Jongin opened his eyes, seeing the dark stone ceiling and hearing the constant groans of others from where he laid.

Hell no. He closed his eyes. Opened them again. Closed them tighter. Re-opened them again. He stared at the ceiling finally coming to the conclusion that he wasn’t dreaming.

The only words that came to mind when thinking back at everything he just experienced, were-

“ . My. Life.”

He closed his eyes, hissing as he let the throbbing pain from the back of his head, surge to his left eye, only confirming what had happened.

His only regret at the moment was waking up.

. This cannot be happening. No….no. No thi-this has to be a dream. It’s just my stupid friends who want to play a prank. Or my uncle who wants to  get back at me for always leaving my room a mess. It has to be, it can’t- I can’t be here.

His own hopeful thoughts began to crumble down as slow realization was dawning upon him. The echos of painful cries resonating in his ears, the cold floor underneath him making him shiver in discomfort and the smell of mold and dirt woke him from any fantasy he wished to have.  

    No. Face it, this is reality. No one's playing any pranks, uncle probably doesn’t even know you’re gone… . uncles all alone now and he doesn’t even know that I got taken or why they would. I have to get out of here. I have to get out. There- there has to be a way out.

He let out a strangled breath before frantically moving his head to all directions from where he still laid, to roam around the room. Wall, wall, wall of bars, no exit, crouched figure… wait what?  

Jongin sat up so quickly he made himself dizzy and his body ache in pain, but that wasn’t the main concern at the moment. The main concern was the figure in the dark corner watching him, before it began to stand and come towards him into the light. This nightmare just keeps getting better and better doesn’t it?  

Jongin’s breathing had become heavy and fast as his eyes widened in fear of who it may be. The possibilities ran wild in his head, another masked man? A wierdo? A thug? Someone worse? The possibilities are endless since Jongin didn’t even know where exactly he was.

Slowly the person came into the weak lighting above him and at that moment he began to slightly calm down as the person slowly approached him revealing itself. It was no thug, or weirdo, or masked man. It wasn’t even a man.

It was a girl.

She looked young, around his age, maybe a little younger from the looks of it. She was wearing a long beige blouse that Jongin was sure must have once been a nice color of white, underneath an oversized sweater, worn out thick leggings and combat boots. All of which look like they’ve been through hell and back.

He looked away, feeling embarrassed at the obvious staring he had been doing to take in her appearance, but when she didn’t say anything he realized she was just staring too. So he did the only thing left to do in this scary, awkward situation. He continued to stare and observe her more, just as she was too.

She had long messy dark brown hair, slightly pale lips, and a light complexion. Her face was however covered in slight dirt, and now that he looked at her, so was her hair, arms, and clothes.

At first glance one would think she was alright, pretty even, which is already an amazement considering what the living conditions must be here, wherever ‘here’ is. But one thing that really caught the boy's attention were her eyes.

They were sharp, almost piercing brown eyes and held a dull, somewhat lifeless glow in them. Yet as her eyes continued to roam around the boy just as his roamed around her, he saw a glimmer of something shine in them as they widened slightly.

Cute. That was one of the many thoughts on his mind as he stared up to this strange girl who was still staring at him. This didn’t mean he let his guard down, not for one second, he didn’t know what she was capable of.

As she continued blantaly staring holes into Jongin’s soul he took the time to look at the cell across from them, as he felt that if he told her to stop it would just make everything even more awkward. Not that he had the voice in him to even say anything.

The people in the cell across from theirs held four elderly men, all of which looked sickly with bones protruding, ripped clothing, and dirty faces. Two of them in the back looked like what Jongin hoped to be asleep, while one was leaning against the wall with heavy breathes, and the last had his face pressed against the bars staring straight at him. The cells next to them looked quite similar except some had some woman, looking equally as famished and sickly.

He slowly turned back to look at the girl, who had still not finished observing him. Funny how her presence slightly distracted him from the pain in his body, the cries in the background, and from remembering where he was.

In a blink of an eye she was crouched down to his level surprising him, blinking slowly as she her slightly dry lips and in a soft, smooth voice she spoke, “I’m Ahreum.”

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