“Hey, you girl! Hey, Red, stop screaming!”

Lana looked up as the blue-haired dwarf hobbled away, completely apathetic to the teenage girl’s obvious state of distress. She glanced around, searching for the source of the voice she could only assume was calling out to her. After all, she was the only shrieking girl currently curled up in a ball on the floor of the sky bridge. Her eyes eventually fell on a familiar-yet-unwelcome face: the owl-eyed kid from the bus.

Seeing the kidnapper only made Lana scream louder than ever.

He swiftly approached her, squatted beside her, and leaned in to make sure his giant face was right in her field of vision. His eyes were still red and watery from the tear gas. “Hey, it’s okay,” he tried consoling in a not-at-all-comforting, hushed tone. “Quiet down. Hey! Hey, Red.” When she didn’t stop screeching, he threw a finger in front of her lips and hissed, “Shhh.”

Lana clamped shut and glared at him through tear-packed eyes. She swatted his hand away, stammering, “How d-d-dare you! You k-kidnapped me!”

He gaped at her incredulously, pulling his head back in surprise. “Aren’t you forgetting something? You trespassed on my bus.”

“You knew I was in there,” Lana snapped. “You were sharpening your knife to kill me! I heard you!”

“Um, no,” he retorted curtly. “I don’t kill people. Too messy.” He crossed his arms indignantly. “Besides, I wouldn’t have left your time if I knew you were onboard. I’m not a time taxi.”

Lana blinked back at him, wondering if she misheard. Left her time? What did he think he was, some kind of crazy time traveler? That wasn’t even possible; every sane person on the planet knew that. Besides, even if it were possible, why hadn’t anyone ever encountered a time tourist from the future? Logically speaking, it just didn’t make sense. Of course, this guy was clearly out of his mind anyway, kidnapping innocent schoolgirls and—

Lana shook her head, aborting the needless mental digression. “I don’t know what crazy part of this crazy town you took me to,” she growled, “but you better take me home right now.” And, just for good measure, she threw in extra loudly, “MY DAD IS SIX-FOOT-TWO AND A BLACK BELT IN MARTIAL ARTS AND ALSO A SECRET AGENT, YOU KNOW.”

The weird teenager rolled his big eyes. “Okay, okay,” he droned, pulling Lana up from the floor. “Let’s just get back to the bus and—” He froze, cutting himself short when he realized that most of the strange creatures were now staring at the two of them as they passed. “It’s okay!” he declared, waving his free hand dismissively. “She’s just had too much to drink! Go about your business!”

Lana tramped behind the boy as he led her back down the alleyway she had minutes ago come dashing out of. The old blue bus was still parked beside the mirror-like wall of a skyscraper, and Lana had never been happier to see such a beat-up, rundown vehicle. She scampered ahead of the other teen, climbing aboard the bus with little hesitation, and threw her schoolbag down on the diner booth.

The boy soon came clamoring up the bus steps. “Alright now,” he mumbled, wiggling his fingers expectantly as he hovered before an incredibly high-tech console, “exactly what day and time was it when you decided to trespass on my bus and hitchhike through time again?”

Lana rolled her eyes. This kid was still trying to play the time-travel card? Still, she might as well play along if it meant getting home sometime today. “October 5^th, 2033, at 3PM or something. Can you just take me home already?”

He fiddled with a few buttons and flipped a lever before quickly slamming his hands down on the dashboard in frustration. “Sorry, Red,” he sighed, “looks like we can’t go just yet. The bus needs to recharge.” When Lana gaped at him, jaw dropped to the floor in disbelief, he stepped away from the console and sighed, “Go ahead. You can try to get it to work, but it won’t.”

Lana narrowed her eyes. “How long will it take to recharge?”

“Four point thirty-two hours,” he answered matter-of-factly. Lana felt her jaw drop again, but the boy ignored her. Instead, he suddenly gasped excitedly, his eyes somehow widening even further. “Hey, I know!” he exclaimed, grabbing her wrist to pull her toward the bus exit. “Come on, Red! Why don’t we go explore the city while we wait?”

Lana ripped her arm out of his grip. “What the hell?” she grumbled. “I’m not going back out there. I don’t know where we are. I don’t even know who you are. How can I trust you? You’re probably just trying to lure me out to certain death.”

The kid groaned. “Look, I’m Do Kyungsoo,” he introduced. “This is MegaMadrid, a supercity from the future, under the reign of the Glorious New Spench Empire. The year is 14364. Am I forgetting anything?”

“Yeah,” Lana tutted, “aren’t you going to ask my name? You keep calling me Red for some reason.”

“Oh, yeah!” He grinned vibrantly, biting his bottom lip. “Your lipstick is red, and I didn’t know what else to call you.” He shrugged. “So, what is it?”

“Lana,” she answered dully.

“Cool! Can we go now?” He fetched her hand again, once more attempting to pull her out of the vehicle.

“Hey, wait a minute,” she grumbled, and he dropped his grip. “I’m still not convinced we’re in the future. In fact, if we’re in the future, how come I saw my dad on that billboard? I’m pretty sure he lives in my time, not in MegaSpench or whatever.”

Kyungsoo watched her with wide, questioning eyes for a moment. Then he bit his puffy lip, fighting back laughter. “That blond guy was your dad?” He snorted before finally breaking into a snigger. “Seriously?”

Lana gawked. “What’s so funny?” Unless Kyungsoo somehow knew her dad was an adult entertainer, which probably meant that the kid was gay, she didn’t see what could possibly be amusing abou—

“Dragon Express,” he giggled, and Lana groaned immediately. “Buy the vintage Dragon Express collection, recently unearthed from somewhere in prehistoric South Korea,” Kyungsoo recited. He shrugged. “At least, that’s what the commercial said.”

Lana could only wonder how he understood the weird, incomprehensible speech from the commercial, but she decided not to press the matter for now. More important was convincing this madman that he was wrong and she was right. “Still, you could just be making that up,” she clucked. “Seriously, it’s not like my dad’s that obscure—”

“Come on, Lana,” he sighed, waving his hand. “Let’s just take a look around the city. Then you’ll see for yourself: I’m telling the truth.”

Author's Note
Hellooo! Do you like Kyungsoo? He’s the bee’s knees! Well, guess what, guys? We reached 600 subscribers yesterday! Gosh, how can I ever express my gratitude? ❤ I didn’t even expect to get half this many subs tbqh. /sobs

Please leave me lots of comments! If there’s a lot, maybe I’ll post another chapter sooner! \^0^/ WIN/WIN