I spent the night at the hospital, on the floor. Despite my countless attempts to lay on the bed, I kept falling through. I pry myself off the ground and start walking, coming to a halt in front of the door. I sigh, remembering that I can’t use the door handle. Passing through, I feel a familiar wave of nausea that makes me want to hurl.

I walk around town in a daze, my head spinning with unanswered questions. When I look up, I see that I’ve walked to central park. I move slowly to the giant oak tree in the middle of the park. Sitting cross legged on the ground, I lean against the base of the trunk, only to fall straight through it. My heart stinging with pain, I clench my eyes shut. I sit up lethargically as I question out loud, “What is life?”

    “Well, that depends on who you are.” A clear, feminine voice cuts through my thoughts. Who said that?

    “I must be going in insane. No one can hear me.” I growl frustratedly.

    “You and me both.” The same voice responds. I stand up and look around. This is all just a joke, right? Right??

    “Who are you? How can you hear me?” I search the park frantically. Hearing a sharp gasp, I pause in my tracks.

    “You can hear me?” The voice is shrill now; there’s clear panic in her voice. I slowly nod my head and beckon her to come out. A petite girl with short, spiky brown hair and stone grey eyes emerges from behind the slides. Her eyes are wary yet contain an impish glow, set in a firm line.

    “Who are you? How can you hear me? Do you see me?” Her voice rises an octave.

    “Look, I don’t know what’s happening. Yes, I can see and hear you but no one has been can able to see or hear me.” I respond calmly, wanting her to calm down as well. At this point, I myself want to scream questions too, but I have to keep my voice level if I want answers.

    The expression on her face quickly turns from one of confusion into one of immense joy. “Yes!” she exclaims with a passion. “I’m not Hidden anymore! People can see me!”

    “Um,” I say. “I don’t think so. Were you even listening?” I stick my hand through the tree to demonstrate.

    She deflates but when she looks up again, she has fire in her eyes.

    “Then how can you see me? How can you hear me? Are you Hidden, too? That’s not possible!” She yells and throws her hands in the air.

    “First of all, chill out. Ok, thanks. Look, I don’t understand this any more than you do. All I know is I woke up in the hospital, and I’m literally invisible. No, not in the teenage emo sense. I mean normal people don’t recognize my existence. This makes no sense to me either, so don’t you go yelling at me.” I respond, irritated.

She’s acting as if this is all my fault! Spoiled scum.     

    She looks up sharply, “Did you just say hospital?”

    “Yes, I did. I’m sorry, is hospital now a swear word?” It seems that I’ve made her angry. Oops. But I’ve never seen anyone react so violently to the word hospital.

    I sigh, “What’s wrong with ‘hospital’?”

    “The nurse..” She continues mumbling senselessly, and I give up.

    “So, tell me about yourself.” I take a seat on the ground and look up at her expectantly. She stiffens visibly and looks away, uncomfortable. I gesture to the ground next to me indicating that she should sit. She takes a seat next to me reluctantly.

    “Here, I’ll start. My name is Lee Sungyeol, and I’m 17 years old. My family is originally from Busan but we relocated to Seoul a couple years ago. I’m actually the heir to the biggest toilet paper company  in Seoul.  I’m kind of a big deal.” I say with a flourish.

    “Um… That’s great, I guess. I’m Yamane Yumiko, and I’m 16. I was born in Japan, but I was raised here in Seoul. I’m kind of not a big deal, especially since I’ve been hidden for three years now. “ She awkwardly concludes, scratching her neck.

    “What even is Hidden? Is that what we are?” I look at her curiously, urging her to go on.

She sighs and says, “Ugh, this is going to take a while. Listen up because I’m not saying it twice.”

    Yumiko then commenced her long, long explanation of the concept she called Hidden.