Something sounds wrong. As I slowly return to the world of the living, I keep my eyes closed so I pinpoint exactly what is. There’s no brash alarm ringing, no Rachel rustling about the room. There’re no birds chirping outside the window, no muffled thumps coming through the thin dorm walls. Instead, it sounds like water, the muted movement you hear when you duck your head in the pool.
 

   As I move my hand to sleepily push my hair away from my face, my fingers encounter something soft and warm. Opening my eyes, I find a small, chestnut colored terrier comfortably curled up beside me, its head on the pillow like a human. Giggling, I pat its head before frowning. We’re not allowed to have pets in the dorm and these sheets...

    Jerking out of bed, I shake my head and rub my eyes. This is impossible. The same room I remember from my dream is still in front of me, the only difference being that the three men are gone. I lift the blankets and am slightly relieved that my clothes are still intact. I swing my feet off the bed and put a foot down experimentally. The cool stone seems real enough, but this reality only makes me more agitated. Does this mean it wasn’t a dream?

    I push myself off the bed entirely, casting a wary glance at the door. Someone’s probably guarding it. Trying to keep as quiet as possible, I start searching the walls and behind the tapestries for another door or a window. As I’m doing this, the dog wakes up and looks around the room, whining when it finds me.

“Shhh,” I whisper soothingly. “It’s ok. It’s ok.”

The dog whines again, a worried look on its furry face.

Reaching for another tapestry, I jerk my hand back and step away from the wall as the door opens.

One of the men from earlier, M-something, looks in the room, frowning at the empty bed. His frown relaxes when he spots me. “You’re awake,” he says simply.

I nod, quickly abandoning the idea of trying to push past him to get out. I’m too far and he doesn’t look like he could be easily pushed aside.

“I’m Minho, if you don’t remember. Let me know if there’s anything you need.” He goes to close the door, but hesitates. Looking at me again, he adds, “I’m sorry if I seemed rude earlier. I’m just....worried...about you and...other things.”

I nod again. Suddenly struck by an idea, I ask hesitantly, “Is...Kibum still here?”

“He’s somewhere. Do you want me to find him for you?”

“Yes...please.” If I can send him away long enough, that’ll give me more time to search the room.

Minho bows his head and gives me a small smile. Looking at the dog, he says, “Taemin, stay with her. I’ll be back soon.”

“You’re supposed to guard me, huh?” I ask, looking at terrier after Minho closes the door and I hear the small click of a lock. “Well, you won’t mind if I look around, right?”
    

Chuckling to myself despite the situation, I resume my hunt for an exit. The dog jumps from the bed to follow closely at my heels as I circle the room. He barks when I stop at a tapestry of fish.

“Is this it, boy?” I grip the cloth and pull it back to reveal metal handles and sectioned wood. “Bingo.”

    When I tug one of the handles, the wood creaks and refuses to move. Grasping it with both hands, I try again to no avail. With a huff, I set my feet against the wall and pull, letting desperation fuel my strength. The dog grows more agitated, barking loudly and pawing at my leg, but I ignore him. Suddenly, the wood gives, swinging open so I let go and land hard on the floor in surprise. Grumbling a few choice words as I stand, I freeze when I look at the scene outside the window.
  

       The light teal could be mistaken for the sky except for one thing. Instead of clouds floating through its expanse, groups of colorful fish, light bouncing off their scales, flit to and fro. I step closer to the windowsill, suspending my disbelief. As I get closer, a floor of rock and coral and sand appears, alive with a myriad of sea creatures and stretching into the distance. Tentatively, I stretch a trembling hand outside. My fingers meet resistance after I reach my arm out to my elbow, but I still see nothing. It feels like I’ve stuck my hand into thick, warm rubber.

“Lil-”

I spin around, jerking my hand back inside and hiding it behind my back.

“Great. That's going to be easy to explain, ” Kibum sighs, rubbing his forehead. “I thought you said you locked them all.”

“I did. I must’ve missed that one,” Minho replies, stretching out a hand. “You know this place has a mind of its own sometimes.”

I jump as the window swings shut, the metal of the handles becoming alive to twist around each other and seal the window shut.

“I didn’t mean do it now, Minho!”

“Hyung’s just trying to help,” a new voice says.

Looking beside me, I stumble backwards and fall again.

“Oh, sorry, noona.” the boy who suddenly appeared at my side looks at me apologetically and moves towards me, stopping when I scramble away.

Throwing his hands up, Kibum scolds, “Taemin! I need her to be calm, not freaked out any more than she already is!”

“Taemin?” Looking at him now, I notice his hair is the same color of the dog. “You’re Taemin?”

“I am. I’m a shape-shifter,” the boy says, his upset face becoming a smile as he looks away from Kibum to me.

“This is not real,” I mutter, using a small table to pull myself up. Pointing at them, I say, “You are not real. I am still in a fever-induced dream and I am going to wake up soon and you all are going to be gone, understood?”

With another frustrated sigh, Kibum walks over to me. “Stop being ridiculous, Lilly.”

My jaw drops. "Excuse me?"

“Hyung!” Taemin and Minho exclaim, looking at him in shock.

“We both know you’re smarter and better than this,” Kibum continues, not taking his eyes away from mine. “Don’t play the air-head who denies the truth even after all the evidence is shoved under her nose. We haven’t hurt you and the only reason why you’re stuck in this room is for your own good.”

“You try getting drugged, kidnapped, waking up in a room with strangers in Heaven knows where, and them not telling you anything and then seeing that!” I shout, pointing at the window. “Let’s see how ‘ridiculous’ you act!”

“I didn’t drug you and we’re not strangers; you’ve known us for years.”

“What?”


“Hyung, you shouldn’t talk to her like that,” Minho says, resting a hand on his shoulder. Lowering his voice so I can barely hear it, he adds, “She needs time to adjust. Telling herself this a dream is her coping mechanism; let her have it. She’s only human.”

Taking advantage of their distraction, I edge towards the door, Taemin’s attention on the other two.

“What happens when that illusion can’t stand anymore?” Kibum counters, whispering as well. “Do you want her to go mad?”

“We’re already tempting fate as it is.”

“We only have two days until-” He twists around, catching me. “Lilly!”

    Although it’d be interesting to know exactly what they meant, I’d rather not stick around. I dash towards the door, feeling the rush of air as Minho makes a grab at me. Stumbling on the threshold, I quickly regain my balance and run blindly through a maze dark halls, ignoring their calls. As I cast a glance over my shoulder, I slam into something solid, knocking it to the ground with a grunt.

“I’m so sorry,” I manage, trying to scramble up. Despite my frenzy, my mind freezes when I properly look at what or rather who I ran into. “You’re normal!”

“Um, thank you?” the young man says, cocking his head as he stands up, brushes off his jeans, and readjusts his Batman shirt.

Hearing Kibum calling my name not too far behind us, I grab his sleeve. “They’re coming! We need to hide!”

“Hide? Why?”

“Because if they catch us, we’re never getting out of here!”

“Oh...we can hide in here, if you want,” he says, gesturing to a door to our right.

    Without another word, I jerk open the sliding door and pull him inside before shutting and locking it. Holding my breath, I wait, hearing the three of them getting closer and closer. When they run past the door, I sink to the floor with a sigh.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the man says when I reach for the handle after a few minutes have passed.

“Why not?” I ask cautiously.

“Because what if they backtrack?” he shrugs. “You’ll get caught for sure. Just wait in here for a while. You want some tea? Ramen? I just made some.”

“Ramen? How could you make ramen?

“Easy. Boil water, add the spice, then the noodles-”

“No, I mean how could you make ramen when you should be escaping?”

“Escape? I live here.”

I frown, my hand going towards the handle again.

“Wait! Please don’t leave yet. I promise I won’t try to stop you from escaping,” he says, sitting down by a small, low table with a steaming pot on it.

    Although I’m still suspicious, I slowly crawl over to the table as well. He was right after all. If I hid out, they’d go farther away to look for me. Plus, my stomach was grumbling at the smell of food.

He smiles and draws out another bowl and set of chopsticks from a drawer under the table, placing them neatly in front of me. “I’m Jonghyun, by the way.”

“Lilly,” I say. “If you live here....why’re you wearing normal clothes? Are you...human?”


“I like to wear them every once in awhile,” he shrugs again, carefully putting some of the noodles in my bowl. “They’re comfy and unique, right?”

I nod, eagerly accepting the food. After burning my tongue, I realize something. “You didn’t answer my second question.”

Jonghyun looks up from his ramen with a puzzled look. “I didn’t? What was it again?”

“Are you human?”

“Nope,” he smiles, going back to his food. “I’m not really sure what humans would call me. A demi-god? Nah, Father isn’t a god exactly....but anyway, no, I’m not human.”

“Do you have powers too?”

“I’m a seer, kinda. I don’t have visions a lot since the future’s a slippery thing, but when I do they’re always true. I’m really good at showing the past though.”

“This is such a weird dream,” I mutter. “I just want it to end.”

“You know the trick to get out of a dream, right?”

“No. What is it?” I ask, leaning forward.

“Simple. You just go with it. Play by the dream’s rules; your imagination will run out of things if you don’t go against it and force it to make up new things, right?”

“That sounds like an idea,” I reply, thinking it over.

Jonghyun smirks. “I’m a genius sometimes, I’ll admit it.”

“I guess I could give it a try....”

“I think I heard her!” Minho’s voice suddenly comes.

When I almost bolt to hide, Jonghyun catches my arm and gives me another smile. “Play the game, remember?”

Slowly, I sink back down and wait as the lock clicks open and Minho peeks inside.

“Hyung, have you seen-Lilly!” Sticking his head back out, he yells, “Guys, she’s here!”

I glance at Jonghyun again before taking another breath and reminding myself to play the system.

“There you are!” Kibum smiles in relief. “I almost thought I’d have to lose this pretty head or something.”

“Noona, are you okay? I’m sorry for scaring you,” Taemin apologizes, squeezing his head under Minho and Kibum’s arms. “I can go back to being an animal if you want.”

“I’m fine,” I reply calmly, making their eyes widen in surprise. “I- I'm ready to go back to the room.”

“You’re...not going to try to run again?” Minho asks, looking disbelieving.

Sighing, I shake my head. “From what I’ve seen, I wouldn’t be able to find my way out. Besides, the sooner I stop fighting, the sooner I wake up.”

Kibum starts to say something, but Minho jabs him in the side, making him change his mind. “We’ll take you back now. If you’re up for it, there’re somethings we need to do.”

Nodding, I stand. Looking back down, I say, “Thank you, Jonghyun.”

“Come back anytime you want ramen,” he smiles cheerily. Gesturing to a bookcase behind him, he adds, “If you get bored, I have plenty of books you can read. Someone ought to.”

“I don’t even see why you bother having them; everyone already knows what you’re really like,” Kibum chuckles, ignoring Jonghyun’s pout. “Lilly?”

“Coming.” With a small smile at Jonghyun, I step out of the room and follow the three of them back towards my room.

As we walk, part of me is curious as to what we ‘need’ to do. I push the other half, the half that is still afraid, farther down. Being scared won’t do me any good. I can only go forward from here.