1:51 pm

Jaejoong continued his studies. He was earnest to get his degree so he could help you. He was going to cure you of your insanity, and if he couldn’t do that, he was going to nurse you through your sickness. If he needed to, he would visit Russia and find those people that poisoned your mind. He was that determined to beat Nightmare. His grades faltered after the occasional trips to NIGHTMARE, but he was going to keep them high enough so he could quickly help you. You didn’t really feel the need to be helped.

Some days were semi okay. You didn’t lock yourself in your room refusing to see the puppet master. You actually ventured out. There were days that you visited Jaejoong, only to be kicked out by his sisters that didn’t like you yelling profanities. Other times you strayed into the city, hoping to find some lost member that would ease your eyes.

You glared at tall the deformed people. Without them understanding your actions, you barked death threats and attacked without hesitation. Someone would always stop you, and with your little understanding of what was going on, you would abandon the new opponent. You knew when you were fighting a lost battle. Your Tae Kwon Do skills had dulled dangerously and you couldn’t even call yourself a master. Your movements were foggy and strenuous. It was difficult for you body to process any movement commands.

You laid in the middle of the sidewalk with people crowding around you in curiosity. They didn’t know why a young adult was crying. Someone was asking if you were sick. Another wanted to know if you needed a doctor. You ignored the buzzing and tried to block out the real words coming to you. Their thoughts about you stung. They thought you were a maniac, an attention getter, a ridiculous radical. You didn’t like their thoughts. They were so agonizing. Their faces, with the masks revealed, showed annoyed bystanders. They all hated you. But there was one face that didn’t scream murder to you.

You sat up and stared at the person. They were perfectly normal. You watched them and they watched you. That man, who was he? You stood up and calmly walked to him, ignoring the cross shouts from the pedestrians around you. He was startled by your track to him. He didn’t know you and wasn’t sure what you were doing. Did you know him? He started backing away, but you were swift. With his clear and euphoric aura, your mind felt clear and in control.

You grabbed his wrist and looked at it dearly. “NIGHTMARE.” He was shocked. You had guessed his secret so easily. He found you as a threat and wanted to get rid of you immediately, but you held him tightly. “You can help me. I am a little lost right now.” He looked over you with concern but nodded his head with you dragging him down the street. In a more private location, another coffee shop, you showed him your wrist. “I’m a level fourteen. Sunbae, do you think I will be able to reach your level?” His eyes widened when he realized you were another player.

It was unexpected. He had never thought he would meet another doomed person. “How many of you are left?” You counted on your fingers the people that you could remember.

“Let’s see, there is me, Jaejoongie, Yoochun, Yunho, Dae, and Haruka, so that is six.” Junsu didn’t make it, his surgeries had failed. Erika had been killed in her time in NIGHTMARE. Since she was in England, her midnight came later than everyone else’s, so she was stuck to fend for herself for a few hours. She had done well the first time, but the second trip took her out. You didn’t even know until the seventh trip to NIGHTMARE. They were missed, but soon forgotten with the added worries from the repetitive nightmares. They were coming so often you never got a rest.

“There is only me left in my group. I am OUTLANDER, you are?” You rubbed your chin thinking of the right answer.

“I was HEARTLESS last time I checked, but I was informed that my name changed recently. It was something like MANDO… no that wasn’t it. MONIA… that doesn’t seem right. I can’t remember it at all.” He raised an eyebrow.

“MANIA?” You clapped your hands together.

“Yeah, that was it! I couldn’t think of the word. I guess I need to study my English.”

“It is actually Latin for craze. I take it you are a very weird person.” You shook your head.

“Nope, I’m crazy. I see things that aren’t really there, or are they. I hear things that aren’t true, but they are. Even now, this entire shop is filled with butterflies that want to eat my head.” You turned to one that was fluttering near your head before swatting it away and shouting to the rest of them. “There is no nectar in me; you can’t get any food off of me you ing bugs!” The other customers looked at you confused from your outburst. “Imma eat your face!” The OUTLANDER brought his hand to your cheek and pinched it.

“Get a grip! You are causing a disturbance. Wow, you are really random.” He thought you were just a kid acting out to be different. Like you needed to, you were a ing player in NIGHTMARE. You were already different enough.

His watched faced you and read you the time. “Oh, I have to go! Joongie has free time now and he said I could visit him at school! It was nice meeting you OUTLANDER.” He didn’t really care, but you wanted him to feel your sincerity. “I mean it. It was nice meeting you.”

2:38 pm

Jaejoong saw you walking onto campus from a window. He wasn’t doing anything, but when he found you he thought of his professors. He wanted to introduce you to them. He had been rethinking that idea since you were a little out of it with anyone other than the surviving players. Your last outburst with him when he had found you wandering the streets told him it was time to get you checked out. He was only thinking about your well being, so he was going to let you meet his psychology professor first.

He met you near the front building and quickly hid you from any watchful eyes. He did all he could to keep you away from people. He was doing a pretty good job until you met his professor. When you saw him your first reaction was to stab him in the heart, but your knife was still in the authorities’ custody. Your second reaction was to take a chair to his head. You would have until Jaejoong wrapped his arms around your waist and covered your eyes. He whispered over your shoulder.

“Professor Choi, this is the friend that I told you about. The special one.”

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This happens like... three months later. And you have been to NIGHTMARE 14 times. I don't want to focus on the nightmare. I want to show how crazy you really are. *butterflies*

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