§ “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

Characters: Yesung

Everyone always him, always told him that what he was doing was childish and completely immature, but he knew different, he knew better. He knew, that he was better off than all of them because they didn’t know the masses of paths and roads that they could take if they only imagined. He could only chuckle at them.

Jongwoon moved around slowly as he examined the room he was currently in, watching the walls carefully as he walked, smiling as they seemed to move slowly almost as if they were dancing and he was completely memorised. He couldn’t help but walk up to the closest wall and put out his hand, his lips curving back into a smile as it almost felt as if it was foam. He liked foam, you could imprint your hands on it and the foam would keep the shape like a memory.

Moving along, and letting his hand continuously the wall as he did, and it amused him at how the room seemed to go on forever and ever.

He liked that, an infinite amount of possibilities.

The boy continued forward, and suddenly he felt way too hot.

Everyone else would complain, probably start stripping their clothes off just to get that little colder. But no, Jongwoon knew the boundaries, and he knew that he only had to think about a simple thing, like an air conditioner or a large fan. Smiling, he stopped what he was doing and closed his eyes slowly, thinking about a nice draft of wind that was cold enough to make him calmer, cold enough to make him feel perfectly normal. And then he started up his pace again.

Everything was like a dream, Jongwoon could do whatever he wanted to and there was no restrictions.

He had no restrictions.

Not like everyone else did. He had his own imagination, of course everyone else did to, but they based all of their actions and words on such a thing as knowledge. Knowledge had restrictions and limitations and Jongwoon hated it. No, there was no need for a thing like knowledge in his own world, because he could draw up his own path, his own necessities, and he could create his own entire world by his very own imagination. No one could take that away from him, and no one could change it either.

Walking more, he could only smile at how many colours there were around him. Ah, it was so pretty.

And like most days, Jongwoon was prepared to walk on forever and ever.

But then something unexpected appeared, and Jongwoon didn’t really know what to do about it. Maybe his imagination was expanding, maybe it was doing things on its own now, and that thought alone kind of made him a little scared. He liked being in control, he liked being able to make everything twist around his fingers.

But that door was not created by him.

Putting out his hand, he wrapped it around the golden knob and froze. It was cold. Jongwoon shook his head a little, because he was completely safe in his own imagination, which this entire room was – he was the controller and if his mind wanted to play little tricks and test him, he was going to get past them too.

Pulling the door open, he got an even bigger surprise.

Now he was pushed to the ground, and an even bigger surprise lay on top of him and Jongwoon took this time to think that something was seriously wrong.

“What are you?” he asked, bringing up his hands and pushing the thing off of him as he stood up. Looking at the other, he realised it wasn’t actually a ‘thing’, but a ‘someone’. When the other ‘someone’ was now standing up, Jongwoon got even more scared. He had never seen this person before.

What was he doing in his world?

In his imagination?

“Who are you?” Jongwoon’s voice quavering, and he pointed his finger against the other who was currently wiping down his clothes before they finally connected gazes. No, he was sure he had never seen the other. “Why are you here?” he asked slowly. And finally, the other spoke, in a very annoying voice.

“I’m not telling you.”

Jongwoon could only sigh. Closing his eyes, he brought up his hands to both sides of his head and rubbed his temples, thinking desperately for the stranger to disappear so that he could go back to his amazing endless room and he could live life for the night in absolute bliss. Not like this.

However, when he opened his eyes, the other stranger was way too close for comfort (and the fact he was still there rather pissed Jongwoon off.)

“Personal space.” Jongwoon whispered, pushing the other away and taking a step backwards. “Go away.” He said, turning on his heel to face the opposite way, because as of now, he was alone and safe from anyone outside of his imagination. Moving forward, he started humming a low tune as he moved closer to the wall again, touching the foam again and simply returning back to his calm state before anything weird happened.

Feeling free, he finally stopped and turned so that his back was against the comfortable wall, and he let his body slip down until he fell onto floor, crossing his legs together as he closed his eyes and simply meditated.

“Are you just going to sit there?”

That annoying voices intruded his calm thoughts, and it left Jongwoon rather mad.

“Didn’t I tell you to go away?” he asked, not even bothering to open his eyes and look up at the intruding stranger. This was his own world, if he wished something to disappear, shouldn’t it just… disappear?

“Yeah, but I’m not going to.”

Apparently not.

Jongwoon let out a slow sigh and he looked up at the other. The boy couldn’t really remember the last time he had actually seen another living person – okay, he wasn’t really living, considering it was just a figment of his imagination – it had been so long, he was always alone, and he wasn’t looking for pity, because he loved it that way. Having others were far too much of a hassle.

He didn’t need them, and he certainly didn’t need the stranger in front of him.

“Who are you?” Jongwoon asked, bringing up his knees to his chest and laying his chin on them, staring up at the other whilst examining him closely.

The other male looked definitely younger, however he still looked rather masculine. Although, his face was pale and he definitely was very cute. Brown hair sat on top of his head, all fluffy and perfectly styled at the very same time. His eyes were slightly larger for a Korean man, making Jongwoon immediately think of an ulzzang. They were a gorgeous brown colour, his lips were a fierce pink and overall he looked rather handsome.

But still, he was annoying. Not any amount of cute cheeks would change Jongwoon’s opinion of him.

“Why do you want to know?” The brown headed boy asked, tilting his head to the side just a little.

Jongwoon glared a little before puffing out his cheeks rather immaturely.

“You’re in my imagination, I should know who you are. Because, I made you, you are me, I ought to know who you are but I simply don’t.”

Jongwoon surprised himself at how wise he sounded, or maybe it just sounded absolutely crazy, but it was the truth. Waiting slightly impatiently, he gazed into the other’s deep brown eyes and stayed silent.

“…Wow, that’s pretty deep.” The other said in a low voice before moving a little forward and closer to the boy. “My name is Cho Kyuhyun.” He said, bowing a little as his lips curved up into a smile, showing his gleaming white teeth, but Jongwoon still felt like the other was mocking him slightly.

“And what are you doing here, Cho Kyuhyun?” Jongwoon asked, finally moving his legs straight so that he was standing up. As they faced each other, the strange boy chuckled a little.

“I’m here to help you.” He explained, crossing his arms, but that teasing smile stayed dormant on his lips. Jongwoon rolled his eyes.

“I don’t need help. What I need is for you to leave me alone.” He warned, glaring, but the other didn’t even flinch. Instead, the exact opposite occurred and Kyuhyun started to stalk forward until he placed his hand on the other’s shoulder. This was the first time he’d been touched by someone in so long.

Jongwoon suddenly felt his head throb in pain, and he quickly brought one of his hands up to the pained area, pressing onto it hard to try and stop the pain from spreading. A soft trembled whisper slipped past his dry lips, and he started to feel incredibly scared. He had never felt like this before, not in his sanctuary. Kyuhyun looked at him cautiously, worried even, before he took a few steps back and released his hand from the other’s shoulder.

That’s when the pain suddenly stopped.

Jongwoon was more than terrified, he didn’t like this.

“You need help.”

Jongwoon shook his head, no, he didn’t like being told things. That’s what he hated, being told facts and statistics because there was no way to alter them, that’s why he felt so safe inside of here, he could change everything, control absolutely everything around him, until someone unexpected came into the picture.

“Shut up, please.” The older boy whispered, before he gathered his strength and disposition before looking and smiling at him, like nothing had ever happened. “Please, I was feeling a lot better before now.” Jongwoon explained as he turned away from him and just tried to fill his mind with happy thoughts, calming thoughts which were the exact same as blank thoughts.

Kyuhyun sighed loudly, enough to make Jongwoon hear him anyway, before he started pacing a little.

At least he wasn’t bothering Jongwoon for the time being.

The pain was gone, he felt better, now to imagine that the other wasn’t there.

But it was hard when Kyuhyun continued to talk to him.

“Let’s just chat.” He said, trying a different approach. Jongwoon sighed before he turned back around and faced the other. But when he tried to move forward, Jongwoon took a few steps back, not wanting the pain to come back. “Okay… Where are we?”

Jongwoon looked at him weirdly.

Did he not know?

“You don’t know where you are?” he asked, looking at him weirdly as he tilted his head slightly to the right.

Kyuhyun shrugged his shoulders, trying to look inconspicuous.

“No, mind telling me?” he asked softly.

If Jongwoon didn’t think the other was already weird, he did now.

“In my imagination.” He said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. Well it was really. “Which means you are a figment of my imagination too.” He explained more, hoping that the other would begin to realise what he was, that Kyuhyun didn’t exist, that he shouldn’t be here and that he couldn’t be here.

Kyuhyun looked at him rather intrigued.

“I am?” he asked, and the other nodded instantly.

“Yes, of course. Why else would you be in here?” he wondered, but Kyuhyun shook his head.

“So you think I’m not real?”

“You aren’t real.”

“What about our surroundings?”

“Not real either.”

“Then why do you stay here?”

Jongwoon stopped and looked down at the soft floor. That was a simple question that had a simple answer to it. But now that he thought about it, he didn’t really want to tell Kyuhyun that. But he was going to have to.

Although he still didn’t know why he has to answer Kyuhyun anyway.

“Because it’s safe here. It’s expandable.”

Kyuhyun looked at him confused.

“Expandable?” the other asked, not really understanding what the other had meant by his answer. Jongwoon nodded.

“I can do anything here. There’s no restrictions. Well, there shouldn’t be. Everything is my imagination which means I have complete control over it. It’s safe.” He explained better, hoping that the other finally understood him, because he wasn’t sure how to expand even more on it.

The other stayed silent and it seemed as if he was just deeply thinking.

Jongwoon sighed before he glanced over at the door again. Was it getting closer?

A shiver ran up his spine before he started to side step again, hoping that he wasn’t going to get to close to it.

“That’s very deep.” Kyuhyun suddenly spoke, looking up at the other and smiling softly at him. He tried taking a closer step but Jongwoon reacted the same as before: moving away to maintain the safe distance between them. Sighing, he stayed on his spot before he looked around.

Jongwoon watched him carefully, wondering to himself why he hadn’t just ran away down the infinite hallway on his left which would lead him away from door and most certainly away from Kyuhyun which was the main problem. But he couldn’t get his legs to move.

His mind was in muddles.

It was telling him that even if he ran, he wouldn’t get any further.

But he pushed those thoughts away in a locked safe.

“Your name is Jongwoon right?” The strange man said, eliciting a soft expression.

Jongwoon’s head snapped up when he heard his name pass through the other’s red lips.

“You know my name?” he asked, but then he shook his head, feeling silly. “Wait… of course you do. You are a part of me.”

Kyuhyun listened carefully to the other’s ramblings, recording them in the back of his mind, logging it carefully.

Jongwoon sighed.

“You said I needed help.” He whispered, and the other nodded, a sad smile appearing on his lips. “Why?” he asked, wondering why a figment of his imagination was telling him something like this. The brunette sighed before he folded his arms across his chest before he started to speak softly, not wanting to harm the other or freak him out even more than he already had.

“I need you to calm down first.” He said, waiting until the other responded to his request.

“Why?” Jongwoon asked, knowing that he was riled up a little more than usual, but he felt as if something bad was going to come out of the other’s mouth.

Kyuhyun sighed.

“Please, I need you calm before you hear any of this.”

Yet Jongwoon nodded, closing his eyes softly as he inhaled the air softly before he let it out and opened his eyes and he stared at Kyuhyun.

“Okay, I’m calm.” He whispered, leaning against the wall behind him to keep himself steady.

The other nodded and tried to bring up the best words to explain.

He didn’t want Jongwoon freaking out.

No, he promised he could handle this himself, and he was going to.

“Jongwoon, you said we were in your imagination right?” he said at first, and the other immediately nodded, agreeing with his statement. “Can you describe to me what you’re seeing right now?” he asked, getting ready to track the description in his brain, holding up all the information he was going to gain.

Jongwoon nodded, not seeing the harm, even though Kyuhyun could see everything himself.

Maybe they were just interpreting it differently.

“Well, the hallway is endless to my left, the walls are white and incredibly soft, almost like foam. The floors are also white, but they are definitely comfortable against my feet, but to my right, is a big door. Something that was never there until today, and it scares me. It keeps getting closer to me.”

Jongwoon started to become paler, so Kyuhyun decided to stop him.

“Okay, I got it.” He cut in.

“Right, now, how long have you been here?” the boy wondered.

Jongwoon tilted his head a little before he tapped his mind a little; trying to think back to the first time he ever entered this world.

It was hard, but he tried to make an estimate.

“Maybe… about three years?” he asked, scrunching his eyes a little when he realised how long it had actually been, but he was in sanctuary every single day, that was the only way he felt completely safe. The other looked rather surprised at him, and he wondered why. “What is it?” he wondered.

Kyuhyun sighed a little, his lips before he replied.

“Three years Jongwoon?” he asked, and Jongwoon nodded.

“Now you see why I was so weirded out by you coming here…” the other explained, rubbing his arms comfortingly a little. “But, that doesn’t explain why you said I needed help.”

The dark haired boy nodded.

“You need help because…” Kyuhyun stopped and looked around.

Jongwoon looked at him rather weird as he saw the boy look around his shoulder and nodding a little, as if someone was standing behind him, but when he looked himself, it was only wall, and more wall.

“Yes?” he said, trying to urge the other on.

“Because…” Kyuhyun didn’t really know how to add to this. What was he supposed to say?

Jongwoon waited rather impatiently.

“Because the room you are in is not endless.”

“…Okay…” Jongwoon looked at him weirdly. Why did that mean he needed help? He also turned around and noticed that it was indeed endless. Kyuhyun could see that instantly. “Can you be clearer?” he wondered.

Kyuhyun clenched his fists together.

“Something happened to you Jongwoon, you’re in a hospital.” Kyuhyun explained, but the other only chuckled.

“Excuse me?” he asked, not being able to keep a smile off of his lips.

“A mental hospital.”

Jongwoon could start to feel his chest ache as each word left Kyuhyun’s lips, although he knew it wasn’t true.

“You’re in a small room. Alone.”

The other shook his head with the small smile still on his lips.

“Can you prove it?” Jongwoon asked, but the other shook his head.

“No, not unless you pull yourself out of your mind.” Kyuhyun explained, shaking his head. He didn’t want to be too forward, but there was no other way to approach this at all. “Please, try.” He asked, moving forward, and thankfully this time the other didn’t move away. Kyuhyun placed his hand on the other’s shoulder, wincing himself when he heard the other groan.

The pain was back. Straight into his brain.

“Ah…” he moaned softly, bringing up his hand and putting pressure on his head, trying to soothe it. But this time it continued, and he strained to open his eyes and look at Kyuhyun who looked very sympathetic. The other continued to rub Jongwoon’s arm, knowing that it was he who was causing the pain.

“Sorry Jongwoon, but this is for your own good.” He whispered, moving forward and when they became closer, the other’s body started to tremble with exceeding pain, and all he could do was wrap his arms around Jongwoon’s body, pulling him closer and letting the other’s head delve into his chest. “Just, try to remember.” He whispered again. Jongwoon shook his head, not wanting to leave his sanctuary.

“P-Please make it stop.” Jongwoon pleaded, trying to push the other away. But Kyuhyun wasn’t going to budge at all.

“Just try.” Kyuhyun pleaded.

Jongwoon tried to take deep breaths and stop the pain, he clenched his eyes tightly and tried to do what the other was telling him to. Forget everything, remember where he actually was before he entered his imagination. Opening his eyes, his body stopped trembling, but his eyes widened.

“W-What?” he asked, pushing the other away with amazing strength, and moving up off the wall as he glanced around the room.

It was small.

Completely white.

Lights were shining on the roof that wasn’t that high.

And the door was to his right, also white, and it looked like it was shut tight.

Moving to the door, he tried to jiggle the handle open, but it wouldn’t budge at all. He could hear Kyuhyun behind him move even closer.

“Jongwoon, do you remember?” he asked, but the other shook his head.

It definitely looked like a secluded room in a hospital. What happened to him? Jongwoon looked around desperately, closing his eyes and trying to transport himself back into his mind, but it wasn’t helping. Looking back at Kyuhyun, he felt his lips begin to tremble and his eyes begin to water.

“Jongwoon, you’ve been in here for four years.” He explained, taking a hold of Jongwoon’s hand and pulling him closer to the middle of the room, setting him down, intent of telling him exactly what he wanted to know. “After you… watched your parents get murdered in front of you, you started to hallucinate. You created your own sanctuary where no one could hurt you. You were transferred here, but you never received any treatments because you were completely unresponsive except for when you fed and had to go to the toilet.”

Jongwoon just stared, trying to keep the information inside of his head, but it was hard.

“After four years, they had to try and get you to come out of your mind. We used to be friends, just before your family had died, so they thought I’d be the one to help you come out of it.”

The other tried to remember.

He tried hard.

“You don’t remember me, but it worked. As you see.”

Jongwoon could feel the tears roll down his cheeks, but he still couldn’t remember anything, but he had to face the facts. He was in a mental hospital, and there was something wrong with him.

Kyuhyun scooted closer and softly patted his hair.

“It’s okay.” He whispered, trying to soothe him. Jongwoon looked up at him and nodded, trying to agree. But it was hard.

Everything was scary.

Everything was terrifying.

He wanted out.

His body was trembling, and Jongwoon could only grab onto Kyuhyun even more, wishing that he could just go back to his own imagination. No, he didn’t want to face this reality at all. All this knowledge of his dark past hurt his heart, it wasn’t healthy and he wasn’t healthy. He wanted to be in his own world, he wanted to be an artist that creates a safe passage for him to cross.

Jongwoon just wanted to go back home.

Fin.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this, thank you for reading <3