A type of fog which happens to occur by the coast of Chile and Peru. When the normal fog produced by the sea travels inland it suddenly meets an area of hot air, which causes the water particles of fog to shrink by evaporation. This results into a transparent mist. Garua fog is nearly invisible, yet it still forces drivers to use windshield wipers.

After his confusing conversation with Kyungsoo that afternoon, Jongin decided to stop visiting his mind palace, at least until the dreaded history test was over. He knew Jinsil would be disappointed in him for not putting her methods to good use, but he had no choice really. Trying to study in his mental realm would mean interacting with the black-haired boy and ultimately lead to more distraction - which was ironic, since the city was initially built for helping him focus.

The following days were excruciatingly exhausting for Jongin. The threads of his mind twisted, knotted and tangled around helplessly. He started losing his appetite, kept misplacing his belongings and barely slept. When he did, he would land in a dream that involved countless of strings being attached to his body. He would try to move freely, but a narrowly built puppeteer would prevent him from doing so.

Never in his life had he experienced anything like it. Dark nights seemed to swallow up the daytime. It was as if he had gone colour blind – everything around him appeared to be a mere shadow of itself. The smell of rain, the relief after exercising… none of it was able to rid him of the hollow feeling in his chest. The feeling of loneliness.

When the day of the exam finally came, Jongin dragged himself into the classroom and took his usual seat in the back. His hair was tousled, his uniform crinkled and the bags under his eyes had started to resemble the Grand Canyon. Some of his classmates started whispering but he didn’t notice, and if he had, he probably wouldn’t have cared anyway. The only thing that worried him was how he would never be able to focus on the questions before him due to his lack of preparation and sleep. He was going to fail and that would be it.

As soon as the old teacher gave her pupils the sign to get started, everyone eagerly flipped their first page over; everyone except for Jongin. He blankly stared at the empty front cover, not even bothered to see what kind of questions would be asked. He just wanted some sleep.

If only someone could put an end to his restlessness.

“Oh, Jongin…”

The boy shot out of his dozy state. In the blink of an eye, he was wide awake. “Wh-who…”

Kyungsoo nudged his arm. “It’s me, you tall dummy.”

The student blinked a few times before realizing he had once again abandoned his original physical surroundings. He now found himself in an empty office space on the top floor of one of the high-risen buildings in the mental world he had so desperately tried to avoid. He sat on the ground in front of an enormous window that looked out over the city that was being drenched by rain once again.

Kyungsoo was sitting by his side. “You look horrible, Jongin. What have you been doing to yourself?”

“I… I…” The boy rubbed his eyes. “I was studying- Wait! I’m supposed to be taking that history exam right now!” He frantically started moving around. “I can’t be here, I have to get back an-”

“And what, fail?”

Jongin silently nodded. Yes, that was definitely going to happen.

“Here, have some water.” Kyungsoo offered him one of the two white mugs that had appeared next to him. Jongin happily bowed and took the mug from the boy’s hands, finishing its content in mere seconds.

“Do you have any more?”

The short boy chuckled. “The question is, do you?”

“Right.” And with that, Jongin’s cup was full again. This time around, he drank considerably slower.

 “I took history too once,” Kyungsoo spoke as he fixed his eyes on the traffic lights below that were diligently changing colour every few minutes.

The student abruptly spat out his drink. “You what?!”

“There, there. No need to shou-”

“Hyung! You should have told me earlier!” Jongin jumped up in excitement and started clapping. “This is awesome! You’ll help me right?”

“Well, I mean I-”

Kyungsoo’s hesitant tone caused Jongin’s body to freeze in its position. “You what?” His brows knitted in confusion.

The mysterious boy took a sip of his water before continuing. “I’m not going to help you.”

“Why not?”

“Look. I don’t know why I’m here exactly, but you should know that I’m not here to be your guardian angel. I’m not going to be your fairy godmother. I’m not going to be your saviour. Hell, I’m not even going to be your friend.”

Every word Kyungsoo spoke felt like a stab in Jongin’s heart. He felt a lump form in his throat as he tried to recall how he had allowed himself to become this weak and dependant. He cleared his throat with responding as stable as possible. “Wh… Why? Why do you treat me like I… why?” he spoke in a broken, trembling voice.

Kyungsoo’s expression softened. “You have a life out there. A life that I don’t belong in.”

“You do! You’re part of my life now!”

“You don’t understand, Jongin. You barely even know me. Our interaction isn’t real.”

“It is!” Jongin protested, violently wiping the tears off his cheeks. “Think about it Kyungsoo. Everything that’s not real is…”

“…Imaginary?”

“Exactly! And I could never have imagined someone as… as… I could never have imagined you. Which means you’re real. It’s logic.”

“Jongin…” The pale white sclera of Kyungsoo’s eyes now held a trace of red in them, indicating that he had started to feel emotional as well. “Jongin, look, I’m not trying to make you sad, but… logic doesn’t apply here. I thought you would know that by now.” He carefully leaned forward to brush against the other’s hand as a sign of reassurance. However, the tall boy’s reflexes were sharper than he had expected.

Jongin had clasped his fingers around Kyungsoo’s wrist, yanked him up and pulled him into a tight embrace. He could feel the short body tense up in shock, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was to hold Kyungsoo, to feel his hyung close to him. To know that he would be there for him, even if the moment lasted less than a second.

To his relief, Kyungsoo didn’t pull away. Instead, he slowly curled his arms around Jongin’s broad back and softly gripped the fabric of the black sweater between his fingers.

Jongin buried his face in Kyungsoo’s neck, dampening it with his warm tears. They stood like that for a moment, Jongin’s sobs being the only audible sound. Kyungsoo slowly traced circles along the student’s back in an attempt to calm him down a bit.

After a while, the student finally spoke up in a muffled voice. “Hyung… hyung please… Will you help me? Just this once… please…”

Kyungsoo sighed as he let go and studied the hunched posture of the boy in front of him. “Alright. I’ll help you, but only today. Do not expect more from me.”

The tall boy wiped his face and bowed. “I am forever in your debt, hyung.”

“Sure, you dummy.”

When the exam was over, Jongin ran home as fast as his long legs could carry him. He felt his heart muscle thumping at a rate so fast that doctors would probably be alarmed by it. However, it wasn’t the exercise that was causing his rapid heartbeat.

He had snapped out of his mental realm when a small alarm went off on his teacher’s desk, indicating time was up. To his great surprise, his answer sheets were covered with characters of blue ink. Without being aware of it, he must have diligently jotted down the information Kyungsoo had provided him with back in his mind. As expected, the mysterious boy had proven to be very intelligent and wise. The moment Jongin had handed in the paper, he felt a weight falling from his chest. For the first time in days, he felt energetic, positive, and most importantly: he stopped feeling so lonely. He really couldn’t wish for more; just that his teacher wouldn’t notice the clear teardrops that had silently mixed with the dark ink on the paper.

The boy turned his key in the lock of his front door three times and immediately sprinted to his room, slamming the door shut. He had three exams coming up next week, but those could wait. For now, there was only one thing he had to focus on: thanking his hyung for his help.

Seconds later, he was walking in the abandoned city, drizzle gently trickling down on his shoulder. “Kyungsoo? Are you here?”

He steadily walked on, looking in every direction possible. His head sharply turned to the right when he heard a knock on the window. Kyungsoo was sitting in the same coffee shop they had visited last week, surrounded by all kinds of alluring beverages. Jongin grinned widely and pushed himself through the glass door.

As usual, the short boy carried a stoic expression – that is, to most outsiders. Over the past few days, Jongin had studied Kyungsoo’s face into the greatest detail. The upward curve of his hyung’s lips was barely noticeable, but Jongin was sure it was there. Kyungsoo was smiling, and it was causing a warm rush to surge through Jongin’s veins. As he felt his cheeks flush a bright shade of pink, the boy placed his hands on his face in an attempt to cover them.

Kyungsoo slightly chuckled as the student sat down next to him, indicating that he saw right through the boy’s efforts. To Jongin’s great relief, he commenced with a different topic.

“You’ve outdone yourself Jongin. How many people did you prepare these drinks for, thirty?”

“N-No, they’re for you! I wasn’t sure what… you’d like… so I just… I just-”

“So you just got me everything?”

Jongin shyly looked down at the table as he nodded.

Kyungsoo studied the different glasses and bottles that filled up the tables around them. “There’s a strawberry milkshake here, an iced latte, every single type of Fanta imaginable, hot chocolate, spring water, even… is that soju? Are you serious?”

Still trying to hide his burning cheeks, the student carefully glanced up. Apparently, he’d thought of every drink he knew, including soju, beers and even cocktails.

“You know I’m not allowed to drink! Hell, you’re not even allowed to drink yet! What are you, a delinquent?”

Crap. “No! I’m not, I swear! I just… I don’t know! I’m sorry!” Jongin got up and started collecting all the alcoholic drinks he could find. “I’ll throw them out, okay?”

“No.” Kyungsoo shot him a devilish grin. “That would be a waste.” 

Startled by the boy’s peculiar expression, Jongin started laughing; he laughed so hard that he dropped the cosmopolitans he had been holding. “You’re crazy!” he exclaimed as tears sprung into his eyes.

“Excuse me, but I’m not the one that filled an entire coffee shop with every possible drink in the world... without making any food to go with it.”

“I wish you could cook for me everyday,” Jongin sighed. After indulging on several plates of homemade kimchi spaghetti, the two laid on the floor.

Kyungsoo snickered. “I don’t think I’ll ever be hungry again after this.”

“My stomach is so full. Having three milkshakes with dinner was a really bad idea.”

“I told you so.”

Jongin rolled onto his side and fixed his eyes on the other, silently admiring the boy’s delicate features. He still wondered how the two had been able to cross paths, how they had been able to meet like this. The more he got to know Kyungsoo, the more his intuition told him that he could never merely be a figment of Jongin’s imagination. His presence was far too vivid, his intentions too unpredictable, his knowledge too vast, his heart too kind…his gaze too deep… his lips… too… alluring…

“What are you thinking about?” Kyungsoo slowly sat upright and squinted, as if he were trying to read Jongin’s mind.

The student was abruptly shaken out of his daze. “W-What?”

“Nothing,” Kyungsoo simply answered as he laid back down and look back at the ceiling.

Jongin’s palms started sweating. Was he losing it? He needed to get the situation back under control fast, before Kyungsoo would suspect him of having weird intentions. “H-Hey, ehm, I just…” He nervously stood up. “I eh… I want to thank you. For helping me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“N-No! I want to do something for you!”

Kyungsoo sat back up and frowned. “Okay. Can you get me a glass of water?”

Jongin brushed a hand through his dark brown hair. “Come on, you know what I mean! I want to give you something special.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know? What would you like? I’ll give you anything you want.”

The short boy’s lips slowly curled upwards as he raised an eyebrow. “Anything…?”

“Yeah, anything!” Jongin desperately exclaimed, before interrupting himself again. “Wait- no not like that! I don’t- I mean… if you- no! Not… Never mind! Forget it!” He quickly raced behind the counter and washed his hands in an attempt to hide his embarrassed expression and buy some time. After frantically scrubbing his hands and drying them with a cotton towel, the boy walked back in. Kyungsoo was now sitting at on one of the tables. He had taken two small glasses and poured a royal layer of soju into them. “Calm down a bit. Here, have a drink with me.”

Jongin started shaking his head. “No, we shouldn’t! Didn’t you just say that…”

“Look we’re not breaking any laws here. This is your city, no one can tell you what you can and can’t do.”

The two stared at each other for a moment. Jongin visibly hesitated, but eventually gave in and sat down. “Cheers, hyung.” *

The boy crinkled his face as the strong beverage slid down his throat. The flavours were sharp and brought a glow to his face.

Kyungsoo attentively watched his companion struggle and followed up by the quantities of his own glass in one go, keeping his usual straight face. He immediately poured them a refill.

“Whoa, shouldn’t we stop here?”

“The choice is yours,” Kyungsoo shrugged as he tilted his glass against his lips and immediately finished his second round.

A few rounds in, Jongin began to feel lightheaded. He decided it was time to bring his good intentions back to the scene. “Hyung…” he spoke in a slurred manner. “Hyung, I was serious about wanting to thank you. Properly. You helped me today and I wanna return the favour.”

“You shouldn’t.” Kyungsoo stared at the raindrops sliding down the window.

“Why not?”

“Because,” he continued, “it would be wrong to share a bond as strong as friendship. I feel like this is a mistake. We should stop being so… I don’t know. Maybe we should start avoiding each other.”

Jongin placed his elbow on the table and rested his head on his palm. “Why do you keep saying that? Why why why why why is my question. Hyung?”

“Are you drunk?”

Jongin hiccupped. “That may be the case. It may-be. Maybe.” he grinned.

The other boy sighed.

“Hyung, I think we should play a game.” Jongin slowly lifted his head and crossed his arms over one another. “You’ll be Aladdin, and I’ll be the big fat blue genie man, okay?”

“Okay.” Kyungsoo vaguely smiled.

“Now…” Jongin lifted a finger up. “One wish! What would you wish for if you had one wish? Maybe I can make it come true.”

The black-haired boy solemnly stared at his own hands. “I’m not sure. And even if I was, it would probably be something beyond your power.”

“You’re no fun!” Jongin protested.

“I’m aware of that.” He poured himself another glass of soju and immediately swallowed the bitter liquid. “What would you wish for, then?”

“Duh! I want us to be friends! Wanna know why? Because I like you hyung! Do I like you? Haha! I like you! You’re cute!”

Kyungsoo’s big round eyes opened even wider and his muscles instantly tensed up. “What do you mean… you like me? What kind… of like…”

“I like music and I like storms, so I like you too! Because you remind me of them. Makes sense, huh?”

“No it doesn’t. You’re not making sense because you’re drunk.”

Jongin grabbed hold of one of the bottles in front of them and lifted it into the air. “I am! Let’s drink to that!”

“No, let’s not. You need to go back to your real world and sleep,” Kyungsoo resolutely spoke as he freed the bottle from Jongin’s grip.

“I don’t want to go back! I want to stay with you!”

Frustrated, Kyungsoo grumbled. “Fine. I’ll stay with you if you promise to shut the hell up and fall asleep.”

“Deal!” Jongin placed his fingers on his temples and concentrated for a minute. When he opened his eyes again, two pillows and a large blanked had appeared on the ground beside them. Content with his own abilities, he walked up to the supplies and nestled himself onto the floor, tucking one of the pillows under his head and covering himself with the blanket.

Kyungsoo watched the boy settle himself, and resumed by picking up the glasses and empty bottles they had left behind and carrying them to the counter. “Sleep tight.”

Jongin nodded and closed his eyes, only to open them back up again. “Hyung!”

“No.”

“Hyung! Hyung hyung hyung!”

“What?”

Jongin raised his sleepy eyes up to look at the boy before him. “Sleep next to me, okay?”

“No way in hell. Good night.” Kyungsoo resolutely sat back on the chair.

“I won’t shut up until you do!”

“Enough now, go to sleep.”

Jongin cleared his throat, before shouting at the top of his lungs. “HYUUUUUUUUU-”

“Alright! Shut the up now, will you?” the short boy exclaimed as he pushed back his chair and stomped towards the tall boy. Noticeably annoyed, he dropped himself to the floor and placed the remaining pillow beneath his head. “Satisfied?”

Grinning widely, Jongin stretched out an arm and threw the warm blanked over the boy’s narrow stature. “Satisfied! Gooood night!”

“Whatever, dummy.” Kyungsoo replied as he turned his back to Jongin. Within seconds, the exhausted student closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep, missing out on the sight of a small mouse running through the deserted room, a bright flash produced by a bolt of lightning, and a subtle but visible smile gracing his hyung’s face.

Sharp sunrays penetrated through the blinds, burning onto Jongin’s face. He let out a groan and rubbed his eyes, before turning back onto his side. Barely conscious, he stretched an arm out in the hope to feel a thin body beneath his fingertips. His eyes sprung open when he was greeted by the sound of a glass of water toppling over instead.

Realizing he was back in his own room, he shot upright. His head painfully started to throb.

I can’t remember what happened last night, Jongin thought to himself. Why am I feeling so nauseous?

Feeling a sickening stimulus coming up from his stomach, he raced to the bathroom. Barely making it in time, he raised the seat of the white toilet and started throwing up.

The clock in the kitchen struck eleven, signalling how late he was for school. Jongin felt detached from the reality around him. He had a hard time remembering what happened the night before. Sporadically, overwhelming flashbacks of a thunderstorm illuminating Kyungsoo’s face would wash over him. Though he wasn’t too sure about what had been said or done a few hours ago, he remembered a feeling of warmth spreading through his body. He had felt revived, like he had been frozen into an ice block for the past week that had finally melted off. He felt free.

However, to his great dismay, truancy wasn’t something that would look good on his school record that had already been flawed by his persistently sinking grades. The boy had no choice but to rush his way to school, sneak into the classroom and pray that no one would have noticed his absence.

Apparently God didn’t feel like listening to him that day, seeing how he was immediately called out when he tried to slip into his assigned seat right after lunch break. His homeroom teacher had picked up on the empty spot that morning and immediately sent the wary student to his favourite person in the whole school. Principal Pimple.

He stumbled through the hallways, the throbbing pain in his head only worsening. He wasn’t sure if his current physical state was the result of a revolting hangover or of the war that was going on in his mind. Doubt, pleasure, fear, delight and curiosity had gathered at the front of his brain and were fighting each other with a great amount of ammunition, resulting in a pointless bloodbath with no winners or losers. He cursed at his own confusion, wishing he could think less like the Axis powers and World War II allies and more like, say, Switzerland.

Taking a deep breath, Jongin pushed down the bronze doorknob of Principal Jung’s office and made his way into the room he had visited far too many times in the past years. He heard the throaty voice of the old man resonating from inside, when a graceful hand landed on his shoulder.

“Don’t go in there, Jongin. Come with me, I need to speak to you.”

“Ms… Ms Kang? I’m supposed to see Pim- Jung right now,” Jongin spoke with a deep frown imprinted on his forehead. “See, he’s calling for me already.”

Jinsil brushed one side of her half-long hair behind her ear. “Go to my office and wait for me. I’ll speak with him.”

“O… Okay,” Jongin obeyed before slowly walking off, making his way to the spiral staircase at the end of the building. As it took a while before he was out of earshot, he picked up on a few words exchanged by the two.

“Yah, what are you doing? I need to speak to that brat.”

“Don’t talk about your students like that. The only brat here is me, stepfather.”

“What is it with you, huh? Always talking back to me… you’re a disgrace to your own mother!”

“And you're a disgrace to education.”

“Thanks for waiting for me,” Jinsil spoke as she entered her round classroom and immediately fetched her pack of black cigarettes. “I hope it’s not a bother for you to be here, but I need to speak to you. It’s rather urgent.”

“That’s okay. Anything better than the Pimple.”

The two shared a rowdy laugh for a moment.

“So,” Jongin continued, “what’s going on?”

Jinsil inhaled a drag of her cigarette, clearly buying herself some time. “It’s-” she hesitated for a moment. “It’s about your history exam.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry, Ms. Kang. I had some sort of… epiphany. I believe I did pretty well, so I’ll just focus on my upcoming tests and wait for the results to come back in a few weeks.”

“Jongin..." Jinsil let out a deep sigh. “I may or may not have bribed your teacher into checking your exam first.”

“And?” The student’s eyes widened. “Do you have the results?”

“Yes, yes I do.” The woman averted her silver-lined eyes, looking out of the window to avoid his gaze. “You failed the test, Jongin.”

A/N:

It's almost 04:30 over here in Amsterdam but time can't stop me from updating!!!!!!  

Jongin's clearly in trouble (in more ways than one). What can I say? This is only the beginning... (cookies for anyone who can predict what's up next!)

Keep an eye out for the next chap, and have a good night/day everyone!

♥ pominizz ♥

* ps. Underage drinking is not cool!!! Please drink responsibly - and if you're too young, be cool like Jongin and Kyungsoo and just make up a mind palace! 

It's great - you can imaginary-drink there without damaging your liver. ^^