A heavy silence filled the practice room as Jongin danced for his trainer. He could feel the judgmental eyes boring holes into his body, but he tried his best to ignore it and focus on the movements. A few beats into his routine, his trainer stopped him and told him that he was too loose; that his arms and legs weren’t tight enough. He made him start over for the umpteenth time. At the end of the day, Jongin was exhausted. He trudged his way back to his apartment that sat a couple blocks from his dance studio with dragging limbs. When he finally reached his apartment, he toed off his shoes and went straight to his bedroom, where he promptly collapsed on the bed. After a few seconds, he realized how sweaty and stinky he was and decided that he couldn’t ignore it. He headed for the bathroom to take a quick shower and then he would pass out.

         Jongin shed his clothes with every step he took towards the small bathroom adjoined to his bedroom. He shirked his hand through his sweaty hair and shook his head lightly. He glanced towards the mirror over the sink and screamed.

         His face was not reflected in the mirror, but instead there was a man who looked a few years older than he. Jongin threw himself back and ended up on his inside the bathtub. The boy smirked at him and rolled his eyes. Jongin was speechless and frozen in fear. The man continued smirking and nodded approvingly as he eyed Jongin’s body.

         “I’m totally dreaming. I’m actually asleep right now. Yeah,” Jongin muttered to himself. He stood up and decided to skip the shower and just go to bed. Obviously he had gone past the point of exhaustion that his mind could handle. Jongin flopped down on his bed and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was fast asleep.

         Jongin woke up late the next morning. He cursed as he ran into the bathroom to take a shower and brush his teeth. Thankfully, he saw his own reflection as he hurried to get ready for the day. He had a part-time job at a café that was close to his dance studio so he could go straight there after work. Jongin internally sobbed as he looked at the time on his phone and decided to get dressed on the way to the door. He stepped into his pants as he walked and hurriedly threw his shirt on over his head. He left it bunched up over his shoulders as he proceeded to slip his shoes on and grab his wallet and keys off of the small table that sat by the door. Before he could open the door, or even put his shirt on the rest of the way, his front door opened and smacked him in the face. Jongin landed on his for the second time in twenty-four hours.

         “What the hell?!” he screeched.

         “Oh, I’m so sorry! I thought this was my apartment. Are you okay?” a man with half closed eyes and dark circles under them asked as he rushed over to where Jongin was on the ground. His hands fluttered over Jongin, not sure how to help him, but eventually he wrapped his hand around Jongin’s elbow and hauled him to his feet.

         “Why are you in my apartment?” Jongin whimpered with his hand covering his nose.

         “I live in the apartment next door and I thought I was walking into mine. I never lock my door so…” he trailed off, his eyes wandering to Jongin’s bare chest. Jongin rolled his eyes.

         “I was just leaving so, if you don’t mind, I’m late,” Jongin said as he fit his arms through the sleeves of his shirt and pulled it down.

         “I’m Yixing, by the way,” the man said, bowing politely.

         “Jongin,” he said as he bowed back, a bit less politely. “I’ve really got to go, I’m sorry.”

         “No, it’s fine. I’m sorry again for…everything,” Yixing said as he turned toward his apartment and gave a small wave to Jongin as he walked inside. Jongin glanced at the time on his phone and muttered a curse as he ran down the stairs to get to work.

         Jongin’s day had been as horrible as his morning. People complained all day long about everything. Not only that, but, thanks to Yixing, his nose was swollen and he kept having nosebleeds. Which isn’t good when you work around food. Jongin’s boss, a man named Jinki, demoted him for the day to busboy so he wouldn’t bleed on anyone’s food. When Jinki tried to send him home after the fifth nosebleed, Jongin protested, saying that he was fine. Jinki insisted and Jongin begged his boss to let him stay. Jinki finally agreed with a sigh and allowed Jongin to continue working. Jongin apologized profusely, but Jinki waved him off with a smile.

         After work ended, Jongin headed back to the dance studio to practice. No one else was there that late, so he had the place to himself, which is how he preferred it. Jongin headed toward his favorite practice room and began stretching his muscles to warm up. The room had a wall of mirrors set at different angles so the dancers could see their performance from different perspectives. This is the room where Jongin found most of his mistakes and was able to correct them before his trainer did. When he started the music and began dancing, his problems disappeared and all that he could focus on were the movements of his body.

         Halfway through his dance, Jongin caught a flash of movement in the corner of his eye. He looked over his shoulder and didn’t see anyone there. Ignoring it, he picked up dancing where he had left off. A few minutes later, he saw something move on the other side of the room. Now a little bit freaked out, he slowly turned around to see if there was anyone there. The empty room stared back at him. Jongin shook his head to clear it and began dancing again. When he focused his attention forward again, Jongin noticed that one of his reflections in the mirror was missing. He backed away, now terrified, and turned to run out of the room. His body collided with something solid and Jongin shrieked.

         “What the ? I think I’m deaf now,” Jongin’s friend, Taemin, muttered from where he and Jongin had fallen to the floor. “What the hell has you so freaked out Jonginnie?” Taemin asked with a smirk.

         “Nothing,” Jongin mumbled as he shook his head.

         “Uh, Jongin, you’re bleeding,” Taemin said as he put a finger under Jongin’s nose.

         “Again? Really?” Jongin sighed as he grabbed some tissue from his pocket and held them under his nose.

         “This has been happening?” Taemin asked, a little worried.

         “Some guy in my building hit me in the nose this morning.” At Taemin’s outraged expression, he quickly added, “On accident!”

         “Oh,” Taemin said with a sheepish smile. “Well anyway, you look terrible and you just screamed at me like a little girl. I think you need to go home and get some rest.”

         “Thanks, Tae, I really appreciate that,” Jongin muttered sarcastically.

         “I just call them like I see them,” Taemin said with a -eating grin. Jongin rolled his eyes at his friend as he stood up.

         “I’ll see you later,” Jongin said quickly as he waved goodbye to his friend and left the dance studio. He was going to head straight home to get some rest.

         Jongin woke the next morning actually on time (*gasp*). He was able to leisurely get ready for the day. As he was brushing his teeth, he glanced at the mirror over the sink and dropped his toothbrush.

         The man from the other night was staring back at him instead of his own reflection. Jongin backed away with wide eyes, but before he could run from the room, the man started gesturing wildly for him not to leave. More out of curiosity than anything else, Jongin turned back to the mirror and took a nervous step backward as the man held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. Like he wasn’t going to hurt him. The man motioned for Jongin to come closer, but Jongin immediately shook his head, his eyes wide. The man gave him a grin and motioned for him to come closer. He gave Jongin a thumbs-up as the terrified man took a tentative step forward. When Jongin took another cautious step, the man’s grin widened. When Jongin stood directly in front of the mirror, the man inside place his hand against the surface so his fingertips pressed against it from the inside. Jongin took a scared step backwards and the man’s smile faltered. He looked away, apparently in thought, and motioned for Jongin to wait. Jongin looked at the man suspiciously, but did what he said and stayed where he was. A few seconds later, the man appeared again with a marker in his hand.

                                                                                         MY ИAMƎ IƧ ƆHƎИ

        Jongin squinted at the writing and it took him a second to realize what it said. The man erased it and wrote something else.

                                                                                 I WOИ'T HUЯT YOU, I ꟼЯOMIƧƎ :)       

         “This is really difficult to read,” Jongin muttered with a sigh. The man, Chen apparently, motioned for Jongin to come closer. A bit begrudgingly, Jongin took the last step that brought him directly in front of the mirror. He flinched as Chen brought his palm to the mirror’s surface again. Giving him a reassuring smile, Chen motioned for Jongin to touch his hand. Jongin shook his head and took a step backward again. He definitely wasn’t going to trust this random person inside his mirror. Definitely not.

                                                                              ᗡOИ'T ᙠƎ ƧUƆH A ᙠAᙠY ႱOИᎮIИ

         “Did you really just call me a baby?” Jongin muttered darkly as he stomped forward toward the mirror again. Chen grinned as he placed his hand on the glass once more. Jongin shook his head at the mirror. Chen rolled his eyes and motioned at Jongin again. Jongin stepped back and turned away from the mirror. Before he could leave the room though, he heard a terrible screeching and turned back toward a smirking Chen.

         “Seriously?” Jongin snapped. Jongdae nodded his head and crooked his finger for Jongin to come closer. Jongin stomped over to the mirror with a heavy sigh.

         “What?” he barked.

         Chen put his hand on the mirror again and motioned for Jongin to do the same. He knew that Chen wasn’t going to stop bothering him until he did what the man wanted. Jongdae rolled his eyes at the younger, trying to figure a way out of doing what he wanted. With a pout, Jongin placed his hand on the mirror’s surface and an ice-cold chill ran down his spine. The next thing he knew, Jongin’s world was spinning and the smiling man was dragging him into the mirror.