I opened my eyes and expected to be welcomed by the familiar crusty brown spot on my ceiling I see every morning, only to be greeted with dark purple fabric hanging inches too low to my face. Hm? My tingling fingers brushed the top of a… hat? Why was a hat over my eyes? Did I fall asleep on the job?

Delicately holding the hat to my chest, I took a glimpse of the area. I let my eyes drink in the totally different environment. Hanging above me were tropical mushrooms as tall as buildings and as sturdy as trees. A praticular aroma swirled throughout the air, it reminded me of a scent that was a mix of a pastry shop and a swamp. Green bumblebees and other types of unknown creatures were fluttering about, not giving a damn as if they were either crazy or lost.

I’ve never seen such types of plants. Like, legit, what kind of mushroom is actually purple?

“Chanyeol? Is that you?”

I twisted my head around just to see a hooded Kyungsoo looking as lost as the natives.

Holding my throbbing heart, I croaked out, “Kyungsoo? Do you know where we’re at?”

The smaller male plopped down right beside me, red hood sliding off his head, “nope, but it looks like we’re somewhere in one of Lay’s story books.”

I groaned inwardly. Lay and his stupid stories, I forgot about his obsession with children’s tales. Lay was another type of human being, his little quirks flooded back to me as I watched the wind play with the soft tassels on D.O.’s cloak. Back when we all worked together, Lay used to ramble on and on about unicorns and fairies. Most of the members thought he was full of it or full of himself, but if this is reality then we all owe him a pretty big apology. He is most likely the only one who could get us out of this mess or, perhaps, in it.

“So is this like his party for his birthday or is this a trap to slowly torture us with cheesy plotlines? ” I asked, rubbing my hat over and over so I could touch each individual strand. Feeling the hat’s soft textures allowed me to calm down and think hard about the matters at hand. This was a small habit I accumulated ever since I was child; playing with an object allowed me to keep under control and soothe myself instead of spazzing. 

Kyungsoo sighed, readjusting the buckles on his leather boots, “I don’t really know. Let’s just find everyone and then leave. Also, do you happen to know what time it is?”

I pushed back my sleeves to check if I my watch was still on me; wait were we in costumes too? I looked down at what was put on me. Lay went really far this time. A white, cotton blouse adorned with golden stripes was covering my torso, and over it was a light grey vest that was a size too small. The vest had one single slit over the right with bronze buttons lined down to my waist. Over the hot vest and blouse was a purple blazer that tailed in the back. I reached inside the blazer’s many pockets just to find an ancient pocket watch.

“Oh, look you found a clock. What time?”

The clock was golden embroidered with silver jewels and precise, vine-like carvings. It had an antique, yet familiar look to it. I looked at the hands, “it’s um, 12:57”

“Wait did we miss something important? We all know 12 is voodo-”

“Wait a second,” I interrupted, voice craking.

“What’s wrong?”

I looked down, straight into his light brown and lost eyes, “the clock is moving backwards.”