thought as he walked up near it to see.

The telescope was a gift Hakyeon bought for Sanghyuk when one of his novels became one of the top-selling books. Hakyeon was dying to buy something for the younger with his own paycheck and the telescope was the first present he ever got for Sanghyuk.

“He was so happy back then,” Hakyeon recalls the younger’s smile when Sanghyuk opened the giant present back then.

It’s been awhile since Sanghyuk smiled though. Hakyeon really misses it. He forgot when but Sanghyuk started to become less talkative and less expressive around him. It was hard for Hakyeon to find an opportunity to talk to the younger as well when his work became more hectic. Though he knows well that Sanghyuk cares a lot about him, he couldn’t help but feel as if their distance was growing.

“Hyuk-ah,” Hakyeon calls out the younger’s name as he gently shakes the younger to wake up.

Sanghyuk opens his eyes slowly to Hakyeon’s voice but his eyes widened the moment he saw Hakyeon in his room.

“I made breakfast. Come down to eat when you’re finished washing up,” Hakyeon simply said before he left the younger alone.

Hakyeon retreated back downstairs to make sure once more that the dining table was presentable. He couldn’t help but feel nervous to think that Sanghyuk would come down for breakfast which he made instead of the other way around like usual.

As he heard Sanghyuk walk down the stairs, he felt as if his heart was going to burst with anticipation, but he noticed the younger was staring out the window in confusion.

“What happened last night?” Sanghyuk asked since he was already asleep by the time the Mirage had changed.

“I don’t know either. It happened while I went to visit gramps,” Hakyeon said. “It didn’t seem like there’s anything to worry about though.”

“… Weren’t you scared?” Sanghyuk looked at him curiously.

“Mmm… Not really? I mean, I guess I got over the panic and worrying already. If I have to worry about anything, I worry more about you and gramps,” Hakyeon said honestly.

The younger stared at Hakyeon for a moment.

“You’ve changed,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Hakyeon tilted his head cluelessly.

“You started writing a lot because of that thing, wasn’t it? All your novels and even your blog used to be all about that. Even if it’s not true, you would always just let your imagination run wild when you write. Just like grandpa.”

Sanghyuk had a point.

When exactly did Hakyeon start to change? It used to be so easy to write a full novel about nothing except fantasies and the impossibles but recently, it feels like that inspiration have gone away.

“Hyuk-ah,” Hakyeon asked again. “Have I … really changed?”

Sanghyuk’s silent gaze told him, “yes.”

Hakyeon watched the younger head off for school but Sanghyuk’s words continued to repeat in his mind. In one way or another, he couldn’t help but agree that he’s really changed.

It feels as if it was harder to imagine the impossible nowadays and instead, worry more about reality. Hakyeon went to his bedroom and looked through an old family album. There were many photos of him and his grandfather as well as a few occasional ones with his parents who have already passed away. As he continues to flip through the photos, a picture caught his attention.

“Huh? Who’s this?”

Hakyeon took out the picture of him and his grandfather that was taken many years ago during one summer. But next to him was a little boy with dark brown hair and slightly shorter than Hakyeon. Judging from the photo, it seems that this was before Sanghyuk joined the family as well. But no matter how hard Hakyeon tries to remember who the little boy was, he could not. That’s when he notices a necklace that was tied around the boy’s neck. It was a white glowy sphere that looks as if it was reflecting the light from the sun that summer.

“Wait, this shape…”

Hakyeon rushes down to the basement, grabbing the photo with him as he made his way down and opened the drawer. He took out the wooden box he found the other day and opened it. The hollowed shape in the box matched the shape of the necklace from the photo. It was very similar at the very least but where is that necklace? Who is that little boy in the photo? And why did his grandfather have this box?

“Yeonie-hyung.”

He heard a voice.

“What?” Hakyeon looked around nervously. “W-who’s there?”

“Save me,” the voice said.

“Who are you?”

Hakyeon could still hear the voice but there was no one around except himself in the room.

“Save us.”

“Us?”

That night was strange.

Hakyeon was sure he heard a little boy’s voice down in the basement. Possibly the same little boy from the photo who he could not recall. And as he thought long and hard about it, he fell asleep and dreamt.

He was standing at the top of Starlight Peaks. The night was quiet and cold. He looked down at his feet to realize that he wasn’t wearing any shoes. Before he could react, he saw that he was also wearing his navy-blue pajamas.

“What am I doing here?” he questions himself.

As he looked beyond that valley, he notices that the lights of the city was flicking on and off. When all of the lights eventually disappeared, a huge flash appeared in the sky. He looked up into the Mirage. Images of various places appeared across the sky in a warp, looking as if they were merging into one another. But those images began to split and crack into hundreds of pieces, falling from the sky like a meteor shower. The Mirage was breaking but as he gazed at the sky, he couldn’t help but shake off the uneasy feeling he felt. That’s when he noticed one of the images in the sky that resembled a lot like Little Valley.

However, before he could it closer, the ground began to shake.

“Hakyeon-hyung,” he heard Sanghyuk’s voice calling his name from behind.

When Hakyeon turned around, he saw his younger brother standing there in a distance. But Sanghyuk wasn’t the only one there.

Sanghyuk was holding onto the hands of a little boy. The same little boy from the photograph.

“Yeonie-hyung,” the boy said once more, with a sad and desperate voice. “Save us.”